April 20, 191 1] 



NATURE 



25. 



the author constructs the following theory : — There are two 

 distinct processes to be considered in respiration. On 

 one hand, there is absorption of oxygen leading to the 

 formation of certain oxidising substances, notably peroxides, 

 and on the other, decomposition of sugar by a ferment. 

 The immediate products of fermentation may give rise to 

 alcohol, or, under the action of peroxides, may be fully 

 oxidised to carbon dioxide and water. 



The administration report for 1909 of the Ceylon 

 Botanic Garden, prepared by the acting director, Mr. 

 R. H. Lock, together with the supplemental report by 

 other officers, has recently come to hand. Reference is 

 made to the importation of agricultural machinery and 

 tools, not only for planters' estates, but also for the rice 

 lands cultivated by natives. The shot-hole borer, 

 Xyleborus fornicatus, a pest on tea bushes, has engaged 

 the attention of the entomologist, Mr. E. E. Green. The 

 historic scourge of the coffee plant, the green bug, 

 Lecanium viride, was reported from one district as another 

 post on tea, and a slug, Mariaella dussumieri, was notified 

 as a destructive feeder on young rubber plants. The 

 curator records the first flowering of the apocynaceous shrub 

 Stemmadenia bella, and the planting of an avenue of the 

 beautiful pink-flowered variety of Lagerstroemia Flos- 

 rcginae. 



An important and very useful contribution to hcpaticology 

 provided by Mr. S. M. Macvicar in an enumeration and 

 account of the distribution of liverworts in Scotland, which 

 has been published as the twentieth volume of the Transac- 

 tions and Records of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 

 The compilation of localities and collectors for each species 

 ]■- in itself a formidable task, even when assisted by the 

 cooperation of correspondents. In addition, the author 

 has added to the Scotch records many more new species 

 than any other collector; Aneura incurvata, Adelanthus 

 dicipiens, AcroboUus wilsonii, and Calypogeia succica are 

 ' tir out of several species found as yet by Mr. Macvicar 

 ine. The floristic sketch of the seven botanical provinces 

 II tains many interesting details. Considered from an 

 nlogical point of view, hepatici become dominant on some 

 thr higher mountain tops, where a Marsupella- 

 ndiiiiiriuin association is often developed. The coterie 

 Atlantic species is the most important and remarkable, 

 some of them would be classed as subtropical and do 

 ' ot occur otherwise in Europe. 



A PAPER on fungous root tubercles, communicated by 



Mr. E. G. Arzberger to the twenty-first report of the 



Missouri Botanic Garden, deals Vith conditions examined 



Ceanothus americanus, Elaeagnus argentea, and Myrica 



lifrra : nt fho same time it is stated that apparently all 



' i' s ol (r.iiiothus and Myrica possess them to some 



'111. The course of events was found to be very similar 



1 Ceanothus and Elaeagnus. The fungus enters a young 



Mit, and in consequence a tubercle is formed; hypertrophy 



ids to the development of a large cortex in which the 



ingal mycelium ramifies; the nuclei of the invaded cortical 



lis increase abnormally; then the fungus forms vesicles, 



;4arded by the author as sporangia, and absorbs nucleus 



,d cytoplasm of the host cell ; subsequently the fungal 



lis disappear. In the case of Myrica there is no tendency 



• break up the contents of the vesicular structures, and 



:■: form of the fungus indicates that it belongs to the 



nus Actinomyces. 



Resides the vast store of archieological information which 



>■:. ,M. Aurel Stein brought back from Chinese Turkestan 



d Western Kansu, he and his assistants from the Survey 



NO. 2164, VOL. 86] 



of India carried out a very large amount of careful 

 topographical surveying, which V( ry greatly inipi-o\es the 

 maps of that region. Plane-table surveys were carried on 

 continuously during the journeys, and these were controlled 

 by astronomical observations for latitude made at seventy- 

 two stations, and by others made during a previous journey 

 in 1900-1. From this material ninety-four sheets are being 

 prepared by the Survey of India on the scale of i : 253,440, 

 and will be published in the form of an atlas to accompany 

 the detailed report on the scientific results of Dr. Stein's 

 last journey. In the meantime reduced copies have been 

 published by the Royal Geographical Society in the Journal 

 for March. The whole area from Kashgar to Kan-Chou 

 (long. 75°— ioi°), including the Takla Makan desert and 

 the mountains bounding it, is plotted on the scale of 

 I : 3,000,000. Other maps on the scale of i : 1,000,000 

 show the Kun-Lun range on the frontier of Kashmir, and 

 Western and Central Nan-Shan to the eastward. On all 

 these maps, heights which have been determined by triangu- 

 lation, or by barometric or clinometric observations, are 

 shown, names have been carefully revised, and the areas- 

 occupied by cultivation, scrub or jungle, and desert have 

 been distinguished. The whole forms a most valuable 

 addition to Asiatic cartography. 



The monthly meteorological charts for May issued' by 

 the U.S. Weather Bureau for the oceans and for the 

 Great Lakes of North America have been received. 

 Among the various data, in addition to the usual mean 

 values, we may mention an article (on the back of the 

 charts) entitled " Weather Lore of the Sea," which 

 includes a large collection of proverbs. These are not 

 given as unfailing signs of coming weather ; in fact, it is 

 pointed out that for some, depending on celestial bodies, 

 such as moon and stars, "careful records fail to show the 

 slightest influence, but the mariner may find it interesting 

 to verify others at his convenience. The Deutsche See- 

 warte also makes good use of the space available at the 

 back of such charts. The North Atlantic chart for April 

 contains a detailed account of the quick voyage of the 

 sailing ship Potosi to the west coast of South America 

 and back, together with useful remarks as 10 'h- ■■•Mirse 

 and the advantage taken of actual and i\ iier 



conditions. 



WiULE the reports published in Nature furnish an indica- 

 tion of the papers read before the London Mathematical 

 Society, considerable interest attaches to the annual volume 

 in which these papers are published, as affording a 

 survey of the year's work. The Proceedings of the Londort 

 Mathematical Society for iqio (London, Francis Hodgson, 

 19 10) shows the sanv hii^h standard that has been main- 

 tained in previous years. :m 1 contains thirty papers, notable 

 among which are five important contributions to analysis 

 by Dr. W. H. Young, F.R.S., and papers by Hateman, 

 Hardy, Dixon, Hobson, Lamb, Watson, and others, alto- 

 gether twenty mathematicians having contributed to the 

 present volume. In applied mathematics we have papers 

 on electrodynamical questions by Batcman, Cunningham, 

 Hass6, and Larmor, on heat by Carslaw. on diffraction by 

 Lamb, and on attractions by Leathern. The importance of 

 maintaining and further stimulating interest in these pro- 

 ceedings will be evident when we compare the output of 

 English mathematical original work with wiiat is I., ing 

 accomplished elsewhere, particularly in America. W r have, 

 in addition to the present " Proceedings," our " Quarterly " 

 and our " Messenger," but if a quantitative test is of any 

 value, the .American Society's Bulletin and Transactions, 



