January 19, 191 1] 



NATURE 



379 



provides vast feeding grounds for shore birds, 

 .ihough, in the absence of cliffs, rock-breeding species 

 ;e scarce or absent. Dumfriesshire has been re- 

 forested to a wide extent since the earUer parts of 

 e last century. Consequently suitable habitats have 

 en provided tor many species which would not ether- 

 ise be included in its register, while '"hedge enclo- 

 -:res with rows, belts, or clumps of ornamental or 

 w ind-breaking ' trees have greatly encouraged the in- 

 viease of passerine birds." The firth opens its arms 

 also to welcome home-coming immigrants and birds 

 of passage. '"There is no doubt," as Mr. Gladstone 

 remarks, "that in comparatively recent geologic times 

 the Irish Channel was a great tidal river, of which 

 the Sol way streams were its northernmost tributaries, 

 and that this ancient river valley was the route by 

 w hich the birds went and came in long by-past ages — 

 a route which has left so strong an impression on 

 posterity that the birds travel along what is now a 

 broad sea-way." 

 The number of species recorded from Dumfries is 

 residents, 70; summer visitants, 31; winter visi- 

 nts, 31; occasional visitors, 30; very rare or acci- 

 ntal visitors, 56; or, in all, 218. One reads with 

 i cijret that eagles and harriers have ceased to nest ; 

 that martins, barn-owls, and swallows are scarer; 

 i>ut, on the other hand, it is pleasant to know that 

 ed flycatchers, tufted ducks, great spotted wood- 

 ckers, jays, woodcock, and peregrine falcons have 

 come more numerous. The author's biographies — 

 ! of them just what they should be — of the different 

 ecies, abound with interesting observations. In 

 eaking of the dipper, by the way, Mr. Gladstone 

 cords that there has been a nest in a certain stream 

 ■r 123 years in succession. There are a score of 

 •rronries in the county, and the list of rookeries is a 

 iig one, the site of some of them dating back for 

 ore than 600 years. Notwithstanding that 36,000 

 •'>ks have been killed in the last three years, the stock 

 ows few signs of decimation. Incursions of sand- 

 ouse and of continental crossbills are recorded, the 

 acter species nesting apparently only for a few seasons 

 after such visitations. 



We commend heartilv "The Birds of Dumfries- 

 shire " to all British ornithologists, and especiallv to 

 'hose north of the Solway. The volume i? provided 

 ith what is too often forgotten in faunistic books. 

 n excellent map, and, with a ffood index, a sine qiid 

 I j non of a book of reference, if it is to be fully useful. 

 ' ' By the courtesy of the publishers we are able to 

 xemolifv its illustrations by a specimen of the twenty- 

 ur full-page pictures which adorn it. 



NOTES. 



On Monday next, January 23, an important development 



Oceanographical Science will take place by the inau- 



iration of the Oceanographical Institute in Paris, which 



i5 been founded and endowed by the Prince of Monaco. 



1 Nature of April 14 and November 3, 1910, notices 



'peared of the opening of the Oceanographical Museum 



unded by the Prince at Monaco, and a description of the 



museum and its objects was given by Mr. J. Y. Buchanan. 



\\ ith the opening of the Institute next week, a further 



velopment will take place ; for the Institute will now be 



•mposed of, first, the Institute at Paris ; secondly, the 



'iiseum at Monaco. The Prince has described the Museum 



Monaco as the workshop, and the Institute in Paris as 



? retail house. The Institute is French and interna- 



>nal — French because its seat is in Paris, directed by a 



trench administrative committee consisting of M. Emile 



I.oubet, M. W. Darboux, M. Cailletet, Dr. P. Regnard, 



Mr. Georges Kohn, and Mr. Louis Mayer ; international 



NO. 2 15 I, VCL. 85] 



because the scientific and technical direction is in the hands 

 of what is termed the "Comit^ de Perfectionnement," of 

 which the president is the Prince of Monaco, and the vice- 

 president Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, while the other British 

 members are Sir John Murray, K.C.B., and Dr. VV. S. 

 Bruce. The committee also includes the names of many 

 eminent French, German, Scandinavian, and other oceano- 

 graphers. While the Museum is under the direction qt 

 Dr. Jules Richard, the Institute in Paris is under the 

 administration of Dr. P. Regnard. Three professors are 

 connected with the Institute — M. Joubin for biolc^icai 

 oceanography, M. Berget for physical oceant^raphy, and 

 M. Portier for the physiolc^y of marine creatures. After 

 the opening of the Institute on January 23 the Comite de 

 Perfectionnement will meet, and future arrangements for 

 the development of the Institute will be duly considered. 



Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., has been elected a 

 foreign member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, 

 Stockholm. 



A Reuter message from St. Petersburg announces that 

 the Russian Academy of Sciences has conferred honorary 

 membership on Prince Albert of Monaco, and has elected 

 the following as corresponding members : — Mr. Bryce, 

 British Ambassador to the L'nited States ; Prof. Lorentz, 

 Leyden ; Prof. Strasburger, Bonn ; and Prof. Lewes, 

 .Albany. 



.\t the meeting of the Paris .Academy of Sciences on 

 January 3, the incoming president, M. Armand Gautier, 

 comparing the practice of the Academy with that of the 

 Royal Society, mentioned the fact that during the half-hour 

 preceding the formal opening of each meeting of the latter, 

 the fellows meet in the ante-room for informal con- 

 versation, and he expressed the hope that a similar arrange- 

 ment could be organised for the Academy. This would 

 avoid the necessity for private conversations being carried 

 on during the actual meeting. 



It is reported from Sydney that the Science Congress — 

 which, we suppose, is the Australasian Association for the 

 .Advancement of Science — has voted 1000/. for Dr.- 

 Mawson's Australian .Antarctic expedition, which is start- 

 ing in November for the purpose of exploring the regions 

 between Cape Adare and the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Land. 

 Three Australian citizens are each contributing 1000/. to 

 the expedition, and other generous help has been promised. 



The report referred to in a paragraph last week (p. 342), 

 that the town of Prjevalsk in Turkestan was destroyed by 

 waves of the Issil-Kul Lake during the Vyernyi earthquake 

 of January 3-4, proves to have been incorrect. The towns 

 along the northern shore of the lake, however, suffered 

 severely, and fifty persons were killed. It will be noticed 

 that the position of the epicentre as given in Dr. W. N. 

 Shaw's letter (p. 335) is in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of the lake. 



According to a Press message from Winnipeg, in- 

 formation has reached there from Fort Churchill, on 

 Hudson's Bay, that the schooner Jeanie, with fifteen geo- 

 logical surveyors on board, was wrecked on September 9, 

 19 10, in a gale near Wagner inlet. After suffering great 

 hardships the party reached Fort Churchill on December 1, 

 and is now on its way to Winnipeg by dog train. The 

 party left Ottawa last spring to investigate the flora and 

 fauna in the Hudson's Bay district. 



.A Reuter message from Washington states that the 

 members of the U.S. Geodetic Survey who have been 

 examining Commander Peary's Arctic observat;n-is 



