THE CENTURY DICTIONARY.

The Century Dictionary: an Encyclopædic Lexicon of the English Language. Prepared under the superintendence of William Dwight Whitney, Ph.D., LL.D. In Six Vols. (New York: The Century Co. London: T. Fisher-Unwin.)

THE

HE preparation of an English dictionary on the scale of the present work is a task of enormous difficulty, and Prof. Whitney may be cordially congratulated on the success with which, in association with numerous collaborators, he has accomplished it. In the course of his labours he kept before himself three objects: the construction of a dictionary which might be consulted with advantage for every literary and practical use; a collection of the technical terms of the various sciences, arts, trades, and professions, more nearly complete than any that had ever before been attempted; and the presentation, along with the definitions proper, of such encyclopædic matter,'with pictorial illustrations, as should render the work a convenient book of general reference.

He has

One result of this far-reaching plan is that the number of words included is very much larger than the vocabulary of any preceding dictionary, about 200,000 words having been defined. It is impossible, even in such a dictionary as this, to give every word or form of a word that may at some time have been used by an English writer or speaker; but the editor, as a rule, has very properly preferred to err on the side of "broad inclusiveness" rather than on that of "narrow exclusiveness." sought to make the work “ a practically complete record of the main body of English speech, from the time of the mingling of the Old French and Anglo-Saxon to the present day, with such of its offshoots as possess historical, etymological, literary, scientific, or practical value." | A good deal of space has therefore necessarily been given to obsolete words and forms, the inclusion of which will have the warmest approval of all who desire to promote the study, on scientific principles, of the evolution of the English language. An unusual number of dialectal" and provincial words have also been admitted, and, as was to be expected in the case of a work compiled in the United States, much attention has been given to "Americanisms," some of which are merely survivals of older or provincial English, while others have been generally adopted on this side of the Atlantic. Another cause of increase has been the admission of an immense number of words which have come into existence during the present century through the progress of knowledge and labour, scientific, artistic, professional, mechanical, and practical. Liberal as the editor has been in this direction, no one who uses the dictionary is likely to think that his liberality has been excessive.

In

It is scarcely necessary to say that the utmost care has been taken with the etymological part of the work. explaining what has been done in this department, the editor does not express himself happily when he speaks of "the making of the English language" as having begun "with the introduction of Roman rule and Roman speech among the barbarous Celts of Britain." If there is any intelligible sense in which we can talk of the English language as having "begun," we must surely trace its beginning to the formation of the Low Dutch

dialect or dialects from which the most vitally essential elements of our present speech are directly descended. The fact, however, which Prof. Whitney desires to emphasize is that the vocabulary of our language has sprung from various sources, and that for a proper understanding of its characteristic qualities the study of its etymology is on this account of extreme importance. The current accepted form or spelling having been presented, each important word is traced back through earlier forms to its remotest known origin. In revising the proofs of those portions of the work which deal with A and part of B, the authors had the great advantage of being able to consult Dr. J. A. H. Murray's masterly "New English Dictionary on Historical Principles"; and they also express acknowledgments to other writers. The work however, gives ample evidence of independent research; and Prof. Whitney claims that "it has been possible, by means of the fresh material at the disposal of the etymologist, to clear up in many cases doubts or difficulties hitherto resting upon the history of particular words, to decide definitely in favour of one of several suggested etymologies, to discard numerous current errors, and to give for the first time the history of many words of which the etymologies were previously unknown or erroneously stated.”

With regard to orthography, we may note that in cases in which English usage and American usage are not identical (as in words like "labour," "traveller," "theatre") both forms are given; a plan with which neither Americans nor Englishmen can reasonably find fault. In the definition of words, the object has been to separate more or less sharply those senses of each word which are really distinct, while over-refinement of analysis has been avoided. As far as possible, the definitions have been arranged historically; and they are illustrated by a very large collection of extracts representing all branches and periods of English literature. Here we are interested mainly in the definitions of scientific terms; and, speaking of these generally, we can say that they are remarkable both for accuracy and for conciseness. Some slips were, of course, inevitable. Achronical" (given as acronychal") is thus defined :-"In astron., occurring at sunset: as, the acronychal rising or setting of a star: opposed to cosmical." This is very misleading, the real meaning being, as we recently had occasion to explain, that in achronical rising and setting "we have the star rising when the sun is setting, and setting when the sun is rising." But, upon the whole, it is most creditable that work over so vast a field, and presenting so many difficulties, has been so efficiently done. On this account alone, even if the dictionary had nothing else to recommend it, it would be of great service both to men of science and to the public.

66

In the encyclopædic portion of the work, the " Century Dictionary" cannot, of course, be compared with any of the great Encyclopædias. Still, skilful management has enabled the editor to bring together an immense amount of information which will often suffice for the purposes for which it is sure to be looked up. The only important drawback to the plan on which this information has been arranged is that it involves too many cross-references. The illustrations are very numerous, and it is worth noting that old cuts have been used only when better

ones could not be made. Some are excellent, and most of the others are quite up to the level which ought to be maintained in so important an undertaking. Of the typographical style, it may be enough for us to say that the publishers have succeeded in giving what they desired to produce-a page in which the matter is at once condensed and legible.

Altogether, the work deserves to be warmly welcomed in England. Those who possess it will have within reach the best results that have hitherto been attained as to the meaning, the evolution, and the affinities of all classes of English words.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

List of the Snakes in the Indian Museum. By W. L.

Sclater.

THIS list contains the names of 350 species of snakes represented in the collection of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Of the 350 a large majority, 210, are from the Indian Empire (inclusive of Burma and Ceylon), leaving 68 forms that are known to inhabit parts of British India unrepresented in the collection. When it is remembered how rare and local many snakes are, how many species are known by a single specimen, and how seldom opportunities of collecting occur in such tracts as the remoter hills of Southern India, the Assam ranges, the forests of Tenasserim, &c., which abound in peculiar forms, those who have had charge of the Indian Museum may be congratulated on having succeeded in bringing together representatives of so large a proportion of the Indian Ophidian fauna. The number of species represented in the Museum of the Asiatic Society, the nucleus of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, when the reptiles were catalogued by Mr. W. Theobald in 1865, was about 120, so that there has been an increase of 75 per cent. in 26 years. Altogether, as regards Indian snakes, the Calcutta collection is probably only inferior to that in the British Museum.

The publication of the present list has naturally been greatly facilitated, if indeed it may not be said to have been caused, by the appearance, in 1890, of Mr. Boulenger's work on Indian Reptilia and Batrachia, to which, in his introduction, Mr. Sclater fully acknowledges his obligation. A few species have been added by Mr. Sclater to those described by Mr. Boulenger as inhabitants of British India.

This is probably the last contribution to Indian geological literature that may be expected for the present from its author, who has, according to an announcement in NATURE for January 21, received an appointment at Eton College. During his brief tenure of the Deputy Superintendentship, Mr. Sclater has done some useful work for the Indian Museum, especially in completing the catalogue of Mammalia commenced by Dr. J. Anderson.

W. T. B.

The Living World: Whence it Came and Whither it is Drifting. By H. W. Conn. (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1891.)

In this book Prof. Conn undertakes to present a review of the speculations concerning the origin and significance of life, and of the facts known in regard to its development, with suggestions as to the direction in which the development is now tending. The subject is certainly large enough, but the author has prepared himself for dealing with it by careful study of the highest authorities in biological science, and he succeeds in giving a clear, impartial, and interesting account of the main lines of inquiry connected with the theory of evolution. He begins with a general chapter on the sources of "bio

logical history," indicating the meaning of evidence from fossils, from embryology and anatomy, and from other departments of research. He then expounds the various ideas which have been suggested as to the origin of life, bringing into prominence two propositions which may be distinguished from mere hypotheses. These are (1) that life arose in the ocean, and (2) that the first form of life was the simplest possible condition of living matter, certainly simpler than any living organisms with which we are acquainted to-day, and very likely simpler than the Next comes a simplest mass of diffused protoplasm. summary of the leading facts and speculations about the origin of the animal kingdom; and this is followed by a chapter setting forth "the record from fossils." The work is completed by a general view of the course of animal evolution, a sketch of the history of plants, and a discussion of various questions relating to the probable future of the living world. A list of references is added, which will be of considerable service to readers who may desire to study more minutely the philosophy of evolution.

Adventures amidst the Equatorial Forests and Rivers of South America; also in the West Indies and the Wilds of Florida. To which is added "Jamaica Revisited." By Villiers Stuart, of Dromana. With many illustrations and maps. (London: John Murray, 1891.)

A GREAT part of this book relates to travels which took place more than thirty years ago. The work is not, however, less interesting on that account, for the impressions recorded in it are reproduced from letters and journals written at the time and on the spot. The author writes without pretension, and has much that is attractive to say about Surinam, Cayenne, Demerara, the Orinoco, Trinidad, Martinique, and Florida. In the chapters on Jamaica he combines the impressions obtained during his first visit with those made upon him in 1891, when he was present at the opening of the Jamaica Exhibition. Mr. Stuart writes of this island with the strongest enthusiasm. "It is impossible," he says, "to exaggerate its loveliness. The most skilful writers must despair of conveying any adequate idea of its fairy-like charms." He gives an excellent account of the progress made by the people of Jamaica in the interval between his two visits. On all sides he was struck in 1891 by evidences of industry and improvement; and of the coloured population he asserts that they seemed to him the merriest and happiest peasantry he had met with in any part of the world.

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.]

Cirques.

FROM two or three of the criticisms of the views in my volume on "The Ice Age in America," concerning cirques, I concluded that there was some misunderstanding as to the thing signified by the word, and accordingly wrote to Mr. Russell, of our Survey, whose views I had adopted, and who has had wider acquaintance with the facts concerning them than anyone else in America. I send you his reply, which you are at liberty to publish if you wish. I am sure all interested in glacial matters will value a communication from so eminent an authority, and will find that much light is shed upon the subject by his recent explorations in the Mount St. Elias district of Alaska. G. FREDERICK WRIGHT. Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A., December 16, 1891.

Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C., December 12, 1891.

Prof. G. Frederick Wright, Oberlin, Ohio.

This

MY DEAR SIR,-Your letter, calling attention to Mr. Bonney's remarks on the nature of cirques in a review of your "Ice Age in North America" (NATURE, vol. xliv. p. 537), led me to think that possibly all who have written on their character and origin were not considering the same phenomena. suggestion was strengthened on referring once more to several of the essays which have appeared on the subject. In Bonney's paper on the formation of cirques (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., London, vol. xxvii., 1871, pp. 312-324), three conditions are mentioned, which are stated to be most favourable to their production; these are :

"(1) Upland glens, combes, or terraces, so shaped as to give rise to and to maintain many small streams.

"(2) Strata, moderately horizontal, over which these streams fall, which, by their constitution, yield considerably to the other forms of meteoric denudation."

'(3) These strata must nevertheless allow of the formation of cliffs; and thus perhaps the most favourable structure is thick beds of limestone, with occasional alternating bands of softer rock."

In the High Sierra of California-where the cirques are situated, my description of which you quote, and which called forth Mr. Bonney's criticism in NATURE-none of the conditions mentioned above, except that the rocks are sufficiently durable to s'and in cliffs, have perceptibly influenced the formation of the topographic features under consideration.

The cirques are not situated "in upland glens, combes, or terraces, so shaped as to give rise to and maintain many small streams," but are in the very crests of the mountains, and receive practically no drainage from above. They are not in horizontal strata, but in various 1ocks some of which are highly inclined. The most typical examples occur in granite, which is broken by well-defined vertical joints.

The rocks are sufficiently hard to allow of the formation of cliffs, but this property is requisite for the production of other similar topographic forms, and not an exception peculiar to those in which cirques occur.

Not only the cirques of the Sierra Nevada, but hundreds of others in the basin ranges of Nevada and Utah, in the Rocky Mountains, and in the mountains of Southern Alaska, have been formed under conditions which are the reverse of those stated by Mr. Bonney.

are

Another class of topographical forms resembling cirques are well known; these are the "alcoves" formed in the edges of mesas and table-lands where the rocks are essentially horizontal and usually heterogeneous. They are common in the Catskill Mountains, and all along the borders of the plateau on the west of the Appalachians from New York to Alabama. They occur in the great plateau regions of New Mexico and Arizona, and common in the cañon walls along the Green and the Colorado Rivers, where they were studied by Powell. Modified examples occur in the sediments of Lake Lahontan, and in the bad lands of Dakota, but in these instances the strata are mostly too soft to stand in vertical walls. I have seen good examples at Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, and it is safe to say they will be found wherever nearly horizontal rocks, sufficiently durable to form cliffs, have been cañoned or eroded into mesas.

The mode of formation of alcoves is too well known to require detailed description. They are formed by the action of streams cutting niches in precipices, which are enlarged by the dashes of spray from water-falls, by solution, and by the grinding of debris in the pools into which waters cascade. Alcoves are most abundant in comparatively low regions, for the reason that when strata are greatly elevated, they usually become inclined or folded; but there is no reason why they should not be found at any altitude, provided the rock conditions favour their formation.

It seems to me that alcoves, and not cirques, were formed under the conditions postulated by Mr. Bonney, and that the two are genetically distinct.

Since writing the account of the cirques of the High Sierra, quoted by you in "The Ice Age in North America," I have visited the Southern Appalachians and the high mountains of Southern Alaska, always having the various problems of mountain sculpture in mind. The Southern Appalachians are without evidence of former glaciation, while the mountains of Southern Alaska are now undergoing intense glaciation. In the former, cirques

are absent, but in the latter they are abundant, especially on the northern sides of the crests of the mountains, and are the sources from which numerous glaciers flow.

The initiation of rain and rill sculpture is well illustrated on the sides of many of the valleys of Southern Alaska; and, as you are well aware, there are many valleys in that region which were formerly filled with glaciers to a depth of 2000 feet or more, but from which the ice has now disappeared. All the minor features due to aqueous erosion on the sides of the valleys, previous to their occupation by glaciers, were removed by the ice. The surfaces were cleared of their old records as the sculpture on ancient monuments was sometimes removed to make room for a new bas-relief. When the ice melted, it left the steep slopes without vertical lines, but more or less deeply scored in horizontal bands. Through analogy with the peneplanes described by Davis, we might call these "pene-slopes." The rain falling on these slopes initiated new lines crossing the glacial grooves at high angles, and forming miniature cañons, which receive numerous branches in their upper courses. Many times, several small stream channels coming together have cut radiating channels separated by buttresses, while below, the stream plunges over cascades or runs through deeply-cut gorges. This miniature sculpture is characteristic of immature drainage on inclined surfaces. The combined excavations made by several tributaries near the heads of these new drainage channels have a somewhat basin-like form, but the interiors of the basins are rough, and divided by ridges, and their walls, although steep, do not approach the vertical. These topographic forms in miniature are clearly the work of rain and rills, and have no complicating conditions, except the nature of the strata in which they are cut, and in the best examples this is homogeneous.

Let us renew our studies in the Southern Appalachians, where, as already stated, no evidence of former glaciation has been detected. About many of the higher summits in that region there are large conical depressions, on the sides of which are many rill channels that converge towards a common outlet. These depressions are many times strikingly craterlike in form, but their sides are sloping, and usually deeply covered with débris, but in no instance are they vertical cliffs. So far as can be judged, these depressions are not dependent on rock structure, and are certainly not confined to horizontally bedded rocks, but in the best examples have been excavated in strata that are highly inclined. They occur near the summits of mountains and on the sides of precipitous ridges, and receive little if any drainage from above. They belong genetically to the same class as the miniature excavations on the pene-slopes of Alaska, but are of far greater size; and owing to the disintegration and decay of the rocks, and probably, also, to their fuller development, are much more uniform in contour.

The depressions about the summits of the Southern Appalachians are not cirques, but in my opinion, are of the nature of the prototypes of cirques. The general outline of the model has been secured; but for the final sculpturing, in order to form typical cirques, another tool is required. That tool is ice.

Should a climatic change occur which would admit of the accumulation of perennial snow about the summits of the Appalachians, the depressions referred to would be the first to be filled, and would give origin to ice streams of the Alpine type. The névé snow accumulating in these depressions would become compacted at the bottom and form glacial ice. As the ice flowed outward, it would remove the débris encumbering the sides of the basins and attack the rocks beneath, probably in some such manner as described by Lorange, and quoted by you on pp. 244-45 of "The Ice Age in North America."

I do not feel that we can completely analyze the action of snow and ice in depressions like those in which many glaciers originate, but there are certain considerations which may be suggested in this connection.

It is well known that ice may be moulded by pressure and made to flow like a viscous body, while it yields but very slightly to tension. When an attempt is made to stretch it, fracture results. Crevasses therefore indicate tension in the glaciers where they occur.

The crevasses near the upper margins of névés, known as bergschrunds, are really faults, formed by the subsidence of the névé on the lower side of a break. They indicate, as has been suggested to me by Mr. W. J. McGee, that the névé where they occur is in a state of tension, and the tendency is for the snow to pull away from the cliffs, and thus tear out portions of the rock to which it adheres. More than this, the crevasses

frequently cut completely through the névé and expose the rock beneath to the action of frost. In such instances the rocks are in the best position possible to be acted upon by great changes of temperature. Dark bodies on high mountains absorb heat when exposed to the sun, although the air may be below 32° F.; and melting the adjacent snow, become saturated with water, which freezes as soon as they are in shadow. The blocks thus loosened fall away or are removed by the motion of the névé. The tops of the cliffs, however, are protected by a covering of snow. There is frequently a space above the top of the névé in summer which is exposed in like manner to the action of the atmosphere. These slopes recede by sapping through the action of frost, and precipices result. While the upper portions of the walls of depressions filled with névé snow are being broken away by the tensions in the névé, and by atmospheric action, the snow on the lower slopes is under compression, and thus rendered capable of abrading the rocks over which it flows.

The ice, in descending the steep slopes from various sides, impinges with great force on the bottoms of the depressions it occupies, and tends to scoop out rock basins.

The result of these combined agencies is seen when the névé is removed, and we find amphitheatres with precipitous walls rising immediately above a rock basin lake. In other words, the resulting form is a cirque like those of the High Sierra.

So far as my observations extend, cirques are confined to mountains on which ice sculpture followed water sculpture. The topographic forms left after the disappearance of the ice are modifications of the antecedent forms due to the action of Iain and streams.

The

In the vicinity of Mount St. Elias, Alaska, the mountain ranges are primarily monoclinal uplifts of geologically recent date, and do not bear evidence of having been deeply dissected by streams previous to the birth of the present glaciers. ice drainage is largely consequent on the present orographic structure, and cirques are usually absent. One remarkable exception to this is furnished, however, by a fine cirque on the southern side of St. Elias, which is filled by névé snows and drained by a small glacier. Thousands of secondary and tertiary glaciers exist on the southern slopes of the mountains, but certainly very few, and so far as my knowledge goes none, of these have their origin in true cirques. On the north side of the mountains, however, which are in general the gently sloping surfaces of orographic blocks, topographic forms inherited from former aqueous erosion are conspicuous, and cirques are

abundant.

Glaciers exist about the summit of Mount Shasta, Mount Ranier, Mount Baker, and other high volcanic peaks in the Cascade Mountains, but none of these, so far as known, originate in cirques. These mountains, like the uplifts about Mount St. Elias, are geologically young. They are volcanoes with fumaroles in their craters; and owing to their elevation, and the comparatively slight erosion they have suffered, it is reasonable to suppose that the first precipitation on their summits was in the form of snow. Glaciers were formed on unmodified slopes, but have not excavated cirques for themselves.

necessarily in part of glacial origin, the reason for their distribution becomes evident, as does also the further generalization that they " occupy localities where glaciers first appear."

In the Rocky Mountains the peaks and ridges on which cirques occur have an elevation of from 10,000 to 14,000 feet. The same is true also in the Sierra Nevada. In each of these regions the ancient névé fields had generally about the same elevation, while the glaciers flowing from them descend to within 6000 or 5000 feet above sea-level. In Alaska, however, where the former glaciers descended into the ocean, cirques occur on peaks and ridges only 3000 or 4000 feet high, and examples may be found at elevations of less than 2000 feet. Their vertical, as well as their geographic range, therefore, appears to have been regulated by the climatic conditions which control the birth of local glaciers.

While "alcove" and "cirque" should have a definite sig nificance in geology, amphitheatre, recess, bowl, and other correlative words, may be considered as general terms applicable to more or less inclosed spaces without reference to their origin. The semicircular recesses made by winding streams in the sides of cañons and deep valleys, sometimes resemble alcoves. Craters frequently bear a close topographic similarity to cirques, but are readily distinguished when their origin is considered.

On looking over my account of the cirques of the High Sierra (Eighth Annual Report, 1886-87, U.S. Geological Survey), I fail to discern any reason for materially changing it, except, as indicated above, to state more definitely the differences between cirques and other topographic forms with which they might be confounded. I remain very sincerely your friend,

ISRAEL C. RUSSELL.

Large Meteor of January 24, 1892.

Ir is to be hoped that further observations wll be forthcoming of the brilliant meteor of January 24, 10h. 55m. (described by Mr. T. Heath in your last number, p. 295), so that its real path may be computed. I think there is little doubt the meteor belonged to a shower of Draconids having a radiantpoint a few degrees south-east of the star . On the same night (January 24) as that on which the fine meteor was observed, I saw a third magnitude shooting-star, at 7h. 55m., with a path from 324 + 40° to 330 + 31°, and this also belonged to the radiant in Draco. I discovered this shower on the nights of January 19 and 25, 1887, and determined the position of the radiant as at 261° 63°. There are many other showers from the same point in the spring, summer, and autumn months. Bristol, January 31. W. F. DENNING.

cover.

The probable origin of cirques which I have traced, together with the fact that they occur in thousands about the summits of mountains on which the glaciers followed water sculpture, together with their absence on unglaciated mountains like the Southern Appalachians, and also the fact that glaciers in themselves do not seem to have the power of excavating similar depressions, is seemingly cumulative evidence pointing to the conclusion stated above.

Cirques, alcoves, and possibly other forms, when considered simply as topographic features, may perhaps be classed together; yet, genetically, alcoves and cirques are distinct, the former owing their existence to aqueous sculpture, usually in horizontal rocks, and the latter to aqueous sculpture followed by ice sculpture, in rocks which may be heterogeneous or homogeneous, horizontal or inclined.

The generalization that "cirques are confined to glaciated regions," to which Mr. Bonney takes exception, was reached from considering the distribution of typical examples, previous to the differentiation of cirques from other similar topographic forms. When they are recognized as distinct from alcoves, and

Brighton, January 11.

Ice Crystals.

THE following account of some very well defined ice crystals may be of interest.

The

On December 26, 1891, the thaw set in. On the 27th, I noticed on the surface of the ice on the lake at Drinkwater Park, near Prestwich, on the outskirts of Manchester, a large number of very distinct, hexagonal, tabular crystals. surface of the ice was not very wet. These crystals varied from half an inch to three inches across, were raised about an eighth of an inch above the surface of the ice, and in many cases bore a similar but much smaller crystal in the middle, raised about an eighth of an inch above the surface of the larger crystal. In some specimens the smaller crystal was rounded and indis

tinct. When it was absent, dark lines, following the direction of the lateral axes, were visible in some cases. Frequently an indistinct striation was present. GILBERT RIGG. Manchester Museum, Mineralogical Department, January 12.

A Tortoise inclosed in Ice.

I SHOULD like to be allowed to record a case of a water-tortoise

surviving an incarceration in ice, somewhat similar to that given in NATURE (vol. xliv. p. 520).

In this instance, the tortoise has hibernated in a stone basin, in which there were about 6 inches of water and a quantity of dead leaves. The whole was, I believe, frozen into a solid mass. At any rate, when, on December 29, I examined a cake of ice and leaves, from 2 to 3 inches thick, which was floating in the basin after a thaw, I found the tortoise with its back embedded in the under side of the mass, and with nearly 2 inches of porous-looking ice above it. The animal, though torpid, was alive, and I replaced it in the basin. Later on it put its nostrils up to the surface, and two days afterwards was seen with its head out of the water as usual. It remained in the pond, which has been again frozen over, in less than a week after this observation. FRANK FINN.

31 Walton Crescent, Oxford, January 22.

Alpine Rubi.

IN a footnote in NATURE (vol. xlv. p. 10) it is stated that "The two highest-known species of Rubus are pinnatus and rigidus, at 5000-6000 feet.' This is hardly correct, unless it is intended to refer to African species only. In South America, R. megallococcus, R. boliviensis, R. bogotensis, and R. roseus occur at 8000 feet, and R. rushyi at 10,000. In Colorado I have found R. strigosus above 10,000 feet (see Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, 1890, p. 10; 1891, p. 169). In the Indian region, R. ellipticus goes to 7000, R. lasiocarpus to 8000, and R. biflorus and R. rosifolius to 10,000 feet.

The name of the wild Zea is Z. canina, Watson (local name, "mais de coyote"), not nana, as given in NATURE, vol. xlv. P. 39. T. D. A. COCKERELL. Institute of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica, December 30, 1891.

the first place, this species is one of the comparatively few capable of domestication, a faculty which is totally distinct from, though frequently confounded with, the facility of being tamed. A domesticated animal is attached to its home, and returns to it of its own will; a tame animal is merely familiar with man. These two states are admirably illustrated in the closely allied species, the fowl and the pheasant. Both were originally perfectly wild, but when domesticated the chickens invariably return home to roost, while the pheasants, though descended from numberless generations of birds bred in confinement, have no attachment whatever to the place of their birth or rearing.

In its natural habitat (the rocky cliffs of the sea-shore) the blue rock pigeon has to fly long distances in search and carries home to its young. This necessitates strong of food, which, when breeding, it stores up in its crop powers of flight and well-developed perceptive faculties, it being guided in its return solely by sight, and not, as is often supposed, by any special instinct.

The pigeons that are used for carrying messages are bred solely for that purpose. A process of artificial selection, as rigorous and remorseless as that of nature, is followed. The young birds, after acquiring their power of perfect flight, and learning the contour of the country in their circuits around their home, are taken in

UTILIZATION OF HOMING PIGEONS.

THE

HE utilization of the homing instinct of the domesticated varieties of the blue rock pigeon, the Columba livia, for military purposes, has been effected by most of the Governments in Europe. In France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal the organization has been very complete. It has even extended to Russia, Denmark, and Sweden; and Africa has been brought into communication with Spain by stations at Ceuta and Mellila. England alone, of all the great Powers, has neglected this important mode of communication, which is available under circumstances that preclude the employment of any other means.

It cannot be said that they have not been brought under the notice of the military and naval authorities. Nearly twenty years ago, on the occasion of the despatch of a flight of seventy-two birds from the Crystal Palace to Brussels, when the first birds arrived before the telegram which was sent to announce their departure, I wrote a letter to the Times of June 27, 1873, calling attention to their utility, and asking the question: "What would be the value of the birds, in the event of a war in which we may be engaged, that would convey messages to or from Guernsey, Jersey, and other places, when the submarine wires had been cut by the enemy?"; and in a lecture delivered by me before the Royal Engineers' Institute at Chatham, on the use of pigeons for military purposes, I entered at some length into their mode of training and general utilization.

The employment of the Columba livia depends upon several conditions which are not without interest. In

FIG. 1.

the direction in which it is desired that they should fly, and trained stage after stage until they know every locality over which they have to traverse. This training is absolutely necessary, if their return home is to be depended on. During its performance the inferior birds, those whose intelligence and determination are not well developed, are lost; and the best birds, only, retained. This loss, in the long-distance flights which are flown by the Belgians and by the best homing pigeon societies in England, is very severe. Old birds, that know large tracts of country well, may be taken in new directions, provided they are not too extended, with safety, but young birds that have not been trained would almost certainly be lost if carried many miles from their home.

Every homing pigeon flyer recognizes the hereditary character of this acquired faculty, and will give a very high price for birds descended from parents that have flown long distances, whereas he would not purchase another bird of precisely similar appearance were he not acquainted with the performances of its ancestors. fancy varieties of pigeons, especially those which are called carriers in England, are perfectly useless for the purpose of flying distances.

The

The birds that are most valued are almost all descended