September 26, 1901] 



NATURE 



531 



the subject will be grateful to the editor for giving a full transla- 

 tion of Herr Gregor ^tendel's much-quoted paper on " Experi- 

 ments in Plant Hybridisation," published in 1865 in the 

 Abhandlungen des naturforschendcyt Verciiies in Briinn. The 

 translator, Mr. W. Bateson, in an introductory note, gives the 

 following as the chief outcome of Mendel's experiments :— 

 " The proof that, in certain pairs of differentiating characters, 

 the germ-cells of a hybrid, or cross-breed, are pure, being 

 carriers and transmitters of either the one character or the other, 

 not both." Other articles of interest in this bulky number 

 are :— " Woad, a Prehistoric Pigment," by Dr. Plowright ; 

 "Wild Gardens," by H. S. Leonard; "Hybrid Conifers," by 

 Dr. Masters ; and others of special interest to horticulturists. 



Mrs. E. S. Armit.age read an interesting paper on some 

 Yorkshire earthworks, before the British Association at Bradford, 

 which has recently been published, with illustrations, in The 

 Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist (vol. vii. July 1901, 

 p. 15S). The author holds that the very numerous artificial 

 hillocks usually surrounded by a ditch and bank are not British, 

 Roman, Scandinavian, or Saxon, as they have so often been 

 described, but that they are Norman motles which were protected 

 round the top by a stockade and crowned with a wooden tower, 

 the breta rche or donjon. These earthern castles were the local 

 pivots which carried the action of the central machinery of 

 Norman organisation into the remotest parts of the kingdom 

 and thus established feudalism all over England. 



Amoxg the local fCies of parts "of the north of France the 

 procession of giants forms the most original and picturesque 

 custom . Each Flemish town formerly possessed its giant, but 

 this curious custom preserves its ancient ceremonial in only a 

 few localities. Lille has not seen for a long time the procession 

 of the giant " Phinar," which was vilified as was its colleague 

 " Anneen " at Valenciennes. The festivals of giants are still 

 preserved at Dunkirk, where " Papa-Rceusse " is the idol of the 

 inhabitants, at Cassel, at Gand, at Brussels, and especially at 

 Douai, where every June " Gayant " has a triumphal procession 

 accompanied by his wife, "Marie Cageon," and their three 

 children, "Jacquot," " Fillon " and " Bimbin." An illus- 

 trated account of this interesting survival, by Paul Ditfloth, will 

 be found in Cosmos (Nouv. Serie, No. 867, 1901, p. 292). A 

 further account is given by Father R. P. Delattre of a Punic 

 necropolis near Sainte-Monique, Senegal, West Africa. The 

 numerous objects that are figured are deposited in the museum 

 at Saint-Louis. This important investigation deserves the 

 attention of English archsologists who are interested in the 

 Mediterranean peoples. 



The Tuesday evening science lectures at the Royal Victoria 

 Hall will commence on October 8, when Dr. A. Smith Wood- 

 ward, F.R.S., will lecture on "Bone Digging in Greece." A 

 lecture on "Photography in Natural Colours" will be given by 

 Mr. J. W. Hinchley on October 15. 



The address delivered by ^L E. T. Hamy, president of the 

 French Association for the Advancement of Science, at the 

 recent meeting at Ajaccio, appears in the Revue Scientiftque of 

 September 14. The subject is " Les debuts de I'anthropologie 

 en France." 



A LIST of second-hand electrical instruments and accessories 

 and other apparatus required in laboratories has been sent to us 

 by Mr. G. Bowron, Edgware Road, London. Teachers requir- 

 ing efficient apparatus at a low cost, for lecture or laboratory 

 purposes, might consult the list with advantage. 



A COPY of the eighth annual report of the Church Society 



for the Promotion of Kindness to Animals has been received. 



The .Society is distinguished from the generality of similar 



organisations in the fact that it directs attention to such subjects 



NO. 1665, VOL. 64] 



as the neglect of wounded war horses, the sufterings endured by 

 horses used for war purposes, the carelessness and sickening 

 brutality often exhibited in the slaughteiing of animals, bearing 

 reins, cruelty to wild animals in captivity, spurious sports, 

 " angling" for song birds, and other cruelties to animals usually 

 regarded with indift'erence. Many people are willing to assist 

 the efforts of a society working in this direction who are unable 

 to see why animals should not be inoculated in order to'extend the 

 means of alleviating human suffering. The office of the Society 

 is at Church House, Westminster. 



We congratulate the authorities of the Government Museum 

 of Madras on the Catalogue of the Prehistoric Antiquities, by 

 R. Bruce Foote, which has just been published by the Super- 

 intendent of the Government Press, Madras, for the moderate 

 sum of eight shillings. '/.'The catalogue is terse, and is illustrated 

 by thirty-four plates of excellent photographic reproductions of 

 some 225 objects and one plate of ownership marks on Iron- 

 age pottery. It appears that there is in India a decided break 

 between the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages, but in Southern 

 India there is no gap in time between the Neolithic and Iron 

 ages, the people of the latter age being doubtless direct 

 descendants of the former. A few bronze, brass and copper 

 implements and ornaments have been found, but apparently 

 none as yet under circumstances showing distinctly that they 

 preceded the Iron age. The existence of a distinct bronze or 

 copper a:ge may then, for the present, be regarded as quite 

 problematic for South India. The pride of the Madras collec- 

 tion is unquestionably the great series brought together by the 

 late Mr. James Wilkinson Breeks during his very successful 

 exploration of the Nilgiri cairns and barrows while holding the 

 post of Commissioner of those hills. A few palceoliths are 

 figured, but no Neolithic implements or pottery. The Iron 

 age is well illustrated in pottery and implements ; one beautiful 

 bronze vase of classical form and decorated with flutings and 

 lotus designs deserves special mention. The archaic costumes 

 of the figurines indicate that the art of iron smelting and work- 

 ing became known in India fully three thousand years ago, if 

 not more. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Rhesus Monkey (Macacus rhesus, 9 ) from 

 India, presented by Mr. W. Openshaw ; a Green Monkey 

 {Cenopiihecus callitrichus) from West Africa, presented by the 

 Rev. E. P. Green ; a Collared Peccary (Dieotyles tajacu, i ), a 

 Ring-tailed Coati (Nasua rufa, 9 ) from South America, presented 

 by Mr. F. G. Newton, C.M.G. ; a Ring-tailed Q,03X\(Nasua 

 rufa, 9 ) from South America, two Punctated .\goutis [Dasy- 

 procta punctata) from Central .America, presented by Captain 

 R. G. Taylor ; a Hedgehog (.ffrzw.Ji'tvw europaeus), British, pre- 

 .sented by Mr. C. J. Murray ; a Fulvous-breasted Pied Wood- 

 pecker [Dendrocopus macii), two Jungle Babblers (Crateropiis 

 canorus), an Indian Cuckoo (Cucuhts tuicropterus), a Pied 

 Crested Cuckoo (Coccysles jacoliinus), a Pied Ground Thrush 

 {Geocichla -uiardi), a Crimson-breasted Barbet {Xantholaema 

 haematocephala) from British India, presented by Mr. E. W. 

 Harper; five Xi'^eti (Vipera berus), British, presented by Mr. 

 A. Old ; a White-crowned Mangabey [Cercocebus aethiops) from 

 West Africa, a Pigmy Marmoset (Hapale pygniaea) from the 

 Upper Amazons, a Red-headed Marsh Bird (Agelaeus rufi- 

 capillus), two Black Tanagers {Tachyphonus melaleucus) from 

 South America, a Vellow Sparrow (Passer luleus) from East 

 Africa, an Indian Roller [Coracias- indica) from India, two 

 Gigantic Salamanders {Megalobatrachiis inaximus) from Japan, 

 an Indian Elephant (Elepkas iiidicus, 9) from India, deposited ; 

 a Crab-eating Opossum (Didelpkys cancrivorus) from Tropical 

 America, purchased ; an Altai Deer (Cervus euslephanus) born 

 in the Gardens. 



