3§ 



NA TURE 



[November 13, 1902 



with the goura the breath causes the vibration, whereas the 

 vibration in the musical bow is caused by tapping or plucking 

 the string. 



The November issue of the Irish Naturalist is entirely 

 devoted to the Belfast meeting of the British Association, special 

 attention being directed to papers connected with Ireland. 



"Plankton" forms the subject of two papers in the 

 Biologisches Cenlralblatt ; the September issue contains an 

 account of river-plankton by Mr. A. S. Skorikow, while in the 

 October number Mr. W. Ostwald brings to a close his survey 

 of the theory of plankton in general. 



A recent issue (vol. iv. part iii.) of Annotations Zoologicae 

 faponensis contains an account, by Messrs. Ijima and Ikeda, of 

 a rare squid collected at a great depth in the Sagami Sea. The 

 specimen, which is so delicate and translucent that it recalls a 

 jelly-fish, evidently belongs to the genus Amphitretus, founded 

 on a single somewhat damaged example dredged during the 

 cruise of H.M.S. Challenger. It is apparently also referable to 

 the type and only species of that genus, hitherto definitely known 

 solely by the original specimen, although a squid taken some time 

 ago in the Agulhas Stream may pertain to the same form. 

 Amphitretus, as its name indicates, differs from all other 

 cephalopods in having the mantle fused in the middle line with 

 the siphon, so that there are two openings of the gills into the 

 gill-cavity on each side. 



Messrs. Lamb and Hanna have made some interesting 

 experiments upon the neutralising power of anti-venomous 

 serum towards cobra venom and upon the deterioration of this 

 serum through keeping. They find that the maximum amount of 

 venom injected by a cobra into a bite is 45 milligrams, and, 

 assuming that man is as susceptible as the most susceptible 

 animal tested, viz. the rat, estimate that for a man weighing 60 

 kilograms who received this injection, about 37 c.c. of the fresh 

 serum would be required to save life. They also find that anti- 

 venomous serum undergoes a progressive and fairly rapid 

 deterioration when stored in hot climates, and that this deterior- 

 ation is greater and more rapid the higher the mean temperature 

 to which it is subjected (Scientific Memoirs, Government of 

 India, new series, No. 1, Calcutta, 1902). 



According to the October number of the Agricultural 

 Joti} nal of the Cape of Good Hope, the Government entomo- 

 logist, Mr. C. P. Lounsbury, has made an important discovery 

 in regard to the propagation of the South African sheep and 

 goat disease known as "heartwater." The so-called bont- 

 tick has nitherto been found to be the only medium of spreading 

 the disease. " A single specimen of this species, if fed on a 

 heartwater-sick animal as a larva or' seed' tick, has been found 

 capable of transmitting the malady with fatal effect. An animal 

 pastured on veld heavily infested by the tick may drop thousands 

 of pathogenic larvne during its period of illness and may thus in- 

 directly serve for the almost total extermination of a flock in a few 

 months. The terrible mortality amongst healthy flocks, brought 

 to the coast where the tick is abundant, is thus easily explained. 

 Pathogenic larvae have been found to retain their dangerous 

 character until they are adult. They may take their second 

 or nymphal feeding on an ox or a non-susceptible goat, and then 

 in the third or final stage get on to a susceptible sheep or goat 

 and give it deadly fever. On the other hand, the disease appears 

 to be non-transmissible through the egg-stage, and the species is 

 normally non-pathogenic in all stages. A farm may be badly 

 infested with bont-tick, yet be entirely free from heartwater." 

 Since the other two common species are innocuous, it is hoped 

 that by keeping down the bont-tick the disease may gradually 

 be stamped out. 



NO. 1724, VOL. 67] 



A monograph of the North American UmbelliferK, repre 

 senting the joint work of Prof. J. M. Coulter and Dr. J. N. 

 Rose, has been published in the seventh volume of contributions 

 from the U.S. National Herbarium. The same authors treated 

 this order also for North America in 18SS. 



The second quarterly Bulletin published by the Botanical 

 Department of Trinidad contains brief articles on the tonka 

 bean, newly-imported mango trees and cane seedlings. Analyses 

 of several Trinidad seedlings yield results which are very 

 promising. An extra number, issued by the same authorities, 

 deals with the cultivation and curing of vanilla in Tahiti. The 

 species grown in that island is mainly Vanilla pompona, which 

 yields a less valuable fruit than Vanilla planifolia. The former 

 variety has this advantage, that the beans do not split so readily 

 and are, therefore, more easily cured ; also it bears flowers twice 

 a year. Pollination is artificially performed, and an efficient 

 worker is said to be able to pollinate two thousand flowers in an 

 eight hours' working day. Curing is a very critical process, as 

 the beans sweat on exposure to the sun, and they must then be 

 covered with blankets and dried at an even temperature. 



The report of the Dominica Botanic Station during the year 

 ending March 31, 1902, contains much valuable information on 

 the work of the establishment, supplied by Mr. J. Jones, the 

 curator; on the experiment plots at the Agricultural School, by 

 Mr. Tannock ; and on the cacao experiment plots, by Mr. 

 Whitfield Smith, the travelling superintendent of the Agricul- 

 tural Department. The monthly rainfall returns from twenty- 

 five stations in the island are also given. Of the various 

 experiments with economic plants, it is interesting to observe 

 that the attempts to introduce early English potatoes are far 

 from being successful at present. Of six varieties planted, three 

 failed completely, two did fairly well and the sixth did excel- 

 lently. A shipment of 480 pounds of these last was sent to 

 Liverpool, but was not favourably received on the market, 

 experts considering the tubers not bright enough. Still, it is 

 hoped that with further experiments the island may yet compete 

 with the Canary Islands in the production of early potatoes and 

 other vegetables for the English market. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies 

 continues its series of useful pamphlets on subjects connected 

 with the commercial development of these islands. Mr. A. 

 Howard writes on the treatment of fungoid pests, dealing with 

 them under the head of root, stem, leaf and fruit diseases. 

 The information supplied is for the most part general, but 

 reference is made to the immunity from the so-called " foot rot " 

 or " mal-di-gomma " of sweet orange plants which have been 

 grafted on sour-orange or grape-fruit stocks, and the advantage 

 of treating sugar-cane cuttings with Bordeaux mixture and 

 coating the ends with tar. A second pamphlet gives a number 

 of recipes for cooking West Indian yams, and is issued with the 

 intention of educating the English and American people to 

 appreciate this vegetable. 



We have received copies of two papers read by Mr. H. W. G. 

 Halbaum before the Institution of Mining Engineers, dealing 

 with the difficult problem of mine ventilation and its reduction 

 to simple graphic \\ calculations. One of Mr. Halbaum's 

 objects has been to furnish mining engineers with a forn:, ot 

 diagram which shall fulfil the same purpose in- '■■""£ study of mine 

 ventilation that has been so admi"*Dly served by Watt's 

 indicator in the case of a ste-=-"' engine. The second paper 

 deals with an extension "• the equivalent orifice theory, in 

 which the writer c? l - u ' ates tne relation between the orifice of 

 the ventilaH--^ tan anc l tnat °f tne mine in order that the fan 

 ma y r i^velop its maximum efficiency. It is found that the 

 -mciency is greatest when the orifice of the mine is between one - 



