342 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 383 



By a careful comparison of the discoveries made in the 

 mounds of this Kanawha group with those made in the 

 mounds of the Cherokee section, the reader will observe 

 some striking similarities which cannot be easily accounted 

 for upon any other theory than that of tribal identity or in- 

 timate relations of the peoples of the two sections. It is true 

 that we find enclosures in the former locality, and none in 

 the latter, and it is also true that we notice other dissimi- 

 larities; but some changes in customs and works are to be 

 expected where there is a change of location. Necessities, 

 materials, and environments are different, and bring about 

 modifications of customs. These changes are apparent in 

 all parts of the mound area, even where there are good rea- 

 sons for attributing the works to the same people: in fact, 

 they are sometimes found in a single group. 



It is true, we cannot assert positively that the little coni- 

 cal clay vaults above described, except in one or two cases, 

 were depositories of the dead, as were the conical bowlder 

 vaults of North Carolina and East Tennessee; yet the very 

 marked similarity in form and size, and correspondence in 

 their arrangement in the tumuli, justify the belief that there 

 was a relationship between the authors of the works of the two 

 sections. Not only are they similar in size and form, but in both 

 localities pits were dug in the original soil, the floor was cov- 

 ered with coals or ashes in some cases, and the vaults built 

 on these and the mound heaped over them. It should also 

 be borne in mind that vaults of this kind, arranged as here 

 stated, have so far been found only in these two sections. 

 The arrangement in a circle found in the mound in Sulli- 

 van County, Tenn., has its parallel in one of the mounds of 

 thd Kanawab group. In one was also found the pipe shown 

 in Fig. 8; in the other, that shown in Fig. 5. 



In further corroboration of the theory of relationship be- 

 tween the people of the two sections, may be mentioned the 

 fact that in the mounds of both we find the peculiar basin- 

 shaped beds placed in series one above another. 



Cyrus Thomas. 



[To be continued.] 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Lieut. J. P. FmuET, of the United States Signal Corps, has 

 gone to San Francisco to take charge of the Pacific Coast Weather 

 Service. 



— Professor John C. Branner, State geologist of Arkansas, de- 

 livered a course of lectures on geology to the senior and junior 

 classes at the Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Ind., week 

 before last. 



— Dr. William K. Newton of Paterson has resigned as dairy 

 and food commissioner of New Jersey. This was done two 

 months since to the State Board of Health, which, on the 6th of 

 May, appointed one of Dr. Newton's assistants, Mr. George W. 

 McGuire of Trenton, to fill the vacancy. 



— We learn from Nature that Professor Von Nordenskiold 

 lately announced to the Stockholm Academy of Sciences that a 

 scientific expedition would start during the summer for Spitz- 

 bergen. Among the party will be his son, M. G. Nordenskiold, 

 and MM. Klinckowstrom and Bahaman. The expenses of the 

 expedition will be defrayed by Baron Dickson and M. F. Beijer, 

 the publisher. 



— A statistical investigation of lightning-strokes in central 

 Germany, covering a period of twenty-six years, has been carried 

 out by Herr Kastner. According to Nature, the number of cases 

 has increased about 129 per cent, and last year (1889; it amounted 

 to 1,145, The author distinguishes four thunder-storm paths. 



The starting-points of all these are in hills, and in their course 

 the woodless districts and flat country, the river-valleys, and low 

 meadow-ground about lakes, seem specially liable, while the 

 wooded and hilly parts generally escape. The hottest months 

 (June, and especially July), and the hottest hours of the day, or 

 those immediately following them (3 to 4 p.m.), show the most 

 lightning-strokes. 



— We learn from Humboldt that in connection with the tenth 

 international medical congress, to be held this year in Berlin from 

 Aug. 4 to Aug. 9, there is to be an international medico-scientific 

 exhibition. Tbe following binds of objects will be exhibited : 

 new or improved scientific instruments and apparatus for bio- 

 logical and especially medical purposes, including apparatus for 

 photography and spectrum analjsis so far as they are of service 

 to medicine; new pharmaceutical and chemical stuffs and prepara- 

 tions; new or improved instruments for operative purposes of 

 medicine, including electrotherapy; new plans and models of 

 hospitals, convalescent homes, disinfection arrangements, baths, 

 etc. ; new arrangements for care of the sick, including means of 

 transport, and baths for invalids; newest apparatus for hygienic 

 purposes, etc. Communications (marked " Ausstellungsangele- 

 genheit ") should be sent to the office of the congress, Dr. Lassar,, 

 Berlin, N.W., Karlstrasse 19. 



— The daily and yearly variation, and the distribution, of wind- 

 velocities in the Russian Empire have been fully investigated by 

 Kiersnowski, says Nature. The highest velocities (mean 6.$ 

 metres per second) occur in the Baltic provinces. On the White 

 Sea, on the Caspian, in the region of the North Russian lakes, and 

 on the Steppe, the values are also high; in the forest region and 

 the Caucasus they are low. Towards the interior of Asia tbe 

 velocity decreases, and in Transbaikalia is the minimum (1.5 

 metres per second). Farther east, towards the Pacific, the velocity 

 increases. In the annual period, the maximum is pretty uni- 

 formly in winter, the minimum in summer. A maximum in 

 spring, and a minimum in summer or autumn, are peculiar to the 

 Caspian region, the Ural, and West Siberia, with Central Asia.. 

 In eastern Siberia the minimum is in winter. The daily variation 

 shows distinctly the connection with cloudiness. The greatest 

 amplitude occurs in the brighter part of the year: in East Siberia 

 in winter, and in the rest of the country in summer. In general,, 

 the amplitude increases regularly with the clearness of the sky 

 eastward, and on land it is greater than on the sea. 



— In seven years, experiments at the Ohio Agricultural Station^ 

 with deep and shallow planting of corn show an advantage 

 in favor of planting one inch rather than two inches deep, but 

 indicate that in dry seasons it may be better to plant two inches 

 deep. The greatest amount of marketable corn has been produced 

 where the stalks averaged twelve inches apart. The variations in 

 yield were slight, whether planted one grain every twelve inches, 

 two every twenty-four, three every thirty-six, or four every forty- 

 eight inches. Three years' trial has not indicated any markedi 

 differences in the reproductive qualities of corn from the butts,, 

 middles, or tips of the ears. If there is any variation, it is in 

 favor of middles and tips, and against the butts. The experi- 

 ments of 1888 and 1889 indicate that corn should be cultivated 

 more frequently in a dry season than in a wet or ordinary one. 

 The average results of two years' experiments favor deep cultiva- 

 tion rather than shallow. The implements used were the harrow 

 and cultivator for shallow tillage, and the double shovel for deep.. 

 This work was under the care of J. Fremont Hickman. 



— The papers read at the May meeting of the Royal Society of 

 Canada included, in the section on mathematical, physical, and 

 chemical sciences, "The Unit Measure of Time," by Dr. Sandford 

 Fleming, president of the section; "Tidal Observations in Cana- 

 dian Waters, the Present Condition of the Question," by Professor 

 A. Johnson, McGill University, Montreal; "Sunspots observed at, 

 McGill College since June 1, 1888," by Professor C. H. McLeod of. 

 McGiU University; "Notes on Cream-of-Tartar Analysis," and 

 "Notes on Baking-Powder Analysis," by A. McGill; "Milk Analy- 

 sis by the Asbestos Method," by Frank T. Shutt; "On a Pecuhar 

 Form of Metallic Iron found in Huronian Quartzite on the North 

 Shore of St. Joseph Island, Lake Huron, Ontario," by G. Chr. 



