February 12, 1920] 



NATURE 



64; 



their data may be regarded as fairly accurate. Tlie 

 fireball was seen at a low altitude in the southern or 

 south-eastern sky, and it moved very slowly in a 

 very long horizontal flight, distributing sparks as it 

 sailed along, and finally breaking up into fragments. 



The radiant was at i4s°+8°, and the height of 

 the object from 55 to 44 miles, length of luminous 

 course 275 miles, and velocity 18 miles per second. 



The recent fireball was a brilliantly conspicuous 

 object, though the full moon had just risen, and many 

 people mistook it at first for a rocket-like firework 

 on account of its vividness, slow motion, and final 

 burst into spark fragments. 



Rel.wive Masses of Binary Stars. — Any increase 

 in our knowledge of the masses of the stars is of 

 great value from a physical point of view, since it 

 throws light on the correlation of mass with spectral 

 type. Mr. G. van Biesbroeck, in Popular Astronomy 

 for January, states that photographs of binary stars 

 arc now being taken with the Yerkes refractor to 

 determine the motion of each star of the pair, as 

 referred to the background of faint stars, and so 

 obtain the relative masses. Photographs of Castor 

 were taken in the years iqi6 to 1919, and give the 

 annual motion of the bright component in R..\. 

 — 00167s., and for the faint component — o-oii8s. 

 .'\ssuming Boss's value for the motion of the centre 

 of gravity, viz. —00135s., it results that the faint star 

 is 19 times as massive as the bright one. The weakest 

 point is the assumption of the motion of the centre 

 of gravity. Boss assumed equal masses; but since 

 a value identical with his was published in Monthly 

 Notices R..A.S. for 1907 on the assumption that the 

 faint star is six times as massive as the bright* one, 

 it would seem that the value — o-oi35s. is close to the 

 truth. 



The systems of Procyon and ^ Cancri are also being 

 investigated. It is hoped in the former case to fill up 

 the gap in the orbit in the region where the faint star 

 is too near to the primary to observe. 



Long-period Variables. — Several years ago the 

 Rev. T. E. R. Phillips proposed a division of these 

 variables into Groups I. and II., which differ in the 

 relation to each other of the first and second har- 

 monics, when the magnitude variation is developed in 

 a Fourier's series. Prof. Turner and Miss Blagg con- 

 tributed a paper to the Monthly Notices R..A.S. for 

 November on the star WCygni, analysis of the light- 

 curve of which suggested that this star is in the act 

 of passing from Group II. to Group I. .\ further 

 paper by Prof. Turner was read at the January 

 meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, in which 

 he examined the observations of several stars of 

 Group II., for which Prof. Chandler gave a secular 

 change of period. The analysis indicates in every case 

 a diminution of period, but seems to show that this 

 takes place by sudden jumps, not by a steady, con- 

 tinuous process, such as Chandler's formula implies. 

 It is suggested that the period decreases to a minimum 

 value, after which the star passes into Group I., and 

 its period then increases again. 



It was formerly the idea that these red variables 

 were near the end of their career as suns, but from 

 a studv of their proper motions, which seem to be verv 

 small, it is inferred that they are giants, near the com- 

 mencement of their career. From the case of our 

 sun, which is an incipient dwarf star, with a sun-spot 

 variation period much longer than that of any known 

 variable, we may conjecture that after passing into 

 Group I. the period continually lengthens, while the 

 amplitude diminishes and becomes practically in- 

 appreciable, except in the case of the sun, the surface 

 of which can be studied in detail. 



NO. 2624, VOL. 104] 



AUSTRALIAN SIGNPOSTS. 



T N the Records of the South Australian Museum for 

 ■•• August, 1919,' Mr. E. R. Waite completes a 

 description of the Toas or direction signs of the Aus- 

 tralian aborigines which was partly translated and 

 arranged from the manuscript of the late Rev. J. G. 

 Reuther, of the Lutheran Mission, by the late Sir 

 Edward Stirling. 



The description is prefaced by a summary account 

 of the religious beliefs of the Diari and associated 

 tribes in the district east of Lake Eyre, in South 

 Australia. According to Mr. Reuther, these believed 

 in a single Supreme Being called Mura, who was 

 great, powerful, beautiful, omnipresent, righteous, 

 and omniscient. Mura created a number of demi- 

 gods — Muramura — some perfect and others imperfect, 

 with their wive* or subjects — Mili. The Muramura 

 were the ancestors of mankind. They wandered about 

 the country, and the legends of the natives are the 

 records of their journeys and adventures. Native 

 songs and invocations were addressed to them. The 

 Muramura named all things, and many of the natural 

 features of the country are ascribed to them. They 

 named each of their camps from something noticed 

 there, and these are the native place-names of the 

 district. 



On the death of a Muramura his body usuallv 

 changed to a stone, which was venerated by his 

 descendants. Sun, moon, and the constellations were 

 also regarded as abodes of departed Muramura. 



The Toas are thus described. They consist mostly 



of a piece of flattened wood (usually from 6 in. to 



18 in. in length), "pointed at one end, and either 



coloured or plastered over with white clay, which itself 



j may be coloured uniformly or marked with simple 



designs. At the upper end the clay is frequently 



moulded into a spherical or oval knob, and this also 



may be plain or variously coloured or have inserted 



some object typical of the locality or symbolical of a 



: Muramura's adventure, such as a tuft of grass, twigs, 



; feathers, hair, etc., pieces of bone, charcoal, or a 



, model of some weapon or utensil. In a considerable 



number of Toas the upper end is modelled into a 



: representation of some part of the human body, such 



; as the hand, head, or foot, or into that of the whole 



or some part of a bird, fish, or other animal." 



More than three hundred coloured illustrations of 

 Toas contained in the museum collection are given. 

 They show a surprising varietv of form and orna- 

 mentation. Each Toa has a name which is a native 

 place-name with the suffix -ni or -ri. meaning " direc- 

 tion towards." Four of the figures, with their ex- 

 planations, are here given as examples. Thev are 

 Nos. I, 14, 66, and 187. 



" I. Dakarawiljarini (Diari Tribe). — The word means 

 a hard flat or plain, w'here Emus run to and fro, and 

 it originates from the legend of the Muramura, Ngura- 

 karlina, who, coming to the place, saw manv of these 

 birds running about. 



"The longitudinal, vertical, and partlv sinuous black 

 stripe on the Toa represents a salt creek, the oval 

 patch being a deep waterhole, and the lateral branches 

 tributary creeks. .Surrounding these is the plain where 

 the Emus used to run, the white spots indicating 

 bushes and scrub. This is the largest Toa in the 

 collection, being over five feet in length." 



" 14. Mararuni (Wonkanguru Tribe). — To the hand 



1 "Description of Toas, or Au^trali.-in .Ahong'n.il Direclion Signc." 

 Reing an Abstract from the J. G. Reiiiher Manuscript by the late Sir 

 Kdward Stirling, F.R.S., Hon. Curator in Ethnology, and Kdgar R. 

 Waite, Director, South Australian Mu-euiTi. r*p, ios-5S + platPs xi-xx 

 Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery of South Australia, Records 

 of the South Australian Museum. Edited bv the Museum Director. 

 Vol. i. , No. 3. (Adelaide : Published by the Board of Governors, August 30, 

 191Q.) 



