28o 



NATURE 



[December 29, 1910 



and G. brevipalpis, Newstead. (2) The palpalis group, to 

 which belong the species : G. palpalis, Rob.-Desv. ; G. 

 tachinoides, Westwood ; G. fuscipes, Newstead ; and G. 

 pallicera, Bigot. (3) The tnorsitans group, comprising 

 G. morsitans, Westwood ; G. subtnorsitans, Newstead ; 

 and G. longipalpis, Wiedemann. In these three groups 

 forms occur which are so widely different as to lead one 

 to assume, without taking the other external features into 

 consideration, that they represent three distinct genera. 

 Certain it is that these insects illustrate one fundamental 

 principle of evolution, namely, that they have attained 

 great development of one set of morphological characters, 

 and have retained others apparently of an ancestral type. 



The difficult question whether acquired characters can 

 be inherited is discussed by Dr. Hugo Fischer in the issue 

 of Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift for November 20 

 and the following number. Examples among unicellular 

 organisms are accepted in the cases of the sporeless races 

 of fission fungi and the colourless variety of Micrococcus 

 prodigiosus ; also the chromatic modifications of Oscillaria 

 and the physiological varieties of numerous Uredineae and 

 Ustilagineas are cited as good instances. Amongst 

 animals, the author notes the experiments of E. Fischer 

 and others, who produced more than transitory changes 

 of colour in butterflies by subjecting the pupae to 

 abnormally low temperatures, and Kammerer's results 

 with salamanders. In the case of flowering plants, the 

 author holds that the Alpine forms of larch and pine and 

 Wettstein's seasonal forms of Euphrasia and Gentiana are 

 not definite examples, but admits the races of maize pro- 

 duced by Blaringhem and the modified type of Semper- 

 vivum raised by Klebs. The essential factor appears to 

 be a disturbance of the metabolism. 



A COPY of the annual report for 1909, dealing with 

 technological museums, has been published by the Technical 

 Education Branch of the Department of Public Instruction 

 of New South Wales. The report is an excellent record of 

 steady progress. A considerable number of exhibits were 

 added to the collections during the year. The display of 

 polished marbles and building stones of New South Wales 

 in the museum at Sydney has been largely added to, and 

 the whole now makes a fine exhibit. For comparative 

 purposes, slabs of the principal foreign marbles have been 

 displayed upon the walls in an adjoining court. To 

 increase the available knowledge of the constructive 

 value of the building stones, a special collection was 

 obtained from various parts of the State, and prepared 

 for testing at a loo-ton machine. Fire and water tests upon 

 specially prepared cubes .were next undertaken ujxjn the 

 sandstones, trachytes, marbles, and granites. The location 

 of deposits of building and ornamental stones occurring in 

 the area included in the Federal capital site was deter- 

 mined, and specimens of these materials procured. The data 

 obtained, together with a specially constructed map, were 

 published as an appendix to the second edition of the 

 museum's work on the " Building and Ornamental Stones 

 of New South Wales." The public-school teachers of the 

 district take advantage of the facilities offered by the museum 

 in the furtherance of nature studies ; 1567 specimens were 

 identified for teachers during the year, not including those 

 brought to the museum by teachers and pupils ; 865 speci- 

 mens were supplied from duplicate collections to assist the 

 teachers in the formation of school museums. Specimens 

 were identified and classified for a large number of schools 

 throughout New South Wales. 



Mrs. M. Ogilvie-Gordon continues her studies of the 

 Triassic masses above the Grodental, in Tyrol, in the 



NO. 2148, VOL. 85] 



Verhandlungen der k.k. geol. Reichsanstalt for igio (pp. 

 219 and 290). In 1908 she visited the Bo^gipfel region 

 with Prof. Rothpletz and Herr von Klebelsberg, and 

 verified the overthrust of Raibl beds on Dachstein dolo- 

 mite. Neocomian strata were found resting on Jurassic 

 north and south of the Eisseespitze ; these lie below the 

 overthrust. The sections of the B06 and Jagerschart 

 masses show remarkable discordances due to thrusting, 

 even among the Jurassic strata, and the Upper Triassic 

 beds climb up boldly on the crests. Similar overthrusting 

 has been studied by the author in the Sella and Langkofel 

 area (Trans. Edinburgh Geological Society, 1909-10). In 

 the second paper in the Verhandlungen the discovery of 

 fossiliferous Cassian beds is recorded from under the 

 Burgstall, a part of the Schlern mass where a dolomitic 

 and contemporary facies was believed to exist. The 

 dolomite on this level farther west is attributed by the 

 author to the occurrence of an overthrust, whereby the 

 Cassian horizon is brought above a wedge of the Schlern 

 dolomite, which properly should overlie it, as it is seen 

 to do on the Gamsteig and the BurgstalL 



The Geologische Rundschau (Leipzig : Engelmann), 

 which was recently started as a journal of general geology, 

 continues on the broad lines laid down by its originating 

 society. Prof. Steinmann, for instance, describes and illus- 

 trates in parts ii. and iii. the structure of the Cordillera of 

 South America. M. Semper summarises seventy papers on 

 the " Klimaproblem der Vorzeit," a labour that will surely 

 rejoice his fellow-members. P. Wagner furnishes a list 

 of 127 German works and papers bearing on geological 

 teaching in schools and on the treatment of geology so asJ 

 to promote interest and observation. His introductory] 

 essay of sixteen pages reminds us that the main objectj 

 of the Rundschau is to bring the geological features of | 

 Germany and Austria to the front in public education. It] 

 is clear from his review that there is already a healthyj 

 njovement to draw even scholastic mineralogy out of the| 

 old grooves of dry description. In part iii. W. Meigenj 

 reviews recent work on the origin of dolomite, and J. J.| 

 Sederholm discusses twenty-three papers on the pre-1 

 Cambrian rocks of Fennoscandia. E. Dacqui^ deals withi 

 the Jurassic strata formed by transgression on thai 

 " Lemurian continent," that is, in the region between^ 

 New Zealand, East Africa, and India. In part 

 J. Koenigsberger discusses the earth's age, and F. Pockels 

 the bearing of earthquake research on the nature of the| 

 earth's interior. It is clear that these reviews of geo-l 

 logical progress, written by specialists, make the Geo- 

 logische Rundschau a very welcome addition in all libraries 

 of a scientific character, as well as in many private 

 homes. 



The Geographical Pictures published by Messrs. A. and 

 C. Black for use in schools furnish selected views of 

 typical land features for study. Twelve of these, illus- 

 trating various forms of valleys, have just been issued in 

 Series x. as half-tone prints of selected photographs, about 

 16x12 cm. Notes accompany them suggesting various 

 problems for study. A reference to the contoured map- 

 sheet on which the feature is represented would further 

 enhance their educative value. 



Copies of the Tide Tables issued by the Canadian 

 Government for the Pacific and the eastern coasts of Canada 

 for the year 191 1 have been received. For the former, 

 tide tables are given for six stations, and from these the 

 tides at numerous stations can be determined. The results 

 given are largely based on the observations of 1909, when 

 twenty recording gauges were in simultaneous operation 



