226 



NATURE 



\Jan. 8, 1880 



upward and form quasi-vertical planes. The points still to be 

 settled are: — I. Why these layers when turned up should not 

 re-mix with the general mas=, if their separation is due only to 

 gravity, especially when a- thin a; -V inch, or -^ of their 

 length? 2. Why a particular sharply-defined space in the above 

 figure should be avoided by the' lines? 3. Are the causes the 

 same as those preventing the uniform diffusion of charcoal dust 

 in water ? 



These figure; are not due to any form of caustic curves, though 

 mistaken for such at first sight, and therefore neglected. 



W. M. Flinders Petrie 



Velocity of Light 

 If you can spare the space please state that the corrected 

 re nit for the velocity of light (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 94) is — 



299944 rt 5° kilometres, 

 or I063S0 -J- 33 mile i per sec >nd. 



A. A. Michelsox 

 32S, Fifth. Avenue.. New York, N.V., December 17, 1879 



The Word "Telegraph" 



I HAVE recently had occasion to ascertain the period when 

 the word "Telegraph" first came into use; the following may 

 be of interest to your readers : — 



It is not mentioned in J ohnson's Dictionary, 1S10, but it occurs 

 in the edition of 1S1S. In that valuable work, Rees's "Encyclo- 

 paedia," 1S19, vol. xxxv., we find:— "The word telegraph, 

 which is derived from two Greek words, ri;A.e, at a distance, and 

 ypd'pa, to write, was brought into us: about 1793 or 1794, when 

 the French 1 lirectory established machines of this kind for c >m- 

 municating intelligence between Paris and all the principal towns 

 in France. The Eriti h Government soon after adopted the 

 same measure, and it has since become very genual.'' S ■ th t 

 telegraph and c 1 iphore are both of French origin. 



In the grand French " Encyclopedic " of Diderot — 177S — the 

 word telegraph dues nit occur. WARREN De La Rue 



73, Portland I lace, W., December 31, 1S79 



The Lophiomys 



As the oft-repeated statement (which originated with M. 



Alphonse Milne-Edwards) that the roofed-in temporal fossa of the 



Lophiomys finds its parallel in certain reptiles alone reappears in the 



pages of Messrs. Cassell's excellent " Popular Natural History " 

 (see Nature, vol. xxi. p. 137), it is high time that it should be 

 modified in accordance with more recent anatomical investiga- 

 tions, which show that two amphibian genera, Felobates and 

 Calyptotephalu-, participate in this singular abnormality. 

 Beddington Park Paul Henry Stokoe 



Scorpion Suicide? 



Mr. F. Gillman's note (vol. xx. p. 629) in favour of scorpion sui- 

 cide carries with it its own refutation, as will be seen by examining 

 the details of his cruel experiment. Given the " circle o r glowing 

 charcoal embers a foot or so in diameter," and the inference is 

 that the central temperature of that circle would be well nigh 

 "glowing" too; dropped into th s fire-bound ring, the poor 

 fcorpion would at once be scorched nigh unto death, and to 

 escape the ensuing agony, why does it not, then and there, 

 commit suicide ? No, " after vain attempts to get away," in each 

 of which it is more and more scorched, if not absolutely burned 

 in its head, its vital powers fail, and its last instinctive throe is 

 to gather its limbs together as much as | ossible, away from the 

 heat. The heat has killed it, and I defy Mr. Gillman, or any 

 one else to prove that, in this experiment, the scorpion "pierces 

 its head with its sting and dies" in consequence. 



As our winter has set in, and the crickets had gone into winter 

 qurrters, I determined upon giving my scorpions an opportunity 

 of doing the same, so, taking them into the garden, I emptied 

 them into a hole. I only mention this to illustrate my remarks 

 on change of colour in lizards, for, taking my scorpions into the 

 sun, out of a comparatively dark room, each individual distinctly 

 assumed a lighter hue on the way to the hole. 



Peshawar R. F. Hutchinson 



Strange Incubation in Fishes 



Apropos of my note on strange incubation in fishes, I send you, 



quantum valcal, an extract from Mrs. Yelverton's olla podrida of 



travels, " Teresina reregrina," vol. ii. pp. 15, 16: " His High- 

 ne ? s (the Tumangong of Johore) had a splendid collection of 

 orchid-, >\ hich it seemed to gratify him to point out to me. I 

 recognised many of them as my old friends, the acanthus-shaped 

 denizens of the Cambogian forests, from whose urn-like leaves 

 my people used to bring me down the little fish. This bottle- 

 versement of natural history may sound like a traveller's tale, but 

 the explanation is simple. 



" The aquatic birds often drop the spawn of the fish into the 

 calixes [sic) of thee beautiful parasites, which the next shower of 

 rain turns into basins or pools of water, wherein the little fish 

 first opens his eyes and receives its consciousness, probably be- 

 lieving firmly that it is the proper thing for a fish to live in a 

 tree (so strong are early impres ions), while all the rest of the 

 world, fish, flesh, and fowl, view him with amazement. 



" Many of our beliefs have not one whit more solid foundation 

 than this fish's belief in the cornucopia of the orchid being a real 

 fish-pond, because a few accidental fish got there through the 

 slavering of some ill-mannered water-fowl." ! ! ! 



Pe-hawar, December 2, 1879 R. F. Hutchinson 



FURTHER NOTES UPON THE PAPUANS OF 

 MACLA V COAST, NEW GUINEA ' 



II. \f 



(~\BJECTS of Art— Specimens down to the simplest 

 and commonest ornament were collected, or, at am 

 rate accurately copied by M. Maclay, for the reason 

 that the natives of Maclay Coast were still in the " Stone 

 age " — a period which will soon belong to the past, and 

 of which the relics are yearly becoming rarer and rarer. 

 The implements as yet discovered by the Papuans, and 

 upon which artistic skill has been expended come under 

 two categories. 1. Fragments of flint, shells, and bones. 

 2. Chipped stones in the form of axes. The orna- 

 ments themselves may be divided into three classes, (a) 

 Ornaments properly speaking, engraved, or drawn on 

 their own account solely, and serving none other than a 

 decorative purpose. (0) Ornaments and drawings demon- 

 strating the fir^t beginning of the figurative or ideal style 

 of writing, (c) Ornaments, sketches, and carvings, which 

 stand in relation to the superstitions and dark stage of 

 religious ideas among the Papuans. 



I. Ornaments i/i the strict Sense of the Word. — The 

 salient character of most Papuan ornaments is that they 

 are for the most part rectilinear, and for the reason that 

 bamboo and reed, from which the majority of their 

 utensils are made, are best adapted for such style of 

 decoration, for it is, as Maclay has practically con- 

 vinced himself, difficult to chaw or scratch round and 

 circular designs upon the substance, while straight lines, 

 on the contrary, can be made with ease, the tools being 

 sharp fragments of flint or shell. It is upon the bamboo 

 receptacles for lime for betel chewing, but more especially 

 upon the large comb which is worn by all men that 

 their decorative skill is principally expended. That style 

 of ornament which of necessity was adopted for articles 

 of bamboo, is also applied to such as are of other 

 material, e.g., wood or clay, for the Papuan, in general 

 with the rest of mankind, is influenced by laziness, for 

 he lacks the energy to make trial of such designs as 

 would be more suitable for the latter kind of material. 

 Some of the designs, however, upon wood are of a curved 

 and circular character, but these are difficult to make 

 with such primitive tools as the Papuan possesses. A 

 slight scratch with a piece of flint suffices to mark a 

 line upon the epidermis of bamboo, while in the case of 

 wood, strong pressure and tedious scraping or scratching 

 are necessary to produce a superficial design. More 

 trouble, moreover, is expended upon things made of wood, 

 such as drums and canoes {pratts). 



That the want of variety in subjects of decoration does 

 not proceed from lack of inventive power and skill is 

 shown by the fact that directly after use was made of the 



1 Continued from p. 206. 



