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jVA TURE 



[August S, 1901 



In the Johns Hopkins University Circular, No. 152 (vo . xx. 

 pp. 79-80), Mr. C. C. Schenck gives a short description of a 

 series of investigations undertaken with the twofold object of 



(1) separating the principal lines in the spark spectrum of 

 cadmium into three groups having characteristic properties, 



(2) studying the constitution of the various regions of the 

 spark and its spectrum by means of a revolving mirror. It 

 was found that a preliminary division of the spectrum lines into 

 groups was feasible by noting the changes produced in the spark 

 spectrum when the period of the condenser in the secondary 

 circuit was varied by increasing tlie self-induction. Kirchhoft'in 

 1S61, and Thalen in 1866, stated the effect in general terms, and 

 Hemsalech lias recently carried the investigation much further. 

 The spark was produced by an induction coil supplied with 

 alternating current ; secondary condenser about '016 microfarad, 

 spark length 6-8 mm. The spectrum was photographed with a 

 large concave grating of 21 feet radius. The three groups of 

 lines described appear to correspond to the well-known "long" 

 and " short *' lines always seen when an image of a light source 

 is thrown on the spectroscope slit, but no wave-lengths are given 

 for comparison. It is stated, however, from an examination of 

 the conditions giving rise to the three groups of lines, that the 

 average temperature of the metallic vapours in the arc is probably 

 higher in some cases than in the spark. The experiments with 

 the rotating mirror indicated that the chief arc lines had a 

 duration more than twice as great as that of the chief spark 

 lines. Also that the principal spark lines (both of cadmium and 

 magnesium) are due almost entirely to the curved streamers 

 seen branching from the spark, while the chief arc lines are due 

 in part to the streamers and in part to a luminosity which fills 

 up the spark gap and persists after the streamers cease. 



The " Birds of Western New York " is the title of an article 

 by Mr. E. H. Eaton which appears in vol. iv. of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Rochester (N.Y.) Academy of Science. Although 

 at first sight this may appear nothing more than an ordinary local 

 fauna-list, it is really worth the best attention of every naturalist 

 on account of the elaborate manner in which the subject is 

 treated. Specially noteworthy are the diagrammatic " migra- 

 tion and residence tables," in which it is attempted to show 

 graphically " the times of occurrence and relative abundance of 

 the birds definitely recorded for this region." The essay is, in 

 fact, an admirable example of the way in which local faunas 

 should be recorded and described. 



The most noticeable feature in the Report of the American 

 Museum of Natural History for 1900 is the number of expe- 

 ditions which have been undertaken with the view of adding to 

 the ethnological and palsontological collections. Although the 

 majority of the.se were confined to North America, one — the 

 Jesup North Pacific Expedition — was despatched to the Amur 

 valley, while two were sent to South America. The former, it 

 is reported, has brought back a valuable series of specimens 

 illustrating the ethnology and anthropology of the Ainu of 

 Japan ; while of the two latter, the mission to Patagonia has 

 acquired a valuable collection of the extinct mammalian fauna 

 of that country. But the amount of strictly scientific work 

 accomplished has not hindered attention being paid to the 

 educational function of the Museum ; and the president, in his 

 report, calls special attention to the opening of the new and 

 spacious "auditorium," wliere secondary education is to be 

 offered to the public in the form of popular lectures. 



Dr. B. H.\gen gives in Globus (Bd. Ixxix. p. 245) a beauti- 

 fully illustrated account of his ascent of Kaba, in Sumatra, 

 W'hich is 1650 metres in height. This volcano has previously 

 been ascended by A. \V. P. Verkerk, R. D. M. Verbeek and 

 H. O. Forbes. 



NO. 1658, VOL. 64] 



The Berlin Museum fur Vcilkerkunde has recently been en- 

 riched by the addition of a number of wooden human effigies 

 from German New Guinea, some of which are described and 

 figured in Globus (Bd. Ixxix. No. 22, p. 352) by D. Rudolf 

 Poch. The head appears to be hidden in most of them by a 

 mask, which has a long beak which looks more like a snout 

 than a bird's beak ; but from the carving above its insertion 

 there can be little doubt that the bird that is represented is the 

 hornbill, which is a magical or symbolic bird all over the Malay 

 region and throughout the greater part of New Guinea as well. 

 On the top of the mask a figurine of a cuscus is often carved. 

 We still await an explanation of these remarkable objects. 



There is an interesting little paper by M. Felix Regnault, 

 illustrated by numerous figures, in the Bulletin de la SociitJ 

 d' Anthrofologie de Paris, 1900, No. 6, on Greek terra-cottas 

 from Smyrna. In the hundreds of specimens in the Museum in 

 the Louvre there are many beautiful ones after the manner of 

 the famous figurines from Tanagra and Myrina ; some are 

 grotesque, others are ethnic types, anatomical studies and even 

 illustrations of pathological conditions. It is with the latter 

 that the present paper deals. Various examples of facial de- 

 formations are given, such as facial paralysis and adenoid 

 growths. Pronounced acrocephaly and scaphocephaly, as well 

 as illustrations of idiots and degenerates, were moulded by these 

 observant potters. The other articles in this journal are mainly 

 of interest to professional anthropologists. 



In his "Laboratory Outlines for use in an Introductory Course 

 in Somatology" {American Anthropologist, n.s. vol. iii. p. 28), 

 Mr. Frank Russell has hit on a very useful idea, which, however, 

 is susceptible of improvement. For example, no indication is 

 given of the system of head-form nomenclature introduced by 

 Sergi ; the system of the Italian anthropologist, as a whole, may 

 be cumbersome and difficult to grasp, but his primary forms are 

 readily recognisable and are of distinct classificatory value. Like 

 the majority of anthropologists, Mr. Russell omits the valuable 

 series of radial measurements that are taken from the ext. aud. 

 meatus and which can be compared with similar measurements 

 made on the living. The prosopic, &c., measurements should be 

 placed in the nasal and not in the orbital category. If Mr. 

 Russell were to reconsider his schedule in some details and were 

 to state where the terms, measurements and indices were de- 

 scribed in readily accessible publications, or, better still, were to 

 republish this information, he would produce a pamphlet which 

 would be of very great use to students of physical anthropology. 



Mr. James Stirling, Government geologist of Victoria, has 

 prepared a report on the brown coal industry in Germany and 

 Austria, which has been issued by the Department of Mines, 

 Victoria, through the Agent-General in London (1901). The 

 main object is to promote a similar development of brown coal 

 production in Victoria, where such fuel would be of service on 

 branch railway lines and for goods traffic where a slow rate of 

 speed is maintained. 



From Indiana we have received the twenty-fifth annual report 

 for the Department of Geology and Natural Resources of the State 

 geologist, Mr. W. S. Blatchley. A large part of this report is 

 taken up with particulars about marls and limestones and the 

 manufacture of cement ; the petroleum industry is also dealt 

 with, and Mr. Blatchley describes two new species of sala- 

 manders from Tennessee. In addition, there is a monograph on 

 the Devonian fossils and stratigraphy of Indiana, by Mr. 

 Edward M. Kindle. The fossils are illustrated in thirty-one 

 plates, and some new species of Mollusca and Brachiopoda are 

 described. 



The Eocene deposits of Maryland are elaborately described 

 and illustrated by Prof. W. B. Clark and Mr. G. C. Martin in 

 one of the handsome volumes issued by the Maryland Geologica) 



