May 28, 1914] 
NATURE 
329 
wwall-lizard are, we understand, desiderata in the Wits issued by the British Museum (price 1s. 6d.) 
Natural History Museum. 
In the Field of May 23 is reproduced a lithograph, 
drawn by G. Scharf, and printed by Hullmandel in 
1836, representing the four Nubian giraffes brought to 
London in May of that year by Mr. Thibaut, the 
agent of the Zoological Society, and his party of Arab 
attendants, all of whom are included in the picture. 
In the heading to the accompanying letterpress it is 
stated that these were the first living giraffes received 
in England; but the writer has evidently forgotten 
‘George IV.’s giraffe, received at Windsor in 1827, 
of which an account is given by Mr. Lydekker in the 
Zoological Society’s Proceedings for 1904 (vol ii., 
P- 339): 
As reported in the Times of May 21, an international 
conference was held last week at the Foreign Office, 
with Lord Chelmsford as president, for the purpose of 
‘devising more efficient measures for the protection of 
elephants and rhinoceroses in Africa The conference, 
which included representatives of all European States 
possessing territory in Africa, was summoned at the 
instigation of Mr. Woosnam, the game-warden of 
British East Africa. Existing regulations for the pro- 
tection of elephants and rhinoceroses are, it appears, 
not observed equally throughout African territories; 
and without such equality it is obvious that their 
efficiency must be greatly impaired. One of the points 
in which revision of existing legislation is imperative 
relates to the size of elephants’ tusks for export. 
According to the Times of May 26, the conference is 
understood to have finished its labours and to have 
arrived at an agreement, which, when ratified by the 
Governments concerned, will prove a distinct step in 
advance. The recommendations to the respective 
Governments are believed to include the formation and 
maintenance of sanctuaries for elephants and rhino- 
ceroses in suitable localities. The shooting of these 
animals is to be permitted only on licences, the con- 
ditions of which are to be made as nearly as possible 
identical in the different territories. In the case of 
rhinoceroses, absolute protection is recommended for 
a number of years, and, as regards ivory, the standard 
weight for export is to be raised to 10 kilos, or more 
than 22 lb. 
THe Board of Trade and the Natural History 
Branch of the British Museum are to be congratulated 
on the results of their joint efforts to obtain a census 
of the number of cetaceans stranded annually on the 
British coasts. The scheme was initiated in 1912 by 
the issue of a circular to Receivers of Wrecks, in- 
structing them to report by telegraph to the museum 
all cases of stranded whales, porpoises, and dolphins 
that came under their notice. This was followed by 
the issue in 1913 to coastguard officers of a leaflet 
intended to aid in the identification of species, and 
to indicate the essential points of distinction between 
a porpoise and a shark—animals which, strange to 
say, are frequently confounded with one another by 
non-scientific persons. The results of the census are 
summarised by Dr. S. F. Harmer in a ‘Report on 
Cetacea Stranded on the British Coasts during 1913,” 
NO. 2326, VOL. 93] 
The total number of stranded cetaceans reported 
during that year was seventy-six, a few of which 
were, however, sharks. The identification of species, 
as might have been expected, was not very satisfac- 
tory, but the inquiry, as shown in maps accompanying 
the report, has brought out very clearly the fact that 
the great bulk of the strandings occurs on the east 
coast, especially in Norfolk and Lincolnshire, during 
the late summer and autumn. To what extent this 
is dependent on the migrations of herrings is a ques- 
tion which cannot at present receive a decisive answer. 
Incidentally, the census has been the means of secur- 
ing a certain number of specimens of the rare species 
for the museum. 
DurINnG the fivé years it. has been in existence, the 
International Institute of Agriculture has performed a 
useful function by publishing monthly a bulletin of 
agricultural intelligence and plant diseases. In -addi- 
tion to a very large number of abstracts of ‘scientific 
papers with an agricultural bias, the current number 
(vol. v., No. 3) contains original articles by recognised 
authorities on agricultural education in the Argentine, 
moor cultivation in Germany, entomological work in 
Hungary, and the cattle industry in Britain. The 
latter paper, by Prof. Robert Wallace and Mr. J. A. S. 
Watson, raises several interesting points on the rise 
and fall in the number of the different classes of live 
stock during the period for which trustworthy data are 
available. Since 1878 the number of cattle in the 
United Kingdom has shown a steady increase from 
9¢ millions to almost 12 millions, while the number of 
sheep in the same period has shown somewhat rapid 
fluctuation without any marked tendency either in one 
direction or the other. There is a large export trade 
in pedigree cattle from Great Britain, and during the 
five years 1906-10, this averaged almost 5000 head, 
of which rather more than 3000 were breeding animals 
of an average value of about 601. On the other hand, 
a very large importation of young store animals and 
others ready for fattening is carried on, the extent 
of which may to some extent be judged from the 
fact that Ireland supplies about half a million stores 
annually. The increased attention which is being 
devoted to the improvement of dairy stock is reflected 
in the very rapid development of milk record societies 
and also in the greatly increased prices that are now 
being paid for pedigree dairy stock. 
THE Geological Society of Glasgow has always 
been noted for the original researches published in its 
Transactions, and it is fortunate in the cooperation 
of professional workers and keen local amateurs. 
The discussions are reported, and this is usually a 
stimulus to debate. In part i. of vol. xv., published 
in 1914, Alexander Scott reviews the pitchstones of 
Arran, and shows that the order of crystallisation of 
the constituents and the occurrence of tridymite raise 
questions of interest in view of modern researches on 
silica and the silicates. A. Stevens takes us as far as 
Stornoway, and suggests that the coarse con- 
glomerate, so well seen east of the town, and gener- 
ally regarded as a relic of Torridonian strata, may be 
in reality of Triassic age. G. W. Tyrrell, dealing with 
