47Q 



NATURE 



February 13, 1919 



tive i" further faunistii work in the neighbourhood" 

 in accordant with their Express d-sn:. Ih.ir list < . f 

 authorities omits Leach's article in the "Edinburgh 

 1 lopaedia," vol. vii., which carries the date of 

 his Cryptops hortensis and his Lithobius variegatus 

 back to 1813 alike foi each genus and spei ii 



The Egyptian Government lias recently published a 

 useful booklet to supplement its circulars issued in 

 connection with tin- administration of the law for the 

 protection of birds beneficial to agriculture. This has 

 been prepared by Capt. Flower and Mr. M. J. Nicoll, 

 the director and assistant director of the Zoological 

 Service. It treats of the principal birds protected, and 

 gives their English, French, Arabic, and scientific 

 names, their local status, and their size and colora- 

 tion. In eight helpful coloured plates are depicted 

 twenty-four of the fort) species deal) with. Measures 

 for the protection of these birds are 'specially neces- 

 sary in Eg\pt 'in .eiouiil ol the lavages of hosts of 

 insect pests, the chief natural enemies of which, the 

 insectivorous birds, are, unfortunately, correspondingly 

 scarce. To afford this protection a law was pro- 

 mulgated in iiiij, and circulars have since been widely 

 distributed giving, in \ acinus languages, the names of 

 the scheduled species, forbidding their destruction, 

 capture, sale, etc., and intimating tin- penalties to be 

 indicted upon those who contravene the Act. That 

 these measures have met with considerable success as 

 regards some species is well indicated in the ease ,,l 

 the buff-backed heron, which is a gnat destroyer of 

 locusts and other noxious insects. This bird had, 

 previous to the protecting law, become reduced to a 

 single colony ; now it has greatly increased in 

 numbers, and is to be found in many parts of the 

 Delta. It is to be regretted, however, that the law 

 has not been strictly observed as regards the smaller 

 insectivorous birds. 'Ibis seems to be, to a consider- 

 able degree, due to the fact that the permission 

 granted under licences for the killing and capture of 

 unprotected birds has been frequently misapplied for 

 the destruction of protected species. These illegally 

 acquired birds, after being denuded of their feathers, 

 hi render their identification difficult or impossible, are 

 often exposed for sale. The final paragraph of the 

 introduction to this interesting booklet is devoted to 

 an earnest appeal to all who have ihe welfare of agri- 

 ■ ulture at heart to make every effort to protect the 

 scheduled birds in the interests of the staple industry 

 of the country. 



Mr. C. Raunkiar (Botanisk Tidsskrift, 3b Bind, 

 3 Hefte, 1918) describes some experiments to deter- 

 mine to what degree the time of leafing is a constant 

 character in the beech. In the case of marked indi- 

 vidual trees, the relative periods of leafing proved to be 

 constant in three successive seasons. Fruits of these 

 trees were collected and sown, under uniform conditions, 

 in the botanic garden at Copenhagen, and the tables of 

 results show' a striking correspondence between the 

 mother and descendants with regard to leaf-time, and 

 indicate thai early or late leaf-time in the cases in 

 question is genotypically determined. On the hypo- 

 thesis that tiie genotypic basis of, for instance, very 

 early leaf-time is a single factor, and either dominant 

 or recessive, the author concludes that it is probably 

 most reasonable to assume that the mother-plant is 

 heterozygous with regard to the factor for leaf-time, 

 and in that case vei >\ leaf-time must be dominant. 



But it is scarcely likely, the author suggests, that the 

 matter is so simple, ami leaf-time is probably, in each 

 individual case, conditioned by a complicated combina- 

 tion of genotypic factors, which at one time can 

 operate in the same direi on, and at another may 

 counteract each other. The experiments show that 



NO. 2572, VOL. I02] 



there are not only early and normal beeches, but also a 

 series that varies with regard to leaf-time from very 

 early to very late. The most important point is tha't 

 Fagus sylvatica comprises sub-species, isoreagents, 

 that differ with regard to leaf-tim. . 



THE value of quinine in combating malaria and 

 other tropical fevers makes it most important thai the 

 Empire should be sure of adequate supplies of cini 

 bark, from which the drug is obtained. An artii 

 thi Inline ,,l the trade in cinchona bark in the Bul- 

 letin of the Imperial institute (vol. xvi., No. 3) die 

 atti niion 10 a somewhat unsatisfactory state of affairs 

 Ii appears that f<>r some years past the Dutch Easl 

 Indies, and particular!) Java, have had almost a 

 monopoly in the production. In the years 1011 1, 

 ihe average annual production of cinchona bark in 

 Java was 22,880,000 lb. oul of the world's total pro- 

 duction of about 25,000,000 lb. In India, where the 

 ■ tie. 1 under cinchona fluctuates a little, but, on the 

 whole, decreases, the annual production is about 



j, 000, 000 lb. Ceylon, which some thirty years ago 



had an annual output of more than 13,000,000 lb., 

 has now practically ceased to be a producer. Eighty 

 per cent, of the world's supply of this bark now 

 finds its way to market af Amsterdam. The article 

 contains many statistics relating to Ihe trade in 

 quinine. It is enough to mention that India's annual 

 consumption of quinine is about [45,000 lb., of which 

 about half is produced in the country and half 'un- 

 polled. The home production of bark is inadequate 

 to meet ihe demand for quinine in India. It would 

 thus appear that a great part of the Empire's supply 

 of quinine has to be imported from foreign countries 

 This shows the need for extending the cultivation of 

 ihe cinchona tree under conditions which result in a 

 maximum yield of quinine in the bark. The article 

 concludes with some notes on experiments in 

 this direction in St. Helena and (German) East 

 Africa. 



The Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society, 

 with its tables for the year 1017, contains two or 

 three communications of especial interest to meteoro- 

 logists. "The Cpner Air: Some Impressions Gained 

 by Flving" is dealt with by Gaol. G. K. M. Douglas, 

 and forms the subject of an article in our pages Ibis 

 week. "Ground-Ice" is the subject of a communica- 

 tion by Dr. John Aitken. The paper is somewhat 

 controversial, and deals chief! v with a communication 

 by Mr. A. Watt on the same subirct printed in a 

 previous issue of the Journal. "The Climate and 

 Meteorology of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Regions " 

 is abridged from an address given by Mr. R. G. Moss- 

 man bv request of the councils of flu- Roval Societv 

 of Edinburgh and of the Scottish Meteorological 

 Societv. The author states that our knowledge of 

 Antarctic regions is limited rhieflv to observations 

 during the last twenty vears, whilst prior to this our 

 knowledge was confined exclusively to observations 

 derived from summer vovages. With referenre to the 

 general circulation of the atmosphere, it is shown lh.it 

 easterly winds are commonlv experienced in sub-polar 

 regions associated with travelling cyclonic areas 

 situated to the northward. In this connection refer- 

 enre is made to the National Antarctic Expedition. 

 100 1 1, and to the dailv synchronous charts throughout 

 (he four vears drawn from the observations of the 

 exnedition augmented from other sources. Upoer-air 

 observations made with kites and balloons are said to 

 he scanty, and most of the facts available are from 

 the movements of high clouds. Pilot-balloon ascents, 

 however, have at times shown that the stratosphere 

 b a! as low as 45 mile-.. 



