12 



NATURE 



[September 6, 1917 



account of the nesting habits of the Sooty albatross 

 of South Georgia by Mr. R. C. Murphy. During a 

 four months' stay in South Georgia Mr. Murphy found 

 plenty of nests of these birds, though all but three 

 were inaccessible, being placed on the ledges of un- 

 scalable cliffs, sometimes as much as 700 ft. up. In 

 one nest which he examined he found a male brooding 

 a downy chick, and succeeded in photographing both. 

 The coloration of the head of the latter is conspicu- 

 ously different from that of the adult, and recalls that 

 of the Emperor penguin. This particular family was 

 brought back, and is now mounted in the Brooklyn 

 Museum. Judging from the photograph given of this 

 group, it does not excel as an example of the taxi- 

 dermist's art. 



The forty-eighth annual report of the trustees of the 

 American Museum of Natural History for 1916 has 

 just been issued. Beautifully illustrated and admir- 

 ably compiled, it is certain to arouse considerable in- 

 terest among those concerned with the management 

 of museums all the world over. In spite of the war, 

 we are glad to note, the trustees have decided to pro- 

 ceed with their scheme for the addition of a new wing, 

 which is to be called the Court of Ocean Life, and it 

 is to be " the most complete and beautiful museum 

 unit in the world." It is to include a " Hall of Fishes," 

 a great whale gallery, a gallery for the reptiles of the 

 world, and above this a " Hall of Dinosaurs." The 

 building is planned, in short, on the lines of the 

 famous Oceanographic Museum at Monaco. Since, 

 owing to the war, public funds are not available for 

 this great work, the trustees have appealed to the 

 generosity of the public, who, as usual, have responded 

 promptly and liberally. But a sum of 400,000 dollars 

 yet remains to be collected to complete the 1,000,000 

 dollars which must be raised to complete the work. 



A BRIEF but most admirable memoir of the gorilla 

 which died lately in the Dublin Zoological Gardens 

 is given by Prof. G. H. Carpenter in the Irish 

 Naturalist for August. This animal, a female, lived 

 in the gardens three years and four months, the 

 longest period through which a gorilla has survived 

 in captivity in the United Kingdom. Though less 

 interesting and friendly than most of the chimpanzees 

 which have lived in Phoeaix Park, " Empress " was 

 always docile, but she resented any attempt at 

 nursing or being carried about, even by her keeper. 

 But she showed a great affection for a young male 

 chimpanzee, which was her constant companion. For 

 a brief space, while the chimpanzee was unwell, she dis- 

 played great anxiety, and tried to nurse him as though 

 he were a sick child, pillowing his head on her body. 

 During her games with "Charlie" she was in the 

 habit of drumming with her fists on her breast, as 

 a kind of challenge. She not only rarely lost her 

 temper with him, but indeed showed towards him 

 something like subservience, even giving up, without 

 protest, food that he was greedy enough to covet. 

 But she was always less active than her fellow- 

 captive, and could never be induced to leave her cage 

 with him for a ramble, though all kinds of induce- 

 ments were held out to her to do so. The length of 

 life in captivity attained by the Dublin specimen 

 seems to have been exceeded only by the female which 

 lived in the Zoological Gardens at Breslau nearly 

 seven years. Three most excellent photographs add 

 greatly to the value of this history. 



After five months' suspension, we are glad 

 to receive the second number of the -Kew Bulle- 

 tin fop this year. This number is mainly occu- 

 pied by a careful revision of the diflficult fungus 

 genus Phomopsis, which has long been imper- 

 NO. 2497, VOL. ICXD] 



fectly known, and the present account, by Mr. W. B. 

 Grove, which deals with the British species, will b( 

 of great value to mycologists, both in this country and 

 in the United States. A second article, on "Tree 

 Labels at Kew," gives a detailed description of the 

 treatment of the descriptive card labels, by celluloid 

 varnish, for the purpose of resisting exposure to 

 weather and also of avoiding the use of glass. 



In his address on the social, educational, and scien- 

 tific value of botanic gardens, delivered at the dedication 

 of the laboratory building and plant-houses of the 

 Brooklyn Botanic Garden on April 19, 1917, Prof. J. M. 

 Coulter made some interesting remarks on funda- 

 mental and practical science, the two phases sometimes 

 referred to as pure and applied science. With refer- 

 ence to the general impression that pure science holds 

 no relation to public welfare, and that applied science 

 serves our needs, Prof. Coulter points out that only 

 by pure science is applied science kept alive and pro- 

 gress made possible. To neglect the former would be 

 like wanting children and eliminating parents, or 

 like some "practical" men who would praise the 

 practical electric light and forget the unpractical, be- 

 cause unseen, power-house. To this power-house may 

 be likened scientific research, which generates the 

 energy we apply in developing what may be called the 

 machinery of our civilisation. 



In a report on the work of the Imperial Institute 

 presented to the new Executive Council, some account 

 is given of the investigations that have been completed 

 into the composition value and commercial prospects 

 of a variety of raw materials derived from some 

 twenty-four countries in the Overseas Empire. In 

 Egypt flax-growing is being extended, and a sample 

 of flax straw has been valued in Belfast at from 20oi.- 

 220I. per ton. In normal times such flax would be 

 worth 60L per ton. In Seychelles, ajowan, Carum 

 copticum, and the mosquito plant are being cultivated 

 with success as sources of antiseptic thymol, which 

 used to be imported into this country from Germany. 

 Another matter of interest relates to the important 

 clove industry of Zanzibar and Pemba, whence last 

 year a record crop of cloves was obtained. In recent 

 years the trees have been attacked by a disease which 

 could not be traced to any fungus or insect pest ; and 

 it has now been found, as a result of an examination 

 at the Imperial Institute, that the soils in which the 

 affected trees were growing have become acid and 

 deficient in lime and phosphates, through neglect of 

 proper cultivation, and appropriate remedial measures 

 have been suggested for trial. 



Of modern contributors to Italian scientific and 

 general literature, probably few have shown so much 

 versatility as Aldo Mieli. A list of Mieli's writings, 

 dealing with the period 1906-16, has now been pub- 

 lished (Florence : Libreria della Voce, 19 17, pp. 64). 

 Born at Leghorn on December 4, 1879, Mieli gradu- 

 ated at Pisa in chemistry in 1904. He afterwards 

 studied under Ostwald, and assisted in the department 

 of chemistfy at the University of Rome, obtaining the 

 rank of privatdozent in 1908. He acted as chief 

 editor of the Rivista scientifico-indttstriale of .Florence 

 during part of the years 1907-9, and was also editor 

 of the Italian section of the Belgian periodical, Isis, 

 suspended at the outbreak of war. In addition, he 

 edited the natural science section of the Rivista per la 

 storia critica delle scienze mediche e naturali, as well 

 as a series of "Classics of Science and Philosophy," 

 published at Bari (Society tipografica editrice barese). 

 He also wrote a large number of papers, as well as 

 book reviews, for the leading Italian scientific journals, 

 and a list of these is included in the pamphlet before 



