December 7, 191 1] 



NATURE 



187 



1 In the second part of the Transactions of the Bristol 

 md Gloucestershire Archaiological Society Miss M. L. 

 Bazeley contributes an important paper on the relations 

 )f the Forest of Dean with the Crown during the twelfth 

 ind thirteenth centuries. She describes in detail the 

 mcient boundaries of the forest, the animals found in it, 

 md the periodical Royal visits for the purpose of sport. 

 Fallow deer were abundant, with red deer and roes in 

 smaller numbers. Wild boars seem to have been exceed- 

 ingly numerous. On one occasion King John had twenty 

 laptured for use on the Feast of St. David at West- 

 fiinster ; twenty boars and sixty sows were sent to him 

 jr the Feast of the Nativity, and Henry III. had as many 

 is a hundred for the Christmas dinner in 1254. These 

 equisitions seem to have seriously reduced the supply. 

 IVe hear of hunts of wolves and wild cats in 1281, when 

 )f the former we are told that they " as injurers of the 

 renison frequently return for the venison and stay in the 

 said wood, on account of the thickness thereof." 



The report of the Marine Biological Association of the 

 tVest of Scotland for 19 10 indicates that the work of that 

 X)dy has been carried on steadily during the period under 

 •eview ; and it may be noted that a special effort has been 

 nade to provide, in full efficiency, all the facilities for 

 ;tudy and research available at Millport. A large number 

 jf visitors entered the museum and aquarium, the latter 

 tf which is steadily increasing in popularity. 



In the November issue of The Zoologist Dr. James 



tlurie discusses the introduction of the American slipper- 



impet (Crepidula forntcata) into this country, and its 



influence on oyster-culture in Kent and Essex. The 



inollusc appears to have been introduced into the estuary 



i)f the Crouch and other rivers on imported American 



- somewhere about 1880, and by 1893 had become 



ratively abundant; it is now too firmly established 



eradicated. Its introduction has entailed consider- 



\tra labour on oyster-beds, as the oysters have from 



o time to be dredged and freed from the parasite, 



adheres tightly to their shells. But this is not all, 



:s constant and excessive dredging causes the grow- 



■ \ sters to have broken or imperfectly formed margins 



p their valves, whereby their commercial value is lowered. 



Investigations with the view of mitigating the evil appear 



l> be urgently required. 



'■• f-onnection with the letter from Messrs. Puran Singh 

 . Maulik in Nature of November 23 on the nature 

 light from fireflies, it may be mentioned that the 

 t has been recently discussed in vol. iii.. No. i, of 

 Annals of the Transvaal Museum by Mrs. A. B. 

 iv.ard, who observes that this light is unique in being 

 ompanied by perceptible heat, and is therefore pro- 

 at the least possible expenditure of energy. In the 

 can species, on which the investigations were made, 

 :- emitted by both sexes, although that of the flight- 

 male is feebler than that of her partner. In the 

 the light is produced by a pair of plates lying beneath 

 'in skin and filling the lower half of the fourth and 

 ibdominal segments. These light-giving organs con- 

 ' an upper and a lower layer, of which the latter is 

 '>ed of polygonal cells filled with coarse granules, 

 igh the minute size of the structures renders investi- 

 . very difficult, it is considered probable that the light 

 g due to the oxidation of some substance — very likely 

 Btty — contained in the cells of the lower layer of the light- 

 Bgans. 



As those who have studied the subject are aware, there 

 atures connected with " fairy rings " which are not 

 \n. 2107. VOL. 88] 



immediately explicable. In the latest paper, which appears 

 in The Journal of Economic Biology (vol. vi., No. 4), Miss 

 J. S. Bayliss points out that it is not known how the 

 fungus first infects the soil or why it grows in rings ; but 

 otherwise the paper provides acceptable explanations of 

 observed features and experiments in connection with the 

 ring growth of Marasmius oreades. Two zones are easily 

 recognised, an inner dark green grass zone and a dead 

 grass zone where the fungus is growing. Dr. Bayliss 

 directs attention to another dark green zone on the outside 

 that is particularly well developed in September. The 

 action of the fungus is complicated, since it apparently 

 produces a stimulating effect, as shown by the outer green 

 zone, while it excretes a toxic substance leading to the 

 complete destruction • of the grass ; subsequently it poisons 

 the ground for its own development, and then decomposes 

 into manure for the grass. 



During the past few years various expeditions from the 

 University of Chicago have secured from the fossil fields 

 of northern Texas the largest and best collection of 

 Permian vertebrate fossils in the world. During last 

 summer an expedition from the University, under the direc- 

 tion of Prof. S. W. Williston, explored the Permian 

 deposits of north-western New Mexico with valuable results. 

 Science says that these Permian deposits, of small extent, 

 in Rio Arriba County, were discovered more than thirty 

 years ago, but have been neglected by explorers ever since, 

 and their precise location even was unknown to geologists. 

 As a result of Prof. Williston 's excavations, numerous 

 fossils have been shipped to the University, many of which 

 are unknown to science. This collection includes six or 

 seven new genera of reptiles and amphibians, one of which 

 is represented by one of the most perfect skeletons, about 

 6 feet in length, ever found in any deposit in America. 



To Symons's Meteorological Magazine for November 

 Mr. F. W. Henkel contributes an interesting article 

 entitled " Is the Zodiacal Light a Meteorological Pheno- 

 menon?'' The author points out that a complete and 

 satisfactory answer to the question cannot be given, and 

 that our knowledge of the subject is but little greater 

 than was possessed by the first discoverers. Even in recent 

 times considerable confusion has existed between the 

 phenomenon and the aurora. He refers to the various 

 observations made since the time of Cassini, of Paris 

 (about 1683), and to the descriptions of the counter-glow 

 (at an angular distance of 180° from the sun) by Brorsen 

 and others. One of the most recent theories of the latter 

 phenomenon is that suggested by Mr. Innes in Nature of 

 June 16, 1910. 



The Weekly Weather Report issued by the Meteor- 

 ological Office gives a summary of the temperature, rain- 

 fall, and bright sunshine for the several districts of the 

 United Kingdom for the thirteen weeks ended December 2, 

 which embraces the whole period of autumn. The mean 

 ternperature was generally below the average in Scotland, 

 it was in good agreement with the average in Ireland, 

 whilst in England an excess of temperature occurred for 

 the most part. The range of temperature was unusually 

 large, due chiefly to the exceptional heat in the recent 

 abnormal summer, which was prolonged into the early 

 autumn. In the Midland counties the range was 69", 

 from 94° to 25°, and in the south-west of England it was 

 71°, from 91° to 20°. The autumn rains have varied con- 

 siderably in different parts of the kingdom ; they were in 

 excess of the average over the eastern portion of Great 

 Britain, in the north-west of England, the south of Ireland, 

 and in the English Channel. The least aggregate autumn 



