SCIENTIFIC SUMHAKY. 
423 
istics which we should expect from their now generally recognised constitu- 
tion. In particular the dark ring, the phenomena of which have been 
thought by some to be inconsistent with the theory that the rings are made 
up of multitudes of small satellites, has presented appearances for which no 
other theory seems able to account. The inferior portion of the dark ring, 
where it crosses the disc of the planet, loses itself in the planet’s light. 
Thi3 ring again is no longer transparent across its entire width, but is denser 
near its exterior part, in such sort that from about the middle of its width 
to its exterior edge it does not permit the edge of the planet’s disc to be seen 
through it. Lastly, the matter composing the dark ring is aggregated here 
and there in small masses, which almost entirely prevent the light of the 
planet from reaching the observer. 
Duplicity of the Solar Dark Line 1474. — Professor Young has made an 
important discovery by showing that this now celebrated line is double, the 
components being separated by about fth of a division of Angstrom’s scale, 
or by about ^th of the distance between the D lines. Only one of the com- 
ponents belongs to the spectrum of iron, and doubtless the corona line 
which had been satisfactorily shown to correspond in position with 1474, 
accords with the other component, not with the component belonging to 
iron. To what element the corona line really appertains has yet to be 
determined. 
BOTANY AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 
The Celtic Race of Pears . — An interesting paper to botanists who are 
lovers of the antique is given in a late number of the “Journal of Botany” 
by Dr. Masters. The part of most antiquarian interest is that which refers 
to the Celtic race, to which the Persian, French, and Devonshire forms 
belong, and is itself a quotation. It says : — “ Dr. Phen6 visited Brittany, to 
trace practically any connection — if such could be found — between the 
legends which connect the 1 Isle of Apples’ of Arthurian repute with that 
locality, and those which connect it with Britain. King Arthur, it appears, 
is supposed to have been buried either in the Island of Avalon (Glastonbury), 
in England, or in that of Aiguillon in Armorica, the equivalent of Isle of 
Avalon being Isle of Apples. An island in Loch Awe, in Argyllshire, has 
a Celtic legend containing the principal features of Arthurian story, but in 
this case the word is 1 berries ’ instead of apples. These particulars were 
fully given in a paper read on June 10, 1875, by Dr. Phen6 before the Royal 
Historical Society, in which he expressed a belief that the legend of the 
mystical Arthur was derived from the character of Arjuna given in the 
Indian poem, “ Maha Barata.” After closely examining the Island in Loch 
Awe, and Avalon in Somersetshire, he concluded his researches by a visit to 
Armorica, Brittany. He there observed a tree which helped him to the 
apples of Avalon and the berries of Loch Awe, for the apples on the tree 
were berries. The specimen he has submitted to us is the Pirns cordata of 
Desvaux, and it is interesting to note, in support of Dr. Phene’s argument, 
that it has been found in Western France — perhaps in South-western 
