November 16, 1905] 



NA TURK 



63 



nection between South America, South Africa, and 

 Australia. A short time ago, Dr. W. B. Scott, in the 

 report of the results of the Princeton Expedition to Pata- 

 gonia, announced his opinion that the fossil Santa Cruz 

 insectivore Necrolestes is closely allied to the South African 

 Chrysochloris, and that this relationship indicated a con- 

 nection between South Africa and South America. Now 

 Mr. W. J. Sinclair, of Princeton, in a paper published in 

 the Proceedings of Ihc American Philosophical Society, 

 states unequivocally that Prothylacinus and the other 

 marsupial-like carnivores of the Santa Cruz beds are true 

 marsupials closely related to the Australian thylacine. He 

 is, moreover, of opinion that the living South American 

 marsupial Ccvnolestes and its extinct relatives are 

 annectant forms between diprotodonts and polyprotodonts, 

 and are also not far removed from the ancestral stock 

 which gave rise to the Australian phalangers. The exist- 

 ence of primitive opossums which cannot be regarded as 

 ancestral to the modern South American forms is also 

 an important determination. In view of the aforesaid 

 relations, coupled with the evidence afforded by the in- 

 vertebrate faunas, Mr. Sinclair considers himself justified 

 in stating that " considerable evidence is now available to 

 show that a land connection between Patagonia and the 

 Australian region existed not later than the close of the 

 Cretaceous or the beginning of the Tertiary, and it is 

 possible that at this time the interchange of marsupials 

 between the two continents was effected." 



The Carnegie Institution of Washington has published 

 the first part of vol. i. of a " Bibliographical Index of 

 North American Fungi," by Prof. William G. Farlow, 

 professor of cryptogamic botany in Harvard University. 

 This part extends from Abrothallus to Badhamia. The 

 Index owes its origin to the fact that in 1874 Prof. Farlow 

 found it impossible to ascertain what species of fungi wire 

 known to occur in the United States, and he determined 

 to bring together all references to North American species 

 in the form of a card index. At the same time an authors' 

 catalogue was started to include the titles of all works 

 used in forming the catalogue of species. The latter 

 catalogue was printed in 1887, and was followed by a 

 supplemental list in 1888. A new edition with additions 

 up to 1905 is in preparation. It was found impossible to 

 obtain means of publication for the index until the 

 Carnegie Institution offered to provide the funds. It is 

 ■expected that the appearance of the present index w T ill save 

 many American institutions much time and money involved 

 in the duplication of work. The index does not pretend 

 to be a summary of all references to North American fungi, 

 but is limited to those which concern the systematic 

 mycologist, and does not include references to papers on 

 fungicides and other technical subjects. We hope to review 

 the index when its publication has been completed. 



The eleventh volume of the new series of the Reliquary 

 and Illustrated Archaeologist, containing the four quarterly 

 numbers published in 1905, is now available. Among con- 

 tributions which will appeal to men of science are Mr. 

 George Clinch's papers on the Neolithic dwelling and on 

 Neolithic burial, Mr. John Patrick's essays on the sculp- 

 tured caves of East Wemyss, and Mr. W. Heneage Legge's 

 paper on glimpses of ancient agriculture and its survivals 

 to-day. The journal makes a successful appeal to all who 

 are interested in antiquities, architecture, the arts and 

 industries of man in past ages, and in kindred subjects. 



The eighth volume of the Transactions of the Rochdale 

 Literary and Scientific Society, dealing with the years 

 3 9°3~5i has now been published. Among papers read before 

 NO. l88 I, VOL. J 2~] 



the society and printed in the volume the following may be 

 mentioned : — Mr. T. Stenhouse, 011 the radio-activity of 

 radium and other compounds ; Mr. W. A. Parker, on the 

 remains of fossil fishes found near Rochdale; Mr. YV. H. 

 Sutcliffe, on the bullion mine of the Upper Carboniferous 

 rocks; Mr. C. W. R. Royds, on life in Antarctica; Mr. 

 W. Baldwin, on the palaeontology of Sparth Bottoms, Roch- 

 dale ; and Mr. W. H. Pennington, on some ancient colour- 

 ing matters. The latest report contained in tin- volume 

 shows that the total number of members at the end of 1904 

 was 249, and that the society had a balance of about 66/. 

 in hand. The society is to be congratulated upon its con- 

 tinued activity and upon the way in which, by lectures, 

 field excursions, and other methods, it is disseminating an 

 interest in scientific subjects. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



A Suggestion for the Next International Scheme. — 

 As the work on the international chart of the heavens is 

 now nearing completion, Mr. YV. E. Cooke, of the Perth 

 (YV. Australia) Observatory, suggests that astronomers 

 should now begin to consider the next essential astro- 

 nomical problem which should be attacked internationally. 

 He suggests that the coordination of meridian observations 

 is desirable, and outlines the plans on which such work 

 might be commenced. These include the observation of 

 fundamental stars, of about the sixth magnitude, in every 

 part of the sky, and the formation of a main catalogue 

 comprising, say, three stars to each square degree of the 

 sky, that is, about 120,000 stars altogether. The accom- 

 plishment of this work would not only provide the 

 necessarv reference stars for future observations, but would 

 give definite meridian work to a number of observatories 

 which at present are performing it in a casual manner and 

 often overlap each other's programmes (Mouthlv Notices 

 R.A.S., No. 9, vol. lxv.). 



Phcebe, the Ninth Satellite of Saturn. — Further 

 details concerning the discovery and recognition of Saturn's 

 ninth satellite are published by Prof. W. H. Pickering in 

 No. 5, vol. Iiii., of the Harvard College Observatory 

 Annals. 



Prof. Pickering describes the taking and the reduction 

 of each of the numerous plates on which the position of 

 Phcebe has been measured. Up to the commencement of 

 the present year 105 plates of Saturn had been secured 

 with the Bruce telescope, and Phcebe had been recognised 

 on 72 of these, the image on 69 of them being sufficiently 

 well defined to be accurately measured. 



On comparing these plates with others which were 

 taken by Prof. Perrine with the Crossley reflector, it is 

 seen that with plates having had equal exposures, and on 

 which Phoebe is seen equallv well, those taken with the 

 reflector show stars of about one magnitude fainter than 

 any to be found on the Bruce refractor plates. 



Recent observations give the period of Phcebe as about 

 547-5 days, and the comparison of the observational results 

 with the different sets of elements shows that with the 

 revised elements the deviations are much smaller. 



In No. 6 of the same volume Dr. F. E. Ross shows, in 

 detail, the procedure followed in calculating the elements 

 of Phoebe, and compares the three sets of elements which 

 have been computed with the observational results. The 

 discussion shows that slight changes in the previously 

 determined eccentricitv and period will bring the plates 

 secured during 189S into line with the more recent observ- 

 ations. 



Graphical Method of determining Altitudes and 

 Azimuths. — A simple method of finding the altitude and 

 azimuth of an observed body, the latitude of the observer 

 and the declination and hour-angle of the object being 

 known, has been devised by Mr. Littlehales, of the U.S. 

 Hydrographic Office, and is briefly described in No. 0, 

 vol. xxxiii., of the Monthly Weather Review of the U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture. 



The plan of solution employs a stereographic projection 

 of the celestial sphere on the plane of the observer's 



