JUNF 3, 1926] 



NATURE 



437 



macroscopic fauna of various Asiatic lakes, with 

 results that are of the greatest interest. 



The Asiatic Society of Bengal issues Memoirs in 

 quarto, and Journal and Proceedings in octavo. In the 

 Memoirs, parts ii. to v. of Dr. Annandale's "Zoo- 

 logical Results of a Tour in the Far East " further 

 testify to the author's wonderful activity and versa- 

 tility, which are known to all zoologists. In these 

 parts he deals himself with the Hydrozoa and Cteno- 

 phora, the Batrachia, the Sponges, and the MoUusca, 

 together with additions to ethnography ; whilst other 

 groups have been entrusted to C A. Paiva (aquatic 

 riemiptera), Col. J. Stephenson (aquatic Oligochaeta), 

 Dr. Asajiro Oka (Hirudinea), Sir Charles Eliot (Mol- 

 lusca Nudibranchiata), Tokoi Kaburaki (brackish- 

 water Polyclads), and Stanley Kemp (Crustacea Deca- 

 podg and Stomatopoda). Numerous text-figures and 

 five plates illustrate these contributions. 



Dr. Annandale's paper on the Hydrozoa and Cteno- 

 phora is one of special interest, our knowledge of the 

 Oriental fresh-water forms of these two groups being 

 of rather recent date and, as the author observes, still 

 very imperfect. A new Medusa is described under the 

 name of Asenathia piscaioris, g. et sp. nn., from t^e 

 tidal creeks containing water of low but extremely 

 variable salinity in the vicinity of Port Canning, in 

 the Gangetic Delta. It is referred to the family 

 Olindiadidae of Mayer (order Trachymedusae), and is 

 regarded as not improbably the sexual generation of 

 the hydroid Annulella gemmata, Ritchie. 



In the part devoted to the Batrachians, Dr. Annan- 

 dale deals chiefly with the Oriental frogs of the groups 

 of Rana tigrina, R. limnocharis, and R. Liebigii, as 

 well as with the species clustering round R. Tytleri 

 and R. erythraea; also with various tadpoles from 

 Japan, China, the Malay Peninsula, Burma, and 

 Ceylon. The author's views on R. tigrina have since 

 been a subject of discussion between him and Mr. 

 Boulenger in the Records of the Indian Museum, 

 and further differences of opinion between the two 

 authorities will shortly appear in a monograph of the 

 Oriental species of Rana to be published by the Indian 

 Museum. 



The two marine Sponges (Reniera implexa, Schmidt, 

 and Amorphinopsis excavans. Carter, var. n. Robin- 

 sonii) discussed by Dr. Annandale were found growing 

 on the wooden piers of a landing-stage at Port Weld 

 in Perak, Malay Peninsula, and their chief ethological 

 interest lies in the fact that they grew immediately 

 below high-tide level, and were, therefore, exposed 

 daily for a considerable time to the air and to the 

 heat of a tropical sun. Several new fresh-water 

 Sponges from Japan, China, and the Malay Penin- 

 sula are described, and a list of the Spongillidae of 

 Asia, with synonyms, is appended. 



Among the Mollusca the hybrid name Pseudovivi- 

 para for a new genus is a regrettable choice. 



A paper in French is a revision of the fungi of the 

 genus Nocandia, Toni and Trevisan, by Capt. Froilano 

 de Mello and Dr. St. Antonio Fernandez, of the 

 Portuguese India Bacteriological Service. 



The Memoirs contain also a revision of the lizards 

 of the genus Tachydromus, with two plates, by Mr. 

 G. A. Boulenger, in which this genus is shown to be 

 very closely connected with Lacerta, instead of 

 occupying a quite isolated position in the family to 

 which it belongs, as hitherto believed. Two new 

 genera are proposed under the names of Platyplacopus 

 and Apeltonotus. 



In the Journal and Proceedings we have a paper by 

 Baini Parshad on the seasonal conditions governing the 

 pond-life in the Punjab. There are three papers on 

 Mollusca.: two by E. Vredenburg on the occurrence 

 of Cypraea nivosa in the Mergui Archipelago, the only 

 previously recorded habitat of this species being 

 NO. 2640, VOL. 105] 



Mauritius, and of Dolium variegatum at Mascat and 

 Karachi, a species hitherto regarded as special to the 

 living fauna of Australia, but recorded from the 

 Pliocene of Java; and one by Dr. Annandale and 

 B. Parshad on the taxonomic position of the genus 

 Camptoceras and of Lithotis japonica. W. H. Phelps 

 describes the weaving habits of the spider Cyrtophora 

 cttricola, and Maude L. Cleghorn has experiments on 

 the vitality and longevity of sillcworm rnoths during 

 the cold and rainy seasons in Bengal. 



Botany is represented bv four contributions : Notes 

 on the flora of the Anaimaly Hills, by C. Fisher; 

 on the pollination of flowers, by I. K.' Burkill ; on 

 the Burmese sesamum varieties, their variation' and 

 growth, by A. McKerral ; observations and experi- 

 ments on the rust of Launaea asplenifolia, commonly 

 known as Jangli Gobi, by Karm Chand Mehta ; and 

 on the constituents of the bark of Hymenodactyon 

 excelsum, by C. L. Gibson and J. L. Simonsen. 



Attainment of High Levels in the 

 Atmosphere. 



(^CIENCE for March 19 has an article by Prof. 

 •^ .Alexander McAdie, of Blue Hill Observatory, on 

 "The .Attainment of High Levels in the Atmosphere." 

 A period of 135 years is dealt with, during which 

 various methods and agencies have been employed 

 for exploring the high levels of the atmosphere. Dr. 

 John Jeffries crossed the English Channel in January, 

 1785, and attained a height of about 2012 metres, and 

 in the following twenty years heights of more than 

 4000 metres were attained. In September, 1862, 

 Glaisher and Coxwell reached a height of 11,200 

 metres. Three other noteworthy records by manned 

 balloons are mentioned. Tissandier, Spinetti, and 

 Sivel, acting for the French .Academy, attained a 

 height of 8530 metres in April, 1875; Dr. A. Berson 

 reached 9600 metres in December, 1894 ; and Berson 

 and Siiring in 190 1 attained a known elevation of 

 10,500 metres, and probably 10,800 metres, both men 

 being unconscious at the higher level. Dealing with 

 other than manned balloons, the extreme elevations 

 noted are: — By kites, 7044 metres in 1907; by rigid 

 dirigibles, 6200 metres in 1917; by sounding balloons, 

 37,000 metres in 1912; and by pilot balloons, height 

 determined by theodolite, 39,000 metres. The aero- 

 plane record has rapidly advanced. In 1909 Latham 

 made 161 metres, and Drexel in 1910 made 1829 

 metres. Prior to 1914 the maximum height attained, 

 according to Prof. Mc.Adie, was 6000 metres bv 

 Perreyon in March, 1913. The war gave a great im- 

 petus to the development of the aeroplane, and since 

 the war, in February, 1920, Major R. W. Schroeder, 

 chief test pilot at Dayton, U.S. .A., is stated to have 

 attained 10,979 metres; in this ascent the oxygen-supply 

 was exhausted. The lo-km. level is the bottom of thie 

 stratosphere or isothermal region, and the top of the 

 troposphere or convectional region — an exceedingly 

 important elevation to meteorologists. Schroeder 's 

 thefmo£jraph indicated a minimum temperature of 

 -55° C, or 99° below the freezing point on the 

 Fahrenheit scale. 



In Science for Aoril 9 Dr. J. G. Coflfin, director of 

 aeronautical research of the Curtiss Aeronautical and 

 Motor Corporation, suggests that Prof. A. Mc.Adie 

 has sometimes accepted too readily unauthorised state- 

 ments made in the Press as to altitudes reached. A 

 criticism is made of expressing results without air- 

 temperature correction, which is not only unsatisfac- 

 tory, but also scientifically incorrect. The correction 

 is the larger the colder the air encountered in the 

 flight. It is pointed out that it is essential so far as 

 possible for all concerned to work on the same un- 



