486 



NA TURE 



[September 17, 1896 



it during the process of baking, advances the view that the 

 various objects of terra-cotta discovered in excavations (vases, 

 bricks, &c.) afford an indelible record of the state of the earth's 

 magnetism at the epoch of their fabrication. The author, 

 besides citing the observations of a number of physicists in 

 support of his view, has put the matter to a practical test by 

 examining the magnetisation of the bricks used in the construc- 

 tion of ancient villas, tombs, cSic. , at the time of the Roman 

 Empire, of which the remains abound in Rome and the 

 Campagna. It was found that the direction of magnetisation 

 varied from brick to brick, some in the course of building having 

 been laid with their axes of magnetisation in the opposite direction 

 to the earth's magnetic force, some with their axes in the same 

 direction, while others were magnetised normally to that direc- 

 tion ; in no case did the axis of magnetisation correspond to any 

 fixed direction, thus proving that the bricks had retained their 

 polarity unaffected by terrestrial magnetism during the many 

 centuries that have elapsed since the buildings were constructed. 

 An examination of some Etruscan vases, dating from the eighth 

 century B.C., leads to similar conclusions. In a tomb recently 

 discovered at Narce (now Calcata), one of two vases was found 

 magnetised in a nearly horizontal direction, the other exhibited a 

 decided south pole at the bottom, and a north pole at the top, 

 while two large a-ateric had their north poles in the centre of the 

 base, and their south poles in the orifice at the top. In a tomb at 

 Falerii, two vases were found having the south pole in the centre 

 of the base, while one "oinochoe " (wine measure), accompanying 

 them, had the north pole at the upperi extremity of its beak. 

 From such evidence Dr. Folgheraiter considers himself justified 

 in asserting with certainty that the direction of magnetisation 

 observed in antique objects of terra-cotta is that due to the 

 inducing effect of the earth's magnetism during the process of 

 baking. In this, his first paper, the author draws no inferences 

 relating to the earth's magnetism, but he points out a difficulty 

 arises in most instances, owing to our uncertainty as to the 

 orientation of the objects when originally placed in the kiln, a 

 factor which must evidently be known before any definite 

 conclusions can be stated. 



The August number of the Proceedings of the Geologists' 

 Association contains a paper by Dr. Hicks on the Paleozoic 

 Rocks of West Somerset and North Devon, in which are some 

 original illustrations of the remarkable folds in the rocks of the 

 Ilfracombe district. This is followed by a preliminary Synopsis 

 of the Fauna of the Pickwell Down, Baggy, and Pilton Beds, by 

 the Rev. G. F. Whidborne, in which brief descriptions of some 

 seventy-four new species are included. The Rev. H. H. Win- 

 wood contributes notes on the Trias, Rha;tic and Lias of West 

 Somerset. These three papers have already been issued as the 

 usual Long Excursion pamphlet. In addition the number 

 contains a paper by Mr. A. E. Salter on the " Pebbly Gravel " 

 of South-east England, and the relation of its distribution to the 

 gaps in the present line of high-ground between Goring and the 

 Norfolk coast ; and one, by Mr. Strahan, on the physical geology 

 of Purbeck and the relations of the anticlines to the watersheds 

 in the south and south-east of England. 



The recent number of the Proceedings of the Liverpool 

 Geological Society (vol. vii., part iv., dated 1896 only) contains 

 an important presidential address by Mr. Mellard Reade, on 

 British Geology in relation to Earth- Folding and Faulting ; while 

 a contribution to the same subject, in respect of the Craven 

 district, is made by the Rev. F. F. Grensted. Among other 

 papers of more than local interest we may mention Mr. Beasley's 

 Attempt to classify the Footprints from the Trias of the district ; 

 Mr. Mellard Reade's Notes on the Drift of Mid-Wales; Mr. 

 Lomas's Observations on Recent (Jlacial Strife in Switzerland ; 

 and Dr. Callaway's Sketch of the Process of Metamorphisni in 

 the Malvern Crystallines. 



NO. 1403, VOL. 54] 



Science for September 4 contains a lengthy appreciative article 

 on Dr. P. L. Sclater, F. R.S., from the pen of Dr. G. Brown 

 Goode. 



The Annual Report of the Keeper of the Manchester Museum 

 has reached us, and is of a very encouraging cliaracter. During 

 the year the Museum was recognised in a practical manner by 

 the City Council as a public institution, for on October 16, 

 1895, a resolution was passed at a meeting of the Council that 

 the sum of ^^400 a year should be granted to the Manchester 

 Museum from the Free Library Rate. In November the ex- 

 periment of opening the Museum for two hours on Sunday 

 afternoons was first made. On the opening day, November 17, 

 494 persons attended. Since that date the attendance has 

 varied from 131 to 797, the average being 519. During the 

 year the Museum has received a large number of gifts from 

 individuals and institutions. 



Vol. xxviii. of the Transactions and Proceedings of the 

 New Zealand Institute (published in this country by Messrs. 

 Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd.) is a bulky volume of 787 pages, 

 and contains seventy-four articles classified as miscellaneous, or 

 relating to zoology, botany, geology, and chemistry. In ad- 

 dition to these, reports of the proceedings of the incorporated 

 societies are given, and the whole is enriched by thirty-seven 

 well-e.xecuted plates. 



The Annual Report of the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, issued 

 by the Superintendent, Dr. G. King, shows steady work and 

 increase in efficiency in the various departments, notwithstanding 

 the severe iniury inflicted by the unusual drought of the summer 

 months (October to March). The work of the herbarium has 

 been carried on with vigour, a very large number of specimens 

 have been added to it, while named specimens of Indian plants 

 have been forwarded to various scientific institutions throughout 

 the world. 



The Botanical Gazette records the establishment of a 

 Biological Survey by the Department of Agriculture, under a 

 recent Act of Congress of the United States, which it regards as 

 the beginning of a new era in the botanical field-work of the 

 States. The head of the new Survey will be Dr. Merriam, who 

 has had great experience in the kind of work which it proposes 

 to undertake. 



The corner-stones of the Hull Biological Laboratory of the 

 University of Chicago were laid in July last. The Botanical 

 Hall is expected to be finished by the spring of 1897, and, if we 

 may judge from a sketch in the Botanical Gazette, will be a very 

 imposing structure. 



Vol. vl part ii. of "Flora Capensis : being a Systematic 

 Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria, and 

 Port Natal (and neighbouring territories)," by various botanists, 

 and edited by Mr. W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, is almost ready for 

 publication by Messrs. L. Reeve and Co. Like part I of 

 vol. vi., the present contribution is the work of Mr. J. G. 

 Baker, the keeper of the Herbarium and Library of the Royal 

 Gardens, Kew, and contains the continuation of the Ainaryllidece 

 and part of the Liliaccie, to the completion of which the whole 

 of the third and concluding part will be devoted. 



Messrs. Rivington, Percival, and Co. will publish 

 shortly, ' ' Mechanics for Beginners treated Experimentally, 

 embracing Statics, Dynamics and Hydrostatics," by L.. 

 Gumming, of Rugby School. 



Messrs. Henry Holt and Co., New York, hope to issue 

 at an early date a translation, by Prof. G. W. Field, of Brown 

 University, of the first or "general" part of Dr. Hertwig's 

 " Lehrbuch der Zoologie." 



