Die orientalische Christenheit der Mittelmeerlände. By Dr. Karl Beth. Pp. xvi+427. (Berlin: Schwetschke, 1902.)

THE author spent five months in 1901 in the eastern Mediterranean, investigating at first hand, and at close quarters, the institutions, and the practical working of the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic Churches, and of such other fragments of Christian communions as survive in those parts. He is evidently a good observer and quick worker, and was able to elicit much interesting information, meeting everywhere, as he did, with cordial receptions and assistance. The result is a valuable handbook of an ill-explored section of ecclesiology, full of queer sidelights upon mediæval and modern history, and no less upon the workings of the religious instinct under the peculiarly unfavourable conditions which have prevailed in the Levant for so long. The author's perSonal knowledge of the working of these curious institutions enables him to supply a number of corrections to Kattenbusch's Lehrbuch," and to confirm and expand the observations of Gelzer, von der Goltz, von Soden, and other recent travellers.

46

Tales of Sutton Town and Chase, with other Tales and some Sketches. Collected by "Tau." Pp. 86. Price (Birmingham: Hudson and Son, 1904.) 25. 6d. net.

Two of the narrative poems in this delightful little collection are of more than local interest. One ballad -"The Alchemist of New Hall "-refers to the moated stone mansion of New Hall, where the celebrated Dr. Sacheverell lived at one time. Another poem deals amusingly with a meeting of the Lunar Society, which met in the district in the latter portion of the eighteenth century, and included among its members Erasmus Darwin, Galton, James Watt, Priestley, Wedgwood and Baskerville. To persons familiar with Sutton Coldfield and the neighbourhood, this collection of verses describing in appropriate words and metre some of the stories of "oldest inhabitants" will be read with keen interest; and many others will find pleasure in the quaint ideas contained in this dainty little

volume.

The Glamour of the Earth. By George A. B. Dewar. Pp. ix+255; with illustrations by R. W. A. Rouse. (London: George Allen, 1904.) Price 6s. net. THE true lover of the country will enjoy this book. The author is not addressing the mere seeker after information; and such a reader will regard the volume as diffuse and unsatisfactory. But men who are weary with work and have gone to the country quietly to come into contact with nature, and so secure refreshment and recreation, will follow Mr. Dewar's notes and leisurely observations with sympathy and appreciation. The beautiful pictures by Mr. Rouse add much to the attractiveness of the volume.

Jahrbuch der Radioaktivität und Elektronik. Herausgegeben von J. Stark in Göttingen. Erster Band. 1 Heft. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1904.)

THIS new magazine or "year-book," devoted to radioactivity and the electric discharge, is promised to appear in four parts yearly. The first part, now under consideration, contains two original contributions, six short summaries of recent work on special branches, and a fairly complete list of the original papers on radio-activity, &c., which had appeared in 1904 up to the date of going to press. The short summaries referred to are preceded by bibliographies, and should prove useful to specialists.

"I was entertained, with Kisses fine and Brandy wine." Certain spirits were introduced long before the outbreak. of the phylloxera in France under the name of British brandy, still included in certain legal documents under the

designation of British compounds, though, as a matter of fact, made more without than within this country. Herein a difficulty arises for those who may have to advise county or borough councils in the administration of the Sale of Foods and Drugs (Amendment) Act, as now interpreted, or those, like myself, who have to deal with cases under the Merchandise Marks Act. For on the one hand an astute chemist could make up a liquid, wholly innocent of grape juice, so that the results, obtained on analysis, were identical with those of a genuine grape-spirit, and on the other, a sample of the latter might, as pointed out in your article, if carelessly distilled be condemned, though innocent. Again, if a genuine grape spirit, distilled not far from Cognac, were mixed with per cent. of a spirit, not silent (I omit particular details on the ground of expediency), mere analytical results would be of little avail; such a problem (credite experto) requires prolonged research, and the application of methods not wholly chemical.

It is clear that professional tasting, especially by certain specially gifted persons, is a very valuable aid to analytical:

results and methods of research, yet, as a matter of evidence, it can be regarded only as a question of opinion, based on long experience, rather than as a definite proof.

A Government inquiry would elicit important evidence, and possibly some kind of standard might be arrived at which would not only exclude clever and fraudulent imitations, but also bring the present chaos or impasse to a conclusion. V. H. VELEY.

Oxford, November 5.

YOUR article published under the above heading in NATURE of November 3 raises some interesting points. The writer clearly fails to appreciate any difference between brandy and alcohol, for he says, "if the brandy is being made from damaged wine the rectification must be most carefully conducted, and may have to be pushed to a point that the alcohol is obtained almost pure, that is to say, almost free from non-alcohol." Now if brandy is merely alcohol, as is here plainly implied, why produce it from grapes or wine at all? Similarly, why produce whisky from malted barley, or rum from cane sugar? The fact is that the genuine article is, and has always been in history, the product of the pot still. The pot still produces alcohol plus non-alcohol," the patent still pure alcohol. It is true that brandy, whisky, and rum contain alcohol, but the alcohol of the patent still or rectifying still is not whisky, brandy, or rum. Pot still spirit from "damaged or sick wines would be nauseous and undrinkable, but pot still spirit from wines of repute possesses the qualities which distinguish genuine brandy chemically and physiologically from rectified spirit. It is well known that the effects of pure alcohol on the blood pressure and lymph circulation are modified very considerably by the presence of other constituents in spirits. These other constituents are the "nonalcohol" which you describe. To call rectified spirit or patent still spirit brandy is about as reasonable as calling skimmed milk milk. In England the word brandy ought to be confined to a pot still spirit produced from the wine of grapes, and should never be applied to alcohol distilled! in a patent still from " damaged wine or from likely

enough worse material. Such a definition, if adopted, would be calculated to facilitate the work of the unfortunate public analysts who may be called upon to express an opinion as to the genuineness of a sample of brandy," and the question, what is brandy? analytically speaking, would no longer "await solution." Recent analyses to which you refer have at any rate reduced a large section of the brandy trade to the confession that much of the stuff they sold never had its origin in the grape at all. The public house trade now posts notices in the bars that it cannot guarantee the brandy sold to be genuine grape spirit.

The attitude of the French committee is not difficult to understand, and there can be no objection to it so long as the trade, in the interests of which it has undertaken the inquiry, determines on issuing an honest label setting forth that either the spirit is a pot still spirit from grape S. ARCH. VASEY.

wine or it is not.

Bromley, Kent, November 8.

The Origin of Life. ALTHOUGH there are good reasons for believing that the life of our world is the product of its own physical conditions, and distinct from the life of other members of the solar system, it is hardly probable that living substance can be produced otherwise than by the same conditions that produced it in the past, and one of these conditions is a vast period of time.

vital

We are not acquainted with any life apart from "cells." But the cell is a very complex organism, and between inorganic substance and the cell there may have been as long a course of evolution as between the cell and the highest existing animal or vegetable. Probably most biologists nowadays regard life not as an entity (e.g. not as a force"), but rather as a coordination of many physical processes which have become more numerous and better coordinated in the course of evolution. It is not to be supposed that the total functions of life would be developed in not-living substances under the restricted conditions of human experiment; nevertheless, some of the individual functions might be brought into action, at least in a primitive form.

One of these functions, which I believe to be the most fundamental, is the deoxidation of a compound containing the elements N, O, C, H, &c., by the action of light, moderate heat, or slight electrical disturbance. This is the foundation of biosynthesis a small beginning which in the course of ages develops mechanisms so perfect as the photosynthesis in chlorophyll-bearing cells. We ought by research to discover the conditions on which such deoxidation depends, and imitate it in our laboratories; we might even apply it to important economic purposes.

This deoxidation is probably a perfectly natural process, as natural as the opposite process of oxidation, only it must not be sought in the behaviour of mere oxides, as CO2, but rather in that of compounds containing N, O, C, H, &c., as above suggested. In fact, it may be expected to be nearly a reversal of the process of vital oxidation, which has been more successfully investigated. Vital oxidation seems to take place in two stages, as follows: (1) the O is taken into combination with the N in a complex molecule, (2) it is transferred from the N to a more oxidisable element. Whether complete linking occurs between O and N, as ON, we cannot say; but the linkings C-O-N= and H-O-N are probable. The oxygen-carrying function of N seems to be assisted in many (if not all) cases by Fe.

First attempts at life may be occurring continually around us, but if any synthetic substances be formed they are sure to be seized and assimilated by the already developed organisms. F. J. ALLEN.

Cambridge, November 12.

Change in the Colour of Moss Agates. IN connection with Mr. Whitton's inquiry (NATURE, November 10, p. 31), the following note may be of interest.

On the top of the West Cliff at Bournemouth the road is laid with material which includes a number of flint pebbles. These are, as a rule, rounded or subangular, and of a yellow or whitish-yellow colour as regards their general surface. But where exposed to the air the colour has |

changed to deep blue, violet, or purple, and so much so that in places the whole surface of the road has a marked blue shimmer. Or perhaps it should rather be said that this was the case last autumn; I have not seen it since.

As will be seen from the enclosed specimen, the contrast between the imbedded and the exposed portion of the pebbles is very striking.

Without giving any special study to the matter, I was inclined at the time to attribute the phenomenon either to a further oxidation and hydration of the iron which is, no doubt, present in the flints, or, possibly, to a molecular rearrangement of the silica. At some points the blue colour passes almost into black; this suggests that it may indicate a transition stage between yellow and black flints. Possibly some mineralogist has examined the matter more thoroughly. C. SIMMONDS. Northcroft, Deronda Road, Herne Hill, November 14.

Chemical Analysis for Beginners

In a review on this subject (this vol., p. 5) “J. B. C.” directs attention once again to the unsuitability of an extended study of analysis for a beginner. His opinions not only claim respect, but must be largely shared by all teachers of chemistry.

There is, however, a side to the question which somehow seems rather to be overlooked. The average elementary student will work patiently for hours over qualitative analysis, well taught, badly taught, or not taught at allhe is interested, and though none too willing to use brains as well as tables, he is ready under guidance to do his best. But in any logical system of elementary quantitative and preparation work calculated to build up a firm foundation in the principles of chemistry he appears to take no natural interest, when it comes to actual work. Possibly "J. B. C." will not agree that this is so; and it may be right that the student should be compelled (if it can be done) to think logically from the first. But it seems not unimportant to interest him in practice as well as "on paper.'

I do not refer to the embryo professional chemist who soon gets through the introductory work and is nearly always interested, but to that enormous crowd of text-book consumers who spend, possibly, three hours per week in the chemical laboratory as part of their scheme of study. Does not the marked change of attitude in such students when qualitative analysis is touched upon indicate that there is still room for fundamental improvement in the method of presenting first steps in practical chemistry? F. SOUTHERDen.

66

Royal Albert Memorial College, Exeter.

Misuse of Words and Phrases.

IN Mr. Basset's book, to which he refers in NATURE of November 10 (p. 30), he speaks of the advantage of having a concise and pointed mode of expression, which saves a great deal of circumlocution and verbosity." He thinks that this object is best gained by coining a new word from the Greek, for instance, autotomic, whereas I hold that the same object is better gained by adopting a word of English derivation, self-cutting. Mr. Basset now says that he considers this word "inelegant," and, in the absence of any standard of elegance, I can only reply that this is a matter of individual taste. Perhaps it would be better still to call a curve that has double points a nodal curve, one that has none a "nodeless curve. is already in use. As regards the phrase non-singular cubic," it is clearly inaccurate if, with Plücker, we speak of singular lines as well as I singular points," and include all these under the term singularities; but I rather think that in English books the term singularity was formerly not applied to double tangents, or even to points of inflection. November 14.

66

66

Reason in Dogs.

66

"and

The word binodal

64

T. B. S.

APROPOS of " thinking cats," perhaps the following story of a practical joke played by a dog will interest your readers. A friend of mine, Mr. W., owns a Manchester terrier of which he is very fond, and for that reason receives rather more than doggy attention. The dog passes most of his time in the library, where a basket and rug are provided for him, but he prefers, when it is possible, to take possession

of his master's easy chair.

A short time ago I had occasion to call on Mr. W., and the dog was, as usual, occupying the chair, from which he was removed to his basket. He showed his resentment of this disturbance of his slumbers

by becoming very restless. Presently he trotted over to the door, which he rattled by pushing with his nose, his usual method of attracting attention when he wished to go out. His master immediately rose and opened the door, but instead of the dog going out he rushed back and jumped into the chair his master had just vacated! The rapid wagging of his tail and the expression on his face showed the dog to be very pleased with the result of his ruse. The dog has repeated the same joke once or twice since, with much evident delight to himself. ARTHUR J. HAWKES. Bournemouth.

Occurrence of a Tropical Form of Stick-Insect in Devonshire.

A FEW weeks ago I obtained through the kindness of a lady in Paignton a living specimen of a stick-insect, one of several individuals which had appeared in her garden. My example was met with on the plaster outside a window, and owing to the tenacity with which it adhered to its position required some force to dislodge it. I preserved it in captivity for about a fortnight, at the close of which period it died, having refused to feed on the foliage of any of the plants with which it was supplied.

It is an apterous female, and is, I think, referable to Cladoxerus phyllinus, Gray. I have not been able to obtain any clue as to the cause of its occurrence.

ROBERT O. CUNNINGHAM.

A Probable Variable of the Algol Type. On the evening of October 29, while examining the Pleiades with a binocular at about 9 p.m., G.M.T., I noticed that the star Atlas (27 Tauri) was slightly fainter than Pleione (28 Tauri), a little to the north of it. I did not remember at the time what the relative brightness of the stars was, and on looking them up in the Harvard Catalogues I was surprised to find that Atlas was measured 3-80 magnitude, and Pleione 5.19. I find that all the estimates for the last 300 years agree in making Atlas considerably brighter than Pleione. The nights following October 29 were cloudy, but on the evening of November 9 I found Atlas of its usual brilliancy, and more than 1 magnitude brighter than Pleione. The observed variation was therefore about 1 magnitude. As Atlas is not a long period variable, it seems probable that it is a variable of the Algol type. The star should be watched, and observations for variable radial velocity would be very desirable.

THE

THE

J. E. GORE.

PREVIOUS EXAMINATION AT

CAMBRIDGE.

HE first report of the studies and examinations syndicate, issued on November 11, deals with the previous examination. This is the first public test imposed on candidates for degrees at the university, and since 1822 has included a compulsory examination in both Latin and Greek. In response to a demand for reform sent up by teachers, parents, professional men, and men of science in the direction of making Greek, at least for some students, an optional subject-a demand supported by a large majority of head-masters and assistant masters in the secondary schools-the syndicate proposes a new scheme for the examination in which this demand is recognised.

Briefly, the scheme provides that for all candidates the " previous "shall consist of three parts, to be

taken together or separately at the convenience of the student. Part i. includes Latin, Greek, French, and German, the papers in each to require unprepared translation and composition. "Set books" are abolished. A candidate may take Latin and Greek, or either Latin or Greek together with French or German. In other words, he must take two languages,

of which one at least is an ancient classical language. Part ii. includes arithmetic, algebra, and geometry as is heretofore. The paper on "Paley's Evidences abolished; it is not a school subject, and it is got up largely by an effort of memory from a bare abstract or analysis. Part iii. includes English composition as a compulsory subject, and two of the following alternatives: (1) English history; (2) scripture knowledge (a Gospel and Acts in English); (3) elementary organic chemistry; (4) experimental mechanics and other parts of elementary physics. Natural science, in the shape of physics and chemistry, is thus introduced for the first time. The syndicate was urged by weighty authorities to require from all candidates some knowledge of science; but, after full consideration, it is unable to recommend more than the inclusion of science among the alternative subjects. Probably, in view of the imperfect organisation of science teaching in many public schools of the classical type, to make science compulsory at this stage would have involved the adoption of a standard so low as in effect to discredit the subject.

For the benefit of certain students, among whom students of science may certainly be reckoned, to whom the power to read French and German is more important than a special knowledge of one only of these, it is provided that the translation papers in each of the two languages may be substituted for the translation and composition papers in one alone.

On the

For a boy from a modern school or technical institute, therefore, the examination provided might thus include, for example, Latin, French, and German translation, mathematics, English composition, elementary chemistry, and elementary physics. other hand, a boy from a purely classical school might take the following combination: Latin and Greek, mathematics, English composition, scripture, and English history. For him the examination would be "examination, an improvement on the old "previous not only by reason of the higher standard proposed to be required, but also on account of the wider range of literary subjects to be included.

The report represents a serious attempt to recognise and to provide for the changes which are in progress in modern English education. By asking from every aspirant evidence that he has seriously studied one, at least, of the classical languages, it safeguards the traditional virtue ascribed to that form of intellectual training. By admitting that modern languages (including English) and physical science are possible components of a liberal education in the twentieth century, it indicates a certain widening of academic aims and ideals that may lead to better things hereafter. There is little doubt that the report will meet with strenuous opposition from those who, in the supposed interest of ancient learning, dare not make any concession to modern knowledge. It will not escape criticism from reformers of the more advanced type, who would sweep away Latin as well as Greek. the proposals at least remedy a genuine grievance in a practical manner, and they make for progress along the lines of a sounder and broader education than the older universities have yet sought to foster.

But

THE EXPLORATION OF THE TRANSVAAL.1 IN N this first report, drawn up by Mr. H. Kynaston and his colleagues, we see the prospect of healthy rivalry between the geologists of Cape Colony and of the newly acquired territories to the north. No time has been lost in issuing one of those small folio 1 "Geological Survey of the Transvaal. Report for the Year 1903." Pp. ii+48; with 24 plates, folding maps, and sections. (Pretoria: Printed at the Government Printing Office, 1904.)

The Karroo beds similarly contain boulders of the rocks that preceded them, including the granite that rose beneath the Waterberg series. These boulders occur in the Glacial beds at the base of the system, corresponding with the Dwyka conglomerate of

Cape Colony. These beds were laid down in a region already traversed by large streams, and it is very interesting to note that the modern Elands River, Bronkhorst Spruit, and Wilge River have cleared the Glacial beds out of the ancient channels, and have followed in the course of valleys that were long fossilised and lost to view.

As in Cape Colony, the Lower Karroo beds lie on handsomely glaci ated surfaces. Dr. Molengraaff directed attention to these in 1898, and Mr. Mellor has described numerous new and admirable in stances (Fig. 2). The uniform direc tion of the striæ from one exposure to another points to an ice-sheet, and not to local glaciers. The fact that the movement was from north to south, speaking in general terms, both in the Transvaal and in Cape Colony, only adds zest to the search for an explanation of this old Glacial epoch in the southern hemisphere. It is satisfactory to find that Dr. Molengraaff now concludes that even in the Vryheid district the ice-movement was from N.W. to S.E, i.e., contrary to his previous suggestion.

and the results have here been illustrated on an excellent and liberal scale. Topographic work has been undertaken where existing surveys are deficient, and it seems probable that the geologists will run ahead, for some years to come, of the accurate mapping of the country. The beds dealt with are, firstly, the Pretoria series of quartzites and shales, which must have a high antiquity; secondly, the Waterberg sandstones and grits, which are now for the first time proved to be distinctly unconformable on the Pretoria series; and thirdly, the Karroo system, or rather systems, which opened under Glacial conditions, and were laid down on the denuded surface of the folded Waterberg series.

The two earlier series are thus clearly pre-Carboniferous. The Pretoria series is in places enormously swollen by the intrusion of diabase, which has worked its way along the bedding-planes with remarkable regularity. Where it breaks across the beds, it becomes slightly modified and charged with fragments from the quartzites. The Waterberg series near Balmoral has been invaded laccolitically by a granite, which is correlated with the red granite of the northern Transvaal. On its upper surface, which follows the planes of stratification of the overlying beds, it passes into a platy rock of the compact quartz-porphyry type.

Mr. A. L. Hall found in the area allotted to him an interesting series of igneous rocks, including a norite which, near Onderstepoort, has given rise to considerable masses of magnetite by a process of segregation.

Mr. E. T. Mellor regards the Waterberg series, with its coarse breccias and conglomerates, as deposited in waters swayed by powerful currents, torrents from the land being responsible for the earlier beds. Fragments of the Pretoria quartzites are found in these, affording additional proof of the unconformity (Fig. 1).

Balmoral.

It is not so clear, however, that similar internal processes, taking place during cooling, will account for the passage of the norite into red granite, described as occurring near the farm of Doornpoort. The facts noted, particularly the mottling of the granite near its margin, where it contains augite and decomposed

hornblende, seem to point rather to the formation of a composite rock along an intrusive junction. Messrs. Kynaston and Hall conclude this important report with an account of what they style "diamondiferous" pipes and alluvial deposits. It is suggested that the diamond-bearing vents were connected with the great uplift that followed the close of the Karroo period in South Africa.

Some of Mr. Mellor's results, now detailed in the official memoir, were communicated earlier in 1904 to the Geological Society of South Africa, and have been incorporated in Dr. Molengraaff's "Geology of the Transvaal." This handy work, the publisher of which is not named, now replaces the well known paper in the Bulletin de la Société géologique de France for 1901. It is accompanied by a coloured sketch map on the scale of 1 : 500,000. GRENVILLE A. J. COLE.

OUR MUSEUMS.

TH

HE object of the association, of which the manifold spheres of activity are chronicled in the Museums' Journal, is the promotion of the better and more systematic working of museums. That museums are destined to play a very important function in the future education of our race every curator is fully convinced. Yet anyone perusing the pages of the Museums' Journal will be struck by the apparent want of unanimity among those into whose charge such institutions have been placed as to the best methods to be adopted in conveying to the public the educational advantages offered. A learned German museum official thought that if artistic skill were more cultivated the public would show increased appreciation for museums. He insists that the greater the

are mounted. He gives as an instance how the train of the peacock, commonly called its "tail," is often placed as if it arose from the hinder end of the body, while in reality when erect it stands in front of the wings, as shown in the accompanying illustration reproduced from Mr. Pycraft's paper.

"Would it not be well," remarks Dr. Bather very aptly in his excellent presidential address at the Aberdeen conference of the Museums' Association, "for each of us Museum curators occasionally to ask himself the question: What exactly is the object of my Museum?" While laying stress on inspiration as one of the principal functions of a museum, by which Dr. Bather understands the selection and display of material so as to attract members of the general public,

museum as an educational institution for a nation. Dr. Hecht, a French museum authority, advocates placing among natural history specimens a number of attractive and pleasing exhibits so as to lead the mind of the visitor to larger ideas, and to show him by well chosen illustrations in how many ways animal life is connected with human civilisation. Another gentleman argues that the doctrine of evolution should be the key-note of museum work, while Mr. Pycraft directs attention to a real defect in many of our museums in the manner in which our animals

1 "Geology of the Transvaal." By Dr. G. A. F. Molengraaff. Translated by J. H. Ronaldson, M.E. With Additions and Alterations by the Author. Pp. viii+9o. (Edinburgh and Johannesburg. 1904.)

2 The Museums' Journal. Edited by E. Howarth. Vol. iii. (July, 1903, to June, 1904). Pp. x+436 and 73-142. (London: Dulau and Co., 1904.) Price 12s. net.

he does not, however, touch upon the really vital point to the museum curator-how can we best induce the community to enter the doors of our institutions?

The scope of museums is extended from year to year, and everything is done to widen the sphere of their usefulness. A museum is no longer a place for exhibition only, but a place for research and investigation, and for the encouragement of those who desire to devote their time to such. Yet no one like the museum curator is more impressed with the fact that, in spite of all his efforts to make his collections appeal to the public, in spite of his heartfelt desire to teach both old and young, he only succeeds in attracting within the walls of the institution a comparatively small percentage of the community. What is really I wanted, it seems to us, is that schools and museums