Oct. 1 6, 1884] 



NATURE 



593 



considerable light on many obscure grammatical points, besides 

 bringing into still closer relationship the Semitic and Hamitic 

 groups, whose fundamental affinity is daily becoming more and 

 more obvious. The widespread relations of what Herr Krause 

 calls the " Haussa-Musukanisclie Sprach-Stamm" (Haussa-Musgu 

 linguistic family) are also elucidated, and the curious principle of 

 vowel harmony prevalent in this group for the first time clearly ex- 

 plained. It differs entirely from the Bantu, which is initial, and also 

 from the Finno-Tatar, inasmuch as in the latter the vowels of the 

 agglutinated postfixes conform to that of the root, which is 

 never modified, whereas in Haussa-Musgu the ro^t-vowel con- 

 forms to that of the postfix, and is consequently subject to 

 constant change. Thus : a-dara — he loves ; e-diri-kini = he 

 loves you, where the preceding pronominal and root-vowel a has 

 been throughout modified to e and i by the influence of the 

 following i of the pronominal suffix kini. The introduction 

 contains many interesting details on the history of the Ghat 

 oasis, which most of our readers will learn for the first time was 

 incorporated in the Turkish Empire some ten years ago. Here 

 also some fresh light is thrown on the origin of the national or 

 imposed names Mashagh (Imoshagh), Tuarek, Berber, Moor, 

 Tibu, Fezzan, and Ghat. For his munificence in undertaking 

 the publication of these " Mittheilungen " without the remotest 

 prospect of any pecuniary returns, Dr. Emil Riebeck has 

 earned the lasting gratitude of the scientific world. 



In the June number of Timehri, a journal steadily growing in 

 scientific importance and general usefulness, the accomplished 

 editor, Mr. E. F. Im Thurn, continues his valuable " Notes on 

 West Indian Stone Implements." The litle of these papers is 

 now enlarged by the additional words, " and other Indian 

 Relics," so as to include all objects, whether of stone, shell, 

 bone, or clay, which are often found associated together in such 

 a way as to render their separate treatment almost impossible. 

 This enlargement of the subject cannot fail to be appreciated by 

 ethnologists, who will here find much instructive matter lucidly 

 arranged, and illustrated by eleven plates containing thirty-five 

 fac-similes of stone and shell implements, and twenty-one of 

 Carib pottery. The first group of objects belong to Sir Thomas 

 Graham Briggs, of Barbados, who has placed his fine collection 

 at the disposal of Mr. Im Thurn, at the same time generously 

 providing the means for the due illustration of the series. The 

 second group forms part of a quantity of native (Carib) pottery 

 recently discovered on the Enmore Plantation, west coast of 

 Demerara. The urgent necessity of encouraging collections of 

 this sort before all have disappeared, like the natives themselves, 

 before the advance of civilised man, is made evident by the 

 statement that a large heap of shell implements lately found in 

 the parish of St. James, Barbados, were carted away "to mac- 

 adamise a road. " Other attractive papers in this number are: 

 "Bush-Notes of a Huntsman," by M. McTurk ; "The Moun- 

 tains of the West Indies," by T. P. Poter ; and " Essequibo, 

 Berbice, and Demerara under the Dutch " (continued), by the 

 Editor. 



The following announcements are made by Mr. Edward 

 Stanford: — "A Parliamentary County Atlas of England and 

 Wales," containing maps of all the counties engraved on a 

 uniform scale. This atlas includes as a distinctive feature a 

 series of physical, statistical, and administrative maps of England 

 and Wales and of London. The rainfall, barometric pressure, 

 temperature of the air and of the seas around our coasts are 

 shown for every month of the year ; a river basin map, with an 

 accompanying table giving the area of each river basin and the 

 length of the chief water channel in each basin ; an orographic 

 map, indicating by colours the plains, hills, and mountains, with 

 much other information of interest. A short description of each 

 county accompanies the maps. " A Trigonometrical Survey of 

 the Island of Cyprus," executed by command of His Excellency 



Major-General Sir R. Biddulph, K.C.M.G., C.B., R.A., High 

 Commissioner, under the direction of Major H. H. Kitchener 

 (Captain R.E.), Director of Survey, assisted by Lieut. S. C. N. 

 Grant, R.E. The map is drawn to a scale of one inch to one 

 statute mile = 1 : 63,360, the scale of the Ordnance Survey of the 

 United Kingdom ; it has been engraved on fifteen copper plates, 

 and will be printed on imperial sheets, forming, when bound, 

 an atlas measuring 15 inches by 22 inches, or, when mounted 

 together, one map measuring 12 feet 6 inches by 7 feet. "A 

 School Map of British Colonies and Possessions," drawn on a 

 uniform scale, and agreeing in style, size, and price with the 

 other maps of Stanford's Series. Also a second and much 

 enlarged edition of the "Geology of Weymouth, Portland, and 

 the Coast of Dorset," with coloured geological map, section, 

 and photographic frontispiece ; "The Countries of the World," 

 the fifth and concluding book of the Geographical Readers, by 

 Charlotte M. Mason, containing Asia, Africa, America, and 

 Australasia ; the concluding volume of Stanford's " Compendium 

 of Geography and Travel— Europe," by F. W. Rudler, F.G.S., 

 and G. G. Chisholm, B.Sc, edited by Sir Andrew C. Ramsay, 

 LL.D., F. R. S., with ethnological appendix by A. H. Keane, 

 M.A.I., illustrated with fifteen maps and numerous cuts ; " The 

 Monuments of Athens : a Historical and Archaeological Descrip- 

 tion," by Pomagistes G. Kastromenos, translated from the Greek 

 by Agnes Smith, author of " Glimpses of Greek Life and 

 Scenery"; " The Visitor's Guide to Orvieto," by J. L. Bevir, 

 M.A., Assistant Master at Wellington College. 



E. and F. N. Spon have in the press "Candles, Soap, and 

 Glycerine," a practical treatise on the materials used and pro- 

 cesses involved, by Mr. W. Lant Carpenter, B.Sc. ; "A Text- 

 Book of Tanning," embracing the theory and practice of pre- 

 paring and dyeing all kinds of leather, by H. R. Procter, of 

 Lowlights Tanneries, Examiner in Tanning to the Guilds Insti- 

 tute ; "On Portable Railways," by Mr. Paul Decanville, 

 M.I. M.E. ; " History and Description of the Manchester Water- 

 Works," by J. F. LaTrobe Bateman, F.R.SS. Lond. & Edin., 

 Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, F.G. S., &c. ; 

 " An Electrical Supplement to the Pocket-Book of Engineering 

 Formula:," by G. L. Molesworth, M.I.C.E., M.I.M.E., Con- 

 sulting Engineer to the Government of India for State Railways ; 

 " On the Analysis of Iron and Steel," by T. Bayley, author of 

 " The Chemist's Pocket-Book " ; a new edition of " The Modern 

 Practice of Sinking and Boring Wells," by Mr. Ernest Spon, 

 Assoc. Mem. Inst. C.E. ; Spon's "Mechanics' Own Book," a 

 manual for handicraftsmen and amateurs ; " Sanitary Protec- 

 tion," a course of lectures delivered in the Theatre of the Royal 

 Dublin Society, 1884, by W. Kaye Parry, M.A. 



Phylloxera is making steady progress in the Rhenish vine- 

 yards it seems. The pernicious insect has now been found on 

 the right bank of the river, in the vineyards of Castle Ockenfels 

 near Linz, where over 100 acres are infected. State aid has 

 been asked for at Berlin, as the occurrence of the pest near Linz 

 is far more serious than that in the Ahr Valley. 



A tunnel, measuring about 5000 feet in length, and con- 

 structed at least nine centuries before the Christian era, has just 

 been discovered by the Governor of the island of Samos. 

 Herodotus mentions this tunnel, which served for providing the 

 old seaport with drinking water. It is completely preserved, 

 and contains water tubes of about 25 centimetres in diameter, 

 each one provided with a lateral aperture for cleansing purposes. 

 The tunnel is not quite straight, but bent in the middle ; this is 

 hardly to be wondered at, as the ancient engineers hardly pos- 

 sessed measuring instruments of such precision as those con- 

 structed nowadays. 



The Globus reports the discovery of the ruins of an ancient 

 city near Samarkand. They are situated upon a hill, which was 



