382 



NATURE 



[February 14. 1901 



months. Unless anything unforeseen occurs the reservoirs will 

 be in operation for the Nile flood of 1903. At Assiut the great 

 regulating danv across the Nile approaches completion, the 

 foundations being practically all in position, leaving a portion of 

 the superstructure to be completed. The sluice openings here 

 number 119, all 16 feet wide. This dam is somewhat similar in 

 principle to the well-known barrage near Cairo, but the details 

 of construction are entirely different, as the foundations are 

 guarded against undermining by a complete line of cast iron and 

 steel-piling above and below the work. The barrage itself is 

 constructed of masonry instead of brickwork as at the old 

 barrage. Although the Assiut barrage is overshadowed by the 

 greater magnitude of the Assuan dam, it will, doubtless, rank 

 second as the monumental work of Egypt. 



We have received from the Government Astronomer of 

 Western Australia the meteorological report of the observations 

 made at the Perth Observatory and other places in that Colony 

 during the year 1899. Observations have been made since 1876 

 in the botanical gardens at Perth, and are still continued ; for 

 practical purposes these are very valuable, but since the year 

 1897 much more complete and trustworthy observations have 

 been made at the new observatory. Most of the outlying 

 stations have been inspected, and the observations now 

 appear to be taken with much more care and regularity than in 

 former years. Owing to the absence of any well-defined natural 

 features, the Colony has been subdivided into one-degree 

 squares, and the rainfall values of each square are shown very 

 clearly in monthly and yearly maps. Other maps show, equally 

 clearly, the mean monthly barometer and temperature, and the 

 mean maximum day and minimum night temperature by the 

 usual method of isobars and isotherms. A set of four platinum 

 resistance thermometers has been sunk in the earth at Perth, 

 and appear to give very satisfactory results. Morning and even- 

 ing weather forecasts are issued, and have been remarkably 

 correct, the amount of complete success reaching 82 and 89 

 per cent, respectively. 



The Palseontographical Society announces that monographs 

 on the following groups of fossils are in course of preparation, 

 and will be published by the Society : the Carboniferous Lepido- 

 dendra, by Dr. D. H. Scott ; the Cycadese, by Mr. A. C. Seward ; 

 the Graptolites, by Prof. Lapworth, assisted by Miss Elles and 

 Miss Wood ; the Fishes of the Chalk, by Dr. A. S. Woodward ; 

 the Reptilia of the Oxford Clay, by Dr. C. W. Andrews ; and the 

 Cave Ilysena, by Mr. S. H. Reynolds. The volume issued by 

 the Society for 1900 contains the Cretaceous Lamellibranchs, by 

 Mr. H. Woods ; the Carboniferous Lamellibranchs, by Dr. W. 

 Hind ; and the Carboniferous Cephalopods of Ireland, by Dr. A. 

 H. Foord. 



Mk. Hugh J. L. Beadnell, of the Egyptian Geological 

 Survey, has published a brief account of the Eocene and 

 Cretaceous series in the Libyan Desert and Nile Valley 

 {^Geological Magazine, January 1901). He has also expressed 

 his opinion that the Nile Valley in Egypt, hemmed in as it is by 

 lofty cliffs, was in the main brought about by faulting and 

 disturbance in Lower Pliocene times. After the deposition of 

 the Pliocene strata a gradual elevation led to the final retreat of 

 the sea, and the valley then became the site of a series of 

 freshwater lakes. In later Pleistocene times the then youthful 

 Nile commenced its career by carving out a channel in the 

 valley deposits, before, owing to changed conditions, it began 

 depositing layer upon layer of Nile mud. 



The pre-Cambrian igneous rocks of the Fox River Valley, 

 Wisconsin, are described by Dr. Samuel Weidnian (Wisconsin 

 Geol. and Nat. Hist. Soc, Bulletin 3 of Scient. Ser. No. 2). 

 Three areas of these rocks are noted, and they represent various 

 phases from old volcanic flows to masses of deep-seated 

 NO. 1633. VOL. 63]. 



origin. In the area of the Utley meta-rhyolite, metamorphism 

 has taken place under static conditions, no cleavage is developed, 

 and the alteration has been produced through chemical change 

 without the aid of mechanical deformation. On the other hand, 

 the Berlin rhyolite-gneiss has been subjected to extreme deform- 

 ation, the original rhyolite being mashed into a gneiss ; while 

 the metamorphism of the Wanshara granite has been in part 

 static and in part mechanical, cleavage has been developed and 

 granulation of the quartz has taken place to some extent. 



A FLORA of Staffordshire, by Mr. }. E. Bagnall, is being 

 issued as a monthly supplement to \ht. Journal of Botany. 



The Report on the Botanic Gardens and Domains, New South 

 Wales, for the year 1899, gives an account of the new herbarium 

 and museum buildings which were erected during that year. 

 The director undertook no less than thirteen botanical explora- 

 tions during the year, including one of Mount Kosciusco. The 

 botanical results of these expeditions have been published in the 

 Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales or elsewhere. 



The importance of variations in the osmotic pressure to the 

 phenomena of vegetable life is illustrated in a reprint from the 

 Botanical Gazette, by Mr. B. E. Livingston, entitled " On the 

 nature of the stimulus which causes the change in form in poly- 

 morphic green Algre." A series of experiments on a species 

 of Sligeoclonium led him to the conclusion that these changes in 

 form were due to variations in the concentration of the nutritive 

 medium (Knop's solution), and not in any way to changes in its 

 chemical composition. 



An important contribution to our knowledge of the flora of 

 North America is issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

 (division of botany), as vol. vii. No. i of Contributions from the 

 U. S. National Herbarium. It consists of a monograph of 

 the North American Umbelliferseby Profs. John M. Coulter and 

 J. N. Rose. It enumerates and describes 62 native genera and 

 332 native species, besides introduced genera and species, the 

 highest previous publication having been 52 native genera and 

 217 native species. The monograph is illustrated by a number 

 of excellent wood-cuts representing either the general habit or 

 the characteristics of the fruit of the species. 



A BILATERAL division in the parietal bones of monkeys, ac- 

 cording to a paper by Dr, Ales Hrdliika in the Bulletin of the 

 American Museum for December 31, seems to be a rare feature. 



The October issue of the Bulletin of the New Mexico Col- 

 lege of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is devoted to a series of 

 observations and notes on the injurious insects of the country, 

 by Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell. 



Dr. W. F. Purcell contributes an important paper on the 

 anatomy of Opisthopatus cinetipes to the Annals of the South 

 African Museum (vol. ii. part 4). This arthropod, we may 

 remind our readers, is a near ally of the more familiar 

 Peripatus. The author is of opinion that the members of the 

 group met with in Africa may be classified as follows: — (i) 

 Peripatopsis, South Africa ; (2) Opisthopatus, South Africa ; 

 (3) Peripatus, America, Africa, and possibly India. The dis- 

 tribution of the last-named, in connection with prevalent 

 ideas as to the relationship of the South American and African 

 faunas, is significant. 



Mr. J. D. E. Holmes, superintendent of the Civil 

 Veterinary Department, calls attention, in Bulletin No. 42 of 

 the Department of Agriculture, Madras, to native beliefs 

 connected with "hair-marks" on horses and cattle. These 

 hair-marks, it appears, are formed by the changes in the 

 direction of the hair on certain parts of the body, and, 

 according to their shape, are denominated a crown, ridge, or 

 feather-mark. Throughout India, but more especially in 

 Madras, the value of a horse or an ox in native estimation 

 depends almost entirely on the presence and situation of 



