there were seventeen days with the temperature above 70°, and in May of the present year there were ten such warm days, the thermometer exceeding So° on three days, whilst in June the highest temperature was 74°.

cases

THE latest contribution of Prof. W. Trelease to the elucidation of the genus Agave, published in the Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis (vol. xviii., No. 3), deals with the Mexican species yielding fibre known as "Zapupe." Although in three flowers were not obtainable, five botanical species with local names are distinguished primarily according to the characters of the spines. The species Zapupe, Lespinassei, Deweyana are only known in cultivation, but Endlichiana and aboriginum are indigenous. Bulbils are described for two species, and it is stated that all appear to be freely bulbiferous after flowering, thus affording "pole plants as well as offsets,

THE list of new garden plants for 1908, issued, according to precedent, as appendix iii. of the Kew Bulletin (1909), has only recently been received. It furnishes the correct names with brief diagnoses, gives the reference to the original publication and the introducer, and also indicates which plants are in cultivation at Kew and would probably be available for distribution in the regular course of exchange. About one-third of the entries refer to orchidaceous plants, many being garden hybrids, and others mere varieties or forms. Two natural and several garden hybrids are noted under the genus Saxifraga. Messrs. Sanders are credited with the introduction of three palms and the cycad Encephalartos Woodii.

AN investigation of the medullary rays in the beech, the oak and Aristolochia sipho, with the object of tracing the contour of the rays, has been carried out by Dr. K. Zijlstra, who communicates his results in Extrait du Recueil des Travaux botaniques Néerlandais (vol. v.). The contours of the rays in the oak and beech obtained by a comparison of tangential sections are fairly regular, being interrupted in places by fibre layers. They show an irregular but distinct increase in height towards the cambium. The height of the rays in Aristolochia stems approximates to the length of the internodes, if, as is assumed, the separate overlying portions are regarded as part of one original ray.

DR. P. LOWELL contributes to the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (May) the first portion of a description of the plateau of the San Francisco peaks with reference to its effect on tree life. The peaks, which are for the most part cones of volcanic origin, rise out of a plateau having an elevation of 7000 feet. The desert nature of the region has kept it free from human destruction and the dry climate has preserved in a remarkable manner the fossil remains. The altitudinal distribution of the trees forms the chief subject of the paper. The zones of vegetation are said to topographise the country as with contour lines. The yellow pine, Pinus ponderosa, dominates the slopes from 6500 feet to 8500 feet. Then the Douglas fir, the silver fir, Abies concolor, the curious cork fir, Abies subalpina, and the aspen share the ground up to an elevation of 10,300 feet. Higher still, the Engelmann spruce and fox-tail pine, Pinus aristata, ascend to the tree limit, about 11,500 feet.

MR. J. PARKINSON contributes to the last number of the Journal of the African Society a collection of folktales current among the Yoruba-speaking peoples, which form an interesting supplement to the classical account of this people by the late Major Ellis. Like the Basutos, Pondos, and races beyond the African area, lightning is

associated with a bird, and the thunderbolt is the subject of a special cult. The tortoise as the wise, helpful anima! here takes the place of the hare, jackal, or frog in Bantu and Basuto tradition, several tales dealing with his clever. ness and supplying etiological myths to account for the various marks still to be seen on his carapace.

IN the June number of Man the Rev. J. Roscoe describes a remarkable cult of the python at Uganda. The floor of its shrine was found to be carpeted with sweet-smelling grass, and on one side was the sanctuary of the serpent and its guardian, the latter being a woman pledged to a life of celibacy. A log and stool for the python, covered with a piece of bark-cloth, lay on the floor of the shrine, and a round hole was cut in the wall for the ingress and egress of the reptile. It had been trained to resort to this shrine, where it was regaled with milk, fowls, and small goats. The snake is supposed to control the river and its fish, and offerings are made to it to ensure success in fishing. During worship a medium is dressed in pieces of bark-cloth, a goat-skin apron, and a cloak of leopard skin. The spirit of the python then is supposed to enter him, when he wriggles about on the ground like a snake and utters prophecies, which are unintelligible to the worshippers, and are explained by an interpreter. The python is also supposed to confer offspring, and if he be neglected punishes his votaries by bringing sickness on their children. When a suitable offering is presented he prescribes the use of certain herbs, which effect a cure. The cult thus presents striking analogies to that of Esculapius, who, according to Prof. J. G. Frazer, was originally a serpent, the anthropomorphic god provided with a serpent symbol being a later development of the cult.

MISS NINA LAYARD, already well known for her researches in the Saxon cemetery at Ipswich, describes in the June number of Man a series of flint implements discovered by her on the sea-coast at Larne, co. Antrim. This site had already been explored by Messrs. Du Noyer, Knowles, and Gray, whose discoveries have led to protracted controversy, and the age and character of the specimens are still matters of uncertainty. They do not correspond closely with either the palaeoliths or neoliths of England, and though many acres of land are covered by these raised beaches, nothing in the shape of a ground weapon has been found. The presence of many flints in a rolled condition leads to the inference that they are older than the formation in which they were found, and the occurrence of these specimens, which many authorities hold to be Neolithic, at such enormous depths in gravel is subversive of all English experience. Miss Layard, in the circumstances, is content to designate them the older series," because since they were dropped on this shore there must have occurred, not only a gradual sinking of the beach and the formation of gravels 20 feet in depth containing the worked flints, but also a subsequent elevation until the surface of the gravel stands no less than 20 feet above high-water mark. In the same connection, the account in the same number by Mr. Worthington G. Smith of a Palæolithic implement found near the British Museum in 1902 is interesting. It is remarkable in this specimen that an oval flint pebble forms part of the basis of the implement, the maker of the tool, by clever flaking, having designedly left this pebble intact.

THE geological section of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club organised on June 19 an excursion to Scawt Hill for the study of the volcanic neck there. The geological structure of the district is that common to the plateau

basalts of County Antrim, and consists of basic lava flows covering Mesozoic beds, and at Scawt Hill occurs the "neck" of one of the volcanoes from which the lavas came. A few years ago one of the members of the section came unexpectedly on a basic dyke traversing the dolerite neck. The neck has been found to be a finegrained ophitic dolerite. The dyke is a granitoid basic rock, and may be classed as a diabase without olivine. A section of the chalk taken two yards from the dyke showed it to be converted into a typical crystalline limestone with large crystals of calcite. The geologists of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club made during the excursion the observation that even at a distance from the dyke the band of chalk in contact with the dolerite neck seemed to have undergone a similar change, and to have been converted into hornstone.

IN the U.S. Monthly Weather Review of January last references are made to interesting communications by Mr. R. F. Stupart, director of the Canadian Meteorological Service (dated March, 1909), relating (1) to the establishment of new stations in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the proposed extension of storm warnings and weather forecasts to Newfoundland, and (2) to the supply of a complete equipment to several stations in the north of Canada, extending as far as Fort Macpherson (lat. 67° 27′, long. 134° 57′ W.). In connection with the source of 64 cold waves frequently experienced in North America, Mr. Stupart thinks that the study of the far north with trustworthy barometer readings will be most valuable. He remarks that the persistent high pressures found there in some seasons apparently owe their origin to upper currents from the equator coming to earth farther north than usual, and that we may very probably in the future connect the situation in the equatorial regions and trade-wind belts with that in the high latitudes."

THE first complete account of the new method which has been adopted by the Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie to secure an almost undamped series of oscillations in the secondary circuit of the sender is given by Prof. Fleming in the Electrician for June II. The primary spark is divided into eleven very short sparks of about o-01 inch in length, which are formed between twelve discs of copper, which may be water-cooled. The damping is so great that not more than two or three oscillations occur in the primary circuit, and the oscillations in the secondary are therefore free oscillations, which are only slightly damped. The device evidently marks a distinct advance in wireless telegraphy.

LAST year in the Comptes rendus and in Le Radium M. J. Becquerel described experiments on the electric discharge through vacuum tubes which appeared to indicate that, in addition to the canal rays, there existed positive rays which could be deviated by a magnetic field by amounts comparable with those to be expected if the rays were composed of free positive electrons. In the Journal de Physique for June, M. A. Dufour describes his own work on the same subject. He has repeated and extended M. Becquerel's experiments, and comes to the conclusion that the observations do not warrant the statement that the deviable rays observed are due to free positive electrons.

MR. R. H. COLLINGHAM contributes an article in Engineering for June 18 dealing with Ilgner-operated winding-engines. The principle of the Ilgner system is the employment of a motor-generator set coupled mechanically to a heavy fly-wheel and electrically to the motor driving the mill or winding gear. The motor of the motor-generator is driven off the power mains, and

the function of the fly-wheel is to minimise the variation in the load drawn from the source of supply. All the heavy loads which come on the mill are met from the store of energy in the fly-wheel. In order to obtain this result, an automatic slip-regulating device is provided in the rotor circuit of the induction motor driving the motor-generator set, which regulates the amount of slip on the induction motor according to the amperes taken by the stator, the slip-regulating device only coming into operation when the stator current has reached a certain fixed value. When this value has been attained the regulating device increases the slip of the induction motor, causing the speed of the set to drop; the fly-wheel then gives up energy corresponding to the given variation in velocity. By this means the load on the supply mains is kept much more steady than would be the case if no flywheel were employed. Mr. Collingham treats especially the mechanics of the problems involved with the view of finding expeditiously the weight of wheel, size of motor, &c., required in given cases.

IN our article upon the Astrographic Congress at Paris (June 10, p. 440) it was stated that Rome was represented by Signor Lias. We are asked by Dr. P. Emanuelli to state that this should have been Signor Lais, who is vicedirector of the Vatican Observatory, and was the representative, not of Rome, but of the Vatican.

WE have received from Messrs. Flatters and Garnett, Ltd., of Manchester, a copy of their conveniently arranged catalogue of collecting apparatus, nature-study appliances, cabinets, museum glassware, glass-top boxes, pocket lenses, and so on. The list is well illustrated, and reference to its contents is made easily.

MR. JOHN MURRAY has published a second edition of Mr. R. H. Lock's "Recent Progress in the Study of Variation, Heredity, and Evolution." The first issue of the book was reviewed at length in NATURE of April 18, 1907 (vol. lxxv., p. 578), but it may be pointed out that several alterations and additions have, been made in the present edition. A short list of references has been added at the end of each chapter; the different chapters have been revised and supplemented, and a new chapter has been added.

"A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH AGRICULTURE," by Mr. W. H. R. Curtler, is announced by the Oxford University Press for early publication. As the agriculture of the Middle Ages has often been ably described, Mr. Curtler devotes the greater part of his book to the agricultural history of the subsequent period, especially the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.

COMET 1909a (BORRELLY-DANIEL).-Several observations of this comet are recorded, and an ephemeris for it is given, in No. 4333 of the Astronomische Nachrichten. Neither photographs nor eye observations show any remarkable features, whilst the ephemeris indicates that the brightness is declining; on July 16 the comet will be but about one-third as bright as when discovered. The distance from the earth is, at present, about 1.09 astronomical units, and is rapidly increasing.

is the case.

THE SHAPE OF THE PLANET MERCURY.-Referring to a recent statement by Mr. Levander, that the equatorial diameter of Mercury has been shown to exceed the polar diameter, M. R. Jonckheere, in No. 4333 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, expresses the belief that the opposite His observations, made during the most recent transit of Mercury, indicated that the vertical diameter was the greater, the values being, vertical=9.46", equatorial = 8.73"; this is supported by other observers, whose results he gives. At present the positions of the equatorial and polar diameters of the planet are not known, but M. Jonckheere contends that the statement that the greater diameter is the one parallel to the celestial equator is, in the face of the evidence to the contrary, inadmissible.

OBSERVATIONS OF SUN-SPOTS, 1908.-The results of the first year's regular observations of sun-spots at the Royal Observatory at Capodimonte (Naples) are given by Signor E. Guerrieri in No. 6, vol. iii., of the Rivista di Astronomia (Turin). The sun was observed on 304 days, and on five days was seen to be free from spots, whilst the mean daily frequency of spot groups for the year was 5.3. The first half of the year showed an excess of groups in the ratio 3/2, but the analogous ratio for single spots was 4/5; altogether, 1606 groups and 9262 individual spots were observed during the year. The observations are tabulated and discussed in several different ways, and, if continued regularly, will form a useful supplement to the work so ably performed by the other Italian observers.

OBSERVATIONS OF SATURN AND ITS RINGS.-In No. 4331 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, M. Schaer records the observations of Saturn and its ring system made at the Geneva Observatory, with the 40 cm. Cassegrain reflector constructed by himself, during the period September 18, 1908, to January 24, 1909. The chief feature recorded is the discovery of the new dark ring announced on October 7, 1908. This ring was seen, but thought to be the shadow of the bright rings, on previous occasions, but on October 5 it was seen to extend to the right and left, and was therefore judged to be something more than shadow; on October 6 the dark ring was seen to be separated, and the planet, with its usual colour, was seen through the interstice, which was about 3" to 4" long and 0.5" to 1" broad. In January of the present year the new ring was seen more easily than during the preceding months.

M. Schaer's observations also suggest the presence of a cloudy, absorbing atmosphere, and the occurrence of slight changes in the white ring between the crape-ring and the Cassini division. The invisibility of the rings when their plane passes through the earth is probably due to the masking effect of the newly discovered outer dark ring.

TABLES FOR THE REDUCTION OF "STANDARD Co

ORDINATES TO RIGHT ASCENSION AND DECLINATION.—In No. 4329 of the Astronomische Nachrichten Herr A. Hnatek published a series of tables for the computation of a and from the standard coordinates given in the catalogues of the international carte du ciel. A few copies of these tables, printed on stout paper, have been prepared, and may be obtained from the publishers for one mark per copy.

THE TRANSVAAL OBSERVATORY, JOHANNESBURG.-From the Observatory (No. 410, p. 262, June) we learn that from July 1 next the institution directed by Mr. R. T. A. Innes is to be known as the Transvaal Observatory,

THE ROYAL SOCIETY CONVERSAZIONE.

THE ladies' conversazione at the Royal Society is always a brilliant function, and last week the presence of delegates and other distinguished foreign guests from the Darwin celebration at Cambridge added to its interest. The conversazione was held on June 24 in the rooms of the society at Burlington House, and the guests were received by Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., president. Many of the exhibits were also shown at the conversazione held in May, and were described in NATURE of May 20 (vol. lxxx., p. 347). Summaries of the other exhibits are given below, based upon the descriptions in the official catalogue, related subjects being here grouped together for convenience of reference.

Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S.: Representation of temperatures and pressures in the atmosphere up to a height of fifteen miles, on July 27 and 29, 1908.-A. Fowler: Photographs of the spectrum of scandium. The photographs show the varying intensities of the scandium lines in the arc flame, normal arc, and the arc in hydrogen. Corresponding differences are found in the spectra of sunspots and prominences.-Messrs. Zeiss: Liquid crystals observed under high temperatures with polarised light by micro-projection apparatus.-Dr. F. Edridge-Green: Spectroscope for estimating colour perception. In the focus of the instrument are two movable shutters, either of which is capable of moving across the spectrum. By means of the two shutters any given portion of the spectrum can be isolated. Each shutter is controlled by a drum graduated in wave-lengths, so that the position of the edges of the shutters can be known.-C. E. Š. Phillips: Permanently luminous watch dial and military night compass. The watch dial is transparent (glass), and the figures are painted upon its upper surface. The dial is backed with a compound containing a minute quantity of RaBr, (radium bromide), which renders it luminous, so that the time may be easily read in the dark. The compass is arranged upon the same principle. By means of a luminous disc and strip, direction may be determined at night.

If

W. M. Mordey: The effect of electrostatic condensers in A suitable condenser preventing or extinguishing arcs. placed in shunt to an arc, or in shunt to a resistance in series with an arc, will instantly extinguish the arc. connected in shunt to the contacts before they are separated it will prevent the formation of an arc even in a circuit having considerable electromotive force. The Linolite Company: Metallic filament "tubolite." The metal filament is held at each end by a zig-zag spring to take up the expansion, and is supported by anchors at two intermediate points. The lamp may be placed in any position, and can be run on an alternating current or direct current circuit.-Hon. C. A. Parsons, F.R.S.: (1) Model of leakage path device for regulating voltage of alternators. The apparatus depends on the following very simple fact, that while an alternating current cannot directly produce a unidirectional field, it can have a strong action in diminishing magnetic flux. When applied to an alternator, the field magnets of the exciter are provided with a leakage path, around which windings carrying alternating current are placed. (2) Some samples of the blades used in steam

turbines of Atlantic liners.-Hon. R. C. Parsons: (1) Panflex" spring wheel for motor vehicles. The Panflex" spring wheel is an invention which has for its object the easy motion of a vehicle when run at low or high speeds. This ease of motion is due to the springs being capable of deflection in every direction. The wheel is not subject to bursts or punctures, prevalent in the case of wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres. The wear and tear is small, and, should a spring break, which is seldom the case in practice, another can be inserted in a few minutes at a very small cost. (2) Working model apparatus for recording the effects produced upon wheels of various descriptions when passing over obstacles. (3) Seismograph apparatus for registering the jolts felt by the body of a motor vehicle when run on "Panflex or pneumatic

wheels.

The Director, Royal Gardens, Kew: (1) Specimens to illustrate the wood Lignum nephriticum, and the fluorescence of its infusion. Lignum nephriticum is the wood of "Coatli" (Eysenhardtia amorphoides), a small leguminous Mexican tree. An infusion of the wood was used medicinally by the Aztecs. Soon after the conquest of Mexico the Spaniards brought the wood to Europe, where it was used for similar purposes, and excited remark owing to the blue fluorescence of the watery infusion of the wood. The phenomenon was first described more fully by Athanasius Kircher (1646), and J. Bauhin (1651), who used cups made of the wood. It was carefully studied by Boyle (1664). During the next century the wood itself was lost sight of; its origin remained unknown until quite recently. Plukenet (1696) suggested, and Dale (1737) and Linnæus stated, that it was the wood of the horse-radish tree (Moringa pterygosperma), which is, however, a native of the Old World. Another source that has been suggested is Pithecolobium Unguis-Cati, a native of the West Indies. (In charge of Dr. O. Stapf, F.R.S.) (i.) Wood of true Lignum nephriticum and cup turned from the same, and samples of infusions, presented to the Kew Museum as cuatl.' (ii.) Medicinal substitutes of Lignum nephriticum:-(a) wood of Moringa pterygosperma, from Scinde; (b) wood of Pithecolobium Unguis-Cati, from Florida; (c) wood of a tree, possibly a species of Imbricaria (Sapotacea), from tropical America, received from Paris in 1851 as Bois nephritique. (2) Plants of Ecanda (Raphionacme utilis), and sample of rubber prepared at Kew from a tuber of it.-R. A. Robertson: Photographs (for identification purposes) of the transverse surface of timbers.Prof. R. H. Yapp: Photographs of tropical vegetation. The photographs were, for the most part, taken during the Skeat Expedition to the Malay Peninsula (1899-1900). -Prof. F. E. Weiss: (1) Some alien aquatic plants from the Reddish Canal, near Manchester; (2) some South African aquatics grown in the laboratory, University of Manchester.

46

R. I. Pocock: Warning coloration in some weasel-like Carnivora. Animals which are nauseous or poisonous or dangerous to meddle with commonly have some means of self-advertisement, such as conspicuous coloration or sounding organs, which appeals to the sense of sight or of hearing of their enemies, warning the latter to let them alone; but most mammals are coloured so as to be concealed either from their enemies or from the prey they feed upon. Such concealment is commonly effected by counter-shading, the upper side being dark to tone down reflected light, and the lower side white to counteract shadow, the result being obliteration of the shape and solidity of the body. Some of the weasel tribe, however, form an exception to this rule, being light above and black below, often with the white of the back, as in skunks, or of the head, as in badgers, emphasised by black stripes; and since these animals are known to possess glands which secrete fluids with a foetid or suffocating odour, and since, also, they are known to be desperate fighters and fearless and extraordinarily tenacious of life, and to feed, for the most part, upon vegetables or upon animal food, for the capture of which concealment is unnecessary, there are strong reasons for believing them to be conspicuously and warningly coloured.-H. F. Angus: Stereoscopic photomicrographs. The series comprise eggs of butterflies, moths, and parasites; botanical objects, such as mycetozoa, leaf hairs, &c.

-F. Enock: Living stick-insects (Bacillus rossi). The eggs of these stick-insects are less than one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and much resemble a minute vase. On emerging they are half an inch in length, and quickly stretch themselves along a green twig, which they exactly resemble. Most of the specimens have changed their skins five times, the old skin being generally eaten. When mature, these stick-insects attain a length of more than 4 inches, and become of a brown colour, which harmonises with the brown twig on which they rest. They are nocturnal feeders, and exceedingly amicable toward each other, treating each other as sticks, several often clinging together.-Prof. George H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., and Dr. Seymour Hadwen: The discovery of a curative treatment for malignant jaundice in the dog and for redwater in cattle, with a demonstration of the effects of trypanblau upon the parasites. The disease known as malignant jaundice (piroplasmosis) in dogs is exceedingly fatal. It has hitherto resisted all forms of treatment. Both trypanblau and trypanrot injected subcutaneously will cure prevent the disease. The effect of the drugs is exerted directly upon the parasites (Piroplasma cạnis) which cause the disease. The parasites may be observed to degenerate and disappear from the blood within a few hours after treatment. The parasite of redwater in cattle (Piroplasma bovis) is likewise affected by trypanblau.

or

Dr. C. D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution: Panoramic views in the Rocky Mountains, U.S., and Canada.-Dr. A. Smith Woodward, F.R.S.: Skull of Megalosaurus from the Great Oolite of Gloucestershire. This is the first nearly complete skull of a carnivorous dinosaur found in Europe, and agrees with the skull of Ceratosaurus, from the Jurassic of Colorado, U.S.A., in exhibiting a bony horn-core on the nose. The specimen was discovered by Mr. F. L. Bradley near Minchinhampton. -Dr. C. W. Andrews, F.R.S.: Remains of rhinoceros and mammoth from the Thames alluvium under the offices of Lloyd's Weekly News, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, E.C. The specimens exhibited were :-(1) a nearly perfect skull of a young individual of the woolly rhinoceros (Rhinoceros tichorhinus), in which some of the milk-teeth were still in use; (2) a maxilla and nearly complete mandible of a young mammoth (Elephas primigenius); the first and second molars were in wear, the third not yet having appeared.-Dr. F. A. Bather, F.R.S.: Sections of seasonal clay from Stockholm. This clay, which was deposited during the melting and retreat of the great ice-sheet in Sweden, may be described as fossil years and seasons. The alternating bands of dark and light can be easily seen, and Baron G. de Geer (from whom the specimens have been received) believes that each cycle represents a year, the lighter rock having been formed during the melting of the snows in spring. He has traced these bands for great distances, and has been able to map the changing limits of the ice-sheet from year to year through a long period. This is the nearest approach to a definite chronology by years that has yet been made by geologists, but it still needs to be linked up to the chronology of human history.—Dr. Marie Stopes: The microscopic structure of fossil plants from Japan. The nodules containing the plants were obtained in the river beds of the mountainous region of northern Japan. They are of Cretaceous age, and contain fossil plants with their tissues so well preserved that the cells can be seen in microscopic sections of the stony matrix. All the plants are new to science, and among them are several specimens of the first petrifaction of a flower hitherto discovered. The nodules contain ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms, which form an interesting mixed flora, the first of the kind to be described from specimens showing their anatomical structure.-Prof. Flinders Petrie, F.R.S.: Ancient modelled heads of various races. These heads were found in the foreign quarter of Memphis, the capital of Egypt, and represent the various peoples who were known there, 500 B.C. to 200 B.C. Persian Empire, at that time, brought together all races between Scythia and India, and the Mediterranean peoples were familiar with Egypt before that. The modelling was probably done by Græco-Egyptians. Most of these were found in the excavations of the British School of Archaeology in Egypt.

The

SOME PAPERS ON INVERTEBRATES.

COMMENCING with entomology, mention may be

made of a paper on new and little-known North American Tipulidæ, by Mr. C. W. Johnson, published in vol. xxxiv., pp. 115-33, of the Proceedings of the Boston Natural History Society. In addition to the description of a number of new species, the paper contains the diagnosis of the new genus Aeshnasoma, proposed for a large tipulid with antennæ of the type of those of Longurio, but with a wing-venation differing from both that genus and Tipula.

To the March number of Spolia Zeylanica Mr. T. B. Fletcher communicates the first part of a monograph of the plume-moths of Ceylon, dealing in this instance with the members of the family Pterophorida. There are, it will be remembered, two families of plume-moths, the one already mentioned and the Orneodidæ, or 24-plumed group. Both are regarded by the author as very ancient types, but there appears to be little or no near relationship between the two groups, so that their mutual resemblance may probably be attributed to convergence. Although nothing definite is known in regard to the advantage gained by the splitting of the wings in these moths, the author suggests that when pace is not essential, a light framework of wing supplemented by cilia will be superior to the ordinary lepidopterous wing, in that it gives an equal measure of support with less expenditure of muscular force. In the same issue Mr. P. Cameron describes certain new Ichneumonidæ and Braconidæ reared by Mr. Fletcher from Ceylonese plume-moths.

Part v. of the second volume of Records of the Indian Museum is devoted to the revision, by Mr. E. Brunetti, of two groups of Oriental insects, namely, the flies of the families Leptide and Bombyliida; the latter paper containing a list of the known Oriental species, of which some are described for the first time.

To the Proceedings of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society for 1908-9 Mr. H. S. Fremlin contributes a paper on the results of experiments to show the effect of physical and chemical agencies on butterfly pupæ. The species forming the subject of the experiments were Vanessa urticae and Abraxas grossulariata, the total number of specimens treated being just over two thousand. Water and high temperature were the agents for the influence of physical conditions, while the chemical agencies employed were nitric and hydrochloric acids, chloride of lime, sulphur, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon disulphide. In the case of V. urticae, the death-rate was excessive when the pupa were exposed to continuous high temperature, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon disulphide. The pupæ of A. grossulariata were in great measure destroyed in the water-laden atmosphere, and in the continuous high temperature failed to develop; hydrogen sulphide, on the other hand, was less harmful than in the case of the other species, although it crippled such adults as developed. Chlorine had a marked effect on the red colour of urticae, but showed little result in the case of grossulariata.

To the June number of the Entomologists' Monthly Magazine Mr. R. S. Bagnall contributes an account of four species of Thysanoptera new to the British fauna, among which Megathrips nobilis is also new to science. That species, the largest European representative of the group, was first obtained by Dr. D. Sharp in Wicken Fen during 1896.

Leaving insects for arachnids, we find in the April issue of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy Mr. N. Banks cataloguing a collection of spiders from Costa Rica, with descriptions of new species. The new forms are about seventy in number, in addition to which there are about a score of species not mentioned in "Biologia Centrali-Americana." Of the web-making species, a considerable number are common to the United States, but of the other groups few kinds range so far north.

To vol. xxxviii., part iv., of the Travaux Soc. Imp. Nat. St. Pétersbourg, Mr. E. K. Suworow contributes an elaborate account of the anatomy of Ixodes reduvius. a tick exhibiting sexual dimorphism in a strongly marked degree. The much smaller males are, for instance, distinguished from the females by a peculiar system of divisions in the external envelope of the body, while there

as

well

new

In the second of these papers (Bulletin No. 64) Miss Elvira Wood, of Columbia University, gives a critica! summary of Dr. Gerard Troost's unpublished monograph of the fossil crinoids of Tennessee. Dr. Troost, who was born in Holland in 1776, settled in Philadelphia in 1810, where he became one of the founders, and the first president, of the Academy of Sciences. In 1827 he removed to Tennessee, where he became professor of geology and mineralogy in Nashville University, holding that chair until his death in 1850. Only about a month before his death the manuscript of the monograph of Tennessee crinoids was sent to the Smithsonian Institution for publi cation. After passing through various hands for five years, this manuscript came into the possession of Prof. Hall, in whose custody it remained for upwards of forty years. The long period which has elapsed since it was written rendered re-writing practically imperative, but certain portions have been printed direct from the original MS. Many of the original illustrations have been replaced by photographs or new drawings.

In the third paper of this series (Proceedings, vol. xxxvi., pp. 179-90) Mr. Springer describes, under the name of Isocrinus knighti, a new crinoid from the Jurassic of Wyoming.

The molluscs collected on the north side of the Bay of Biscay by the Huxley in the summer of 1906 form the subject of an article by Mr. A. Reynell in vol. viii., No. 4. of the Journal of the Marine Biological Association. Out of the seventy-five species collected, sixty-two have been recorded from the British area.

In No. 1678 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum (pp. 431-4) Miss H. Richardson describes and figures a specimen of the curious spiny woodlouse (Acanthoniscus spiniger) of Jamaica. Although this isopod is stated to be common in its native island, the type-specimen in the British Museum and the one described by Miss Richardcon are believed to be the only examples in collections.

THE RESEARCH DEFENCE SOCIETY. THE speeches at the annual general meeting on June 25 of the Research Defence Society illustrated the wide and manifold interests of its work. It is, indeed, a national society for telling the truth about a matter of national importance. It defends the good name, the honour, of science against reckless and unscrupulous opponents, and we are not surprised at the welcome that it received. The list of its 2500 members includes a very powerful and thoroughly representative collection of great names. The society has already formed a dozen branch societies, has given many lectures, and has distributed much wholesome and honest literature; it has also published a volume of essays, written with authority, and pleasantly free from all controversy. Thus it has begun well; and the report of its committee is justly satisfied with the work of the past year. We note here two of the points made by speakers at the annual meeting.

Sir James Dewar emphasised this fact, that Germany is far ahead of us in the equipment of great laboratories for research in the “borderland between physiology and chemistry." Money is spent lavishly over the investigation of organic chemical bodies, the discovery and the preparation of new organic drugs. The services of a hundred expert and highly qualified men of science are at the command of a single firm. They receive large salaries,