61 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[March, 1903. 



that month. The earliest appear to leave in small parties 

 eitlier alone or with other species, but those that follow- 

 late in April and in May leave the cast coast in great 

 flocks and in company with many other emigrants. There 

 arc also important emigrations on the west coast, and 

 cliiefly iu Scotland, which receives the Irish birds en route 

 for the north. This western passage proceeds throughout 

 April and lasts until mid-May, but no great general flights 

 ai'c witnessed. There is also muoh overland emigratioa 

 from western districts to the east coast performed through- 

 out Great Britain. 



Before proceeding to the coast for departure, Fieldfares 

 assemble and form flocks in the various districts in which 

 they have wintered, and are very noisy and restless for 

 several days before they finally quit their winter haunts. 



This species is extremely wary, and is less frequently 

 killed or captured at the lanterns of the light stations 

 thiin any of its congeners. 



Brebdino of the Eed-necked Phalaiiope in 

 Ireland. — An event of very great iuterest to students of 

 British bints is recorded by Mr. Edward Williams in the 

 Irifh Naturalist for February, 19U3 (pp. 41-45). Mr. 

 Williams proves beyond doubt that the iied-necked 

 Phalarope breeds and lias bred for some years at all 

 events in the west of Ireland. He thinks it best to keep 

 the exact locality secret, which is a very wise precaution, 

 since those who make the vain boast of having British- 

 taken eggs are usually most unscrupulous as to how they 

 obtain them. Except for one example shot in November, 

 1891, and a doubtfully authentic one iu 1902, the Ked- 

 necked Phalarope was unknown even to visit Ireland 

 until last July, when Mr. Williams received some specmiens 

 to stuff from a gentleman in the west of Ireland, who 

 wrote " The birds breed here, and have, according to my 

 keeper, done so for many years." In August the same 

 correspondent sent a chick as incontrovertible proof of 

 this fact, and wrote •' During my tramp through the 

 bog I counted seventeen (Eed-necked Phalaropes), 

 but there may have been many more ; the most of the 

 birds I saw were females. ... I am surprised that 

 these little chicks are able to survive their many enemies, 

 especially as there are a lot of Black-backed and other 

 Gulls on the bog." The Red-necked Phalarope breeds 

 chiefly in the arctic regions, of both the Old and the New- 

 world, but it still nests also in the Shetlands, Orkneys, 

 and Outer Hebrides, but in very greatly reduced numbers. 

 The present discovery of its breeding in Ireland is a most 

 interesting southward extension of its known breeding 

 range. Many ornithologists recognise that there is still 

 much to be discovered in Ireland, but comparatively few 

 have worked there, and it is to be hoped that this startling 

 discovery may be the cause of a closer observation of birds 

 iu Ireland. 



jptotCccs of Bodies. 



"Jena Glass and its Sciextifh axu Industrial 

 Applications.'' By Dr. H. Hovestadt. Tianslated and Edited 

 by Prof. J. D. Everett, F.RS., and Alice Everett. Pp. 419. 

 (ilacmillan.) los. net. — Ttis translation of Dr. Hovestadt's 

 history of the Jena glass industry, and the properties of Jena 

 class is of importance if only to show those unfamihar with the 

 German language what German patience and scientific system 

 has accomplished in one direction. In 1876 Abbe directed 

 attention to the demands of science for better optical glasses, 

 and discussed the requirements which should be satisfied. Five 

 years later, Schott, who was interested in glass making, com- 

 rcenced with him an investigation of the directions in which 

 improvements could be made, and, as the result of their labours, 

 the first trade catalogue of the Jena Glass Laboratory was issued 

 in 188G. This, however, was only the beginning of the industry. 



Experiments were still earned on, and, in addition to the six 

 usual elements of glass, twenty-eight new ones were introduced 

 by degrees in order to discover their effects. It was soon seen 

 that by the introduction of new elements variation of the 

 hitherto fixed relation between refraction and dispersion could 

 be obtained. Boric acid was found to lengthen the red end of 

 the spectrum relatively to the blue, while fluorine, potassium, 

 and sodium produced the oi)posite effect. So the work went 

 on, covering all the stages of manufacture until each one was 

 understood" and could be controlled. The first price list from 

 the Jena Glass Works contained forty-four optical glasses, of 

 which nineteen were of essentially new composition. In 1888 a 

 supplement was issued containing twenty-four additional glasses, 

 of which thirteen were new, and in Ls'.li another supplement con- 

 tained eight more glasses, six of them being new. From the 

 scientific side alone the results of these investigations are of 

 deep interest, and commercially they have been the means of 

 developing a most successful industry. In the volume under 

 notice the ])hj'sical and chemical properties of the various types 

 of Jena glass are discussed, and the scientific and industrial 

 applications indicated. The translators have done their work 

 admiraVjly, so that the text reads easily and not at all like a 

 translation from the German. Moreover, in several places the 

 argument has been simplified, and brief explanations have been 

 interpolated where considered necessary. The book can thus be 

 commended to the notice of opticians and students of optics 

 generally. 



•'A History of Hindu Chemistry." By Prof. PraphuUa 

 Chandra Ray, D.Sc. Vol. I. Pp. Ixxix. -|- ivi; 4- 41. (Williams 

 & Xorgate.) 12s. Ud. net. Illustrated. — There is a large amount 

 of very interesting matter in this book, which traces the history 

 of Hindu chemistry from the earliest times to themiiidle of the 

 sixteenth century a.d., with Sanskrit texts, variants, translation 

 and illustrations. A few references to alchemy occur in the 

 Atharva-veda, in which gold is regarded as the elixir of life, 

 while lead is considered as the dispeller of sorcery. In the 

 alchemy of the West, lead, as is well known, is associated not 

 with beneficent, but with gloomy influences. Prof. Ray recognises 

 four periods in the history of chemistry in India : they are (1) 

 the Ayurvdic Period, from the pre-Buddistic Era to about 

 SOU a.d. ; (-2) the Transitional Period, from about 800 a.d. to 

 about 1100 A.D. ; (3) the Tantric Period, from 1100 a.d. to about 

 1300 a.d. : (4) the latro-Chemical Period, from 1300 a.d. to 

 about 1.550 .\.D. He shows that in ancient India the useful arts 

 and sciences, as distinguished from mere handicrafts, were 

 cultivated by the higher classes. The priests then followed 

 various professions, but when the Brahmins reasserted their 

 supremacy on the decline or the expulsion of Buddhism all this 

 was changed. The caste system was estabUshed in a rigid form, and 

 a priestly class was set up, which discouraged the experimental 

 study of medicine and other sciences. The effect is graphically 

 described by Professor Ray. " The intellectual portion of the 

 community being thus withdrawn from active participation in 

 the arts, the how and /■hj of phenomena — the co-ordination of 

 cause and effect — were lost sight of, the spirit of inquiry 

 gradually died out among a nation naturally prone to speculation 

 and metaphysical subtleties, and India for once bade adieu to 

 experimental and inductive sciences.'' It will be evident from 

 this brief mention of a few points that Professor Raj's book is 

 an important contribution to scientific literature, and students 

 of the history of science will be glad that such an instructive 

 selection from the records of Hindu chemistry is now available 

 "Zittel's Text-Book or Pal.eontoloi;y." Translated by 

 C. R. Eastman and others. Vol. II. (Macmillan. 1902.) 

 Pp. viii. -1- 283. Illustrated. Price 10s. net. — ^lore than two 

 years have elapsed since the appearance of the first volume of 

 this translation (dealing with the Invertebrata >, but in spite of 

 the fact that during that period many important discoveries 

 and advances have been made in palaeontology, the text of the pre- 

 sent volume departs less widely from the origmal than wasthecase 

 with its predecessor. And it cannot be denied that, in the main, 

 this adherence to the original lines is an advantage, for it must be 

 confessed that some of the amendments made in the first volume 

 (notably in the case of the MoUusca) can hardly be regarded as 

 improvements. Nevertheless, there are instances where a 

 slavish adherence to the original plan is not to be commended ; 

 this being notably the case with regard to the classification of 

 the fishes, where Dr. Smith Woodward (who is responsible for 



