178 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No. 50^ 



pletely conceals the secondary image. I have no doubt that if I 

 should look at Mars through an instrument powerful enough to 

 show the single black lines, I should rediscover the twin line of 

 each, that is, if I used the polarizing eye. 



I presume others have noticed this power in themselves, or dis- 

 covered it in other persons, but I have not happened to come 

 across such. One can easily test his own eyes, by making a fine 

 black dot on a piece of white paper and examining it with one 

 eye at a time. If he possesses this power, he will see two dots 

 pretty close together, one much darker than the other. Then let 

 him revolve the paper ; the paper will go around, but the dots 

 will retain their relative position. If, for example, the secondary 

 dot is to the right of the other, it will stay to the right, however 

 much the paper is turned. It may be necessary to move the 

 paper nearer to or farther from the eye, but if the double-refrac- 

 tive power is there, it will soon be found. C. B. Warring. 



Park Lupin, Aug. 29. 



The Aurora of July 16. 



The various accounts of this aurora which have come to my 

 notice contain no mention of a band or curtain formation. They 

 all agree in describing the aurora as simply an arc of light, with 

 well-marked streamers of more or less brilliant coloring. I append 

 a description of an appearance, not already noted, which was ob- 

 served by me in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. 



The day had been cool and fair, and after sunset only a few 

 clouds could be seen in the north. About nine o'clock a faint 

 auroral arc was visible, and later a brilliant white ray shot out 

 from the north-west and extended beyond the zenith. Nothing 

 more of note occurred for an hour. By this time the clouds had 

 disappeared, with the exception of two small stratified bands, which 

 hung low in the north. They were parallel with a narrow open- 

 ing in line with the horizon. At 10.15 this space became bril- 

 liantly lighted, the color changing between green and pink. Then 

 from the eastern edge of the space a brighter and intensely green 

 light spread rapidly westward, and apparently descended from 

 between the clouds, assuming the shape of a band in folds or 

 waves like a banner in a breeze, as those who have seen this ap- 

 pearance in more northerly latitudes describe it. When the band 

 became well defined, it grew stationary and the green light in- 

 creased in intensity; and then occurred a magnificent electrical 

 display. From the upper edge a bright pink light suffused down- 

 wards until it almost overspread the curtain, when it paused; and 

 for a few seconds there was presented a pink banner, edged with 

 a regular but narrow border of bright green, in stationary folds or 

 waves. Yet there was no progressive wave-motion observed, as 

 seems common to this phenomenon. The formation was repeated 

 after a time, but very indistinctly. As nearly as could be esti- 

 mated, the entire occurrence could not have lasted more than ten 

 seconds. W. M. Stine. 



Athens, Ohio. 



The Ancient Libyan Alphabet. 

 In Science, Aug. 19, Dr. Brinton treats my equation of Finagh 

 with Phcenician as " fanciful," and traverses my assertion that 

 the stress falls on the I'oot fin. The equation may be fanciful, 

 but the assertion, stigmatized as "utterly incorrect," is absolutely 

 true. Dr. Brinton says that the stress " falls on the last syllable, 

 and not on the penult (see Hanoteau, ' Grammaire Tamachek,' 

 p. 5)." From this the reader might suppose that the French 

 scholar was on Dr. Brinton's side, and accented the word on the 

 last syllable. Such is not the case. Hanoteau does not accent 

 the word at all, makes no remark on its accentuation, and in his 

 grammar nowhere refers to the question of accent. It is Barth, a 

 supreme authority on a point of this nature, who always accents 

 the word on the penult, as already stated by me. What Dr. Brinton 

 appears to have mistaken for an accent in Hanoteau (p. 5) is not 

 an accent, but a diacritical mark used by him to distinguish the 

 "r grasseye" answering to the Arabic ghain from the soft r 

 (r and r), and in the same way to distinguish the deep gutteral k 

 (q) answering to the Arabic qof from the ordinary k (k' and k). 

 Hence he writes tiflnar' , the mark falling, not on the final vowel 

 a, but on the final consonant r, which he means to be pronounced 



as with the Northumbrian bitrr, or like the Arabic ghain (tifinagh, 

 as Barth always writes it, and always accenting the i oi fin, thus, 

 tifinagh). 



It is strange that Dr. Brinton should have at all ventured to 

 take up my reference to Hanoteau, for on the main issue Hano- 

 teau is dead against him, writing that "le systeme d'ecriture des 

 Imouchar' [Sahara Berbers] est analogue a celui des Arabes et des 

 Hebreux" (p. 1). In other words, it is Semitic. But doubtless 

 the passage has escaped Dr. Brinton's notice. As to Dr. CoUig- 

 non's cock sure assertion that it is " anterieure a Carthage" and 

 that " it is time to discard " the theory of its Punic origin, it will 

 suSice to say that, if it comes to the ipse dixit argument, the name 

 of Mommsen alone will outweigh fifty thousand Collignons. 



Lastly, touching the squares and the rounds, otherwise a point 

 of secondary importance, unless you have a theory to serve, my 

 reference should rather have been to Hauoteau's " Grammaire 

 Kabyle" than to his "Grammaire Tamachek," It is in tlie former 

 work (p. 360) that is given the full table of the three variant 

 Bei'ber alphabets, with the following results : I. Five curves ; six 

 rectangular forms; two acute angles. II. Seven curves; five rec- 

 tangles; two acutes. III. Six curves; five lectangles; three 

 acutes. 



And here the matter may rest, as Professor Newman needs no 

 rehabilitation from me, and in any case cannot be held responsi- 

 ble for the incapacity of "French scholars" to assimilate his 

 "phonetic system." A. H. Keane. 



79 Broadhurst Gardfins, South Hamstead, N.W., Sept. 7. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Life Histories of North American Birds, with Special Reference 

 to Their Breeding Habits and Eggs. By Charles Bendire. 

 Washington, Government. 554 p. 4°. 111. 

 The Humming Birds. By Robert RmawAY. Washington, Gov- 

 ernment. 131 p. 8°. 111. 



The publications of the Smithsonian Institution and of its off- 

 spring, the U. S. National Museum and the Bureau of Ethnology, 

 are becoming almost too numerous to be kept track of by any but 

 the professional librarian. Ordinary readers have long since 

 despaired of the task, and consider it as a matter of course that 

 they will seldom or never hear of them all, to say nothing of the 

 pleasure of seeing them. True, many of these publications are of 

 such technical character that only specialists care for them, and 

 these are supposed to be cognizant of the publications pertaining 

 to their study. On the other hand, there are many papers pub- 

 lished by the Institution of great general interest, and it frequently 

 happens that these are largely inaccessible to the general public. 

 Any retrospective view of the work of the Smithsonian from its 

 inception deals almost exclusively with its publications. These, 

 beginning with meagre annual reports, containing administrative 

 and financial statements, have increased so in numbers and variety 

 thac it requires a good-sized volume to catalogue them. It is the 

 intention here to refer to them in only the most general way. 



At the present time they may be grouped under three heads : 

 1. Those of the Smithsonian proper; 3. those of the U. S. National 

 Museum ; and 3, those of the Bureau of Ethnology. Under the 

 first of these we have (a) annual reports; (b) miscellaneous collec- 

 tions ; (c) contributions to knowledge. Under the second we have 

 (a) annual reports ; (6) proceedings; (c) bulletins; and (d) special 

 bulletins. Under the third come (a) annual reports; (6) contribu- 

 tions to North American ethnology. 



To still further complicate matters and bewilder the enquirer, 

 we find that frequently there are several editions of these volumes, 

 one always appearing in the guise of a congressional document, 

 and another in the form designed for general distribution. Be- 

 sides this, it has of late become the habit, perhaps from the neces- 

 sities of the case, to issue, under a separate cover, papers which 

 may appear in various annual reports or proceedings. 



The first few annual reports of the Board of Regents of the 

 Smithsonian contain few or no papers of any great general inter- 

 est. It was not many years, however, before these began to ap- 

 pear in an appendix to the administrative report. During the 

 latter part of Professor Baird's administration a special feature 



