January i i, 1906J 



NA TURE 



of the fisheries, and provided with a small annual grant 



for expenses. Recently the Bight of Ab.no was ex- 

 amined, and the result fully confirms the suspicions 

 previously enteitained. It is reported that the beds are 

 thickly sown with small sponges which are constantly 

 being gathered by the itinerant fishermen who are con- 

 tinually working over these fields pulling all the sponge 

 they can find without regard to size or quality, in con- 

 sequence of which there are very few large sponges to be 

 found anywhere. The spongers living in the settlements 

 all round the coast are in sympathy with the movement 

 for protecting the industry against the wasteful methods 

 complained of, and will welcome any reasonable laws for 

 the protection of the young sponge. 



The manurial experiments with cotton in the Leeward 

 Islands detailed by Dr. F. Watts in the West Indian 

 Hull, tin, vol. vi., No. 3, may be expected to furnish useful 

 information after a trial of some years, when a succession 

 of nops will have emphasised the necessary requirements, 

 and irregularities of climate can be eliminated b) 

 averaging results. Dr. Watts recommends the return of 

 seed to the land, preferably after crushing to express 

 the oil, or as the manure from animals fed on the seed. 

 From the notes by Sir Daniel Morris on grape fruits and 

 shaddocks it is gathered that the larger fruits, referred 

 lo Citrus decumana, are generally known as pumelows or 

 shaddocks; the smaller fruits assigned to the variety or 

 spei ies paradisi may be distinguished as forbidden fruit 

 when round, or as grape fruit having a pyriform shape. 



1\ Science, June 23, 1905, Prof. B. M. Duggar reviews 

 the present-day problems of plant physiology. On the sub- 

 ject of turgor regulation, allusion is made to the investi- 

 gations of Mayerburg, which tend to show that increased 

 turgor in fungi is caused by the production of osmotic sub- 

 stances within the cell. The writer refers to Moore's work 

 on the organisms found in leguminous tubercles showing 

 that they can assimilate free nitrogen apart from the legu- 

 minous plant,' to Laurent's experiments on the effects of 

 feeding dioecious plants with different fertilisers, with the 

 results that nitrogen or calcium appeared to increase the 

 number of staminate flowers, and potassium or phosphorus 

 the number of pistillate flowers, and to Blakeslee's identifi- 

 eation of homothallic and heterothallic forms of the 

 Mucorineas. 



The avenues and fruit gardens of Ouetta afford a 

 striking testimony to the beneficent results of the British 

 occupation. Writing in the Indian Forester (October, 

 1905), Mr. E. P. Stebbing traces their origin to the fore- 

 sight of the early administrators, notably General Sir 

 Stanley Edwardes, Sir Hugh Barnes, and Colonel Gaisford. 

 Cuttings of chinar, Platanus orientalis, poplars, and 

 willows were brought from Kandahar in 18S2. The 

 avenues consist of a mixture of two or more species from 

 the white and black poplars, the reamer, Popuhts sp., and 

 Euphrates poplars, the Kandahar, Salix alba, Kabul, 

 Salix aemophylla, and weeping willows, the plane, and a 

 species of American ash. In the gardens some fine old 

 mulberries point to the existence of these trees previous 

 to the occupation by the British ; a few specimens of 

 Populus Euphratica are found, and walnuts have been 

 planted with satisfactory results. 



\\ e have received a copy of a paper by Dr. Hans Reusi li. 

 of Chrisliania, on the geographical relations of Norway 

 and Sweden. Dr. Reusch deals w'ith the origin and geo- 

 graphical nature of the present frontier between the two 



NO. 1889, vrjL - 73] 



countries, and with the densilj and 1 tributicn of popula- 

 tion. The paper is reprinted from the Gcographische 



Zeitseltii/t. 



Prof. Dr. A. Oppel contributes to the Deutsche geo- 

 graphische Blatter a long paper on the forest regions of 

 the middle and upper Mississippi, the prairie lands of 

 Canada, and the New Ontario. The paper is a continu- 

 ation of Prof. Oppel's previous studies in North Ami 

 and is an account of a lengthened journey undertaken 

 during 1904; it contains an immense amount of valuable 

 and interesting information. 



The Mitteilungen of the Vienna Geographical Society 

 contain an interesting preliminary report on observations 

 of the altitude of the forest-line in the Austrian Alps, by- 

 Prof. R. Marek. The most important general result 

 is that the forest-line sinks continuously from west to 

 east, the rate of fall increasing towards the east, and a 

 difference of 556 metres being recorded within the area 

 investigated — extending through about five degrees of 

 longitude. Hie average height of the forest-line is about 

 750 metres below that of the snow-line. 



The third number of the Abhandhmgen of the Vienna 

 Geographical Society is devoted to a suggestive paper by 

 Dr. Fritz von Kerner. The author discusses the annual 

 march of temperature, in the north temperate zone by con- 

 sidering the ratio between the difference between mean 

 monthly values for April and October and the difference 

 between the mean of the hottest and coldest months of the 

 year. Plotting the values of this ratio on a chart, he gets 

 lines to which the name " Thermoisodromes " is given. 

 The distributions revealed in this way, and by further 

 developments of the method, give results of considerable 

 interest in tracing the relations of the " oceanic " and 

 " continental " elements in the climate of the regions 

 covered. 



Ix a neat art-green canvas cover, Messrs. Burroughs, 

 Wellcome and Co. have issued their well known photo- 

 graphic exposure record and diary for 1906, and the 

 moderate price of is. renders it within reach of every 

 photographer. The important features of this pocket-book 

 have been maintained, and the information brought up 

 to date; the light tables, as was the case last year, are 

 printed on perforated leaves, so that each month may be 

 torn out, disclosing the table for the current month opposite 

 the mechanical calculator fixed to the inside of the back 

 cover. The excellent get-up, finish, useful contents, and 

 general handiness of this exposure record and diary have 

 made it a necessary part of a photographic outfit, and this 

 year the photographer who possesses a copy can compete 

 for prizes offered for pictures produced with " tabloid 

 photographic chemicals. 



With the December (1905) issue the Journal of the 

 Franklin Institute of Philadelphia concludes its 160th 

 volume, and the varied contents show that the high 

 standard that has characterised this journal for eighty 

 years is well maintained. The more important papers in 

 this number are of metallurgical interest. Prof. A. E. 

 Outerbridge gives an able summary of recent scientific 

 progress in metallurgy. Mr. E. Stiitz gives a detailed 

 account of the progress made within the past eighteen 

 months in the introduction in the United States of the 

 alumino-thermic process as applied in engineering practice. 

 The progress has been rapid, and the process has proved 

 quite as successful in America as elsewhere for welding 

 and for the repair of castings. Lastly, Mr. Laurance 



