April 12, 19 17] 



NATURE 



i3» 



e\-er\- species within its realms. The latest evi- 

 dence of its enlightened policy takes the form of 

 a bulletin — No. 465 — on the propagation of wild-duck 

 foods. The haunts and food values of no fewer than 

 nineteen groups of plants, comprising sixty species, 

 are here described, together with instructions as to 

 stocking water in need of bait for these valuable 

 birds. The characteristics of wild rice, wild celery, 

 pondweeds, arrow-heads, chufa, wild millet, and 

 water-lilies are all carefully set forth, and this in- 

 formation is accompanied by carefully collected data 

 as to their attractiveness in regard to particular 

 species of wild ducks. Had we followed its lead 

 years ago our own Board of Agriculture would now 

 be able to speak with authority when called on to 

 sift the value of the crudely formed opinions of local 

 agricultural chambers as to the usefulness or other- 

 wise of our native birds in relation to our food supply. 

 The matter is of vital importance, and the clamour 

 for legislation is sometimes insistent. This war has 

 done much for us already ; perhaps it may yet bring 

 into being a bureau of ornithology-, such as is to be 

 found now in many Continental States, as well as 

 in America. 



The new series of the Agricultural Journal of India 

 which is inaugurated with vol. xii., part i. (January', 

 1917), contains several new features which should add 

 to its value and interest. Selected short articles on a 

 variety of subjects are included for the general reader, 

 in addition to the original articles, which still remain 

 the chief feature. A list of new books is also now 

 added. Of the original articles a communication by 

 Mr. and Mrs. Howard on leguminous crops in desert 

 agriculture is of special interest. 



Bllletin No. 65 of the Agricultural Research 

 Institute, Pusa, contains an account by J. N. Sen of 

 experiments on the assimilation of nutrient materials 

 bv the rice plant at various stages of growth. Deter- 

 minations were made of the nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid, and potash in the roots, stems, leaves, and ears 

 of samples of a uniform crop taken at six successive 

 stages of growth. The results form an interesting 

 series, and lead to general conclusions which are in 

 close accord with those obtained elsewhere with rice 

 and other cereals grown under widely different condi- 

 tions. It is of interest to note that no evidence was 

 obtained of any return of phosphoric acid and f>otash 

 to the soil, such as has been deduced from earlier 

 German experiments. 



In Egyptian agriculture a very important role is 

 plaved by the berseem crop {Trifolitim alexandrinutn), 

 which covers nearly one-third of the cultivated area 

 of Lower Egypt. The success with which it is grown 

 in the low salt country in the extreme north of Egypt 

 has suggested its use in similar country in India, and 

 experiments have been in progress there on the Sukker 

 and Mirpur Khas Government farms during the past 

 ten years. A summar\^ of the more recent results is 

 given by G. S. Henderson in Bulletin No. 66 of the 

 Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. The results 

 are uniformly favourable, and it would appear that 

 the special rnerits of this crop as a cold-weather 

 leguminous fodder crop that will grow in an alkali 

 soil are likelv to make it of the greatest value for 

 wide tracts of land in the Government ot Bombay and 

 elsewhere in India. 



The Bulletin (No. 193) on calf-feeding experiments 

 issued by Messrs. O. F. Hunziker and R. E. Cald- 

 well, of "the Purdue University Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, is essentially technical in character, but 

 contains a feature of general interest in the excellent 

 methods adopted for securing photographic records 



NO. 2476, VOL. 99] 



I of the progress in growth of the animals. In each 



case the animal was pnotographed on a narrow 



raised platform with n background divided into six- 



j inch squares. A black or white background was 



, used according to the colour of the calf. Difficulties 



might be expected in inducing the animals to take up 



' a satisfactory position with relation to the back- 



! ground, but the photographs with which the bulletin 



is profusely illustrated indicate that these difficulties 



I have been satisfactorily overcome, and the results cer- 



I tainly furnish the feeder with a much better index 



in regard to the condition of the animal than tabulated 



figures alone could fiive. 



The Geological Survey of Scotland, in the develop- 

 ment of its national work, has published the first of a 

 I series of memoirs on "The Economic Geology of the 

 I Central Coalfield of Scotland " (1916, price 45. 6d.). 

 j The district dealt with extends from Glasgow eastward 

 I to Salsburgh and Black Lx)ch. The importance of 

 j marine zones as indicating horizons is pointed out, and 

 maps are inserted showing by lines (" isopachytes ") 

 the thicknesses of selected seams in different parts 

 of the areas which they underlie. 



A NEW contribution to the problem of the clouds of 

 vapour emitted by vo'canoes is made by Mr. F. A. 

 Perret in a paper on the eruption of Stromboli in 19 15 

 (Amer. Journ. Science, vol. xlii., p. 462, 1916). The 

 author observed that, without change in the conditions 

 of eruption, a cloud was absent from the crater on a 

 fine day, accompanied bv a dry state of the air, but 

 was copiously present when a chill moist wijid super- 

 vened. A great cloud of vapour may thus be merely 

 a condensation from the air on nuclei sent upwards by 

 the volcano, and affords no indication of the condition 

 of activity. 



The Geological Survey of New South Wales has 

 published (1916) ~a " Bibliographj- of Australian 

 AlineralogfA,'," by Dr. C. Anderson, arranged under 

 authors. States, and localities within each State. To 

 find the reference to dundasite, for example, it is 

 necessary to remember that it comes from Tasmania, 

 or to look for it under each separate State. The com- 

 pleteness of the work is evidenced by the inclusion of 

 Dr. Prio'-'s paper, in which he compares this mineral 

 with specimens from North Wales. Considerable 

 selection, however, must have been exercised in dealing 

 with references to Australian gold. 



Prof. Filippo Eredi.a, of the Italian Meteorological 

 Service, has recently issued a manual of instruction 

 in the use of meteorological instruments and for the 

 taking of meteorological observations. The work in 

 general get-up somewhat resembles the " Observer's 

 Handbook " of our own Meteorological Office. A 

 feature is the large number of illustrations, which are 

 unusually clear and sharp. This manual of instruc- 

 tions has been brought out to normalise the work 

 carried on at the widely spread network of stations in 

 Italy and her colonies. We are surprised to find on 

 Fig. 24 a representation of Six's thermomet^-, the 

 defects of which are well known. Prof. Eredia has also 

 sent an interesting pamphlet on the " Climate of 

 Ghadames," an oasis in the interior of Tripoli, 500 km. 

 to the south of Tripoli, at a height of 340 m. above 

 the sea. Ghadames is in lat. 30° 8' N., long. 7° 10' 

 W. The series of observations discussed comprise two 

 sets, the first taken from the middle of August to 

 December, 1861, while the second embraces the period 

 June, 1913, to October, 1914. Dealing with the later 

 series, the mean temperature, brought to a true aver- 

 age by comparison with Tripoli, is 23° C, the warmest 

 month being .August, with a mean of 33-8°, and the 

 coldest Januar}-, with a mean of 111°. As compared 



