October 22, 1903] 



NATURE 



605 



At the conclusion of a paper on reptiles and amphibians 



kfrom Arkansas and Texas, published in the Proceedings of 

 tho Philadelphia Academy for August, Mr. W. Stone dis- 

 cusses thei^ .^bearing on previous views as to the zoo- 

 geographical zones of this part of the United States. He 

 concludes that the boundary between the Austro-riparian 

 and Sonoran areas, so far as reptiles are concerned, lies 

 between the 96th and 98th meridians of longitude, that the 

 Texan district of Prof. Cope should be referred to the 

 Austro-riparian instead of to the Sonoran province, and that 

 transcontinental zones of distribution are not indicated by 

 reptilian evidence. The marked faunal division between the 

 96th and 98th meridians is due to this line marking the 

 limits of the heavy rainfall of the Gulf coast. 



A CURIOUS problem is presented by the hermit-crab. As 

 is well known, these crustaceans present a marked asym- 

 metry, which nearly always takes the form of a dextral 

 spiral — in correlation with the circumstance that they 

 generally inhabit dextral molluscan shells. Is, then, this 

 asymmetry due to this habit, or was it pre-existent ? In 

 discussing this question in a paper on the metamorphoses of 

 the hermit-crab, published in the Proceedings of the Boston 

 (U.S.) Natural History Society, Mr. M. T. Thompson 

 concludes that it cannot at present be definitely answered, 

 owing to our imperfect knowledge of the relationships of 

 the different generic representatives of the group. Never- 

 theless, the asymmetry is structurally adapted to the con- 

 ditions imposed by the mode of life in question, and the 

 presumption is accordingly very strong that it was from 

 the first the result of a sojourn in dextrally spiral shells. 



I 



Mr. M. J. NicoLL, who in 1902-3 accompanied the Earl 

 of Crawford in his yacht, the Valhalla, round the world as 

 naturalist, and made good collections in several branches 

 of natural history, will again join the Valhalla, in the same 

 capacity, next month for a winter tour in the West Indies. 

 Mr. Nicoll's specimens collected during the last voyage are 

 being examined and arranged at the British Museum, to 

 which Lord Crawford has presented them. Mr. Nicoll's 

 ornithological notes made during the voyage will be pub- 

 lished in the next number of the Ibis. 



It has always seemed strange that so large and strongly 

 marked an animal as the okapi (Okapia johnstoni) should 

 have remained unknown to Europeans until its recent dis- 

 covery on the Semliki by Sir Harry Johnston. But it would 

 now appear, as is suggested by Herr Hesse, that a prior 

 well-known African traveller, Wilhelm Junker, had obtained 

 an imperfect skin of this animal at Zemio, in the Welle- 

 basin, twenty years ago, although he did not recognise the 

 nature of it, and was inclined to refer it to the water- 

 chevrotain {Hyomoschus aquaticus). But as the animal was 

 called by the natives " makapi," and was " of the size of 

 a dwarf antelope," it seems more probable that the skin 

 in question was that of a young okapi (see Journ. R.G.S., 

 vol. xxii. p. 459). 



In the October number of Climate Dr. Louis Sambon 

 continues his series of articles on the chief disease scourges 

 of the tropics, dealing with malaria, yellow fever, cholera, 

 plague and sleeping sickness. Another article of interest 

 discusses the results obtained by the campaign against 

 mosquitoes in various parts of the world. 



The Corporation of London has approved and adopted a 

 series of regulations drafted by its Public Health Depart- 

 ment for the sanitary control of the milk supply of the City. 

 Some of these deal with the registration of the premises 

 and their sanitary condition, contamination of milk, milk 



from diseased cows, &c. Others seek to secure the cleanli- 

 ness of milk-shops and vessels, and the safeguarding of 

 the milk-supply against infection from without. 



The health of the great armies of Europe is discussed by 

 Dr. V. Lowenthal in an interesting statistical article in the 

 Revue ginirale des Sciences (September 30). Of the armies 

 of the six great Powers, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, 

 Italy, and England, France heads the list both in the total 

 mortality rate and in the attack rate. On the whole the 

 German Army is the most healthy, then comes the Italian, 

 and then the British. But for the enormous incidence of 

 venereal affections, the latter, however, would in all prob- 

 ability appear as the most healthy. 



" The Geology of the Country Around Torquay " is 

 the title of a memoir by Mr. W. A. E. Ussher that has just 

 been issued by the Geological Survey. The author has for 

 many years been engaged in a detailed examination of the 

 Devonian rocks, and he gives full particulars of the complex 

 structure of the area and of the several subdivisions of the 

 strata, with lists of fossils. Useful tables are given show- 

 ing the Continental equivalents. The terra-cotta clays of 

 Watcombe, and the red sandstones and conglomerates that 

 form portions of the picturesque cliffs, are grouped as 

 Permian. Cavern-deposits, Raised Beaches, and other 

 superficial deposits are described, and there is a short 

 chapter on economics. 



Messrs. Dawbarn and Ward, Ltd., are publishing a 

 series of penny pamphlets dealing with various subjects 

 of interest to practical photographers. The first number 

 in the series discusses the prevention and cure of halation, 

 and the fourth number the camera and its movements. 



The ninth annual volume — that for the present year — 

 of the Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist has been 

 issued by Messrs. Bemrose and Sons, Ltd. The volume 

 contains the four quarterly issues of the magazine which 

 have been published this year, and most of the articles are 

 excellently and profusely illustrated. The publication 

 appeals preeminently to antiquarians, ethnologists and 

 archaeologists. 



Mr. John Murray has published a cheap edition — five 

 shillings net — of Nasmyth and Carpenter's classical work 

 on " The Moon." The original work was published thirty 

 years ago, and was reviewed in these columns on March 12, 

 1874 (vol. ix. p. 358). Three editions of the book were 

 issued, but they have been out of print for several years, 

 and the publication of the work in a popular and compact 

 form will be welcomed by many students of astronomy. 



A FIFTH edition of the " Manual of Pathology " by the 

 late Prof. Joseph Coats has been published by Messrs. 

 Longmans, Green and Co. The new edition has been re- 

 vised throughout by Prof. L. R. Sutherland, and consider- 

 able alterations have been made without interfering 

 materially with the original plan of the book. The chapter 

 on bacteriology has been omitted, and the illustrations have 

 been increased in number from 490 to 729. Two new 

 coloured plates have also been added. 



The fourth revised edition of Prof. Max Verworn's 

 " Allgemeine Physiologie " has been published by Mr. 

 Gustav Fischer, Jena. The first edition of this well-known 

 work was reviewed in Nature in 1895 (vol. 11. p. 529). A 

 translation of the second edition, by Dr. F. S. Lee, was 

 published in 1899, and was also noticed at length in these 

 columns (vol. Ix. p. 565). Since the third German edition 

 was published in 1901, progress has been made in the 



NO. 1773, VOL. 68] 



