February 22, 1906J 



NA TURE 



597 



received towards the large sum which will be required. 

 Communications should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, 

 Bessemer Memorial Fund, Salisbury House, E.C., and all 

 ■cheques should be made payable to the " Bessemer 

 Memorial Fund," and crossed " Bank of England." 



We have received from the Philosophical Institute of 

 ■Canterbury, New Zealand, copies of four papers by the 

 late Captain Hutton published in the Transactions of the 

 New Zealand Institute for 1904. Their respective titles 

 are: — "The Formation of the Canterbury Plains," "The 

 Occurrence of Grauculus melanops in Now Zealand," 

 " Revision of New Zealand Tertiary Brachiopoda," and 

 "Three New Tertiary Shells." 



No. 8 of vol. ii. of the zoological section of the Publi- 

 tations of the University of California is devoted to the 

 first paper of a memoir of the " Dinoflagellata " of the 

 San Diego district, by Mr. C. A. Cofoid. It appears that 

 investigations carried on during the last few years at the 

 San Diego station have brought to light amid the " plank- 

 ton " of the Pacini a number of species of flagellate 

 animalcules which cannot be referred to any known genus, 

 and for which the new name Heterodinium is proposed. 



Recent issues of the Proceedings of the Acade 



Natural Sci 



:. f i.—Olcyphides 



idipes, from Costa 

 :a (A natural size). 



Philadelphia contain papers on the 

 following subjects, viz. : — a collec- 

 tion of birds from British Fast 

 Africa, by Mr. W. Stone ; Hawaiian 

 species of the molluscan genera 

 Endodonta and Opeas, by Messrs. 

 Pilsbry and Yanatta ; Pacific 

 Cerithiidae, by the same authors ; 

 and notes on, and descriptions of, 

 Costa Rican Orthopoda, by prof. 

 Rehn. In the last of these the 

 author describes a very remarkable 

 species of stick-insect of the family 

 Phasmidae, which is referred to the 

 genus Olcyphides, Griffini, with the 

 name of O. viridipes. This species, 

 of which the figure is reproduced, is 

 allied to Westwood's O. vemlia, of 

 Bogota, but differs in the shorter 

 mesothorax and metathorax, and 

 the much greater elongation of the 

 abdomen and limbs, as well as in 

 details of coloration and other 

 points. 



Ix the November (1905) issue of the Nature-study Review 

 Miss A. M. Fielde gives an interesting illustrated account 

 of the communal life-history of ants, primarily intended 

 for the information and guide of those who keep these 

 insects under observation in the cases invented by the 

 .author. There are, however, many observations of special 

 interest. Among these is the statement that ants of 

 ■different species — which always display deadly hostility to 

 •one another — can be trained to live together in friendship. 

 Mr. C. W. Wild discusses the study of deciduous trees in 

 winter; while Mr. M. A. Bigelow ridicules the theory that 

 certain groups of plants develop tubers or bulbs in order 

 to escape destruction by animals. 



We have received from the author, Prof. F. Eulenburg, 

 of the University of Leipzig, a copy of an article on society 

 and nature (" Gesellschaft und Natur "), reprinted from 

 the Archiv fiir Sozialwissenschaft und Socialpolitik for 

 1905. The subject is treated, after some introductory con- 



siderations, from the following points of view : — (1) the 

 determination of the objects of science, especially social 

 science; (2) the importance and necessity of social laws; 

 (3) the threefold relation of society to nature ; (4) special 

 problems ; and (5) the relations of social science to biology 

 and practical politics. 



The felted beech coccus, Cryptococcus fagi, is the subject 

 of a leaflet, No. 140, issued by the Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries. The scale insects are provided with a long 

 sucking tube by which they draw off the sap ; they are 

 stationary, and cover themselves with a white waxy set re- 

 tion. The larvae also drain the juices of the tree. 

 Although the insects are conspicuous objects on the bark, 

 and are principally found on the main trunk and larger 

 branches, their waxy coverings shelter them effectively, 

 and treatment with such insecticides as paraffin emulsion, 

 Gillander's mixture, cr caustic alkali wash must be 

 thorough to prove effii acious. 



Ix the Indian Forester I March, 101151 Mr - R - s - Pearson 

 stated that he had obtained satisfactory results in the 

 Panch Mahals, Bombay, in rearing young teak plants by 

 subjecting the seed to a preliminary treatment in pits, in 

 which layers of seed an inch deep were arranged alter- 

 nately with layers of soil, and the pit was flooded with 

 water every other day until germination commenced. This 

 and other experiments with seed of Anogeissus latifolia, 

 described in the November issue, appear to depend upon 

 the maintenance of a regular and sufficient, but not 

 excessive, supply of water. Another fairly successful 

 method consists in subjecting the seed to a slight fire that 

 produces artificially the effects of a light forest fire in a 

 dr) teak zone. 



Among the contributions to the Journal of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society (December, 1905), Dr. M. Cooke 

 writes an article on the fungoid pests of forest trees : 

 Mr. G. S. Boulger, dealing with the preservation of wild 

 plants, adduces a number of specific instances of damage 

 done by ruthless collection ; and Mr. W. G. Freeman dis- 

 cusses a lew of the important features of the West Indian 

 fruit industry. The method of producing new potatoes out 

 of season from old tubers, as described by Mr. J. ]. Powell, 

 is a valuable hint to private gardeners, the essential points 

 being retardation and a variety that keeps well. Fruit 

 growers will be interested in the publication of the report 

 of the committee appointed to inquire into the fruit in- 

 dustry, and in the notes by Mr. T. E. Sedgwick on methods 

 of fruit preserving. 



The use of wood-pulp for paper-making was dealt with 

 in a paper read by Mr. M. C. Phillips before the Society 

 of Arts, and published in the Journal of the society last 

 May. A machine for grinding wood into pulp was patented 

 by Keller in 1S44, but the modern method of making 

 mechanical pulp has developed out of the machine con- 

 structed by Henry Yoelter in 1858 that not only dis- 

 integrated but also assorted the fibre. The mechanical 

 process is largely practised in Norway, Sweden, and 

 Canada, and provides the bulk of journalistic paper. 

 Better paper is produced by chemical processes in which 

 the wood is treated with various chemicals that remove 

 the ligneous and mineral constituents, leaving wood- 

 cellulose. Tilghman (1857), Ekman, and Mitscherlich 

 were the pioneers in this branch of the industry. The 

 paper has been reprinted by the Government of India in 

 connection with the experiment of producing wood-pulp in 

 that countrv. 



NO. 1895, VOL - 73] 



