December 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



266 



ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE 



[ENCE , liTERATURE A i^ 



Founded in i88i by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 

 LONDON: DECEMBER 1, 1898. 



CONTENTS. 



• PAOR 



Editorial 265 



Volcanoes of the North. By Gbenvillk A. J. Cole, 



M.B.I.A., I'.G.s. {Illustrated).. ■ ... ... ,,. ... 2G(i 



Christmas Customs of Shakespeare's Greenwood. By 



Geokqe iloitLET 208 



The Colours of Cowries. By R. Lyuekkkr. (Plate) ... 270 



Notices of Books 272 



Shokt Notice? 273 



Booza Received 274 



Science Notes 275 



Obituary 276 



British Ornithological Notes. Conducted by Habbt F. 



WiTHKKBT, P.Z.S., 5I.B.0.U. ... ... ... ... ... 277 



Letters :— Siomund Stein ; G. B. Lonostaff; W. Ai.fbed 



Pare ; Jos. F. Oheen ; William C. Tetley ; II. Cordelia 



Leigu ; H. J. Lowe : 1I»x\vell Hall; W. H. .S. 



MoNOK 277 



Variable Stars in Globular Clusters. By Miss Aonbs M. 



Clerke. {Illustrated} " 279 



Variable Stars in Clusters 281 



Botanical Studies.— VII. Abies.— VIII. Lilium. By A. 



Vaitohan Jennings, f.l.s., f.g.s. {Illustrated) 282 



Notes on Comets and Meteors. By W. F. DBNNma, 



r.E.A.s 285 



The Face of the Sky for December. By A. Fowlhb, 



P.B.A.S 286 



Chess Column. By C. D. Locook, b.a 287 



EDITORIAL. 



UPON completing with the present issue the 

 twenty-first volume of Knowledce, the 

 duty again devolves upon us of offering 

 our acknowledgments to the host of friends 

 \\ho have so kindly contributed to our columns during 

 the year ; and also our assurance that the vigorous 

 child conceived in the fertile brain of Richard A. 

 Proctor has attained its majority (in volumes though 

 not quite in years), in perfect health and strength ; and, 

 further, that it enters upon its future full of promise, 

 and confident, at least, that it v.'ill seek to deserve a 

 continuance of that hearty support so freely accorded 

 it in the past. 



In presenting the customary announcement of some 

 of the leading projects included in our New Year's 

 work, we have first to say that the January Number 

 will contain a beautiful drawing of Saturn specially 



drawn for us by Mons. E. M. Antoniadi, who will also 

 contribute an article entitled " Considerations on the 

 Planet Saturn " ; and that further photographic plates 

 are in our hands from Dr. Isaac Roberts. The 

 spectroscopic results obtained during the recent solar 

 eclipse will, of course, be fully considered in our 

 columns as soon as they have been worked out ; 

 and Mr. Maunder is arranging for a continuance of 

 the photographic studies of the lunar surface. 



Much attention will be given during the ne.xt two 

 or three years to meteorological and cometary astro- 

 nomy, as these branches of our work are entering 

 upon an important epoch. We have accordingly 

 arranged with Mr. W. F. Denning to continue his 

 interesting column of Notes on Comets and Meteors. 

 The Face of the Sky will be limned each month by 

 Mr. A. Fowler, who has conducted this column with 

 so much care since the lamented death of Mr. Herbert 

 Sadler. We hope the following writers will also be 

 found among our astronomical contributors in 1899 : — 

 Miss Agnes M. Clerkc ; Mons. C. Easton ; Mr. J. 

 Evershed ; Mr. J. E. Gore ; Prof E. C. Pickering ; 

 and Mr. W. Shackleton. 



The Rev. Thomas R. R. Stebbing, who has been 

 portraying the Karkinokosm during the year with 

 such marked success, purposes to complete the 

 general outline of the studj' in two more chapters, 

 and then to add some touches of light and shadow to 

 the picture in subsequent essays. 



Sir Edward Fry and Miss Agnes Fry have written 

 a monograph, which will appear in KNOWLEDGE 

 during the year, on " The Mycetozoa, and some ques- 

 tions which they suggest." The articles on these very 

 interesting organisms, which are referred neither to the 

 plants nor to the animals, will be full}- illustrated 

 from drawings by Miss Yry. 



Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole has formulated a new- 

 series of original geological papers under the general 

 title of " Secrets of the tlarth's Crust " ; and arrange- 

 ments are in progress for the appearance of a new 

 series of original studies on the " Treatment and 

 Uses of Anthropological Data," with the object of 

 stimulating interest in a somewhat neglected subject. 



Commencing with the January Number, Mr. J. H. 

 Cooke w-ill contribute a monthly column of Notes 

 devoted to Practical Microscopy ; and among further 

 contributions may be mentioned a series of articles on 

 Electricity ; " Two Months on the Guadalquivir ": an 

 account of a recent ornithological trip in the south 

 of Spain, by Mr. Harry F. Witherby ; a sketch of 

 the Great Pitch Lakes in America, illustrated with 

 some fine photographs by Sir Benjamin Stone, M.P. ; 

 and further contributions from Mr. A. Vaughan 

 Jennings, Mr. R. Lydekker, Mr. Alex. B. MacDowall, 

 Mr. H. Snowden Ward, the Rev. A. S. Wilson, and 

 other w-riters. 



