October 25, 1906] 



NA TURE 



64: 



is ifioived on Ihe one half of a small piece of ground-fjlass, 

 ihe other half of which may be evenly illuminated by the 

 light from a standard osmium lamp. By varying the 

 ■distance of the latter the illumination of both halves may 

 he ei|ualised, and the distance of the lamp read off on a 

 suitably divided scale. 



M. Deslandrcs suggests that this photometer will be 

 found extremely useful in determining the most suitable 

 liic.ilities for solar observations of all kinds. By Ihe inter- 

 [uisition of violet glass the relative intensity of the glare 

 ivhich would affect spectroheliograph observations might 

 he ditermined. and, similarly, the substitution of red glass 

 Avcmld show the suitability of the atmosphere for the experi- 

 nii nts on the photography of the corona, in w-hich it is 

 proposed to utilise the red rays (Comfics rciidiis, No. 3, 



A Novi;r. ri..\Msi'Hi:iii;. — In collaboration with Mr. (i. T. 

 >rrviss, of the Brooklyn institute, Mr. L. Harrilt, of 

 150 Nassau Street, New York, has recently published a 

 ])l,-misphere which should prove very useful to amateur 

 astronomers, teachers, and others who are interested in 

 velestial phenomena. 



.\s regards the conslillations the apparatus is similar 

 to cither planispheres, but, in addition, it allows the user 

 to determine the approximate positions of the planets, the 

 sun, and the moon at any time and date. This is effected 

 bv having the ecliptic divided up into degrees, so that 

 small discs repre.senting the various bodies may be aflixed 

 at any indicated point in their re- 

 spective paths. A set of tables 

 accompanying the apparatus shows 

 where each disc is to be affixed at 

 <liflferent dates during the next 

 twenty years, and thus by placing 

 these discs as directed, and rotating 

 the circular card for the current 

 time and date in the usual way, the 

 actual position of each celestial body 

 may be seen at a glance. The 

 f)bsi'rver may also, of course, deter- 

 mine approximately the times of 

 rising and setting for each body on 

 any date during the period looli- 

 1025. The price of the complete 

 ap[iaratus is five dollars. 



The Oxford University Obskrv- 

 ATORY. — Prof. Turner's report of thi 

 ■work done at the Oxford University 

 Observatory during the period May 

 I, 1005, to .April JO. 1906, directs 

 attention to the fact that the observ- 

 .■Uory staff is almost entirely engaged 



upon the proof-reading of the Oxford section of the .Astro- 

 graphic Catalogue, and that, in consequence, it does not 

 seem advisable to undertake any new piece of observational 

 work. The first of the eight volumes of the catalogue is 

 now practically ready, and the printing of it has been 

 commenced. It contains the measures of 66,000 star- 

 images on the 160 plates with centres of declination -(-31°. 



The report also contains brief accounts of the eclipse 

 expedition to .\swan, and of the meeting of the Solar Re- 

 search Union at Oxford in September, 1905. 



four times during previous ceremonies ; these '* thunder- 

 men " select the dancers, and it is a considerable honour 

 to be thus chosen, for each dancer is held to bear a part 

 of the sufferings of the tribe. Camp is moved on the day 

 before the dance, the time of the ceremony having been 

 previously proclaimed ; continence must be observed by all 

 who lake part. 



Five days in all were needed when Mr. Dorsey was 

 present, of which the first was taken up with preparations. 

 The forenoon of the second day was occupied with a 

 mimic combat, after which the ceremonial huts were re- 

 moved into position by female relatives of the priests. The 

 supposed enemies in the fight were the men who left the 

 camp to "spy the centre-pole" of the dance lodge; while 

 the lodge was being erected, the centre-pole was felled and 

 brought to the camp ; at the same time four altars were 

 prepared, one for each hut. The third day opened with 

 a race to the centre-pole, which was still outside the 

 camp, lying crosswise to the sun. It was then painted and 

 raised into position ; an altar was prepared, and before it 

 was finished the dancers entered the lodge, bringing a 

 painted buffalo skull. Prayers were offered by the dancers, 

 and the dance began ; it was continued at intervals during 

 the whole of that day and night, and on both the fourth 

 and fifth days the sunri.se performance was specially 

 important ; on several occasions the priests made before 

 the performers what seem to be hypnotic passes. Until 

 the final dance all fasted ; female relatives then brought 

 food to the dancers, .ind the chief lived the mouth and 



THE POXCA SUN DAXCE.'' 



17 HW .Amerindian ceremonies have attracted more atten- 

 tion than the Sun Dance. It is found among the 

 .\rapaho, the Cheyenne, the Dakota, and the Blackfeet ; 

 and now we have a record of the rite among the Ponca. 

 Unfortunately this account of the dance is far from com- 

 plete ; Mr. borsey was able to witness it once only, in 

 addition to which it had become a theatrical performance 

 for the benefit of white visitors. 



The ceremony is held in June or July, and the name 

 means '* Sun-seeing-Dance,'* i.e. a dance which the sun 

 witnesses; the priests arc medicine-men who have fasted 



I ■■ The Ponca Sun Dance." By G. A. Dorsey. Field Columbian 

 Museum, Anthropological Series, vii., ii. (Chicago, IQ05.) 



d day of the 



sprinkled the head of each dancer with water. The last 

 ceremony was the offering of a portion of skin, cut from 

 the shoulder of each dancer, to the sun, by placing it at 

 the foot of the centre-pole. 



All the participants were painted more than once, and 

 careful descriptions of them are given, together with 

 coloured plates of the more important. The remainder of 

 the thirty-five plates show the altars and various scenes of 

 the rites. 



Mr. Dorsey was struck by the comparative simplicity of 

 the ceremony, but he suggests that it may possibly be a 

 case of degeneration. The centre-pole represents an enemy, 

 and in its fork is supposed to he the Thunder Bird's nest; 

 the altar is the sun or fireplace, which e.xisted in the 

 beginning ; the buffalo bull came from the interior of the 

 earth. The altar consists of the sage plant, symbolical of 

 the people, the sun, and the buffalo. No satisfactory 

 account of the origin of the dance could be obtained, and 

 Mr. Dorsey offers no suggestion as to its significance. It 

 has, however, been dealt with in the annual reports of 

 the Bureau of Ethnology (vol. xi.) as regards the Dakota, 

 and vol. iv. of the Field Columbian series contains a long 

 account of the .Arapaho dance by Mr. Dorsey himself. 

 The statement on p. 88 of the present report that torture 

 is not found among the Arapaho appears to be directly 

 contradicted bv the latter report (pp. 179 et seq). 



N. W. T. 



NO. 1930. VOL. 74] 



