48o 



NATURE 



[December 9, 1920 



States sets an example which mifjht well be followed 

 by our own Ministry of Agriculture, which has fre- 

 quently been urged to establish a Bureau of Ornitho- 

 logy for similar functions. 



The results of the inquiries made by the Special 

 Committee on Food-grains with regar<l to the Indian 

 rice industry are embodied in a report on the trade 

 in Indian rice, to which are appended two further 

 reports on the production and uses of rice and on 

 the utilisation of Burmese rice and its by-products' 

 respectively ("Indian Trade Enquiry: Reports on 

 Rice," piiblishetl by John Murray). In the main 

 report reference is made to the two branches of the 

 world's rice trade, viz. the Far Eastern branch, 

 requiring a cheap rice for feeding the native popula- 

 tion, and the Western branch, requiring large quanti- 

 ties of a medium quality rice and smaller quantities 

 of a high quality product. The sources of supply of 

 these markets are referred to, and sections are devoted 

 to the following subjects: The world's trade in rice; 

 the rice trade of India with the British Empire and 

 with the Continent"; imports, exports, and home con- 

 sumption of rice in European countries and the United 

 States ; and the comparative cost of handling, mill- 

 ing, and transporting rice in the United Kingdom 

 and on the Continent. The industrial uses of rice 

 are also dealt with, and a series of statistical tables 

 forms an appendix to the report. la 1913 India 

 (chiefly Burma), Siam, and Indo-China together con- 

 tributed 94 per cent, of the world's exported surplus 

 of rice (including paddy, i.e. unhusked rice), the 

 amount of the Indian exports roughly equalling those 

 from Indo-China and Siam combined. The total 

 Indian export (2,450,000 tons) is approximately equiva- 

 lent to the total requirements of the British Empire 

 from the three chief exporting countries. 



The Cardiff Naturalists' Society has instituted a 

 faunistic survey of Glamorgan, and as a preliminary 

 has issued a useful pamphlet of instructions I0 col- 

 lectors. Regional and faunistic surveys forfn part 

 of the activities of many societies in Great Britain, 

 but the work is hampered, as a rule, bv the lack of 

 concise instructions for collecting. This is a difficulty 

 which the Cardiff Naturalists' Society has wisely 

 foreseen and endeavoured to overcome. The pamphlet 

 is concerned only with the terrestrial and fresh-water 

 fauna, and each group of animals is dealt with 

 separately and in detail. The collector is furnished 

 with valuable hints on the habitats in which to search 

 for special animals, and with instructions for their cap- 

 ture, preservation, and packing. We are glad to note 

 the stress which is laid on the necessity for adequate 

 data to accompany each specimen. It is a point which 

 cannot be too often or tcfo strongly insisted upon. 

 The attention of workers is further directed to the 

 advisability of collecting both the external and internal 

 parasites of the vertebrate groups and of an examina- 

 tion of the stomach contents. Due regard is paid to 

 the value of field observation in a survey such as this 

 society contemplates, and useful advice on special 

 points requiring further elucidation is given under 

 each group of animals. The section devoted to 



NO. 2667, VOL. 106] 



insects is particularly good and full, and the collector 

 will be specially grateful for the many hints 00 the 

 manipulation of the more delicate and smaller forms. 

 His work will be made easier for him, and the results 

 will be more gratifying to the referees and to those 

 who- will ultimately have charge of the sjx-cimens. 

 .Altogether this is an admirable pamphlet which 

 should be of the greatest service to those who are 

 undertaking the field-work in connection with the 

 survey, and should go far to ensure the success of 

 the scheme. Other organisations contemplating 

 similar work will find it invaluable. We understand 

 that copies of the pamphlet may be obtained from 

 the secretary of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society, Dr. 

 J. J. Simpson, 35 Park Place, Cardiff, at a nominal 

 charge of 6d. each, or in larger quantities at special 

 rates if desired. 



The latest part of the .Annals of the Transvaal 

 Museum (vol. vii., part 2, 1920) contains two valu- 

 able papers by Dr. E. C. N. van Hoepen on remains 

 of carnivorous dinosaurs from the Karroo formation 

 of South .Africa. The fossils are described in great 

 detail, with adequate illustrations, and include all 

 important parts of the skeleton except the skull. 

 They seem to represent some genera allied to the 

 European Triassic Plateosaurus, others to the North 

 American Triassic .Anchisaurus. One femur is excep- 

 tional in not being hollow. The author is to be con- 

 gratulated on his painstaking work, which makes 

 possible a more exact comparison of the .South .African 

 Triassic carnivorous dinosaurs with tho.se from other 

 parts of the world. 



Diseases of bees known as foulbrood are dealt with 

 by Mr. G. F. White, of the United §^^ Department 

 of Agriculture. In Bulletin No. SioTHJropean foul- 

 brood is discussed. It is an infectious disease of the 

 brood of bees, characterised bv death of the brood 

 during its uncapped stage and by absence of odour. 

 The stock may be weakened, or even exterminated, 

 by the disease. In 1885 Cheshire and Cheji^e 

 ascribed the disease to a sporing bacillus, B. il^k- 

 -According to Mr. White, however, this organisni^K 

 only a secondary invader of the dead larvae, and 

 not the cause. The causative organism is B. pluton, 

 an ovoid and sometimes yeast-like form, which 

 cannot be cultivated, and gains entrance to the 

 larvae by the mouth. .American foulbrood (Bulletin 

 No. 8og) is characterised by a decided ropiness of the 

 decaying brood and a peculiar foul odour. It is of 

 almost world-wide distribution, and occurs in this 

 country. The causative organism is a sporing 

 bacillus, B. larvae, which can be cultivated on an 

 agar made from bee larvae and on an unheated egg- 

 yolk agar. Full details respecting these diseases are 

 given in these two bulletins. 



The latest volume (vol. xvi.) of the Special Reports 

 on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain, issued 

 bv the Geological Survey, contains an account of the 

 petrography and chemistry of the refractory materials, 

 ganister, silica-rock, sand and dolomite, by Messrs. 

 H. H. Thomas, .A. F. Hallimond, and E. G. Radley. 

 It may be looked upon as a continuation of vol. vi. 



