December i, 1904] 



NA TURE 



From the introductory statements this diminution may, 

 however, be merely temporary, and need not necessarily 

 indicate a permanent falling off in the supply of fur-seal 

 pelts. 



In respect to skins used solely for rugs or ornamental 

 purposes, very few words must suffice. In Messrs. Culver- 

 well. Brooks, and Co.'s list for October of this year appear 

 100 South American guanaco skins (from which the beautiful 

 orange carriage-rugs are made), 24 tiger, and 266 leopard 

 skins, while Messrs. Lampson's January list gives 184 tiger 

 and 557 leopard skins (inclusive of snow-leopard and 

 "' leopard-cat "). 



The leopard skins range in price from los. or less to 34^. 

 (55s. for snow-leopard), while tiger skins vary from 2i. to 

 60/. each. 



Imperfect and sketchy as this review of recent London 

 fur sales necessarily is, it serves to give some idea of the 

 enormous — we may almost say appalling — number of wild 

 animals annually slaughtered for the sake of their pelts. 

 What, however, it does not — and cannot — give is the effect 

 that this continuous slaughter is having on the numbers 

 of the various species of fur-bearing animals throughout 

 the world. 



This is what naturalists want to know from the point of 

 view of zoology, and it is also what the fur trade com- 

 munity ought to desire to know from the point of view 

 of their own and the world's interest. Of late years furs 

 have become increasingly fashionable, with a correspond- 

 ing appreciation in price ; but as to whether this increased 

 demand is having any serious effect on the numbers of fur- 

 bearing animals in general we appear, except in the case of 

 a few species, such as the sea-otter, the beaver, the West 

 African guereza, and the fur-seals, to be in a state of utter 

 and hopeless ignorance. R. Lvdekker. 



L'MVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — The new statute, the object of which is to 

 exempt candidates for honours in mathematics or in natural 

 science from Greek in Responsions, was brought before 

 Congregation on Tuesday, November 29. The changes 

 proposed in the statute were in strict accordance with the 

 resolutions passed by Congregation in Hilary Term, 1904, 

 except in one small detail. Candidates for honours in 

 mathematics or in natural science have two courses open 

 to them under the proposed statute. They may offer the 

 subjects required by the present regulations, viz. Greek, 

 Latin, arithmetic, and elementary algebra or Euclid, or in 

 place of Greek they may substitute French or German, 

 together with a mathematical or scientific subject to be 

 prescribed by the board of studies for Responsions. Candi- 

 dates who had not offered Greek would be allowed to sub- 

 stitute an additional knowledge of the subject-matter of 

 the Bible for that part of the examination in Holy Scripture 

 which involves a knowledge of the Greek text of the Gospels. 

 The statute was lost by 200 votes to 164. 



Dr. William Osier. F.R.S., regius professor of medicine, 

 has been elected to a studentship at Christ Church. 



A NEW professorship of applied chemistry has been estab- 

 lished at Trinity College. Dublin. Mr. Emil .\Iphonse 

 Werner, assistant to the professor of chemistry, has been 

 appointed as the first occupant of the new chair. 



We learn from Science that Park College, near Kansas 

 City, has received an additional endowment of 20,000!., of 

 T\hich 5oooi. has been given by Dr. D. K. Pearson ; and 

 that at a recent meeting of the trustees of Columbia Uni- 

 versity gifts amounting to about 9400/. were announced by 

 the trustees. Among these was the sum of 3000/. from 

 Ceneral Horace W. Carpentier. 



The Minister of Public Instruction for Austria has issued 

 a decree concerning the admission to the universities of 

 students from the Realschulen, according to which those 

 wishing to be on the same footing as candidates from the 

 Gymnasia are required to pass an additional examination, 

 held twice a year, in Greek, Latin, and philosophy. Candi- 

 dates may prepare for this examination either by private 

 study or by courses held at certain secondary schools. 



NO. I 83 I, VOL. 71] 



It would do much good if everyone spoke their minds on 

 the subject of free libraries as straightforwardly as did the 

 Countess of Jersey last Saturday afternoon. When laying 

 the foundation stone of a library which the generosity of 

 Mr. Carnegie is providing for Hanwell, she touched on the 

 great usefulness of books of reference, especially with regard 

 to the particular life-work of the reader. In fact, one 

 would judge that novels would find but a small place on 

 the shelves if Lady Jersey were to choose all the books, for 

 she very sensibly pointed out that the best volumes of fiction 

 can now be bought for a few pence, and that more expensive 

 books and those more difficult to get should form the bulk 

 of a public library. 



At the winter session of the General Medical Council 

 last week a report was considered from the Education Com- 

 mittee on the proposals for a school certificate submitted 

 to the council recently by the Board of Education. .After 

 discussion it was decided to inform the Board of Education 

 (i) that any well considered plan which would tend to a 

 diminution in the number of examinations in preliminary 

 subjects of education, and to a unification of standard of 

 those which remain, would meet with the hearty approval 

 of the Medical Council. (2) That if the standard of the 

 examination contemplated in the scheme were such as to be 

 generally accepted for matriculation by the universities, the 

 council would be prepared to recognise it as qualifying for 

 entrance on a course of professional study. (3) That, pend- 

 ing the general adoption of a uniform system of unification 

 of educational tests, the council would welcome the establish- 

 ment under the Board of Education of a central board for 

 the purpose of classifying examinations according to 

 standard and arranging for the mutual recognition of certifi- 

 cates : and, further, that they regard the establishment of 

 I such a board as highly desirable from an educational point 

 of view. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Entomological Society, November 2. — Prof. E. B. 

 Poulton, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — Mr. J. E. Collin 

 exhibited a specimen of Platyphora lubbocki, Verr., a species 

 of Phoridre parasitic upon ants. No specimen has been re- 

 corded since the one originally bred by the present Lord 

 Avebury in 1875, and described for him by Mr. G. H. 

 Verrall in the Journal of the Linnean Society for 1877. 

 — Mr. P. J. Barraud exhibited an aberrant Epinephele 

 jurtina (janira), -^ , taken by him this year in the New 

 Forest, in which the usual apical spots were absent from 

 the fore-wings, giving the specimen a curious appearance, 

 noticeable even when flying. — Mr. J. Edwards sent for 

 exhibition three specimens of Bagous lutosus, Gyll., one 

 found by himself on Wretham Heath, Norfolk, on August 4, 

 1900 — the first authentic British example — and two taken in 

 the same locality by Mr. Thouless on May 22, 1903 ; also 

 Bagous glabrirostris, Herbst., from Camber, Sussex, for 

 comparison. — Dr. T. A. Chapman exhibited bred speci- 

 mens of Hastula (Epagoge, Hb. ?^ hyerana. Mill., from 

 lar\-ae taken at Hyeres last March, and said the fact that 

 the pale forms only have hitherto been known, whereas 

 of those bred nearly half are dark, suggests either that 

 really very few specimens are in collections — which is the 

 most probable case — or that melanism is now affecting the 

 species. — Mr. W. J. Kaye exhibited specimens of the moths 

 Castnia foHSColombei and Protambulyx ganascus showing 

 protective and warning coloration of the two species. — 

 Mr. H. W. Andrews exhibited specimens of Eristalis 

 cryptarum, F., and Didea alneti. Fin., two species of 

 uncommon S)rphid<e from the New Forest. — Mr. Edward 

 Harris exhibited a brood of Hemerophila abruptaria reared 

 by him this season, together with the parents, a dark male 

 and a normal female, showing considerable variation. — 

 Mr. Gervase F. Mathew, R.N., exhibited some beautiful 

 and interesting examples of Leucania favicolor, Barrett, in- 

 cluding the varieties described by Barrett in the current 

 volume of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (p. 61), 

 and, more recently, by Tutt in the Entomologist's Record 

 for this year. He also exhibited a series of twenty-four 

 Camptogramma fiuviata, the descendants of a wild pair 



