Atril 24, 1890] 



NATURE 



583 



set of enemies, requiring numerous modifications of form, 

 structure, and habits, the exact purpose of which we should 

 have found it difficult to interpret. But here, where both 

 competitors and enemies are at a minimum, we are able 

 distinctly to see the i&'fi and simple modifications which 

 have adapted the species to its changed mode of life. 

 We have here, too, a case in which the isolation supposed 

 to be essential in the production of new species has been 

 effected solely by a change of habits within the same 

 limited area, and it is evident that this mode of isolation 

 would be equally effective in the case of a continental as 

 of an insular species. 



Lizards, snakes, and frogs are tolerably abundant,, and 

 the proportion of species peculiar to the islands is in the 

 order in which they are here named ; and this also 

 indicates the increasing difficulty of transmission across 

 an ocean barrier. Birds seem to be fairly abundant, 

 parrots and pigeons forming the most conspicuous groups, 

 while birds of paradise appear to be absent. Although 

 insects decrease in number of species as we go eastward 

 from New Guinea, yet two of the grandest of butterflies — 

 Ornithoptcra Urvilleana and O. Victoria — are found in 

 the Solomon Islands, and were among the greatest 

 treasures of Mr. Woodford's collections. The latter 

 species was only known by a female specimen obtained 

 by Macgillivray, the naturalist to the Herald, in 1854, till 

 Mr. Woodford again found it in 1886, and discovered also 

 the beautiful green and black male. Many fine Papilios 

 are also found, among them a splendid blue and black 

 species allied to the well-known P. Ulysses of the 

 Moluccas, ttere, as elsewhere in the tropics, some 

 striking cases of mimicry occur, three species of Euplaea 

 being so closely imitated by three species of Diadema, as 

 to be undistinguishable on the wing ; and each pair 

 appeared to be confined to a separate island. 



The following is an interesting observation on the 

 habits of pigeons : — 



" The small islands on the reefs are much frequented 

 by pigeons. They resort to them during the day, but 

 mostly towards sunset, when, at some islands that I know 

 of, the pigeons may be seen arriving by twos and threes, 

 or in flocks of ten or a dozen each, to roost on the 

 islands, until each tree is crowded with birds. The only 

 reason that I can assign for this habit is, that on these 

 small islands the pigeons are freer from the attacks of 

 the large monitor lizards that abound on all the large 

 islands. I do not consider this at all a satisfactory 

 reason, but it is the only one I am able to suggest. 

 Certain it is that this habit of the pigeons plays an 

 important part in the distribution of seeds from island to 

 island. On any of these small islands the large seeds of 

 the Canarium nut tree may be found, after being dis- 

 gorged by the pigeons, while young trees in different 

 stages of growth may often be seen." 



Mr. Woodford's explanation of the pigeons' roosting on 

 the small islands appears to be a highly probable one, 

 and quite in accordance with other facts relating to 

 this tribe of birds. They are exceptionally abundant in 

 tropical archipelagoes, and most so in those where, as in 

 the Antilles, the Mascarene group, the Moluccas, and the 

 Pacific islands, arboreal carnivorous mammals are very 

 scarce or altogether wanting. An analogous fact to that 

 noted by Mr. Woodford is, that although the beautiful 

 Nicobar pigeon has an enormous range, from the Nicoba 



Islands to New Guinea, it is almost unknown in the 

 larger islands, especially in the western half of its area 

 where mammals abound, but is more especially confined 

 to the smaller islets and reefs, where it is comparatively 

 free from enemies.^ 



Although the natives of the Solomon Islands are well 

 supplied with Bryant and May's wax vestas in metal 

 boxes — the only kind of matches that can be kept in the 

 damp atmosphere— they still make fire in the native way, 

 by friction, on certain ceremonial occasions, or at other 

 times when matches are not forthcoming ; and their 

 method of proceeding is well described by Mr. Woodford. 

 It consists in rubbing a hard piece of wood in a groove 

 formed on a soft dry piece — the method used in the 

 Moluccas and Australia — and he tells us that, though a 

 native will usually produce fire in less than a minute, he 

 has himself rubbed till his elbows and shoulders have 

 ached without ever producing more than smoke. 



The following extract gives a fair idea of the author's 

 style : — • 



" It is amusing to see a mere child paddle alongside in 

 a crazy trough of a canoe, only just capable of supporting 

 its weight. The water splashes into the canoe at every 

 stroke of the paddle, and at intervals the small child 

 kicks it overboard with its foot — a novel kind of baler. 

 Three or four mouldy-looking yams, ostentatiously dis- 

 played, are rolling about in the water at the bottom of 

 the canoe. The unsuspecting stranger takes pity on the 

 tender years, and apparent anxiety of the small native 

 to trade, and gives him probably four times the proper 

 price for his rusty yams. The child eagerly seizes the 

 coveted stick of tobacco, and immediately stows it for 

 safety through a hole in his ear, where at least it will be 

 in no danger of getting wet. He next whisks aside a 

 dirty-looking piece of matting that has apparently got 

 accidentally jammed in one end of the canoe, and 

 displays some more yams, of a slightly better quality 

 than the last. For the sake of consistency you cannot 

 well offer him less than you did before, and another stick 

 of tobacco changes hands, and is transferred to the other 

 ear. You think now that he must have finished, as there 

 is no place in the canoe to hide anything else, but with a 

 dexterous jerk that nearly upsets the canoe he produces 

 a single yam that he has been sitting upon. How it 

 managed to escape notice before is a puzzle. For this he 

 demands a pipe, but is not satisfied with the first or 

 second that is shown him. No ; he must have dipiala 

 tinoni or have his yam back. The piala tinoni is a pipe 

 with a man's face upon the bowl. But again the young 

 trader is particular, it must also have a knob at the 

 bottom or he will have none of it." 



The book is well got up, well illustrated, and very 

 pleasantly written. It is full of information as regards 

 the natives, the scenery, and the natural history of these 

 little-known but very interesting islands, and can therefore 

 be confidently recommended to all who care for books 

 of travel in little-known countries. 



A. R. W. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Rechcrches sur les Tremblevients de Terre. By Jules 

 Girard. (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1890.) 



The scientific study of earthquake phenomena has of 

 late years made great progress, and we are glad to 

 welcome a book which brings together the new matter 



' See " The. Malay ArchipelaKO," p. 3S0. 



