April 2, 1903] 



NATURE 



5i5 



two graves, one being that of the unfortunate De 

 Roepstorff, killed in 1883, whose memory is still cher- 

 ished by the natives, and will not readily be forgotten 

 by the members of the Eclipse expedition of 1875, for 

 whom he did so much. He was one of the first to make 

 a scientific study of these islands. 



Leaving the harbour by the western exit, the party 

 visited Dring, on Camorta, and thence passing by Bom- 

 poka, Teressa and Chaura, where all the Nicobar 

 pottery is made, they anchored off Kachal, where they 

 first found monkeys, and then crossed the Sombrero 

 Channel to the island of Little Nicobar, east of Pulo 

 Milo, where they found good anchorage. The author 

 suggests this as a site for any future European settle- 

 ment on account of the harbour, the fertility of the soil, 

 and the presence of water. Here monkeys abounded, 

 and in some caves they found a new leaf-nosed bat and 

 the birds-nest swift living together, but never occupying 

 the caves at the same time. After a halt at Kondul, 

 they went to the north side of the Great Nicobar and 

 .spent nearly a month visiting villages on the west 

 coast, ending with an excursion up the beautiful valley 

 of the Galatea River. In this island they found some 

 fairly civilised members of the Shorn Pen tribe, who 

 live in the interior, and many photographs of them are 

 given. Fig. 1 shows one of their huts with a diagonal 

 bracing to the props. The party left Singapore early 

 in April. 



In the second part, which is largely a compilation, 

 the author discusses the two groups of islands more 

 fullv, as regards their history, geological forma- 

 tion, climate, products, languages, ethnographical 

 characteristics and origin of the different races 

 of inhabitants. Several illustrations are given of 

 the ornaments, weapons, &c, used in both groups, 

 and of the curious carved wooden images and painted 

 screens used as charms or scare-devils by the Nicobar- 

 ese. Dampier's narrative of his experiences in the 

 Great Nicobar, in 1688, is reprinted, also an extract 

 from an old account of Kar Nicobar by Dr. J. G. 

 Koenig, a pupil of Linnaeus. There is an account of 

 the Kar Nicobarese from information given by Mr. 

 V. Solomon, a Christian catechist who has lived among 

 them for many years. 



At p. 320, the author has given a summary of his 

 conclusions regarding the origin and variation of the 

 fauna of these islands, based on the theory that the two 

 groups are surrounded by deep sea, except on the north, 

 towards Arakan, and that consequently they have never 

 been connected with the Malay peninsula or Sumatra, 

 and could not have derived their fauna from them. On 

 his hydrographic chart, at p. 166, he shows a wide deep 

 sea channel of more than 1000 fathoms running in 

 from the west between Great Nicobar and 

 Sumatra into the deep Andaman Sea. The 

 depth of this channel has usually been put at 

 about 760 fathoms, but in the latest chart of 

 this part of the Indian Ocean there seems to be 

 no such deep-sea passage between the islands, but a 

 distinct shallowing with a ridge, over which the depth 

 of water does not exceed 950 fathoms in the deepest 

 part about midway between them. The author also 

 estimates the depth of the Ten-Degree Channel at 600 

 fathoms, but the chart shows a ridge between Little 

 Andaman and Kar Nicobar at a depth of not more than 

 450 fathoms. The fact that these channels and other 

 ocean depths are so much shallower than the 

 author has been led to believe may modify his 

 conclusions. The question of the geological, zoo- 

 logical and botanical relationships of these islands is 

 a very difficult one, and has engaged the attention of 

 officers of the Indian scientific services for many years 

 past. A great deal has been published on the subject 

 in the official records of the Indian Museum, Marine 



NO. 1744, VOL. 67] 



and Geological Surveys, and the journal of the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal, which the author seems to have over- 

 looked, and a notice of which would have greatly en- 

 hanced the value of the book. 



To zoologists, the fact that sixteen new species of 

 mammals and ten hitherto undescribed species of birds 

 from the two groups of islands were collected by Dr. 

 Abbott and the author will be of interest. The former 

 have been fully described by Mr. G. A. Miller, jun. 

 (Proc. Nat. Museum, Washington, U.S.A., xxiv., 1902), 

 but, considering that they include some well known 

 forms, and that the islands have been constantly visited 

 by experienced collectors from India for many years 

 past, their all being new is doubtful. The same may 

 be said of the new birds, a list of which is given by the 

 author at p. 331. 



Lists of the mammalian fauna, and of the birds of 

 both groups, including the new species, are given with 

 notes on their distribution. The work concludes with 

 appendices relative to the climate, forest trees and 

 timbers, population, education, &c, of the Andamans, 

 also to the flora, population, trade articles, presents 

 and barter, besides tables of measurements of members 

 of different tribes of Nicobarese. 



The author has had the great advantage of the as- 

 sistance of Mr. E. H. Man, who is the greatest living 

 authoritv on the islands, and the book is a very useful 

 work of reference regarding them. J. \\ . 



PULKOVA OBSERVATIONS OF NOVA 

 PEKSEI. 



THE Pulkova Observatory has recently issued 1 a 

 valuable contribution to our knowledge of Nova 

 Persei, which attracted so much attention at the begin- 

 ning of the year 1901. The observations which are 

 here brought together and discussed were those made 

 by M. Belopolsky, and were, for the main part, chiefly 

 of a spectroscopic nature, both photographic and 

 visual. 



Fortunately, the high latitude of the observatorv 

 allowed this observer to photograph the spectrum of 

 the star during its lower culmination, so that he was 

 able to secure a complete series of 71 photographs, ex- 

 tending from February 26 to June 4; after this date, 

 long exposures became impossible, and eye observations 

 were substituted. In the first instance, the spectroscope 

 employed was mounted on the astrographic refractor, 

 but later (March 31) the 30-inch was substituted. In 

 the present volume, M. Belopolsky gives a very com- 

 plete account of each photograph, adding the reduced 

 wave-lengths after the computation by the Cornu-Hart- 

 mann formula. 



It will be remembered that the spectrum of this star 

 underwent rapid changes, not only in intensity, but in 

 the number and positions of the lines. The numerous 

 bright lines with their dark components gradually be- 

 came less in number, and when the Nina's magnitude 

 began to undergo the short period light changes, the 

 spectrum indicated a stellar and nebulous stage alter- 

 nately; eventually, as the Nova grew fainter, the 

 nebular spectrum predominated. All these changes are 

 described in detail by M. Belopolsky, and he further 

 gives the measurements of the width, intensity and 

 displacement of the hydrogen and other lines at 

 different epochs of the Nova's life. 



In the discussion of the whole set of observations, 

 this observer comes to conclusions which are different 

 from those that are at present generally held. Thus, 

 for instance, he is not inclined to believe that the dis- 

 placements are due to movements of the Nova accord- 

 ing to the Doppler-Fizeau principle. One of his reasons 



1 Publications de I'Observatoire Central Nicolas, vol. xvii. series ii., 1902. 



