I20 



NATURE 



[March 23, lyi 1 



history of the codling moth, Carpocapsa pomoticlla, in 

 north-western Pennsylvania. In Bulletin No. 80, part vii., 

 are given details that must be observed in spraying for 

 this moth and for the plum curculio. The details for 

 spraying with paraffin oil and other washes against the 

 scale insects are set out in Bulletin 80, part viii. In 

 another Bulletin (No. 83) are notes on the cucumber 

 beetles, Diabrotica sp. Circular 133 describes the work 

 done in combating the cotton-boll weevil, perhaps the most 

 expensive insect in the States. 



We learn from the Journal of the National Poultry 

 Organisation s<m itty. No. i, vol. v., that considerable 

 progress hi- h,ru made during the last twelve months in 

 organisinj; ih- industry. Indotd, Mr. Brown estimates 

 that we nuw piutlure 5,000,000/. per annum more eggs 

 and poultry than fifteen years ago. In Ireland particu- 

 larly great advances have been made, and at the present 

 time the production is considered to be pro rata greater 

 than in any other country. Wales and .Scotland are, 

 however, only now awakening to the possibilities in this 

 direction. The supply of cheap foreign eggs apparently 

 cannot be relied upon to continue indefinitely, and in- 

 creased home production is considered necessary if an egg 

 famine is to be avoided. 



The possibility of growing sugar beets in South .Africa 

 is discussed by Dr. Juritz in The Agricultural Journal of 

 the Cape of Good Hope (No. 5, vol. .xxxvii.). As the soils 

 of Cape Colony are better supplied with potash than with 

 other plant foods, in particular, lime, it seemed a priori 

 probable that crops rich in sugar could be obtained, and 

 this expectation has been realised. Beets have been grown 

 containing 15 to i() per cent, of sugar, and comparing very 

 favourably with crops obtained in Germany and the United 

 States. There still remain, however, a number of details 

 to settle before definite steps can be taken to grow the 

 crop on a large scale. All experience indicates that sugar 

 beet is somewhat expensive to produce by reason of the 

 labour and manure required. 



The reduction of timber supply through the destructive 

 action of insect pests forms the subject of recent circulars 

 (Nos. 127, 128, and 129) issued by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology. The 

 annual loss is estimated at about 62,500,000 dollars, but 

 part of this, at any rate, could be saved by utilising 

 damaged timber as early as possible. Indeed, it is con- 

 sidered that the removal of insect-infested timber would 

 do more than anything else to reduce the number of insects 

 and strengthen the control. In Circular No. 125 some of 

 the insects are described, and methods of control are sug- 

 gested. Bulletin 94 deals with the injurj' done to chest- 

 nut telephone and telegraph poles by wood-boring insects, 

 especially Parandra brunnea, Fab., the life-history of 

 which is described in detail. The oak pruner, Elaphidion 

 villosum, Fab., is described in Circular 130. It cuts off 

 twigs and small branches, and sometimes even fells young 

 trees. 



On looking through Indian forestry publications and 

 records, it is evident that experience and opinions vary 

 considerably with regard to the best methods for regenera- 

 tion of forest trees from seed. Considering the great 

 variety of trees and the diversity in soil and climate this 

 is natural, and therefore actual records of observation and 

 experimental seedling plantations are much needed. In 

 the Indian Forest Records (vol. ii., part iii.), Mr. D. O. 

 Witt discusses the sylviculture of Hardwickia binata, 

 " anjan," with special refeience to the Nimar district of the 

 Central Provinces, and Mr. M. Rama Rao presents a note 

 on the germination and growth of sandal seedlings. Mr. 



NO. 2160, VOL. 86] 



Witt adduces evidence for the contention that su 

 growth of anjan seedlings depends primarily on a si: 

 water supply combined with shade during the hot weath- : 

 in addition, preservation is required from grazing, and i 

 protection is desirable. The pap«,'r also contains inforn) 

 tion with regard to loc :iliti<-s. ioinDosition. and fH'-U' ? 

 tion of anjan forests. 



The new interpretaiiwii, j/i.i.ii-.l .;> i L^i. I., i . J. ■.• 

 of the structure of certain coals, notably of ix^heads, 

 elaborated, with evidence derived from microsco; 

 sections, in the Proceedings of the American .'\cademy 

 .Arts and Sciences (vol. xlvi., No. 12). On the author/ 

 of the two famous French palaeontologists Prof. C. I 

 Bertrand and Mr. B. Renault, the explanation has b< 

 accepted that bedhead coals are largely composed 

 colonies of gelatinous algae, to which the name /'' 

 bibractensis has been assigned. This explanation is <! 

 puted by Prof. Jeffery, who asserts that the thinner mici 

 scopic sections prepared by improved methods reveal 1 

 presence, not of algae, but of spores of vascular cryp- 

 gams. It is significant that the spore structure is m< 

 pronounced in .American and Scotch boghead coals than 

 the bituminous schists originally investigated by Bertra 

 and Renault. Prof. Jeffcry's interpretation has a wid 

 bearing, inasmuch as it undermines the algal hypothesis 

 the origin of petroleum. 



In The Times of February 28 is a description of ; 

 falls of the Mayo Kebi river, furnished by Mr. P. Tall' 

 whose party are apparently the first Europeans to vi- 

 them. Rising in French Equatorial .Africa a little sou:'i 

 of the tenth parallel, this river plunges down cliffs soi- 

 60 feet high, and flows on to join the Benue river on 

 way to the Atlantic. These cliffs and the gorge belo 

 are of granite, and form part of the ridge which h'r^ 

 separates the Niger-Benue basin from that of the Sh.ui 

 flowing to Lake Chad. 



As a contribution to the hydrography of the basin of 

 the Seine, M. E. Clouzot gives in La Geographie. xxiii., 2, 

 an account of the inundations of Paris in the past due to 

 high levels in the Seine. From the sixth century the 

 banks have been submerged from time to time, but it 

 was only in the middle of the seventeenth century that the 

 question of adopting means for mitigating the results 

 of these occurrences was actively discussed, largely owing 

 to the damage wrought by the great floods of 1649, 1651, 

 and 1658 



Dr Groll in the Zeitschrift der Gessellschaft fiir Erd- 

 kunde for February discusses the imperfect representation 

 of the ocean floor in the light of the comparatively few 

 soundings which are available when the area for in- 

 vestigation is considered. Difficulties in accurately 

 locating points of observation enter into the question also, 

 but even so, if areas are selected where the most detailed 

 surveys have been carried out, the material is sufficient 

 to show that much of the uniformity shown in physical 

 maps arises from over-generalisation or imperfect inforn^ 

 tion. 



Mr. W. Goodfellow, who had to return from the 

 British Ornithological Expedition in New Guinea on 

 account of ill-health, communicated a short summary of 

 his experiences to The Times of March 3. He describes 

 the extreme difficulties met with in cutting a way through 

 the dense forest in the low country near the Mimika 

 river. Starting from this river, and pushing inland, it 

 was found eventually that it would have been better to 

 have followed a river lying farther to the eastward, since 

 on reaching the head of the Mimika the expedition had to 

 ' cut its way eastwards through the forest, a task which 



