254 



KNOWLEDGE 





[November, 1902. 



EXTINCTION OF QUAGGA. 



TO THE EDITORS OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Sirs, — I sent a sidn oE Eijuu/i qvaijija fo Stevens' sale 

 rooms, Covent Garden, for sale, about the time mentioned 

 in the October number of Knowi.edoe. 



I thoufrht it possible it was the skin bought by the 

 Edinlnirgh Museum. If it is the same, I can correct the 

 inference made by Mr. Renshaw that the quagga survived 

 in the Orange Free State till about that ilate. 



Tlie specimen, as he suggests, was an old one. I 

 brought it to England with other skins, horns, birds, and 

 insects, in ISOO, and ke]it it till the date of sale. 



I once caught a young (|uagga alive. My waggon was 

 outspanned near to a Dutchman's waggon; the Dutchman 

 had been hunting qnaggas, etc., and had scattered the herd 

 of cjuaggas, nnd this young one was lost. We supposed it 

 had followed the horses. It was here and tliere and 

 everywhere round about tlii! waggons and oxen. It was 

 dark; we followed it by its cry, "Quag ha," and I 

 caught it. 



Marathon, Thos. Coopee. 



(J, The Avenvic, Kew, Surrey, 

 October 3rd, 1902. 



A MODERN TTCIIO. 



TO THE EDITORS OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Sins, — I should like to make a few remarks with 

 reference to Mr. Maunder's comments on my letter re 

 Jey Singh in your August number. 



Mr. Mnunder, I now understand, considers that Jey 

 Singh's observations and methods are scarcely practical, 

 and that the results he achieved could have been obtained 

 viith much less elaborate and costly instruments, and in a 

 more simple manner. I cannot help thinking that he 

 would modify this opinion if he had seen the Jeypore 

 Observatory and had studied Jey Singh's works. 



On his commencing astronomy, Jey Singh first made 

 use of brass instruments fitted with sights, but he could 

 not obtain accurate workmanship, and, after a short trial, 

 he almost entirely gave up brass, and constructed large 

 masonry instruments, in v/hich there were no axes to wear 

 out of truth, and in which, owing to their size, minute 

 accuracy of workmanship and graduation were not re- 

 quired. Mr. Maunder states that he observed no special 

 arrangements for fixing the position of the eye, but in one 

 of Jey Singh's works, what is termed "fin observation 

 strip and tube" is described, and appears to be an arrange- 

 ment for this very purpose. 



Jey Singh determined latitude with the bhitti yantra, a 

 large graduated stone circle, in the plane of the meridian, 

 with which meridian altitudes were observed. This gave 

 the angle for the inclined face of the gnomon. By placing 

 the eye along the graduated edge of one of the quadrants, 

 and watching the disappearance of the sun or a star behind 

 the edge of the gnomon, hour angles or time could be 

 obtained with great precision, surely with far greater 

 accuracy than with a comparatively small sun-dial. 



The circular buildings Mr. Maunder alludes to are at 

 Jeypore, adapted for taking observations at all altitudes. 



No doubt Jey Singh might have done excellent work 

 with much simpler means, but he had the money to spend, 

 and so preferred to build the best instruments he could. 

 ]5ut before denouncing his methods as impractical, it 

 should be remembered that minutely divided brass circles 

 and turned axes were denied to him, and that he was con- 

 sequently driven to strive after accuracy by increasing 

 the size and stability of his instruments. 



If 1 have the opportunity, f will make some observa- 

 tions as suggested by Mr. Maunder, but unfortunately 



most of the instruments have either been restored or 

 completely reconstructed since Jey Singh's days. 



A report on the .leyporo Observatorj' is in the press, 

 and if Mr. Maunder would care to accept a copy, I shall 

 be very pleased to send him one. 



India, August, 1902. A. fl". GinnETT, Lt. E.E. 



[I think Mr. Garrett has not quite grasped my point even 

 yet. The erection of a huge stone instrument, gnomon, 

 meridian circle, etc., means the prenioiin determination of 

 the meridian— in some cases of the latitude as well — with 

 a j)recision greater rather than less than that shown by 

 the building itself. In other words, the erection is in 

 itself a demonstration that results more, not less, accurate 

 were first of all secured by temporary instruments. A 

 modern equatorial is set up approximately in the meridian 

 and to the latitude of its station ; but its accurate jilacing 

 is secured later by the use of the optical jiowor of the 

 telescope itself in testing the effect of minute movements 

 given to it by fine adjusting screws. There is no jjrovision 

 in the gnomon or circles at Delhi for a slow motion in 

 azimuth, any more than there was for the Great Pyramid 

 at Ghizch. Then I cannot accept Jey Singh's complaint 

 quite seriously as to the imperfection of his brass 

 instruments, " the shaking and wearing of their axes, the 

 displacement of the centre of the circles, and the shifting 

 of the planes of the instruments." It seems to me that 

 the wearing of the axis of a brass instrument could hardly 

 have made itself apparent to the naked-eye observation in 

 " a short time." Surely he could have got native metal- 

 workers to do better than this if he had cared to try. We 

 have plenty of evidence of their skill in the making of 

 anuour, etc. But I can quite understand that he may 

 have had abundantly sufficient political and religious 

 reasons for preferring the plan of solid buildings. The 

 latter were, no doubt, an effective advertisement, and 

 testified to bis wealth, science, and religious zeal ; whereas 

 a few light instruments, seen only by the observers, would 

 not have done so. Such reasons would be amply good 

 enough to justify the course he adopted, but they would 

 not be astronomical. 



I am greatly obliged by Mr. Garrett's promise to make 

 some practical observations with the Jeypore Observa.tory, 

 and I shall most heartily appreciate the report on that 

 observatory which he has kindly offered to send me. 

 — E. Walter Maunder.] 



BRITISH 



ORNITHOLOGICA 



^," 



'^^' 



■'!SSE^' 



N£>T£Si^ 



Conducted by Harry F. Witherbt, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



The British White-fronted Geese (Anser albi/royis, 

 A. erythropus, and A. gambelij.— Several ornithologists 

 have been turning their attention lately to the geese which 

 are to be found in Great Britain and Ireland. It is 

 refreshing to find from their labours that there is still 

 some systematic work to be done among British birds. 



