April i8, 1901] 



NATURE 



595 



or the larviie of other species, many of these termites or larvoe 

 will be carried about or stowed away in some corner of the nest 

 for several days before being consumed. 



We are glad to learn, from its Report for the year 1900, that 

 the Rugby School Natural History Society is in a flourishing 

 condition and continues to make good progress. The require- 

 ments of its members render it essential that this body should 

 not confine its investigations and its museum to local subjects, 

 but it may be questioned whether a collection of Samoan ferns is 

 entitled to form one of its exhibits. Two of the members of 

 the Society are endeavouring to emulate Mr. Kearton in photo- 

 graphing the nests of birds in their natural situations, and, 

 judging from the specimens published, may be congratulated on 

 their efforts. 



The twentieth fasciculus of" Papers from the Harriman Alaska 

 Expedition," now in course of publication in the Proceedings of 

 the Washington Academy, deals with the nemertean worms, and 

 is illustrated by an excellent coloured plate. During the summer 

 of 1899 exceptionally favourable opportunities were enjoyed of 

 collecting these worms on the Alaska coast south of Bering 

 Sea, and the result has been to add very largely indeed to our 

 knowledge of these organisms. Some thirty-two species were 

 collected by the expedition, of which Dr. W. R. Coe describes 

 no less than twenty-seven as previously unknown to science, 

 while only two of the remainder had hitherto been recorded as 

 denizens of the Pacific. No new generic types were found. 

 For preserving these worms Dr. Coe reports that he found a 

 solution of from two to five per cent, of formalin in sea- water 

 gave satisfactory results so far as the preservation of external 

 form is concerned, although it ruined the nerve and connective 

 tissues. 



In the Proceedings of the Washington Academy of March 26 

 (vol. iii. pp. 111-138), Mr. G. S. Miller describes a collection 

 of mammals made by Dr. W. L, Abbott in the Natuna Islands, 

 lying between the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. Two collec- 

 tions of mammals from these islands have been previously de- 

 scribed, the one by Messrs. Thomas and Hartert and the second 

 by Mr. Thomas alone, the material having been obtained by 

 Mr. A. Everett in 1893 and by Mr. E. Hose in the following 

 year. The well-known energy of Dr. Abbott has added largely 

 to the number of species obtained by these collectors, and Mr. 

 Miller describes many of the acquisitions as new, among them 

 being two species of chevrotain and a wild pig. With regard to 

 a discussion that has taken place as to the relationships of the 

 Natuna fauna, the present collection tends to show that there is 

 a greater similarity between the mammals of the Malay Penin- 

 sula, Borneo and the intervening islands than has been hitherto 

 supposed. Consequently there is little room for discussion as to 

 whether the Natuna fauna comes nearer to that of the peninsula 

 or of the large island. 



although interesting as bearing record as to what did occur at 

 one time or another, are now necessarily incomplete ; many of 

 the finds are no longer to be found, whilst other and new ones 

 have to be added." It is much to be desired that investigations 

 of a similar nature should be undertaken in other parts of the 

 country where analogous changes have taken place. 



Part 4 of vol. xiii. (March 1901) of the Proceedings of the 

 Cot tes wold Naturalists' Field Club contains an elaborate and 

 well-illustrated memoir by Dr. S. S. Buckman on *' homceo- 

 morphy " among Jurassic brachiopods. By homoeomorphy the 

 author understand " the phenomenon of species nearly alike so 

 far as superficial appearance is concerned, but unlike when 

 particular structural details are closely examined. It is the 

 phenomenon of similarity in general with dissimilarity in details. " 

 Dr. Buckman's views are too complicated to discuss in this 

 column, but it may be mentioned that, in his opinion, much 

 confusion has arisen in the description of Jurassic brachiopods 

 owing to failure in recognising the phenomenon in question. 

 To the same publication the Rev. A. R. Winnington-Ingram 

 contributes some notes on polydactylism in cats. The family 

 to which he refers have a cross of the Manx breed, and the 

 supernumerary digits are attributed to reversion to polydactylous 

 ancestors intermediate between fishes and amphibians. 



The way in which the American Anthropological Museums 

 are growing is a continual source of congratulation and at the 

 same time of envy on our part and 1 egret that there is such in- 

 difference to the science in Britain. To give one instance of the 

 example set by our American friends, Dr. G. A. Dorsey in- 

 forms us in ^c/Vwc^ (n. s., vol. xiii. p. 219) that in 1897 the 

 Hopi collection of the Field Columbian Museum for Chicago 

 was comprised within three cases. Thanks to Dr. Dorsey's 

 representations, Mr. Stanley McCormick was induced to pur- 

 chase for the Museum a very extensive collection formed by 

 Mr. H. R. Voth, who has long been a missionary among the 

 Hopi. Then, in order to render the exhibit exhaustive, Mr. 

 McCormick, with characteristic American generosity, provided 

 the funds for four expeditions which have very successfully 

 investigated the archaeology of the Hopi country, with the result 

 that two halls in the Museum containing thirty-four cases are 

 devoted to a demonstration of jthe ordinary everyday life of the 

 Ilopi and their past culture, and a third hall will shortly be 

 filled. The most valuable exhibits are reproductions of nine of 

 the underground altars, with their sand mosaics, which play so 

 important a part in the great nine-day ceremonies of these 

 interesting people. We have nothing in the whole British 

 Empire to compare with this ! 



In its Report for the past year the Wellington College Natural 

 Science Society directs attention to the efforts it has been 

 making towards the revival of field work by the establishment 

 of a field-club for the systematic investigation of the local fauna 

 and flora within a twelve-mile radius. The project is worthy of 

 all commendation as being the one important raison cCitre of 

 local natural history societies. And a special interest and im- 

 portance attaches to such an investigation at the present time in 

 the neighbourhood of the College. Six years ago the Society 

 published local faunal lists compiled from the records of the 

 previous twenty years. "During that time a great change 

 came over the country just round the College ; cultivation, 

 drainage and building have all aided in destroying many plants 

 and insects that used occasionally to be found ; and these lists, \ 

 NO. 1642, VOL. 63] 



Dr. Thoroddsen contributes to Petermann s Mitteilungen a 

 paper on the earthquakes which occurred in Iceland in August 

 and September 1896. In order to collect material for this report 

 the author first addressed inquiries to a number of residents in the 

 district affected — the southern lowland of Iceland — and in 1897 

 made an examination on the spot. Dr. Thoroddsen has been 

 able to locate with considerable precision the region of greatest 

 intensity of disturbance, and finds that, as in former cases, the 

 chief centre of origin lay near the boundary between the sub- 

 siding lowland and the surrounding highland. The disturbance 

 was, therefore, of tectonic origin ; the volcanoes in the neigh- 

 bourhood — Hekla, Katla and Eyjafjallajokull — remained passive 

 during and after the earthquake shocks. 



The Geographical Journal for April contains an analysis of 

 the physical geography of South America, by Col. G. E. Church. 

 The paper, which is to form the introductory chapter of a book 

 on the subject, gives a close comparison of the conditions in 

 North and South America, and shows that " in general, man 

 finds himself confronted by severe conditions in his struggle with 



