Det ie jul VP eer we oe oe 
lee! - 
500 
forms of electric discharge from the clouds, it 
is none the less unsatisfactory to be told that 
atmospheric electricity arises from the earth’s 
possessing a constant positive charge. Again: 
the theory that the sun is only one of a chape- 
let de grains brillants originally fused by a 
powerful current like the globules formed by 
a melting wire, and that ‘‘ the incandescence 
of the solar globe, prolonged during a long 
series of ages, is itself only a spark of short 
duration in the infinity of time and space ”’ (p. 
250), is not worthy to stand in connection 
with the account of his many remarkable in- 
vestigations. These furnish no basis for such 
a speculation, and scarcely more for the theory 
that ‘‘ whirlwinds and cyclones are the power- 
ful electro-dynamic effects produced by the 
combined forces of atmospheric electricity and 
terrestrial magnetism ’’ (p. 229). 
In conclusion, M. Planté says, respecting the 
nature of electricity, that it ‘‘ may be considered 
as a motion of ponderable matter, — motion 
of transport of a very small mass of matter, 
animated by a very great velocity if an elec- 
trical discharge is considered, and a very rapid 
vibratory motion of the molecules of matter 
if its transmission to a distance under the dy- 
namic form, or its manifestation under the 
static form, at the surface of bodies, is consid- 
ered ’’ (p. 314). Without adopting this view, 
we may say that many of Planté’s experiments 
strongly support it. 
THE CHILIAN LANGUAGES. 
Chilidigu sive tractatus linguae chilensis. Opera BER- 
NARDI HAVESTADT. Editionem novam immu- 
tatam curavit Dr. JuLius PLATZMANN. 2 vols. 
Lipsiae, Teubner, 18838. 952 p. 12°. 
Turs is the general title of Platzmann’s neat 
facsimile reprint of an important publication 
of the eighteenth century which had become 
quite scarce. Havestadt was a Jesuit, born in 
the environs of Cologne, on the Rhine, and a 
man of considerable learning, — a fact which 
appears not only from the fluent and elegant 
Latin style in which his manuals are composed, 
but also from the few leaves which he devotes 
to an autobiographic notice. The travels per- 
formed by him (1751-52) in his Chilian diocese 
on the western slope and in the higher valleys of 
the Andes are described in vivid colors by him- 
self, and illustrated by a quaint map, which 
fully deserves the attention of ethnographers. 
The missionary’s work was originally published 
(in 1777) with several sub-titles, which are 
faithfully reproduced in the reprint with all the 
saints’ images, heraldry, etc., and embrace the 
SCIENCE. 
‘ ; ‘ ‘ - 
[Vou. 1IL, ile ied 
following parts: Chilian grammar; three vo- — 
cabularies ; catechism, with Latin translation, 
and hymns in Chilian, to which music-notes are 
added ; and a diary. 
The phonetic system of Chilidigu (dugu, 
‘language ’) is described with laudable accu- 
racy by the padre, who marks forty different 
sounds as constituting its alphabet. ‘The lan- 
guage evinces some tendency towards nasali- 
zation of the consonantic elements, but is of 
an easy and harmonious pronunciation, and | 
shows some general resemblance to Quichhua * 
and Aimara phonetics. A peculiarity not very 
often found in American languages is the dual, 
which here pervades the verb and pronoun as 
well as the noun. According to the custom of 
his epoch, Havestadt arranged the forms dis- 
covered in this southern language wholly after 
the pattern of the Latin grammar. He found 
six cases in the noun; but his paradigms con- 
clusively show that his nominative is identical 
with his accusative and vocative, his dative the 
same form as his ablative. Whether these — 
cases are formed by postpositions, or by real 
case-affixes, remains to be examined. The 
verb inflects with remarkable regularity, forms 
five tenses and an intricate array of verbals 
(noninal forms of the verb, gerunds, etc.), has 
an interrogative, affirmative, negative, and pas- 
sive form, together with an extensive system of 
transitions. A large number of suffixes serves 
to form derivatives, verbal as well as nominal, 
from verbal and nominal bases. In his rich 
collection of conversational phrases, the author 
has given a powerful and safe guide for the 
study of this sonorous tongue, which he extols 
in such a manner as to make it ‘* surpass in 
excellence and graphic power all other lan- 
guages of the world.’’ The vocabularies given 
by Havestadt are more copious than that of 
Febres and the other authors who have written 
upon the Chilidigu. The dialect of Chilidigu, 
treated by Havestadt, is that of the Molu-che 
tribe. 
THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. 
The journal of the Iron and steel institute. Vols. 1. 
and ii. London, Spon, 1883. 10+484, 405p. 8°. 
Tue proceedings of the Iron and steel insti- 
tute cannot fail to be of interest to the gen- 
eral scientific public, and especially so to the 
workers and manufacturers of iron and steel, 
since the society numbers among its active 
members such men as Sir Henry Bessemer, 
Mr. Sidney G. Thomas, and Mr. I. Lowthian 
Bell. The late C. W. Siemens was one of the 
prominent members and contributors. ‘The — 
