SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



263 



Serv. On the rocks near the sluggish stream 

 which gives its name to the village, I observed a 

 Jarge Tropidonotus natrix. 



In these bracing mountains the Serbian tongue 

 is spoken, and more clearly and purely than in 

 Belgrade itself. It is a manly language, and 

 pleasant to hear, though there are words without 

 vowels. Such are tsrn, black; grk, bitter; vrh, a 

 mountain ridge ; krv, blood ; and others. As a 

 matter of fact, in such words the r is rolled with 

 the tip of the tongue, so practically becoming a 

 vowel. In spite of the existence of such words as 

 j>rtljag, luggage, it is less harsh than its sister, 

 Russian. For instance, in Russian ptitchka means 

 bird, in Serbian titj ; chleb is bread in Russian, in 

 Serbian it is leb.; in Russian we have polni, polk, 

 jzheltui, meaning full, regiment, yellow, which in 

 Serbian become pun, pith, zhitt. It is full of words 

 interesting to the philologist. For instance, in krv, 

 blood, we see the same root as in the Latin crnor, 

 and in mrak, dark, we see murky and the Swedish 

 mork, with the same meaning. The alphabet is the 

 •ordinary Cyrillic, as in Russian, with certain modi- 

 fications introduced by Vuk Stefanovic Karadjic in 

 1S63. To the dull, grey aspect of the country Monte- 

 negro owes its name, Tsrnagora, the black mountain ; 

 in Turkish, Karadagh, with the same meaning. 



From Rjeka, which signifies river, I took the 

 boat across the Lake of Scutari to the town of 

 that name, the capital of Albania. The Anglo- 

 Montenegrin Trading Company run two steamers 

 weekly across these waters, being the medium of a 

 small but brisk trade between Albania and Monte- 

 negro, chiefly to Rjeka and Podgoritsa. As we 

 slowly steamed down between the mountains, our 

 wash disturbed large numbers of water fowl from 

 the weeds that fringe the banks on either side. 

 Grey herons (Ardea cinerea), great purple herons 

 {Ardea purpurea), spoonbills (Platalea leucorodta) in 

 •quantities, and others, among which I thought I 

 saw scoters and some small wading-birds, probably 

 sandpipers. I did not see anything in the open lake. 



It is a six hours' run to Scutari, where I arrived 

 about four in the afternoon. It is a typical 

 oriental town, and the administration is typically 

 Turkish. At the custom-house my camera was 

 confiscated until I left, and I was told that I should 

 probably be searched, to see whether I carried any 

 weapons ; for though the restless Shkipetars, or 

 Albanians, who are said to be descendants from 

 the ancient Pelasgi, go about armed to the teeth, 

 no foreigner may bring weapons into the country, 

 not even a revolver or knife. I was, however, 

 fortunately spared the indignity. One day only 

 was spent here, being pressed for time, and so I 

 was unable to do any collecting in the country 

 around. It is a dangerous neighbourhood, and 

 when camping out in the country, after pitching 

 the tent, it is as well to sleep a hundred yards 



away, for in the morning, as likely as not, the 

 canvas will be found to be pierced with rifle 

 bullets. As with all towns in this part of Europe 

 it is a polyglot place, for I heard a native buying 

 stamps from the Turkish official, and as one spoke 

 Albanian and the other Turkish, the conversation 

 was conducted in French. Italian is often spoken in 

 the streets between natives, and sometimes German. 

 Albanian is a peculiar tongue, with some words 

 showing resemblance to Greek. For instance, 

 cater, meaning four, and dliet, ten. 



The next morning I was obliged to leave, for it 

 was time to return home, and I arrived at Cetinje 

 in the evening. The steamer leaving Cattaro the 

 following morning at five, I was compelled to drive 

 all night over the mountains, arriving in the town 

 just in time for its departure. The following after- 

 noon brought me to Fiume, and on Saturday, August 

 20th, I arrived home, having left Scutari six days 

 previously, travelling hard the whole time. 

 New College, Oxford. 



AN ACETYLENE LANTERN. 



\ I TE have recently had an opportunity of seeing 

 an arrangement for burning acetylene gas 

 for lantern demonstrations. The burner is very 

 simple though most effective. The points of advan- 

 tage are, that there are two burners, each being 

 controlled by a separate valve to regulate the jet, 

 so that both flames may be made identically the 

 same size — a matter of importance to the operator. 

 The result is a most brilliant light that throws on 

 to the screen all detail of the drawing or photo- 



ACETYLENE BURNER FOR LANTERN DEMONSTRATIONS. 



graph exhibited. Where coloured pictures are 

 used daylight effects are attained. There is no 

 danger of the reflector unsoldering, as it is double. 

 This necessary part of the lamp is compact, fits 

 any lantern, is adjustable in all positions, whether 

 up or down, back or forward. The lamp may 

 be worked with any acetylene generator, the 

 "Abingdon" generator being recommended. 

 Cheapness follows compactness in this instance, 

 the price of the burner being 10s. and that of 

 the generator 37s. 6d. Mr. F. Brown, of 13, 

 Gate Street, Holborn, London, is the maker. 

 The great advantage of the acetylene light is that 

 there are no heavy metal gas-bottles required. A 

 full description of Acetylene is given at page 274 

 of this number. 



