i6o 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[July, 1904. 



coronal spectrum by Campbell in i8g8, and Perrine in igoi' 

 indicate that the principal part of the coronal light is not 

 reflected sunlight. Many are disposed to believe the main 

 source to be the incandescence of particles due to the proximity 

 of the hot photosphere, but so far as the writer is aware the 

 spectroscopic evidence is equally in accord with the hypothesis 

 of a glow electrical discharge. An example of such a discharge 

 is found in the aurora of the terrestrial atmosphere, but while 

 we can hardly deny the possibility of its existence in the case 

 of the sun, the above observations do not seem to the writer to 

 be conclusive on the point." It seems of the highest importance 

 that bolometric observations should not be neglected in the 

 eclipse of iqoj. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL. 



By W. V. PvcRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S., M.H.O.L'., &c. 



Breeding of the White Stork a.t Kevv. 



Thl pair of white storks {Ciiviiia atlni] at the Koyal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew, have again succeeded in hatching out nestlings, 

 this being the third successive year. In igo2, five eggs were 

 laid, but from those only three proved fertile, and only one 

 nestling was ultimately reared. Last year torrents of rain put 

 a speedy end to the domestic bliss of these interesting captives, 

 the voung being drowned in the nest. To avoid a similar 

 catastrophe this year, a roof lias been erected above the nest, 

 which stands on a mound between the trunks of two large 

 trees. In spite of every care, however, on the part of the 

 keepers, and the assiduous attention of the parents, only one 

 of the four birds hatched out now remains. This, it is to be 

 hoped, will survive. 



* * » 



Guinea-Fowl in a R^oma.n Dust-he&p. 



A find of considerable interest and importance has just been 

 made at Silchester in the course of the excavations being made 

 there by archaeologists. The find in question was the tarso- 

 metatarsus of a guinea-fowl, which had recently been recovered 

 from a Roman kitchen midden. That this bird was highly 

 prized we may gather from the fact that around the leg, during 

 the bird's lifetime, a bronze ring had been placed, and the 

 remains of this, much corroded, encircled the bone when 

 brought to the Natural History Museum for identification. 



The value of this discovery lies in the fact that though the 

 guinea-fowl is believed to have been originally introduced l)y 

 the Romans, no similar remains of this bird have hitherto been 

 found in this country. That our domesticated guinea-fowls of 

 to-day are the descendants of those introduced l>y the Romans 

 is hardly probable, though at what date they were re-introduced 

 into our islands, or even into Europe, is unknown. 



* * * 



Hybrid PheasaLnts. 



The remarkably fine series of hybrid pheasants in the 

 collection of the Duke of Bedford was exhibited by Dr. 

 Giinther at the meeting of the Zoological Society on June g. 

 All had been killed, at various times, in the coverts at 

 W'oburn, and were the results of crosses between the many 

 different species which have from time to time been liberated 

 there. Some of these birds were of great beauty, but un- 

 fortunately they presented characters so subtly blended as to 

 make it impossible to do more than hazard a guess at their 

 parentage. That results of considerable scientific value 

 would accrue from a series of properly conducted experi- 

 ments made with a view to reproducing the crosses which 

 these birds suggest, there can be no doubt. It is with a 

 view to stimulate some such experiments that we now bring 

 this matter before those of our readers who have the necessary 

 space and material at their command. 



Mr. J. L. Bonhote, who is now engaged in a series of ex- 

 tremely valuable experiments in the hybridization of ducks, 

 in commenting on this exhibition, remarked that, judging from 

 his experience, hybridization tended to reduce vigour, and 

 that hybrids were either markedly inon-, or conspicuously 

 /«s, ornamented than their parents. Further, he insisted that 

 the less coloured birds were the more fertile, and the more 



coloured less fertile. As a word of warning in determining 

 the origin of wild hybrids, he remarked that hybrids tend to 

 produce the characters of species which were not the parents. 



',i '.r 7f 



The Eggs of Darwin's R^hea. 



The Hon. Walter Rothschild exhil)ited at the Ornithologists' 

 Club on Wednesday, June 15, the first eggs of Darwin's Rhea 

 laid in this country. They were laid in Tring Park, and were, 

 he remarked, relatively larger than those of the Common 

 Rhea, though the latter is much the larger bird. When freshly 

 laid they were of a bright green colour, but rapidly faded to a 

 parchment hue. In their green colour and more polished 

 surface they further differ from the eggs of Rhea Americana. 



* * * 



Twite Breeding in North Devon, 



Mr. Pearson exhibited at the meeting just referred to the 

 nest and eggs of the Twite {Linoln iiiontium). This nest was 

 found on the ground under a low bush on May 5. The 

 parents were not taken, but were watched within 20 yards of 

 the nest. 



* -X- * 



Yel ow-legged Herring Gull at Dover. 



Mr. C. N. Rothschild, at this meeting of the Club, announced 

 the fact that he had seen what he had no doubt was the 

 yellow-legged Herring Gull (Lanis ccichiiiiuuis) flying in Dover 

 Harbour on April 18. The conspicuous light yellow legs of 

 this bird were plainly seen. 



PHYSICAL. 



An Apparatus for Preventing 

 Sea-Sickness. 



An ingenious apparatus has just been brought out in Ham- 

 burg, Germany, by Mr. O. Schlick, a naval engineer. This 

 apparatus is designed both to augment largely the period of 

 oscillation of the rolling movement of a ship and to diminish 

 at the same time the amplitude of oscillation, both eft'ects 

 being based on the gryoscopic action of a fly wheel installed 

 on board and performing a rapid rotation. The vertical axis 

 of the apparatus is enabled to perform a pendulating move- 

 ment in the central plane of the ship. The latter, on account 

 of the rapid continuous oscillations of the wheel, is rendered 

 insensitive to the effect of wave-motion, so as to eliminate 

 practically any rolling movement. As the effect exerted by 

 the device is rather energetic even with the smallest lateral 

 oscillations of the ship, there will be no propagation of the 

 motion. Thus the production of any strong balancing move- 

 ment will be avoided, in contradistinction to the effects ob- 

 served in the ease of drift keels, which are not brought to 

 bear before the rolling movements have assumed a high 

 intensity. As regards the underlying principle of the appara- 

 tus, it should be remembered that a rotating body will oppose 

 to any inclination of its axis a resistance the higher as the 

 rotation is more rapid, and the weight of the body more con- 

 siderable. As the forces producing the rolling movement of 

 a sjiip need not be of an excessive intensity (in fact it is well 

 known that 20 to 25 men running in proper time from one 

 side of the deck of a large steamer to the other will produce 

 rather considerable rolling movements of the ship), the weight 

 of the apparatus need not eitlier be very high. Mr. Schlick 

 calculates that in the case of a ship 6000 tons in weight, a 

 lo-ton fly wheel, 4 m. in diameter, will be quite sufficient. 

 There will therefore be no diificulty in using the Schlick ap- 

 paratus on ships of moderate dimensions, such as, for instance, 

 cross-Channel steamers, where they will largely contribute to 

 augmenting the comfort of the passengers. 

 * * * 



On Wireless Telephony by means of 

 Hertzian Waves. 



In a recent issue of L<( Kncygia EUclricii, Madrid (May 25, 

 11J04), Mr. G. J. de Guillen Garcia records some interesting 

 experiments made by him, iu conjunction with his son. In 



