February 22, 1912] 



NATURE 



563 



conducted tours through our chief museums," a subject 

 to which allusion has been previously made in our 

 columns. Some of the difficulties experienced by the con- 

 ductor of these peripatetic lectures at the British Museum 

 are recorded at the end of the pamphlet, with suggested 

 remedies. The idea of enlisting the services of amateurs 

 to conduct these lectures would, we venture to think, prove 

 unworkable. 



In the February number of The Museums Journal it is 

 stated that " the Duchess of Aosta, who is a proficient 

 big-game shot, has sent to the Natural History Museum 

 three fine skins of the East African giraffe, secured during 

 her recent hunting expedition. The species was not 

 previously represented in the collection, and it is intended 

 to have one of the specimens mounted for exhibition." 

 As a matter of fact, these skins, which are by no means 

 fine, were not sent by the Duchess of Aosta, although the 

 animals from which they were taken were shot by her 

 Royal Highness ; the species (Giraffa reticulata) has for 

 several years been represented by a mounted head and 

 neck in the east corridor of the museum, and there is no 

 intention of mounting one of the specimens. 



We have received a copy of a very interesting Guide 

 to the Marine Aquarium at Madras, which was opened in 

 October, 1909, and is now in full working order. The 

 object of the aquarium is to provide an interesting display 

 of the fishes and other marine vertebrates of Madras, 

 and, at the same time, to furnish opportunities for their 

 scientific study. The main entrance leads into a paved 

 area with a central fresh-water pond, on either side of 

 which are arranged five large tanks with glass fronts. 

 The seaward side of the central area is occupied by a 

 large open tank stocked with turtles, while smaller tanks 

 are placed here and there for novelties and specimens of 

 particular interest. The fish are captured by netting, but 

 only a small proportion reach the aquarium, whence, 

 once established there, they generally thrive. In one tank 

 are exhibited both sea-snakes and fishes, and it is a re- 

 markable fact that while none of the former have sought 

 to attack the latter, several sea-snakes have been killed 

 and eaten by fishes. 



The first number of The Kew Bulletin for 1912 is largely 

 devoted to an account of Sir Joseph Hooker. The veteran 

 botanist's intimate association with Kew gives special 

 colour to the sketch of his life, and another valuable feature 

 of the present notice is the compbte list of his works which 

 is appended. The latter, which is arranged in chrono- 

 logical order, dates from 1837 to iqii. 



Owing to the decision to give up the botanical section 

 of The Annals of Scottish Natural History, a new journal 

 entirely devoted to botany has made its appearance. The 

 magazine, which is to include the Transactions of the 

 Botanical Society of Edinburgh, is entitled The Scottish 

 Botanical Review. It is edited by Mr. M'Taggart Cowan, 

 jun., with the assistance of an editorial committee, and is 

 to be issued quarterly (price 7s. 6d. per annum). The 

 January number covers a wide field. The geological rela- 

 tions of staple and migratory plant-formations are dealt 

 with by Mr. C. B. Crampton, and critical notes on British 

 aquatics are contributed by Mr. Arthur Bennett. Notes on 

 alien plants, new records, and ecological nomenclature as 

 applied to marine alga; also find a place, whilst eight pages 

 are given to reviews and book notices. The number 

 further contains Dr. A. W. Borthwick's presidential 

 address to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh on 

 modern aspects of applied botany. 

 NO. 2208, VOL. 88] 



.Among the useful operations of the International Insti- 

 tute of Agriculture at Rome is the publication of a monthly 

 bulletin containing summaries of agricultural investiga- 

 tions. These are by far the most complete hitherto issued, 

 and they must prove of great value to agricultural investi- 

 gators, whose literature is always scattered and often 

 inaccessible. The Bulletin is published in French and 

 English at a low price, and can cordially be recommended 

 to the agricultural colleges in this country. 



The Live Stock Journal Almanac for 1912 contains, 

 as usual, a history of the various breeds of stock during 

 the past year, together with average prices and highest 

 prices realised for pedigree animals. It is interesting to 

 note that Great Britain still maintains its lead in live- 

 stock breeding, and a very considerable amount of the 

 prosperity of the agricultural community is bound up with 

 the production of pedigree animals of high value. We 

 read, for instance, of a young bull selling for 1050 guineas, 

 whilst a calf sold for 1000 guineas ; another bull fetched 

 720 guineas, while various others went for prices varying 

 from 200 to 400 guineas. 



A RECENT eruption of gas two miles off the south coast 

 of Trinidad is described by Mr. Robert Anderson in Science 

 for December 15, 191 1. About three acres of blue mud 

 were upheaved to some 30 ft. above the sea, and the 

 gas thus formed a "crater of elevation." The locality 

 lies on the prolongation of a line of similar gaseous 

 activity in the island. The remarkable point about the 

 eruption is that the gas became ignited on at least two 

 occasions, the flames being visible fifty miles away. Mr. 

 Anderson states that sparks have been struck from casings 

 and tools of oil-wells by the impact of exploded boulders. 

 He also suggests that electric phenomena, like those of 

 Mt. Pel^e, may have accompanied the eruption, and so 

 have caused ignition. 



A NEW Publication (No. 145) of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington is devoted to the second part of Dr. 

 E. C. Case's description and revision of the Permian 

 Vertebrata of North .America. This part deals with the 

 Cotylosauria, which are generally regarded as the most 

 primitive of known reptiles, ancestral to at least some 

 later groups. After a brief historical summary. Dr. Case 

 reviews all the named species in systematic order, and 

 while quoting the original descriptions of the type speci- 

 mens, adds critical remarks and new information wherever 

 possible. He also occasionally proposes a new name him- 

 self, but it is evident that nearly all the specimens from 

 the Permian of Texas — the chief source of the Cotylo- 

 sauria proper — are too imperfect for exact determination. 

 The late Prof. Cope's hasty method of giving names to 

 battered fragments of bones and teeth from this formation 

 is proved to have hindered and complicated the study of 

 the reptiles to which they belong. One specimen, indeed, 

 which Cope described as a skull with the external nostrils 

 situated beneath the end of the snout {Hypopnous 

 squaliccps), is now shown to be a normal skull with a 

 second small skull, upside down, firmly adherent to the 

 lower face of the snout and displaying its orbits, which 

 were mistaken for the nostrils of the larger skull. Dr. 

 Case's wide experience and careful work have enabled him 

 to make the best use of such material, and his new memoir 

 gives a very good general account of the osteology of the 

 typical cotylosaurtans. They seem to have been " harm- 

 less, sluggish, terrestrial herbivores, possibly fossorial in 

 habit," and protected from their enemies by a more or 

 less extensive bony armour. 



We have occasionally directed attention to the steps 

 taken bv the U.S. Weather Bureau for utilising and 



