December 30, 191 5] 



NATURE 



487 



an 



I 



The Irish Fisheries Office has lately published two 

 interesting reports (Fisheries, Ireland, Sci. Invest., 



1914, iii., iv. [1915]). The first of these, by Miss J. 

 Stephens, deals with sponges from various localities 

 around the Irish coasts, the Triaxonida {Hexactinellida 

 auct.), the Tetractonellida, and the Astromonaxonellida. 

 Forty-four species are enumerated, of which six are 

 new to science, and twenty-six are recorded from the 

 Irish marine area for the first time. Of special 

 interest are a Biscayan and Azorean species of Hyalo- 

 nema, H. infundibulum and Leucopsacus scoliodocus, 

 hitherto known only from the Japanese Sea and Cape 

 Verde. The other paper describes the results of a 

 biological survey of Blacksod Bay, Co, Mayo, as com- 

 piled by Lieut. G. P. Farran, from identifications 

 furnished by many workers at special groups. There 

 are valuable faunistic and ecological observations, 

 among- which the influence of the neighbouring whal- 

 ing station on the littoral fauna and flora is note- 

 worthy. The equipment of the Blacksod station is so 

 good that the detrimental effect of its refuse is con- 

 fined to an area extending for at most 200 yards on 

 either side of the quay. 



The Carnegie Institution of Washington has lately 

 issued part i. of the third volume of Howard, Dyar, 

 and Knab's great work on the mosquitoes of North 

 nd Central America and the West Indies. This com- 

 rises the first instalment of the systematic descrip- 

 on of genera and species. The illustrative plates 

 rm vol. ii. of the work, which has presumably not 

 t been published, as we are unable to trace its receipt. 

 According to the system adopted by the authors, all 

 "mosquitoes" fall into a single subfamily — the Culi- 

 cinae — which, with the Corethrinae and the Dixinae, form 

 the family Culicidae, The Culicinse are divided into 

 two tribes : the Sabethini, comprising eight genera, 

 and the Culicini, a very large and comprehensive 

 group, subdivided into Deinoceritines, Culicines, 

 Megarhinines, and Anophelines ; the two last-named 

 are not included in the part now before us. The work 

 of Dyar and Knab on the structure of mosquito larvae 

 and its importance in classification is naturally pro- 

 minent in this volume, and British entomologists will 

 notice that many of the genera established by Theo- 

 bald on characters drawn from the scaling are set 

 aside. The systematic student will be greatly helped 

 by the diagnostic tables provided, and he will find in 

 all cases a very full synonymy. The introductory his- 

 torical sketch of the classification of mosquitoes and 

 the frequent accounts of the habits of the insects and 

 their larvae will ensure a welcome to the book from 

 naturalists who are not specialists among these in- 

 sects, especially in view of their great importance 

 with regard to tropical diseases. 



" Variabilitv and Amphimixis " is the title of a 

 recent paper by Prof. L. B. Walton (Amer, Nat., xlix., 



1915, pp. 649-87), in which he describes the result of 

 observations on the varying sizes of zygospores in 

 Spirogyra formed from "lateral" conjugation (fusion 

 of two adjacent cells of the same filament), as com- 

 pared with those formed from " scalariform " conjuga- 

 tion (fusion of two cells in distinct filaments). The 

 zygospores resulting from the former process are rela- 



NO. 2409, VOL. 96] 



tively 26 per cent, more variable in length, and 31 per 

 cent, more variable in diameter, than those resulting 

 from ^he latter. Prof. Walton regards the scalariform 

 conjugation as an example of sexual reproduction, 

 and the lateral as a " quasi-parthenogenesis " ; hence 

 he argues, in opposition to Weismann, Jennings, and 

 others, that "amphimixis . . . decreases and does not 

 augment variability (cumulabilify), although amphi- 

 mutability may temporarily be increased." The un- 

 familiar terms in this quotation are from the author's 

 classification of variations, in which " amphimutations " 

 are defined as "arising through the transference of 

 factors by the combination of two ancestral lines in 

 accordance with Mendelian principles, but exhibiting 

 per se no definite progress " ; while " cumulations " 

 arise " through causes at present unknown, but which, 

 from the progressive results obtained, may be assumed 

 to originate in accordance with definite laws." On 

 the other hand. Prof. Walton names four subdivisions 

 of " abnormations " "apparently not originating in 

 accordance with definite laws." The classification 

 might be more valuable if the author would tell us 

 exactly what he means by the phrase, " in accordance 

 with definite laws." 



The value of the wood of Cotoneaster frigida for 

 making the heads of golf clubs forms the subject of 

 a letter from Sir Herbert Maxwell printed in Kew 

 Bulletin, No. 9, p. 414. The wood has been tested 

 for the purpose and found suitable, and may in time 

 replace persimmon, which has succeeded crab and 

 beech. Cotoneaster frigida grows easily in this 

 country and seeds freely, but it takes some forty years 

 to produce timber of suitable size. It is also probable 

 that the wood of Cotoneaster bacillaris may be found 

 suitable for making club heads; it also grows freely 

 in this country. 



In Kew Bulletin, No. 9, Mr. J. H. Lace describes 

 a number of new species from Burma, chiefly from the 

 neighbourhood of Maymyo, and mostly of his own 

 collecting. A large number of new species, including 

 several new trees, have been discovered in this region 

 in recent years owing to the activity of forest officers, 

 and our knowledge of the flora of this region is far 

 from complete. A new tree, Allospondias laxiflora 

 (Anacardiaceae), is among the more interesting of the 

 plants described, as this tree, which is a conspicuous 

 one on the dry limestone hills which rise suddenly out 

 of the plains on both banks of the lower Salween, 

 has been imperfectly known since 1862, when it was 

 described by Kurz as a Buchanania. The original 

 specimen was collected by Brandis, and apparently 

 consisted of flowers only, and it is not known to what 

 plant the leaves described by Kurz may have belonged. 



Cottonseed meal, the ground cake left after the 

 oil is pressed from the seed of cotton, is now used 

 extensively as a cattle food ; but whilst it may be fed 

 profitably to horses, cattle, and sheep in moderate 

 amounts, poisoning, and often death, may occur as a 

 result, especially if the animal has not been gradually 

 accustomed to it. It is generally avoided in the case 

 of pigs on account of the numerous deaths associated 

 with its use. The toxic properties of the meal are 

 attributed bv Messrs. W. A. Withers and F. E. 



