Nov. I, 1883] 



NA TURE 



15 



beinj everywhere below the freezing-point. This view is further 

 supported liy ascertained facts and by conclusions drawn from 

 the direction of the winds, as given in Coflin's work, "The 

 Winds of the Globe." The article in other respects communi- 

 cates important details and argume.its regarding the geography 

 of Greenland, 



The Association Internationale Africaiiie has been so satisfied 

 with tlie services of tlie Swedish officers who assist Mr. Stanley 

 in his e.'cploits on the Congo, that four more, who have volun- 

 teered their services, have been engaged, and will leave Europe 

 on November 1 5. We announced some time back that the 

 Royal Geographical Society of Sweden had conferred the Vega 

 medal, the greatest honour at the disposal of the Society, on Mr. 

 Stanley. At the last meeting of the Society the President, Dr. 

 Montelius, read a letter received f.om the explorer, dated Stanley 

 Pool, in which he thanked the Society for the great lunour 

 conferred on him. 



The last number of the hvestia of the East Siberian Geo- 

 graphical Society contains a valuable paper by MM. Agapitoff 

 and Khalganoff, on the Shamanism of the Balagansk Buriats of 

 the province of Irkutsk ; several letters from the Lena Meteoro- 

 logical Station (already noticed in Nature), with a plan of the 

 station ; meteorological observations made at Markha in August 

 and September, 1SS2, and at Magan (ten miles to the north-west 

 of Vakut):k), from July, 1SS2, to March, 1SS3; and a paper on 

 the settlements of the 14,000 Chinese, Mantchous, and Dahours, 

 who ha\e remained under Chinese rule, although settled on 

 the left bank of the Amur, at and below its confluence with the 

 Zeya. We notice in this paper that during the three great 

 summer inundations of 1S81, the level of water in the Amur, one 

 mile wide at this place, and the Zeya i "3 mile wide, rose as much 

 as 19 feet in a few days, and that the w'hole change of level of the 

 Amur was, during the summer, as much as 28 feet. This figure, 

 although much below those which are found for the Amur below 

 its confluence with the Sungari, and exceeded during the inun- 

 dations of 1872, gives some idea of the mass of water poured on 

 the Pacific slope of the great Siberian plateau during the season 

 of the summer rains. 



An interesting relic of the past has just been unearthed in the 

 parish of Pulborough, Sussex, in the shape of a canoe, which 

 was partly embedded under the River Arun, and partly in land 

 on the south side of that river. The boat is of solid oak, and 

 hewn from a single massive trunk. That it was made before 

 the knowledge of metal is evident, as there is not a trace of 

 building or planking. It must have been hollowed by means of 

 the stone axe and of fire, further evidence in favour of the 

 antiquity of this boat appears to be afforded by the various 

 accumulations which had formed over that portion of it which 

 was embedded in the earth. These strata, to the depth of nine 

 feet, have been ascertained to be loam, yellow clay, a thin layer 

 of leaves, followed by a stratum of blue mud, beneath which lay 

 the boat embedded in drift sand. The prow portion of the boat 

 lay in the river, and this is by far the most dilapidated. The 

 stern is comparatively intact. The present dimensions of the 

 boat are fifteen feet by four feet ; but originally it was probably 

 eighteen feet long. 



On Monday, September 24, about 9 p.m., a remarkable 

 phenomenon occurred at Karingon, in the province of liohus, 

 Sweden. During a perfect calm a violent whirlwind suddenly 

 arose from the south-east, carrying with it a quantity of saud, 

 earth, and straw, when suddenly a bright light lit up every ob- 

 ject and made the night as clear as d.iy. This was caused by a 

 magnificent meteor, egg-shaped in form, which appeared in the 

 zenith, and which at first seemed to consist of myriads of large 

 sparks, gradually changing into a star shining with a blinding 



lustre, and which burst, with all the colours of the rainbow, in 

 the north-west, four to fire metres above the horizon. When 

 the meteor had disappeared the wind suddenly fell, and it was 

 again perfectly calm. The phenomenon lasted about sixty 

 seconds. The wind hal throughout the day been south and 

 very slight. 



Dr. Meyer asks us to state that in our note on his paper on 

 jaJeite the name Montevideo should be MonUviso, and he thinks 

 it better, to avoid misunderstanding, iouis jadeile msiezi oi jade. 

 Moreover, the material from Monteviso is only doubtfully 

 jadeite. At Suckow, Uckermark, only one piece was found, 

 but this is the fourth "in North Germany." "At the same 

 time," Dr. Meyer writes, "I take the liberty of drawing the 

 attention of your readers to Prof. Arzruni's recently-published 

 paper on the jade question in the Berlin Zeitschrlflfiir Ethnologic, 

 pp. 163-190. The mineralogiRt of Breslau comes to the same 

 conclusion as myself, i.e. that the raw materids were not imported 

 from Asia ; and the chief reason upon which he relies is that 

 he found the nephrite and jadeite varieties from the different 

 localities to possess typical microscopical differences. This 

 alone would suffice to put aside the importation hypothesis. I 

 discovered last September in Graz, Styria, a boulder of nephrite 

 from the alluvium of the river Mur, and shall soon send you a 

 separate copy of the paper which I am about to pabli h on the 

 same." 



A PaL/EOLITHIC implement of large size was found a week 

 or two ago by Mr. G. F. Lawrence, of 49, Beech Street, in 

 gravel excavated in the Clerkenwell Road, near the Sessions 

 House. The implement weighs i lb. 3 oz., and is slightly 

 larger than the historical implement found near Gray's Inn Lane 

 at the close of the seventeenth century, and now in the British 

 Museum. 



A SHARP shock of earthquake vi'asfelt at Bermuda on October 

 20, but no damage was done. A shock was felt at Tashkend 

 at twenty minutes past two on the morning of the 27th, ac- 

 companied by loud subterranean rumblings. A despatch from 

 Smyrna dated October 28 reports that the wall surrounding 

 the town, the Aqueduct, and the Hadji Hu<sein Mosque have 

 been damaged by an earthquake. The minaret and dome of the 

 Hadji Ali Mosque at Capan Vourla have also been injured. At 

 the last-named town one hundred and sixty-nine persons have 

 been seriously, and sixty-one slightly, hurt. Seventy-nine 

 wounded people are in the hospitals. 



A Roman city has been discovered in Tunis by Lieut. Mas- 

 senat, who lately accomplished a scientific mission in the vicinity 

 of Bograra (Gulf of Gabes). This city is said to be located in the 

 southern part of Djerba. The circuit of the ruins is about three 

 kilometres. 



An extraordinary case of subsidence has been observed in the 

 vicinity of Bone. The Naiba, an isolated mountain of So3 

 metres altitude, is gradually descending into the bosom of the 

 earth. A deep excavation has been made all round, encircling 

 the whole ingulfed mass. 



With reference to our notice of "The Fishes of Great 

 Britain and Ireland," last week (p. 611), Mr. Day wishes us 

 to state that the work will be in two volumes, and that the parts 

 published reach to p. 176 of the second volume. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Striped Hyscna (Hycena striata) from 

 Morocco, presented by Mr. Ernest II. Marquis ; a Common 

 Squirrel (Sciiirus vulgaris), British, presented by Mrs. M. J. Mitchi- 

 son ; a Black Rat {A/»s rattiis), British, presented by Mr. Camp; 

 a Laughing Kingfisher {Dacelo gigantea) from Australia, pre- 

 sented by Mr. S. J. W. Colman ; a Kestrel (Tinnunailus alau- 



