lOO 



NATURE 



[September 15, 192 1 



who have shown that in certain cases only one species 

 exists in a region where the presence of bad pollen 

 is supposed to have proved hybridisation. Messrs. 

 Brainerd and Peitersen have made a study of the 

 New England Rubi (Vermont Agric. Expt. Sta. Bull. 

 No. 217), in the course of which they find much 

 hvbridisation and no forms with entirely good pollen ; 

 they are therefore inclined to accept this dictum. 

 That "bad pollen" is unsafe as a criterion of 

 hybridity is shown, however, by other results. For 

 example, Profs. Gates and Goodspeed {Science, 1916, 

 p. S.sq), examining the. pollen of various Californian 

 species, found a variable proportion of bad pollen 



in Trillium giganteum, the nearest relative of which 

 is in the Eastern States ; Dirca occidentalis, the oitly 

 other species being in eastern North America ; and 

 Scoliopus Bigelovii, a remarkably isolated genus of 

 Liliaceae, the only other species of the genus occurring 

 much farther north. 



That sterility or fertility of pollen is an inherited 

 character has been shown in the sweet pea by Bate- 

 son and in the velvet bean (Schizolobium) by Belling, 

 and it is reasonable to conclude that the occurrence 

 of bad pollen may result not only from crossing, but 

 also from mutation and from physiological or environ- 

 mental conditions. 



Geography in Austria. 

 By Prof. Grexville A. J. Cole, F.R.S. 



^pHE Geographical Society of Vienna continued its 

 -•■ octavo Mitteilungen througnout the war-years, 

 though the style kaiserliche konigliche perforce dis- 

 appeared from its title with the issue of No. 12 in 

 November, 19 18. Few contributions could be ex- 

 pected from Austrian travellers in unusual fields, but 

 the reviews of current exploration in all parts of the 

 globe have kept the members up to date. The editors 

 in 19 14 were Drs. Fritz Machatschek and Hermann 

 Leiter. The former became sole editor for 19 15, and 

 the latter acted from 1916 onwards. One naturally 

 looks at first for special studies arising out of war- 

 conditions. As early as October, 1914, Oberstleutnant 

 Josef Paldus (vol. 57, p. 395) reviewed the system 

 on which maps are grouped in the Kriegsarchiv in 

 Vienna. This collection is rich in materials for 

 students of history, and is by no means restricted to 

 maps that W'ill help modern armieg in the field. It 

 originated in an official military library formed by 

 Prince Eugene of Savoy, whose 'frequent crossings of 

 the Alps, and campaigns from Douai to Belgrade, 

 must have impressed him deeply with the. value of 

 cartography. The kindly autocrat Joseph II. ! 

 organised \ detailed survey of the Austrian lands, 

 remarking that to rule well required an accurate 

 knowledge of the country. So long as he lived the 

 collection of geographical material was carried on in 

 a most liberal spirit. The position of Austria soon 

 caused its military cartography, to extend over ad- 

 jacent lands, and Viennese maps are still our best 

 authorities for a large part of the Balkan States. 

 The sheets of the beautiful map of central Europe, on 

 the scale of i : 200,000, which are frequently revised, 

 are, moreover, among the best aids to travellers in 

 southern Germanv, northern Italy, Bosnia, and 

 Poland. Oberstleutnant Paldus gives the date of in- 

 ception of this series as 1907; but the Szomb^thely 

 sheet was issued in 1897, and the present writer used 

 many others in road^ourneys between Vienna and 

 Sarajevo in 1899. The previous i : 300,000 map,_ re- 

 markable in its time, seems to have escaped mention. 

 During the recent war Austrian observers were 

 able to penetrate Albania from the north. Baron 

 Nopcsa (vol. 59, p. 520, 1916) has utilised his col- 

 lection of maps for an interesting summary of carto- 

 graphv in the region, beginning with the coast of 

 ^ Dyrrachio " about a.d. 250. The paper is illustrated 

 bv numerous drawings from maps of the Cattaro- 

 Dulcigno district, coming dow^n to 1914. Eugen Ober- 

 hummer (vol. 61, p. 313. 1918) describes a Journey 

 with other members of an intelligence-bureau dunni^ 

 the occupation of Montenegro and Albania. He directs 

 attention to the map of Serbia, i : 75.ooo. completed 

 by that State in 1888; this was repeated, from 1897 



NO. 2707, VOL. 108] 



onwards, by an Austrian edition, in which the names 

 are in Roman characters. Albania remained unsur- 

 veyed ; Baron Nopcsa looked forward to the publica- 

 tion of Austrian work done during the war. Mean- 

 while, many things have happened, and the region 

 has again eluded the embrace of an interested group 

 of nations. Oberst Hubert Ginzl (vol. 61,. p. 497) 

 illustrates, by reproductions from the older sheets and 

 the coloured and contoured new editions, the immense 

 improvements made in the maps of Serbia and Albania 

 under the stress of w^ar. The older issues might guide 

 troops along the highways, but were found useless for 

 tactical dispositions. E. Nowak (vol. 62, p. 211, 

 1919) describes progress made by the war-geologists 

 eastward from Durazzo and Valona. One wishes 

 that peaceful international relations could ensure the 

 completion of the good work thus begun. 



In vol. 61, pp. 609-40, and vol. 62, pp. 25-40 (1919), 

 six authors discuss, from various points of view, 

 morphological, climatic, faunistic, and anthropological, 

 how far natural boundaries can be assigned to Poland 

 as marked out by the peace-terms. H. Praesent, in 

 the anthropogeographical article, points out how the 

 boundary between different types and grades of cul- 

 ture strikes the eye as one enters Poland — at Illowo, 

 for instance — in the absence of any morphological 

 feature. Even Galicia, with the glorious city of 

 Krakow as a centre, has hung behind from a material 

 point of view. The matter is not entirely due to 

 political conditions. Anyone who knows the village 

 inns, as compared even vvith those of Hungary, will 

 agree that Praesent's observation .is not inspired by 

 race sentiment. Indeed, such sentiment as is allowed 

 within the walls of the Geographical Society of 

 Vienna seems directed towards a . distant and hypo- 

 thetical England, figuring as a corsair on the seas. 



Anthropologists, such as Josef Weninger (vol. 61, 

 p. 143, 1918), took advantage of the prisoners' camps 

 to study unfamiliar folk. The Georgians are especially 

 complimented, on their understanding and on their 

 sympathy with the spirit of research. 



Among historical studies Hans, von Voltelini 

 (vol. 59, p. 181, 1916) gives a valuable account of 

 the origin of the .southern boundaries of Austria 

 before the war, which, of course, serves to rectify some 

 current judgments. There are, for instance, writers 

 who forget that Trieste escaped in 1382 from warfare 

 with Venice to the security of Habsburg rule, and 

 remained under this "domination " for more than five 

 hundred vears. The Austrians, however, did not be- 

 come long-distance seamen until the sixteenth century. 

 Prof. Eduard Zenker contributes papers on the Roman 

 roads of Austria. " Karnuntum— Vindobona " (vol. 60, 

 p. 507, 19 1 7) reminds us of how Rome is still remem- 



