December io, 19 14] 



NATURE 



409 



variation in almost every character used by system- 

 atists to distinguish different species. In six speci- 

 mens of Geotria chilensis taken aUve at the same time, 

 the length of the interspace between the two dorsal 

 fins varied from o-6 of the length of the dorsal fin 

 to 1-3 times that length. Dr. Leach divides the 

 24 specimens of Geotria examined into three species, 

 and the 22 specimens of Mordacia into two 

 species. The remarkable, large pouch of Geotria 

 australis is not a secondary sexual character, for it is 

 present in females as well as in males ; its use is not 

 known. 



Notes on Australian Frogs. 



Mr. J. Booth commenced work on the Australian 

 frogs in the hope of finding some method of identifica- 

 tion without resort to the dissection necessary to 

 examine the sternal apparatus and the sacral vertebrae, 

 but found that description and measurement of the 

 external features could not replace observations on the 

 skeletal girdles, the characters of which are of para- 

 mount significance, while the external configuration 

 is more related to the mode of life of the animals 

 and largely corresponds with the classification into 

 swimming, climbing, burrowing frogs. The frogs 

 found in Australia belong almost entirely to the three 

 families of the Arcifera- — Cystignathidae. Hylidae, and 

 Bufonidae. To these must be added the family Ranidae 

 (of the Firmisternia) on account of the occurrence of 

 Rana papua in New Guinea, and on account of the 

 recent record of three species of the genus Austro- 

 chaperina. Mr. Booth remarked on certain varieties 

 of interest and on the occurrence of abnormal ex- 

 amples, the significance of which was suggested. 



Migration of Birds. 

 Prof. C. J. Patten referred to some features in the 

 diurnal migration of pipits, wagtails, and swallows 

 as observed at Tuskar Rock Light-station (Co. Wex- 

 ford). In certain periods of spring and autumn a 

 procession of migrants passes this station daily, but 

 owing to the barren nature of the rock comparatively 

 few birds alight. Most birds fly towards the land, 

 even those presumably on emigration. Pipits and 

 wagtails were estimated to travel at about 20 

 miles per hour, swallows and martins at about 90 

 miles per hour. On account of the very limited area 

 of the rock, and the considerable altitude at which 

 many of the birds fly, the descending flight for the 

 purpose of alighting, when attempted, is almost per- 

 pendicular. 



Photographs of Narwhal and Beluga. 

 Prof. H. F. E. Jungersen exhibited photographs 

 taken at Umanak in Western Greenland by a Danish 

 physician. The first series was of full-grown male 

 narwhals, and showed clearly that the tusk pierces the 

 skin of the left side of the snout above and outside 

 the mouth-opening. Prof. Jungersen remarked that 

 neither text-books nor original descriptions by authors 

 who have examined the narwhal in the flesh give clear 

 statements of the exact relation of the tusk. There 

 is. however, one exception : J. Anderson (1746) states 

 definitely that in a narwhal captured in the Elbe the 

 tusk pierces the left upper lip. The ohotographs of 

 the Beluga prove that the front end of the snout, under 

 the rounded forehead, forms a short but distinct beak. 

 Most descriptions deny the existence of a "beak," or 

 do not mention it, but in some of the better figfures 

 (e.g. by Scoresby and Flower) a "beak" is clearly 

 shown. 



The Sizes of the Red Blood Cells of Some Vertebrates. 



Dr. J. Burton Cleland summarised a series of 



systematic measurements of the red blood corpuscles 



of various Australian -vertebrates, and stated that the 



NO. 2354, VOL. 94] 



figures seem to indicate that with specialisation has 

 come eventually, both in fishes and birds, a diminution 

 in size of the red cells. The relationships of the 

 various classes of animals to each other is clearly 

 shown in the size of the red cells ; those of Elasmo- 

 branchs approximate more nearly in size to those of 

 Batrachians and Reptiles than do the red cells of 

 Teleostean fishes. The enormous red cells of the 

 Dipnoi, those of Ceratodus being 39 x 25 /x, approach 

 those of the Urodela (the red cells of Proteus are said 

 to be 58x35/1, and those of Amphiuma 77x46/1). In 

 the frogs and reptiles the size of the red cells has 

 decreased, and in birds the "oldest" forms show 

 distinctly a tendency to larger cells than the more 

 specialised ones, the smallest red cells (10 to 12x5 to 

 7/x) being met with in some families of Passerine 

 birds, while the largest (16x9/1) are found in the emu. 



The Heredity of Some Emotional Traits. 



Prof. C. B. Davenport observed that while sociolo- 

 logists, who place great stress on the importance of 

 conditions in determining human traits, have been 

 forced to admit the hereditarj' basis of feebleminded- 

 ness, they still hold, for the most part, to the view 

 that in the moral field heredity plays little part. To 

 test this view, inquiry was undertaken into the in- 

 heritance of traits of persons of the criminalistic t3'pe, 

 the base of the study being the family history of 165 

 wayward girls in State institutions of the United 

 States. About 20 traits w-ere considered in some 

 detail ; many did not yield any clear-cut results, but 

 in a least five the hereditary factor was clear, and 

 evidently determined the behaviour, (i) The tendency 

 to tantrums or violent outbursts of temper is inherited 

 in adults as a c'^minent trait, i.e., does not skip 

 generations. In several instances it was possible to 

 trace back the tendency three, four, and even five 

 generations. (2) Violent eroticism was similarly 

 traced back; half of the offspring of a highly erotic 

 parent show similar impulses. (3) Impulsions to 

 suicide are accompanied by depressions, and it appears 

 that this depression is inherited as a recessive or nega- 

 tive character. It ordinarily skips generations, but 

 the tendencv is generally found on both sides of the 

 parentage of the affected individual. (4, 5) Two other 

 traits — dipsomania and nomadism — appear to be sex- 

 linked characters transmitted through mothers to some 

 or all of their sons. They appear in daughters typic- 

 allv only when sh'^wn by the father and when the 

 tendency is also carried by the mother. If both parents 

 show the trait, all the children have the tendency to 

 develop the trait in due time. 



The Hormone Theory of Heredity. 



Dr. J. T. Cunningham held that Mendelism throws 

 no direct light on the origin of characters ; it deals 

 merely with their transmission. It is inferred, how- 

 ever, by Mendelians that characters transmitted as 

 units arose as units. From the evidence of Mendelian 

 researches it is reasonable to conclude that non- 

 adaptive specific and other diagnostic characters arose 

 in the course of gametogenesis and conjugation, but 

 the doctrine of Mendelism or mutation was, in Dr. 

 Cunningham's opinion, not applicable to the pheno- 

 mena of adaptation. He cited in support (i) Animals- 

 such as the frog, flat-fish, and caterpillar, which 

 exhibit adaptation to two quite different sets of con- 

 ditions in the individual life, and he held that it was 

 imf>ossible to believe that such transformation was 

 due to mutations not caused by the external conditions, 

 for there is no evidence that the necessary gradual 

 changes could occur unless the conditions produced 

 them. (2) The phenomena of secondary sexual char- 

 acters, of which one of the most impressive and fully 



