278 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[December, 1901. 



The scales on the wings of butterflies and moths ai'e 

 often considered to be puiely of ornamental imjoortaiice. 

 In a rec«nt paper " Ueber Nervenendiguugeu auf deni 

 Schmetterlingsfliigel " (Zoulog. Jahrh. Ahf/t. f. Anaf.. 

 XIV., 1901, pp. 551-572, pi. 42), Dr. K. Giinther points 

 out that they must havei t« some extent a sensor)' 

 function, as their roots are sometimes in cont<ict with 

 processes emanating from special cells of the hypo- 

 dermis into which fine nerve-endings pass. — G. H. C. 



Zoological. — In the fji^nluijlcal Mutjaiine for October 

 Mr. C. W. Andrews continues his preliminary descrip- 

 tion of the wonderful new Eocene vertebrate fauna 

 recently brought to light in the Fayum district of 

 Egypt; this paxt being chiefly devoted to the reptiles. 

 Perhaps the most remarkable of these is a large fresh- 

 water toi^toise belonging to the " pleurodiraa " division, 

 or those in which the head and neck are moved side- 

 waj's; this group being now restricted to the southern 

 hemisphere, although it was formerly spread over much 

 of Europe and Asia. The most remarkable feature 

 about the new fonn (foi' which the name Stereogenys 

 cromtri is proposed) is connected witli the palate, which 

 has a structure recalling that of modern crocodiles, the 

 palatal aperture of the nostrils being placed quite far 

 back. The collection is also noteworthy on account of 

 containing remains of the largest snake hitherto known, 

 which the author calls Giyantopliis i/drsiitii. If the 

 vertebrae of this monster bear the same proportion to 

 its length as obtains in the case of modern pythons 

 (to which it is allied), it could not have been much, if 

 at all, short of thirty feet. Another new generic type 

 of serpent {Mceriophis schweinfurthi) appeal's more 

 nearly relative to Palceophk of the European Eocene. 

 We await with interest the author's opinion as to the 

 bearing of the new discovery on current views as to the 

 past distribution and migi-ation of animal life in Africa. 



Those of our readere interested in cephalopods will 

 remember that yeai-s ago Professor Owen described the 

 " animal " of the nautilus, on the evidence of a single 

 specimen, then regarded as a great rarity. Eor 

 centuries, however, it appeai-s probable that the fisher- 

 men of cei-tain small islands in the Philippines have 

 been constantly in the habit of taking nautiluses, which 

 enter their fish-traps at certain seasons of the year in 

 considerable numbers. Hearing of this, Mr. Bashford 

 Dean recently made a trip to Negi'os Island, where he 

 was successful in obtaining several specimens; and he 

 would have got more had his visit been timed at the 

 right season. The traps are sunk in deep water, and 

 the nautiluses enter with the fish. " The shells," writes 

 Mr. Dean in the Aineriran NafuralUt for October, 

 " have hitherto found little market ; locally, they ai-e 

 used as drinking cups or flower vases, and are "some- 

 times cut into roughly-shaped spoons. But they are 

 now bought extensively by Chinese shopkeepers, and at 

 such good prices that there will probably be a goodly 

 nautilus fisheiy before long. The Chinese, I was told, 

 export the shells to China, where they ai-e used as 

 material for button-making.' British mother-of-pearl 

 dealers and manufacturers ought to bestir themselves 

 and see whether nautilus-shell is not suitable for their 

 own pui-poses. 



The Entomological Division of the U.S. Department 

 of Agriculture is displaying even more than its usual 

 vigour in describing insect pests and the remedies best 

 calculated to stay their ravages. Tlirce bulletins have 

 recently been issued by the division, one dealing with 



the " fall army-worm " and variegated cut-woi-m, another 

 describing a new beetle whose attacks are ruining the 

 forests of red spruce in New England, and a third 

 treating of various pests. 



" Luck " sometimes attends the efforts of naturalists. 

 Years ago the secretary of the Zoological Society 

 described what, he regarded as a new species of 

 rhinoceros from Chittagong, chiefly upon its hairy 

 character. Upon the death of the specimen Mr. O. 

 Thomas decided that these characters -svere of no value; 

 but that, on account of its superior size, the Chittagong 

 rhinoceros was still entitled to distinction from the 

 Sumati'an animal, although only as a sub-species. 



The addition of a new genus of living mammals to 

 the faiuia of Europe or its confines is an event of 

 suiScient intei'est to be recorded in this column. The 

 creature in question is a vole from the Caucasus, for 

 which the name Prometheumys schaposchnikowi is pro- 

 posed by its describer. Dr. C. Satunin, in the 

 Zo(jhjgl<che Anzeiger for September. It is described as 

 being of the size of a small water-vole, and chestnut- 

 brown in colour, with lighter feet; the minute eyes are 

 covered with skin. The teeth are nearest to those of 

 the mole-voles, or zokors {EUohiu-i). The single example 

 was taken under flowering anemones. 



The full text of Dr. W. T. Blanford's important 

 memoir on the distribution of vertebrate animals in 

 India, Ceylon, and Burma, has just been published in 

 the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 

 illustrated by a coloiu-ed map. The leading features of 

 Dr. Blanford's division of India into zoological provinces 

 have been already mentioned in these columns. 



j^oticts of Boolts. 



• — 



" UsE-IsHERiT-4NCE ; Illusthated by the Direction of Hair 

 ON' THE Bodies of Anuials." Bt Walter Kidd, m.d. (A. & C 

 Black.) Illustrated. 2s. 6d. net.— The interest of this able 

 little work is two-fold. In the tirst place the author describes 

 and classifies the remarkable " whorls " occurring in the coat of 

 so many mammals (especiallr the hoofed group), which form the 

 starting points of changes in the direction of the hair. The second 

 and mo.st important object of the book is, however, to show- 

 that changes in the direction of the hair-slope of animals have 

 been acquired by use and become inherited ; a very notable in- 

 stance of this being the direction of the hair-slope on the backs of 

 a certain percentage of individuals of the human species. It is 

 accordingly urged that, in this particular instance at any rate, 

 the doctrine that acquired characters are never inherited does 

 not hold good, and hence a Lamarckian explanation of the 

 phenomena must be accepted. The case, as argued by Dr. Kidd. 

 appears to be a strong one, and it will be curious to note what 

 the out-and-out Weismannists wUl have to say in reply. 



" A Text-Book of Astronomy." By Prof. G. C. Comstock. 

 (New York and London : D. Appleton & Co. Loudon : Hirsch- 

 feld Bros.) 7s. 6d. net. — This volume is well worthy of a 

 place among the " Twentieth Century Text Books." and is a 

 welcome indication of the increasing recognition of the value 

 of astronomy as an education;il subject. Personal observations, 

 even with the simplest of home-made apparatus, are strongly 

 recommended, and throughout the book the student is required 

 to do many things besides merely reading the text. In those 

 branches of the subject which do not provide suitable practical 

 exercises, the author has given brief but clear and well balanced 

 accounts which can hardly fail t« attract the beginner, and 

 lead him to search for more in works of a less general character. 

 The numerous illustrations are well chosen iuid admirably re- 

 produced, and they will well repay the careful study which 

 is advised by the author ; fig. 53 very clearly represents the 

 moon's path "with respect to the sun, and the variation in the 

 number and latitudes of smi spots is illustrated in a very 

 striking manner in tig. 82. We confidently recommend the book 



