126 



NA TURE 



[July 29, 1909 



do with a volume, but conveys no information con- 

 cerning the jihysical constitution of the quantities in 

 question. 



The whole of the work dealt with b'elongsto the 

 second term of the physics course in the University 

 of Rome. The author compiled it while yet Prof. 

 Blaserna's assistant. His untimely death after suc- 

 ceeding to the chair prevented him from publishing 

 it himself, but that duty has been admirably carried 

 through by his two able disciples. 

 Azimuth. By G. L. Hosmer. Pp. v+73. (New 



York : John Wiley and Sons ; London : Chapman 



and Hall, Ltd., 1909.) Price 4^. 6d. net. 

 This w-ork is avowedly not a text-book ; it is a hand- 

 book for the practical surveyor, and, as such, should 

 prove very useful. Prof. Hosmer gives just the 

 ordinary methods for checking the angles of a survey 

 by observation of the sun and stars, but the book is 

 removed from the commonplace by the conciseness of 

 its instructions and the numerous practical hints given 

 at all the necessary points. The tables for computing 

 the results are given in the latter part of the book, and 

 the examples are worked out on specimen forms calcu- 

 lated to obviate clerical errors. 



The book is nicely printed, illustrated with useful 

 diagrams, and well bound. These features, combined 

 with its handy size, make it a very useful work for 

 the practical surveyor to carry with him as a pocket- 

 book for easy reference. W. E. R. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part 0/ Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] 



Notes on a Stone Circle in County Cork. 



In view of several references made in Nature lately lo 

 stone circles in Ireland (vol. Ixxix., p. 488, February 25), 

 the following notes on one situated at Drunibeg, near 

 Glandore, County Cork, may prove of interest, especially 

 as this circle contains the characteristic " recumbent stone " 

 of the " Aberdeenshire " type in the south-western half of 

 its circumference, a feature not hitherto met with outside 

 th;it locality. 



2 feet 6 inches high ; right supporter, 4 feet 8 inches high, 

 I foot 9 inches deep, 3 feet wide; left supporter, 5 feet 

 high, I foot 6 inches deep, 3 feet wide. 



The circle stands on a hill-side facing the sea, upon an 

 artificial plateau with a well-defined edge, 160 feet long, on 

 the southern (seaward) side. This edge, otherwise straight, 

 is indented by a " cove " 20 feet in length, directed towards 

 the centre of the circle, which it almost touches externally 

 on its southern side. 



A row of four small ovals, and mounds of stones (prob- 

 ably burial-sites), lie in a line a short way outside the 

 plateau to the south-eastward. The remains of (?) a hut- 

 circle of rough stones occur at a distance of 170 feet 

 westward from the main circle, and there is a large solitary 

 outlying boulder situated on a small eminence 100 feet to 

 the north-eastward. 



The following astronomical features (sight-lines) are 

 observable in the above remains : — 



(i) From the recumbent stone; solstitial summer sunrise- 

 over one of the two most important stones of the circle ; 

 sky-line elevated 3° 40'. (This line passes almost over the 

 outlying boulder.) 



(2) From the same position. May sunrise over the second 

 of the two important stones ; hill-line elevated 2° 20'. 



(3) From same position (or from centre of circle, see' 

 photograph), solstitial winter sunset over a conspicuous 

 gap in the hills, distant one mile. 



(4) Edge of the plateau lies in the line of May sunrise 

 or November sunset. 



(5) Side of the cove is directed to the solstitial summer 

 sunset over centre of circle, nearly. 



(6) Line of stone ovals, outside plateau, is practically 

 that of May-sunrise. 



(7) From centre of (?) hut circle, over the northernmost 

 stone of circle (a slab with a rounded profile, thus differ- 

 ing from the remainder, which are of " pillar " form), to 

 the outlying boulder, is the May-sunrise line. 



There are no indications of a burial-mound in the centre 

 of the circle. Boyle T. Somerville. 



.'\dmiraltv Survev Office, Tenbv, S. Wales. 



Drumbeg Circle. Recumbent stone and siipporlers, viewed from centre of circle, showing 

 notch in h.lls (solstitial sunset line). 



The accompanying photograph shows this stone and its 

 supporters, of which the following dimensions may be 

 given ; — recumbent stone, 7 feet long, i foot 8 inches deep, 



NO. 2074, '^'OL. 81] 



Musical Sands in Chile. 



The interesting letter of Mr. Carus-Wilson, dealing 

 with the existence of musical sands, suggests to me that 

 some fact in my experience relating to this subject may 

 be worth putting on record, and may, through the 

 courtesy of your coluinns, possibly lead to the elucidation 

 of an occurrence which has hitherto lacked explanation, 

 at least in my mind. 



Some few miles to the west of the town of Copiapo, in 

 Chile, and, so far as my recollection 

 of the locality carries me, about half 

 a mile to the southward of the railway 

 line, there is a tailing off of a ragged 

 hill-range, which runs about north and 

 south. In a ravine — it is too small to 

 be called a valley — the sand which 

 covers the greater part of that portion 

 of Chile has, blown doubtless by the 

 sea-breeze, been carried up the gully 

 to which I refer, and lies there at a 

 slope equal to the flowing angle of dry 

 sand. The place is locally know'n by 

 the name of " El Punto del Diabolo," 

 as. given conditions of wind and 

 weather, which time did not allow me 

 to study, a low moaning sound, vary- 

 ing in intensity, can be heard for. quite 

 a quarter of a mile away. Amongst 

 the superstitious natives the place is 

 avoided. Thinking it worth a visit, 

 I wont there with the late Mr. 

 Edwards, who was then the British 

 Consul in that district. On our arrival 

 we found that the sands were quite 

 silent, but on making a glissade down 

 the slope a gradually increasing 

 " rumble " was heard, which in- 

 creased in volume as the sand slid away before us. 

 As the sound increased we were subjected to an 

 undulatory movement, so decided that it was difficult 



