278 



NATURE 



[December 29, 1910 



would probably be opened on January i. The grounds, 

 wJiich comprise twenty-eight acres, lie outside the old 

 walls to the northward of the city, and it is stated that 

 more than 40,000^. has been already spent on them, while 

 the animals, some 1400 in number, represent another 

 lO^oooZ. As at Stellingen, cages have been to a great 

 extent dispensed with, deep ditches and scarped cliffs 

 serving to confine the animals, which thus appear to be 

 at liberty. 



The Zoological Society of London has elected the follow- 

 ing corresponding members : — Mr. Roosevelt, ex-President 

 of the United States; Mr. B. Basu, Calcutta; Mr. J. M. 

 Doctor, Bomba}' ; Dr. R. Dohrn, Naples ; Prof. Ludwig 

 von Graff, Graz University ; Mr. W. H. Osgood, Wash- 

 ington, U.S.A. ; Mr. H. Pam, Caracas ; and Mr. R. B. 

 Woosnam, Nairobi. Prof. E. Lonnberg, Stockholm, and 

 Mr. S. H. Scudder, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., have been 

 elected foreign members of the society. 



We learn from the Chemist and Druggist that the 

 branch laboratories of the Pasteur Institute of Paris, at 

 Garches, near St. Cloud, which are specially used for the 

 preparation of anti-diphtheric and other serums, took fire 

 a few days ago, and damage to the extent of 4000/. was 

 done. 



The International Horticultural Exhibition which is to 

 be held in the Chelsea Hospital grounds at the end of 

 May, 19 12, promises to have considerable scientific interest. 

 There has only been one show of this nature in Great 

 Britain, namely, that of 1866, which was held at South 

 Kensington. Although the 1866 Exhibition was, in the 

 end, a magnificent success, it very nearly proved disastrous 

 to those responsible for the finances. The ultimate success 

 was obtained by the committee prolonging the period the 

 exhibition was open for public inspection, and the balance 

 which resulted from this policy was devoted partly to 

 the purchase of the Lindley library, at present housed 

 in the Royal Horticultural Society's Hall at West- 

 minster, and partly to making a donation to the funds 

 of the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. In con- 

 nection with the exhibition there was held an International 

 Congress, and a valuable report of the proceedings was 

 printed which is still a lasting record of the work 

 and interest that were freely given by the horticulturists 

 of that day. In 1912 a similar congress will take place, 

 and subjects of international importance to the horti- 

 cultural industry will be discussed in the presence of 

 representatives from most of the European countries, 

 America, and our own colonies. It is expected that the 

 congress will consider the question of the regulation of 

 insect .pests and fungus diseases, and the effects of the 

 prohibition of the importation of certain plants to certain 

 countries, for instance, by the Phylloxera laws in the wine- 

 producing countries. Certain other questions suggest them- 

 selves as ripe for discussion ; for example, the improve- 

 ments which have been effected in plants in recent years, 

 the different methods by which those improvements have 

 been obtained, and horticultural education, with special 

 reference to the methods of training young horticulturists 

 in this country and on the Continent of Europe and in 

 America. A committee largely composed of scientific men 

 has been appointed specially to promote the congress and 

 a scientific section of the exhibition. The horticultural 

 show itself is expected to be the largest ever held in this 

 or jmy other country. There are already 431 competitive 

 classes, and many of these are of scientific interest, but we 

 must reserve any further remarks for a future occasion. 

 Copies of the schedule can be obtained from Mr. Edward 

 White, 7 Victoria Street, Westminster. 



NO. 2148, VOL. 85] 



Mr. J. Gray contributes to the December number of 

 Knowledge an article on the measurement of persevera- 

 tion and its value as an index of mental character. In 

 point of fact, Mr. Gray does not measure perseveration, 

 but the speed at which rapid flashes of colour just succeed 

 in e.xtinguishing flicker in various subjects. He assumes 

 that the individual differences with which he meets are 

 due to differences in the persistence of colour sensations, 

 and that " this persistence ... is identical, or very closely 

 related, to a quality of mind which the psychologists call 

 Perseveration." The experimental facts which the paper 

 contains are two, viz. that flicker disappears more readily 

 in women than in men, and perhaps more readily in dark> 

 haired than in light-haired persons. The nature of these 

 differences awaits careful psychological investigation. 



In the Revue gdndrale des Sciences for October i« 

 and 30 Prof. Marinesco, of the University of Bucharest,! 

 has given an interesting summary of recent investigational 

 upon the anatomical localisation of the human cerebral! 

 cortex, and more especially of the distinctive cytologicali 

 characters of each of the multitude of areas into which 

 the pallium of the brain can now be subdivided. His 

 descriptions are elucidated by a series of twenty-seven 

 drawings exhibiting a wealth of intricate detail. The 

 articles are essentially a digest of the work accomplished 

 by others, and especially of the classical researches of 

 Oskar and Cecilie Vogt and Karl Brodmann. Although 

 Prof. Marinesco 's citations of the results and the opinions 

 expressed by other anatomists are not always exact, on| 

 the whole his summary will be useful to those who are 

 unable to find time to read the voluminous literature upor 

 which it is based. 



The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club fc 

 November (ser. 2, vol. xi., No. 67) contains a critical 

 paper on the classification of the Bdelloid Rotifera which| 

 should be of great value to students of this difficult group. 

 The same number contains an interesting echo of the! 

 British Association's visit to South Africa in 1905 in the! 

 description, by Prof. G. S. West, of a remarkable new| 

 species of Volvox collected by Mr. Rousselet 'in Rhodesia. 

 The adult colonies are about i mm. in diameter, and may| 

 contain more than 50,000 cells. Another paper also deals 

 with the microscopic fresh-water fauna of Africa, being 

 contribution to the list of Hydrachnidae found in the East' 

 African lakes, by Mr. Charles W. Soar. The material 

 upon which this paper is based was collected during the 

 third Tanganyika expedition conducted by Dr. W. A. 

 Cunnington. 



In the Centralblatt fur Mineralogie, Geologie u. 

 Paldontologie for 1906, p. 450, Dr. O. Abel founded a 

 new genus and species of bird (Alabamornis gigantea) on 

 two bones from the Alabama Eocene, regarded by Dr. 

 Lucas as the pelvis of a Zeuglodon, these bones being 

 described as coracoids of the bird. Dr. Lucas wishes to 

 state that there is no doubt vs^hatever as to the correctness 

 of his original determination, and that the bones in ques- 

 tion have been mounted in their proper position in the 

 Zeuglodon skeleton which is now exhibited in the U.S. 

 National Museum. " AJabamornis " must accordingly be 

 deleted from the list of fossil bird genera. 



Dr. F. a. Lucas writes to say that the " Open Letter " 

 of the Campfire Club on the fur-seals of the Pribilows, 

 which was referred to in Nature some months ago, con- 

 tains several misstatements, more especially the assertion 

 attributed to the authorities that unless 95 per cent, of 

 the males were annually killed the herd could not increase. 

 In the Recommendations of the Advisory Board, of which 



