J72 



NA TURE 



[February 15, 1906 



of the Papuan Gulf for which it is very difficult to account ; 

 members of this stock seem to form part of the population 

 south of the Fly River. The average stature rises in pro- 

 ceeding from the centre of the Gulf eastwards. There is 

 no reason to suspect Australian influence, even in the 



rorres Straits Islands. The lectures are open to the 



public ; the second was given yesterday, and the con- 

 cluding one will be delivered to-morrow (Friday) at five 

 o'clock. 



Prof. S. H. Reynolds, University College, Bristol, in- 

 forms us that the rock fall at Cheddar on the night of 

 Sunday, February 4, is not a matter of any very great 

 moment, though much has been made of it in the papers. 

 The point at which it took place is a quarry on the 

 northern or dip slope side of the gorge, which here follows 

 the strike of the rocks. The fallen rock detached itself 

 from the quarry face along the bend of a master joint, 



and estimates of its amount vary from 70,000 tons to 

 500,000 tons; but an experienced quarry owner has assured 

 Prof. Reynolds that 20,000 tons is about the amount of 

 the fall. Though this may seem a very large amount, the 

 i.ill is entirely confined to the face of the quarry, and the 

 general features and beauty of the gorge are absolutely 

 unaffected by it. 



1\ the annual report on British New fiuinea for 1903, Sir 

 F. Winter described a people on the Musa River, named 

 Agaiambo; according to tin- newspaper reports of the 

 period they are web-footed dwarfs ; subsequent information 

 went to show that they had been wiped out by a hostile 

 tribe. The latest report, for 1904—5, shows that this latter 

 item was incorrect, for ten members of the tribe have been 

 measured by Captain Barton, and their photographs sent 

 to Sydney. Unfortunately, much of the latest information 

 is contradictory of the earlier report ; the Agaiambo are 

 stated to kneel in their canoes or sit on their heels, and 

 to this circumstance their physical peculiarities are 

 attributed ; but Sir F. Winter says that they stand. More- 

 over, it is difficult to see how sitting on the heel could 

 produre, as alleged, a protrusion of the heel. There is no 

 evidence to show that the tribe is web-footed ; they are not 

 dwarfs ; the man seen by Sir F. Winter stood as high as 

 an ordinary native; what was peculiar about him was th.it 

 tlie lower extremities were badly developed, so that his 

 hips were 3 in, hes lower than those of the ordinary 

 native. This feature seems to be borne out by the later 

 NO. 1894, VOL. J $~] 



evidence. There is no reason at present to suppose that 

 they are of different stock from their neighbours; they are 

 said to speak the same language as the Barigi, with whom 

 they barter produce. 



I\ a paper on library aids to mathematical research, 

 published in the Proceedings of Ike Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh, Dr. Thomas Muir has touched upon a sub- 

 ject of ever-growing importance that has not yet received 

 the systematic attention in this country which it needs. 

 It deals with the requirements of the scientific investigator 

 classed under the two general main categories of books and 

 books about books. The paper is confined to the single 

 subject of mathematics, with reference to Scotland in par- 

 ticular, but, as Dr. Muir remarks, " there can be no 

 doubt, however, that other subjects are in as bad a plight, 

 and that the whole question of library aid is worth serious 

 and prompt attention from all scientific men." Com- 

 mencing with "books about books," or summaries of 

 existing literature, and excluding the " Bibliotheca 

 Mathematica, " which is different in scope, Dr. Muir finds 

 that the mathematician is adequately provided for as re- 

 gards past literature by Poggendorff 's " Handworterbuch " 

 and the Royal Society catalogues, and as regards current 

 literature by the " Jahrbuch uber die Fortschritte, " the 

 Amsterdam "Revue semestrelle, " and the "International 

 Catalogue of Scientific Literature." But when it comes 

 to the books themselves, the present state of affairs is 

 eminently unsatisfactory. Confining his attention to the 

 sixty-seven serials, mainly mathematical, included in the 

 list published in the " International Catalogue, A " for 

 1903, Dr. Muir tabulates the slate of affairs in the libraries 

 of the University and Royal Society of Edinburgh and 

 the University and Philosophical Society of Glasgow. He 

 finds that only thirty-four of the sixty-seven periodicals 

 are to be found in the combined libraries of southern 

 Scotland, and many sets are incomplete, but that a con- 

 siderable duplication exists in the libraries in question. 

 Austrian mathematics is unrepresented. An annual ex- 

 penditure of 100/. would suffice to purchase and preserve 

 all the serials on the list, but even without any expenditure 

 whatever the whole objeel could be attained by cooper- 

 ation between the several libraries and gradual elimination 

 of the cases of duplication. Dr. Muir considers that 

 mathematical research at present can only be pursued in 

 Scotland with difficulty and uncertainty, and that research 

 in mathematical history is practically an impossibility. 

 What Dr. Muir says regarding Scotland applies with still 

 more force to libraries elsewhere. If he had extended his 

 study, fur example, to Wales, he would have found three 

 separate libraries in the three university colleges each with 

 only some 10I. or so per annum for purchase and binding 

 of books and periodicals. 



The opening article in the January number of Himmel 

 und Erde is devoted to the discussion of the question 

 whethei the attributes of organisms can be due to physical 

 causes. In concluding this article, the author, Dr. V. 

 Fran/, of Breslau, points out that, although a physical 

 origin of life is highly probable, its demonstration is a 

 matter of almost insuperable difficulty. 



In the January issue of the Museums Joitrnal, Mr. J. 

 Minto discusses the relation of provincial museums to 

 national institutions. After pointing out that local 

 museums cannot at the present day grow with the requisite 

 rapidity and properly discharge their educational functions 

 if dependent solely upon donations, the author expresses 

 himself as follows : — " It will take years to do away with 



