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NATURE 



[October 28, 1909 



storms with that which occurs in other places. Unfor- 

 tunately, the factor that has been used is not given, 

 but it is probably the old erroneous factor 3. It is 

 in few years that this velocity exceeds 50 miles per 

 hour — 37 on the present scale of the Meteorological 

 Office — and there are few stations on the British coast 

 at which this is not often exceeded. One instance of 

 90 (66 corrected) is given. 



It does not seem unlikely that the violence of the 

 tropical hurricanes is somewhat overestimated owing 

 to the contrast with the usual calm of the tropics, and 

 also, perhaps, because the proximity of violent winds 

 from different directions produces a very irregular and 

 dangerous sea. 



The memoirs also contain curves showing the direc- 

 tion and magnitude of the daily variation. The results 

 for St. Helena have lately been treated in a similar 

 manner with very interesting results. The daily oscil- 

 lation of the barometer, more particularly the second 

 term in the harmonic series with the twelve-hour 

 period, must be associated with the transfer of a con- 

 siderable mass of air from place to place, and it is of 

 interest to try and trace this transfer in the anemo- 

 metric records from various parts of the globe. These 

 variations, as they are shown at the mouth of the 

 Ganges and in Northern India, are very fully dis- 

 cussed. The conditions are naturally very different 

 at the different stations, both in space and with the 

 changing seasons, and the causes that produce local 

 winds are so complex that it is almost hopeless to try 

 and correlate cause and effect. .\t all the stations 

 the change from hour to hour seems to be 

 large by day and small by night, from which 

 one may perhaps conclude that local heating by 

 the sun plays an important part in the pheno- 

 mena. 



-Although the observations at Mussoorie were only 

 taken during the summer, they are of especial interest, 

 since the station stands on tlie summit of one of the 

 outer ridges of the Himalayas at an elevation of some 

 6500 feet above the sea. The hourly and monthly 

 values, as at the other inland stations, are very com- 

 plex ; but there is, as might be expected, a distinct 

 tendency for the air to run up the slope of the moun- 

 tains during the day and down during the night. 

 Naturally, also, the winds are stronger than at the 

 stations in the plains. 



ROCK PAINTINGS OF THE LOWER EBRD. 



AVERY interesting article on this subject by MM. 

 I'Abb^ Breuil and Juan Cabre appeared in the 

 January-February number of l'A)itlnopoIogic. The 

 first part of the paper deals with the painted rocks on 

 the Calapati at Cretas (Teruel) first observed by M. 

 Cabre in 1903, although it was not until 1906 that 

 he communicated his discovery, having then realised 

 its significance in relation to Quaternary art. The 

 pictures, which are painted under a shallow shelter, 

 represent animals in various attitudes, and show con- 

 siderable vigour of execution. Close by, flint flakes 

 are to be found which exhibit no Neolithic characters, 

 but rather Magdalenian. The paintings comprise 

 three deer, a bull, and a small subject difficult to de- 

 termine. .AH are done in dark red, and are outlined 

 by a very lightly engraved line; certain details, such 

 as eyes and nostrils, are added in the same way, as 

 they would not otherwise appear in a monochrome 

 without shading. The first deer, measuring 30 cm. 

 by 25 cm., is represented in a graceful attitude in 

 the act of rising to its feet; the second (33 cm. by 

 27 cm.) is walking rapidly towards the first, the 

 movement being admirably depicted. It is interesting 

 to note that in all the stags drawn in profile the 

 antlers are conventional, as if seen partly from the 

 NO. 2087, VOL. Si] 



front, partly from the side. This curious disposition 

 of the branching is met with, not only at Cretas, but 

 also at Cogul (Lerida), and in France in the reindeer 

 drawings of the Portel grotto. This points to a closer 

 connection in late Quaternary times of the tribes of 

 .\ragon and Catalonia with those of the Ariege than 

 with any others. 



The second part of the article describes a series of 

 rock paintings at Cogul, in Lerida (Catalonia), which 

 was brought to the public notice in 1907. The 

 surface painted measures about 2 m. across, and 

 lies beneath a ledge of rock. .'Altogether there are 

 five distinct pictures. Two are hunting scenes, of 

 which the figures are drawn schcmaticallv. M. C. 

 Rocafort regards this as a hieroglyphic inscription, 

 possibly of the Iberian period, but the authors con- 

 sider that it cannot be thus separated as regards 

 date from the accompanying paintings. The third 

 picture (measuring 75 cm. across) represents a stag 

 surrounded by hinds. The animals of this group are 

 less realistic than those of Cretas, but none the less 

 the execution is delicate, and the attitudes graceful 

 and lifelike. 



The right-hand lower scene apparently repre- 

 sents nine women dancing round a man, four 

 being to the right of the man, and five to the 

 left. The man is much smaller than the women, and 

 has no clothing be\'ond an ornament at the knees ; 

 the women are all wearing petticoats reaching to the 

 knees, while the upper part of the body is bare. The 

 figures are painted in black, red, or black and red; the 

 man is dark brown rather than black. The outlines 

 of the four right-hand figures are emphasised by en- 

 graving. The whole group measures 6S cm. across. 



The dress of tlie women presents a superficial 

 analogy with the Cretan series, but the lifelike char- 

 acter of the Minoan figures and many details are m 

 strong contrast with the stiffness of the Cogul 

 "ladies." iSIuch more definite evidence would be 

 necessary in order to establish any connection between 

 the two series. 



The style of the animal frescoes at Cogul, as of 

 those of the Calapati (Cretas), is that of our Quater- 

 nary drawings, not of later art. This indication is 

 corroborated by the presence, not far from the painted 

 rock at Cogul, of small Magdalenian stations with 

 numerous flint flakes (in some cases retouched) of 

 the type usual in France. Thus it is certain that in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of the painted rocks 

 there existed stations of the late Palaeolithic age, con- 

 temporary with our civilisation of the Reindeer age ; 

 it is also highly probable that the whole of these open- 

 air frescoes are to be attributed to the peoples living 

 there; those of single animals afford further beautiful 

 specimens of Quaternary art in animal-drawing. The 

 hunting pictures at Cogul introduce a historic scenic 

 episode as vet unknown in mural art. The dancing 

 scene described raises a small corner of the veil drawn 

 over the social life of those remote ages, and the stvle 

 of dress tells us something of the use to which the 

 Magdalenian seamstresses put those fine eye-needles 

 which the caves of the Cantabrian Mountains, the 

 Pyrenees, and Dordogne have so long yielded to the 

 astonished eyes of investigators. 



PROF. HUGH BLACKBURN. 

 'T'HE unexpected decease of Prof. Hugh Blackburn, 

 *■ who occupied the chair of mathematics in the 

 University of Glasgow from 1840 to 1S79, was 

 announced by Principal Sir Donald Mac.Alister to the 

 great audience of students and friends assembled to 

 hear the inaugural address of Prof. Gibson. The 

 news came as a great shock to such former students 

 as were present, among them his then retiring 



