568 



NATURE 



[June 22, 191 1 



pedes, lizardii, dhts, scorpions, &c. Geological specimens 

 were not numerous, but what there were were secured. 

 A large number of specimens of shells and different varie- 

 ties oT coral were also collected. 



The day following eclipse day, a Sunday, it rained 

 steadilv from morning until night. The camp became a 

 hopeless morass ; every tent was saturated through and 

 through, and most of the contents as well. Fortunately, 

 packing up had been commenced directly totality, of the 

 (lay before, had finished, and by the evening the greater 

 portion of all the instruments were safely housed away 

 in their packing-cases in the instrument tent. Fortu- 

 nately, again, 1 had had the floor of this tent covered 

 with thick rafters to keep the cases off the ground, and if 

 it had not been for this precaution the cases would have 

 been thoroughly soaked. The rain therefore did little 

 damage. We filled as many barrels as we had with the 

 water from the awnings, and this came in extremely useful 

 for the dark-room during the subsequent days spent in 

 developing and making copies. 



I had two special boxes made on board the ship to 

 carry the original negatives, and the copies and one box 

 ivilf go home with the rest of the packing-cases, while 

 the second will be dispatched later by a different steamer 

 to England. 



On May 3 the ss. 7'ofua arrived at \'avau on her way 

 to Sydney, and I boarded her to inquire from her captain 

 what he had seen of the eclipse. Captain Halford had 

 stopj>ed his ship right on the central line, and they viewed 

 tlie eclipse in a cloudless sky. Several drawings which 

 were made on board were shown to me, and they all 

 indicate similar appearances, namely, equatorial extensions 

 and rifts at both poles. Shadow bands were very con- 

 spicuous, and a great number of stars were logged. The 

 captain kindly had a copy of his observations made for 

 me, as 1 wished to compare the times of his contacts 

 with those observed by us. 



In the evening the Tofua left with all the eclipse parties 

 except those going by the Encounter. 



The next morning the Encounter weighed anchor from 

 the spot where she had remained so long. I think 

 we were all very glad to get away. If we had had a 

 successful eclipse we might have severed our connection 

 with a pang of regret. There were no regrets. We had 

 worked hard and been treated very badly, and some of 

 us, myself included, hoped we should never see the spot 

 again. Out of the little harbour we steamed, stealing 

 away before the inhabitants were up. One by one We 

 passed the thickly tree-covered islands, and at last we 

 came to the open sea and the cooler air, leaving the pests 

 of flies and mosquitoes behind us. Oh those flies and 

 mosquitoes ; they were the curse of the island ! 



The Encounter being now bound for Suva, Fiji, to coal, 

 and land Mr. McClean and myself, our course was shaped" 

 for that island. In order to make all land by daylight, a 

 six hours' stop was indulged in off Late Island. This 

 island is on the western outskirts of the Tonga group, 

 and is nothing but a large volcano. With difTRculty a 

 landing was made, and while one party, including myself, 

 started out to climb to the crater, another party went to 

 shoot pigeon and pig. Incidentally, I made a good 

 botanical collection, and gathered numerous specimens of 

 seeds. On our return to the shore the tide had gone 

 down, and the pools in the lava were full of the most 

 beautiful coral fish and snakes, weird in colour and shape, 

 that one could desire. An exciting return to the boats 

 ended quite a successful day's adventure. The next day 

 was spent at sea, and we sighted Suva on Saturday 

 morning (May 6). Being " Accession " Day, the ship was 

 dressed as the anchor was let go. 



Mr. McClean, Mr. Anderson and myself took up our 

 quarters at this port to await our ship, the t.s.s. Marama, 

 which was to take us to Honolulu. On May 1 1 

 H.M.S. Encounter steamed gracefully out of the harbour 

 on her way to Sydney, and it was sad to see her go with- 

 out us, for both officers and men had become quite 

 endeared to us. However, it had to be, and we watched 

 her until nothing more than smoke was visible. 



At Suva there was little to be done, as it was very hot, 

 but there were no flies and very few mosquitoes, so we 

 might have been worse off. On May 13 we drove lo 



NO. 2173, VOL. 86] 



Rewa, a distance of twelve miles, and then took a motoi- ? 

 boat up the fine river Rewa, the upper reaches of which 

 are very beautiful. To me this trip was disastrous, for 

 next day I was laid up with fever. On .May 15 '■•■' 

 steamer, the Marama, Ixjund for Honolulu and Vanci 

 arrived, and we boarded her and sailed the same ev-:: 

 .\\. the moment of writing (May 21) we are now two days 

 off our destination, and we are indulging in the cool N.K. 

 trades after the stillness of the doldrums. 



After Honolulu we are bound for the States, wh ' 

 hope to see first hand the chief American astrononi:r;il 

 observatories. We are due in England about July 11, when 

 we shall have completed a most interesting circuit of the 

 earth. We shall have gained one day ! 



W. J. S. LOCKVER. 



A NEW ROD OF AARON. 



THE naturalist and the physiologist have been wcil 

 acquainted for several years with the results achieved 

 by Loeb, Uelage and others, in the way of causing the 

 eggs of various animals to develop by chemical and other 

 purely physical means, apart altogether from the agency, 

 direct or indirect, of the male animal ; but these astonish- 

 ing experiments are still very little known to workers 

 in other sciences. Before directing attention, as is the 

 object of this short note, to the last and perhaps the most 

 startling of all such experiments, it may be worth while 

 to say a few words on the general question. 



The subject seems to fall under two heads, namely, 

 artificial means of facilitating the action, or of widening 

 the sphere of action, of the male element, and, secondly, 

 means of dispensing with it altogether and of replacing it 

 by some wholly artificial stimulus. 



In Loeb's early experiments he showed that, while under 

 normal conditions the eggs, for instance, of a sea-urchin 

 could not be cross-fertilised by the sperm of a starfish, yet 

 bv simply rendering the surrounding sea water faintly 

 alkaline, a new condition was established in which the • 

 sea-urchin's eggs were capable of fertilisation by the 

 sperm-cells of any or every species of starfish, and by 

 certain other alien species of echinoderms besides, while, 

 at the same time, in this more alkaline sea water the 

 sperm of the original sea-urchin had actually lost the power 

 of fertilising the eggs of its own species. 



More than five-and-twenty years ago it had been shown, 

 by Tichomiroff and others,' that the eggs of the silkworm 

 could be caused to ' develop " parthenogenetically " by 

 simple mechanical stimulation, such as brushing, or by 

 chemical treatment, as with sulphuric acid. But these 

 results attracted less notice than they should have done, 

 partly, perhaps, because in other insects parthenogenesis, 

 or the development of unfertilised eggs, was known to 

 occur under natural conditions, as in the case of green- 

 flies or plant-lice (Aphides), or in the case of the drone- 

 progeny of the queen-bee. 



Passing over various intermediate experiments, we come 

 to those which Loeb published in 1904, in which he showed 

 that, if the eggs of a sea-urchin be put into sea water to 

 which has been added a little formic, acetic, butyric, or 

 other fatty acid, and then after a minute or two be put 

 back into ordinary sea water, they begin to show the 

 initial changes characteristic of nuclear division. But if, 

 on the other hand, they be transferred from the acidified 

 sea water to sea water the concentration of which is in- 

 creased by a suitable addition of common salt, then the 

 whole cycle of development proceeds just as though normal 

 fertilisation had taken place, and the highly complicated 

 free-swimming larvae are produced in unlimited numbers 

 and in the same manner and at the same rate as in the 

 ordinary course of sexual development ; and if the experi- 

 ment has not been carried further, to the complete post- 

 larval development of the entire sea-urchin, it must be 

 remembered that the artificial feeding and rearing of this 

 and other marine animals beyond a certain stage, even 

 from normal and fertilised eggs, is a m.ntter of the very 

 greatest difficulty. Precisely similar experiments have been 

 successfullv performed by various workers on marine 

 worms and molluscs, and a few years ago Bataillon showed 

 that even the eg^s of the Inmprev could be induced to 

 segment bv simply placing them in water of a certain 



