72 



NATURE 



[March i8, 1909 



Aysgarth " (Fig. 195)- " At one point in tlie vallum, 

 Gii the south-east, a single stone rises slightly above 

 the turf " (pp. 577-8). There is also a gap in the 

 vallum on the south-west, right opposite an entrance 

 on the north-east. Drawing a north-south line 

 between the two southern points mentioned, it is seen 

 that the gap is S. 33° W., the N.E. entrance 

 N. 33° E., and :the south-west stone S. 33° E. 

 Taking the north-east outlook into consideration, 

 lat. 54°, dec. 29° 30', we have an indication of 

 Capella about 2250 n.c. But if we take the south- 

 east stone as a direction point — a safe proceeding — we 

 have Alpha Centauri nearly at the same time that 

 we have it at Avebury, which is well within, the fourth 

 millennium B.C. At Maiden Castle (S. 34° E.) we seem 

 to have practically the same datum, and at Muzbury 

 (S. 20° E.) the same star. 



Such are a few instances out of about a hundred 

 or so, which the present writer lias noted in this 

 valuable book, of the practical value of uniting the 

 spade and the theodolite in archa?logical research. If, 

 as one sincerely hopes, there will be a demand for 

 a second edition, the author will surely remove all 

 cause for the adverse comments made above, in 

 fairness to his fellow-workers. The author has no 

 comfort for those who cannot accept the theory that 

 cromlechs are chambers for the living, and only 

 secondarily tombs for the dead, because of the small- 

 ness of some of the chambers. " Primitive man .was 

 the best judge of his own requirements, and he may 

 have been quite as comfortable in a 4-foot pit as in 

 those exiguous ' mound-dwellings ' of Wales and the 

 North out of which the ' Celtic imagination ' has 

 evolved the theory of a pygmy race " (p. 253). There 

 is surely something Celtic in an author who ascribes 

 the existence of a pygmy race to " Celtic imagina- 

 tion," but that is a minor detail. 



The book is replete with very useful notes on place- 

 names. A very doubtful supposition, which he cites, 

 is that which explains " Ambresbury " as derived 

 from cmrys, "an enclosure." " The word Jinirvi 

 early became confused with the name Ambrosius " 

 (p. 128). They are doubtless identical. 



In a reference to the present writer's description of 

 the Gorsedd (p. 593), there is a serious mistake. The 

 older plan was not equinoctial, but May-year, the 

 chief point in question. John Griffith. 



DARWIN CELEBRATIONS IN THE UNITED 



STATES. 



THE coincidence of the one hundredth anniversary 

 of the birth of Charles Darwin and the fiftieth 

 anniversary of the publicatioa of " The Origin of 

 .Species " in the present year has called forth a series 

 of noteworthy celebrations in the educational and 

 scientific institutions of the United States. 



The earliest of these, as recorded already in Nature, 

 was that held in Baltimore on January i by the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, which devoted an entire day to the honour 

 of Darwin. A year's preparation had been given to 

 the arrangements for this day, vi-hich included a series 

 I if ten addresses by the most eminent biologists in 

 the country, who attempted to cover the important 

 fields of Darwin's work, except in geology, which 

 was briefly alluded to in the introductory address 

 by Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, of the University of 

 Chicago, as president of the American Association. 

 Prof. E. B. Poulton was invited from Oxford as the 

 special representative of the English universities, and 

 •as the leading exponent of pure Darwinism. His 

 important opening address, entitled " Fifty Years of 

 Darwinism," will be used as an introduction to a 

 NO. 2055, VOL. 80] 



volume, now in the press, to be published by Messrs. 

 Henry Holt and Co., New York, which will include 

 all tlie addresses of this important series. Each of 

 these addresses was partly retrospective and partly 

 related to the progress in the special field of the 

 speaker since the time of Darwin. 



A series of tributes to the great naturalist was 

 arranged for his birthday, F"ebruary 12, in colleges, 

 universities, and various scientific institutions in all 

 parts of the United States. The present .writer has 

 especially in mind addresses at Columbia University, 

 Cornell University, University of Chicago, University 

 of Illinois, North-Western University (Evanston, 111.), 

 University of Missouri, and University of Syracuse. 



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Other celebrations arranged were those of the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia on February 16. 

 at which the principal address was made by Prof. 

 E. G. Conklin (now of Princeton University). The 

 coincidence of Darwin's birth with that of Abraham 

 Lincoln suggested in many of the speeches and 

 addresses several striking parallels in the personal 

 character of these two great men : their simplicity, 

 unconsciousness of power, abhorrence of slavery, 

 clearness of expression, singleness of purpose. 

 Repeatedly in Press and pulpit utterances Darwin was 

 referred to as the emancipator of human thought, 

 Lincoln as the emancipator of the negro race. The 

 attitude of the pulpit and clergy everywhere has 



