February 8, 19 12] 



NATURE 



495 



This moth is closely allied to, if not a form oi,' kttacus 

 cynthia, the Ailanthus silkworm, which Dr. Alexander 

 Wallace attempted to introduce into England some years 

 ago. It is a very handsome species in all its stages, as 



Fig. I. — Adult male and female of Attacus ricini, 

 Boisd., the Eri moth. 



may be seen by the accompanying figures of the moths and 

 caterpillars. 



The castor-oil plant grows wild in the Philippines, and 

 this silkworm is more easy to rear, and requires less care 



I 



Fig. 2. — Eri silkworms ready to spin : halfnatur.il size. 



than the mulberry silkworm. Severnl o(her silkworms are 

 found in the Philippines, some of wiiii li may possibly be 

 ultimately utilised as silk-producers. 



Enemies and diseases of silkwoiins jiie discussed. The 



most important of the former are ants, rats, and mice;: 

 and hitherto it has been possible to keep silkworms in the 

 Philippines almost entirely free from disease, by constant 

 care and supervision. 



Other matters treated of in this useful pamphlet are the 

 silk house, the mulberry, shipping eggs, the silk trade of 

 the Philippines, &c. The plates illustrate the mulberry 

 and Eri silkworms in all their stages, cocoons of Antheraea 

 sempcri, one of the wild silkworms, a mulberry nursery 

 and plantation, plans of a silk house, and various machines 

 used for silk-weaving, &c. 



This pamphlet is a good illustration of what may be 

 accomplished by a little energy and foresight in the way of 

 introducing a profitable industry into a comparatively new 

 locality. W. F. K. 



THE RECENT FROST. 

 'X'HE closing days of January and the early days in. 

 ^ February witnessed a keen frost over the British 

 Isles, but from the current weather changes it seems 

 probable that the frost has come to an abrupt termination. 

 At Greenwich the temperature fell below the freezing point 

 each night for ten consecutive days, from January 27 to 

 February s- The lowest shade temperature was 19°, re- 

 corded on January 29 and February 3. whilst the lowest 

 maximum day temperature was 27°, on February 4, which 

 day also had the lowest mean of maximum and minimum 

 temperatures— 24°. The mean maximum or day tempera- 

 ture at Greenwich for the ten days was 35°, which is 10* 

 below the average of the last fifty years, and the mean of 

 the lowest night temperatures 24°, which is 11° below the 

 average ; the mean of the maxima and minima for the 

 whole period was 30°. At the meteorological station at 

 Hampstead the shade temperature on February 3 was 16 , 

 and on the surface of the grass the thermometer registered 

 6°. In the frost of 1894-5 the average temperature at 

 Greenwich for the whole of February. 1895, was 29 , and 

 in the frost of 1890-1 the mean for December, 1890, was 

 also 29°. Both these frosts were, however, much more 

 prolonged than the spell just experienced. Ihe recent frost 

 was more keen over the country generally than any experi- 

 enced since the winter of 1894-5, when special trains were 

 run for London skaters to Loch Lomond, which Ihe 

 Times of February 6 reports now to be covered for about 

 a mile with good sheet-ice— the first occasion for the last 

 seventeen years. A region of high barometer was centred 

 over the British Isles during the early period of the frost 

 to the close of January, but during the latter period of the 

 frost the barometer was low over England, and the atmo- 

 spheric conditions were complex in character. 



A summary of the weather issued by the MeteorologicaF 

 Office for the week ending February 3, which embraces 

 the severest weather of the recent cold spell, shows that 

 the temperature was much below the average over the 

 entire kingdom, the deficiency amounting to 10 in the 

 south-west of England and the .Midland counties, and to 

 about cf in several other parts of Britain. The lowest 

 temperatures are said to have occurred on February 3 

 over the kingdom generally. Some of the lowest shade 

 temperatures reported are 4° at Balmoral on February 2, 

 4° at Nairn on February 5, 9° at Llangammarch WelU, in 

 the south-west of England, on February 3. The lowest 

 readings on the surface of the grass were -0-3 at 

 Norwich at 11 p.m. on February 2, and o (zero) at 

 Balmoral and Burnley. 



SKULLS AND PHYSIOGNOMY. 



AT the present time anatomists arc divided as regards 

 the possibility of reconstructing from the skull the 

 appearance of the face and head during life. Those 

 interested in this problem will find a recent pamph^t by 

 Prof, von Eggcling.of Jena (" Physiognomic und Schaedcl. 

 Fischer, Jena, i?ii. price 1.20 marks), of the greatest 

 assistance, for the author has summarised in a very clear 

 manner the various results obtained by previous mvesti- 

 gators, and added his own observations. .Such researches 

 wore at first employed to ascertain whether the skulls^ 

 which were alleged to be those of famous men. really 

 corresponded with their death-masks. In 1867 frot. 



NO. 2206, VOL. 88] 



