October ly, 19 12] 



NATURE 



191 



On referring to Prof. Boyd Dawkins's 1869 report 

 I noted with surprise tliat tlie jaw was not even 

 mentioned. To tliose acquainted with the history of 

 Kent's Cavern this omission is easily explained. 



Throughout the explorations of the cavern, begin- 

 ning in 1825, all the evidence in favour of the anti- 

 quity of man was challenged and explained away by 

 ■outside critics. Objects in and under the stalagmite 

 were accounted for in one of the following ways, 

 viz. : (1) interments ; (2) cracks or fissures ; (3) the 

 stalagmite was a comparatively recent invading 

 tnagma ! 



For these reasons it would have been unwise, in 

 1869, to depend on any evidence so certain to be chal- 

 lenged. Indeed, the value of the evidence of the said 

 jaw has not been publicly discussed up to the present 

 time. 



After Pengelly's death Sir John Evans published 

 the second edition of his "Ancient Stone Implements," 

 in which, alas ! he seems to have followed the earliest 

 explorers in the general assumption of fissures. Sir 

 John observes that in the stalagmite there were few 

 remains, " whether human or otherwise, and these for 

 the most part may have fallen in from higher levels." 

 He further observes that "concerning this long chapter 

 111 the historv of human existence the records of the 

 cavern are a blank." If I may venture to say so, the 

 distinguished archeeologist must have compiled his 

 account of Kent's Cavern from early and late records 

 as of equal authority. 



So far as the weighty authority of the chairman of 

 the Kent's Cavern Committee (but not on the com- 

 mittee when the jaw was discovered) is concerned. 

 Prof. Keith would be fully justified in questioning the 

 authenticity of the jaw in question. 



In Pengelly's Glasgow lecture {1875) we find the 

 words — " I have found teeth of the mammoth, teeth 

 of the woolly rhinoceros, teeth of the cave hysena, 

 and teeth of the cave bear in the very uppermost part 

 of the stalagmite; and a human jaw, with four teeth 

 in it, at the base of the same deposit" (pp. 17-18). 



In describing a bone pin found under the stalag- 

 mite, near the same spot as the jaw was found, Pen- 

 gelly incidentally describes the stalagmite as " 20 

 inches thick, perfectly intact, and continuous in all 

 directions" ('Report Brit. Assoc, 1867, p. 31). The 

 italics are mine. 



One item of evidence per contra must be noticed, 

 viz. that " one of the artificially formed flints [from 

 the stalagmite] has the appearance of being a frag- 

 ment of a polished Celt or axe, and is the only 

 specimen of the kind which has been found in the 

 cavern." Nothing of the sort, we are told, was sub- 

 sequently found. 



_ It is much to be regretted that the British Asso- 

 ciation did not complete its sixteen years' exploration 

 with a general summarv of results, with plans and 

 sections. There is, I believe, no general ground plan 

 of the cavern in existence, except the rou^h sketch 

 which I prepared for the last visit of the Geologists' 

 Association (Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xvi., p. 437, 

 igoo). 



A. R. Hunt. 

 Torquay, October 7. 



A Pearl from Nautilus. 



The accompanying photograph shows a pearl 

 I'natural size), alleged to have been found in Nautilus 

 pompiltis, from the Sulu archipelago. It was lent to 

 me for examination by Mr. T. H. Haynes, of the 

 Montebello Islands, north-west Australia, one of the 



pioneers of the pearl-shelUng industry in Australia and 

 the East Indies, who is now in England. This pearl 

 was given to Mr. Haynes, about 18S4, by a half-breed 

 Chinaman named Oto, Ijrother-in-law to the late 

 Sultan of Sulu, Mohamcd Budderuddin. 



Mr. Haynes tells me that the pearly Nautilus is 

 occasionally taken alive by the pearl-shell divers, by 

 whom the flesh is cons.idered a great delicacy. Now 

 and then a pearl is found in a Nautilus, but as these 

 pearls are considered unlucky they are usually thrown 

 away. There is a superstition among the natives 

 that, if a man fights with a Nautilus pearl in a ring 

 on his finger, he will be killed. It is probable, there- 



.\ Nautilus pearl. Natural 



fore, that few, if any, examples of these Nautilus 

 pearls have found their way into the West. 



The pearl, which is a perfect pear-shape, slightly 

 flattened at the broader end, weighs 18 carats (72 

 grains), and is composed of the porcellanous (not the 

 nacreous) constituent of the shell. It is somewhat 

 translucent, white, with a slightly creamy tinge, rather 

 suggesting fine Beleek china. The broad end, which 

 has apparently been flattened by pressure of the shell 

 upon the pearl sac, is rather more transparent and 

 vitreous. H. Lyster Jameson. 



Royal Colonial Institute, London, W.C. 



XO. 2242, VOL. 90] 



Errors of the Computed Times of Solar Eclipse 

 Phenomena. 



With regard to Dr. Downing 's letter on this 

 matter (N.ature, October 10, 1912), may I be allowed 

 to remark that I was fully aware of his warning 

 that the computed eclipse times of second and third 

 contacts were too late. In fact, I carried with me 

 to Vavau the reprint of his paper to which he 

 alludes (Monthly Notices R.A.S., vol. Ixix., p. 31), 

 which he had kindly sent me, and frequently con- 

 sulted it. In addition, I had prepared an instrument 

 for projection of the solar image so as to observe 

 the angles of cusps given in his paper, but as Dr. 

 Lockver also had a similar instrument, we arranged 

 that I should make use of his time signals. 



As a further precaution, to obtain the time of the 

 first flash, I had arranged a direct-vision spectroscope 

 adjusted on the C line in the chromosphere at the 

 angle of second contact. Unfortunately, the clouds 

 at the time of second contact rendered all these pre- 

 cautions useless. 



I trust that Dr. Downing does not read into my 

 remark, " The total phase commenced about 20 

 seconds before the predicted time" r'Ps-oceedingt? 

 R.S., No. A595), anything more than a mere state- 

 ment of a fact. A. L. Cortie. 



Stonyhurst College Observatory, October 14. 



