September io, 1891] 



NATURE 



45: 



The Staffordshire County Council have appointed Prof. D. 

 E.Jones, B.Sc. (of the University College of Wales, Aberyst- 

 wyth), as Director of Technical Instruction for Staffordshire. 



The Oxford Delegates responsible for the University Extension 

 work have just published their Annual Report for the year ending 

 July 31, 1891. No fewer than 192 courses of lectures were 

 delivered. Of these, 90 were on historical subjects, 64 on 

 natural science, 33 on literature and art, and 5 on political 

 economy. These figures show a small increase in the number of 

 courses on history and literature, and evidence a marked in- 

 crease in the attention that is being paid throughout the country 

 to natural science. On the other hand, political economy does 

 not appear to be popular with those who are responsible for the 

 arrangement of the lectures, and this circumstance the Delegates 

 regret. At several centres in the North of England the courses 

 have been regularly attended by many hundreds of artisans, and 

 the funds to defray the expenses of these lectures have been pro- 

 vided by working men societies. The results of the examinations 

 have in many cases been most satisfactory. In the opinion of 

 Mr. York Powell " The paper classed as distinguished would 

 have been accepted in Oxford as distinctly belonging to the 

 honour class ; the ' pass ' standard is that which would be 

 adopted in the Oxford pass school." Mr. Lodge and Mr. A. H. 

 Johnson bear similar testimony to the efficiency and capacity of 

 the students. 



The Times has been printing an interesting correspondence 

 on county museums, and we may hope that the discussion will 

 lead to some practical results. There can be no doubt as to 

 the need for such institutions. Properly organized, they might 

 be of high educational value, and they would preserve for 

 posterity many objects of archaeological interest which are now 

 in danger of being either destroyed or lost. The aim of the 

 proposed museums ought, however, as Prof. Flower has urged, 

 to be very clearly defined, and it would be necessary that arrange- 

 ments should be made for the preparation of good catalogues and 

 labels. 



Everyone interested in the scientific aspects of agriculture 

 was sorry to hear that Miss Ormerod had felt it necessary to 

 resign her position as consulting entomologist to the Royal 

 Agricultural Society. It is much to be regretted that mis- 

 understandings should have led to the severance of her connec- 

 tion with the Society with which she has so long been honourably 

 associated. Fortunately her work as an entomologist is not to 

 be interrupted, and she will continue to place her knowledge at 

 the service of agriculturists. 



The Department of Agriculture in New South Wales is not 

 likely to complain of lack of work. During the first three 

 months of the Department's existence — March to May 1890 — 

 1200 letters were received from farmers and others on matters 

 of agricultural interest ; during the same months of this year, 2300 

 were received and fully answered. During the first five months 

 of the current year, over 1000 letters were written by the De- 

 partment, giving specific advice on manures, analysis of soils, 

 insect pests, and parasitic diseases, and were gratefully ac- 

 knowledged ; 18,000 Gazettes and Bulletins were distributed, 

 and 7000 circulars sent out. 



In the official statement relating to the work of the British 

 Museum (Natural History) during 1890, reference is made to 

 two new cases which have been placed in the central hall. 

 One of them illustrates external variation according to age, sex, 

 and season, as exemplified in the well-known bird the Ruff 

 {Machetes pugnax). The other case is intended to illustrate the 

 subject of protective resemblance and mimicry. The lower part 

 of the case is occupied by a group showing the simplest form of 

 such resemblance, i.e. general conformation of colour to habitual 

 NO. I 141, VOL. 44] 



surroundings. Various species of mammals, birds, and reptiles, 

 from the Egyptian desert, are arranged upon a ground consisting 

 of the actual rocks and sand among which they were living. 

 These specimens were collected in February 1890, and pre- 

 sented by Mr. F. S. Worthington. In the upper part of the 

 case specimens are exhibited, chiefly from the class of insects in 

 which the imitation both of the form and colour of external 

 objects is carried to various degrees of perfection and com- 

 plexity. Among these is a group of Indian butterflies (Kallima 

 inachis), which, when at rest with their wings closed, present 

 a marvellous resemblance to dead leaves. Still further stages 

 of complexity of imitation are shown in insects which closely 

 resemble, externally, others belonging to different families or 

 even orders, apparently for purposes of protection. 



M. E. H ECKEL, of Marseilles, has recently described an in- 

 teresting case of mimicry which may be frequently seen in the 

 south of France. The mimic is a spider, Thomisus onusttts, 

 which is often found in the flowers of Convolvulus arvensis, 

 where it hides itself for the purpose of snaring two Diptera, 

 Nomioides niinutissimus and Melithreptus origani, on which it 

 feeds. Convolvulus is abundant, and three principal colour- 

 variations are met with : there is a white form, a pink one with 

 deep pink spots, and a light pink form with a slight greeni-h- 

 ness on the external wall of the corolla. Each of these forms 

 is particularly visited by one of three varieties of Thomisus. 

 The variety which visits the greenish form has a green hue, and 

 keeps on the greener part of the corolla ; that which lives ia 

 the white form is white, with a faint blue cross on the abdomen, 

 and some blue at the end of th« legs ; the variety which lives in 

 the pink form is pink itself on the prominent parts of the 

 abdomen and legs. If the animal happens to live on Dahlia 

 versicolor, the pink turns to red, and if it lives in a yellow 

 flower — Antirrhinum majus, for instance — it becomes yellow. 

 At first Prof. Heckel supposed the three varieties of Thomisus 

 to be permanent, but he discovered accidentally that any one of 

 these peculiarly coloured spiders, when transferred to a differ- 

 ently coloured flower, assumes the hue of the latter in the course 

 of a few days ; and when the pink, white, green, and yellow 

 varieties are confined together in a box, they all become nearly 

 white. 



Mr. Theodore Bent, according to a telegram received 

 from him at Cape Town, has good reason to be satisfied with 

 the results of his investigation of the Zimbabye ruins. He is of 

 opinion that the " finds " unmistakably indicate the form of 

 worship, the manner of decoration, and the system of gold 

 smelting practised by the vanished people who inhabited the 

 buildings. He is now visiting other ruins. 



The series of "One Man" photographic exhibitions at the 

 Camera Club is to be continued during the coming winter. 

 According to the Journal of the Club, there will first be an ex- 

 hibition of photographs by Mr. Ralph W. Robinson. This 

 will be followed by an exhibition of the work of Mr. J. P. 

 Gibson, of Hexham. 



At a meeting of the Meteorological Society of Mauritius on 

 July 30, it was stated that, on June 13 and 14 last, thunder- 

 storms occurred in that island. This, so far as was known, 

 was the first instance of a thunder-storm having taken place 

 since the year 1801. There was a considerable increase of sun- 

 spots at about this time, and on June 14 a remarkable magnetic 

 disturbance took place. Photographs of the latter part of the 

 transit of Venus, on May 10 last, were exhibited. At sunrise 

 the planet had already traversed about one half of its apparent 

 path, and its appearance was perfectly round and intensely 

 black. The time of tangential contact (at egress) was, as nearly 

 as could be ascertained, 8h. 36m. 368. A number of charts 



