NATURE 



[December 30, 1915 



Carruth [Journ. Agric. Research, vol. v., p. 261) to the 

 substance gossypol, which was first isolated by March- 

 lewski in 1899, from the cottonseed, and patented as 

 a prospective dyestuff. This substance is now shown 

 to have a strong toxic effect upon all the animals 

 experimented with. It occurs in the so-called "gland- 

 dots," or "resin-glands," of the seed, and also in the 

 cambium layer of the bark of the root. The problem 

 that now awaits solution is to devise a means of 

 rendering this substance non-toxic. Whilst gossypol 

 can be readily oxidised to a non-toxic form, and can 

 also be rendered harmless by iron salts, the seed tissue 

 surrounding the cells prevents the free action of re- 

 agents, so that difficulty is presented in practice in 

 rendering the cake innocuous by a simple treatment. 

 This, no doubt, will be devised before long. 



Last April the American Philosophical Society held 

 an interesting "symposium," resembling the joint dis- 

 cussions of the British Association, on the condition of 

 the earth's interior. The three addresses given are 

 now published in the recently issued bulletin of the 

 society (vol. liv., 1915, pp. 279-308). Prof. T. C. 

 Chamberlin studies the subject from a geological point 

 of view. Prof. H. Fielding Raid describes the results 

 and bearing of seismological investigations, and Dr. 

 J. F. Hayford considers the earth from the geophysical 

 point of view. The writers agree that the conclusions 

 towards which we are tending are not yet firmly estab- 

 lished. The methods of research were devised too 

 recently to admit of dogmatism. But it is contended 

 that the varied evidence afforded by geological, seis- 

 mic, and tidal studies converges in favour, not only 

 of a solid, but of an elastico-rigid, earth, in which 

 liquid and viscous lacunae, if any such really exist, 

 must be confined to very moderate dimensions. Dr. 

 Hayford's address is specially valuable owing to the 

 many suggestions which he offers for further investi- 

 gation. 



An important series of earthquakes began on June 22 

 in the Imperial Valley in the extreme south-east 

 corner of California. They are described by Mr. Carl 

 H. Beal in a valuable paper in the Bulletin of the 

 Seismological Society of America (vol v., 1915, pp. 

 130-149). A slight fore-shock at about 7.40 p.m. on 

 the day mentioned was followed by two severe earth- 

 quakes of intensity 9 (Rossi-Forel scale) at about 

 8 and 9 p.m. These earthquakes originated in nearly 

 the same region, the buildings damaged by the first 

 shock being completely destroyed by the second. Six 

 persons were killed by falling walls, and the relatively 

 small loss of life is attributed to the brief duration of 

 the shocks and the warning given by the earlier of 

 the strong shocks. Mr. Beal, who traversed the dis- 

 trict by motor-car and collected information by means 

 of the telephone, has drawn approximately a series of 

 seven isoseismal lines of intensities 9 to 3. The first 

 is an 'elongated ellipse about 10 miles in length ; the 

 last is circular in form, and includes about 50,000 

 square miles. The district is traversed by at least 

 three major faults, trending in a south-easterly direc- 

 tion. The fault with which the earthquakes were 

 connected is the San Jacinto fault. This is apparently 

 a branch of the San Andreas rift, the great movement 

 NO. 2409, VOL. 96] 



along which gave rise to the Californian earthquake 

 of 1906. In the Imperial Valley, the course of the 

 fault is hidden by recent deposits, which also obscure 

 any permanent deformation that may have taken place 

 at the surface. There is, however, some evidence for 

 thinking that the San Jacinto fault traverses the epi- 

 central district along the axes of the isoseismal lines. 



The Royal Geographical Society in its lectures and 

 its journal keeps abreast of the times. From time to 

 time instructive articles dealing with the areas of the 

 war appear in the Geographical Journal. An exhaus- 

 tive paper by Mr. Douglas Freshfield, on the southern 

 frontier of Austria, appears in the December number 

 (vol. xlvii., part 6). Mr. Freshfield discusses in detail 

 the fighting which has taken place, and concludes that 

 the Italian operations have intentionally been limited 

 to defence in order to secure positions essential for 

 repelling possible attacks on Lombardy or Venetia 

 from the Trentine highlands. A number of maps 

 show the present and proposed frontiers in relation to 

 relief and nationality, and show clearly the justification 

 of the Italian claims in the southern half of the Tren- 

 tino and north of Trieste. The paper concludes with 

 some account of the little-known frontier lands of 

 Herzegovina and Montenegro. 



In his "Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Com- 

 munity " Mr. C. I. Galpin (Agricultural Experiment 

 Station of the University of Wisconsin Research Bulle- 

 tin 34, May, 1915) has made attempts in a new and 

 important line of research in social geography. It is 

 a study of the relation of farmer and townsman in the 

 Walworth County of Wisconsin. This survey results 

 in the delimitation of a number of agricultural com- 

 munities, each with its village or city centre. The 

 area of this nature, linked with the urban centre, may 

 be designated as the country of that town or by the 

 term greater prefixed to the town name, thus em- 

 phasising the close relationships of the two. Local 

 government will be last, the author expects, to recog- 

 nise these communities, and administrative areas give 

 false boundaries. The interrelationships between the 

 town and its country area disclose a mesh of correlated 

 social interests uniting the city dweller and the farmer 

 The rural problem thus becomes part of what Mr. 

 Galpin designates the "rurban" problem. Neither rural 

 or urban problem can be adequately discussed apart 

 from one another. Various aspects of the problem 

 are indicated, and the paper is full of suggestive ideas. 



The Monthly Meteorological Charts of the Indian 

 Ocean issued by the Meteorological Office contain in 

 each issue an ice-chart of the southern hemisphere for 

 the ensuing three months, based on the records of the 

 last eleven or twelve years. The ice-chart of the 

 January, 1916, issue is fuller than usual, and gives the 

 distribution of pack in the Antarctic Ocean in January, 

 February, and March, in addition to the location of 

 recorded bergs in past years. A long list is also given 

 of the icebergs in the Southern Ocean for these three 

 months from 1885 to 1915. The innovation on the 

 chart is welcome, but it might be more thorough. 

 Neither in the Ross nor Weddell Seas are the data 

 complete. Off Wilkes Land there are no indications 



