October 7, iqoq] 



NA 7 URE 



435 



records of the Palmers were destroyed by fire in 1850, but 

 tiiey afford much valuable fresh information about four 

 ver\' fruitful exploring voyages, and throw many new side- 

 lights on the formerly important sealing industry in the 

 South Seas. 



The August and September numbers of the Bollettino of 

 the Italian Geographical Society contain a report on the 

 Messina earthquake of December 28, 190S, by Dr. Mario 

 I>aratta. The author gives the results of a full examina- 

 tion of the scene of the earthquake and a comparison of 

 it.; effects with those of the earthquake of 1783. A number 

 of illustrations and detailed maps accompany the report. 



A sui'i'osED ancient canoe was recently discovered, 

 embedded in sand below water (not in pral) near Loch- 

 maben. It is formed of a single oaken trunk, and is 

 about 13 feet long and 2 feet broad, with sides which can 

 hardlv have been i foot in height. The bottom is flat 

 and smooth. On the inside there are two rows of neatly 

 drilled holes, in which were wooden pegs. These holes 

 are at intervals of 18, 21, 24, and 27 inches, and lie in 

 shallow grooves close to the sides of the canoe. The bow 

 has a distinct resemblance to that of a dug-out canoe, 

 and it is of course possible that this may be an ancient 

 boat with ribs to which rough planks were tied, but the 

 evidence for this theory is hardly convincing. It differs 

 greatly from the dug-out canoes found at Lochrutton and 

 l-'riarscarse, which were probably used by the dwellers 

 in the crannoges which existed in those lochs. We have to 

 thank Mr. Thomas Henderson, of Lockerbie, for the 

 measurements given above, which would seem to show 

 that the people who made the holes used a foot rule 

 divided into 12 inches. It is very likely, however, that 

 a flat-bottomed boat of this kind might have been used in 

 the loch at almost any period from 1200 a.d. to 1600 a.d. 



.According to the Jewish World, the French expedition 

 has made further notable discoveries at Susa, the Shushan 

 of the Bible, the ancient Elamite capital. In the .Acropolis 

 the explorers found, superimposed one above the other, the 

 remains of three cities dating back to B.C. 4000, and 

 beneath these other settlements of the prehistoric period. 

 The most important discoveries were three black stone 

 pillars, on which was inscribed the law code of King 

 Hammurabi of Babylon. The site appears to have been 

 occupied by the Babylonians earlier than B.C. 2800. .Sub- 

 sequently the Elamites regained their independence, and 

 retained possession of the city until B.C. 649, when it was 

 sacked by Assurbanipal, King of .Assyria. 



Physical anthropologists in search of a new test of race 

 to supplement that of the cephalic index, which no longer 

 commands the authority once attributed to it, will welcome 

 the essay, reprinted from the fourth volume of the PhiUp- 

 pinc Journal of Science, by Mr. R. B. Bean, entitled 

 " F'ilipino Ears, a Classification of Ear Types." The author 

 claims that he established for the first time a seriation of 

 human ears, and that each ear type is associated with a 

 physical variety of man. Most of the Filipino ears, except 

 those of some long-term convicts, agree with the European 

 type, and those varying from this standard are of an 

 older morphological class. The Spanish population of 

 Manila has ears closely agreeing with the European types 

 among the Filipinos. In this, as in other characteristics, 

 Chinese influence is apparent. He concludes that pre- 

 historic Europeans have probably to some extent affected 

 this ear type, and that Chinese ears are longer than those 

 of Eiuropeans, Filipinos, or Indians, because the Chinese 

 population is composed more largely of the long-eared 

 European types (northern, sub-northern, and Cro-Magnon). 

 Ear type he believes to be to some extent independent of 

 (JO. 2084, VOL. 81] 



pigmentation, because the same type of ear is found in 

 blonde and brunette Europeans, in dark- and light-skinned 

 Filipinos, in dark-skinned Indians and light-skinned 

 Chinese. It is improbable that his views of the perman- 

 ence of ear type as a test of race will be accepted without 

 criticism, but, at any rate, this monograph, with its large 

 selection of photographs, raises a new and interesting 

 problem. 



An interesting article on the climatic features of 

 Wyoming and their relation to "dry-farming," by Mr. 

 W. S. Palmer, section director, is published in the U.S. 

 Monthly Weather Review of February last. From 

 systematic data collected during the last seventeen years, it 

 appears that the average annual rainfall of the State is 

 13-7 inches; in some parts the amounts vary from about 

 5 inches to 20 inches, and crops are now being success- 

 fully produced by the dry-farming method in semi-arid 

 regions where a few years ago it was considered that the 

 precipitation was not sufficient for the purpose. Prof. C. 

 Abbe explains that the expression dry-farming may be 

 considered as an abbreviation of dry-land-farming, and 

 that the method consists in giving up the attempt to raise 

 crops every year, and attempting instead so to conserve 

 and utilise the moisture as to secure a crop every two or 

 three years. Success depends essentially upon the annual 

 quantity rather than upon the seasonal distribution of pre- 

 cipitation and evaporation. 



In the valuable meteorological charts of the Atlantic and 

 Indian Oceans issued by the Meteorological Office for 

 October, 1909, it is pointed out that the Southern Ocean 

 has been remarkably free from icebergs and drift-ice 

 throughout the first seven months of this year. Icebergs 

 were frequently passed in 1908, and during the first five 

 months of 1909 some were seen between latitude 52° and 

 59° S. and longitude 90° and 130° W., the loftiest being 

 300 feet high ; but not a single berg has been sighted 

 in the vicinity of Cape Horn. During the past quarter of 

 a century many icebergs having an altitude of not less 

 than 1000 feet have been met with in the Southern Ocean. 



The use of light filters in spectroscopic work whenever 

 it is necessary to shut out all but a particular portion of 

 the spectrum is so simple an expedient that we venture 

 to direct attention to a list of Wratten light filters which 

 has recently been issued. They consist of thin films of 

 gelatin coloured with organic dyes, and the list gives the 

 spectrum of the light transmitted in each case. One of 

 the most useful for spectroscopic work appears to be the 

 mercurv green line filter, which is transparent for the 

 mercury green line, but opaque for all the other mercury 

 lines. 



A DETAILED Study of the lengths of the waves emitted 

 by many of the ordinary forms of generators of short 

 electric waves has been carried out by Messrs. H. W. 

 Webb and L. E. Woodman at Columbia University, and 

 the results are given in the August number of the Physical 

 Review. The object of the authors was to establish such 

 definite relations between the dimensions and electrical 

 properties of the generators and receivers of the waves as 

 to enable future workers to calculate the wave-length with 

 certainty from the dimensions of the apparatus used. The 

 method employed was Boltzmann's, the beam sent out by 

 the generator being reflected at two mirrors, and the two 

 half-beams brought together to produce interference. Rod, 

 cylinder, Righi, and other generators were tested, and the 

 wave-length measured in each case, a non-selective receiver 

 being used. For apparatus of the same type, but of 

 different size, the wave-length is proportional to the linear 

 dimensions of the apparatus. 



