6l2 



NATURE 



[January 27, 19 16 



of the object. The best results are, however, obtained 

 when the diaphragm is placed in the focus of the eye- 

 piece, and, after it has been adjusted, the Becke lens 

 placed above it. The same method may be employed 

 with advantage in the other observations referred to, the 

 instrument employed being constructed primarily as a 

 microscope and converted into a telescope by the addition 

 of a lens, instead of vice versd, as is the usual proce- 

 dure. — Dr. J. W. Evans : A new method of deter- 

 mining the angular direction represented by a point 

 in the directions-image. A circular plate is ruled with 

 concentric circles at distances from the centre equal to 

 r tan d, where 6 stands for different angles at intervals 

 of 5° up to the full aperture of the objective, and r 

 as a constant length, say, 50 mm., and with radiating 

 lines 5° apart; it may be placed on supports which 

 fix its position above the stage. When the microscope 

 is adjusted for observations of the directions-image of 

 a mineral, the point the angular position of which is 

 to be determined is identified by the end of an adjust- 

 able pointer, which is placed so as to be seen in focus. 

 The microscope is then focused up until the objective 

 is accurately at a distance r from the plate, which is 

 now placed in position and is clearly seen. The 

 angular position required is then shown by the. position 

 of the end of the pointer relatively to the scale on the 

 plate. — L. J. Spencer : A new (seventh) list of mineral 



Institution of Mining and Metallurgy,, January 20. — Sir 

 Thomas "iCirke Rose, president, in the chair. — W. F. 

 Collins : Chinese mining legislation. The Important 

 consequences that may result from the introduction of 

 a more suitable code of laws regulating mining condi- 

 tions than that now In force can be appreciated when 

 It is realised that China c;laims sovereignty over 

 4I million square miles of territory, and that If her 

 mining development were on a par with that of the 

 United States, the mines should give employment to 

 nearly fifteen million men, pay wages of nearly 200 

 million pounds per annum, and produce in State 

 revenue on a royalty of 2^ per cent, a sum of at least 

 ten million pounds annually, apart from further duties 

 levied by the Maritime Customs. Apparently th.e 

 awakening of China which is now in course of pro- 

 gress will affect Its mining industry amongst others, 

 and the provision of legislation to deal with the 

 changed outlook on affairs cannot be long delayed. 

 The author of this paper passes in review the gradual 

 evolution of mining legislation In China from the 

 earliest times up to the present day, and seeks to show 

 where it has proved prejudicial to proper development, 

 and he then proceeds to formulate such changes as in 

 his opinion will tend to attract foreign capital for the 

 carrying on of the industry. He points out that the 

 existing regulations place a foreigner ac a serious 

 disadvantage In competition with Chinese mining com- 

 panies, and that it may be taken as axiomatic that so 

 long as foreign capital is unable to work mines In 

 China under its own company law. It will prefer to 

 interest Itself elsewhere. His criticism Is constructive 

 to the extent that he enunciates the fundamental prin- 

 ciples required to be drafted into new mining legisla- 

 tion before the desired Influx of foreign rapltal can be 

 converted into an accomplished fact. — W. H. Trewartha- 

 James : Taylor's pulp sampler. In this paper the 

 author describes briefly an automatic pulp sampler of 

 simple design and construction which has already, he 

 claims, accomollshed much useful work In Cornish 

 tin mines. The apparatus provides for cutting the 

 stream of pulp automatically at fixed Intervals, which 

 can be adjusted over a wide range, so obtaining 

 samples In desired nrooortion to the amount of mate- 

 rial passing through the feed launder. The inventor 

 of the device has presented his design to the mining 

 NO. 2413, VOL. 96] 



industry through the medium of the institution, and 

 it has the advantage that it can easily and cheaply be 

 constructed out of materials found in nearly every 

 mine store, by an ordinary workman. 



Manchester. 



Literary and Philosopiiical Society, December 14, 1915. 

 —Prof. S. j. HIckson, president. In the chair. — F. G, 

 Percival : 1 he punctuation of the Brachlopoda. The 

 shells of the Terebratulaceae are perforated by thousands 

 of little pores, through which pass tube-like processes 

 of the mantle. The number of these punctae per 

 sq. mm. varies in different species, and this variation 

 has been used as a means of distinguishing between 

 different species. Unfortunately, an examination of 

 large numbers of individuals belonging to one species 

 shows that the variation within a single species is so 

 great as to render the character useless as a means 

 of distinction, e.g. 166 Individuals of Terebratula 

 hiplicata, BrocchI, were examined and found to range 

 from 39 to 129 per sq. mm. Similarly, 367 specimens 

 of 7". punctata, Sow., showed a total range from 66 to 

 240 per sq. mm. All the readings were taken at 

 approximately the same distance from the umbo, be- 

 cause the number per sq. mm. increases with the 

 distance from the umbo. These two species alone 

 cover the greater part of the total variation possible 

 for the group, and the variation in number Is therefore 

 almost useless as a means of specific distinction. — 

 J. W. Jackson : The money cowry as a sacred object 

 among North American Indians. One of the chief 

 objects of value used at religious ceremonies by the 

 Ojibwa and Menonimi Indians is the money cowry, 

 Cypraea moneta. The use of this particular species Is 

 of great Interest by reason of it being alien to the 

 American continent, and in view of its adoption for 

 religious and other purposes In the Old World. In 

 the cult of Venus cowries played an important part 

 in ancient times in European countries. The tradition 

 among the Indians is that the sacred shell came 

 through a particular hero-god, who acted as inter- 

 mediary between the Great Unknown and the Indians, 

 and founded their medicine society. During Initiation 

 ceremonies the candidate Is acquainted with the tradi- 

 tions pertaining to cosmogony and to the genius of the 

 Indians ; much dancing and smoking is indulged in, 

 and the medicine bag containing the sacred shell is 

 thrust towards the candidate, by which means the shell 

 — the symbol of life — is supposed to enter the latter's 

 breast. — J. W. Jackson : The Aztec moon-cult and its 

 relation to the chank-cult of India. The similarity in 

 the use of shells in Aztec and Hindu religious cere- 

 monies is remarkable, and several striking Instances 

 occur on Aztec manuscripts, where large conch-shells 

 are seen In use as trumpets and marine shells are 

 figured as symbols of the moon. The adoption of a 

 shell as the emblem of the Mexican moon-god recalls 

 the association of the chank-shell with the Hindu god 

 Vishnu. This parallel is even more striking when one 

 considers that the Brahman In reciting his dallv prayer 

 begins by a reference to the god of the moon at the 

 mouth of the chank which he holds. Shell trumpets 

 are used In India in connection with temple-worship 

 and with harvest rites, and a like procedure Is to be 

 seen on the old Mexican picture-writings. Further, the 

 ancient Mexicans, like the Hindus, had the same myth 

 regarding the presence of a rabbit In the moon. — Prof. 

 G. Elliot Smith : Further evidence for the derivation of 

 elements of early American civilisation from the Old 

 World. Discussing the significance of pre-Columbian 

 representatives of the elephant in American sculptures 

 and codices (already summarised in Nature, Novem- 

 ber 25, p. 340, and December 16, p. 425), and making 

 use of the evidence supplied by truncated pyramids 



