August 12, 1897] 



NATURE 



349 



observations made at Potsdam and Wilhelmshaven, it seems 

 l^irobable that the same disturbances take place ahiiost 

 simultaneously over a considerable area, but further observ- 

 alions are required in confirmation of this point. The cause 

 of the phenomenon is uncertain, but Prof. Eschenhagen inclines 

 to the view that it is of atmospheric origin, in conformity with 

 Schuster and Von Berold's theories of the diurnal variations. 

 The author finally suggests a convenient means of detecting 

 these rapid fluctuations by observing the induced currents in 

 a sufficiently large coil, a method which has the advantage of 

 jtractically eliminating disturbances of long period. 



The first number of a new quarterly botanical journal has 

 made its appearance, with the title Bollettino del Reale Orto 

 Botanio di Palermo, under the editorship of Prof. Borzi, 

 intended as a record of the work done in the Botanical Garden 

 and Botanical Institute at Palermo. Among the articles in the 

 number already published are : A new genus of Cactaceae, 

 Myrtilloiactus, by M. Console ; Experiments on acclimatisation ; 

 and some new and critical species of Liliacese, by Prof. 

 Borzi ; species of Agave described within the last ten years, by 

 A. Terraciano. 



The most recent of the series of " Hand-lists " of plants in 

 cultivation in 1897 at the Royal Gardens, Kew, comprises the 

 tender Monocotyledones (excluding the Orchids). The preface 

 contains a general description of the collection, under the heads 

 of the different natural orders, Scitamineae, Bromeliaceae, 

 Palma;, Pandanaceae, Aroidese, &c. It wiH probably surprise 

 many who are unacquainted with the extent of our national col- 

 Iviction to hear that there are now under cultivation at Kew up- 

 wards of 400 species of Palm, and 360 Aroids. The collection 

 of Palms is probably the largest in the world. 



The question as to the age of the dicotyledons is one of great 

 importance, and any new facts which may be brought to light 

 are therefore looked upon with great interest. In the Pro- 

 leedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (for 

 March 31), the president, Mr. Henry Deane, in his address to 

 the Society, makes an interesting reference to the earliest 

 dicotyledons in the northern hemisphere and in Australia. It 

 »nay be mentioned, however, that up to 1888 the oldest known 

 dicotyledon was one from the Middle Cretaceous of Greenland, 

 described by Heer under the name of Populns primceva. In 

 the same year Prof. Fontaine found in some of the Lower 

 Potomac series — in what was supposed to be Jurassic — some 

 portions of leaves resembling dicotyledons, but not easily 

 distinguishable from the lower groups, ferns, cycads, and other 

 gymnosperms. Further discoveries of known flora have been 

 found in Potomac formation, and an unbroken series from the 

 oldest to the newest beds have been brought to light, and in the 

 latter the dicotyledonous element largely predominated. 



As regards their occurrence in old beds in Australia, Mr. 

 Deane says : — " The fossils of the Oxley beds are well developed 

 dicotyledons, quite equal in development to those found in the 

 Upper Cretaceous in Europe and North America. The Oxley 

 beds are near the top of the Ipswich Coal Measures, which are 

 supposed to be at latest Jurassic in age. The difficulty of re- 

 conciling the fact of the full development of the dicotyledonous 

 type in Australia with the very archaic rudimentary types of the 

 same age in North America, which are mentioned by Lester 

 Ward, struck me very forcibly, and as in the western parts of 

 the colony it had been shown that the Lower Cretaceous beds 

 lie conformably, or at an angle not distinguishable, upon the 

 beds below them." Mr. R. L. Jack's opinion of these beds 

 is that he believes them "to be below the thick Murphy's 

 Creek Sandstone and the Clifton Coals and Shales . . ." and 

 he cannot see his way to put "the Oxley beds on a higher 



NO. 1450, VOL. 56] 



horizon than the rest of the Ipswich formation." Mr. Deane . 

 concludes that the above views "point undoubtedly to the 

 conclusion that at an age when European and American dico- 

 tyledons exhibited a rudimentary or transition character, the 

 southern hemisphere already possessed types of high develop- 

 ment. Before this becomes an accepted fact, it is needless to 

 say that some further corroboration of the conclusions as to the 

 correspondence in age of the so-called Jurassic beds of Australia 

 and those of the northern hemisphere should be sought." 



The Annual Report, just received, of the Manchester Micro- 

 scopical Society for 1896 furnishes evidence of useful work done 

 in the northern capital. There are good papers in several de- 

 partments of botany and zoology, as well as one on " The New 

 Light and the New Photography." 



The Photogram for the present month will be found to con - 

 tain many short articles of interest, and several notes of useful 

 hints. With regard to kinetography we read, " the greatest 

 kinetographic success of the Jubilee was scored by the Bradford 

 Argus and by their kinetographers, R. J. Appleton and Co. 

 Both good management and good luck seem to have befriended 

 them, for the eclipsing parasol of Her Majesty the Queen was 

 raised just as she passed their stand, and a happy smile (duly 

 recorded) passed over the royal countenance. A van specially 

 fitted for developing, printing, &c. , was attached to one of the 

 trains to Bradford, and by midnight on the 22nd the view of the' 

 whole procession was projected on to a screen facing Forster 

 Square, which was thronged by thousands of people." Have 

 many of our readers used the Ilford Special Rapid Plates? 

 These are very quick plates indeed, and require only about a 

 fourth of the time of exposure of the ordinary plates. If a 

 person is used to slow plates, these rapid ones must be handled 

 with care. The tendency should be to try to rather under- 

 than over-expose them ; the developer should not be too 

 strong at first, and should be kept well under control. They 

 should also during development be placed in the dark. Accom- 

 panying a few words on " A Notable Photographer," are two 

 excellent reproductions from negatives taken by Mr. H, Walter 

 Barnett. 



The following are among the articles, and other publications, 

 which have come under our notice during the past few days : — 

 "The San Jose Scale and its Nearest Allies," by Prof. T. D. A. 

 Cockerell, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

 (Division of Entomology), Technical Series, No. 6. The 

 information given in this bulletin will enable all entomologists, 

 and every one else who has access to a compound microscope, 

 to distinguish definitely between the San Jose scale and its 

 closest allies. — The New York Nation is publishing a series of 

 articles upon the Schools of Archaeology at Athens, by J. R. S. 



Sterrett. The second part of a valuable report on the valley 



regions of Alabama (Palaeozoic Strata), by Henry McCalley, has 

 been published by the Geological Survey of that State, under the 

 direction of Dr. E. A. Smith. Part i. dealt with the Ten- 

 nessee Valley region, and Part ii. is concerned with the re- 

 sources of the Coosa Valley region. The report is illustrated 

 with a number of fine reproductions of photographs, and con- 

 tains a mass of information upon the physical features, geology, 

 natural resources, soils, agricultural features, timber, water- 

 power, climate, health, rainfall and drainage of Alabama.— 

 The metamorphosis of a dragon-fly is described by the Rev. A. 

 East, in the August number of Knowledge, and is illustrated 

 with reproductions of six striking photographs of different 

 stages of emergence of the insect from the nymph skin. — The 

 official report of the International Meteorological Conference, 

 held at Paris last September, and reported in Nature at the 

 time (vol. liv. p. 624), has just been published by authority of 

 the Meteorological Council. Among the subjects and authors 



