502 



NA TURE 



[February 25, 1909 



beak, appear to be slightly separated; it is also probable 

 that the separation increases with the depth of the probing, 

 although the upper and lower portions remain nearly 

 parallel until they are thrust, in to their extreme limit, 

 when the terminal part of the upper one becomes expanded 

 at the moment of contact with the " find." 



The already overcrowded list of so-called British birds 

 has been increased by the capture, on Fair Isle in Sep- 

 tember, 190S, of a specimen of Eversmann's warbler 

 {Phylloscoptis bo'caUs). This bird, which is really a dark- 

 coloured willow-wren, has been recorded once in Heligo- 

 land, in 1S54, but its normal summer haunts are Finmark, 

 northern Russia, and Siberia, while in winter it wanders 

 to Burma, Malaya, and China. Fuller details of the cap- 

 ture will be found in the January number of Witherby's 

 British Birds. 



Captain Stanley Flower and his assistant, Mr. M. J. 

 \icoll, have drawn up a list of the species of wild birds 

 which have been observed to visit the zoological gardens 

 at Giza during the . period between October, i8g8, and 

 October, 1908. This list, which has been published by 

 the Egyptian Government, comprises no less than 166 

 species, eleven of which are, however, not indigenous to 

 the country, and were accordingly, in all probability, re- 

 presented by imported individuals. The \'ery large number, 

 both as regards species and individuals, which visit the 

 establishment adds considerably to the attractions of the 

 Giza Gardens, and the list has been published in response 

 to inquiries from visitors as to their names. It is a 

 prevalent idea th.Tt song-birds are lacking in Egypt, but 

 a visit to the gardens when the nightingale and the rufous 

 and olive warblers are singing will at once dispel this 

 illusion. 



In the report of the vertebrate section of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union for iqoS reference is made to the 

 appearance of a flock of Pallas 's sandgrousc on the 

 northern slope of the wolds during the autumn of that 

 year. The great grebes on Hornsea Mere have been re- 

 duced to three, and it is believed that the diminution is 

 mainly to be attributed to egg-collectors and other visitors. 

 The peregrine falcons again built on Bempton Cliffs, where 

 they reared a single voung one. 



The birds of the Barotsi district of the Z.nmbesi form 

 the subject of a p.iper bv Mr. A. Sandberg in vol. vii., 

 part ii., of the Proceedings of the Rhodesia Scientific 

 Association. .As an illustration of the teeming bird-life of 

 the great valley, the author writes that " the traveller 

 encounters enormous numbers of geese, ducks, and wading 

 birds in wonderful variety of species, size, and coloration, 

 and the sand-banks of tfie river, upon which they find n 

 refuge, present an appearance at times which can best be 

 described as kaleidoscopic. .Above the almost deafening din 

 of their shrill voices can be distinguished the incessant cry 

 of the fish-eagle, for ever on the alert for prey." 



PREHISTORIC ARCEXTINA.' 

 'T'HE pottery described in the first of the papers men- 

 tioned below was mainly obtained in the province of 

 Catamarca. The specimens are illustrated by handsome 

 coloured plates drawn from photographs. The earliest 

 type includes bowls and jars, ornamented in white, red, 

 and black in imitation of the woven patterns of basket- 

 work. Similar ornamentation is found in the baskets, 

 cloth, and pottery of New Mexico and California. Another 

 type, with red and black colouring, shows either geo- 

 metrical designs or outlines of animals, especiallv frogs 

 and snakes, usually conventional in character. .Among the 

 objects depicted are the anura, Ceralnphys ornaia and 

 Leptodactylus ocellatiis, and the ophidia Elaps froiilalis 

 and Lachesis allcrnaius. as well as the rhea and puma 

 and a fern, a species of Hymenophyllum. There are also 

 crude representations of human beings. 



The second article describes two human faces in terra- 

 Mi) Alfarerias del Noroeste Argentinlo (.-^nales del Museo de La Plata, 

 series ii.. vol. i.). Pp. 5 to 40. 



(2) Sobre el Hallazao de Alfarerias Mexicanas en la Provincia de Buenos 

 Aires (Revista del Mu«o de La Plata, wl. xv., series ii., vol. ii.). Pp. 284 to 

 293. 



Bias (Anales del Museo Nacinnal de Buenos 

 vol. ix.). Pp. 249 to 275. All by Seiiw F. Outes. 



NO. 2052, VOL. 79] 



cotta, and part of the head of an animal supposed to be 

 the coyote {Canis cagotlis), in the same material. These 

 were found in a high bank in the Laguna de Lobos, in 

 the province of Buenos .Aires. They arc so closely similar 

 to the earthenware "'masks" found in such numbers in 

 the ancient ruins at San Juan de Teotihuacan, in Mexico, 

 that the author believes that they were manufactured 

 there, but he declines to advance any theory to explain 

 their presence in the Argentine. 



The third paper deals with implements and fragments 

 of pottery collected by Senor Carlos Ameghino on the site 

 of a prehistoric settlement in the extreme south of the 

 province of Buenos .Aires, and distant 5 kilometres from 

 the sea-shore. They were found on the surface at the foot 

 of unconsolidated sand-dunes, and include flakes, scrapers, 

 chisels, knives, arrow-heads, and grinding stones, all 

 primitive in character. These appear to have been manu- 

 factured from ellipsoidal beach-stones, mainly jasper, 

 though phonolite, chert, porphyritic breccia, and other 

 materials were also employed. The grinding stones are of 

 hard grit ('' asper6n "). 



The pottery was moulded of a sandy clay, and imper- 

 fectly baked. It was ornamented with grooves and pits 

 made with the nail or a fragment of wood. 



The collection indicates, we are told, a culture similar 

 to that which still characterises the middle and lower 

 parts of the basin of the Rio Negro, certain localities in 

 the government of the Pampa, and the southern plains of 

 the province of Mendoza. It presents many points of re- 

 semblance to that met with in the southern part of the 

 government of the Rio Negro and in the governments of 

 the Chubut and Santa Cruz, but differs completely from 

 that of the rivers Salado, San Boromb6n and LujSn, and 

 generally the eastern portion of the province of Buenos 

 .Aires. J. W. E. 



THE INCREASED EXPANSION OF STEAM 

 ATTAINABLE IN STEAM TURBINES.' 



T FIND it difficult to add anything to the words of the 

 ■*• many illustrious men who have addressed this society 

 on previous anniversaries of the birth of James Watt, to 

 the words of Sir Humphry Davy, Lord .Aberdeen, and 

 Lord Jeffrey, and in later years to those of Joule, Scott- 

 Russell, Prcece, and Kelvin. This evening I should prefer 

 to recall to your memories the fundamental principles of 

 steam discovered by James Watt, and to endeavour to 

 trace their application in the engines constructed by him 

 and by the firm of Bolton and Watt, then in the more 

 highly developed forms of compound, triple, and quadruple 

 reciprocating engines, and, lastly, in steam turbines on 

 land and sea. 



The laws of steain which James Watt discovered are 

 simply these, that the latent heat is nearly constant for 

 different pressures within the ranges used in steam engines, 

 and that, consequently, the greater the steam pressure and 

 the greater th-r range of expansion the greater will be 

 the work obtained from a given amount of steam, and, 

 secondly, as may be seen to us now as obvious, that steam 

 from its expansive force will rush into a vacuum. 



Having regard to the state of knowledge at the time, 

 his conclusions appear to have been the result of close and 

 patient reasoning by a mind endowed with extraordinary 

 powers of insight into physical questions, and with the 

 faculty of drawing sound practical conclusions from 

 numerous experiments devised to throw light on the sub- 

 ject under investigation. His resource, courage, and devo- 

 tion were extraordinary, and drew to his side a coterie of 

 kindred spirits, with whom he discussed freely his theories 

 and his hopes, and the results of his experiments. 



In commencing his investigations on the steam engine, 

 he soon discovered that there was a tremendous loss in the 

 Newcomen engine which he thought might be remedied — 

 the loss caused by condensation of the steam on the cold 

 metal walls of the cylinder. He first commenced by 

 lining the walls with wood, a material of low thermal 

 conductivity. Though this improved matters, he was not 

 satisfied; his intuition doubtless told him that there should 



1 Tbe rames Watt 'ecture' delivered at Greenoc'; by the Hon. C. A. Par- 



