April 17, 19 19] 



NATURE 



I 33 



cultivation, composition, and diseases of the potato. 

 The various sections of the Supplement deal 

 with potato-growing, the food value of the crop, 

 potato diseases, the causes of decay in potato 

 clamps, potato-spraying, variety tests, and the Wart 

 Disease Order. As a compendium of informa- 

 tion on these various phases of the subject the 

 Supplement should prove of great interest and value 

 to growers of potatoes, whether on a large or a small 

 scale. The sections dealing with diseases and disease- 

 resisting varieties form the main features, and are 

 well illustrated by coloured plates and photographs. 



I.N the March issue of the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture Dr. W. E. CoUinge reports the results of 

 further investigations on the food of wild birds. The 

 observations, tof^ether with those previously reported, 

 are based upon the examination of the stomach and 

 crop contents of 4468 adult birds and 761 nestlings, 

 embracing seventeen species of wild birds. On the 

 basis of these observations two species appear to be 

 distinctly injurious, viz, the house-sparrow and the 

 woodpigeon. Three species are too numerous, and 

 consequently injurious, viz. the rook, sparrowhawk, 

 and starling. One is locally too numerous, viz. the 

 missel-thrush. Three species are distinctly beneficial, 

 but do not warrant special protection, viz. the jack- 

 daw, yellow bunting, and song-thrush. Seven species 

 are so highly beneficial that their protection is advis- 

 able, viz. the skylark, green woodpecker, kestrel, lap- 

 wing, great tit, blue tit, and fieldfare. With regard to 

 the chaffinch the opinion is expressed that, in spite of 

 the injuries it commits, it would be unwise to adopt 

 repressive measures. 



In relation to an inspection of the Sheffield City 

 -Museums which he made in 1915, Dr. F. Grant 

 Ogilvie has now issued a report on the subject. While 

 the report deals with Sheffield museums in particular, 

 it will be of value to all local authorities in indi- 

 cating the lines on which they should develop local 

 museums, esf>ecially in industrial centres. The recom- 

 mendations regarding municipal interests and science 

 and industry are particularly worthy of attention. 

 Among municipal interests should be maps, plans, and 

 models illustrating the local topography, resources, 

 occupations, public works and services, both in the 

 present and past. In fact, this section should com- 

 prise a complete survey of the town and neighbour- 

 hood. The value of such collections to the architect 

 and town-planner is obvious. They would also serve 

 to give residents a better understanding of their own 

 town, and so might promote the growth of civic con- 

 sciousness. Dr. Ogilvie 's report, however, is severely 

 practical, and, besides discussing the value of the col- 

 lections he proposes, he indicates what objects should 

 be included and how they can be best displayed. The 

 advice given to details of space and housing is 

 very valuable. The report is issued by the Board of 

 Education as No. 34 of its series of educational 

 pamphlets. 



We have received a copy of the convention between 

 the United States and Canada for the protection _ of 

 migratory birds. The convention, with an introduction 

 and explanatory notes, is published by the Department 

 of Agriculture,' Ottawa. The provisions and regula- 

 tions of the convention show that it is probably the 

 most important and far-reaching measure ever taken 

 in the history of bird protection.^ It affects more than 

 a thousand species and subspecies of birds from the 

 Gulf of Mexico to the North Pole, and should lead 

 in a few years to a great increase in the numbers of 

 several species of considerable economic importance. 

 All migratory insectivorous and migratory non-game 

 birds and their eggs are permanently protected, with 



the exception of certain species which Indians and 

 Eskimo are allowed to take for food, but not for sale. 

 Shore-birds and waders, with a few exceptions, are 

 protected for ten years, and the same protection is 

 given to cranes, swans, and curlew. Wood-duck and 

 eider-duck are protected for five years. Close seasons, 

 varying in different parts, are instituted for wildfowl 

 and other migratory game birds. The convention con- 

 tains provisions by which specimens of birds and eggs 

 may be secured for scientific purposes, but it is clear 

 that permission will be granted only after careful in- 

 vestigation. Local modifications in the convention may 

 be made in the case of birds which prove injurious to 

 agricultural interests. 



An account of a five months' journey in Colombia, 

 down the Magdalena River, and through the north- 

 east of the Republic, is described in a pamphlet by 

 Mr. M. T. Dawe, agricultural adviser to the 

 Colombian Government. The pamphlet is published 

 in English by the Ministry of Agriculture, Bogota. 

 Mr. Dawe's object was to report on the agricultural 

 possibilities of the region and the occurrence of coal. 

 The article, besides discussing very fully the suit- 

 able crops, labour conditions, and transport require- 

 ments, contains a great deal of useful geographical 

 information about a little-known region, Mr. Dawe 

 was particularly struck with the stock-raising possi- 

 bilities of the Goajira peninsula, which has an area 

 of about 4000 sq. miles. Being fairly high and almost 

 surrounded by the sea, the peninsula has a healthy, 

 if rather dry, climate. There are large regions of 

 good pasture-land, of which 90 per cent, is still un- 

 occupied. Artesian wells would have to be sunk to 

 supplement the water supply. Cotton and ground-nuts 

 could also be cultivated in the peninsula. The present 

 inhabitants are some 40,000 Indians, who are steadily 

 emigrating to Venezuela for lack of industries to 

 keep them at home. The Sierra Nevada is another 

 region well suited for colonisation ; fruit-growing 

 offers good prospects of success. Speaking generally 

 of these districts and the whole of the Magdalena 

 province of Colombia, Mr. Dawe advocates the en- 

 couragement of Japanese colonisation, which he holds 

 has been successful under comparable conditions in 

 Brazil. He does not explain why ernigrants from 

 Mediterranean Europe would not be suitable. 



Mr. R. S. Whipple read two interesting papers on 

 " Electrical Methods of Measuring Body Tempera- 

 tures " and "The Electro-Cardiograph" before a joint 

 meeting of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and 

 the Royal Society of Medicine on March 21. In the 

 former paper Mr. Whipple arrives at the conclusion that 

 a continuous record of the temperature of the human 

 body can be best obtained by an electric thermometer 

 placed in the rectum. For very accurate research 

 work a thermo-electric couple can be used in con- 

 junction with a photographic recorder. The electro- 

 cardiograph utilises the discovery first made by Prof. 

 Waller that the electric potentials developed in the 

 heart at each contraction of the organ were sufficiently 

 large to deflect a sensitive galvanometer. The cardio- 

 grams shown by the lecturer were exceedingly instruc- 

 tive, and it was easy to believe that they have a great 

 and growing value in medical practice. 



At the meeting of the Royal Photographic Society 

 held on February 18, Mr. S. H. Williams described his 

 new process of printinf^ on paper in natural colours, 

 and showed several examples. Mr. Williams makes 

 one plate and one exposure serve for the three colour 

 records bv exposing it behind a screen that has 

 5;4Q^lines to the inch, the lines being alternately red, 

 green, and blue, and of equal widths. By placing 

 over this negative a key-plate that is ruled with black 



NO. 2581, VOL. 103] 



