Jie 225" 1675 | 
NAL ORE 
S71 

languages. He gives a long list of the native names 
with those now current. ‘In some cases the native 
name has been preserved with more or less modifica- 
tion; in others it has been replaced by a translation 
into English; in others, again, it has been replaced 
by a purely English designation. Thus a place which 
in the native tongue was called by a name meaning 
“A Hole through the Earth,” has become ‘‘ Oxford 
Lake.’ The native terms now recorded throw wel- 
come light on the proper pronunciation of geographical 
terms. It is to be hoped that these names will now be 
systematically recorded before they finally disappear. 
Such lists may supply some information on Indian 
tribal history before the entry of Europeans into the 
country. 
ALTHOUGH the genesis of the various thirty-two 
systems of crystallography has formed the subject of 
numerous writings at the hands of Hauy, Brocke, 
Bravais, Schoenfliess, and others, a suggestive note 
contributed to the Atti dei Lincet, xxiv., 7, by Dr. C. 
Viola throws new light on several portions of the 
subject. Instead of basing his classification on sym- 
metry, he classifies the principal six systems by means 
of the properties of zones normal to faces, proving 
the following theorems :—A plane of symmetry is a 
face and is normal to a zone; an axis of symmetry is 
a zone, and is normal to a face; a zone which is 
normal to a face is necessary for the existence of a. 
plane of symmetry or of a symmetrical or specular 
axis; two zones normal to faces and inclined to each 
other involve the presence of a zone orthogonal to 
them, and as many zones normal to faces as there can 
be in their common plane; two orthogonal zones 
normal to faces involve the existence of a third, and 
only a third, zone normal to a face; three zones normal 
to faces inclined to each other are sufficient and 
necessary conditions that every face should be normal 
to a zone. These theorems establish the existence of 
the following systems: triclinic, monoclinic, trimetric, 
dimetric, hexagonal, and monometric. It is pointed 
out that similar methods are applicable to investigate 
the properties of systems other than crystals. 
Mr. W. THomson described to the Manchester and 
Salford Sanitary Association on July 6 an ingenious 
method for obtaining a dust and smoke record. A 
hollow brass cylinder has a small slit cut in the side 
over which a ribbon of filter paper is stretched, whilst 
the air is passed through the paper by exhausting the 
interior of the cylinder. After a half-hour’s exposure 
the ribbon is automatically moved on and a fresh 
surface exposed. In this way the fine dust and smoke 
are deposited in rectangular patches at half-hour in- 
tervals, and the depth of colour produced can be used 
as a means of comparison over any desired period. 
It appears that in Manchester, where the investiga- 
tion was carried out, the atmosphere is most polluted 
on Mondays and Tuesdays and least on Sundays. 
Parr 3, vol. v., of the Journal of the College of 
Agriculture, Tokyo, is almost entirely devoted to myco- 
logical researches, and it forms a very important addi- 
tion to the literature on the subject. With one exception 
the papers are printed in English, and it is to be hoped 
that one desirable result of the present disastrous war 
NO. 2386, VOL. 95] 
} will be the spread of English in preference to German 

in the scientific literature of Japan. The papers are 
illustrated with plates of great accuracy and beauty, 
which testify to the care with which the investigations 
have been performed. Indeed, they would appear to 
rank with those carried out in the famous Carlsberg 
Laboratory of Copenhagen. It is interesting to note 
the developments caused by the intrusion of chemistry 
into mycology—the Saccharomyces are characterised 
to-day as much by their selective behaviour towards 
various carbohydrates and amino-compounds as by their 
morphological characters. 
FERMENTED beverages have always been the hunting- 
ground of the mycologist, and the majority of the 
known species have been obtained from this source. 
The beverages of the Far East are quite peculiar in 
the nature of their ingredients, and experience has 
demonstrated that they contain a unique flora of Sac- 
charomyces. The latest Chinese beverage to be 
studied is ‘‘ Shaoshing-chu,” of which very large quan- 
tities are manufactured in the province of Chii-Chiang. 
Mr. Takahashi describes (Journal of the College of 
Agriculture, Tokyo, vol. v., p. 200) several varieties 
of Saccharomyces shaoshing, a new species of yeast 
analogous to saké yeast, as well as four new forms of 
a Zygosaccharomyces shaoshing. YVhe same number 
of the journal describes the budding fungi of a 
beverage made from a mash of steamed soy bean and 
roasted wheat. Five different Zygosaccharomyces were 
isolated. The assimilation of amino-acids from their 
pabulum by these yeasts is studied in detail, and the 
interesting fact established that it is materially smaller 
than in the case of saké yeast. Another Japanese 
beverage of which the soy bean forms the basis is 
‘‘Hatsucho-miso.”’ This generally takes from three 
to five years to ripen, and is highly valued on account 
of its special aroma and taste. A preliminary investi- 
gation of the fungi present and the chemical changes 
occurring during the ripening indicates that the quan- 
tity of amino-acids present in the mash is an important 
factor, and there is a probability that such worl will 
lead to the improvement of the product. 

OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 
A Bricut Mereor, Juty 17.—A brilliant, swift 
meteor (= Venus) was observed by Mr. H. E. Goodson 
at the Hill Observatory, Salcombe Regis, on July 17, 
toh. 54m. p.m. G.M.T. The path practically crossed 
8 Scorpionis, and was directed towards 42 Librae. 
The trail, about 3° long, persisted several seconds. 
Tue DETERMINATION OF EasteR Day.—Anyone who 
desires a clear and simple account of the principles on 
which the determination of Easter Day depends may 
be recommended to consult a paper by Dr. A. M. W. 
Downing, which was read before the Victoria Insti- 
tute on March 15 of this year. The problem involves 
the combination of the three incommensurable periods, 
the week, the lunar month, and the tropical year, and 
has been further complicated by changes in the 
calendar. The way in which the adjustment has been 
effected to comply with the primitive ecclesiastical rule 
is here explained in untechnical language and with 
much interesting historical detail. A discussion of the 
more comprehensive mathematical rules, like that of 
Gauss, would have been outside the scope of the paper, 
which deals rather with the construction and use of 
