April 16, 1903] 



NA TURE 



56: 



and we take as a sample, selected almost at random, 

 the accompanying cut of Sahara foxes, or fennecs. 



In regard to classification, so far as vertebrates at 

 any rate are concerned, the author follows in the main 

 some of the older schemes, especially in the case of 

 birds, and in this, we think, he is well advised. We 

 cannot, however, agree with him in making a special 

 " order " for the lemurs, especially in view of the recent 

 investigations of Dr. Forsyth Major and Prof. Elliot 

 Smith. We are, moreover, somewhat surprised to find 

 no mention of the okapi under the heading Giraffidas, 

 and the statement that the giraffe is the sole living 

 representative of that family. Naturalists will be 

 still more surprised to find the African Anomalurus 

 classed as a member of the squirrel family, and no 

 mention made of the fact that it has a relative un- 

 provided with a flying-membrane. Again, it is quite 



credited, we presume, to the printer's " devil." The 

 want of an index is a serious drawback to a volume 

 which in most respects is full of interest. R. L. 



NOTES. 

 It is now more than a quarter of a century ago that the 

 Duke of Devonshire's Royal Commission on Science, among 

 its many important recommendations, few of which have 

 been taken advantage of either by the then or subse- 

 quent Governments, urged the importance of the creation 

 of a body of scientific advice which should bring all depart- 

 ments in close touch with the progress of science. We 

 warmly congratulate Lord Curzon upon the steps he has 

 recently taken to extend the many benefits of such a bodv 

 to the Indian Empire. We reprint elsewhere the 

 text of a resolution of the Indian Government 

 . .• .- which has recently appeared in the Gazette, and 

 ^H we may hope that in a few more decades the 



matter may be considered by the Government of 

 Great Britain, in which certainly such a council 

 is as much required as in India. 



The Prince Auguste D'Arenberg, Mr. Chamber- 

 lain, and Sir Archibald Geikie, F.R.S., have been 

 elected honorary members of the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers. 



A Lahore correspondent of the Pioneer Mail 

 states that the Kanwar Sahib of Patiala has made 

 a free gift of his house at Kasauli to the Pasteur 

 Institute at that place, with the object of its 

 being devoted to the purposes of that institution. 



The Times correspondent at Rome reports that 

 the King and Queen of Italy were present on 

 April 13 at the inaugural meeting of the Inter- 

 national Congress of Agriculture. The congress, 

 which is attended by representatives from many 

 countries, will sit in Rome until April 18, when 

 it will start on a tour of three weeks through Italy 

 and Sicily. 



Reuter reports that an eruption of the volcano 

 Del Tierra Finne (Colombia), near Galera de 

 Zamba, occurred on March 22 by which the 

 village of Tiojo was destroyed. Brightly illumin- 

 ated clouds, giving rise to the appearance of 

 flames, were seen above the volcano on the night 

 of March 24 by ships passing sixty miles off the 

 coast. 



Fig. 1. —Sahara Foxes. (From "The Natural History of Animals.") 



agajnst modern usage to place the American mice and 

 rats in the same genus (Cricetus) as the hamster. 

 Neither is it correct to call the Indian elephant 

 •Eiielephas, while the statement (p. 10S) that the hippo- 

 potamus has only two upper incisors is inaccurate. 



Although we by no means agree in many instances 

 with the author's practice in regard to nomenclature, 

 yet this is to so great an extent a matter of opinion 

 that we forbear criticism. There can, however, be no 

 excuse for describing the Indian rhinoceros in the 

 text (p. 106) as Rhinoceros unicornis, and in the plate 

 and its accompanying note as R. indicus, or for styling 

 (p. 122) the llama Lama lama in the text and Auchenia 

 lama in the plate and its explanation. Lamaguan acus 

 for the gtianaco, in place of Lama guanacus, must be 



NO. I 746. VOL. 67] 



Sir W. T. Tiiiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., has 

 sent us a copy of a letter from Mr. H. Powell, the 

 curator of the Botanic Station at St. Vincent, to Dr. D. 

 Morris, the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies, as an official report upon the eruption of the 

 Soufriere on March 22 ; he has also sent a cutting from the 

 Barbados Advocate of March 28 describing some of the phe- 

 nomena of the eruption. Mr. Powell reports that the clouds 

 of stones, ashes, &c, were of stupendous size, and rose to 

 enormous heights, similar to those of May 7, 1902. The 

 noise on March 22 was, however, far less than on May 7, 

 and the electric display was very little. At 11.30 a.m., and 

 again at 12.30 p.m., on March 21 last, huge volumes of 

 vapour were seen ascending from the crater, and at about 

 6.30 next morning the serious eruption commenced, and 

 continued during the morning and most of the afternoon. 



