June 15, 1911] 



NATURE 



527 



possibly composite. Cones and seeds of a pine, Pintis 

 vernonensis, are abundant in the group. 



The modification of plants induced by the extremely dry 

 summer in West Australia furnishes the subject of a con- 

 tribution by Dr. A. Morrison to the Journal of the Natural 

 History and Science Society of Western Australia (vol. iii,, 

 No. i). A thick development of woolly hairs on stem and 

 leaves is shown by Eragrostis eriopoda ; rolling back of 

 the leaf margins is the device exhibited by GreviUea 

 oxystigma ; Plagianthus Helmsii furnishes an instance of 

 extreme specialisation in an arrangement of closely set 

 minute leaves. Daviesia euphorbioidcs is an interesting 

 case of a leguminous plant which has developed a succulent 

 cactus-like form, while Calandrinia priuuiUflora is provided 

 with a water-storing tubercle. 



The concluding portion of Dr. C. B. Robinson's article 

 on Philippine Urticaceae, published in The Philippine 

 Journal of Science (Botany, vol. vi.. No. i), contains the 

 diagnosis and Hlustration of a new generic type, Astro- 

 thalamus, segregated from Maoutia, and several new 

 species, notably under the genus Leucosyke. In the same 

 number Mr. O. Ames presents a list of new records and 

 species of Orchidaceas, with an introductory note sum- 

 marising his conclusions regarding the orchid flora of the 

 Philippines. Dendrochilum, Dendrobium, and Eria stand 

 out as the most important genera. No genus is entirely 

 confined to the islands, but the numerous species contained 

 in one section of Dendrochilum are all endemic. 



The current number of The Gardener's Chronicle 

 (June 10) contains the first part of an article by Mr. 

 H. N. Ridley, describing a botanical expedition to Lower 

 Siam, undertaken with the object of demarcating the 

 boundary between the two distinct floras of Malaya and 

 Tenasserim. On the island of Alostar the northern 

 element was already recognisable in the shape of a 

 common species of Corypha palm and a yellow vetch, a 

 species of Geissaspis, growing as a weed in the rice fields. 

 Crinnm Northianum and a Lepadanthus were notable dis- 

 coveries, as also the growth of Leea rubra in the mud 

 flats. Attention is also directed to a contribution by Mr. 

 R. Farrer, presenting a systematic synopsis of European 

 species of Primula, with the object of clearing up some of 

 the confusion which exists owing to changes in nomen- 

 clature. 



Various problems, mainly economic, are discussed by 

 Mr. A. D. Blascheck in an article contributed to Science 

 Progress (April) on the subject of afforestation in the 

 United Kingdom. He proceeds to show that the climate 

 is suitable, that land is available, and that Great Britain 

 has a smaller proportion of land under forest than any 

 other European country. But the crux, of the situation 

 lies in the financial aspect, with reference to which the 

 opinion is expressed that forests, as a rule, yield less profit 

 than Government securities, so that the benefits derivable 

 are indirect, chiefly in the extra employment of workers 

 required for the timber and allied industries. These 

 arguments lead to the recommendation of measures that 

 were proposed in the Development and Roads Improve- 

 ment Funds Act, 1909, i.e. " the conducting of inquiries 

 and research for the purpose of promoting forestry and, 

 the teaching of methods of afTorestation," as also " for 

 the purchase and planting of land found after inquiry to 

 be suitable for afTorestation." 



Mr. F. Muir has recently published an account, in 

 Bulletin No. 9 of the Experiment Station of the 

 Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, of some new species 

 of leaf-hopper (Perkinsiella) on the sugar-cane. The genus 

 was investigated by Kirkaldy in 1903 ; it is particularly 



NO. 2172, VOL. 86] 



attached to the sugar-cane, and only occasionally goes on 

 to other grasses. At present there are thirteen known 

 species. 



-Mr. L. D. Larsen has recently collected his work on the 

 diseases of the pineapple, and published it as Bulletin 

 No. X. of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. The 

 fungus Thielaviopsis parodoxa is by much the most destruc- 

 tive micro-organism involved, causing three distinct and 

 important diseases, in addition to being responsible for a 

 good deal of the decay in pineapple roots. It is in general 

 saprophytic, but in certain conditions it becomes 

 parasitic. A disease known as brown rot was traced to 

 Fusarium. The fungus causing the very serious pineapple 

 wilt is not yet isolated with certainty. 



The fifth annual report of the work at Rosslynlee, by 

 Messrs. Lauder and Fagan, on the variation in composi- 

 tion of cow's milk, shows what a small effect ventilation 

 of the cowshed has on the yield of milk. The shed was 

 divided by a wood and felt partition into two parts, one 

 of which was freely ventilated, even in the coldest 

 weather; the other was only partially ventilated, so that 

 its average temperature was higher by about 9° F. In the 

 cool, well-ventilated part the average yield per cow per 

 day was 27-54 ^b., and in the warm, badly ventilated part 

 it was 27-14 lb., the percentages of fat being respectively 

 3-74 and 370. 



Messrs. Schreiner and Skinner have published, in 

 Bulletin No. 75 of the United States Bureau of Soils, an 

 account of the soils most suitable for lawns in the United 

 States, and of the detailed cultivation and manuring 

 necessary to obtain a good growth of grass. Some of their 

 recommendations, however, seem quite inconsistent with 

 the oflicial views of the Soil Bureau ; thus their advice to 

 use phospliatic manures seems intelligible only on the old 

 view that phosphates are needed to feed the young plant. 

 It is significant that gardening has become of suflicient 

 importance in American life for a great State department to 

 undertake such an investigation as the present one. 



An article by Dr. H. v. Ficker on the interesting 

 subject of the advance of cold waves in Asia and Europe 

 appears in the Proceedings of the Vienna Academy of 

 Sciences for December last. The data upon which it 

 de{H;nds are drawn chiefly from the Russian Meteorological 

 Annals for 1898-1902. About fifty cold waves were investi- 

 gated, and nearly 200 charts drawn, in this laborious 

 work ; a few typical cases only, with charts, are included 

 in the article, with a short discussion of the majority of 

 the other periods. The greater frequency of cold wave> 

 in winter would lead one to suppose that they proceeded 

 from the cold centre in north-east Siberia, but this view 

 has not been confirmed. In the majority of cases thev 

 were found to come from the Arctic coast, between long. 

 30° and 90° E, Distinction is drawn between those pro- 

 cofjding from the west of Novaia Zemlia, accompanied with 

 nortIi-\V(.st winds, and those proceeding from the cast of 

 that isl.ind, aocompaniod by north-east winds. The spread 

 of the cold air is found to take place earlier towards 

 Europe than towards Siberia. The maximum velocity of 

 the waves is about twenty-five miles an hour, and thus 

 corresponds fairly well to the rate of propagation of thunder- 

 storms. Their irruption causes a sharp rise of the baro- 

 meter; they arc preceded by i-^"- ".,...,,,.. -.„,i ,<..„„■ ,ii,. 

 with a rise of temperature. 



The classification of the vimdI.' i.hmis oi tn.- v.ukhi-s 

 sextic plane curves forms the subject of a paper by M. W. 

 Sicrpinski in the Bulletin international of the Cracow 

 .Academy, No. lo A (1910). 



