April 7, 19 10] 



NATURE 



167 



^raphisch-Biologische Untersuchungen, No. 5, Helsingfors, 

 1909), supplementary to the earlier works of Dr. G. 

 Schneider. A work of this kind requires very careful 

 analysis and abstracting, and if we are to learn which of the 

 jpecies forming the food has supplied the parasites in ques- 

 :ion, we must carry the research, rather farther. We have 

 n this work very long lists of species of insects and their 

 larvae, of Crustacea and their larva?, of molluscs, occasional 

 R'orms, and other fish all eaten as food. We have also 

 ;cnsiderable lists of cestodes, trematodes, nematodes, 

 \canthocephala, &c., but the paper does not, in our opinion, 

 sufliciently attempt to indicate which food-animal brought 

 nto the body of the fish the several parasites enumerated. 

 >»evertheless, the work forms a foundation for further in- 

 /estigation, and one which will afford material for a 

 Jreatly developing subject. 



The spread of interest in ecological botany is naturally 

 Treating a demand for photographs and lantern-slides of 

 ypical areas of vegetation. Mr. W. B. Crump, of Halifax, 

 vho has taken part in some of the British botanical 

 ;urveys, has accumulated a series of photographic negatives 



Calluna Heath : a Cheshire Mere, (a) Molinia ccerulea ; (b) J uncus supinus. 



epicting many of the recognised plant associations, from 

 'hich he offers permanent photographic prints (15 by 12 

 iches or 12 by 10 inches) made by the ozobrome process or 

 intern-slides. The more detailed studies are ortly offered 

 s lantern-slides. Descriptive notes are supplied. The 

 hotograph reproduced represents a Cheshire mere, near 

 16 margin of which clumps of Molinia coerulea are grow- 

 ig, while heather is seen in the immediate foreground, and 



plot of Jtincus supinus occurs on the further side. 



The first issue of the Kew Bulletin (19 10) opens with a 

 escriptive list, communicated by Mr. G. Massee, of new 

 Kotic fungi. An agaric, Marasmius scandens, so called 

 •om the way it extends its cord-like mycelium and pro- 

 uces the resupinate pilei at intervals, is reported to cause 

 Jnsiderable damage to cocoa plants on the Gold Coast. 

 wo suspected insect parasites are described, viz. Sclero- 

 srris gigaspora, taken on orange leaves with scale insects, 

 fid Septocylindrium suspectum, found on the bodies of dead 



frog-hoppers." A new parasite on the roots and branches 

 NO. 21 10, VOL. 83] 



of Hevea brasiliensis, received almost simultaneously from 

 Singapore and the Gold Coast, receives the name of 

 Diplodia rapax (Melanconiaceae). Mr. A. D. Cotton con- 

 tributes an article on the growth of the alga Ulva 

 latissima, which, in contrast to most algae, flourishes in 

 stagnant and sewage-polluted water, 



Messrs. J. B. Bailli^re et Fils are issuing a small 

 monthly booklet, Le Mois agricole, containing notes likely 

 to be of value to the agriculturist, the vine-grower, and the 

 gardener. There are also detailed notices of the recent 

 publications of the firm. 



The necessity for continued work on the sugar-cane is 

 thoroughly recognised in the West Indies, and bulletins 

 are regularly issued setting forth the results obtained up 

 to the time of publication. We have recently received 

 Pamphlet No. 63 of the Imperial Department of Agricul- 

 ture for the West Indies, giving a summary of the results 

 obtained in Antigua and St. Kitts during 1908-9. 



The Agricultural and Horticultural Association issue an 

 annual booklet entitled " One and All Gardening," con- 

 taining a number of short 

 '"' articles of interest to gardeners 



and others. Among the most 

 attractive is one by the Hon. 

 H. A. Stanhope, in which the 

 legends attached to certain 

 plants are pleasantly re-told. 

 The outdoor school lessons 

 given at the Frensham Schools 

 in Surrey are described, while 

 Miss Sipe writes on school 

 gardening in the United States. 

 The booklet is well illustrated 



From the Edinburgh ~ and 

 East of Scotland College of 

 Agriculture we have received a 

 bulletin, by Dr. Lauder and 

 Mr. Fagan, giving the milk 

 records for the dairy herd at 

 the Rosslynlee Asylum. An 

 attempt was made to trace the 

 relation between ventilation of 

 the cow-sheds and the yield of 

 milk, but the results are not 

 very decisive. So far as they 

 go, they indicate that the 

 animals in the well-ventilated, 

 and therefore colder shed, gave 

 at least as much milk as those in the warmer, ill-ventilated 

 sheds, and remained in a healthier condition. 



A REPORT has recently been issued by Mr. E. Brown on 

 the poultry industry of 1909, from which it appears that 

 the decline in the import of foreign eggs, which ha« been 

 going on since 1903, still continues, not so much as a 

 result of increased home production as of increased require- 

 ments by Germany, now the largest importer of poultry 

 produce in the world ; but although the amount of our 

 imjports has declined, the values have risen, and the factors 

 at present controlling prices seem to be permanent. It is 

 urged that farmers and small holders have now an oppor- 

 tunity in connection with poultry raising such as they never 

 have had before. 



In vol. Hi., part iv., of Smithsonian Miscellaneous 

 Collections, Mr. G. P. Merrill describes and figures a stony 

 meteorite which has recently come into the possession of 

 the U.S. National Museum at Washington. The interest 



