September 30, 1909] 



NATURE 



403 



struction were arranged for hospital assistants and others 

 with reference to plague inoculation and bacteriological 

 work. 



Mr. C. Carus-Wilson has printed a paper, read by him 

 before the Geological Society of London, on the pitting 

 of flint surfaces. He directs attention to the frequently 

 polygonal and rudely hexagonal character of the outer 

 ends of the pits found on flints in a certain stage of 

 decomposition, and to the considerable amount of water 

 that may be absorbed by the e.xternal layers of such flints. 

 But he shows much uncertainty of view as to the mode 

 of origin of the pits ; the suggestion made in the text 

 that their polygonal outlines are connected with the crystal- 

 line form of the absorbed water as it froze seems, to say 

 the least, fantastic. In a footnote, however, the author 

 compares these outlines with the shrinkage-cracks of such 

 rocks as basalt, and regards the ice merely as the agent 

 that split of^ the lost portions of the flint. Would it not 

 be simpler to regard the rudely polygonal outlines as result- 

 ing from the intersection of successively formed and 

 adjacent cup-like surfaces of fracture? 



We have received the report of the chief inspector of 

 mines in Mysore for the year 1907-8, which opens with 

 the statement that there was a large diminution in the 

 number of applications for mining licenses as compared 

 with the previous year ; the statistics of licenses granted 

 show, on the other hand, an increase from 101 in 1906 

 to 242 in 1907. The gold production showed a decrease 

 of 5-84 per cent, as against a decrease of 867 per cent, 

 in 1906, the comparison in each case being with the 

 previous year; it amounted to a value of 2,041,129;. in 

 1907, and the total value of bullion produced from the 

 commencement of mining operations in 18S2 to the end 

 of June, 190S, was 28,598,155;. Air blasts seem still to 

 be frequent, but there was a decrease in the number of 

 accidents. Statistics are given of the production of 

 manganese and chrome, 82,835 'ons and 11,197 'o"s re- 

 spectivelv, but as regards other minerals it is reported 

 that the statistics have been handed over to the curator 

 of the Geological Museum for report as to whether it is 

 possible to extract any useful information from them. 



The Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (vol. 

 xxix., p. 602) contains a paper, by Mr. E. M. Wedderburn, 

 on the deep-water oscillations recently described by Prof. 

 Pettersson (Nature, August 12, p. 197). Working on a 

 suggestion made by Sir John Murray, Mr. Wedderburn 

 adduces evidence to show that the oscillations observed in 

 the Skagerak are analogous to those which have been 

 observed by the Scottish Lake Survey, and that they really 

 show the presence, not of a long-period tide, but of a 

 temperature seiche, having its node at the mouth of the 

 Skagerak and its loop at the point of observation. 



A PRELIMINARY summary report on coast changes in east 

 Yorkshire, by Mr. T. Sheppard, of The Museum, Hull, 

 forms a contribution to the investigation of the larger 

 •question of changes on the east-coast region of England 

 during the historical period, undertaken by the research 

 department of the Royal Geographical Society. Mr. 

 Sheppard, after pointing out that the coast line between 

 Bridlington and Spurn Point is of special interest because, 

 while on the one hand enormous tracts of land have dis- 

 appeared within historic times, on the other large areas 

 have been formed, embanked, and cultivated, divides his 

 district into five sections, the Holderness coast from 

 Bridlington to Kilnsea, Spurn Point, the North Humber 

 shore, the South Humber shore, and the Humber itself. 

 Each district is treated from the point of view of geological 

 NO, 20S3, VOL. Si] 



evidence, historical evidence, and actual measurement. 

 The general results indicate a wastage of the thirty miles 

 of cliff between Bridlington and Spurn at a rate of about 

 7 feet per annum, and a growth on the Spurn during 

 recent years of 17 feet per annum southward, with a net 

 increase of g feet per annum in the width of the point. 

 To the west of the Humber are large areas of land, now 

 partly cultivated and productive, which were formerly 

 watery wastes. 



An important paper on evaporation in Egypt and the 

 Sudan, by Mr. B. F. E. Keeling, is published by the Survey 

 Department of Egypt. The author first deals with the 

 results of comparisons of various types of evaporimeters 

 used in Egypt at different times. Those now in use are 

 mostly of the Piche and Wild patterns, exposed in double- 

 louvred screens ; their readings are apparently comparable 

 in different climates, if similarly exposed, where the mean 

 wind velocities are not widely different. A table is given 

 showing the mean daily evaporation at stations in the 

 Nile Valley ; in Egj'pt and the North Sudan it is greater 

 in the summer, while in the rainy areas it is at a maxi- 

 mum in the dry winter season, as is to be expected. One 

 section of the report deals with the evaporation from open 

 expanses of water. In the neighbourhood of Cairo the 

 mean amount was 4^2 mm. per day (winter 3 mm., 

 summer 5-3 mm.) ; on Lake Victoria it is estimated at 

 3 mm. per day. In the last section some remarks are 

 made on the relation of evaporation to other meteorological 

 factors ; the mean daily curve of evaporation at Helwan 

 closely follows the curve of saturation deficit. 



In the September issue of Man Prof. Flinders Petrie 

 describes a find of string nets of the seventeenth Egyptian 

 dynasty which are practically unique. They were found 

 associated with an untouched burial near Thebes. This is, 

 perhaps, the most varied and rich collection of funeral 

 remains which has ever been brought from Egypt. It 

 will be preserved as an entire group in the Royal Scottish 

 Museum, Edinburgh. The corpse was enclosed in a single 

 coflfin painted with wings in blue and gold. On the neck 

 was a splendid golden collar ; on each arm a gold armlet ; 

 round the waist an electrum girdle, copied from a Nubian 

 pattern, made of seeds and leather. The whole collection 

 of jewellery weighs half a pound avoirdupois — the largest 

 group of gold-work which has ever left Egypt. The string 

 nets associated with these remains, of which Prof. Petrie 

 gives photographs, illustrate the remarkable skill in string- 

 working attained by the Egyptians of that era. He also 

 announces the discovery, at Memphis, of the great palace 

 of King Apries (about 580 e.g.). Scale armour, bronzes, 

 a remarkable silver plaque with a gold figure of Hathor, 

 and a great carved portal, now in ruins, are part of the 

 discoveries at this site. 



In the September issue of Man Dr. C. G. Seligmann 

 describes what is known as the Bandar cult among the 

 Kandyan Sinhalese. It is a form of ancestor worship, 

 Bandar being the title applied to the canonised spirits of 

 eminent persons to whom, soon after their death, offerings 

 are presented in order to induce them to protect the 

 worshipper from evil and to grant him good fortune. One 

 of the most important of these spirits is Kosgama Bandar, 

 who takes his name from the village in which he lived 

 in the eighteenth century or earlier. He seems to have 

 rebelled against the King of Kandy, by whom he was 

 captured and executed. He and similar spirits exercise 

 authority under the control of Skanda, one of the four 

 guardian deities of Ceylon. Dr. Seligmann prints, with a 

 translation, a curious invocation addressed to this spirit. 



