206 
NATURE 
[DECEMBER 31, 1903 
insect, of which it contains an illustration. In each in- 
stance the general appearance and mode of work of the 
insect are described, after which we have its distribution, 
food, and ravages, followed by a brief account of its general 
habits, and concluding with suggestions for remedial 
measures. No. 4 deals with the date-palm, or Indian 
rhinoceros-beetle, of which both the grub and the adult 
insect inflict very serious damage on the tree after which 
the species is named. The next part treats of the north- 
west, or migratory, locust, of which the distribution within 
the limits of the Indian Empire is shown on a map. 
In the December issue of the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 
scopical Science Prof. Ray Lankester figures for the first 
time a couple of small blind crabs of the genus Cymonomus 
(or Ethusa) taken so long ago as the cruise of the 
Porcupine (1869-70), and described by Canon Norman in 
1873. The main reason for bringing these specimens 
into prominence is owing to a statement in a popular work 
that they belong to a species of which the form inhabiting 
shallow water has functional eyes, while as we proceed 
deeper and deeper the eye-stalks are found to be more de- 
generate. The statement that an eyed form exists is 
apparently a misconception, while the idea that the one in 
which the eye-stalks are the most modified inhabits deeper 
water than the other is likewise not well founded. As a 
matter of fact, Prof. Lankester believes the. two specimens 
to indicate distinct species. The other contents of this serial 
include a discussion on the origin of the green cells found in 
a turbellarian worm (Convoluta roscoffensis) peculiar to 
Brittany, by Messrs. Gamble and Keeble, and a note by 
Dr. Hanna on the presence of Trypanosoma parasites in the 
blood of certain Indian birds. In a third article, Mr. H. M. 
Bernard continues the account of his investigations into the 
structure of the retina, dealing in this instance with the 
continuity of the retinal nerves throughout the Vertebrata. 
In 1902 Mr. R. Lydekker, F.R.S., read before the Zoo. 
logical Society (see Proceedings Zoological Society, 1902, 
p. 981) the description of a new antelope from the neigh- 
bourhood of Lake Mwero, in northern Rhodesia. Mr. 
Lydekker supposed it to belong to the genus Cobus, 
although, as the only specimen consisted of a flat skin with- 
out head and feet, he was not quite certain where it should 
be placed, and named it Cobus smithemani, after Mr. F. 
Smitheman, who had obtained the specimen. Fresh and 
more perfect examples of this antelope have lately been 
received by Mr. Walter Rothschild, who has presented one 
of them to the British Museum. This specimen, which may 
now be seen mounted in the gallery, shows that Mr. 
Lydekker was quite correct in his judgment, and that 
Smitheman’s antelope is a strongly marked new form of 
ths ““ Kob’’ group, easily distinguished from the Poku or 
Vardon’s antelope by its black neck and dark chestnut 
sides. 
THE re-introduction of cotton cultivation into the British 
possessions on the Spanish Main is regarded as of sufficient 
importance to justify the devoting of the whole of the third 
part of vol. iv. of the West Indian Bulletin to the subject. 
One-third of the number contains reprints of articles, or 
portions of articles, in the ‘‘ Encyclopedia Britannica ’? and 
in various publications of the United States Department of 
Agriculture. The remaining two-thirds gives much useful 
information bearing upon the cultivation of cotton in St. 
Kitts, Antigua, Montserrat, Barbados, and Carriacou; an 
article by Prof. d’Albuquerque on the agricultural chemistry 
of cotton; one by Mr. Lewton-Brain on the fungoid diseases 
of cotton ; and an illustrated article by Mr. Henry A. Ballou 
NO. 1783, VOL. 69| 
"24, P. 
on insects attacking cotton in the West Indies. Sir Daniel 
Morris, accompanied by Mr. Bovell, has spent the autumn 
in the southern States of America making an exhaustive 
examination of the methods of cultivation, and the pre- 
paration for market, of the Sea Island variety of cotton. 
The results of the investigation will be published as an extra 
number of the West Indian Bulletin, Sea Island cotton being 
thought to be the most suitable for the islands 
Unper the title of ‘‘ The Case for Vaccination,’’ Mr. 
C. E. A. Winslow gives an admirable survey of the statistical 
data in favour of the efficacy of vaccination (Science, July 
tor). It points out that a single vaccination greatly 
reduces the probability of an attack of small-pox, postpones 
it to a later period of life, and renders it less dangerous if 
it does ensue. To ensure absolute protection revaccination 
is required. During the small-pox epidemic of 1871, of 734 
nurses and attendants in the Metropolitan Asylums Board 
Hospitals 79 were survivors from small-pox attack, and 
escaped infection; 645 were revaccinated on entrance, and 
all escaped; 10 were not revaccinated, and all took small- 
pox. Mr. Winslow concludes, ‘“‘ if statistics ever proved 
anything, those quoted prove the protective influence of 
vaccination. If any fact in science is certain, it. is that 
a successful vaccination absolutely prevents small-pox for 
a period of from seven to ten years, that after that period 
it renders the disease less fatal, and that its complete pro- 
tective effect may be renewed by revaccination. The con- 
clusion is obvious not only that the State should oblige 
primary vaccination, but that a second vaccination at the 
age of twelve ought to be made compulsory.”’ 
Tue latest addition to the convenient little scientific 
memoirs published in the ‘* Scientia’’ series by M. C. 
Naud, of Paris, is a translation of two papers by Prof. J. 
Willard Gibbs which appeared in 1873 in the Transactions 
of the Connecticut Academy, and have become scientific 
classics. ‘‘ Diagrammes et Surfaces thermodynamiques,”’ 
as the book is entitled, is by M. G. Roy, of the University 
of Dijon, and the translation is preceded by a biographical 
notice of Prof. Gibbs by M. B. Brunhes, of the University 
of Clermont. 
Mr. WittraM Taytor has recently circulated a pamphlet 
with the title ‘‘ The Science of the Engineering Workshop,”’ 
in which he urges the need for making scientific knowledge 
readily available to those at work in engineering shops. He 
then proceeds to trace—under the three headings, materials, 
processes, and tools—the foundation and outline of this 
science of the workshop. The publication concludes with 
the syllabus of a course of instruction, largely the work of 
an advisory committee of engineers, in the science of the 
workshop which is in use at the Leicester Municipal 
Technical Schools. 
THE annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for the 
year ending June 30, 1902, has reached us, and an examin- 
ation of the volume shows it to be of the same valuable 
character as its predecessors. The proceedings of the 
Board of Regents, the report of the executive committee, 
and the annual report of the secretary are followed by the 
usual interesting general appendix. The appendix consti- 
tutes nearly five-sixths of the whole contents of the volume, 
and comprises brief accounts of scientific discoveries in 
particular directions during the year with which the report 
is concerned, and the method adopted is to present a 
miscellaneous selection of papers embracing a considerable 
range of scientific investigation and discussion. Many of 
these contributions are familiar to readers of NATURE, since 
some of the papers have already appeared in these columns, 
