NATURE 



[June 7, 1894 



quickly on either side into a band lyini; between wave-lengths 

 of 555 and 495 ^M. and this band vanishes more slowly, dimin- 

 ishing in breadth as it does so. The colour of this band does 

 not appear to the eye to be the characteristic colour of this 

 part of the spectrum, but a pale yellowish-grey, which becomes 

 darker as extinction approaches. The position of the final glow 

 corresponds almost exactly with the line E of the solar spec- 

 trum, and coincides closely with the region of greatest bright- ' 

 ness in the ordinary solar spectrum. The whole phenomenon 

 is thus seen to be the exact reverse of what is observed to take 

 place when solid bodies begin to glow. Opinion is still divided 

 as to the cause of the afier-glow in Geissler tubes, but the auihor 

 considers that the results of various researches seem to show 

 that the phenomenon must be considered to be the result of 

 chemical modification of the contents of the tube. 



The following excerpts from the Report for 1892 of the 

 U.S. National Museum have lately been distributed by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. '"Japanese Wood-cutting and Wood-cut 

 Printing," by Mr. T. Tokuno, edited and annotated by Mr. 

 S. K. Koehler. Mr. Tokuno is the chief of the Bureau of 

 Engraving and Printing Department at Tokio, and the in- 

 formation which he has given to the National Museum will be 

 welcomed by all who are interested in the art of the woodcutter 

 and in the arts ot Japan, more especially as hi^ communication 

 is believed to be the first authoritative statement on this subject 

 made by a native of Japan thoroughly qualified for the task. 

 " The Crump Burial Cave," discovered on the southern branch 

 of the Warrior River, .Mabama, is the subject of a paper by Mr. 

 Frank Burns. The cave is about four hundred feet above the 

 river, and in it were found a number of wooden cjflins, 

 indicating that the aborigines used it as a burial cave. In a 

 note to the paper, Mr. T. Wilson, the curitor of pre-historic 

 anthropology in the .Smithsonian Institution, paints out that 

 while this method of coffin burial was unusual, if not previously 

 unknown in the Unite<i States, yet there are several instances 

 of similar burials among the prehistoric peoples of other 

 countries. Mr. Wilson has a paper on an extensive series of 

 minute stone implements collected by Mr. A. C. Carlyle in the 

 Vindhya hills or mountains in central and north-western India, 

 and now in the National Museum. The implements are said to 

 belong to the neolithic period, but Mr. Carlyle has also found 

 others belonging to the palaeolithic period in the same locality, 

 and he believes that the evidence of the arcba;ology of the 

 district shows that there was no hiatus between the palaio- 

 lithic and neolithic periods, and that the series of implements 

 run from one period to anoi her, their differences being accounted 

 for by the general progress from the lower to the higher 

 civilisation. "The Comparative Oology of North American 

 Birds" is the subject of another excerpt. In this Dr. R. W. 

 Schufeldt brings together a large amount of information of 

 interest to ornithologists, and presents it in a manner whi^h 

 will greatly facilitate the study of the variations in the matter 

 of form and colouration of the eggs of birds of different countries. 



Messrs. Cassell and Co. have commenced a new issue, in 

 monthly parts, of Mr. W. F. Kirby's admirable and compre- 

 hensive work on " European ButterHies and Moths." 



Mr. C. F. Jurit/.'s report on work done in the Analytical 

 Laboratory and .Mineralogical Museum at the Cape of Good 

 Ho|>e, during 1893, has ju>t been issued. 



It was a happy inipiration that led to the publication of the 

 aerie* of little books on "The Country Month by Month," by 

 Mra. J. A. Owen and I'rol. O. .S, Houlgcr. The June number 

 of the Kries |>oints out the beauties of nature in the same 

 attractive style that distinguished previous volumes. Messrs. 

 Bliss, Sands, and Foster arc the publisher*. 

 NO. I 284, VOL. 50] 



Mr. A. F. Calvert, the author of several work? on Aus- 

 tralia and its resources, has collected a number of f.icts and 

 fancies with re.;;ard to " The Coolgardie Goldfield " in Western 

 .Australia, and his compilation has been published by Messrs. 

 Simpkin, .Marshall, and Co. The evidence adduced goes to 

 show that the Coolgardie district is richly aurlfeious, and that 

 the only great drawb.ick to its development is the scarcity of 

 water. 



FoLLOwi.VG the lead of other London Polytechnic Institutes, 

 that at Battersea has started a journal— the BalUrsea Polytechnic 

 Rr^iciv. We hope that the new journal will not become 

 merely a medium for recording cricket matches and S)cial 

 gatherings. Schemes of courses of study in various branches of 

 science, art, and technology might be profitably included in its 

 pages ; and also lists of good books to read, and notes on recent 

 work ; while brief descriptions of the Polytechnics on the 

 continent would create a spirit of emulation that would 

 certainly help to develop the work of the Institute in the 

 proper direction. 



Each of the papers in Science Progress is an important 

 .-iddition to scientific literature. The contributors to this monthly 

 review of current investigations are always men in thorough 

 touch with their subjects, and the result is that they summarise 

 all that is worth knowing on the matters treated by them. The 

 contents of the June number are as follows : — " Pure Veast and 

 its Relations to Brewing Operations," by Dr. A. K. Miller ; 

 " Electrosynthesis," by Dr. James Walker; " Glycogen," by 

 Prof W. D. Halliburton, F.R.S. ; " Mesozoic and Kainozoic 

 Geology in Europe," by Mr. Philip Lake ; " The Localisation 

 of Enzymes in Plants," by Prof. J. R. Green ; and " Recent 

 Additions to our Knowledge of the Ancient Sediments," by Mr. 

 j. E. Marr, F.R.S. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Two- Spotted Par.idoxure (iVaiuiinia 

 binolala) from West Africa, presented by .Mr. Joseph Wills ; a 

 Raccoon {Proiyon lotor) from North America, presented by Mr, 

 II. Burgess; a Grey Parrot {P.iillaciis erilhaciis) from West 

 .Africa, presented by Mrs. Lemming ; two Goliath lieetles 

 {Golial/ius druryi) from West Africa, preiented by Captain A. 

 S. Mitchell ; a White-handed Gibbon [Hylobates lar) from the 

 Malay Peninsula; two Gazelles {Gazella Jonas, S 9) from 

 Suakin, deposited ; a Beech Marten (Afitslela foiiia), a Pine 

 Marten {Muslela niarles), European, a Silky Bower Bird 

 (Plilonorhynchiii violucens), a Garrulous Honey-eater {.l/y- 

 zanihe gairula) from .\uslralia, four Vin.iceous Turtle Doves 

 {Turluiziiiaceus), four Cape Doves ((£«<; ca/cwj/V) from Africa, 

 a Timneh Parrot {Psillaciis limneli) from Sierre Leone, two 

 Stanley Cranes {Telra/ileryx paiadisea) from South Africa, 

 |)urchased ; two Hamadryads (Ofihiophagus tla/>s) from India, 

 received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Astronomical Congresses at Utrecht and Vienna.— 

 An astronomical congress will be held at Utrecht on Friday, 

 She loth, Saturday, the nth, and Monday, the Ijth of August. 

 Notices of motion and other communications should be 

 addressed to one of the committee before August 7. Dr. H. 

 Gylden, of Stockholm, will preside. Herren 11. Seellger, of 

 Munich, and R. Lehmann-Fllhes, of Berlin, are acting as secre- 

 taries. 



The preparations for Section 2 (Astronomy) of the meeting 

 cf Cierinan men of science and physicians, to be held this year 

 at Vienna, from Sept. 24 to 30, are under ilie direction 

 of Prof v.. Weiss, Dr. J. Palisa, and Dr. J. ll>lctschek. Papers 

 and subjects for demonstration should be announced to them at 

 once, so as to form part of the provisional programme to be 

 issued early In July. Intending exhibitors at the scientific 



