September 3. 1903] 



NATURE 



423 



s?paratrly pagod. Reference has already been made in 

 Nature to the more important matters dealt with. A 

 general index is appended, which gives the paging under 

 the reference letter of each report. The volume is accom- 

 panied by maps of the Klondike Gold-fields, and of parts 

 of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and New Bruns- 

 wick. 



.An orographic sketch of Korea, with photographic illus- 

 trations and an excellent map, has been published by Dr. 

 B. Kot6 (Journ. Coll. Science, Tokyo, Japan, vol. xix.). 

 He discusses the various faults and folds which have in- 

 fluenced the scenery of the peninsula — a region which, as 

 h*? remarks, in reference to Suess and Richthofen, " seems 

 to have interested cur two masters almost as deeply as it 

 has the political leaders of our times." The Cretaceous 

 Cephalopoda from the Hokkaido are under description by 

 .Mr. H. Yabe. Part i., dealing with Lytoceras, Gaudry- 

 OL-eras, and Tetragonites, is accompanied by seven plates 

 (Journ. Coll. Science, Tokyo, vol. xviii.). 



Mr. F. Chapman and Mr. H. J. Gr.oson contribute an 

 article on " Red Rain " to the Victorian Naturalist (vol. 

 XX., June). After discussing the subject generally, they 

 direct attention to falls of red mud in Victoria in February 

 and March of this year. In one case the amount was 

 estimated to equal fifty tons per square mile. The material 

 comprised much limonite, and many mineral fragments and 

 diatoms. The material was probably derived from areas 

 from 30 to 300 miles north and west of Melbourne, being 

 swept up from the borders of swamps and salt lakes during 

 ai) abnorn.'al set^son of drought. 



In a monograph supplement to the Psychological Review 

 (vol. V. No. 4), Mr. J. B. Miner reports a study of " Motor, 

 Visual, and Applied Rhythms." It has been frequently 

 asserted that rhythmical grouping of sensory impressions 

 is peculiar to auditory and tactual perception, but Mr. 

 Miner shows that a series of similar visual impressions 

 regularly repeated may fall into spontaneous rhythm, and 

 that, in fact, visual impressions obey laws of rhythm very 

 similar to those established for auditory perception. Since 

 rhythm is, as Mr. Miner rightly maintains, a feature of the 

 motor expression evoked by sensory impressions to which 

 the attention is directed, there is no reason to suppose that 

 it s.hculd be limited to perception by any one or two of the 

 senses, and it may be hoped that the erroneous statement to 

 that effect will now disappear from the text-books. Mr. 

 Miner shows that subjects seem to fall naturally into two 

 classes, according as their power of concentrated mental 

 work is favoured or hindered by a concurrent rhythmical 

 stimulus to the senses ; that those who naturally work most 

 rapidly and concentratedly are most apt to be hindered, 

 while those who work slowly, with less tense concentration, 

 in many cases produce better results under the influence of 

 such stimulus. This unexpected result suggests to the 

 author certain pedagogical reflections. 



The Barbados Agricultural Reporter of August i contains 

 the text of a petition to the Governor praying that the de- 

 struction of mongooses may be authorised in the island. 

 A quarter of a century ago the sugar industry of the island 

 suffered much from the depredations of rats, and about 1878 

 mongooses were introduced for the purpose of thinning their 

 numbers. These carnivores discharged their task with con- 

 spicuous success, but at the same time they cleared off much 

 of the indigenous fauna. The destruction of the lizards has 

 led to a large increase in the number of moth-borer cater- 

 pillars, which perforate the sugar-canes and thus give 

 entrance to the spores of noxious funguses. These cause a 

 NO. 1766, VOL. 68] 



serious loss, which it is hoped may be in some degree miti- 

 gated by the destruction of the mongooses. All this shows 

 the danger of attempting to interfere with the equilibrium 

 of nature. 



In the annual report of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, for 

 1001-2, Major Alcock, the director, states that a bronze 

 medallion portrait and inscribed brass tablet have been 

 placed in one of the verandahs of the old museum building 

 ill memory of the late Dr. J. Anderson, the first superinten- 

 dent of that institution. During the period under review 

 the museum has acquired by purchase the valuable de 

 Nic^ville collection of Oriental butterflies, which includes 

 a large number of type specimens. 



The Journal of the Straits branch of the Royal Asiatic 

 Society contains two important communications on the 

 language of the Sakais and Semangs of the Malay Penin- 

 sula. Mr. H. N. Ridley describes some new Malay orchids, 

 while Mr. P. Cameron continues his account of the 

 Hymenoptera collected by Mr. R. Shelford in Sarawak. To 

 the Zoologist for August, Mr. Shelford himself contributes 

 some highly interesting notes on the habits of Bornean 

 species of mantises, with illustrations reproduced from 

 photographs of these insects. 



In the journal last mentioned, the Rev. F. C. R. Jour- 

 dain records the occurrence of an example of the harp-seal 

 (Phoca groenlandica) at Teignmouth on March 10, on what 

 appears to be sufficient evidence. The carcase was seen on 

 a fishmonger's barrow, but it is not known how it was dis- 

 posed of. The species is a very rare straggler to the British 

 shores. 



The recent additions to the Municipal Museum of Hull 

 are made known to the public by means of illustrated notes 

 and short articles in the Eastern Morning News. These 

 are subsequently reprinted as penny pamphlets under the 

 title of " Hull Museum Publications." By this means the 

 local public are kept in touch with the growth of the 

 museum, and it certainly must benefit the museum, as well 

 as interest and instruct the public. This system might with 

 advantage be copied by other local museums. The fifteenth 

 publication, entitled " Quarterly Record of Additions, 

 No. 5," has just been published. 



The report of the Trivandrum Museum for the year 

 iqoi-2 contains a reprint, with two coloured plates, of a 

 paper from the Journal of the Bombay Natural History 

 Society, on a couple of cetaceans recently stranded on the 

 beach near that city. One of these has been identified by 

 Mr. Lydekker with the widely spread Pseudorca crassidens, 

 while the second is made the type of a new species, Tursiops 

 fergusoni, named in honour of the director of the museum. 



In a third museum report just to hand, that of Man- 

 chester for the year 1902-3, special attention is directed to the 

 acquisition of the interesting series of mammalian remains 

 from a cave of Pliocene age ct Doveholes, Derbyshire. 

 These remains, which it will be remembered were exhibited 

 at the soiree of the Royal Society in the spring, have 

 recently been described by Prof. W. B. Dawkins in the 

 Geological Society's Quarterly Journal. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin, published bv the New 

 York Zoological Society, is a brightly written, well illus- 

 trated periodical, and the July issue, which nas just reached 

 us, contains quite a number of interesting contributions, 

 notably one on "Training Orangs and Chimpanzees," in 

 which particulars are given of the acquired accomplish- 

 ments of past and present members of the New York Zoo- 

 logical Park collection. The training of the orang-utan 



