322 



NA TURE 



[Feb. 26, 1874 



extra- European. Hydrophilidx not having the same limitation 

 in tlie two works, I take the Palpicorn families in which that 

 group and the Spha;ridiida; are inchided. There are 22 genera 

 in each catalogue, but Schaum and De Marseul each ignore a 

 genus adopted by the other, and a third name, Cyllidium, is 

 preferred by the French author to the earlier one of Chaetar- 

 thria. As to the species, seeing that Schaum has about 1,580 in 

 the families mentioned above, and Ue Warscul 2, 640, it would 

 not be easy to compare them in a definite form ; but taking Cicin- 

 dela, the second genus of the two catalogues, the first having 

 only one species, which is, I conceive, a fair example of the 

 others, if indeed it has not had more than its share of varieties 

 elevated to the rank of species, we find the 26 species in 

 Schaum identical in names witli the same species in De Marseul, 

 except two varieties or species, and a synonym given with a ? 

 by Schaum, which is the right name according to De Marseul. 



I would ventuie to suggest that the synonyms which look so 

 formidable to some of our friends, are principally due to the 

 writers of local faunas, or in some cases to specialists, and that 

 such names have, as a rule, never been adopted, and practically 

 ofler no hindrance whatever to the naturalist. A species may 

 be described by an author who is ignorant that it has been pre- 

 viously described, but this is an evil which it is sometimes im- 

 possible to avoid, as in the case of almost simultaneous publi- 

 cation ; but in due time the later name is relegated to the list of 

 synonyms and gives little further trouble. It does not seem to 

 me that any change or additions to the present rules of nomen- 

 clature are needed. Naturalists very soon decide on the relative 

 value of names, but always with due regard to the law of prio- 

 rity ; it is a misfortune, perhaps, that this law is sometimes 

 pushed too far, as in the case either of forgotten authors, or of 

 doubtful descriptions. The alteration of trivial names from two 

 authors using the same word is a case of very rare occurrence. 

 Francis P. Pascoe 



The so-called "Meteor-cloud" of Feb. 5 



Your correspondent, Captain S. P. Oliver, appears to have 

 been mistaken as to the character of the phenomenon seen by 

 him on February 5, and noticed in Nature (vol. ix. p. 313). At 

 the hour he has indicated, tlie somewhat rare phenomenon an 

 auroral arch was formed, which remained visible for about half 

 an hour, and is doubtless the luminous " meteor cloud " seen by 

 him. The description Captain Oliver has given of it is suffi- 

 ciently accurate, though he does not mention that it drifted 

 slowly southward, a well-known characteristic of the pheno- 

 menon. Its direction was of course at light angles to the mag- 

 netic meridian, and its position in the heavens, as seen from this 

 locality, was more northward than that observed by your corre- 

 spondent; During the whole time that I observed it, the arch 

 crossed some portion of the constellation Ursa Major, the star 

 5 UrscE Majoris being in its midst when first seen, and the entire 

 arch having retreated southward as far as C, Ursie Majoris before 

 it disappeared. It was of uniform breadth and intensity, and 

 spanned the sky from west to east (magnetic), passing not much 

 to the north of the zenith. Although I have been fortunate 

 enough to have seen auroral arches upon several occasions, and 

 once succeeded in obtaining the spectrum, I have never seen a 

 brighter or more complete arch than this one ; but what made it 

 quite unique, at least as far as my experience goes, was the fact 

 that the ordinary aurora with a well-defined " dark segment " 

 was visible in the north-north-west at the same time, from which, 

 at an earlier period, brilliant streamers had proceeded. There 

 were therefore two parallel arches of light at an interval of per- 

 haps 50" from one another, which the slow movement of the 

 upper one gradually increased. The night was remarkably clear, 

 and the zodiacal bght had been plainly visible earlier in the 

 evening. John J. Plummer 



The Observatory, Durham, Feb. 21 



Aboriginal Australian Artists 

 I NOTICED, in one of your latest papers, that some of your 

 readers doubted the ability of Australian, or other low savages, 

 to sketch in the manner of the Vezere people, and I made a copy 

 of a few sketches stdl found in this neighbourhood engraved 

 on rocks. They consist chiefly of fishes, whales, l»irds, and a 

 few men ; the execution is not to good as when the figures are 

 scratched on blackened bark. I also send you a photograph of a 

 carving in fossil coral from New Guinea. H.M.S. Basilisk has 



not long ago returned from New Guinea, and brought some 

 •plendid weapons, &c. ; also one of the Papuan pigs, wjiich 

 tliey brought for our collection. It is the most intelligent pig I 

 have ever seen, follows me like a dog, and goes up to the very 

 top of the Museum building, which is about So feet high. 



I noticed the, to me, wonderful remark about a scarcity of 

 skeletons of large carnivora in European museums, and I am 

 glad to say that we posses* two tigers, two lions, wolf, hyxna, 

 three grey seals, two large sperm whales, 70 »nd 35 feet in 

 length, many small birds, dugongs, &c. &c. The sum total 

 of our skeletons, all mounted, is more than 150 ; with few 

 exceptions all articulated on the premises by one man, who has 

 never been out of Sydney in his life. If our Government grant 

 some extra money for cabinets, I think we shall bi able to 

 astonish tlie people on board the Challmgcr when they come 

 here, because half our Australian fossils and minerals cannot be 

 exhibited for want of the necessary cases. 



Gerard Krefft 



P. S . The trustees have had so many applications for Ceralodui 

 specimens, and they have been so often disappointed when ex- 

 changing tliem with other museums, that they havenowdetermined 

 to sell their duplicates in London to the highest bidders. Five of 

 these fishes, in spirits (males and females) will be despatched to 

 Messrs. P. W. I lower and Sons, and I hope that a good price 

 will be obtained for them. Up to the present time all efforts to 

 obtain more of the Ceratodiis have been in vain, and I believe 

 that they are not so common as some people think. Mr. George 

 Masters has too much to do here ; and besides, we have no funds, 

 travelling being very expensive in the Wide Bay district, other- 

 wise another Expedition would be sent by tlie Board. Mr. 

 Masters knows hoiv to catch them, and I hope that wliew th» 

 Challenger arrives he will be able to accompany ^. party from 

 that ship to Gayndah, 



Rainbows and its Reflexion 



A FEW weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing a rainbow and 

 its reflexion, or at least a reflexion of one from the same shower 

 at the same time, in smooth water. 



The base of the bow in the cloud seemed but a few hundred 

 yards from me, and tlie reflexion evidently did not belong to it, 

 as the two bases did not correspond, the reflected bow lying 

 inside the other, the red of the one commencing where the violet 

 rays of the other disappeared. 



Balbriggan, Ireland, Feb, 2 George D.uvson 



Remarkable Fossils 



The letter by Mr. T. W. Cowan in Nature, vol. ix. p. 241, 

 confirms the truth of the statements contained in my " Appeal 

 to our Provincial Scientific Societies" which appeared in Nature, 

 voh ix. p. 162. Collections of the kind described by Mr. Cowan 

 are " kicking " about the country in all directions, valued merely 

 as temporary possessions by the owners, few of whom, as far as 

 my experience goes, appear to possess sufficient public spirit 

 or intelligence to realise their public and scientific importance ; 

 otherwise these collections would be more frequently localised 

 and preserved for the district museum. 



Jan. 31 S. G. P. 



Volcanoes and the Earth's Crust 



Mr. Howortii, in Nature, voh i.x. p. 201, advances the 

 following opinions : — That volcanoes are found neither in 

 regions of elevation nor of subsidence, but on the Ijoundnries 

 between them ; that the great continents are on the whole 

 rising, and the beds of the great oceans on the whole sinking ; 

 and that the centres of elevation are in the circumpolar regions. 



It seems to me that the last two statements cannot be 

 reconciled with each other. The southern hemisphere is for by lar 

 the greater part oceanic. According to Mr. Howortii, the 

 ocean-beds are subsiding, and yet the southern circumpolar 

 region contains a focus of elevation. Further: if volcanoes are 

 not found in areas of ele\'ation, and if the circumpolar regions are 

 regions of elevation, what does he make of the volcanoes of Jan 

 Mayen (between Norway and Spitzbergen), and of the Antarctic 

 continent ? 



