332 



NHTURE 



[[AUGU.&T;6,;J:9Q3 



Ltd. The King Ed-ward was the first, and at her trial in 

 June, 1901, this vessel obtained a mean speed of 2.0-48 knots. 

 The Queen Alexandra was the second vessel; .she ,was .built 

 in the following year, and obtained a .mean Speed of 21-63 

 knots. Both these vessels are now running on ,the Clyde. 



A very important feature of these turbiue vessels is the 

 economy of coal consumption. In support of this it is of 

 interest to mention that, at the launch of- the Queen 

 Alexandra. Mr. James Denny stated- that if the King | 

 Edward had been fitted with balanced twin screw triple j 

 expansion engines of the most improved ,type, and of such , 

 size as would consume all the steam thp existing boiler 

 could make, the best speed that they possibly could expect 

 would be 19-7 knots, as against the 20^, knots actually 

 attained by the King Edward. The difference between 

 19 7 knots and 20^ knots corresponds to a gain in indicated 

 horse-power in favour of the turbine vessel of 20 per cent. 



Mr. Parsons, in a paper before the Institution of Naval , 

 Architects in Dublin recently stated that " the engining 

 of larger vessels and liners is not a very long step beyond | 

 what has already been proved to be successful. The ex- j 

 perience with the marine turbine up to 10,000 horse-power j 

 in ships of fast as well as of moderate speed, has tended ; 

 to justify the anticipation, guided by theory, that the 

 larger the engines the more favourable will be results as 

 compared with reciprocating engines. The saving of : 

 weight, cost, space, attendance, and upkeep will become ; 

 still more marked with turbine engines of above 10,000 and | 

 up to 60,000 horse-power, for which designs have been | 

 prepared." 



It may be added that the results of moderately large 

 turbines "have shown an increased economy in steam con- 

 sumption of 10 per cent, to 15 per cent., as compared with 

 the best triple expansion engine. 



Among the principal advantages of the steam turbine 

 compared with ordinary engines are the following : — com- 

 plete absence of vibration from main engines ; increased 

 economy in steam and coal consumption; increased accom- 

 modation and stability of vessel owing to low position of 

 machinery ; increased safety to engine room staff, owing to 

 absence of reciprocating parts ; reduced weight of 

 machinery ; reduced cost of attendance on machinery ; and 

 reduced consumption of oil and stores. 



and independence,; later it entered a new phase as an 

 accompaniment to the drama; in modern times our ^streets 

 yet retain traces of the ambulatory troups of performers, and 

 acrobatic performances are still in vogue in the circus and 

 music-hall. 



The annual report for 1901-1902 of the Field Columbian 

 Museum, Chicago, is a record of considerable progress, even 

 for this enterprising museum. The cost of new installation 

 for that year was about io,oooZ., more than half of which 

 amount was spent on new cases. Attention is directed in 

 the report to the unsatisfactory condition of the fabric of 

 the museum, which, it will be remembered, was one of the 

 admittedly temporary buildings of the World's Fair. 

 Judging from a paragraph in Science for July 10, this will 

 soon be remedied, as the park commissioners of Chicago 

 have approved the transfer of the museum from Jackson 

 Park to Grant Park, which is on the lake front in the 

 centre of the city. It is understood that Mr. Marshall Field 

 has agreed to give i,ooo,oooL for the construction and 

 endowment of the museum. In the department of anthro- 

 pology all the collections, with the exception of two im- 

 portant purchases, have been derived from field expeditions, 

 consequently they are of unusual interest and of great 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTES. 



•T^RUSTWORTHY studies on Australian languages are 

 -'- still greatly needed ; it is therefore with pleasure 

 that we welcome the elementary grammar, by the Rev. N. 

 Hey, of the language of the Nggerikudi, a tribe of some 400 

 natives of North Queensland in the neighbourhood of 

 Batavia River. Although Mr. Hey has been connected with 

 the Presbyterian Mission to these people for ten years, he 

 does not yet quite understand all the intricacies of the 

 language. He notes that the aboriginals are fast disappear- 

 ing. The vocabularies will be of some use to ethnologists 

 who cannot profess to grasp the structure of the language. 

 This study forms the sixth Bulletin of North Queensland 

 ethnography that the Department of Public Lands, Brisbane, 

 is bringing out under the editorship of Dr. Walter E. Roth. 

 The last issue of the Reliquary and Illustrated Archae- 

 ologist maintains the interest of former numbers. Messrs. 

 Miller, Christy, and W. W. Porteous deal with a selection 

 of Essex brasses that range from the reign of Edward IV. 

 to nearly the end of that of Charles I., that is, almost to 

 the time when the custom of wearing armour and the 

 practice of laying down monumental brasses were both 

 discontinued ; the illustrations show clearly the various 

 styles of armour worn during this period, as well as the 

 modifications in the costume of the ladies. Papers of this 

 kind are calculated to form a valuable adjunct to the teach- 

 ing of history. Mr. J. Romilly Allen describes some late 

 ■survivals of primitive ornament on wooden spoons, stay- 

 busks, and knitting-sticks which were made for the special 

 purpose of being given away as presents from young men 

 to their sweethearts. Mr. Arthur Watson traces the 

 tumbler's art during the last few hundred years; it was an 

 accessory to the banquet in the middle ages ; in the sixteenth 

 x:entury it had risen to a position of greater importance 



NO. 1762, VOL. 68] 



scientific importance ; this is undoubtedly the most satisfac- 

 tory manner of stocking a museum. The zoological collec- 

 tions were also augmented in a similar manner. The 

 report is illustrated with excellent plates, which show that 

 this museum is determined to keep the lead in the natural- 

 istic and artistic excellence of its large animal groups. The 

 Salish house group shown in the accompanying figure is 

 an instructive addition to the many ethnological groups in 

 the museum. Specifications are given of the new geological 

 cases, and the botanist describes the reasons why he has 

 adopted dead black labels printed with aluminium ink. 

 Other educational aspects of the museum are its library, 

 numerous popular lectures, and various publications. There 

 is a very large attendance of school children accompanied 

 by their teachers, and there can be no doubt that the schools 

 and colleges are availing themselves more and more of the 

 facilities of the museum as teaching adjuncts to books. 



A BURIED TRIASSIC LANDSCAPE. 



/^ UR older rocks have naturally diversified the scenery 

 ^-^ during many a past period. Bent and hardened by 

 various processes, and ridged up into hilly ground, some 

 of them have so long withstood the assaults of eroding 

 agents as to have fairly earned the title of " everlasting." 



This may truly be said of the buried mountains of Charn- 

 wood Forest. Visitors to that picturesoue and elevated 

 district will have been struck with the curious rocky 

 eminences that protrude here and there from what otherwise 

 is a somewhat rounded, pastoral region. These isolated 



