of Mammoth-tusks in the frozen mud of Siberia, and by the 
wonderful aggregation of Hippopotamus-bones revealed to us 
by Dr. Falconer’s explorations in the Palermo caves—be also 
taken into account, we can scarcely, as it seems to me, avoid 
the conclusion, that the period in the later stages of which we get 
the first indubitable evidence of Man’s existence (to say nothing 
of any anterior to it) was much more distinguished than the 
present for the aggregate balk and wide distribution of the largest 
members of its fauna. WILLIAM B. CARPENTER 
Can Mr. Wallace throw any light on Mr. Allen's somewhat 
extraordinary sentence: ‘‘I feel a genuine respect for every 
donkey I meet, when J remember that it was the mere accidental 
Possession of an opposable thumb that gave my ancestors a start 
over his in the race for the inheritance of the earth towards the 
very close of the tertiary period.” I take Mr. Allen to be an 
evolutionist, but there is no place for accident in evolution, or 
in any other scientific theory. The ‘‘opposable thumb” must 
be the result of some conditioning factor, and this being so the 
word accident is quite out of place. on 
February 27 
Moths Attracted by Falling Water 
WHILST watching the great horse-shoe falls of the Skjal- 
fandafljét near Ljdsavatn in Iceland, I saw moth after moth fly 
deliberately into the falling water and disappear. Some which 
I noticed arriving from a distance, fluttered at first deviously, 
but as they neared the water flew straight in. The gleaming 
falls seemed at least as attractive as artificial light, and if the 
fact has not been observed in this country I should suppose it is 
because the moths likely to be attracted, fly by night, whilst in 
Northern Iceland there is no night during the summer. The 
preference trout show for pools near falls is more likely to arise 
from the extra food they find there, than the more aérated state 
of the water. The latter supposition, seeing the number of 
species of lake trout, always seemed to me a lame one, invented 
for want of a better, whilst the former explains why broken 
water is always inhabited by insectivorous fishes. The instinct 
of self-destruction in moths must be older than the introduction 
of artificial light, and cannot be of use- exclusively to collectors, 
but though its benefits to salmon and trout are obvious enough, 
its advantages to the moths are not so apparent, unless this self- 
devotion checks an increase that otherwise would be disadvan- 
tageous. J. STARKIE GARDNER 
Hypothetical High Tides 
I HAVE no desire to constitute myself a champion of Mr. 
' Ball’s high tides, but I do not think that the testimony of the 
Coal-Measures, to which Mr. S. V. Wood calls attention, will 
decide much. These deposits are mainly of non-marine origin, 
the plants being terrestrial, and the prevailing mollusc, Anthra- 
cosia, Closely resembling U0. Marine strata do indeed occur, 
but in almost inappreciable proportion. If it be objected that, 
in these marine episodes, the hypothetical tidal wave must have 
wrought fearful havoc; I would suggest that there is no proof 
that in the Carboniferous epoch the speed of the wave was enor- 
mou-ly greater than at present. When we reflect that by that time 
nearly, if not quite all the classes of the animal kingdom had come 
into existence; we can hardly avoid the conclusion that the Coal- 
Measures were formed in a period which, in comparison with the 
age of the globe, must be regarded as comparatively recent. 
Considering how slight is the denuding power of modern tides, I 
doubt if even a treble velocity would materially increase the 
effect. 
Mr. Elsden’s suggestion that the accelerated tidal wave may 
account for the absence of estuarine deposits before the Carboni- 
ferous epoch, takes for granted what remains to be proved, 
How do we know that there were no pre-Carboniferous deltas? 
We recognise estuarine strata by the intermixture of terrestrial 
or fresh-water fossils with marine organisms. The Old Red 
Sandstone of Britain, being a lacustrine deposit, does not bear 
upon the question; but I see no reason why the Devonian strata 
of Russia, in which, according to Murchison, fresh-water fishes 
are associated with marine shells, may not be in part of estuarine 
origin. Below the Devonian, the evidence of terrestrial life is 
very meagre; and to infer from its absence in a set of beds that 
they must be marine, would be hazardous reasoning. 
I do not make these observations in the interests of any theory, 
but simply to evoke discussion on a very interesting question. 
Wellington, Salop, March 3 C. CALLAWAY 
Rime Cloud observed in a Balloon 
I see in NaTuRE, vol. xxv, p. 385, an interesting letter from 
a German physicist, who comments on the recital of my last 
balloon ascent (January 25, 1882) as published in your columns. 
I am very grateful for the numerous instances of frost-rime that 
he quotes as having been observed on former occasions, but I 
cannot possibly admit his theory of the liquidity of minute water- 
drops suspended in the air at a low temperature. The reason 
why I object to this view was explained more than a century ago 
by the celebrated Bouguer, when describing in 1744, to the 
French Academy of Sciences the coronz he observed in the 
Andes on the occasion of his ascending the Pichincha, I beg 
leave to quote this interesting account of a quite forgetten ex plo- 
ration :— 
‘On voit presque tous les jours sur le sommet de ces mon- 
tagnes un phénomeéne extraordinaire qui doit étre aussi ancien 
que le monde, et dont il y a bien de l’apparence que personne 
n’est été temoin avant nous. Chacun de nous vit son ombre 
projetée sur un nuage gui n’était point 4 trente pas. Le peu de 
distance permettant de distinguer toutes les parties de ’ombre—on 
voyait le bras, les jambes, la téte ; mais ce que nous étonne c’est 
que cette dérniére partie ¢tait ornée d’une gloire on d’une aureole 
formée de trois ou quatres petites couronnes concentriques d’une 
couleur tres vive, chacune avec le mieux nuance que lare-en-ciel 
primaire, c’est a dire le rouge en dehors. 
After having insisted on the <iescription of the phenomenon 
(Mémoires de 1’ Académie pour 1744, p. 264 and 265), Bouguer 
says :—‘‘ Le phénoméne ne se trace que sur les nuages formés 
de gouttes de vapeur et méme -ur ceux dont les portraits sont 
glacées, mais non sur les gouttes de pluie comme I’arc-en-ciel.” 
Having seen the corona for more than an hour, almost without 
interruption, and nothing resembling a rainbow, I cannot possibly 
admit any liquid water in the cloud, and I am obliged to oppose 
the surfusion theory as advocated by M. Jamin, to explain the 
crushing by ice-crystals of the loftiest trees of the Forest de 
Fontainebleau. W. DE FONVIELLE 
Paris, February 26 
The Markings on Jupiter 
Mr. DENNING’s interesting communications in NATURE (vol. 
XXV. pp. 223, 265) led me to consult my notes of observations of 
Jupiter made in the summer of 1878. I used a telescope of only 
38 inches aperture, but of exquisite definition, made by John 
Byrne, of New York. Under date of July 7, 1878, I find this 
entry :—‘‘10 p.m.—There is a remarkable light spot near the 
centre of the light equatorial zone of Jupiter.” 
On July 27 I wrote :—‘‘I saw on the bright equatorial belt of 
Jupiter a spot of obviously greater brightness than any other 
part of the disk. | Just above and to the west of it was a dark 
spot on the southern belt. The bright spot grew more distinct 
as it approached the centre, and caught the eye the instant it 
was placed at the eyepiece. The bright spot was equal in 
diameter to about two-thirds of the width of the south belt.” 
Again on July 31 :—‘*Saw a white spot on the light equatorial 
belt, probably the same seen on the 27th.” 
I have also sketches of Jupiter made in the fall of 1879, from 
which I see that on September 4, at 10 p.m., there was a dis- 
tinct white spot indenting the northern border of the great south 
belt, and opposite the forward end of the red spot. On Sep- 
tember 6 this white spot had advanced, so that it was ahead of 
the red spot. Other fainter white spots are shown in my 
sketches. These rude observations may be of some use in 
assisting Mr, Denning to trace back the history of the remark- 
able markings that for three or four years have attracted so much 
attention to Jupiter. G, P. SERVISS 
New York, February 9 
The Level of the Mediterranean 
Amonc the ‘‘ Notes” in NATURE, vol. xxv. p. 395, I read 
Prof. Naudin’s opinion on the apparent lowering of the level of 
the Mediterranean along the whole Riviera during the months of 
January and February; but I think there is a far more simple 
explanation of the phenomenon, In Genoa we had for many days 
as much as 43 centimetres below the standard level, but that was 
i hee 2 
