, 1878-08-29
Science.

much evidence OF its former existence in
the ancient caves of Southern and West.
ern Europe. The rock paintings of the
Bushmen have been particularly studipd
with reference to this supposed relation
They disclose considerable talent and
would undoubtedly repay further study
than has yet been bestowed on them.
Unfortunately, however, they are rapidly
being destroyed. The South African
herdsmen drive their sheep and cattle
into the caves in which are the pictures
and these animals, huddled together and
scrambing about, rub them out. In or.
der to preserve some record of them, Mr.
Stow Of the South African Geological
Survey, has drawn over thirty cart oons
of the best Of these paintings he has met
with, employing an active young Bush.
man to hunt for them while he prOsecutes
his geological work. lie hopes to sd d
largely to his copies, and thus secure val u.
able material for the examination of eth.
nologists at home.
Mr.. FRANCIS GALToN advances mum.
ber of interesting arguments in favor of
his plan for taking composite portraits,
by combining number of different pho.
tographs in the same picture. One of the
most effective is its usefulness in enabling
us to obtain by photography really
good likeness of living person. "The
inferiority ofphotograps to the best works
of artists, so far as resemblance is con.
cerned, lies in their catching no more
than single expression. If many pho.
tographs of person were taken at diff.
ferent times, perhaps even years apart,
their composite would possess that in
which a single photograph is deficient"
The experience of Mr.. Appod, an Eng.
lish mechanlcian, is cited on this point.
He WAS in the habit of combining two
photographs of himself under the stere-
oscope. In one he had assumed an ex-
preston of sternness; in the other he was
smiling; they blended into an effective
and satisfactory likeness.
Professor b. A. Gould writes to the
editors of the american Journal Of Science
from the astronomical observatory under
his charge at COrdOva, in the Argentine
Republic, that the weather in that part
of South America has not been as favor.
able lately as it was during the earlier
years of his residence there. Last year,
for example, there we're only ten clear
nights at the observatory in March and
April, and only seven in June and July;
while in the present year, up to March
Goth, there had been but one night with
out clouds to interrupt or prevent observ-
alton. Professor Gould thinks this con-
trast with the clear weather which he eX-
perienced at first, is due to.some period
ical variation of climate not yet aCcur-
ately ascertained. In the same letter he
says that the normal clock of the observ-
atory has been stopped twice during the
last year by earthquake waves, although
the tremors do not seem to have been felt
at Cordova by any persons there.
A Japanese resident of Corea, on the
Asiatic mainland, writing from that
hitherto exclusive and inhospitable State
to a journal in his own country, mentions
an animal called Tonpi by the Coreans,
which he describes as resembling cat.
This creature, he says, attacks tigers, and
is generally feared by them. We hardly
think that biologists have knowledge, as
yet, of any such animal. 1t must be USE
ful in Corea, however, for according to
the same authority, the populous city oil
Toria therein is 50 infested by tigers that
the people close their doors early In the
evening and do not venture out late.
The singular announcement comes
from Tarbes, in France, that houses may
be protected from lightning by attaching
bundles Of straw to sticks or broom han
dies and fastening them upright on the
roof. 1t is stated that there have been no
accidents in eighteen communes Of the
Tarbes district since all the houses were
furnished with this supposed protection;
but is it certain that there would have
been any such accidents without the bun
dies of straw
We find a notice in Nature of the ex'
ceedingly migratory bird known as the
New Zealand godwit. During the sum,
mer of the northern hemisphere this bra
visits Siberia, and is met with along the
southern shore of the Sea of Okhotsk'
From November to April it stays in New
Zealand. Its annual wanderings take IL
to China, Japan, Java, Cclebes, Ilmor,
Norfolk Island, the New Hcbrides, ana
Australia. The godwits belong to the
snipe family.
The appointment of Professor Spencer
f. Baird to succeed the late Professor
Henry as Secretary (Which in this case
means the chief executive officer OF tne
Smithsonian Institution, meets with gen.
eral approval inDscientiic circles, ana ID
commended as u deserved promotlon'
Professor Baird has long been the assist,
ant secretary, and is even more WldGll
known as United States Fish Commis'
siOner.
The Yale College museum has recently
acquired the jaw of small animal soTu,
as large as a weasel, from the E2cA{I
Mountain region. Professor 0. q. Ms'sn
says it belonged to marsupial allied
the opossums of the present day. II wu'
found in the geological formation known known
as the Upper Jurassic, and is pronounIIv"I ~"
of special interest as being the finest JI
ra.sic mammal ever discovered ID 'ni'
country.
p,ouDssop StuoN NEUCOMB, Lno