May 30, 1 872 J 



NATURE 



93 



polarising light ; and he has found also that it contains a certain 

 amount of iron-oxitle compounds, which are for the most part in 

 an insoluble condiiion. He strongly objects to the vieiv that 

 the DiatiMiitn-i-ic are one-celled organisms, L)ut contends that each 

 frustule is composed of numerous very minute but perfectly indi- 

 vidualised cells. The different markings on the frustules — areoln;, 

 ril)s crests, &c. — are in no way caused by the contour lines of 

 the several cells of which they are composed. The size of the 

 cells is very variable. In Trkcfaliuiii fa-us they are as large as 

 o-oo8 of a millimetre, whilst in Jlyalosim ,/cliaini/a they do not 

 exceed o'ooo25 of a millimetre. Each cell is arched, and, as a 

 rule, prolonged into a papilliform process at its centre. The 

 ]>apilte are the cause of the moniliform or pearl necklace-like 

 markings of diatoms when examined with high powers, and 

 wliich appear as strix witli low powers. The large cavity be- 

 tween the two frustules is, he thinks, comparable to the embryo- 

 sac of higher plants ; and Weiss has succeeded in observing the 

 development of new individuals in it. The product of this new 

 individual indicates the alternation of generations in the Diato- 

 macae. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The first number of Zcitsrhrift fiir Ethnolog'u' for the current 

 year (1872) opens with a paper by.\. Bastian on "The Posi- 

 tion of the Kaukasus in relation to the history of the migration 

 of nations," in which the author points out the importance ot 

 s u lying the hydrography '.and orography of a country before we 

 atteirpt to trace theorigin of its inhabitants. Mountains and 

 streams afford more stable evidence in regard to ethnological 

 centres of origin than the ever-fluctuating combinations of lan- 

 gu.ige. Thus, for the history of our own Continent we can 

 have no more important standpoint than the Kauk.asian range, 

 which forms the boundary line between Europe and Asia, from 

 which rivers open the way into the Caspian and Black Seas. I lerr 

 Bastian next traces the various directions taken by successive 

 waves of population after they reached the Steppes between the 

 Don and the Dnieper, which long formed the meeting-p'ace of 

 the Scythio-Sarmatian races, and often witnessed the fierce 

 enc3unter of rival hordes, whose defeat or success on th\t great 

 battle-field of nations decided the fate of future races. The re- 

 lation of the nomadic races of Asia to the Persian Empire is of 

 special interest to us, since the latter by its control over the 

 destinies of the western half of the Asiatic continent has exerted 

 the most important influence on the ethnological history of 

 Europe. In Asia the course of civilisation has followed the line 

 of the Steppes ; and the nomadic tribes who possessed horses 

 have spread themselves through every pastoral district, amalga- 

 mating at times with the earlier settlers, but more generally 

 organising themselves into hostile bands, whose leaders became 

 the founders of equestrian dynasties, and raised thrones for 

 themselves in Central and Western Asia. The author follows at 

 length the progress of Parthian and Persian conquests and 

 migrations, and, after considering the anatomical features and 

 cranial dimensions and forms of the various races, which have 

 given conquerors to the world, discusses the probable bastard or 

 mixed origin of those inferior subjected races, who from time to 

 time have risen against their masters, and asserted their right lo 

 freedom, as in the case of some of the Servian tribes against their 

 Pannonian lords, and various Mestizoes or Creoles in Africa and 

 America. — The remaining papers inthisnumber are below the usual 

 standard of the Zcitschrift fiir Jillinoh'gic. We have a paper by 

 Dr. E. V. Martens " On the Different Uses of the Conchilia," 

 originally read to the Anthropological Society of Berlin, which 

 is little more than a rc'suinJ of what G. E. Rumph, P. Bonanni, 

 Johnston, and Mr. Woodward have given in their semi-popular 

 works on subjects of conchological intere.-.t. Dr. Martens also 

 contributes a translation of a paper on the geography, history, and 

 statistics of the Island of Puerto Rico, oy S. Bello, of Espinosa. 

 We learn that while sugar and coft'ee constitute the riches of the 

 island, all the tropical fruits abound, and the excessive annual 

 rainfall maintains a vigorous and verdant vegetation. The hot 

 moist climate is unhealthy, and dysentery, yellow fever (vomits), 

 and remittent fevers of various kinds prevail. The population 

 has, however, gone on ste.adily increasing during the last forty 

 years, notwithstanding the diminution in the numbers of the 

 slaves, amongst whom the deaths have of late years exceeded the 

 births in the ratio of from 5 to 10 per cent. In 1839 the popula- 

 tion was 319,000, in 1S70 it had risen to 646,360 ; in the latter 

 year the number of the slaves had fallen to 32,000, after being 



42,227 in 1866, thus giving a diminution of 25 per cent, in four 

 yearf. — M. de Quatrefages' history of Prussian apgr.anclisement, 

 which first appeared in the Rer'Ui dc-s Deux Mom/a (1871), under 

 the title "Z(7 /w7<v Pnissiennc" has called forth an impaswoned 

 and indignant lejo-nder in this number of the Zcilsc/n-ifl Jiir 

 EthiKilogtc. We should be more disposed to concur in the line 

 of argument adopted by the writer in refutation of M. de Quatre- 

 fages' too sweeping assertion that Prussians are Finno-Slaves with 

 only a slight admixture of French and German blood in the 

 higher classes, if he had not alloweil personal rancour and 

 national hate to over-weigh every consideration of courtesy, jus- 

 tice, and reason. We think an ethnological journal is not the 

 place for international warfare. 



AitnnL-fi der Chciiuc mid Pharmacie, viii. Supplementband, 

 2 Heft. — The first 100 pages of this number are occupied by an 

 important theoretical paper " on a periodical law of the chemical 

 elements," by Dr. Mendelejeff ; the author has arranged the 

 elements into eight groups and into twelve series ; there seems 

 to be a most curious reguLar progression, both in the atomic 

 weights, the atomicities, and in the chemical proportion of these 

 gi'oups. To take for example the third series of elements, start- 

 ing from group I to 7, we find the following : — Sodium' 23, 

 Magnesium" 24, Aluminium"' 27-3, Silicon" 28, Phosphorus*' 31, 

 Sulphur'' 32, Chlorine 35-5, it wUl be seen that the first named 

 is a very positive element, and that the positive character 

 gradually changes through the groups until in the seventh we 

 have a powerfufly negative body ; the atomic weights and atomici- 

 ties of the elements also increase in a reguUar manner. In the 

 other series the same kind of relation seeais to exist ; the author 

 has left spaces in his table for elements not yet discovered, but 

 for which he gives hypothetical atomic weights. The next 

 paper is by Gorup Ilesancz "on the dolomite springs of the 

 Jura," and is followed by another "on a new class of platinum 

 compounds," by Schutzenberger ; by the action of carbonic 

 oxide on platinous chloride at high temperatures three distinct 

 compounds have been obtained, the first containing one equiva- 

 lent of carbonic oxide to one equivalent of platinous chloride, 

 the second two equivalents of carbonic oxide, and the third one 

 and a half equivalents of carbonic oxide to one of platinous 

 chloride. Linnemann and Zotta have found that by heating 

 glycerine with calcic chloride, small quantities of phenol are 

 formed, and at the same time there is produced glyceric ether. 

 Phenol is also obtained from glycerine by the action of zincic 

 chloride or potassic bisulphate. 



In the Journal of the Fran/din Imtiliitc for April we have 

 the continuation of several papers already commenced, viz. : — 

 Mr. Joseph Harrison's article on the locomotive engine, and 

 Philadelphia's share in its early improvement ; of Mr. J. S. 

 Smith's account of the Keokuk and Hamilton Bridge ; of Mr. 

 J. F. Henry's paper on the flow of water in rivers and canals ; 

 and of Mr. J. Richard's article on wood-working machinery. 

 The only new article of any length is by Lieut. Dutton on the 

 principles of gun construction, and there are the usual para- 

 graphs of Items and Novelties. 



The Aincricaii Jeurnal of Science and Arts for April com- 

 mences with Prof Marsh's account of the discovery of addi- 

 tional remains of Pterosauria, with descriptions of several new 

 species, rierodaclylns occidentalism P. velox, and /'. in "ens, of 

 which full measurements are given, the last probably measuring 

 nearly 22 feet between the tips of the fully expanded wings. 

 — Prof A. E. Dolbear describes a new method of measuring 

 the velocity of rotation ; and Prof Dana continues his history of 

 Green Mountain geology, dealing this month with the quartzite. 

 — From Mr. F. B. Meek we have descriptions of two new star- 

 fishes and a crinoid from the Cincinnati Group of Ohio and 

 Indiana, which he proposes to name Pa/,eastcr (?) I^yeii, Sle- 

 nasfer grandis, and Clyptociiniis Baeri. — Prof. Abbe'gives an 

 account of his observations on the total eclipse of the sun in 

 lS6g ; and Prof Twining of various observations on the aurora 

 ofFeb. 4. — Mr.Vcrrill's seriesof papers include this month recent 

 additions to the molluscan fauna ot New England and adjacent 

 waters, with plate. 



In the May number is a valuable epitome of recent geographical 

 work in the United States, deduced from the report of the Corps 

 of Engineers, U.S. Army, the route of the Northern Pacific Rail- 

 ro.ad, and the map of transportation routes in Minnesota and 

 Dakota. — Prof W. A. Norton contributes a paper on mole- 

 cular and cosmical physics, in which he propounds several new 

 theorems: the subject is to be continued. — As the commence- 



