April i, 1920} 



NATURE, 



147 



few years the question of abstracting and cataloguing 

 scientific literature has been much discussed, and has 

 become acute. The Mineralogical Society has, on its 

 own initiative, made a start in this direction, and has 

 recently issued the first number of a series of 

 Mineralogical Abstracts. This will give notices of 

 papers and books dealing with purely scientific 

 mineralogy and crystallography, and will also direct 

 attention to matters of mineralogical interest in 

 original papers bearing more on petrology, ore- 

 deposits, and economics. The work of abstracting is 

 being carried on by voluntary helpers, but even with 

 this help it is evident that the cost of printing will 

 be more than a small society can bear. It is hoped, 

 if this venture proves to be of some general use, that 

 it may lead to an increased membership of the 

 society. 



Much attention has been given in recent years to 

 the question of manufacturing alcohol within the 

 Empire for use as motor spirit. In the current 

 number of the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute the 

 possibility of utilising the mowra flowers of India 

 for the purpose is discussed. These flowers possess 

 thick, juicy petals rich in sugar. They are used by 

 the natives as a foodstuff, and especially for the pre- 

 paration by fermentation of an alcoholic liquor called 

 ■daru or mohwa spirit. A single tree will yield as 

 much as 200-300 lb. of flowers in a year. The tree 

 also produces a valuable oil-seed, which is exported 

 in fairly large quantities to Europe. During the war 

 the flowers were used in India for the production of 

 acetone, the yield being said to be ten times as much 

 as that obtained by distilling wood, which is the 

 usual source of this substance. The demand for 

 acetone in India in peace times, however, is not great, 

 and large quantities of the flowers would be avail- 

 able for the manufacture of alcohol, and would appear 

 to be an exceptionally cheap source of this material, 

 as the yield is high compared with that from potatoes 

 and other materials commonly used, about 90 gallons 

 of 95 per cent, alcohol being obtainable from one 

 ton of dried flowers. It has been estimated that in 

 the Hyderabad State alone there are already sufficient 

 mowra-trees for the production of 700,000 gallons of 

 proof spirit per annum, in addition to that necessary 

 for the local liquor requirements. 



In the Weekly Service for February 21, issued by 

 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, there 

 appears some interesting information on the prospec- 

 tive yields of cereals for the season 1919-20. From 

 this information, obtained from the International 

 Agricultural Institute of Rome, it seems that the 

 world is faced with a considerable reduction in its 

 wheat supply. In Australia the yield of wheat for 

 1919-20 is estimated at 54-4 per cent, of the previous 

 year's production, and this is only 38-3 per cent, of 

 the average of the five preceding years. Similarly, 

 the estimated wheat yield is much lower than last 

 year's average in the Union of South Africa, the 

 United States of America, Rumania, and Argentina. 

 Before the war the average exports of wheat from 

 Russia and India were together equal to the quantity 

 imported into the United Kingdom from all sources, 

 NO. 2631, VOL. 105] 



but it will be some time before India can recover 

 from the famine conditions of 1919, while it is highly 

 probable that Russia will not rank as a wheat- 

 exporting country for the next few years. There is, 

 therefore, a vital need for an increased wheat production 

 in the United Kingdom. Not only for this reason, but 

 also because the scheme is thoroughly sound from the 

 practical point of view, the Ministry advises the sowing 

 of spring wheat, and gives practical advice as to 

 varieties, soils, etc. 



The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society for 

 January contains an interesting summary of the 

 growth of Canada (1867-1917), "Fifty Years of 

 Canadian Progress," by Mr. Ernest H. Godfrey, of 

 the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa. While 

 Prince Edward Island and the North-West Territories 

 show an absolute decline in population in the period 

 1871-1911, the total population was nearly doubled, 

 and that of Manitoba increased from 25,228 to 455,614. 

 More than a third of a million immigrants entered 

 Canada in each of the three years 1912-13-14. The 

 acreage and yield of wheat were more than doubled 

 in the decade 1900-10, those of oats increased by two- 

 thirds, and these rates of development were main- 

 tained until 1917. In 1870 Ontario produced 85 per 

 cent, of the wheat, 82 per cent, of the barley, and 

 52 per cent, of the oats of the Dominion ; since 1900 

 the main farm crops have been obtained further west, 

 Saskatchewan producing in 19 17 56 per cent, of the 

 wheat, 28 per cent, of the barley, and 34 per cent, 

 of the oats. While the numbers of sheep have steadily 

 declined (1871-1911), those of horses have doubled 

 and of cattle have increased by 50 per cent. Canadian 

 cheese factories produced annually from i| to nearly 

 2 million cwt. (1893-1917), nearly all of which was 

 exported to the United Kingdom. In 1867 there were 

 2288 miles of railway line; in 1881, 7331; and in 

 1917, 38,604. The mineral census of 191 1 was of so 

 different a character from those of earlier years that 

 it is not possible to quote details of the progress in 

 mineral wealth. The paper is worthy of close atten- 

 tion by all who are interested in Canada. 



Geographers are not likely to overlook the con- 

 tinuous exploration and illustration of Alaska by the 

 officers of the United States Geological Survey, 

 further evidence of which is seen in Bulletins 683 

 and 687, dated 1918 and 1919 respectively. The 

 former contains a number of new maps, where much 

 still remains a blank, of country stretching in from 

 the coast north and west of the Lower Yukon River. 

 The latter provides excellent photographic views, 

 notably plates v. and vii., of the Kantishna region, 

 north of Mount McKinley, where the only population 

 consists of some forty whites engaged in mining. 



It is a pleasure in these times to handle and read 

 so well printed a report as that which inaugurates the 

 " Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin 

 Islands" (vol. i., part i, issued by the New York 

 Academy of Sciences, 19 19). The origin of the survey 

 of this outpost-island of the United States is given 

 by Mr. N. L. Britton, and Mr. C. P. Berkey fur- 

 nishes an introduction to the general geology. The 



