Avucust 6, 1914] 
NATURE 
RoR: 
names, and in addition to an observation bechive, a 
large vivarium with reptiles and batrachians, and a 
collection of the score or so of wild birds which visit 
or nest in the grounds, there are about seventy fresh- 
water and marine aquaria, containing a fine series 
of aquatic plants and insects, mollusca, anemones, and 
fishes. +4 
Mr. W. W. SmitH has contributed to the Records 
of the Botanical Survey of India (vol. iv., No. 7) an 
interesting account of the alpine and subalpine vegeta- 
tion of south-east Sikkim, more especially that of the 
ridges lying between the two passes, Cho-La and 
Tanka-La. The list of the 925 species of flowering 
plants and ferns collected is preceded by an exceed- 
ingly interesting general description of the flora of 
this high region, with reference to the climatic and 
other conditions of the area, one of the wettest in the 
Himalayas. 
We are glad to learn that the marine biological in- 
vestigations at the Cape of Good Hope, which were 
suspended, in part at any rate, for some years, have 
again been resumed under the direction of Dr. J. D. F. 
Gilchrist. The Marine Biological Report, No. 1, has 
now been issued, and contains two papers of con- 
siderable economic interest. The first of these is on 
the Cape crawfish and the crawfish industry. The 
somewhat changeable history of the industry is re- 
corded, and the prospects of future development dis- 
cussed. The main part of the paper is, however, 
devoted to a study of the natural history of the species, 
which leads up to a consideration of the possible ways 
_ in which the industry may be preserved. The second 
paper contains an account of the various species of 
the herring and allied families, which live in Cape 
waters. The number of these is considerable, but it 
does not seem probable that many of them offer a 
prospect of a successful fishery. 
To the July number of the American Naturalist 
(vol. xlviii., p. 385) Dr. Glover M. Allen contributes 
the first part of a remarkably interesting and original 
article on the development of colour-pattern in mam- 
mals and birds, dealing in this instance almost exclu- 
sively with the development of semi-albinism in domes- 
ticated mammals. In the opinion of the author, 
mammals and birds have five paired centres of maxi- 
mum development, and a single azygous frontal centre. 
Where these areas come into contact with one another, 
that is to say, on their peripheries, the intensity of the 
pigmentation is, of necessity, much less than at the 
centres. A consequence of this is the tendency to the 
development of non-pigmented areas at the lines of 
junction, such light tracts being denominated ‘‘ primary 
breaks.’’ One of such unpigmented areas occurs on 
the middle line of the lower surface of the body; there 
is another between the ear-patches, and a third on the 
side of the neck. In piebaid horses and cattle 
an unpigmented tract is very generally situated in the 
neighbourhood of the shoulder, and another in the 
lumbar region, one or both of which may embrace 
the associated limb. How very closely the colour- 
pattern of horses agrees in this respect with that of 
| article is illustrated, and it will not fail to be noticed 
that the two main light tracts approximately follow 
the lines of the limb-girdles, as was pointed out years 
ago by a writer to whom the author appears to make 
no reference. ‘‘Dappling’’ in horses, which has been 
regarded as an archaic feature, is considered by Dr. 
Allen to be more probably a secondary development. 
Dr. RoitrF WITTING continues to carry out most 
valuable hydrographical work in the Gulf of Finland, 
and in Finlanddéndische Hydrographisch-Biologische 
Untersuchungen, No. 12, the observations for the year 
1g12 are published. As in former years, salinity and 
temperature observations have been made on special 
cruises, as well as more continuous series of observa- 
tions on lightships. The ice conditions are also fully 
recorded. Finland is to be congratulated upon having 
carried out its hydrographical work for a number of 
years in a thorough and systematic way, being in 
many respects considerably ahead of some of the larger 
countries that took up this work in 1903, in connection 
with the International Fishery investigations. 
To the April issue of the Proceedings of the Phil- 
adelphia Academy Dr. N. E. McIndoo contributes a 
long article on the olfactory sense in Hymenoptera, 
as exemplified by ants and hornets. The special object 
of the experiments on which the article is based was 
to establish, in the first place, the relative sensibility 
of these insects to various odours; secondly, to ascer- 
tain the situation of the olfactory organs; and, thirdly, 
to determine how other Hymenoptera compare with 
ants and hornets in the perception of scents. Various 
opinions have been held with regard to the seat of 
smell in insects, but the general view at the present 
day is that this is situated in the antenna, although 
it has been pointed out that since these appendages 
are coated with hard membrane, they are ill-fitted to 
receive and assimilate olfactory stimuli. Dr. McIndoo 
finds that the so-called olfactory pores of the legs 
and wings are the true smelling organs, and that the 
antenne take no part in the olfactory function. 
PuBLIcATION No. 192 of the Carnegie Institution 
includes (p. 263) a contribution by Dr. Ch. Schuchert 
on the ‘‘Climates of geologic time,’? in which much 
attention is paid to the occurrence of glacial epochs 
from the ‘‘proterozoic”’ periods to recent times. The 
author regards crustal deformations, which may 
possibly be rhythmic, as the most potent cause’ of 
climatic change. Dr. Schuchert, in association with 
Prof. Barrell, has just issued another paper of wide 
import, ‘‘A revised geologic time-table for North 
America”? (Am. Journ. Sci., vol. xxxviii., 1914, p. 1), 
which also emphasises the conception of rhythmic 
movements of the surface. These produce marked 
changes in the fauna, especially on land. The table 
summarising our knowledge of pre-Cambrian history 
will be useful to many teachers. 
Pror. W. H. Hoszs has published, through the 
Macmillan Company of New York (price Is.), a 
pamphlet on ‘‘ Simple Directions for the Determination 
of the Common Minerals and Rocks,”’ with an appen- 
dix on geological maps and models; the use of wooden 
cattle is made apparent by the figures with which the | blocks, the inclination of which can be varied, to 
NO. 2336, VOL. 93| 
