November 23, 1905] 



NATURE 



85 



much remains to be ascertained concerning the parasitic 

 and bottom-dwelling forms. The present section deals with 

 littoral types and those infesting fish. 



In the report of the council of the Natural History 

 Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle- 

 upon-Tyne, attention is directed to the important work 

 which has been recently accomplished in the matter of 

 scientific publications. Unfortunately, this has somewhat 

 crippled the society's resources, and unless additional sup- 

 port be accorded a pause must be made in the good work. 

 It is estimated that the total number of visitors to the 

 society's museum during the year will be about 17,000. 



The October issue of the Emu contains some beautiful 

 photographic illustrations of the haunts and nests of the 

 Australian lyre-bird, as well as of the bird itself. It is, 

 however, sad to learn that, in the opinion of Mr. Kitson, 

 the author of the accompanying notes, the lyre-bird is 

 destined to disappear ere long from the Victorian bush 

 unless it develops the habit of nesting in trees, as is 

 occasionally its practice at the present time. The main 

 persecutor is the European fox, which has been introduced 

 with only too much success into its haunts. In South 

 Oippsland, on the other hand, man is the criminal, and 

 breech-loaders, forest spoliation, and bush-fires will, it is 

 thought, before long complete their fell work, and render 

 the lyre-bird unknown in a district where it formerly 

 occurred in thousands. A supplement to this issue contains 

 a useful " key " to the birds of Australia drawn up by 

 Mr. A. C. Campbell on the " dichotomous " plan, that 

 is to say, by according two contrasting diagnostic 

 characters to each species. 



We regret to have to record the death of that eminent 

 French naturalist Jean Frederic Emile Oustalet, of whom 

 a brief obituary notice is published in a recent issue of 

 La Nature, to which journal the departed zoologist was a 

 constant contributor. Born at Montbeliard on August 24, 

 1S44, Oustalet passed the whole of his scientific career in 

 the service of the Paris Museum, which he entered as 

 an assistant in 1875. In August, 1900, he became pro- 

 fessor of "mammalogy," with special charge of the 

 menagerie, and co-director of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes. 

 He died " in harness " at St. Cast (C6tes du Nord) on 

 October 26. The laureate of the Institute of France in 

 lS 77. Mr- Oustalet was secretary to the committee for 

 ornithological investigations, and president of the Ornith- 

 ological Congress in 1900. He was a Chevalier of the 

 Legion of Honour, and had likewise received decorations 

 from other countries. Among his more important works 

 may be cited " Recherches sur les Insectes fossiles," 

 " Monographies des Megapodes," and " Les Oiseaux de 

 la Chine." 



The Journal of the Royal Sanitary Institute for 

 November (xxvi., No. 10) contains an address by the Duke 

 of Northumberland on the occasion of the opening of the 

 new hospital for infectious diseases at Newburn ; Prof. 

 Kenwood's address on the public health delivered at the 

 opening of the medical session at University College ; par- 

 ticulars of model cottages at Earswich, York, by Mr. 

 Appleton ; and a discussion on aspects of the pure milk 

 question, together with notes, reviews, &c. 



The Michigan State Agricultural College Experiment 

 Station has issued two useful Bulletins (June). No. 229 

 details interesting observations by Mr. Marshall on the 

 associative action of bacteria in the souring of milk. Ex- 

 periments prove that the activity of lactic acid-forming 

 NO. l882, VOL. 73] 



bacteria may be much increased by admixture with another 

 bacterium which itself does not produce lactic acid. In 

 No. 230 Mr. Sackett describes several bacterial diseases of 

 plants prevalent in Michigan, \iz. pear blight, bacteriosis 

 of beans, black rot of cabbage, wilt of cucumber, soft 

 rot of sugar beet, and blight of Irish potato, tomato, and 

 egg-plant. 



In the Arkiv for Botanik (vol, v., No. 3) Dr. J. Eriksson 

 takes up the subject of the origin and spread of rust 

 diseases in plants to combat the views of Kkbahn, 

 Marshall Ward, and others. Criticising the argument that 

 the iircdo-stage can carry infection through a severe winter, 

 he lavs stress on the want of proportion between the de- 

 velopment in autumn and the intensity of the disease in 

 the following summer. 



As the first of a series of articles to appear in the Indian 

 Forester on Indian forest fungi, Mr. E. J. Butler describes 

 a trichosporium disease observed in Casuarina plantations ; 

 the fungus spreads through the cambium and ruptures the 

 bark. Considerable interest attaches to the notes by Mr. 

 F. B. Manson on the preparation and sale of rubber grown 

 on the rubber plantation at Mergui, from which it i- 

 evident that good Para can be produced in Lower Burma. 



In a small brochure (" Die Lichtentwickelung in den 

 Pflanzen ") Prof. H. Molisch deals with the subject of 

 light emission by plants. The production of light is con- 

 fined to fungi, bacteria, and Peridineae in the plant world. 

 Prof. Molisch determined that the luminosity of meat is 

 caused bv a bacterium, and showed that the bacterium 

 can generally be produced in a few days by partially 

 immersing a piece of meat in brine. The emission of light 

 from wood has been traced to the same source, and 

 similarly decaying leaves of oak and beech may become 

 luminous. The connection between nutrition, growth, 

 and luminosity has been studied by Beijerinck. As to the 

 teleological factor in the production of light, little is known 

 except that it is an oxidation process ; Prof. Molisch 

 postulates a substance, photogen, that produces light waves 

 in the presence of oxygen. 



A scheme of no little interest, and worthy of generous 

 support, has been initiated by the Midland Reafforesting 

 Association for planting trees on the spoil banks in the 

 black country. Anyone who has traversed the road from 

 Wolverhampton to Dudley by way of Gornal will have 

 realised something of the former beauty of this district. 

 The object of the association is to prove that plantations 

 are still feasible on the unsightly pit-mounds that cover the 

 land. Last autumn a six-acre plot was planted at Wednes- 

 bury and a small model plantation was formed at Old 

 Hill. The extension of the work that is now in progress 

 makes it necessary to employ a paid organising secretary. 

 To provide funds for this purpose, and to obtain a larger 

 balance than is at present available as working capital, Sir 

 Oliver Lodge, the president of the association, is appealing 

 for contributions. The honorary secretary is Mr. P. E. 

 Martineau, Bentley Heath, Knowle, Warwickshire. 



Several interesting memoirs have been issued by the 

 Geological Survey of Queensland. One of the most 

 valuable of these is a general index (Publication No. 107) 

 to the various reports issued by the survey (Nos. 177 to 

 196), compiled by Mr. Russell Dixon. In Publication 

 No. 196 Mr. B. Dunstan gives notes on the gold deposits 

 near Mount Ubi, on the iron ore of Mount Lucy, on test- 

 ing samples for prospectors, on monazite in Queensland, 

 on a soil survey for Queensland, on boring for coal near 

 Townsville, and on the testing of Queensland coals. He 



