April 24, 1884] 



NATURE 



605 



4. The oxidation is not accompanied by hydration. The water 

 nust be present only to keep the ferment in solution, which else 

 uould not act, 5. The oxidation takes place within narrow 

 limits of temperature, ranging from about zero Centigrade to 

 mat of the coagulation of albumen. 6. The gum seems to have 

 a favourable influence in keeping the other substances in emul- 

 sion ; but in the hardened lacquer its presence is injurious, 

 causing it, when in contact with w.iter, to rise in blisters. 7. 

 Fiy a mixture of the raw juice with urushic acid, the quantity of 

 gum present is diminished, and the dried lacquer is enabled 

 better to resist the injurious influence of water, besides obtaining 

 a greater transparency. 8. The admixture of more than five 

 parts urushic acid with one part juice weakens the action of 

 the ferment, and so deteriorates the quality of the lacquer. 9. 

 The gum is very similar to gum-arabic, but gives a sugar with 

 two-thirds only of (he reducing power of arabinose. 10. The 

 ferment has the composition of albumen, except that it contains 

 much less nitrogen. 11. Diastase and the ferment in the saliva 

 cannot replace the lacquer ferment. 12. The difference between 

 good and bad lacquers seems to depend mainly on the relative 

 quantities of urushic acid and water present, the inferior lacquer 

 having less acid and more water than the superior kind. 13. 

 The durable quality of lacquer is a property of the oxyurushic 

 acid, which is singularly negative in its actions, resisting all sol- 

 vents tried, and affected by strong nitric acid only. In the course 

 of the discussion which followed it was observed that probably 

 the direct effect of the investigations would be the improvement 

 of the lacquer process, which was peculiarly a Japanese art ; 

 also that lacquer poisoning was due to the urushic acid, which 

 onTy gradually disappeared during the hardening process, the 

 best and oldest lacquers having none at all. Sugar of lead was 

 mentioned as the best antidote for the poison. 



The last number of Naturen contains an interesting report by 

 1 ferr L. Stejneger of the result of his last summer's exploration 

 <if Ostrof Mednij, or Copper Island, the smallest of the Koman- 

 dorski group (Commodore Islands). On his arrival the chief 

 town was found to be nearly empty, its numerous roomy and 

 gaudily painted houses and church having been deserted while 

 the inhabitants had gone for the fishing season to the " Lesj- 

 bitscha," or fur-seal fishing-grounds, on the other side of a rocky 

 promontory. The dense mists which never fail at that season 

 interfered with the naturalist's field work, but he was so fortunate 

 as to discover a new species of Anorthura, difTering equally both 

 in form and colouring from the earlier described A. alascensis of 

 of Prof. Baird, and from the Japanese A. fuinigata, which is 

 believed to belong also to the Aleutian Islands. Herr Stejneger, 

 who has given this new form the name of Troglodytes (Anor- 

 thura) pallescens, considers that, although essentially the same as 

 its Norwegian representative, it is still more closely allied to the 

 Eastern Central Asian forms. Since his visit to Copper Island 

 Ilerr Stejneger has found on Behring's Island another Anorthura, 

 which differs widely from A. palletctiis, and which he believes 

 may prove to be the same as A. fuinigata, common in 

 Kamchatka. A. pallescens is of frequent occurrence on Copper 

 Island. It builds its nest in the clefts of rocks at in- 

 accessible points, and in the sound of its note, as well as in 

 its general habits, it resembles its European kindred. The rosy 

 finch [Leucostide f;ri'iiinicha), supposed to be American, was 

 found on the Aleutian Islands, and has not been observed, as 

 far as we know, in any other part of the Old World. Its 

 brilliant colouring, hoarse, unmelodious song, and its preference 

 for steep, inaccessible, rocky peaks which abound on Copper 

 Island, make it one of the most characteristic of the local birds. 

 Herr Stejneger has largely availed himself of the opportunities 

 opened to him of studying the various representatives of Otariidas 

 and Phocidae, which abound on the .\leutian shores, and in his 

 paper on Callorhinus uisinus (the KoHk, sea-cat of the 



Russians, and well known as the fur-seal of the American and 

 Englisli traders), he has given the readers of Naturen an ex- 

 tremely interesting and comprehensive description of the appear" 

 ance, habits, and commercial importance of these valuable 

 animals. He graphically describes the forcible tactics employed 

 by the older seals, " Sichatchi " (Russ. husbands), in keeping the 

 juniors, " Cholustjaki " (bachelors), within their allotted grounds, 

 and supplies many hitherto unknown dethils concerning distinctive 

 characteristics dependent upon differences of age, &c. 



The last number (thirtieth) of the Mittheilungen der deutscleii 

 GesHlschaft fiir Natur und Vblkerkunde Ostasicns (Yokohama) 

 commences with an article on mines and mining in Japan, by 

 Herr Metzger — the third important work on this subject pub- 

 lished by Germans. The writer, who has been for five years at 

 the copper mines at Ani, professes merely to supplement the 

 previous writings of his countrymen. Herr Metzger's account 

 of Japanese practical mining is somewhat melancholy reading ; 

 on all hands he finds ignorance, incompetence, waste. There 

 is a total absence of technical officials, everything appears to be 

 in the hands of contractors, the mining law is in a most unsatis- 

 factory condition, and the position of the foreign mining engineer 

 is such that he can do little to remedy evils which he sees 

 plainly. In this respect the complaint is everywhere the same- 

 '' The scope of the foreigner is much less than might be ex- 

 pected under the circumstances. It seems at present to be the 

 full intention of the Japanese to do everything themselves ; and 

 at the most to use their Europeans as advisers, although their 

 contracts call them engineers, &c. It not unfrequently occuis 

 that foreigners get the impression that the advice of Japanese ol 

 the lowest rank, with or without technical training, is of equal 

 weight with their own." Herr Metzger further alleges that since 

 Europeans have been withdrawn the production of the gold 

 mines of .Sada has considerably diminished. He asserts that by 

 avoiding the extraordinary waste caused by ignorance and mis- 

 management, the mineral production of the whole country could 

 be increased by at least fifty per cent. Herr Lehmann writes on 

 the indoor games of the Japanese. From the reports of the 

 meetings it appears that the capital of Japan had its Fisheries 

 Exhibition last year. There were 15,205 exhibitors — an unex- 

 pectedly large number ; and, as a consequence, the Exhibition 

 was divided into forty-seven separate exhibitions, corresponding 

 to the various administrative divisions. This method rendered 

 a journey through the Exhibition wearisome by constant repe- 

 tition, and added greatly to the difficulties of a systematic study 

 of the exhibits, which were not lessened by the absence of a 

 catalogue. The number of articles connected with fishing 

 amounted to 3967, while the various goods made from fish and 

 water plants reached 6474. The fishing population of Japan is 

 given at 1,601,406. Some intei'esting information respecting 

 the rearing of fish in Japan is also given. 



The Tiflis Izvestia contains an interesting paper on the popu- 

 lation of the Caucasus, a new census having been made in the 

 course of the year 1882 in several of the larger provinces of the 

 country. It appears from this census, although incomplete, that 

 the population has much increased since the last census of 1877. 

 In 1S67 the whole population of the Caucasus was reckoned at 

 4,661, Soo; it rose to 5,391,700 in 1876-77. It is now more 

 than 6,500,000 — the total being reckoned at 6,449,850 — which 

 figure is still considered below the reality. This large increase 

 of more than 1,200,000 in five or six years is partly due to the 

 recent annexations (162,980 in the province of Kars, and 92,450 

 in the district of Batoum), to immigration, to natural increase, 

 and to the incompleteness of the former census. As to the 

 natural increase, due to the surplus of births over deaths, it is 

 estimated at an average of 13 per thousand every year in the 

 Government of Tiflis (1875 to 1880), and at 12 per thousand in 



