Oct. 4, 1883] 



NATURE 



54i 



objects as may be too heavy for the beeswax). The pane to 

 slide between two grooves into any convenient movable stand. 

 The advantage of this form and arrangement is obviou-, as after 

 the object or objects are fixed to the glass they can be inverted 

 or placed sideways, as may best suit the light, without moving 

 the camera. Moreover, the stand can be tilted or set obliquely 

 at the operator's pleasure, the object being thus adjusted to the 

 camera instead of the camera to the object. The backgrounds 

 can of course be changed at will to any shade between black 

 and white — a most important power, as a background that will 

 set off one object will often be unsuitable to another. 



Torquay, September 15 Arthur R. Hunt 



Animal Intelligence 

 At the north side of Dublin there is at Clontarf a sea inlet 

 where the water at certain times of the tide is very shallow. A 

 little stream flows under the road into the sea at this place. The 

 bridge beneath which it passes has pretty high parapets. A 

 huge dog, a frequent companion during my student days, used 

 .to mount one of these parapets, employing it as a lookout when 

 he happened for the moment to lose sight of me. Mrs. Comer- 

 ford, widow of a distinguished barrister, was my landlady. This 

 dog, aided by an accomplice named Bran, slew Mrs. Comer- 

 ford's red cat, a great favourite, and buried him, all but the 

 point of his tail, in the garden. The accomplices demeaned 

 themselves in the most innocent manner, but betrayed consider- 

 able confusion when their delinquency was detected. It did not 

 seem to occur to their canine minds that the mere tip of the poor 

 cat's tail, when the body itself was out of sight, could possibly 

 incriminate them. But to return to Clontarf. It was the 

 practice among the lads about, when the depth of water suited, 

 to wade out and catch little flatfish. These abound in great 

 numbers, and lie commonly on the seabed. The waders went 

 in barelegged, and when they happened to tread upon a fish, 

 kept the foot in position until they could stoop down and secure 

 their prey. One of the fisherboys was one day attended by his 

 dog, and when the intelligent creature saw the work in which 

 his master was engaged, proceeded to help him by plunging 

 about, and whenever he felt a fish, kept his paw upon it until 

 his master should come up and place it in his creel. This 

 curious method of catching flatfish is not confined to Clontarf. 

 I was walking one day along Con's Water, called after the old 

 chieftan of the name, Con or Constantine O'Neil, when I 

 observed a barefooted lad wading in the shallow water, for the 

 tide was ont, and from time to time casting something on the 

 bank. He was catching flatfish with his feet. I did not detect 

 his occupation, in which he seemed pretty successful, until 1 

 went close up in order to see what he was about. 



Belfast, September 22 Henry MacCormac 



Meteor 



It may interest some of your readers to know that a meteor 

 was seen here this evening during a thunderstorm, and imme- 

 diately after a flash oflightning. It appeared about the size of 

 an ordinary cricket ball, and « as of a brilliant yellow colour, 

 and moved very slowly in an upward northerly direction from 

 about east-south-east. As it moved along, it gradually decreased 

 to the size of an ordinary star, and was then lost to my view. 

 The storm began about 7 o'clock, and lasted about half an hour, 

 during which time the lightning was very vivid. A very thick 

 fog (that arose suddenly) preceded the storm, but disappeared 

 before its commencement. The weather during the day had 

 been close, with heavy showers at intervals. C. Fortescue 



II, Oxford Road, Banbury, September 20 



A Remarkable Rainbow 



On Monday, September 24, I saw at Chertsey, in Surrey, a 

 remarkable rainbow. Beyond the blue of the inner bow the 

 odours repeated themselves three times, so that there appeared 

 four contiguous spectra ; the three extraordinary ones being nar- 

 rower and less bright than the ordinary. The outer bow appeared 

 as usual. I am not aware that this phenomenon has been noticed 

 before, and being quite unable to account for its appearance 

 would be greatly obliged to any one who would enlighten me. 



Firfield, Weybridge Heath, September 25 L. C. 



Professor Cayley 

 With leference to Dr. Salmon's account of Dr. Cayley's 

 undergraduate career it may be worth while to call the attention 



of some of the readers of Nature to a contemporary description 

 in C. A. Bristed's " Five Years in an English University,'' 

 vol. i. pp. 130-132 (1852). In this volume are also to be found 

 many notices of uther Senior Wranglers and Senior Classics of 

 about the above date. R. T. 



THE XORDEXSKJULD GREENLAND 

 EXPEDITION 

 r T y HE following is an abstract of two communications 

 ■*• received from Dr. A. G. Nathorst, dated Upernivik, 

 in Greenland, July 22 and August 2, in which the 

 eminent Swedish naturalist gives an account of the work 

 of the Nordenskjold expedition up to the latter date : — 



Having left Reikiavik on June 10, we sighted the coast 

 of Greenland in lat. 65° 50' on the 12th, but were unable, 

 on account of the pack-ice, to reach the shore. During 

 the following day we steamed along the ice, dredging 

 and making hjdrographical measurements with great suc- 

 cess, and on the 14th we came very close to the shore in 

 lat. 62° 40', but, as it was impossible to land even here, 

 we made for Julianshaab, via Cape Farewell. From 

 there Nordenskjold, Herr KolthofT, and myself made an 

 excursion to Nunasernansak, in the Kongerdluarsuk Fjord, 

 the only spot on the earth where the remarkable mineral 

 " endialyt " is found, and from which the metal known as 

 zirconium is produced. Of this, as well as of other 

 minerals found here, we made an excellent harvest. 



Having called at Godhavn, we arrived, on June 29, at 

 Ujaragsugsuk, where Herr Hamberg and I landed in order 

 to examine the fossil plant-bearing strata here, while the 

 vessel proceeded to the Auleitsivik Fjord, whence the 

 ice journey was to commence. On the way north the 

 Sophia called at Egedesminde, and on July 1 anchored 

 at Tessiursarsoak, where a splendid harbour was dis- 

 covered, which was afterwards charted by Sergeant 

 Kjellman under the name of " Sophia Harbour." July 2 

 and 3 were spent in bringing the baggage for the ice 

 journey up on the ice, and on July 4 Nordenskjold 

 started in the company of Dr. Berlin, in the finest 

 weather, on his inland excursion. 



< n July S the ship was to have left the harbour to take 

 us on board again, but it was not until four days after 

 that she succeeded in getting out on account of ice. These 

 days were occupied by Dr. Forsstrand and Herr Kolthoff 

 in dredging and in making ornithological, entomological, 

 and botanical collections, a labour which was attended 

 with remarkable success. On the 14th the Sophia arrived 

 at Godhavn, where the Yaiitic and Proteus, the two 

 American vessels on the way to Smith's Sound for the 

 relief of Lieut. Greely's expedition at Lady Franklin 

 Bay, were lying. Here the well-known Esquimaux inter- 

 preter, Hans Hendrik — generally called Hans Christian 

 — who has participated in Arctic expeditions ever since 

 Kane's voyage, joined the vessel, and on the 7th Herr 

 Hamberg and I were taken on board. 



The results of our researches at Ujaragsugsuk are ex- 

 ceedingly good, and many new discoveries, both geological 

 and palaeontological, have been made. The finds made 

 at Atonekerdluk, on the other side of the Waigat, were 

 especially very remarkable and valuable, as a number of 

 hitherto unknown strata bearing fossil plants were dis- 

 covered, from which magnificent leaves of Aralice, Mag- 

 nolia, Lyctxsartce, Plat ana, and others were extracted. 

 An idea of the size of the collection made may be 

 gathered from the fact that they till five large barrels, 

 five boxes, and a firkin, which will all be despatched by a 

 sailing vessel to Copenhagen. On July 22 the Sophia 

 left Upernivik for Cape York, where Hans Hendrik says 

 that the iron blocks we desire to examine are really lying. 

 On the way north we found little ice, most of it being 

 "calved" from the glaciers; we encountered, however, 

 much fog, and were often compelled to " lay to," but 

 such time has always been spent in dredging and studying 

 the sea. 



