June, 1906.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



463 



that is, double the period of 52 years, which is the direct 

 result of the application of the dcsin^nation of days in accord- 

 ance with the system of the 20 charnctcrs and the 13 digits 

 to the solar year of 36:^ days. In like manner the revolu- 

 tion of Mercury around the ?im, which is completed in 115 

 days, .'eems to be broug^ht into connection with the period 

 of 20 by 13 days ; for 104 of these revolutions produce the 

 number 11,960, which is also forty-six times the period of 

 20 by 13 days ; and this number clearly forms the basis of 

 other [lages in the Dresden manuscript. .Unfortunately, it 

 is almost hopeless to look for an exact chronoloj;;y in the 

 native manuscripis or moniunents, but several acute scholars 

 are working' hard at these difiicult glyphs, and the publica- 

 tion of this book will enable others to follow iheir labours 

 willi Ljrcater ease. 



Halda Texts and Myths, Skldegate Dialect. Recorded by 

 John K. .Swanton. Ibid. Bulletin 29, Washington, 1905. A 

 very cor;siderable number of folk-talcs have already been 

 collected in North America, but Prof. W. H. Holmes, the 

 chief of the Bureau of .American Ethnology, in succession to 

 the late .\i,ajor Powell, rightlv considers that the whole of it 

 should be collected and published, as they form a very im- 

 portant clement in the ethnological study of a people, especi- 

 ally when, as in this case, the tales are given as literally as 

 possible. Many of the talcs are printed also in the vernacu- 

 lar, and thus they have a |)hilological value in addition to 

 the insight they give into the religious ideas of the people. 

 One is impressed by these tales bv the tremendous hold 

 spiritual power has over the imagination of these as of 

 most Glher North .American peojiles, for success in life is 

 attributed to it in the same manner that the Mel.anesians 

 regard all good fortune as the result of Mana, a term which 

 an .American would translate as " medicine." Incident.-illy 

 these tal(!s throw light upon (he socird and daily life of ihe 

 natives. 



QEOLOQY. 



The Founders of Geology, by .Sir .Archibald Geikie, F.R.S. 

 (M.icniillan and Co., |i]). 4X6, los. net). — \Vc are glad to see 

 this work in a second edition, covering as it does ground 

 which to many is as a sealed book. Geology becomes the 

 more interesting when one studies the work of pioneers of 

 the science, and the obstacles which they had to overcome. 

 Opportunity has been taken to considerably extend the 

 scope of the edition of 1807, and to give a sketch of the 

 progress of geological ideas from the times of Ancient 

 Greece onwards. Naturally, the greater part of the book is 

 taken up with the lives of leaders of Ihe 19th century, in 

 the halcyon days of the science, whilst in the period ap- 

 proximating t.T the present day the men famous in geologi- 

 cal discovery arc so numerous that the narrative has of 

 necessity to be confined to the mention of but a few. Per- 

 haps contemporary geologists will form Ihe subject of 

 another volume, and among Ihe first to lie menlioned in 

 such a connection will be llial of the aiilhor. 



F.. A. M. 

 METEOROLOCiY. 



Meteorology in Mysore for 1904, being Ihe results of ob- 

 servations at Bang.nlore, Mysore, Hassan, and C'hitaldrug. 

 Twelfth .Annual Report.- This publication, by John Cook, 

 M..A., F.R..S.E., &c., director of meteorology in Mysore, is 

 worthy of the " Model .State," containing as it does in 

 addition to the ordinary features associaletl with an annual 

 meteorological volume, a complete and comparative 

 summary for the whole 12 years of the eslablislinient, which 

 is also a model in itself, the four stations, at the corners of 

 a not quite regular quadrilaleral, having been founded 

 successively in a little more than a year (B.ang.alore observ.a- 

 tions commencing .\i)ril r, iSijj, and Mysore, M.av 10, i.^ij.O, 

 and being provided with similar st.-iffs and equipment, so 

 th.al the work is rc.ailily comparable, l^or Government |Hir- 

 po^^es the formula adofjied to give daily mean temperature is 

 apparently considered insulTicient, a second formula called 

 the Government of India mean being also employed for 

 olllcial purposes. India, however, is loo l.arge a district for 

 an cmiiirical formula lo be of universal application, and it is 

 obviously not quite right for Mysore. It would seem better 

 to determine Ihe daily variation for every district separatelv, 

 if not for every observatory, as is doiic for some I?ritish 

 ■■tations, for instance, and use that instead of the Govern- 

 ment formula. Some inlcresling features from our insular 



point of view may be noted in connection with the actual 

 results. The extreme range of the barometer for the year 

 is only about half-an-inch, but as all the stations are high 

 (2,400 ft. to 3,100 ft.), and tropical, this is more a matter for 

 satisfaction than surprise. The maximum temperature for 

 the year was 940.0 at Hassan, 970.3 at Bangalore, 99°. 9 at 

 .Mysore, and 1000.3 at Chitaldrug, all on different dates. 

 The minimum readings being respectively 460.5, 510. 9, 530.2, 

 and 550.3, also on different dates, and only two in the same 

 month. It is fairly dry, the humidity at each station running 

 down to nearly 10. The actual figures are 9, 10, 12, 13. 

 There is not much wind, the greatest daily movement being 

 462 miles at Mysore, that at Hassan never exceeding 175 

 miles; the total rainfall at the wettest station, Bangalore, 

 being 31! inches, and at the driest, Chitaldrug, 23 inches; 

 Hassan, however, heading the list of wet days with 11 1 and 

 of daily fall with 3, inches. There are instructive plates 

 giving curves of d.iily mean barometer, dry bulb, wet bulb, 

 maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall cloud, wind 

 velocity, and direction for each of the four stations, and also 

 six-day .and monthlv mean curves for several elements com- 

 pared with those for Madras. We may congratulate the 

 model slate on having secured a model director, and the 

 director on the opiiorlunity of continuing a work which will 

 grow in value with excry vear, in a climate which for many 

 reasons seems eminently fitted for meteorological investiga- 

 tions. 



SCHOLASTIC. 



niementary Electrical Calciilalions. W. II. N. James and 

 n. I.. S^inds (Longmans and Co., 3s. 6d. net). — This 

 consists in details of calcul.ations sucli as an electrical 

 engineer requires lo m.ake. It is the outcome of a number 

 of lectures on such calculations and is intended as supple- 

 mentary to nuich class work. The calculations are of an 

 elementary nature, and for this reason there are none in 

 connection with alternating currents, self-inductance, and 

 capaeitv, Ihe properties of which can be adequately studied 

 only by a senior student. We think, however, that in this 

 elemenlary bonk it would have been very advantageous lo 

 deal with some electrostatic |)roblems without which a 

 studi'nl will never thoroughly understand the part played 

 bv Cfiudensers in .altern.aling work. 



The treatment here is accurate ; but it must be understood 

 th.it Ihe lliorv underlying Ihe calculations is not given; for 

 this the reader mu I have recourse to other text-bocks or to 

 class leaching. The solution in many cases is obtained by 

 me.-ms of curves ; these certainly prove of great aid in 

 ( nabling one lo understand the variation of any quantity. 



First Stage Physiography (Section I.), by R. Wallace 

 Stew ut, I)..Sc. " The Organised Science .Series." (L'ni- 

 versity Tutorial Press, Ltd., pp. 256, 2S.) — This section deals 

 with mechanics, physics, .and chemistry, with experiments, 

 questions, and answers to each part. It is a useful an<l 

 nliable little iiandbook, and we are able to give the same 

 commend.'ition to this as to others of the same .series which 

 have been mentioned in these columns. It is fully illustrated 

 with diagrams of a useful and appropriate nature. E. A. M. 



.\ M w catalogue of educalion.al books has just been issued 

 by \\ . .\. boyle, 135, Charing Cross Road, henceforward 

 to be known as W. and ti. Foyle. Considerable extensions 

 ol the lirm's business are in progress, and .separate cata- 

 logues are to be issued for civil service, university, banking, 

 law, medical, and theological books. 



Taylor's Card Calculator. — .An ingenious card calcula- 

 tor ha.s been devi.sod by Mr. J. W. Taylor, of Leicester, 

 for the purpose of the mechanical addition or subtrac- 

 tion of all the fractions of an inch which are 

 iiiultiplcs of the negative powers of 2, from %'\ to j.'^. The 

 dexice, wiiich i.s manipulated by the movement of a 

 cpiadrant on a semi-circle, is very ca.sy to understand, 

 and appears to be likely to be extremely useful in tiie 

 drawing ollicc. Decimal equivalents of .ill the fractions 

 arc added, together with much usefid information for 

 engineering draughtsmen. 



