462 



NA TURE 



[September 15, 1892 



colouring-matter. The colourless central porti )n of each 

 "granum" may perhaps consist of a product of assimila- 

 tion, such as paramylon. The fibrillas formed by the 

 grana are inconstant in number. They may sometimes 

 become interspersed among the elements of the central 

 body (nucleus .?) of the cell. The author comes to the 

 conclusion that, while the constituent elements of chroma- 

 tophores are present in these plants, they have not 

 become associated to form definite plastids. 



Passing on to the supposed nucleus of Cyanophycese, 

 Prof. Hieronymus confirms the observations of previous 

 writers as to the presence in the middle of each cell of a 

 comparatively large body of distinctly fibrillar stru:ture. 

 The tangled fibril is almost certainly a single one, and is 

 moniliform, the granulations being the staining portions. 

 Their substance has been called by Borzi cyanophycin. 

 The author regards them as representing the chromatin 

 bodies of a typical nuclear fibril, though not chemically 

 identical with them. There is no nuclear membrane, and 

 in the older cells the fibril frequently uncoils, so that its 

 outer windings may even reach the periphery of the cell. 

 The author therefore proposes to term the central body 

 an " open nucleus " as opposed to the " closed nucleus " 

 of higher organisms. The body differs then from a 

 typical nucleus (i) in its chemical reactions, (2) in the 

 absence of a limiting membrane, and (3) in the absence 

 (so far as observed) of karyokinetic phases. 



The cyanophycin, under certain conditions, is said to 

 accumulate to an enormous extent, almost filling the cell, 

 and sometimes assuming very definite crystalline forms. 

 The author is disposed to regard it as a reserve substance, 

 possibly the product of the direct assimilation of atmo- 

 spheric nitrogen. His observations may be taken as 

 establishing the existence in the Cyanophyceae of a body 

 agreeing in many respects with the nucleus of the higher 

 plants, but much less sharply limited off from the other 

 cell-contents. D. H. S. 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF LABRADOR. 

 The Labrador Coast : a Journal of Two Sutn/ner Cruises 

 in that Region. With Notes on its Early Discovery, on 

 the Eskimo, on its Physical Geography, Geology, and 

 Natural History. By Adolphus Spring Packard, M.D., 

 Ph.D. With Maps and Illustrations. New York : N. 

 D. C. Hodges. (London : Kegan Paul, Trench, 

 Triibner and Co., 1891.) 

 A LARGE part of this excellent work has already 

 •^^ appeared in various journals published in the 

 United States, These contributions are not known, we 

 fear, so widely as they deserve to be— in this country at 

 least— and therefore Dr. Packard has been well advised 

 to gather the scattered fragments into a homogeneous 

 whole, making, in the truest and widest sense, a geo- 

 graphical study of the greatest value and interest. 

 Chapters vii. to xvii., with the exception of Chapter xiii., 

 are entirely new, and contain the latest results of studies 

 which the author has made peculiarly his own, with the 

 result that his claim that the contents of this volume 

 represent the state of our present knowledge of the 

 coast and interior is perfectly well founded. The out- 

 standing feature of the work is its wide scope, appeal- 

 ing as it does to the geographer, the geologist, the 

 NO. I 194, VOL. 46] 



naturalist (to use the word in its more limited sense), the 

 botanist, the ethnologist, and th:; historian. Each of 

 these will find the subject in which he is interested treated 

 with considerable skill, and, so far as opportunity for 

 original research allowed, with minuteness and per- 

 spicuity. One fault we have to find with the style, and 

 that is an occasional looseness in the use of nomen- 

 clature. This distracts the reader's attention, and, until 

 he has gone back and re-read many passages, leads 

 him to question several statements which, when their 

 meaning is fully grasped, are seen to be correct but 

 badly expressed. Should a second edition of the work be 

 called for, revision in this respect would result in a very 

 marked improvement. 



To the question as to who first sighted the inhospitablt^ 

 shores of Labrador, Dr. Packard has devoted considerable 

 space, carefully examining the various claims that have 

 been put forward. He comes to the conclusion that the 

 honour belongs to the Norseman Biarne, or Bjarne, who, 

 without doubt, made a landfall somewhere in North 

 America in 990. We are strongly inclined to agree with 

 the result arrived at on this point. The author's experi- 

 ences of navigation in the region under discussion, gave 

 him opportunities of observing and demonstrating the 

 rate of sailing made by modern ships, and on this basis 

 he builds up arguments which tell with considerable force 

 against the theories advanced by Dr. Kohl and others 

 regarding the early Scandinavian seaman, who may now 

 be considered the almost undoubted discoverer of one of 

 the wildest and most forbidding coasts in the world. 



The derivation of the name is of interest. Coming 

 from the Spanish and Portuguese word for a labourer, it 

 was applied to this part of America after the visit of 

 Cortereal in 1500, as the survivors of the voyage, on their 

 return, held out the hope that the natives might easily 

 be brought into a state of slavery and shipped to the 

 Portuguese colonies to work in the fields and be, in fact, 

 labourers for their self-appointed masters. 



We have many interesting particulars regarding the 

 ice and snow of this region. The floating blocks and 

 bergs were carefully observed, and the conclusion, now 

 almost universally held by geologists, confirmed that ice 

 carried by winds and waves against the shores has had 

 little direct influence on the configuration of the coast 

 line. After Dr. Packard's careful investigation of this 

 question, the statement, so frequently met with, that the 

 sea lochs of the west coast of Scotland were formed by 

 the action of glacial gouges, may for ever disappear 

 from our school-books. The only instance of such 

 glacial effect was observed at Little Mecatina Island in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where there is no true Arctic 

 floe-ice. An instance of the impotency of what was at 

 one time regarded as a great eroding agency, is noted in 

 the fact that the ship in which the author spent a con- 

 siderable time amid ice-packs, presented no abrasion on 

 her sides, the paint being as whole and unbroken when 

 she came out of as when she entered the frozen sea. 

 No boulders, gravels, or mud were observed on any of 

 the icebergs examined, but as they were all of consider- 

 able age, as was indicated by the marks of frequent over- 

 turning, they had, in all probability, dropped their 

 burdens before reaching the southern area where they 

 were inspected. 



