It

the masses rich in alkalies and the biotite-peridotites. Mr. Kynaston (p. 102) regards this rock, with the granites and diorites of the north-west area, as contemporaneous with the Ben Cruachan granite, that is, as later than the Lower Old Red Sandstone lavaflows. The regional metamorphism of the older rocks of mid-Argyll is not due to these numerous intrusive masses, nor to any concealed dome of granite. increases in intensity from north-west to south-east, and also along the strike of the ancient sedimentary series in a north-easterly direction, so that comparatively unaltered rocks of the "Loch Awe group (p. 76) pass, outside the limits of Sheet 37, into schists of a very pronounced degree of crystallisation. Local thermal alteration tends to mask both the original clastic structures and the subsequent foliation (p. 39).

The form of the lake-floors in connection with the passage of ice across them is interestingly discussed in chapter xiii. At the time of maximum glaciation, the upper portion of the Loch Fyne ice moved out westward towards the Sound of Jura, the general south-westerly course being resumed as the ice thinned down again and became guided by the topographic features. It is held that Loch Awe at one time drained southward, when the level of its waters was nearly 200 feet higher than at present.

The economic resources of the district, which are neither conspicuous nor generally accessible, are referred to at the close of the memoir. If petrographic details naturally predominate in such a work, they only testify to the scientific thoroughness with which the Geological Survey is encouraged to explore the Scottish highlands.

THE EGYPTIAN HEAVEN AND

N his

IN

HELL.

which is in Hades, and in the Book of the Gates, the dead man is not the principal figure. In fact, in the first-named (hereinafter called "The Book of the Tuat") he hardly appears at all; the book is merely a description of the other world as it appears to the beatified spirits who follow the bark of the sun-god in its passage through Hades (the Tuat) from west to east, from his setting to his rising. During the night the dead sun-god, known as Auf ("his limbs," i.e. the carcass of the sun), sails through the regions of the underworld to give light to the dwellers therein, and during his voyage the souls of the blessed rise up and join themselves to his boat. It is a weird conception, and the description of these regions of the dark beyond, as given in Dr. Budge's book, is still more weird. The Tuat is divided into several distinct Tuats, each corresponding to one of the great Egyptian necropoles, Abydos, Thebes, Sakkara, and Heliopolis. Each has its peculiar features, and appears to be tenanted by demons and spirits with unpronounceable names and of strange appearance, some of whom are good and help the bark of the god on its way, while others are bad and seek by every means in their power to oppose its progress. These are vanquished in succession as the sun passes their territories. The "Book of the Gates" is so called on account of its chief feature being the successive mention of the gates of the Tuats, each of which has its demon-guardian, who is passed by means of the appropriate spell. In it the

Egyptian Heaven and Hell " Dr. Wallis Budge has contributed another work to his already long list of books dealing with the subject of ancient Egyptian religions. It appears in three-volume form in the useful little series of "Books on Egypt and Chaldæa," written by Dr. Budge and Mr. L. W. King, and published by Messrs. Kegan Paul. Those who are interested in the subject are familiar with Dr. Budge's edition of the "Book of the Dead" in the same series. These volumes form a companion work, being an edition of the two subsidiary collections of funerary texts, The Book of the Am-Tuat (that which is in Hades)" and "The Book of the Gates,' " which accompanied the great Chapters of Coming Forth into the Day,” the "Book of the Dead " proper. As in the former work, Dr. Budge gives the text, translation, and illustrations from the original papyri.

66

The two subsidiary books differ somewhat in purpose and scope from the "Book of the Dead" itself. The latter is a collection of spells and "words of magic power " to be learnt by the dead in order to win their way past the dangers of the unseen world into the presence of Osiris. The individual dead man, identified with Osiris, "the Osiris N," is the central figure of every chapter of the "Book of the Dead." 66 Chapter so-and-so. I, the Osiris so-andso, say," and so on. But in the Book of That 1 "The Egyptian Heaven and Hell." By E. A. Wallis Budge, Litt.D. Vol. i., The Book Am-Tuat, pp. viii+278: vol. ii., The Book of Gates, pp. viii+306; vol. iii.. The Contents of the Books of the Other World described and compared, pp. xviii+232. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 1906.) Price 6s. net each volume.

god Osiris appears, but not to the extent to which he appears in the "Book of the Dead," the chapters of which seem to have originally emanated from the original seat of his worship at Busiris in the Delta. Indeed, the "Book of the Tuat " may be a much later invention of the Theban priests, designed to divert the attention of the faithful from the northern Osiris to the sun-god of Thebes. It is homogeneous_in plan, which the "Book of the Dead" is not. Budge gives a parallel version of both subsidiary books in his third volume, so that they can conveniently be compared. In the same volume are to be found his introduction and a most compendious index.

Dr.

The pictures of these two books are extremely remarkable. Their general appearance will be well known to those who have visited the tombs of the kings at Thebes, or have seen the wonderful alabaster sarcophagus of King Seti I. in Sir John Soane's museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Under the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties the walls of the royal tombs were decorated with scenes from the Book of the Tuat " and " Book of the Gates, SO that the dead monarchs could see in pictures at least the weird forms which the imagination of the

FIG. 2-The Gate of the Serpent Agebi. From "The
Egyptian Heaven and Hell," vol. ii., The Book of
Gates.

of the dead in the next world as given in these two books are also well worth the attention of the aathropologist.

ANCIENT ECLIPSES.

THE results of recent discussion of ancient eclipses may for convenience be divided into three sections. The conclusion of each section depends upon the truth of the conclusions of the preceding sections, but not vice versa, that is to say, the results of the last section may be rejected without in the least impairing the validity of the earlier conclusions. The results are as follows:

(1) If an astronomer had been asked a year ago by

a historian or a chronologist whether the tables of the sun and moon accurately accounted for the rehave replied that the tables failed altogether to account corded phenomena of ancient eclipses, he could only altered so as to account for the observed times of for the solar eclipses; that they had been empirically certain lunar eclipses; and that the question whether the tables so altered accounted for the magnitudes of the same lunar eclipses had not even been examined. There seemed to be no possible modification of the tables that would bring them into harmony with the recorded solar eclipses, and it was therefore the received opinion that the historical accounts of these were untrustworthy. The first result is that two slight modifications of the existing tables will cause them to satisfy the records.

The modifications in question may be stated as follows:-Define the nodical month as the mean period between one passage of the moon from south to north of the ecliptic and the next passage, and define the nodical year as the mean period between one passage of the sun from south to north of the plane of the moon's orbit and the next passage, purely periodic variations being left out of account. Then the eclipses show that the rate of change of length of both the nodical month and nodical year as given in the tables must be altered.

(2) The second section of the results is concerned with the question, "In order to alter the rate of variation of the nodical year, are we to alter the acceleration of the node or of the sun?" Now the motion of the node depends upon theory, and the same theory which accounts for its motion at the present time will suffice to calculate its motion at any time during the last few centuries. The motion of the sun, however, is purely a question of observation. Unknown causes may easily be conceived as altering its motion. The second result is therefore to ascribe an acceleration to the sun's motion to account for the variation in the nodical year inferred from ancient eclipses, or in other words, we may leave out the word "nodical " in our statement and say, "The ancient eclipses indicate certain definite rates of change in the lengths of the month and year.'

(3) We lastly require some physical explanation of the sun's acceleration. Here there are many possibilities. The æther may offer a sensible resistance to the passage of the earth; or an electro-magnetic theory of gravitation may compel us to take account of the small, but not infinitesimal, ratio Between the velocity of a planet in its orbit and the velocity of light; or again, electrical theories of matter somewhat modify the old conception of mass, and with it the fundamental equations of motion on which planetary theory rests. But the explanation tentatively put forward at the April meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society is as follows:-Let us suppose the acceleration of the sun to be due to a change in the length of the day caused by tidal friction. The tides check the rotation of the earth, lengthen the day, and therefore apparently increase all diurnal movements by the same fraction of their whole amounts. Introducing numbers for greater definiteness, let us suppose that in a century the day increases in length by a two-hundredth part of a second of time. Then in a by one part in seventeen million, which is exactly the century the sun's apparent rate of motion will increase change indicated by the eclipses. If, however, the moon's apparent rate of motion also increased by one part in seventeen million the acceleration would be ten times larger than that indicated by the eclipses.

But if the tides are checking the diurnal rotation of the earth, it follows from the principle of conserva

tion of angular momentum that the moon must be receding from the earth, and absorbing the spin lost by the earth. This implies that the moon is really moving more slowly. It is impossible to make accurate calculations, for the action of the tides on an earth with oceans and continents of irregular shape cannot be computed, and it is impossible to say how the tidal action varies for different positions of the moon in its elliptic orbit. Hence we cannot say how far the action of the tides is distributed between changes in the length of the month and changes in the eccentricity of the moon's orbit. But it seems a plausible hypothesis that the large eccentricity of the moon's orbit was evolved somehow, presumably by tides, and that the eccentricity is therefore increasing, and calculation shows that if the rate of increase assigned to the eccentricity be about one-hundredth of a second of arc a century, the consequent change in the absolute angular velocity of the moon is such as to cancel nine-tenths of the apparent decrease in the length of the month, leaving the remaining one-tenth in agreement with the change inferred from ancient eclipses. This explanation, it should be clearly understood, only shows that certain correlated quantities are of the right order of magnitude: it is unable to prove or disprove an exact numerical relation.

In the remaining part of this article the basis of the conclusion of the first section is examined. That is the foundation, which must be rendered secure before interest can attach to any superstructure.

Let us select a definite eclipse, for instance, the eclipse of Thucydides in the first year of the Peloponnesian War. The record states that stars appeared. It is certain on the other hand that the eclipse, at the most, could only have been annular. There is therefore a strong presumption that Athens was not far from the central line of the eclipse, or in other words, at the time of conjunction in longitude as seen from Athens, the difference of apparent latitudes must have been small. The hypothesis that Athens was the place of observation has been objected to. This however is the natural interpretation of the passage in Thucydides; let us adopt it for the present and see where it leads. For Athens, therefore, let the difference of apparent latitude for the instant of apparent conjunction in longitude be computed from the present tables. The result is so large as absolutely to negative the possibility that stars could have been seen. Reserving the hypothesis that the record is untrustworthy as a last refuge in case of trouble, let us suppose for the present that the tables require alteration.

What kind of alteration is permissible? It has been argued in Ast. Nach., No. 3682, on physical grounds, that only one unknown quantity may be introduced. Now against physical reasoning of this kind, strong objections may be urged. It proceeds necessarily on the assumption that the general nature of the problem of the apparent motions of the sun and moon is fully understood. It absolutely limits the investigation to the numerical determination of quantities connected with a preconceived theory, and it prevents, at the outset, the attainment of results of a new character. Now as the preconceived theory was entirely based upon two centuries of observation, there is no improbability in our knowledge being widened, when the period of observation is largely increased. In the whole of astronomy there is not a single case of a theoretical value of a secular term, that is to say, a term proportional to the square of the time, being confirmed by observation. This is because the series of modern observations is not yet long enough. Is it not possible that one or two centuries hence the

observed values of these terms will lay bare a whole series of new phenomena? Physical considerations of the kind alluded to absolutely prevent the achievement of such a result. They may advantageously be replaced in the following manner by considerations of a purely geometrical character.

It being, for a time at least, granted that the eclipse of Thucydides suggests that the existing tables. require large modifications, geometrical considerations tell us, that in order to diminish by 200" or thereabouts the difference of latitude at conjunction, we must alter the mean distances of the sun and moon from the node as given by the tables for the year - 430 by quantities of the order of 2000". The only geometrical alternative is to assume alterations ten times as large in some other quantity such as the position of the perigee, and this alternative may be put aside. Now the mean distances can be expanded in powers of the time, the origin of time being taken near the present day. Then modern observations forbid the correction of the mean motions or of the terms independent of the time. The corrections are therefore necessarily thrown about the coefficients of the square of the time, that is to say, upon what are called the secular terms, in the mean distances of the sun and moon from the node. Geometrical consider. ations therefore, combined with a becoming modesty as to our powers of applying physical considerations. present us with two unknown quantities for correction, one of which is the quantity admitted in Ast. Nach.. No. 3682 to be arbitrary, while the other is a new one.

If the preconceived theory is correct and the records are trustworthy the value of the second variable will on solution turn out to be zero or so nearly zero as to suggest that zero is the true value. If no values satisfy all the equations of condition, then some of the records are untrustworthy or the geometrical considerations have been carelessly thought out. If the equations can be satisfied simultaneously, and the value of the second variable is not zero, a very strong case is established against the physical considerations of the preconceived theory.

If we write down five simultaneous linear equations in two unknown quantities x and y, all satisfied by the same values of the variables, and if we then put y equal to zero, or in other words, rub out the terms in y, we shall of course find the equations in x are inconsistent. If the equations represent historical data, and if, as men of science, we have a proper contempt for literature, we shall no doubt proceed to quarrel with our evidence. This is exactly the way in which astronomers have in the past treated ancient solar eclipses. When, however, equations of condition involving two unknown quantities are formed for all the solar eclipses in which the place of observation appears to have been fairly near the central line, whereas modern tables give residuals of the order of 200', that is to say, make the apparent differences of latitude at conjunction in longitude of the order of 200", values can be found for the unknown quantities, which will make all the residuals less than 50; in other words, whereas the present tables would leave about ten per cent. of the sun's diameter visible, the alterations proposed never leave so much as two per cent. visible.

Let it be here stated that no solar eclipse is am exception to the above statement. The conclusions rest, not upon the evidence of a majority but upon the unanimous evidence of all eclipses used. A list of these is given in Monthly Notices, lxv., p. 861, and a reference is given on p. 867 to the eclipse of Agathocles. The eclipse of Thales has not been

worked up as it occurred a hundred years before the birth of Herodotus; its evidence, whether for or against, is held to be inadmissible.

A confirmation of these results is supplied by the lunar eclipses of the Almagest. On working them up, it is found that the residuals are so large as to show that they are entitled to far less weight than the solar eclipses. Their value lies in the fact that the separate determinations from the lunar eclipses group themselves round the values derived from solar eclipses. The lunar eclipses are given in Monthly Notices, lxvi., pp. 6-7; they are nineteen in number, and in only ten cases is a numerical estimate of the magnitude recorded. These ten cases alone therefore test the newly-discovered fact which, in language that becomes appropriate only if the second section of results is admitted, states that the earth's orbital motion is subject to a secular acceleration of 4". Now of the ten lunar eclipses available, seven give accelerations lying between 2" and 6". It is therefore hard to believe that zero and not 4" is the correct value. The times of the lunar eclipses are equally striking in their confirmation of the result. Nearly thirty years ago a correction was introduced into Hansen's Tables based upon these eclipses. The main question is one of evidence. It is no use to point out in the third section of this paper how certain changes may be accounted for, if they are not shown to exist. On the other hand, no objections to a particular explanation of the physical reason can weaken the case for the observed fact that these changes are taking place. What is sufficient evidence? Two eclipses would suffice, if they had been described with a wealth of detail that established complete confidence in the records. A hundred eclipses of the actual sort would probably satisfy the most sceptical, even though the place assigned were always "tacitly assumed (to be) the capital where the record was made, or the place where the poet or historian lived." The smaller number of eclipses, which it has alone been possible to produce, should suffice to make a case almost if not completely amounting to certainty. P. H. COWELL.

VARIATIONS OF DOMESTIC POULTRY.1

THE book under notice is one of an original character. It is an attempt to describe all the different races of domestic poultry that exist in various parts of the world, and as such is not without its value, as it gives us a description of the races of fowls as they exist, not only in Asia, but in the various States of Europe and the United States of America. The book treats almost solely of the races of fowls from a fancier's point of view. The plumage and external characters which would be noticed in a show-pen are those that are dwelt upon, and as a scientific treatise the work cannot be regarded as having any special value, and would be unfairly treated if it were regarded from the same standpoint as Darwin's "Variation of Animals under Domesti

cation."

The illustrations, which are very numerous, are not original, but taken from the fancy poultry journals, where the birds are drawn with the usual exaggeration of the points valued by the fancier, and bred for securing prizes. The consequence is that some of them are good and others quite the reverse, but the plumage in many is exaggerated. To scientifie ornithologists this history of the location of colour in the different parts of the plumage of birds, and the

1"Races of Domestic Poultry." By Edward Brown. Pp. xi+234; illustrated. (London: Edward Arnold, 1906.) Price 6s. net.

fixture of the patterns in the races, is one of considerable interest. To those acquainted with the details of poultry breeding it is well known that any variation of the colour or texture of feathers which appears in any particular specimen can, by careful selection of the offspring, for a series of generations, be readily perpetuated, and by crossing with other varieties almost any pattern or disposition of colour can be obtained, and what is called a new breed formed. This is illustrated by the engraving, which we borrow from the work, of a German race at present but little known in this country, called the Lakenfelder. In this the colours are transposed from their general position, and a remarkable looking fowl is produced, which is correctly represented in the engraving.

It is of much scientific interest to trace the extent of the variation which can be induced by careful breeding. In the fowl, these variations have been almost exclusively confined to the plumage, which in some instances has been increased to an enormous extent, as in the production of quill feathers 8 inches long on the feet of the show Cochin, and the general

increase of the plumage to a great extent, so that the modern show Cochin does not at all resemble the original birds brought from Shanghai. In other cases the plumage has been partially abolished, as in the Nackthälse or Transylvanian naked necks, in which the head and neck are entirely denuded of feathers, and the skin assumes the red colour of the comb. These variations are permanent, and are intensified by long-continued breeding. The production of spangles or dark markings at the end of the feathers, of bordered margins of black on a light ground in the whole of the body feathers, and of regular transverse bars across each feather of the plumage, have all been accomplished and perpetuated by careful selection.

The various breeds of ducks, geese, and turkeys are also treated of.

The work contains in an appendix a very elaborate and useful list of the names of the races in all the European languages, which will prove of great value to all investigating the subject of variation.

W. B. TEGETMEIER.

NOTES.

THE gentlemen's conversazione at the Royal Society will be held on Wednesday next, May 9.

THE summer meeting of the American Chemical Society will this year be held in Ithaca, N.Y., on June 28-30.

IT is announced that the German Government has issued invitations for an International Conference on Wireless Telegraphy to meet on June 28.

THE sixth International Congress of Applied Chemistry was opened at Rome on April 26 by the King and Queen of Italy in the presence of the Diplomatic Body, the members of the Cabinet, high officials of the State, and about two thousand delegates. Speeches were delivered by Prof. E. Paternò, president of the congress, Signor Boselli, Minister of Public Instruction, Prof. O. Witt, and delegates of the chief nations represented at the congress. British delegates are Prof. W. A. Tilden, F.R.S., Prof. W. N. Hartley, F.R.S., and Dr. J. J. Dobbie, F.R.S.

The

A REUTER telegram from New York states that the new French liner La Provence, when 1800 miles from Poldhu and 1700 miles from Cape Cod, on April 25 at 2 p.m., simultaneously communicated by wireless telegraphy with both stations, and received answers from both.

ACCORDING to the Chemiker Zeitung there were 183,532 persons connected with chemistry who were insured against accident in Germany in 1904 of these, 1535 cases received compensation from the insurance companies. This number includes 109 cases of death, 14 completely and 1040 partially incapacitated from following their vocation in life, whilst 372 were only for a time unable to work; the amount paid to the injured or the relatives of the deceased was nearly 2,200,000 marks.

In honour of the International Medical Congress to be held in Lisbon this year, there has been opened a small exhibition of the products of the Portuguese colonies in the rooms of the Colonial Museum. The exhibits, which are chiefly from Cape Verde, Mozambique, the Portuguese Indies, Angola, Timor, and Guinea, deal almost exclusively with wool, coffee, cocoa, and india-rubber; palm oil, &c., and other raw materials of the fatty and oil industries, although important exports of the Portuguese colonies, are not represented.

ARRANGEMENTS are being made to hold a Country in Town" exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in July. The object of the exhibition is to show East Londoners what can be done to bring into the neighbourhood something of the beauty of nature. It is proposed to show living things, pictures and models, materials and appliances, plans for the improvement of certain areas in London, and exhibits explaining city life in Japan and other countries. Contributions towards the necessary expenses are asked for, and these may be sent to the Rev. Canon Barnett at Toynbee Hall, E.

THE ninth annual meeting of the Childhood Society will be held on Tuesday next, May 8, at the residence of the president, Earl Egerton of Tatton. Sir Edward Brabrook, C.B., will deliver an address. The chief object of the society is to promote the study of educational methods and of the environment of children during school life, best suited to ensure satisfactory mental and physical development of children. The society numbers among its members representatives of educational science, teachers, medical experts, and others interested in the investigation of mental and physical conditions of childhood.

EARTHQUAKE shocks have again been common during the past week. Reuter's messages show that on April 25 a disturbance was felt at 3.15 p.m. at San Francisco, and lasted nearly a minute. This shock was also felt at Oakland and Berkeley. On April 26 shocks were felt at Salinas, 100 miles south of San Francisco, at 8 p.m. and 9.50 p.m., and these were followed by a third on April 27 at 2 a.m. Each of these three disturbances lasted about four seconds. A later telegram reports that earthquakes were felt at Salinas every day from April 18 to 27. On April 27, too, four disturbances of increasing intensity were felt at Dresden, and on April 28 in Schönberg, Brambach, and other places in the Vogtland district. Two slight shocks were felt at San Francisco on the morning of April 30.

Testing Materials, which holds its congresses about every It is arranged that the International Association for three years in industrial centres in various countries, shall this year meet in the Academy of Science at Brussels on September 3-8. The King of Belgium has accorded the congress his patronage, while Prince Albert of Belgium will be one of the honorary presidents, as also will the Ministers of Finance, Railways, War, and Trade, and the Mayor of Brussels. Among the papers to be read will be one on the industries of Belgium, by Baron E. de Laveleye and M. Camerman. It is expected that a considerable number of members and delegates from this country will be present at the congress. Mr. J. E. Stead, F.R.S., Middlesbrough, is the English secretary of the association.

Ar the annual general meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, held on April 24, Sir Alexander B. W. Kennedy, F.R.S., was elected president of the institution. The council has made the following awards for papers read and discussed before the institution during the past session:-A Telford gold medal to Mr. J. A. Saner, a Watt gold medal to Mr. G. G. Stoney, and a George Stephenson gold medal to Dr. T. E. Stanton; Telford premiums to Mr. Leonard Bairstow, Mr. H. S. Bidwell, Mr. J. J. Webster, Mr. Cathcart, Mr. W. Methven, Mr. H. A. Mavor, Sir Frederick R. Upcott, K.C.V.O., C.S.I., and a Manby premium to Mr. D. E. Lloyd-Davies. The presentation of these awards, together with those for papers which have not been subject to discussion, and will be announced later, will take place at the inaugural meeting of next session.

This at first sight looks like a literary parallel to Swift's well-known fortuitous forecast of the discovery of the Martian satellites, and Mr. J. S. Stevenson, writing from Blairavon, Norwood, Ceylon, points out that Prof. H. H. Turner quotes it in Modern Astronomy as having been written in 1835. This, however, appears not to have been the case; for Mr. Stevenson, on reference to the biography of the late poet laureate by the present Lord Tennyson has found the note, The Moons of Mars' is the only modern reading here, all the rest are more than half a century old." Scientific discovery was thus not anticipated by Tennyson in the mention of Martian satellites.

THE Paris correspondent of the Times made the following announcement in a message on Monday night :-“ The Prince of Monaco formally announced to the French Minister of Education to-day his decision to establish in Paris the Oceanographic Institute that he has founded. He will endow the institute with the magnificent museum