Sept. 10, 1885 | 
NATURE 
437 
Maidens,” which is simply an abbreviation for /MVinefeen 
Maidens. 
The following quotation from Diodorus Siculus (Book II. 
chap. iii. Booth’s Trans., page 139), who flourished about 
forty-four years B.C., will be an historical confirmation of what I 
have above stated :— 
“* Amongst those who have written old stories much like 
fables, Hecatzeus (born 549 years B.C.) and some others say that 
there is an island in the ocean over against Gaul (as big as 
Sicily) under the Arctic pole, where the Hyperboreans inhabit, 
so called because they lie beyond the breezes of the north wind ; 
that the soil there is very rich and fruitful, and the climate 
temperate, inasmuch as there are two crops in the year.” 
This description does not apply to the whole of the island 
referred to, but represents Mount’s Bay, its most south-western 
extremity, and we may therefore conclude that those from whom 
Hecatzeus and the others derived their information were the 
Pheenician traders who for centuries previously frequented Mount’s 
Bay for tin and fish, and who imagined all Britain to possess 
the same rich soil and mild climate as Mount’s Bay where still 
“* there are two crops in the year.” But to proceed with the 
quotation :— 
“They say that Latona was born there, that they worship 
Apollo above all other gods, and the inhabitants demean them- 
selves as if they were Apollo’s priests, who has there a stately 
grove and a renowned temple of a round form, and that there is 
a city likewise consecrated to this god. The sovereignty of this 
city and the care of the temple (they say) belong to the 
Boreades.” 
This city and this ‘‘ renowned temple of a round form” are 
doubtless those of Old Sarum and Stonehenge, the inner oval of 
which, immediately around the altar, consists of precisely nineteen 
stones (see the plate in Dr. Stukeley’s ‘* Stonehenge,” page 20). 
But the four temples of the sun above described of nineteen 
stones each, placed upright ‘‘in a round form” to represent the 
cycle of nineteen years, are not mentioned by Diodorus, as they 
were probably deemed not worthy of notice after alluding to the 
renowned temple of Stonehenge. The passage concludes as 
follows :— 
“‘They say, moreover, that Apollo once in nineteen years 
comes into the island, in which space of time the stars perform 
their courses, and return to the same point, and therefore the 
Greeks call the revolution of nineteen years ‘the great year.’” 
Plymouth, August R. EDMONDS 
Nebula in Andromeda 
Last night the nebula in Andromeda was observed here. 
The stellar-like nucleus was distinctly seen. It appeared to be 
of a reddish-yellow colour as contrasted with that of the nebula. 
We think that a change has certainly taken place, no such 
stellar-like centre having previously been seen in the nucleus. 
The stellar point was examined with a small prism held between 
the eye-piece and the eye. A continuous spectrum was seen. 
Dr. Boeddicher and I were both convinced that there were 
considerable inequalities in its light, and independently formed 
the impression that there was at times a bright band or line in 
the green. The colour of the stellar point appeared much the 
same as that of Aldebaran. RossE 
Observatory, Birr Castle, September 8 
Sunsets 
IN July of this year I spent a short time in the Schwarzwald 
of Baden. For more than a week the sky was cloudless day 
and night, yet the heat was not oppressive. The sunsets were 
beautiful beyond description, and the after-glows magnificent. 
One evening in particular will always remain impressed upon 
my memory. It was that of July 26, and the place was a few 
miles from the town of Neustadt, nearly in the centre of the 
forest. Wonderful effects began to appear so soon as the sun 
touched the crest of the western hills. But these were as 
nothing compared with what followed. The moment the lumin- 
ary had disappeared behind the hills long streamers began to 
radiate high up into the heavens, and for a time, as the daylight 
diminished, they increased both in length and intensity, rivalling 
any description or figures of the Arctic auroras that I have ever 
seen ; at the same time the most vivid and ever-changing glow 
lit up the whole western heavens. The scene lasted more than 
an hour, and its effect was heightened by, and perhaps partly 
due to, a nearly full moon, which rose from behind a slight dip 
or pass in the hills on the eastern side of the valley. The in- 
habitants of the Schwarzwald are indubitably phlegmatic, and 
not easily moved to excitement ; but this display of celestial 
pyrotechnics was too much for them, and at a small roadside 
inn the carters and others who were enjoying their beer inside 
turned out ez masse to witness it. I am not a strong admirer of 
Turner’s pictures, but, in comparing nature with art, one idea 
came uppermost—the scene was ‘‘ Turneresque.”” 
Lewisham, S.E., September 3 R. McLAcHLAN 
Pulsation in the Veins 
Mr. HipPmsLey will find a very simple way of showing pulsa- 
tion in the veins, as well as in the arteries, by fixing a long 
bristle or thread of sealing-wax over the vessel by means of a 
little tallow. The end of the lever will vibrate and produce all 
the movements of the sphygmograph. This method was adopted 
by Mr. Wilkinson King nearly fifty years ago, and the instru- 
ment styled by him the sphygmometer. In his paper in the 
Guy’s Hospital Reports for 1837, “On the Safety Valve Func- 
tion of the Right Ventricle of the Heart,” will be found much 
valuable matter and discussion about venous pulsation. 
August 29 S We 
Red Hail 
Vu Vinterét que peut offrir la coloration de la gréle, j’espere que 
vous voudrez bien inserer ces quelques lignes dans votre journal : 
“* La gréle colorée en rouge, observée par Mr. Mullan et dont il 
est question dans Je No. 812 de ce journal, n’est pas un fait 
. ’ , 2 a. 
isole. Ona observe un cas analogue en 1880, le = juin, en 
14 
Russie. Les grélons de cette chute-la étaient intéressants sous plus 
d’un rapport. Leur forme se ramenait a trois types: paralléli- 
pipede, cylindre, spheroide trés-aplati et muni de cavité aux bouts 
de la petite axe. Certains de ces grélons étaient perces de part 
en part, le long de la petite axe, ce qui leur donnait l’apparence 
des anneaux. Certains des grélons étaient colorés en rouge-pale, 
dautres avaient la couleur bleu-pale, mais pour la plupart les 
grélons étaient grisou blanc. L’observateur, M. Lagounowitch, 
crut avoir remarqué que la couleur était lige 4 la forme des 
grélons. Je cite ces faits et j’en propose l’explication dans ma 
brochure, ‘ Sur l’Origine de la Gréle.’”’ 
THEODORE SCHWEDOFF, 
Professeur de Physique a l'Université d’Odessa 
Odessa, le us aout, 1885 
27 
On the Terminology of the Mathematical Theory of 
Electricity 
MR. SUTHERLAND’s letter on terminology (NATURE, vol. 
Xxxil. p. 391) leads me to suggest to Mr. Scott the employment 
of the term /ow-fression for depression in his weather forecasts 
sent to the newspapers. It is nearly as easily pronounced and 
written, and will not have such a tendency to mislead the 
general public as to there being a depressing of the air where it 
really ascends. HENRY MUIRHEAD 
Cambuslang 
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 
Aberdeen, Monday 
{ss place has evidently been astir for days in antici- 
pation of the present meeting. Already are the 
directions necessary for visitors finding their way to the 
various sections put up in conspicuous places in Union 
Street and the neighbourhood of Marischal College. 
The accommodation in the fine building for reception 
rooms, committee rooms, reading, sectional, and other 
rooms, seems, so far as can be judged at present, every- 
thing that could be desired. It is evident that the Local 
Committee have been working in earnest to make the 
second Aberdeen meeting a success, and their efforts have 
been heartily supported by the citizens and country people. 
Up to Saturday 1000/. worth of tickets had been sold to 
local people alone, and many more will be sold between 
this and Wednesday. Of old members of the Association 
750 have already written that they intend to be present 
