644 NATURE [AUGUST 22, 1912 
EPHEMERIDES FOR HotmeEs’s Comer.—Dr. Zwiers | New Zealand has no existence. They accept the 
continues his ephemerides for Holmes’s comet in | Oamaru beds as of early Oligocene age. 
No. 4594 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. The 
comet is still too far south (declination —41° 42!) to 
be observed in these latitudes, and its computed 
brightness progressively decreases until the end of the 
year, where the ephemeris now given concludes. 
OBSERVATIONS OF Mercury.—During the latter part 
of March a number of observations of Mercury were 
made at the observatory of the Astronomical Society 
of France, by MM. Camus, Danjon, Prud’homme, 
and Rougier, and are recorded in the August number 
of L’Astronomie. On six nights the planet was seen 
by the naked eye, and always appeared brighter than 
Mars, which was nearer the zenith; it was also less 
ruddy than Mars. 
Telescopic observations revealed certain markings, 
of which the two principal ones were recorded by 
different observers, working quite independently, in 
corresponding positions. The markings are said to be 
of the same order as those on Mars, when observed 
under the best conditions and with a sufficiently good 
instrument, and the regular observation of Mercury 
is to be carried out at the society’s observatory. The 
colour of the planet, observed telescopically, was seen 
to be as white as, and very similar to, that of the 
moon. 
Hatiey’s Comet.—The astrophysical observations 
of Halley’s comet made at the Catania Observatory 
are brought together by Prof. Ricco in No. 7, vol 1. 
(2nd series), of the Memorie della Societa degli Spettro- 
scopisti Italiani. 
Visual observations revealed changes in the structure 
of the head, while the photographs taken showed that 
important modifications occurred in the coma and the 
tail. The spectroscopic observations, both visual and 
photographic, showed that substances emitting certain 
radiations were distinctly stronger in some parts of 
the comet than in others, a typical example being the 
restriction of the ‘‘cyanogen” band at A388 to the 
head. On several of the direct photographs, some 
of which are reproduced to accompany the paper, 
the tail extends for some 30° from the head. 
THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE. 
Wee Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 
the federation of scientific societies of New 
Zealand, for 1910 include fifty-seven papers, dealing 
with chemistry, physics, botany, geology, zoology, 
anthropology, and mathematics. The majority of the 
papers are contributions to the natural science of New 
Zealand and the adjacent regions. 
One of the most important papers in the volume is 
the account of the physiography and plant ecology of 
the Mt. Arrowsmith district, one of the highest areas 
in the Southern Alps, by Messrs. Speight, Cockayne, 
and Laing. Dr. Cockayne gives a most interesting 
account of the flora of the district, and holds that if 
the ice had as great an extension as is believed by 
some New Zealand geologists, the present distribu- 
tion of the plants is inexplicable. Mr. Speight refers 
to the well-shown facetting of the valley spurs by 
the glaciers; he attributes the corries to glacial 
action, and many mountain passes to their enlarge- 
ment. 
Prof. Marshall, Dr. Speight, and Mr. Cotton have 
collaborated in a statement as to the correlation of 
the younger rocks of New Zealand, which confirms 
the view that the supposed Cretaceo-Tertiary fauna of 
1 Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, r9gro. 
Vol. xliii. (New Issue). Pp. vit680+128. KWellington: John Mackay, 
Government Printer ; London: W. Weslev & Son, 1911.) 
NO. 2234, VOL. 89] 
Mr. Chap- 
man’s report on this question was apparently issued 
too late for consideration. 
The artesian wells of Canterbury are described in 
a valuable paper by Mr. Speight. The water flows 
from inter-stratified sands and clays. Some of the 
wells are more than 500 ft. deep. Owing to the great 
irregularity of these deposits, the wells vary greatly 
in yield and character. There is no doubt that the 
water is of meteoric origin, for the discharge falls off 
during dry weather and immediately recovers after 
rain. According to Mr. Speight, much of the water 
is derived from percolation from the rivers on the 
Canterbury Plains. Interesting tidal wells occur 
along the coast, and their water is salt. Mr. Speight 
refers to a tidal well in Japan in which the oscillation 
is due to the varying load of the tidal water on the 
rocks above the water-bearing layer—an interesting 
case of flow due to rock pressure. " 
Some of this artesian water when fresh from the 
wells has a fatal effect on young trout. Dr. Coleridge 
Farr and Mr. D. B. Macleod attribute this effect 
either to a deficiency of oxygen or to a radio-active 
emanation. 
Mr. R. H. Worth describes a series of rocks col- 
lected in South Victoria Land by Mr. T. V. Hodgson. 
The results agree with those of Dr. Prior. Mr. 
Hodgson adds an interesting note on the glacial 
problems of South Victoria Land, and throws doubt 
on the supposed great recession of the glaciers. He 
thinks that the normal variations between different 
seasons are sufficient to account for the known varia- 
tions in the Antarctic ice fronts, if aided by occasional 
earthquakes, an agency which has been previously 
invoked to explain some changes in Arctic glaciers. 
Dr. Henderson has an interesting paper on the 
physiography of the West Nelson district, and directs 
attention to the dominant influence of the earth move- 
ments and rift valleys in that area. He also describes 
the coalfields of the same district, and accepts the 
view that, excluding cannel coal, all coals have been 
formed from vegetable matter of initially similar com- 
position—a conclusion not so widely accepted as 
formerly. Oil occurs in association with these coals, 
but the author does not expect it to prove of economic 
importance. 
Among the contributions to New Zealand zoology 
are descriptions by Mr. E. Meyrick of thirty-six new 
species of Lepidoptera and a classification of the New 
Zealand Tortrices, a revision by Prof. Chilton of the 
New Zealand Stomatopods, which are a few wide- 
spread species, and a memoir by Major Broun on 
beetles from the Chatham Islands. The last author 
founds twenty-seven new species and two new genera, 
records thirtv-four species which also live in New 
Zealand, and remarks that the fauna has no special 
relation to that of the sub-Antarctic region. 
A LOST TRIBE AMONG THE ESKIMO. 
(pee Canadian correspondent of The Times reports 
(August 13) that Prof. James Mavor, of the 
University of Toronto, has received a letter from Mr. 
Vilhjalmur Stefansson, one of the leaders of the 
Anglo-American expedition to the Arctic seas, in which 
he claims to have discovered a long-lost European 
tribe in far-northern Canada. In south-western Vic- 
toria Land thev met a race strikingly non-Eskimo in 
type, and looking like North Europeans. The most 
distinctive group is that of the Haneragmiut, opposite 
Cape Bixlev, and in Herschel Island they found an 
Eskimo tribe consisting of white half-bloods, but none 
with fair hair or blue eyes. Unfortunately, owing to 
