236 



NATURE 



[January 5, 1893 



THE INTERNATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL CON- 

 GRESS AT MOSCOW. 

 'T'HE International Zoological Congress held its second session 



•*■ in Moscow during the month of August last, and with 



most commendable zeal the committee, to whose care the editing 

 and publishing of the memoirs read were committed, now publish 

 the first part of the volume of its Proceedings. This part is 

 printed in royal octavo size, and contains 350 pages, with several 

 illustrations. All the memoirs are in French, thirteen out of 

 the total thirty having been translated from, it is presumed, 



Russian. In the first section — that of questions concerning 

 biology and systematic and faunistic zoology from a general 

 standpoint — there are three papers. J. de Kennel replies to the 

 queries of Prof. L. Cosmovici : (i) On a definite arrangement 



of the animal kingdom in "Phyla"; (2) is there a type 



"Vermes"? {3) on a uniform terminology of the secretory 

 organs of worms. Ch. Girard on some points of nomenclature. 

 J. de Bedriaga on introduced species, and on hybrids, reptilian 

 and amphibian. In Section II. — the same subjects from a special 

 standpoint — there are twelve papers: — P. N. Boutchinsky, on the 

 Black Sea fauna ; refers to a report on invertebrates of the Bay 

 of Sebastopol by Pereiaslavtzeva, who records 639 forms found. 

 He describes three zones : (i) from the surface to a depth of 175 

 feet ; (2) from 175 to 280 feet in depth, with a minimum tem- 

 perature of 6-7° C. ; and (3) from 280 to 700 feet, with 

 a slightly higher temperature than in the previous zone, 

 8-9° C. From a depth of 700 feet the water contains a 

 quantity, more or less large, of sulphureted hydrogen, the 

 quantity notably increasing with the depth. T. J. Van- 

 Beneden gives a note on the living and extinct Cetacea of 

 the same sea. Gr. Kojevnikov gives an account of the fauna 

 of the eastern Baltic based on many recent explorations. Dr. 

 J. de Bedriaga treats of European and circum-mediterranean 

 viperF, C. Greve has a paper on the geographical distribution 

 of the Carnivores, and T. Richard, one on the geographical dis- 

 tribution of the Cladocerous Crustacea. H. de Jhering makes 

 some observations on insects' nests made of clay. Prof. A. 

 Brandt gives a classification of animal variations according to 

 their causation. Prof. A. Milne Edwards and E. L. Bouvier 

 give a most interesting account of the varieties and distribution 

 of Parapagurus pilosimanus, S. T. Smith. A table with the 

 comparative measurements of forty-two specimens, is appended. 

 P. abysiorum and var. scabtr, are reduced to the first named 

 species. F. Vejdovsky describes Thuricola gruberi, n. sp., and 

 Monodontophrya longissime, gen. et sp. nov., the former from a 

 stream near Budtnhach, the latter in the alimentary tract and 

 body cavil y of Rhynchelmis iimosella, Hofm. In a short note 

 Dr. J. de Bedriaga calls attention to some differences between 

 Chalcidts simonyi, Steind., and C. viridanus, which forms 

 Boulenger and Steindacher have proposed to unite, and thinks 

 that Molge luschani, Seind., neither belongs to Molge nor to 

 Salamander, but to a European and American genus, not 

 however named by him. 



The third section contains eight papers on histology and 

 embryology. N. Kholodovski, contributions to a mesoderm 

 and metamere theory. A. Ptitzine, note on the formation 

 of the germ of the peripheric nervous system. V. Roudnev, 

 note on the development of the cardiac endothelium in 

 Amphibians. Mme. O. Tikhomirova, on the development of 

 Chry^opa perla. Fr. Vejdovsky, on the segmentation of the 

 ovum and the formation of the blastoderm in the Pseudo- 

 scorpiones, and on a rudimentary organ in the same. N. 

 Koulaguine, contribution towards the history of the parasitic 

 hymenoptera. A. TiUhomirov, value of embryological research 

 for classification. Section IV., physiology : — C. Khvorostansky, 

 on the luminosity ol animals from the White Sea. 



In Section V.,devoted to morphology and comparative anatomy, 

 L. Cosmovici writes as to the purport of the " aquiferous system," 

 "segmentary organs," "excretory organs," and "nephridia." 

 H. de Jhering, on the presence or absence of an excretory 

 apparatus m the genital organs of themetazoa. P. Mitrophanov, 

 note on the metameric significance of the cranial nerves. N. 

 Nassonov, on the position of the Strepsiptera in the animal 

 system, according to the facts of post-embryonal development 

 and ol anatomy. A. O. Kovalcvsky, on the excretory organs 

 of the terrestrial Arthropods. N. Zograf, on the origin and 

 parentage of the Arthropods, more especially the tracheal bear- 

 ing forms. 



NO. I 2 10, VOL. 47] 



A BOTANISTS VACATION IN I HE 

 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

 'T'HE new number of the American Bolanical Gazette (vol. 

 xvii., No. 12) contains the first part of a paper by Prof. 

 D. H. Campbell, describing his experiences during a vacation 

 spent last summer in the Hawaiian Islands. We reprint the 

 following passage :— 



On awakening upon the seventh day out, and looking through 

 the port-hole of my state-room, I saw that we were sailing near 

 land. Rugged barren looking hills were seen ; and, going upon 

 deck, I learned that this was Oahu, the island upon which 

 Honolulu is situated. As we skirted the shore at a distance, I 

 soon spied a grove of unmistakable cocoa palms, the first hint 

 of the tropical vegetation to which I was soon to be introduced. 

 Beyond was the bold promontory of Dirmond Head, an extinct 

 volcanic crater, forming a great bowl with rugged sides, right 

 at the water's edge, lieyond this, and bounded partly by it, is 

 the bay upon whose shores stands the city. Back of it i ose 

 abruptly a chain of mountains, in places about three thousand 

 feet above sea-level, and furrowed by deep valleys, whose walls, 

 as well as the cloud-capped summits of the hills, were covered 

 with the most wonderfully verdant vegetation. Never before 

 had I realized the possibilities of green. Blue greens, yellow 

 greens, gray greens, and positive greens, with all degrees of 

 these and others that are indescribable, combined to form what 

 Whistler would term a symphony in green. 



As if to vie with the colours of the mountains, the sea ex- 

 hibited an equally wonderful variety of tints. Outside the 

 harbour is a coral reef, and within this the water is of the pale 

 green common to shallow ocean water ; but outside it deepens 

 very rapidly into the vivid blue of the open ocean. From a 

 distance the line is clearly seen ; but, as the observer approaches 

 shore, the water changes from deep blue through every shade of 

 blue and green until the pale green of the water within the 

 harbour is reached. 



As we approached land numbers of the queer outrigger canoes 

 of the natives were met, and from the wharf boys jumped into 

 the water and swam about the ship in the hope of persuading 

 some of the passengers to throw over to them coins, which they 

 were very skilful in diving for. 



On the way to the hotel a few gardens were passed, and in 

 them everything was strange. By far the most striking thing 

 was the superb Poinciana regia. Although I had never seen 

 this before I recognized it in an instant from a description of 

 Charles Kingsley's, read long ago. Surely in the whole vege- 

 table kingdom there is no more splendid plant. A spreading 

 flat-topped tree, perhaps thirty feet high, with feathery green, 

 acacia-like foliage and immense flat clusters of big flaming 

 scarlet flowers that almost completely hide the leaves so that 

 the tree looks like an immense bouquet. They were in their 

 prime about the time of my arrival in Honolulu, and continued 

 to flower more or less for the next six weeks. Pretty much 

 everything in Honolulu, except the cocoanuts and an occasional 

 haw tree {Paritium tiliaceum) is planted ; but people seem to 

 vie with each other in seeing how many different kinds of plants 

 they can grow, and the result is that the place is like one great 

 botanical garden. To Dr. Hillebrand this is said to be largely 

 due, as he was one of the first to introduce foreign orna- 

 mental plants, and his place, which is kept much as it was at 

 the time he left the islands, was a very remarkable collection of 

 useful and ornamental plants from the warm regions of almost 

 the whole globe. 



Probably the first thing that strikes the traveller from the 

 cooler regions is the great variety and number of palms. Of 

 these the beautiful royal palm (Oreodoxa regia) is easily first. 

 With its smooth columnar trunk, looking as if it had been 

 turned, encircled with regular ring-shaped leaf-scars, and its 

 crown of plumy green leaves, it well deserves its name. Other 

 characteristic palms are various species of betel palms (Areca), 

 wine palm (Caryota), sugar palm (Arenga), and a great variety 

 of fan-palms of different genera. None is more beautiful than 

 a thrifty young cocoa palm, but unfortunately it is very subject 

 in the Hawaiian Islands to the ravages of some insect which eats 

 the leaves and often renders them brown and unsightly. Indeed, 

 it is almost impossible to find a specimen which is not more or 

 less disfigured by this pest. The trunk of the cocoanut tree is 

 usually more or less ciooked, and in old specimens much too tall 



