occupied by a brown-skinned race differing widely from the con- 
_ tiguous negro tribes, both in colour and in civilisation. These 
are the Monbuttas, known also to the ivory-traders as the 
- Guruguri, in allusion to their practice of boring their ears. 
Their country, which Dr. Schweinfurth visited in 1868, and 
_ where he remained for five weeks under the special protection 
of the king, Munsa, is a densely populated district lying between 
— gand 4 N. lat., and 28 and 29 E. long., and bounded on the 
_ north by the Kibali, a copious stream which unites with the 
_ Gadda, and under the name of Uelle receives in its passage 
through the Miam-Miam country a number of other streams, that 
“serve as feeders to Lake Tsad. The country of the Monbuttas, 
lying at an elevation of from 2,500 to 3,000 ft. above the level 
of the sea, consists of an ever-varying alternation of gently 
_ swelling hills and well-watered valleys, alike rich in palms and 
bananas, and every other form of luxuriant tropical vegetation. 
In this earthly paradise where Nature spares man the burden of 
labour, the people, although living under an organised system of 
government, and showing extraordinary skill in working metals 
aend in other arts, are habitual cannibals. This is not from want of 
animal food, as elephants, buffaloes, antelopes and wild swine 
abound, but whatever the cause may be, the fact is undisputed that 
ce? cannibalism of the otherwise gentle Monhuttas exceeds that of 
any other known African nation, and is systematically gratified at 
the expense of the more degraded blacks living beyond their fron- 
tiers, whom they seize and carry away, driving their captives before 
; them like a herd of sheep, and slaughtering themas they need them. 
‘The young children and the fattest individualsarekept for the royal 
"kitchen, where the flesh is dried and prepared with capsicums 
and many savoury fruits for the king, Munsa, whose numerous 
wives have to take it in turn to cook for him. The power of 
the king is supreme, and it would appear that the land of the 
_Monbuttas may rank as one of the most important monarchical 
States of Central Africa. In race the people seem to approxi- 
_ mate to the Fulbe, and in language to the north equatorial Afri- 
can group. They recognise one supreme being, appear to have 
no outward symbols of worship, and practise circumcision.—Dr. 
_ P. Langerhans has a paper in this number on the anatomical fea- 
tures of interest belonging to a series of facial and cranial mea- 
surements, with the corresponding photographs, taken at Jeru- 
salem from among the mixed population of Khurds, Armenians, 
and Negroes (from Dar). As a contribution to human compara- 
tive anatomy the paper will be found useful.—Those interested 
in the study of the prehistoric remains of Holland and the Low 
Countries generally will find much serviceable matter in a paper 
by Dr. Friedel, who points out the distinctions between the 
Frisic-Germanic and the Celtic-Batavian remains, and passes in 
review the collections preserved in the various Dutch museums, 
of which that of Leyden is the most valuable in an ethnological 
point of view. 
Poggendorff’s Annalen der Physik und Chemie, No. 5, 1873. 
—This number contains several papers on electricity. Dr. Her- 
mann Herwig investigates the influence of free electriciiy at 
the surface of electrodes, on electro-dynamic phenomena. 
His experiments were made with a delicate electro-dyna- 
mometer, in which the deflections of the bifilar and mul- 
tiplier coils were compared, the electro-motive force and 
resistance being varied.—A paper by M. Edlund treats of the 
chemical action of the galvanic current and the distribu- 
tion of free electricity on the surface of an electrode. The 
author applies his theory (of electricity being a phenomenon of 
the luminiferous ether), to the decomposition of water by a 
current, and institutes a comparison between what occurs in a 
ring-tube in which a gas is forced into circulation from a certain 
point, with the phenomena in a galvanic circuit. In another 
note the same author opposes von Bezold’s explanation of ‘‘dis- 
junction currents,” which he thinks are due to an electro-motive 
orce in the voltaic arc itself, not to a difference in tension be- 
tween the electrodes.—M. Wiillner describes experiments con- 
firming his former assertion (questioned by Schuster) that 
nitrogen, in Geissler tubes, gives both a band and a line spec- 
trum, A yaluable series of experiments on heat consumption in 
the solution of salts, and the specific heats of salt solutions is de- 
tailed by Dr. Winkelmann, whe here extends the previous work 
of Graham and Person on the subject.—There are also papers 
on the change of volume of solid substances through the forma- 
tion of chemical combinations of the same aggregate state (W. 
Miiller), on the pole-points of a magnet (Riecke), on the dyna- 
mical principle of Hamilton in thermo-dynamics (Szily), on a 
ic 
NATURE 
375 
new mode of exhibiting metallic spectra (Edelmann), and one or 
two others. 
THE July and August numbers of the American Naturalist 
contain, among others, the following papers :—Dr. Elliott Coues 
discusses the relationship between the Prairie Wolf, or Coyoté 
(Canis latrans), and the common dog, taking a pointer as his 
type, which is much of the same size, The physiognomy of the 
former is said to be between that of a wolf and a fox, ‘but more 
doggy than either.” Its affinities with the dog are shown to be 
extremely close.—Mr. T. M. Trippe gives reasons for instances 
of irregular migrations of birds, showing that some depend on 
human interference, and changes in climate, and others are as 
yet unexplained.—Prof. Verril describes a new species of Octopus 
(O. bairdii ) from the bay of Fundy. It is somewhat related to 
O. groenlandicus, but differs in the hectocolylised arm being 
longer and otherwise different.—Alexander Agassiz, in a fully 
illustrated article, gives reasons in favour of the supposition that 
the pedicellarize and spines of Echinodermata are only modifica- 
tions of a single type form, to suit different purposes in the ani- 
mal’s economy.—Prof. W. J. Beal, on the phyllotaxy of cones, 
shows that the well-known laws of phyllotaxis are very general, 
nevertheless there are exceptions to them, well marked among 
some cones, as is proved by the author’s examination of a very 
large number from the Norway spruce, in which 43 and 44 were 
the common fractions.—Mr. A. S, Packard, jun., treats of the 
distribution of Californian moths, bringing information on their 
peculiarities to bear on Prof. Gray’s work on the distribution of 
Californian plants.—Dr. Theodore Gill has a paper on the 
status of Aristotle in systematic zoology, in which Ke gives very 
cogent reasons against that great philosopher having the know- 
ledge of the principles of zoology which is ascribed to him by 
some. He concludes that ‘there is not the slightest evidence 
of any recognition of what is now understood by classification in 
any of the extant treatises of Aristotle on animals, and the 
systems framed to embody his generalisations have been con- 
structed from isolated sentences wrested from their context, and 
simply reflect the framer’s notions or his ideas as to what Aris- 
totle might have supposed.”—Prof. Bessey notes the sensitive- 
ness of the stamens of Portulaca and Claylonia. 
Mittheilungen der Naturforschenden Gessellschaft in Berne, 
1872.—Prof, Dor has an article, in this number, on colour blind- 
ness. Various experiments are described ; the method most 
preferred having been that of viewing spectral colours with a 
polarisation prism. The author rejects the Young-Helmholtz 
theory, which, as is known, supposes three colour-perceiving 
elements in the retina, those for perception of red, those for 
green, and those for violet (or blue). Among his objections are 
these : absence of anatomical proof ; distinct vision of many of 
the colour blind; the spectrum as observed by two persons, 
brothers, who had no perception of red or violet, was of normal 
length ; all the pathologically colour blind suffered from atrophy 
of the optic nerve through cerebral or spinal injuries ; in these 
cases, the fibrous and cellular layer of the retina, and the optic 
nerve, to the brain, were atrophied, but not the rods and cones ; 
in retinal disease, on the other hand, the perception of colours 
is not perverted, though diminished. He concludes that colour 
blindness is a cerebral affection.—A note by Dr. Adolph Vogt 
treats of the drainage of towns, in view of a faulty state of things 
at Berne.—The action of Buss’s new governor is discussed in a 
paper of some length by the inventor.—Dr. A. Forster commu- 
nicates a note on the falling stars of November last, also meteo- 
rological observations at the Berne Observatory during 1872. 
From the curve of daily temperature variations at Berne it appears 
that these are sometimes considerable, ey. 18°6° C. in 24 hours, 
a fact of significance for health.— We may further note, in this 
number, some contributions to local botany, by Dr. Wydler. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 
= BELGIUM 
Royal Academy of Sciences, June 7.—M, Quetelet pre- 
sented a note on the solar eclipse of May 26, 1873.—M. Mon- 
tigny gave the results of a second series of experiments made on 
the spire of Antwerp Cathedral, in which he determined baro- 
metrically the heights at several points, in winds of different 
direction and velocity. His tables show a difference between 
the calculated height and the real height, the latter being greater 
for winds of the eastern semicircle, while the former is greater 
