Febkuaky 13, 1885.] 



SCIENCE 



14 



existence of man in a low stage of civilization was 

 ascertained by the discovery of a " well-made bone- 

 gouge, and of two pieces of stag-horn, which have 

 been cut with some sharp instrument." 



— Hegnette, in the Bulletin technolor/ique des 

 ecoles nationales des arts et metiers, describes a new 

 ceramic product from the waste sands of glass-facto- 

 ries, which often accumulate in immense quantities, 

 so as to occasion great embarrassment. The sand is 

 subjected to an immense hydraulic pressure, and 

 then baked in furnaces at a high temperature, so as 

 to produce blocks of various forms and dimensions, 

 of a uniform white color, which are composed of 

 almost pure silex. The crushing-load is from three 

 hundred and seventy to four hundred and fifty kil- 

 ometres per square centimetre. The bricks, when 

 plunged in chlorhydric and sulphuric acids, show no 

 trace of alteration. The product has remarkable 

 solidity and tenacity; it is not affected by the heavi- 

 est frosts or by the action of sun or rain ; it resists 

 very high temperatures, provided no flux is present; 

 it is very light, ils specific gravity being only 1.5; it 

 is of a fine white color, which will make it sought 

 after for many architectural effects in combination 

 with brick or stone of other colors. 



— The Royal academy of sciences of Turin gives 

 notice that the fifth Bressa prize will be given to the 

 scientific author or inventor, whatever be his nation- 

 ality, who during the years 1883-86, according to the 

 judgment of the academy, shall have made the most 

 important and useful discovery, or published the 

 most valuable work on physical and experimental 

 science, natural history, mathematics, chemistry, 

 physiology, and pathology, as well as geology, history, 

 geography, and statistics. The term will be closed 

 at the end of December, 1886. The value of the 

 prize amounts to twelve thousand Italian lire. The 

 prize will in no case be given to any of the national 

 members of the academy of Turin, resident or 

 non-resident. 



— We regret to announce the death of Dr. J. 

 Gwyn Jeffreys of Kensington, Eng., well known 

 for his conchological researches. He died suddenly 

 on the 24th ult. We hope in a future number to 

 give some account of his scientific work. 



— Dr. Ch. Amat has devoted some study to the 

 Beni M'zab, — a Berber people whose territory was 

 definitely annexed by France about two years ago, 

 and who are described as active, sober, provident, 

 economical, and intelligent. He remarks that the 

 position of woman was higher among them before 

 the introduction of Islamism. Their cemeteries, con- 

 taining tombs of large worked stones, with a line of 

 pots, plates, ostrich eggs, etc., about them, are re- 

 ferred to as survivals from the funeral feasts of the 

 ancient religion. These people occupy seven towns, 

 having a population of over thirty thousand, and are 

 engaged in commerce. 



— Capt. Poldrugo of the Austrian bark Filadel- 

 fia, from Cape Town to New York, reports an earth- 

 quake at midnight of Jan. 2, extending in an easterly 

 and westerly direction. At the same time, he saw a 



large white spot on the water. He was in latitude 1° 

 10' north, longitude 24° west, at the time. 



— Vol. vii. No. 2, of the American journal of 

 mathematics, has just appeared, and contains the 

 following articles: 'A memoir on the Abelian and 

 theta functions,' by Professor Cayley (this is the 

 continuation of Professor Cayley' s great memoir, 

 the first three chapters of which appeared in vol. v. 

 of the journal; the present article contains chap- 

 ters iv.-vii., and treats principally of the case where 

 the 'fixed curve' is a quartic both in the plane and 

 in space); 'Solution of solvable irreducible quintic 

 equations without the aid of a resolvent sextic,' by 

 George Paxton Young of Univeisity college, Toron- 

 to (Professor Young assumes Jerrard's trinomial 

 form for the quintic, finds the criterion of its solva- 

 bility, and finally solves the equation in all the 

 possible cases); a note on Maclaurin's theorem, by 

 Hermite ; the first part of a memoir on the algebra 

 of logic, by Mr. C. S. Peirce, in which the author 

 studies the philosophy of notation. 



— No. 5 of the Izviestiya of the Russian geo- 

 graphical society, contains, among other things, Us- 

 penske's account of the Island of Hainan, obtained 

 from Chinese sources; Iwanow's report of his ascent 

 of the Elbrus; Istomin's ethnographical journey to 

 Archangel, and a long paper by Werestchagin on the 

 Wotjaks. Though this Finnish people has been 

 often discussed and described, the author gives much 

 new and valuable information, especially in regard 

 to mythology, feasts, and folk-lore. The closing 

 number of vol. xii. of the Zapiski contains a long 

 article on Korea by Otano Kigoro. 



— We observe this note in a late number of the 

 Athenaeum: "'Parallax' is dead! Dr. Samuel 

 Fvowbotham used this name as the author of 'Zetetic 

 astronomy,' and he was well known by it as a lec- 

 turer on such subjects as 'the earth not a globe.' 

 The doctor, some years before his death, directed 

 his ' seeking philosophy ' to chemistry ; but we never 

 heard of any discovery resulting from his search." 



— The supplement to the Berliner astronomisches 

 jahrbuch for 1887, containing the elements and 

 ephemerides of the small planets for the present year, 

 is already issued, preceding, as usual, the publica- 

 tion of the body of the work. The best obtainable 

 elements of the orbits of two hundred and thirty- 

 seven of these planets are given (two hundred and 

 forty-four was the total number known at the begin- 

 ning of 1885), as also approximate ephemerides of 

 the same, the positions being given at twenty-day 

 intervals. Accurate ephemerides are now computed 

 by the Rechnungs-bureau, and published for only 

 nineteen small planets. 



— The ' Nautical almanac' office, Washington, has 

 lately issued a new publication; that prepared for the 

 present year being the first, and entitled ' The Pacific 

 coaster's nautical almanac' It is the counterpart of 

 the ' Atlantic coaster's almanac,' issued for the first 

 time in 1884, and gives, in addition to astronomico- 

 nautical data, the times of high water at San Fran- 

 cisco, San Diego, Astoria, and Port Townsend, in 



