igU 



NATURE 



[April 27, 191 1 



Indian hca*. The temperaliirc lu 1909, a« in the two pre- 

 ceding year*, wat tlightly colder than usual. l*he low- 

 nest occurred almost entirely in northern and central 

 India, owing chiefly to a defect of day temperature; the 

 largest defiaoncy occurred in April and June. The total 

 rainfall, on the average of the whole of the plains, was 

 a- 1 inches (5 per cent.) above the normal, which is the 

 largest excess since 1H94. In the Indian Ocean it was 

 very irregularly distributed, being 25 per cent, below the 

 normal at Seychelles, nearly normul at Mauritius, and 

 43 per cent, above the average at Zanzibar. 



Deutsche Seewarte, Hamburg (1909-Jo). — The observa- 

 tions and results (or stations under the control of the See- 

 wartc are published in its Jahrbuch for 1909 in the usual 

 form (Nature, May 19, 1910). The present volume, the 

 thirty-second of this valuable scries, includes ten stations 

 of the second order (for four of which hourly readings are 

 also given) and extracts relating to storms from registers 

 kept at fifty-seven signal stations. The following values 

 are quoted from tlie annual summary for Hamburg : — 

 temperature : mean maximum, 523° ; mean minimum, 

 41-4* ; mean, 46-4*' ; absolute maximum, 817° (May) ; 

 minimum, 93° (January and February); rainfall, 278 

 inches, 164 days. Fog, 64 days; the only months free 

 from it were .April-June. 



Like its predecessors, the thirty-third annual report of 

 the work of the Deutsche .Seewarte, for 1910, contains 

 full details of the staff, observers, and of the duties per- 

 formed in various departments. In the branch cf ocean 

 meteorology, one is struck by the increasing number of 

 observers, now numbering about 1075, and at the amount 

 of data relating to the sea, about 4228 months' observa- 

 tions during the year in question. This branch is actively 

 promoted by agencies at twenty-three ports, which, in 

 addition to other duties, undertake the verification of 

 instruments. The observations are utilised in monthly 

 meteorological charts and daily synoptic weather charts 

 of the North Atlantic Ocean, and many other useful publi- 

 cations. The department dealing with weather telegraphy 

 and storm warnings also shows great activity. An ex- 

 change of telegraphic observations is kept up with foreign 

 services, and is supplemented by daily kite observations 

 and reports from mountain stations. We have before 

 mentioned the useful experiments of issuing storm warn- 

 ings to the North Sea and Baltic deep-sea fisheries, &c., 

 by wireless telegraphy. Several other departments are 

 engaged in valuable work, including the issue of hand- 

 books and other publications, to some of which we have 

 frequently had occasion to refer. 



Stonyhurst College Observatory (1910). — The results of 

 the meteorological observations show that the mean 

 temperature of the year, 472°, was 04° in excess of the 

 average. The warmest month was August, 57-2°, and the 

 coldest January, 370°; June had the greatest number of 

 high readings : above 70° on nine days. The absolute 

 maximum was 78-0°, in June and July ; minimum, 13-5°, 

 in January. The annual rainfall was 5329 inches, being 

 6-26 inches above the normal. The amount of bright sun- 

 shine was only 283 per cent, of the possible quantity. 

 Terrestrial magnetism forms an important part of the 

 work of the observatory ; the yearly mean values were : — 

 declination, 17" 20' W. ; inclination, 68° 422' ; horizontal 

 force, 0-17407 C.G.S. units. Data relating to magnetic 

 storms are supplied to the International Committee on 

 Terrestrial Magnetism and to Potsdam Observatory. The 

 solar surface was observed on 166 days ; on 40 days the 

 surface was found quite free from spots. The principal 

 meteorological means, &c., are compared with the averages 

 of 63 years ; this long period greatly enhances the value of 

 the data. 



MUSEUM CONFERENCE AT HALIFAX. 

 /\ CONFERENCE of members of the Museums Associa- 

 tion and other persons interested in museum work 

 was held at Halifax on April 8. Halifax is peculiar in the 

 organisation of its two public museums, which are directed 

 bv honorary curators, under the control of the Education 

 Committee of the borough, and it was by these authorities 

 that the conference was summoned. About Hxty persons 

 attended, including representatives from Liverpool, Man- 

 chester, SheflFipld, Salford, Hull. Bolton, Warrington, and 



NO. 2165, VOL. 86] 



other muf>cums in I^ncashire and Yorkshire. After 

 Nnttirnl History Museum (Belle Vue) and the Museum 

 A '^y and Arts (Hankficld) had been inspected, ■ 



<>n the invitation of the Mayor of Halifax, ' 

 cn.iu WIS taken by .Mr. Howard Clay, chairman of 

 Education Committee. 



.Mr. W. B. Crump, Halifax Museums. i<-;id .1 i>.. 

 " On a New Method of illustrating Bri 

 .Museums," in which he described the exli 

 British trees at the Halifax (Belle Vue) .Mum;uui, wh<:i< 

 is carried out from the nature-study point of view, so 

 to direct attention to the features in th< ' ' '' :y which 

 arc readily observable in the woods, <-d<.-d to 



advocate the arrangement of botanical sp> 1 .;; popular 



museums on a geographical basis instead of th« usual 

 systematic plan. A Pennine moor, an oak wood, • salt- 

 marsh, the vegetation of a pond, may, by careful selection 

 of material and the free use of photographs, be effectively 

 illustrated in a museum. 



Mr. H. Ling Roth, Halifax Museums, in a pa|> 

 the Use and Display of .Anthropological C'li- . 

 .Museums," compared the two methods, the ical 



or ethn<^raphical and the Pitt-Rivers or topii.: . in 



which latter the evolution of articles for some definite use 

 is exhibited. By the study of unrisen peoples we may learn 

 a great deal about our own gradual progress. Specimens 

 should be accompanied bv illustrations of the people who 

 m.ike and use ihcm, and collections should be formed to 

 show how things are made. .Ml the points were demon- 

 strated by reference to the exhibits in the Bankfield 

 Museum. Mr. T. Sheppard, Hull Museum, spoke of the 

 advantages following the publication of .guides to the 

 museum, and gave particulars of ways and means. Mr. 

 H. P. Kendall made an appeal for the more systematic 

 collection in museums of prints and ofh<r ilUisfrntions of 

 local antiquarian interest. 



SOME RECENT FISH LITERATURE. 



"T^D the Philippine Journal of Science for October, 1910, 

 Mr. Alveri Scale contributes an account of a collection 

 of Bornean fishes; this includes 117 species, of which 

 ninety-one are common to the Philippines. .Among the five 

 species described as new, mention may be made of a shark, 

 Carcharias borneensis, allied to C. dussumieri, but differing 

 in the position of the fins and the form of the teeth. 



The Japanese representatives of the families Sciaenidae, 

 Lobotidae, and Lutianidae form the subject of two papers 

 bv Messrs. D. S. Jordan and W. F. Thompson in the 

 Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, Nos. 1787 and 

 1792. Of the first family Japan possesses few species, all 

 referable to the typical subfamily, and allied to Chinese 

 and Indian types; there is byt one representative of the 

 second family, and the species of the third are not 

 numerous, although tw^o are sufficiently common to be of 

 commercial value. It may be noted that in the second 

 paper a new generic name is proposed for a Hawaiian fish. 

 In No. 1782 of the same publication Mr. T. Gill discusses 

 the structure, affinity, and habits of the wolf-fishes. From 

 peculiarities in the structure of the scapular arch and the 

 actinosts of the fins, coupled with the absence of ventral 

 fins, the author supports the views that these fishes should 

 be separated from tlie Blenniida; to form a family by 

 themselves — the Anarrhichadidae. Examination of the 

 skeleton demonstrates that the current classification of the 

 genera requires radical amendment. 



The generic and, in some degree, the specific name of 

 the typical wolf-fish ( Attar rhichas lupus) is based on a 

 misconception, the former term signifying a climber, from 

 a legend that these fishes occasionally leave the water and 

 clamber on to the rocks, while the latter seems to have 

 been given from an idea that they prey on other fishes. It 

 has, however, long been known that they feed almost 

 exclusively on molluscs, crabs, and sea-urchins, for seizing 

 and crushingf which their powerful dentition is specially 

 adapted. Most of the species are normally inhabitants of 

 depths where perpetual darkness reigns ; and when^ the 

 typical wolf-fish visits shallow water for spawning, it is 

 active only at night. In spite of the prejudice against the 

 wolf-fish on account of its hideous head and formidable 

 teeth, the flesh is stated to be excellent for the table. 



