44 



NATURE 



[November lo, 1910 



that the latter had received a little more attention. 

 No fewer than i68 species and varieties of Foraminifera 

 were discovered by Mr. Chapman in the dredgings 

 sent to him, and if other j^roups are equally well 

 represented in these seas there must be a rich harvest 

 waiting to be reaped. Incidentally we may note the 

 surprising and very satisfactory fact that of these 168 

 species and varieties of Foraminifera, from a practically 

 unknown region, only four species and two varieties 

 had to be described as new ! Such a record gives one 

 hope that some day our systematic knowledge of the 

 marine fauna will be approximately complete. In the 

 report on the sponges, on the other hand, Prof. Kirk 

 mentions only two species, and of holothurians there 

 were only three. 



A large proportion of the collections, both botanical 

 and zoological, has been worked up and reported on 



FtG. 2.. — Young S--a-lion {.irctoL\-(>k:ilics hookeri), Carnley Harbour, 

 Auckland Islands. Iroiii " 1 hi bubantarciic Islands of New Zealani." 



by local naturalists. Prof. Benham, Prof. Chilton, Prof. 

 H. B. Kirk, Mr. Edgar Waite, Mr. Henry Suter, Mr. 

 E. V. Hudson, Mr. T. Brown, Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, 

 Dr. L. Cockayne, Mr. R. M. Laing, and Mr. Donald 

 Petrie, many of whom also took part in the expedi- 

 tion. Other collections were sent to specialists in 

 other countries and reported upon by them. 



Amongst the more interesting forms obtained, we 

 'may note two new species of land nemertines, from 

 Auckland and Enderby Islands, a remarkable addition 

 to this extremely limited group. These are described 

 by Mr. \. D. Darbishire, who contributes some use- 

 ful notes on the taxonomic value of certain anatomical 

 characters. In addition to the purely systematic re- 

 ports, we havt others of more general interest. Thus 

 Dr. Cockayne contributes a long essay on the 

 ecological botany of the islands, with a number of 



NO. 2 141, VOL. 85] 



beautiful photographic illustrations, and Dr. Chilton 

 gives us an account of the history of the scientific 

 investigation of the islands, and a veVy useful sunimary 

 of the biological results of the expedition, especially 

 from the biogeographical point of view. 



The results in general appear to support the current 

 view that the existing islands of New Zealand are 

 mere fragments of a very much larger land area, which 

 at one time extended southwards beyond Campbell 

 Island, eastwards beyond Chatham Island and Anti- 

 podes Island, and north-westwards towards New 

 Guinea. Thus the fauna and flora are essentially 

 Novae-Zealandian in aspect, but with a large .Antarctic 

 element which may perhaps be accounted for by a 

 former northward extension of the Antarctic con- 

 tinent. The existence of an Antarctic continent has, 

 of course, long been used in explanation of certain 

 striking resemblances between the fauna and flora of 

 New Zealand and those of South America, but, as Dr. 

 Chilton points out, we must also suppose that at some 

 former time the climate of Antarctica was sufticiently 

 mild to allow of the existence of a far more abundant 

 animal and vegetable population than we find there 

 to-day. Such a supposition is justified by the geo- 

 logical observations of recent Antarctic expeditions. 

 Fossil leaves w^ere found near the winter Quarters o\ 

 the Discovery, and coal still further south bv Shackle- 

 ton, while the Swedish Antarctic expedition met with 

 abundant fossil plants in rocks of Tertiarv age on 

 Seymour Island, indicating a temperate or sub- 

 temperate climate. 



In conclusion, we must congratulate the New 

 Zealand naturalists on the performance of a line piece 

 of work, and at the same time express our regret 

 that they still have to labour under numerous dis- 

 advantages. Of these the want of adequate scientific] 

 libraries appears to be one of the most serious. The] 

 New Zealand Institute, with its various local branches,! 

 has for many vears past played a most useful part in| 

 promoting scientific research in the dominion, and it] 

 appears to us that the Government might do well toj 

 assist in some scheme whereby the defect referred 

 to might be remedied, and the necessary scientific] 

 literature provided, not onlv for Wellington, which isi 

 the headquarters of the New Zealand Institute, but] 

 also for those large provincial towns where the prin-l 

 cipal branches of the institute are situated. 



Arthur Dendy. 



BIRD MIGRATION.' 



OF all the many problems of animated nature 

 awaiting solution, few, if , any, have of late' 

 received more attention than — perhaps the most 

 mysterious of all — the migration of birds. 



Mr. Eagle Clarke and the other painstaking 

 observers working with him have during the last 

 few vears learnt and taught us much, but only 

 enough to show that still, as Prof. Newton wrote 

 some twentv years ago, "our ignorance is immense." 



What is the propelling power which at the appointed 

 seasons sets the great hosts in motion? It seems 

 now at least probable that almost every bird is in 

 some degree migratory, and that even the robins and 

 thrushes that come to the windows for crumbs in 

 winter are more often than not other birds than those 

 which nested in the garden in the spring. 



When and how in the long-past eternity were the 

 great aerial highways from zone to zone first marked 

 out, to last apparently for all time ? Our boasted 



1 "Ornithological Notes from a South London Suburb, 1S74-T909. _A 

 Summary of Thirty-five Years' Observations, with some Facts and Fancies 

 concerning Migration." By F. D. Power. Pp. 60-f chart. (Londoiir 

 Henry J. .Glaisher, 55-57 Wigmore Street, W.)' Price 3J. 6a'. net. 



