February 5, 1920] 



NATURE 



609 



Little has hitherto been known about the Stone 

 ages in Ceylon, but the first steps towards a solution 

 of the problem have been taken in a paper by Mr. 

 E. J. Wayland, late Assistant Mineral Surveyor to the 

 Government of Ceylon, published in Spolia Zeylanica 

 (vol. xi., part 41, 1919). In opposition to other authori- 

 ties, Mr. Wayland believes that there is no evidence 

 that the Veddas passed throuj^h a Stone-age phase in 

 Ceylon ; they are assumed to be immigrants from the 

 Indian peninsula, and the Palfeolithic age dates from a 

 period long antecedent to their arrival in the island. 

 The Ceylon implements fall into two groups, that of 

 the hills and that of the lowlands. Pigmv flints are 

 abundant, and the author believes that they were used 

 mainly in boring bone needles. The Chellean type 

 is represented by the hand-axe, the Mousterian bv 

 scrapers, and the Aurignacian by pointed implements 

 with edg-e trimming. An important feature of this 

 paper is the correlation of the various types with the 

 local geological features. Mr. Wayland has given a 

 good introductory sketch of the subject, and bv means 

 of his large collection, which, however, needs much 

 addition, the problem of the Stone ages in Cevlon, 

 where the material is abundant, seems to be approach- 

 ing a solution. 



We welcome the reappearance of The Mariner's 

 Mirror, the journal of the Society for Nautical Re- 

 search. Mr. T. Sheppard contributes an article on 

 the Hull whaling trade, once of great importance, 

 from which the present great fish and oil trades ma\ 

 certainly be said to have developed. Mr. C. Pickering 

 has made a fine collection of objects connected 

 with the business, and presented a large museum 

 devoted to the fishing industry. Mr. Sheppard in his 

 article describes and illustrates many interesting ex- 

 hibits — ■' flensers " for cutting the blubber into strips; 

 the seal picks used by men working in masses of 

 ice ; a wrought-iron gun-harpoon bent by the speed 

 with which the whale dragged the boat after it; one 

 of the old explosive harpoons, known as Balchim's 

 patent; and harpoons and gun-spears, with a col- 

 lection of old guns. He also reprints an interest- 

 ing: journal describing the wreck of the whaler 

 Thornton, which was lost in 1821. The city of Hull 

 is honourably distinguished for the zeal and enter- 

 prise shown in the preservation of relics of its former 

 industries. 



Dr. J. W. H. Harriso.n has tested the effect of 

 alcohol on a Geometrid moth, Selenia hihmaria, and 

 finds the re-sulting offspring superior in many respects 

 (Journal of Genetics, vol. ix.. No. i). In broods from 

 treated parents the development was quicker, the 

 mortality lower, and the mean weight of the pupjE 

 greater. This is in agreement with Prof. Pearl's 

 studies of the effects of alcohol on fowls, and is to 

 be interpreted as the result of elimination of the 

 weaker germs and individuals. The offspring from 

 a cross between a treated male and an untreated 

 female was superior to that from the reverse mating. 

 Contrary to expectation, it was found that treatment 

 with alcohol did not lead to the production of ger 

 minal variations. 



NO. 2623, VOL. 104] 



In a valuable discussion of phylogenetic degenera- 

 tion in the ostrich (journal of Genetics, vol. ix., 

 No. 2), Prof. Duerden, who is in charge of ostrich- 

 breeding investigations in South Africa, concludes that 

 over its whole continental range this bird has long 

 belli undergoing progressive degenerative changes. 

 The toes have undergone gradual reduction as in the 

 horse, until of the original five only the third and a 

 much reduced fourth remain. Even the third, which 

 is the functional toe, shows signs of further reduc- 

 tion. Similar retrogressive tendencies are found in 

 the structure of the wing and in many features of 

 the plumage. These changes are looked upon as 

 orthogenetic in nature, pursuing a continuous course 

 independent of natural selection or adaptation, and 

 certain to lead ultimately to the extinction of the 

 species. In certain cases well-marked steps in varia- 

 tion are taken, as in the bald spot of the North 

 .\frican ostrich, which behaves as a Mendelian 

 dominant character, and is believed to have originated 

 as a knutation. On the other hand, reduction in the 

 wing-coverts and in the scutellation of the toes is a 

 more gradual process, occurring by a series of steps. 

 Contrasted with this is the down of the legs, which 

 lx;gins to disappear when each chick is about six 

 months old, and is thus an ontogenetic phenomenon. 

 In all these cases it seems clear that the seat and 

 origin of the change is in the germ-plasm. The point 

 of view arrived at agrees in many respects with that 

 of Whitman (see Nature of January 29, p. 566) con- 

 cerning orthogenetic evolution in pigeons. 



The first part of a "Flora Arabica," by Prof. Ethel- 

 bert Blatter, is issued as vol. viii., No. i, of the 

 Records of the Botanical Survey of India. Prof. 

 Blatter's work on the Indian flora, and more recently 

 on the flora of Aden, renders him especiallv well 

 equipjjed for the systematic study of the botany of 

 .'\rabia, and he has been able also to work through 

 the rich collections at Kew and the British Museum ' 

 (Natural History). He divides the area into four 

 natural botanical regions — the extra-tropical west, the 

 tropical west, the tropical east, and the extra-tropical 

 east or Persian Gulf region. Part i. comprises a sys- 

 tematic list of thirty-eight families of dicotyledonous 

 flowering plants, the arrangement adopted being that 

 of Bentham and Hooker's "Genera Plantarum." The 

 habitats and general distribution of each species are 

 recorded, also the vernacular names and, where 

 known, the uses of the plants. The chief elements 

 of the flora are the Mediterranean and North .\frican 

 desert. 



We learn from the Geographical Journal for January 

 (vol. Iv., No. i) that a new topographical map of 

 New Zealand is in course of publication. The basis 

 of the map is a triangulation, which alread\ existed 

 for cadastral surveys, supplemented by a secondary 

 triangulation. The new map is on a scale of 

 1/125,000, with contours at loo-ft. intervals, and hill- 

 shading in neutral tint. Roads, water, and wooded 

 lands are shown in colour. 



The rainfall over England in 1919 was nearly every- 

 where in excess of the average, according to an article 

 in Symons's Meteorological Magazine for Jnnuar\ 



