556 



NATURE 



[Ma^ 



i 1 . J ' 1 1 



part of th« rivrr, the pnrty wTiit throujfh the Tuburl Laket 

 and down the Logone to Fort Lamy. The expedition then 

 proceeded down the Shari to Lake Chad, which wa« 

 crossed, in Kotoko ranoes. from the Shari to Saiyorum. 

 Close studies were made of the various peoples visited, 

 especially of the little-known tribes of French Central Africa 

 and the Baduma of Lake Chad. A large collection of 

 objects of ethnological interest was made, especially of 

 musical instruments, while typical examples of music were 

 taken down. A botanical collection of several thousand 

 specimens has been sent to the British Museum, as also a 

 number of birds, beasts, and reptiles. A route-sketch was 

 made across Lake Chad, and a survey by plane-table and 

 thecKlolitc from Maifoni to Kano. 



In a curious paper contributed to the Journal of the 

 Royal Society of .Arts for April 21, Prof. H. Chatley dis- 

 cusses Chinese natural phik>sophy and magic. He 

 endeavours to trace a close analogy between the system 

 advocated by the sage Ch'u Hsi, who lived in the twelfth 

 century of our era, and the discoveries of Sir VV. Crookes 

 and Sir J. J. Thomson. Discussing the part played by 

 gambling in magic, he remarks : — " The use of cards is 

 said to be derived from the Turot cards, which were 

 originally employed for occult purposes. The legend 

 which ascribes the invention of cards to the purpose of 

 amusing a mad king does not seem at all a sufRcient 

 explanation, and there is, in addition, the fact that cards 

 of a kind existed before the said king. In further sup- 

 port of this idea, the well-known practice of telling for- 

 tunes by cards may probably be regarded as a survival 

 of a roijiilar form of divination by such means. It seems, 

 in fact, iliat ( ard-playing for stakes is a mere development 

 of .1 ceremony in which individuals consulting the oracle 

 decided to abide by its pronouncements as to the holding 

 of disputed property." 



Mr. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary of the Interior 

 under the Government of the Philippine Islands, in an 

 interesting and well-illustrated article contributed to the 

 March issue of The National Geographic Magazine, 

 describes the methods by which the .American authorities 

 have succeeded in gaining control over, and to some 

 extent civilising, the pagan tribes of northern Luzon. 

 During his tour the officer in charge of the district 

 collects representatives of tribes which are normally in a 

 state of war, and secures peace and the cessation of head- 

 hunting by promoting athletic contests, which are most 

 popular among these savages. They are encouraged to 

 compete in their tribal dances, and the games most 

 popular are running, wrestling, the tug-of-war, and climb- 

 ing the greased pole. He thus sums up the results of this 

 policy : — '* We have been able to get results in dealing 

 with wild men by following the simple policy of always 

 giving them a square deal ; by not punishing them for a 

 given course of action unless they had had ample warn- 

 ing that such action would be followed by punishment ; 

 by never failing to punish them when, after due warning, 

 they have misbehaved ; by making friends with them 

 again whenever they were ready to be friendly ; and by 

 finding an outlet for their superabundant animal spirits in 

 rough but innocent field sports." 



The second number of the .Annals of the Cyprus Natural 

 History Society, for 1910, contains a short summary of the 

 more interesting animals observed in the island during 

 the year. A list of Cyprus birds (290 spp.) was published 

 in the first number, and it is proposed to issue shortly lists 

 of the mammals and Lepidoptera. 

 NO. 2167, VOL. 86] 



AccoBDiNO to the Indian Pioneer Mail, the 1 



Natural Hiftory Society It appealing for a turn of 2^ 

 with the object of starting a zoological survey of British In-! 

 At present about 8000 rupees have been subscribed, ( 

 with this In hand the society has started one collector ; but 

 as the services of Mr. Shortridge, who was recently In- 

 valided home from New Guinea, are available, it is desired 

 that these should be secured, although this cannot be done 

 without a large increase in the subscription list. It it 

 pointed out that a brief glance at BUinford's " Mammals 

 of India " will show how much remains to be done even 

 in that section of the zoology of the country. Later 

 information states that the sum promised has rearh ! 

 about 10,000 rupees. 



In vol. vi., part i., of the Records of the British Museum, 

 Dr. .Annandale describes a cirriped of the parasitic group 

 Rhizorephal.1 t.iken on a crab, Sesarma thetxinoe, from a 

 stream 700 feet above sea-level in the Andamans, near Port 

 Blair. The specimen, which is believed to be the only 

 example of the group hitherto obtained from fresh water. 

 is made the type of a new genus and species, under the 

 name of Sesarmaxenos monMcola. It is pointed out that 

 the crab 011 which the parasite was found belongs to a 

 group the members of which usually breed in brackish 

 water, if not in the sea, and it is therefore possible that the 

 Andamanese species may periodically visit the ocean to 

 spawn, and that the parasite may have become attached to 

 the tvpe specimen during such a sojourn. " Nevertheless, 

 the fact that the fatter contains larv;c in the brood-pouch 

 while living at an altitude of 700 feet entitles it to be 

 included in the fauna of the Indian Empire, and suggests 

 that it is able to flourish in jungle-streams, even if it also 

 occurs in the sea." 



In an article contributed to the May number of Cassell's 

 Magazine, entitled " The Vandalism of Collectors." Mr. 

 S. L. Bensusan directs attention to the evil effects on the 

 British fauna produced by the recent expansion of nature- 

 study. For it is pointed out that a considerable proportion 

 of those who cultivate this pursuit are not content with 

 acting the part of observers, but join the ranks of regular 

 collectors. This entails a large destruction of birds and 

 their eggs (probably to a great extent illegal), as well as 

 a prodigious slaughter of butterflies and moths, to say 

 nothing of the reckless uprooting of wild flowers. Game- 

 preservers and game-keepers also receive a share of blame, 

 although it is admitted that the latter are worse than the 

 former. In conclusion, the author observes that it would 

 have been better for the wild life of the country if the 

 cult of nature-study had developed side by side with a 

 fuller recognition of the claim of the wild fauna and flora 

 to protection, or with definite legal restrictions on the 

 taking of specimens for private purposes. 



At the conclusion of his presidential addre=- 

 Ouekett Microscopical Club, on some problems of evolution 

 in the simplest forms of life, as reported in the Journal of 

 that body for April, Prof. E. .A. Minchin expressed the 

 opinion that in the case of the Protista syngamy is the 

 factor which checks variation among individuals exposed 

 to slightly different external conditions. With such re- 

 straining influence a species would tend to break up into 

 different races and strains, either as the result of varying 

 environment or from an innate tendency to divergence. 

 Svngamy, on the other hand, tends to reduce individual 

 difl'erences to a common level. If this be correct, and if it 

 be also true that there is no syngamy among them, it 

 follows that real species do not exist among bacteria, the 



