March 30, 1905] 



NA TURE 



521 



monise so closely with the twigs to which they cling that 

 it is difficult to see where one begins and the other ends. 

 Fig. I illustrates this insect in the attitude in which it was 

 resting before being captured. 



Another interesting insect from Ceylon is one of the 

 moths, Eurybracliis westwoodii. The fore wings of this 

 insect are marked in a mottled pattern of green, grey and 

 brown, the hind wings being white, with deep claret- 

 coloured marks near their base, and when it is on the wing 

 the moth is an attractive-looking creature. But its appear- 

 ance alters when it is at rest, with the mottled wings folded 

 over the back. In Fig. 2 it is shown with the wings 

 expanded as it appears when flying, and below is a pitce 

 of bark with the same insect resting upon it, where 

 it was discovered by the keen sight of the collector — a 

 clever capture, as- will be admitted when it is noticed how 

 excellently the wings and bark harmonise, and how they 

 seem almost to merge one into the other. 



There is found in Madagascar a small beetle which, 

 looked at apart from its natural surroundings, has nothing 

 specially interesting about it except that it is a conspicu- 

 ous, rugged-looking, pure white and black insect, about 

 three-quarters of an inch long. It feeds upon a species of 

 fungus, which grows upon the bark of trees in mixed cream 

 and black coloured patches. The beetle is shown at the 



Fig. 3.— /.;V'i///«,w;;Vr,i,>-/ji',j/Ki (Madagascar). The upper figures show 

 heelle and bark separately, and in the lower figure f/ic bcelU is on the 



top of Fig. 3. and beneath it a piece of twig with the 

 fungus growing upon it. .\t the bottom of the same illus- 

 tration the same piece of fungus-covered twig is shown, 

 but here the beetle is resting right in the middle of the 

 fungus, effectually concealed amongst the vegetation upon 

 which it feeds. 



The paper is very fully illustrated by more than two 

 hundred figures of the insects described, with the localities 

 in which they were taken, covering the whole subject 

 treated by Mr. Sykes. 



Exception is taken to the use of the words " imago " and 

 " imagine," introduced by Linnjeus, as representing the 

 final stage of insect metamorphosis, and '* matura " 

 (maturo = to ripen) is suggested and employed as a sub- 

 stitute, conforming conveniently with the accepted terms 

 for the earlier stages — larva and pupa. The word 

 " mimicry " is also adversely criticised, as implying con- 

 scious resemblance, which is not known to exist, and 

 "simulism," "simulation," "simulating," are sub- 

 stituted " as being at once expressive, explanatory and 

 euphonious, and free from the inference of designed and 

 cognitive resemblance." 



NO. 1848, VOL. 71] 



REPORT OF THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION, 

 1904.' 



TN Nature for January 7, 1904, a list was given of the 

 •*■ awards made by the Carnegie trustees for the prosecution 

 of inquiries in various scientific directions. The third year 

 book, just published by the board of trustees, contains 

 reports upon most of these researches, but the time is far 

 too short to gather in the full harvest, which may hereafter 

 be expected, from so lavish and, presumably, judicious e.x- 

 penditure. There is abundant evidence that many well- 

 known men, engaged in every department of science, have 

 been enabled to attack problems which must otherwise have 

 been neglected, or pursued with inadequate material and less 

 energv. Beyond this general fact, the present volume does 

 not, in most instances, enable us to estimate the results. 

 The balance sheet attached shows that the trust is in a very 

 flourishing condition, and that 267,000 dollars have been 

 provided for inquiries, which the management discuss under 

 the three heads of large, special, and minor grants. 



Under the division of large grants, we have a description 

 of the station erected, or adapted, for the study of experi- 

 mental evolution at Cold Spring Harbour, some twelve 

 miles from New York. Plans of the building are given, and 

 a full account of the opening ceremony, at which Dr. Hugo 

 de Vries gave a scientific address. The objects sought to 

 be gained by such an institution are typical of the uses of 

 the trust, and legitimately appeal to a liberal consideration. 

 The investigations must be long continued, the results may 

 be doubtful or negative, and it is a research which no in- 

 dividual or institution is likely to undertake on a scale 

 sufficiently broad to produce decisive results. 



Another far-reaching scheme, the Marine Biological 

 Laboratory at Dry Tortugas, Florida, under the care of 

 Dr. H. G. Mayer, is quite in its first stages of development, 

 but one whose usefulness may be confidently predicted in 

 due time. The buildings that have been erected consist of 

 a main laboratory, 100 feet long, one story high, and with 

 special arrangements for keeping the building cool in the 

 hot weather of those latitudes. A feature in the construction 

 of the laboratory and of the smaller buildings connected with 

 it, is that all are made portable, so that they can easily be 

 removed from their present site and erected elsewhere if 

 thought desirable. Attached to the station is a sea-going 

 vessel of light draft, fifty-seven feet over all, and sixteen 

 feet beam, with a 20 h.p. naphtha engine. There is suffi- 

 cient accommodation for seven men on board, and the vessel 

 is specially designed to dredge in depths of 500 fathoms or 

 less. Among other projects for which large grants have 

 been made is the subject of economics, whose many sub- 

 divisions include, among others, population and immigra- 

 tion, mining and manufactures, banking and finance, social 

 legislation and the labour movement, &c. Reports on all 

 these subjects have been added, showing the scope of the 

 respective inquiries and the progress that has been made. 

 Historical research and terrestrial magnetism are the re- 

 maining two subjects which come under the division now 

 being considered. On the latter subject we have some of the 

 results of the discussion of the magnetic disturbance ob- 

 served during the eruption of Mont Pel^e, which are of 

 special interest, since the inquiry discloses the fact that in 

 certain respects the disturbance resembled those storms which 

 are believed to be of cosmic origin. 



The Transcaspian archaeological expedition and geo- 

 physical research are the subjects of special grants. The 

 former is under the charge of Prof. Pumpelly, who left 

 .\merica in December, 1903, and began excavations in the 

 following March, first attacking Anau, in Turkestan. By 

 means of excavations in tumuli and by shafts sunk in the 

 city of Anau, the exploring party has traversed some 170 

 feet of the accumulations of successive generations of 

 peoples, extending from recent times, through the iron and 

 bronze civilisations, and some 45 feet deep into the stone 

 age. Among the objects of this investigation is the hope 

 of throwing some light on the source of our domestic 

 animals. 



The reports on the subjects of the so-called smaller grants 

 cannot be particularly referred to here. The inquiries cover 



1 Carnegie Institution of Washington. Year Book, No. 3, 1904. (Wash- 

 ington : Published by the Institution, 1905.) 



