Z70 



NA TURE 



[October 12, 1893 



A LARGE number of papers on various branches of anthro- 

 pology were discussed at the International Congress of Anthro- 

 pology, which met at Chicago from August 28 to September 2. 

 Dr. D. G. Brinton opened the session with an address on " The 

 Nation as an Element in Anthropology. " The second day's 

 meeting was devoted to Archaeology, principally American. On 

 the third day, devoted to Ethnology, Dr. Brinton read a paper 

 " On the Alleged Evidences of Ancient Contact between 

 America and other Continents," in which he categorically 

 denied that "any language, art, religion, myth, institution, 

 symbol, or physical peculiarity of the American aborigines 

 could be traced to a foreign source." Folk-lore was the subject 

 assigned to the fourth day's proceedings, Religions to the fifth, 

 and Linguistics to the sixth. Themeetings were well attended, 

 and the presence of foreign delegates showed that the Congress 

 was truly an international one. 



At the Meteorological Congress held at Chicago in August 

 last, as many as 130 papers were read " outlining the progress 

 and summarising the present state of our knowledge of the 

 subjects treated." In Section A, presided over by Prof. C. A. 

 Scholt and Mr. H. H. Clayton, the papers were devoted to 

 instruments and methods of observation, especially methods of 

 observing in the upper air. Prof. Cleveland Abbe was chairman 

 of Section B, which mostly dealt with questions of meteorological 

 dynamics, much attention being also given to the study of 

 thunderstorm phenomena in various countries. Section C, of 

 which Prof. F. E. Nipher was chairman, comprised a series of 

 sketches of the climate of different portions of the globe. 

 Section D, in charge of Major II. H. C. Diinwoody, was devoted 

 to the discussion of the relation of the various climatic elements 

 to plant and animal life. Section E, under Lieut. W. H. 

 Beehler, dealt with questions relating to marine meteorology, 

 pxrticularly to ocean storms and their prediction, methods of 

 observation at sea, and international co-operation. Prof. Charles 

 Carpmael and Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch presided over Section F, 

 which comprised papers relating to the improvement of weather 

 services, and especially to the progress of weather forecasting. 

 Prof. F. H. Bigelow guided Section G, which dealt with 

 problem? of atmospheric electricity and terrestrial magnetism 

 and their cosmical relations. Section H (Prof. Thomas Rassell) 

 ■ had to do with rivers and the predic. ion of floods. Section I, 

 under Oliver L. Fassig, was devoted to historical papers and to 

 bibliography, with special reference to the history of meteorology 

 in the United States. Preparations have be?n made for print- 

 ing all the papers, and it is hoped that the work will be com- 

 pleted at an early date. 



The weather over our islands has recently been much dis- 

 turbed by the passage of atmospheric depressions across the 

 country ; rainfall has been general in all parts, while thunder 

 and lightning have frequently occurred, especially over the 

 western and southern parts of the kingdom. On Sunday, the 

 8th inst., three-quarters of an inch of rain fell in the north of 

 Scotland, and on the following day a depression in the south 

 caused a heavy downpour in that part of the country ; the fall 

 measured in the neighbourhood of London on Tuesday morning 

 amounted to an inch .and a quarter. The excess above the 

 average in all the western and southern parts of England during 

 the week ended the 7lh inst. was very large, amounting to an 

 inch in the south-western district. The greatest deficiency in 

 the aggregate amount since the beginning of the year was then 8 7 

 inches in the west of Scotland, while in the south of Ireland, and 

 the midland counties of England, the deficiency exceeded 6 

 inches. 



We have received a copy of the Osservazioni meteorologiche 

 • made in the year 1892 at the Turin Observatory, containing 

 observations taken three times daily, with daily and monthly 



NO. 1250, VOL. 48] 



means, and the differences from the normal values, calculated 

 by Dr. G. B. Rizzo, assistant at the Observatory. We are 

 indebted to the Italians for some of the earliest and best series 

 of observations ; those for Bologna began as early as 1723, and 

 M. Toaldo, the first director of the Padua Observatory, early 

 established a system of more than sixty stations, the results of 

 which were published by M. Schouw, in Copenhagen, in 1839. 

 At the Turin Observatory observations were begun in 1753 

 (see Nature, June i, 1893, p. 108), and for many years past 

 the results have been regularly published each year. The cost of 

 the establishment is now borne partly by the University, and 

 partly by the town of Turin. 



Forest-Inspector R. SchCtte reprints, from the A:^ii- 

 cultural Jotiynal for West Prussia, an elaborate account of the 

 district known as the Tucheler Haide, the largest continuous 

 forest district of Western Prussia, extending over an area of 

 thirty-five square miles. It is characterised by great and sudden 

 changes of temperature. The winter minimum generally falls 

 below -20° R. Snow has fallen on May 19, followed by a tem- 

 perature of 21° R. on the 26th, and this again by night frosts on 

 the first and third of June. Prehistoric remains are found 

 belonging to the later stone and to the bronze ages. The inhabit- 

 ants are occupied almost entirely with forestry and agriculture. 

 Polish is still the prevalent language, though German is now 

 generally understood. 



Although one of the most recent organisations of its kind, 

 the Geological Survey of Russia has already taken high rank 

 amongst the surveys of Europe ; the director is A, Karpinsky. 

 The survey was commenced in 1882, and has published thiiteen 

 4to volumes of Memoirs and eleven 8vo volumes of Bulletins. 

 The maps, on the scale of I : 420,000, are issued with the 

 Memoirs. An alditional annual publication is the Bibliography 

 of Russian Geology from 1885 onwards, which is edited by S- 

 Nikitin. This gives abstracts in Russian and French of all 

 publications relating to the geology of Russia. Although the 

 detailed survey of this vast country is not yet sufficiently ad- 

 vanced for the publication of all the large scale maps, the sur- 

 veyors have now accumulated enough material to warrant the 

 issue of a general map on the scxle of I : 2,520,000. This has 

 recently appeared in six sheets, with brief explanatory text in 

 two editions— Russian and French. (On the title-page of the 

 French edition the scale of the map is erroneously given as 

 I : 520,000.) Fuller explanations of various districts and 

 formations will be issued subsequently. Some of the infor- 

 mation here published was supplied by S. Nikitin for the 

 geological map of Europe issued by Prof. Prestwich in vol. ii. 

 of his "Geology." The map now issued is a beautiful example o{ 

 cartography ; it is not overloaded with detail, but the streams, 

 railways, and maia roads are clearly indicated. The names of 

 places, rivers, &c., are printed in Russian, but to the descrip- 

 tions of geological formations in the index a translation in 

 French is added. The following statement of subdivisions in- 

 dicated on the mxp will give some idea of the amount of 

 geological information supplied .—5 Quaternary, 5 Tertiary, i 

 Cretaceous, i Volgian, 3 Jurassic, 4 Triassic, 1 Permian, 1 

 Permo-Carboniferous, 2 Carboniferous, 5 Devonian, 2 Silurian, 

 I Cambrian, i Crystalline Schists, i Gneiss, Granite, &c., S 

 Volcanic Rocks, Tuffs and Serpentine. In addition to these 

 well-recognised rock -groups extra tablets and colours are girea 

 for beds between the Permian and Trias occurring in some dis- 

 tricts and not yet understood ; the Devonian and Carboniferous, 

 not separated, of the Transcaucasus ; the Palteozoic rock, of 

 the Caucasus ; and for the ancient sandstones, &c., of Volhynie. 

 The interesting group of Volgian beds, linking together the 

 Cretaceous and Jurassic, are developed around Moscow, in 

 Simbirsk and Kalouga ; they have recently been discovered in 



