186 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[August, 1901. 



of AlpboDse de Candolle, who did not consider it im- 

 possible that a seed may preserve its vitality for fovir 

 or five thousand years ; and the testimony of Count 

 Sternberg, who believed that he had actually procured 

 the germination of tvifo grains of mummy wheat, is 

 dismissed as valueless. It is shown that in oi'der for 

 an old seed to genninate three conditions ai-e necessary : 

 First, the reserve material must remain chemically 

 intact, and this is the case in many grains of mummy 

 wheat and bai-ley ; second, the embryo must retain an 

 organisation so that the enzyme required for the 

 digestion of the resei"\'e material may be produced : 

 and third, if the preceding condition is realised, it would 

 also be neceSsary that the embryo should remain in con- 

 tact with the reserve material. In the seeds examined 

 the embryo no longer existed in contact with the albu- 

 men, and though it retained its cellular organisation, 

 each cell had undergone a chemical change indicating 

 the death of the embryo at a remote period. The 

 author concludes that grains of mummy wheat and 

 barley, in spite of their external appeai-ance of good 

 preservation, do not possess a cellular organisation 



compatible with germination. — S. A. S. 

 — » > I — 



Entomological. — Some interesting researches under 

 the dii'ectiou of Dr. A. Weismann, and published by him 

 in the Aiiafow. Air.eiger (Vol. XVIII., 1900. pp. 492-9), 

 confirm the well-known view that the unfertilized eggs of 

 the Honey-bee develop into drones, while the fertilized 

 eggs always give rise to queens or workers. Considerable 

 doubt has lately been thrown on this doctrine by 

 practical bee-keepers, but the question seems altogether 

 set at rest by Weismanu's examination of over 300 eggs 

 in the stage (that of the " second maturation spindle ") 

 when the sperm-aster, if present, can always be 

 detected. In every one of the 62 eggs from worker-cells 

 examined a sperm-aster was found ; while only one of 

 the 272 eggs from drone-cells contained a sperm-aster, 

 t-nd this was almost certainly due to a mistake on the 

 part of the queen-bee, who is able to lay either fertilized 

 or unfert-ilized eggs at will. 



The development of the eggs and other cells in the 

 ovar}' of the Queen-bee forms the subject of an exhavistive 

 paper by \V. Paulcke in the Zonloq. Jahrb. (nbth. f. 

 nnnt). XIV., 1900, pp. 178-202, pis'. 12, 12a. 13, 13a. 

 In the thread-like ends of the ovarian tubes are numerous 

 undiiferentiated nuclei embedded in a common proto- 

 plasm. Further down the tubes some of thsee are seen 

 to give rise to the cells of the follicular epithelium, while 

 others foi-m the eggs and the yolk-cells. The eggs and 

 yolk-cells are formed by repeated division of the primi- 

 tive germ-cells — forty-eight yolk-cells being produced 

 for each egg, and the cluster of yolk-cells becomes 

 separated from its neighbouring egg-cell by a follicular 

 layer. The yolk-cells at first sliow marked growth and 

 produce food-material which the egg absorbs by pro- 

 truding a process into the yolk-follicle. Ultimately. 

 l>cforc the eggs enter the oviduct, the yolk-cells pass 

 :iito the egg-follicle and become entirely engulfed by the 



gg-protoplasm. — G. H. C. 



— * * I — 



Zoological. — By fax- the most important event we 

 have to record in this column, so far as vertebrate 

 zoology is concerned, is Professor E. Ray Lankester's 

 exhibition before the Zoological Society of the skin 

 and skull of the new mammal lately discovered by Sir 

 Harry Johnston in the eastern borders of the Congo 

 forest. The professor fully confirmed Sir Harry's 

 opinion as to the intimate affinity existing between the 



okapi (as the new animal is called by the natives) and 

 the extinct Helhidotlieriutn of the Tertiary deposits of 

 Greece. It is believed, however, to be generieally 

 distinct, and the name Ol-apia johnsfoni was accordingly 

 sviggested as its designation, the specific title having 

 been previously proposed by Mr. Sclater, on the evidence 

 of two pieces of skin sent home at an earlier date by 

 Sir H. Johnston. The animal appears to be a com- 

 paratively short-necked, and short-legged representative 

 of the giraffes; the general colour of the upper-parts 

 being purplish-brown, with the thighs and upper part 

 of the legs transversely striped in a somev.-hat zebra-like 

 fashion. The skin, which has been mounted by 

 Eowland Ward, Ltd., will probably be on exhibition at 

 the Natural History Museum by the time these lines 

 appear. For fuller details regarding this most interest- 

 ing creature, we must await Prof. Lankester's promised 

 memoir ; but it may be observed that no such important 

 discovery has taken place within the memory of the 

 jjresent generation. It is noteworthy that the Grecian 

 deposits which vield TIeUadothcriiiiii also contain 

 remains of giraffes. 



In an ai'ticle published in the Jvine number of the 

 (hologicaJ Magazine, Dr. C. J. Forsyth Major discusses 

 the acquisition by the female of secondary sexual 

 characters originally distinctive of the male. He shows, 

 for example, that the females of the oxen were originally 

 hornless ; and that in those antelopes in which horns are 

 present in both sexes they were originally restricted to 

 the males, as is still the case in many genera of these 

 luminants. Of especial interest are the author's obser- 

 vations relating to the antlers of the deer, which, as is 

 well known are, with the exception of the reindeer, 

 normally restricted to the stags alone. It is pointed 

 out that in one district of Kussia reindeer hinds are 

 reported to be still devoid of antlers ; and evidence is 

 adduced showing that in the roedeer the female is now 

 tending to acquire antlei-s, those appendages being 

 frequently developed in that sex at all ages. 



Visitors to the palseontological galleries of the Natural 

 History Museum cannot fail to be struck with the 

 skeleton of a huge, half frog-like, half salamander-like 

 extinct reptile from South Africa, labelled Fariasaiiru.<. 

 iritherto these strange creatures have been regarded as 

 exclusively African, but news now comes of their dis- 

 covei-y in Russia. This is a fact of the highest 

 importance to the students of the geographical distri- 

 bution of animals. 



'^^e wish every success to the Fifth International 

 Congress of Zoology, which is to be held in Berlin from 

 the 12th to the reth of August. A good progi-amme 

 has been arranged, and a large number of papers for 

 reading have been promised. On August TTth Hamburg 

 and its excellent Zoological Gardens and jSIuseum will be 

 visited by those who care, while on August 18 there 

 will be an excursion to Heligoland. 



Polar Exploration. — The present year promises to 

 be a record one in the way of Antarctic anfi Arctic 

 Expeditions, as whilst four sail to explore the former 

 regions, no less than ten will be at work in the opposite 

 parts of the globe, viz. : (1) The Ziegler-Baldwin 

 Expedition from America, attempting to reach the Pole : 

 (2) the Russian Expedition, under Admiral MakarofI, 

 on the famous ice-breaker " Ermak, " built m England, 

 exploring the regions between Spitzbergen and Novoya 

 Semlja; (3) a Canadian Expedition under Capt. Bemier, 

 of Quebec, sailing north from St. Johns with the object 



