yof Sir, Isaae Newton. 
January 14, 1897 | 
NATURE 
259 
the day of St. Bernabe.” M. Teisserene de Bort showed that 
M. Lancaster, who, several years ago, examined this question, 
found no results tending to verify this saying to predict in 
advance a rainy period ; thus in examining the data collected 
from 1863 to 1896, he finds that in the first days of June the 
rain is, on the average, a little more abundant, and diminishes 
towards the end of that month. He himself had also studied the 
records, but could not find any systematic grouping of the days 
of rain around the day of St. Medard. M. Renou said that M. 
Elie de Beaumon. has called attention to the fact that the proverb 
relative to St. Medard dates from the middle ages, and that 
since then the order of the saints’ days in the calendar has been 
changed, and that now the day of St. Gervais is the one to 
which the proverb should be applied. M. de Beaumont, 
therefore, examined the question of the grouping of days of rain 
according to the new date, but did not find any verification of 
the proverb, 
THE Monthly Weather Review (Washington) for September 
last contains, among various other interesting notes, one upon 
the first attempt to measure wind force. Prof. Marvin points 
out that Sir Isaac Newton in his boyhood made a rough 
determination of the force of a great gale which occurred on 
September 3, 1658, by j jumping first in the direction in which 
the wind, blew, and then in opposition to. the wind, and after- 
wards measuring the length of the leap in both sooner An 
account of this will be found in Sir David Brewster's ‘‘ Memoir” 
The. first piece of apparatus applied to 
the” measurement of the wind was probably the pendulous 
plate” anemometer introduced by the Royal Society on the 
recommendation of Sir Christopher Wren and others, about 
1665. This instrument gave a measurement of the effect of 
moving air ona resisting plate. The question of the measure- 
-ment of the pressure or velocity of the wind by anemometers is 
still in a condition far from satisfactory, and the recent annual 
reports of the Meteorological Council show that the subject is 
still engaging the attention of that body. 
Mr. G. H. KNtips, Lecturer on Surveying in the University 
‘of Sydney, ‘has: ‘communicated to the Royal Society of New 
‘South Wales, a note 6n recent determinations of the viscosity of 
water by the efflux method. From his tables it would appear 
‘that, for temperatures from 0° to 50° C., the relative fiuidity has 
been ascertained to within 1 per cent:, but that from 50° to 
‘yoo? C. thé uncertainty increases to 5 per cent. This large 
uncertainty is apparently not explained by possible errors of 
observation either of temperatures, efflux times, or of the dimen- 
sions of the apparatus. These conclusions are derived from a com- 
parison of the observations of Poiseuille, Graham, Rosenkranz, 
Shotte, Traube, Noack, and Thorpe and Rodger. 
THE importance of the study of the ceremonies of the Aus- 
tralians can scarcely be over-estimated, and it is with pleasure 
that we draw attention to the recent work in this direction done 
by R. H. Mathews, who as a professional {surveyor has good 
opportunities for study, of which we are glad to find he makes 
so excellent a use. Ina paper contributed to the Queensland 
Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (vol. 
x. p. 18, pl. 1), he dealt with the Kamilaroi Class System of 
the Australian aborigines. The initiation or Bora ceremonies 
of the Kamilaroi tribes were described in the Journal of the 
Anthropological Institute (vols. xxiv., XV. pp. 411, 318), and 
in the Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.1W. (vol. xxviii. p, 103); the 
analogous Burbung ceremonies of the Wiradthuri tribes in the 
Journ. Anth. Inst. (vol. xxy. p. 295); and the similar Bunan 
ceremony of the south-east coast of New South Wales in Zhe 
American Anthropologist (vol. ix. p. 327). The careful de- 
scriptions are supplemented by plans of the grounds where the 
ceremonies took place, and sketches of the various animals and 
NO. 1420, VOL. 55 | 
designs that are carved on neighbouring trees, or cut on the sur- 
face of the ground. Mr. Mathews has also published several 
accounts of the rock paintings and carvings of the Australian 
aborigines, and we would refer the reader to the following 
papers: Journ, Roy. Soc. N.S.W. (vol. xxvii. p. spe) (for the 
one in vol. xxix. he obtained the Society’s medal), Proc. Roy. 
Geogr. Soc. Aust. Queensland Branch (vol. x. p. 46), Proc. 
Roy. Soc. Victorta (vol. vii. n.s. p. 143), The American 
Anthropologist (vol. viii. p. 268), Journ. Anth. Inst. (vol. xxv. 
p- 145). It is evident ‘Aue Mr. Mathews has taken a great deal 
of pains to be accurate, and his training has been valuable for 
this special kind of work. All the drawings are necessarily 
reproduced on a very small scale ; but it is to be hoped that the 
original drawings will be preserved in some convenient public 
institution, where they will be available for future students. 
We hope that he will be encouraged to continue his labours, 
; and trust that he and others who have the opportunity will find 
out, from the natives themselves, the significance of all the de- 
signs and patterns which they come across. With a few 
more workers like Mr. Mathews, the reproach of the neglect of 
Australian anthropology would largely be taken away. 
Mr. C. H. TyLerR TOWNSHEND has recently contributed to 
the Zransactions of the Texas Academy of Science an essay 
on the Bio-geography of Mexico, Texas, New Mexico, and 
Arizona: In this, he criticises Dr. Merriam’s division of the 
life-zones of Eastern North America, ‘‘ which he has had 
constant and abundant opportunities of studying during the 
past five- years.” Mr. Townshend recognises seven zones of 
altitude in the district to which he has devoted his attention, 
and, commencing at the highest, calls them respectively the 
Arctic, Hudsonian, Canadian, Arid-Transition, Upper-Sonoran, 
Lower-Sonoran, and Tropical Zones. These he proceeds to 
define, chiefly by reference to their different and characteristic 
forms of vegetation. 
WE have received Nos. 2 and 3 of the eighteenth volume 
of Notes from the Leyden Museum, which were published on 
December 24 last. Besides many entomological and several 
conchological papers, ‘the publication contains an article by Dr. 
J. Biittikofer on the birds of Nias, the largest of a long series 
of islands flanking the west coast of Sumatra, and situated at 
a distance of about seventy miles from its north-west coast, which 
has, of late years, been more than once the subject of zoological 
investigations. Dr. Biittikofer bases his paper on a splendid 
series of bird-skins collected in this island by Mr. J. Z. 
Kannegeiter, but takes the opportunity of giving a complete 
list of the birds of Nias, so far as they are known up to the 
present time, which are 128 in number. The relationship of 
this Avifauna is with that of Sumatra, but there are eleven 
species of birds in Nias which have not been found anywhere 
else as yet. 
Ar the Liverpool meeting of the British Association, the 
Committee for the Study of the Marine Zoology, Botany, and 
Geology of the Irish Sea presented its fourth and final report, 
drawn up by Prof. Herdman, a printed copy of which has now 
reached us. It contains, besides a brief account of the year’s 
work, a complete list of all the species the Committee has 
recorded from the area. The total number of species included 
is 2133, and the list comprises all the chief marine subdivisions 
of the animal kingdom, and also Alge and Diatomacea. Each 
name is followed by a reference to the publication of the 
Liverpool Marine Biology Committee in which the species was 
recorded or described. The British Association Committee is 
dissolved, not because the work is finished, but because it was 
decided that the Association could best render effective help by. 
supporting the Port Erin Biological Station, which is now 
established and equipped, or by giving grants for special 
researches. 
