70 



NA TURE 



\May 24, 1877 



Beeches Pit, opposite Culford, he said that the implemenls were 

 found in a deposit which seemed to be the end of a terrace of 

 valley gravel Avhich, further down as it was followed towards 

 Ickhngham, became more clearly marked, consisting of gravel 

 and brick-earth with pupa, pisidium, and maminalian remains. 



The only deposits at all like boulder clay which either in the 

 Beeches I'it or at Botany Bay overlaid these implement-bearing 

 loams, he considered to be the wash either from boulder clay or 

 directly from the chalk as the case might be. 



Mr. R. H. Tiddeman then read " Some Observations on the 

 Ilyama Bed at the Victoria Cave, and its Bearing on the An- 

 tiquity of Man." After some remarks on the disputed fibula 

 formerly determined to be human, which had been found at a 

 great depth in the cave deposits in the hyjena bed, the author 

 went on to call attention to two bones, one certainly of goat, and 

 another a rib of a small ruminant probably belonging to the 

 same species, on both of which are cuts or hacks which appear to 

 be the result of human workmanship. These were also found in 

 the same bed at the depths respectively of 25 and 15 feet. In 

 considering the age of these it was remarked that the condition 

 of a bone is not necessarily a test of age, and in many instances 

 might be a most fallacious guide. It was admitted that the goat 

 has not been usually considered as introduced into Britain before 

 Neolithic times, but it certainly had appeared in the Victoria 

 Cave in association with the remains of hycena, Elephas aniiquus. 

 Rhinoceros Itptorhinus, and Hippopotamus. In the caverns in 

 the neighbourhood of Dinant-sur-Meuse, in Belgium, M. E. 

 Dupont records the goat as- occurring in the lower beds in the 

 same association. It seems, therefore, not improbable that it 

 should have occurred in Britain at the same time. 



If these are human workmanship, as appears probable, this 

 cave holds only in common with other caves, the works of man 

 so accompanied, and the actual finding of man or his works in 

 the cave is a secondary question compared to the correlation of 

 the beds with certain great and widespread physical changes. 



The hy.Tina bed contains amongst others besides hyrena, the 

 following — EUphas antiquus. Rhinoceros leptorhinus, and Uip- 

 popolamus. These were chosen as a well-marked fauna, about 

 which no doubt was entertained that they were contemporary. 

 They occur in non-gravels in France and Switzerland and in the 

 south and east of England, and in each of these countries are 

 associated with man's bones or handiwork. The geologists who 

 have worked chiefly at the drifts of the south of England main- 

 tain, and rightly, that these remains are then post-glacial ; but 

 to infer that they are so in the north of England may lead to 

 error. Their remains appear to have been removed from the 

 open country there by glaciation, although from their existence 

 in the Victoria Cave and another near Skipton they must at one 

 time have been as abundant in the valleys as they are in the 

 south. The author considered that this later glaciation was on 

 the wane during its maximum at about the parallel of Derbyshire, 

 and it appeared probable from authorities quoted that it had not 

 extended over the southern end of the Pennine Chain. The 

 glacial drifts further south and of earlier age than the animals 

 referred to appeared to be the relics of an earlier glaciation than 

 that of the north country, and extended further south. The 

 author believed that the acceptance of two great and well- 

 marked periods of glaciation differing in their extent would 

 reconcile many of the differences which now exist amongst 

 geologists as to the age of man and the drifts of this and other 

 countries. 



An interesting discussion followed, of which we hope to be 

 able to give some account next week. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 The Revolving Double Stars.— Dr. Doberck, of Col. 

 Cooper's Observatory, Markree, has published elements of 

 I Bootis, calculated from measures extending over ninety-five 

 years, which interval appears to be about two-thirds or a com- 

 plete revolution. In this second computation for the same star 

 he has followed a suggestion made in this column (Nature, 

 vol. xiv. p. 475), with regard to the probable interpretation of 

 Sir William Ilerschel's measures in 1792 and 1795, .and his 

 results prove the necessity for the alteration proposed. 



We are now indebted to Dr. Doberck for orbits of tliirtccn of 

 the revolving double stars, calculated in every case in the most 

 complete manner possible from the available data, and wlrich 



have been communicated from time to time to the Royal Irish 

 Academy. They form collectively a very valuable contribution 

 to this department of astronuaiy. Col. Cooper may be con- 

 gratulated on such work emanating from his observatory, and 

 Dr. Doberck likewise on the success which has attended his 

 efforts. We subjoin the periods and eccentricities for Dr. 

 Doberck's stars, omitting only f Aquarii, which from the great 

 length of period is open to more uncertainty than the others : — - 



Eccentricity. 



0350 

 0077 

 0-536 

 0-708 

 0-582 

 0-576 

 0-493 

 0-710 

 o 617 

 0-654 

 0-739 

 0-750 



The number of binary stars of which the orbits have bieii 

 determined by various calculators with a greater or less degree of 

 precision, nowamounts to twenty-five. The shortest period of revo- 

 lution hitherto detected belongs to 42 Comie Berenices, which, 

 according to M. Dubiago, of Pulkowa, in a communication from 

 M. Otto Struve to the St. Petersburg Academy in May 1S75, 

 amounts to only 25-71 years. The star was single in 1S45 and 

 1S70-71 ; in 1829 and 1854-55 the distance of the components 

 slightly exceeded six-tenths of a second, which is the greatest 

 separation. The inclination of the oibit to the tangent-plane of 

 the heavens is 90', or so nearly so that the measures appear to 

 be represented upon this assumption within their possible errors ; 

 thus the apparent orbit is a right line, with the direction 

 11° — 191°. Notwithstanding the difficulty of the case, M. 

 Dubiago has been able to assign the other elements of the orbit 

 with a fair degree of probability as follows : — peri-astron passage 

 1S59 92, angle between the peri-astron and the node, 99° 11', 

 eccentricity 0-480, semi-axis major o"-657. The distance of the 

 components at the present time will therefore be o"'5o, with the 

 smaller star on an angle of 1 1°. 



From the elements of | Bootis by Dr. Doberck, to which 

 reference is made above, the following appear to be the angles 

 and distances, up to about the epoch of the approaching peri- 

 astron passage, 1898-04 : — 



1S820 Pos. 271-7 Dist. 3'Sl I 1896-0 Pos. 19V5 Dist. 1-57 



S6-0 „ 259-7 ,, 3-29 ; 97-0 „ 174-0 ,, 1-36 



90-0 ,, 242-8 ,, 2-71 9S0 ,, 150 8 ,, 1-21 



920 ,, 231-1 „ 2-3S 18990 „ 123-5 ., i'i7 



94-0 ,, 215-3 >> 2-00 19000 ,, 98 2 ,, 1-30 



Physical Observations of Mars. — Mr. Marth has com- 

 municated to the Royal Astronomical Society an elaborate paper 

 intended to facilitate physical observations of the planet Mars 

 during the favourable opposition of the present year, when it is 

 much to be desired that observations tending to improve our 

 knowledge of the planet may be undertaken by those who are 

 provided ivith adequate instruments. Mr. Marth has calculated 

 the areographical longitude and latitude of the centre of the disc 

 for the times of about ninety sketches of Mars, by Dawes, von 

 Franzenau, Ilarkness, Kaiser, Lassell, Lockyer, Rosse, and 

 Secchi, and with the aid of a table applicable to the interval 

 June 9 — December 14, with very little trouble the observer will 

 be enabled to refer to the particular drawing which applies the 

 most nearly to the time of any proposed observation, and will 

 thereby be assisted in fixing upon the details of the surface to 

 which it may be desirable to direct his attention. The table 

 contains the angle of position of the axis of Mars, no doubt from 

 Bessel's elements, or rather those deduced by Oudemanns from 



