i/2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



nests of other species. The author suggests that the (in general) black colour ot 

 holzcartoti nests may be due to the presence of fungi, but investigations in 

 progress do not tend to confirm this view. Many species of "white ants" 

 which inhabit such nests are themselves black, and a black trail marks their 

 usual paths. 



The chapter on the food of Termites would have been improved by the inclu- 

 sion of illustrations of the fungi, and better figures of the " fungus gardens." 

 Those of the latter have been photographed from dried specimens, and show 

 nothing which would distinguish them from the combs of species which do not 

 cultivate fungi. Fig. 36, " Pilzgarten einer Termes spec. (Ceylon)," is evidently 

 a fragment of the comb of Termes obscuriceps. Doflein's observation that the 

 " fungus garden " is inhabited chiefly by larvae can scarcely be adduced as con- 

 firmatory evidence that the larvae alone feed on the cultivated fungi, and it seems 

 to imply that there are other workers and soldiers living elsewhere. It would be 

 interesting to know where the author imagines they can live, in a nest in which 

 every chamber is filled by a " fungus garden." The disparity in numbers is no 

 doubt due to the escape of winged insects. And the observation that a mycelial 

 sphere just fills a termite's mouth is about as true as a parallel statement re boys' 

 mouths and apples would be. 



The remaining chapters include an account of guest termites and other insects 

 known to inhabit termite nests, and the usual description of the damage caused 

 by termites. Among the methods of extermination, the author omits the most 

 efficient and practical — i.e. the injection, into the nest, of the gases formed by 

 burning together sulphur and white arsenic. There is a much-needed synopsis 

 ■of genera, and a bibliography extending to seven pages. In the latter we do not 

 find any reference to recent researches in Madagascar, and it is evident that the 

 author is acquainted with reviews only of some of the works he emotes. A refer- 

 ence to the originals might have modified his statements on several points. 



Any reader who has studied termites in the East will find himself in constant 

 opposition to the author's generalisations. But this is not the author's fault. The 

 subject is so wide, and the habits of termites so varied, that it is impossible to 

 write a general account which will not leave the majority of species exceptions. 



T. Petch. 



The Stone Implements of South Africa By J. P. Johnson. (London : 

 Longmans, Green & Co., 1908 ) 



The rapid advance in our knowledge of the prehistoric sites of South Africa has 

 ■enabled Mr. J. P. Johnson already to publish a second and enlarged edition of 

 his useful little book on The Stone Implements of South Africa. In his first 

 edition he divided his material into three groups—" primitive," " palaeolithic," 

 and "advanced," and claimed that these three groups represented a definite 

 sequence of periods. In the present volume he has adopted a more elaborate 

 ■classification into " Eolithic, Strepyic, Palaeolithic or Acheulic, Solutric or 

 Neolithic." It may be regretted, in passing, that he should have introduced such 

 monstrous forms as the second (which should in any case be " Strepyic "), fourth 

 and fifth of these terms : why not simply " Strepy," " Acheul," and " Solutre " ? 

 The additional material at his disposal has enabled him to increase the number 

 of his illustrations, which now include a number of Bushman paintings and 

 •chippings, mostly scenes from the hunt and the dance. Of the additional in- 

 formation, that furnished by Mr. Lamplough and Mr. Henry Balfour on the 

 subject of the Zambesi Valley implements is extremely interesting, but it may 



