July 5, 1917] 



NATURE 



11. 



inent a part in the spread of grouse disease, 

 . s tubers of the lesser celandine and fragments of 

 leaves of many species of noxious weeds. 



Mr. R. J. TiLLYARD, of the University of Sydney, has 

 sent us a communication regarding the systematic posi- 

 tion of Dunstania, a genus of Triassic insects, founded 

 on a wing described by him in Publication 253 of the 

 Queensland Geological Survey, which has attracted 

 much interest among entomologists in these countries 

 (see, e.g., Nature of September 28, 1916, p. 75). Mr. 

 Tillyard referred the wing provisionally to a moth, 

 but some of our homeland students have advocated 

 that its affinities are with the Homoptera, or with the 

 Psychodid Diptera, especially with the New Zealand 

 genus 'Exsul. Close study of further material has 

 now convinced Mr.. Tillyard that Dunstania is a 

 dipteron with affinities to Exsul, though he would not 

 place the two genera in tiie same family, and regards 

 th<-m, not as Psychodids, but as primitive Muscoids. 

 ■'If, then, I am right in my opinion," he says, "we 

 have to face the remarkable possibility of the existence 

 of muscoid types in Australia in the Trias. This would 

 place the origin of the Diptera much further back in 

 geologic time than has hitherto been deemed at all 

 possible." In concluding his letter, Mr. Tillyard men- 

 tions the exceedingly interesting fact that he has 

 ■' quite recently discovered two well-preserved Panorpid 

 wings in the Permo-Carboniferous Coal Measures of 

 Newcastle, New South Wales." The existence of 

 Holometabolous insects in Palaeozoic times may there- 

 jfore be taken as established. 



I An interesting paper on " Herb-growing in the 

 'British Empire: its Past, Present, and Future," is 

 oublished in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 

 ;A'o. 3363, vol. Ixv.), being a paper read by Mr. J. C. 

 Shenstone on May 2. It is pointed out that the culti- 

 k'ated herbs have always driven the wild products from 

 |jie market, and it is asserted, no doubt truly, that 

 |:here is a considerable future for such an industry 

 generally throughout the Empire. Ginger-growing in 

 Jamaica and the clove industry in Zanzibar are both 

 jjxamples of successful enterprises, and it is suggested 

 jhat gum-yielding acacias and gum Tragacanth, 

 jimong other things, should be subjected to cultivation. 



j We learn from the Botanical Gazette for May that 

 :he Botanical Station at Cinchona, in the Blue Moun- 

 |:ains of Jamaica, has now been leased to the Smith- 

 1 Ionian Institution on behalf of fourteen American 

 |X>tanists and botanical institutions that have contri- 

 buted the rental. It will be remembered that an 

 Article on the Cinchona Gardens and Stations was pub- 

 lished in Nature of June 17, 1915, when an agree- 

 jnent was come to between the Jamaican Government 

 ind a committee of the British Association for the 

 unnual tenancy of the Cinchona Bungalow as a labora- 

 '■ory for botanical research in the tropics. Unfor- 

 lunately the war has prevented the laboratory being 

 \i5ed,as was hoped, by British botanists, but no doubt 

 American botanists will not be slow to recognise the 

 timulus of such a station for botanical work. The 

 tation has alreadv been in American hands, as it was 

 leld under lease by the New York Botanical Garden 

 rem 1903-13. 



A TIMELY article on "Grassland and Ploughed 

 and," by Mr. R. G. Stapledon. adviser in agricul- 

 ural botany, University College, Aberystwyth, is pub- 

 ished as a supplement (No. 17) to the Mav issue of 

 ne_ Journal of the Board of Agriculture. The 

 lational need for a great increase in the home produc- 

 lon of corn and potatoes renders inevitable the break- 

 ng-up of very large areas of grassland, and throws 

 NO. 2488, VOL. 99] 



a correspondingly heavier burden upon such_ grass as 

 remains,_ if our stocks of cattle and sheep are not to 

 suffer a serious reduction. In his lucid summary Mr. 

 Stapledon indicates the directions in which grassland 

 can be improved and what is its real significance in 

 a rational system of agriculture designed to secure a 

 maximum production of food. The various types of 

 grassland are characterised, and the appropriate lines 

 of improvement of each type are indicated. Guidance 

 is furnished as to the characteristics of the more desir- 

 able grasses and clovers, and suitable mixtures for 

 different conditions are given. 



Mr. Martin H. F. Su-tton has carried out a careful 

 series of experiments with " Humogen " in compari- 

 son with other fertilisers, and the results are pub- 

 lished as a special bulletin (No. 8) by Messrs Sutton 

 and Sons, Reading. The first series of experiments 

 was carried out on dwarf French beans, potatoes, 

 and red clover, and the supply of "Humogen," or 

 bacterised peat, was obtained from Manchester, where 

 it was beiijg manufactured for Prof. Bottomley. The 

 exoeriments proved failures, the plants treated with 

 "Humc^eny" having a stunted and scorched appear- 

 ance, while those with other fertilisers or farmyard 

 manure grew vigorously. As some toxic or inhibiting 

 factor seemed to be present in the Manchester 

 "Humogen," a fresh and larger series of trials was 

 made later in the year with " Humogen " prepared 

 at Prof. Bottomley's laboratory at Greenford, and 

 w ith Manchester " Humogen " supposed to be recti- 

 fied. The results with the latter were as unsatis- 

 factory as in the first series of experiments, but the 

 Greenford " Humogen " gave far better results, and 

 were second only in merit to those dressed with a 

 complete fertiliser. The bulletin is illustrated with 

 an excellent series of photographs. 



We learn from the Geographical Review (vol. iii.. 

 No. 5) that a strong movement is under way in the 

 United States to develop a survey of the air over 

 North America and adjoining waters. The objects 

 are to observe and chart the irregularities of air 

 currents, to establish aerological stations for observers, 

 not only at the earth's surface, but also aloft to 

 10,000 ft. or more, and thereby to safeguard aircraft 

 and the lives of aviators. The National Advisory 

 Committee for Aeronautics is fostering the movement, 

 and has the support of the Aero Club of America. 

 The hope is expressed that this sur\'ey may in time 

 be put on the same footing as the Hydrographic Sur- 

 vey, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and tiie Geological 

 .Survey. 



A \y.\K map of Palestine at the low price of 6d. 

 has been published by Messrs. W. and A. K. John- 

 ston. The map is in black and white, except for an 

 outline of colour round the chief districts. Relief is 

 shown by hachures, and is fairly successful as regards 

 a general impression, but does not admit of analysis 

 of any small area. There is an abundance of names 

 without overcrowding, but some are difficult to read 

 across the hachures. A list of the chief Arabic terms 

 occurring in geographical names is added. The chief 

 criticism of the map must be as regards the scale, for 

 while the map itself has the extraordinary scale of 

 X 1714,649 ('II-279" miles to an inch), the inset of Lower 

 EgA-pt has the scale of 1:2,800,000. These are 

 serious blemishes, inasmuch as they prevent ready 

 comparison. 



An interesting presidential address by Prof. W. H. 

 Hobbs to the Michigan Academy of Science in March 

 last on "The Making of Scientific Theories" is 

 printed in Science for May 11. The object of this 

 address is to show that "scientific theories, as they 



