442 



NATURE 



{Sept. 9, 1880 



insects useful and noxious, and the various ini-'ustries -vvhicli 

 depend on insects. 



We take the following from ^z Electrician : — " When a little 

 girl is found ' playing at telephone,' and reproducing to the life 

 the ' ways ' of those who ordinarily profit by the new means of 

 communication, the circumstance may be taken as an indication 

 that telephony is in some localities becoming really ] opular. 

 The following sketch of a baby telephonist, ' pretending ' to 

 communicate with her papa, is from the Concord Monilor : — 

 She was a pretty child, happy-hearted, full of fun, and a great 

 mimic. Only tw'o summers had sent sunshine across her curls 

 and waked to sensuous delight the infantile beauty and form. 

 She dwelt in a pleasant home filled with creature comforts, 

 among them the new innovation, the telephone. She had often 

 watched this wonderful mechanism, and while she neither knew 

 nor cared for the secrets of its operation, she had learned by 

 heart the peculiar and one-sided formula of a telephone conver- 

 sation. Unheeding that some one was watching her, the other 

 day she put a little hand to the wall and imitated the pushing of 

 the button on the telephone. Up went the other hand to the 

 ear, as if holding the ebony cylinder, and the little miss went on 

 in mimicry of her elders, in the follow ing fashion : — ' Hello.' 

 She then paused for an answer from the central office. ' Hello. 



Please hitch on Mr. house to Mr. office.' Pause. ' Is 



'at you, papa ? ' Pause. ' When is you coming home?' Pause. 

 (Turning to her dolls, the Utile one here spoke impatiently, ' Do 

 you keep still; I can't hear a word.') 'Yes.' (Rising inflec- 

 :lon.) Pause. 'I don't know.' (In doubt. ) Pause. ' Ye^.' 

 (Gleefully.) Pause. ' Why papa.' (In surprise.) Pause. 

 And so the little one went on, maintaining perfectly an imaginary 

 conversation, till at last she dropped her hand with a motion 

 indicative of weariness from holding the telephone, and pro- 

 nounced the conversational ' That's all ; good bye,' with all the 

 nonchalance of a veteran." 



The Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, No. 

 74, we learn from the American i\'atnraliit, contains a paper by 

 Mr. Philipp J. J- Valenlini, on the Katunes of Maya history 

 The Katunes were a series of notable events that transpired from 

 the time of the departure of the Mayas from their original home 

 until their destruction. Don Juan Pio Perez, a learned Yucatecan, 

 had found an old Maya manuscript containing this account, but 

 failed to discover the author's name. From this precious docu- 

 ment Mr. Valentini attempts to reconstruct tlie Maya chronology 

 in the same manner tliat he deciphered the Mexican calendar 

 stone. The results at which he arrives are as follows : — I. That 

 the conquerors and settlers of tlie Yucatecan peninsula, as well 

 as those of the Anahuac lakes, were joint participants in a cor- 

 rection of their national calendar about the year 290 B.C. 2. 

 That about the year 137 A.u., when a total eclipse of the sun 

 took place, the ancestors of both nations set out from their 

 common fatherland, Tula, or Tulapan. 3. That about the year 

 231 A.D. both nations made their appearance on the coast of 

 Central America, aid succeeded in conquering a large portion of 

 the peninsula. 



Dr. Forel has issued in a separate form liis paper from the 

 Archives ties Sciences on the Temperature of the Lake of Geneva 

 :ind other Freshwater Lakes. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 pist week include a Bonnet Monkey {Macaciis radialus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. C. Kerry Nicholls; a Common Fox 

 ( Canis vtil^es), European, presented by Mr. E. Schweder ; a 

 Gold Pheasant (T/iaiiinalea pic/a) from Chijia, presented by Mr. 

 James McGregor; a Weka Kail [Ocyjromiis c.ustralis) from 

 New Zealand, presented by Mr, H. Frank Rose; a Brazilian 

 Cariama {Cariaina cristatn) from Bolivia, presented by Mr. 



Charles Stanley Barnes; Six Mocking Birds {Mimus polygloitus) 

 from North America, presented by Mr. W. Cross ; a Gannet 

 (Sida bassana), British, presented by Mr. George Edson ; a 

 Sloth Bear (Afehirsus labiatiis) from India, a Common Squirrel 

 (Sciurits vulgaris), European, four Mississippi Alligators (Alli- 

 gator mississippicnsis) from the Mississippi, deposited ; a White 

 lipped Peccary (Dieotylcs labiatus), two Boatbills (Cancroma 

 cochkaria) from South America, purchased. 



THE BRITISH ASSOC I A TION 

 T N addition to the grants in the list whic'n we gave last 

 ■*• week, the following were voted at the final general 

 meeting : — Mr. James Glaisher, Luminous Aleteors, 15/. ; 

 Prof. Sylvester, Fundamental Invariants, 40/. ; Prof. W. 

 C. Williamson, Tertiary Flora, 20/. ; Prof. Rolleston, 

 Prehistoric Remains in Dorsetshire, 25/. 



The total sum voted was 1,010/., considerably more 

 than the receipts of the Swansea meeting. 



It is expected that the public lectures at the York 

 meeting next year will be given by Prof. Huxley, Prof. 

 Tyndall, and Mr. Spottiswoode. 



REPORTS 



Refort on the best means for the Development of Light from 

 Coal-gas of different qualities, by a Committee consisting of 

 Dr. Wm. Wallace (secretary), Prof. Dittmar, and Mr. John 

 Pattinson, F.C.S., F.I.C. Drawn up by Mr. Pattinson.— If 

 gas be allowed to burn under little or no pressure it gives a 

 smoky flame of little luminosity ; when forced out under great 

 pressure it yields a non-luminous blue flame like that of a 

 Bunsen's burner. The aim in constructing a good g:is-burner is 

 so lo regulate the supply of air and so to control pressure that the 

 maximum amount of light may be obtained. This is best 

 accomplished by an Argand burner. 



From series of tables showing the result of experiments, the 

 following conclusions are drawn : — The illuminating power is 

 increased as the g.as, issuing with less velocity, is mixed or 

 brought in contact with less air. No increase in illuminating 

 power is produced by heating the gas before its combustion. 

 This confirms the results obtained by the London Gas Referees! 

 in 1 87 1. By heating the air admitted to the centre of a standard 

 Argand burner to 520° F., an increase of light amounting to 

 9 per cent, was produced for a rise of 450° in temperature. 

 The trouble and expense of heating the air would probably 

 prevent the adoption of this means of increasing the luminosity. 

 With ordinary flat-flame burners the greatest amount of light 

 is evolved under a pres-ure of one inch of water. 



After giving measurements of the intensity of light evolved 

 by gas burned in various varieties of burners (Bray's, Silber's, 

 and Sugg's), the author concludes that the luminosity depends, 

 so far as the burner is concei-ned, on the amount of gas burnt 

 and on the pressure. The only burner presenting undoubted 

 advantages over others, and that ow ing to more perfect regula- 

 tion of air-supply, is the Argand burner ; but on account of its 

 expense, the trouble of keeping it clean, and the necessity of 

 employing a governor for each burner, it is improbable that it 

 H ill come into general use. Governors are now constructed for 

 single burners by Sugg, Peebles, Wright, Borradaile, and others. 

 .Such governors are of great service, not only in saving gas, but 

 also in regulating supply and giving constancy in luminosity. 



Thirteenth Report of the Committee, consisting of Prof. Everett, 

 Prof. Sir William Thomson, Mr. G. jf. Symons, Prof Ramsay, 

 Prof Geikie, Mr. J. Glaisher, Mr. Pengdly, Prof. Edward 

 Hull, Dr. Clement Le Neve Foster, Prof A. S. Herschel, Mr. G. 

 A. Lebour, Mr. A. B. Wynne, Mr. Galloway, Mr. Josipk 

 Diclinson, Mr. G. F. Deacon, and Mr. E. Welhered, appointed 

 for the Purpose of investigating the Rate of Increase of Under- 

 ground Temperature downwards in various Localities of Dry 

 Land and under Water. Drawn up by Prof. Everett (secretary),. 

 — Observations have been taken in the Talargoch Lead Mine, 

 Flintshire (between Rhyl and Prestatyn), under the direction of 

 Mr. A. Strahan, of the Geological Survey, and Mr. Walker, 

 Chairman of the Board of Directors of the mine. 



Tlie top of the shaft is 190 feet above the level of the sea. The 

 lowest workings are 900 feet below sea-level. The veins run across 

 an angle of Carboniferous Limestone, bounded on both sides by 



