174 



NA TURE 



[December 22, 1898 



connected with menageries ; while many of such notes are 

 vakiable clues to their mode of life in a state of nature. 



A subject in which Mr. Bartlett took especial interest 

 is that of hybrids ; and to him, amongst others, belongs 

 the credit of showing that sterility is by no means such 

 a general attribute of the products of crossing as has 

 been supposed. The chapter on hybridisation is, there- 

 fore, worthy of the best attention of naturalists. 



R. L. 



Wild Life at Home. Hcnu to Study and Photograph it. 



By R. Kearton, F.Z.S. Pp. xv + i88. (London : 



Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1898.) 

 This delightful book, by the author of the well-known 

 " With Nature and a Camera," deserves a wide 

 popularity. It should be of value in spreading the love 

 of the " bloodless and harmless sport," of which Mr. 

 Kearton writes so enthusiastically. The beautifully 

 reproduced photographs are in themselves more than 

 justification for the addition of the volume to the 

 numerous bird-books already in existence, and the care- 

 ful and practical instructions which are given to the 

 reader, to enable him to secure similar trophies to those 

 illustrated, will tempt many nature-lovers to follow in the 

 footsteps of Mr. Kearton and his brother, Mr. C. 

 Kearton, who has provided the photographs. In addi- 

 tion to illustrations and notes on birds, the volume 

 contains chapters, with striking pictures, on mammals, 

 insects, and other forms of life. 



A Pocket Dictionary of Electrical Words, Terms and 

 Phrases. By Edwin J. Houston, Ph.D. Pp. iv -I- 945. 

 (London : Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 189S.) 

 The growth of the terminology of electrical science has 

 been so rapid, that the new terms and phrases coined 

 since the publication of the last edition of the authors 

 larger dictionary, exceed in number those which were 

 originally in use. This necessitated a re-casting of the 

 previous work ; and to avoid the production of a cumber- 

 some volume, the greatest attention has been paid to 

 conciseness of expression, with the result that this handy 

 little epitome has been produced. It is even now too 

 large for a pocket dictionary, and it would perhaps have 

 been better to have reduced the bulk by omitting many 

 of the words which are familiar enough to need no 

 explanation. 



Ricettario Industriale. By I. Ghersi. Pp. 562. (Milan : 

 Ulrico Hoepli, 1899.) 



This book, which is one of the latest additions to the well- 

 known series of " Manuali Hoepli," contains some 940 

 recipes used in the arts, .\mong these there are many 

 which will be of value to scientific workers. Of the 

 subjects treated, the following are a few of the more 

 important : — Coloration, plating and cleaning of metals ; 

 paper, celluloid, cements, ebonite, matches, preservation 

 of fruit, flowers, eggs, iS:c. ; bleaching, ink, oils, perfumes, 

 soap, varnishes, ivory, glass, wine. So far as we are able 

 to judge, the recipes given are practical and up to date. 



Deutscher Botaniker-Kalender fiir 1899. By P. Sydow. 



Pp. 198. (Berlin : Gebriider Borntraeger.) 

 The dates of the births or deaths of distinguished 

 botanists, mostly natives of Germany, are indicated in 

 this pocket diary for 1899. In addition, the rules of 

 nomenclature followed by officers in the Imperial 

 botanical gardens and museums of Berlin are given ; 

 and there are lists of works on cryptogamic plants, of 

 botanical gardens in Germany and elsewhere, botanical 

 and natural history museums and collections, and an 

 alphabetical list of the officers in botanical museums and 

 great herbariums. 



NO. I 52 I, VOL. 59] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [Till Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions tx- 

 /tressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertate 

 lo return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejecttd 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NaturC 

 IKo notice is taken of anonymous communications.'] 



The Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. 



Thk members uf the Cambridge .^nlhropolijgical Expedition 

 to Torres Straits have now completed their investigations in the 

 Straits. Dr. Rivers and Mr. Wilkin have left for England, 

 while the other members of the expedition have proceeded to 

 Borneo to study ihe anthropology of the Baram district of 

 Sarawak. The health of the party has been excellent. 



The natives of Murray Island were studied with most detail, 

 as, owing to their isolation, they have been less modified by 

 contact with alien races. Some of the party stayed about four 

 months on the island, while others had only a couple of months, 

 owing to a trip having been made to the mainland of New 

 Guinea. 



The New Guinea contingent visited the coast tribes between 

 Kerepunu and the Mekeo district, and several excursions were 

 made for short distances inland. There was not enough time 

 spent at any spot for a thorough investigation of the natives, but 

 a considerable amount of information was obtained in most of 

 the branches of anthropology with which the expedition is 

 concerned, which will prove of value for purposes of com- 

 parison. I 



The researches on the Murray islanders were fairly thoroughj, 

 and will form a basis for comparison with the other islandeis 

 and allied peoples. Over a month was spent in >tabuiag (Jervis 

 Island) by all the parly, with the exception of Messrs. Slyers 

 and MacDougall, who had previously started for Borneo. 

 Although the time spent in Mabuiag was short, a satisfactoty 

 amount of work was accomplished owing to the conditions beine 

 favourable. Observations were also made on several other 

 islands in Torres Straits and in Kiwai, which is situated in thtf 

 mouth of the Fly River. 



A large number of photographs have been taken, and con- ' 

 siderable collections have been made, which are now on their 

 way to Cambridge. A. C. Hadhon. 



Thursday Island, Xoveinber 7. 



Transference of Heat in Cooled Metals. 



Several observers ' have noticed a rise of temperature at the 

 cooler end of a bar of metal when the hot end was suddenly 

 cooled. As this would be a mo.st surprising eflect, and as Johns 

 Hopkins University has been mentioned in connection with the 

 subject, Dr. H. A. Rowland has requested me to examine the 

 matter. 



Iron and steel bars of about one-half inch diameter were used, 

 and iron-copper thermo-electric couples were soldered to the 

 cooler end and the side. A reflecting galvanometer was used 

 that gave a deflection of i mm. per o°05 C. The end of the bar 

 was heated by a Bunsen compound burner, or in a mutfle furnace 

 with a blast lamp. The hot end of the bar was cooled either 

 with blocks of ice or by plunging into ice water. 



After errors, due 10 jarring the galvanometer, and to changes 

 in the m.ignetic field of the galvanometer, caused by motion of 

 the bar, had been eliminated, even under the most trying condi- 

 tions no effect was observed. The temperature of the cooler 

 portion of the bar did not increase when the hot end was 

 suddenly quenched. 



The most severe test imposed included the sudden quenching 

 in ice water of the end of the bar, three inches of which was 

 alxive the red heat. The thermo-couple then was only nine inches 

 from the glowing end of the bar. 



The galvanometer, of course, showed the usual slow change of 

 temperature due lo conduction. There was then a com- 

 paratively long lime after quenching before any change of 

 temperature was indicated, and then die change was only a 

 reduction of temperature. Carl Kinsli;v. 



Johns Hopkins University Physical Laboratory, 

 Baltimore, U.S.A., December 9. 



' N'ArUKE. June y^. 1898 (observed by M. Hourgel in P.-.iis 1398); 

 Seplcml>er i. 1898 tobsrrvcd l>y Mr. Barllett in Civendish L.-il>oralor>', 

 1889) ; OcioIki 20, iSjS (observed by Mr. Stone in Johtis Hopkins L,il>or- 

 alory, 1888). 



