January ii, 1894] 



NA TURE 



253 



be many years before the rainfall of Australia will be measured 

 in all parts, but taking the values already obtained, and weigh- 

 ing them in proportion to the area of each colony in which they 

 were made, the average annual value of the rainfall for the whole 

 of the mainland of Australia comes out as 2 1 • 1 5 inches. Another 

 matter which Mr. Russell has investigated is the effect of alti- 

 tude upon temperature. In works of reference it is usually 

 stated that a rise of 300 feet causes a fall of 1° Fahr., but this 

 quantity must evidently vary with the locality. A comparison 

 of the average temperatures at ten different places with that of 

 Sydney, making an allowance at the rate of 1° Fahr. for a 

 difference of one degree of latitude, gave 344 feet as the mean 

 elevation required to produce a fall of 1° Fahr. The report 

 concludes with an average rainfall map, constructed on the plan 

 described in these columns on December 21 ; a new rainfall 

 map for the year ; a map showing the monthly distribution of 

 rain over each square degree of New South Wales, and curves 

 showing the height of the western rivers of that colony through- 

 out 1892. 



The Transaclions of the Devonshire Association for the 

 Advancement of Science for 1893 contain a good account of 

 the climate of Torquay, by A. Chandler, from trustworthy 

 instruments. This health resort is favoured by a large amount 

 of sunshine ; dividing the year into two periods the summer 

 has an average of 43"4 per cent., and the winter 30'5 per cent, 

 of the possible amount. The average mean shade temperature 

 is 5o°"2, and the mean annual range ii°'4. The mean tem- 

 perature of summer is 56°*5, and of winter 43° '8. The highest 

 summer temperature during the year 1892 was only 78°*2, and 

 the lowest winter temperature was 22"'4. The mean annual 

 rainfall for twenty-five years, 1864-88, was 37 inches ; June is 

 generally the driest month, with an average of about 2 inches, 

 and January the wettest, with a mean of a little over 4 inches. 

 The prevalent winds are warm, being from south-west, and 

 the town enjoys great freedom from storms. The observations 

 are now organised and provided for by the Town Council. 



Writing upon the persecution of the Great Skua (Stercor- 

 arius Catarrhactes) in the Annals of Scottish Natural History for 

 January, Mr. W. E. Clarke points out that a fact worth remem- 

 bering in the history of those birds which have become extinct 

 within the present century, is that their extermination had, in 

 all instances, become an accomplished fact for several years 

 before such was realised to be the case. In order to lead orni- 

 thologists to do something to prevent the Great Skua from a 

 similar fate, Mr. Clarke gives an account of the persecution to 

 which the bird is subject, and the wholesale stealing of its eggs. 

 The evidence he brings forward shows that unless some measure 

 of protection is immediately afforded to the Great Skua, this fine 

 bird must soon cease to exist in Europe. 



Miss E. A. Ormerod contributes to the Times of Monday 

 some observations on insect attacks upon crops and trees in this 

 country during last year. She points out that the attacks of the 

 year were much influenced by the exceptional deficiency of rain- 

 fall in the early half of 1893, from March onwards, and by 

 other weather peculiarities. With regard to the imported locust 

 appearances, the specimens which reached her alive proved to 

 be of a South European species, which is not gregarious, and in 

 its own country, though of large size, is known to do no appre- 

 ciable damage. From the climatic requirements of locusts, 

 therefore, and also from recorded experience, there does not 

 appear to be any reason to fear .even a possibility of locusts 

 effecting a settlement in this country. It is pointed out by Miss 

 Ormerod, however, that the presence of locusts in great quanti- 

 ties in fodder might be detrimental to the health of animals fed 

 upon it. 



NO. 1263, VOL. 49] 



Another note on locusts, more or less connected with the 

 above, is contained in a statement recently issued by the Govern- 

 ment of India {^Agricultural Ledger Series, No. 2, 1893). Dr. 

 Glinther suggested to the Government, some time ago, that dried 

 locusts might be used for insectivorous cage-birds and game- 

 birds which are now reared at great expense upon ants' eggs. 

 His letter was submitted to Mr. E. C. Cotes, of the Indian 

 Museum, Calcutta, who has reported favourably upon it, but 

 thinks there would be a difficulty in keeping up the supply from 

 India at the present time. But though the invasion of India by 

 the locxxst A cridium peregritnim, Oliv. , is now practically at an 

 end, Mr. Cotes says that Northern Africa, which was badly in- 

 vaded in 1892 by the same insect, and is still infested, might 

 offer a favourable ground for experiment. 



The silk-spider of Madagascar forms the subject of an 

 interesting article in Die Natur, by Dr. Karl Midler. Its 

 native name is Halabe, meaning great spider. This Halabe, 

 or Nephila Madagascaricnsis, spins threads of a golden colour, 

 and strong enough, according to Maindron, to hang a cork 

 helmet by. The female spider may attain a length of 15 cm., 

 while the male does not exceed 3 cm. A single female indi- 

 vidual, at the breeding season, gave M. Camboue, a French 

 missionary, some 3000 m. of a fine silken thread, during a 

 period of about twenty-seven days. The thread was examined 

 with a view to creating a new industry. Specimens tested at 

 a temperature of i"]^ C. showed an elongation of I2'48 percent, 

 under a weight of 3*27 gr. Small textures woven of these 

 threads are actually used by the natives for fastening flower? 

 on sunshades, and for other purposes. 



Prof. J. Wiesner, who has recently been studying the 

 influence of artificial rain upon European and exotic plants, 

 gave an account of his results at a recent meeting of the Vienna 

 Academy. Some of the plants, called by Prof. Wiesner 

 ombrophobe, can only for a short time stand continuous rain, 

 and soon shed their leaves and decay. Others, called ombrophil, 

 can stand it for months together. Plants growing in dry places 

 are, as a rule, ombrophobe, but the reverse cannot be said of 

 plants growing under wet surroundings. Leaves appear to 

 gain in power of resisting rain as they develop, and to reach a 

 climax in this respect at the period of their greatest vital 

 activity, after which they lose much of that power. Leaves 

 which can be wetted by water are usually ombrophil, those 

 which cannot are usually ombrophobe, but in cases where leaves 

 are both ombrophobe and easily wetted, they. are extremely 

 sensitive to rain. Prof. Wiesner thinks that ombrophobe leaves 

 are enabled to resist the putrefactive action of water, especially 

 at high temperatures, by certain antiseptic substances which 

 they contain. The same may be said of hydrophil roots and 

 submerged parts of aquatic plants. 



The edible lichen of Japan, known as " iwatake," is de- 

 scribed in the Botanisches Centr alblatt (1893, No. 45) by Dr. 

 M. Miyoshi, under the name Gyrophora esciilenta, sp.n. Its 

 commercial value is due to the large amount which it contains 

 of starch and of some gelatinous substance ; and it is also ex- 

 tensively used in Japanese cookery as a condiment, having a 

 pleasant flavour and being free from purgative properties. In 

 some parts of Japan, especially the mountainous districts, it 

 completely covers the moist granite rocks. After drying it is 

 sent into the towns, and a large quantity is annually exported. 



In a recent number of \.ht Electrical IVorld {ofNew Yoik), 

 Lieut. F. Jarvis Patten has described a novel method of obtain- 

 ing sinusoidal alternating currents of very low frequency. The 

 apparatus, which the inventor calls a "liquid commutator," 

 consists of a circular vessel, provided with two conducting elec- 

 trodes fixed at the opposite extremities of a diameter. A con- 



