April ^, 1889] 



NATURE 



545 



of these attendants, who (with one exception) had been, eighteen 

 months before, "absolute savages." "I observed with some 

 interest," ^ays Mr. Jack, "Mr. Palmerston's method of 'work- 

 ing ' his boys. Its essential elements seemed to be giving them 

 time, feeding them well, and keeping them in good humour by 

 allowing for their propensities to hunt or play, and by making 

 fun with them. It is fortunately unnecessary to be a Joe Miller 

 to keep the boys amused, as anything which would amuse chil- 

 dren will serve the purpose as well as the most delicate jokes. 

 Mr. Palmerston's method is evidently successful, as I never saw 

 more contented, willing, useful, and well-bred young men of 

 any nationality." 



Dr. Franz Boas contributes to the Proceedings of the 

 U.S. National Museum an interesting paper on the houses of 

 the Kwakiutl Indians, British Columbia. In these houses, the 

 uprights are always carved according to the crest of the gens of 

 the house-owner. The Indians of the present time make various 

 combinations of the emblems of the gentes of both parents of the 

 house-owner, and this is the reason for the great variety of forms. 

 Besides this, legends referring to certain ancestors are illustrated 

 in the emblems, and thus it happens that seemingly the ancient 

 styles are not strictly adhered to. 



At a recent meeting of the Swedish Anthropological Society, 

 Prof. G. Storm read a paper on his researches relating to the 

 Lapps. The speaker held that this race had settled in Northern 

 Scandinavia as far back as the Stone Age, and had not begun to 

 move southwards until the Middle Ages. These southward 

 movements had occurred periodically. At the end of the fif- 

 teenth century the Lapps had reached the sixty-fourth degree of 

 latitude, but were now found much further south. The subject 

 was of interest, because of the general belief that the Scandina- 

 vians had driven the Lapps northwards. In common with others. 

 Prof. Storm was of opinion that the Lapps belonged to the 

 Finnish- Ugrian race. 



The Dundee and District Association for the Promotion of 

 Technical and Commercial Education have issued an elaborate 

 Report on education in Dundee and the neighbourhood. They 

 bring together a mass of facts which afford " abundant and 

 gratifying evidence of a growing appreciation of science studies." 

 The Committee, however, point out that the increase of attend- 

 ance at science classes is chiefly in the elementary stages of the 

 different subjects. More advanced classes are small, or do not 

 exist at all. Classes in the higher branches of mathematics, 

 physics, chemistry, and engineering have been most abund- 

 antly provided for at the Dundee University College, and 

 the Committee hope that a very large increase in the numbers 

 attending these may in the immediate future be the result of the 

 elementary teaching which is now so widely appreciated. 



The Royal University of Ireland has issued its Calendar for 

 the year 1889. The papers set at the examinations in 1888 

 have already been published in a separate volume, and form a 

 supplement to the Calendar. 



Prof. Angelo Heilprin has contributed to the Proceedings 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia some valu- 

 able notes on the zoology of the Bermuda Islands. '1 hese notes 

 are based on personal observations, and on collections made 

 during a recent brief sojourn on the islands in company with a 

 class of students from the Academy of Natural Sciences. Prof. 

 Heilprin devoted much lime to the study of the geological features 

 of the Bermudas. The results of his work in this department he 

 , will embody in a future paper. 



At the annual meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, on 

 February 6, an address was delivered by the President, Colonel 

 J. Waterhouse. This address has now been printed. It con- 

 tains an interesting review of the progress of science and Oriental 

 literature in India and its nearer border-lands during the year 

 1888. 



We have received Parts IV. and V. of " A Catalogue of the 

 Moths of India," compiled by Mr. E. C. Cotes and Colonel 

 C. Swinhoe. The subjects dealt with are Geometrites and 

 Pyrales. 



Two works on paloeontology are now being issued, in parts, 

 in Germany : " Handbuch der Palaeontologie," by Dr. A. 

 Schenk and Prof. K. A. Zittel ; and " Elemenle der Palxonto- 

 logie," by Dr. G. Steinmann and Dr. L. Doderlein. The 

 former work is published by R. Oldenbourg, Munich and Leipzig ; 

 the latter by W, Engelmann, Leipzig. 



One of the Johns Hopkins University Circulars, for March, 

 contains the following morphological notes from the biological 

 laboratory of the University : a preliminary abstract of researches 

 by W. K. Brooks and F. H. Herrick on the life history of 

 Slenopus, by W. K. Brooks ; list of Actiniaria found at New 

 Providence, Bahama Islands, by J. Playfair McMurrich ; on 

 the occurrence of an Edwardsia stage in the free-swimming 

 embryos of a Hexactinian, by J. Playfair McMurrich ; notes on 

 the fate of the amphibian blastopore, by T. H. Morgan ; on the 

 anatomy and histology of Cymbuliopsis calcoela, by J. I. Peck ; 

 on a new phenomenon of cleavage in the ovum of the Cephalopod, 

 by S. Watase ; on the structure and development of the eyes of 

 the Limulus, by S. Watase ; notes on the embryology of MiilUria 

 agassizii, Tel., a Holothurian common at Green Turtle Cay, 

 Bahamas, by Charles L. Edwards ; on the occasional presence 

 of a mouth and anus in the Actinozoa, by Henry V. Wilson ; 

 on the breeding-seasons of marine animals in the Bahamas, by 

 Henry V. Wilson ; the multiplication of Bryophyllum, by 

 B. W. Barton ; notice of Dr. H. V. Wilson's paper on the 

 development of Manicina areolata, by T. H. Moi^an ; report of 

 Dr. Henry V. Wilson as Bruce Fellow of the Johns Hopkins 

 University. 



The Royal Society of Victoria prints an alphabetical list of 

 the genera and species of Sponges described by Mr. H. J. 

 Carter, F.R.S., together with a number of his more important 

 references to those of other authors, with an introductory notice, 

 by Mr. Arthur Dendy, Demonstrator and Assistant Lecturer in 

 Biology in the University of Melbourne. 



On Tuesday evening Prof. Raphael Meldola delivered an 

 interesting lecture at the Royal Victoria Hall on "Insects in 

 Disguise, and on Mimicry," to an audience of about 500 

 persons, chiefly working men. Many illustrations, lent by Mr. 

 Poulton, were thrown upon the screen, and were much ap- 

 preciated. The following lectures will also be delivered at the 

 Royal Victoria Hall :— Tuesday, April 9, "Polarized Light," 

 by Prof. Silvanus Thompson; Tuesday, April 16, "Electric 

 Tram-cars," by Dr. Heming. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Spanish Terrapin (Clemmys hprosa). South 

 European, presented by Mr. F. T. Mason ; two Tuatera Lizards 

 {Sphenodon punctatus) from New Zealand, a Long-billed Butcher 

 Biid {Barita destructor) from New Holland, deposited ; a Com- 

 mon Otter {Lutra vttlgari S ). British, two Black-necked Storks 

 {Xenorhynchus australis $ ^), from Malacca, a Teguexin 

 Lizard {Teius teguexin) from South America, purchased; an 

 Alleghany Snake {Coluber alleghaniensis) from North America, 

 received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 

 The Astronomical Society of the Pacific— The in- 

 creased interest in astronomy which has been felt m California 

 in consequence of the erection of the Lick Observatory, and 

 perhaps even more widely from the recent solar eclipse, which 

 was so well and widely observed in the State, has led to the 

 formation of an .Vstronomical Society under the above title. 

 The Society was organized at a meeting held on February 7, 

 1889, and Prof. Holden was appointed interim President, 



