give me an illustration, so that the reasonableness of his criticism can be tried on perfectly definite and narrow grounds.

was

He tells me that he cannot cite a better example than a paper by Dr. Raymond Pearl which appeared recently in the Proceedings of the Royal Society dealing with a species of Paramecium, and of which a fuller statement offered for publication in the Transactions. The author's position in this paper, according to Mr. Lister, is traversed by the objection that the conjugant individuals are possibly, and indeed probably, differentiated gametes. Until this objection be met, Mr. Lister holds that the elaborate series of measurements has no cogency whatever in establishing

the results which the author thinks he has obtained. Mr. Lister further believes that if Dr. Pearl were more conversant with the biological aspects of the life-history of Paramecium, or less keen on the biometric aspects of the matter, he would hardly have overlooked this view.

We have here a perfectly definite charge, not a vague insinuation, which can be discussed, and I heartily thank Mr. Lister for stating it so clearly. Now as to the actual facts:

(1) Dr. Raymond Pearl is a brilliant young American biologist who has spent much time in studying Paramacia in the biological laboratories of America and Germany. He has just been called to a chair of biology at an American university.

(2) Dr. Pearl demonstrates for the first time in the memoir to which Mr. Lister refers that conjugant Paramœcia are differentiated from the non-conjugant population, a fact which his critic only considers as possible or probable.

(3) Further, Dr. Pearl demonstrates that among these differentiated conjugants there is an assortative mating; in

other words, he shows that conjugants with certain characteristics tend to conjugate with conjugants of like

characteristics.

Dr. Pearl's paper seemed to me, as a mere biometrician, a most brilliant piece of work. That view was shared by the then Chairman of the Zoological Committee of the Royal Society, who at once passed the abstract for publication-all that lay in his power to do. The referees of the full memoir failed, so I am told, to see "the_biological significance of the constants calculated " by Dr. Pearl. This appears to be Mr. Lister's condition also. The full memoir will shortly be published in Biometrika, so that a judgment may be formed of the value of Mr. Lister's criticism. It would have been published there originally but for two reasons. Firstly, I held the paper to be an exceptionally brilliant one, which the Royal Society ought to be proud to publish, and, secondly, that in every other branch of science papers which are very extensive, and so costly to print, naturally go to societies largely endowed for the publication of such memoirs, and not to private journals. I see no reason why biometry should be cut off from such assistance, because biology has not yet become bionomy, a transition which it must make sooner or later, as astrology passed to astronomy.

Meanwhile Mr. Lister has chosen his own ground. He cites a paper by a biologist-who happens to have studied biometric methods-as one where the hare has been cooked

before it was caught, as one which deals with problems unsound from the biological standpoint. I challenge Mr. Lister to substantiate his statements:

(1) That Dr. Pearl has neglected the differentiation between conjugants and non-conjugants.

(2) That such differentiation, whether it exists or not, makes the least difference to Dr. Pearl's investigation of whether among conjugants like conjugates with like.

(3) That Dr. Pearl has dealt with a problem unsound from the standpoint of biology. KARL PEARSON.

ROYAL SOCIETY ADDRESSES.1

THE Royal Society of London is an exclusive and retired body, known of few, understanded of still fewer. To most of those who are not men of science, the words "The Royal" mean the Royal Agricultural Society; many know the Royal Institution and perhaps still more the British Association; but the ancient learned body the home of which is now at Burlington House is something beyond the knowledge of most people. Nor is this to be wondered at: known, and, indeed, seems to some to do much to the Royal Society makes few efforts to make itself keep itself unknown. It gives, it is true, two public soirées, and it has its anniversary dinner; but it has managed to make the former chiefly reunions of its own fellows, and the latter, held in the darkening days of early winter " when nobody is in town,' contrasts, by the paucity, nay, almost the absence, of public and distinguished guests, and the prominence of the fellows and their private friends, with the annual dinner of its neighbour the Royal Academy.

The late president of the society seems to have thought it would be well to try to make the general public better acquainted with some of the features and aims of the society, and has accordingly published, in an attractive and yet exceedingly cheap volume, richly illustrated with photographic reproductions and pleasing sketches, portions of his anniversary addresses, with the addition of a brief narrative of th early days of the society.

The topic on which he dwelt in his address of 1903, namely, the relation of the Royal Society to other scientific societies, illustrates indirectly the exclusiveness of the former, not only towards the general public, but even towards workers in science. This exclusiveness seems to have been at least encouraged by the change in management brought about in 1847. It was then decided, whether because the number chosen seemed sufficient for that day or society attaining and keeping its present size, that through some prescience that it would result in the

not more than fifteen new fellows should be elected each year. Since that day the workers in scienc have largely increased and are continuing to increas rapidly, but the number elected annually remains the same. Hence the number who yearly join the society is a continually diminishing fraction of those who in 1847 would all have been looked upon as fit and desirable persons to become fellows. Hence also the admission to the fellowship, the gaining of the right continually increasing value, and the allotment of to use the letters F.R.S., has become an honour of the honour an increasingly important function of the society, possibly encroaching on some of its other duties. This relative narrowing of the society's body tends to accentuate its exclusiveness and emphasises its isolation from the younger workers in science. Nor is this tendency to exclusiveness counteracted by any very direct efforts to establish relations between those within and those without the narrow circle. Indeed, even within the circle itself the relations of the fellows to each other are not very close. The temple of science at Burlington House is, at each weekly Thursday service, brightened by the presence of many eager worshippers; and the fact that these are increasing in number shows that the society is putting forth the vigour of youth in one of its several great means of advancing natural knowledge. But between times the temple is well-nigh empty. What in other places would be called "weekday attend1 The Royal Society, or Science in the State and in the Schools? By Sir William Huggins, K C. B., O.M., &c. Pp. xv+131 (London: Methuen and Co., n.d.) Price 4s. 6d. net.

longer confined, as they were in great part until a few years ago, to the antiquities of Central America and Mexico, but now extend into the wider fields of original research on Greek and Oriental sites. The present volume well illustrates this extension in the scope of American archæology, for while in the first article in the Transactions Mr. G. B. Gordon treats of the serpent motive in Mexican art, the five concluding papers deal with the results of the excavations in Crete and Babylonia carried on by the American Exploration Society and the Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania.

The papers of greatest interest and importance in the volume are those dealing with the excavations at Gournia, in Crete, and on other sites on the isthmus of Hierapetra during the year 1904, which were carried out, as in former years (see NATURE, June 1, 1905, vol. Ixxii., p. 98), by Miss Harriet A. Boyd (now Mrs. Hawes) and her assistants. In the former article, above mentioned, we described Miss Boyd's discovery of the little Minoan town of Gournià, its geographical position, and the results of the first excavations. Miss Boyd's paper on Gournià, Miss Edith Hall's " Early painted Pottery from Gournià," and Mr. R. B. Seager's "Excavations at Vasiliki," published in the present volume of Transactions, enable us to bring the story of the American work in Crete up to date.

The chief result has been the discovery of some entirely new styles of pottery of very early date. Those who know what a great part the classification of pottery takes in early Greek archæology will appreciate the importance of this discovery when we describe the most important of the new Mycenæan pottery from the isthmus of Hierapetra as a polychrome ware much anterior in date to the well-known Kamáres ware (middle Minoan period of Evans), which was contemporary with the twelfth dynasty (circa B.C. 2000) in Egypt. Miss Boyd describes it as "a remarkable new ware from Vasiliki, with Trojan shapes, monstrously long beaks, and decoration in black and red, mottled, with highly hand-polished surface." It is described by Mr. Seager, who discovered it in a Mycenæan settlement on the Kephala (ridge) of Vasiliki, in the Hierapetra isthmus-depression, two miles south of Gournià. One fragment only was previously known; this was discovered at Zakro by Mr. Hogarth.

"The hard red finish is perhaps the most remarkable and characteristic feature of the ware. At first it recalls the Libyan ware of Dr. Petrie's Pre-dynastic race. . . the body-colour is usually a red shading to orange, and the patches black to bronze green, owing to the different degrees of heat to which it has been exposed. Exactly how this effect was produced has not yet been satisfactorily explained, but possibly the vases were covered with paint and then put into a bed of coals (sic) which were heaped over them, the black patches being the effect of a live coal lying actually against the surface of the vase. This would be only a variation of the method used in firing the Pre-dynastic Libyan ware, where the necks, which were in actual contact with the coal, have burnt to a black. Very possibly this technique may have been strongly influenced by that of Libya, but with his characteristic ingenuity the Agean (sic) potter, not content with the set form and colouring of the Libyan ware, experimented with the method until he produced this varied and at times gorgeous effect. greatest charm of the prehistoric ware of the Agean is that the potters never allowed themselves to remain long tied down by a tradition of style and were constantly inventing new and original ideas of which the Egyptian workman seems never to have been capable. The Agean peoples were always ready to receive ideas

The

from their neighbours, but they never remained content until these ideas had been changed and beautified to suit their own more artistic tastes."

We have quoted Mr. Seager's description at this length for several reasons. First and primarily because of its excellence as a description of his important discovery; this pottery is highly remarkable, and may indeed be described as "gorgeous," as the coloured plate showing specimens of it proves. The explanation of its technique is probably correct. Secondly, on account of its being a good example of the way in which Greek archæologists run down the poor Egyptians; but we will not quarrel with Mr. Seager on this score; he sins in good company, and, after all, it needs a considerable acquaintance with Egyptian archæology before one realises that the Egyptians were as capable of inventing new and original ideas as the Mycenaeans. Thirdly, as an example of the way in which an archæological statement which has long been given up as incorrect by the archæologists of the branch of work to which it belongs may still be perpetuated by the archæologists of another branch: the prehistoric Egyptians, whose pottery was discovered by de Morgan and Petrie, are not known to have been Libyans, nor can their pottery be called Libyan." We know nothing of the Libyans of 5000 B.C.; the pre-dynastic Egyptians can only be called Egyptians. We may note in passing also that it is more probable that the resemblance of early Ægean to early Egyptian pottery is due to a possible common origin of their civilisations than that gean technique was strongly influenced by that of Libya (read Egypt), so early. Finally, we quote this passage as a warning against misprints. Agean" for "Egean" three times in a few lines is not pretty, and not far off we 'Cypress " for Cyprus (p. 216). The American printer has original ideas, and often carries them out at the author's expense.

66

66

66

66

see

Another unusual ware of early date was found at Gournia; its characteristic is white paint on black, with geometric ornament. This ware is described by Miss Edith Hall. The most primitive ware of all, from the rock-shelter burials at Gournia and Agia Photia near by, is also interesting; it is sub-Neolithic in date, and closely related to the Cycladic pottery of Thera and Amorgos, which it resembles.

The buildings at Vasiliki explored by Mr. Seager, in which the strange new pottery was found, are remarkable in plan and construction, and the description of the difficulties of excavating them is interesting. The rooms are filled with hard plaster, the presence of which is explained by Mr. Seager as follows. The ceilings were made of canes covered with heavy clay plaster, and these were supported by transverse beams, "When the beams gave way, the ceiling sank into the rooms below, making a layer of débris about fifty centimetres and sometimes more in thickness. This débris, owing to the action of fire and water, has become an almost petrified mass on which the picks of the men made but slight impression. Certain rooms had to be abandoned on this account, as little short of actual blasting would have been required to clear them. . . As in Gournià, and, in fact, most of the prehistoric settlements in Crete, the building seems to have been destroyed by fire. It is plain that the building must have possessed several stories, as the mass of débris which fills the rooms is far too deep to have been the result of the collapse of a single floor." Mr. Seager tells us that when, as was often the case, "the clay plaster "had fallen on a deposit of pottery or pottery from the upper rooms had fallen in with it, the objects were as fresh as on the day of the catastrophe which destroyed the building, but it

66

required the greatest skill and patience to save them unbroken, and in some cases to save an unusually fine piece it was necessary to sacrifice inferior ones Surrounding it." A short time ago I visited Vasiliki myself under the guidance of Mr. Seager, and can testify to the great interest of his work there. The plaster-filled houses are remarkable. May it not be possible that this hard stuff, which makes the excavation of the houses at Vasiliki so difficult, can be explained in a manner different from that adopted by Mr. Seager? At Phaistos the older palace (Middle Minoan or Kamáres period) was partly razed, and the remains filled up and covered with a layer of hard beton or cement, as hard as that of Vasiliki, on which the Late Minoan palace was built. I would suggest that the plaster of Vasiliki may be in reality a cement filling-up, on which later houses were built. There are certainly two or three distinct superimposed "towns" at Vasiliki. Mr. Seager is now proceeding with the work at Vasiliki alone, as Mrs. Hawes (Miss Boyd) has not visited Crete this year.

Thus Miss Boyd's Mycenaean Pompeii still continues to be interesting, and we hope that she will be enabled to go on with her work in Crete. Miss Boyd's is the most important archæological work connected with the University of Pennsylvania, and we hope that the authorities of that institution adequately recognise this fact. H. R. HALL.

THE IMMIGRATION OF SUMMER BIRDS.1 THO HOUGH great advance in our knowledge has been made during recent years concerning the migration of birds as observed in our islands, yet much remains to be learned, and any inquiry that will add to what is already known must be hailed with satisfaction. In what direction and by what methods such advancement is to be sought are questions requiring not only careful consideration, but a full knowledge of what has already been accomplished.

In electing to investigate the immigration of summer birds, the committee appointed by the British Ornithologists' Club has selected the best known of all the phases in the phenomenon. It is true that a special feature has been added in the endeavour to trace the movements of the migrants through the country after their arrival on our shores, but it is much to be doubted whether the results will contribute anything of material importance or at all commensurate with the labour involved. On the other hand, our knowledge of the autumnal departure movements, both from their inland nesting haunts and from our shores, of these same birds is far from complete.

The new committee labours under a misapprehension in supposing that the south coast was entirely omitted from the scope of the British Association committee's inquiry, for part of both the eastern and western sections were scheduled annually. Moreover, the migratory movements on the whole of that coast, for both spring and autumn, were afterwards fully investigated for three years, and the results incorporated in the later reports submitted to the Associ

ation. .

mittee would wish is to discourage the prosecu tion of observations, but they feel bound to express the opinion that no great advance of our present knowledge of the subject seems likely to be made until new methods are applied. What they should be it is impossible to suggest, but those used at present appear to have reached their limit." In this mature opinion the present writer fully concurs.

The report under notice is not lacking in interest. but it does not add anything material to our knowledge; indeed, several years' observations will be necessary before conclusions of permanent value. though possibly not advancing what is already known, can be expected. By premature publication much harm may be done, and it is to be feared that writers will arise and tell us, on the strength of this report, that, among other things, whinchats, redstarts, whitethroats, reed warblers, cuckoos, and other species do not arrive on the western section of the south coast, when further investigations by the committee will prove that they do. It is certainly surprising to find the new committee instituting a comparison between the weather conditions prevailing in the English Channel and the arrival of birds on its shores (of course with abortive results), for it was hoped that it had been clearly proved by exhaustive investigations that the meteorological conditions influencing such movements must be sought in the area whence the migrants took their departure.

In conclusion, one is tempted to suggest that it would be well if the members of the committee of the British Ornithologists' Club, before proceeding further with their arduous labours, took stock of the situation, and asked themselves if their energies might not be advantageously directed to more useful and productive branches of the subject they have at heart.

NOTES.

PROF. I. P. PAVLOFF, professor of physiology in the University of St. Petersburg, will deliver the Huxley lecture at the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School on Monday, October 1.

PROF. EMIL FISCHER, professor of chemistry in the University of Berlin, has been elected a foreign member of the Royal Society of New South Wales.

AN Irish International Exhibition will be opened in Dublin in May next. It will be the first exhibition of its kind to be held in Ireland for nearly forty years.

THE Italian Electrotechnical Association will meet in Milan on September 30, when visits will be paid to various factories in the neighbourhood and the hydro-electrical installations which have been recently constructed.

THE Right Hon. Sir John Eldon Gorst has been appointed special commissioner to represent His Majesty's Govern ment at the New Zealand International Exhibition, the opening of which is to take place on November 1 next.

WE regret to have to record the death of Prof. W. B. Dwight, who occupied the chair of natural history in Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Prof. Dwight was an original member of the Geological Society of America, and interested himself for many years in the Palæozoic rocks of Wappinger Valley and others in the neighbourhood of Poughkeepsie.

THE programme of the prize subjects of the Industrial Society of Mulhouse for the competition closing in 1907 has just been issued. Little change has been made in the pro