78 



NA TURE 



\_May 22, i < 



lated to benefit the district dealt with, and which, instead 

 of insulting the practical man, gives him information 

 which he gladly utilises. The Report commences with a 

 general discussion upon the composition, mode of forma- 

 tion, and the properties of soils, and the changes pro- 

 duced by cultivation. In the second section, soil in its 

 relation to vegetation is somewhat elaborately dealt with. 

 In the third section, soil in its relations to animal lite is 

 very completely presented to the reader's attention. The 

 question of the absorptive powers of soils is ably dealt 

 with. " As to the cause, opinions vary, but closer study 

 of the phenomena of absorption have led back to the 

 pretty general acceptance of the explanation originally 

 offered by Way, which, as expressed by Mayer (' Agri- 

 kultur Chemie '), is as follows : — ' We find in the soil 

 easily decomposable double silicates, the exact com- 

 position of which is unessential, which, along with 

 alumina, always contain some other base, an alkali or an 

 alkaline earth, or even several of these bases at the same 

 time. These silicates have the property, under certain 

 conditions, of exchanging their accessory ingredients (not 

 the alumina). The artificial silicate of Way had the 

 composition of a zeolite, and it remained only to ex- 

 periment with naturally occurring zeolites, which was 

 done by Eichhorn, Mulder, and others, with the result 

 of showing . . . that they all po-sess the power of ex- 

 changing a portion of their original content of lime or 

 soda for an equivalent of potash or ammonia ; in other 

 words, of absorbing the latter bases. . . . According to 

 Mulder . . . while the fertility of soil does not depend 

 exclusively upon these zeolites, yet its chemical activity 

 is altogether determined thereby." These comments are 

 the more noteworthy because there has been a tendency 

 amongst some chemists to undervalue the importance of 

 Way's discovery, but the testimony of practice is too 

 strong for it to be altogether ignored. 



An exceedingly important connection is shown between 

 the production of cotton and the systems of management 

 pursued in Alabama. Speaking of the Great Cotton Lielt 

 of Alabama, the Report points out that the soils upon this 

 belt have been largely exhausted by improvident culture, 

 cotton being planted year after year upon the same soils, 

 without any attempt being made to maintain the fertility 

 by the use of manures. In other parts of the State where 

 cotton is produced a selection is generally made of the 

 better soils, rotation of crops is more generally practised, 

 and in some sections fertilisers are in more general use. 

 This is largely occasioned by the relative proportions of 

 the population and the capital they have at their 

 command. 



" The system of credits in the large cotton-producing 

 regions prevails to such an extent that the whole cotton 

 crop is usually mortgaged before it is gathered, and when 

 we consi <er that the prices charged for provisions are at 

 least 50 per cent, higher than regular market rates, . . . 

 it will need very little calculation to show that the labourer 

 will have the chances too greatly against him, even to be 

 out of debt to his merchants, when he relies solely upon 

 this crop to provide the money, and the exorbitant interest 

 on the money advanced is not likely to be lessened so 

 long as the merchants' risks continue to be as great as 

 they are. Where the blacks are in excess of the whites 

 there are the originally most fertile lands of the State. 

 The natural advantages of the soils are, however, more 

 than counterbalanced by the bad system prevailing in 

 such -eotions, viz. large farms rented out in patches to 

 labourers, who are too poor and too much in debt to 

 merchants to have any interest in keeping up the fer- 

 tility of the soil, or rather they lark the ability to keep it 

 up, with ihe natural consequence of its rapid exhaustion 

 and a product per acre on the best lands in the State 

 lower than that which is realised from the very poorest. 

 Where the two races are in nearly equal proportions . . . 

 there is found the system of small farms, worked gene- 



rally by the owners, a consequently better cultivation, a 

 more general use of commercial fertilisers, a correspond- 

 ing high product per acre, and a partial maintenance of 

 the fertility of the soils." 



The entire Report is literally crowded with interesting 

 and most important details, such as skilled experts are 

 likely to formulate for the guidance of higher officials and 

 for the assistance of those engaged in the cultivation of 

 the land. The well-organised system existing in the 

 United States, whereby the causes of failure and suc- 

 cess are rendered prominent, is doing great service to' 

 that country, for they clearly recognise the truth that the 

 advancement of agriculture is a national duty, because 

 just in proportion as additional wealth is thus created 

 within the States, so do the people generally participate 

 in the advantages thus secured. 



BIRD SKELETONS 1 

 THE author of this important work, shortly after his 

 - 1 - return from his explorations in New Guinea 

 and the Moluccas, was appointed Director of the 

 Royal Zoological Museum at Dresden, and under his 

 care the last-named museum is fast becoming one 

 of the leading institutions in Germany. During his 

 travels in the East Dr. Meyer appears to have amassed 

 a considerable amount of material for his projected 

 work on the skeletons of birds, and now that five parts 

 of the " Abbildungen'' have appeared, we think it well 

 to draw the attention of English naturalists to it, as 

 it will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most interest- 

 ing osteological works yet attempted. The skeletons are 

 all contained in the Dresden Museum, and Dr. Meyer 

 proposes to carry on the work until his material becomes 

 exhausted ; but we trust that all ornithologists who can 

 aid the author in his excellent enterprise will not fail to 

 do so. 



The works on the osteology of birds are not numerous, 

 and this important portion of ornithological study has 

 been too much neglected and systematically overlooked. 

 The chief English work has been the " Osteologia 

 Avium " of the late Mr. Eyton, and there are, of course, 

 Prof. ( iwen's well-known memoirs on the Dinornis and 

 its allies, on the Great Auk, and a few scattered repre- 

 sentations of skeletons here and there. Fiance can boast 

 of Prof. Milne- Edwards's splendid volumes on fossil birds 

 in comparison with recent forms, as well as the fine series 

 of illustrations in the " Histoire Naturelle de Madagas- 

 car" of M. Grandidier. In Germany Prof. Selencka, of 

 Erlangen, commenced, in Bronn's "Classen und Ord- 

 nungen," a systematic treatise on the osteology of birds, 

 but unfortunately he discontinued this useful work after 

 the issue of a fe^v parts. Dr. Meyer's labours therefore 

 deserve the acknowledgment of all scientific men as 

 being an attempt to fill up a gap in our knowledge of 

 birds. There are probably eleven thousand species of 

 birds described up to the present time, but the osteologi- 

 cal characters of only a very small proportion of them 

 have been noticed, and a very inconsiderable number of 

 the three thousand genera have been illustrated. As Dr. 

 Meyer only fijures those species which have not been 

 before represented, each illustration represents a new fact 

 for science, and we trust that he will be able to continue 

 to add to the already rich materials at his comman 1, and 

 bring to a successful conclusion the important t.isk which 

 he has set himself. 



Dr. Meyer does not avail himself of the usual mode of 

 illustration by lithography, but has had all the skeletons 

 photographed from nature, and then reproduced by 



1 " Abbildungen von Vogel-Skeletlen herausgeben mit Unterstiitzung der 

 generaldirection der konigl, Sammlungen fur Kunst und Wissenschaffe in 

 I Iresden." Vi n Dr. A. B. Meyer. Parts 1 to 5, pp. 1 to 40, Plates 1 to 50. 

 (Dresden : Published by the Author, 1879-1S83.) 



