224 



NATURE 



[July 7, 1898 



masses, many of an uniform size, separated by the above- 

 mentioned clear, transparent channels. 



The general appearance of this transverse' section inclined one 

 to regard the stone as built up of a number of conical spicules, 

 with their vertices pointing towards the vertex of the stone. 



This was confirmed by the fact that one of the stones, whilst 

 melting, was squeezed between the thumb and finger, and 

 immediately fell apart into three distinct spicules. 



Samuel N. Player, 



126 Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester. 



Dendritic Patterns caused by Evaporation. 



I WAS glad to see the note (with illustrations) published in 

 Nature (June 23) on this subject. Among the specimens 

 which I did not mention in my paper are two microscope slides 

 similar to those described by Prof. G. H. Bryan. They are 

 botanical slides from the collection in my laboratory at Bedford 

 College, and as they were bought specimens, I was not certain 

 that they had been mounted in glycerine jelly, although I 

 believed it was probably the medium used. I therefore laid 

 them aside for future work, and am now pleased to find the 

 probability confirmed. I wished also to make further experi- 

 ments on the relation of the structure to the included specimen. 



I should like to point out, however, that although the medium 

 does not contain recognisable particles in suspension, we may 

 look upon the jelly as representing material in an extremely fine 

 state of division, as it were, so that the principle of 'formation 

 may be similar to that in the other slides described. 



July I. Catherine A. Raisin. 



Solar Halo of July 3. 



In case it may interest your readers, I write to say that there 

 has been a magnificent halo round the sun, lasting almost with- 

 out interruption from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 



It varied in intensity during the time of its visibility, and also 

 in colour. When at its best it was distinctly bluish at its outer 

 margin, shading through yellow to red ; the more decidedly 

 green and pink tints of the rainbow seemed to be wanting. 

 But the most conspicuous feature of the apparition was the 

 comparative darkness of the sky within the ring. The halo 

 appeared as if fringing a dark storm-cloud ; but that this was not 

 really the case, was evident from the sun's appearance. 



All day, in fact for several days past, the sky has been ex- 

 ceptionally much decorated with fantastic cirrus clouds, and 

 this afternoon, at the time of the halo, veils of cirrus concealed 

 almost all the blue; while a lower layer of cumulus clouds 

 drifted up from the west and gradually obscured the sun, halo 

 and all, for a time. 



I do not know if the halo formed a complete ring round the 

 sun, as trees partly concealed my view ; but I was able to trace 

 it for fully three-quarters of its circumference. 



Bradfield, Reading, July 3. Catharine O. Stevens. 



A Monochromatic Rainbow, 



A curious rainbow was observed here on Friday evening 

 last. Heavy rain falling in a dark southern sky formed the 

 lower portion of one limb of a bow, extending about 10° 

 directly towards the zenith. The red band alone was visible, 

 and lasted after sunset (which occurred at 8.40 for our horizon, 

 and some ten minutes earlier below the Howgill Fells), for a 

 full quarter of an hour. A. J. K, Martyn. 



Sedbergh, July 3. 



CAST METAL WORK FROM BENIN. 

 A MONG the spoils, interesting to ethnologists, brought 

 ■^*- back from Benin by the punitive expedition under 

 Admiral Rawson, was a large number of elaborately 

 carved elephant's tusks, some of them of remarkable length ; 

 various smaller objects in ivory ; profusely ornamented 

 wooden panels forming doors and looking-glass frames, 

 and hundreds of objects of great multiplicity of design 

 cast in metal, both in the round and in high relief. The 

 wonderful technical skill displayed in the construction 

 of the metal objects, their lavish ornamentation, much 

 NO. 1497, VOL. 58] 



of which is deeply undercut, and in nearly every case 

 the high artistic excellence of the completed subject, 

 have been a surprise and a puzzle to all students of 

 West African ethnology. If they have now begun to 

 recover from their surprise that work of such excellence, 

 indicating skill born of long experience, should have 

 come to light from among so barbarous a race, and that 

 no whisper of its existence should have reached Europe, 

 notwithstanding its great abundance (as attested by the 

 numerous pieces exposed in London and provincial 

 auction rooms, in addition to the hundreds of plaques 

 and figures sent to the British Museum) ; there has, at 

 all events, been as yet no elucidation of the mysteries — - 

 who were its manufacturers, where and when was it 

 executed, and whence did they derive the knowledge of 

 this art ? 



Although the city has been described as being, in the 

 middle of the seventeenth century, " of greater civility 

 than to be expected among such Barbarous People," 

 none of the travellers who, within the past two or three 

 hundred years, have left accounts of their visits to Benin, 

 have described this metal work as a special feature of 

 interest there. If the amount that has already found 

 its way to Europe had been displayed in the king's or 

 chiefs' houses, or in their public buildings, it could not 

 surely have failed to attract attention and remark. The 

 artificers and their appliances for the manufacture of 

 works, on so large a scale, could hardly also, one would 

 suppose, escape notice, or be passed over in silence, if 

 observed. More than one traveller mentions seeing 

 blacksmiths at work and turning out good workmanship, 

 " considering the appliances they have " ; but no foundry 

 work or modellers in clay or wax are referred to. 



Tusk-holders in the form of human-headed vases 

 have certainly been alluded to ; and the nearest approach 

 to a description of the plaques is the "melted copper 

 whereon are Ingraven their Warlike Deeds and Battels, 

 kept with exceeding curiosity," mentioned in Ogilby's 

 collection of African travels. Few, however, if any, of 

 the plaques brought to Europe display warlike deeds 

 or battle scenes. The accompanying illustrations are 

 taken from examples lately acquired by the City of Liver- 

 pool, and described by Dr. Forbes in vol. i. No. 2 of the 

 Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums — a recently estab- 

 lished periodical, intended to make known the contents 

 of the Derby (or Zoological) and the Mayer (or Ethno- 

 logical) Museums, and the results of the investigations 

 carried on in the laboratories attached to them. 



Fig, I represents a small plaque, used as a lid of a 

 box, or perhaps as a pendant, in which the king or some 

 high personage is shown, supported by two slaves ; 

 while in Fig. 2, is illustrated one of the human-headed 

 vases which sat on the altar in the king's prin- 

 cipal Juju-house, supporting a carved elephant tusk. 

 The head-dress of this figure is a network of coral 

 strings with pendants, set off on both sides by rosettes 

 of larger beads of a different sort. Encircling the neck 

 as high as the lower lips are thirty-one coral ropes, 

 forming the collar, which is the insignia of a high 

 dignitary. 



On the face may be observed his tribal marks, con- 

 sisting of three raised weals over the outer corners of 

 each eye, and of two long perpendicular lines running 

 down the front of the forehead above each inner corner. 

 These last probably represented ordinary tattoo marks 

 on the brow, as they are represented by bands of iron, 

 ingeniously let into the metal during the casting. In 

 the same way the pupils of the eye are formed by round 

 discs of iron. The whole figure has been very carefully 

 chiselled over ; and when it was newly finished, there is 

 little doubt that the steel-blue tattoo lines and the 

 glistening pupils gave to the face and eyes a very life- 

 like appearance. 



The projecting circular flange of the base has depicted 



