i88 



NATURE 



[October 7, 1920 



views expressed by Prof. Soddy, is of the opinion, 

 which is not shared, however, by scientific workers 

 generally, that " the rewards of the research of what- 

 ever liind should have been primarily secured to those 

 who found the money to pay for it." 



The wonderful achievements of Rolf, the thinking 

 .Airedale terrier, bid fair to be eclipsed by the marvel of 

 his daughter Lola. Lola passed at the age of two years 

 into the keeping of Miss Kindermann when she could 

 only sav "yes" and "no," but after a few days of 

 schooling the dog could read and count. In one day's 

 lesson she could tell the hour by the clock. In the 

 same way she acquired a knowledge of days, months, 

 measurements, and musical notes, could forecast the 

 weather, and gave evidence of " filosofia morale." 

 Dr. W. Mackenzie, from who.se " Gli Animali ' Pen- 

 santi'" (Quaderni di Psichiatria, 1920) these par- 

 ticulars are taken, vouches for Miss Kindermann 's 

 ability, veracity, love of animals, and ignorance of 

 psychology. He does not attribute all the intelligence 

 to Lola, but believes that there is a rapporto 

 inedianico between the supra-liminal consciousness of 

 mistress and the sub-liminal unconsciousness of pupil. 

 Seeing, however, that Dr. Neumann's experiments 

 (duly discussed in the pamphlet) place Rolf's achieve- 

 ments in a new light, it may be well to await further 

 observations on Lola before passing judgment on Dr. 

 Mackenzie's conclusions. The trouble is that negative 

 results may be explained as due to lack of the said 

 rapporto. 



The study of place-names, of great importance in 

 American geography, has been much advanced by a 

 monograph entitled " Yurok Geography," by Mr. 

 T. T. Waterman, published in the series of publica- 

 tions of the University of California, vol. xvi., No. 5. 

 This summarises a great mass of material collected 

 by Dr. A. L. Kroeber and the writer among the Yurok 

 Indians along the Klamath River and in the adjacent 

 region of north-western California. Many of these 

 primitive Indian names are now used by white 

 settlers, and appear in the ordinary maps of this 

 region in anglicised form. Their identification and 

 interpretation naturally present much difficulty, but 

 the present monograph, with its careful lists and 

 maps, will be of interest to both the geographer and 

 the philologist. 



The system of geomancy or divination known as 

 Rami, "sand," is common among the Arabs. At a 

 propitious hour, noon, or one-third of the day before 

 or after noon, the Khattat, or "writer," prepares a 

 smooth patch of sand, while his client places the tip 

 of the middle finger of his right hand on the ground 

 and states mentally the object of his quest. Then 

 the diviner makes finger-prints at random in the 

 sand and counts off the prints of each line in pairs 

 to .see if it contains an odd or an even number. There 

 are, on the whole, sixteen possible figures in the 

 diagrams which he makes, each of which has its 

 special name and meaning. The nomad Arab in the 

 Sudan, says Mr. R. Davies, who gives a full account 

 of the system (Sudan Notes and Records, vol. iii., 

 No. 2), spends much of his time in search of lost or 

 stolen animals, and this system of divination has 

 NO. 2658, VOL. 106] 



thus arisen. It seems to be successful, for Mr. 

 Davies writes: "On the only occasions, three in 

 number, when serious trial of the Khatt has been 

 made in the presence of the writer, the forecast of 

 the Khattat has each time been justified by the 

 result." 



In an elaborate monograph (University of California 

 Publications in .American Archaeology and Ethnology, 

 vol. xvii.. No. i) Mr. Paul Radin discus.ses the sources 

 and authenticity of the history of the ancient Mexi- 

 cans. These sources, which are of great extent, fall 

 into two types : the actual old Indian codices, of 

 which there are but a few extant, and the works of 

 Christianised Indians and Spaniards. The vast 

 majority of the old manuscripts have disappeared, as 

 well as the copies made of them. .As late, however, 

 as 1746 Boturini was able to make a large collection 

 dealing with all the aspects of the ancient culture. 

 Mr. Radin in this monograph has made a critical 

 study of a large number of ancient documents, and 

 provides English translations of the most important 

 passages. The value of some of these materials is 

 doubtful, but the Nahua peoples had a complex 

 calendar system and a rude system of writing, and as 

 they were deeply interested in the traditions of their 

 migrations, it seems clear that these records contain 

 information of much value to ethnologists. Mr. 

 Radin has done good service to science in his careful 

 account of these manuscripts and by his translations 

 of the most important records. 



During the Mahdist occupation of the Sudan 

 (1885-98) coins were struck by the Mahdi at Khartum, 

 and later by the Khalifa at Omdurman. Many of 

 these coins have now become scarce, and Mr. H. S. 

 Job, in Sudan Notes and Records (vol. iii.. No. 3), 

 has done good service to numismatics by giving a full 

 account of this example of the debasement of cur- 

 rency in the hands of a despotic ruler, and by provid- 

 ing a full catalogue, with illustrations, of the various 

 types of mintage. After the fall of Khartum in 1885 

 considerable treasure of Egyptian and English gold 

 coins, the Mejidi and Maria Theresa dollars, with 

 smaller Egyptian coins, fell into the hands of the 

 Mahdi, who determined to have the bullion melted 

 down and recoined. It was decided that two coins 

 should be struck, a gold pound and a silver dollar, 

 to which later a half-dollar was added. For the first 

 the Egyptian gold piece of 100 piastres of Sultan 

 Abd-al-Mejid was taken as the model, the name of 

 the Sultan being replaced by the words " By Order of 

 the Mahdi." Though these coins were of good 

 quality they were regarded with mistrust, and cir- 

 culated at less than their par value, while many 

 foreign coins, though much worn, remained in cir- 

 culation. It may be hojjed that a full series of these 

 interesting coins has been provided in our museums. 



In a detailed analysis of the inheritance of hoari- 

 ness in' stocks, Miss Saunders (Journ. Genetics, 

 vol. X., No. 2) show-s that a graded series from the 

 fullv hoary form incatta to the completely glabrous 

 form can be obtained. Historical records indicate 

 that the extreme glabrous form w\-^ probably the first 

 to arise from incana, being mentioned as early as 



