324 



NATURE 



[/uty 31, 1884 



travellers in the work of exploration." " On the best means of 

 turning to better account for science and commerce the work of 

 Italian explorers." " On the importance of establishing com- 

 mercial stations in the Barbary States as a means of gaining 

 access to the Sudan" ; and " On Geographical Education." 



Mr. Rivett-Capnac sends us a handy reprint of his valuable 

 paper "On the Stone Implements from the North- Western 

 Provinces of India," originally published in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal. The striking resemblance that the 

 remains of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages bear to each other 

 wherever found in the Old and New Worlds, has often been 

 commented on, and receives fresh illustration from the three plates 

 of celts, arrowheads, hatchets, hammers, weights, and other 

 objects, accompanying the brochure. These specimens are 

 lithographed from photographs, and all made to scale, whereby 

 their value is greatly enhanced for the comparative study of 

 similar objects elsewhere. It is pleasant to learn that the best 

 specimens have all been presented to the British Museum, while 

 casts of some unique types peculiar to India have been made for 

 the chief museums of India, Europe, and America, and even for 

 some private persons interested in prehistoric research. 



Even in Rome the aerial disturbances caused by the Krakatoa 

 explosion were clearly indicated on the registering barometers. 

 On examining the curves of the Richard barograph Prof. Tacchini 

 found that, although the daily curves followed regularly in ac- 

 cordance with the normal barometrical conditions in Europe, 

 those of August 27, 28, and 29, 1S83, betrayed slight indenta- 

 tions, which, without changing the daily record of the pressure, 

 show that for short intervals its precision oscillated abruptly, owing 

 to the passage of the above-mentioned waves. These barometri- 

 cal oscillations occurred at the following times : — 12.7 of the 

 27th, 5.6 a.m. of the 28th, 1. 48 a.m. of the 29th, and, lastly, 

 about 4 p.m. of the same day. The time of the volcanic 

 explosion was determined by Tacchini by the report of S. 

 Raffo, captain of the Genoese brigantine the Adriatic. S. 

 Raffo states that during the night of August 26-27 continual 

 peals were heard, and that at eight o'clock next morning he 

 heard one of extraordinary violence, accompanied by a shock to 

 the vessel, which was then in 10° S. lat. and 105° E. of Green- 

 wich. Tacchini accordingly concludes that the time of the 

 explosion corresponded with 1.30 a.m. of the 27th at Rome. 

 From these data he finds that the wave reached Rome from 

 Krakatoa by the west, leaving the volcano at a velocity of 277 m. 

 per second, and that moving in the opposite direction at a velo- 

 city of 296 m. He further calculated by the observations made 

 at Rome that the complete atmospheric circuit round the globe 

 was effected by the east, leaving Rome at a velocity of 295 m., 

 and of 318 m. by the west. Captain Raffo has forwarded to 

 Rome a quantity of the dust collected on board the ship on that 

 day. 



We learn from El Liberal of Madrid, July 23, that D. Auguste 

 Arcimis has been observing sunset phenomena very similar to 

 those witnessed last autumn and winter. He has besides noticed 

 an extremely brilliant silver-white corona around the sun, having 

 a horizontal diameter of about 48 . 



The Afghan Frontier Commission will, we are glad to learn, 

 include a geologist and native botanist, as well as three surveyors. 

 But, as Mr. Sclater suggests in the Times, it is to be hoped that 

 the scientific staff will also include a zoologist or at least a zoo- 

 logical collector. Mr. Sclater writes: — "The country to be 

 passed through by the Afghan Frontier Commission, although 

 probably in the main part bare and arid, is of the deepest interest 

 to zoologists, as being situated nearly on the boundaries of the 

 Pala;arctic and Oriental regions. The numerous Russian and 

 American Surveys which have been sent out of late years with 



similar objects have always given a place in the scientific staff to 

 zoology as well as botany and geology. There is no reason, it 

 seems to zoologists, why our Government should not follow such 

 an excellent example, especially when there will be no difficulty 

 among the numerous Indian officers who are now interested in 

 zoology in finding a suitable person. Let me, therefore, express 

 a hope in the name of British naturalists that a zoologist will be 

 added to the ' scientific staff ' of the Afghan Frontier Com- 

 mission." 



We are glad to notice that the new St. Paul's School at Ham- 

 mersmith includes physical and chemical laboratories. 



In a lecture on the Olympic Festival by Dr. A. Emerson at 



Johns Hopkins University, the lecturer stated that in the Olympic 



games uniform training, early registration, and fair play were 



required of the athletes, under penalty of exclusion, or, if fraud 



was discovered too late, of heavy fines. Dr. Emerson gave the 



following as the ancient and modern records of running and 



leaping : — 



Pay's run : Good Greek record, 150 km. ; 

 Good modern record. i63 km. 

 Long running jump : Best Greek record, 55 feet ; 



Best modern record, 49 feet (Engl-) 3 inches. 



As the victors in the horse-races, Dr. Emerson stated, were the 



registered owners of the animals, such victories could be and 



often were won by women. 



Mr. H. M. Stanley arrived in England from the Congo on 

 Monday. 



The Bangkok Correspondent of the Times telegraphs that 

 Mr. Holt Hallett and his party have reached Bangkok after an 

 arduous expedition, lasting five months and thirteen days, from 

 Mouhnein to Bangkok through North Siam. Mr. Hallett suc- 

 ceeded in reaching his destination, though severely fatigued. He 

 will return and spend one month in England, and it is hoped 

 that the sea voyage will recruit his health. On his arrival in 

 London he will submit a preliminary report to the Chambers of 

 Commerce and the Geographical Society, and will return and 

 continue the surveying operations in November. The work 

 completed comprises the surveying of over 1500 miles, the deter- 

 mination of the position of the Shan ranges, and a large series 

 of observations on the vocabularies of the aboriginal races and 

 the histories of the several Shan States. A mass of information 

 throwing light on the interior of Indo-China, especially of North 

 Siam, was gathered. The reception of the expedition was from 

 first to last excellent. This fact was due mainly to the favourable 

 attitude of the natives and the tact and conciliation of the leader. 



The Normanic coast of the Kola peninsula will be visited this 

 summer by several explorers. MM. Enwald and Edgren will 

 investigate its natural history ; M. Kushcleff the fishing along 

 the coast ; M. Hartzenstein has undertaken researches into the 

 fauna and flora of the neighbouring sea ; M. Istomin is engaged 

 in ethnographical researches ; and M. Abels, of the Central 

 Physical Observatory, is now at Archangel, in order to establish 

 meteorological observatories in the north. 



At Forio, in the island of Ischia, a powerful shock of earth- 

 quake was felt on the 23rd inst. The tremor was proceeded by 

 loud subterranean rumbling like thunder, or the roar of artillery. 

 The exact time when the event took place was twenty minutes to 

 one o'clock p.m. Fortunately, the phenomenon lasted but 

 momentarily, and passed off without doing any material damage 

 to property, or causing any loss of life. An earthquake also 

 occurred at Massowah on the 24th. Nearly all the houses in the 

 town were destroyed or damaged by the shock. All the ships in 

 the harbour were seen to rock violently. 



The employment of acupuncture and cauterisation by Chinese 

 doctors forms the subject of an article in one of the last numbers 



