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Now let us see what Dr. Bonavia says. He has the specimen soil collected by Mr. Brownlow analyzed by a trustworthy chemist, who finds no lime in it. Dr. Bonavia argues (p. 94) "that either Mr. Brownlow took his sample from one particular spot, or did not reach the calcareous soil." "Orange wood requires considerable lime. In Chela oranges grow very well; therefore the soil of Chela contains lime. Moreover, it is incredible as the district exports lime that no lime detritus is ever washed down by the floods which flood the orange-groves of Chela to the depth of 6 feet."

Nothing can be wider of the mark. Mr. Brownlow would have had to go very deep into the Sylhet trap, a very hard rock, to get any lime. It is true that there is limestone at Mamloo, and that the water that comes down has some lime in it--but very little. The floods at Chela rise sometimes 60 feet (instead of 6), but they cannot inundate even then much of the orange groves which run up to 2000 feet. Perhaps the most extraordinary statement in Mr. Brownlow's description is that (above Chela) "no vacancies are left in the planting of the orange-trees." The trap boulders are as big as cottages all over the valley.

We turn to the second source of information-the Deputy-Commissioner of Sylhet. Fifty years ago Fifty years ago "Khasia" was attached to Sylhet, and known as North Sylhet; and the oranges are still known as Sylhet oranges. Dr. Bonavia applies, therefore, to the DeputyCommissioner not of the Khasi Hills, but of Sylhet. The Deputy-Commissioner cannot possibly leave his own Sylhet government and his own station; but, being a very amiable man, he sends Juggaish Babu, Deputy-Magistrate of Chunamgunj, to collect the information for Dr. Bonavia. This gentleman commences his report, " I met with the greatest difficulty in compiling these statistics. The Khasis received my inquiries with suspicion, and tried to mislead me as much as possible." The Khasis would doubtless be most hostile to a Bengali Babu from Sylhet. But a Bengali Babu is not exactly the man to collect scientific information anywhere. Juggaish Babu commences, "The soil must be sandy." "The gardens being situated on river-sides, their soil naturally retains some moisture even in the dry season. Hence, perhaps, artificial irrigation becomes unnecessary." How the idea of the possibility of artificially irrigating the Chela valley can have occurred to the Babu's mind is marvellous; unless his report is in reply to some leading question by

Dr. Bonavia.

"The garden is never hoed or harrowed before receiving the orange plants." It would not be possible to harrow such a country at any season. The Babu finally speaks of the land tenure. He does not mention the fact that Chela and its 12 associated villages form a republic under the protection of the English Government; their administrative Government consists of 4 councillors elected for four years by universal manhood suffrage. This constitution was established half a century ago by a Bengal civilian, and is unique.

We now turn to the third source of information to Dr.

Bonavia, viz. the Rev. Jerman Jones, a missionary who

has been in Khasia more than 25 years, and could have

told much. But he appears only to have been consulted

about the names of oranges in Khasi, and he replied that

the name (for the Khasi Mandarin) is U soh niam-tra; which Dr. Bonavia writes Usoh niamtra; and states (p. 228) that Usoh is the generic Khasi name for oranges. [In a footnote, backed up by an appendix, No. 43, Dr. Bonavia carefully and amusingly notes that the word he got from the Deputy-Commissioner of Sylhet was santra, not niamtra. Dr. Bonavia evidently thinks the testimony of a missionary doubtful as against that of a DeputyCommissioner. But the excellent Deputy-Commissioner in question has an extremely limited knowledge of Khasi, and would certainly not set himself up against Mr. Jerman Jones.]

Dr. Bonavia having got the word usoh for orange in Khasi, goes on to connect it with the Amboina words. aussi and ussi. He proceeds (in tracing the origin of the Mandarin), p. 229 :—

"We have here, I think, something tangible to go by. The community of the generic name usoh, ussi, or usse to the Khasi Hills and the Malay Archipelago indicates, &c., &c."

In Appendix No. 58, the affinity of usoh is pushed further with the aid of Prof. Dr. T. de Lacouperie.

Now we come to the smash of the whole. Soh means

"fruit" in Khasi, as see Hooker, “Himalayan Journal,” vol. ii. p. 268, in note; in which language every noun must have the article prefixed, and soh being masculine, takes the masculine article U. Throughout Khasia, usoh so far from being the generic term for orange, would be understood to be potatoes. It is probable that, at Chela, if an Englishman pointed at a basket of oranges and said "usoh," they would guess which fruit he meant ; but it is not Khasi. (Not the least curiosity in this book is that Mr. Jerman Jones should say that he had never found a Khasi who could offer the remotest suggestion as to the derivation or meaning of niam-tra. Some Khasis have an explanation; it might be worth Dr. Bonavia's while to ask Mr. Stevens of Chela, or Mr. Roberts of Nongsowlia, about it before publishing the corrected edition.)

The sum of the matter is that, if Dr. Bonavia had confined his book to his own observations and his own par of the country, with half a dozen plates showing proper the main types of Indian oranges, it would have beer handy inexpensive book of 200 pages at most. But, fortunately, in Indian style, Dr. Bonavia's ambition has been to include all India in his book, to put forward his own extremely peculiar views of morphology, and to revel in linguistic and ethnological speculations, some of which are absolutely bad, and many of which can be but of little use. On top of the book thus weighted come the 120 pages of appendix, with the final result that the work bears a painful resemblance to the ordinary Secretarial Report, though it possesses really an amount of original observation and experience which such Reports often entirely want.

In one respect, Dr. Bonavia hardly comes up to the Secretarial Report: he spells, on one page, Shalla, Mhowmloo, Mostock, though those words were correctly spelt Chela, Mamloo, Mousto, as long ago as 1854 by Sir J. D. Hooker; or Dr. Bonavia might have referred to the fine map of the district by Godwin-Austen. Similarly, Dr. Bonavia states (p. 30), "The Bengalis have no v in their language." It is true that in vulgar

which has hitherto been published only in various Journals and Transactions of Societies. The book commences with a chapter on ancient traditions, giving a chronological table of the more important shocks which have occurred since 79 A.D. The second chapter briefly discusses the connection between earthquakes and volcanoes, a subject of which we have apparently a good deal still to learn. Then follow descriptions and illustrations of various seismometers and seismographs, including the latest forms devised by Profs. Gray and Milne. In this chapter there are given several interesting comparisons of earthquake curves automatically recorded by the instruments, and curves artificially produced by the application of forces of known direction and magnitude. The propagation of shocks through land and water, and their destructive effects, are also considered, the latter being illustrated by sketches of some of the more remarkable fractures and displacements which have been observed. The last chapter summarises the suggestions which have been made as to possible connections between earthquakes and astronomical and meteorological phenomena. In conclusion, M. Girard points out the necessity for continued systematic observations, and enumerates the chief points on which further information is required.

To those who know little or nothing of the subject, M. Girard's little book will form an admirable introduction; and to the initiated it will be a handy book of reference to its latest developments.

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BUT for his statement that I "cannot be sincere," I should not have deemed it necessary again to answer Prof. Lankester; anyone who is read in the literature of Darwinism must already have perceived that a further reply on my part is needless. An accusation of insincerity, however, ought not to pass unnoticed; and therefore I will ask your more general readers to observe the ground on which it has been made.

In my answer to his original criticism I endeavoured to show that Prof. Lankester "fails to distinguish between the cessation and the reversal of selection," or, more particularly, between panmixia and the economy of growth; and this is the point the point-and the only point-in dispute. I have always with regard to which insincerity is charged. Yet this is just represented that the cessation of selection is per se a cause of degeneration, whether or not it be associated with the economy of growth. Prof. Lankester, on the other hand, represented that the cessation of selection is not per se a cause of degeneration; but merely a "state," which is precedent to, and contemporaneous with, the economy of growth-the latter being the cause, while the former is but a condition to the occurrence of this cause. Such, at any rate, appeared to me the only meaning that could be gathered from his paragraph at the top of p. 488; and it is now over and over again repeated in his last letter. For instance :-"Cessation of selection must be supplemented by economy of growth in order to produce the results attributed to 'panmixia. And inasmuch as economy of growth as a cause of degeneration involves the condition of cessation of selection, Mr. Darwin in recognizing the one recognized the other... It is true that Mr. Darwin did not recognize that such unrestricted variation must lead to a diminution in size of the varying part without the operation of the principle of economy of growth. This was no strange oversight: he would have been in error had done so.... . . The term ['panmixia'], like its correlative 'cessation of selection,' does not indicate a principle, but a natural condition: it does not involve the inference that a dwindling in the size of the organ must result from inter-breeding; but simply points to a precedent condition" (p. 559: italics mine).1

La Photographie à la Lumière du Magnésium. By Dr.
J. M. Eder. Translated by Henry Gauthier-Villars.
(Paris: Gauthier-Villars and Son, 1890.)
THIS is a translation of a very interesting little German
work on the employment of magnesium light for the
purposes of photography, and will form a useful addition
to our photographic literature. The author first gives a
brief account of the earlier stages of the subject, taking us
back to the time when Bunsen and Roscoe, in the year
1859, indicated the considerable advantages the light of
magnesium presented for photo-chemical studies and
lighting. He then shows how Crookes afterwards
employed the light for photographic purposes.
Amongst the very first attempts of artificial lighting, the
wire of magnesium was used. It was burnt in a specially-he
made lamp, and the light thus produced answered fairly
well for interiors, but was useless for portrait work, being
too harsh. The next advance was the employment of a
mixture consisting of the powder of magnesium, chlorate
of potassium, and a sulphide of antimony; the light was
produced by igniting the mixture, which flared up instan-
taneously. The chief drawback to this method was the
great precaution that had to be taken during the mixing,
as the slightest blow caused an explosion. Saltpetre in
place of potassium was sometimes used so as to lessen
the chances of explosion.

The methods described in chapters v. and vi. were those which gave the best results. They consisted in blowing powdered magnesium through a tube and allowing this powder to come out at the other extremity into a gas or candle flame; the light thus produced was extremely actinic, and did not present any danger. The lamps of Schirm and Loehr, illustrations of which are given in these chapters, were on this principle, and gave great satisfaction for portraiture, being worked by means of a pneumatic india-rubber ball. Chapter vii. treats of the combustion of magnesium in oxygen, and in it is described Piffard's apparatus for the production of this light, which was found to be enormously increased by the presence of the oxygen. The remaining chapters deal with methods of taking groups by this artificial light; and there is a very interesting illustration of the pupil of the human eye, photographed in a dark room by means of the flash light, the exposure of which was so short that the pupil had no time to contract. The book concludes

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Where, then, is the insincerity in saying that Prof. Lankester does not perceive the distinction between the cessation of selec tion and the economy of growth as two totally different causal "principles"? Or what remains for me but to repeat, with all sincerity, "he confounds the 'idea of panmixia with that of the economy of growth," and "fails to perceive the essence of the idea' in the all-important distinction between selection as withdrawn and selection as reversed"?

It is true that at the close of his last letter Prof. Lankester admits, "when we consider shape and structure, and not merely size, it is clear that panmix ia without economy of growth would lead to a complete loss of that complex adjustment of parts which many organs exhibit, and consequently to degeneration without loss of bulk." But how was it possible to surmise from his first letter that he had in his mind such reservations as to 'shape" and "structure?" Or, indeed, how is it possible to reconcile such reservations with the passages above quoted from his last letter, to the effect that the cessation of selection is "not a principle at all," but merely "a condition which alone cannot produce any important result"? Are we to conclude that in Prof. Lankester's opinion neither "a complete loss of complex I may remark that the term "cessation of selection" is not the "cor panmixia." relative," but the synonym of the term "* And I may further remark that the term "reversal of selection" is not, as Prof Lankester supposes, the synonym of the term economy of growth," Economy of growth, where useless structures are concerned, may determine a reversal ot selection: but the reversal of selection may also be determined by many other causes and conditions, which are equally potent- or even very much more potent-in this respect.

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adjustment," nor any amount of change as to "shape," deserves to be regarded as "any important result"? Must we not rather conclude that when he first wrote upon "the state of panmixia," he had not sufficiently considered the subject; and, in now endeavouring to trim, ends by contradicting himself?

The only issue being as to whether panmixia is itself a cause, or merely the precedent condition to the occurrence of a totally different cause, nothing more remains to be said. As a result of his further consideration, Prof. Lankester now admits "it is clear" that, “without economy of growth," panmixia is a cause of degeneration where "shape" and "structure" are concerned. And, when he considers the matter a little more, he will doubtless perceive the contradiction in saying that, where degeneration as to "size" is concerned, "it is absurd to attribute the result, or any proportion of it, to the panmixia or cessation of selection alone." Variations round an average mean occur in "size" or "bulk," just as they do in "shape" and "structure": therefore, if on this account panmixia is conceded to be a true cause of degeneration as regards the latter, it must likewise be so as regards the former. The fact that in the former case-as I showed in 1874-it must always be more or less associated with the economy of growth, is no proof that it then loses its due "proportion" of causal agency; while, with the now single exception of Prof. Lankester, everyone who has since written upon this "principle" takes the same view as I did—viz. that the phenomena of "dwindling" in our own domesticated animals furnish as good evidence of the operation of panmixia as is furnished by the other forms of degeneration to which he now alludes. Therefore, if he really believes it is in this case "absurd to attribute the result, or any proportion of it, to the panmixia," he becomes opposed, not only to me, but to Galton, to Weismann, to Poulton, and to everybody else who has ever considered the subject. In short, it is now a matter of general recognition that what he calls my "unreal separation between cessation of selection' and 'reversal of selection,'" is a separation so fundamentally real, that it is the means-and the only means-of abolishing the evidence of Lamarckian factors where this once appeared to be most conclusive; seeing that "with highly-fed domesticated animals there seems to be no economy of growth, nor any tendency to the elimination of superfluous details." April 19. GEORGE J. ROMANES.

IN NATURE of April 3 (p. 511) Mr. Herbert Spencer suggests an interesting subject for discussion on the effects of use and disuse of organs, asking for an explanation on the theory of panmixia of the well-known tendency of domesticated animals to droop the ears. Many of the ruminants in a wild state have their ears set on horizontally with an inclination to droop; for instance, the gnu, sable, antelope, zebu, gaur (Central India), Cape buffalo, &c. The American bison has completely drooping ears; there is also at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, in Case 57, a specimen of a smooth-haired sheep from Turkey in Asia, Ovis aries, which has dependent ears. Pathologically, though as yet not physiologically proved, the discussion of the transmission of acquired characters possesses a deep interest.

Evolution seems impossible without variation, and until the latter can be explained on other grounds than those of the inheritance of accumulated minute changes in character acquired through ages of slowly varying climate and conditions of life, preserved by natural selection, this transmission would seem a reasonable conclusion so long as the characters acquired were of service to the inheritor in the struggle for existence.

Though Weismann disbelieves most of the evidence Darwin collected on heredity, and doubts the possibility of the communication of external influences by the somatic cells to the germ cell, he suggests no other hypothesis to account for the phenomena of change, beyond the vague expression "predisposition of the germ-plasm." R. HAIG THOMAS.

April 5.

Darwin, "Variation, &c.," ii. p. 289. Seeing the importance of "the idea of panmixia" in this connection, I must still be permitted to regard it as unfortunate" that it was not present to Mr. Darwin's mind before the publication of his last edition of the "Origin of Species." But this does not mean, as Prof. Lankester "affects to suppose," that I regard the unfortunate nature of such a circumstance as due to the fact that I happened to be the first who perceived it. One can only assign so petty a form of "badinage" to the same argumentative level as "pointing out the oversight" that in my first letter I omitted to credit Mr. Darwin with the recognition of the economy of growth." Prof. Lankester has committed alout as grave an oversight in his own letter, by omitting to credit Mr. Darwin with the recognition of natural selection.

The "Rollers" of Ascension and St. Helena. tion under Prof. Todd has had occasion to stop here during the You probably know that the United States Scientific Expedipast two weeks. I have resided during this time continuously at the signal station on Cross Hill (altitude 870 feet), studying the clouds and winds with many important results. I have had an excellent opportunity to observe the "rollers" for which Ascension and St. Helena are famous, and I have been able to demonstrate convincingly to myself their nature and origin. I should be obliged to anyone who will tell me whether my following views have perhaps been arrived at by previous observers.

The south-east trade blows with very various intensities over different parts of the South Atlantic, and the regions of light trade, no trade, fresh and strong trade, vary from day to day, as shown by comparing the logs of vessels. A limited region of strong south-east trade is a region whence spreads in all directions the corresponding strong south-east swell of the ocean surfacevery distant storm winds or very near regions of high south-east these winds will determine whether any point shall be experiencwinds produce similar results on the ocean swell: the locality of ing a light or heavy swell. What causes the variations in the south-east trades, and in what direction the regions of strong trade move, are questions for further study. My present data would show that these latter regions move against the trade winds, i.e. from Ascension towards St. Helena, but there need be no uniformity in this respect.

Now if a south-east swell surrounds such an island as Ascension it is not directly felt on the lee side, but the long rectilinear swells, that advance faster in deep than in shoal water, are seen from my elevated station to assume the new curved shapes that result from the retardations on the shoals. So that finally in typical cases we have off the lee of the island a series of crossing and interfering swells producing at one point a quiet spot, at the next a double swell and great breakers.

The rollers are a magnificent example of deflection by shoals, and of interference and of composition of waves. Their severity at St. Helena and Ascension is apparently due to the proportions of the dimensions of the swell to that of the islands, just as in the interference phenomena of sound and light everything depends on the size of obstacle and length of wave. I have a number of measures that will, I hope, enable me in the future to give more accurate details, but for the present I can only inquire as to the bibliography of the subject. The correct explanation of the rollers, and of the swell on the West African coast, will undoubtedly lead us to further steps in marine meteorology. CLEVELAND ABBE.

U.S.S. Pensacola, Ascension, April 2.

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Self-Colonization of the Coco-nut Palm. WITH reference to Mr. Hemsley's note on this subject to NATURE (p. 537), I regret to have to inform him that the two young palms found on Falcon Island were placed there by a Tongan chief of Namuka, who, in 1887, had the curiosity to visit the newly-born island, and took some coco-nuts with him. This information I received from Commander Oldham, who had been much interested at finding these sprouting nuts at some 12 feet above sea-level and well in from the shore of the island, but who found out the unexpected facts in time to save me from making a speculation somewhat similar to Mr. Hemsley's. W. J. L. WHARTON.

Nessler's Ammonia Test as a Micro-chemical
Reagent for Tannin.

In most cases the presence of tannin is immediately shown by all the ordinary reagents used by the botanist for its discovery. This does not happen sometimes, however; as, for instance, in the tannin-cells found in the epidermis on the dorsal side of the leaves of some plants. As a good typical example the common primrose may be cited. Of all the ordinary tests, including iron salts, potassium bichromate, Moll's test (copper acetate and iron acetate), ammonium molybdate, and osmic acid in I per cent. solution, the latter alone acts immediately upon the tannin in the primrose leaf's epidermis. It may hence be worth while recording the discovery of a second reagent capable of acting rapidly and effectively; and one which is easily made and will keep for some time should be especially valuable Such a reagent is Nessler's test for ammonia.

Nessler's test is made, as all the world knows, by saturating a solution of potassium iodide with mercuric iodide, and adding an excess of caustic potash. Ammonia gives with this a reddish precipitate; tannin a brown, and when in considerable quantity a deep black one; but if little tannin be present, the brown may tend towards purple. It goes without saying that much experiment must be undertaken before one can be sure of the substance giving the brown precipitate being really tannin. To be con. clusive, such experiment should be carried out in four different directions:

(1) The reaction ought to be given in all cases when the ordinary reagents make their presence immediately felt.

(2) Cells which will not immediately give the tannin reaction with ordinary tests, but which will do so with Nessler's test, must also do so under the former conditions if time be allowed. (3) Tissues which will not yield the reaction with Nessler's test, must not give it with any other reagent even after the lapse of some time.

(4) Solutions of tannin must give a brown precipitate with Nessler's test.

Under the first of these headings may be mentioned growing shoots of the garden rose. On laying a radial longitudinal or a tangential section of this in Nessler's fluid a copious black-brown precipitate is obtained, and the same thing occurs with the beautiful tannin-sacs of Musa sapientum. In all other instances where tannin has betrayed its presence by the use of ordinary reagents, the brown colour has been obtained upon treatment with Nessler's test.

The primrose leaf may be again cited as an example of the time sometimes necessary to show up tannin with the usual reagents, of which it must here suffice to particularize ammonium molybdate. On laying in the molybdate a small piece of epidermis torn off the lower side of the leaf, one first sees a cell here and there coloured the characteristic and beautiful yellow given by this test these coloured cells are usually situated among the elongated more or less rectangular cells overlying the vascular bundles. Re-examination after half an hour or so shows several more of the cells similarly coloured, but it is usually not till after a couple of hours that one can safely declare all the tannin-containing cells to have been stained. With variations in respect of time, and with the sole exception of osmic acid, all the other tests act in precisely the same way; even Moll's, preferred to all others by some of our Continental confrères, being as unsatisfactory as the rest. But sooner or later its characteristic colour is imparted to these cells by every reagent, thus proving tannin to be present.

For the negative experiment-the absence of the brown colour from tissues treated with Nessler's fluid, and its absence from the same tissues when acted upon by ordinary tannin reagents-recourse was again had to epidermis. The experiment succeeded in all cases: among these may be cited Fatsia japonica, wallflower, box, Stellaria media, and Pelargonium zonale. of these did tannin show up, although twenty-four hours were allowed to elapse before the preparations were destroyed.

In none

Lastly, Nessler's fluid gives a rich brown precipitate with solutions of tannin. Moreover, with gallic acid a grey-green one is thrown down, thus affording an easy means of distinguishing between these bodies.

garding observations accumulated throughout the past, insisted on watching the successive phases before he was convinced, would be considered inductive in an irrational degree." We cannot, of course, presume to dictate to or for the moon "up to Lunnon," but here in the country the new moon becomes full in half a month, and we have convinced ourselves by watching the successive phases that a new moon will in a month become a new moon again. Nevertheless we willingly admit that life is far too short and too encumbered to allow of any man's repeating more than a small fraction of the accumulated observations on which his scientific beliefs are founded. Yet, on the other hand, taking things for granted is probably the source of ninetenths of the errors that fill our minds, while the men of genius seem to be just those who know best what and how to observe for themselves, and how much to trust in the observations of others. T. R. R. STEBBING,

Tunbridge Wells.

Foreign Substances attached to Crabs. mackerel with red flannel, and fishing for cod on the bottom THERE is, of course, no analogy between whiffing for

with any kind of bait.

If Actinians are offensive to fish, it is a singular fact that, when a cod-line is baited with mussels, herring, sand-eels, and anemones (viz. T. crassicornis and A. mesembryanthemum), the latter prove by far the most successful baits.

Impalement on a hook by no means kills an anemone, whose powers of offence are, perhaps, little lessened thereby; and under natural conditions the tentacles are not always expanded. Though the full-grown cod does not affect the tidal waters of species, ventures close inshore and the largest cod abound the coast, yet the "rock" cod, by no means the youngest of its amongst the tidal waters of the Bell Rock.

The cnide of an anemone seem very efficient weapons against a soft-skinned Cephalopod, but they are not necessarily so against a tough-skinned fish.

Prof. McIntosh, in the work referred to in a previous letter, records Tealia and Peachia from the stomach of the cod, and Edwardsia (in swarms) from that of the flounder. He also informs me that he has found Stomphia in the stomach of the cod. I may add that the practice of baiting here with anemones is much more recent than the work referred to.

Of all British Coelenterates, Cyanea is, perhaps, the most deadly; yet many trustworthy observers have found young cod sheltering themselves beneath its umbrella-a fact which seems to indicate that they hold its stinging powers in some contempt; and Dr. Collingwood, in "A Naturalist's Rambles in the China Seas" (p. 150), has recorded the discovery of an immense fish-sheltering anemone. ERNEST W. L. HOLT.

St. Andrews Marine Laboratory.

The Relative Prevalence of North-east and South-west Winds.

IN a note at p. 470 NATURE, March 20), attention is drawn to the statement by Mr. Prince contained in his meteorological summary of observations taken at Crowborough, Sussex, in 1889, concerning the greater prevalence of north-east as compared with south-west winds which he finds to exist in recent years. The writer of the note mentions that this is not borne

For these reasons, therefore, viz. the rapidity, certainty, and distinctness of its action; the ease with which it can be made; its permanence when made; and lastly, the difference in its be-out by the Greenwich observations, but some definite statistics haviour towards tannin and towards gallic acid-for these reasons I am bold enough to anticipate the time when, to adapt a hackneyed expression, Nessler's fluid will be regarded as a reagent which no botanical laboratory should be without.

SPENCER MOORE.

The Moon in London.

46

as regards Greenwich, and distinct comparison with the Crowborough numbers, may perhaps not be unacceptable to your meteorological readers.

Mr. Prince remarks that in previous years he finds only two years in which north-east winds have been in excess of southwest. In the first, 1864, the days of north-east wind were 104, of south-west wind 89; in the second instance, 1870, the days of north-east wind were 107, of south-west wind 88. The corresponding Greenwich numbers were, in 1864, 43 and 108; and in 1870, 65 and 96.

SOME years ago a weekly paper represented a young rustic asking his mother, Be that the same moon they have up to Lunnon?" to which question the mother evasively replied, "You leave the moon alone and go to bed." The boy was satisfied by retorting, "I baint a touching on it." But his question is this month brought once more to the front by the following passage, which will be found in one of our most important monthly magazines. "But if," says the writer, "there is an abuse of the deductive method of reasoning, there is also an abuse of the inductive method. One who refused to believe that a new moon would in a month become full, and, disre- G.

On the average of the years 1859 to 1883 Mr. Prince gives north-east wind on 63 days, south-west wind on 99 days. The corresponding Greenwich values are 43 and 111 respectively. For the years 1885 to 1889 he gives the average frequency of different winds as follows, to which I have added the values for Greenwich. C. indicates Crowborough, and G. Greenwich. N. N.E. E. S.E. S. S.W. W. N.W. Calm. 41 102 21 22 38 72 50 17 49 52 35 23 37 100 40 19

C.

فن

days. 10 days.

He further gives the averages for 47 years, to which I have added those for Greenwich for 49 years.

N. N.E. E. S.E. S.

SW. W. N. W. Calm,
C. (47 y.) 33 63 29 27 28 91 59 35
days.
G. (49 y.) 40 45 27
22 35 106 46 22 22 days.
The Greenwich values are determined from numbers derived
from the records of the self-registering Osler anemometer of the
Royal Observatory as given in the annual Greenwich volumes.
The preponderance of south-west wind over north-east seems to
have been, throughout, less at Crowborough than at Greenwich.
But it is only in recent years that the difference has become so
pronounced, the Crowborough numbers for each year 1885 to
1889 being largely in excess for north east wind, whilst the
Greenwich numbers are greatly in excess for south-west, as in
former years.
At Greenwich during the first 24 years of the
49 years series, the average number of days of north-east wind
was 46, of south-west wind 107; during the last 25 years, of
north-east wind 44, of south-west wind 106.

It would be very interesting if a similar comparison could be
made with some other station in the south of England.
Greenwich, April 16.
WILLIAM ELLIS.

Science at Eton,

IN the Illustrated London News for March 29 I find an account (with illustration) of an astronomical lecture at Eton. It appears that the scholars "were allowed" to listen the other day, in the new lecture-room, to a lecture by Major-General A. W. Drayson, R.A., on the second rotation of the earth and its effects.

General Drayson has written some books on this subject which possibly no one has answered, for the simple reason that they answer themselves; but it seems now, that he is permitted, under the auspices of their teachers, to urge his paradoxes on the students of our largest public school.

Is Eton without any science teacher? or is the so-called teacher incapable of preventing absurdities being put forward with authority? Are the lecture-rooms of Eton College open to "Parallax" and the circle-squarers? J. F. TENNANT.

MODIGLIANI'S EXPLORATION OF NIAS

ISLAND.

ABOUT two years ago, on his return to Florence, I gave a brief account of Dr. Elio Modigliani's very successful and interesting exploration of Pulo Nias (NATURE, vol. xxxv. p. 342). We have now before us the general results of that exploration, embodied in a portly volume most elegantly got up, rich in maps and illustrations, and, what is better, full of interesting facts, carefully collated notices, and well pondered and carefully drawn deductions; in short, one of the best books of its kind.

Judging from what he has done, Dr. Modigliani is evidently made of the stuff which produces the best explorers. Resolute and persevering, moved by what we in Italy call il fuoco sacro, ever ready to put up with priva- | tions of all kinds, although accustomed to a very different sort of life, a quick and keen observer, he has indeed done wonders; and considering that he has not had the advantage of any special training in natural science, he has shown himself to be a good geographer and ethnologist, and a clever naturalist.

Dr. Modigliani's choice of the island of Nias as the field of his explorations was a singularly happy one, in which he was guided by no less a man than Odoardo Beccari. Few indeed of the hundreds of islands of that wonderland, the Malayan Archipelago, present such an accumulation of interesting problems as Nias. Lying off the ocean seaboard of Sumatra, and partaking naturally of the characteristic features of its big neighbour, it has a flora and fauna with a remarkable number of special

Eho Modigliani, Un Viaggio a Nías" Illustrato da 195 incisioni, 26 tavole turate a parte e 4 carte geografiche. Pp. xv.-726. (Milano: Fratelli Treves, 1890.)

characteristics, whilst its human inhabitants show strange affinities with people of other races and of distant lands. I shall now endeavour to give a concise account of Dr. Modigliani's exploration of Nias, and of the results he obtained, as given in his book. Dr. Modigliani left Italy at the end of 1885; he paid a rapid visit to India, crossing overland from Bombay to Calcutta, vid Delhi and Agra, and visiting Darjiling; he touched at Rangoon, and after a short stay at Singapore and a lengthened one in Java, where at Batavia and Buitenzorg he prepared his local equipment, and engaged Javanese hunters and collectors, he reached Siboga, Sumatra, early in spring, 1886. Thence he started for Gunong Sitoli, the only civilized port of Nias, on one of the Dutch Government Kruis boats on April 14. Dr. Modigliani spent five months on the island, which he left in the middle of September. On his way back to Italy he completed the tour of Sumatra, touching at Kota Rajah and Olelek (Acheen), visited Singapore again, touched at Colombo, and crossed India a second time from Madras to Calicut, visiting the Todas and some of the hill tribes of Southern India, which had a special interest for him in his researches on the origin and affinities of the people of Nias. Dr. Modigliani brought back with him from Nias extensive and important collections-ethnological, zoological, and botanical-and whilst these were being studied by specialists, he actively set to work arranging and sorting his notes and the material for his book. taking to deal with all the ethnological part himself, he visited the more important ethnographical museums of Europe, and even the minor ones where he knew that specimens from Nias were to be seen. To complete his historical and geographical researches regarding Nias, Dr. Modigliani paid a lengthy visit to Holland, working in the Libraries and Government Archives at the Hague and Leyden. I, who have had many opportunities of observing and admiring his untiring energy and activity, could hardly feel surprised, on reading his book, to find it so full of information and so excellently well done.

Under

Dr. Modigliani has divided his work on Nias into two parts. The first contains three chapters, and is entirely introductory and historical; the second, in twenty-three chapters, with appendices and bibliography, contains the narrative of his sojourn in Nias, and his own personal observations and studies on men and things in that island. I have little to say on the first part of Dr. Modigliani's book except that it embodies the results of much erudition and careful and patient collation. From the earliest semifabulous notices of Al-Neyan, El-binan, Neya, Niha, Nia, in ancient Arabic and Persian manuscripts, we are brought to European intercourse with Tano Niha, as the natives call their island, and thence on through the modern vicissitudes of Dutch domination, which to this day is little more than nominal, except at Gunong Sitoli and in the northern portion of the island, where, however, German missionaries appear to have done more to spread the influence of civilization than the colonial authorities.

Part II. occupies by far the greater portion of Modigliani's bulky volume. After telling us how he travelled to Nias from Siboga-an adventurous crossing with a Malayan crew, a bad boat, and dirty weatherDr. Modigliani devotes a chapter to the geography, meteorology, and geology of Nias. The island is hilly, but can hardly be called mountainous. A notable feature is the frequency of earthquakes, easily explained by the proximity of the volcanic chain of Sumatra. Rivers and watercourses are numerous, but few are of notable size. Geologically, Nias is evidently of recent formation; a collection of rock samples brought together by Dr. Modigliani might have shed much light on this interesting subject, but it was unfortunately lost. Madreporic limestone and clams (Tridacna) were noted on the hill-tops; true lignite has, however, been found in various parts. The Dutch colonial authorities deserve much praise for their

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