Jan. 27, 1887] 



NA TURE 



307 



of the lish with which it made the British public familiar were 

 hatched from ova of fo.-eign fish. There were various Trans- 

 atlantic forms ; and fishes indigenous to India, China, Brazil, 

 Austria, and many other countries were exhibited. Considering 

 tlie fact th.at this Aquarium was the only one in London worthy 

 of note, naturalists and the public have good reason to regret 

 that it has been abolished. 



Mr. Z. Nuttall, of the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, 

 M.iis., has been led to some interesting results by the study of 

 'ic Mexican codices. Familiarity with certain phonetic sym 

 hols of frequent recurrence in these picture-writings enabled him 

 to perceive that identical symbols are reproduced on the so- 

 called Calendar Stone, the Sacrificial Stone, and other equally 

 well-known Mexican monoliths. The Calendar Stone was, 

 he maintains, the Market Stone of the city of Mexico, and he 

 thinks that from the fixed market days recorded on it the 

 Mexican calendar system may have sprung. The so-called 

 Sacrificial Stone seems to him to have been a Law Stone, re- 

 cording the periodical collection of certain tributes paid by 

 subjugated tribes, and by others whose obligation it was to 

 contribute to the common wealth of Mexico. Mr. Nuttall 

 expresses his belief that many of the large stone receptacles 

 which are generally called "vessels for containing the hearts 

 and blood of human victims," were in reality standard measures 

 kept for reference in the market place. 



We regret to he.ir of the death of Dr. Julius Liittich, the well- 

 kmwn astronomer, who died in Rome on January 3; also of 

 Prof. Jean Louis Trasenster, who died on the same day. M. 

 Trasenster was Professor of Engineering and Mining at the 

 Liege University. 



The Report of the Kew Committee for 1886, lately publLshed, 

 shows that the well-known work of the Kew Observatory has 

 been actively carried on during the year. To particularise in 

 certain subjects, it may be mentioned that in the magnetic 

 observations four notable magnetic disturbances were recorded, 

 occurring severally in the months of January, March, July, and 

 October, and that the diurnal range of the declination for the 

 summer and winter seasons, as well as the whole year, is given in 

 a table in the Appendix. In solar observ.itions the results of 

 sketches of sunspots in continuation of Schwabe's enumeration 

 are also recorded in the Appendix. The adaption of a new 

 graphic process for determining cloud heights an:l motions, 

 devised by Prof. Stokes, has been very satisfactory in saving 

 computation when reducing the photographic pictures. Whilst 

 thus adding its valuable yearly contribution; to science, the 

 Observatory is becoming more and more useful in results of im- 

 mediate utility to the general public. In this respect the rating 

 of watches is a matter of growing convenience to those who 

 require a good time-keeper accompanied with a trustworthy 

 certificate as to the performance of the watch they are about to 

 purchase. Chronometers are .also now rated here, and from the 

 35 days' period of trial in a range of 30°. of temperiture to which 

 these instruments are subjected by the staff of the Observatory, 

 there is every reason to believe in the ascertained rates. It is 

 encouraging to note that increasing good work points to the 

 necessity for enlarging the existing accommodation aflforded by 

 the buildings. 



We have received the third volume of the Proceedings and 

 Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. It relates to the 

 year 1885. Among the scientific articles may be mentioned 

 " The Artistic Faculty in Aboriginal Races" and " Palaeolithic 

 Dexterity," by Dr. D.aniel Wiison ; "A Natural System in 

 Mineralogy, with a Classification of Native Silicates," by Dr. 

 T. Sterry Hunt ; "The Mesozoic Floras of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Region," by Sir W. Dawson ; " Illustrations of the Fauna 



of the St. John Group, continued," by Mr. G. F. Matthew ; 

 " Catalogue of Canadian Butterflies, with Notes on their Distri- 

 bution," by Mr. W. Saunders ; and "The Skull and Auditory 

 Organ of the Siluroid Hypophthalmus," by Mr. R. Ramsay 

 Wright. 



An elaborate paper on " The Right Hand and Left-Handed- 

 ness" was lately read before the Royal Society of Canada by 

 Dr. Daniel Wilson, President of University College, Toronto. 

 His final conclusion on this difficult subject, which he has 

 repeatedly discussed from various points of view, is, that left- 

 handedness is due to an exceptional development of the right 

 hemisphere of the brain. Dr. Wilson, who is himself left- 

 handed, concludes his paper with the expression of a hope that 

 after his death his own brain m.iy be " turned to account for the 

 little further service of settling this physiological puzzle." " If 

 my ideas are correct," he says, " I anticipate as the result of its 

 examination that the right hemisphere will not only be found to 

 be heavier than the left, but that it will probably be marked by 

 a noticeable difference in the number and arrangement of the 

 convolutions." 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week inclu le a White-whi kered Swine (Sus hiicomystox 9 ) 

 from Loochoo Islands, presented by Mr. H. Pryer, C.M.Z. S ; 

 two Blackiston's Eagle Owls {Bj/>j b.'ackisljni) from Yesso, 

 Japan, presented by Mr. J. H. Leech, F. Z.S. ; two Schlegel's 

 Doves {Chaktpelia puella] from West Africa, presented by Mr. 

 H. C. Donovan ; a Macaque Monkey [Macacus cynomolgui) 

 from India, a Suricate {Suricata tdradactyla) from South Africa, 

 deposited; a Red Kangaroo (Mdcropus rufus ? ), a Yellow- 

 footed Kangaroo {Pdrogah xanthopus f ), born in the Gardens. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 

 Three New Comets. — The discovery of a great comet is tele- 

 graphed from several southern Observatories. So far as is yet 

 known it was discovered by Mr. Thome at Cordoba on January 

 18. It was then situated in the constellation Grus ; apparently 

 not far from 7 Gruis. On the following evening the tail only 

 was seen at Melbourne, projecting soaie 30° above the south- 

 western horizon. On January 20 it was remarked at Adelaide ; 

 here again the tail only was seen. In its physical appearance 

 the comet strongly recalls the great southern comet of 1880, 

 being long, narrow, and straight. It is not brilliant, though 

 readdy visible to the naked eye in the twilight. The tail was 

 traced as far as o Toucani. It is expected that the comet will 

 become very brilliant. The nucleus was observed at Adelaide 

 and Melbourne on January 23. 'I he Melbourne observation is 

 as follows :— January 23d. 8h. om., R..\. 2ih. 20m. 28s.; 

 daily motion 4- yni. 44s., Deck 44° 17' S., daily; motion -I- 51'. 

 Another comet was discovered on January 22 by Mr. W. H. 

 Brooks, of the Red House Observatory, Phelps, New York. 

 Its place on that day at 6h. 54m. was R.A. l8h. om., Deck 

 71° N. It was fiiut, and was moving slowly in an easterly 

 direction. A third comet has been discovered by Mr. E. E. 

 Barnard, Nashville, Tennessee ; and observed at Harvard 

 College as follows :— January 24d. I7h. 557m., K..\. igh. 

 lom. 17'4S., daily motion -t- 2m. 36s., Decl. 25° 57' 45" N., 

 daily motion — 0° 35'. The cooaet is faint. 



New Variables. — Mr. S. C Chandler, Jun., writes in 

 Gould's Astronomical Journal, No. 149, to state that the period 

 of the new variable of the Algol type, D.M. -f 34' No. 4181, 

 the discovery of which we announced last week (p. 282), is not 

 yet precisely knoun. It is either 5'997d. or some aliquot part 

 thereof, but not either the third or fifth part. The approximate 

 elements supplied by Mr. Chandler are as follows : — 



5'997d . £ 



18S6 Decembei 9-458d. G.M.T. 



p-f-} 



where n can be neither 3 nor 5. The period may therefore 

 be about three days, one day and a half, or a shorter period 

 still. An examination of the relation which the duration 

 of the oscillation in the light of the other stars of the type 

 bears to the whole period leads Mr. Chandler to conclude 



