July 20, 1905] 



NA TURE 



285 



(p. \) confirms his discovery of a glacial conglomerate, the 

 Pakhuis bed, in the Table Mountain series near Clan- 

 william. A thousand feet of sandstones, probably 

 fluviatile, overlies these glacial strata, and the Devonian 

 Bokkeveld beds follow, so that the antiquity of the con- 

 glomerate, as compared with the well known Dwyka 

 beds, is put beyond a doubt. Mr. Schwarz (ibid., p. 9) 

 makes a block of gneiss from the volcano of Tristan 

 d'Acunha serve as the text for a dissertation on oceanic 

 islands in general, which he e.xpands further into a treatise 

 on several points in theoretical geology. We confess to 

 a feeling of nightmare, as the one innocent specimen leads 

 us on into enormous fields of speculation, where a consider- 

 able area is occupied by the slaying of the slain. When, 

 after twenty-six pages, we reach the question, " What, after 

 all, are volcanoes? " we are tempted to turn over the next 

 eight, to where the description of " the rocks of Tristan 

 d'Acunha " nestles humbly as an appendix. Mr. A. L. 

 du Toit (p. 53) furnishes a serious paper on the forming 

 of the Drakensberg, which summarises many recent observ- 

 ations. Stress is laid on the numerous volcanic necks 

 and lava-flows, which are later than the Cave Sandstone. 

 In some cases, the vents contain no igneous matter, but 

 merely masses of e.xploded sandstone and shale, in a 

 ground of pulverised grit. Dr. R. Broom re-opens (ibid., 

 p. 73) the whole question of the age and affinities of 

 Tritylodon. Those who were present at the memorable 

 meeting in London in 1884, when Owen laid upon the 

 table what was believed to be the oldest known mammalian 

 skull, will read with some surprise of the doubt which 

 hangs over the locality and horizon of the fossil. Dr. 

 Broom believes that it came, as then stated, from Basuto- 

 land ; if so, it is from the Stormberg beds, which he 

 regards as of Lower Jurassic age. As was pointed out in 

 Nature, vol. Ixxii. p. 36, the reference of the reptilian 

 beds of South Africa to the Permian may carry back the 

 Stormberg beds also, and this will make Dr. Broom's 

 defence of Tritylodon as a mammal, and not a reptile, of 

 even greater interest as research goes on. 



Dr. A. E. Salter (Proceedings of the Geologists' 

 Association, vol. xix. p. i) produces a large amount of 

 original evidence bearing on the sources of the superficial 

 deposits found above the Jurassic and Cretaceous strata 

 to the south, north-west, and west of London. The area 

 studied is a wide one, and Dr. Salter traces fluviatile 

 action in it to an epoch before the deposition of the 

 "Boulder-clay." Among his interesting conclusions, we 

 note that a large amount of " drift " material in the lower 

 basin of the Thames is of southern origin, suggesting that 



the southern slope was formerly more extensive than at 

 present," the distribution of such material having been 

 probably aided by earth-movements. In support of this 

 latter contention, it is shown that Lower Greensand chert 

 from the Wealden area occurs 650 feet above the sea at 

 Goring Gap. The Lower Thames Valley is thus held to 

 be of recent geological age (pp. 17, 25, &c.). Other 

 evidence is adduced of the modification of the general 

 direction of drainage by earth-movements since the higher 

 gravels were deposited. 



Dr. O. Mann begins, in the Sitzungsberichte der 

 Gesellschaft Isis {1904, p. 61), what promises to be a de- 

 tailed account of the tin-deposits of the Erzgebirge, in- 

 cluding a microscopic examination of the veins of quartz, 

 tourmaline, and cassiterite. 



Dr. J. W. Spencer further emphasises his views as to 

 submerged river-channels and continental shelves in two 

 notices of the work of Hull and Nansen (American 

 Geologist, vol. xxxv. pp. 152 and 222). He provides us 

 also with a useful bibliography of the subject in relation 

 to America (American Journal of Science, vol. xix. p. 341). 



.'\ preliminary note on the geology of the provinces of 

 Tsang and in Tibet, by H. H. Hayden (Records, Geol. 

 Survey of India, vol. xxxii. p. 160), forms a pleasant out- 

 come of the recent political expedition. Marine Cainozoic 

 beds are found north of the Sikkim border, and there is 

 evidence of a former considerable extension of glaciers 

 northward from the Himalayas. The granite near Lhasa 

 is intrusive in a wide area of Jurassic strata, which have 

 suffered much from crushing and meiamorphism. The 

 country does not appear rich in minerals, and even the 

 gems are imported. G. A. J. C. 



NO 1864, VOL. 72] 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 C.\.\IBRIDGE. — Amongst the list of donations to the uni- 

 versity benefaction fund which was recently published by the 

 \'ice-Chancellor the following sums may be mentioned : — 

 the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, 5000/. ; the Right Hon. 

 Lord Iveagh (further donation), 1000/. ; C. J. Heywood, 

 Esq., 100/. ; J. Lumb, Esq., 100/. Besides these a number 

 of smaller sums have been received, some of which are 

 especially allocated to the Huddersfield lectureship in 

 pathology. In addition to these sums the Cambridge 

 University Association has collected more than 6000/. 

 towards the fund tor the university library. The success 

 of this is due almost entirely to the energy of the regis- 

 trary. The Schuter scholarship in St. Bartholomew's 

 Hospital has been awarded to Mr. R. B. S. Sewell, late 

 scholar of Christ's College. 



Dr. T. G. Pinches has been invited to join the staff 

 of the institute of archeology of the University of Liver- 

 pool as assyriologist. 



The resignation of Mr. H. J. L. Beadnell from his 

 position on the Geological Survey of Egypt is announced. 

 Mr. Beadnell has been connected with the survey since 

 1896, i.e. from the time it was established. 



From a long list of recent changes we extract the follow- 

 ing appointments to professorships at technical colleges : — 

 Prof. M. Disteli at Dresden, for descriptive geometry ; 

 Mr. Camillo Korner and Prof. K. Zsigmondy at Prague, 

 for machine construction and mathematics respectively ; 

 Dr. Leo GriJnmach at Berlin ; Dr. Gustav Rasch at 

 Aachen ; Dr. Clarence Feldmann at Delft, for electro- 

 technics ; Dr. .\. Tobler at Zurich, for applied electricity ; 

 Prof. F. Schilling at Charlottenburg, for geometry. 

 W. Konig, of Greifswald, has been appointed professor of 

 physics at the University of Giessen, and Dr. Karl Stochl 

 professor of mathematics and physics at Passau. 



The proposal made by the Emperor of Germany for the 

 temporary interchange of professors with America for a 

 course of lectures is leading to a number of important 

 results. Harvard University has invited Prof. Ostwald, of 

 Leipzig, to give a half year's course, Columbia Universitv 

 has secured lectures from Prof. V. F. Bjerknes, of Stock- 

 holm, on " Fields of Force," and from Prof. H. A. 

 Lorentz, of Leyden, on " Extensions of Maxwell's Electro- 

 magnetic Theory." Is Great Britain with its usual 

 insularity going to keep aloof from the new movement? 

 It is hardly likely that any proposal from our countrv would 

 fail to obtain hearty support either in Germanv or in 

 •America. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Royal Society, March 9. — "The Rate o. Transmission cu 

 the Guatemala Earthquake of April ig, 1902." By R, D. 

 Oldham. 



This paper contains a complete study of an earthquake 

 from the point of view of the rate of transmission. The 

 time and place of origin are known with a sufficient degree 

 of accuracy, and the shock was of sufficient power to give 

 distinct records even at 160° from the origin. Three phases 

 of wave motion are recognised, the third phase including all 

 those which are distinguished in Japan by the symbols 

 P, . . . Pj, as the author believes that it is doubtful 

 whether there is any real difference in the character of the 

 wave motion, or whether, in these so-called phases, we have 

 not waves of essentially similar nature, but varying rates of 

 propagation. The first and second phases are, however, of 

 distinct character, being mass-waves, differing from each 

 other not only in rate of propagation but in character of 

 wave motion. Of these, the first phase shows a continuous 

 increase in the apparent rate of propagation as the distance 

 from the origin becomes greater, and seems to emerge 

 almost simultaneously at all points more than 145° from 

 the origin. The second phase shows an increase in the 

 apparent rate of propagation up to 100°, and a decrease 

 I beyond this ; the result is unexpected, but the author, 

 I while remarking that it must not be rejected on that 



