March 4, 1880] 



NATURE 



435 



question and serious objections raised to the acceptance of 

 Balhybius Haeckelii in the existence of which Dr. Beale did not 

 believe. 



Anthropological Institute, February 10. — Francis Galton, 

 F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — The following New Mem- 

 bers were announced : — Thomas Hodgkin, Alfred Tucker, B.A., 

 H. C. Stephens, J. A. Farrer, b'ryce M. Wright, F.G.S., 

 T. W. U. Robinson, FS.A., anil W. D. Gooch.— Dr. Emil 

 Holub delivered an address on the Central South African tribes 

 from the South Coast to the Zambesi. Dr. Holub had found 

 along the South Coast traces of tribes which do not now exist, 

 heaps of burnt bones of wild animals, none of domestic animals, 

 and broken shells. Other tribes once belonged to the regions 

 between the Limpopo and the Zambesi, and here were found 

 ruins of towns, generally in the vicinity of mines, especially 

 gold mines. The houses were of stone, on the top of moun- 

 tains, put together without any cement, but so well fitted that 

 they have stood for hundreds of years. Some of the ruins were 

 formed of blocks of granite in the shape of bricks. The tops of 

 small hills were fortified in (his way, with openings in the walls. 

 The remains probably belong to those who inhabited ihe ancient 

 empire of Monopotapa, mentioned by the Dutch and Portuguese 

 traders a- existing two hundred years ago. When a country is 

 conquered it is the custom to kill all the male population, take 

 the women and children pri oners, and educate the latter as 

 warriors of the victorious tribe ; in this way whole tribes have 

 cea-ed to exist in Soutli Africa ; even since Livingstone's time a 

 powerful tribe of the Basulos, on the Upper Zimbesi, named 

 the Makololos, has been almost exterminated. Dr. Holub 

 divided the living tribes into three races, the Bushmen, the 

 Hottentots, and the Bantus ; he found a link between the 

 Bu hmen and the Bantu family, and between the Bushmen and 

 the negroes, but not between the Hottentots and the Bantus. 

 The Bushmen are rapidly dying out, and are utterly incapable of 

 civilisation. They use stone weapons and poisoned arrows, but 

 the bows and arrows are of very simple construction compared 

 with those in use ant' nig the natives of North and South 

 America. The Hotte.itot race is divided into three tribes, the 

 real Hottentots, the Griquas, and the Koranas. No Sonth 

 African tribe has taken so eagerly to the vices of civilisation as 

 the Hottentot race. The Bechuanas observe many of the 

 virtues of the white man, but the Hottentot adopts only his vices. 

 Drunkenness is the chief cause of their dying out. They do not 

 seem to have any religion, but a kind of freemasonry exists 

 among them, the outward and visible sign of which is three cuts 

 on the che-t made with appropriate ceremony. 



Meteorological Society, February iS. — Mr. G. J. Symons, 

 F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Dr. J. S. Cameron, Dr. F. E. 

 Carey, J. B. Charlesworth, A. Collenette, S. Forrest, J. G. 

 Gamble, II. J. Marten, J .Nixon, B.A., \V. P. Propert, LL.D., 

 S. Rostron, W. P. Swamson, ;aid E. \V. W'allis, were elected 

 Fellows. — The papers read were : — On typhoons in China, 1877 

 and 187S, by Lieut. A. Carpenter, R.N. — Note on the reports 

 of wind force and velocity during the Tay Bridge storm, 

 December 28, 1S79, by R. II. Scott, F.R.S. These reports 

 seemed to show that the velocity of the wind on that occasion 

 was not so high as was generally supposed and had been 

 frequently exceeded, but that some of the gusts were very 

 violent. — On I .ember, 1879, over the British Isles, 



by YV. Marriott, 1. M.S. Exceptionally low temperatures were 

 registered all over the British Isles from the 1st to the 7th of 

 December. On the 1st the lowest temperature was — 2" at Kelton, 

 near Stamford ; and the next lowest was 5 at Trent College. 

 The temperature continued low throughout the day, at several 

 pi ces not rising above the freezing point. On the 2nd the cold 

 was mor: intense, in the counties of Leicester, Lincoln, and 

 Nottingham, the temperature fell below zero, the lowest being 

 — 4 '5 at Co-ton, near Melton Mowbray. Temperatures between 

 o° and 10 were registered in the north and south of Scotland 

 and along the central part of the north of England 10 the 

 Midland and Eastern Counties; while over the whole of England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland, with the exception of the sea-coast 

 stations, the temperature fell below 20°. On the 3rd the 

 temperature w as more evenly distributed and not quite so intense 

 as on the previous day ; however, in the North Riding of 

 Yorkshire and the Valley of the Tees, readings at and below 

 zero were registered, the lowest being —2° at Gainford. On the 

 4th intensely cold weather was experienced over the_ south of 

 Scotland and the north of England, the lowest reading obtained 



was —23*, at Blackadder in Berwickshire, — 16* was also registered 

 at Springwood Park, near Kelso, and readings of —5° were 

 reported at Haddington, Melrose, and Corbridge-on-Tyne, and 

 — 4' at Alston. Temperatures below io 1 were registered over the 

 south and south-east of Scotland, and over the north of England 

 as far as the Valley of the Trent and also in the eastern counties, 

 while over almost the whole of England, Scotland, and Ireland 

 the temperature fell below 20". In some parts of the south of 

 Scotland and the border counties the maximum temperature 

 during the day did not rise to 20". On the 5th the minimum 

 temperature was not so low as on the previous day, there being 

 a cloudy sky and a general fall of snow. In Ireland, however, 

 this was the coldest day of the month. On the 6th the tempe- 

 rature fell considerably in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and 

 Yorkshire, readings ol - 3° being recorded at Trent, - l°'o at 

 Buxton, and o" at York and Stanley. At many places the 

 maximum temperature during the day was much below the 

 freezing point. On the 7th very low temperatures were registered 

 over the whole of the north and the east of England ; the 

 lowest reported was - 10' at Ketton, near Stamford. The tem- 

 perature fell below zero in the counties of Essex, Leicester, 

 Derby, Lincoln, Nottingham, and York, and also in the south of 

 Scotland, while over almost the whole of the north-east and 

 central part of England as well as a portion of the south-east 

 district, the temperature fell to 10° degrees or below. Readings 

 below 20' prevailed over nearly the whole of England and 

 Scotland, and the centre of Ireland. The maximum temperature 

 during the day at a few places was extremely low, the thermo- 

 meter at Appleby only recording 1 2° '4, and that at York 18°. 

 During the next few days a little warmer weather prevailed, but 

 on the nth the temperature fell below 20" over the central part 

 of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Low temperatures were 

 also experienced at most places on the 12th. Milder weather 

 continued for the next few days, but on the 17th the temperature 

 again fell below 20" over the whole of the south of England. 

 Low temperatures also prevailed on the 18th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 

 and 26th, while the maximum temperatures at many places on 

 the 21st and 26th did not reach 32'. At almost all the inland 

 stations frost occurred on an average of about twenty-five days 

 during the month, and temperatures below 20' were registered 

 from eight to thirteen days at several places. The only station 

 where frost was not felt w?.s Scilly, the lowest temperature 

 recorded there being 33° on the 2nd. The only comparatively 

 mild districts were the west and south of Ireland, and the 

 extreme south-west of England. Even the sea-side health 

 resorts which are reputed for their mild climates were not 

 exempt from the cold, the temperature falling below the freezing 

 point on eleven occasions at Ventnor, fifteen at Torquay, twenty 

 at Si 1 mouth and Eastbourne, and twenty-four at Ramsgate and 

 Worthing. During the time of the cold weather the barometer 

 was very high over these islands, and an anticyclone was formed 

 over those districts where the lowest temi eratures were recorded. 

 That the cold was the result chiefly of radiation is shown by the 

 great difference in temperature at the hill and valley stations. 

 For instance at Farley 640 feet above sea level 177 was 

 registered on the 7th, while at Oakamoor, 300 feet lower in the 

 Valley of the Churnet, and less than a mile distant from Farley, 

 the temperature fell to I° - I. The effect of the cold upon the 

 health of the community was very great. In London the 

 number of deaths referred to diseases of the respirat ry organs 

 increased to 799 in the week ending December 20, and exceeded 

 the weekly average by 288. The public journals record the fact 

 that several persons were frozen to death in various part of the 

 country. The frost also caused great injury to plants, shrubs, 

 ana birds. 



Entomological Society, February 4. — J. W. D.inning, 

 M.A., F.L.S., vice-president, in the chair. — Mr. Patrick F. 

 Copland, of Buckhurst Hill, was elected a Member, and Mr. 

 John B. Bridgman and Mr. Peter Cowell Subscribers to the 

 Society. — Mr. Stainton exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Grigg, of 

 Bristol, a specimen of Heliothis seutosa captured near \\ eston- 

 super-Mare. — Mr. Pascoc exhibited a specimen of the " fire-fly" 

 of the Amazon Valley, Aspisoma lineatum. It has the u-ual inter- 

 mittent light flashing at intervals of two seconds, but Mr. Pascoe 

 believed it was capable of keeping back the light for an inde- 

 finite time. The Rev. H. S. Gorham objected to the term fire- 

 fly being applied indiscriminately to all luminous insects, there 

 being many luminous coleoptera, and as regards the flashing of 

 the light from these insects, he considered it was often simply 

 due to the creatures crawling over leaves and herbage, and thus 



