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with these regulations Dr. Smalian has enlisted the services of a teacher in one of these schools at Halle. The first half of the part before us is devoted to the elements of botany, and the second to the rudiments of zoology, as exemplified by mammals and birds, the plan being to describe one particular species of plant and animal in considerable detail, and then to discuss some of its relatives. The illustrations, coloured and otherwise, are, if we mistake not, the same as those used in the "Leitfaden," although in certain instances reduced in size. This part is intended for the instruction of the seventh class (Lehrstoff der vii Klasse), so that in this case also the various sections of the work are to be read in consecutive order by the different classes. Both textbooks appear well suited for their respective purposes. Die Photographie. By W. Zimmermann. Pp. iv+ 164. (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer, n.d.) Price 1.80 marks.

IN twenty-three short chapters and an introduction the author has provided a general guide for beginners in photography similar to the numerous small guides that we have in English, but differing from them in being more fundamental and less detailed in the matter of manipulation and precautions. The difference may be due to the more general diffusion of elementary scientific knowledge in Germany than in this country. Formulæ for the preparation of various printing papers and plates are given, as well as instructions for their use, so that the volume is in no sense a mere collection of instructions for the manipulation of commercial products. This being as it is and the volume so small, it is interesting to note the selection that the author makes from the innumerable alternatives now available. The formulæ for developers are in the following order :-Ferrous oxalate, pyro-soda, pyrocatechin, pyrocatechin without sulphite, hydroquinone, and metol-hydroquinone.

tions are apt.

Attention is given to the studies of recent years, such as radiation pressure, radio-activity, Hertzian waves, and wireless telephony, and the style of description is both readable and attractive. Dr. H. J. Fleure deals with the difficult subject of the cell and nuclear division, and gives a general survey of simple forms of life. Neither this section, however, nor that by Mr. J. M. F. Drummond on botany which follows it, will be intelligible without preliminary knowledge of the subject, and will not appeal, therefore, to general readers.

A work on various subjects, written by several authors, is rarely uniform in character and scope, and the present series of volumes is no exception to the rule. In spite of this fact, we are glad to express the hope that the work will be the means of bringing problems and advances of modern science under the notice of a wide circle of readers.

The Central Nervous System of Vertebrates.

By

J. B. Johnston. Pp. 170. (Jena: G. Fischer, 1909.)

THIS interesting monograph appears in Dr. J. W. Spengel's "Ergebnisse und Fortschritte der Zoologie. It gives an excellent account of the structure and mechanism of the central nervous system founded on morphological and physiological facts, as these have been laboriously collected by the most modern methods by which the nervous elements have been examined. The author deals with the plan of reflex mechanisms, he describes the architecture and localisation of the central ganglia and nerve-roots, and his illustrations are drawn from morphological studies of the simpler types. One of the most important sections is No. vii., in which he discusses the functions of the great divisions of the nervous system. Nowhere have we seen a better discussion of the relations and functions of the cerebellum, or a more lucid account of the remarkable deep connections of the auditory nerves. The author has evidently received illumination from the researches and constructive criticism of Sherrington, while, as indicated by a good bibliography, he is acquainted with the literature of this vast subject. The work is a valuable contribution to human and comparative neurology.

JOHN G. MCKENDRICK.

In a chapter on “the chemical action of light and development" the ionic theory is employed, a commendable procedure if those for whom the book is written may be presumed to understand it. But the author evidently has his doubts, for he sets forth in detail the chief fundamental facts upon which the theory rests. In this case it appears to us that so far as the very little chemistry introduced is conVorlesungen über technische Mechanik. By Dr. cerned, the explanations would have been more simple August Föppl. Vierter Band, Dynamik. Dritte, and still sufficient if the facts had been dealt with on stark veränderte Auflage. Pp. viii+422. (Leipzig: the older plan, without reference to electric charges and their migrations. We notice a few old-fashioned In this volume the vector equation of mass acceleration B. G. Teubner, 1909.) Price 10 marks. errors with regard to actual products of certain chem- commonly known as Newton's laws is applied to the ical changes, but on the whole the text is trustworthy, law of areas," the problems of harmonic and oscilinteresting, clear, and very concise, and the illustra-latory motion, the brachistochrone, motion of a rigid body, motion under no forces and motion of a top. Science in Modern Life. Edited by Prof. J. R. Ains-vibrations of elastic bodies and equations of motion of worth Davis. Vol. iii. Pp. ix+187. (London: The Gresham Publishing Co., 1909.) Price 6s. net. THE two earlier volumes of this work-which is to be completed in six volumes—were noticed in NATURE of March 4 (vol. Ixxx., p. 1). The intention of the work is to give a broad outline of the principles of science and their relations to human progress and industry. The various departments of natural knowledge are surveyed by eleven different authors, each of whom is well qualified to deal with his particular subject. The present volume is devoted chiefly to light, sound, magnetism, electricity, and other branches of physics not dealt with in the second volume; and, in addition, about seventy pages are given to general biology and botany.

Mr. J. H. Shaxby's treatment of physics seems to us to be appropriate to the design of the work and calculated to create and foster interest in the subject.

hydrodynamics. The use of vector equations throughout and differences of notation and terminology make the treatment a little difficult for an English reader to follow; but it is clear that the author has fully realised the subject of his book to be dynamics, not the integration of differential equations. If exceptions exist, the most noticeable one is in the sections dealing with cycloidal motion, the whole problem of which can be solved, almost without writing down a single equation, by showing the geometric properties of the cycloid in a diagram where the author employs many formulæ. Among practical illustrations we notice the reference to Schlick's balancing of marine engines, while the reference to the Kegelbahn or skittle-ground takes our thoughts back to the Fatherland, with its pleasant afternoons spent in admiring the view, drinking beer, and listening to the heavy roll of the balls.

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.]

Beliefs and Customs of the Australian Aborigines. In May of last year (1908) I had the good fortune to meet the Bishop of North Queensland (Dr. Frodsham) at Liverpool, and he gave me in conversation some valuable information as to the native Australian beliefs and customs based on his personal knowledge of the aborigines. He told me that he had travelled among the Arunta as well as among various North Queensland tribes, and he asked me whether I was aware that the Australian aborigines do not believe children to be the fruit of the intercourse of the sexes. His Lordship informed me that this incredulity is not limited to the Arunta, but is shared by all the North Queensland tribes with which he is acquainted, and he added that it forms a fact which has to be reckoned with in the introduction of a higher standard of sexual morality among the aborigines, for they do not naturally accept the true explanation of conception and childbirth even after their admission into mission stations. The Bishop also referred to a form of communal or group marriage which he believes to be practised among aboriginal tribes he has visited on the western side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, but, unfortunately, I had not time to obtain particulars from him on this subject.

I

I pointed out to his Lordship the high scientific importance of the information which he had volunteered to me, and I requested that he would publish it in his own name. He assented; but as some time has passed without his finding leisure to draw up a full account, he has kindly authorised me to publish this brief statement, which has been submitted to him and approved by him as correct. need not indicate to anthropologists the great interest and value of the Bishop's testimony as independently confirming and extending the observations of Messrs. Spencer and Gillen on the tribes of Central Australia. In the interest of science it is much to be desired that the Bishop, or those of his clergy who know the natives, would publish fuller information on these topics. J. G. FRAZER. Cambridge, August 23.

A Question of Percentages.

IN NATURE of August 5 (p. 159) Mr. Cunningham asked a question as to the proper method of arriving at the mean percentage of marks obtained on papers of different values in an examination, and this has been very clearly answered by Mr. Whalley. The same question, however, arises in experimental work, particularly in agricultural and horticultural experiments, and there the answer is by no means so evident. An examiner may be supposed to have sufficient knowledge to weight his papers properly, but in an experiment no data may be available for the purpose.

Take a case where three sets of different varieties of trees are subjected to some particular treatment, and compared with three similar sets not so treated, and suppose, as an exaggerated example, that the actual measurements, say, of growth, are as follows:

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ments (+71) is equally so, for it ignores the difference in habit of the different varieties, and gives undue weight to the results from that variety which happens to be the most rampant grower. This difficulty has been alluded to more than once in the reports of the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm, and the only way out of it appears to be to take the mean of the means deduced in these two ways; at any rate, it is rarely safe to draw any conclusions as to the results of experiments unless these two means agree fairly with each other.

Similar difficulties arise in interpreting the results of other experiments; with a number of analyses, for instance, in which different quantities of material were taken, the mean of the individual results assumes that none of the errors is proportional to the quantities taken, whereas a mean deduced from the sum of the quantities taken and found assumes that all the errors are directly proportional to these quantities, neither of which assumptions is correct, as a rule.

Another source of error in horticultural experiments is that the differences observed are not unfrequently of different signs, and since a plus difference of 50 per cent. has a very different value from a minus difference of 50 per cent., the algebraic sum of such differences is fallacious. This is evident from the values given above for I. and III., in which the proportions are exactly reversed, but which figure under A as differences of +100 and -50 respectively. A more correct way of calculating such differences is to take the lowest (or highest) value in each pair of plots as the standard of comparison, instead of the value in the check plot, and to affix a + or - sign to the difference, according to whether the plot under treatment has given a larger or smaller value than the untreated plot. Such differences are given under B, and correctly represent the ratios of the experimental measurements. It would be well if such a method of calculating percentage differences could receive some special designation, so that it might become recognised, for without this its use is likely to lead to misunderstanding. SPENCER PICKERING.

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The Planar Arrangement of the Planetary System. IN your issue of July 29 your reviewer devotes some space to my paper on the origin of the planetary system (Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 4308), and closes by asking, Why, for instance, on the hypothesis of capture, are the vast majority of the orbits near the plane of the ecliptic and their motion direct?" This is because our system was formed by the unsymmetrical meeting of two streams of nebulosity or by the mere gravitational settling of a single nebula of curved and unsymmetrical figure, giving a rotating cosmical vortex, or spiral nebula, but without hydrostatic pressure as imagined by Laplace. In Lick Observatory Publications, vol. viii., Plate 38, you will find an illustration of H.V. 2 Virginis, a spiral nebula of unsymmetrical figure just beginning to coil up and form a system. What will happen in the later stages of this nebula is sufficiently shown in the Lick photographs of other nebulæ given in this volume. As the mass whirls and condenses under resistance, it will necessarily retain and draw down most of the nebulosity into the plane of motion. This is exactly what has given the planar arrangement of the bodies in the solar system. In Astronomische Nachrichten, Nos. 4341-2, your reviewer will find a fuller explanation of the method of capture, and other papers yet to come will make the theory so clear that it need not take up more of your valuable space at present. T. J. J. SEE. Naval Observatory, Mare Island, Cal., August 12.

The Benham Top.

My attention has been directed to a paper in the Transactions of the Ophthalmological Society, by Mr. A. S. Taylor, entitled Colour Phenomena due to Intermittent Stimulation with Light: Note on the Colours of Benham's Top."

It is to the conclusions in the latter part of the paper that I desire to refer, as last year, in a paper before the Physical Society (see NATURE, June 18, 1908, p. 166), I endeavoured to explain this phenomenon in a somewhat

different way. The main conclusion in both theories is the same, but Mr. Taylor explains the necessary thinness of the lines as due to irradiation, whereas it appears to me to be a contrast effect. The weak illumination of the disc does not seem to warrant an assumption of irradiation. Stewart's curves for colour vision and Burch's work on "Artificial Temporary Colour Blindness" show that the colour sensations have different rates of growth and decay. When this difference has been admitted, it is easy to explain the colours of the Benham top by the sequence of white and black divisions on the disc, the thinness of the lines being necessary to reinforce by a contrast the weak colour effect. F. PEAKE SEXTON.

Hampton Wick.

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persistently scouted. Moreover, if we read between the lines, the author appears to be convinced that animals have souls, and are therefore immortal, although we do not find this stated in so many words. That this was the idea of the Jews in biblical times the author considers to be proved by the doctrine that "the blood is the life." If this idea of animal immortality be true, no thoughtful person can read the volume without serious misgivings and heartsearchings.

Throughout, the book is written in an attractive style, and we have read it from preface to index with real pleasure. The attractive style of the text is rendered the more interesting by the numerous excellent plates with which the volume is illustrated. Some of these do not appear, however, to be referred to in the text; and it is a pity that the author did not consult a naturalist before deciding on their titles. We find, for instance, the plate facing p. 108 (herewith reproduced), taken from an Assyrian relief in the British Museum, lettered "wild goats and young "; while in the illustration facing p. 116 we have another

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Assyrian Relief in the British Museum showing a troop of (?) Gazelles. From the "Place of Animals in Human Thought, where the animals are termed "wild goats."

the history of religions, the author has collected a vast store of information relating to the estimation or otherwise in which animals have been held by the ancient nations from Egyptian, Bhuddistic, and Græco-Roman times to the Middle Ages; while the concluding chapter deals with modern ideas on the subject.

The objects, origin, and conception of sacrifice are each treated at considerable length, while folk-lore has been largely drawn upon to illustrate the subject from all points of view. Among numerous other instances of the wide origin of such legends, we may refer to the author's account of how the Welsh story of the wolf-hound Gellert, is paralleled in other countries. The Countess appears to be a firm believer in the doctrine that the intelligence of the lower animals differs only in degree from that of their masters; and the theory that any animals are mere automatons is 1 "The Place of Animals in Human Thought." By the Countess Evelyn Martinengo Cesaresco. Pp. 376; illustrated. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1909.) Price 12s. 6d. net.

Assyrian sculpture, representing a god carrying a horned animal, apparently furnished with a beard, which is designated an "antelope." That the animals in the first figure are not wild goats is evident from the character of the horns of the males, the lack of a beard in that sex, and the absence of both these appendages in the females; and we have a strong suspicion that they really represent one of the larger African gazelles, such as the addra.

The work, moreover, sadly wanted revision by a well-educated proof-reader. "Worser," which occurs at least twice, is not English; neither is "Quartenary,' also occurring twice, correct orthography; the latter remark also applying to "camel-leopard" (p. 345). A mungoose, moreover, is not a member of the weasel tribe (p. 308), neither is it correct to term a wolf a vulpine animal. If such blemishes occurred in many books we could mention, we should pass them over without notice; the pity of it is that they mar the pages of such a thoroughly interesting volume as the one of which we now take leave. R. L.

FEW

STYLES OF THE CALENDAR.

EW subjects are more full of pitfalls than that of the change of style and consequent alteration of dates, which therefore requires great care in its consideration. Many articles have appeared from time to time in Notes and Queries, and I would refer to two of my own in 9th S., vol. v., pp. 344, 461. Here I need only say that the dates given in Whitaker are correct, though it seems to me it would be better to call May 14 May Day by Julian style instead of old May Day. It is difficult always to remember that no alteration was made in the difference between the two styles in 1600, but was in 1700, 1800, and 1900. None will be made in 2000. There was an old saying about St. Barnabas's Day :

'Barnaby, Barnaby, Barnaby bright, The longest day and the shortest night." Saints' days, &c., being kept on the same nominal day, June 11 was still St. Barnabas's Day, though what was that day in the old calendar became June 21 from 1582 to 1700, then June 22 from 1701 to 1800, June 23 from 1801 to 1900, and now June 24. But the saint's day remaining June 11, the above distich ceased to apply. George III.'s birth was announced as on May 24, but when the style was changed in 1752, his birthday became June 4, and was kept on that date during his reign. When Gregory XIII. altered the style in 1582, the count of days was changed by ten; when England adopted it in 1752 we had to change the days by eleven; in 1801 this became twelve, and in 1901 thirteen, so that we differ now from Russia and the Greek Church by that number in our dates. The question of an alteration is again being discussed, and uniformity is so desirable that we hope Gregorian usage will be adopted, though it is not ideally perfect, and a better rule would have been to drop a leapyear at the end of each period of 128 years.1 The late Prof. Newcomb thought that the alteration of the style was a mistake, on the ground that there was no particular object in keeping the same dates at the same seasons over very long intervals of time, and the hiatus made by the omission of days caused, as it was bound to do, great confusion. It is not always recollected that the reason why a change was so long advocated in the western Church, and at last carried out, was the supposed necessity of regulating Easter by the full moon following the vernal equinox, which was supposed to fall on March 21 at the time of the Council of Nicæa, A.D. 325, and really did so in the preceding century. To that epoch, then, everything was referred; otherwise it would have been more natural to have started when the alteration was made by which the mean calendar year was made nearly of the true length of the tropical year.

From 1500 to 1700 May Day was kept in England on the day corresponding by the season to what we should now call May 11; after 1700, until the alteration of the style in 1752, on what would be May 12 by the new reckoning. At that time, then, the dancing round the May-pole, so popular in this country, took place at nearly what is now the middle of the month. It is of interest to remember that the great May-pole in the Strand was removed, in 1717, at the instance of Sir Isaac Newton, to Wanstead, to support the Huyghens telescope of great focal length, which had been lent to Pound (the uncle of Bradley, afterwards Astronomer Royal), who made excellent use of it.

Christmas Day, of course, and all holy and saints' days, fell, after the alteration of the calendar, several days later, according to the season; ten days when Gregory XIII. decreed the change in 1582, and eleven 1 See the writer's "Celestial Motions," eleventh edition, p. 5.

when it was adopted in England in 1752. After 1900 the difference between the two styles became thirteen days, and old Christmas Day is marked in Whitaker and other almanacs on January 7. New Year's Day fell seven days afterwards, on the day we now call January 14; that is not marked in Whitaker, but the Russians and the Orientals generally keep it on that day, thirteen days after ours.

It is, of course, necessary to be very careful in comparing historic events (whether astronomical or otherwise) between 1582 and 1752, English dates being given in old style, and many (not all) of the Continental dates in new style.

It has been suggested to me that the following tables will be useful for reference in calendar questions. The Gregorian calendar was arranged to start from the date of the Council of Nicæa in A.D. 325, so that the vernal equinox should henceforth be made to fall on March 21, as it was supposed to do then. Table I. gives the dates when the equinoxes and the solstices fell by the Julian style from A.D. 200 to the present century. Table II. gives the dates in Gregorian reckoning of the first day of May and the last day of October (All Hallows' Eve) for the same centuries.

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AFRICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH
COMMITTEE.

THE subjoined official announcement of the appointment of an African Entomological Research Committee will be received with much satisfaction in all quarters where the importance of a scientific basis for administrative and other official action is duly recognised. Among the advances of biological science in the last few years, none has been more remarkable than the discovery that the cause of many diseases, the nature and origin of which had hitherto escaped detection, was to be sought in the presence of parasitic micro-organisms of various kinds and qualities in the tissues of animals and plants. The part played by insects and ticks in the dissemination of these morbific parasites is now known to be of immense importance, and great efforts have already been made, not without success, to restrict the occurrence of malarial and other disorders by the systematic destruction of the insect-carriers of the organisms concerned. For this purpose it is essential to distinguish with accuracy between various closely allied species; and it is here that the work of the skilled entomologist proves its necessity. It was well remarked by Mr. A. E. Shipley, in his recent presidential address at Winnipeg to the Zoological Section of the British Association, that a few years ago no knowledge could seem so useless to the practical man, no research more futile than that which sought to distinguish between one species of a gnat or tick and another; yet to-day they knew that that knowledge had rendered it possible to open up Africa and to cut the Panama Canal." This witness is true; and it would be difficult to point to a more complete demonstration of the fact that natural knowledge pursued for its own sake, without any direct view to future utility, will often lead to results of the most unexpected kind, and of the very highest practical importance. It is this that justifies the demand that both governments and such private individuals as have the means should do all in their power to encourage the study and pursuit of science as science, without waiting for such applications as may prove to be of commercial or political value.

When the benefits to be derived from the scientific treatment of a subject are so manifest as in the present case, even the most indifferent of public bodies can hardly afford to stand aloof; and it is to be hoped that the activity of the Colonial Office in this direction, begun under the auspices of Mr. Chamberlain, and culminating for the present in the recent action of Lord Crewe, may be taken as an indication that the Government of this country is becoming increasingly alive to the desirability of securing the cooperation of scientific authorities in administrative measures. But beyond this, the movement will deserve a still greater welcome if it helps to emphasise the importance of encouraging the pursuit of genuine science, even when no immediate prospect is offered of material results. F. A. D.

In view of the intimate relation which is recognised as existing between certain insects and the propagation of diseases of both man and animals in tropical Africa, and of the similar relation between insects and economic plants, which is becoming more evident as settlement in the continent progresses, Lord Crewe has appointed a Scientific Committee, the object of which will be to further the study of economic entomology with special reference to Africa.

This body will be known as the African Entomological Research Committee, and Lord Cromer has consented to act as chairman. The other members of the committee are:-Lieut.-Colonel A. W. Alcock,

C.I.E., F.R.S., Mr. E. E. Austen, Dr. A. G. Bagshawe, Dr. J. Rose Bradford, F.R.S., Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., F.R.S., Dr. S. F. Harmer, F.R.S., Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall, Sir John Macfadyean, Sir Patrick Manson, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., Mr. R. Newstead, Prof. G. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., Lieut.-Colonel D. Prain, C.I.E., F.R.S., Mr. H. J. Read, C.M.G., the Hon. N. C. Rothschild, Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., Dr. A. E. Shipley, F.R.S., Mr. S. Stockman, Mr. F. V. Theobald, and Mr. C. Warburton. Mr. A. C. C. Parkinson, of the Colonial Office, is acting as secretary to the committee, and Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall as scientific secretary.

Arrangements are being made to despatch a trained entomologist to the east side of tropical Africa and another to the west, for the purpose of stimulating official and other residents to collect and observe noxious insects, and of affording instruction in the use of scientific methods. By this means it is hoped to obtain throughout these territories an organised body of investigators who will communicate all their collections and observations to the committee. These collections will be classified by a number of British and in some instances Continental entomologists, and named specimens will be distributed to such institutions as may require them for purposes of instruction, both at home and in Africa. The committee will also keep in touch with the work which is being done in this branch of science in Egypt and the Sudan and in South Africa. The scientific results, including all observations and experiments made by the collectors, will be published from time to time in a journal or bulletin to be issued by the committee.

It is hoped that by such organised cooperation the knowledge of these matters will be materially increased, so as to render possible the application of effective remedial measures. Offers of cordial assistance have been received from such institutions as the British Museum (Natural History), the London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine, and the leading universities, in all of which valuable work has already been done in the same direction.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT WINNIPEG.

THE Winnipeg meeting of the British Association has been a complete success. Hundreds of citizens of Winnipeg, together with representatives of science in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain, filled the Walker Theatre when the presidential address was delivered by Sir Joseph Thomson on August 25. Mr. Francis Darwin, the retiring president, was unable to be present, but he sent a letter, which was read by Prof. Carey Foster, expressing the hope that the meeting would be worthy of its distinguished president. The addresses of presidents of sections were delivered on August 26 and 27, and we are able to print two of them this week, with a summary of the lecture delivered by Dr. A. E. H. Tutton on the former date. We have been forced, however, to omit parts of Prof. Armstrong's long address to the chemical section in order to find space this week for Dr. Smith Woodward's address to the section of geology.

The Times correspondent at Winnipeg reports that the proposal to create a separate section of agriculture, which at present is a subsection of botany, has been rejected. On Saturday, August 29, there were various excursions to places of interest. Nearly a hundred members visited Portage la Prairie, and were conveyed in motor-cars through the wheatfields, the trip covering a distance of thirty miles. The visitors were thus given the opportunity of seeing one of the

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