September 5, 1901] 



NATURE 



455 



consist in the property that when a horizontal film of liquid has 

 its lower surface heated to a higher temperature than its upper 

 surface, the convection currents divide the liquid into a series 

 of more or less regularly formed hexagonal cells, the liquid 

 flowing down the sides and up the middle. The experiments 

 have been made chiefly with spermaceti, various methods being 

 adopted in order to make the cellular structure visible by the 

 addition of solid particles. The distribution of motion is found 

 to be permanent and stable, and M. Benard has determined all 

 the geometric, kinematic and dynamic elements of the motion. 



Bulletin No. 44 of the Agricultural Department of Madras 

 consists of notes on the domesticated cattle of that Presidency 

 by Mr. J. D. E. Holmes, of the Veterinary Department. The 

 various breeds found in this part of India are recorded and 

 briefly characterised. 



A RECENT issue of the Proceedings of the U.S. Museum 

 (No. 122S) is devoted to the consideration of the relationships 

 of the jumping-mice to the jerboas on the one hand and to 

 Sminthus on the other. The author, Mr. M. W. Lyon, comes 

 to the conclusion that the first-named animals typify a family 

 (Zapodid^) by themselves, and that in that family should be 

 included the genus Sminthus, which was referred by Alston to 

 the mice and rats (Muridje). In No. 1227 of the same publi- 

 cation Mr. D. W. Coquillett discusses the classification of the 

 flies (Diptera). 



The first part of a list of the birds in the Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, by Mr. F. Finn, has been received. Although this little 

 work is nothing more than a classified list of species (containing 

 in this part the families Corvidae, Paradiseids, Ptilonorhynchida;, 

 and Crateropodid^), with a record of the specimens by which 

 each is represented in the Calcutta Museum, it has a consider- 

 able value to ornithologists on account of the inclusion of a list 

 of "type" specimens. How extensive must be the series of 

 such types in the Indian Museum may be inferred from the fact 

 that there are no less than sixty-six in the Corvida; and Cratero- 

 podida; alone. Bearing in mind the liability to damage and 

 decay of almost all natural history specimens in the climate of 

 Lower Bengal, the question must suggest itself to all ornitho- 

 logists whether it is advisable that such valuable specimens 

 should remain permanently in Calcutta. 



Our American contemporary Science, for August 16, contains 

 the report of a lecture on regeneration and liability to injury in 

 animals, delivered by Prof. T. H. Morgan at Columbia Uni- 

 versity. In this lecture (which forms the first of a series) Prof. 

 Morgan commences by discussing the common belief as to the 

 existence of a definite relation between the liability of an animal 

 to injury and its power of regeneration, and the idea that those 

 parts of an animal most subject to injury are those in which the 

 power of regeneration is most developed. With regard to the 

 latter portion of the popular belief. Prof. Morgan has no hesita- 

 tion in condemning it as unsound. The fact that in animals 

 with "breaking joints" the regeneration may take place both 

 above and below such joint is, he states, a sufficient demonstra- 

 tion of the falsity of the belief. With regard to the other part of 

 the proposition. Prof. Morgan adduces evidence to show that 

 the power of regeneration is characteristic of groups rather than 

 of species ; and that when exceptions do occur it is not in the 

 case of forms specially protected from injury. " If this is borne 

 in mind, as well as the fact that protected and unprotected parts 

 of the same animal regenerate equally well, there is established, 

 I think," says the lecturer, "a strong case in favour of the 

 view that there is no necessary connection between regenera- 

 tion and liability to injury." 



Two weeks ago announcement was made that the President 

 of the Board of Trade had appointed a committee to inquire and 

 report upon the means by which the State or local authorities 

 NO. 1662, VOL. 64] 



could assist scientific research as applied to problems alifecting 

 the fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland. It was gratifying to 

 record this sign of interest in the scientific aspects of our 

 fisheries, and the appointment has not been made too early, for 

 we learn, from a letter which Mr. W. Garstang contributes to 

 the Western Morning News of August 28, that the Technical 

 Instruction Committee of the Cornwall County Council has 

 curtailed the grant for fishery purposes which it has been giving 

 for the past few years, apparently as a prelude to further restric- 

 tions of the work done by the Sub-Committee for Fisheries. 

 Perhaps the appointment of the Board of Trade committee will 

 induce the Cornish authorities to reconsider their recent action, 

 for they should see that the subjects which the committee have 

 to consider are those which their own fishery expert has had 

 under consideration since he began his investigations. Cornwall 

 has in fact been doing what every local authority having fishery 

 interests within its area ought to do ; and to limit the scientific 

 work it has instituted would be an unfortunate and altogether 

 unsatisfactory conclusion of an enlightened policy. It is difficult 

 to point to direct benefits received from such work, but the 

 subjects of instruction and experiment carried on under the 

 auspices of the Cornish committee ought to meet with the 

 approval of far-seeing practical men. Our fisheries are declining 

 at a very rapid rate, and scientific advice is needed to show how 

 waste can be reduced and supplies increased. As Mr. Garstang 

 remarks, there is no valid reason why biology, with suitable 

 means and opportunities, may not do as much for our fisheries 

 as chemistry and physics have achieved for our manufactures. 

 " It should not be forgotten that the vast oyster fisheries of France 

 at the present day are to a large extent the outcome of a com- 

 mission given to a man of science, M. Coste, by the French 

 Government exactly fifty years ago, when ' it is hardly an 

 exaggeration to say there was scarcely an oyster of native 

 growth in France.' Coste successfully introduced the Italian 

 methods of culture into France, and his countrymen modified 

 them to suit the local conditions, though years were spent in the 

 needful preliminary experiments. No one to-day would assert 

 that those years of experiment were ill-spent, although at the 

 time their cost was doubtless greater than their immediate 

 return." 



"British Rainfall" (for 1900) appears for the first time 

 without the name of the late Mr. Symons, the editors of the 

 rainfall records now being Mr. H. Sowerby Wallis and Dr. 

 H. R. Mill. The subjects of special contributions to the new 

 volume are the Ilkley flood of July 1900, and the development 

 of rainfall measurement in the last forty years. In the latter 

 article Dr. Mill gives an interesting account of the various kinds 

 of rain-gauges which have been used, and states some of the 

 general results obtained. Copper is generally adopted as the 

 material for rain-gauges because it is not affected much by 

 weather, its surface is smooth, and it is not easily broken. 

 Ebonite is better, but it is more costly ; zinc, though cheaper, 

 deteriorates in the neighbourhood of towns or manufacturing 

 districts. Dr. Mill suggests, however, that it might be possible 

 to find a suitable substitute for copper among such substances 

 as pure nickel, enamelled iron, and celluloid, with modern 

 enamel paints. The size of the rain-gauge is immaterial, and 

 the 5inch gauge has been adopted as the standard because it 

 does not collect an embarrassingly large or inconveniently small 

 volume of water for measuring. The exposure and elevation of 

 rain-gauges have formed the subjects of many experiments and 

 reports, and Dr. Mill thus sums up the observations : — " The 

 outcome of the whole matter is, that over a broad, flat surface, 

 whether a natural feature of the ground like a plain, a plateau 

 or flat-topped hill, or an artificial erection like a very extensive 

 flat roof, increase of height produces no diminution in the 

 amount of rain caught by a gauge having its mouth one foot 



