March 21, 1901} 



NATURE 



50J 



varying from 0*005 'o o'oig per cent. The skin was found to 

 yield from 0014 to 0*042 per cent., while the inner part gave 

 only 0*003 to 0*015 per cent. The interior part of bitter 

 cassava yielded 0*013 to 0037 per cent, while the skin and 

 outer layer yielded from o*oi2 to 0*035 P^"^ cent. Peeling sweet 

 cassava before cooking is therefore a wise precaution. Prof. 

 Carmody also suggests that the acid may in part be formed by 

 fermentative change. 



Mr. C. Thom {Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, ix. No. 8) gives 

 an account of the details of fertilisition as observed in ferns 

 belonging to the genera Aspidium and Adiantum. In describing 

 the development of the spermatozoa he states that a blepharo- 

 plast is present in the cytoplasmic part, and that the nuclear 

 portion really consists of a hollow tube, chiefly composed of 

 chromatin, enclosing a core of a substance probably represent- 

 ing a transformation of nucleolar matter. When the sperm 

 reaches the archegonium, the cytoplasmic envelope becomes 

 more or less functionless, and the nuclear part wriggles to the 

 egg by an autonomous movement. The cytoplasmic portion 

 containing the blepharoplast either is thrown off before the egg 

 is entered or it is detached and disintegrates in the egg cyto- 

 plasm. Hence the importance which has been ascribed to this 

 body, as the result of a comparison with animal centrosomes 

 would seem to have been exaggerated. The coiled nuclear part 

 of the sperm enters the nucleus of the egg, in which it can be 

 recognised for some time. Ultimately, however, the mixing of 

 the egg and sperm nuclear constituents becomes so complete 

 that finally no difference between the sexual elements can be 

 detected. 



The report of the work of the Division of Forestry of the U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture during the year 1900 has been issued. 

 The year witnessed a conspicuously wider and more effective and 

 intelligent interest in forest matters in the United States than 

 any previous year. To give an idea of the extent of the work it 

 may be mentioned that during theyear applications were received 

 for working plans for 48,078,449 acres, personal examinations 

 on the ground were made of 2,103,670 acres, working plans 

 were begun upon 1,325,000 acres; plans were completed for 

 179,000 acres, and 54,000 acres were put under management. 

 In accordance with the request of the Secretary of the Interior, 

 the preparation of a working plan for the Black Hills Forest 

 Reserve was begun as the first step toward conservative lumber- 

 ing on the national forest reserves. A unique and most promis- 

 ing study of the effect of forest cover on the flow of streams has 

 been commenced in southern California upon the lands of the 

 Arrowhead Reservoir Company, whose observations of precipita- 

 tion, run-off, evaporation and temperature for eight years have 

 been placed at the disposal of the Division of Forestry. A careful 

 study of the subordinate watersheds, which differ completely 

 among themselves in the character of their forest covering, has been 

 undertaken, and strong hopes are entertained of valuable results 

 from the comparison of the run-off from various types of cover. 

 An investigation of the value of the widespread views regard- 

 ing the effect of denudation upon the once forested lands 

 bordering the Mediterranean Sea has been begun, and the con- 

 ditions in Tunis, Algeria and Tripoli have been studied. 



We have received a reprint from the Twelfth Annual Report 

 of the Missouri Botanic Garden, a monograph of the Crotons 

 of the United States, by Mr. A. M. Ferguson. It includes 

 about twenty-four species, and is illustrated by thirty-one plates- 



A DAINTY and cheap edition — the price is only eighteenpence 

 net — of Izaak Walton's " Complete Angler," has been published 

 by Messrs. Gay and Bird. This matchless idyl of angling and 

 its associations, first appeared in 1653, and the present volume 

 is a reprint of the text of the fifth edition (1676), as revised by 



NO. 1638, VOL. 63] 



Sir John Hawkins. The book is just the kind of volume to slip 

 into the coat pocket, to be read at quiet moments by contempla- 

 tive naturalists, whether anglers or ramblers, who find pleasure 

 in observing nature. 



Several interesting articles upon scientific subjects appear 

 in the March magazines which have come under our notice. 

 The Idler contains an instructive description of the Jena glass 

 works and of Prof. Abbe's researches. Mr. Walter Wellman de- 

 scribes some experiences of his Polar expedition of 1898-1899. 

 A fine series of instantaneous photographs showing the forms 

 assumed by water thrown out of a bucket is reproduced in 

 Pearson's Magazine. Dr. Louis Robinson describes popularly 

 how adaptation to environment may lead to the survival of such 

 animals as the giraffe, camel and zebra ; and a description is 

 given of a trip in an immersible boat, the Argonaut. In 

 Scribners Magazine some of the geographical discoveries made 

 between 1825 and 1900 are shown by comparative maps. Good 

 Words contains articles on Mr. Edison, insect pests, and the 

 building of the locomotive. 



The current number of the Berichte contains a paper by 

 W. Ipatieff upon the action of a high temperature upon alcohols. 

 Since the researches of Berthelot upon the substances produced 

 when various substances are passed through red-hot tubes, very 

 little work has been done in this direction. It is now found 

 that in the case of alcohols the reaction is a much simpler one 

 than would be expected, the corresponding aldehyde being the 

 chief product. In many cases the yields are so good that it 

 forms an advantageous method for the preparation of certain 

 aldehydes. The hot tube may be of glass or iron, preferably 

 the latter, the temperature giving the best yields being about 

 700°. Methyl alcohol treated in this way gave 25 per cent, of 

 the theoretical quantity of formaldehyde, isobutyl alcohol about 

 40 per cent, and isoamyl alcohol 30 to 40 per cent, of the corre- 

 sponding aldehydes. 



Owing to the fact that the values obtained for the atomic 

 weights of iodine and tellurium are inconsistent with their rela- 

 tive positions in MendeleefiTs table, numerous determinations 

 of the atomic weight of tlie latter element have been made in 

 recent years, the results obtained varying between 127*5 

 (Staudenmayer) and 128 (Wills), all being above that of iodine 

 (126*8) instead of below it as required by the periodic law. As 

 is pointed out, however, by Herr O. Steiner in the current 

 number of the Bei-ickte, all these determinations of the atomic 

 weight of tellurium are based upon the analysis of inorganic pre- 

 parations, the methods of purification adopted giving no com- 

 plete guarantee that small quantities of substances of similar 

 properties but different atomic weights may not be present. 

 The fact that tellurium forms a stable and well-defined diphenyl- 

 telluride, Te(C8H5)2, distilling without decomposition in a 

 vacuum, was therefore utilised for a fresh determination. 

 Although these preliminary results have not the high degree of 

 precision necessary for the complete resolution of the problem, 

 Herr Steiner points out that the accuracy obtainable by an 

 ordinary combustion is sufficient to fix the atomic weight of 

 tellurium to within 0*5, and several results obtained by combus- 

 tion of the carefully fractionated product gave a mean value of 

 126*4, ^ figure much lower than those mentioned above and 

 agreeing with the prediction of the periodic table. As a con- 

 firmation of the method, a similar set of experiments upon 

 diphenylselenide gave the values 78*8 and 79 3, the number 

 usually adopted being 79 "i. The results of more exact deter- 

 minations carried out upon material purified by this method will 

 be awaited with interest. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during 

 the past week include a Dingo [Cams dingo) from Australia, 



