564 



NA TURE 



[April 1 6, 1885 



subsequent discussion as to the value to be attached to these 

 remains, which, if authentic, are acknowledged to have much 

 influence on the final settlement of the question as to who the 

 mound-builders were. 



The use of artificial teeth is not so modern as is generally 

 believed. Cosmos states that in the museum of Corneto, on the 

 coast of Italy, there are two curious specimens of artificial teeth 

 found in Etruscan tombs probably dating to four or five centuries 

 before our era. These graves contained the bodies of two 

 young girls. On the jaw of one is still to be seen two incisors 

 fixed to their neighbours by small gold rings ; in the other the 

 rings remained, but the artificial teeth had fallen out. The 

 teeth, carefully cut, had evidently been taken from the mouth of 

 some large animal. The dentist's art amongst the ancients was 

 not confined to drawing teeth, and replacing them by artificial 

 ones, for natural teeth have been found which have evidently 

 been treated in various ways. That this curious fact has escaped 

 notice so long, is due to the rarity of Etruscan skeletons, the 

 Etruscans employing cremation generally, and also to the cir- 

 cumstance that modern inquirers are more interested in objects 

 of Etruscan art and industry than in the remains of their ancient 

 owners. 



We have received from the Rev. H. H. Higgins the reprint 

 of a paper read by him before the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society of Liverpool on Museums of Natural History. The 

 writer discusses the subject under four heads, to w hich a fifth, 

 on the British Museum of Natural History, is added. These are 

 Museum visitors' desiderata, arrangements and appliances. 

 Judging from the attendance at the Liverpool Museum, he 

 calculates that a large majority (about 780 in 1000) of the 

 visitors are those who are not conscious of any purpose beyond 

 a wish to see the Museum, but who fix their attention with 

 more or less intelligence on the objects displayed. The students 

 would number about ten to twenty, and loungers, including 

 children, 200 in the thousand. The first desideratum in a 

 public museum is a better treatment of the specimens which 

 they already possess. The Museum, Mr. Higgins thinks, is a 

 rare one, in which a donation of 100/. could best be spent in the 

 purchase of fresh specimens ; in almost all instances it could be 

 better spent in making the order more intelligible and more 

 instructive, and much of this good work might be done without 

 spending any money. The sections on arrangements and ap- 

 pliances contain many interesting suggestions on these important 

 elements in the success of a museum. A stammbaum, or phylo- 

 genetic scheme of the pedigree of animals and vegetables, by 

 Prof. Herdman, of University College, Liverpool, is added to 

 Mr. Higgins's paper. 



We have received Dr. Howden's presidential address to the 

 Montrose Scientific and Field Club, on the " Aims of a Natur- 

 alists' Field Club," which contains much useful advice as to the 

 methods in which the members of such societies should regulate 

 their studies and researches. What has already been done in 

 local natural history in the vicinity of Montrose and suggestions 

 as to what still lies ready at hand to be done, are described in 

 the concluding portion of the address. 



Timber, a weekly journal devoted to the timber and kindred 

 interests, is the title of a new journal, the first number of which 

 appeared on February 28. A large portion of this periodical is 

 occupied with trade announcements and records of sales, with a 

 sprinkling of short articles and paragraphs on subjects connected 

 with the uses r of timber or the timber supply. The paper is 

 intended for circulation among, and as the representative of, the 

 numerous trades who work in timber, and does not profess to be 

 anything else. 



The experiments in Paris by the Triboulet system of photo- 

 graphing all the country seen from a captive balloon by opening 



the valve of a panoramic object-glass with a current sent from 

 the ground has succeeded wonderfully well. As the operators 

 remain on the ground a very small balloon is sufficient to carry 

 the photographic apparatus. The impressions being taken on 

 films can be inspected with a microscope, and are useful for 

 military purposes. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Pig-tailed Monkey (Maeacus nemestrinus 9 ) 

 from Java, presented by Mrs. Urquhart ; a Chinese Mynah 

 (Acridotheres cristatellus) from China, presented by Mr. George 

 Rowler ; a Galeated Curassow (Pauxis galeata 6 ) from Vene- 

 zuela, presented by Mr. G. A. Crawley ; a Chilian Sea Eagle 

 (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) from Chili, presented hy Mr. Richard 

 J. Jones ; a Carrion Crow (Corpus corone), British, presented by 

 Mr. A. Browning Priestley ; a Smooth Snake (Coronella Itevit) 

 from Hampshire, presented by Mr. W. H. B. Pain ; a Tibetan 

 Wild Ass, or Kiang (Equus hemionus 9 ) from Tibet, four 

 Sonnerat's Jungle Fowls (Gallus sonnerati & S 9 ? ) from 

 Southern India, deposited ; a Mandarin Duck (/E.r galericu- 

 lata 6 ) from China, a Dark Green Snake (Zamenis atrovirms), 

 South European, purchased ; two Rendall's Guinea Fowds 

 (NiimiJii rendalli) from East Africa, received in exchange ; a 

 Gigantic Salamander (Megalobactrachus giganteus) from Japan, 

 two Bull Frogs (Rana calesbiana) from North America, received 

 on approval ; a White-fronted Lemur (Lemur albifrons), born 

 in the Gardens. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 Mr. Wada, of the Japanese Legation in Berlin, recently laid 

 before the Geographical Society there certain maps produced by 

 the Geological Survey of Japan, which represent the work up 

 to the present of that establishment. It was founded in 1S79, and 

 was organised by Dr. Naumann, a German geologist. It con- 

 sists of topographical, geological, and agrenomical sections, and 

 of a technical and chemical laboratory. The maps prepared by 

 the department for the Geological Congress of Berlin this year 

 were : — (1) An oroplastic map, on a scale of I : 860,000, showing 

 the general position and form of the Japanese archipelago, the 

 coasts, ranges of mountains, as well as the depths of the ocean 

 off the coast. (2) A magnetic map. During the preliminary 

 topographical survey magnetic variations were investigated by 

 the help of a portable magnetometer. Magnetic investigations 

 are of extraordinary interest in Japan. The maps shoiv that 

 the variations are frequently very different in kind, the nume- 

 rous volcanoes causing great irregularity. (3) A geological map 

 constructed from the preliminary surveys of Dr. Naumann and 

 native geologists. This is based on a topographical map, which 

 is not reliable in detail ; but it shows the knowledge attained so 

 far of the geological structure of Japan. From this it appears 

 that all the formations are met with in that country, the Palaeo- 

 zoic being universal. Next to these in extent comes granite. A 

 complete report on this subject is to be made by the head of 

 the Survey to the Congress. The topographers have worked 

 now for about four years, and the area surveyed is more than 

 eighty geographical miles square. The completion of the maps 

 for the whole country will take another eight years. The de- 

 tailed geological survey has reached about the same extent as 

 the topographical survey, but none of the sheets of the map 

 have yet been published, although they exist in manuscript down 

 to the 3Sth parallel, with the exception of Yezo. The maps, as 

 well as the lext, appear in Japanese and English, and the Sur- 

 vey publishes also annual reports, eight of which have already 

 appeared, but only in Japanese. Another map, also prepared 

 for the Congress, is one of the volcanoes, the ages being dis- 

 tinguished by colouis. An important portion of the work of 

 the Survey is the study of soils. According to Mr. Wada, a 

 volcanic tufa, consisting for the most part of decomposed sili- 

 cates, forms a large part of the numerous uncultivated plains at 

 the foot of the mountains. An accurate knowledge of this will 

 be of much value to agriculture. Japanese soils in general are 

 staled to lie poor in chalk. This subject will also be dealt with 

 by the head of the Agronomical Section before the forthcoming 

 Congress. 



