3 74 



NATURE 



[Atigtist 19, 1880 



birds altogether, for the footprints in the Triassic sandstone of 

 the Connecticut valley are now generally referred to Dinosaurian 

 reptiles. Despite their strongly reptilian characters —among 

 others, the presence of teeth in the beaks — which point to a 

 position low down in the avian branch of the Sauropsida, Prof. 

 Marsh argues, from the structural differences existing between 

 such forms as Hcspcrornis and Ichthyoniis, and between these 

 and Archaoptiryx, which appear greater than those presented by 

 any two living birds, that they represent comparatively highly 

 specialised types, and that we must look for the earliest appear- 

 ance of birds in strata possibly as old as the Permian (Palreozoic). 

 The magnificent engravings which accompany the work render it 

 a livre de luxe, and place it in the category of recent American 

 scientific works next to Leidy's 'Rhizopods,' to which we 

 lately had occasion to call attention. We are informed that 

 another important work on the extinct vertebrata of the West is 

 shortly to appear, from the pen of Prof. Cope." 



Mr. Thomas Bolton of Birmingham has sent us No. 3 of 

 his "Portfolio of Drawings and Descriptions of Living 

 Organisms (Animal and Vegetable) Illustrative of Freshwater 

 and Marine Life," which have been sent out by him with the 

 living specimens. 



An interesting paper by Mr. G. M. Dawson on the distribu- 

 tion of some of the more important trees of British Columbia is 

 reprinted from the Canadian iVatunilist. In connection with 

 tills subject we learn from the Gardener's Chronicle that three of 

 the most distinguished botanists of America — Dr. C. C. Parry, 

 Dr. George Engelmann, and Prof. C. S. Sargent— are now on 

 their way to Vancouver's Island ; thence they propose to return 

 and ascend the Columbia River as far as it is necessary to settle 

 vexed tree questions in the extensive forest region along its 

 shores ; they will thence journey southward -jia Portland through 

 the centre .of Oregon to the great Fir forests of Shasta. We 

 may hope that much "clearing-up" in the nomenclature of 

 certain Conifers will accrue from the visit. 



We have received the five Annual Reports of the Little 

 Miami Natural History Society, which was founded in 1875 at 

 Antioch CoUege, Yellow Springs, Ohio. The objects of this 

 Society are :— (i) To develop among the students a habit of 

 accurate observation and patient investigation rather than mere 

 acquisition in studying the natural sciences, and thus to accustom 

 them to the methods and rules of scientific study ; and (2) to 

 work out the natural history of the district in which the college 

 is situated, especially the valley of the Little Miami and its 

 tributary streams. The membership of the S ociety is open to 

 all students of the College who wish to join for the purpose of 

 doing actual work in furtherance of this purpose. Each of the 

 Reports covers only one side of a sheet of paper, but from the 

 catalogue of papers and reports contributed to the Society, it is 

 evidently doing good work in the natural history of its district. 



Dr. R. F. Hutchinson of Mussoorie, N.W.P., India, writes 

 with reference to Nature, vol. xxii. p, 1 19, that he has frequently 

 seen Mercury with the naked eye out there, especially in the cold 

 weather when the atmosphere is clear and dry. He has also 

 twice seen two of Jupiter's satellites under the same circum- 

 stances. 



Several important changes have been made in the method of 

 conducting the technological examinations in connection with 

 the City and Guilds of London Institute ; those interested 

 should apply for a programme of the changes to the Secretary, 

 Gresham College, E.C. 



Telephone experiments with a new apparatus by Dr. Herz 

 have been made with the French Atlantic cable between Brest 

 and Penzance, and are said to have yielded satisfactory results. 



On Sunday, August 8, a young man named Brest ascended at 

 Marseilles in a balloon he had constructed himself. He was 

 lost to view in the direction of the sea, and his aerial craft was 

 found by fishermen close to Bastia, in Corsica. It is feared that 

 the unfortunate aeronaut was drowned. 



The lady who took so high a place in the London University 

 B.Sc. examination, referred to last week, was not Miss, but Mrs. 

 Bryant, the well-known teacher at the North London Collegiate 

 School for Girls. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 pa<t week include a Rhesus Monkey {Macacus erylhnzus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. J. E. Kincaid ; a Black-handed Spider 

 Monkey (Atiles gcoffroyi) from South America, presented by 

 Capt. Woolward ; a Common Squirrel (Sciurus ■vulgaris), 

 British, jM-esented by Capt. Thol.indir ; a Spotted Ichneumon 

 [I/er/iestes auropunctatus) from India, presented by the Hon. L. 

 S. Jackson ; four Richardson's Skuas {Lestris erepidatiis), Shet- 

 land Isles, presented by Mr. Robt. T. C. Scott; three Abyssinian 

 Guinea Fowls (Ntiniida ptilorhync/ia) from Abyssinia, presented 

 by Mr. Gerald Waller; two Common Nightjars (Caprimnl^us 

 eiiropsus), British, presented by Mr. E. Ockenden ; a Common 

 Chameleon [Cliama:leon vulgaris) from North Africa, presented 

 by Mr. Percy Howard ; an Areolated Tortoise (Homopus area- 

 latus), a Geometric Tortoise (Testudo geomdrica) ft-om South 

 Africa, presented by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk, C.M.Z.S. ; three 

 Richardson's Skuas (Leslris erepidaius), Shetland Isles, four 

 Glass Snakes (Pscudopus pallasi) from Dalmatia, deposited ; a 

 Yellow-collared Parrakeet (Plaiycercus sctuitorquatus) from West 

 Australia, received in exchange. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



The August Meteors The meteors annually encountered 



by the earth on arriving at the descending node of the third 

 comet of 1862, in the orbit of which they are found to travel, 

 are reported to have been less numerous this month than in 

 most recent years. The earth arrived in the longitude of the 

 node about midnight on the gth inst., and in this position is 

 only 430,000 miles, or less than twice the moon's distance from 

 the comet's track. Even if less frequent than in several past 

 years, a considerable number was observed on August 9, 10, and ri, 

 and on the latter night a conspicuous Aurora Borealis, which 

 phenomenon has so often accompanied meteoric displays, was 

 witnessed in the north of England. Early on the evening of 

 August 12 the meteors were sufficiently frequent and bright to 

 attract the attention of persons in the suburbs of London who 

 were not looking for them, but there were very few later in the 

 evening. 



It has been frequently remarked that the August meteors, or, 

 to call them by their astronomical designation, the Perscids, 

 must be much more widely disti'ibuted along the cometary orbit 

 than are those of the November period — the Leonids — moving in 

 the track of the fii'st comet of 1S66. The comet ■i\hich appears 

 to generate the August meteors, or at any rate to be followed by 

 them, has now receded beyond the orbit of Neptune, and will 

 continue to recede until about the year 1923. It was last in 

 aphelion, according to Prof. Oppolzer's investigation, about 

 iSoi or 1802, and, notwithstanding the great distance of the 

 comet, there was a remarkable meteoric display. Herrick 

 reports a letter from Dr. Joseph Priestley describing the pheno- 

 menon as he witnessed it on August 8, iSoi, amongst the 

 meteors being "a prodigious number of fire balls." He com- 

 pared the whole to a brilliant display of fire-works. 



It is rather singular that in the histoiy of comets we should 

 not have been able to recognise any previous appearance of the 

 body connected with the Perseids, notwithstanding its close 

 approach to the earth's orbit when the perihelion passage takes 

 place in the summer. Perhaps for many past centm-ies the 

 perihelion may have fallen in the winter, \^'hen the comet would 

 have greater chance of escaping notice. 



Cape Observations of Comet 18S0 (I).— Mr. Gill sends 

 us the fully reduced observations of tlie great comet of the 

 present year made at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good 



