372 



URE 



[January 9, 1919 



.if entomogenous fungi to kill in-. < 

 rather an expression oi ignorance than a real means 

 of combating the troubles dui to insect and fungus 

 pests. Thi letter is deserving of careful attention by 

 all tropical mycologists and b) those interested in 

 problems of tropical agriculture, as well as by those 

 who are concerned with the training of mycoli 

 for \\ ork in our Colonies. 



The botanical collections made on Mount K 

 Sumatra, i> Messrs. C. 11. Robinson and 1.. Boden 

 Kloss have recentlj been worked out by Mr. 11. N. 

 Ridley ami published in vol. viii., pari iv., of the 

 Journal of the Federated States Musi urns. Mr. Ridley 

 has described the flowering plant- and ferns, and the 

 accounts of the mosses and Thallophytes an- tin- work 

 of Mr. II. N. Dixon and Miss Lorrain Smith respec- 

 tively. These collections throw much light on the 

 highland Mora of Sumatra, and it is remarkable that 

 the flora of so large and accessible an island should 

 heretofore have received so little attention. One new 



genus, Hovella, and no fewer thai. One lien. lied and 

 forty-two new species of plants an described, a large 

 number being orchids. It is of interest to find thai 

 there is a considerable Himalayan element present in 

 lh. Sumatran highlands, and some of the genera en 

 also found in Borneo and Malaya. In Malaya, how- 

 ever, the) occur only in the Telom mountain district. 

 .The Sumatran and javan mountain floras appear very 

 similar. Two interesting plants, Goodyera schlech- 

 tendaliana and Potamogeton oxyphyllus, var. fauriei, 

 have, previous to this, only been recorded from China 

 and Japan. The distribution of the Gesneraceae is 

 also very interesting, and affords ground for a com- 

 parison of the floras of India, Malaya, and Java with 

 that of Sumatra. A very remarkable new ( 

 ('. hypolytroid.es, was found at 7300 ft. on Korinchi 

 Teak", 'with stems b ft. in height, the whole plant 

 being quite distinct in appearance from any other 

 known Carex. 



A VALUABLE contribution to West Australian 

 botany, made by Dr. C. H. Ostenfeld, of Copen- 

 hagen, has appeared in Dansk Botanisk Arkiv (No. 6, 

 1916, and No. 8, 1918). Dr. Ostenfeld's studies are 

 based on his visit to Australia with the British Asso- 

 siation in 1914. In the first part the "sea-grasses" 

 belonging to the families Potamogetonaceae and 

 Hydrocharitaceae are described, with an excellent 

 series of figures in the text, and a new specii --. 

 Cymodocea angustata, is described. A full biological 

 account, including a description of tine peculiar vivi- 

 parv of Cymodocea antarctica, is given under each 

 species. In part ii. particular attention is given to 

 the genera Triglochin, Crassula, and Frankenia, with 

 good plates and text-figures, several new species being 

 described. The opening paper consists of a general 

 account of the vegetation with a map, and the man- 

 grove formation, the sandy seashore formation, the 

 salt-pan formation, the sand-dune formation, and the 

 savannah forest Formation an discussed in detail. 

 An interesting and characteristic tree of the savannah 

 forest is Idansonia gregorii, the only species of this 

 genus known outside Africa. All the other species 

 are confined to tn ; al \frica, and the original home 

 of the genus appears to have been Madagascar. The 

 Chenopodiacese collected by Dr. Ostenfeld are 

 described in part ii. bj Mr. O. Paulsen, and four new- 

 species are: described and figured. 



A BRIEF, but extremeh int mint of the 



spawning of the little smelt (Leuresthes tenuis) 



appears in California Fisi iv., No. 4). 



This fish appears in immense shoals on all sandy 



NO. 2567, VOL. I02] 



beaches neai San Diego during Match, April, and 



May on ill- second, third, and fourth nights after full 

 moon at full tide. Hue,, schools; th 1 the 



mouth of small fresh-water stream, foi the purpose 

 of spawning in the sand. Th,- fish apparently strivi 



'hem. 

 As ill, n edes each wriggles down int.. the 



sand, at the same time re , and sperm. 'I hi 



reproductive products discharged, the return to ib- 

 is made in sprinj nto the next high 

 that reaches them. The fertilisation of the eggs thus 

 laid in tit.- sand is effected during tie up of 

 lb.- sand ie, ih. waves as they rush up tin- i„ ... | 

 Since these events take place at night, usually from 

 ten i" one o'clock, those who ha've mad.- thi se observa- 

 tions are t>> be congratulated, for thej have accom- 

 ■ much under very trying conditions. 



Tin: Amen ewm Journal, vol. xviii., No. 6, 



contains a brief description of a remarkably perfect 

 skeleton of an Oligocene alligator, from the Big Bad 

 Lands of South Dakota. Though found some Mars 

 e;;n, thi tossil has onl] recently been extracted from 

 its matrix. This is a find of some importance, and an 

 excellent photograph of the specimen ibis 



lion. It was apparently an immature example, 

 and is minus the tail. But the dermal armature is 

 wonderfully preserved. 



The thirty-second annual report of tin Marin. Bio- 

 logical Station at Port Erin shows that in 1918 there 

 wen sixteen workers, including eleven senior stu 

 in the usual Easter Vacation class. Miss M 

 records some preliminary observations on common 

 littoral organisms with the object of ascertaining the 

 possible density of the population. Choosing the most 

 thickly covered parts of the shore, she found on one 

 square foot of rock 2940 barnacles (Balanus balanoides), 

 on another square foot thirty-seven limpets, and in a 

 small pool there were within a square foot twenty-five 

 anemones — twenty Actinia and five Sagartia. Ap- 

 pi 1 .1.1 to the report rs an address by Prof. Herdman 

 on some periodic changes in Nature, with special 

 nl, n-nce to the changes in the alkalinity of the water 

 of the Irish Sea and the correlated changes in the 

 nature of the plankton. 



A report by Prof. Sheridan Delepine on the method 

 1 1 -commended by the Sub-Committee of the Anthrax 

 Committee for the Disinfection of Anthrax-infected 

 Wool is..- Nature, June [3, 1918, p. 290, and July 4, 

 p. 347) has been issued (vol. i. of the Report to the 

 Home Office of the Departmental Committee on 

 Anthrax). Prof. Deleipine approves generally of the 



id of disinfection proposed. He directs attention 

 to the importance of temperature in the process — a 



n strength of formol which may not destn> 

 anthrax spores at a lower temperature becomes 1 R 

 tive at a higher temperature. The process requires 

 large quantities of warm water for washing the wool. 

 and this wash-water must not be until 



thoroughly disinfected. The process is applicable only 

 after the bales of wool have been opened, and offers 

 no protection to the workmen engaged in this pre- 

 liminary work. To be effective also, the process must 

 be carried out thoroughly, the strength of disinfectant 

 .and the temperature at various stages being under • 

 constant and accurate scientific supervision, and the 

 results frequently controlled by searching t. 



The Orders which placed glycerine, benzine, 

 methylated spirit, and turpenti prohibited 



list have probably caused much inconvenience to 

 microscopists. In the Journal of the Roval Micro- 



