488 



NATURE 



[September i6, 1897 



thus the neolithic technique was arrived at and perfected. 

 Certainly some chipped tools would be worn smooth by use ; 

 and if these proved more useful, the actual process would be 

 definitely repeated. In early Paleolithic times man made an 

 important conquest and captured fire, which he kept and fed 

 to protect himself from wild animals and from cold. The 

 domestication of fire was the beginning of the conquest of 

 nature. Later a tacit understanding arose between primitive man 

 and the dog. Mr. Gushing gave a demonstration on some of the 

 early stages of stone implement-making in illustration of his paper. 



Several lantern demonstrations were given in the afternoons, 

 among which may be noted the following : — " The Lake-Village 

 of Glastonbury and its Place among the Lake-Dwellings of 

 Europe," by Dr. R. Munro ; '• Some Old-World Harvest 

 Customs," by F. T. Elworthy ; "The Evolution of the Cart and 

 Irish Car," by Prof. A. C. Haddon ; " The Kafirs of Kafiristan,' 

 by Sir George Robertson ; and " The iMangyans and Tagbanuas 

 of the Philippine Islands," by Prof. Dean C. Worcester. 



The sectional meeting was very successful, and it was a great 

 pleasure to the British anthropologists to meet those of their 

 Canadian and American colleagues who attended the meeting. 

 It was a memorable occasion for the interchange of cordial 

 friendship and valuable information. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The current nuYnber of the Chemical News (September lo) 

 is devoted to descriptions of courses in chemistry at British Uni- 

 versities and Colleges. In a brief introduction to this informa- 

 tion, reference is made to " the recognised superiority of German 

 chemists in the quantity of research yearly executed," and atten- 

 tion is called to a pamphlet in which Prof. Dr. F. Fischer recom- 

 mends that the position in technical chemistry which Germany 

 occupies in comparison with other countries be further extended 

 and secured. It appears that there are in Germany four thousand 

 technical chemists, exclusive of about two hundred others, who 

 study chemistry from a purely scientific point of view. 



The 1897-98 Programme of Technological Examinations 

 conducted by the City and Guilds of London Institute, includ- 

 ing regulations for the registration and inspection of classes in 

 technology and manual training, has just come to hand. Year 

 by year, we are glad to remark, this publication increases in 

 size and value. Syllabuses are given of the sixty-seven techno- 

 logical subjects in which the Institute holds annual examina- 

 tions, and helpful lists of works of reference are appended to 

 them. The questions set in this year's examinations are all 

 .printed in the Programme, and they show that the Institute is 

 working wisely and well for the advancement of technical 

 education. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, July. — 

 Newton's theory of kinetics, by W. H. Macaulay, is a dis- 

 cussion of Newton's Scholium to the " definitiones " in the 

 " Principia." Galileo, in his study of the motions of falling 

 bodies and projectiles relative to the earth, though he eliminated 

 the effects of friction and of the resistance of the air, did not 

 introduce any correction involving the earth's rotation. Mr. 

 Macaulay, after referring to Newton's letter to Hooke (Ball, 

 " Essay on Newton's Principia," p. 142), summarises the chief 

 points laid down in Newton's first and second chapters, and 

 notices how difficult Newton's task was, and attempts to clear 

 away some of the difficulties. — The decomposition of modular 

 systems of rank n in n variables is a paper presented by Prof. 

 E. H. Moore to the Chicago section of the American Mathe- 

 matical Society. — An interesting note upon the biquadratic, 

 entitled " On a solution of the biquadratic which combines the 

 methods of Descartes and Euler," by Dr. McClintock, read at 

 the May meeting of the Society, employs a resolution which is 

 new to us. — Dr. L. E. Dickson contributes a paper on higher 

 irreducible congruences, which in part runs on parallel lines 

 with the "beautiful" developments of Serret (" Algebre 

 Superieure"), and in part is quite independent and so is worked 

 out in some detail. — Prof. Van Vleck gives an extended review 

 of Dr. Max Stegemann's editions of Kiepert's "Grundriss der 

 Differential- und Integral-Rechnung " (the former in its seventh 

 and the latter in its sixth edition). The work, with some slight 

 blemishes, appears to be a most valuable work of reference, and 

 it is to be hoped that its good points may be made available to 



NO. 1455. VOL. 56] 



English students. — A short notice, by Dr. Stabler, follows of 

 A. Arnaudeau's " Projet de Table de Triangulaires de I a 

 100,000." E. de Joncourt's tables (published at the Hague in 

 1762) go from « - I to « = 20,000 in the formula ^//(w -t- I). 

 The present tables "are a valuable and interesting addition to 

 the tables now in existence for facilitating multiplication," and 

 are "a great advance over any previously published table of 

 triangular numbers." — Notes, a long list of new jmblications, 

 list of papers read before the Society (giving places of publica- 

 tion of the same), and index to the volume close the number. 



In the Journal of Botany for August, Messrs. W. and G. S. 

 West complete their revision of Welwitsch's "African Fresh- 

 water Alga," a collection which has proved remarkably rich in 

 new forms, including a very large number of new species and 

 not a few new genera. The collection comprises 300 species 

 distributed over 77 genera. — In the number for September, Mr. 

 F. Townsend commends a monograph of the British species of 

 Euphrasia, founded on Wettstein's classical monograph of the 

 genus. — Mr. J. Lloyd Williams records the interesting discovery 

 that the antherozoids or pollinoids of Dictyota and Taonia are 

 not, as has hitherto been supposed, immotile, but are provided 

 with cilia and endowed with motion. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 6.— M. A. Chatin in tho 

 chair. — On the number and symmetry of the fibro- vascular 

 bundles as a measure of the organic perfection of vegetable 

 species, by M. Ad. Chatin. This paper treats of the perigynou> 

 Gamopetaht, the hypogynous Gamopetahv or Corollijlora having 

 being considered in a previous communication. — On Bessel's 

 functions 0"(ar) and S"(ar), by M. L. Crelier. — On the hypo- 

 cycloid with three cusps, by M. Paul Serret. — The magnetic 

 deviation of the kathode rays and X-rays, by M. G. de Met/. 

 The author continues his study of the magnetic deviation of these 

 rays and, under different experimental conditions, obtains results 

 similar to those described in a preceding note. — Influence of the 

 X-rays on the luminosity of gases, by M. A. de Hemptinnc. 

 The action of electric vibrations causes gases to become luminou.s 

 at a low pressure, but if the gas is, at the same time, submitted 

 I to the influence of the X-rays the luminosity appears at con- 

 j siderably higher pressures. Numbers are given for hydrogen 

 j and oxygen gases, and for a few organic compounds. — The com- 

 position of potatoes, by M. Ballard. Analyses of a number of 

 \ varieties are given. The amount of water is found to be closely 

 connected with the nature of the soil, and to be independent ot 

 the variety and the size of the tuber. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



A System of Medicine. By F. W. T 465 



Anthropology versus Etymology 466 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Bateman : " The Vivarium." — R. L 467 



" Geological Survey of Canada " 467 



Sonnenschein :" A Bibliography of Science " . . . . 46S 

 Letters to the Editor: — 



Zeeman's Phenomenon. — Prof. Geo. Fras. Fitz- 

 gerald, F.R.S 46S 



Coccoliths in our Coastal Waters. {Illustrated.) — 



Dr. J. Joly, F.R.S., and Dr. H. H. Dixon . . 468 



A Bright Meteor.— Prof. J. P. O'Reilly 469 



The Centipede- Whale.— W. F. Sinclair 470 



Notes 470 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Disintegration of Comets 47 J 



Forecast of the November Meteor Shower 473 



The Relationship of Physiology, Pharmacology, 

 Pathology, and Practical Medicine. By Dr. T. 



Lauder Brunton, F.R.S 473 



i The British Association. By Prof. W. A. Herdman, 



F.R.S. 475 



i Section K. — Botany. — Opening Address by Prof. H. 



! Marshall Ward, F.R.S., President of the Section. 



I (Concluded.) 476 



1 Geology at the British Association 484 



I Anthropology at the British Association 480 



I University and Educational Intelligence 48S 



I Scientific Serials . 41^"^ 



Societies and Academies 4SS 



