78 NEWS [ JULY 



evidence of the flourishing condition of the Society, which has 460 members, 

 and it chronicles a creditable amount of appropriate work. We observe that 

 the Society enlivens its autonomic functions by inviting experts from outside to 

 give public lectures, and in this they seem to have proved their wisdom practi- 

 cally as well as theoretically, for they made a profit of about <£125 on one 

 lecture. 



At the annual congress of the South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies 

 held at Rochester at the end of May, Mr. W. Whitaker, the President, gave an 

 address on the " Deep-seated Geology of the Rochester District," and there 

 were papers by Mr. Benjamin Harrison on plateau implements; Mr. J. J. 

 Walker on collecting Coleoptera ; Mr. G. F. Chambers on eclipses ; Prof. G. S. 

 Boulger on botanical bibliography and records ; Mr. J. Hepworth on the history 

 of the Rochester Naturalist ; Mr. Paul Mathews on ideals of natural history 

 societies ; Mr. C. Bird on the position of science in education ; Mr. E. Connold 

 on vegetable galls. Prof. Howes was elected president of the 1900 Congress to 

 be held at Brighton. 



'n' 



A striking result of the " Valdivia " expedition, in regard to which one 

 naturally wishes to have more details, is (as translated in Nature from Dr. 

 Supan's summary in the April number of Petermami's Mittheilungen) that " the 

 quantity of plankton (in Antarctic waters) increases down to about 2000 

 metres, diminishing rapidly at greater depths, although no level is destitute of 

 animal life. The quantity of vegetable plankton, on the other hand, reaches its 

 lowest within 300 or 400 metres of the surface. The characteristic of the 

 Antarctic plankton is the abundance of diatoms, and the occurrence of special 

 forms ; the appearance of the Antarctic type begins as far north as 40° S., but 

 in 50° S. the presence of forms belonging to warmer seas is still noticeable." 



Science for May 26 contains an account of ethnological work on the island 

 of Saghalin by Dr. Berthold Laufer of the Morris K. Jesup North Pacific 

 Expedition. There are certain differences between the Ainu of this country and 

 those of Yezzo ; their numeral systems is decimal not vigesimal, their dialect is 

 more archaic, and its phonetics richer. Dr. Laufer has obtained explanations 

 of many of their decorative designs, and much information as to traditions. 

 Measurements were difficult to take, but the hairy nature, at least of Saghalin 

 Ainu, is not so great as supposed. From the Olcha Tungus Dr. Laufer obtained 

 wooden idols and amulets of fish-skin. Among the Gilyak he saw many secret 

 ceremonies, and he induced both Gilyak and Tungus to sing into his phonograph. 

 Altogether an excellent record of work, with suggestions of some excitement, 

 danger, and hardship. 



Dr. Zwingle, representing the Department of Agriculture of the United 

 States, is now in Morocco on a mission which may open a new industry in the 

 most arid sections of the South-west. It has been found that date-palms, with 

 some irrigation, will grow as well in Arizona as in Arabia. Dr. Zwingle is 

 making a study of the African date-palm, selecting the varieties best adapted 

 to the American arid region. 



Mr. C. A Harrison, Jr., Mr. W. H. Furness, and Dr. H. M. Hiller, who 

 recently returned from an exploration of Borneo, with collections for the 

 University of Pennsylvania, are, we learn from Science, about to start on 

 another expedition. They expect to make explorations in the northern part of 

 Burma and make archaeological and ethnological collections. 



Professor Gustave Gilson, of Louvain University, Belgium, has begun, under 

 the direction of the Government of Belgium, a series of experiments in the 

 North Sea resembling the observations conducted by Mr. Garstang from 

 Plymouth. On April 29 a set of bottles was let off from the West Hindar 

 light vessel, 2° 26' E., 51° 23' N., i.e. about 20 miles north-west of Ostend. 



