I40 



NATURE 



[December 6, 1900 



sabellid worms collectively designated as Polychsetes, one by 

 Mr. A. Patience on the Decapod Crustacea of the Largs Channel, 

 and one by Mr. J. Rankin on the Tunicates of the Millport 

 neighbourhood, the latter containing descriptions of three new 

 species. Attention may also be directed to a communication by 

 Dr. J. F. Gemmill regarding the influence of nutrition on sex. 

 The mussel and the limpet, in which the differentiation of sex 

 does not take place till a comparatively advanced stage of life, 

 are taken as examples ; and it is shown that the more highly 

 nourished individuals living in low zones do not display any 

 preponderance of females over their less fortunate brethren, 

 who are out of water for a longer period at each tide. 



Part ii. of vol. xxix. of the Morphologisches Jahrbuch is 

 chiefly taken up by investigations on myology, one of these 

 papers, by Herr H. Engert, dealing with the development of 

 the abdominal muscles of birds, while the second, by Herr H. 

 Klaatsch, treats of the short head of the/^zV^/J cruris {ox femoris) 

 and the so-called ^ra;«7w«;««j muscle of the thigh in mammals. 

 As its subtitle — ein stammesgeschichtlicher Problem — implies, 

 the latter is really a phylogenetic paper, taking into consideration 

 the relations of man to the other Primates, and of the latter to 

 other mammalian orders. To formulate the author's investiga- 

 tions and conclusions briefly is by no means easy. But it may 

 be mentioned that he identifies \.\\q gracilissimus (which must 

 not be confused with the gracilis) with the short head of the 

 biceps cruris of human anatomy, and finds that the lower Old 

 World monkeys possess no representative of this muscle at all. 

 For this muscle, in its different forms, the name gluteo-cruralis 

 is proposed. It occurs as a true gracilissimus in the lower 

 American monkeys, all Carnivora, and certain Rodents, 

 Marsupials, Edentates and Insectivora. As the main muscle of 

 the upper leg it is found in some Edentates, the Orang, and the 

 majority of the American monkeys, while it forms the short head 

 of the biceps cruris in man. Gibbons, the Howlers, the Chim- 

 panzee and the Gorilla. Whether the Old World monkeys have 

 lost the gracilissimus, or whether they never possessed that 

 muscle, is left an open question. But it is urged that the less a 

 monkey departs from the primitive type (as represented by the 

 Carnivora), the nearer it approaches man, and in this respect the 

 majority oi American monkeys are more man-like than their 

 Old World representatives. 



To the ZeHschrift fur wissenschaftliche Zoologie (vol. xviii., 

 pt. 3), Herr C. Sihler contributes a paper on muscle-nerves, 

 while in the same issue Herr R. Hesse continues his investi- 

 gations on the visual organs of the lower animals, dealing in 

 this instance with the eyes of certain molluscs. 



Mr. Thomas SHEPPARDhas prepared a descriptive catalogue 

 of the specimens in the Mortimer Museum of xVrchseology and 

 Geology at Driffield. The specimens were gathered together 

 by Mr. J. R. Mortimer during the past forty years, and they 

 comprise relics of Neolithic and later periods which are de- 

 scribed, explained and in many cases illustrated in the work 

 before us. Some doubtful Palaeolithic and Eolithic flints are 

 mentioned. Mr. Mortimer began collecting at a time when the 

 Yorkshire Wolds formed a region prolific in pre-historic re- 

 mains. The farm labourers were induced to spend their spare 

 time in searching for them, and many a basketful of specimens 

 was brought to Mr. Mortimer. Now these treasures are rare. 

 Fossils from the chalk were also more readily to be obtained in 

 former years, when the chalk was more extensively quarried, 

 and a fine series of fossils from this and other local strata is 

 exhibited in the museum. The handbook now issued will be of 

 essential service to local workers. 



Further illustrations are presented by Mr. W. J. G; Land, 

 in a short article reprinted from the Botanical Gazette, of the 

 remarkable process in the fertilisation of flowering plants ob- 



NO. 1623, VOL. 63] 



served by Nawaschin, Guignard, Miss Sargant, and others. 

 These observations explain the invariable presence of two 

 sperm-nuclei in the pollen-tube by the fact that, while one of 

 them fuses with the oosphere to produce the embryo, the other 

 fuses with one of the polar nuclei of the embryo-sac (or with 

 both when combined into the central nucleus) to produce the 

 endosperm. Mr. Land adds to the Angiosperms in which this 

 process has been observed two genera of Compositse, Erigeroit 

 and Silphium. He does not accept Guignard's designation of 

 the process "pseudo-fecundation," but regards it as a true 

 process of impregnation. It is interesting, also, to note that in 

 these genera the sperm-nuclei of the pollen-tube have, as in 

 other instances, the coiled form, which indicates their descent 

 from the spermatozoids of vascular cryptogams. 



The Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales contains an 

 article by Mr. W. J. Allen on the culture of the olive in 

 Australia. He states that in both South Australia and 

 Victoria this industry has received considerable attention, good 

 crops of fruit being now obtained which yield a good oil. It 

 is evident, however, that if, as Mr. Allen says, the climate of 

 every part of New South Wales is suitable for the growth of the 

 olive, it may in the future become a much more important 

 industry in our Australian colonies than it is at present. 



The December number of the Journal of the Chemical 

 Society contains a portrait of the late Prof. Nilson, and the 

 Nilson memorial lecture delivered by Prof. O. Pettersson. 



Messrs. Blackie and Son have published the seventh edi- 

 tion of "An Elementary Text-book of Coal Mining," by Mr., 

 Robert Peel. A chapter has been added on the applications of 

 electricity to various operations in mining. 



Mr. a. M. Brice gives a graphic account of the great 

 Charleston earthquake of 1886, in the December number of 

 Macmillaft's Magazine. In many respects it resembles Mr. 

 McKinley's equally vivid account quoted in Captain Dutton's 

 memoir. The panic of the whites, the childish terror of the 

 negroes, the destruction of the city and many other features 

 are well described. Mr. Brice also gives some interesting ex- 

 amples of the apparently capricious effects of the earthquake, 

 some houses being comparatively unhurt and yet standing in the 

 midst of others completely ruined. 



The Transactions of the Rochdale Literary and Scientific 

 Society contain papers on various subjects read before that 

 Society. In vol. vi. (1898-1900), among the articles of general 

 scientific interest are a list of the birds that frequent Holling- 

 worth Lake, by Mr. J. Stott, and a description of Hades Hill 

 Barrow, by Mr. W. H. Sutcliffe. This is a round barrow 

 and contained a broken rude urn, some burnt bones and flint 

 implements and flakes. 



In Nature (vol. liv. pp. 449-450), an account is given of the 

 sea- waves connected with the Japanese earthquake of June 15, 

 1896, so far as they affected the eastern coasts of the islands. 

 The propagation of the sea-waves across the Pacific is discussed 

 by Dr. C. Davison in the last number of the Philosophical 

 Magazine. Copies of the records of the tide-gauges at Honolulu 

 and Sausalito (San Francisco Bay) are given. The earthquake 

 originated beneath an area near the foot of the western slope of 

 the Tuscarora Deep, and the sea-waves traversed the distances 

 from the epicentre to Honolulu and Sausalito, which are 3591 

 and 4787 miles, in 7h. 44m. and loh. 34m. respectively. The 

 path from the epicentre to Sausalito is free from islands, and the 

 mean depth along it is roughly 17,000 feet. If the depth were 

 uniform, that corresponding to the mean velocity with which the 

 waves travelled would be 13,778 feet. The explanation of the 



