JANUARY 21, 1904] 
NATURE 
279 
placing the rain-gauge, forms for recording the daily read- 
ings of one or several instruments, monthly summaries, and 
the extreme daily falls in each month. It also contains 
some useful memoranda connected with the subject, and, for | 
convenience of comparison with other stations, the average 
monthly falls of several types, from the driest to the wettest 
localities. Space is also provided for recording the general 
conditions of weather, wind direction, &c. Suggestions for 
improvement are solicited ; we do not think he has left much 
room for improvement, but we suggest that the Beaufort 
weather notation or the international weather symbols 
might be a useful addition to the work. 
WE have received from the Meteorological Office a list 
the meteorological observations received from 
colonial stations in various parts of the world. During the 
year 1902 manuscript returns were received from sixty-two 
stations, more than half of which are situated in Africa. 
The amount of the information received varies consider- 
ably ; at some stations complete registers have been kept, 
while at others only the daily rainfall has been observed. 
The list also contains a statement of the printed observ- 
ations received either direct from the colonies and pro- 
tectorates or which are included in books in the possession 
of the Office. It may not be generally known, although the 
fact is published in the annual reports issued by the Meteor- 
ological Council and in circulars issued from time to time, 
that this valuable information, both manuscript and printed, 
is available for reference free of charge by permission of 
the secretary. 
of there 
In his interesting and stimulating address on ‘‘ A Scheme 
for Exploration in Asia Minor,’’ recently given before the 
Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, Prof. W. M. 
Ramsay suggested the formation of a summer school of 
exploration in Asia Minor. The scheme, briefly, was the 
conducting of parties of young men by an experienced leader 
to various regions of Asia Minor; a suitable town would 
be selected for the headquarters of a party, from which 
excursions could be made. All those who have done field 
work far removed from home find that there are elements 
of uncertainty in their notes which a very short inspection 
of the original ground, or a few minutes’ conversation with 
a native, would dispel, but which have to remain doubtful 
owing to the difficulty or impossibility of returning to the 
place. Prof. Ramsay wisely proposes that the students 
should write up all their notes at the centre, and thus verifi- 
cation would be easy. There are many other branches of 
science which admit of similar developments. Field work 
is often undertaken in the long vacation, but it is frequently 
desultory ; what we now require is the combined action of 
several universities for well planned field work in geology, 
geography, botany, zoology, and anthropology, including 
archeology and ethnology. Such practical work should be 
considered as part of the academic curriculum, and it is 
certain that these would become still more living subjects 
in our universities if the undergraduates felt that they 
were making original investigations in the field, while the 
students themselves would greatly benefit by this new 
departure. 
In the Entomologist for January the Hon. N. C. 
Rothschild describes four new species of fleas taken on 
Egyptian rodents. Others are described by the same writer 
in a recent issue of Novitates Zoologicae, one of which is 
named in honour of Mr. O. Thomas. 
In the report of the Bristol Museum and Library for 
1903, the committee directs attention to a fine series of 
NO. 1786, VOL. 69] 
| heads of large mammals from Somaliland, collected and 
presented by Major H. G. C. Swayne, R.E., the discoverer 
of Bubalis swaynei. A photograph of the group is included 
in the report. 
TuE Journal of Conchology for January contains three 
papers on the small fresh-water gastropods of the genus 
Paludestrina. In the first Messrs. Jackson and Taylor have 
notes on the habits of a species named from British speci- 
mens in 1891; in the second Mr. Tomlin records for the 
first time the continental P. anatina in Britain; while in 
the third Mr. Dean describes the relation to 
P. jenkinsi. 
of fishes 
THE regeneration of lost parts in various invertebrates 
forms the main topic in vol. Ixxv., part iii., of the Zeitschrift 
ftir wissenschaftliche Zoologie, Mr. P. Imanow contributing 
an article on this subject in connection with a species of 
worm, while Dr. E. Schultz contributes two instalments of 
the account of his investigations on reparation of injury 
in general. In a fourth article Dr. O. Romer discusses the 
histological structure of the shell of certain bivalves, more 
especially the pearl-oyster. The skin-nerves of Ammoccetes 
form the subject of an essay by Dr. G. Marenghi. 
AccorpinG to the Daily Telegraph, whalebone has been 
recently sold in America for 290o0l. per ton, while it is also 
asserted that 30001. per ton has been paid for two and a 
quarter tons at Dundee, although there seems to be some 
degree of doubt attaching to the latter statement. Soon 
after the middle of last century, the price of this commodity 
was as low as 15o0l. per ton, but, according to the late 
Frank Buckland, it suddenly leapt up to 620/. with the in- 
troduction of the ‘‘ crinoline’’ into ladies’ costume, and it 
has apparently been on the rise ever since. 
In the January issue of the Popular Science Monthly Dr. 
F. A. Bather, of the British Museum, returns once more 
to his favourite subject—the functions of museums. After 
mentioning the chief functions of these institutions, the 
author gives some much needed advice to the curators of 
local museums as to the necessity of firmness in refusing 
unsuitable specimens—if they do not wish the establishments 
under their charge to degenerate into mere curiosity shops. 
Small local museums are also warned that investigation 
is not their province—they are for education and the general 
public needs alone. Further, in larger establishments the 
investigation, the instruction, and the exhibition series must 
be kept apart. In the author’s opinion, where museums 
have, as a rule, gone wrong is in exhibiting too much to 
the public. The same journal also contains an admirably 
illustrated article by Prof. T. A. Jaggar, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, who was present at the time of the eruption of 
Mont Pelée on July 9, 1902. 
WE have been favoured by Captain Barrett-Hamilton 
with copies of two papers recently contributed by him to 
scientific journals. In the one “(Proceedings Royal Irish 
Academy, xxiv., part iv.) he describes a new bank-vole 
(Evotomys scomerensis) from Skomer Island, off the coast 
of Pembroke, which differs from E. glareolus of the main- 
land by its superior size, its colour, and the structure of 
the skull. In the second (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., series 7, 
xi., p. 390) he records the result of his own observations 
on the flight of the true flying-fishes (Exoccetus), which 
differs to some extent from those of other recent observers. 
Captain Hamilton, who is in this respect in full accord with 
the late Prof. Mébius, is of opinion that, at any rate in the 
genus named, the “‘ wings’ are never moved as organs of 
