December 25, 1919] 



NATURE 



413 



malacologist some sixty-five years ago from Mauritius, 

 whither it had been brought in some unknown manner 

 from tropical Africa, its original home. Col. Godwin 

 Austen ' has told the story of its introduction into 

 Calcutta, while Mr. E. E. Green " has published a 

 report on its prodigious increase in Ceylon, when once 

 its eggs had been carried (accidentally on a cabbage- 

 leaf) into a suitable 'locality. Fortunately, it is largely 

 a feeder on decaying vegetable and animal matter, and 

 therefore does little harm to crops or gardens, and has 

 even its value as a scavenger. Since, however, I found 

 the maggots in the dead snails, I have noticed that 

 the appearance of blue-bottles in this part of Calcutta 

 invariably coincides with a heavy niortalitv in the moi- 

 lusc, which appears to be subject occasionally to some 

 kind of fatal epidemic and also perishes in large num- 

 bers after egg-laying at the beginning of the rainv 

 season and during dry spells in and at the end of that 

 season. In one instance investigated the mortality 

 was due not to disease or weakness or to meteorologi- 

 cal conditions, but merely to the fact that the snail 

 was enormously abundant and that large numbers of 

 individuals were crushed by people walking on garden 

 paths in the evening. 



I have thought these facts worth putting on record 

 as illustrating the delicate balance of Nature and the 

 danger of introducing apparently harmless or even 

 seemingly beneficial animals into a new countrv. 



N. Annaxdai.e. 



Indian Museum, Calcutta, November 19. 



Remains of a Fossil Lion in Ipswich. 



In lyio I_ discovered a rich bone-bed in a section 

 of Stoke Hill at Ipswich, the deposit in which it 

 occurred being 30 ft. below the surface. The results 

 of the researches then undertaken were published in 

 vol, xiv., part i, of the Proceedings of the Suffolk 

 Institute of .Archaeology and Natural History. 



As a portion of Stoke Hill is now being' cut away 

 for railway sidings, a continuation of the same section 

 is exposed, and with the permission and kind assist- 

 ance of Mr. k. Woolford, G.E. Railwav District 

 Mechanical Engineer, I have been able to work for 

 the past month upon it. 



To the animal remains found in 1910, which in- 

 cluded large cave-bear, mammoth, large horse, Bos 

 priinigenius, smaller ox, deer, and bird, I have now 

 added teeth of the largest cave-lion yet discovered, 

 with the exception of the Crayford specimen in the 

 Spurrell collection. These were identified for me by 

 Dr. Smith Woodward and Dr. Andrews, who also 

 examined and named a large assortment of teeth and 

 bones from the site. The list of remains is daily being 

 added to, and a massive skull of deer, with other 

 bones, a tooth, and an antler with a base measuring 

 10 in. in circumference, still await identification. The 

 position of the tines suggests reindeer. With the help 

 of a grant from the Percy Sladen Research I-'und, I 

 am able to continue the work with the care that it 

 requires, and am employing special workmen for the 

 purpo.se. 



The question of the relation of Glacial deposits to 

 these ancient land-surfaces is, of course, of paramount 

 importance, especially as a small number of worked 

 flints have been found closely associated with the 

 animal remains. For thi.s purpose pits are being dug 

 to a considerable depth below our present ground- 

 level in order to ascertain the constituents of the 

 strata below. Nina F. Lavard. 



Rookwood, Ipswich, December 17. 



' Proc. Mai. .Soc, vol. viii., ji, 147 <ioo8). 



- " Report on the Outbreak of Achniiffx fulica " in Circulars and Agri- 

 Cultural Journal of thf Royal Botanical hardens, Ceylon (1910). 



NO. 2617, VOL. 104] 



Promotion of a Plumage Bill. 



Mav I announce through the columns of Natvke 

 the formation of a " Plumage Bill Group," designed to 

 fight the plumage trade by means of publicitv to the 

 facts and of pressure upon the Government to bring in 

 a Bill forbidding the importation of all birds' skins 

 for millinery purposes, except poultrv, ostrich, and 

 eider-duck? Sir Charles Hobhouse is the president of 

 this group; Lt.-Col. Swinburne, of 23 Eaton Place, 

 S.W.I, its treasurer; and Mr. W. Dewar, of 8 Kenil- 

 worth Court, Putney, S.W.15, its hon. secretarv. The 

 group is in need both of funds and of assistance, and 

 the former will be very gratefully received bv the 

 treasurer, and the latter as gratefully considered by the 

 secretary and the committee. 



We feel that a vigorous effort must be made to end 

 the yearly massacre of the world's most beautiful and 

 interesting species of wild bird — a massacre so merci- 

 less and extensive as seriously to threaten the exter- 

 mination of a large number of species, and thus to 

 throw out of gear the great work of evolution. Nor 

 is there anv honest or valid argument for the traffic, 

 since this immense drain upon natural resources is 

 for no other purpose than to feed the profits of a small 

 band of East End traders and to satisfy the frivolity 

 of some women. H. J. Massingham. 



December 17. 



The Deflection of Light during a Solar Eclipse. 



TliKRK can scarcelv be a downward rush of cold air 

 in places deprived of the sun's radiation during an 

 eclipse as suggested bv Prof, .\nderson. This would 

 happen only if the upper layers of the atmosphere were 

 cooled more than the lower, and if the cooling were 

 sufficient to bring the temperature-gradient near to 

 the adiabatic. As it is, however, the effect of an 

 eclipse should be to cool the lower layers more than 

 the upper, and so to decrease the temperature-gradient. 

 Moreover, if cooling caused convection movements, we 

 should have upward currents as well as downward, 

 and a development of cumulus clouds would result 

 from the passage of the moon's shadow. 



C. J. P. Cavk. 



Ditcham Park, Petersfield, December 19. 



» ; . 



INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF INDIA.^ 



AS explained in a preface by Sir Thomas H. 

 Holland, the president of the Indian Muni- 

 tions Board, this handbook was originally pre- 

 pared in connection with the exhibit of the Board 

 at the exhibitions held in Bombay and Madras in 

 the winter of 1917-18. It was intended to show 

 what had been done to develop India's industrial 

 resources for war purposes. It has now been 

 enlarged so as, in some measure, to indicate the 

 general industrial development which has taken 

 place during, and on account of, the war, and it 

 discusses the possibility of future progress. 



The Board was created in 1917 with the view 

 of relieving the United Kingdoin, so far as pos- 

 sible, from the necessity of meeting India's 

 demands for war purposes, and particularly for 

 the supply of the forces in India, Mesopotamia, 

 and Egypt. Its functions consisted not only in 

 utilising Indian resources to the utmost extent, 

 but also in controlling and regulating imported 



1 Indian Munitions Board. Industrial Handbook, igig. Revised 

 Kdition. (Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing, iQtg.) Prire 

 M. 3'f- 



