524 



NATURE 



[February 15, 1912 



Institution accompanied the expedition of the Alpine Club 

 of Canada to the Mount Robson region, where they made 

 the first natural history collection ever taken in that 

 vicinity. The natural history work of the expedition was 

 under the charge of Mr. Hollister, who paid especial atten- 

 tion to the mammals, four of which he describes — a chip- 

 munk, a mantelled ground-squirrel, and two bats. All the 

 specimens come from the neighbourhood of Mount Robson, 

 which lies in one of the wild and unexplored parts of 

 British Columbia, at about 14,500 feet elevation. The 

 chipmunk is a new species, and all the specimens of it 

 come from the region along the boundary line between 

 British Columbia and Alberta, from Yellowhead Pass 

 northward. The ground-squirrel is a beautifully marked 

 and highly coloured form of the genus, and was found 

 living in the alpine meadows and rocks of the snow- 

 covered region above timber-line. The head and shoulders 

 are a rich and glossy Mars brown, and the sides are 

 marked by conspicuous lateral stripes. While the two new 

 species of bats resemble some well-known forms, externally 

 they are distinct and readily distinguishable by the shape 

 of the skull. One of them most resembles a species known 

 only. from Mexico. This paper forms No. 2062 of the 

 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 



The Imperial Geological Survey of Austria has decided 

 to reserve a whole volume of its Abhandhmgen for a new 

 and exhaustive description of the Miocene fossils of the 

 Vienna basin. It is nearly half a century since Hoernes 

 completed his well-known monograph on the fossil 

 MoUusca of this region, and so much progress has been 

 made during recent years in studying the fossils from corre- 

 sponding deposits in other Mediterranean areas that a 

 renewed examination of the Viennese collections has become 

 necessary for comparative work. Dr. Franz X. Schafler 

 has begun the revision by a study of the bivalved shells 

 from the Miocene of Eggenburg, and his results occupy 

 the first part of the projected new volume, which has been 

 recently issued. The concise descriptions are illustrated 

 by forty-seven fine plates, towards the cost of which a 

 large contribution has been made by the Krahuletz Society 

 of Eggenburg. Dr. G. de Alessandri follows with a brief 

 account of the clrripedes from the same formation, which, 

 as might be expected, belong to genera and species of 

 shallow-water habitat. 



The biennial report of the Connecticut Agricultural 

 Experiment Station forms a ponderous volume of nearly 

 900 pages, containing reports of the analyst, entomologist, 

 botanist, and forester. The station is required by statute 

 to analyse yearly at least one sample of every commercial 

 fertiliser offered for sale in the State, and to publish the 

 results, together with the name of the dealer. A paper 

 is contributed by Mr. East on the transmission of varia- 

 tions in the potato in asexual reproduction. All the 

 observed asexual variations were losses of character, no 

 new characters coming out. Otherwise there is a close 

 parallel with the variations produced in sexual production. 



The report of the director of agriculture of the Federated 

 Malay Straits shows that there has been a considerable 

 change in the staff of the department, and in consequence 

 no new work could be originated. There has been a great 

 increase in the rubber output, which amounted in 19 10 to 

 12,563,220 lb., as against 6,083,493 lb. for 1909; greater 

 increases are anticipated during the next few years. 

 Labour presents some difficulties, but on the whole the 

 factors involved in the production of rubber are tolerably 

 well understood. The working up of the raw rubber is 

 still in the experimental stage. What is said to be wanted 

 is a simple and trustworthy test for the strength of rubber 

 NO. 2207. VOL. 88] 



as it leaves the plantation factory comparable with the 

 polariscope test for sugar ; at present rubber is judged 

 only by colour and general appearance. Only two fungoid 

 diseases were said to be serious, a root disease due to 

 Fames semitosius, and "die-back," due to Thyridaria 

 (diplodia) tarda. Tertnes gestroi appears to be the most 

 serious of the insect pests. Cocoa-nuts are also grown, 

 and incidentally their husks furnish useful furl for smoking 

 rubber where this is carried out. 



Prof. W. Pfeffer's paper on tli.r n.. ii.,.i.n..i ju.v.ii- 

 tion of sleep-movements in plants (Abhandl. K. Sachs. 

 Ges., 1911) is <> continuation of his important work, 

 " Investigations of the .Appearance of Sleep-movements in 

 Plants," published in the same journal in 1907 — a.pap'-r 

 in which nyctitropic movements were for the first tinv- 

 automatically recorded by a thoroughly good method. The 

 most interesting result of the present paper is the dis- 

 covery that the internal changes, on which sleep-movf- 

 ments depend, continue their normal course even whrn 

 the leaves are fixed so that they cannot execute the norm.il 

 movements. Thus a plant fixed in the diurnal position 

 will assume the night position if released at the right 

 hour, and in the same way a plant fixed in the night posi- 

 tion wakes if freed in the morning. Similar conclusions 

 are drawn from the study of leaves not kept absolutely 

 still, but so as to show very minute sleep-movements. 



In the Zeitschrift der Gcsellschaft fiir Erdkunde for 

 191 1 there has appeared a series of descriptions of sheets 

 of the I : 100,00c map of the German Empire, in which the 

 principal geographical characteristics of each sheet are 

 clearly summarised. Structure, surface, and erosive action 

 are indicated wherever they are well shown, as well as the 

 settlements, communications, and the general development 

 of the region whenever these have been clearly influenced 

 by the geography. More than one hundred and fifty sheer- 

 are also classified by the geographical forms which th- 

 represent, so as to be of use for geographical instruction 



We have received a copy of the .'\lmanac for 1912 whi 

 is compiled in the offices of the Survey Department for i; 

 in the Government offices of Egypt. Since five calenda: 

 are ordinarily in use, viz. the Mahommedan, Coptic, 

 Jewish, Julian, and Gregorian, such a compilation is in- 

 dispensable. The almanac also contains a large amount 

 of information relating to the regulations, procedure, &c., 

 of different Government departments, which is otherwise 

 not always easy to obtain. It is of special interest to note 

 that substantial brass plates have been laid down in a 

 permanent manner at the headquarters of the administra- 

 tion in each province for the verification of the chains 

 which are now generally used for land-measurement. 

 Lengths of 20 metres and of 5 qasabas (17-75 metres) are 

 defined by marks engraved on these plates. 



In the last number of the Mitteilungen der k.k. Geo- 

 graphischen Gcsellschaft, Vienna, for 191 1, Prof. A. Bohm 

 von Bohmersheim discusses the definition of the critical 

 angle of slope of an ocean basin as given by Prof. 

 Kriimmel in his recent manual of oceanography. The sub- 

 ject, as well as that of the critical depth, is discussed at 

 length, new definitions are proposed, and formulae are 

 developed for computing these values, both on the sphere 

 and on the spheroid. Besides the general case, special 

 cases of the Black Sea, the Celebes deep, the Straits of 

 Dover, and the Atlantic Ocean are examined, and the 

 differences between the points of view of the two writers 

 are indicated. 



In The Geographical Journal for February Mr. W. Hard- 

 ing King describes his journeys into the Libyan Desert to 

 the south-west of Dakhia Oasis. He traversed a consider- 



