NA TURR 



[Jfuly I, 1880 



person, could only be pacified by the woman returning for her cast- 

 off inte'tniment and putting it on again. From that time mankind 

 have died. The Vuis, which are incorporeal and have nothing 

 like a human life, have a much higher place than Qat and his 

 brothers in the common religious system of the Banks' Islanders. 

 They have no names, no stories are told of them, and they 

 have no sliape, but ^they are numerous, and are present and 

 powerful to assist men who can communicate with them. They 

 are very generally associated with stones, snakes, owls, and 

 sharks. Communication with these Vuis is not in the power of 

 all, but there is an order of priests. If a man [has his stone or 

 his snake, by means of which he supposes that he can obtain 

 favours from his Vui, he \\ ill instruct his son or some one else to 

 take his place. No other sacrifice than that of the shell money 

 in common use seems to be offered in Banks' Islands. The great 

 institutions of the Banks' Islands are the Snge and the Tamate. 

 Neither has a religious character, nor is any superstitious 

 practice necessarily connected with them. The Suge is a club, 

 the house belonging to which is the most conspicuous building in 

 every village, and is to be found wherever there is a permanent 

 habitation; this house, or "gamal," has many compartments, 

 each with its own oven, in accordance with the several grades in 

 the society. To rise from one grade to another money has to 

 be given and pigs killed. The authority of the men highest in 

 the Suge is very considerable, and it is these persons who appear 

 to traders and naval officers as chiefs. The Tamate is a secret 

 society, to which entrance is obtained by payment, and the neo- 

 phyte has to spend many days in the Salagoro, or sacred place ; 

 the only secret, however, is the making of the masks and hats in 

 which the members appear in public and the way of producing 

 the sound which is supposed to be the cry of the ghosts. The 

 members of the great Tamate indulge in much licence. When 

 they choose to go abroad to collect provisions for one of their 

 feasts, the women and uninitiated are obliged to keep away from 

 their paths. The warning voice of the Tamate is heard, and the 

 country is shut up. 



Paris 



Academy of Sciences, June 21. — M. Edm. Eecquerel in the 

 chair. — The following papers were read : — On the reduction of 

 pendulum observations to the sea-level, by M. Faye. Some 

 deductions are here made from principles he lately enunciated. — 

 On effects of reversal of photographic images by prolongation of 

 the luminous action, by M. Janssen. After a certain time of 

 e.tposure a less distinct negative image is had, and with continued 

 exposure this image quite disappears, and a positive one is 

 obtained, which may be quite as distinct as the first. This was 

 the case, e.g., in photographing the sun at Meudon, when plates 

 that had been exposed ^-^Vij of a second, or even ^o-Vinr of a 

 second (gelatino-bromide plates) were exposed half a second or 

 a second. The sun's disk appeared white, the spots black. 

 .Similarly, positive images of landscapes, &c., were obtained. 

 The same spectral rays give first the negative image, then the 

 positive. — On the heat of formation of oxides of nitrogen and of 

 those of sulphur, by M. Berthelot. The discrepancies of former 

 observations on oxides of sulphur are here accounted for chiefly 

 by a simultaneous formation of several degrees of oxidation of 

 sulphur, and perhaps even the presence of water-vapour. The 

 author's own experiments lead to the rei-ult that S -f Oo = SO; 

 gas liberates -f 34'63. — On the luminous spectrum of water, by 

 Dr. Huggins. — Proportion of carbonic acid in the air ; reply to M. 

 Marie-Davy, by M. Reiset. — New meteoritic mineral, with a 

 complement of information on the fall of meteorites observed in 

 Iowa, in May, 1S79, by Prof. Lawrence Smith, The formula 

 he now gives for the mineral (indicated at the slance of April 26, 

 iSSo), is SiR -f J (Si, 2R), or perhaps more exactly 2SiR -i- 

 .Si, 2R, which represents 2 at. of enstatite or brouzite united 

 to I at. of olivine. The name of PeckJiamite is proposed (after 

 Prof. Peckham). On the border of Emmel and Dickson 

 Counties some 3,000 fragments were found within a radius 

 of 13 km. ; their total weight 30 kg. Though they had lain 

 nearly a year under water (submerging a prairie), there was 

 not a trace of oxidation. Prof. Smith thinks this may have 

 been due to a thin invisible coating of silicates. — Employment of 

 bitumen of Judaea against diseases of the vine, by M. Schefer. — 

 Report on Mr. Peirce's memoir concerning the constant of 

 gravity at Paris and the corrections required by old determina- 

 tions of Borda and Biot. The length of the simple pendulum 

 determined by Peirce with his ovra apparatus is 993'934 mm., 

 alt. 74 m. (Biot 993'9i3 mm,, same alt, ; Borda 993'9i8mm., 



alt. 67 m.). — On the problem of inversion, by Mr. Elliot. — On 

 an apparatus for registering the law of motion of a projectile, 

 either in the bore of a gun or in a resistant medium, by M. 

 Sebert. A metallic smoked rod, of square section, is fixed in 

 the axis of the projectile, and serves as guide to a small mass 

 carrying a small tuning-fork furnished with two metjiUic points, 

 which leave undulating traces on the blackened surface, as the 

 projectile moves along (the prongs of the fork being liberated 

 from a constrained state, and set vibrating, when the motion of 

 the projectile commences). From the tracing may be deduced 

 the velocities acquired and the accelerative force in function of 

 the time ; also the law of the pressures developed. — On the 

 transcendants which play an important part in the theory of 

 planetary perturbations, by M. Darboux. — On the method of 

 Cauchy for the development of the perturbative function, by M. 

 Trepied. — On linear differential equations with an independent 

 variable, by M. Appell. — On certain linear differential equa- 

 tions of the second order, by M. Picard. — On elliptic functions, 

 by M. Farkas. — On some modifications in the construction 

 of the Bunsen lamp and of monochromatic lamps, by M. 

 Terquem. There are no lateral apertures, and the air is 

 admitted between the foot of the lamp and the bottom of 

 the tube, which is raised somewhat (6 to 7 mm.). A cross plate ■ 

 divides the orifice into four parts. The temperature is found 

 nearly uniform from the upper point of the flame to the top of 

 the green cones, and from the centre to the circumference. (An 

 analysis of the gases drawn off is given.) This flame is variously 

 superior, and it gives, with sodium, e.g., a much more intense 

 monochromatic flame. — On the flow of gases, by M. Neyreneuf. 

 — On the etherification of bromhydric acid, by M. Villiers. 

 Inter alia, the limit of etherification is not equal to that corre- 

 sponding to organic acids, and it rises with the temperature. 

 Etherification ceases in mixtures containing a certain proportion 

 of w ater. The limit of dilution from which etherification ceases 

 rises with the temperature. — On the hydrate of iodide of methyl, 

 by M. de Forcrand. — On the artificial reproduction of aualcime, 

 by M. de Schulten. The process consists in heating in a closed 

 vessel at iSo" to 190°, a solution of silicate of soda or caustic 

 soda in presence of an aluminous glass. — Presence and special 

 character of oyster-marls of Carnetin (Seineet-Loire), by M. 

 Meunier. — Prevision relative to the amount of current ^^■ater in 

 the valley of the Seine during summer and autumn of the present 

 year, by M. Lemoine. The Seine between Paris and Rouen, 

 with its large afiluents, is expected to present one of those serious 

 and prolonged diminutions of volume which occurred in 1863, 

 1S6S, and 1871, but no extraordinary drought. — On the geologi- 

 cal constitution of the Isthmus of Panama, with regard to the 

 execution of the inter-oceanic canal, by M. Bouter. . 



CONTENTS Page 



The Sacehd Books OF THE East. By Prof. A. H. Sayce . . . . 1S9 



Evolution OF THE Vegetable Kingdom. By W. B. Hemsley . . 190 

 Letters TO THE Editor:— „„„ 



TheFreshwater Medusa.— Prof. E. Ray Lankestek, F.R.S. . . 190 

 Aqueous Vapour in Relation to Perpetual Snow.— Dr. Ja.mes 



Ckoll, P.R.S i9t 



Artificial Diamonds.— R. Mallet, F.R.S 152 



A Fourth State of Matter.— S. To LVER Preston 192 



Auroral Observations.-Prof. SophusTro.mholt 192 



The Hydrographic Department.— Lieut. Georoe T. Temple, 



R.N 192 



Curious Electric Phenomenon.— F. T. Mott 193 



Meteor.— W. Odell '93 



Minerva Ornaments.— Prof. E. W. Clavpole i93 



A Snake in Kensington Gardens.— J. Harris Stonf. 193 



Three Years' Experimenting in Mensuration-al Spectroscopy 



By Prof. Piazzi Smyth ■„ • „V ' ' "r, " ''^ 



Experimental Researches in Electricity. By Warren JJe 

 La Rue, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., and Hugo W. Muller, Ph.D., 



F.R.S. (IVitk lUmtratioHs) 19° 



The Late M. Gaugain ;,•••■ V, ', o ••" '' 



A Chapter in the History of the Conifer.e. By J. Stakkie 



Gardner '99 



0^^ SOME Points connected with Terrestrial Magnetism. By 



Prof. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S -"- 



Notes ™3 



Our Astronomical Column :^ 



The Third Comet of 1822 =°5 



The Double-Star 85 Pegasi 203 



A Variable St.ar in Aquarius 205 



Geographical Notes -°| 



Physical Notes -°, 



Physical Science in Russia ■ • • ■ -~l 



Seismology IN Japan. By Prof. John Milne 20B 



University and Educational Intelligence -0= 



Scientific Serials ;°' 



SociBTiBs AND Academies • . . - y 



