492 



NATURE 



[August i6, 191 7 



stock, and young trees thus treated when planted out 

 have a good chance of establishing themselves in their 

 new environment. Subsequent infection, though 

 possible, does little harm. 



The current number of the Science Reports of the 

 Tdhoku Imperial University (second series, Geology, 

 vol. iv.. No. 2) contains a useful contribution to our 

 knowledge of the distribution of the genus Giganto- 

 pteris by Prof. Yabe, with descriptions of three Asiatic 

 species by K. Koiwai. The genus Gigantopteris was 

 founded by Schenk for some fernlike fronds from the 

 Lui coalfield in south-central Clxina, for which he 

 originally proposed the name Megalopteris in ignor- 

 ance of its previous use by Dawson. Dr. D. White 

 in 1912 (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. xl., p. 493, 1912) 

 recorded the occurrence of a new species of Giganto- 

 pteris in Permian beds in Texas and Oklahoma, and 

 brought forward evidence in favour of including 

 Schenk 's genus in the Pteridosperms. Prof. Yabe 

 now records the occurrence of Gigantopteris in some 

 new Asiatic localities, and discusses the geological 

 and geographical range of the genus ; he recognises 

 four species. White's G. americana of Permian age 

 and three from Permian and Triassic strata in Man- 

 churia, Corea, and southern China. The chief in- 

 terest of the paper lies in the additional data- with 

 regard to the distribution of Gigantopteris in space 

 and time. Prof. Yabe also contributes a paper on 

 " Problems concerning the Geotectohics of the Japan- 

 ese Islands," with critical reviews of various opinions 

 expressed by previous authors. The same publica- 

 tion includes a paper by I. Hayasaka on "A New 

 Hydrozoan Fossil from the Torinosu Limestone (Lower 

 Cretaceous) of Japan," for which he founds the 

 genus Circoporella, thus directing attention to its 

 close alliance with Circopora, a genus instituted by 

 Waagen and Wentzel for a itype from the Productus 

 Limestone in the Salt range in India. The figures 

 given by Hayasaka resemble sections of certain cal- 

 careous Algae, but the resemblance may be superficial. 



In the Transactions of the Geological Society of 

 South Africa, vol. xix. (1917), p. 33, Prof. Schwarz 

 records the discovery of diamonds in the Molteno 

 Beds of Molteno, Cape Province, associated with other 

 detrital minerals, such as might arise from the decay 

 of a crystalline schist. He quotes Mr. E. J. Dunn as 

 agreeing with him that important evidence is thus 

 furnished that the South African diamonds are older 

 than the igneous pipes which have brought them in 

 many places to the surface. In the same volume 

 (p. 54) Mr. P. A. Wagner describes from Jagers- 

 fontein nodules of ultrabasic character, peridotite and 

 garnet-diopside-eclogite, which contain graphite, and 

 regards them as fratrments of deep-seated equivalents 

 of the diamond-bearing kimberlite in which they occur. 

 Mr. Wagner, in the discussion on Prof. Schvvarz's 

 paper (Proc. Geol. Soc. South Africa, 1916, p. xli), 

 evidently recognises the divergence of view, and 

 asks for fuller evidence that the detrital splinters are 

 true diamonds. The much-desired section reaching 

 down to an eclogite mass, either traversed by, or 

 merging into, a pioe of kimberlite, is unfortunately 

 not yet revealed in South Africa. 



The cider-apple crop would appear to offer possi- 

 bilities of a substantial and wholesome addition to our 

 food supplies in these days of stringency. According 

 to recent estimates the average English crop is not 

 less than 200,000 to 250,000 tons, whilst that of France 

 approaches 25 million tons. Much of the surplus not 

 absorbed by the cider industry has in the past been 

 wasted owing to the diflficulty of providing anv satis- 

 factory alternative outlet. In some seasons the jam 



NO. 2494, VOL. 99] 



manufacturer has taken considerable quantities of the 

 sharp or acid varieties, but the sweet and bitter-sweet 

 varieties which form the bulk of the crop have hitherto 

 proved quite intractable, the tissues remaining tough 

 and leathery even after prolonged boiling. 1 his de- 

 fect has been commonly ascribed to the relatively high 

 tannin content of the cider apple, in which case it is 

 difficult to understand the satisfactory results obtained 

 at the jam factory with some of the sharp varieties. 

 From experiments carried out by Prof. B. T. P. 

 Barker at the University of Bristol Horticultural Re- 

 search Station it seems more probable that the 

 difficulty is associated with the pectins of the fruit. 

 The Bristol experiments, of which a brief account is 

 given in the July issue of the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture, have shown that the yield of soluble pec- 

 tins from apples is substantially increased by digestion 

 with weak acid, and that by suitable application of 

 this treatment, using a dilute solution of tartaric acid, 

 the most resistant apples can be reduced to pulp and 

 converted- into a palatable jam. Citric acid serves 

 equally well, or, if available, acid fruit or fruit juices 

 can be used with advantage. 



In the current Bulletin (vol. vii.. No. 2, for June, 

 1917) of the Seismological Society of America, there 

 are two studies of recent Californian earthquakes. 

 The Tejon Pass earthquake of October 22, 19 16, is 

 described by Prof. J. C. Branner, and the Santa Bar- 

 bara Channel earthquakes of April 12 and 20, 19 17, 

 by Mr. A. C. Mattel. The epicentre of the earlier and 

 more important earthquake (of intensity 7) seems to 

 have been near the summit of the Tejon Pass, which 

 is about sixty miles north-west of Los Angeles ; and 

 Prof. Branner supposes, that the earthquake was due 

 to a movement along the fault which traverses the pass 

 in the E.S.E. direction. It has been suggested, though . 

 on insufficient evidence, that this fault is a continua- 

 tion of the San Andreas fault along which the San 

 Francisco earthquake of 1906 originated. All three 

 earthquakes here described visited thinly populated dis- 

 tricts, and the maps of isoseismal lines which accom- 

 pany the papers can only be regarded as approximate. 

 In the same number Mr. Otto Klotz gives a brief 

 notice of the late Prince Galitzin, and also a revised 

 determination of the velocity of the L or surface waves. 

 In adopting the value of 230 km. per minute, he con- 

 siders that more extended data will confine any 

 amendment of this value within one per cent. 



The report on the work of the Imperial Institute 

 just presented to the Executive Council states that, 

 apart from confidential reports to the Admiralty, the 

 Ministry of Munitions, the W'ar Trade Departmen;. 

 and other Government departments, reports were com- 

 pleted on Ihe composition, value, and commercial 

 prospects of raw materials from eighteen countries in 

 the Empire overseas, while the inquiries received and 

 answered related to as manv as thirty British countries. 

 A possible new raw material for paper manufacture 

 is indicated by the increasing use of wattle bark by j 

 British tanners. Large quantities of the spent lark 

 are likely to be available in the United Kingdom, anJ 1 

 investigations conducted at the Imperial Institute show 

 that, though the yield of pulp from the bark is some- 

 what low, the material is promising for the production , 

 of brown paper and the cheaper grades of white or 

 cream papers, such as newspapers. Arrangements are ' 

 being made at a British paper mill for a large-scale 

 trial of the spent bark. A special monograph dealing 

 with the occurrence and utilisation of zinc ores through 

 the world, with special reference to the British Empire, 

 i-; in preparation. An inquiry has been received from 

 Zanzibar regarding the disposal of clove ste,ms, which 

 before the war were shipped principallv to Germany 



