NOVEMBER 27, 1913] 
old route into Chinese Turkestan was considered and 
dismissed, in spite of the discovery of remains of rude 
buildings at high altitudes. Dr. Workman dealt in 
detail with the geology of the region and the char- 
acter and work of the glaciers; his paper was perhaps 
of most notable interest in the paragraphs which 
described the junction of ‘probably the largest exist- 
ing valley tributary outside the polar regions .. . 
with the largest known valley glacier." These are 
the Tarim Shehr (two milés wide) and the Siachen, 
which is 22 miles wide just above the junction. The 
two are compressed into the width of the main valley 
below the junction. 
To the October number of the American Museum 
Journal Mr. R. C. Murphy communicates a graphic 
‘and richly illustrated account of his experiences among 
thé petrels, penguins, and sea-elephants of South 
Georgia during a visit to that desolate island under- 
taken on behalf of the museum and the Brooklyn 
{nstitute, much interesting information being also 
given with regard to the eight whaling stations on 
the island. One of the most interesting photographs 
A king-penguin incubating its egg. 
(here reproduced) shows a king-penguin incubating its 
single egg, which is supported on the instep, where 
it is covered by a fold of the skin on the under sur- 
face of the body, the bird standing all the time in the 
upright posture, and the two sexes relieving one 
another in the duties of incubation. Although the 
whales are stated not to show at present serious signs 
of diminution in. number, in spite of the rapid rate 
at which they are being killed off, the prospects of the 
sea-elephants appear deplorable. ‘‘ Slow, unsuspicious, 
gregarious, they can be hunted profitably until the last 
one has gone to his ancestors, and the calamity of 
the Antarctic fur-seal is repeated.” The fate of these 
gigantic seals depends, then, it would seem, on the 
results of the investigation now being conducted on 
behalf of the Colonial Cffice. 
In The American Naturalist for October (vol. xlvi., 
p- 577) Dr. R. Pearl discusses the measurement of 
the intensity of inbreeding. He points out the prin- 
NO. 2300, VOL. 92] 
NATURE 
381 
ciples which must govern such an attempt, and shows 
that it is possible to find a coefficient by which the 
amount of inbreeding can be represented, so that 
| different cases can be compared. The coefficient is 
_ based on the ratio of the actual to the possible number 
of ancestors in any generation, and therefore indicates 
the amount of inbreeding for a given number of 
generations back. The latter part of the paper dis- 
cusses the differences between close inbreeding in 
bisexual reproduction and self-fertilisation of herma- 
phrodites, and shows that in some important respects 
the two are not comparable. An abstract, with some 
new material, is published in Bull. 215, Maine Agri- 
| cultural Experiment Station. 
A criricaL study of the conditions connected with 
the preparation of plantation para rubber has been 
made by Mr. B. J. Eaton, and the results of the 
inquiry are presented in Bulletin No. 17 of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Federated Malay States. The 
endeavour of the author has been to collect as much 
| trustworthy information as possible on the quality of 
rubber prepared by different methods and under 
different conditions so that such knowledge can be 
applied in indicating the causes underlying defects of 
rubber samples coming on the market. The effect of 
various coagulants and of dilution of the latex, period 
of coagulation, inhibitive substances, metal salts, light, 
and of micro-organisms on the quality of the rubber 
| is dealt with at length. The use of sodium bisulphite 
as a means of inhibiting the action of oxidases and to 
ensure the production of light-coloured rubber has been 
| found to be effective and profitable. 
_ and glazed with a felspathic glaze. 
In the current Bulletin de la Société d’Encourage- 
| ment pour l’Industrie Nationale, A. Granger gives an 
interesting outline of the rise and fall of the manu. 
facture of porcelaine tendre, usually called “ fritted "’ 
or “soft”? porcelain. It seems to have been first 
made in Rouen, about 1673. The body of soft porce- 
lain in its best days appears to have been made from 
an artificial glass (frit) mixed with a marl from 
Argenteuil; and after the body was fired it was 
covered with a plumbiferous glaze. This ware lent 
itself to particularly pleasing decorative effects, and 
the Sevres factory made this variety of porcelain 
famous. The ‘narrow margin of safety” in manu- 
| facture led to a particularly large percentage loss. 
| Possibly owing to changes in the character of the 
| raw materials, &c., the losses finally became so great 
that the manufacture had to be abandoned, and soft 
porcelain was ousted by the regular type of ‘‘con- 
tinental porcelain ’’—the so called porcelaine dure, or 
“hard” porcelain. The body of this type of ware 
is made from a mixture of felspar, clay, and quartz, 
Unlike soft porce- 
lain, the glaze and body of hard porcelain are fired 
in one operation. Mr. Granger gives some old recipes 
‘and describes some interesting recent attempts to 
revive the manufacture of soft porcelain at Sévres, 
We have received several further letters from Mr. 
S. L. Walkden complaining about the’ statement. in 
our review of his ‘‘Aéroplanes in Gusts,’ which was 
corrected by him in his letter to Nature of October 30. 
_In reference to this matter the reviewer writes :—‘I 
