430 



NATURE 



[July 26, 1917 



however, recognises the undesirableness of changing 

 the name of South Orkneys, which has now become 

 established by long usage. Further interesting matter 

 in this paper is an examination of the evidence of 

 Morell, Ross, the Scoiia, and others of land in the 

 western part of the Weddell Sea. A critical examina- 

 tion of all this matter by a man who is familiar with 

 polar conditions from personal experience sheds a new 

 light on the question, and is most important in view 

 of the forthcoming publication of Sir E. H. Shackle- 

 ton's results. Finally, the full bibliography accom- 

 panying the paper should be noted. " 



The Ministry of Trade of the Australian Common- 

 wealth publishes "Further Investigations into the 

 Etiology of Worm Nests in Cattle due to Onchocerca 

 Gibsoni," by Drs. J. B. Cleland, S. Dodd, and E. VV. 

 Fergfuson. Experiments have been tried as to the 

 transmission of the larval worms by biting flies. As 

 regards Stomoxys calcitrans the results are negative, 

 but the authors consider that certain Tabanidae may 

 possibly act as carriers. 



In collaboration with Messrs. Harrison G. Dyar and 

 F. Knal, Dr. Howard has completed the great mono- 

 graph on the " Mosquitoes of North and Central 

 America and the West Indies " (vol. iv., Carnegie 

 Institution, Washington, 1917). The volume now 

 issued contains the second part of the systematic 

 description of genera and species, with appendix and 

 index, and extends to more than 500 pages. Each 

 genus and species is treated with an exhaustive 

 synonymy, a full description of the imago and of any 

 larval stages known, and in most cases with valuable 

 bionomic details. 



Prof. Ulric Dahlgren, of Princeton University, 

 contributes a further instalment of his valuable series 

 of essays on the "Production of Light by Animals" 

 to the Journal of the Franklin Institute for July. In 

 the present contribution he gives an able summary of 

 what is known in regard to the production of phos- 

 phorescent light among the Tunicates and the fishes. 

 In thus summarising the extensive and widely scat- 

 tered literature on this theme Prof. Dahlgren has 

 performed a very useful piece of work. 



Dr. G. A. Boulenger contributes to the Annals of 

 the South African Museum (vol. xii., part vi.) a long 

 memoir on the genus Nucras, which, he convincingly 

 shows, must be regarded as the most primitive of the 

 Lacertidae. He bases his conclusions partly on geo- 

 logical evidence and partly on a study of its geograph- 

 ical distribution and coloration. The latter aspect of 

 this subject forms the material for two plates, which 

 will well repay careful study. In the same issue he 

 also describes a new South African lizard of the genus 

 Eremias. 



The second of the series of reports which are to 

 appear on the Australian Antarctic Expedition, 

 1911-14, has just been published. This is devoted to 

 the Mollusca, forming part i. of vol. iv. The author, 

 Mr. C. Hedley, analyses the results of dredgings at 

 twelve stations on the coast of Adelie Land and of 

 collections at Macquarrie Island. About one-third of 

 the Mollusca prove to extend to Kerguelen, and some 

 range round the Pole to the Falklands. More than 

 125 species are enumerated, of which forty -one are new 

 to science. Two new genera are also described. Nine 

 excellent plates add greatly to the value of this very 

 able report. 



While the construction of great dams across natural 

 streams for the purpose of diverting, or storing, their 

 waters must inevitablv disfigure the landscape in the 



NO. 2491, VOL. 99] 



immediate vicinity of the dams, this disfigurement may 

 be amply atoned for by the creation of large lakes 

 capable of vastly increasing the supply of food-fishes. 

 Mr. A. D. Ferguson, of the California Fish and Game 

 Commission, in California Fish and Game, vol. iii.. 

 No. 2, tells how this has been done in the case of 

 impounding dams in the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

 The building of the Crane Valley dam created the 

 Bass Lake, a sheet of water six miles long, half a 

 mile wide, and 100 ft. deep. This water is now teem- 

 ing with trout and black bass, artificially introduced, 

 affording a fishing resort for hundreds of people. 

 Huntingdon Lake, in Fresno county, was similarly 

 created by a dam 120 ft. high, impounding 150,000 

 acres of water. This has been stocked with rainbow 

 and Loch Leven trout, and is the resort of thousands 

 of people from all parts of the State. The primary 

 purpose of the dam was to serve as a generating 

 station for the Pacific Light and Power Corporation. 

 In this wav purelv commercial ventures have been 

 made to add both to the natural beauties of the country 

 and to its productiveness. 



The plant ecology of the Drakensberg Range forms 

 the subject of a beautifully illustrated paper by Prof. 

 J. W. Bews, in vol. iii., part iii., of the Annals of the 

 Natal Museum. In the opening pages the geological 

 structure of the range is briefly described, and dia- 

 gram sections of the horizontally placed beds are 

 given. The striking feature of the range is the 

 great mass of basalt and amygdaloidal lava which 

 forms the main portion of the escarpment and produces 

 the magnificent scenery of the Mont-aux-Sources. 

 The vegetation of the higher parts of the Mont-aux- 

 Sources has long been known to be peculiar, and 

 it is a matter for regret that Prof. Bews does not give 

 an account of it in greater detail. He distinguishes 

 ten types of vegetation and gives lists of the plants 

 characteristic for each. A number of the plants 

 appear to be unidentified, which, considering the work 

 recently done on South African botany, both at Kew 

 and at the Cape, need not have been the case. On 

 the mountain -tops the vegetation shows remarkable 

 adaptations to dry conditions, the soil occurring only 

 in depressions, the rest of the surface remaining bare 

 rock. 



Prof. R. B. Young (Trans. Geol. Soc. South Africa, 

 vol xix., p. 61) usefully develops F. Hinden's test for 

 calcite in the presence of dolomite. After attacking 

 the calcite on a thin section of rock with the solution 

 of ferric chloride, thoroughly washing, and drying, a 

 stream of sulphuretted hydrogen is turned on for a 

 second or so, which blackens the calcite crystals. 



Mr. F. S. Spiers, secretary of the Faraday Society, 

 writes as follows : — "Will you permit me to correct a 

 misapprehension which may arise out of a report in 

 Nature of July 12 (p. 393) on a joint meeting of the 

 Society of Glass Technology with the Faraday Society 

 which took place last month at Sheffield, to discuss 

 the choice of refractory materials for use in the glass 

 industry? In referring to an appeal which was made 

 to glass-makers to make known their difficulties re- 

 garding refractories it was stated that the main 

 object of the Faradav Society was to concentrate on 

 these diflficulties. This reference should have been, not 

 to the Faraday Society, but to the Conference on 

 Refractories Research, which has been constituted from 

 all the interests concerned with refractory materials 

 for the purpose of considering how best to co-ordinate 

 and promote further the study of this subject." 



At the outbreak of war there was in this country a 

 serious shortage of refractory material and of acid- 

 proof apparatus such as is used in chemical works; 



