January io, 1901] 



NATURE 



259 



moon and planets, with weighted bases and movable axes, are 

 placed in their proper positions on their various orbits as 

 determined from an ephemeris. In addition, there are various 

 appendages capable of attachment to the objects for the illus- 

 tration of special phenomena, such as eclipses of the sun and 

 moon. The apparatus should be specially useful in classes 

 where it is possible to allow the pupils to individually work 

 exercises in the proper grouping of the planets, as in that way 

 many of the definitions connected with orbital motion are pre- 

 sented in'a very simple manner. 



A VALUABLE contribution to the climatology of Africa appears 

 in the Mitleilungen aiis den deutschen Schutzgebieten in the form 

 of records obtained from self-registering meteorological instru- 

 ments in German East Africa. The period covered extends 

 from the end of 1895 to the end of 1899, and the records, more 

 or less complete in each case, are from the seven stations Dar-es- 

 Salam, Tanga, Kwai, Tosamaganga, Tabora, Kibosho and 

 Muansa. 



The Zeilschrift dcr GeseUschaft fur Erdkunde zu Berlin 

 contains an important article on the question of glaciation in 

 the Central Balkans by Prof. W. Gotz. The author's investiga- 

 tions support the conclusions that (i) after diluvial deposits had 

 been laid down in the mountain valleys, the erosive action of 

 the streams greatly increased, probably on account of sinking of 

 the lower courses ; (2) the apparent indications of glacial action 

 met with are false ; and (3) traces of glacial phenomena are 

 absent where they ought to be most marked, at the higher 

 elevations in regions suited to the formation of snow-fields. 



The Oregon mountaineering club, which has adopted the 

 title Mazama, the Indian name of the mountain goat, has just 

 issued the first number of the second volume, or, rather series, of 

 its journal. The number is devoted to Mount Rainier, and 

 includes an account of the expedition of the club to that moun- 

 tain in 1897. Observations of the mercurial barometer, made at 

 the summit by Prof. Edgar McClure, who lost his life by a fall 

 during the descent, have been reduced by Prof. E. H. M'Allister, 

 and give the height of Mount Rainier at 14,528 feet, compared 

 with 14,519 feet obtained by the United States Geological 

 Survey. 



In an article on the Phyllades of the Ardennes compared with 

 the Slates of North Wales (Part ii. Proc. Liverpool Geol. Soc, 

 1900), Mr. T. Mellard Reade and Mr. P. Holland state their 

 conclusions that slaty cleavage is not alone a mechanical effect, 

 but that it is mainly due to a development of flaky minerals in 

 conjunction with the shearing forces to which the slate rock has 

 undoubtedly been subjected. 



'* The Geology of the Country between Atherstone and 

 Charnwood Forest " is the title of a geological survey memoir 

 by Mr. C. Fox-Strangways, just published in explanation of 

 the map No. 155. The pictorial frontispiece illustrates the 

 Hanging Rocks at Woodhouse Eaves, one of those crags of 

 sharply pointed rocks which characterise Charnwood Forest, and 

 in some instances suggest resemblances to the kopjes of British 

 South Africa. These ancient pre- Cambrian rocks have been 

 studied in detail by Prof. W. W. Watts, who contributes a 

 chapter on the subject confirming the main results attained by 

 Prof. Bonney and the Rev. E. Hill, and adding much in the de- 

 termination of an orderly succession. Mr. Strangways con- 

 tributes chapters on the Stockingford Shales of Cambrian age, 

 on the Coal-measures of parts of Warwickshire and Leicester- 

 shire, with illustrative sections and records of borings and sink- 

 ings, and on the newer deposits, Permian and Trias, Glacial 

 and Recent. In an Appendix there is a list of works on the 

 geology of Leicestershire, which has been compiled by Mr. 

 Strangways with the aid of Mr. Whitaker. 



NO. 1628, VOL. 63] 



To the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy (1900, 

 pp. 568-581) Mr. H. A. Pilsbry has recently contributed a sug- 

 gestive paper on the genesis of the faunas of the middle Pacific 

 islands. The land moUusca of these islands form the basis of 

 the discussion, which is formulated by the author in the follow- 

 ing words : — *' Are the Mid- Pacific snail faunas witnesses to the 

 existence of a palaeozoic or early mesozoic land mass, probably 

 continental in proportions, and peopled by representatives of 

 nearly all land-snail groups then existing ? " A further question 

 is whether this hypothetical continent was connected at a 

 comparatively recent epoch with Chili. It is concluded that the 

 evidence in favour of the existence of such a continent (upon the 

 sunken heights of which the present island-masses, volcanic or 

 coral, have been superimposed) is overwhelming. But both the 

 marine and terrestrial molluscs lend no countenance that this 

 continent was ever connected with America. It is somewhat 

 curious that the author makes no reference to the Gondwana 

 flora, which has been considered by Blanford and others as 

 affording evidence of a girdle of land round much of the globe 

 in low latitudes in palaeozoic or mesozoic times. 



The fourth part of vol. Ixviii. of the Zeitschrift fUr wissen- 

 schaftliche Zoologie contains an important paper by Herr Antonin 

 Stole on the power of assimilating and producing hydro- 

 carbons by amceba-like organisms, such as Peloniyxa palusiris. 

 In spite of certain experiments that have had a negative result, 

 the author is of opinion that such a power undoubtedly exists in 

 the species mentioned, as well as in other members of the group, 

 and he refers to the detection by Reinke and Rodewald of 

 glycogen in the tissues of Aethalium septicum. To the same 

 issue Herr W. Redikorzew contributes the results of his in- 

 vestigations into the structure of the ocelli of insects and other 

 arthropods. The ocelli are originally formed by a depression 

 in the thick hypodermal layer, in which one of two subsequent 

 modes of development takes place. 



Parts x to xix of "Papers from the Harriman Alaska Ex- 

 pedition," all of which are devoted to the entomological results 

 (including Arachnids), have been received. Mr. N, Banks deals 

 with the Neuropteroid insects and Arachnida, Mr. H. G. Dyar 

 with the Lepidoptera, Mr. O. Heidemann with the Heteroptera, 

 Mr. T. Kincaid with the Sphegoids and Vespoids, while Mr. 

 A. N. Caudell is responsible for the Orthoptera, Mr. T. Per. 

 gande for the Aphididae and Formicidse, and Mr. E. A. Schwarz 

 for the Coleoptera and the Psyllidae. The beetles are the group 

 which had been most worked previously ; only a single species 

 of Orthoptera was obtained ; but in most of the other groups a 

 considerable number of new types were collected. 



The January number of ^t Journal of Conchology contains a 

 list of British Marine Molluscs and Brachiopods, prepared by a 

 committee of the Conchological Society. This is a good start 

 for the new century, the nomenclature having been thoroughly 

 revised and brought up to date. Some of the names, such as 

 Neptunea antiqiia for the red whelk, may be unfamiliar and 

 strange, but it is to be hoped that in future they may, for the 

 sake of uniformity, be adopted by all. 



Additions to the British insect fauna continue to be made 

 from time to time, the Entoviologisf s Monthly Magazine for 

 January recording two kinds of saw-flies as new to our islands, 

 while it also gives a list of species of beetles added to the list 

 during 1899 and 1900. 



Reviewing the recent report on the working and results of 

 the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm, Dr. Maxwell Masters 

 suggested (p. 178) that it would be an advantage to make a 

 corresponding series of growths on poor soil, so as to afford a 

 basis for comparison. We now learn that such a control station 

 has been established already on a relatively barren soil ; but the 



