OUR BOOK SHELF.

Our Stellar Universe. By Thomas Edward Heath. Pp. vi+26; with 26 star-charts and stereograms. (London: King, Sell and Olding, 1905.) Price

IOS. net.

WHILST most students of astronomy are able to talk glibly of "stellar parallax" and "light-years," few of us are wont to form any persistent, concrete idea of the figures we employ, nor do the usual star-charts assist us in this matter. For this reason we extend a hearty welcome to Mr. Heath's latest effort to portray, as truthfully as the meagre data available will allow, the actual three-dimension character of space.

In his "Road Book to the Stars," which we reviewed in these columns on September 28, 1905, Mr. Heath explained how he had discovered a simple scale on which concrete comparisons of stellar depths could be based, and from that had been led to the construction of stereograms which would give a visual conception of the relative distances.

In the present volume he publishes twenty-six of these stereograms, including the whole of the sky, each one taking in fifty degrees square as seen from the earth. Twenty-six key-maps show these areas without distortion, and near each star disc are placed symbols denoting the magnitude, the spectral type, and the measured, or hypothetical, parallax. The hypothetical diameter of the star in miles, based on the assumption that the light-giving power of the star per unit area is equal to that of the sun, appears in an index, which also gives the data from which the key-maps were plotted and forms a handy and valuable reference table of the 1520 stars included.

In order to render their differences visible on the stereograms, all the parallaxes have been multiplied by 19,000, and where the actual values are unknown Mr. Heath has taken, as a theoretical quantity, the average parallax of the spectral type to which any one belongs.

Even if the stereoscopic appearance does not indicate the actual facts, these stereograms are of great interest and beauty, and should certainly find a place in every school or institution where astronomy is studied. They will, at least, counteract the natural assumption, made when ordinary star-charts, or even the sky itself, are consulted, that the heavens are simply studded with objects which are all in one plane.

For example, looking at No. 7-which shows the area facing xvh R.A. and 45° N. dec.—we see Herculis standing out in the near foreground and Arcturus far removed, whilst the Northern Crown is, at first sight, hardly recognisable owing to the unfamiliar appearance produced by the separation of its stars in the third dimension. W. E. ROLSTON.

Chapters on Paper-making. Vol. ii. By Clayton Beadle. Pp. vii+174. (London, 17 The Borough, London Bridge: H. H. G. Grattan, 1906.) Price 5s. net.

THE object of this volume is "educational "; it is a contribution to paper-making technology, mainly as an aid to the student worker in his work of selfinstruction. The author devotes himself to the task of popularising the work of the City and Guilds of London Institute by reproducing the examination papers set in the subject of paper-making in the years 1901-5, and, putting himself in the position of examinee, giving full answers to these questions.

This task is prefaced by the confession that the answers give, may be in many cases open to criticism, as it is evident that certain of the subjects formulated as examination questions are in effect "leading questions" in the industry. This, however, is a tribute to the method of the institute, which, if it

is to be really educational," must keep the student mindful of difficulty, that is, of the objective realities of technical work. It is clear to us that the author has exactly appreciated the aims of the examiners in challenging the original faculties of students, and in suggesting, in the form of examination problems, some of the leading lines of progress. In addition to this, which is the main subjectmatter of the volume, the author has included a chapter dealing generally with the much controverted subjects of technical education and industrial search, and a section upon gelatine sizing embodying the results of original investigations.

re

The book contains a large number of special dissertations which will interest technologists and practical men, and its appeal, therefore, is to a wide

circle of readers.

Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires. Ser. 3, vol. v. Pp. 574; 289 text-figures. (Buenos Aires, 1905.)

THE size of this volume is a sufficient proof of the energy with which the study of biology and the related sciences is carried on in the capital of the Argentine officials of the national museum. Republic, more especially by the professors and Two papers in the present issue by Dr. F. Ameghino, the director of the museum, both dealing with the presence of a perforation in the astragalus of certain recent and extinct mammals, have been already mentioned in these columns. The bulk of the volume is, however, occupied by an article by Dr. E. L. Holmberg on the Amyrilidaceæ indigenous to and cultivated in Argentina, and a second, by Mr. F. F. Outes, on the Stone age in Patagonia. In the latter the author describes stone implements of all descriptions, from rude flint flukes and scrapers to beautifully chipped arrow-heads and perfectly spherical "bolas." The Palæolithic, or Pleistocene, implements are all referred to a single epoch. The resemblance of these implements to those found in Europe, North Africa, and North America is very close, although, as might have been expected, the closest similarity is found in the case of the North American types. In the Neolithic epoch, on the other hand, three periods are distinguishable, each indicating a distinct step in advance of its predecessor. Throughout the Neolithic epoch Patagonia presents characteristics in the matter of flint implements distinguishing it from the rest of Argentine territory. The similarity between the Patagonian neoliths and those of the southern and south-eastern United States is surprisingly close, but between the former and those of the western United States a less marked resemblance exists. Apparently some of these stone arrow-heads were used until a very recent date by certain of the Indian tribes.

R. L.

The Natural History of Selborne. By the Rev. Gilber White, M.A. Re-arranged and classified under subjects by Charles Mosley. (London: Elliot Stock, 1905.) Price 6s, net.

THE distinctive feature of this edition of the famous natural history classic is the re-arrangement of the work according to the subjects dealt with. First, there are descriptions of the locality and its physical characteristics, and these are followed by thirteen sections, respectively concerned with meteorology, geology, ethnology, mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, spiders and mites, worms, botany, superstitions, and a miscellany of subjects. This convenient arrangement will greatly assist naturalists and other students in referring to White's masterpiece.

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.]

The Existence of Absolute Motion.

THE article of Prof. Schuster's in your number of March 15, entitled "A Plea for Absolute Motion, is very interesting, but I think there are several conceptions contained therein which will not bear analysis. Partly in reference to his article, therefore, but also because the question is such an important one, I think it may be well to consider as definitely as may be what direct observational or experimental evidence we have for a zero point of motion belonging to space alone, and to which all motions of material bodies may be referred.

Not to be entangled in the snare which is as old as human discussion, I define my terms for present use. By space I mean vacuum in the ordinary sense, that which exists in interplanetary space, that to which we approach in our laboratories, nothing more or less. We have good reason to believe that in the visible universe no other kind of space exists. This is not, I believe, Prof. Schuster's use of the word, but I shall try to show that it is the only proper scientific use.

By absolute motion I mean motion considered with reference to this space alone.

The first evidence is furnished by the observed orbits of binary stars. If the velocity of light is dependent on the motion of the source, light which left the star when its motion was toward the earth must of necessity reach us sooner than the light emitted when this approach component of the star's velocity was smaller or negative. The observed orbit would therefore be distorted in a perfectly definite manner. The fact that this distortion is not observed proves that the velocity of light is not dependent upon the velocity of the source, and must therefore depend upon some positional property of space alone.

:

The conclusion is vividly represented as follows: Imagine a hollow sphere in space with a light source at its centre. In general, a light wave leaving the centre will not reach all parts of the surface in equal times. There exists, however, one motion of the sphere for which this condition is fulfilled, and this state, which is absolutely independent of all existing bodies, has a fundamental claim to be called absolute rest, because it depends on space alone.

Further evidence is furnished by the laws of electrodynamics. The magnetic effect of electric convection is generally considered to be now beyond question. From it we know that the electromagnetic attraction between two like point charges moving together is a function of their velocity. Since there is no relative motion of the two and they may be considered alone in space, the motion is with respect to space alone. The state of absolute rest is found when the electromagnetic attraction is zero for all directions of the line joining the two charges.

The evidence furnished by the Kaufmann experiment on the mass of a rapidly moving electron, indicating as it does a limiting velocity in space, also implies the existence of absolute motion.

The evidence is not so good as in the other cases, because the effect is complicated by the existence of an outside magnetic field with reference to which the electron

moves.

I foresee Prof. Schuster's objection to the above. What I have considered he will call motion relative to the ether, while his argument was based on space in a philosophical sense. I have carefully avoided the term ether. It seems to me the word has nothing to do with the discussion. The universe, out to the furthermost visible star, is of such a nature as to be traversed by light. With space in any other sense we have nothing whatever to do, because it does not exist in the visible universe. Even if such 46 space did exist outside the visible universe, it is difficult to understand how our observational data could have any bearing on the matter.

Finally, if any more argument is necessary to show that

the only space we can consider is that which surrounds us in the universe, it might be derived from the fundamental notion of space perception. Our perception of space is brought about through various sensations, sensations which are caused by events which do not take place in a hypothetical space, non-existent so far as we know, but in the real space which surrounds us. Our very use of the word therefore arises out of experience, and to think of another space is to form only what Mr. Spencer would have called "a symbolic conception." Indeed, I fear if this fundamental standpoint of perception were strictly adhered to, those arguing from the standpoint of another space would have great difficulty in making themselves clear. We cannot be too careful, it seems to me, in considering the origin of our fundamental conceptions.

At any rate, real space, as has been pointed out, possesses a positional, or perhaps better a motional, attribute, and so gives us a basis, founded on experience, for a conception of absolute motion.

Zürich, Switzerland, April 3.

DANIEL COMSTOCK.

The Magnetic Inertia of a Charged Conductor in a Field of Force.

I THINK there is, in Another Place, possibly some misunderstanding concerning the inertia of a moving charged conductor due to the magnetic energy set up by its motion. It depends upon the distribution of the electrification, and may vary from a minimum up to infinity. No question of distortion due to high speed is involved, so the theory is quite simple. Say a sphere of radius a has any distribution of surface charge. For simplicity, let it be symmetrical round the axis of motion, so that the surface density is representable by the sum of any number of zonal harmonic distributions. The corresponding magnetic fields follow. Their magnetic energies are all independent, so that the actual magnetic energy is the sum of the separate magnetic energies.

The really practical case, which is also very simple, is when the conductor has a charge Q and moves in a uniform electric field F. Then the surface density is

to

where is the polar angle. The magnetic force is H=H1+H2 = (Qu/4πr2) sin 0 + 3cF(a3u/r3) sin @ cos @. (2) The magnetic energy is uH2, and by integration comes T = {u'[μQ2/6ña + fμc2F2ña3]. ( The magnetic inertia is therefore m=m,(1+h), where m, is the value for the uniform charge, or m, = μQ2/6ña, and

h=n2/15′′, if n = (3F)(4πa2c[Q).

(4)

Friday) the king and queen, decked with daffadowndillies, were led out to the Newton Moors, where they were solemnly interred in graves dug side by side in a sandy knowe. Hands were clasped through a hole bored in the sand between the graves.

The burial ceremony had disappeared by the time my mother went to school, but the selection of a king and queen still persisted, though in a degenerate form. The pupil who presented the largest sum of money to the teacher on Candlemas Day was crowned king or queen, and the royal health was drunk in toddy provided by the schoolmaster.

I append a list of some of the festivals in vogue in my mother's childhood. Some of them survived until within thirty years ago, but all, with the exception of New Year's Day, are now practically extinct.

Hogmanay (December 31).-Presents demanded.
New Year's Day.-First-footing; exchange of visits;

carousal.

Hansel Monday (first Monday after January 1).-Exchange of presents.

Candlemas. Election of school-king.

Huntygowk [Hunt the Gowk = Cuckoo] (April 1).-Fools' errands, &c.

May Day.-Washing of face in dew to keep freckles

away.

houses.

St. John's Eve.—Firing of guns by sailors over captains' Midsummer Fair.-Great cattle-fair on main street of Newton. On this evening, or some other about this season, the herds in the neighbouring village commune of Prestwick built a great bonfire.

of

Kipper Fair (first Friday after August 13).-Procession whipmen on gaily caparisoned horses. Horse races and gala on Newton Sands. Publication of lampoons. Feasting on kippered salmon and ale.

Hallowe'en (October 31).-The great saturnalia of the year. Stealing of kale-stocks; smashing of doors with same; smoking-out of house dwellers; disguises; turnip lanterns; diving for apples; eating from one common dish; burning nuts, and many other fortune-telling rites. Martinmas.-Killing of the mairt or mart, the animal the carcase of which was salted down for winter use.

Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter were not observed. I have not included hiring fairs, ordinary cattle and horse fairs, &c., or the fast days which were quite modern ecclesiastical institutions. I ought, perhaps, to have included the Queen's birthday (May 24), for, even in my boyhood, that day was honoured in such a boisterously loyal manner as compared with the non-observance of the anniversary in most Scottish towns, that I cannot help thinking the bonfire raisers may in part have inherited their enthusiasm from the traditions of some ancient festival. The progress of a blazing boat through the streets of Ayr and Newton was the crowning episode of the day. The boat was stolen from the Newton fishermen, and no combustible property was on that day safe from confiscation. W. SEMPLE.

Dumfries, Scotland, March 1.

66

Chemistry in Rural Secondary Schools. PROF. MELDOLA has raised an important question on Mr. Dunstan's letter. Speaking of two rural secondary schools, he says that chemistry (with physics) has been taught with the greatest success and is of distinct value in after life.' It would be useful to have information about the careers of the individual boys on which he bases his opinion, and the character of the science teaching in the two schools referred to. My experience with young farmers in Essex has led me to think that the chemistry taught in many rural schools has had too little bearing upon the problems of rural life to be of much practical use, and school life is too short to admit of a science being taught as a means of mental discipline unless at the same time the pupils are building up knowledge that is essential to future progress.

The county institution at Chelmsford to which Prof. Meldola alludes includes schools of horticulture and agri

But

culture. Though not secondary schools, it may be useful to state that, while in teaching horticultural students the biologist found it quite possible to get on without the chemist, in teaching agricultural students the chemist could make little progress without the biologist. It was not that chemistry and physics were not taught to all the students, but that the biologist, quâ biologist, necessarily possessed both chemical and physical knowledge, while the chemist, quâ chemist, knew no biology. In rural secondary schools biology should be an important subject of instruction, most rural industries being more or less biological. no progress in biology can be made without an adequate knowledge of chemistry and physics, so that it is not a question of whether these sciences should be taught-there can be no possible doubt about that-but how they are taught. The teacher needs to be essentially a biologist, or at any rate to have studied science in a biological atmosphere, e.g. in an agricultural college, in order to be able to teach chemistry as a natural science and build up a knowledge of its principles by the study of substances and phenomena that come within the experience of rural life.

To give a concrete case. A common subject of instruction in the chemistry of a rural school is Weldon's process for the recovery of manganese in the manufacture of chlorine. To not one boy in a thousand is the knowledge of this process likely to be useful in after life, unless as be just as well illustrated by a study of the process of cram for an examination. The underlying principles could liming land to neutralise acidity and promote oxidation, a better subject educationally because coming within the boy's own range of experience, and affording knowledge which might be useful to every boy in the school. But how many of the existing rural school science masters possess the knowledge of natural science necessary to deal with it? T. S. DYMOND.

Savile Club, W., April 15.

Diurnal Periodicity of Ionisation of Gases.

IN the course of some experiments on the spontaneous ionisation of air and other gases in closed vessels, Mr. N. R. Campbell and I have detected a well marked periodicity in its value. It has two maxima and two minima in each twenty-four hours, the maxima occurring between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and between 10 p.m. and I a.m. at night, while the minima occur with great regularity at or near 2 p.m. and 4 a.m. The form of the curve drawn for the observations of any single day is, as a rule, sufficiently well marked for the maxima and minima to be apparent, while if the mean of the observations for several days be taken, the form of the resulting curve is unmistakable.

The cause of this periodicity has not, as yet, been determined. A continuous record of the temperature of the laboratory was taken, and it was found to have a simple daily period with a maximum during the day and a very regular minimum at 7 a.m. The temperature fell steadily from 6 p.m. until seven o'clock the following_morning, and, as during this interval the ionisation rises to a maximum, falls to a minimum, and then rises to a maximum again, it does not seem possible to connect the variations with temperature.

On the other hand, the variations of atmospheric potential show some striking parallel features. This quantity has a double daily period. Its maxima, like those of the ionisation, are not very well defined, and occur about the same times. The minima in both cases are remarkably constant, and occur at exactly the same hours-2 p.m. and 4 a.m. The irregularities in the atmospheric potential curves are less marked during the night than during the day-an observation which holds also for the ionisation curves. Lastly, this diurnal variation of the atmospheric potential is most marked in February, and it was in the ionisation curves for February that the periodicity was first noticed.

This and other possible causes of the periodicity are at present being investigated, and although the research is necessarily a slow one, we hope soon to be in a position to publish a full account of the work. ALEX. WOOD. Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, April 9.

New Spot on Jupiter.

ON April 10 I observed Jupiter in sunshine and noted the red spot central at 5h. 43m., longitude = 30°.0. I soon remarked that the north equatorial belt curved abruptly north in the region north of the red spot and hollow, and that at the following end of this slanting attachment there was a very conspicuous dark spot which was quite new to me. It became central at 6h. 58m., longitude = 75°-3, and seemed nearly as plain as the shadow of a satellite.

On April 12 the same region of Jupiter came under review. The red spot was central at 7h. 25m., longitude=31°-6, and the new north tropical spot at 8h. 33m., longitude 72°.7. The shadow of the first satellite was projected on the disc at the following end of the dark material forming the south tropical disturbance, and it appeared very little darker than the north tropical spot.

Observations were made on April 10 with 10-inch Withreflector, power about 220, and on April 12 with 12-inch Calver-reflector, power 315.

During the present opposition of Jupiter the north equatorial and north temperate belts have been extremely faint, but the former recently developed a much deeper tone, and particularly in that section lying north of the red spot. The late outbreak of dark material in the north tropical zone will probably lead to the further intensification of the belts in this region.

sun.

It is hardly necessary to suggest that the new marking should be followed as critically and as long as possible during the short period remaining available for such observations before Jupiter's conjunction with the Its rate of motion probably differs little from that of the red spot, and it may be looked for near the planet's central meridian on April 22 at 6h. 48m., April 24 at 8h. 26m., and April 29 at 7h. 37m. W. F. DENNING. Bristol, April 14.

Oscillation of Flame Cones.

LIKE Prof. Smithells, who endeavoured to explain the phenomena described in Mr. Temple's letter to NATURE (March 29, p. 512), I have made many experiments with gas and air mixed by mechanical means and otherwise (Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. xxiv., and elsewhere), but am unable to agree with his conclusions in this case.

Assuming the mixture ascending the tube to contain 20 per cent. of gas by volume, and the relative densities of the air and gas to be as 1 to 0.5, then the head which produces the current is equal to a column of air 48 inches (0.4 foot) high, and, disregarding friction, the velocity= 28 0.45 feet per second.

Again, assuming the average absolute temperature of the gases above the flame, when the latter has descended to a depth of 2 feet, to be 1500° F., and the corresponding temperature of the air entering the tube from below to be 520° F., the head becomes 18 inches (1.5 foot) and the velocity=2g 1.5=9.8 feet per second.

According to Mallard and Le Chatelier ("Annales des Mines, gine Série, Tome iv., p. 326), the maximum velocity of translation of flame in a perfectly motionless mixture of lighting gas and air, contained in a glass tube of similar dimensions to that used by Mr. Temple, is 4 feet per second, but when the mixture is moving or agitated the velocity of translation increases, and even assume the form of an explosive wave. The maximum velocity of 4 feet per second was obtained when the mixture contained 17.5 per cent. of gas, or, according to the authors, 2.5 per cent. more than is necessary for complete combustion.

may

Variations in the velocity of the current on the one hand, and of the flame on the other, appear to me to account for all the phenomena observed by Mr. Temple. 62 Park Place, Cardiff.

W. GALLOWAY.

Interpretation of Meteorological Records.

(NATURE,

IN the interesting discussion of the records of Lander and Smith's instruments at Canterbury March 15) both Dr. Aitken (pp. 485, 534) and Mr. Omond (p. 512) appear to have overlooked the fact that no rain fell, but only snow to the depth of more than I inch. This snow was mixed with a little hail at the commence

ment of the storm, but no rain fell as assumed by both your correspondents. The records state that the o-26 inch of rainfall consisted of snow melted as it fell. The first sign of the storm was distant thunder and a darkening of the sky in the north-west. The glycerin barometer commenced its usual sharp rise before the first hail arrived and the storm was directly overhead. It is a curious fact that the rain or snow with a thunderstorm occurs with the sharp barometric rise, and not with the fall as one might expect. I think the great fall in temperature was due to the snow, and not as described by your correspondents. The rainfall curve did not begin first as suggested by Dr. Aitken, but the barometer as explained above. It is another curious fact that, although my house is the highest here, and has my anemometer on top of 30 feet of iron tubing above roof, and wireless telegraphy aerial So feet above street (with which I was busy at time of storm), yet, no damage was done; but within 100 yards much lower houses had chimneys and walls thrown down and roofs split, &c., and people were seriously injured. Many houses, windmills, and a church in the district were set on fire. A. LANDER. Canterbury.

Effect of Solar Eclipse on Fish.

DURING the partial solar eclipse observed in England on August 30, 1905, I was taking a holiday, and fishing in Slapton Ley (Devonshire). All the morning the sport had been indifferent, but as the eclipse neared its maximum the fish suddenly became ravenous, and I took more in that hour than all the rest of the day. My experience was also that of all the other boats out there at the time. The explanation, I presume, would be that the fish imagined night was approaching, and therefore prepared for supper; and as every fisherman knows, the last halfhour, when dusk is gathering, is the time that fish are mostly on the feed, and will readily take any bait. A. MOSELY. Union Bank Buildings, Ely Place, London, E.C., April 10.

WITH characteristic energy, the Americans have

Dr.

"The Bataks of Palawan.' Printing.)

By Edward Y. Miller. (Bureau of Public

settlement of Bontoc is divided into thirteen wards or political divisions, called ato; each has its separate governing council, which can declare war or make peace. Each ato contains three kinds of buildings:(1) public edifices, fawi and pabafunan, for men and

FIG. 1.-Relative Heights of American, Mixed Blood, and Pure Negrito.

The

boys; (2) similar houses, ola, for girls and young women before their permanent marriage; and (3) private houses, afong, for families and widows. pabafunan is the home of the various ato ceremonies, and is sacred to the male sex; it is the men's club by day and the unmarried men's dormitory; the fawi is the council house, and as such is frequented mainly by old men; it is also the skull-house. Dr. Jenks adds a note on the distribution of similar club-houses in Eastern Asia and in Oceania. The olag is the dormitory of the girls from the age of two years until they marry, and where they receive their lovers. The afong is the only primitive dwelling in the Philippines which is built on the ground, but it contains a small upper storey, and often an attic over this; these are used as store-rooms for cereals. The clothes, ornaments, tattooing utensils, weapons, and the like are described and figured. Of great interest are the accounts of the ordinary domestic operations, especially those connected with the cultivation of rice and the regulation of irrigation; the rules seem to be framed with common-sense, and the people appear to be sufficiently law-abiding. The hill-sides are elaborately terraced; the author doubts whether this art has been borrowed from the Chinese, and inclines to the view that it is indigenous to the East Indian Archipelago, having spread northwards to Japan. Various plants are cultivated, but rice is the most important vegetable product, and in consequence most of the religious ceremonies are in connection with this crop, and take place at stated occasions from seed-sowing to the close of the harvest. Also associated with the importance of rice in the social economy is the employment of palay, the unthreshed rice, as a medium of exchange, and a measure of exchange value, for articles bought and sold. Palay is at all times a good currency; it is always in demand, being the staple food; it keeps eight or ten years without

deterioration; it is portable and infinitely divisible; it is of very stable value, and cannot be counterfeited. Certain villages have special commodities, which are made or produced in superfluity for purposes of barter, such as pots, cloths, salt, pigs. The Igorot has as clear a conception of the relative value of two things bartered as has the civilised man when he buys or sells with money; but whatever he trades, be it a five-cent block of Mayinit salt or seventy-dollar carabao (buffalo), the worth of the article is always calculated on the basis of its value in palay, even though the payment is in money. The standard of value of the palay currency is the handful-a small bunch of palay tied up immediately below the heads of grain; it is about i foot long, half head and half straw. On the whole, there is great uniformity in the size of the handful.

The forces of nature are personified in the person of the only god known to the Igorot. He instituted the club-houses and gave rules of conduct, telling people not to lie or steal, and to have but one wife; the home should be kept pure, and all men dwell as brothers.

Enough has been said to show the importance of this work, which deals in a fairly thorough manner with a people about whom nothing was previously known, and who have lived their lives uncontaminated by foreign influence. Dr. Jenks candidly admits that the time at his disposal was insufficient to exhaust the subject, and we can only hope that the work so well begun will be thoroughly completed ere long. The Igorot community seems a very favourable one for an exhaustive sociological study. It would be very desirable for an investigator to make an exhaustive census of each ato, recording the whole genealogies of each family, according to the method introduced by Dr. Rivers; by this means accurate information could be obtained concerning the real nature of these wards, the reason for the social and family functions of certain individuals would be made clear, and the system of kinship and the regulation of marriage would be demonstrated.

On a previous occasion we have referred to the memoir on the Negritos of Zambales, by Mr. W. A. Reed, which contains a large number of excellent plates illustrating the general appearance and some of the occupations of these very interesting and primi