January 4, 19 12] 



NATURE 



325 



the alphabet was developed out of the Cretan linear script 

 by this people. 



A LARGE portion of vol. cxx., part vi., of the Siiz- 

 ungsberichie der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften is occupied 

 by a continuation of the accounts of the results of a recent 

 survey of the plankton of the Adriatic. In the first paper 

 Dr. A. Steuer discusses the amphipod crustaceans, 

 describing a new species of Glossocephalus. The same 

 naturalist also undertakes the stomatopod crustaceans and 

 pteropod molluscs, while the tornarian and actinotrochan 

 larvaj fall to the share of Dr. G. Stiasny. 



According to the report of the trustees for the year 

 iQio-ii, the details of the reorganisation of the Indian 

 Museum have been worked out during the period under 

 review, and the various sections of the collection handed 

 over to the officers who will in future be respectively 

 responsible for their preservation. Owing to the appoint- 

 ment of two additional officers, special progress has been 

 made in the zoological section, both in regard to the 

 arrangement and display of the exhibition series and in 

 original research. 



In The Zoologist for December, 191 1, Colonel C. E. 

 Shepherd continues his account of the pharyngeal teeth of 

 fishes, dealing in this instalment with those of the sea- 

 breams (Sparid.'c) and wrasses (Labridae). Many members 

 of each group feed on hard-shelled molluscs, and therefore 

 require special crushing apparatus. Sea-breams effect this 

 by the development of powerful molar-like teeth in the 

 front of the jaws, and consequently require nothing special 

 in the way of pharyngeals. The wrasses, on the other 

 hand, rely solely on their pharyngeal dentition, of which 

 the lower series forms a large plate resembling a cobbled 

 road in miniature, while the upper is divided into two 

 somewhat similar lateral patches. 



The distribution chart of a plant species serves not only 

 to point out the areas occupied, but often throws light on 

 its origin. These matters are discussed by Dr. C. H. 

 Ostenfeld in a short pamphlet, with reference to seven 

 species of Anemone, Hepatica, and Pulsatilla. It is un- 

 expected to find that Anemone ncmorosa does not extend to 

 the western shores of Jutland, but, as would be expected, it 

 grows further westward than A. raminculoides and 

 Hepatica triloba, which do not extend to the Atlantic coast 

 nor 3'et to Great Britain. A curious feature is tlie mutu- 

 ally exclusive distribution of Pulsatilla vulgaris and P. 

 pratensis. All tlv seven species arc considered to be post- 

 Glacial immigrants from the south. 



The biometrical investigations on the egg of the domestic 

 fowl, carried out during the past four years at the Maine 

 .Agricultural Experiment Station, have necessitated the 

 designing of methods for the accurate measurement of the 

 whole or parts of eggs. These are collected in a recent 

 report by M. K. Curtis, and will be found useful by others 

 working at the same subject. It is considered that the 

 methods possess a considerable degree of accuracy, while 

 nt the same time they have the .advantage of simplicity of 

 manipulation. 



The third report on the experimental work of the Sugar 

 Experiment Station, Jamaica, shows continued progress in 

 several directions. The station was not popular at first, 

 but has gradually gained the confidence of the planters 

 because of the vnlualilf results it has been able to .Trliicvc. 

 Manurial trials li.iv. (|i monstrated that on many nf tin 

 island soils phusplialts are not required, but nitrog<.nuus 

 and potassic manures are effective and profitable in seasons 

 of normal rainfall, though not in dry years. New varieties 



NO. 2201, VOL. 88] 



of cane have been brought out considerably better than 

 those formerly grown. The fermentation problems con- 

 nected with the production of rum are being successfulU 

 investigated by Mr. Ashby, who has selected certain yeasts 

 of high efficiency and sent them out in pure cultures to the- 

 estates, in most cases with very satisfactory results. 



The November (191 1) number of Petermann's Mitteil- 

 ungen contains the numbers of families in different 

 provinces of China according to the official report of the 

 recent census of the Empire. For Peking and some dis- 

 tricts the number of individuals is also given. 



La Geographic for December, 191 1, annouiufs (hat, in 

 consequence of the misunderstandings caused l)v the old 

 datum of Bourdaloue being still used in some river systems^ 

 when giving flood warning instead of the mean sea-level 

 at Marseilles, the Ministry of Public Works has ordered 

 that, within five years, all bench-marks must be referred to 

 the normal datum of mean sea-level at Marseilles. 



A SHORT account of the work of the Norwegian expedi- 

 tion which visited Spitsbergen last summer to continue the 

 topographical and geological surveys which had been 

 carried on in previous years is given by M. A. Hoel in 

 the October (191 1) number of La Gdographie. Photogram- 

 metric methods were largely employed, on account of the 

 short time which was available. In spite of much un- 

 favourable weather, the work accomplished enabled a very 

 complete topographical map to be drawn of the region 

 between Ice Fiord and Bell Sound, as well as a general 

 geological map of the quadrilateral formed by the north 

 and south sides of the Spitsberg, Wijdc Bay, and Ice 

 Fiord. 



In the December (1911) number of The Geographical 

 Journal Captain Rawling gives some information bearing 

 on the geological structure of that part of Dutch New 

 Guinea which he traversed, supplementing that brought 

 back by Dr. Lorentz, who penetrated to the ridge of the 

 main chain further to the eastward. A summary is given 

 of the explorations of Mr. E. C. Abendanon in the Central 

 Celebes. During 1909 and 1910 he travelled extensively in 

 this island, and succeeded in throwing considerable light 

 on its geology. While the southern peninsula was found to 

 be a folded region with regular folds running in a general 

 north-west direction, there is no pronounced folding in the 

 south-eastern peninsula. A large number of altitudes were 

 determined, and the results obtained are considir.ibly lower 

 than earlier observations had indicated. 



Symons's Meteorological Magaciiir for ni(rnil)-r, 191 1, 

 contains the fourth and concluding pan (wim. i ) ol Mr. W. 

 Sedgwick's interesting notes on the weather of the seven- 

 teenth century, from information given in the diaries of 

 Evelyn and Pepys (see Nature, November 11, 191 1). For 

 this period (December-February) the observations are more 

 complete than for the other seasons. The recorded 

 instances of snow are surprisingly few, being only men- 

 tioned in thirteen winters in the period covered by the 

 diaries (1648- 1703), and only three of the.se falls appear 

 to have been exceptional. Prolonged or severe frosts 

 occurred in about ten of the winters; that of 1683-4 

 (" Frost Fair ") far surpassed any within living memory ; 

 coaches plied to and fro on the Thames as in the streets, 

 and the severe weather extended even so far south as 

 Spain. At least eleven very mild or wet winters occurred 

 in Evelyn's lifetime. In short, the auth^i .inrhulr-s, when 

 ,.,11 tiv iiif.iri>i:iilr)ii is considered, it dn. - n. s ipnrar that 

 ,,.ll . more frequent, 01 mild -s so, 



than tii._, 1 -jcen in the last lifty ycai it the 



average severity of the winters was greater than at the 

 pres'Mit time. 



