Dec. 1 6, iSSo] 



NATURE 



155 



the cause of their conduct, and they made me under- 

 stand why they had fled. I then returned to see the 

 snake myself, which in fact I did, although two-thirds of 

 its length were hidden in a hole in the earth. His size 

 was such that I concluded he could not be poisonous, 

 and I at once grasped him by the tail. While dragging 

 him out of his lair with my two hands I was prepared to 

 flatten his neck close to his head with one foot the 

 moment he emerged, so that he should not have the 

 power of turning or moving. My plan succeeded per- 

 fectly, and while the snake's head was imprisoned under 

 my foot I grasped his body with my hands, and, as 

 though I had vanquished a terrible monster, turned 

 towards the natives with an air of triumph. They, struck 

 with terror, had looked on at the scene from a safe 

 distance. I must confess that the snake offered little 

 resistance, although it writhed and twisted itself round 

 my arm, squeezing it so tightly as to stop the circulation, 

 and make my hand black. I remained however in pos- 

 session of its neck, and soon secured it firmly to a long 

 thick stick I had brought with me. I then gave the 

 reptile to my men to carry home." This serpent was 

 thirteen feet long, whereas the one Waterton caught 

 single-handed was but ten feet, though it might have 

 been equally powerful. This snake was kept alive and 

 became quite tame, and when the natives saw D'Albertis 

 kiss its head and let it coil round his legs they howled 

 with amazement and admiration. Si.\ weeks after the 

 capture he writes : — " My snake continues to do well ; it 

 has twice cast its skin, is well-behaved and tame, and 

 does not attempt to escape, even when I put it in the sun 

 outside the house ; and when I go to bring it in, it comes 

 to me of its own accord. It never attempts to bite, even 

 when I caress or tease it. While I am working I often 

 hold it on my knees, where it remains for hours ; some- 

 times it raises its head, and licks my face with its forked 

 tongue. It is a true friend and companion to me. 

 When the natives bother me it is useful in putting 

 them to flight, for they are much afraid of it ; it is quite 

 sufficient for me to let my snake loose to make them fly 

 at full speed." He kept this serpent for nearly six months, 

 and latterly another of the same species with it, till at 

 last both escaped, and he mourns their loss as of dear 

 friends, adding, " for I loved them and ,thcy loved me, 

 and we had passed a long time together." 



The furthest village on the mainland visited by D'Al- 

 bertis was Epa, where he lived five days, and of which 

 he gives a very pleasing account. It is about 1500 feet 

 .above the sea, but a very short distance from the coast. 

 The village is surrounded by a strong double stockade, 

 and the people appear to be good specimens of the supe- 

 rior Mahori-Papuan race. By the aid of these people it 

 would probably not have been difficult to penetrate to the 

 mountains of the interior, but our traveller was drawn 

 away by the opportunity of exploring the Fly River, and 

 has left the exploration of this grand mountain range 

 with its rich natural treasures for some future exploration or 

 some other explorer. Having thus sketched the outhne 

 of Signor D'Albertis' eastern voyages and indicated his 

 main characteristics as a traveller and an author, let us 

 see what he has to tell us about the people among whom 

 he travelled. 



Alfred R. W.^llace 

 ( To be contiimed.) 



PROF. J. C. WATSON. 



AITE regret to have to record the death of Prof. Watson, 

 for many years director of the Observatory of 

 Ann Arbor, Michigan, and later of the new Observatory 

 established at Madison, Wisconsin, under the auspices of 

 General Washburne. 



James Craig Watson was born on January 28, 1S3S, in 

 Elgin County, Canada West, of American parents who 

 were residing in Canada at the time of his birth. While 

 he was still a boy they removed to Ann Arbor, where at 

 fifteen years of age he entered the University as a 

 classical student, but his mathematical bias soon became 

 evident. He studied astronomy under Prof. Briinnow, 

 who was then in charge of the Ann Arbor Observatory, 

 and Professor of Astronomy in the University, and while 

 the latter was director of the Dudley Observatory at 

 Albany, Watson occupied his place at Ann Arbor. In 

 1S60, when Prof Briinnow returned there, he was trans- 

 ferred to the Chair of Physics, which position he held 

 until Prof. Briinnow finally severed his connection with 

 Ann Arbor in 1S63, when Watson was again appointed 

 director of the Observatory. From this time his atten- 

 tion was chiefly directed to the discovery of minor 

 planets, with which view he formed charts of very small 

 stars ; he had also in view the possible detection of an 

 ultra-Neptunian planet, and it has been stated that 

 latterly he had been more particularly working with this 

 object, and had removed from Ann Arbor to Madison, to 

 avail himself of the more powerful instrumental means 

 at the latter place, where the refractor has an aperture of 

 16 inches, that of the Ann Arbor telescope being 12 J. 

 Watson added twenty-three members to the group of 

 small planets, his first discovery being that of Eurynome 

 in September, 1S63. 



In 1S70 Watson proceeded to Sicily at the head of a 

 Commission appointed by the United States Government 

 to observe the total eclipse of the sun on December 22, and 

 in 1 874 he went to Pekin in charge of a similar Commission 

 for the observation of the transit of Venus. While at 

 Pekin he discovered No. 139 of the minor planet group, 

 and it was stated at the time that the discovery was effected 

 entirely through Watson's extraordinary recollection of 

 the configuration of the small stars in the neighbourhood 

 where the planet was situated (R.A. oh. 58m. 15s., Decl. 

 + io°' 44'). A member of the Imperial family who had 

 been asked to name the planet, called it the " Hope 

 of China''; Jneuia, the name by which it has since 

 been known, being an Anglicisation of the Chinese 

 term. 



Watson's observations of two objects during the 

 totality of the eclipse of July 29, 187S, which he con- 

 sidered to be intra-Mercurial planets, will be fresh in 

 the recollection of the reader : there is no doubt that 

 whatever opinion may have been entertained by other 

 astronomers, he was himself convinced that he had met 

 with planetary bodies, and he stoutly defended his opinion 

 against the doubts raised in his own country. 



Watson was the author of a valuable work upon 

 Theoretical .Astronomy, published in 1867, upon which his 

 reputation as an author mainly depends. He was a 

 member of the principal scientific institutions of the 

 United States, and his merits were acknowledged by 

 several of the European Academies ; he received the 

 Lalande Medal of the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1870 

 for his numerous planetary discoveries. 



The death of Prof. Watson took place somewhat 

 suddenly on the morning of November 23, at his resi- 

 dence on Observatory Hill, Madison, Wisconsin, and is 

 attributed to intestinal inflammation, following upon a 

 severe cold, in an overstrained condition of body : he 

 had been working hard as usual at night, while super- 

 intending the completion of the Observatory buildings by 

 day. He was buried at .'\nn Arbor on November 26 ; 

 meinorial services were held in the University hall, and 

 were attended by a body of between seven and eight 

 hundred students, and a large concourse of the general 

 public, addresses being delivered by the President and 

 several Professors of the University, of which the 

 Ann .'\rbor and Detroit journals furnish lengthy re- 

 ports. 



