3o6 



NATURE 



[January 24, 1901 



previous years. The failure of the rainfall was chiefly due to the 

 weakness of the Arabian Sea monsoon current, which generally 

 brings heavy rainfall in July and August. Another feature 

 of the year was the abnormal high barometric pressure which 

 obtained during the monsoon months. The observations of 

 many years show that such conditions are attended by a general 

 decrease in the rainfall ; in the years 1876, 1896 and 1899, the 

 most recent years of drought, the average pressures during the 

 monsoon months were '015, '012 and "054 inch, respectively, 

 above the normal. It is noteworthy that in South Africa 1899 

 appears to have been a year of excessive rainfall. 



The Electro- Chemist and Metallurgist has made its appear- 

 ance, and we trust it has come to stay ; for it should be the 

 means of directing attention to a very promising branch of 

 applied electricity, and of advancing a knowledge of electro- 

 chemistry. Germany has two periodicals devoted exclusively 

 to electro-chemistry, and is in advance of us, not only in this 

 respect, but also in the provision made for the study and use of 

 electro-chemical processes. The first article in the new 

 periodical, on "Recent Progress in Electro-chemistry," shows 

 that England's share in the advances of recent years is pot in 

 proportion to her position in science and industry. It is stated 

 that the total horse- power expended in electro-chemical indus- 

 tries is about 400,000, " equivalent to a total yearly production 

 valued at over 30,000,000/., of which the United States con- 

 tributes between 60 and 70 per cent., Germany and France 

 about 10 per cent, each, Switzerland about 2 per cent., and 

 England not more than I J per cent." Among the subjects of 

 other articles in the journal are little-known carbides, borides 

 and silicides ; electro-chemistry at the Paris Exhibition ; depo- 

 sition of metals from mixed electrolytes ; and the present and 

 future of accumulators. In addition, there are several pages of 

 abstracts from foreign contemporary journals, and from recent 

 patent specifications. The journal will be published monthly, 

 and should have a wide sphere of influence in the electro- 

 chemical and metallurgical professions in England. 



To the December issue of the American Naturalist, Prof. 

 H. F. Osborn contributes the third instalment of his investiga- 

 tions into the origin of the Mammalia, taking as his text the 

 evolution bf the occipital condyles of the skull. It has been 

 very generally supposed that the paired mammalian condyles 

 are inherited directly from those of the Amphibia. This, how- 

 ever, the author considers to be a misconception ; his objection 

 being largely based on the circumstance that in the Amphibia 

 the condyles are derived exclusively from the exoccipitals, 

 without any trace of a basioccipital element. On the other 

 hand, in many mammals, especially Echidna, the basioccipital 

 forms the basal portion of the condyles, or, at all events, the 

 intercondylar interval ; and it is shown by figures how such 

 condyles are traceable to the tripartite condyle of reptiles by the 

 gradual abortion ot the median basal element. In fact, one 

 anomodont reptile {Cynognathus) has actually attained the 

 dicondylar type by means of this elimination. 



In the same journal. Prof. C. S. Minot, preparatory to the 

 publication of a text-book on the subject, calls attention to his 

 own method of teaching mammalian embryology. He recom- 

 mends, first, the study of pig embryos of from 9 to 12 mm. in 

 length, and, secondly, larger examples of the same, after which 

 the embryo chicken should be taken in hand to illustrate the 

 germ-layers. Then should come the study of the foetal enve- 

 lopes, including the human placenta, and finally an investiga- 

 tion of the genital elements, segmentation, «Scc. Before calling 

 attention to the importance of the "cervical bend" as distinc- 

 tive of mammalian embryos. Prof. Minot takes occasion to refer 

 to the superiority of the German system of " black line " wood- 



NO. 1630, VOL. 6'i^'\ 



engraving for the purpose of illustrating embryological studies, 

 the cheapness of German work being likewise an important 

 factor. 



Dr. J. Beard, of Edinburgh, has recently contributed to 

 the current volume (xviii.) of the Anatomischer Anzeiger two 

 suggestive papers bearing on the fate and function of that physio- 

 logical puzzle, the thymus gland. In the former of these (Nos. 

 15 and 16) he identifies a certain structure in the spiracle of the 

 ray (Raia) as the representative of the thymus. In the latter 

 (Nos. 22 and 23) he arrives at the conclusion that the thymus 

 is the source of all the "leucocytes" of all true vertebrated 

 animals, and hence that it is the origin of all the lymphoid 

 structures of the body. The latter statement, he observes, throws 

 light upon the fact that the thymus is an example of an organ 

 which, after being functional in early life, gradually atrophies. 

 "This is only certainly known to happen in mammals, and 

 from it the inference is drawn that in later life the organ ceases 

 to exist. It no more ceases to exist than would the Anglo- 

 Saxon race disappear were the British Isles to sink beneath the 

 waves." 



An interesting description of the ravages of white ants, or 

 termites, in Rhodesia is furnished by the Rev. A. Leboeuf to 

 \^t. Zambesi Mission Record iox IzxiXX'Axy . The special interest 

 of the contribution centres in the account of the damage done 

 to property by white ants in Rhodesia, which seems to be even 

 greater than in India. It is no uncommon thing, says the 

 writer, for the colonist, on returning from his day's labour, to 

 find the coat he left hanging on a nail of his cottage wall and 

 the books on the table absolutely destroyed by these tiny 

 marauders. Nor is this all. " On awaking next morning," 

 writes Mr. Leboeuf, " you are astonished to see in the dim light 

 a cone-shaped object rising from the brick floor a short distance 

 from your bed, with two holes on the top like the crater of a 

 miniature volcano. Upon closer examination you discover that 

 the holes have just the size and shape of the inside of your 

 boots, which you incautiously left on the brick floor the night 

 before. They have given form and proportion to an ant heap, 

 and nothing is left of them except the nails, eyelets and, maybe, 

 part of the heels." And as the same dismal story — with varia- 

 tions — has to be told about every other article of apparel and all 

 perishable objects, it must be admitted that there are drawbacks 

 to the lot of a settler in Rhodesia. 



The Agricttltural Students' Gazette for December contains 

 an appreciative article on the late Sir John Bennet Lawes, who 

 always took a kindly interest in the success of the college at 

 Cirencester. 



The West of Scotland Agricultural College has sent out an 

 interesting report on a series of experiments on the growth of 

 oats in the season of 1899. A considerable number of the 

 leading varieties were grown under equal conditions in various 

 districts of Scotland ; their yield, as regards grain, straw, meal 

 and husk, being subsequently determined. While the results 

 of a single season — and that an altogether abnormal one — cannot 

 be accepted as final, enough is shown to justify further attention 

 being bestowed on the matter. Greater care should, however, 

 be given in future to safe -guarding the crops against the depre- 

 dations of birda and ground game, for where such pests are 

 admitted to have interfered with growth, a justifiable lack of 

 complete confidence in the results is engendered. On the whole 

 the older varieties have come satisfactorily through the trial, 

 most of the newer sorts being apparently unable to contend suc- 

 cessfully with unfavourable conditions of growth. They have, 

 moreover, in some cases an undesirably thick husk, and a cor- 

 respondingly small kernel. It is to be hoped that Profs. Wright 

 and McAlpine have continued this work during the past season. 



