October 15, 1914] 



NATURE 



181 



berley, and regarded as representing a new genus 

 and species — Gasterotropis poweri — although closely 

 related to the Indian Aphanetrix. 



As announced in the Morning Post of October 8, 

 the Natural History Museum has received the carcase 

 of a female Sowerby's beaked whaled {Mesoplodon 

 bidois), recently stranded at Rosslare, Ireland. De- 

 scribed by Sowerby in 1804, on the evidence of an 

 individual washed ashore in Elgin four years pre- 

 viously, this cetacean is rarely met with, either in 

 British or foreign waters, the present example being, 

 is stated, only the twelfth recorded from the coasts 

 : the British Islands. It has been carefully dissected 

 y Mr. W. P. Pycraft, who, we understand, has made 

 some interesting observ'ations with regard to the 

 arrangement and relative proportions of certain of the 

 visceral organs. 



Ix the fourth part of vol. W. of the Annals of the 

 Transvaal Museum, Dr. E. C. N. van Hoepen con- 

 tinues his articles on the fossil reptiles of the Karroo 

 beds, dealing in this instance with the lower jaw of 

 the dicynodont Lystrosaurus (Ptychognathus). After 

 describing the various elements which go to form this 

 compound bone, the author refers to a paper by Mr. 

 D. M. S. Watson, in the Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist, for 

 December, 19 12, in which he noticed that some of the 

 features there described as distinctive of the lower jaw 

 of Dicynodon do not accord with his own interpreta- 

 tion of- the structure of that of Lystrosaurus. A re- 

 examination of the lower jaws of both genera served to 

 confirm Dr. van Hoepen 's original diagnosis. 

 According to a communication from Messrs. G. H. 

 arpenter and T. R. Hewitt, in the October number 

 i the Irish Xatiiralist, the vexed question as to the 

 mode in which the maggots of warble-flies first effect 

 entrance into the bodies of cattle has been finally 

 itled. Hatched in manj- instances on the feet of 

 Lueir hosts, the minute maggots normally bore through 

 the skin to the subjacent tissues, whence they even- 

 tually make their way to the back, where they encyst 

 themselves in the well-known " warbles." Whether 

 the second-stage maggots frequently observed in the 

 gullets of cattle are merely enjoying a halt on their 

 long subcutaneous journey from the limbs to the back, 

 or whether they enter the mouth from outside, requires 

 further investigation. 



Reproductions of five beautiful autochrome photo- 

 graphs , of the marvellous scenery — both as regards 

 form and colour — of the Grand Canyon, Colorado, 

 constitute an attractive and striking feature of the 

 second (July) number of the Brooklyn Museum Quar- 

 terly. The letterpress includes a picturesque narra- 

 tive, by Mr. R. C. Murphy, of a collecting cruise from 

 Fernando Noronha to South Georgia, undertaken in 

 1912 on behalf of the museum. Lying as it does only 

 3^° south of the equator, and being cooled by a con- 

 stant trade-wind, Fernando Noronha might be made 

 one of the most productive islands in the world, 

 instead of remaining the desolate convict-station of 

 Brazil. In the Antarctic the part}- was chiefly occupied 

 in observing whales, sea-elephants, and penguins and 

 other birds, as well as in collecting such of the latter 

 as were required for the museum. " On the South 

 XO. 2346, VOL. 94] 



Georgia banks," writes the author, "the abundance 

 of whales is nothing short of astounding, but as during 

 our visit I sometimes saw eleven steamers hunting 

 almost within hail of each other, and as twice that 

 number often came into the ports with from two to 

 ten whales apiece, the various species can scarcely 

 hold their own many seasons longer." 



The annual report of the Marine Biological Associa- 

 tion of the West of Scotland for 1913 indicates that a 

 considerable amount of advanced research work was 

 done at the Millport Station during the year. Sum- 

 maries of the results are given in the report of the 

 superintendent, Mr. R. Elmhirst, and in abstracts of 

 papers read at meetings of the association held in 

 Glasgow. The most striking portion of the report is 

 a lecture by Prof. E. W. MacBride, on some problems 

 of marine biology, which gives a useful summary of 

 the lecturer's recent researches on hybridisation of 

 echinoderms. 



The report of the Cullercoats Marine Laboratory for 

 the 3'ear ending June, 1914, is characterised rather by 

 the number of subjects studied and the extent of the 

 ground covered than by the importance of the new 

 information furnished on any particular subject. Prof. 

 Meek's papers on trawling experiments and on migra- 

 tions of plaice and dab deal with small numbers and 

 do not furnish anything strikingly new. The dis- 

 cussion on the probable origin of the migrations is 

 interesting and suggestive, but from the nature of the 

 case it is entirely speculative. Work on races of 

 herrings, commenced in 1912, has been continued. 

 The number of fish measured is larger than in pre- 

 vious years, and this research is probably the most 

 important contribution to fishery science in the report. 

 Other papers deal with crabs and lobsters, mussel and 

 lobster culture, and the pollution of the river Tyne. 

 There are also two faunistic papers on hvdrozoa bv 

 J. H. Robson. 



The meteorological chart of the North Atlantic 

 Ocean for October, published by the Meteorological 

 Office, states that steamers crossing that ocean are 

 not likely to experience much, if any, delay from 

 fog. With the exception of a few small areas of 

 mist, neither fog nor mist is probable south of the 

 parallel of 40° N. and west of longitude 20° W. It 

 is not unlikely, however, that thick weather mav be 

 experienced on parts of the coast of Africa ; tWs 

 is principally due to red dust blown seaward from 

 the Sahara and to mist from marked changes of 

 temperature of air and sea. December to .\pril are 

 said to be the months of maximum frequency of 

 red dust. 



We have received from Mr. J. Baxendell, the 

 energetic meteorologist to the Southport Corporation, 

 the report of the results of observations for the year 

 1913 at the exceptionally well equipped station at 

 that place. Returns are regularly supplied to the 

 Meteorological Office, together with telegraphic 

 notice of all gales. In the course of the year the 

 hourly statistics of the duration of winds from 

 different directions (partially published in 1912) have 

 been materially extended. These, when discussed, as 

 promised, will throw much light on the climate 



