it i ed ae ane 
me we ‘ . ‘ 
Aug. 14, 1873] NATURE 305 
barrier of boulders, gravel, and sand, which has doubtless 
been heaped up by glacial action. At the north-eastern 
extremity this barrier is narrowed until it resembles an 
artificial embankment, and at this point a channel has 
apparently been cut for the purpose of supplying water 
power to the works situated immediately below. The 
actual stream of water forming the first source of the 
river Logen had a depth at the time of my visit of three 
feet, with a width of about six feet; it flowed through a 
rectangular channel, paved at the bottom and sides with 
large boulders, and sustained by timbers. Although 
these timbers are now nearly rotted away, it is evident 
that the channel had at some time or other been carefully 
formed. The water power is at present used for a saw- 
mill, but it was, no doubt, originally employed to furnish 
the blast for an old iron furnace, which has given the 
name of Lesje Jernvzerks to this place. The furnace has 
been abandoned, as I was informed, for the last eighty 
years, and from the dates upon the ironwork of a neigh- 
bouring house I think it likely that the works were 
erected at least 150 years ago, a length of time which 
would perhaps be sufficient to account for the natural ap- 
pearance of the stream below the works. 
I also examined the western exit of the lake with care. 
The first break in the level of the water occurs at a 
wooden bridge which slightly restrains the outflow. The 
stream flows strongly here, with a width in all of about 
45 ft., a maximum depth of about 2 ft. 9 in. at the time of 
my visit, and an average depth of about 2ft. After fall- 
ing about 9 in. at this point, the river flows in a steady 
deep stream through a perfectly natural channel for about 
an English mile, with a very slight fall, after which its 
descent becomes gradually accelerated. I have no doubt 
that this considerable stream forms the natural outlet of 
the lake, but that a lowering of the water in the lake to 
the extent of three or four feet would stop this outflow 
altogether. 
Now when we speak of a lake with two outfalls, I pre- 
sume we mean one with two natural and permanent out- 
falls, and in this sense the Lasdskougens Vaud can- 
not be adduced as an instance at the present day. It is 
just possible that the lake had a natural outlet at Lesje 
Verks before the artificial channel was cut, but it is 
highly improbable, and we should require good traditional 
or documentary evidence to that effect before we could 
assume it to be so. Such evidence would probably be 
very difficult to obtain, and could only be obtained by 
some person intimate with the Norsk language More- 
over, I judge from the nature of the outfall at this end, 
that if it were not looked to from time to time, the stream 
would eventually widen and deepen the channel through 
the barrier of loose sand and gravel, and finally lower 
the level of the water by many feet, so as to destroy the 
outflow into the river Rauma. 
I write the above without having previously entered 
- into the subject, and without being able to refer to any 
information about it. On @ Jriorz grounds it seems very 
unlikely that there should exist any lake with two dis- 
tinct outflows. For in order that such a state of things 
should exist permanently, either there must be no erosion 
of the channels whatever, or the erosion must proceed 
with exact equality, otherwise one stream will augment at 
the expense of the other, and its eroding power being 
thus increased, it will more and more tend to sap the 
supplies of the other stream. The condition of things 
would, in fact, be that of unstable equilibrium, which 
could not long continue to exist. 
Colonel George Greenwood, who is, I presume, the 
same as the former active correspondent about this sub- 
ject, visited this lake last summer, as appears from the 
entry of his name in the day books. I am not aware that 
he has since published any opinion, but the lake seems, so 
far as I can judge, to support his view of the matter, 
W. STANLEY JEVONS 
THE NEW BIRD OF PARADISE 
At the last scientific meeting of the Zoological Society 
of London for the past session, I had the pleasure 
of exhibiting and describing specimens of a new Bird of 
Paradise recently discovered by Signor Luigi Maria 
D’Albertis, in New Guinea. As it will be some time 
before the part of the Society’s “Proceedings” containing 
the record of the business transacted at the meeting on 
June 17 can be issued, and as I am informed that some 
knowledge of the existence of this singular bird has been 
obtained in another quarter, I am anxious to secure to 
Signor D?Albertis the honour of his discovery by a 
somewhat earlier publication of such a description and 
figure as will enable the bird to be recognised by other 
naturalists. 
Drepanornis* albertisi, as I have proposed to call this 
fine bird, in honour of its energetic discoverer, belongs 
to the long-billed or Epimachine section of the Paradiseze, 
and is, perhaps, more nearly allied to E/imachus than to 
any other described form, But it is very distinct from 
Epimachus as regards its long, thin, and much curved 
bill, shorter legs, and shorter, squarer tail, not to speak of 
the peculiar tufts of feathers which are characteristic of 
the male sex only. The general colour of the plumage of 
the male Drepanornis is brown above, and lavender-grey 
below. The naked rim round the eye, anda bare space at 
the back of them on each side, are of a bright blue. On 
each side of the front before the eye rises a short tuft of 
bright, coppery, metallic green feathers. A large patch 
of similar scaly feathers covers the chin and throat. Two 
large tufts of feathers spring from each side of the breast, 
and form conspicuous ornaments when erected. The 
upper pair of these peculiar tufts have a mass of brilliant 
coppery red at the base of their, feathers, terminated by 
a dark band. This metallic colour is only exposed when 
the plumes are raised. The lower pair of tufts, which 
are much lengthened, and ina state of repose reach be- 
yond the lower third of the tail, are margined by a splen- 
did purple band. The lower part of the breast is likewise 
crossed by a narrow band of bright green. The middle 
of the belly and vent are white, the tail of a nearly uni- 
form pale chestnut. 
The above description will give some idea of the 
special peculiarities of the male Drefanornis in full 
lumage. The female, as is the case in all the true 
Psa is very different in colour, though alike in form. 
Hex plumage is above of a nearly uniform bright brown 
or rufous, below paler, and crossed on the throat, breast, 
and sides of the belly, by numerous small irregular black 
wide cross-bars._ The naked space round and behind the 
eye is coloured bright blue, as in the full-plumaged male. 
The beak, in the single specimen sent, is still longer than 
in the male, but this may be an individual peculiarity, The 
whole length of the male Drepanornis, from the tip of the 
bill to the end of the tail, is about 14 in., that of the wing, 
from the carpal joint, 6in., of the tail, from the base, 
54in., the outer tail feathers being about 1in. shorter 
than the middle pair. The bill measures 3} in, from the 
front along the curvature, the tarsus 1} in. 7 : 
The figure of the Drefanornis herewith given is re- 
duced from the lithograph prepared for the “Proceedings ” 
of the Zoological Society, which will form the 47th plate 
of the volume for 1873, aud will be published as soon as 
the second part is ready. : : 
Signor D’Albertis obtained his examples of this remark- 
able bird during his recent excursion into the interior of 
New Guinea, at a place called Atam, which is situated at 
an elevation of about 3,500 feet above the sea-level in 
the Arfak mountains. In an account of his journey 
* The name originally given at the Zoological Society’s meeting of June 
17 was Drepanephorus (Secravigcpes) falcem gerens. (See NATURE, vill. p. 
195.) But this term havirg been previously applied by Sir Philip Egerton 
to a genus of fossil fishes, 1 proposed (NATURE, viii. p. 192) to convert the 
bird’s name into Drefanornis (Sréravev falx et prs avis).—P.L,S. 
