September 9, 1920] 



NATURE 



57 



pond in Didsbury, from September, 1918, to March, 

 19 19, and appends a table of the species found, about 

 100 in number, showing in which months they occur. 

 A previous report dealt with the protozoan fauna of 

 this pond during the period March to September, 1918. 

 Among the more noteworthy species recorded may be 

 mentioned Archerxna Boltoni, which was very common 

 during one week in April, 1918, but has not re- 

 appeared ; and Mastigatnoeba asfera, which was found 

 in small numbers in September and October, 1918. It 

 is to be hoped that the study of the protozoa of this 

 pond and the recording of the seasonal occurrence of 

 the various species will be continued. 



Zoologists, and especially field-naturalists, will be 

 interested in a short paper on the occurrence of Proto- 

 hydra in England, by Prof. S. J. Hickson, in the 

 current issue of the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical 

 Science (vol. Ixiv., part 4). Protohydra Leuckartii 

 was discovered rather more than half a century ago, 

 and, although apparently very rarely met ivith since, 

 it has always been regarded with especial interest as 

 one of the simplest — though not necessarily the most 

 primitive — of the Coelenterata, being, in fact, a Hydra 

 without any tentacles. It has now turned up in 

 abundance in pools in the tidal marshes of the River 

 Hamble, near Southampton, and has also been 

 recorded from the Laira River, near Plymouth. Un- 

 fortunately, though it has been observed by Prof. 

 Hickson and Mr. Herbert .Ashby for four successive 

 years, no new light is forthcoming as to its life- 

 history, no medusoids and no sexual method of repro- 

 duction, but only transverse fission, having been 

 observed. 



.\ MONOGRAPH of the South Asian, Papuan, Melan- 

 csian, and Australian frogs of the genus Rana, by 

 Dr. G. A. Boulenger, forms vol. xx. (226 pp., June, 

 i<)2o) of the Records of the Indian Museum. Dr. 

 ''.oulenger has grouped the scries, so far as possible, 

 ( ording to their probable phylogenetic relationships, 

 id in order to do this has laid down the characters 

 . liich might be exf>ccted to occur in a theoretical 

 prototype from which phyletic lines may be drawn 

 up. .\mong Asiatic species he regards Rana hexa- 

 dtictyla as the nearest approach to the ideal prototype. 

 He groups the 125 species considered into seven 

 natural sections, the first of which is the hexadactyla. 

 .section from which three others can be derived. The 

 remaining three sections are derived from other 

 ancestral sources. A table of the characters of the 

 nine subgenera of Rana and excellent synoptic keys 

 of the species are given. Detailed descriptions of the 

 Sf)ecies follow, and tables are supplied giving measure- 

 ments of tlic different parts of the body of adult and 

 half-grown specimens in order to convey exact in- 

 formation on these important matters, and also to 

 ■how the amount of individual variation. 



Pamphlet No. 11 of the Economic Secies published 



by the British Museum (Natural History) has recently 



■ :>carcd. It is written by Dr. Gahan, the keeper of 



entomological department, and deals with furniture 



ties, their life-histories and preventive measures. 



t infrequently articles of furniture, or some part of 



NO. 2654, VOL. 106] 



the woodwork in the house, are seriously damaged by 

 the larvae of certain beetles, of which we have about 

 five sjjecies in this country. The common furniture 

 beetle {Anobium punctatum, De G.) is the most usual 

 enemy ; the death-watch beetle (Xestobium rufovil- 

 losum, De G.) seldom attacks movable furniture, and 

 more usually affects the timbers of old houses, etc. ; 

 while the powder-pest beetles (Lyctus) mostly affect 

 sapwood, and, unless treated with a preser%'ative 

 beforehand, this part is unsuitable for furniture- 

 making. The above t>'pes of beetles are well described 

 in this useful little brochure, and clearly figured. 

 Wherever it can be safely applied, treatment by heat 

 is one of the best methods of dealing with affected 

 furniture. In other cases resort has to be made to 

 fumigation with a poisonous gas or vapour. .As a 

 third alternative, direct application of a liquid, such as 

 benzene, carbon tetrachloride, or terebene, may bo 

 adopted. Anyone troubled with these pests is advised 

 to obtain this pamphlet, which can be purchased at 

 the Museum for the sum of 6d. 



M. Meunissiek has published (Journal of Genetics, 

 vol. X., No. :) a short account of some genetic results 

 obtained by the late M. Philippe de Vilmorin on the 

 colour of the hilum or point of attachment of the pea. 

 One variety of garden pea has a black hilum or 

 "eye," and in crosses with other varieties and species 

 this was found to behave as a simple dominant. In 

 several crosses of varieties in which both parents had 

 an uncoloured hilum, the black hilum appeared in the 

 offspring — in some cases in all the offspring, in others 

 in only a portion of them, and in still others only a 

 few seeds developed the black hilum. Whether such 

 cases are to be looked upon as variations, or, in the 

 latter case, as bud mutations, can only be determined 

 by further breeding experiments. They represent an 

 interesting departure from the usual Mcndelian 

 behaviour. 



Before the war the medical opium trade was largely 

 in the hands of Turkey, and the Indian opium poppy, 

 although belonging to the same species (Papaver 

 somniferum) as the Turkish, was found to have a 

 lower morphine content. In order to replace the 

 foreign product by one produced within the Empire, 

 an effort is being inade to produce by breeding experi- 

 ments a race with a high content and a good yield. 

 Messrs. H. Martin Leake and B. Ram*Pershad 

 (Journal of Genetics, vol. x., No. i) expect, by selec- 

 tion and crossing of the numerous Indian varieties of 

 opium poppy, to produce a race with the desired quali- 

 ties. The preliminary paper deals with the numerous 

 colour varieties. The colour patterns are independent 

 of opium content, but are a useful index of purity in 

 the various races. Chemical Investigations have dis- 

 closed races yielding as much as 18 per cent, morphine. 



The first of the Memoirs of the Botanical Survey 

 of South .Africa has been issued by the Union Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. It comprises an account of the 

 Phanerogamic flora of the Divisions of Uitenhnge and 

 Port Elizabeth by Dr. S. Schonland. In July, 1918, 

 an Advisory Committee for the Botanical Survey of 

 the Union was appointed by tiie Minister of Agricul- 



