May 4, 1 88 2 J 



NATURE 



must be studied in comparison with those of the Malay 

 Peninsula for the purposes of his work, we would suggest 

 to Mr Distant that he would add greatly to its value to 

 all European collectors if he would give, in a supple- 

 mentary part, a complete synopsis of the known species 

 of butterflies inhabiting the Indo-Malayan region. Having 

 figured all the continental Malayan species, the descrip- 

 tions of those of the islands might be, in most cases, by 

 comparative characters, aided occasionally, perhaps, by 

 outline woodcuts. We believe that such an extension of 

 the scope of the work would double its value, and add 

 largely to the list of subscribers ; while the increased 

 expenditure would be comparatively unimportant.^ ^ 



Conic Sections Treated Geometrically. By S. H. Haslam, 

 M.A., and J. Edwards, M.A. (London : Longmans, 

 1 88 1.) 

 This is a neat little treatise on the conic sections, con- 

 taining-vvhat appears to be a novelty— a method of plane 

 projection, to which the authors give the name of Pocal 

 Projection. The remarkable feature of the book is, that 

 the authors, who are evidently well up in these curves, 

 should not be acquainted with the writings of the present 

 master of St. John's College, on the same subject. No 

 one who has looked into Dr. Taylor's recent works, could 

 be unacquainted with what he has said upon the contri- 

 butions of Boscovich and G. Walker, and would hardly 

 use the "generating circle" of a conic in the same 

 fashion as Boscovich does, and write, after the definition, 

 " which we have called the auxiliary circle of a point. 



Schwatkds Search: Sledging in the Arctic in Quest of 

 the Franklin Records. By W. H. Gilder. Maps and 

 Illustrations. (London : Sampson Low and Co.) 

 This is the complete record of the expedition sent out 

 by private subscription, in 1878, under Lieut. Schwatka, 

 to endeavour to find the records of the Franklin expedition, 

 which were reported to be in possession of the Nechelh 

 Eskimo. With the general results of the expedition, our 

 readers have already been made acquainted. The re- 

 ported records, as might have been expected, were never 

 found. But in and around the Fish River, and in King 

 William Land and neighbourhood, several relics were 

 obtained, and several graves and cairns found. The ex- 

 pedition, indeed, completed the story of the sad disaster of 

 the Erebus and Terror. During the search, sledge-jour- 

 neys of upwards of 3000 miles were made, and thus much 

 welcome additional information was obtained concerning 

 the country between Hudson's Bay and King William 

 Sound. The expedition came a good deal into contact 

 with the Eskimo, concerning whom Mr. Gilder has much 

 to tell us. The narrative is interesting, and is welcome 

 as throwing additional light on an Arctic expedition in 

 which Englishmen have alwaj s continued to be interested. 

 There are a number of good illustrations. 



Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English 

 Language. A new and thoroughly revised edition. 

 Edited by Andrew Findlater, M.A., LL.D. (Edin- 

 burgh : W. and R. Chambers, 1882.) 

 THIS little work, since the publication of the first edition, 

 edited by the late Mr. James Donald, has had deservedly 

 a very extensive circulation. It is just the book to have 

 at one's elbow for constant reference, handy, clearly- 

 printed, fairly full, and thoroughly trustworthy. This 

 new edition has evidently been so thoroughly revised by 

 Dr. Findlater, as to be virtually a new work. The selec- 

 tion of words has been made with great discrimination. 

 the definitions are clear and comprehensive, and the 

 etymologies up to the latest results of linguistic research. 

 The dictionary contains a large number of scientific 

 terms, though there are one or two others that we think 

 ought to have found a place. The dictionary is the best 



of its class ; the appendix contains much useful infor- 

 mation, including a table of the Metric System. 



Tunis; The Land and the People. By the Chevalier de 

 Heise-Wartegg. (London: Chatto and W indus, i8b2.j 

 Herr von HESSE- WARTEGG spent some months in 

 Tunis last year, and has made a readable book out of his 

 notes. He has also drawn largely on other sources of 

 information, so that those who know little about a country 

 which has been so much before the public recently, will 

 find some useful information in this volume. The author 

 spent a good deal of time about Tunis and its environs, 

 but seems also to have visited several other places in the 

 Regency, including, apparently, Kairwan. He tells us a 

 good deal about the people and their customs, about the 

 government, the Bishas, antiquities, &c. There are 

 several good illustrations, but no map. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 

 [The Editor docs not bold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, 

 or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. 

 Ko notice is taken of anonymous communications. 

 [The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters 

 as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great 

 that it is impossible otherwise to ensure the appearance even 

 of communications containing interesting and novel /acts.] 



Silurian Fossils in the North-west Highlands 

 On my return today from a geological tour in the North-west 

 Highlands, I read with much interest the letters of Mr. Hudle- 

 ston and Prof. Bonney on the above subject. The question as 

 to the geological position of the limestone series in West Ross- 

 shire, correlated by Murchison with the Durness limestone, IS 

 one to which 1 devoted special attention during my late visit to 

 the neighbourhoods ol Lochs Carron, Doule, Kishorn, and Maree. 

 'I he general appearance of the lin estone in these areas is effi- 

 ciently like that of Durness to lead to the supposition that it 

 is of the same age, but this of course can only be proved by 

 fo-sil evidence. The conclusion at which I have arrived, how- 

 ever m regard to ihe geological position of the limestone, and 

 as to its relation to the so called Upper Gneiss rocks of the 

 central parts of Ross-shire, is in direct opposition to the views 

 of Murchison, and accords in the main with that of Prof. Nicol. 

 The great triangular patch at the head of Loch Kb horn consists 

 of a series of thick beds of grey limestone, with a few bands 1 

 sandstone in an unaltered condition, and is undoubtedly dropped 

 bv faults amongst much older strata, as maintained by Prof. 

 Nicol Between Lochs Carron and Doule the same series is 

 seen to rest uncoi.formably npon much higher beds than tho-e 

 v. Inch it is supposed by Murchison and others to underlie at 

 Loch Kishorn. As I purpose shortly to give a full account of 

 these researches, I will not venture now to trespass further on 

 your space. HENRY HlCKS 



Hendon, N.W., April 29 



Earthquakes and Mountain Ranges 

 In Nvture of the 27th ult., in a note on a recent meeting of 

 the Seismological Scciety of Japan, it is mentioned that the 

 observations of Prof. Milne "as far as they have at present 

 gone -how in a remarkable manner how a large mountain 

 ran<*e absorbs earthquake energy." It may be worth while to 

 mention, as an exception to this, that the Swiss earthquake at 

 1 n m on luly 25, 1855, which apparently had its origin among 

 the'mountains on the south side of the Valais, between V.sp and 

 S. Nicholas, both of which places were seriously damaged, 

 travelled through the Bernese Oberland, across the great valley 

 of Switzerland, and then through the Jura. I was at the tune in 

 a small inn, at a place called Belle Rive m the Munster Thai, on 

 the north side of the Jura. The house was severely shaken, so 

 that some plaster fell from the ceiling. This was about seventy- 

 five miles from the place of origin, and the wave .11 that interval 

 had passed through two mountain ranges. It is probable that 

 this earthquake was caused by a disturbance of a quite different 

 kind from the volcanic disturbances of Japan, and that may 

 account for a difference in the result. O. f isher 



