September 29, 1898] 



NATURE 



523 



larvae to coloured surroundings," will be read ; and also one by 

 Mr. G. H. Verrall, "On Syrphidae collected near Aden by 

 "Colonel J. W. Yerbury." 



Recent researches by Surgeon-Major Ronald Ross have 

 shown that the mosquito may be the host of parasites of the type 

 of that which causes human malaria. Ross has distinctly proved 

 that malaria can be acquired by the bite of a mosquito, and the 

 results of his observations have a direct bearing on the propaga- 

 tion of the disease in man. Dr. P. Manson describes the 

 investigations in a paper in the British Medical Journal, and 

 sums them up as follows :-^The observations tend to the con- 

 clusion that the malaria parasite is for the most part a parasite 

 of insects ; that it is only an accidental and occasional visitor to 

 man ; that not all mosquitos are capable of subserving it ; that 

 particular species of malaria parasites demand particular species 

 of mosquitos ; that in this circumstance we have at least a partial 

 explanation of the apparent vagaries of the distribution of the 

 varieties of malaria. When the whole story has been completed, 

 as it surely will be at no distant date, in virtue of the new know- 

 ledge thus acquired, we shall be able to indicate a prophylaxis for 

 malaria of a practical character, and one which may enable the 

 European to live in climates now rendered deadly by this pest. 



A VALUABLE report upon the various attempts which have 

 been made to bring China grass (obtained from Boehmeria 

 nivea) and Ramie or Rhea (obtained from B. tenacissima) into 

 use for manufacturing purposes is contained in the Kew 

 Bulletin for September. The report describes machines which 

 have been devised to deal with the grass, and indicates the 

 merits and defects of the most important of them. It will be 

 seen from the following summary of the Kew report that the 

 problem has not yet been satisfactorily solved : — "Notwithstand- 

 ing all the expenditure of mechanical skill and inventive 

 ability, the conclusion cannot be evaded that we are still as 

 far off as ever from being able to place upon the market a finished 

 product which will effectually compete with silk, flax, and the 

 better qualities of cotton. The plants can be grown with the 

 greatest ease. But when the problem of treatment is solved, 

 the supply of the raw material will be limited to warm countries. 

 The cultivation of China grass in temperate regions will never 

 be able to compete successfully with that of Ramie (or perhaps 

 of China grass) in the tropics. It is known that when ribbons 

 can be produced sufficiently cheaply, these can be degummed 

 and turned into filasse at a small cost. The whole question then 

 still turns, as in 1888, on the production of ribbons. We are 

 still waiting for a decorticator which will not merely turn out 

 ribbons fit for further manufacturing processes — that has been 

 accomplished— but will turn out, say, half a ton a day at a small 

 cost. Till this has been found, the planter cannot profitably 

 deal with his crop, and the degumming processes now almost 

 entirely dependent on hand-cleaned fibre from China are 

 paralysed for want of a supply which will allow the finished 

 product to compete with other fibres." 



News has been received by the Times that the Antarctic, 

 with the Swedish Arctic Expedition under Dr. A. G. Nathorst, 

 has returned to Tromso, after a successful cruise to the seas and 

 islands around Spitsbergen ; and the following notes on the 

 results of the expedition are published : — The Antarctic left 

 Tromsb on June 8, and proceeded to Bear Island, which was 

 reached on the nth; a week was spent there. The whole 

 island was surveyed, and a map on the scale of i : 50,000 Was 

 drawn by Lieut. Kjellstrov and Dr. Hamberg. After sur- 

 veying and mapping Bell Sound, on the west of Spitsbergen, 

 and visiting some points of interest in Ice Sound, the expedition 

 proceeded westwards, and did some hydrographical work as far 

 as the margin of the Greenland ice-pack (78° i' N. lat., 4° 9' W. 

 long.). The ship was then turned to the south and east of 

 NO. 1509, VOL. 58] 



Spitsbergen, and reached King Charles Land, which was com- 

 pletely mapped on the scale of I : 100,000 and surveyed. From 

 there the Antarctic proceeded to White Island, which was cir- 

 cumnavigated ; the expedition landed at the only two places 

 where landing is possible, and the geology of the island was 

 ascertained. This island is completely covered by an ice-cap, 

 which is broken off at the sea shore, ending in a perpendicular 

 ice-wall, just as is found on the Antarctic Continent, though in 

 miniature. Great table-formed icebergs are given off from this 

 ice-sheet. From White Island, which is larger than indicated 

 on the maps, the Antarctic made its way through alternating 

 heavy ice and open water to Charles XII. Island, whence the 

 expedition proceeded northwards and reached 81' 14' N. lat. 

 The expedition then passed north of the Seven Islands and 

 proceeded to Treuenberg Bay, Grey Hook, and Danes Island, 

 from which they steered southwards along the western coast of 

 Spitsbergen. When the Antarctic reached the south end of 

 Prince Charles Foreland the circumnavigation of the whole of 

 Spitsbergen, with the surrounding islands, was completed. The 

 scientific work of the expedition has been most successful ; 

 they have brought back large geological, botanical, and zoo- 

 logical collections. The geology, botany, and zoology of King 

 Charles Land are now completely known, and there are evident 

 important connections between the geology of Spitsbergen and 

 that of Franz Josef- Land. 



There are a great number of curious superstitions as to the 

 time of day when a dying person is most likely to draw his last 

 breath, and the tide, the moon, and the wind have all been sup- 

 posed to have some share in the matter. According to the 

 British Medical Journal, Raseri, who has analysed 25,474 cases 

 of death, and 36,515 of birth, where the exact time of day was 

 noted, finds that the maximum number of deaths occur in 

 the early afternoon (2-7 p.m.), and the minimum in the last 

 hours before midnight, while the maximum number of births 

 occur in the early hours of the morning, and the minimum in 

 the early hours of the afternoon. As regards the cause of this, 

 he points out that the hours of the maximum number of deaths 

 are precisely those when the pulse rate and temperature are at 

 their highest in health, and when there is a febrile exacerbation 

 in illness. 



The Report of the Chief of the United States Weather 

 Bureau upon meteorological observations made during the year 

 1896-97 has just been received. It consists of a volume contain- 

 ing more than four hundred pages, with nearly one hundred 

 large charts and plates. The very valuable work carried on by 

 the Weather Bureau is too well known to meteorologists to 

 need commendation here. The vote for the service during the 

 fiscal year 1896-97 was 883,772 dollars ; but, remembering how 

 very considerably the work has extended during the past few 

 years, we are surprised to learn that this grant is 109,748 dollars 

 less than that made in 1883. In the past fifteen years thie 

 number of voluntary observers has increased from 300 to about 

 3000, and the number of stations on the sea-coasts and the 

 Great Lakes, where storm warnings are displayed for the benefit 

 of mariners, has increased from 41 to 253. These storm warn- 

 ings have proved of very great service. At each of the 253 

 stations where the signals are displayed, telegraphic messages, 

 giving the situation, intensity and probable movement of the 

 storm are distributed to the masters of vessels within an hour 

 after the information has been dictated by the forecast official at 

 headquarters. It is estimated by shipowners that one hurricane 

 sweeping the Atlantic seaboard would cause damage to floating 

 craft of more than 600,000/. During the past three years ten 

 or more of these destructive storms have visited the coastline of 

 the United States, but in every case the danger warnings were 

 displayed long in advance of the storm, and no marine disasters 



