April 13, 1916] 



NATURE 



147 



lately been published (Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., 

 vol. xi., 2, 3), Dr. C. C. Adams describing the in- 

 vertebrates and Mr. T. L. Hankinson the vertebrates. 

 The regions dealt with seem to represent a remnant 

 of the wild country of the State, now as a whole 

 highly cultivated, and altered by human agency. The 

 animals are divided into prairie and woodland 

 dwellers, each with several groups of "associations," 

 and the extensive series of photographs enables the 

 reader to realise the nature of the localities described. 

 Doubtless the invertebrates listed represent only a 

 fraction of the fauna of the districts, but the authors 

 may be congratulated on having collected so large an 

 array of facts while wild areas are still at their dis- 

 posal for study. 



The gram crop in India {Cicer arietintim) has 



occupied the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Howard and 



Mr. A. R. Khan at Pusa, and their results, which 



i are of considerable scientific and economic value, are 



I published in Memoirs of the Department of Agricul- 



! ture in India, vol. vii., No. 6, for December, 1915. 



I Gram is an important cold season food-grain in India, 



' and some 18,000,000 acres are devoted to its cultiva- 



i tion every year. The best returns are obtained on 



' light, high-lying, well-drained land, and in a wet 



I season or on heavy land the yield is very consider- 



1 ably lessened. Another important factor is the time 



of sowing. Figures are given showing the root 



I formatiort in relation to soil moisture, and the seed 



I yield is found to be directly correlated with the root 



.system, for when this is stunted, owing to too moist 



! conditions, no seed is produced. Twenty-five types of 



I gram have been bred at Pusa, and a careful classifica- 



: tion of them is given in the paper. It is found that 



jdifferent types are suitable for different localities. 



iThe power to set seed, habit of growth, time of 



iflowering, are all important features. The best type 



is a white gram, which in addition to this colour 



jquality has given a yield of more than 20 maunds 



per acre. 



In no part of the world, not even in Japan, are 

 the observations of earthquakes published on so lavish 

 la scale as in Italy. As an instance of this, we have 

 lately received" the notices of earthquakes observed in 

 :hat country during the year 19 10. They form a 

 ■'olume of more than six hundred pages, which is 

 ssued as a supplement to the Bollettino for 1913 of 

 he Italian Seismological Society. In it. Dr. G. Mar- 

 inelli has collected the recorded observations of all 

 local earthquakes, as well as those of external earth- 

 juakes which are registered instrumentally in Italy. 

 Jseful additions to the catalogue are lists of thirty-two 

 talian observatories with the constants of the different 

 nstruments which they contain, and of the epicentral 

 egions of the stronger earthquakes. If we might 

 >ffer two suggestions, it seems to us that the separa- 

 ion of the two classes of local and external earth- 

 [uakes, and brief discussions of the materials col- 

 ected for the more important local earthquakes, with 

 naps, would add very greatlv to the value of the 

 Catalogue. 



At the last meeting of the Illuminating Engineer- 

 iig Society the desirability of standardising the 

 haterials used in lighting glassware, and the sizes of 

 himneys, globes, reflectors, etc., was discussed, 

 l-etters from manufacturers were read pointing out 

 'lat the multiplicity of shapes and sizes of glass was 



und to be a great drawback. \ special problem 

 ■ the production of "heat-resisting" glassware for 

 lobes used with high-pressure gas lamps, and other 

 igh-temperature illuminants. Other speakers re- 

 NO. 2424, VOL. 97] 



marked on the variations in quality met with in opal 

 glass as regards absorption, uniformity of diffusion, 

 and colour. Two special varieties ot glass which 

 particularly require standardisation are those used 

 respectively for producing "artificial daylight" from 

 various illuminants, and tor neutral absorbing screens 

 in photometry. Neutral-tinted glasses of guaranteed 

 absorption cannot readily be obtained in this country, 

 although they play an important part in many photo- 

 metric and optical instruments. Several members of 

 the Glass Research Committee of the Institute of 

 Chemistry were present, and gave some particulars of 

 the work of the Committee on laboratory and 

 chemical glasses. In the course of the discussion it 

 was suggested that the Illuminating Engineering 

 Society should appoint a Committee on Lighting 

 Glassware. 



The Netherlands Meteorological Institute has re- 

 cently published the fourth and last part of the new 

 edition of the oceanographical and meteorological ob- 

 servations in the Indian Ocean ; the part comprises 

 the months of March, April, and May from the 

 observations for the years 1856-1912. Many of the 

 observations are obtained from our English Meteoro- 

 logical Office and from other European weather 

 offices. The results are published in a tabular form, 

 in very great detail, and are grouped together in order of 

 10° ocean squares, and are subdivided into single- 

 degree squares. Results are given for ocean currents, 

 winds, barometer, air and sea temperatures, cloud, 

 mist, rain, and hail. Charts are published in a separ- 

 ate volume, giving in a graphical form the general 

 circulation of winds and currents, and the isobars, and 

 isotherms, of air and sea, together with the general 

 trade routes. The number of observations available 

 for each element is given, so that the value of the 

 results can be estimated, and for several of the 

 elements more than a million observations have been 

 used for the year. This work of the Dutch Meteoro- 

 logical Institute formed the subject for discussion on 

 Monday, March 13, at the Meteorological Office, at 

 South Kensington, the discussion being opened by 

 Admiral Farquhar. 



"The Spread of Tuberculosis," by Dr. L. Cobbett, 

 is in the press for publication in the "Cambridge 

 Public Health" series {Cambridge University Press). 

 The following works are in preparation for inclusion 

 in the same series : — "Ticks as Carriers of Disease," 

 Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall ; " Serum Diagnoses," Dr. C. 

 Browning; "The Purification of Water in Sedimenta- 

 tion, Filtration, and Precipitation," Dr. A. C. 

 Houston; "The Purification of Water by Ozone and 

 Chlorine ; and Domestic Filters," Prof. G. Sims 

 Woodhead ; " The Principles and Practice of the 

 Dilution Method of Sewage Disposal," Dr. W. E. 

 Adeney; "Disinfection," Dr. C. W. Ponder; 

 " Housing in Relation to Public Health," Dr. C. J. 

 Coleman; "School Hygiene," Dr. E. T- Roberts; 

 "Soils, Subsoils, and Climate in Relation to Health," 

 G. Walker; "Meat Inspection," Dr. W. J. Howarth 

 and T. D. Young; "Vital Statistics," R. Dudfield 

 and G. U. Yule; and "Foods, Sound and Unsound," 

 Dr. H. C. Haslam. For the "Cambridge Farm Insti- 

 tute " series the following are in preparation : — " Plant 

 Life in Farm and Garden," Prof. R. H. Biffen ; 

 "The Feeding of- Farm Animals," Prof. T. B. 

 Wood, and "Common Fungus and Insect Foes," 

 F. R. Petherbridge, and for the series of " Cambridge 

 Agricultural Monographs " : — " Poisonous Plants," 

 H. C. Long: "The Strength of Wheat Flour." Prof. 

 T. B. Wood; "The Constitution of the Soil," Dr. 

 E. J. Russell; and "Disease Resistance," Prof. R. H. 

 Biffen. 



