February 14, 191 8] 



NATURE 



471 



ing mechanics at first, and then pure mathematics 

 under Fiedler. Here he became interested in the work 

 of Steiner, and sought to investigate the properties 

 of the Pascal lines ot the sixty hexagrams formed by 

 joining up six points in every possible way. In 1876 

 Veronese asked to study at Rome under Cremona and 

 Battaglini, where he was soon appointed assistant lec- 

 turer in projective geometry. His work on the hexa- 

 gram was published in April, 1877, and some years 

 later the Lincei published two memoirs by him on 

 •certain configurations in planes and in space. In 

 1880-81 Veronese went to Leipzig under Klein, and 

 published an important memoir in German on the geo- 

 metry of hyperspaces, and this was followed by further 

 writings on this and kindred subjects. In October, 

 188 1, he succeeded to the chair of geometry at Padua, 

 and it is noteworthy that his predecessor, Bellavitis, was 

 a disbeliever in the new-fangled "geometrical aberra- 

 tions," as he styled the studies in which Veronese 

 revelled. In addition to more advanced work, Veronese 

 was the author of a successful treatise on elementary 

 geometry. He appears, however, to have had a prac- 

 tical side to his character entirely distinct from his 

 more abstruse studies, for he occupied himself assidu- 

 ously with hydrographical problems with special, but 

 T»ot exclusive, reference to the Venetian lagoons. In 

 addition, he served on the Municipal Council, and in 

 1904 was nominated Senator, in which capacity he made 

 many important speeches. He was one of the first and 

 most enthusiastic supporters of the war, but unfor- 

 tunately his health had begun to break down in 1911-12 

 as the result of influenza, and he died on July 17 of 

 last year. 



The third report of the Committee for the Explora- 

 tion of the Irish Caves has just been issued by the 

 Royal Irish Academy (Proceedings, vol. xxxiv.. Sect. B, 

 No. 3). It deals with the Castlepook Cave, Co. Cork, 

 which was excavated under the direction of the late 

 Mr. R. J. Ussher, and yielded more than 30,000 bones 

 and teeth. A description of the cave by Mr. Ussher 

 himself shows that it originated by the usual widening 

 of joints in the Carboniferous Limestone, and the 

 deposits on the floor consist not only of cave earth 

 {decomposed limestone) and stalagmite, but also of sand 

 and stones introduced by running water. As 

 pointed out by Prof. H. J. Seymour, all the 

 stones are of local origin, while many of those 

 in the Boulder Clay of the surrounding country 

 have been brought from a long distance. It therefore 

 seems_ probable that the deposits containing the bones 

 of animals which no longer live in Ireland are pre- 

 Glacial. There is no evidence that the cave was ever 

 occupied by man — indeed, it seems to have been always 

 too damp for human habitation ; but, as shown bv 

 abundance of remains in the lowest layer of the floor, 

 it was at first frequented by a large variety of the 

 brown bear, and, as equally evident from numerous 

 bones and coprolites in the second layer, it then became 

 a den of spotted hyaenas. These animals introduced 

 Into the cave an immense number of bones of the rein- 

 deer and some young individuals of the mammoth. 

 Among them are also numerous remains of the Scan- 

 dinavian lemming and a new species related to the 

 Arctic lemming. In later deposits there are bones and 

 teeth of domesticated animals, which have been intro- 

 duced partly by fojxes, partly by accidental falls from 

 above. Dr. R. F. ScharfT, who describes the mamma- 

 lian remains, emphasises the importance of the dis- 

 covery of the cave hyaena in Ireland, and the interest 

 of the proof that it was a contemporary of the reindeer. 



The classification and study of the anaerobic bacteria 

 of war wounds is the subject of a report by Dr. James 

 Mcintosh, published by the Medical Research Com- 

 NO. 2520, VOL. too] 



mittee (Special Report Series, Xo. 12, 1917). Infection 

 of wounds by this class of organisms has been very 

 common in the present war, and some of the resulting 

 complications, such as gas gangrene, are very danger- 

 ous. A good deal of confusion and uncertainty has 

 hitherto existed as to the particular micro-organisms 

 involved on account of the great difficulty of isolating 

 them in pure culture. In the investigations detailed 

 in the present memoir Dr. Mcintosh has used elaborate 

 precautions to establish really pure cultures as surface 

 growths. This has been accomplished by the use of 

 palladium-black as a means for obtaining anaerobic 

 conditions- a method elaborated by Dr. Mcintosh and 

 i Dr. Fildes. Sqme nineteen types of anaerobic bacteria 

 j are fully described, of which seventeen were isolated 

 j from wounds. The memoir is illustrated with fifteen 

 j plates, and Dr. Fildes contributes an account of the 

 j principles involved in anaerobic cultivation. The pub- 

 j lication of this valuable and important piece of work 

 is particularly opportune at the present time. 



Mr. Gilbert Arrovv^, in the Entomologists' Monthly 

 , Magazine for January, gives a brief account of the 

 life-history of one of the Coccinellid beetles {Scymnus 

 capitatus), including what appears to be the first accu- 

 ' rate figure yet published of the larva. " It is interest- 

 1 ing to note," he remarks, " that before attaining the 

 I fully mature condition the freshly developed beetle 

 , passes through stages of pigmentation which are re- 

 : presented in allied species of Scvrnnus." 



, A NORTHWARD extension of the range of the purple 



, sea-urchin {Strongylocentrotus lividus) is recorded in 



the Irish Naturalist for January by Mr. W. F. John- 



; son, who gives a brief description of specimens taken 



from the Island of Inishkeel, Co. Donegal. At Bun- 



j doran, where this species occurs in some numbers, it 



j lives in cup-shaped hollows excavated in the surface of 



I the rock. The specimens found at Inishkeel seem in 



no case to have made similar excavations, from which 



it is inferred that they have hut latelv established 



themselves. Both the purple and tlie reddish varieties 



were found. 



Until now the white-winged black tern {Hydrocheli- 

 don leucoptera) has been extremely rare in Australia, 

 but during Easter of 1917 it was found in great num- 

 bers along the west coast so far south as Fremantle — 

 a thousand miles south of its normal winter range. It 

 would seem that the birds followed the trail of a 

 dragonfly {Hemianax papuensis), which, during this 

 time, was to be seen in myriads. On these the birds 

 were feeding. This occurrence is one of quite peculiar 

 ' interest, not merely to ornithologists, but also to 

 I students of migration generally, who will find an ad- 

 ; mirable summarv of the occurrence in the Emu for 

 I October last, which has just reached us. 



' The Ipswich and District Field Club is fortunate in 

 j securing for it^ Journal (vol. v., for 19 16, published 

 November, 19 17) a paper by Ptof. P. G. H. Boswell, 

 dealing with the Palaeozoic floor as revealed by borings 

 in East Anglia. Details of wells and borings for water 

 made in Suffolk since 1906 are appended, as a supple- 

 ment to those recorded in the Memoirs of the Geological 

 Survey. 



The Summary of Progress of the Geological Survey 

 of Great Britain for 1916 includes details of deejp 

 borings made for .coal and ironstone near Dover and 

 Folkestone, the cores from which have been in large 

 part examined by the officers of the Survey. Mr. 

 Lamplugh record's the details of a boring made at 

 Battle in 1907-8 from near the top of the Wealden 

 .Ashdown Sand to the base of the Kimmeridge series, 



