446 
NATURE 
| Marcu 11, 1897 
different parts of the United Kingdom during the present 
month. 
Two parts recently issued complete the ninth volume of that 
useful publication, 7ke Zssex Naturalist. A more than local 
interest attaches to the reports on the borings for coal at Stutton 
and Weeley, on the latter of which more details are promised 
in the next number. Both borings have been unsuccessful in 
their primary object, high-dipping unfossiliferous rocks, of at 
least Lower Carboniferous age, coming immediately under the 
Gault in both cases. Among the numerous papers and notes 
on Essex matters, we note a contour-shaded map of South 
Essex, prepared by Mr. T. V. Holmes, which may be regarded 
as an example of how accurate small-scale maps can be pro- 
duced: it is reduced by photography from a shaded six-inch 
map. 
THE well-known work on ‘‘ Metals; their properties and 
treatment,” published in Messrs. Longmans’ series of Text- 
Books of Science, has been considerably enlarged by Prof. A. 
K. Huntington and Mr. W. G. McMillan. The work originally 
appeared in 1872, and occupied 312 pages ; but, in order to in- 
clude the great developments which have taken place in the 
practice of metallurgy in recent years, it has had to be extended 
to 562 pages, and even now Prof. Huntington regrets that he 
has not been able to deal with each branch of the subject fully 
enough to satisfy himself. Notwithstanding this statute of limi- 
tations, the new edition of ‘‘ Metals” has been brought up to 
date so satisfactorily that it will certainly meet with a hearty re- 
ception. The object of the book is to ‘‘ make clear the principles 
which have guided the evolution of the metallurgical arts and 
industries, avoiding multiplicity of detail, which tends to obscure 
main issues.” The present edition of the book shows that this 
object has been borne in mind throughout, the result being a 
readable and instructive volume. 
THE report drawn up by Prof. W. A. Herdman and Mr. 
Andrew Scott, on the investigations carried on, in 1896, in con- 
nection with the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries Laboratory at Uni- 
versity College, Liverpool, contains many noteworthy matters. 
Particular attention is given to the description of work on 
oysters and their possible connection with disease in man. 
Prof. Herdman urges moderation on the part of those sanitary 
reformers who expect the conditions in which oysters are kept 
to be perfect. ‘‘ After all,” he says, “‘ we do not want—even if 
we could get it—an aseptic oyster. The rest of our food—our 
milk, our bread and cheese, our ham sandwiches, and so on— 
are teeming with germs, most of them harmless so far as we 
know ; but some of them may be just as bad as any that can be 
in shellfish. If we were to insist on breathing filtered air, and 
eating nothing but sterile food, washed down with antiseptic 
drinks, we should probably die of starvation, or something worse, 
if we did not go mad first with the constant anxiety.” It is held 
that the object should be to get our oyster-beds as healthy as 
possible, but not to insist upon conditions which will make it im- 
possible to rear any oysters at all. As the result of work carried 
out with Prof. Boyce, Prof. Herdman recommends that all 
grounds upon which shellfish are grown or bedded should be 
inspected, so as to ensure their practical freedom from sewage, 
and also that oysters should be kept alive for a short time in 
running water; for experiments show that the living animal 
soon gets rid of any disease germs with which it may be infected, 
if it is kept in clean water. A catalogue of the Fisheries 
Collection in the Zoological Department of the University 
College, Liverpool, is appended to Prof. Herdman’s report. 
Two papers, extracted from the thirteenth annual report of the 
Bureau of Ethnology, have come to us from Mr. Cosmos Min- 
NO. 1428, VOL. 55] 
deletf. One is on the ‘* Casa Grande Ruin,” situated near Gila 
River, in Southern Arizona, and the best-known specimen of 
aboriginal architecture in the United States. The accurate 
plans and careful descriptions contained in this paper should be 
very valuable to students of American antiquities. It is con- 
cluded that the Casa Grande was undoubtedly built and occupied 
by a branch of the Pueblo race, or by an allied people. These 
people were probably the ancestors of the present Pima Indians, 
now found in the vicinity, and known to be a pueblo-building 
tribe. The subject of Mr. Cosmos Mindeleffs second memoir 
is ‘‘ Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona.” It is con- 
cluded that these ruins represent a comparatively late period in 
the history of the Pueblo tribes. There is no essential difference, 
other than those due to immediate environment, between the 
architecture of the lower Verde region and that of the more 
primitive types—Tusayan, for example—found in other regions. 
The Verde architecture is, however, of a more purely aboriginal 
type than that of any modern pueblo, and the absence of intro- 
duced or foreign ideas is its chief characteristic. The remains 
suggest that cavate lodges and cliff-dwellings are simple varieties 
of the same phase of life, and that life was an agricultural one. 
Mr. Mindeleff’s paper is a very valuable contribution to the 
knowledge concerning the interesting archeological remains of 
the Rio Verde valley, and their position among types of house 
structure. 
THE fourth Annual Report of the Shanghai Meteorological 
Society contains an interesting essay on the variations of the 
atmospheric pressure over Siberia and Eastern Asia during the 
months of January and February 1890, by the Rev. S. 
Chevalier, S.J., Director of the Zi-ka-wei Observatory, and 
President of the Society. The investigation was undertaken to 
elucidate some of the more doubtful points relating to winter 
storms in the Eastern seas, and for this purpose synoptic 
charts have been drawn twice daily for the period in question, 
showing the distribution of barometric pressure over Siberia 
and Eastern Asia, based chiefly upon the reports issued by the 
Russian, Chinese and Japanese services. The conclusions 
arrived at show that while some of the cyclonic storms may 
make a tour of the globe, most of them experience great 
difficulty in crossing Western Siberia, and are generally deflected 
towards the North Pole by the high pressure prevailing over 
Central Siberia. The depressions over Siberia, though far 
distant from the coasts of China, affect, at least indirectly, the 
weather of those parts; and the author finds that the winter 
storms of China are very generally preceded by the passage of 
extra-tropical cyclones. The violence of the gales not only 
depends upon the depth of the disturbance, but also upon the 
character of the high-pressure areas in the rear of the 
depression. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Yellow-bellied Liothrix (Lzothrix luteus) 
from India, presented by Madame Caté; a Viperine Snake 
(Zropidonotus vipferinus), Europe, presented by Mr. J. H. M. 
Furse ; eleven Scorpion Mud Terrapins (Cznosternon scorpotdes) 
from North Brazil, presented by Dr. Emil A. Goeldi ; a Yellow- 
cheeked Amazon (Chrysotés autumnalis) from Honduras, pre- 
sented by Mrs. Annie Kattengell; two Chipping Squirrels 
(Zamias striatus) from North America, deposited ; a Common 
Otter (Lutra vulgaris) from Berkshire, a Salle’s Amazon 
(Chrysotis ventralis) from St. Domingo, purchased; two 
Egyptian Jerboas (Dépus a@gyptzus), nine Egyptian Cobras 
(Mata haje), two Cerastes Vipers (Cevastes cornutus), twelve 
Egyptian Eryx (Zryx jaculus), a Clifford’s Snake (Zamenzts 
diadema), two Hissing Sand Snakes (Psammophis sebtlans), two 
Snakes (Zamenszs florulentus) from Egypt, received in 
exchange. 
