\ 
; 
Feb. 8, 1883] 
Sardinia can lay claim to neither the one interest nor the 
other, to any marked degree. Neither can we compare 
it with Iceland, or with Majorca, and perhaps the only 
special interest which belongs to it is the occurrence of 
large numbers of xwvaghi—conical stone mounds of 
prehistoric construction, hollow within, and probably 
designed as tombs by the earliest inhabitants of the 
island. These are scattered over the island in large 
numbers, particularly near Torralba. 
In Roman times Sardinia never rose to much import- 
ance, hence the relics of that period are but few. The 
most important is an amphitheatre near Cagliari hewn 
out of the rock, the major axis of which is 153 feet in 
length, and the minor axis 98 feet. It is now in a very 
dilapidated condition, far more so indeed than that of 
Puzzuoli. There are alsoafew Romantombs. The most 
_ remarkable is in a suburb of Cagliari called Santa Tenera, 
and it is known as La Gru/ta‘dessa Pibera, that is the 
Grotto of the Viper, from the serpents which are sculp- 
tured over the entrance. It was the tomb of Attilia 
Pamphilla, anoble Roman lady. On the walls there are 
some interesting inscriptions, which have been published 
by Genesse La Marmora and by Muratori. 
The few travellers who visit Sardinia nowadays are 
tempted rather by prospects of sport than by anything 
else. Moufflons still exist among the Gennargentu 
Mountains, also wild boar, and smaller game, but the 
amount of sport afforded by the island has been exagge- 
rated, and the sportsman will commonly prefer to go 
to the north of Norway or to Iceland to running the risk 
of catching malarious fever in Sardinia. 
Malaria has always been very prevalent in the island. 
There is a large extent of marsh Jand, and in the autumn 
a great deal of decomposing vegetable matter. We were 
glad to notice that some of the Englishmen who have 
recently acquired land in the island have not only com- 
menced draining operations, but have also planted num- 
bers of Eucalyptus trees, the effect of both operations 
being undoubtedly to diminish malaria. On the other 
hand, many of the native landowners are converting their 
timber into charcoal, for which they can obtain about 
fifty francs a ton in France and elsewhere. Some thou- 
sands of tons are annually shipped, and unfortunately 
new trees are not planted in place of the old ones. If 
this wholesale destruction of forests continues, there can 
be no doubt that the climate of the country will eventu- 
ally be seriously affected. The exporters do not in the 
least realise that they are shipping v/s v7va in a very 
condensed form from their shores, and at the same time 
diminishing the rainfall. 
The chief wealth of Sardinia lies in her mines of 
argentiferous galena, and of calamine. As much as 120 
ounces per ton of silver have been extracted from some 
of the lead ores. The principal mines are those of Monte 
Poni, near Iglesias, in the south-west of the island, and 
of Monte Vecchio, in the west centre. At Monte Poni we 
noticed that the newest forms of Belgian and German 
machinery for crushing and washing the ores were in‘use. 
At the present time, the operations are very much im- 
peded by the flow of water into the principal shaft, which 
will probably be to a great extent obviated, by boring a 
tunnel through the side of the mountain in which the 
shaft is sunk. 
A railway constructed, and to a great extent owned by 
an English company, now connects the two capital cities 
of the island—Cagliari and Sassari—a distance of 260 
kilometres, with branches to Iglesias, in-the south-west, 
and to Terranova in the north-east, and the line is con- 
tinued from Sassari for'12} miles to Portotorres, its port, 
a miserable and fever-stricken village. Fifty years ago, 
there were scarcely any roads at all in Sardinia. The 
Roman roads had become obliterated, and no attempt 
had been made to construct them afresh. 
The railway is well constructed, but the trains are 
NATURE 
343 
extremely slow, and do not average more than seventeen 
miles an hour. Between Macomer and Chilirani there 
are many cuttings and some very steep gradients. The 
railway connecting the two capitals—Cagliari and Sassari 
—has only recently been completed. Sassari, a town of 
33,000 inhabitants, is nearly as large as Cagliari, and in 
some respects preferable to it. It stands upon a hill 650 
feet above the sea. It has a clean, bright appearance, 
but in reality is very badly drained and extremely un- 
healthy. So recently as 1855 the cholera carried off 
nearly one-third of the population in less than three 
weeks, at the rate of more than 500 a day. 
In Torralba there are a number of z7aghz, and in the 
neighbourhood several extinct volcanoes, the most import- 
ant of whichis Keremule. Nearly midway between Mores 
and Torralba we saw exposed, ina recent railway cutting, a 
fine mass of columnar basalt overlying chalk. There is a 
good deal of pale green, pale pink, and grey trachite in 
the neighbourhood. The only geological map of the 
island which now exists is in General La Marmora’s fine 
monograph published in Paris and Turin between 1839 
and 1860, and entitled Voyage en Sardaigne. 
G. F. RODWELL 
MATHEMATICS IN SCANDINAVIA * 
4 first part of the new mathematical journal has 
reached us. We have not quite reproduced the 
title ; the words Zeztschrift herausgegeben von on one 
side of the axis of symmetry (let us say) of the page, are 
matched by the words Yournal rédigé par on the other 
side. This is significant of one part of the Editor’s plan : 
the journal, though printed and published in Stockholm, 
is to have its articles written in what the Editor styles the 
principal \anguages. It may be that English is one of 
these languages; there is not, however, in the preface, 
anything definite to relieve our doubts. The prospectus 
(unintentionally, we hope) is somewhat more informatory. 
In the language of our “lucid” neighbours it says: “In 
Germany, in France, in Italy, in Scandinavia, everywhere 
in fact, where science is held in honour (other side of the 
line of symmetry—‘#éderall wo mathematisches Leben 
herrscht’), the idea of starting the journal was received 
with the most lively sympathy.” Apparently in regard 
to the English language and English science, the less 
said the better. We, for our part, say nothing. 
In outward appearance the new journal closely re- 
sembles Crelle’s. The paper is equally good, the margin 
equally broad, and the size otf page and the number of 
pages in a part substantially the same in the two serials. 
Neither is quite so handsome as a third member of the 
same family, the now five-year old American Fournal of 
Mathematics ; but then we must not forget the ratio of 
five dollars to twelve marks. 
The list of the editorial staff supporting M. Mittag- 
Leffler contains many distinguished names. There are 
five Swedish mathematicians, four Norwegians, three 
Danish, and one from Finland; and scarcely one of 
these but is well known far beyond his native country. 
The contents of the first part are all that could be 
expected from such a brotherhood, headed by such a 
chief. The first paper is by Prof. Poincaré, of Paris, its 
subject being the Zhéorie des groupes fuchsiens. It ex- 
tends to 62 pp., and is altogether worthy of its place of 
honour. One does not know which to admire most—the 
author's grasp of his subject, or the clearness and sim- 
plicity of his exposition. Following this, comes a con- 
tribution of 14 pp. by Prof. Malmsten, of Upsala, ‘‘ Zur 
Theorie der Leibrenten ;”’ then there is a paper of 16 pp. 
on “Eine Annaherungsmethode im Probleme der drei 
Korper,” by M. Gyldén, the head of the Stockholm Ob- 
servatory; and lastly, to complete the 96 pages, there is 
T Acta Mathematica: Zeitschrift herausgegeben, von G. Mittag-Leffler. 
(Stockholm, 1882.) 
