320 



NATURE 



[November 4, 1920 



with natural laws ; Prof. Papillault lectures on the 

 psycho-sociology of art ; Prof. Zaborowski on the 

 ancient and modern peoples of Europe and America ; 

 Prof. Anthony on morphological determinism in 

 biology ; and Prof. Vinson on the languages of 

 Europe. We miss the usual announcement of con- 

 ferences. 



Prof. Roget in his third Chadwick lecture, de- 

 livered on Friday, October 29, dealt with the future 

 activities in the civil community of the public health 

 department of the League of Red Cross .Sncirtips. 

 The work to be undertaken has been divided up among 

 seven sections. The first is concerned with social 

 diseases. The lecturer pointed out the difficulty of 

 including these affections in Red Cross work ; never- 

 theless, he is of opinion that science is bound to do 

 its utmost to stamp out the "social evil." At the 

 same time every moral and religious influence must 

 also be brought to bear on the subject. The second 

 section will deal with the prevention of tuberculosis. 

 Prof. Roget stated that both preventive methods and 

 the segregation of tuberculous persons must be em- 

 ployed in this work. The third section will be devoted 

 to the prevention of malaria, chiefly by carrying out 

 scientific changes which have been proved to be effec- 

 tive in the administration of areas in which the disease 

 is rife. Child welfare and nursing will be the work of 

 the fourth section. With the collaboration of the 

 visiting nurse with the mother work can be done 

 which is peculiarly suited to Red Cross organisations. 

 Another section is concerned with preventive medi- 

 cine ; preventive service could be efficient only when 

 a large number of Red Cross laboratories had been 

 placed at the disposal of the medical practitioner. 

 The seventh section would have the greatest task of 

 all, that of education. Museums, lectureships, health 

 libraries, and literature were all necessary, particularly 

 in those countries in which hygiene, sanitation, and 

 clean housing are neglected. 



In an important paper by Mr. K. L. Kroeber on 

 "California Culture Provinces" (University of Cali- 

 fornia Publications in Ethnology, vol. xvii.. No. 27) 

 the author dismisses the theory held by American 

 ethnologists that California represents a well-defined 

 culture area. This region falls more properly into three 

 areas : northern, central, and southern. Of these the 

 northern is part of the culture of the North Pacific 

 coast, with its centre in British Columbia. In the 

 south the foundation of everything is Mexican, but 

 the culture has taken its peculiar shape and colour 

 on the spot. What the author says of the south-west 

 may be generally applied to the other regions : "The 

 truth is that the south-west is too insuperably com- 

 plex to be condensed into a formula or surrounded 

 with a line on the map." 



Observers of social life in India have long been 

 aware that certain varieties of the sdri or sheet are 

 distinctive marks of caste. In the October issue of 

 Man Mr. R. .S. Nicholson describes some remarkable 

 methods of ornamentation of the sari which prevail 

 in the Cuddapa district of the Madras Presidency. 

 New cloths, though they may have been previously 

 procured, are assumed in the eighth month of the 

 Telugu year, corresponding with October-November. 

 NO. 2662, VOL. 106] 



Each type of cloth has a special border, indicating 

 the god in whose honour the cloth is worn — a special 

 colour for the N^ga or snake god, the Mother god- 

 desses, and so on. These special marks on women's 

 cloths seem to be peculiar to Southern India, and, 

 so far as has hitherto been observed, do not prevail 

 in the north. 



Mlxii interest has lately been excited by the 

 attempted breeding of a pair of bee-eaters in Scot- 

 land. Those birds took up their quarters on a sand- 

 bank of the River Esk at Musselburgh, and it seemed 

 at one time probable that thev would succeed in rear- 

 ing young. A full account of this attempt and its 

 lamentable ending is given by Dr. Eagle Clarke in the 

 September-October issue of the Scottish Naturalist. 



The Philippine Journal of Science (vol. xvi.. No. 4) 

 is devoted to an interesting and valuable survey of 

 the avifauna and flora of the Philippines. The 

 author, Mr. R. C. McGregor, gives a condensed, but 

 vividly written account of the various types of forest 

 of this region in relation, on one hand, to their 

 economic value, and, on the other, to the problems 

 thev present to the ecologist. He then proceeds to 

 give a lively review of the birds of this area and 

 their distribution in regard to the different types of 

 forest, supplementing his observations by comparisons 

 with other types of tropical forests in Africa and 

 America. To naturalists at large this essay will prove 

 supremely interesting and helpful. Furthermore, it 

 is illustrated by a number of beautiful plates. 



Memoirs of the Agricultural Department of India, 

 Entomological Series, vol. v.. No. 5 (May, 1920), 

 deals with two destructive species of rice-leaf hoppers. 

 This well-illustrated brochure by C. S. Misra em- 

 phasises the great damage done by these insects. In 

 the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces 

 in 1914 they were reported to have damaged 3,000,000 

 acres, causing a loss approximately of 14,000,000 

 rupees. From observations conducted on the habits 

 of these insects it was ascertained that they have a 

 strong predilection for light. In order to apply the 

 use of light traps .satisfactorily it was necessary that 

 the cultivators should co-operate in the work, but the 

 Chhattisgarhi ryot is both superstitious and lethargic. 

 No amount of persuasion could induce him to go to 

 his fields at night and light the lamps, owing to his 

 innate dread of evil spirits, .\mong other methods the 

 necessity for clean cultivation and the elimination of 

 all grassy areas in the immediate vicinity of the 

 paddy fields is emphasised. The use of large field- 

 bags, 6 ft. long, 4 ft. broad, and 4 ft. deep, attached 

 to a light bamboo frame is also advised. Each bag can 

 be carried by two men at a walking pace and drawn 

 through the fields when the plants are small. The 

 inside of the bags should be smeared with kerosene 

 in order to prevent the leaf-hoppers from escaping 

 when once they are caught. The possibility of select- 

 ing immune varieties of paddy is a subject worth 

 consideration, together with the relation of the ripen- 

 ing period to the incidence of the pests. 



Sealing operations at the Pribilof Islands closed for 

 the season on .August 10, and the United States Bureau 



