China, the range of spring tides is about twelve feet at the mouth; but the tidal wave becomes compressed in advancing towards the head of the estuary, and reaches twenty-five feet in height at ordinary springs and thirty-four feet when an onshore gale is blowing. The bore is said to enter the river at the rate of 14 miles an hour, and during the first hour the rise of tide is ten feet. Its approach can be heard for a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles. The Severn bore is too well known to need description. Its height has been estimated at three to four feet, and velocity at seven to eight miles an hour.

At

In another section the author deals with wave motion : first with wind waves and secondly with seismic and cyclonic storm waves. As a civil engineer, his chief interest is with the effects of wave motion upon harbour works, coast defences, and other constructions; but these chapters also give an excellent summary of the theory of deep-sea waves and the results of observations on their dimensions and speeds. Some of the facts recorded as to damage done by wave action are very striking. During the construction of Plymouth breakwater, blocks of stone weighing from seven to nine tons were carried over the top through a distance of 138 feet and deposited inside the breakwater. Bilbao a solid block of the breakwater weighing 1700 tons was overturned. The partial destruction of the north pier at Tynemouth furnishes another illustration; in that case there can be no doubt that the depth below still-water level to which wave disturbance was likely to go in that locality had been considerably underestimated. As to earthquake and cyclonic waves, Mr. Wheeler has collected a large amount of information of an interesting character, and he deals at some length with "solitary "ocean waves, which he thinks are chiefly due to submarine disturbances. The great majority of the solitary waves that have been observed in the North Atlantic were in a line between places subject to volcanic activity. One of the latest examples of the destructive effect of a solitary wave occurred in October, 1905, to the Cunard liner Campania on her outward voyage to New York. A fresh gale was blowing on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland when the ship was suddenly struck by an enormous wave; she lurched over, the water swept over the deck several feet deep, five passengers were washed overboard and twenty-nine others seriously injured. This wave was said to have reached as high as the funnels, but in the circumstances accurate estimates could hardly have been made.

The final chapter deals with tides as a source of power. The author gives full accounts of applications of the principle that have been made at various times, but his conclusion is that the attempt to utilise tides on a large scale with existing mechanical appliances cannot be considered as coming within the lines of commercial economics. In this conclusion he has the support of general engineering opinion.

On the whole, Mr. Wheeler has succeeded in the object he had in view, and has "produced a handbook that will be of interest and practical service to those who have neither the time nor the opportunity of investigating the subject for themselves." W. H. W.

ELECTRICITY METERS.

Electricity Meters. A Treatise on the General Principles, Construction, and Testing of Continuous Current and Alternating Current Meters for the Use of Electrical Engineers and Students. By Henry G. Solomon. Pp. x+323. (London: Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1906.) Price 16s, net.

UNTIL a few months ago the literature on the subject of electricity meters was entirely confined to articles in text-books on electrical engineering, and the advent of a book dealing exclusively with this subject is therefore a matter of importance to those interested in the distribution of electrical energy. In the book just published by Messrs. Griffin, Mr. H. G. Solomon has written a clear and comprehensive treatise on the principles and construction of this most important piece of electrical apparatus.

The first chapters are introductory, and deal mainly with the theory of action of the more important types. In chapter ii. an important section on the behaviour of three-wire energy meters is deserving of attention. The errors in reading due to want of balance, both as regards pressure and current on a three-wire system, when the shunt coils of a three-wire meter are connected respectively across the outers, and between the middle wire and the outer, have been worked out. In the appendix figures are given which show the percentage error in different cases, and the advantage of connecting the shunt coil directly across the outers is clearly proved. The fact that there is any error at all with this arrangement has hardly been recognised, though for switchboard meters the matter is certainly one of importance. The following chapters contain de scriptions of the various types of quantity and energy meters for continuous current circuits, and are largely reminiscent, as writing of this kind must always be, of manufacturers' pamphlets.

Mr. Solomon has very wisely excluded all historical and out-of-date meters from this part of his book, and the section contains a clear description, fully illustrated by many excellent drawings, of the meters which the central station engineer has to use and to test. The author is to be congratulated on having almost entirely eliminated illustrations of the outer cases of the instruments which he describes, a type of illustration, unfortunately, all too common in some other works on kindred subjects. Chapter vi. contains a description of continuous meters for special purposes. The last section deals with tramcar meters. The practical importance of this type of meter is hardly yet well recognised. As Mr. Solomon says:-"The careless manipulation of the controller and brake is a matter of serious importance, resulting in a considerable loss of energy. By properly recording the actual energy taken by the cars, and keeping records of the motor men, a saving amounting to from 10 to 20 per cent. of the total used can be effected." The descriptions of the best known types of meter for this purpose are somewhat disappointing.

The chapters dealing with the theory of single phase and polyphase meters is complete and satisfactory. All the best known methods of measuring alternate current power are described. A matter of some importance is the effect of wave shape on the accuracy of registration; errors due to this cause may amount to 5 per cent. or more with meters of the induction motor type when running on noninductive load, while the same meters record quite accurately when supplied with a sine wave of potential difference. The chapter dealing with tariff meters is full of useful information for the central station engineer, and the subject is well treated. The Hopkinson doctrine (one might almost call it an axiom) that "the charge for a service rendered should bear some relation to the cost of rendering it" is fundamental, but one of the chief disadvantages in its application in the Wright maximum demand system is, as Mr. Solomon says, that "the average consumer experiences considerable difficulty in understanding it, and the attitude of the consumer cannot be ignored."

Chapter xi. gives a description of a large number of pre-payment meters, and in the next chapter tariff and hour meters are dealt with in the same way. In the penultimate chapter some special mechanical features in meter design are described, for the obvious reason that "the proper working of a meter depends on its mechanical as well as its electrical design." The subject of meter testing is discussed at some length in the last chapter.

The book should be of great value both to students and to central station engineers who wish to know something about the instruments in use on their supply systems.

THE

HE present series of works was initiated and carried on for upwards of twenty years under the able editorship of the late Dr. W. T. Blanford, and as this is the first volume issued under the supervision of his successor, Lieut.-Colonel C. T. Bingham, this seems to be a fitting opportunity to summarise the progress that has already been made. In Vertebrates eight volumes have appeared--one on Mammalia, by W. T. Blanford; four on Birds, by Eugene IV. Oates and W. T. Blanford; two on Fishes, by Francis Day; and one on Reptilia and Batrachia, by G. A. Boulenger. In Invertebrates ten volumes have appeared—one on Butterflies, by C. T. Bingham; four on Moths, by G. F. Hampson; two on Hymenoptera, by C. T. Bingham; one (half-volume) on Arachnida, by R. I. Pocock; and two on Rhynchota, by W. L. Distant.

Respecting future arrangements, Colonel Bingham announces that four volumes on Beetles (including a volume on Phytophaga, by M. Jacoby), a second volume on Butterflies, by Colonel Bingham, and a volume on Land Shells, by the late Dr. Blanford and Colonel Godwin-Austen, are in preparation, of which it is hoped that the volume on Butterflies and a half-volume on Longicorn Beetles may be issued during the current year.

Turning from this highly satisfactory record of progress to the volume before us, we find that it concludes the suborder Heteroptera (the true Bugs). with families 17 to 24, Anthocorida, Polyctenida, Pelogonidæ, Nepidæ, Naucorida, Belostomatida, Notonectidæ, and Corixidæ, including collectively sixty-two species; and commences the suborder Homoptera with the families Cicadida and Fulgorida, of which collectively 570 species are described. There still remain three families of Trimerous Homoptera

Membracidæ, Cercopidæ, and Jassida-to be dealt with in a future volume, as well as the Dimera and Monomera, comprising the families Psyllidæ Aphididæ, Aleurodidæ and Coccida. With the excep tion of the Anthocorida and the curious bat-parasite Polyctenes lyrae, Waterh., the Heteroptera described in this volume are all aquatic, including the curious water-scorpions, water-boatmen, and the great Belostoma indicum, Lep. and Serv., which attains a length of three and a half inches, and is perhaps the largest heteropterous insect found in India. though some of the allied South American species are larger.

Our British species of the suborder Homoptera, of which the froghoppers may be taken as typical, are all small insects, the largest, our only British representative of the true Cicadidæ (Cicadetta montana, Scop.), a scarce and local insect, only measuring an inch and a quarter across the wings. But many of the Indian species of Cicadidæ and Fulgoridæ are much larger, the largest Indian Cicada, Pomponia intermedia, Dist., measuring seven inches across the wings.

Although many species of Cicadida are more or less spotted, and more or less opaque towards the base, yet the tegmina and wings are, in most instances, almost entirely transparent. In a few species, however, they are opaque, and brightly coloured. But in the Fulgoridæ, or Lantern-flies, many of which are of considerable size, measuring two or three inches in expanse, the wings are often opaque, and varied with such bright colours that they might easily be mistaken for butterflies or moths by persons ignorant of entomology. Indeed, one species, Aphana caja, Walk., has received its name from its superficial resemblance to a tiger-moth.

Many Fulgoridæ exude a white waxy substance. which is sometimes very abundant and conspicuous Others, such as the true Lantern-flies or Candle-flies, are conspicuous both for their bright colours and for the long projection on the head of many of the species. Some have short wings, others very long and narrow ones. Mr. Distant's figures are without colour, but they give a very good idea of the wing

venation and curious forms of a very interesting but still much neglected group of insects. These figures have been drawn by Mr. Horace Knight in his usual admirable style.

We have much pleasure in commending this volume (in which a large number of new genera and species are figured and described) to all entomologists who are interested in exotic insects. W. F. K.

OUR BOOk shelf.

66

Plants and their Ways in South Africa. By Bertha Stoneman. Pp. ix + 283. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1906.) Price 35. 6d. THE Schools in Cape Colony and in other South African colonies are already indebted to the publishers of this volume for several useful educational books. Although this book, and one on geology, are the only ones issued under the title of the South African Science Series," Messrs. Longmans have previously published an elementary botany and a book on South African flowering plants. The present volume by Miss Stoneman is written for younger children than the two former. The treatment of the subject on an elementary physiological and ecological basis is quite the most suitable, and the author displays considerable originality, although at times she develops a crudity of expression.

A chapter on seeds forms the introduction to the physiological considerations of growth; leaves and their functions are then discussed, and four ecological chapters precede the morphology of flowers, fruits, and seeds. The latter half of the book is devoted to classification, limited wisely to a description of the principal orders, and the writer has drawn up tables for differentiating all the genera mentioned; these are exceedingly useful, but the key for distinguishing the orders according to Bentham and Hooker's system, and the synopsis based on Engler's arrangement, would be more suitable for advanced students.

One of the chief merits of the book lies in the natural manner in which rather difficult subjects, such as the law of correlation of growth, are introduced; also every opportunity is taken to base instruction on practical experiment. Certain mistakes or mis-statements occur that might have been avoided with a little more circumspection, and the mis-spellings are more numerous than is consistent with careful reading; but these defects are slight, whereas the author has succeeded in giving plenty of character to the book, and has written with the object of stimulating observation and inquiry on the part of the reader. The book is well supplied with illustrations, of which a fair proportion has been specially drawn or prepared.

Lectures on Compass Adjustment. By Captain W. R. Martin. Pp. 98; with three charts. (London : George Philip and Son, Ltd., 1906.) Price 5s. net. Is this book is reproduced a series of eight lectures on compass adjustment in iron and steel ships, delivered at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, to the classes of senior officers as well as to navigating officers up to the year 1902. There can be no question that these lectures, profusely illustrated by diagrams and supplemented by practical instruction by means of models, were in many ways of great value to officers whose career was bound up with the navigation of ships, where the compass might be either a treacherous guide or a means of safety when adjusted and cared for as the author describes. No doubt the lecturer was able to answer questions asked

by his audience and to enlarge upon difficult points to their mutual advantage, but now, when these aids are absent and the student has to read lectures with modified diagrams, it is incumbent on the author of them to write clearly and with precision.

Turning, however, to the text, it can hardly be said that the author has succeeded in making his meaning sufficiently clear in many places. Among the more important of these the following require mention :-"The magnetic force of the earth is of course everywhere acting in only one direction" (the italics are the author's), a very misleading assertion. The expression "the line of dip is horizontal at the magnetic equator" is unsatisfactory. Again, what is the student to understand from the words, "the compass, may be regarded as a north seeking particle "?

In lecture vi., following wrong premises, it is stated that at a steering compass in H.M.S. Powerful the coefficient A=0.790 would be increased to 0.968 after correction by spheres. To obtain such an increase of directive force has long been eagerly sought after in vain, but, unfortunately, observation in the present case shows that a value of about 0.830 is near the truth after correction. Again, the results of observations made as described on p. 70 could not be used accuracy. in constructing chart No. 1 with any degree of With the large number of observations from observatories and results obtained with absolute instruments in the field, as well as relative observations at sea, there is no need to trust to inferior results.

The last lecture is devoted to the methods of adjusting a compass with large errors, but it must be remarked that the directions given are not generally agreeable with the practice of recent years. For example, for all purposes connected with the heeling error, the dip circle has long been discarded in favour of the heeling-error instrument.

Finally, it will be observed that the equipment of torpedo-boat destroyers and torpedo-boats with the liquid compass is not referred to. This is probably an unintentional omission which may be remedied in future editions of this work. E. W. C.

Lotus Blossoms. A Little Book on Buddhism. By Maung Nee. Pp. vi+103. (Rangoon: Printed Privately, 1906.)

A DAINTY booklet in which a number of passages from various Buddhist writings have been gathered together under different headings. As indicative of the high tone and lofty character of the teaching in the Buddhist writings, the following sentences may be quoted: "Strive with all your strength, and let not sloth find a place in your hearts." "The wise man does not remain standing still where he has made a beginning, but ever reaches forward towards fuller enlightenment." "Idleness is a disgrace." These are classed under the heading correct aim," but equally sound morality can be read in all the sections. Hydrographic Surveying. Methods, Tables, and Forms of Notes. By S. H. Lea. Pp. 172. (New York Engineering News Publishing Company; London Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 8s. net.

66

THIS is an excellent volume, and thoroughly describes the more complicated branch of hydrographical work, such as rivers, lakes, &c. The book touches very lightly on ocean surveying, and apparently is not intended as a work on this subject. Several of the terms used are not often met with in English works, being American technical terms; but these soon become familiar, and, as usual, are very descriptive and to the point. H. C. LOCKYER.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Osmotic Pressure.

to

IN the issue of NATURE for May 17 (p. 54) appears a communication by Mr. Whetham in which he attempts to consign actual experimental work on osmotic pressure to the humble rôle of showing how far the assumptions made in so-called thermodynamical proofs can be realised experimentally. Among other things, the attempts apply thermodynamic reasoning to osmotic processes involve the assumption of a membrane which is semi-permeable and which at the same time is quite passive, that is to say, which shows no selective action. Now in my paper (referred to in NATURE for May 3, p. 19) I have demonstrated conclusively by experiment that in actual osmotic processes the selective influence of the membrane is always present, and is the determining factor as to whether osmosis will take place at all, and, if so, in what direction. In studying that paper, the reader will also see that the more nearly a membrane is semi-permeable in character in practice, the greater is its selective action. In fact, it is the pronounced selective action of the membrane which makes it approximately semi-permeable. This being the case, it is evident at once that thermodynamic reasoning cannot be applied to actual osmotic processes, and that the experimental work on osmotic pressure does not play that humble rôle to which Mr. Whetham would consign it.

Mr. Whetham sees perfect semi-permeable membranes (1) in the surface of growing crystals of pure solvent which separate from a solution when it freezes, and (2) in the free surface of a solution of a non-volatile solute as it evaporates, and states that "from these two facts follows the validity of the thermodynamic relations between osmotic pressure on the one side and freezing point and vapour pressure on the other." Now I must insist that the formation of crystals from a solution, or the concentration of a solution by evaporation, are not osmotic processes. There are, in fact, no actual membranes or septa involved in these processes, and to regard them as osmotic in character only causes much confusion, for they have nothing in common with an actual osmotic process, in which a membrane-an additional phase with specific selective action-is always present as a determining factor.

In how far it is allowable to apply thermodynamic reasoning to the evaporation of a solution or the formation of crystals from a solution I shall not attempt to discuss here, for it is quite outside the main subject with which my paper deals, namely, the nature of osmosis and osmotic pressure. For the same reason I shall not enter upon a discussion of Mr. Whetham's contention that the theory of electrolytic dissociation rests upon electrical evidence, and by such evidence it must be tried." In this connection it may suffice to refer the reader to the paper which I have prepared at the request of the Faraday Society (see Trans. Faraday Soc., vol. i., also Phil. Mag. for February, 1905), in which I have directed attention to the fact that. in creating the theory of electrolytic dissociation, the actual phenomena of electrolysis have played a minor part.

Concerning the remarks made in NATURE of May 17 (p. 54) by Lord Berkeley and Mr. Hartley, I should like to state that, so far as I am aware, the only direct measurements of osmotic pressure which they have made are some preliminary results published in vol. lxxiii. Proc. Roy. Soc., pp. 436–443. In their article in vol. lxxvii. Proc. Roy. Soc., p. 156, I find no direct measurements of osmotic pressure, but simply results of vapour-tension measurements from which osmotic pressures have been computed by means of a modification of a formula of Arrhenius. Of the results given in the two papers mentioned, there is but one case that is comparable, namely, that at concentration 420 grams sugar per litre, the other determinations having been made at different concentrations,

their direct osmotic-pressure measurements were made without stirring, and they are consequently not at all final. I have also in my paper directed attention to the fact that copper ferrocyanide membranes imbedded in porous porcelain are particularly unsuitable for making conclusive direct measurements of osmotic pressure. these circumstances, it appears that their claim that they have shown experimentally that aqueous solutions of cane sugar give the same osmotic pressure, whether observed directly or deduced indirectly from their vapour-pressures, is not well founded.

As to the computation which Lord Berkeley and Mr. Hartley make concerning one of my experiments, I would state that they assume as a basis for their calculation that the slight amount of sugar found in the outer liquid occurs there because the solution, as such, has passed through the septum. Now this assumption is entirely untenable in the light of the numerous experiments given in my paper illustrating the nature of the osmotic process, and their criticism is consequently worthless. LOUIS KAHLENBERG. University of Wisconsin, Madison, June 15.

The Olfactory Sense in Apteryx.

ABOUT a year ago I stated in your columns (May 18, 1905, p. 64) that I was trying to have experiments carried out with the object of ascertaining whether the olfactory sense of the kiwi is perceptibly developed, as one would suppose it to be from certain structural peculiarities in which the bird is unique, viz. the great relative size of the olfactory lobes of the brain and the great size of the olfactory capsule as seen in the skull.

I wrote to the curators of Little Barrier and Resolution Islands, which are reserved as sanctuaries for birds, asking each of them to try certain experiments for me with the object, first, of finding out whether the kiwi exhibited any preference for particular species of earthworm, and, if so, whether any difference in odour, or noticeable difference in colour, was perceptible to them (the curators). I asked whether it was possible to deceive the kiwi in any way by appealing to its sense of smell, while excluding those of sight, hearing, and touch, and formulated a few simple experiments with this end in view.

I recently received a reply from the curator of Resolution Island, in Dusky Sound, who is a careful observer of the habits of birds. Mr. Richard Henry experimented with the larger South Island bird, Apteryx australis, usually termed the roa-roa, in opposition to the other South Island bird, the small grey kiwi, A. oweni. The former feeds chiefly on earthworms, the latter on grubs of various kinds. Mr. Henry placed a number of earthworms at the bottom of shallow buckets and covered them with four inches of earth. When such a bucket was placed on the ground the roa got quite excited in its hunt through the earth, probing to the bottom for the worms. It must be borne in mind that, according to several good observers, the roa (and kiwi) is practically blind during the day time, and, moreover, the bunch of hair-like feathers at the base of its snout intervenes between its eyes and the ground in this operation, while Mr. Henry states that it makes such a "sniffling noise" that it would be unable to hear a worm, even if the latter made any disturbance in the soil. There remains, therefore, the possibility that the tip of the beak is highly sensitive, and that it finds the worms by touch.

But Mr. Henry writes that the bird seemed readily to be aware whether worms were below the earth without touching the soil, for "when I put down a bucket of earth without worms in it, the bird would not even try it; but the moment a bucket containing worms (covered with earth) was put down the roa was full of interest in it," and commenced to probe at once with its long beak.

Further, Mr. Henry took several dead worms that had been severely pressed by the spade in digging them up the previous day, and put them at the bottom of a bucket of earth, and at the end of half an hour the roa had not left a scrap of worm behind. He tried the roa with a bucket of earth that had been searched by it on the preceding day, but the bird " would not even look at it." Then he placed a couple of worms under the earth at the bottom of the bucket, and again allowed the roa to have access to it:

this time the bird went to work promptly, "as if he knew the worms were there.'

I had suggested, amongst other experiments, that he should rub a living worm over some substance that the kiwi does not usually eat, such as bread, so that it should be flavoured and scented by the earthworm juice, and then conceal it; but he has not yet, apparently, carried out the experiment.

Previously to my request Mr. Henry had experimented with a roa that he had trained to eat meat. He " planted pieces of meat in drills three or four inches deep, and next day found them gone, though the ground was not raked over by the bird, but probed where the meat had been hidden. This was in an enclosure whither other creatures had no access. If, when the bird was at rest, though hungry, he threw a piece of meat or an earthworm near it, it seemed at once aware of the presence of food, would wake up and reach in the right direction, touching the ground from time to time with the tip of its beak until it came in contact with the meat.

Although other and more crucial experiments are needed and these could more readily be made in England (at

Tring, for instance) under careful supervision-yet I think the above affords a certain amount of evidence for the existence in Apteryx of a keen sense of smell.

un

I may add that Resolution Island is quite an get-at-able place; it is visited about three or four times a year, twice by the Government steamer on its round-trips to supply lighthouses, &c., and occasionally by other vessels at irregular times, so that four or five months may intervene before a reply is received to a letter. For instance, in reply to my letter dated April 30 I only received an answer in October. I once tried to arrange to visit the island, but the uncertainty of getting back to the mainland in any reasonable time was so great that I had to give up the idea. I hope someone in England will undertake further experiments in this direction. W. B. BENHAM.

Otago University Museum, Dunedin, N.Z., May 6

Molecular Changes in Nickel Steel.

MR. MILNE, chronometer maker in Manchester, has kindly given me permission to send you the following interesting information. About two years ago he made a clock having a rod pendulum of Dr. Guillaume's invar steel (iron nickel alloy). It was carefully adjusted, and was recording time in a most satisfactory manner. Recently the gut of the driving weight tore, and the clock received a shock whereby the rate was altered a few seconds per day. This might be due to some mechanical movement. After re-adjustment had been effected, it was found that the pendulum was undercompensated for changes of temperature, and it appears as if the coefficient of expansion, which was said to be 0.0000008 per 1° C., had increased.

The second case is a watch the balance wheel of which was made of invar steel and brass. In March, 1904, it was rated by the National Physical Laboratory, when it was found that there was no middle temperature error. Now, after two years' working, this error is +1-08 seconds per day, ordinary steel and brass balances having a middle temperature error of about 23 seconds per day. The details are as follows:

MANX ARCHEOLOGY AND NATURAL

HISTORY.

N the year 1886 the House of Keys passed an Act entitled "The Museum and Ancient Monuments Act." I well remember hearing of it, because in the course of that year I visited the Isle of Man for the first time, in order to see some newly discovered Ogam inscriptions. It proved for me the first of a series of visits to the island with the view chiefly I got of studying Manx Gaelic and Manx folklore. to know the island and its people, and noticed among other things the efforts made by two or three men with taste and zeal for archæology and history to interest the Manx people in the relics of antiquity for which the Isle of Man is famous. On one of my rambles, which led me to a public school, I remember being much struck by finding hung on the walls drawings of hatchets, hammers, and other instruments of the ages of Stone and of Bronze, accompanied with letterpress descriptions of them. They were intended to interest the more intelligent of the children in such objects, and especially to help them to recognise them when accidents exposed such treasures to view. It struck me how desirable it was that the same thing should be done in the public schools of this country, but I am not aware that it has ever been done. This example of the Isle of Man is well worth following, but I fear that the present is not a favourable moment for recommending anything so far removed from the burning question of the day. But the present war of creeds and dogmas will, it is to be hoped, be followed by a period of peace when the promoters of education may be allowed to devote more attention to some of the historical aspects of its more secular side.

The first Manx archæologists I came in contact with were Canon Savage and Mr. A. W. Moore, who has since not only become Speaker of the House of Keys, but established the right to be considered the historian of the island. I found them inspired and led by the experienced hand of Prof. Boyd Dawkins. They have been since joined by other and younger men, such as Mr. Kermode, who has made the study of the runic crosses of the island his own. He published a valuable book on them in 1892, but he chose to call it a catalogue of them and of the inscriptions, and now a larger work of his on the same subject is passing through the press, and will contain as illustrations numerous plates and a great number of outline figures. The list of the trustees of the Manx Museum and ancient monuments includes other men of light and leading in the island, such as Mr. Ring, the Attorney-General, not to mention that they have always had the Bishop on that body, and enjoyed the support of successive Governors of the island, including among them the well-known historian, Sir Spencer Walpole. These men have always endeavoured to interest the Manx people in their ancient monuments, and they have succeeded to a great extent, but a great deal still remains to be done in the same direction. The pride of ownership is very strong in a Manxman: perhaps it is in all small nationalities--at any rate, I have noticed it not only in Man, but also in my own country, the Principality of Wales. What may be the explanation I do not know, but a member of a small nationality is a more considerable portion of that nationality than if he belonged to a larger nationality, and perhaps that has something to do with the greater difficulty which he finds in rising to the idea of giving up to the nation anything of which he is the exclusive owner. That is, however, not what I was coming to, but to the fact that, in