16 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Januaby 1, 1898. 



these were by far the oldest insects on record. Several 

 species kept aphides which they milked like cows ; and he 

 had found that in the autumn they collected the eggs o( 

 the aphides and kept them all through the winter, although 

 they were of no use, and the young aphides hatched from 

 them gave none of the sugary fluid till the following 

 May or June, so that the ants showed more thrift and 

 forethought than many human beings. Their instincts, 

 though so wonderful, were very limited ; and yet, when the 

 ants were watched building their nest, feeding their young, 

 tending their domestic animals, and, in some cases, their 

 slaves, it was diilicult to believe that they were unconscious 

 automata. . , , 



We are pleased to observe that a scheme is shortly 

 to be submitted to Parliament involving the expenditure 

 of upwards of three millions for the better housing of 

 the national collection of art treasures in and about South 

 Kensington Museum. The Bill for this purpose is to 

 be brought before Parliament next Session, and there will 

 shortly commence to be built a series of exhibition rooms 

 and galleries, to concentrate in one area the many works 

 of art and objects of interest now scattered in various 

 extempore structures. It is to be hoped that among the 

 innovations there will be a replacement of those wooden 

 huts— called by courtesy an observatory, but bearing a 

 much closer resemblance to a hen farm — by something 

 more in keeping with the long purse of a Government with 

 suchre sources as ours. 



A great undertaking, namely, the measurement of a 

 degree of latitude in the Polar regions, leading to a more 

 exact knowledge of the form of the earth, appears to 

 be on the eve of accomplishment. The solution of this 

 question has long been the chief aim of Swedish Polar 

 exploration, and Prof. E. .Jaderin has now proposed to 

 the Government for a preliminary expedition to be sent 

 to Spitzbergen next summer, and that Russia should be 

 invited to co-operate in the final measurement of a degree 

 in 1899 and 1900. The task of the preliminary expedi- 

 tion—which it is intended should start in May and return 

 in September— would be to complete the investigations 

 already made as to the facilities for the necessary triangu- 

 lation, to reach the summits of hitherto unchmbed moun- 

 tains, to set up signal posts, and so on. 



Dr. Campbell Morfit died last month at South Hamp- 

 stead. An American by birth, he had for many years 

 past been a London resident. He was the author of 

 " Chemical and Pharmaceutical Manipulation," " Arts of 

 Tanning and Currying," "Oleic Soaps," and, with Dr. 

 James C. Booth, was joint editor of the American " Ency- 

 clopsediaof Chemistry "; and in the industrial utilization of 

 waste products, as well as the chemistry of food substances, 

 his researches have been of the utmost service to the 

 general public. 



The November Number of the "Archives of the 

 Roentgen Ray," which is now the organ of the Roentgen 

 Society of London, contains an excellent report of 

 the presidential address delivered by Prof. Silvanus 

 Thompson, i-.r.-;., to the Roentgen Society at St. Martin's 

 Town Hall, on November 5th, 1897. The number also 

 contains five large skiagraphic plates and other interesting 

 matter. A supplement entitled " Radiography in Marine 

 Zoology," by R. Norris Wolfeuden, m.d., is added. This 

 supplement treats of the Echinodermata, and is illustrated 

 with thirty-six excellent skiagraphs and photographs. 



* See avticle, " Measurement of the Earth," Enowledge Jime 

 1897, p. 148. ' ' 



lUttttxs. 



[The Editors do not hold themselveB responsible for the opinions or 

 statements of correspondents.] 



• THK LIFIvHISTORIES OF THK BRITISH MARINE 



FOOD-FISHES." 



To tlie Editors of Knowledge. 



SiKs, — Kindly allow me a few words to conclude the 

 correspondence on this subject. 1 have not denied, as 

 your reviewer states, that " the work of St. Andrews is put 

 more prominently forward than work done elsewhere," 

 in our book. Such is, no doubt, the case ; and it is, as he 

 remarks, " not unnatural," considering that by far the 

 greater proportion of British "fishery" work has been 

 done there, or in direct connection therewith. This is a 

 different matter from "ignoring" the work done elsewhere 

 Your reviewer's statement that " Mr. Cunningham led 

 the way " in the subject of the growth-rate of fishes has 

 no foundation of truth. This worker published his first 

 paper upon the subject in 1890, and at periods varying 

 from five to twelve years prior to this the works of Dr. 

 Mcintosh, Captain Dannevig, and Dr. Meyer had appeared. 

 Without further instance, your readers may be reminded 

 that the two latter still stand as the best known authorities 

 upon the growth-rate of the cod and herring respectively. 

 " The credit of the discovery of the hermaphroditism oi 

 Mtj.iiiw" is not "given to Dr. Nansen." A passin;,' reference 

 to i>r. Nansen's work is mentioned in a quoU'ti'in from 

 another paper, in connection with which the reasons for 

 its selection were given. 



The life-history of Mi/.i-ine did not fall within the scope 

 of our work, or, of course, the labours of W. Miiiler, 

 Cunningham, Weber, etc., would have been referred to. 



With regard to Xaturc, my remark was to the effect that 

 Dr. Lankester was allowed, under pretext of reviewing our 

 work, to make certain false statements outside the pale of 

 legitimate criticism, judged by the widest standard ; and 

 that the editor, in the opinion of a great many of his 

 readers, showed a partiality in not allowing a contradiction. 

 Your reviewer considers my remarks " hardly in good 

 taste" because Mr. Cunningham was similarly denied on a 

 prior occasion. Surely this fact, which could not have 

 been known except to Mr. Cunningham himself and his 

 most intimate friends, merely corroborates my' remark that 

 your contemporary has been " not unknown " for such 

 unfair treatment of authors. Mr. Cunningham has reason, 

 judging from your reviewer's statement, to complain of his 

 treatment, and still more to complain of the invidious posi- 

 tion in which your re\iewer has attempted to place his work. 

 In conclusion, 1 must now leave it with your readers to 

 judge for themselves how far your reviewer has established 

 his position that we have ignored the work of others in 

 our labours. 



The University, St. Andrews. A. T. Masterman. 



[In my notice of " British Marine Food Fishes," I 

 remarked : " Between the marine biologists of the North 

 and South there is something of a spirit of rivalry, the 

 result being that each school is inclined to ignore, more or 

 less, the work of the other — or, at any rate, not overburden 

 it with praise." No impartial critic, familiar with the 

 facts, could deny that every word of this sentence is true. 

 It will be noticed that I did wt assert that Dr. Mcintosh 

 and Mr. Masterman had "ignored the work of others in 

 their labours " : but surely the first paragraph of Mr. 

 Masterman's letter justifies my position. 



Mr. ]\Iasterman (p. 291) asked for an instance of " Mr. 

 Cunningham's work which had not been alluded to and 



