l82 



NA TURE 



[December 22, 1904 



portable ants' nest, which can be moved anywhere without 

 trouble or inconvenience, and which, it is claimed, will last 

 for upwards of six years with ordinary care. The species 

 selected is the small yellow ant, Formica flava, and the nest 

 is enclosed in a frame lo inches square, resembling a picture 

 frame, except that it must, of course, be laid fiat, and the 

 cover must be kept over it except when the ants are under 

 observation. The nest contains ants in their various stages, 

 and some of the other insects which are associated with 

 them ; and it is supplied with or without a queen, 

 and accompanied by full directions as to management. This 

 novelty has attracted considerable attention already, and the 

 visitors, many of whom are children, show much interest in 

 this novel exhibition. 



Dr. Charles Waldstein gave a lecture on " Herculaneum 

 and the Proposed International Excavation " at the Royal 

 Academy on December 14. He remarked that from 

 Herculaneum many beautiful works might be expected. 

 The city and district of Herculaneum were overwhelmed 

 with volcanic material, but this is not the impenetrably 

 hard lava commonly supposed. Geologists have shown that, 

 apart from actual contact with air, the material is perfectly 

 friable and manageable for the excavator. The beautiful 

 works from the city which are to be seen at Naples show 

 that the disaster was not destructive of the beauty of the 

 works of art at Herculaneum. Manuscripts which can be 

 unrolled and read, as well as glass and marble, with no 

 trace of fire on them, give good hope of what may be ex- 

 pected from thorough excavation. The catastrophe was a 

 marvellous preservation of a provincial city's life at the 

 moment of arrest. The King has expressed approval of the 

 proposed international excavation, and the King of Italy, as 

 well as his Prime Minister, promise support. The Presi- 

 dent of the United States, the German Emperor, the Presi- 

 dent and Government of the French Republic, the Emperor 

 of .Austria, and the King of Sweden encourage the under- 

 taking. There is already a committee in Vienna, and it is 

 hoped to secure the cooperation of many other national 

 committees. Mr. Neville Rolfe, our Consul at Naples, has 

 told Dr. Waldstein that there is ample work for many 

 years without infringement of private rights. 



Our Norwegian namesake — Naluren — for November con- 

 tains an illustrated account of the mammoth discovered in 

 the Kolyma district in 1901, and now mounted in the St. 

 Petersburg Museum. The monster has been set up in the 

 position in which it was found, namely, endeavouring to 

 struggle out of a quicksand or crevasse. 



Is the issue of the Sitsungsherichte of the Vienna .'\cademy 

 for November 10 Dr. F. Werner gives an account of the 

 zoological results of his recent expedition to Egypt and 

 Nubia. The most important part of the collection appears 

 to consist of orthopterous insects — a group hitherto very im- 

 perfectly known from the countries in question, and of 

 which a large series of specimens was obtained. Very note- 

 worthy is the discovery of certain Central Asian species of 

 the group in the heart of this part of Africa. A fish and a 

 fresh-water mussel previously supposed to be confined to 

 the Upper Nile are recorded from the delta, and some 

 interesting observations with regard to certain reptiles have 

 also been made. 



We are indebted to the publisher — G. Freytag, of Leipzig 

 — for copies of the two issues of the new (twenty-sixth) 

 edition of Pokorny's " Naturgeschichte des Tierreiches, " 

 a well known zoological text-book for schools. The present 

 enlarged edition has been supervised by Mr. .M. Fischer, 



NO. 1834, VOL. 71] 



of Miilhausen. The book is issued in two forms, one more 

 expensive than the other. In the cheaper issue (of which 

 the price is 3s. 6d.) there are only five coloured plates, 

 whereas in the more expensive one (price 45. 6d.) the number 

 of illustrations of this description is twenty-nine. Some 

 difference in the arrangement and number of the cuts dis- 

 tinguishes the two issues. Considering the price of the 

 volume, the coloured illustrations are all that could be 

 desired. The fact of the work reaching its twenty-sixth 

 edition is a sufficient guarantee of its fitness for its special 

 purpose. 



We have received a copy of a new monthly publication, 

 Indian Public Health (No. 4, vol. i.), which is to be devoted 

 to the discussion of public health questions in our Indian. 

 Empire. We cannot help expressing the opinion that it is 

 undesirable to multiply small journals, of which there are 

 already too many. It would be better to enlarge the scope 

 of the existing journals. 



In the Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (ix.. 

 No. 55) Mr. T. B. Rosseter gives a good description of the 

 anatomy of Taenia siniwsa, a tapeworm of geese, and proves 

 by feeding experiments that the cysticercoids inhabit certain 

 copepods and ostracods ; and Mr. Wesch^ investigates some 

 new sense-organs of Diptera, concluding that where the 

 antennee are not particularly sensitive, the palpi have struc- 

 tures to compensate, and may bear organs of touch, taste, 

 and smell, but not more than two of these at the same time. 

 He also describes certain organs, probably of sense, on 

 the legs of many species, the function of which is doubtful. 



We have received " Researches in Helminthology and 

 Parasitology," by Prof. Joseph Leidy, edited by his son. Dr. 

 Joseph Leidy {Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, part 

 of vol. .xlvi.). It gives a summary of Prof. Leidy 's con- 

 tributions to science, with bibliography, and should prove 

 of considerable value to those engaged in these branches 

 of research. Commencing in 1849, Prof. Leidy 's contribu- 

 tions were continued without intermission down to 1889, and 

 are no less than 578 in number, many being of considerable 

 importance, and embracing parasites of all kinds, as well 

 as some papers on comparative anatomy. 



In the report for the year 1903-4 on the administration 

 of the Government Museum and Connemara Public Library, 

 Madras, amongst other interesting matter the following 

 paragraph appears : — " A prolonged tour was made in the 

 Mysore province in connection with the ethnographic 

 survey, with the primary object of continuing my researches 

 into the character of the Canarese cranium {vide Museum 

 Bulletin, iv., 2, 1901). The work was carried out under 

 conditions of considerable difficulty, caused by the terror 

 of the natives, who mistook me for a recruiting sergeant 

 bent on seizing them for employment in South Africa or 

 for the Somali war, and fled before my approach from 

 town to town. The little spot, which I am in the habit of 

 making with Aspinall's paint to indicate the position of 

 the fronto-nasal suture when measuring the nose, was sup- 

 posed to possess blistering properties, and to turn into a 

 number on the forehead, which would serve as a means of 

 identification. The untimely death of a Korava outside 

 a town where I was halting was attributed to my evil eye. 

 V'illages were denuded of all save senile men, women and 

 children. The vendors of food-stuffs in one bazaar finding 

 business slack owing to the flight of their customers, raised 

 their prices, and a missionary complained that the price 

 of butter had gone up. .My arrival at one important town 



