l82 



NATURE 



[June 21, 1900 



recommended that these be searched for particularly, as in them 

 copper is likely to occur. The rocks of Douglas county are 

 the same in nature, in origin and in age, as the copper-bearing 

 rocks of Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior ; but at present it has 

 not been determined in Douglas county that any deposit of 

 copper of sufficient richness is extensive enough to be of 

 economic value. Some of the recent explorations are, however, 

 very encouraging. 



The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for May is 

 a bulky number, which contains the address of the ex-president, 

 Mr. Whitaker, and fourteen papers dealing with a variety of 

 subjects. Perhaps the most important of these are contributed 

 by women, who, by the by, are not at present eligible to 

 become Fellows of the Society. There can be no doubt, 

 however, that the essay by Miss Gertrude Elles on the zonal 

 classification of the Wenlock shales of the Welsh borderland, 

 and that by Miss Ethel Wood on the Lower Ludlow formation 

 and its graptolite- fauna, make very great advances on our 

 previous knowledge. The papers bear evidence of long-con- 

 tinued and critical research on the Silurian strata and on the 

 difficult subject of the zoological characters of the graptolites 

 which characterise successive stages in the rocks. 



The volume of "Geological Literature," which since 1895 

 has been separately published by the Geological Society of 

 London, reflects great credit on the compiler, Mr. W. Rupert 

 Jones, and on the editor, Mr. Belinfante. In this work the 

 titles are given of the books and of all the geological papers 

 contained in periodicals which have been added to the Society's 

 library during the year 1899. This list occupies over a 

 hundred pages, while the subject-index brings the total to 176 

 pages. As a work of reference it is indispensable to all 

 geologists. 



There is now in the press, and will shortly be published by 

 Messrs. Young, Liverpool, and Messrs. Porter, London, the 

 report of the conjoint expedition to Sokotra and Abd el-Kuri, 

 conducted in 1898-99 by the British Museum (represented by 

 Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, of the Zoological Department) and the 

 Liverpool Museums (represented by the director of museums to 

 the Corporation, Dr. H. O. Forbes). The expense of its 

 publication is borne by the Museums Committee of the Liver- 

 pool City Council, and the volume is edited by Dr. Forbes. It 

 will be illustrated by between twenty-five and thirty plates, 

 chiefly coloured, depicting the zoological and botanical dis- 

 coveries of the expedition, the ethnography of the islands, &c. 

 The introductory chapters by the editor give an account, fully 

 illustrated by blocks, of the journey, of the geography of the 

 islands and of their inhabitants. The scientific chapters are 

 contributed by Lord Walsingham, F.R.S., Prof. I. B. Balfour, 

 F.R.S., Mr. Boulenger, F.R.S., Dr. Forbes, Mr. Ogilvie- 

 Grant, Mr. A. E. Smith, Colonel Godwin- Austen, F.R.S., Mr. 

 De Winton, and other well-known naturalists. 



The last number of the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche 

 Zoologie contains an elaborate paper, by Dr. E. Zander, on the 

 male reproductive organs of the Hymenoptera. It is illustrated 

 by a remarkably well-executed coloured plate. 



A CORRESPONDENT of Nature Notes asks for some good 

 reason why a lover of animals should not wear the stuff'ed head 

 of a bird or other creature as an ornament. The query appears 

 to us a pertinent one. 



We have received the Report of the South African Museum 

 for 1899, in which the Trustees express themselves generally 

 well satisfied with the progress of the institution. They record 

 an addition to the edifice of a large block of new building to 

 receive the art collections. 



NO. 1599, VOL. 62] 



In No. 3 of Marine Investigations in S. Africa, Mr. G. A. 

 Boulenger describes an example of the rare unicorn-fish 

 {Lopkotes cepedianus) from the Cape of Good Hope, where it 

 has not hitherto been definitely known to exist. The specimen 

 was considerably over a yard in length. The unicorn-fish, 

 which is an ally of the ribbon-fishes, takes its name from 

 the peculiar filamentous process arising from the front of the 

 elevated head. 



The Annual Report of the Field Columbian Museum, con- 

 taining an excellent portrait of its founder, Marshall Field, is 

 likewise to hand. The museum appears to be making extremely 

 rapid progress, its ethnological series having been very largely 

 increased by the acquisition of the rich collection acquired by 

 the Stanley McCormick Expedition among the Hopi Indians. 

 An especial feature of the report is the introduction of a number 

 of photographs of recent acquisitions. Among these, we may 

 call attention to the portrait of a Hopi bride, and also to a 

 plate of a group of the extraordinary gigantic spiral fossils known 

 as " devil's corkscrew," or Daeinonelix, which have lately 

 excited so much interest. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies 

 has just issued a small pamphlet on the best means of destroying 

 that troublesome insect, the " mo\h.-\iOxzx'\Diatraea saccharalis), 

 which inflicts so much damage, while in the caterpillar stage, on 

 sugar-cane. It appears that a considerable number of the eggs 

 of the moth-borer (which are laid in patches on the leaves of the 

 sugar-cane) are attacked by parasites which prevent the develop- 

 ment of the caterpillars, and in due course come forth as flies. 

 These parasite-infested eggs are readily distinguished from 

 healthy egg? by being black, instead of yellow or orange. It is 

 recommended to destroy all the yellow and orange eggs that can 

 be collected, but to leave the black ones, in order that they may 

 breed flies to destroy other clutches of eggs. If this remedy were 

 adopted as soon as the young cane commences to show, and 

 continued as long as it is sufficiently small, the loss of the best 

 shoots would be avoided. If, however, the caterpillars are 

 allowed to hatch out and bury themselves in the cane, there is 

 nothing for it but to cut out the "dead hearts," and this to a 

 considerable depth. When cut out, they must forthwith be 

 destroyed, or the caterpillar will either complete its development 

 in them, or crawl out to other canes. 



Bulletin No. 2 of the West of Scotland Agricultural College 

 is a report by Prof. -R. Patrick Wright on experiments on the 

 manuring of rye-grass and clover-hay in 1899. 



The following are the most recent official botanical publica,- 

 tions which have reached us from the United States :— The ger- 

 mination of seeds as affected by certain chemical fertilisers, by 

 Mr. G. H. Hicks (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of 

 Botany, Bulletin No. 24) ; Bread, and the principles of bread- 

 making, by Helen W. Atwater (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Farmer's Bulletin, No. 112); Co-operative experiments with 

 grasses and forage-plants, by Dr. P. Beveridge Kennedy (U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture, Division of Agrostology, Bulletin 

 No. 22). 



Under the title of " Annuaire des Mathematiciens," Messrs. 

 Georges Carre and C Naud propose to publish a directory 

 containing the names, addresses and academic rank of those 

 interested in the study of mathematics. 



Much information is given in a clear and concise form in 

 Mr. A. A. C. Swinton's little book on " The Elementary 

 Principles of Electric Lighting" (Crosby Lockwood), the 

 fourth edition of which has just been published. The book 

 only runs into sixty-four pages, but everything in it is to the 

 point ; and electrical artisans, as well as readers unfamiliar with 



