522 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. IV., No, 96. 



need of the service at present is the addition of the 

 fifty-six lighthouses to the other stations, and the 

 construction of a submarine cable totheLiukiu (Loo 

 Choo) Islands. 



— The first part of the Atlas of the western- 

 middle anthracite coal-field has lately been issued by 

 the Second geological survey of Pennsylvania, the 

 work being in charge of Mr. C. A. Ashburner. It 

 comprises the district between Ashland and Mahanoy 

 City, and is in the same style of construction as the 

 atlas of the Panther-creek basin, of which mention 

 has already been made in Science (i. 309). The new 

 maps fully maintain the high standard of accuracy, 

 and the careful distinction between observation and 

 inference that characterized the earlier number of 

 this important contribution to practical geology. The 

 atlas includes four mine-sheets (1:9,600, with under- 

 ground fifty-foot contours of mammoth coal-bed), 

 three topographical sheets (1:19,200, with surface 

 form in ten-foot contours), and four cross-section 

 sheets (scale, 1 : 4,800). The reference-lines, marking 

 out squares of two thousand feet on a side, are now 

 properly adjusted to the true meridian, instead of to 

 the local and temporary magnetic north, as before; 

 and the ground-colors representing the geological sub- 

 divisions are changed to tints of rather more agree- 

 able tone. The full indication of the known facts on 

 the basis of which the area and altitude of the coal- 

 beds are represented, and their careful separation 

 from hypothetical lines of outcrop and dip, make it 

 possible for both the practical and the theoretical 

 geologist to use these sheets with as little effect as 

 possible from the personal equations of those who 

 made the maps. Besides being issued, folded in the 

 octavo atlas, the sheets can be bought, unfolded and 

 singly, at simple cost of printing, — about fifteen 

 cents apiece. 



— In a recent lecture upon the languages of the 

 American aborigines before the Lowell institute in 

 Boston, Prof. D. G. Brinton endeavored to show the 

 general characteristics of the American languages to 

 be synthesis, or the blending of a number of words 

 into one; incorporation, or the absorption by the verb 

 of both subject and object; and the peculiar use of 

 pronouns. Other features were described and illus- 

 trated, such as the absence of grammatical gender 

 and of the true substantive verb, the rarity of nu- 

 merals and of the true adjective, and the difference 

 in the speech of the two sexes and of different ages and 

 classes. In spite, however, of the absence of all ety- 

 mology, these languages are very interesting. While 

 they lack in parts of speech, they are rich in themes 

 and ideas. They were shown to compare favorably 

 with European languages in respect to their vocabu- 

 laries and their ability to express abstract ideas, but 

 to be deficient in respect to sentence-building. The 

 lecturer claimed, however, that the importance of 

 any language depended upon the use that was made 

 of it. After showing that unwritten language is not 

 necessarily liable to the greatest changes and fluctua- 

 tions, and that language forms a satisfactory basis 

 for studying the laws of ethnology, the characteristic 

 features of the principal aboriginal tribes of North 



America were briefly sketched, and the peculiarities 

 of their language described. The Narwatal language 

 of Mexico was asserted to be the only aboriginal 

 American language for which a regular professor- 

 ship had been established in any university. The 

 literature which survives, of the native languages of 

 Mexico and Central America, was described. The 

 lecturer closed by urging those who wished to study 

 the American languages to do so at once, as the time 

 was not far distant when these languages would have 

 entirely disappeared. 



— Professor Liversidge of the Sydney university, 

 says Nature, sends to the local press a suggestive 

 communication, in connection with the recent meet- 

 ing of the British association in Montreal and the 

 invitation forwarded by the Victorian premier to visit 

 Melbourne next year. Feeling how insurmountable, 

 for the present, are the obstacles to such a visit, the 

 writer proposes what appears to be a very wise alter- 

 native. Instead of looking forward to a near visit 

 from the association, he suggests as a preliminary 

 step a federation of the various scientific societies in 

 Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, into an Aus- 

 tralasian association for the advancement of science, 

 on the lines of the British association. A first meet- 

 ing of the new association might be held in Sydney 

 on the hundredth anniversary of the colony; which, 

 with the combined attractions of an international 

 exhibition, might induce a fair number of scientific 

 visitors from England to take part in the proceedings. 

 After the first meeting, gatherings could take place 

 annually, or every two or three years, as might be 

 agreed upon by the members, in various parts of 

 Australasia. The writer concludes with the remark, 

 which few will gainsay, that such an association 

 would tend greatly to advance the sciences in the 

 colonies, and in many ways materially favor their 

 progress elsewhere. 



— Dr. Kollmann announces a law of correlation 

 governing the form of the face of European man. 

 Two modern Swiss skulls from the collection at Basle, 

 which may be duplicated in any collection of Euro- 

 pean crania, represent two types existing in the 

 present population of Europe, — the broad-faced 

 (chamaeprosope of the craniologist), and the narrow- 

 faced (leptoprosope of craniology). The broad-faced 

 variety is wide between the eyes, with broad low 

 orbits, short nose with low bridge, wide nostrils, and 

 broad mouth. The narrow-faced variety has slender 

 features, round open orbits with eyes set near togeth- 

 er, long nose with high bridge, narrow nostrils, and 

 small mouth. Either variety, if pure, will present its 

 characteristic features, while, if crossed, the degree of 

 mixture may be determined by the number of features 

 varying, and the amount of variation from the gen- 

 eral type. 



— Professor Haynes requests us to state that the 

 closing sentence of his letter on p. 469 should read, — 



" There is no doubt whatsoever that it is the relics 

 of men very like those first found by Europeans on 

 this continent, which Mr. Jacob Messikommer will 

 help any one, as he did the writer, to disinter from 

 the peat-moor of Robenhausen." 



