August io, 1893] 



NATURE 



00 



39 



to play an extremely important part in butterfly life. 

 There are, of course, great differences in the structure of 

 the eyes of diflerent insects, but there is reason to believe 

 that it is often very defective, and that its imperfect 

 character is supplemented by a highly delicate sense of 

 smell. A curious account of wasps chasing flies is given 

 at p. 122, which seems to show that wasps at least are 

 not the highly-endowed and intelligent creatures which 

 some have been disposed to imagine. Yet the sense of 

 smell in insects may be mistaken, as witness the well- 

 known fact (which Dr. Scudder has forgotten to mention) 

 that carrion-feeding flies will sometimes lay their 

 eggs on foul-smelling plants. He finally sums up his 

 remarks on the senses of butterflies as follows : — " It 

 becomes clear that the exquisite beauty and variety in 

 the butterfly world is not recognised by themselves, and 

 form no element in their lives." 



While agreeing with Dr. Scudder in the main as to his 

 remarks on nomenclature, we are not quite sure that he is 

 correct in applying Linnd's name Plexippus to the butterfly 

 in question. It is certain that Linne confounded two or 

 three species under the name, among which was the 

 Milk-weed Butterfly, and gave the locality as North 

 America ; but the words " Alae priraores fascia alba, ut in 

 seq. {Clirysippus) cui similis," seem to us- to indicate 

 that the name would be more correctly applied to an 

 East Indian species ; for no American species of the 

 group agrees with the characters which we have quoted. 



In reference to what Dr. Scudder says on p. 17S re- 

 specting the origin of the Pacific immigrants, \ve may 

 mention that, to the best of our recollection, all the speci- 

 mens of the butterfly which we have seen from any part 

 of the Old World belong to the normal type of the United 

 States. 



The book is illustrated with four plain plates, repre- 

 senting the insect in its various stages, and numerous 

 details. 



In America, at least, entomologists are fast out- 

 growing the time when nothing was thought worthy of 

 attention but the perfect insect. We imagine that the 

 time is not far distant when no account of an insect will 

 be regarded as complete which does not include its 

 external and internal anatomy in all its stages as well as 

 its life-history. W. F. Kirby. 



067? BOOK SHELF. 



Life with Trans-Siberian Savages. By E. Douglas 

 Howard, M.A. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 

 18930 

 Away beyond Siberia proper, in the Okotsk Sea, lies 

 the island of Saghalien, or Sakhalin. Acquired by 

 Russia many years ago, it has been converted into a 

 vast prison, in which to confine convicts, for whom 

 transportation to the mines of Siberia is considered 

 insufficient. To this island, even the name of which is 

 whispered in fear in Russia, Mr. Howard was fortunate 

 enough to gain access. Walking through the exile 

 hospital one day, he saw a being unlike any he had 

 met before, and which, it was afterwards explained 

 to him, was a female of the race of Sakhalin Ainus — 

 the aborigines of the island, and the progenitors of the 

 Ainus of Japan. Mr. Howard was naturally fired with 

 the desire to see more of the race, which possesses the 

 distinction of being as simple in their savagery to-day 



NO. 1241, VOL. 48] 



as they were three thousand years ago. The book before 

 us tells the tale of his journey to the Ainu country and 

 his life among the people. The story is full of interest, 

 and is told in an unaiTected manner, without any strain- 

 ing after effect. As an example of the author's style 

 the following account of the aboriginal method of pro- 

 curing a light will suffice : — 



" A rough little apparatus was produced, consisting of 

 two little blocks of wood. Between these was placed a 

 bit of very dry elm stick, one end, which we will call the 

 lower end, being pointed so as to fit loosely into a hole 

 in the lower block ; the other end, also pointed, being in 

 contact only with the flat under surface of the upper 

 block. A bow was then unstrung at one end, the string 

 was passed round the middle of the dry stick, and the 

 free end was loosely re-attached. The bow was then 

 worked with wonderful celerity, until the lower end of 

 the stick first smoked, and then passed into a fitful 

 blaze. This was communicated to some fine dry twigs, 

 and in a few minutes we had as good a bivouac fire as I 

 could wish." 



Mr. Howard witnessed the manufacture of the poison 

 used by the Ainu for tipping arrow-heads. His descrip- 

 tion brings to mind the witches' caldron in Macbeth. An 

 infusion produced from dead spiders was mixed with 

 inspissated gall of foxes, and a thick extract of the roots 

 of Aconiticm iiapellus, in order to procure the deadly 

 paste. It has been said that the Ainus of Japan perform 

 no religious ceremonies during the preparation of these 

 ingredients, but Mr. Howard's observations show that 

 the Ainus of Sakhalin certainly do sanctify them. After 

 preparation the paste is pressed into a long and deep 

 hollow in the arrow-head, and its poisonous properties 

 are preserved by smearing the head with a resinous gum. 

 The secret of manufacture is only known to the two 

 chiefs of the village and two arrow artificers. 



There are many other points of interest in Mr. 

 Howard's narrative, especially to the student of ethnology. 

 In fact the book appears to be a " plain, unvarnished 

 tale " of personal observations, and on this account, if 

 for no other reason, it is well worth reading. 



Advanced Physiography. By R. A. Gregory and J. C. 



Christie. (London: Joseph Hughes and Co., 1893.) 

 Teachers have long felt the need of a good text-book 

 on advanced physiography, and will no doubt fully ap- 

 preciate the little book before us. Mr. Gregory's twelve 

 chapters on the astronomical side of the subject form an 

 admirable supplement to his now well-known " Ele- 

 mentary Physiography." This part of the book is treated 

 in a very practical manner, and the text is at the same time 

 remarkably free from errors ; one mistake, however, is in 

 placing /3 Cassiopeia; amongst the bright-line stars instead 

 of •)> Cassiopeia:. The various astronomical instrumentsare 

 described in a clearly-written and well-illustrated chapter, 

 which should prove extremely useful to students who 

 have not the advantage of seeing and using the instru- 

 ments for themselves. In all the most recent discoveries 

 the book is well up to date ; in the chapter on " Stars 

 and Nebulas" a racy account is given of the discovery, 

 observations, and probable origin of the new star in 

 Auriga. The author writes with a practical knowledge of 

 his subject, and has done as much justice to it as the 

 limitations of a text-book allow. 



Mr. Christie is responsible for the three final chapters, 

 dealing with the earth as a cooling globe in relation to 

 Kant's hypothesis. The treatment adopted is more of 

 the nature of an essay than that bf a text-book ; but, as 

 pointed out by the author, this is chiefly due to the fact 

 that the subject is to a great extent speculatii'e. The 

 table of the terrestrial elements known to occur in 

 meteorites and other celestial bodies might have been of 

 value if sufficient care had been taken to insure accuracy 

 As regards the elements in the sun it differs very widely 



