January 17, 1901] 



NA TURE 



285 



well as by the members of the society before which it was pre- 

 sented. After relating the history of the discovery of the 

 remarkable moUuscan fauna of the great lake, and pointing out 

 how it differs essentially in its vc\.z.x\n^ fades from that of all the 

 other African lakes, the author refers to the Tanganyika jelly- 

 fish, and concludes that the evidence in favour of the marine 

 origin of the " halolimnic " fauna is overwhelming and irresist- 

 ible. He then discusses the objections that have been raised 

 against his theory on the ground that, according to an opinion 

 advanced years ago by Sir R. Murchison, no part of the interior 

 of Africa has ever been beneath the sea. This opinion was in 

 part based upon the presumed absence of evidence of volcanic 

 activity in Africa south of the equator. The discovery of 

 volcanoes, both active and passive, in this area, as well as of 

 huge lava-flows, discounts the latter part of the objection, while 

 the evidence of the Tanganyika fauna itself is considered to 

 outweigh the other part. 



As regards the outlet by which Tanganyika (presumably as far 

 back as Jurassic times) communicated with the ocean, Mr. 

 Moore adduced evidence to show that, instead of being north- 

 wards by way of the other great lakes and the Nile valley, this 

 must apparently ha\e taken place by way of the Congo. The 

 author, from the physical features of the country, was led fco 

 believe " that the lake had at some former time extended far to 

 the west of its present site, in the neighbourhood of the Lukuga. 

 It is only necessary for such extension to cover some eighty 

 miles to bring it into communication with the great circular 

 basin of the Congo itself." It is true that the evidence against 

 the original northward extension of the lake is mainly of a 

 negative nature, that is to say, the absence of the halolimnic 

 fauna in the northern lakes ; but, as Prof. Lankester observed, 

 negative evidence "has its distinct importance and value as 

 much as positive evidence, and we are in a position to say cer- 

 tainly that the marine fauna of which Mr. Moore has so fully 

 established the existence in Tanganyika did not arise from a 

 northward extension of the lake." 



Part iv., completing vol. xxi., of the Transactions of the 

 Botanical Society of Edinburgh, contains a second article by 

 Mr. C. E. Hall on tree measurements, from which it would 

 appear that in the tropics, as with us, the chief factor in the 

 growth of trees is rain. 



A NEW text-book of botany (" Cours de Botanique," pub- 

 lished by Dupont, Paris) 'is announced, by Profs. Bonnier and 

 Leclerc du Sablon, in two vols. (25 fr.), with upwards of 3000 

 illustrations, mostly drawn from nature. A new departure is 

 claimed, in the item that the description and anatomy of the 

 organs are taken from a certain number of type-species chosen 

 from widely spread plants. 



We have received the Report of the Moss Exchange Club for 

 the years 1899- 1900. Associations of this kind are obviously 

 useful in promoting an interest in their particular branch of 

 science, and the study and determination of critical species. 

 Their danger lies in the destruction of rare and local species, 

 and we should have liked to have seen a hint to this effect in the 

 Report. The honorary secretary of the club, to whom com- 

 munications are to be addressed, is Mr. C. H. Waddell ; but 

 we do not find his address in the Report, which is printed at 

 Stroud. 



The volume of Knowledge for 1900 contains numerous 

 splendid collotype plates and other illustrations accompanying 

 articles on subjects belonging to most branches of science. 



Dr. Oliver Lodge's presidential address on the controversy 

 concerning Volta's Contact Force, delivered to the Physical 

 Society at the annual general meeting in February last, is 

 published, with other papers, in the December number of the 

 Proceedings of the Society. 



NO. 1629, VOL. 63] 



The six monthly numbers of the Geographical Journal, from 

 July to December 1900, make up volume xvL, which has just 

 been published by the Royal Geographical Society. The volume 

 contains 766 pages, as well as numerous coloured maps, and is 

 full of matter of interest to the student of geography in all its 

 aspects. Among the many important papers are Dr. C. Hose's 

 account of the natives of Borneo, Captain Deasy's "Journeys in 

 Central Asia," Mr. E. S. Grogan's "Through Africa from the 

 Cape to Cairo," Prof. Haddon's " Studies in the Anthropo- 

 geography of British New Guinea," Mrs. Ogilvie Gordon's 

 "Origin of Land-Forms through Crust Torsion," Mr. Borch- 

 grevink's description of the Southern Cross Antarctic expedition, 

 and Dr. Donaldson Smith's " Expedition between Lake Rudolf 

 and the Nile." Most of the papers are accompanied by repro- 

 ductions of photographs of the regions or peoples visited. 



The "Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities " 

 in the British Museum, which has just been published, is a 

 marvel of interest and cheapness, the price being only one shil- 

 ling. The guide provides notes, interpretations, and thirty-four 

 excellent plates, referring to Babylonian and Assyrian antiqui- 

 ties covering a period of about five thousand years, ranging 

 from about B.C. 4500 to a.d. 500. " In them," Dr. Wallis Budge 

 remarks in the preface, " are comprised by far the largest por- 

 tion of available material for reconstructing the history of 

 Western Asia, inscribed in the cuneiform character." Dr. 

 Budge's numerous contributions to the science of antiquities 

 have had a profound influence upon intellectual progress ; and 

 this new guide, though small in comparison with the works 

 which stand as a monument to his vast knowledge of the past, 

 give students an additional reason for being grateful to him. 

 By the publication of the Guide the Trustees of the British 

 Museum have rendered available a mass of information of 

 intere.st to students and the public alike. 



The publication of a great work on systematic botany has 

 been commenced by Mr. Englemann, of Leipzig (London: 

 Williams and Norgate), under the title "Das Pflanzenreich." 

 The work has been undertaken by Prof. A, Engler, and is to be 

 a complete record of the plant kingdom. Particulars of the 

 plan of the work, two fascicules of which have been received, 

 are given in Messrs. Williams and Norgate's Book Circular for 

 December. Every one of the 280 families is to form a mono- 

 graph by itself, with a separate and complete index, the larger 

 families each formin g a separate fascicule. Each family begins 

 with the enumeration of the literature, including monographs, 

 which are restricted to genera, provided they deal with general 

 morphological points, while the purely systematic treatises on 

 genera are quoted with the latter. To each family is attached a 

 complete list of its groups, genera and species, with the generic 

 and specific synonyms. The work is amply illustrated by 

 original drawings, with especial reference to the generic and 

 sectional characters of the plants. This gigantic undertaking 

 will, of course, require many years for its completion ; but this 

 is guaranteed, to a great extent, by subventions from the Prus- 

 sian Government and the Imperial Academy of Sciences. The 

 editor is anxious that it should be known that the present 

 " Pflanzenreich " is not a second edition of the " Naturliche 

 Pflanzenfamilien," supplements to which will continue to be 

 published every few years. 



The much-debated question of the existence of an ammonium 

 amalgam would appear to be finally settled in the affirmative as 

 the result of recent researches. The fact that the volumes of 

 ammonia and hydrogen evolved from ammonium amalgam are 

 in the ratio of 2 : i has been regarded as evidence in favour of 

 Berzelius' ammonium theory, but the inability of ammonium 

 amalgam to effect the reduction of the heavy metals from their 

 salt solutions, in opposition to potassium and sodium amalgam, 



