250 



NATURE 



[November 29, 191 7 



while other species failed to do so. This property was 

 afterwards used by Choukevvich, Metchnikoff , and other 

 bacteriologists for isolating the climbing species, 

 notably Proteus, and separating them from others 

 which do not possess the same power. In a recent, 

 number of the Lombardy Rendiconti (vol. xlix,), Dr. 

 Gorini details further experiments on the method, and 

 gives a general risumi of the observations of other 

 writers bearing on the subject. 



The possibility of the transmission of plague by bed- 

 bugs is the subject of an investigation by Lt.-Col. 

 Cornwall and Asst.-Surg. Menon {Indian Journ. 

 Med, Research, vol. v., No. i, 1917). Their 

 conclusion is that the likelihood of the trans- 

 mission of human plague by bugs in biting under 

 natural conditions is small. The reason for this is that 

 though plague bacilli may survive in the stomach of 

 the bug for nearly six weeks, bugs cannot regurgitate 

 their stomach contents in the act of feeding. If, there- 

 fore, bugs transmit plague by biting, they must do so 

 by washing out with the salivary secretion plagufe 

 bacilli stranded in their sucking tubes, and the bacilli 

 are unlikely to remain in the sucking tube for long 

 after an infected feed. 



An important paper on the zoological position of 

 the Sarcosporidia is contributed by Mr. Howard Craw- 

 ley to the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia (vol. Ixvii., part 3). The 

 author arrives at the conclusion that the Sarcosporidia 

 are to be regarded, not as Neosporidia, but as Telo- 

 sporidia, and as being nearly related to the Coccidio- 

 morpha, a conclusion exactly opposite to that arrived at 

 by Minchin, who regarded these parasites as nearly re- 

 lated to the Myxosporidia. But apart from problems 

 of taxonomy, the author has much to say in regard 

 to this group which is based upon original research, 

 though he has failed to throw any further light on 

 the migration of the product of the zygote into the 

 muscle-cells. 



The skull of the lesser cachalot {Kogia breviceps) 

 has recently been investigated toy Dr. H. von Schulte, 

 who records the results of his labour in the Bulletin 

 of the American Museum 43i Natural History (vol. 

 xxxvii., article xvii.). The material at his disposal 

 comprised the skull of an adult female and that of a 

 calf about two-thirds grown, and these are compared 

 with those already described in other museums. The 

 author finds that the cranium of Kogia is subject to 

 a considerable degree of fluctuating variation, and 

 that it is impossible to distinguish sexual characters 

 therein. Finally, he holds that a comparison between 

 the skulls of Kogia and Physeter shows the former 

 to be the more highly specialised form, though both 

 have deviated in different directions from the common 

 ancestral tj'pe. 



An interesting account of the high alpine flora of 

 the Upper Mekong in N.W. Yunnan is given by Mr. 

 George Forrest in the Gardeners' Chronicle for Octo- 

 ber 27. Dwarf rhododendrons are the dominant 

 feature of the region from 12,000 to 15,000 ft., forming 

 a moorland vegetation very similar in appearance to 

 our own heather moors. Of 4;he 7000-8000 species of 

 plants already collected by Mr. Forrest, fully 20 per 

 cent, he estimates are rhododendrons. Their wealth, 

 he writes, "is almost incredible .' . . each individual 

 seems to have a form or aflfinity on every range and 

 divide differing essentially from the type." One of 

 his new species, a shrub 1-2^ ft. high, bears masses 

 of brilliant yellow flowers, and was found covering 

 many acres of country. 



■ Kew Bulletin Nos. 4 and 5, which are issued 

 together, are almost entirely occupied by an account 



NO. 2509, VOL. 100] 



of the genus Strychnos in India and the East by the 

 assistant-director. Ninety-two species arie now known 

 from this region, twenty-two being described in this 

 paper for the first time. The genus is broken up into 

 four sections on well-marked floral characters, and it is 

 in the section with long-tubed flowers and large fruits 

 that the economic species are to be found. Strychnos 

 Nux-vomica, it is found, occurs wild, not only in 

 South India and Ceylon, but also in Cochin-China. 

 The plant from Burma and Siam formerly con- 

 sidered to belong to this species proves to be quite 

 distinct, and is described as a new species under the 

 name of Strychnos Nux-blanda. It is of interest that 

 the seeds of this tree, which resemble those of the well- 

 known Nux-vomica, contain practically no alkaloids. 

 Another economic species, 5. Gautheriana, from French 

 Indo-China, about which much confusion has existed, 

 has also been satisfactorily determined with the help 

 of material at Paris. Several interesting questions of 

 geographical distribution are raised in the introductory 

 pages, and the paper is illustrated with text figures. 



In the Agricultural Journal of India, vol. xii., 

 part iii., Messrs. J. H. Barnes and B. Ali give an 

 account of investigations which demonstrate that the 

 progress of reclamation of alkali soils can be effec- 

 tively tested by measurements of the activity of the 

 oxidising, nitrifying, and nitrogen-fixing bacteria in 

 the soils. Mr. J. N. Sen contributes observations 

 made at Pusa on the occurrence of infertile patches 

 under trees, which indicate that numerous factors are 

 involved, such as competition for Hght and food, pro- 

 duction of toxins, and accumulation of soluble salts. 

 Mr. H. E. Annett con'tribu'tes the results of further 

 experiments in the improvement of the date-palm sugar 

 industry. The deterioration of the juice by fermenta- 

 tion during collection was found to be largely obviated 

 by coating the earthenware collecting pots internally 

 with lime. Metal buckets, as used in North America 

 for maple juice, were found to be very unsatisfactory. 

 The dark colour of the date-palm, sugar (gur) was 

 found to be due to the alkalinity of the fresh juice. 

 When this was neutralised before concentrating the 

 juice a very satisfactory light-coloured giir was 

 obtained. 



Mr. T. A. Jaggar, jun., director of the Hawaiian 

 Volcano Observatory, occupies sixty pages of the 

 American Journal of Science (vol. xliv., p. 161, 1917) 

 with an important and well-illustrated account of 

 recent '" Volcanologic Investigations at Kilauea," sum- 

 marising much that has been published in the Bulletin 

 of the observatory from time to time (compare Nature, 

 vol. xcviii., p. 436, and vol. c, p. 92). The large photo- 

 graphs of two aspects of Halemaumau, by Mr. Mori- 

 hiro, of Hilo, are reproduced in a very impressive 

 plate. 



The late Mr. Clement Reid's memoir on the Bourne- 

 mouth district, published by the Geological Survey in 

 1898, was the result of his mapping of the superficial 

 deposits ; but Sir A. Geikie, as was stated in the preface, 

 then looked forward to the issue of a more detailed 

 account of this very interesting area. Mr. H. J. 

 Osborne White has now prepared a second edition, 

 which is practically a new work (Mem. Geol. Surv., 

 Explanation of Sheet 329, 19 17, price 25.), as a guide 

 to the colour-printed map which appeared in 1904. 

 The observations and co-operation of Dr. W. T. Ord, 

 of Bournemouth, have been largely utilised, and the 

 gravels with Palgeolithic implements receive just atten- 

 tion. They are regarded as the deposits of streams 

 of much greater volume than those of modern Hamp- 

 shire. The most effective passage in the memoir re- 

 mains that in Sir A. Geikie 's preface, where he com- 



