486 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 95. 



but cold ; this only on the supposition of a deep, 

 broad expanse of sea. If not, — if the pole is sur- 

 rounded by a cluster of islands, like the archipelago 

 of North America, — ice must predominate there, yet 

 probably not so as to entirely exclude patches of open 

 water, since these have been found everywhere in 

 the Arctic. 



Mr. Ray does not entertain the idea of a ' polar 

 ice-cap,' — an idea which, unfortunately, lurks in so 

 many heads that should know better (by ice-cap I 

 mean one of great depth and permanence, formed on 

 the open sea, not glacier ice). Mr. Ray's letter led 

 me to look over the controversy on ' geological cli- 

 mates ' in Nature, 1880-81. The polar ice-cap hy- 

 pothesis was warmly advocated by Professor Samuel 

 Haughton, who is, I think, considered an authority 

 on this subject, at least in Great Britain. It was not 

 abandoned by him, notwithstanding the strong ar- 

 guments brought against it, especially by Mr. A. R. 

 Wallace. A. Woeikof. 



St. Petersburg, Oct. 29. 



Rhyssa not lignivorous. 



In the record of the proceedings of the Brooklyn 

 entomologial society, as reported in Science of Nov. 

 7, Mr. George Gade denies the parasitic nature of 

 Rhyssa lunator, and states that it is a wood-feeder. 

 This conclusion was indorsed by at least two other 

 members of the society at the meeting of Sept. 27, and 

 without any protest. The conclusion is quite errone- 

 ous; for not only does the whole organization of this 

 genus of our largest ichneumon-flies point unmistak- 

 ably to its parasitic nature, but there is plenty of evi- 

 dence by competent observers on record to corroborate 

 it. 



Let me add, that I have had ocular evidence of 

 the fact, as I have in a number of instances taken the 

 Rhyssa larva of various ages and sizes, feeding upon 

 the larva of Tremex columba. The Rhyssa does not 

 sting and oviposit in its victim, however, as is gener- 

 ally supposed, but lays its egg anywhere in the Tre- 

 mex burrow. The Rhyssa larva seeks its victim, and 

 fastens to it from the outside, and thus develops, as 

 do so many other parasitic larvae. This trait will 

 account for Mr. Gade's observation upon which he 

 based the erroneous conclusion. C. V. Riley. 



"Washington, D.C. 



Sky-glows. 



Several letters in recent numbers of Nature, on 

 'sky-glows,' have reminded me of some observations 

 made last summer during a trip across the Sierra 

 Madre Mountains from Parral to Guadalupe y Calvo, 

 in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, which may be of 

 interest to the readers of Science. The following ac- 

 count of the phenomenon is taken from my note-book 

 under date of June 24, 1884 : — 



About nine o'clock this morning, as we neared the 

 top of the mountain above San Estavan, at an eleva- 

 tion of 8,900 feet, Col. Matlock, my travelling com- 

 panion, called attention to the remarkable dimness of 

 the sunlight, suggesting the approach of rain or an 

 eclipse of the sun, as no clouds were to be seen. On 

 looking towards the sun, a peculiar pinkish glow, 

 shading into purple, surrounded it, extending from 

 fifteen to twenty degrees. The remainder of the sky 

 presented a dark-blue, leaden color. The sunlight 

 was so obscured as to give a peculiarly sharp outline 

 to the shadows cast by the trees, and a weird ap- 

 pearance to the landscape. The glow continued 

 throughout the day, which was perfectly clear with 

 the exception of a few small fleecy clouds about 

 noon, that flitted across the sky from the south-west. 



We camped at Cuevas Blancas, on a small creek, a 

 little before sunset, at an elevation, as indicated by a 

 small aneroid barometer, of 9,190 feet. A huge rock, 

 unfortunately, shut out the sun as it set; but on one 

 side could be seen the new moon and two planets — 

 Jupiter and Venus — shining with a bright silvery 

 lustre through the pinkish hue of the sun-glow. As 

 the twilight faded away, the color changed to a pale 

 red. The sky at the time was perfectly clear, and the 

 stars came out beautifully. According to my watch, 

 the sun set at quarter-past seven o'clock, and the glow 

 did not entirely disappear until half-past eight. 



Wednesday, June 25; the same appearance of a 

 pinkish or salmon-colored glow surrounded the sun 

 as on yesterday, though the sunlight was apparently 

 not so much obscured. 



I may add, that a similar glow, though not so marked 

 in appearance, was observed for a week or ten days 

 thereafter. The rainy season, which usually begins 

 in the mountains by the middle of June, had not 

 commenced at the time; and, indeed, there was very 

 little rain up to the last of July, when I left the moun- 

 tains. N. T. Lupton. 



Vanderbilt university, Nov. 17. 



Iroquois grammar. 



The assumption of 'Reporter,' that the conclusions 

 of my Montreal paper can affect the value of mission- 

 ary work, except in illustrating its difficulties, I deny. 

 My critic's own statement, however, that the life and 

 force of the language depend upon the meaning of 

 certain pronouns, and that these must conform 

 strictly to a system of grammar already prescribed, 

 or render the version erroneous, does throw aspersions 

 upon many valuable works. 



That the early French missionaries did influence the 

 language of the western Mohawks is evident from 

 their use of words coined by those old fathers; but 

 the statement that their translations conform to those 

 of the east is incorrect. 



As the most perfect and complete grammar yet 

 written in the Mohawk has been in my possession for 

 over two years, it has been an easy task for me to 

 find, upon ninety pages scattered throughout Brant's 

 prayer-book, over two hundred instances where the 

 pronouns do not follow the system there prescribed. 



In comparing two translations of St. Mark, ex- 

 ecuted at different localities, we find still greater 

 differences, not only in pronouns, but in the tenses, 

 number, etc. In one of these translations we find 

 that "they that did eat of the loaves were five 

 thousand warriors," and, in the thirteenth chapter, 

 that ' those days ' which in that chapter refer to the 

 future are translated in the past. These are only 

 a few of the instances which might be given to show 

 the difficulties of those pioneers. When my critic 

 says that the supposition of Indians writing for 

 Indians, and writing incorrectly, is 'inadmissible,' 

 he is the one to cast an undeserved reflection upon 

 the venerable missionary reviser of Brant's prayer- 

 book, who has made numerous changes in these pro- 

 nouns. 



Through the kindness of French missionaries, I 

 have had access to archives rarely or never opened 

 before, have been permitted to bring to my own 

 home their erudite researches, and I have not been 

 so ungracious or ungrateful as to underrate either 

 them, their work, or influence. I refer my friends 

 to the paper read before the American association 

 for the advancement of science at Minneapolis. 

 Confessedly now and forever a ' beginner,' 



Erminnie A. Smith. 



