May io, 19 17] 



NATURE 



2i 



A. L. Qlaintance and A. C. Baker continue their 

 studies of " white flies " (Aleyrodinae) in a long paper 

 in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum 

 (vol. li., pp. 335-445). Many genera and species from 

 all parts of the world are described, their structure 

 being excellently illustrated in forty-six plates and 

 several text figures. 



We have received the twenty -eighth and twenty-ninth 

 reports of the State entomologist (Dr. S. A. Forbes) 

 on the "Noxious and Beneficial Insects of Illinois" 

 (1915-16).- The former of these is devoted chiefly to 

 the San Jose scale, and to a description of the result 

 of extensive experiments towards the destruction ot 

 the corn-root aphis, an insect very harmful to maize. 

 The latter contains a valuable paper on the life- 

 histow of the codling moth {Carpocapsa pomoneUa) 

 in Illinois ; from the diagrams given it appears that 

 the larvae of the autumn generation are far more 

 abundant in the locality studied than those of the 

 spring brood. 



Mr. J. Arthur Hutton has published a report of a 

 lecture delivered to the Manchester Anglers' Associa- 

 tion dealing with proposals for the nationalisation 

 of the salmon fisheries. He suggests, as remedial 

 measures counteracting the deterioration that is in 

 progress, the total abolition of unrestricted fishing ; 

 the control of the rivers, preferably by a separate 

 Ministry of Fisheries ; a thorough topographical and 

 statistical surv'ey ; and strict control of the sources 

 and means of pollution wherever these can be avoided 

 or minimised. Artificial culture he regards as, at 

 least, a very promising method of largely increasing 

 the yield of the rivers, and an expensive and large- 

 scale system of hatching and distribution of lar\£e is 

 earnestly recommended. 



The snares and pitfalls which beset those who ven- 

 ture to " restore " extinct animals, even where the 

 remains are fairly complete, form the theme of an 

 extremely interesting article by Prof. Henry Fairfield 

 Osborn in the Museum Journal for January, which 

 has just reached us. The spirited picture, with which 

 we have now become familiar, of that very agile 

 dinosaur, Ornitholeistes, seizing an Archaeopteryx in 

 mid-air is now, in the light of further discoveries, 

 regarded as improbable. And we venture to predict a 

 like fate for the restoration of the yet more remark- 

 able dinosaur described under the name Struthio- 

 mimus. The restorations given here certainly do not 

 carry conviction. This issue also contains an article 

 on the autumn migrations of butterflies, which de- 

 mands careful study from all who are interested in the 

 phenomena of migration. 



The secretary to the International Commission on 

 Zoological Nomenclature has recently issued, as 

 Circular Lettei No. 35, a list of generic names, chiefly 

 Linnean, proposed for inclusion in the " Official List 

 of 2kx)logical Names." These names are those in 

 general use, and each has been checked to see that 

 it conforms with the rules of nomenclature. The 

 names are : One of Protozoa, one of Coelentera, two 

 of Trematoda, five of Cestoda, one of Cirripedia, one 

 of Tunicata,' and twenty-eight of Pisces. The geno- 

 type of each is quoted. Anyone interested who has 

 not received a copy of the list may ohtain one from 

 the secretary, 25th and East Streets, N.W., Washing- 

 ton, D.C., or from the British Commissioners, Dr. E. 

 Hartert, Tring; Dr. W. E. Hoyle, National Museum 

 of Wales, Cardiff; and Dr. F. A. Bather, British 

 Museum (Natural History). 



The deplorable neglect among us of all forms of 

 scientific investigation which do not promise imme- 



NO. 2480, VOL. 99] 



diate "economic" results formed the subject of an 

 admirable presidential address by Prof. G. H. Car- 

 penter to the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club in 

 December last. In the course of this address, which 

 appears in the Irish Naturalist for April, Prof. Car- 

 penter reminded his audience of the lasting benefits 

 to the human race which have resulted from what is, 

 so mistakenly, called " pure science." In this con- 

 nection, he proceeded to show how the study of the 

 lower forms of life, pursued solely for the sake of 

 knowledge, may unexpectedly prove of immense prac- 

 tical importance. By way of illustration, he cited 

 some recently discovered changes of habit in certain 

 collembola, wire-worms, and other insect p>ests which 

 had adversely affected the newly introduced tobacco 

 'crop in Ireland. 



La Nature for April 21 contains an article on 

 "L'hiver 1917 dans la Scandinavie," by M. Charles 

 Rabot. The author points out that it is not only in 

 France that the winter has been of unusual severity; 

 it has been equally cold in Norway and in the 

 south of Sweden as well as in Denmark, where it 

 has not been so severe for twenty years. .'\.t Christian^a 

 the period of cold lasted about three months, com- 

 mencing December 23 and continuing to the middle 

 of March, From December 23 to February 9 the ther- 

 mometer remained below zero Centigrade, and since 

 the establishment of the Norwegian Meteorological 

 Service in 1861, so long a period of low temperatures 

 has not been previously observed. The mean tem- 

 perature for January was — io-9°C., which is 6-9^ 

 below the normal, and is the coldest Januar\- for 

 fifty-six years. The absolute minimum temperature 

 has not been excessive. February was also very cold. 

 The cold was accompanied by copious falls of snow, 

 occurring at times over the whole of Norway. At 

 Vuonatjviken, a meteorological station situated 500 m, 

 above sea-level, in the most northern part of Sweden, 

 the thermometer registered 55° C. below zero. Much 

 ice obstructed navigation on the coasts and in the 

 fjords, and the ice paralysed the operations ot the 

 submarines in these parts throughout the winter, 

 whilst drifting mines were exploded by coming into 

 contact with the large masses of ice. For twenty-two 

 years the sea in southern Scandinavia has never been 

 so full of ice. 



The December, 19 16, issue of Terrestrial Mag. 

 netisni and Atmospheric Electricity contains a report 

 by Drs. W. Knoche and J. Laub on the electrical 

 measurements made at Boa Vista, Brazil, during the 

 total eclipse of the sun on October 10, 19 12. The 

 eclipse had no effect on the radio-activity of the air, 

 or on the fall of potential upwards, or on the propa- 

 gation of electric waves. The number of ions per c.c. 

 was considerablv diminished, the negative ions more 

 seriously than the positive. The mobilities of the ions 

 showed sharp maxima about the middle and the end of 

 the eclipse, the ratio of the mobility of the negative 

 to that of the positive ion having a sharp maximum 

 about half-way between totality and end. The con- 

 ductivity due to both ions was a minimum near totalitv' 

 and a maximum near the end. Curves are given 

 showing the variation of each element observed during 

 the whole eclipse. 



At a recent meeting of the Institution of Petroleum 

 Technologists an interesting paper on the little- 

 known oilfields of Assam was read bv Mr. H. S. 

 Maclean Jack. These oilfields are being worked by 

 the .Assam Oil Company, which, after eighteen years 

 of strenuous labours, has at last reached the stage of 

 active production. The paper describes the great diffi- 



