May 19, 1892] 



NATURE 



63 



This MS. has never been published. It is entitled "Libro de 

 lavidaque los Yndios antiguamente hazian, y supersticiones y 

 malos ritos que tenian y guardavan " (MSS. Ma^l., Class III., 

 Pal. II, Cod. 3). It treats of the costumes and religious rites 

 of the ancient Aztecs, and is full of coloured designs which Mrs. 

 Nuttall has had reproduced in facsimile by photographic litho- 

 graphy. It is her intention to publish this MS., at her own cost, 

 accompanied by a preface, an English translation of the text, and 

 illustrative notes. It will be dedicated to the approaching 

 Congress of Americanists, which will be held in Spain this 

 autumn to celebrate the fourth centenary of the discovery of 

 America, An edition of 200 copies will be issued, and held on 

 sale at the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology. 



An interesting paper on the uses and applications of aluminium 

 was read by Mr. G. L. Addenbrooke before the Society of Arts 

 on May II, and is printed in the current number of the Society's 

 Journal. Referring to the applicability of aluminium to 

 opera and field glasses, he said there was an example on the 

 table of a glass made in 1864, which had ever since been in 

 constant use. In 1870 the wheel of a carriage passed over it, 

 but it was afterwards straightened out and made usable. It has 

 made two voyages across the Atlantic, two across the Pacific, 

 and has had other shorter experiences of the sea air, besides 

 lying on one occasion for some time in salt water. Mr. Adden- 

 brooke has kept strips of aluminium for two or three weeks in 

 salt water, and has noted very little effect. 



Towards the end of last year — from November 21 to 

 December 5 — the members of the Victoria Field Naturalists' 

 Club made an excursion to the Australian chains of hills called 

 the Grampians. The excursion seems to have been remarkably 

 pleasant, but the scientific results did not quite come up to 

 the expectation. According to an account given in the Club's 

 Journal, the botanists were far and away the most successful. 

 A really good collection of plants of the district was obtained. 

 In bird life there was little observable that is not so elsewhere 

 nearer Melbourne ; neither was there any great variety of snakes 

 or lizards, and to the collectors of these, as also to the entomo- 

 logist, the excursion was especially disappointing. From the 

 well-known extensive variety of flowering shrubs in the Gram- 

 pians, coupled with the fact that several are peculiar to the 

 district, it was fully expected that at least a few clearly repre- 

 sentative Lepidoptera or Coleoptera would be secured, but not 

 a specimen of either family was seen that is not common in and 

 around Melbourne. 



Mr. E. H. Parker, the British Consul at Kiungchow, in 

 Hainan, a large island off the southern coast of China, mentions 

 a curious phenomenon in connection with the tides of that port. 

 The tides ipside the inner harbour, he says, require several years 

 of careful observation before they can be tabulated. It appears 

 certain, however, that there are always two tidal waves a day, 

 though one is so much more considerable than the other that 

 the effect is often practically that of one single tide in the 

 twenty-four hours. The easterly and westerly currents through 

 the straits are not necessarily connected with the rise and fall of 

 the water, either there or in port. The phenomenon of " slack 

 water " ( morte eau) is also observable every ten days or so at 

 Haiphong, and is probably owing to much the same causes as at 

 Hoihow. At Tourane in Tonquin, too, it is popularly thought 

 that there is usually but one tide within the twenty-four hours. 

 This tide is felt away up to the citadel of Quangnam. In the 

 Gulf of Tonquin the incoming tidal wave flows from the south, 

 a fact which perhaps accounts for the singular circumstance that 

 the westerly current in the Hainan Straits always sets for six- 

 teen hours. One at least of the tidal waves from the east which 

 pass Hoihow cannot get through the straits to Tonquin so soon 

 as that portion of the same wave which takes a circuitous course 

 by way of Annam. 



NO. II 77, VOL. 46] 



The Pacific Coast Fisheries of the United States appear to 

 be in a most flourishing condition. According to a recent census 

 bulletin, they employed 13,850 persons in various capacities in 

 the last federal census year ; 6,498,239 dollars were invested in 

 them, and the products were valued at 6,387,803 dollars. The 

 canning of salmon is the most important fishery industry in the 

 Pacific States. 



Sisal grass, according to a Mexican authority quoted in the 

 new number of the Board of Trade Journal, is likely to prove a 

 very important source of wealth for Mexico. It grows in long, 

 narrow blades, often to the length of four or five feet, and these, 

 when dry, curl up from side to side, forming a flexible string, 

 stronger than any cotton cord of the same size ever manufac- 

 tured. It is in great demand among florists and among 

 manufacturers of various kinds of grass goods ; and it is said to 

 be capable of being applied to many new uses. Ropes, cords, 

 lines of any description and any size may be manufactured of it, 

 and a ship's cable of sisal grass is one of the possibilities of the 

 future. It is almost impervious to the action of salt water, and 

 is not readily decayed or disintegrated by moisture and heat. 

 It takes its name from the port of Sisal, in Yucatan, through 

 which it was formerly exported, 



A PAPER on modern aerial navigation was read by Captain J. 

 D. Fullerton, R.E., before the Royal United Service Institution 

 on Friday last. His object was to show that the science of 

 aeronautics was based upon simple rules and common sense, and 

 not upon wild and vague theories opposed to all principles of 

 nature. He divided aerial navigation into two distinct branches : 

 (i) ballooning, or navigation by means of machines lighter than 

 air; and (2) aeration, or navigation by means of machines 

 heavier than the air. Proceeding to discuss the first branch, 

 the lecturer sketched the history of attempts at propelling 

 balloons. Describing the requirements of a proposed war balloon, 

 he said these were : (i) that it should be able to carry three or 

 four passengers, a supply of explosive shells, and a machine gun 

 or two ; (2) that it should be able to travel at the rate of about 

 30 miles an hour on a still day, which would enable it to keep 

 up with almost any warship afloat. In regard to aeration. 

 Captain Fullerton said the chief characteristics of this system 

 were that a large supporting surface, either in the form of wings 

 or in that of an aeroplane, was used to carry the weight ; that 

 the lifting or supporting power of this surface was dependent 

 upon its velocity and the angle of inclination which it made with 

 the horizon ; and that the horizontal resistance to motion de- 

 pended upon the velocity and angle of inclination in the same 

 manner. The great difficulty both in ballooning and aeration 

 was to get a sufficiently light motor. 



The first number of anew journal, called the Canal yournal, 

 has been issued. Its aim will be " to assist the cause of canals 

 and inland navigation generally." It promises to be of con- 

 siderable value and interest to the class of readers for whom it is 

 especially intended. 



The German publisher, Friedrich Brandstetter, announces 

 that he will issue in the course of the present year a second and 

 improved edition of Dr. J. J. Egli's "Nomina Geographica." 

 The number of explained names has been much more than 

 doubled. 



Further details concerning the nature and chemical behaviour 

 of acetyl fluoride, CH3COF, the new substance whose prepara- 

 tion and physical properties were described in our note of last 

 week (p. 40), are contributed by M. Meslans to the current 

 number of the Comptes rendus. It may be remembered that 

 this interesting substance was shown to be liquid at tem. 

 peratures below ig^'S, and gaseous at temperatures superior to 

 this, its temperature of ebullition, both the liquid and the 



