December 9, 1920] 



NATURE 



479 



Prof. A. W. Hill, Prof. h. Dendy. Prof. J. P. Hill, 

 Prof. fi. W. MacBridc, Dr. J. W. Evans, Dr. \V. D. 

 Matthew (of the .American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory), and M. F. I>3 Cerf (of the Museum de I'His- 

 toire Naturelle, Paris). 



The, weather for the autumn season in the several 

 districts of the United Kingdom is shown in the 

 Weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office 

 for the week ending November 27. The period com- 

 prises the thirteen weeks from .\ugust 29 to Novem- 

 ber 27. Temperature attained its highest reading, 

 76° F., in the south-east of England, and the 

 lowest shade temperature in England was 18° F. 

 in the south-west. The mean temperature for the 

 period was above the normal except in the eastern 

 districts of England and in the Midland Counties; 

 the greatest excess was 2° in Ireland. For the whole 

 of the British Isles the mean was 511°. Rainy days 

 were fewer than the average except in the south of 

 Ireland. The amount of rain varied from 11-34 '"• 

 for the north of Scotland to 377 in. for the north- 

 oast of England. The fall was less than the average 



\ropt in Ireland; the greatest deficiency was 417 in. 

 ;ir the north-west of England. Bright sunshine was 

 deficient except in England east and north-west. At 

 Greenwich the mean temperature for the autumn was 

 51-2°, which is 0-5° above the mean. The mean of the 

 day or maximum readings was 1-5° in excess of (he 

 normal ; the mean of the lowest or night ••eadings 

 was 07° in defect. .September had a normal t»m- 

 jK-rature, October an excess of 2°, and November 

 a deficiency of 05°. The rainfall for the autumn was 

 I 23 in. deficient. September had an excess of 170 in., 



>' tober a deficiency of 154 in., and November a 

 ficiency of 1 39 in. Remarkable as the October 

 Ipficicncy of rain is in 1920, the amount measured in 

 I'MO was even less at Greenwich. 



Johnson CaRon, probably the largest of the 

 I'itern tributaries of the Mancos Cafton, lies on the 

 vide between La Plata and Montezuma Counties in 

 •lorado. Here some important ruins are described 

 nv Mr. E. H. Morris in the thirty-third annual Report 

 nf the .American Bureau of Ethnology. Large col. 

 ■ ' tions of interesting pottery, consisting of coil-ware 

 Mas and some beautifully ornamented black-and- 

 white and black-ahd-red bowls, have been discovered. 

 The culture, as a whole, was a rather restricted 

 1 iracteristic of the Mesa Verde region, the materials 

 •r weaving, building, and pottery being procured in 

 the immediate neighbourhood, while the fruits of 

 'A ild trees and plants, as well as the cultivated crops, 

 imc, with few exceptions, from the neighbouring 

 ' irtons and mesas. 



The Bulletin of the New York Zoological Society 



III. xxiii., No. 4) is devoted to a survey of the history 



• lie white rhinoceros of the Belgian Congo. The 



■ind external characters of this vanishing species 



1. r.scly reviewed and comparisons made with 



- near ally, the black rhinoceros. The traffic in 



1' horns of this animal, it in contende<l, must be 



mpletely restricted if it is to be saved from speedy 



tinction. A number of remarkably fin« illustrations 



M much to the value of this publication. 



NO. 2667, VOL. 106] 



The Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria was founded 

 in May forty years ago. In 1906 Mr. F. G. .\. 

 Barnard published in its organ, the Victorian 

 Naturalist, a history of its first quarter of a century. 

 In the October issue of that magazine he gives a 

 retrospect of the last fifteen years. This vigorous 

 society does excellent work in promoting a love of 

 Nature and the study of natural history in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Melbourne. That it succeeds in arous- 

 ing the interest of the general public is shown by 

 • the fact that five exhibitions of wild flowers held 

 during the war period for special objects brought in 

 more than 622). 



•Among the more important papers published in the 

 thirty-third annual Report of the .American Bureau 

 of Ethnology is that by Mr. M. R. Gilmore on "The 

 Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River 

 Region." The writer remarks : "We shall make the 

 best and most economical use of all our land when 

 our population shall have become adjusted in habit 

 to the natural conditions. The country cannot be 

 wholly made over and adjusted to a people of foreign 

 habits and tastes. There are large tracts of land 

 in .America whose bounty is wasted because the plants 

 which grow on them are not acceptable to our people. 

 This is not because these plants are not in themselves 

 useful and desirable, but because their qualities are 

 unknown. So long as the people of the country do 

 not demand articles of food other than those to which 

 our European ancestors were accustomed, these articles 

 will be subject to demand in excess of production, 

 with consequent enhancement of cost, while at the 

 same time we have large land areas practically unpro- 

 ductive, because the plants they are best fitted to 

 produce are not utilised." 



The report of the council presented to the Natural 

 History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne at the end of October records 

 an increase of membership and a resumption of 

 activity after the war. The museum building, of 

 which a large part had been occupied by .Armstrong 

 College, has been overhauled, lectures and t.Tlks have 

 been well attended, an entomological section has been 

 established, and field excursions have been organised. 

 Thopgh there is nothing of particular interest to 

 report, it is pleasing to note that the exceedingly 

 valuable collections of the Hancock Museum have 

 received skilled curatorial attention. 



The United .States Department of Agriculture has 

 just issued Bulletin No. 794 on the waterfowl and 

 their food-plnnts in the sandhill region of Nebraska, 

 which is valuable and instructive because the resorts 

 of these economically important birds are becoming 

 more and more restricted owing to the draining of 

 lakes and marshes. Hence, before it is too late, 

 the Department has decided to take steps to con- 

 serve the remaining supply of waterfowl inhabiting 

 these areas. This inquiry, it urges, is very neces> 

 sary " if we are to take intelligently directed steps 

 towards passing on what remains of our heritage of 

 natural wealth." In this far-seeing policy the I'nited 



