Fesruary II, 1897] 
NATURE 351 
these mammals; and the view once generally accepted was 
that the other teeth corresponded not to the milk-teeth, but to 
the permanent teeth of higher mammals. The absence of milk- 
teeth, with the one exception, in marsupials has been regarded 
as indicating, not that they have disappeared in the evolution of 
these animals, but that they first arose in the later evolution of 
the higher mammals. Other views, however, have been main- 
tained, namely, on the one hand, that the temporary dentition 
has been lost by the marsupials; and, on the other hand, that 
the existing anterior teeth are in reality milk-teeth whose suc- 
cessors have ceased to appear. Certain traces of teeth in the 
jaws of the embryo, precursors of the permanent teeth, have 
been explained as ‘‘prelacteal teeth” by those who advocate 
the latter view. In this memoir the authors claim to have 
proved that there is a complete series of these prelacteal teeth 
or their papillz, and that they in reality represent the series of 
milk-teeth in the higher mammals. Thus the peculiarity of the 
marsupial dentition is that the temporary or milk teeth have 
become, with the exception of the last premolar, rudimentary, 
and the permanent teeth are completely developed before the 
young animal is weaned. 
THE Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, publishes a 
somewhat bulky ‘‘ History of the Tobacco Industry in Virginia 
from 1860-1894,” by Dr. B. W. Arnold. 
Dr. VY. Fario has sent us a copy of his guide to the hunting 
and fishing collection in the Swiss National Exposition of 1896. 
The volume contains some interesting information on the fishes 
of Switzerland. 
By the not very happy term ‘“ phenological,” recent 
botanical writers speak of phenomena connected with the 
flowering of plants and other seasonal characters. The 
American botanist, Prof. L. H. Bailey, sends us a useful paper 
of “Instructions for taking Phenological Observations.” 
In the concluding part of Dr. Bokorny’s paper in the Bzo/o- 
gisches Centraiblatt, on the nutrition of green plants, he sums up 
in favour of the view that the first product of assimilation in 
green plants is formic aldehyde, from which are afterwards 
formed either albuminoids by the action of ammonia, or carbo- 
hydrates by condensation. Green fresh-water organisms play a 
very important part in the purification of running water by the 
oxidation of organic substances in suspension, 
THE first number of vol. iv. of the Bzd/etzn of the Labor- 
atories of Natural History of the State University of Iowa 
contains papers about equally distributed between zoology and 
phytology :—On Plymouth hydroids, by C. C. Nutting ; on the 
mollusks and brachiopods of the Bahama Expedition, by W. H. 
Dall ; on the hymenoptera of the Bahama Expedition, by W. 
H. Ashmead; on the puff-balls of Eastern Iowa, by T. H. 
Macbride and Norra Allen ; on new species of tropical fungi, 
by J. B. Ellis and P. M. Everhart ; and others. 
PROVINCIAL museums are following the lead of the Nationa] 
History Museum in issuing interesting and instructive handbooks 
on their collections, instead of mere catalogues of specimens. An 
admirable handbook of this character, referring to the minera- 
logical and geological sections of the Royal Museum of the 
County Borough of Salford, has been prepared by Mr. Herbert 
Bolton, who also re-arranged and named the collections. His 
little guide will arouse the interest of casual visitors, and will 
also greatly aid and encourage the study of geology. 
A GENERAL meeting of the members of the Federated Insti- 
tution of Mining Engineers will be held on Wednesday, 
February 17, at Manchester. The following papers will be 
read, or taken as read :—Railway nationalisation in relation to 
the coal trade, by Mr. A. Clement Edwards; the cost and 
NO. 1424, VOL. 55] 
efficiency of safety explosives as compared with gunpowder, by 
Mr. Henry Hall; description of various types of ropeways, and 
remarks as to their proper selection, by Mr. W. Carrington ; 
determination of fire-damp in French collieries, by Mr. J. 
Coquillion; appliances for winding water, by Mr. Wm. 
Galloway ; the detection and estimation of carbon monoxide in 
air by the flame-cap test, by Prof. F. Clowes; the Lake 
Superior iron ore region, by Mr. Horace V, Winchell. 
THE January number of Azmmel und Erde is devoted to 
several articles of general interest. Dr. Hecker, of Potsdam, 
describes how the small movements of the earth’s surface are 
detected and measured. Two diagrams show clearly the details 
and general construction of the horizontal-pendulum, the in- 
strument invented by von Rebeur-Paschwitz ; while the repro- 
ductions from the actual photographic records explain for 
themselves the continual state of vibrations that is always 
occurring, and the occasional disturbances of larger amount. 
Dr. Zenker describes the extraordinary cold climate of 
Werchojansk (Siberia). The temperatures for each month, as 
obtained from the mean values up to the present time, are in 
degrees Centigrade— 
Jan. Feb. March. April. May. June. 
Sia -45'8 33°30 — 13 2°0 126 
July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Noy. Dec. 
15°6 10.2 26 —148 -398 - 48-0 
Prof. Dr. Fritz Frech concludes his series ofarticles on ‘* Coral- 
reefs, and their share in the structure of the Earth’s Crust.” 
This series, we may remark, has been illustrated very profusely. 
‘* Kine Kulturbewegung in der Naturwissenschaft ” is the title 
ofa more brief article by Dr. Hallervorden, in Konigsberg. In 
his concluding sentences he asks, ‘* Why has Kant been for- 
gotten? Ihn, den Schépfer sittlicher Personlichkeit ! Why has 
his house in K6nigsberg been long ago destroyed? Was it not 
like Goethe's, a relic of the nation—the nation ?—of mankind, I 
ought to have said.” 
Tue Zi-ka-wei Observatory, near Shanghai, has published a 
discussion of the disastrous typhoon which occurred in the 
Eastern Seas between July 22-25, 1896, in which the German 
gunboat Z/t/s was lost in the neighbourhood of the south-east 
Shantung promontory. This storm had first passed in the 
immediate neighbourhood of Shanghai, and the Rev. L. Froc 
has been able to collate a large amount of observations, both 
from ships which rode through the typhoon, and from land 
stations, which plainly show the extent and behaviour of the 
disturbance ; and he has accompanied these observations with 
remarks which will be of practical use for the guidance of navi- 
gators. The storm took an unusual track, but was otherwise of 
regular constitution ; the wind attained hurricane force, which 
was continued at some places for at least twelve hours. It is 
satisfactory to note that warning of its approach was given both 
by the Manila and Hong Kong Observatories, and that con- 
sequently two vessels, the Pekin and the Yarra, remained in port 
at Shanghai, and thereby in all probability avoided serious 
damage. We may mention that Dr. Doberck has also published 
an independent account of this storm in the Hong Kong Govern- 
ment Gazette. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Patas Monkey (Cercopithecus patas) from 
West Africa, presented by Mr. A. F. Breysig; a Bonnet 
Monkey (Macacus sinzcus, 9) from India, presented by Mr. E. 
James; an Egyptian Monitor (Varanus niloticus) from the 
Transvaal, presented by Mr. D. E. Erasmus; a Red-eyed 
Ground Finch (2ipilo erythropthalmus) from North America, 
deposited ; a Tantalus Monkey (Cercopithecus tantalus, 3 ?) from 
West Africa, a Black-headed Lemur (Lemar brunneus, 6 ) from 
Madagascar, purchased. 
