84 



NATURE 



[December 24, 1891 



Nos. 5, 9, and 38, of the year 1889) ; and to the influence 

 of the wind and atmospheric pressure on the height of the 

 sea-surface {de Ingenimr, 1891, No. 39). 



The Annual Meteorological Report for Japan for 1889, re- 

 cently received in this country, shows that considerable attention 

 is given to the subject of meteorology, and contains the results 

 of the hourly observations or continuous records for Tokio, 

 together with observations taken simultaneously at the top and 

 base of Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan. The 

 observations on the mountain were made at a height of about 

 12,250 feet, during 38 days from August i to September 7, 1889. 

 Twice during this period the anemometer was broken by the 

 force of the storms. The position of this station — an extinct 

 volcano, near the Pacific — renders it very important for the in- 

 vestigation of the meteorology of high regions. On this account 

 it has several times been used for that purpose, but the observa- 

 tions have p reviously all been confined to a few consecutive days. 



On December 18, at 7.30 a. m., a violent earthquake shock 

 was felt at Corleone, an inland town in the province of Palermo, 

 Sicily. The first shock was followed by a pronounced undulatory 

 movement in the direction of north to south. 



Mr. G. a. Nussbaum, agent in London for the Societe 

 Generale des Telephones, Paris, informs us that he has lately 

 made a complete telephone installation at the Adelphi Hotel, 

 Liverpool. The installation comprises three floors, and on each 

 floor a switch board for seventy directions is fitted, the total 

 number of stations being 210. Visitors are thus enabled to 

 communicate with one another, but it seems somewhat doubtful 

 whether they will all be quite pleased to find this sort of thing 

 in their bedrooms. 



An interesting paper on electricity in relation to mining, by 

 Mr. Ernest Scott, was read before the Institution of Engineers 

 and Shipbuilders in Scotland on November 24, and is now 

 printed in the Institution's Transactions. About fifty mines 

 in the United Kingdom are already supplied with electricity, 

 and the new methods are not unlikely, he thinks, to effect " a 

 small revolution in the mining industry." Mines which have 

 been commercially unworkable owing to their depth, or the 

 great distance of the working face from the pit-head, may now 

 be turned into profitable undertakings. Mr. Scott notes that 

 electric power can claim the following advantages over steam, 

 hydraulic, and compressed air: (i) greater efficiency, and 

 therefore reduced first cost and expenses in working, than other 

 mediums of power transmission over considerable distances — 

 say above half a mile ; (2) the greater ease with which the com- 

 paratively small copper conductors can be manipulated and kept 

 in order as compared with piping, especially where there are 

 falling roofs or shifting floors ; (3) the facility with which 

 machines which require to be moved occasionally — e.g. coal- 

 cutters, pumps, &c. — can be advanced along the roadways as the 

 work proceeds, or taken about on bogey carriages from one 

 part of the workings to another. 



At the meeting of the Society of Arts on December 16, 

 General Pitt-Rivers delivered a capital lecture on typological 

 museums, as exemplified by the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford, 

 and his provincial museum at Farnham, Dorset. The lecture 

 is printed in the current number of the Society's Journal. By 

 "typological museums," General Pitt-Rivers means museums 

 in which objects are arranged in a way that brings out the 

 sequence of types. Museums of this kind are, he thinks, best 

 suited for educational purposes ; and he urged strongly that 

 many of them should be established. The museum he has 

 formed at Farnham has been greatly appreciated ; and he 

 believes that in some respects it is even better than the in- 

 stitution which bears his name at Oxford, because such series 

 NO. 11 56, VOL. 45] 



as it contains are more fully represented. Among the speakers 

 after the delivery of the lecture, was Dr. E. B. Tylor, who gave 

 a striking instance of the value of the principle on which the 

 objects in the Pitt-Rivers Museum are arranged. It often 

 happened, he said, that a series might be made purely theoreti- 

 cal, by putting in their order a number of specimens which re- 

 ferred to one another more or less distinctly, thus showing 

 where the curve of development had probably passed ; but yet 

 important links were often wanting, and the visitor went away 

 possessed with the desire to find those links and present them to 

 the Museum. Only a few weeks ago they thus acquired a much- 

 desired link in the history of stringed instruments. The late 

 Mr. Carl Engel suggested that the strung bow must have been 

 the origin of the whole series of stringed instruments, whether 

 pianoforte, violin, or guitar. This view was proved to be 

 correct when the instruments were arranged in a series, begin- 

 ning with a strung bow. The difficulty, however, was to get 

 the starting-point— an authentic bow capable of being used both 

 for hunting and twanging. One people who were described as 

 using the bow for this double purpose were the Damaras ; it 

 was said that the hunter shot game with his bow during the 

 day, and when he came home sat by the fire and amused him- 

 self by twanging the string. Three or four weeks ago Miss 

 Lloyd, who had spent some time in South Africa, sent them 

 one of these bows, and it now stood at the head of the series of 

 stringed instruments. 



The Indian Bureau of the U.S. Government propose to 

 have at the Chicago Exposition an interesting exhibit, which 

 will perhaps occupy two acres. Representatives of all the 

 leading Indian tribes, especially those of a distinctive type, 

 will be shown, together with their habitations, industries, &c. 

 The Navajos will display their skill in blanket-weaving ; the 

 Zuriis, who will live in a " hogan," as they call their dwellings, 

 will make pottery ; the Piutes are to make water-bottles ot 

 rushes. There will be a great collection of relics, weapons, 

 and utensils ; and it is intended that competent teachers shall 

 carry on their work in a model Indian school. Visitors will 

 have ample opportunities of comparing the aborigines in their 

 wild state with the civilized or semi-civilized Indians of to-day. 



According to official returns, lately reviewed by the Adelaide 

 Observer, the area of land devoted in South Australia to gardens 

 and orchards has advanced since 1885 from 10,775 acres to 15,362 

 acres, representing an increase of 50 per cent. , this area apparently 

 including that devoted to viticulture. The statistics show that 

 the orange, almond, walnut, chestnut, and olive are largely 

 cultivated. The number of almond trees is given as 134,038, 

 or 27,768 more than last year; olive trees, 59,118, or 11,694 

 more; and orange trees, 56,341, the latter producing 44,762 

 cases of fruit, or 3040 more. The increase in the manufacture of 

 olive oil is even more marked. The quantity made is returned at 

 6838 gallons, as against i486 in the previous year. Almond 

 trees are stated to have produced 33 11 cwt. of nuts, being an 

 increase of 1468 cwt. In 1890 walnut trees numbered 7644, 

 and chestnut trees 1128. The climate and flora of South 

 Australia are also well adapted to the needs of the bee-keeper. 

 According to the rough estimates of the bee-owners, 25,383 

 hives in the colony last year produced nearly 500 tons of honey, 

 of which 80,793 pounds were exported. 



Towards the end of last March the citizens of Sydney were 

 astonished by the sudden discoloration of the water in Port 

 Jackson. In the harbour the water presented in many places 

 the appearance of blood. This remarkable phenomenon, which 

 was soon found to be due to the presence of a minute organism, 

 has been made the subject of a paper, by Mr. Thomas White- 

 legge, in the Records of the Australian Museum (vol. i. No. 9). 

 On March 31, Mr. Whitelegge went to Dawe's Point, and got a 



