Aucust 24, 1899| 
UNCANT, ORLE 
401 
only represents the phenomenon up to a field of 700 units. 
Lastly, the variation of the Peltier-effect coefficient is inde- 
pendent of the direction of magnetisation ; in fact, in suitably- 
arranged experiments it is found that when the stationary 
temperature is attained, no changes take place in the thermal 
conditions of the conductors when the magnetising current is 
weversed. 
IN a report received by the Foreign Office, Sir William 
Garstin has called attention to the need for a scientific examin- 
ation of the Sudan, with a view to the development of its 
natural resources. It is pointed out that a very possible source 
of future wealth to the Sudan lies in the vast forests which line 
the banks of the Upper Blue Nile and extend, in an easterly 
direction, to the Abyssinian frontier. In the Bahr-el-Ghazal 
province also, particularly in the Bongo country, large forest 
tracts exist. The ebony tree (Dalbergia melanoxylon) is met 
with south of Karkauj, on the Blue Nile, and again in the 
vicinity of the Sobat River. On the White Nile, in the Bongo 
and Rohl districts, the india-rubber creeper (ZLandolphia flortda) 
is found in great profusion. If the rubber yielded by this 
‘creeper be not of quite so good a quality as that obtained from 
the Assam india-rubber tree (7 vcs e/as¢éca), it is still of suffi- 
cient value to be counted as an important asset in the future 
trade of the Sudan. The Assam india-rubber tree should 
certainly flourish well in most parts of the Sudan, more particu- 
darly south of Khartoum. Although this tree takes from twenty 
to thirty years to arrive at a girth sufficient to permit of regular 
tapping, its yield is so valuable (about 32 per tree per annum) 
that its introduction into the country is well worth attempting. 
It is very much to be hoped that a scientific examination of the 
‘Sudan forests may ere long be carried out under the super- 
intendence of an expert. It is certain that much valuable 
information would be obtained from his report. Very little is 
known regarding the possibilities of mineral wealth in the 
Sudan. Until the country is more settled, an investigation of 
the mountainous regions of Kordofan and Darfur on the west, 
and of the Abyssinian frontier on the east, would be impossible. 
Iron ore is found in the Bahr-el-Ghazal province, and also in 
Darfur ; while gold mines were at one time worked in the 
mountains south of Fazogl. Could coal be discovered, it 
would make a great change in the whole question of the 
Sudan. In a few years’ time it is probable that the Geological 
Survey Department of Egypt will be able to depute parties to 
examine the Sudan. For the present, Sir William Garstin 
thinks nothing can be done. 
“* VARIATION and Sexual Selection in Man” is the title of a 
paper by E. Tenney Brewster in the Proceedings of the Boston 
Society of Natural History (vol. xxix., 1899, p. 45). The 
author offers evidence to prove that conspicuous dimensions 
tend tobe more variable than other dimensions. Not only is the 
face more variable than the head, but the nose should be more 
variable than the head; the face without the nose should be 
more variable than the head ; and the nose should be more 
variable than the rest of the face. The author also suggests 
that sexual selection has brought it about that parts of the 
body tend to be more variable in proportion as they are of 
greater esthetic value. 
THE Report of the South African Museum for 1898, issued 
as a Parliamentary Paper, by the Director, Mr. W. L. Sclater, 
is satisfactory reading. It appears that in all departments the 
collections are steadily increasing ; while great attention is being 
paid to the proper exhibition of suitable specimens. In the 
Geological Department a good collection of the rocks of the 
Kimberley mining district is already displayed ; and steps are 
being taken for the formation of a complete collection of the 
€conomic mineral products of South Africa. This is as it should 
NO. 1556, VOL. 60] 
be; and it is equally satisfactory to learn that the Director is 
fully alive to the necessity of procuring specimens of all the 
larger mammals before it is too late. The collection of South 
African antelopes is indeed complete, with the exception of the 
Gemsbok and Lichi; and specimens of these ought not to be 
difficult to procure. It may be hoped that, in addition to the 
mounted specimens, a study series (if possible in duplicate) of 
skins may likewise be procured. The only subject the Director 
has to regret is that he has been unable, chiefly from lack of 
funds, to continue the work of preparing popular descriptive 
labels for the exhibited specimens. The hope is, however, 
expressed that the work may be shortly resumed. 
As an excellent bit of work on the local distribution of a 
species, attention may be directed to Dr. N. H. Alcock’s history 
of the Hairy-armed Bat in Ireland, published in the August 
number of the Zrish Naturalist. In England this Bat is found 
rather abundantly along the Avon valley in Warwickshire, 
Worcestershire and Gloucestershire ; it occurs rarely in York- 
shire, and has been recorded from Cheshire. In Ireland it has 
been found in most of the north-eastern counties, but nowhere 
else. We now want to know the reason of this very local dis- 
tribution ; and until this is ascertained our task is but half done. 
M. E. Prrarp describes in 7 Anthropologie (x., 1899, p. 281) 
three crania from Swiss Lake sites. The first from Point, with 
an index of 91°5, belongs to the Rhetian or Dissentis type, and is 
remarkably similar to a skull described by M. Verneau from 
Concise, which that author believed to belong to the Bronze Age ; 
but M. Pitard asserts that his example is Neolithic. The other 
two crania were found in the same layer at Concise, and are of 
the Bronze Age ; their indices are 77°6 and 84:6. 
THE Vai or Vei are the only negroes who possess a true and 
indigenous writing. They occupy a territory on the confines of 
Sierra Leone and Liberia. The alphabet is syllabic, and it is the 
only syllabic alphabet existing in Africa. The first account of 
this remarkable language was published by Forbes and Norris in 
1849, and Koelle also wrote on it in 1849 and 1854. Since then 
nothing has been published thereon till the recent study of M. 
M. Delafosse (2’ Anthropologie, Tome x., 1899, pp. 129, 294). 
Forbes and Koelle asserted that the alphabet was invented 
about 1829 or 1839, but Delafosse considers it at least two 
hundred years old and perhaps older ; it is not even certain that 
it was invented by the Vais themselves. Forbes was also wrong 
in stating that this alphabet was no longer in use in 1849; as a 
matter of fact, it is still increasingly employed. Of the 226 
characters in the alphabet, 25 resemble Berber consonants in 
form, and 20 resemble European letters and numerals ; but these 
may be purely superficial resemblances, as the sounds do not 
correspond : the author does not consider that the Vai alphabet 
has been derived from these sources. 
Sir J. BURDON-SANDERSON asks us to notify the following 
errata in his MS. of the abstract of the Croonian Lecture pub- 
lished in NaTurE of August 10. On p. 344, col. 1, line 5, 
for “Fig. 1” read “Fig. 2”; col. 1, line 18, for “ Fig. 2 is 
read “* Fig. 1”; col. 2, line 12 from the bottom, for ‘‘60” 
read ‘ 40.” 
Part xv. of Mr. Oswin A. J. Lee’s elaborate work, entitled 
“¢ Among British Birds in their Nesting Haunts,” has been 
published by Mr. David Douglas, Edinburgh. The Part con- 
tains ten beautiful plates, illustrating the nesting places and 
nests of the whinchat, osprey, storm petrel, yellow bunting, 
rook pigeon, Manx shearwater. grey wagtail, and red grouse. 
Herr EUGEN VON CHOLNOKY contributes to the Verhand- 
dungen der Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde a short summary of the 
scientific results of his journeys in China and Manchuria during 
1896-98. The most important contributions refer to the 
geology of the regions visited, and in particular to the positions 
