October 27, 1904J 



NA TURE 



^n 



relatively high temperature of a star by some observers, in 

 consequence of the production of these lines in arc spectra 

 under certain special conditions. The recent work of Mr. 

 C. de Watteville ' on flame spectra in relation to spark 

 spectra obtained with and without self-induction, however, 



appears to be entirely in harmony with the result derived of the Himalay 



ing, the sole remnant of the covering of vegetation is 

 a mass of bog-balsam (Bolax globaria), as shown in Fig. i, 

 which, owing to its long tapering root, can obtain nourish- 

 ment after the soil which supported other plants has been 

 washed away. Very similar " stone-rivers " exist in parts 



from stellar inquiries by Sir Norman Lockyer. 



At present, then, the evidence available 

 appears to favour the view that the chemical 

 differences indicated in the different groups 

 of stars are due to differences of tempera- 

 ture, and that successively higher stages 

 of heat are indicated by the predomin.ince 

 of metallic, proto-mctallic, and gaseous 

 lines. Thus, although further researches 

 on some points are needed, it is very prob- 

 able that the new classification correctly 

 exhibits the relative temperatures of the 

 various stellar groups, besides giving ex- 

 haustive definitions and providing a con- 

 venient nomenclature. At the same time. 

 the sequence of phenomena indicated in the 

 classification seems strongly to support the 

 dissociation hypothesis. A. Fowler. 



THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 

 AND THEIR FAUNA. 



Apparently the Falklands 



by no means the desolate 



w 



iM'- 



RUPERT VALLENTIN, who has 



where he has been an assiduous observer 

 jnd collector of the fauna and flora, con- 

 tributes an excellent account, illustrated by Fig. 2. — Gentu P 

 photographs, of those remote islands to 

 the third part of vol. xlviii. of the Mciimns 

 of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, of 

 which his article forms No. 23. The author alludes in the 

 first place to the celebrated stone-rivers, which consist of 

 slowlv moving blocks of quartzite between banks of peat. 

 In Sir. Vallentin's opinion the stones forming these 

 " rivers " had approximately attained their present position 

 before the formation of the peat, and the " rivers " 



> of Hog-balsam 



have been produced by the denudation of the peat. In 

 every " stone-river " islets of vegetation remain near the 

 margins, these being most luxurious where the denudation 

 has been recent. Where the denudation is of long stand- 

 1 Roy. Soc. Proc, vol. Ixxiv. p. 85 (1904). 

 NO. 1826, VOL. 70] 



1 the Falkland^. ThuLiiJ,! 



spots we are often prone to imagine, the vegetation being 

 locally abundant, and the shores of the estuaries and coves 

 on part of West Falkland being fringed with bushes 

 of the attractive Falkland box (Veronica decurrata), which 

 has a beautiful and highly scented flower. With the aid 

 of abundant manure, many English vegetables can be 

 grown in sheltered spots. 



With regard to the fauna, the most 

 interesting statement is the one to 

 the effect that, so far as the author 

 could ascertain, the Falkland Island 

 wolf (Caiiis antarctUus) is now com- 

 pletely exterminated. This latest 

 addition to the list of animals extir- 

 pated in recent years by human 

 agency is the more to be regretted 

 seeing that this wolf, or fo.\ as it 

 used to be called by the settlers, is 

 an extremely interesting animal from 

 the point of view of geographical dis- 

 tribution, and one that is probably 

 very insufficiently represented in our 

 museums. .According to Prof. 



Huxley's paper on the dentition of 

 the Canidee, published in the Zoo- 

 logical Society's Proceedings for 

 1880, the Falkland Island wolf is 

 closely allied to the North .American 

 coyote, the remarkable feature con- 

 nected with this resemblance being 

 that there are no true wolves in 

 either Central or South America. 

 The British Museum has one 

 mounted skin of the -Antarctic wolf 

 in the e.xhibition galleries, and there 

 are two skeletons in the store collec- 

 tion. Strychnine poisoning appears 

 to have brought about the extermin- 

 ation of this wolf, the last survivor 



the Falkla 



of which seems to have been Icilled so long ago as 1876. 



Birds form by far the most important portion of the 

 terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the Falklands, and among 

 these penguins, of three species, and " mollymauks," or 

 lesser albatrosses, are numerically the most abundant. Mr. 



