for 20 hours
from the original work, might, we think, Among many characteristic species we may the bulb and upper part of the tube had devitrified,
have been modernized with advantage.
from the original work, might, we think, Among many characteristic species we may the bulb and upper part of the tube had devitrified,
have been modernized with advantage.
Athenaeum - London - 1912a
E.
Housman, 4/6 net.
Grant Richards
MARCH
Brunswick, Vieweg & Sohn
25 Chambers's Journal will contain: 'The
A second edition of Prof. Buchholz's recast MARCH
School-Books.
Wizard of Modern Invention : Thomas Alva
of Klinkerfues's important work. It has been
Edison,' by his secretary, Mr. W. H. Meadowcraft ;
enlarged and corrected in conformity with the
25 Latin Word Formation for Secondary If I were a Millionaire,' by Sir Arthur Quiller-
knowledge acquired since 1899, when it was
Schools, by Paul R. Jenks, 1/6
HarrapCouch ; As the Chinese See Us,' by the Rev.
first published; and Prof. Buchholz introduces
APRIL.
E. J. Hardy; The American Secret Service,'
it by an explanation of his present view of Learning by Heart, in Six
Graded Parts, com-
1 A Treasury of Prose and Poetry, for by Mr. Day Allen Willey ; State Insurance in
Gylden's theory of the orbit, which had formerly
Germany,' by Mr. Richard Thirsk ; Titles of
been adopted with too little qualification, and
piled by Amy Barter: Parts I. to V. , 5d. , 6d. ; Honour,' by Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore; The
by a critical survey of the new methods em-
Part VI. , 6d. , 8d.
Harrap Romance of Tobacco,' by Lieut. -Col. P. R.
ployed by Messrs. W. Gibbs, P. Harzer, and
why 1 Barons and Kings (1216-1488), by Estelle Bairnsfather; and “The French Workman,' by
A. Leuschner for the calculation of orbits.
Ross, 1/6; Prize Edition, 2/6 net. Harrap | Mr. R. Seppings-Laws.
>
## p. 313 (#243) ############################################
No. 4403, MARCH 16, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
313
Willie Laidlaw. Laidlaw was born in Scheme for Secondary Teachers ; and
Literary Gossip
Yarrow in 1780, and in the church there earnestly hopes that the joint efforts of the
.
he has already a memorial tablet. After
Board and of Secondary Teachers towards
Scott's death he went north as factor to
this end may be completely successful. "
We notice with satisfaction in The Sir Charles Ross, of Balnagown, and on
Cambridge Review the proposal to confer his own death, in 1845, was buried in publish on the 28th inst. “The Epistles
MESSRS. SMITH, ELDER & Co. will
the Cambridge Doctorate of Letters on Contin churchyard.
of St. Paul : the Authorized Version
Mr. James Bass Mullinger, the admirable
historian of the University. The recogni- In his third Hibbert Lecture on Tues- amended by the Adoption of such of the
tion due to his labours was emphasized day, the 12th inst. , Dr. Hope Moulton Alterations made in the Revised Version
in our own columns some while since. referred to the note in The Athenoum
as are Necessary for correcting Material
Mistranslations, or making clear the
On Thursday the members were an- series, and seemed to take
exception to Meaning of the Inspired Writer. The
text on the title-page will best convey
to inquire into methods of appointment were the originals from whom the Persian the purpose with which the book has been
and promotion in the Civil Service. Amshaspands were copied. This was not in the law of God, distinctly; and they
Recently we had occasion to point out
the omission of an important subject in put forward as our own suggestion, but in the law of God, distinctly; and they
examinations for the Service; and other by reference to the note' itself in our issue tho reading. ”
gave the sense, so that they understood
reforms are desirable which the Com- of the 2nd inst. (p. 257). The idea present
missioners should be able to approach in the mind of the writer of that note was Watson, The Family Living,' as its
A NEW NOVEL by Mr. E. H. Lacon
with an open mind, as they represent not that Philo invented his "Powers", de title suggests, deals to some extent with
varieties of opinion and experience. The novo, but that both he and the author clerical life. Mr.
idea of a Royal Commission as a means of of the late portion of the Avestic literature
Murray will be the
settlement was recently recognized as an
publisher.
in which the Amshaspands first formally
insult to practical men, but, owing to the appear borrowed the notion from some
Another novel from the same house
inclusion of two women and some other third source. One is not sure that Dr. will be 'The Visioning,' by Miss Susan
thinkers, practical as well as academic, Moulton much helped his case by saying Glaspell, a story of some well-to-do and
the present body may, we hope, surpass that at least one of the Amshaspands
was clever people and the development of
its predecessors in utility.
known in Strabo's day. It does not seem
their somewhat restricted views and cir-
A LAMBETH DEGREE is now somewhat
at all certain that the god Omanos,
cumstances.
of a rarity. The D. D. conferred by the of whom, Strabo says in his fifteenth
MESSRS. MACMILLAN & Co. , AND
Archbishop of Canterbury upon the Ven. book, a wooden statue was carried in MR. PHILIP LEE WARNER, publisher to
Arthur E Moule, lately Archdeacon in procession, and who is described in the the Medici Society, hope to bring out
Mid-China, will be generally applauded. eleventh book as having a common altar in April * The Revival of Printing : a
He was made B. D. by a previous Arch-
with another god called Anadatos, can be Bibliographical Catalogue of the Works
bishop, and his commentaries and trans-
identified with Vohu Mano, who seems to issued by the Chief Modern English
lations in Chinese are a notable part of his be the Amshaspand Dr. Moulton referred
Presses. ' The book is edited by Mr.
devoted work in the foreign field.
to. It is unlikely that the priests of such
Robert Steele, and contains a series of
deities could have known anything of the plates showing the various founts em-
FIFTY-THREE autograph letters ad-image-hating Zoroaster. But if this diffi-
dressed by White of Selborne to his niece culty could be got over, Dr. Moulton use of the student of modern printing,
ployed. It has been prepared for the
Mary White have just been presented to would still have to explain what became who heretofore has been unable to com-
the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, as of the Amshaspand conception between mand any work of ready reference dealing
well as a letter written by Hogarth towards the time of Zoroaster, which he is now with such publications. The volume will
the end of his life, in which
he gives his inclined to put at from 1000 to 800 B. C. , be issued in three different styles.
reasons for painting the little picture of and that of Strabo.
The Bench. ' This picture has been
The same publishers also hope to
lately given to the Museum.
THE ZIONIST CENTRAL OFFICE, Berlin, issue during the same month ' A Lyttel
will very shortly issue through Messrs. Booke of Nonsence,' which consists of a
MR. G. F. HILL will read a paper on W. Speaight & Sons a pamphlet on ‘The series of quaint and curious woodcuts,
Some Palestine Cults in the Græco- Zionist Movement: its Aims and Achieve- few of which are less than 400 years
Roman Age' at the next meeting of the ments. The pamphlet, which has been old, accompanied by modern humorous
British Academy, to be held at the rooms written by Mr. Israel Cohen, Secretary of rhymes. The cuts have been selected,
of the Royal Society, Burlington House, the English Department of the Zionist and the rhymes written, by Mr. Randall
on Wednesday, the 20th inst. , at 5 o'clock. Central Office, will be an authoritative Davies.
DEAN GREGORY, who lived to the great account of the history and activity of the
Jewish , nationalist movement from the
MR. WILLIAM MOIR BRYCE of Edin.
age of 92, left behind him a short auto-
earliest times to the present day.
burgh has written a ‘History of the Old
biography, which he wrote during 1902 earliest
Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh,' to which
and 1903. It covers the whole of his
long life, and there are many "curious
A MEETING of Secondary Teachers will Dr. Hay Fleming has added a chapter on
reminiscences in it of the days before the be held at the University of London, South The Subscribing of the National Cove-
Reform Bill. It is being prepared for Kensington, next Saturday, at 3 P. M. The nant. ' The writer has availed himself
of the recent discovery of the early por-
publication by Archdeacon Hutton.
Rev. Edward Lyttelton will be in the
chair, and will be supported by Mr. tion of Wariston's Diary, whereby it
The latest of the London County A. H. Dyke Acland. The following resolu- is shown that the National Covenant
Council memorials is the tablet of blue tion will be proposed by the Dean of was not signed in 1638 amongst the
encaustic ware affixed on Monday last Lincoln (Dr. T. C. Fry), seconded by Mr. tombs in the churchyard, but within the
to No. 88, Paradise Street, Rotherhithe, J. F. P. Rawlinson (Cambridge University), church itself. This is unfortunate for
the residence of Thomas Henry Huxley and supported by Miss Lees (Assistant some picturesque accounts and pictures.
for some months in 1841.
Mistresses' Association) and Mr. A. A. There are chapters on the Conventual
Somerville (Assistant Masters' Associa- Grey Friars and the Edinburgh Greyfriars
THOSE who are familiar with the details
tion)
of Observance, on the Covenanting prison,
of Scott's life will be pleased to learn that
and on eminent ministers, with a plan of
a tablet is about to be placed in Contin appreciation of the favourable consideration the Grey Friary yards. The volume, which
Church, near Strathpeffer, to the memory shown by the Board of Education to the has twenty-three full-page illustrations, is
of Sir Walter's friend and amanuensis, question of starting a National Pension to be issued by Messrs. Green & Sons.
## p. 314 (#244) ############################################
314
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4403, MARCH 16, 1912
a
are
vacuum.
man who, by his own confession, read dielectric constants, tables of which are
nothing but a newspaper for years.
SCIENCE
surely expected by the physicist.
The work of the editor has been admirably The tables relating to heat, are, however,
done. He has supplied a few useful notes extremely full. We note as an excellent
and a valuable glossary. There are some feature the short mathematical
and
good
illustrations - principally modern physical prefaces with which the various
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
photographs of the localities described.
subjects are introduced immediately before
their tables of constants ; but here we would
Capt. Cartwright and his Labrador Journal,
edited by C. W. Townsend (Williams & William Lutley Sclater (Witherby), was
A History of the Birds of Colorado, by suggest an improvement for the benefit
of the reader. It would save a good deal
Norgate), is an abridged reprint of a large undertaken at the instance of the late General of time in the turning over of back pages
work in three
quarto volumes which w. J. Palmer, a keen naturalist, who provided if the various algebraic symbols employed
appeared as long ago as 1792, and has now much of the material for it in the Aiken in these prefatory notes were explicitly
become scarce. The editor-whose previous collection, which he presented to the Museum defined whenever they are used in connexion
books on Labrador are well known—has of Colorado College. It will undoubtedly with the separate tables of constants. It
done good service in popularizing a journal supply a want, for the only other completo happens occasionally, that several pages
which delighted Coleridge and Southey, work on the subject is now out of print and have to be referred to for the origin
but, we fear, would be too bulky in its original very scarce.
of some symbol. We do not, of course,
form for the average reader of to-day.
Dr. W. T. Grenfell
, who contributes two pages lend themselves to a more varied bird fauna tition as
The unique physical features of Colorado go to the length of advocating such repe-
we find in old mathematical
of introduction-appropriately written at the
(e. g. ,
than might at first be expected. The
editions of
primitive
trading post of Cartwright, where the diarist
planted his settlement of Caribou Castle list comprises 392 birds, of which 225 Newton's Principia '), in which a figure,
speaks of the ‘Journal'as “a concise illus-
have been known to breed within the State. however simple, on one page is reproduced
tration of the enterprise, pluck, perseverance,
The vertical distribution of these has been on the next; but the reader is grateful
self-reliance, and stoicism of the old English worked out with care, and is of special for whatever saves time. Many of these
interest; in this connexion it must be re-
theoretical introductions to the various
the three remarkable brothers „George, Colorado is as much as 6,800 ft. The three
stock. ' The editor's biographical notice of membered that the average elevation of tables will be of great use to the student.
The two volumes taken together will be a
John, and Edmund, the eldest of whom was
the diarist—still further exemplifies the
different levels for the purpose of such boon to English workers, and in some ways
truth of this remark.
analysis resolve themselves into (1) the have an advantage over similar tables in
plains, (2) the foothills and the mountain foreign languages.
Capt. Cartwright was a military officer who parks from about 6,000 ft. to 8,000 ft. ,
retired from service in 1770, and immediately 13) the mountains from about 8,000 ft. to
went out as a settler to Labrador. Here, timber-line at 11,500 ft. Three birds, in-
SOCIETIES.
first in partnership and then alone, he estab-cluding the interesting white-tailed ptar-
lished stations for fishing and the trade in migan, nest even beyond this altitude.
ROYAL. -March 7. - Sir Archibald Geikie, Presi-
furs, and resided upon the coast on and off Aquatic and marine species
dent, in the chair. --Sir William Crookes read a
well
paper ' On the Devitrification of Silica Glass. '
—with one interval of more than two years represented on the lakes and rivers. Mr. A transparent tube of silica glass with a
-to the end of 1786. He was in the strict Sclater says that the Canada goose holds bulb blown at one end was exhausted to a high
It was heated in an electric resistance
sense a pioneer, for the coast had only just its own, and when persecuted will resort
been surveyed' for the first time by 'the to trees, and sometimes appropriate nests exposed to the greatest heat, while the lower part
furnace in such a manner that the bulb was
famous Capt. Cook. The contemporary of herons. It is curious to read of whole-
of the tube was comparatively cool. After being
map reproduced by the editor, presumably sale destruction of heronries by hailstorms. kept at a temperature of 1300°
C.
for 20 hours
from the original work, might, we think, Among many characteristic species we may the bulb and upper part of the tube had devitrified,
have been modernized with advantage. note the white-headed jay, nesting high becoming white and translucent like frosted glass.
The tube was resealed, exhausted, and exposed
Altogether Capt. Cartwright made six in the mountains long before the snow is
to 1300° for 11 hours. On cooling, the point
voyages to Labrador, spending seven winters off the ground; the well-known cowbird,
of the tube was broken under inercury, and from
of his "sixteen years' residence
on its
“gregarious, polyandrous, and parasitic”; the amount that entered it was ascertained that
ice-bound shores. He showed great tact in and the uncommon cañon-wren (there are 7. 79 per cent of the tube's capacity had leaked
his dealings with the Eskimos, then reputed seven kinds of wren in the State), which through the devitrified silica.
To ascertain if air would leak through at
the worst kind of savages ; he calls them hardily goes its way amid mighty and ordinary temperature, a facsimile of tube and bulb
“the best-tempered people I ever met with, numerous birds of prey,
was made in glass, and the two tubes were simul.
and most docile. ” Five of them he took to
England in 1772 on his return from his first quate, are good of their kind. As the number balance case.
The illustrations, while not entirely ade. taneously exhausted to the highest point, sealed
off at the same time, and kept together in the
voyage ; unfortunately, four died of small of them is not large, they might with ad-
Weighings were taken at hourly
intervals. In 18 hours the weight of the glass
pox after several months' stay.
vantage have been confined to breeding sites
tube did not alter, but the silica tube increased
0·048 grain. In a few days both tubes were
The chief charm of his 'Journal' lies and haunts. For the novice a very con-
opened under mercury. The glass tube and bulb
in his faithful description of the wild life venient key, based on external characters,
filled completely, the silica tube and bulb only
around him. He was an accurate observer is supplied; for the expert, a scientific
partially, and on measuring the mercury that
of the birds and beasts which he trapped and diagnosis.
entered it was found that air to the amount of
shot; and his notes on the habits of the
46. 58 per cent had leaked in.
A micro-photograph of the devitrified surface of
beaver are worthy of Gilbert White at his Physico-Chemical Tables : Vol. II. Physical the silica bulb shows it to be superficially cracked
best. Finding a statement in Buffon that and Analytical Chemistry, by John Castell. all over into the appearance of cells, some of which
beavers have a scaly tail because they eat | Evans (Charles Griffin), is for the use of have a decided hexagonal outline.
fish, he wonders that “Monsieur Buffon analysts, physicists, chemical manufacturers,
A few years ago a similar effect was observed
had not one for the same reason,” adding and scientific chemists. The physicists, 100 mgrms. of pure radium bromide had been
on a clear silica dish in which a solution of about
that beavers eat neither fish nor other however, will miss tables of constants which evaporated down on the water-bath. Under the
animal food. He often mentions the great would be of special use to them. So far as microscope the appearance was very similar to
auk, which he calls a penguin,” and fore- an examination without actual study of the surface of the devitrified silica bulb just
described.
tells its extinction owing to the depredations each page is concerned, we can find very
of fishermen upon Funk Island, to which little reference to optical constants. A Volatility of Metals of the Platinum Group,' in
Sir William Crookes also read a paper on The
even then it was principally confined. He table of refractive indices was given in the course of which he said
once followed a trapped wolverine, which vol. i. ; but it might have been well to deal “For the last two years I have been using an
went six miles on three legs through deep with molecular refractive powers and re-
electric furnace, and some facts which came under
snow with the trap in its mouth, and then fraction equivalents; and surely the specific my notice on the occasion of a breakdown of the
flew at him as he came up; the weight of rotatory, powers of various crystalline and platinum was not so entirely fixed at temperatures
heating arrangement led me to guspect that
the trap was eight pounds, while that of organic bodies would have been very accept-well below its melting-point as has been universally
the animal itself was only twenty-six. able, at least to physicists. The subject of accepted by chemists and physicists.
Such stories from Cartwright excite magneto-optics does not appear in the
“ After à certain time the platinum ribbon coil
no suspicion; he is too honest and matter- Index, nor can we discover it by reference gets thinner and melts at the weakest part, and
the furnace becomes useless until a new porcelain
of-fact to exaggerate, and the philosophy to the text of either volume. In the next
tube and platinum ribbon coil are supplied.
with which he contemplates his apparent edition the Index might be a little amplified, During the two years I have had the furnace in
ruin after years of exile is worthy of all for we have occasionally found in the use this breakdown has happened three times.
praise. His spirited “poetical epistle" on text matter to which no reference is made The porcelain tube was found to be coated with
Labrador is wisely preserved by Dr. Towns- in it. On the other hand, we can find
a fine dust of beautifully formed crystals of
brilliant metallic lustre, which on analysis proved
end; it is a wonderful production for a 'po mention of electric conductivities or of 'to be platinum. It therefore seemed of interest
6
6
## p. 315 (#245) ############################################
12
315
No. 4403, MARCH 16, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
h are
Tever,
cellent
and
arious
before
Would
enefit
deal
pages
loved
Licitly
exion
Dages
Origin
urse,
(4
Etical
of
gure,
Luced
teful
Chese
100
nt.
be a
ars
66
da
De
는
to subject a platinum crucible to a temperature angles to the first is connected mechanically to having tried to make a collection of dried speci.
approaching that to which the platinum resistance the specimen, so that, as the specimen extends, mens, which proved most disappointing, I was
coil had been exposed. A crucible was heated to the mirror receives the angular motion in pro- led to begin the paintings by a desire to have
1300° C. in the electric furnace for 30 hours, portion to the extension between assigned gauge some permanent record of what I saw. The list
when the loss of weight amounted to 0-245 per points.
of 104 plants is far from being exhaustive, but
cent. Palladium, treated in the same way, lost A beam of light from a source within the contains, perhaps, the majority of the more
0•745 per cent in 30 hours.
instrument is directed upon the first mirror and prominent ones. I am not a botanist, but have
"In May, 1908, I suggested the grcat advan- reflected from it to the second mirror, from which endeavoured to delineate as faithfully as possible
tages of using crucibles of pure iridium instead of it is again reflected and focussed on a ground- the form and structure of the various species,
platinum in laboratory work. An iridium glass screen, which can be replaced when desired and have also tried to reproduce something of
crucible is hard as steel: it may be heated for by
a photographic plate.
the intensity, of colouring which seemed to me
hours over a smoky Bunsen burner without There is no connexion between the instrument so remarkable. I nay, perhaps, be allowed to
injury. It will stand hours of boiling in aqua and any part of the framework of the machine, make a special mention of the number of flam-
regia without appreciable attack; lead and zinc the former being attached to the weigh-bar only. boyant trees, Poinciana regia, which, with their
can be melted in it and boiled at a full red heat ; To take a diagram, all that is necessary is to abundance of bright scarlet blossoms, form so
likewise nickel, copper, gold, and iron can be place the instrument in position and on the weigh- striking a feature of the landscape in the months
melted in an iridium crucible, and poured out bar, apply a load to the specimen by any suitable of May, June, and July. ”. A list of most of the
without injury.
means, and the diagram is obtained automatically. botanical names, supplied by Mr. John Bovell,
Accordingly, I commenced experiments to Mr. R. Whiddington read a paper on The of the Agricultural Department, Barbados, was
see if I could detect loss of weight in iridium at Transmission of Cathode Rays through Matter,' also shown. The exhibitor reminded those
1300°, a temperature at which I had found and also one on 'The Velocity of the Secondary present that some of the colours, especially the
platinum to be slightly volatile. An iridium Cathode Particles ejected by the Characteristic mauves and blues, are not seen to advantage in
crucible was found to have lost over 7 per cent in Röntgen Rays. '
artificial light.
weight after 22 hours at 1300°, and at greater Mr. E. E. Fournier d'Albe read a paper On The Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing read his paper
heat losg of weight for equal periods of time was the Potential Effect in Selenium. ' A new type 'Historic Doubts about Vaunthompsonia,' * in
proportional to temperature.
of selenium bridge (or “ selenium cell ") was con- which he pointed out that the number of
After this severe treatment the crucible, structed by coating a plate of unglazed porcelain The Natural History Revieve for July, 1858, was
which had taken on a crystalline appearance of high insulating power with graphite, and divid-
received by the British Museum at the date
over the whole surface when the series commenced, ing the surface into two conducting portions by stamped as * 16 JY 58,". thereby proving its
began to show disintegration along its edges, and cutting, with a diamond, a to-and-fro line through priority over Vauntompsonia. Dr. W. T. Calman,
pieces began to crumble when touched with the the graphite. The plate was then coated with The General Secretary, and Prof. A. Dendy joined
forceps.
selenium and sensitized. The bridges so con: in the subsequent discussion.
I next tried rhodium, a metal intermediate in structed showed no polarization, and were well Dr. O. Stapf showed some living specimens of
fusibility between platinum and iridium, and adapted to the study of the “ potential effect,”' or Cactoid Euphorbias from South Africa, and com-
similar to iridium in its resistance to chemical the change of resistance with the voltage applied.
mented on the salient features of the group.
agents which attack platinum. The loss in 30
hours was 0. 13 per cent, not far from that of
ZOOLOGICAL. -March 5. —Sir John Rose Brad-
platinum.
ASIATIC. --March 12. -Lord Reay, President, ford, V. P. , in the chair. —Mr. Oldfield Thomas
“Ruthenium does not lend itself to such ex- in the chair. -Mr. Grant Brown of the Indian exhibited the skulls of a German wild boar from
periments as the foregoing owing to the formation Civil Service read a paper on 'The Use of the Baden and of a Hungarian wild boar from Koloz-
of a volatile oxide, and similar experiments Roman Character for Oriental Languages. He svar, the latter recently presented to the British
at 1300° showed a loss in 8 hours of 25 per cent. began by defining transliteration and distinguish- Museum by Fräulein Sarolta von Wertheimstein.
Experiments were now made at 900° by heating ing it from phonetic writing, while pointing out The difference in size between these was so great
the metals in a flame of a good Méker burner. that some kind of phonetic script was used for that Mr. Thomas considered that the Hungarian
Platinum and rhodium after heating for 20 hours all transliteration, however much the spoken boar should be separated as a distinct species,
showed no loss of weight. Palladium in 10 hours sound might appear to be ignored. The trans- which he proposed to call Sus attila. He also
lost 0·0019; iridium in 20 hours lost 0·091 per cent. literator had, first, to decide what sounds were
stated that the North and South Spanish wild
The mode of occurrence of the beautiful represented by the characters in the text, boars were, on the other hand, so much smaller
crystals of platinum is against the supposition and then to embody them in a phonetic
in different degrees than the German animal as
that they are a product of the decomposition of script. There was no reason why the same phonetic each to deserve subspecific distinction from the
an oxide, for they deposit on a part of the appa- | script should not be used for all language, latter.
ratus that is at a slightly lower temperature than special symbols being added when necessary. Mr. H. L. Hawkins read a paper, communi-
the bulk of the metal, and it is inconceivable The author then suggested the qualifications cated by Dr. H. Woodward, on The Classifica-
that platinum should unite with oxygen to formi necessary or desirable for such a script, and
tion, Morphology, and Evolution of the Echinoidea
a volatile oxide at one definite temperature, and showed that the only system in use which pos. Holectypoida,' illustrated with lantern -slides.
part with this oxygen and come down in metallic sessed them all was that of the International The classification of the Mesozoic Gnathosto-
crystals at a little lower temperature.
Phonetic Association, of which Mr. Daniel Jones, matous Irregular Echinoids was revised, with
"I devised an experiment to see if iridium Lecturer in Phonetics at London University diagnoses of the families, sub-families, and genera,
would volatilize at a high temperature in a vacuum. College, was Secretary. The system was already and a new genus and sub-genus were introduced.
A fused silica tube had a bulb blown on the end. widely used in Europe for educational purposes, The anatomy of the test was described for the
In the bulb was put 27. 619 grains of clean iridium; especially in teaching phonetics. He urged that Holectypoida, and compared with that of other
the other end of the silica tube was drawn out a training in phonetics was essential for Indian
orders. The origin of the Irregular Echinoids
for connecting with the pump and sealing. It civilians if they were to follow scientific methods was discussed, and the lines of evolution that
was exhausted to a high vacuum and heated to in learning the Indian languages, and to go to they followed were indicated and summarized
near redness along its whole length till all moisture India well equipped for learning to speak, not in a genealogical table.
and occluded gases had been removed ; it was only the principal language of their province, Mr. H. G. Plimmer read a paper' On the Blood-
then sealed off, and placed in the furnace in such but also any other language which might be Parasites found in the Zoological Gardens during
a position that the iridium would be at the point needed for their work. He showed that the the Four Years 1908-11,' illustrating his remarks
of greatest beat. The bulb was kept at a tem- script would be useful to ethnologists for recording with a large number of lantern-slides. The
perature of 1300° for 30 hours. On examining new languages, to natives who had no written
paper contained the results of examination of the
the silica tube when cold it was seen that the long language or an unsatisfactory script, and for blood of 6,430 animals, in about 7 per cent of
continued high temperature had caused the bulb many other purposes. He ended by quoting an which parasites were found. Many of these
and the upper part of the tube to devitrify and article in The Edinburgh Review of 1848, which parasites were described for the first time, and
become white and translucent, and that it had an said that the preparation of a manual supplying in other cases the hosts were newly recorded.
irregular black deposit on the lower part, which a well-considered phonetic alphabet, and illus-
Prof. G. 0. Sars presented a memoir entitled
proved to be metallic iridium. "
trating its use by means of texts in important • Zoological Results of the Third Tanganyika
Prof. W. M. Hicks read a paper on ' A Critical languages, was a matter of pressing urgency if | Expedition, conducted by Dr. W. A. Cunnington,
Study of Spectral Series : the Principal and Sharp
the unwritten languages of the earth were to be 1904-6: Report on some Larval and Young
Sequences and the Atomic Volume Term," which effectually recorded before they perished. A dis- Stages of Prawns from Lake Tanganyika. Four
was a sequel to a paper on the same subject pub-cussion followed, in which the Rev. J. Knowles, forms were dealt with in this paper, two of which
Jished in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. ccx.
the Rev. Dr. Weitbrecht, Miss Ridding, Dr.
represented very early larval stages, and appar.
(1910).
Pollen, Mr. J. Dyer Ball, and Mr. D. Jones took ently belonged to two quite different kinds of
Prof. W. E. Dalby read a paper on 'An Optical | part.
prawns; but owing to the difficulty of deciding
Load-Extension Indicator, together with some
with any certainty the species or even the genera
Diagrams obtained Therewith. ' The paper de- LINNEAN. -- March 7. -Dr. D. H. Scott, Presi- to which they were referable, they were not
scribes a
new instrument by means of which dent, in the chair. -Mr. C. C. Calder, Mr. T. A. named, although a detailed description was given
automatic records of load-extension diagrams Dymes, Mr. T. M. Fitch, Miss C. E. Larter, Miss and their probable origin suggested. The remain-
can be obtained with precision, the records M. Samuel, and Mr. D.
MARCH
Brunswick, Vieweg & Sohn
25 Chambers's Journal will contain: 'The
A second edition of Prof. Buchholz's recast MARCH
School-Books.
Wizard of Modern Invention : Thomas Alva
of Klinkerfues's important work. It has been
Edison,' by his secretary, Mr. W. H. Meadowcraft ;
enlarged and corrected in conformity with the
25 Latin Word Formation for Secondary If I were a Millionaire,' by Sir Arthur Quiller-
knowledge acquired since 1899, when it was
Schools, by Paul R. Jenks, 1/6
HarrapCouch ; As the Chinese See Us,' by the Rev.
first published; and Prof. Buchholz introduces
APRIL.
E. J. Hardy; The American Secret Service,'
it by an explanation of his present view of Learning by Heart, in Six
Graded Parts, com-
1 A Treasury of Prose and Poetry, for by Mr. Day Allen Willey ; State Insurance in
Gylden's theory of the orbit, which had formerly
Germany,' by Mr. Richard Thirsk ; Titles of
been adopted with too little qualification, and
piled by Amy Barter: Parts I. to V. , 5d. , 6d. ; Honour,' by Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore; The
by a critical survey of the new methods em-
Part VI. , 6d. , 8d.
Harrap Romance of Tobacco,' by Lieut. -Col. P. R.
ployed by Messrs. W. Gibbs, P. Harzer, and
why 1 Barons and Kings (1216-1488), by Estelle Bairnsfather; and “The French Workman,' by
A. Leuschner for the calculation of orbits.
Ross, 1/6; Prize Edition, 2/6 net. Harrap | Mr. R. Seppings-Laws.
>
## p. 313 (#243) ############################################
No. 4403, MARCH 16, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
313
Willie Laidlaw. Laidlaw was born in Scheme for Secondary Teachers ; and
Literary Gossip
Yarrow in 1780, and in the church there earnestly hopes that the joint efforts of the
.
he has already a memorial tablet. After
Board and of Secondary Teachers towards
Scott's death he went north as factor to
this end may be completely successful. "
We notice with satisfaction in The Sir Charles Ross, of Balnagown, and on
Cambridge Review the proposal to confer his own death, in 1845, was buried in publish on the 28th inst. “The Epistles
MESSRS. SMITH, ELDER & Co. will
the Cambridge Doctorate of Letters on Contin churchyard.
of St. Paul : the Authorized Version
Mr. James Bass Mullinger, the admirable
historian of the University. The recogni- In his third Hibbert Lecture on Tues- amended by the Adoption of such of the
tion due to his labours was emphasized day, the 12th inst. , Dr. Hope Moulton Alterations made in the Revised Version
in our own columns some while since. referred to the note in The Athenoum
as are Necessary for correcting Material
Mistranslations, or making clear the
On Thursday the members were an- series, and seemed to take
exception to Meaning of the Inspired Writer. The
text on the title-page will best convey
to inquire into methods of appointment were the originals from whom the Persian the purpose with which the book has been
and promotion in the Civil Service. Amshaspands were copied. This was not in the law of God, distinctly; and they
Recently we had occasion to point out
the omission of an important subject in put forward as our own suggestion, but in the law of God, distinctly; and they
examinations for the Service; and other by reference to the note' itself in our issue tho reading. ”
gave the sense, so that they understood
reforms are desirable which the Com- of the 2nd inst. (p. 257). The idea present
missioners should be able to approach in the mind of the writer of that note was Watson, The Family Living,' as its
A NEW NOVEL by Mr. E. H. Lacon
with an open mind, as they represent not that Philo invented his "Powers", de title suggests, deals to some extent with
varieties of opinion and experience. The novo, but that both he and the author clerical life. Mr.
idea of a Royal Commission as a means of of the late portion of the Avestic literature
Murray will be the
settlement was recently recognized as an
publisher.
in which the Amshaspands first formally
insult to practical men, but, owing to the appear borrowed the notion from some
Another novel from the same house
inclusion of two women and some other third source. One is not sure that Dr. will be 'The Visioning,' by Miss Susan
thinkers, practical as well as academic, Moulton much helped his case by saying Glaspell, a story of some well-to-do and
the present body may, we hope, surpass that at least one of the Amshaspands
was clever people and the development of
its predecessors in utility.
known in Strabo's day. It does not seem
their somewhat restricted views and cir-
A LAMBETH DEGREE is now somewhat
at all certain that the god Omanos,
cumstances.
of a rarity. The D. D. conferred by the of whom, Strabo says in his fifteenth
MESSRS. MACMILLAN & Co. , AND
Archbishop of Canterbury upon the Ven. book, a wooden statue was carried in MR. PHILIP LEE WARNER, publisher to
Arthur E Moule, lately Archdeacon in procession, and who is described in the the Medici Society, hope to bring out
Mid-China, will be generally applauded. eleventh book as having a common altar in April * The Revival of Printing : a
He was made B. D. by a previous Arch-
with another god called Anadatos, can be Bibliographical Catalogue of the Works
bishop, and his commentaries and trans-
identified with Vohu Mano, who seems to issued by the Chief Modern English
lations in Chinese are a notable part of his be the Amshaspand Dr. Moulton referred
Presses. ' The book is edited by Mr.
devoted work in the foreign field.
to. It is unlikely that the priests of such
Robert Steele, and contains a series of
deities could have known anything of the plates showing the various founts em-
FIFTY-THREE autograph letters ad-image-hating Zoroaster. But if this diffi-
dressed by White of Selborne to his niece culty could be got over, Dr. Moulton use of the student of modern printing,
ployed. It has been prepared for the
Mary White have just been presented to would still have to explain what became who heretofore has been unable to com-
the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, as of the Amshaspand conception between mand any work of ready reference dealing
well as a letter written by Hogarth towards the time of Zoroaster, which he is now with such publications. The volume will
the end of his life, in which
he gives his inclined to put at from 1000 to 800 B. C. , be issued in three different styles.
reasons for painting the little picture of and that of Strabo.
The Bench. ' This picture has been
The same publishers also hope to
lately given to the Museum.
THE ZIONIST CENTRAL OFFICE, Berlin, issue during the same month ' A Lyttel
will very shortly issue through Messrs. Booke of Nonsence,' which consists of a
MR. G. F. HILL will read a paper on W. Speaight & Sons a pamphlet on ‘The series of quaint and curious woodcuts,
Some Palestine Cults in the Græco- Zionist Movement: its Aims and Achieve- few of which are less than 400 years
Roman Age' at the next meeting of the ments. The pamphlet, which has been old, accompanied by modern humorous
British Academy, to be held at the rooms written by Mr. Israel Cohen, Secretary of rhymes. The cuts have been selected,
of the Royal Society, Burlington House, the English Department of the Zionist and the rhymes written, by Mr. Randall
on Wednesday, the 20th inst. , at 5 o'clock. Central Office, will be an authoritative Davies.
DEAN GREGORY, who lived to the great account of the history and activity of the
Jewish , nationalist movement from the
MR. WILLIAM MOIR BRYCE of Edin.
age of 92, left behind him a short auto-
earliest times to the present day.
burgh has written a ‘History of the Old
biography, which he wrote during 1902 earliest
Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh,' to which
and 1903. It covers the whole of his
long life, and there are many "curious
A MEETING of Secondary Teachers will Dr. Hay Fleming has added a chapter on
reminiscences in it of the days before the be held at the University of London, South The Subscribing of the National Cove-
Reform Bill. It is being prepared for Kensington, next Saturday, at 3 P. M. The nant. ' The writer has availed himself
of the recent discovery of the early por-
publication by Archdeacon Hutton.
Rev. Edward Lyttelton will be in the
chair, and will be supported by Mr. tion of Wariston's Diary, whereby it
The latest of the London County A. H. Dyke Acland. The following resolu- is shown that the National Covenant
Council memorials is the tablet of blue tion will be proposed by the Dean of was not signed in 1638 amongst the
encaustic ware affixed on Monday last Lincoln (Dr. T. C. Fry), seconded by Mr. tombs in the churchyard, but within the
to No. 88, Paradise Street, Rotherhithe, J. F. P. Rawlinson (Cambridge University), church itself. This is unfortunate for
the residence of Thomas Henry Huxley and supported by Miss Lees (Assistant some picturesque accounts and pictures.
for some months in 1841.
Mistresses' Association) and Mr. A. A. There are chapters on the Conventual
Somerville (Assistant Masters' Associa- Grey Friars and the Edinburgh Greyfriars
THOSE who are familiar with the details
tion)
of Observance, on the Covenanting prison,
of Scott's life will be pleased to learn that
and on eminent ministers, with a plan of
a tablet is about to be placed in Contin appreciation of the favourable consideration the Grey Friary yards. The volume, which
Church, near Strathpeffer, to the memory shown by the Board of Education to the has twenty-three full-page illustrations, is
of Sir Walter's friend and amanuensis, question of starting a National Pension to be issued by Messrs. Green & Sons.
## p. 314 (#244) ############################################
314
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4403, MARCH 16, 1912
a
are
vacuum.
man who, by his own confession, read dielectric constants, tables of which are
nothing but a newspaper for years.
SCIENCE
surely expected by the physicist.
The work of the editor has been admirably The tables relating to heat, are, however,
done. He has supplied a few useful notes extremely full. We note as an excellent
and a valuable glossary. There are some feature the short mathematical
and
good
illustrations - principally modern physical prefaces with which the various
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
photographs of the localities described.
subjects are introduced immediately before
their tables of constants ; but here we would
Capt. Cartwright and his Labrador Journal,
edited by C. W. Townsend (Williams & William Lutley Sclater (Witherby), was
A History of the Birds of Colorado, by suggest an improvement for the benefit
of the reader. It would save a good deal
Norgate), is an abridged reprint of a large undertaken at the instance of the late General of time in the turning over of back pages
work in three
quarto volumes which w. J. Palmer, a keen naturalist, who provided if the various algebraic symbols employed
appeared as long ago as 1792, and has now much of the material for it in the Aiken in these prefatory notes were explicitly
become scarce. The editor-whose previous collection, which he presented to the Museum defined whenever they are used in connexion
books on Labrador are well known—has of Colorado College. It will undoubtedly with the separate tables of constants. It
done good service in popularizing a journal supply a want, for the only other completo happens occasionally, that several pages
which delighted Coleridge and Southey, work on the subject is now out of print and have to be referred to for the origin
but, we fear, would be too bulky in its original very scarce.
of some symbol. We do not, of course,
form for the average reader of to-day.
Dr. W. T. Grenfell
, who contributes two pages lend themselves to a more varied bird fauna tition as
The unique physical features of Colorado go to the length of advocating such repe-
we find in old mathematical
of introduction-appropriately written at the
(e. g. ,
than might at first be expected. The
editions of
primitive
trading post of Cartwright, where the diarist
planted his settlement of Caribou Castle list comprises 392 birds, of which 225 Newton's Principia '), in which a figure,
speaks of the ‘Journal'as “a concise illus-
have been known to breed within the State. however simple, on one page is reproduced
tration of the enterprise, pluck, perseverance,
The vertical distribution of these has been on the next; but the reader is grateful
self-reliance, and stoicism of the old English worked out with care, and is of special for whatever saves time. Many of these
interest; in this connexion it must be re-
theoretical introductions to the various
the three remarkable brothers „George, Colorado is as much as 6,800 ft. The three
stock. ' The editor's biographical notice of membered that the average elevation of tables will be of great use to the student.
The two volumes taken together will be a
John, and Edmund, the eldest of whom was
the diarist—still further exemplifies the
different levels for the purpose of such boon to English workers, and in some ways
truth of this remark.
analysis resolve themselves into (1) the have an advantage over similar tables in
plains, (2) the foothills and the mountain foreign languages.
Capt. Cartwright was a military officer who parks from about 6,000 ft. to 8,000 ft. ,
retired from service in 1770, and immediately 13) the mountains from about 8,000 ft. to
went out as a settler to Labrador. Here, timber-line at 11,500 ft. Three birds, in-
SOCIETIES.
first in partnership and then alone, he estab-cluding the interesting white-tailed ptar-
lished stations for fishing and the trade in migan, nest even beyond this altitude.
ROYAL. -March 7. - Sir Archibald Geikie, Presi-
furs, and resided upon the coast on and off Aquatic and marine species
dent, in the chair. --Sir William Crookes read a
well
paper ' On the Devitrification of Silica Glass. '
—with one interval of more than two years represented on the lakes and rivers. Mr. A transparent tube of silica glass with a
-to the end of 1786. He was in the strict Sclater says that the Canada goose holds bulb blown at one end was exhausted to a high
It was heated in an electric resistance
sense a pioneer, for the coast had only just its own, and when persecuted will resort
been surveyed' for the first time by 'the to trees, and sometimes appropriate nests exposed to the greatest heat, while the lower part
furnace in such a manner that the bulb was
famous Capt. Cook. The contemporary of herons. It is curious to read of whole-
of the tube was comparatively cool. After being
map reproduced by the editor, presumably sale destruction of heronries by hailstorms. kept at a temperature of 1300°
C.
for 20 hours
from the original work, might, we think, Among many characteristic species we may the bulb and upper part of the tube had devitrified,
have been modernized with advantage. note the white-headed jay, nesting high becoming white and translucent like frosted glass.
The tube was resealed, exhausted, and exposed
Altogether Capt. Cartwright made six in the mountains long before the snow is
to 1300° for 11 hours. On cooling, the point
voyages to Labrador, spending seven winters off the ground; the well-known cowbird,
of the tube was broken under inercury, and from
of his "sixteen years' residence
on its
“gregarious, polyandrous, and parasitic”; the amount that entered it was ascertained that
ice-bound shores. He showed great tact in and the uncommon cañon-wren (there are 7. 79 per cent of the tube's capacity had leaked
his dealings with the Eskimos, then reputed seven kinds of wren in the State), which through the devitrified silica.
To ascertain if air would leak through at
the worst kind of savages ; he calls them hardily goes its way amid mighty and ordinary temperature, a facsimile of tube and bulb
“the best-tempered people I ever met with, numerous birds of prey,
was made in glass, and the two tubes were simul.
and most docile. ” Five of them he took to
England in 1772 on his return from his first quate, are good of their kind. As the number balance case.
The illustrations, while not entirely ade. taneously exhausted to the highest point, sealed
off at the same time, and kept together in the
voyage ; unfortunately, four died of small of them is not large, they might with ad-
Weighings were taken at hourly
intervals. In 18 hours the weight of the glass
pox after several months' stay.
vantage have been confined to breeding sites
tube did not alter, but the silica tube increased
0·048 grain. In a few days both tubes were
The chief charm of his 'Journal' lies and haunts. For the novice a very con-
opened under mercury. The glass tube and bulb
in his faithful description of the wild life venient key, based on external characters,
filled completely, the silica tube and bulb only
around him. He was an accurate observer is supplied; for the expert, a scientific
partially, and on measuring the mercury that
of the birds and beasts which he trapped and diagnosis.
entered it was found that air to the amount of
shot; and his notes on the habits of the
46. 58 per cent had leaked in.
A micro-photograph of the devitrified surface of
beaver are worthy of Gilbert White at his Physico-Chemical Tables : Vol. II. Physical the silica bulb shows it to be superficially cracked
best. Finding a statement in Buffon that and Analytical Chemistry, by John Castell. all over into the appearance of cells, some of which
beavers have a scaly tail because they eat | Evans (Charles Griffin), is for the use of have a decided hexagonal outline.
fish, he wonders that “Monsieur Buffon analysts, physicists, chemical manufacturers,
A few years ago a similar effect was observed
had not one for the same reason,” adding and scientific chemists. The physicists, 100 mgrms. of pure radium bromide had been
on a clear silica dish in which a solution of about
that beavers eat neither fish nor other however, will miss tables of constants which evaporated down on the water-bath. Under the
animal food. He often mentions the great would be of special use to them. So far as microscope the appearance was very similar to
auk, which he calls a penguin,” and fore- an examination without actual study of the surface of the devitrified silica bulb just
described.
tells its extinction owing to the depredations each page is concerned, we can find very
of fishermen upon Funk Island, to which little reference to optical constants. A Volatility of Metals of the Platinum Group,' in
Sir William Crookes also read a paper on The
even then it was principally confined. He table of refractive indices was given in the course of which he said
once followed a trapped wolverine, which vol. i. ; but it might have been well to deal “For the last two years I have been using an
went six miles on three legs through deep with molecular refractive powers and re-
electric furnace, and some facts which came under
snow with the trap in its mouth, and then fraction equivalents; and surely the specific my notice on the occasion of a breakdown of the
flew at him as he came up; the weight of rotatory, powers of various crystalline and platinum was not so entirely fixed at temperatures
heating arrangement led me to guspect that
the trap was eight pounds, while that of organic bodies would have been very accept-well below its melting-point as has been universally
the animal itself was only twenty-six. able, at least to physicists. The subject of accepted by chemists and physicists.
Such stories from Cartwright excite magneto-optics does not appear in the
“ After à certain time the platinum ribbon coil
no suspicion; he is too honest and matter- Index, nor can we discover it by reference gets thinner and melts at the weakest part, and
the furnace becomes useless until a new porcelain
of-fact to exaggerate, and the philosophy to the text of either volume. In the next
tube and platinum ribbon coil are supplied.
with which he contemplates his apparent edition the Index might be a little amplified, During the two years I have had the furnace in
ruin after years of exile is worthy of all for we have occasionally found in the use this breakdown has happened three times.
praise. His spirited “poetical epistle" on text matter to which no reference is made The porcelain tube was found to be coated with
Labrador is wisely preserved by Dr. Towns- in it. On the other hand, we can find
a fine dust of beautifully formed crystals of
brilliant metallic lustre, which on analysis proved
end; it is a wonderful production for a 'po mention of electric conductivities or of 'to be platinum. It therefore seemed of interest
6
6
## p. 315 (#245) ############################################
12
315
No. 4403, MARCH 16, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
h are
Tever,
cellent
and
arious
before
Would
enefit
deal
pages
loved
Licitly
exion
Dages
Origin
urse,
(4
Etical
of
gure,
Luced
teful
Chese
100
nt.
be a
ars
66
da
De
는
to subject a platinum crucible to a temperature angles to the first is connected mechanically to having tried to make a collection of dried speci.
approaching that to which the platinum resistance the specimen, so that, as the specimen extends, mens, which proved most disappointing, I was
coil had been exposed. A crucible was heated to the mirror receives the angular motion in pro- led to begin the paintings by a desire to have
1300° C. in the electric furnace for 30 hours, portion to the extension between assigned gauge some permanent record of what I saw. The list
when the loss of weight amounted to 0-245 per points.
of 104 plants is far from being exhaustive, but
cent. Palladium, treated in the same way, lost A beam of light from a source within the contains, perhaps, the majority of the more
0•745 per cent in 30 hours.
instrument is directed upon the first mirror and prominent ones. I am not a botanist, but have
"In May, 1908, I suggested the grcat advan- reflected from it to the second mirror, from which endeavoured to delineate as faithfully as possible
tages of using crucibles of pure iridium instead of it is again reflected and focussed on a ground- the form and structure of the various species,
platinum in laboratory work. An iridium glass screen, which can be replaced when desired and have also tried to reproduce something of
crucible is hard as steel: it may be heated for by
a photographic plate.
the intensity, of colouring which seemed to me
hours over a smoky Bunsen burner without There is no connexion between the instrument so remarkable. I nay, perhaps, be allowed to
injury. It will stand hours of boiling in aqua and any part of the framework of the machine, make a special mention of the number of flam-
regia without appreciable attack; lead and zinc the former being attached to the weigh-bar only. boyant trees, Poinciana regia, which, with their
can be melted in it and boiled at a full red heat ; To take a diagram, all that is necessary is to abundance of bright scarlet blossoms, form so
likewise nickel, copper, gold, and iron can be place the instrument in position and on the weigh- striking a feature of the landscape in the months
melted in an iridium crucible, and poured out bar, apply a load to the specimen by any suitable of May, June, and July. ”. A list of most of the
without injury.
means, and the diagram is obtained automatically. botanical names, supplied by Mr. John Bovell,
Accordingly, I commenced experiments to Mr. R. Whiddington read a paper on The of the Agricultural Department, Barbados, was
see if I could detect loss of weight in iridium at Transmission of Cathode Rays through Matter,' also shown. The exhibitor reminded those
1300°, a temperature at which I had found and also one on 'The Velocity of the Secondary present that some of the colours, especially the
platinum to be slightly volatile. An iridium Cathode Particles ejected by the Characteristic mauves and blues, are not seen to advantage in
crucible was found to have lost over 7 per cent in Röntgen Rays. '
artificial light.
weight after 22 hours at 1300°, and at greater Mr. E. E. Fournier d'Albe read a paper On The Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing read his paper
heat losg of weight for equal periods of time was the Potential Effect in Selenium. ' A new type 'Historic Doubts about Vaunthompsonia,' * in
proportional to temperature.
of selenium bridge (or “ selenium cell ") was con- which he pointed out that the number of
After this severe treatment the crucible, structed by coating a plate of unglazed porcelain The Natural History Revieve for July, 1858, was
which had taken on a crystalline appearance of high insulating power with graphite, and divid-
received by the British Museum at the date
over the whole surface when the series commenced, ing the surface into two conducting portions by stamped as * 16 JY 58,". thereby proving its
began to show disintegration along its edges, and cutting, with a diamond, a to-and-fro line through priority over Vauntompsonia. Dr. W. T. Calman,
pieces began to crumble when touched with the the graphite. The plate was then coated with The General Secretary, and Prof. A. Dendy joined
forceps.
selenium and sensitized. The bridges so con: in the subsequent discussion.
I next tried rhodium, a metal intermediate in structed showed no polarization, and were well Dr. O. Stapf showed some living specimens of
fusibility between platinum and iridium, and adapted to the study of the “ potential effect,”' or Cactoid Euphorbias from South Africa, and com-
similar to iridium in its resistance to chemical the change of resistance with the voltage applied.
mented on the salient features of the group.
agents which attack platinum. The loss in 30
hours was 0. 13 per cent, not far from that of
ZOOLOGICAL. -March 5. —Sir John Rose Brad-
platinum.
ASIATIC. --March 12. -Lord Reay, President, ford, V. P. , in the chair. —Mr. Oldfield Thomas
“Ruthenium does not lend itself to such ex- in the chair. -Mr. Grant Brown of the Indian exhibited the skulls of a German wild boar from
periments as the foregoing owing to the formation Civil Service read a paper on 'The Use of the Baden and of a Hungarian wild boar from Koloz-
of a volatile oxide, and similar experiments Roman Character for Oriental Languages. He svar, the latter recently presented to the British
at 1300° showed a loss in 8 hours of 25 per cent. began by defining transliteration and distinguish- Museum by Fräulein Sarolta von Wertheimstein.
Experiments were now made at 900° by heating ing it from phonetic writing, while pointing out The difference in size between these was so great
the metals in a flame of a good Méker burner. that some kind of phonetic script was used for that Mr. Thomas considered that the Hungarian
Platinum and rhodium after heating for 20 hours all transliteration, however much the spoken boar should be separated as a distinct species,
showed no loss of weight. Palladium in 10 hours sound might appear to be ignored. The trans- which he proposed to call Sus attila. He also
lost 0·0019; iridium in 20 hours lost 0·091 per cent. literator had, first, to decide what sounds were
stated that the North and South Spanish wild
The mode of occurrence of the beautiful represented by the characters in the text, boars were, on the other hand, so much smaller
crystals of platinum is against the supposition and then to embody them in a phonetic
in different degrees than the German animal as
that they are a product of the decomposition of script. There was no reason why the same phonetic each to deserve subspecific distinction from the
an oxide, for they deposit on a part of the appa- | script should not be used for all language, latter.
ratus that is at a slightly lower temperature than special symbols being added when necessary. Mr. H. L. Hawkins read a paper, communi-
the bulk of the metal, and it is inconceivable The author then suggested the qualifications cated by Dr. H. Woodward, on The Classifica-
that platinum should unite with oxygen to formi necessary or desirable for such a script, and
tion, Morphology, and Evolution of the Echinoidea
a volatile oxide at one definite temperature, and showed that the only system in use which pos. Holectypoida,' illustrated with lantern -slides.
part with this oxygen and come down in metallic sessed them all was that of the International The classification of the Mesozoic Gnathosto-
crystals at a little lower temperature.
Phonetic Association, of which Mr. Daniel Jones, matous Irregular Echinoids was revised, with
"I devised an experiment to see if iridium Lecturer in Phonetics at London University diagnoses of the families, sub-families, and genera,
would volatilize at a high temperature in a vacuum. College, was Secretary. The system was already and a new genus and sub-genus were introduced.
A fused silica tube had a bulb blown on the end. widely used in Europe for educational purposes, The anatomy of the test was described for the
In the bulb was put 27. 619 grains of clean iridium; especially in teaching phonetics. He urged that Holectypoida, and compared with that of other
the other end of the silica tube was drawn out a training in phonetics was essential for Indian
orders. The origin of the Irregular Echinoids
for connecting with the pump and sealing. It civilians if they were to follow scientific methods was discussed, and the lines of evolution that
was exhausted to a high vacuum and heated to in learning the Indian languages, and to go to they followed were indicated and summarized
near redness along its whole length till all moisture India well equipped for learning to speak, not in a genealogical table.
and occluded gases had been removed ; it was only the principal language of their province, Mr. H. G. Plimmer read a paper' On the Blood-
then sealed off, and placed in the furnace in such but also any other language which might be Parasites found in the Zoological Gardens during
a position that the iridium would be at the point needed for their work. He showed that the the Four Years 1908-11,' illustrating his remarks
of greatest beat. The bulb was kept at a tem- script would be useful to ethnologists for recording with a large number of lantern-slides. The
perature of 1300° for 30 hours. On examining new languages, to natives who had no written
paper contained the results of examination of the
the silica tube when cold it was seen that the long language or an unsatisfactory script, and for blood of 6,430 animals, in about 7 per cent of
continued high temperature had caused the bulb many other purposes. He ended by quoting an which parasites were found. Many of these
and the upper part of the tube to devitrify and article in The Edinburgh Review of 1848, which parasites were described for the first time, and
become white and translucent, and that it had an said that the preparation of a manual supplying in other cases the hosts were newly recorded.
irregular black deposit on the lower part, which a well-considered phonetic alphabet, and illus-
Prof. G. 0. Sars presented a memoir entitled
proved to be metallic iridium. "
trating its use by means of texts in important • Zoological Results of the Third Tanganyika
Prof. W. M. Hicks read a paper on ' A Critical languages, was a matter of pressing urgency if | Expedition, conducted by Dr. W. A. Cunnington,
Study of Spectral Series : the Principal and Sharp
the unwritten languages of the earth were to be 1904-6: Report on some Larval and Young
Sequences and the Atomic Volume Term," which effectually recorded before they perished. A dis- Stages of Prawns from Lake Tanganyika. Four
was a sequel to a paper on the same subject pub-cussion followed, in which the Rev. J. Knowles, forms were dealt with in this paper, two of which
Jished in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. ccx.
the Rev. Dr. Weitbrecht, Miss Ridding, Dr.
represented very early larval stages, and appar.
(1910).
Pollen, Mr. J. Dyer Ball, and Mr. D. Jones took ently belonged to two quite different kinds of
Prof. W. E. Dalby read a paper on 'An Optical | part.
prawns; but owing to the difficulty of deciding
Load-Extension Indicator, together with some
with any certainty the species or even the genera
Diagrams obtained Therewith. ' The paper de- LINNEAN. -- March 7. -Dr. D. H. Scott, Presi- to which they were referable, they were not
scribes a
new instrument by means of which dent, in the chair. -Mr. C. C. Calder, Mr. T. A. named, although a detailed description was given
automatic records of load-extension diagrams Dymes, Mr. T. M. Fitch, Miss C. E. Larter, Miss and their probable origin suggested. The remain-
can be obtained with precision, the records M. Samuel, and Mr. D.
