NATURE 



[August 19, 190) 



Iheir own planes relatively to one another, so that the 

 azimuth line of either Sumner sheet always passing the 

 centre point of the map may be brought to any bearing 

 in relation to the map. Now the observation of altitude 

 of a star at a given sidereal time having been made, a table 

 , calculated for stars of that declination and for the centre 

 point of the map is consulted so as to ascertain what is 

 (he altitude and azimuth for the particular star at the 

 moment of observation at the mid-point of the map. One 

 .Sumner sheet is then rolled until the line representing this 

 altitude is over the mid-point of the map, and one is turned 

 relatively to the other until the mid-line on the Sumner 

 sheet is over the tabulated azimuth on the scale of degrees 

 outside the map. Then the observer at the time of observa- 

 tion was somewhere on the Sumner line representing the 

 observed altitude truly projected over the map. The corre- 

 sponding observation of a second star is similarly transferred 

 and the corresponding Sumner line on the other sheet 

 brought into position. The observer is then at the point 

 of intersection of the two Sumner lines of observed alti- 

 tudes. 



It will be seen that the device and tables are of a simple 

 character, and that by their aid the principle of the Sumner 

 method is applied graphically, so that the position may be 



seen by inspection. The figure shows the map and one 

 of the Sumner sheets only, the one behind not being 

 shown to avoid confusion. C. V. B. 



ARCH.^OLOGICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL 

 EXPLORATIONS. 



I^L'LL details have now reached this country of the 

 remarkable discovery made by Dr. D. B. .Spooner, 

 of the Indian Archaeological Survey, in the neighbourhood 

 of Peshawar. Hitherto the site of the great Stupa erected 

 at the ancient city of Purushapura by the Kushan Emperor 

 Kanishka, who ascended the throne about 133 a.d., to 

 enshrine the relics of Gautama Buddha, was unknown. 

 It was described by Hieuen Tsang and other Buddhist 

 pilgrims from China as far the most famous and magnifi- 

 cent of the pagodas in India. A few years ago M. 

 Foucher, the eminent French archaeologist, suggested that 

 it lay beneath certain tumuli in the neighbourhood of 

 Peshawar. E.\cavations conducted by Dr. Spooner cor- 

 roborate this identification. 



The ruins are of great extent, and within the pagoda 

 the relic chamber was reached. In it was discovered a 

 metal casket enclosing a rock crystal reliquary. The outer 

 casket, cylindrical in form, has a lid in the form of a 

 lotus supporting three figures in the round, a seated Buddha 

 in the centre, with a standing Bodhisattva on either side. 



NO. 2077, VOL. 81] 



Round it is an elaborate frieze in low relief of flying geese 

 bearing wreaths in their beaks and figures of the Buddha, 

 with a large, standing figure of the Emperor himself in the 

 well-known attitude in which he appears on his coinage. 

 The casket bears the signature of a Greek artist, Agesilaus, 

 who describes himself as " superintendent engineer " of 

 the monastery. Incidentally the casket throws much light 

 upon the Graeco-Indiaji art of the age, and supports the 

 view that the Gandhara school was in a state of decadence. 



The actual relics consist of three small fragments of the 

 bones of the Buddha. The question of the ultimate dis- 

 posal of these remains will excite much interest in the 

 Buddhist world, and the Indian Government will doubtless 

 consider the claims of the Burmese, Siamese, and Sinhalese 

 religious foundations to share in the custody of relics 

 which, like the alleged tooth of the Buddha at Kandv, are 

 sure to receive the homage of millions of pilgrims drawn 

 from the Buddhists of Eastern Asia. 



The return is expected shortly of an expedition under- 

 taken in 1907, under the auspices of the trustees of the 

 British Museum and the council of the Royal Anthropo- 

 logical Institute, and conducted by Messrs. E. Torday, 

 W. M. Hilton-Simpson, and N. H. Hardy, to examine the 

 customs and culture of certain tribes in the Upper Congo 

 region. The chief tribes which came under examination 

 were the Batalela, Basonge, and, in particular, the Bakuba, 

 the true name of which is now found to be Bashongo. 

 The latest news showed that the explorers had reached 

 the Loange river, and after exploring the hitherto unknown 

 'j'ukongo people, they hoped to penetrate the Kasai region, 

 and to return thence to Europe in September next. Large 

 materials in the shape of photographs, maps, phonographic 

 records, and ethnographical collections have already reached 

 England, and a selection from them has recently been 

 placed for exhibition in the Ethnographical Gallery of the « 

 British Museum. 



Much information has been collected regarding the 

 almost unknown Bashongos, one of the most remarkable 

 tribes in Africa. They have preserved much of their tribal 

 history and legends, and are particularly famous for their 

 skill in weaving and wood-carving. Some portrait statues 

 of their kings are remarkable works of art, exhibiting a 

 degree of artistic skill hitherto imknown in Africa outside 

 ancient Egvpt. Their embroidered cloths, made of palm- 

 leaf fibre, in the oldest and best examples, suggest a 

 distinct resemblance to Celtic art. They possess a decayed 

 form of totemism, and records of their remarkable rites of 

 initiation, recently discontinued, have fortunately been 

 recovered. 



Mr. C. H. Read, of the British Museum, who is largely 

 responsible for the organisation of this important expedi- 

 tion, may be congratulated on the successful collection of a 

 mass of novel ethnographical material about these hitherto 

 unknown races, which must throw much-needed light on 

 the ethnology of Western and Central Africa. 



THE MICROSCOPE AND ITS PRACTICAL 

 APPLICATIONS. 



A MONG scientific instruments, the microscope is at the 

 ■^ present time one of the most extensively employed, 

 either for commercial or scientific purposes. In nearly all 

 branches of science it has now become a necessity, both 

 as an essential factor in preliminary training and for 

 advanced investigations or pure research work, while In 

 commerce its uses are so wide and varied that it is difficult 

 to see to what practical purposes it may not sooner or 

 later be applied. 



That this is the case may be due to many causes, and 

 a by no means negligible factor is the simplification in 

 construction and design that has in recent years been 

 effected in the mechanical portions of the instrument and 

 in its essential optical parts. In this respect, perh..os, a 

 microscope differs from the majority of scientific instru- 

 ments, as in most of the latter elaboration of construc- 

 tion — often. It must be admitted, quite unavoidable — is 

 the usual rule ; but for general purposes microscopes were 

 never more simple in design than at the present time. 

 This simplicity has not been obtained at the expense of 



