April 9, 1903] 



NA TURE 



543 



varieties), cotton, ground-nuts, arrowroot and sweet potato. 

 The experiments were started in January, and valuable re- 

 sult*; were expected, " provided there are no further erup- 

 tion*." It is to be feared, therefore, that the great quantin 

 of ash thrown out from the Soufriere during the eruption 

 of March 22 last will greatly interfere with the interesting 

 investigation. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture at Barbados has 

 just issued a report giving " Information relating to Cotton 

 Cultivation in the West Indies." Formerly the islands had 

 a valuable export trade in cotton, in 1793 contributing 71 

 per cent, of the material used in Great Britain, but sugar 

 became paramount, and for about three-quarters of a 

 centurv past cotton has been practically unknown in the 

 islands. Now that sugar has become to a large extent 

 unprofitable, it is proposed to resuscitate the cotton-growing 

 industry. The department commenced experiments in St. 

 Lucia in 1900, and the results obtained have been so 

 promising that planters there and in neighbouring islands 

 have already devoted about 600 acres to the growth of cotton. 

 So favourable are the conditions that it is stated " the 

 days of the more lucrative production of sugar would appear 

 to have passed away, and it is not improbable but that 

 cotton may once more take its place amongst the staple 

 products of the West Indies." 



We have received an official note issued by the Com- 

 mission of the Bclgica with reference to the publication of 

 the scientific reports of the expedition. These are to be 

 issued in parts, making ten volumes in all. Onlv fifty 

 complete sets will be on sale to the public. The English 

 agents are Messrs. Dulau and Co. 



M. Charles Rabot contributes an interesting paper on 

 the recent surveys and explorations of MM. Svenonius and 

 Hamberg in Swedish Lapland to the March number of La 

 Geographic. Topographical surveys have resulted in im- 

 portant modifications of existing maps, and the region is 

 of great geological interest. 



The National Geographic Magazine for March contains 

 three articles of considerable interest in relation to the 

 question of the Canadian-Alaskan boundary. The Hon. 

 John W. Foster, who has charge of the presentation of the 

 United States case to the Boundary Commission, reviews the 

 methods by which different parts of the boundary between 

 Canada and the L'nited States have been adjusted since 

 1783. Mr. Ferdinand Westdahl, of the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, gives extracts from his official reports on a survey 

 of the mountains of Unimak Island, Alaska; and an article 

 on the opening of the Alaskan Territory, by Mr. Harrington 

 Emerson, is reprinted in abstract from the Engineering 

 Magazine. 



The Foraminifera and other organisms in the Raised 

 Reefs of Fiji are described by Mr. R. L. Sherlock {Bull. 

 Museum of Comp. Zool. Harvard College, vol. xxxviii. 1903). 



We have received the first number of the " Naturalist's 

 Library Guide," a quarterly journal edited by Mr. W. 1'. 

 Westell, devoted to notices and brief reviews of books and 

 other publications connected with natural history. 



Among other zoological papers, the Sitzungsberichte of the 

 Royal Scientific Society of Bohemia contains one by Dr. 

 J. Palacl y on the distribution of marsupials, and a second, 

 by Dr. H. Matiegka, on the weight of the brain and cranial 

 capacity ii» man. Much interest attaches to Herr A. 

 Mrazek's account of the discovery of a fresh-water nemer- 

 tine worm (Stichostomma graecense) in Bohemian streams. 



NO. 1745, VOL. 67] 



This paper is followed by a second from the same pen on 

 the introduced faunas of hot-houses. 



In his report on the Zoological Gardens at Giza, Cairo, 

 Captain Flower calls special attention to three specimens of 

 that remarkable bird the shoebill, or whale-headed stork 

 (Balaeniceps rex), now living in the gardens. With the 

 exception of one specimen, now at Khartum, no other 

 examples, it is believed, have been exhibited in captivity 

 since the pair purchased for its menagerie by the Zoological 

 Society of London in 1S60. During the past year an 

 aquarium was opened at Gezira, and contained at the date 

 of the report examples of no less than twenty-two spei ii s 

 of Nile fishes. 



" Familiar Wild Birds " is the title of a new illustrated 

 work of which we have received the first part from the pub- 

 lishers, Messrs. Cassell and Co., Ltd. It is to be issued in 

 fortnightly sixpenny parts, each of which is to have eight 

 coloured plates. Mr. W. Swaysland is responsible for the 

 greater portion of the text, although Mr. R. Kearton will 

 communicate notes on eggs. The great attraction will be 

 the coloured plates, most of which are to be from sketches 

 by Mr. A. Thorburn. Those in the part before us are really 

 exquisite, and the marvel is how the work is produced at 

 the price. 



Pearson's Magazine for April contains two articles, both 

 illustrated, on natural history subjects. In the one Mr. 

 H. F. Witherby describes some of the leading facts con- 

 nected with bird-migration, in the course of which he draws 

 attention to the important work on this subject carried out 

 by Mr. W. E. Clarke, and likewise points out that it is 

 an error to suppose that the migration routes are narrow. 

 The illustrations include the Nore lightship in the midst of 

 a migratory host, and a " rush " of birds against a light- 

 house. It is perhaps not generally known that when such 

 " rushes " take place in stormy weather thousands of birds 

 perish by striking against the lighthouses. On one occasion 

 " the balcony outside was completely covered with killed 

 birds ; they were five or six deep all round, so to walk 

 round would be walking on killed birds." In the second 

 article Mr. R. L. Garner reverts to his favourite subject of 

 "monkey-language." From experiments conducted with 

 a phonograph, the author is of opinion that monkeys under- 

 stand this language as well as human beings interpret words 

 and sentences. 



Our best congratulations to the Ulster Fisheries and 

 Biological Association, which was inaugurated at a meet- 

 ing held in Belfast on March 25, when Lord Shaftesbury, the 

 patron of the new body, was in the chair. The president is 

 Mr. H. H. Smiley, who is a large contributor to the funds, 

 and the Association is fortunate in having secured the 

 gratuitous services of Prof. G. Wilson, of Queen's College, 

 Belfast, as Director, since that gentleman acquired a large 

 experience in matters of this sort during his tenure of office 

 as Inspector of Fisheries in England. -. is expected that 

 the Association will have an important influence on the 

 development of Irish sea-fisheries, which have hitherto been 

 somewhat neglected, as may be judged from the fact that 

 most of the fresh fish sold in Ireland is imported from Great 

 Britain. A steam launch has been already secured, and it 

 is hoped that practical work may be commenced in Larne 

 Harbour forthwith. Although the Department of Technical 

 Instruction and Agriculture has promised a grant of 1511/., 

 the Association is in urgent need of additional funds. 



The sixth edition of Prof. R. Friihling's " Anleitung zur 

 Untersuchung der fiir die Zuckerindustrie in betracht 



