42 



NA TURE 



\_Nov. 13, i ! 



luminous objects to the volcanic dust of the eruption of Kraka- 

 toaof August 27, 1883. In La Nature 'M. Tissandier describes 

 the corona as observed in two balloon ascents on October 23 

 and 24. 



M. Henri Maget is about to publish in Paris an atlas of 

 the French colonies and foreign possessions. The work, which 

 will consist of twenty-five maps, will be brought out with the 

 assistance of eminent French colonial geographers. The maps 

 will lie of large size, in three or four colours, and some of them 

 have obtained a silver medal and a diploma of honour, at the 

 recent Geographical Exhibition at Bar-le-Duc. It will be com- 

 pleted in five parts, the first of which has already appeared. 

 This contains maps of (1) New Caledonia, (2) Central Africa 

 (the Congo and the Gaboon), (3) Tonquin, (4) Madagascar, (5) 

 the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. The second part will contain 

 maps of Reunion, Tahiti, Guadaloupe, Senegal, and the New 

 Hebrides. 



We have again to welcome the appearance of a new edition 

 (the tenth) of Prof. Morren's most useful " Correspondance 

 botanique." Since the appearance of the ninth edition (in 18S1) 

 the list of "gardens, chairs, museums, and botanical reviews 

 and societies throughout the world," including also the addresses 

 of all private working botanists known to the editor, has again 

 undergone considerable enlargement — we hope an indication of 

 a gradual spreading of interest in botanical science. 



Dr. Brudenell Carter has issued in a separate form his 

 now celebrated letter to the Times on "Eyesight and Civilisa- 

 tion " (Macmillan and Co.). He has taken the opportunity to 

 introduce a few explanatory diagrams. 



Prof. F. W. Pitman has sent to the Leader a full account 

 of his recent explorations amongst the so-called Liberty Group 

 of Mounds on the Harness estate, Ohio, first surveyed and 

 described by Squier and Davis in 1840. In their great work on 

 "The Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" these 

 archaeologists describe five small mounds within the great square 

 of twenty-seven acres. Most of these, as well as three others 

 represented on their plan just outside a "gateway " on the east 

 sideof the larger forty-acre square have been much reduced by cul- 

 tivation. All have now been carefully examined, two — evidently 

 burial-places — yielding objects of considerable interest. The 

 human bones were much decayed ; but amongst the other finds 

 were copper plates, ear-rings, and celts, slate and stone orna- 

 ments, some large beads covered with copper, and in one instance 

 with silver over the copper, and many other objects, all of which 

 have been deposited in the Museum of Cambridge University. 

 In another large mound north of the same spot an extensive bed 

 of ashes and charcoal yielded much pottery, pieces of cut mica, 

 some grass matting with charred seeds, nuts, acorns, and bum:,. 

 Near the eastern corner of the great square stands the largest 

 mound of the whole group, which in future Reports of tin- Pea- 

 body Museum will be referred to as the " i'.ig Mound of the 

 Liberty Group." It is 160 feet long by 80 to 90 wide, and 13 

 to iS high, and appears from the portion so far examined to be 

 a burial-place of a remarkable character. Some 40 feet from 

 the centre, at the northern end, twelve chambers were opened, 

 and yielded charred mats and cloth in which the bodies had 

 evidently been wrapped, besides various burnt objects, such as 

 copper plates, ear-rings, shell beads, and long flint knives. In two 

 of the chambers skeletons were found stretched at full length, 

 with a copper plate on one of them, the action of which had pre- 

 served the structure of a finely-woven piece of cloth. In the 

 other chambers the bodies had been burnt on the spot, as shown 

 by the relative position of the bones and by the fact that in two 

 instances portions of the bodies had fallen beyond the fire, and 



- 1 scaped burning. Other discoveries made early in the present 

 year in two of the pits by some boys, under the guidance of 



Mr. Wilson, yielded a great variety of objects which have also 

 been secured for the Peabody Museum. Important links have 

 thus been obtained between the builders of this great mound and 

 neighbouring earth-works in the Scioto Valley and the con- 

 structors of the remarkable group on the Turner estate in the 

 Little Miami Valley. 



Mr. Ellis, of 90, New Bond Street, has now on exhibition a 

 number of garments, fur-lined and fur-covered, which were used 

 by the German Polar Expeditions of 18S2. In both cases the 

 fur- were hardly worn at all. The first expedition, which 

 wintered from August 21, 1882, to September 12, 1883, in 

 Kingawa Fjord, Cumberland Gulf, 6o° 15' W. longitude and 

 6o° 36' N. latitude, and as there was a perfect calm through the 

 winter, the furs were not necessary ; similarly the second expe- 

 dition, which wintered in the island of South Georgia (36 5' W. 

 longitude and 54 32' S. latitude) from August 21, 1882, until 

 September 5, 1SS3, found the temperature equally mild. The 

 furs were lent for exhibition by the Imperial German Polar 

 Commission. 



The last 'census of Roumania gives a total population of 

 4,424,961, of which 2,276,558 are males, and 2,148,403 are 

 females. According to religious sects there are 4,198,664 

 orthodox Greeks, 134,16s Jews, 45,152 Roman Catholics 

 28,903 Protestants, 8734 Gregorians, 8108 Armenians, and 

 1323 Mohammedans. The foreign element in the population is 

 composed as follows: — 2S,I2S Austrians, 9525 Greeks, 3658 

 Germans, 2S22 English, 2706 Russians, 2631 Turks, 1 142 

 French, 167 Italians, and 539 of various nationalities — in all 

 51,138 persons. The urban population numbers only 781,170, 

 while the rural population is 3,643,783. 



On October 16 a mirage was seen at Lindesberg, in Central 

 Sweden. It represented a large town with fur-storied houses, 

 a castle, and a lake. The phenomenon was observed for about 

 fifteen minutes. 



The red sun-glows have recently been observed in the far 

 north of Sweden. 



The additions to the Zoologii d S01 iety' 1 1 irdens during the 

 past week include a Barbary Ape I '/. innuusS from North 



Africa, an Anubis Baboon [Cynoccphalus anuliis) from West 

 Africa, a Siamese Blue Pie (Urocisi is) from Siam, 



ted by Mr. R. B. Colom ; a Ring-tailed Coati (Nasua 



ruin) from South America, presented by Mr. C. M. Courage ; 

 six Alexandrine Parrakeets (Palaornis alexandri), a Blossom- 

 headed Parrakeet (Palaornis cynocephalus), a Banded Parrakeet 

 (Pa/,, arm's fasciatus), from British Burmah, presented by Mr. 

 Eugene W. Oates, F.Z.S. ; two Ring-necked Parrakeets 

 (PalcBornis lorauatus) from India, presented respectively by Mr. 

 W. G. Burrows and Miss Perry; a Weka Rail (Ocydromus 

 australis, white var.) from New Zealand, presented by Mr. J. 

 Satchell Studley ; a Brown Capuchin (Cebus fa'.utllus) from 

 Guiana, two Pronghorn Antelopes (An.ila apra americana 6 9 ) 

 from North America, deposited ; a Great (hey Shrike (Lanius 

 1 ), six Curlews (Numcnius arquatd), British, purchased; 

 a Blue-winged Teal (Qutrquedula cyanoptera 6 ) from South 

 America, received in exchange. 



VARIATION OF THE ATOMIC WEIGHTS 



T~HEanm tains all the elements except a few very 



■*• little investigated. If the whole numbers in columns are 

 taken to be each the weight of nine atoms in the gaseous state, 

 and a comparison is made with the best determinations of vapour- 

 densities on record, the result is as follows. The first nineteen 

 determinations are Deville and Troost's, and are to be found in 

 Camples Rendus, xlv. (1857) p. 823; lvi. (1863) p. 893; lx. 

 (1865) p. 1222; lxiii. (1866) p. 20. 



