ee i lea 
470 
the south borrow from their neighbors, the Georgians, 
some of their usages. 
— Terramares is an Italian archeological term, 
adopted into the French scheme of Mortillet and 
Chantre with an appropriate symbol. Castione, the 
most noteworthy of the Italian terramares, is a hil- 
lock on a plain in the province of Parma, three metres 
higher than the surrounding area. Its former inhab- 
itants, aiming to avoid places subject to inundation, 
halted upon this low plateau of bluish clay, not yet 
covered with the deposit of alluvium. The space oc- 
cupied by the village, or settlement, was somewhat 
rectangular, containing about nine thousand square 
metres, and was enclosed by a ditch, or basin, oriented, 
its axis deviating thirty degrees from north to south, 
The first palafitte constructed over this broad ditch 
was floored with puncheons covered with calcareous 
sand, whereon were built huts of wood or straw. 
Through holes in the floors were thrown ashes, cin- 
ders, refuse of all kinds. Of course, when this process 
had filled up the space beneath, the people had to burn 
their rude huts, draw up the piles, and commence 
over again. From the relics found in the terramares, 
it is possible to derive some notion of the time of their 
construction, which seems to have had its beginning 
in the age of stone, and extended through the age of 
bronze. If it reached the age of iron, it was when 
the last layer was forming. Pigorini regards unfa- 
vorably the opinion that the basins surrounding the 
terramares were systematically fed by streams of 
water. 
— Whoever studied the Tunis department of our 
centennial exhibition, saw a large, thick plank, whose 
under surface was thickly set with teeth of chipped 
flint. This was the tribulum (a Latin word, meaning 
a threshing-sledge, whence the word ‘ tribulation’). 
We are not surprised to see this old threshing-sledge 
in use in northern Africa. Indeed, it is one of the 
delightful cases of survival that so often spring upon 
us. Mr. Léon Didelot has written a chapter on this 
implement (Bull. soc. anthrop. Lyon, ii. T) in which 
he not only describes one minutely, but quotes the 
writings of numerous early writers on the subject. 
— The Royal society of New South Wales offers its 
medal and a money-prize for the best communication 
(provided it be of sufficient merit) containing the re- 
sults of original research or observation upon each of 
the following subjects. 1°. To be sent in not later 
than Sept. 30, 1884: Origin and mode of occurrence of 
gold-bearing veins and of the associated minerals, the 
society’s medal and twenty-five pounds; Influence of 
the Australian climate in producing modifications of 
diseases, the society’s medal and twenty-five pounds; 
The infusoria peculiar to Australia, the society’s 
medal and twenty-five pounds; The water-supply in 
the interior of New South Wales, the society’s medal 
and twenty-five pounds. 2°. To be sent in not later 
than May 1, 1885: Anatomy and life-history of Echid- 
na and Platypus, the society’s medal and twenty-five 
pounds; Anatomy and life-history of Mollusca pecul- 
iar to Australia, the society’s medal and twenty-five 
pounds; The chemical composition of the products 
SCIENCE. 
[Vou. IIL, No. 62. 
from the so-called kerosene shale of New South Wales, 
the society’s medal and twenty-five pounds. 3°. To be 
sent in not later than May 1, 1886: The chemistry 
of the Australian gums and resins, the society’s medal 
and twenty-five pounds. The competition is in no 
way confined to members of the society, nor to resi- 
dents in Australia. The communication, to be suc- 
cessful, must be either wholly or in part the result of 
original observation or research on the part of the 
contributor. No award will be made for a mere com- 
pilation, however meritorious in its way. 
—M. Grunes has published in La métallurgie the 
result of a year’s researches on the oxidizability of 
iron and steel under the influence of moist air, fresh, 
sea, and acidulated water. The numerous results are 
in the highest degree instructive. We can only state 
that iron is dissolved rapidly by sea-water, cast-iron 
losing about half as much as steel, and that spiegel- 
eisen is the most powerfully acted on by sea-water. 
— A circular has been issued by a committee of the 
Mechanical science section of the American associa- 
tion, urging all engineers and others interested to 
make the meeting of the section at Philadelphia a 
notable one. 
— The programme of observations of the small 
planets Victoria and Sappho in 1882, for determina- 
tion of the solar parallax, drawn up by Dr. David 
Gill, her Majesty’s astronomer at the Cape of Good 
Hope, appears to have met with general favor at the 
hands of astronomers in different parts of the world. 
The latest contribution of observations is a series 
published in No. 2574 of the <Astronomische nach- 
richten (band 108), made by Professor Kurt Bohlin 
at the observatory at Upsala. ‘The observations were 
begun early in August, 1882, and continued for some- 
what more than two months. 
— Every member of the group of small planets dis- 
covered up to the present time has nowa name; No. 
233, discovered by Borelly at Marseilles, May 11, 
1883, having received the name Asterope. The ele- 
ments of the orbit of No. 235, Carolina, have been 
determined by Professor Frisby. 
— Dr. Finsch’s account of the anthropology of the ~ 
South-Sea Islands has just been published by Asher 
of Berlin. Dr. Finsch secured no less than a hun- 
dred and sixty-four casts of the faces of the inhab- 
itants from sixty-one different islands: so his facts 
will not rest on individual observation alone. These 
casts have been on view at the Berlin ‘ Panopticum.’ 
— The use of the dynamo-electric machine for the 
ventilation of mines is reported from Saxony. At 
the Carola pits, Messrs. Siemens and Halske, the 
German electricians, have inaugurated the system. 
At the pit bank a dynamo is stationed, which is 
coupled up by shafting with the engine. By means 
of copper conductors, this machine is connected with 
. another .dynamo, two thousand five hundred feet 
away in the depths of the mine. This latter is con- 
nected with a powerful centrifugal fan. The cost of 
working these combined machines is six shillings and 
threepence per day, which means threepence for every 
million cubic feet of air delivered. ge 
