October 5, 1893] 



NA TURE 



559 



THE EVOLUTION OF COLOUR IN THE 

 GENUS MEGASCOPS. 



THE American Naturalist of June and July contains an 

 article by Mr. E. M. Hasbrouck on "Evolution and 

 Dichromatism in the Genus Megascops," in which he deals 

 with the distribution of the genus in North America in relation 

 to the colour of its plumage. The discussion leads to the fol- 

 lowing conclusions : — 



" The red phase is confined mainly to Megascops asio (speak- 

 ing of it as a whole), which, on its northern border, merges into 

 the grey phase ; the southern grey belt incompasses fioridanus, 

 while in eastern Texas the few red specimens of mecallii that 

 are known have been taken from the extreme north-eastern por- 

 tion of its range, which is influenced both by humidity and 

 temperature. Again this distribution of colour corresponds 

 very closely to the life areas — the grey phase of the Florida 

 form in the south occupying a major portion of the Austro- 

 riparian ; the red phase oi asio proper conforming very closely to 

 even the outlines of the Carolinian, while the grey phase is 

 equally identical with the AUeghanian. 



" It is worthy of note that the grey phase of Megascops asio is 

 boreal in its affinities, and that where a grey phase of asio is 

 found that is not boreal, it is recognised as a sub-species. 



"Now '\{ floridaiius (grey) is separable from asio just north of 

 it (red), it seems highly probable that asio (red) will some day 

 be separated from the grey phase on the north. It has been 

 shown that as regards the two phases of asio, certain areas are 

 inhabited exclusively by reds, certain ones exclusively by greys, 

 while still others are inhabited by a mixture of the two, and 

 that three forms {floridamis and two colour phases of asio 

 proper) inhabit, as a whole, entirely distinct areas. No one 

 will deny that all of the forms of Megdscops are descended from 

 a common ancestor, and if through climatic or environmental 

 conditions they have become sub-specifically differentiated in 

 various localities, I see no reason to doubt that in like manner, 

 under the influence of humidity, temperature, acquired charac- 

 ter, and forest area, which will be felt for countless generations 

 to come, that the species now known as Megascops asio will one 

 day be separated into species and sub-species — the former 

 represented by the original grey, and the latter by the more 

 modern red." 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The Medical Session began on Monday in the schools 

 attached to the London and provincial hospitals. Dr. W. 

 Pasteur delivered the introductory address at Middlesex Hos- 

 pital, and Mr. Thomas Holmes at St. George's Hospital. The 

 subject of Mr. Holmes's discourse was the life and works of 

 John Hunter, being the centenary celebration of Hunter's death 

 within the walls of the hospital. The address at St. Mary's 

 Hospital was delivered by Mr. J. Ernest Lane, and at the 

 London School of Medicine for Women by Miss Helen Webb. 

 Biology and ethics formed the subject of the opening address 

 delivered by Sir James Crichton Browne at the Sheftield School 

 of Medicine. 



Mr. Walter Garstang, of the Plymouth Marine Biological 

 Laboratory, has been elected to a Research Fellowship by Lin- 

 coln College, Oxford. 



The first entrance scholarship to St. Thomas's Hospital 

 Medical School, of the value of ^f 150, has been awarded to Mr. 

 Robert Wynn Charles Pierce, and the second, of the value of 

 £(>a, to Mr. Harry Edward Hewitt. 



The Entrance Scholarship, of the value of 120 guineas, to 

 Charing Cross Hospital Medical School has been awarded to 

 Mr. Harold A. T. Fairbank, and that of the value of 60 guineas 

 to Mr. Stanley W. R. Colyer. 



The following entrance scholarships to Guy's Hospital have 

 been awarded in science. First, of the value of ^£'150, to Philip 

 Turner, University College, London ; second, value £(>a, to 

 George Ernest Richmond, Owens College. 



The Balfour Studentship, of the nett annual value of £100, 

 will be vacant on October 18. From the regulations sanctioned 

 by the Senate of the University of Cambridge, it appears that 

 the studentship is not awarded upon the result of a competitive 

 examination, and the student need not be a member of the Uni- 



versity. The holder of the studentship must devote himself, 

 however, to original biological inquiry, and must not follow any 

 business or profession, or engage in any educational or other 

 work, which, in the opinion of those charged with the adminis- 

 tration of the Balfour Memorial Fund, would interfere with 

 his original inquiries. 



Mr. W. Townsend Porter has investigated the relation 

 between physical development and success in school life, his 

 data for discussion being obtained from 33,500 boys and girls 

 in the public schools of St. Louis (Transactions of the Academy 

 of Science of St. Louis, vol. vi. No. 7). The weight of a 

 child can usually be taken as a trustworthy index of physical 

 development, and, comparing it with standards of intelligence, it 

 appears that precocious children are heavier, and dull children 

 lighter than the average child of the same age. Not only is 

 this the case, but precocious children are taller, have larger 

 chests, and wider heads than dull children. An examination 

 has also been made of the relationship between precocity and 

 rate of growth, or yearly increase in size, and \.\it results indi- 

 cate that the difference in weight between dull and precocious 

 boys increases as they grow older. The conclusions arrived at 

 are based upon means and averages, and may not be applicable 

 lo individuals. However, one deduction of considerable im- 

 portance is made. It is that no child whose weight is below 

 the average of its age should be permitted to enter a school 

 standard beyond the average of its age, except after such a 

 physical examination as shall make it probable that the child's 

 strength shall be equal to the strain. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



The Meteorologische Zeitschrift for July contains an account 

 of observations taken at the Hawaiian Islands, communicated 

 by Dr. Marcuse, of the Berlin Observatory, who for some time 

 visited Honolulu for astronomical investigations. The position 

 of those islands, near the northern limit of the tropical zone, 

 is very important from a meteorological point of view, and the 

 Hawaiian Government have for some years past established a 

 1 regular service under Mr. C. J. Lyons, who publishes a monthly 

 meteorological summary. The principal station is at Punahou 

 (Oahu), a little to the north-east of Honolulu, on which island 

 there are also sixteen other stations, also twenty-three stations 

 on the island Hawaii, and fourteen on the other islands, 

 making altogether a total of fifty-four, two of which are 4100 

 feet above sea-level. The oldest temperature observations date 

 from the time of the first American mission in 1821, and with 

 some interruptions have been continued to the present time. 

 From the more recent observations the mean annual temperature 

 is 74'''i. During the last ten years the lowest temperature was 

 54°'o, and the highest 89°'! ; the greatest daily variation being 

 23°. The warmest month is August, mean temperature 78°'i, 

 and the coldest, January, mean 69° '8. Barometric pressure is 

 very regular, the yearly period amounting to about '07 inch, and 

 the daily period to '06 inch. The larger oscillations occur only 

 when the almost regular northerly trade winds, which blow on 

 an average for 258 days in the year, are replaced by southerly 

 winds. 'The rainfall differs considerably in different parts of 

 the islands ; at Honolulu the mean of thirteen years' observa- 

 tions is 30"6 inches. The largest amount falls between Novem- 

 ber and February ; the dryest month is June, with about one 

 inch. 



August. — " Die neue Anemometer-und Temperatur-Station 

 auf dem Obir-Gipfel," by J. Hann. — On the dynamics of the 

 atmosphere, by M. MoUer. This is a continuation of a series 

 of valuable papers on the physics of the atmosphere. The pre- 

 sent article deals chiefly with the behaviour of cyclones and 

 anticyclones, and with the vertical distribution of temperature 

 and aqueous vapour. 



The Botanical Gazette for August has an article on cell-union 

 in herbaceous grafting, by Mr. John S. Wright, in which the 

 remarkable assertion is made that not only a geranium, but also 

 Tradescautia zebrina has been successfully grafted on the 

 tomato, that is, a monocotyledonous on a dicotyledonous plant. 

 Mr. L. N. Johnson describes the mode of formation and escape 

 of the little-known zoospores oi Draparualdia plumosa. 



The numbers of the yoiirnal of Botany for August and 

 September are chiefly occupied by papers on descriptive botany. 

 Mr. H. T. Soppill gives an account of the life-history of 

 ^'Kcidium leucospennum, parasitic on Anemone nemorosa. 



NO. 1249, VOL. 48] 



