lOO 



NA TURE 



[December 2, 1897 



passed the tender years of early childhood." Heredity 

 is indeed spoken of somewhat contemptuously in the 

 book, and, bracketed with germs, is described as a 

 fetish, " so blindly and superstitiously is it invoked." 

 In the opinion of the author, five per cent, would be a 

 fairer estimate for the hereditary diseases incident to 

 adult humanity than even ten — an estimate previously 

 conceded in the course of the argument. The book is 

 not written for the practitioner, by whom, in fact, many 

 of the opinions and views of the author might be 

 •challenged, but for the lay- man and woman, who will 

 find in it many hints as to the diet and physical exercise 

 of the body, which may be calculated to make easier the 

 task of keeping the body in a state of health. Being 

 intended for the perusal of the non-professional reader, 

 the work throughout is written in a style which will be 

 •easily understood by all. 



Elementary Drawing : a Series of Practical Papers for 

 Beginners. Written and illustrated by Elisabeth 

 Moore Hallowell. Pp. 54. (London : Macmillan and 

 Co., Ltd., 1897.) 



At first sight the scope of this small book does not seem 

 to fall within the area covered by the columns of Nature, 

 •the series of papers of which the work is composed 

 having originally been written for the Art Amateur., " to 

 .give to beginners in drawing a simple explanation of 

 some matters usually considered too elementary for text- 

 books " ; yet it will be owned by all that a knowledge of 

 drawing is, if not absolutely necessary, very useful to the 

 student of science in whatsoever branch he may be 

 ■engaged, and thus a brief notice of the volume may not 

 be out of place here. The book, although written in easy 

 Janguage, is not intended for very young readers, but " for 

 those who are able to follow from one lesson to another, 

 up to the point where the present volume ends and the 

 general text-book begins.'' It will, we should think, 

 be found very acceptable to many who have not had the 

 advantage of early training in art, but who wish to gain 

 some idea of its principles ; and especially useful will it 

 be to those to whom attendance at a drawing class is 

 impracticable. A careful student of this unpretentious 

 'Volume will be in possession of some very useful hints, 

 and will have acquired knowledge which will stand him 

 in good stead in his after studies. 



Botanisches Bilderbuch fiir Jung und Alt. By Franz 

 Bley. Part i. With explanatory text by H. Berdrow. 

 Pp. 96. Plates 24. (Berlin : Gustav Schmidt, 1897.) 



The best way to obtain a knowledge of common flowers 

 is to go into the woods and meadows with an outdoor 

 botanist. Unfortunately, a naturalist cannot always be 

 found able and willing to impart the required infor- 

 mation, and the most satisfactory substitute in such cases 

 is a collection of coloured pictures (uncoloured pictures 

 are useless for purposes of identification) of flowering 

 plants commonly seen. We have several works of this 

 Icind in our own language, a very good one being Mr. 

 JEdward Step's "Wayside and Woodland Blossoms." 

 The volume before us is similar in character, though not 

 so handy in size as Mr. Step's. There are 216 coloured 

 ^figures of plants on twenty-four plates, and brief de- 

 scriptions of each species represented. The species 

 •■described and illustrated are those which flower in the 

 first half of the year, and they are arranged according to 

 the succession of the months. Another volume will be 

 published for flowers of the second half-year. The 

 figures are mostly very good, and the text has been 

 ■designed to interest the reader in plant life and functions. 

 The plant-lore referred to in the descriptions of many of 

 •the species will assist in popularising the book and 

 making it acceptable to young students of botany in 

 -Germany. 



NO. 1466, VOL. 57] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 

 \_The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undeitake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous coinmunications.'\ 



The Volcanic Condition of Stromboli. 



In view of the fact that all published accounts of Stromboli, 

 according to the rdsuvie given by Bergeat ("Der Stromboli," 

 A. Bergeat, Ilabilitationschrift, Munchen, 1896), have agreed 

 in describing the volcano as being explosively active, there may 

 some interest attach to a statement of the present condition of 

 affairs, as seen by Prof H. F. Reid, of Johns Hopkins Univer- 

 sity, and the writer, on October 27 and 28 of the present year. 

 The westernmost of the four small craters described by Bergeat 

 was not observed at all, the next two were discharging rather 

 copious volumes of vapour, and the easternmost, or " old," 

 crater was giving out a very little steam from its bottom. The 

 most steam was issuing from cracks in the eastern rim of the 

 " old " crater, especially from one at the north-eastern or sea- 

 ward corner of the rim. Much steam was issuing from the 

 southern rim overhanging the second and third craters and the 

 ridge leading from it to the main mountain mass. Nothing in 

 the nature of an eruption was taking place, and it was evident 

 that the craters had been in this condition for some time. Later 

 inquiry at Lipari elicited the information from Bartolo Nicotera, 

 the guide, that there had been no eruption on Stromboli for 

 about a year. The high ridge over the crater, known as the 

 Cima, showed steam issuing from along its summit, more than 

 200 metres above the crater. E. O. Hovey. 



Naples, November 26. 



The Colours of Flowers Blooming Out of Season. 



I HARDLY think it probable that you will be able to spare 

 your valuable space for my communication ; nevertheless, I 

 venture to send you the following observations on the tendency 

 of flowers to revert in colour when blooming out of season. We 

 have had little frost here, and many flowers which are ordinarily 

 out of bloom at this season still persist. The changes, however, 

 in their normal colours are in some cases very remarkable. The 

 red cactus dahlias are blooming almost orange, the outer florets 

 being often nearly yellow. These dahlias are also, in many cases, 

 showing a tendency to revert to the single form. A species of 

 tropeolum, normally vivid scarlet, is blooming in a cool green- 

 house, where air is kept on, and has in some cases reverted 

 almost to clear yellow ; a streak of red down the centre of the 

 petal being the only remains of its normal colour. In both the 

 above cases I note that the edges of the petals are the first to 

 change. A species of myosotis, ordinarily of a deep and very 

 vivid blue, is flowering now a clear rosy pink, without the least 

 tinge of blue. The flowers are well opened and normal in size. 

 Lastly, a pure white phlox of dwarf habit shows a tendency to 

 revert in some of its blooms, though not in all, to a greenish 

 yellow hue. Such cases are probably common ; but it is with 

 the feeling that they may point to climatic conditions as in- 

 fluencing the coloration of flowers, and as having, possibly, 

 borne a large part in the gradual evolution of their respective 

 tints, that I venture to record them. E. Hughes-Gibb. 



The Manor House, Tarrant Gunville, 

 Blandford, November 20. 



A Rose-Coloured Rainbow. 



On page 263 of Lord Tennyson's " Memoirs " there is mention 

 of a " red rainbow " seen at sunset in 1882. As it was considered 

 noteworthy by Sir Norman Lockyer, and was the first he had 

 heard of, it may be of interest respecting sunset phenomena that 

 near Hayward's Heath, on June 29 of this year, at sunset there 

 was a rainbow entirely of a clear rose-pink against heavy storm 

 clouds over half the sky, and facing a deep golden sunset in a 

 clear sky. It was a perfect arch, and lasted for some minutes. 

 Just for a moment I saw a streak of pale sea-green in the midst 

 of the rose colour. M. S. Zachary. 



Holy Cross Home, Hayward's Heath. 



