January 20, 19 16] 



NATURE 



0/0 



I 



The war has just inflicted another heavy loss upon 

 King's College, London, in the death of Capt. 

 Matthew Thomas, 7th Loyal Lancashire Regiment, 

 who was shot in France on December 31, 1915. Capt. 

 Thomas wa» a fellow-student with Thomas Wright 

 (whose death we reported last May). He passed 



! 1909 from the Grammar School, W'igan, to the 

 lining department at King's College. While there 

 .\v obtained first-class honours in physics at the B.Sc. 

 examination in 1912. He stayed on for two more 

 years, winning the Layton Research Scholarship and 

 doing tutorial and research work under Prof. Barkla. 

 Soon after Prof. Barkla took up his present post in 

 the L'niversity of Edinburgh, Mr. Thomas obtained 

 a junior appointment there under him, but he was 

 prevented bv the outbreak of war from entering upon 

 what would assuredly have been a very valuable 

 career in science. He was given a commission in 

 •August, 1914, and obtained his company eleven 

 months later. He fell whilst warning his men to 

 take cover from a dangerous sniper, to whom, alas ! 

 he himself Uecame a victim. 



The problem of Cape horse-sickness is discussed 

 by Sir Arnold Theiler in the Soiilh African Journal 

 of Science for October, 1915 (Vol. xii., No. 3). The 

 microbe of this disease is not known, as it is a " filter- 

 passer"; it is probably conveyed by a winged insect, 

 though this also is unknown, for horses stalled in 

 <^ables made insect-proof are protected from the 

 isease. There is a definite horse-sickness season, so 

 hat the virus must be maintained in some "reservoir" 

 in the intervals, but so far the species responsible has 

 not been discovered. No form of treatment is of much 

 avail, and for the time being the eradication of horse- 

 sickness lies in the protection of animals against 

 hifection. 



In the December issue of Man Dr. W. L. Hild- 

 'uirgh describes, with illustrations, a large collection 

 )f amulets from Cairo and Japan. Of the former some 

 are dependent for their supposed virtues primarily on 

 qualities inherent in their materials, though in some 

 rises these qualities have been enhanced by art. 

 silver, which is regarded as a protection against evil 

 iLipernatural beings, is largely used in their construc- 

 tion, and the mounting is generally such as to give 

 the amulet the form of a pendant. Among the 

 Japanese examples that of the manjinai, intended to 

 attract the love of a person, is common. It often 

 takes the shape of a dog, supposed to act as an agent 

 to cause the arrival of a person desired. The magical 

 intention is prominent in this series of examples, as 

 in the case of a special form, prepared with the eyes 

 left blank, of the tumbling toy representing the leg- 

 less ascetic Daruma. To secure the attainment of 

 what is desired the image is promised the gift of one 

 or both eyes if the desired result be secured. 



Of the parasitic hymenoptera known as " Chalcids " 

 more than four thousand species have been described. 

 Several hundred new Australian species have now 

 been added to this list by Mr. A. A. Girault. These 

 are fully described in vol. iv. of the Memoirs of the 

 Queensland Museum. The labour expended in pre- 

 NO. 2412, VOL. 96] 



paring this volume must have been enormous. But 

 w heth^ the author was justified in creating such an 

 array of new species from the evidence of single 

 specimens time alone will show. Only in a few very 

 exceptional cases, it would seem, was it possible to 

 givi' the name of the hosts of such parasites. As a 

 rule the author can do no more than describe the 

 habitat as " Gordonvale, Queensland." In his intro- 

 duction he comments with enthusiasm on the remark- 

 able diversity in structure and coloration which these 

 minute flies exhibit. The family, he remarks, " is open 

 to philosophical treatment of the highest order." 



To discover whether the various objects carried 

 about on the spines of the purple-tipped sea-urchin 

 (Echinus miliaris) were accidentally picked up or 

 deliberately placed there has recently formed the suDt 

 ject of a series of experiments by Mr. H. N. Milligan. 

 He gives the results of his inquiry in the Zoologist 

 for December. While usually stones, sea-weed, or 

 shells are carried, tube-worms, hydroids, periwinkles, 

 or tunicates, as chance may determine, are also used, 

 apparently fqr the purposes of disguise and protection 

 from enemies. That such objects are borne with a 

 purpose, and not as a result of accident, is shown by 

 the fact that when all foreign bodies are removed 

 from the spines of urchins living in an aquarium, they 

 will invariably be speedily replaced as soon as their 

 loss is perceived, the tube-feet being used to perform 

 this oflice. Young individuals were more assiduous 

 in this regard than adults, but in all cases particular 

 care was taken to conceal the anus, which is appar- 

 ently a very vulnerable spot. In the same number 

 Mr. J. M. Dewar concludes his noteworthy observa- 

 tions on the relation of the oyster-catcher to its natural 

 environment. The presence of a large human popula- 

 tion in the vicinity of its haunts has an important 

 bearing on the permanence of its breeding stations. If 

 these are to be maintained they must afford a safe tem- 

 porary refuge at no great distance off, when the actual 

 breeding area is invaded. 



Messrs. Sherratt and Hughes, Manchester, have 

 published a summary, written by Mr. J. Arthur 

 Hutton, of the evidence given at a Board of Agricul- 

 ture and Fisheries inquiry into the salmon fisheries 

 of the river Wye. There had been a marked depreci- 

 ation of the river during the period 1892 to 1900, and 

 various scientific investigations, by Mr. Hutton and 

 others, had been carried out. From 1902 to 1904 

 netting was prohibited in the Wye, and this restriction 

 was followed by a notable improvement in the fishery. 

 A further restriction for the period of rod-fishing was 

 then suggested, and this proposal was the subject of 

 the inquiry. The pamphlet contains a summary of 

 the statistics collected by Mr. Hutton. 



The presence of manganese in plants has been 

 repeatedly observed, but it has hitherto been con- 

 sidered to be an accidental constituent. Mr. W. P. 

 Headden, of Colorado (Journ. Agric. Research, 

 November 22, 1915), adduces evidence to show that 

 this is probably an incorrect view, and that its 

 constant presence in certain cereals indicates it 

 is not an unessential constituent. It occurs in wheat 



