September 5, 1918J 



NATURE 



instrument and by the exercise of reasonable practice 

 in distinguishing the sounds associated with letters 

 and words. 



On the linguistic side the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology, according to its thirty-first report, for 

 1909-10, published in 1916, was specially engaged, 

 under the superintendence of Dr. Franz Boas, in bring- 

 ing nearly to completion the first volume of the " Hand- 

 book of American-Indian Languages." The most 

 important work on the first volume was a thorough 

 revision of the Algonquin sketch by Dr. W. Jones, 

 which she has nearly completed. Miss Densmore is 

 analysing about 500 songs collected from a representa- 

 tive number of localities, which will form a scientific 



■ musical study of primitive song. The remainder of 

 the volume of the report is devoted to an exhaustive 

 account of Tsiinshian mythology, based on a series of 

 texts recorded by Mr. H. W. Tate. 



Mr. F. B. C. Bradlee contributes to the Historical 

 Collections of the Essex Institute (vol. liv., No. 2, 

 April, 1918) a paper on the Salem Iron Factory, which 

 possesses more than local interest. The first iron- 

 works of any importance were started at Lynn, Mas- 

 sachusetts, in 1643, an d tne first iron pot made in 

 New England was cast in that foundry in the same 

 year. The Danvers ironworks and rolling mills were 

 founded by Nathan Read, of Salem, whose ancestors 

 came from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was born in 

 1759, and two works were started in 1796. He was 

 the inventor of one of the first machines, and perhaps 

 the earliest, for cutting and heading nails in one 

 operation. Mr. Bradlee in his paper publishes a 

 number of early documents which are of value as a 

 record of this industry in the United States. 



^ Despite the prevalence of v ar conditions, the 



Geological Survey of New Zealand continues its hand- 

 some series of bulletins with Prof. Jas. Park's memoir 

 on "The Geology of the Oamaru District, North 

 Otago" (1918). This is the typical area for the 

 Oamaruian series, and the Ototara stage is now 

 rescued from what the author calls the "hyphenated" 

 Cretaceo-Tertiary group of former classifications. 

 Everything in the district above the' Palaeozoic schists 

 is now classed as Miocene or Pleistocene. At the base 

 of the Ototaran strata near Peebles pillow-lavas occur, 

 which were evidently poured out as submarine flows 

 during the deposition of the fossiliferous limestone. 

 The ample lists of molluscs and brachiopods, by Mr. 



■ Suter and Dr. J. A. Thomson respectively, establish 

 the Miocene, and probably Middle Miocene, age of the 

 Oamaruian series. 



The controversy regarding the relation of magic to 

 religion is again raised in a vigorous manner by 

 Mr. N,. W. Thomas in a paper entitled "Magic and 

 Religion: a Criticism of Dr. Jevons " (Folk-lore, 

 xxviii., 259), in the same journal, vol. xxix., part 2. 

 Dr. Jevons asserted that we should reserve the term 

 "magic" "exclusively for the proceedings which 

 excite the disapproval of the community," which, as 

 his critic points out, includes under the head of 

 "magic" not only all crime, but also offences against 

 etiquette. "To frame an adequate definition of 

 magic, it is necessary to survey the whole field of 

 primitive rites and to group the facts according to 

 their natural affinities without regard to the termin- 

 ology of the reporter. In only 'too many cases the 

 native view cannot be discovered ; failing some know- 

 ledge of the language, the observer falls back on his 

 own preconceptions, and while we get a good account 

 of the details of a rite, we get none of the atmo- 

 sphere with which the native mind surrounds it." 

 NO. 2549, VOL. I02] 



The peoples of Austria are statistically considered 

 by Mr. B. C. Wallis in a paper in the July issue 

 of the Geographical Review (vol. vi., No. 1), which is 

 accompanied by several excellent maps in colour. 

 Three of these maps show respectively the relief of the 

 land, the density of population, and the distribution 

 of nationalities. The last map illustrates the patch- 

 work of races of which Austria consists, and shows 



[early that in most of Austria the inhabitants are not 

 Utonic race, and that there is no race character- 

 istic to Austria like the Magyars to Hungary. 

 Czechs, Poles, Ruthenians, and Rumanians form 

 50 to 95 per cent, of the population in different parts 

 of northern Austria. From Carinthia and the Tyrol 

 southwards Italians and Slavs are the predomi; 



This leaves a comparatively restricted area, 

 comprising principally the mountains of the centre 

 and the Danube valley, in which Germans predomin- 



te. Mr. Wallis believes that if the principle of 

 nationality is given due consideration in the final 

 settlement, the outlooks of Germany eastward and 

 towards the Mediterranean will be barred, and that 

 the Germans of Austria will be separated from the 

 Prussians by the Czechs. The best lands of Austria 

 will no longer be in German hands. The paper raises 

 many interesting issues, and contains many facts 

 essential to any understanding of the settlement of the 

 Austrian question. 



An account of the amphibians collected by the 

 American Museum Expedition to Nicaragua in 1916 

 appears in the Bulletin of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, vol. xxxviii., pp. 311-47. Though, 

 of necessity, very technical in character, it yet con- 

 tains some noteworthy observations in regard to the 

 life-histories of these animals, especially in relation to 

 coloration and structural variations. A good in- 

 stance of the latter is furnished by a tiny tree-frog, no 

 more than 16 millimetres in length. New to science, 

 and designated Hyla chica, this little creature displays 

 a striking range of variation in regard to the digital 

 expansion used in climbing, and a no less marked 

 reduction of the webs of the toes. Igalychnis helenae, 

 another small tree-frog, showed chameleonic changes 

 of colour which were not, apparently, due to changes 

 in the intensity of the light. Finally, stress is laid 

 upon the profound alterations of colour which take 

 place in specimens preserved in spirit. 



The annual report for 1917 of the New Jersey De- 

 partment of Conservation and Development insists on 

 the abolition of all legislation framed for the protec- 

 tion of deer and rabbits within the boundaries of the 

 State ; and this because of the depredations of the 

 'leer, which, driven out of the forest by fires caused by 

 deer-hunters, raid the crops of the farmers. It is con- 

 tended that material inter* ;ts of great value are being 

 sacrificed to sport. But, judging from the report, 

 hunters in this State are accorded a surprising licence. 

 Strenuous efforts are urged to drain some 300,000 

 acres of marshland, now infested with mosquitoes, in 

 order that they may become available for cultivation ; 

 and for this work it is suggested prison-labour should 

 be employed. The forest fire service report, included 

 in this volume, proves interesting reading, if only for 

 the insight it affords into the management of large 

 forests in view of our own afforestation schemes. 



The collection of sea-anemones made by the Terra 

 Nova Expedition is described by Mr. T. A. Stephenson 

 British Antarctic Terra Nova Exp., 1910, Zool., 

 vol. v., No. 1, pp. 1-6S, 6 pis., 1918). Fifteen genera,- 

 all belonging to the Actiniina, are represented, each 

 by a single species. The author describes as new five 



