n 



•34 



NATURE 



[December 8, 1898 



importance of combating the disease by unremitting attention to 

 sanitary conditions. 



Mr. C. S. Stanford Webster calls attention, in the 

 Chemical News, to a novel production of vortex motion. He 

 states that when the freshly gathered leaves of the native Euca- 

 lyptus tree [Eiiiiilypliis glohiiliis) are ignited, they project 

 vortex rings in considerable numbers in succession, accompanied 

 by a spluttering noise. The best results are obtained by hold- 

 ing the scythe-shaped leaf vertically and igniting the apex — this 

 being the part where the greatest number uf translations are 

 obtained. Mr. Webster thinks that possibly in the production 

 of these vortex rings, blisters are first formed by the extrusion 

 of the cuticular tissues, and, on the blisters bursting, air or 

 aqueous vapour is spontaneously liberated, the rings being 

 rendered visible on their contact with the smoke from the burn- 

 ing external portion of the leaf. The leaves of the small English 

 variety of Eucalyptus possess similar properties to the native 

 product, but in a lesser degree, the rings projected being 

 insignificant in size, comparatively speaking. 



We have received a letter from Mr. Charles W. Purnell, of 

 Canterbury, New Zealand, criticising two of the statements 

 made by Prof. Lloyd Morgan in his notice of Prof. Thorndike's 

 experimental study of animal intelligence (Nature, July 14). 

 Prof. Purnell sees no reason for denying to animals either 

 "conscious [i.e. volitional or purposive] imitation," or 

 "memory as involving true localisation in time and space." 

 The facts adduced by Mr. Purnell, however, are not likely to 

 be denied by Prof. Lloyd Morgan or by any careful observer of 

 animal behaviour. The questions he raises seem entirely to 

 turn on the definition of terms, for a discussion of which we 

 cannot afford space. 



The anthropological part of the Jotiinal of the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal (vol. Ixvii.) contains six papers, all of value. 

 The taboo of names amongst the Santals is examined most care- 

 fully by Mr. P. O. Bodding, and his explanation of it seems 

 convincing. Taking it in conjunction with other taboos, it seems 

 to be a series of rules for defining and keeping intact the stan- 

 dard of conduct among the members of the tribal family, and it 

 is well to note the scarcely veiled system of polyandry which 

 obtains with regard to the wife of the family chief and his 

 brothers. If this is the survival of an older social stratum, 

 while the taboo existing between the family chief and the wives 

 of his younger brothers marks the rise of a newer order of 

 things, it seems that we have here a most interesting phase of 

 social evolution. The Santals are divided into twelve totemistic 

 septs, and .Mr. Bodding also examines the taboos connected 

 with this cult ; and in another paper the same author deals with 

 the salutations u.sed by the .Santals in a manner to show their 

 bearing upon tribal society. The rain ceremony from the dis- 

 trict of Murshidabad, Bengal, by .Mr. C. C. Mitra, is highly 

 instructive, especially as the author shows its close connection 

 with Lithuanian and other European cu.stoms of modern times. 

 By the same author is a paper on the lizard in Indian supersti- 

 tition and folk-lore. Mr. E. A. Gait's paper on human sacrifice 

 in ancient Assam is a useful description of this practice accord- 

 ing to the tribes among whom it obtains. 



The Bulletin (vol. ii. No. 2) of the .Madras Government 

 Museum, by Mr. Edgar Thurston, shows how useful has been 

 the work begun by Mr. Kisley. The physical measurement and 

 other particulars of the Eurasians of Madras and .Malabar, 

 accompanied by excellent photographs, are taken from a 

 sufficient number of persons to be sure that normal results have 

 been obtained, and there is an additional note on tattooing, with 

 illustrati>>n>. 



NO. 1519, VOL. 59] 



Mr. Henry Frowde, Oxford University. Press, announces 

 the forthcoming publication of a monograph on " The Micro- 

 organism of Faulty Rum," by Prof. V. H. \'eley, F.R.S., and 

 Lilian J. \'eley (iive Gould). This micro-organism, which is 

 said to have caused damage to the extent of many thousands Oi 

 pounds, has only recently been isolated. 



Prof. Wilhei.m Wundt's " Grundriss der Psychologic" 

 (Leipzig : Engelmann. London : Williams and Norgate) has 

 reached a third edition. The original work, noticed in Nature, 

 vol. liii. p. 604, 1896, has been revised and slightly enlarged. 

 — Mr. Engelmann has also just published a second enlarged 

 edition of Prof. Karl Eckstein's " Repetitorium der Zoologie." 

 The work has been completely revised, and many additions 

 have been made in the various sections. 



.\ SECOND edition of the late Carl Reutti's " Ubersicht der 

 Lepidopteren- Fauna des (irossherzogtums Baden '' has been 

 published by the Gebriider Borntraeger, Berlin. The new 

 edition has been prepared by Dr. A. Spuler, who was commis- 

 sioned by the Karlsruhe Naturwissenschaftlich Verein and Herr 

 Adolf Meess to undertake the work. — MM. Gauthier-Villars, 

 Paris, have published a second edition of M. de Fonvielle's 

 " Ballons-Sondes," a little volume containing an account of the 

 methods and results of experiments with free balloons sent up 

 with recording meteorological instruments. 



The different methods of recording the movements of seismo- 

 graphs form the subject of a brief, but useful, paper by Dr.. 

 Cancani in the last number of the Bollettino of the Italian 

 Seismological Society (vol. iv. p. 73). Omitting the photo- 

 graphic method on account of its expense and neglect of details, 

 there remain two others, in one of which the record is traced in 

 ink flowing from counterpoised pens, and in the second on 

 smoked paper by means of very fine threads of glass. Dr. 

 Cancani has recently employed both methods at the Rocca di 

 Papa Observatory, and decides without hesitation in favour of 

 the latter, the diagrams being clearer and the friction of the 

 pointers very much less. 



Two remarkably cheap and good globes — one celestial and 

 one terrestrial — published by Messrs. George Philip and Son, 

 have been sent to us for notice. Each globe is 6 inches in 

 diameter, and is mounted in a solid brass semi-meridian on a 

 polished stand. The celestial globe has upon it all stars down to 

 the fifth magnitude, printed in white upon a dark blue ground ; 

 and also some nebulae and star-clusters. The stars are considered 

 to be viewed from a point outside the globe, and not, as is the 

 case with celestial globes usually, from the inside. The globe 

 may thus be regarded as a collection of star-maps mounted for 

 convenience upon a sphere. The terrestrial globe is very clearly 

 printed ; it shows ocean currents, steamer routes, and other 

 matters of geographical importance. Both globes will be of 

 assistance to teachers of geography, but their educational value 

 would have been increased had it been possible to include a 

 horizon with each of them. 



Messrs. Griffin and Sons, Ltd., wish attention drawn to 

 the fact that they have recently removed from their old premises 

 in Garrick Strecl, Covent Garden, to 20-26, Sardinia Street, 

 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C. .where buildings have been 

 specially constructed for their work. The same firm has just 

 published the eighth edition of their catalogue of electrical 

 apparatus, a copy of which has been sent to us. Among the 

 scientific instruments and appliances ihcluded in the list are 

 several noteworthy things. It is pointed out that Wimshurst 

 machines with ebonite plates have many advantages over the 

 glass plate machines, not the least being that they are not so 

 liable to breakages. In the section of the catalogue containing 



