June 23, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



345 



from under the front-central portion of the head-shield, and 

 project forward. They are jointed and entirely analogous to the 

 antennse of living crustaceans in structure. In full or in stumps, 

 they have been identified on upwards of fifty individuals, some 

 twenty of which belong to Columbia College. On one specimen, 

 where the cheeks have been broken away, Mr. Matthew has de- 

 tected comb-like structures, which we suppose to be gills. Leg- 

 like appendages are well preserved, opposite the divisions of the 

 body. 



At the posterior end of the pygidium, tetson-like appendages 

 can be distinguished, which are of great interest, and which are 

 regarded as perhaps indicating an ability in the animal to propel 

 itself backwards, as does the lobster, although its ordinary motion 

 would be forwards, by means of its legs. Mr. Matthew brings 

 out some other interesting facts and deductions, which will be 

 illustrated by drawings in the full paper. J. F. Kemp. 



Columbia College, May 26. 



Cedar Waxwing. 



In view of the articles published in your paper during the past 

 few months regarding the plumage of the cedar waxwing {Am- 

 pelis eedrorum), it may be of interest to call attention to a paper 

 published in the "Transactions of the Norfolk, and Norwich 

 Naturalists' Society," Vol. III., pp. 326-344 (read Nov. 3, 1881), 

 by Henry Stevenson, in which there is a very full discussion of 

 the plumage of the allied Bohemian waxwing {Ampelis gar- 

 rulus). 



The presence of the wax-like tips in nestling birds is here re- 

 corded, and several captures of young in this plumage are referred 

 to; the first nestling secured with red tips to the wing-feathers 

 seems to have been taken by one of Mr. Wolley's collectors in 

 Finnish Lapland in 1856. Wither Stone. 



Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



Native Lead. 



It may be of interest to mineralogists to note a new locality for 

 native lead, which occurs near Saric, Sonora, Mexico, about 35 

 miles south of this place. 



The metal occurs in thin scales; and pellets, like small shot, 

 have been reported, but I have not seen them. The scales seem 

 to approach a rectangular form, and have been found nearly an 

 inch long. 



The gangue rock is evidently a pyrocene, of pale-green color, 

 streak yellowish. The accompanying minerals are iron oxides, 

 with traces of manganese, and carbonate of lime. 



C. W. Kempton. 



Oro Blanco, Arizona, June 8. 



The Ancient Egyptian Language. 



It is the growing opinion of scholars that the ancient Egyptian 

 language has more intimate Semitic relationship than has been 

 generally admitted. The grammatical construction of Egyptian 

 is distinctly Semitic ; the pronouns, prepositions, and other parti- 

 cles are traceable for the most part to Semitic roots; the Semitic 

 system of pronominal suffixes is often used. Benfey sought to 

 establish this affinity by various considerations, grammatical and 

 lexicographical, and the conclusion to which he came was that 

 the Semites are only one branch of a great family, which includes 

 not only the Egyptian, but also the other languages of Africa. 

 De Rouge, Ebers, and Brugsch have declared their belief in the 

 descent of the Egyptian from the same stock as Semitic. Dr. 

 Fritz Hommel, in his recently-published brochure, " Der baby- 

 lonische Urspruug der agyptisclien Kidtiir" (Munich, 1892), 

 brings forward many proofs showing the Semitic origin of the 

 Egyptian language and writing. He not only specifies a 

 number of identical words, but shows the grammatical relations 

 of the two languages. He also puts side by side some thirty-five 

 characters which resembJe each other in the two languages, both 

 in form and signification, and even in sound. Dr. Hommel 

 maintains that Egyptian culture originated in Babylonia. 



In this connection we may mention the interesting fact tliat the 



Egyptian documents recently discovered in Palestine, rigorously 

 transcribed in Hebrew characters, gave almost everywhere the 

 regular Hebrew forms in the Bible, without change or correc- 

 tion. • Chas. H. 8. Davis. 

 Merlden, Conn. 



Funnel-Shaped Clouds. 



DtJElNO- the afternoon of May 17 there appeared not far north- 

 east of Colorado Springs numerous cloud-masses resembling in- 

 cipient thunder-storms. They were not so large as ordinary 

 thunder-storms. From a cumulus mass depended the fringes that 

 mark the storm-cloud, but they were unusually long as seen in 

 profile at a distance. Only a little rain fell from any of them, 

 and none from most of them. From the centres of several of 

 them also depended funnels or narrow cones. In one case this 

 column reached fully one-fourth of the angular distance to the 

 ground, the others nearly as far. The columns changed their 

 form somewhat, but I could not discover any marked swaying or 

 writhing, perhaps owing to the fact that those observed were at a 

 distance. At the time the surface winds were light and variable, 

 but the following days have been marked by very violent winds. 

 These were nearer the tornado than I ever before saw in Colo- 

 rado. G. H. Stone. 



Colorado Springs, Col. 



Glaciers in the United States. 



At this season of the year many scientists are preparing to visit 

 and study the glaciers of Switzerland, that country being the 

 Mecca of geologists who are converts to the glacial theories. I 

 desire to call the attention of the readers of Science to the fact, 

 that here in Pierce County, Wash., we have a system of glaciers 

 surrounding Mount Tacoma, beside which those of Mt. Blanc are 

 insignificant, both in area and distribution. 



The glaciers of Mount Tacoma are eighteen in number, and are 

 arranged in radial lines from the central dome of the mountain, 

 which is 14,450 feet in altitude. As this mass rises from the sea- 

 level, it is the most conspicuous peak in the United States. The 

 limit of perpetual snow on the spurs is 4,000 feet while the 

 glaciers and snow-fields that lie in the cradles extend as low as 

 2,700 feet. With care, the glaciers and spurs are not over- 

 dangerous travelling. The scenery is superb, and well repays the 

 many campers who yearly seek the mountain slopes for health 

 and recreation. About fifty persons have attained the summit, 

 including two ladies. The glacialist may there study moraines, 

 terminal, medial, and lateral, and make observations on the flow 

 of ice to his heart's content. 



If any of your readers desire further information upon this 

 subject, it may be obtained gratis by addressing 



Fred. G. Plummer, 

 Secretary Washington Alpine Club, Tacoma, Wash. 

 Tacoma, Wash., June 1. 



Binocular Vision. 



Professor LeConte's remarks on my note about binocular vis- 

 ion seem to call for a word or two in addition from me. Of 

 course I should not have troubled the readers of Science with my 

 ways of looking at things, had I not known that they were un- 

 usual, and quite at variance with everything accessible to me on 

 the subject, including Professor LeConte's own excellent little 

 book, to which he makes reference, and had I not also been quite 

 certain of the subjective part of the phenomenon. It is now 

 about ten years since I noticed it first. Though a student of phy- 

 sics, I had not then read enough of physiological optics to have 

 met with any thing on this subject, hence I bad not been told 

 what I must expect to see — a fact that I have no doubt is re- 

 sponsible for my unhappy deviation from established rules. 

 Since that time I have tried the experiment under every availa- 

 ble set of conditions — almost whenever I have found myself 

 looking at any kind of a pattern. I have tried it with perfectly 

 flat decoration, relief, and actual net-work, such as the bottom of 

 a cane-seated chair, or a coarse wire-cloth, always with the same 



