August 1 8, 1887] 



NATURE 



381 



plate. Great credit will be due to any one who can invent a 

 convenient earthquake safety-lamp, which, it is to be observed, 

 will also constitute a valuable safeguard in ordinary daily life. 

 It is true, so-called safety-lamps are sold in Tokyo, but they are 

 very ineffective and miserable affairs. The use of metallic oil- 

 holders would doubtless greatly lesen the danger. 



During his inquiry the writer was shown sixteen lamps that 

 had been broken in the recent earthquake. In one instance the 

 kerosene caught fire, and it was with great difficulty that the 

 residents extinguished it by the aid of wet mats. 



MINERALS AT THE AMERICAN 

 EXHIBITION. 



/^NE of the most conspicuous features of the American Ex- 

 ^^ hibition is the remarkable collection of minerals brought 

 over and exhibited by Mr. A. E. Foote, of Philadelphia. Many 

 of the specimens, which are extremely fine, have been obtained 

 during collecting-expeditions undertaken by Mr. Foote himself, 

 md several new species and varieties have been made known to 

 science through his indefatigable labours. 



The central feature is a hexagonal pavilion covered with mica, 

 and surmounted by a model of a snow crystal. Each side of the 

 pavilion is devoted to a separate mineral region of the North 

 American continent — except the first, which is filled with a col- 

 lection of gems and ornamental stones. Here are rough and 

 cut specimens of a precious ruby, topaz, opal, williamsite, with 

 examples of malachite and azurite beautifully banded and taking 

 a fine polish. 



A lapidary who has had several years' experience in making 

 rock-sections for the British Museum is constantly employed 

 close by. 



Minerals from the region near the Pacific coast come next. 

 Wulfenite, a rare species, some the finest specimens ever seen, 

 is here exhibited in large groups of orange-red crystals ; also 

 brilliantly red vanadinites and large bright crystals of chessylite 

 or azurite associated with velvet tufts of malachite. All these 

 are from the marvellous country that Humboldt called New 

 Spain. The deep-red garnets from Alaska in their sombre 

 settings of gray mica-schist are especially noteworthy. Among 

 the minerals of the Rocky Mountain region are wonderful 

 crystals of the green Amazon-stone ; ore from the famous Bridal 

 Chamber at Lake Valley, New Mexico, so rich that the heat 

 of a match will cause it to melt and fall in drops of nearly pure 

 silver. A space the size of a moderate-sized room produced 

 about ;^ioo,ooo. The precious turquoise comes from Los 

 Cerrilloz, New Mexico, where Montezuma got his chalchuhuitls 

 that he valued above gold and silver. The Indians still make 

 long pilgrimages for the sacred stone. 



Most striking among the minerals of the Mississippi Valley 

 and Lake region are the blendes and galenas from South-West 

 Missouri, a district that now produces over one-half of all the 

 zinc mined in the world. It was formerly so abundant that 

 farmers built their fences with it. Masses of the lead-ore 

 weighing ten tons were found within 12 feet of the surface. 

 Here Indians formerly procured the lead for their bullets, placing 

 the ore in hollow stumps and building a fire over it. 



From Arkansas come fine rock-crystals or hot-spring dia- 

 monds, with powerful lodestones, arkansites, and hydrotitanites. 



From the Lake Superior region come copper, chlorastrolites, 

 and zonochlorite, a remarkable gem-like mineral. 



In the case devoted to the North Atlantic coast region is 

 rhodonite, so much used by the Russians in their ornamental 

 work, in fine crystals. The mines at Franklin, N.J., produce 

 also many minerals found nowhere else in the world, such as 

 franklinite, named after the illustrious philosopher ; anomolite, 

 a new species recently described by Prof. G. A. Konig, of the 

 University of Pennsylvania ; troostite, jeffersonite, blood-red 

 zincite, &c., &c. Cacoclasite, a new species in fine crystals, 

 associated with pink titanite, comes from the same region, as do 

 the remarkable crystals of apatite. These are among the finest 

 specimens ever seen, and associated with them are the brilliant 

 twin-zircons. From the apatite are manufactured hypophos- 

 phites to stimulate the appetite, and superphosphates to grow 

 wheat and corn. 



The last case devoted to the South Atlantic coast region con- 

 tains amethysts, sapphires, aquamarines, tantalite, gummite, and 

 uranolite, huge sheets of mica, &c., <S:c. 



Next to the wall opposite is a very extensive collection illus- 



trating the mineralogy of Pennsylvania, which, besides the 

 well-known coal, iron, and other ores that have made the State 

 famous, includes very extraordinaiy specimens of the rare mineral 

 brucite, from which the medicine, Epsom salts, may be made ; 

 diaspore in fine crystals, corundum for polishing purposes, 

 chromite for producing brilliant yellows, &c., &c. 



Adjoining, in cases and drawers, are the college and educa- 

 tional collections indispensable for the studies of mineralogy, 

 geology, and chemistry. 



The collection of American Geological Surveys and other 

 scientific works is very extensive, over fifty volumes from Penn- 

 sylvania alone being shown. We have devoted so much space 

 to the description of the extensive exhibit made by Mr. A. E. 

 Foote, of Philadelphia, that we can only refer to the minerals 

 shown by Kansas and other States, by the Denver and Rio 

 Grande and C. B. and Q. Railroads, and by various mining 

 companies. 



THE FOLK-LORE OF CEYLON BIRDS. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the Ceylon Observer of Colombo, 

 ■^ referring to the interest excited by Mr, Swainson's new book 

 on " The Folk-Lore and Provincial Names of British Birds," notes 

 some points in the folk-lore of the birds of Ceylon, obtained largely 

 in conversation with natives. The devil-bird {Syrniutn indrani) 

 %\.zndi% facile princeps for his evil reputation ; his cry heard in the 

 neighbourhood of villages is a sure harbinger of death, and the 

 superstitious natives are thrown into great consternation by its 

 demoniac screech. The legend about the bird is as follows : — 

 A jealous and morose husband doubting the fidelity of his 

 wife killed her infant son during her absence and had it 

 cooked, and on her return set it before her. She unwittingly 

 partook of it, but soon discovered that it was the body of 

 her child by a finger which she found in the dish. In a 

 frenzy she fled to the forest, and was transformed into a 

 idania, or devil-bird, whose appalling screams represent the 

 agonized cries of the bereaved mother when she left her 

 husband's house. The hooting of owls in the neighbourhood of 

 houses is believed to bring misfortune on the inmates. The 

 magpie robin, though one of the finest of the song-birds of 

 Ceylon, is similarly tabooed ; it has a harsh grating screech 

 towards evening, which is considered ominous. The quack of 

 the pond heron flying over a house is a sign of the death of one 

 of the inmates, or of a death in the neighbourhood. If the 

 green pigeon {Nila kobocya) should happen to fly through a 

 house, as it frequently does on account of its rapid and head- 

 long flight, a calamity is impending over that house. Similarly 

 with the crow. But sparrows are believed to bring luck, and 

 are encouraged to build in the neighbourhood of houses, and are 

 daily fed. The fly-catcher bird of Paradise is called "cotton 

 thief," because in ancient times it was a freebooter, and plundered 

 the cloth merchants. As a penalty for its sins it was transformed 

 into a bird and doomed to carry a white cotton attached to its 

 tail. The red wattle lapwing, the alarm bird of sportsmen, has 

 the following legend connected with it : — It is said to represent 

 a woman who committed suicide on finding herself robbed of all 

 her money, amounting to thirty silver pieces, by her son-in-law. 

 The cry of the bird is likened to her lament : " Give the silver, 

 give the silver, my thirty pieces of silver." Its call is heard at 

 all hours, and the stillness of night is broken with startling 

 abruptness by its shrill cry. Another story about it is that when 

 lying in its nest in a paddy field, or a dry spot in a marsh, it lies on 

 its back with its legs in the air, being in continual fear that the 

 heavens will fall and crush its offspring. The story current about 

 the blue-black swallow-tailed fly-catcher {Kazmuiu panikkia) and 

 its mortal enemy, the crow, is that the former, like Promeiheus of 

 old, brought down fire from heaven for the benefit of man. The 

 crow, jealous of the honour, dipped its wings in water and 

 shook the drippings over the flame, quenching it. Since that 

 time there has been deadly enmity between the birds. The 

 Indian ground thrush (Pilta coronata) is said to have once 

 possessed the peacock's plumes, but one day when bathing the 

 peacock stole its dress ; ever since the Pitta has gone about the 

 jungle crying out for its lost garments. According to another 

 legend, the bird was formerly a prince who was deeply in love 

 with a beautiful princess. His father sent him to travel for jome 

 years, and on his return the princess was dead. He still wanders 

 disconsolately about calling her name. It is also said that 

 the peacock, being a bird of sober plumage, borrowed the brilliant 



