February io, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



7f 



mals in all parts of the United States and in foreign lands. In 

 particular he seeks information as to (i) the terms used to start, 

 hasten, haw, gee, back, and stop horses, oxen, camels, and other 

 animals in harness ; (2) terms used for calling in the field cattle, 

 horses, mules, asses, camels, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, and other 

 animals ; (3) exclamations used in driving from the person domes- 

 tic animals ; (4) any expressions and inarticulate sounds used in 

 addressing domestic animals for any purpose whatever (dogs and 

 cats). References to information in works of travel and general 

 literature will be very welcome. Persons willing to collect and for- 

 ward the above-mentioned data will confer great obligations on Mr. 

 Bolton. He is already indebted to many correspondents for kind 

 replies to his appeal for the ' Counting-out Rhymes of Children,' 

 the results of which have been published in a volume with that 

 title (London, Elliot Stock). To indicate the value oS vowels in 

 English, please use the vowels-signs of Webster's Unabridged, and 

 in cases of difficulty spell phonetically. All correspondence will be 

 gratefully received, and materials used will be credited to the con- 

 tributors. Address Mr. H. Carrington Bolton, University Club, 

 New York City. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*,* Correspondents are reqtcested to be as brief as possible. The wriier^s name is 

 in allcases required as proof of g;ood faith. 



Twenty copies of the number containing his communication will be furnished 

 free to any correspondent on request. 



The editor will be f^lad to publish any queries consonant with the character of 

 the journal. 



Weather-Predictions. 



Mr. Clayton's letter on weather-predictions, in the last Science, 

 furnishes a very interesting comparison. I find in the Bulletin of 

 the New England Meteorological Society for October, 1887, Mr. 

 Clayton's interpretation and verification by his own rules of the 

 government predictions. These are made generally for the whole 

 of New England, but it is to be presumed that he has made a fair 

 estimate so as to give a comparison with his own predictions for 

 south-east New England. He gives the Signal Service 58 per cent, 

 and himself 85 per cent. It now appears (see Science, Jan. 27) 

 that precisely the same predictions, stripped of all ambiguity and 

 narrowed down to a definite locality (Boston), give, by an applica- 

 tion of the same rules, 96 and 80 per cent respectively. This strik- 

 ing difference of 43 per cent, in the application of the same rules of 

 verification, shows the absolute need of a fair comparison in weather- 

 predictions, and that, too, between similar things. X. 



The Snow-Snake and its Name. 



As my notes on the snow-snake were written partly to elicit in- 

 formation, and partly to point out an anachronism, I am glad to 

 receive so early a reply. I objected, by implication, to the use of 

 misleading terms for what is probably an old game. I am also 

 aware that a Southern Iroquois nation, for over one hundred and 

 seventy years past resident in New York, now has the snow-snake 

 and a name for it ; but I did not and do not think the Southern 

 winters appropriate for the game. The description to which I re- 

 ferred was in every way erroneous, and yet was made to have an 

 historic air. But I wished also to learn the extent to which the 

 game was played. North and South, East and West, and it is 

 pleasant to be assured that it " was a favorite out-door sport of the 

 Carolinian and Virginian tribes of Iroquois." I would esteem it a 

 personal favor if Mr. Hewitt will kindly furnish quotations descrip- 

 tive of its early use south of the James River. They will be prized 

 by me and others, having escaped our attention. 



A more important question is raised by Mr. Hewitt. My or- 

 thography of the word ka-wher-tah needs no correction, as spelling 

 and pronunciation were given me by livmg Onondagas, not taken 

 from lifeless books. But the point, rather incorrectly stated by Mr. 

 Hewitt, is worthy of attention. It is not the case, as he says, that 

 the letter r " does not occur in the speech of the Onondagas of the 

 present time," but it certainly has become obscure and rare. In 

 all our early records the letter is frequent : Zeisberger employed it 



largely in his Onondaga dictionary ; in Schoolcraft's vocabulary I 

 think it is found only in the numerals; among the present Onon- 

 dagas it occurs but sparingly in proper names and other words. 

 Some time ago my Onondaga friend, Sa-go-na-qua-der, sent me a 

 version of the Lord's Prayer in that language. He was not sure of 

 his spelling, and wished me to revise it with him when next at his 

 house. The letter in question frequently occurred, but the sound 

 was obscure. I went over the version with him syllable by syllable 

 to get the exact sound, and retained the letter four times as clearly 

 enunciated. 



It is probable that some Onondagas have given up the letter 

 altogether, while others retain it, and this would account for varia- 

 tions in orthography. My work for many years has been mainly 

 on the early history and customs of the Onondagas, and notes on 

 their language have been but incidental. I am now offered assist- 

 ance by them in this, and, if I can carry out a contemplated pi an 

 will pay especial attention to the question brought up by Mr. 

 Hewitt. Until I have more original data, it would be out of place, 

 for me to do more than justify my present use. The point is de- 

 batable, in a sense, but will require some critical research if we 

 are to know the exact extent which the change has reached. 



W. M. Beauchamp. 



Baldwinsville, N. Y., Jan. 30. 



The Occipito-Temporal Region in the Crania of Carnivora. 



In the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences for 1886, 

 p. 36, I briefly described, under the name of the post-tympanic 

 bone, an ossicle which lies over the squamosal and opisthotic bones 

 in Ursus. I have since examined Ainphicyon, Dinictis, and 

 Archcebiriis. I find that the inferior surfaces of the conjoined 

 bones above named exhibit appearances which resemble those seen 

 in Ursus, and make it probable that a post-tyrnpanic bone of larger 

 size than the ursine ossicle was present in these genera. Apart 

 from the bone itself, it is noteworthy that the details in the struc- 

 ture and proportions of the squamosal and opisthotic, as they unite 

 to form the post-tympanic process, afford characters by which these 

 genera can be identified, 



I have also found that the species of extant Felicia: can also be 

 separated by characters of the tympanic bone, especially by the 

 shape of the tympanic ring, i.e., the part of the tympanic bone in. 

 advance of the septum. Harrison Allen. 



Philadelphia, Feb. 7. 



Monocular versus Binocular Vision. 



There is an interesting phenomenon which is new to the writer, 

 and which very beautifully illustrates the prevalence of monocular 

 over binocular localization. This explanation which we suggest 

 may or may not be true, but it will certainly lead the way to a bet- 

 ter comprehension of the fact in case it cannot be accepted as we 

 explain it. We mention the phenomenon as much to ascertain 

 whether it can be verified by others as to point the way to its ex- 

 planation. It certainly has an interest in the question regarding 

 the perception of distance and the localization of images in stereo- 

 scopic combination. 



Take two circles, as in Fig. i, and combine them by crossing the 

 eyes in the ordinary way. We shall see, as is well known, three 

 circles in the field of view, the central one the combined result of 

 two images, and apparently nearer to us than the other and exterior 

 circles, and nearer also than the sheet of paper upon which they 

 are drawn. It is possible that to some experimenters the central 

 circle does not seem nearer than the other two : to the writer it al- 

 ways does. If we combine them by fixating the eyes beyond the 

 plane on which they are drawn, the central circle will appear larger 

 and farther off than the other two. So much, however, is not new, 

 but it is a necessary preliminary to the singular phenomenon which 

 we have not noticed in any investigation of binocular vision. It is 

 also known that the observer can place a pencil or pin point at the 

 apparent location of the central circle, and it will seem to coincide 

 with it, and there is no hesitation in placing it at a point between 

 the sheet of paper and the eyes. 



