May 26, 1S81] 



NA TURE 



85 



ditions, have formed either a great delta, or a narrow arm 

 of the sea into which the waters of the Indus and Euphrates 

 drained. Such conditions would have admitted of the 

 extension of species from one side to the other, wliich the 

 later and more extensive depression of the area, as shown 

 in Scinde, afterwards more completely shut off." 



Amongst the more remarkable of the operculated land- 

 shells described by Col. Godwin-Austen is a new species 

 of Tropidiphorus, which is proposed to be named T. 

 Balfouri after its discoverer (Fig. 2). 



The Reptiles collected by Prof. Balfour in Socotra have 

 been worked out by Dr. Giinther ' and Mr. \V. T. Blanford, 

 Dr. GUnther taking the Snakes and Amphisba;nians, and 

 Mr. Blanford - the remaining Lacertilians. Both of these 

 collections were found tobe of considerable interest. Among 

 the snakes is a new form allied to Tacky menis, which Dr. 

 Giinther has proposed to call Dit)pophis, and a new 

 species of Zamenis {Z. Socotra:). Both these indicate 

 an alliance with the circum-Mediterranean fauna. On 

 the other hand the Socotran Sand-Asp {Ecliis cotorata) 

 belongs to an Arabian and Palestine species, while 

 the Amphisbiena of Socotra (Pachycalavius brevis, gen. 

 et sp. nov.) has its nearest allies in Eastern and Western 

 Tropical, Africa. Of the six species of lizards of which 

 examples were in Mr. Blanford's series, three proved to 

 be new to science. 



At the same meeting of the Zoological Society Mr.' 

 Charles O. Waterhouse read a paper on the Coleopterous 

 Insects which had been collected by Prof. Bayley Balfour 

 in Socotra. The number of species of which examples 

 were collected was stated to be twenty-four, and showed 

 that the fauna of Socotra, judging from this collection, 

 was distinctly African. Twelve of the species were 

 described as new to science. 



It will be seen, therefore, that although the zoological 

 collections made by Prof. Balfour were very small in 

 each group — in some cases almost of a fragmentary 

 character — the results in every case present features of 

 great interest. It is obvious that, judging from what is 

 thus known, Socotra must possess — what was thought 

 scarcely probable by many at the time the scheme for 

 exploring it was first started — an indigenous fauna of 

 considerable e.xtent, one well worthy of further investi- 

 gation, which the Socotran Committee, we believe, are 

 quite resolved to undertake if they can obtain the neces- 

 sary means. As regards the flora of Socotra we have 

 said nothing, because Prof. Balfour, who has himself 

 undertaken the investigation of the botanical collections, 

 has not yet completed his task. But a preliminary exa- 

 mination has shown, we believe, that his series embraces 

 about 150 absolutely new flowering plants, amongst which 

 are from fifteen to twenty representatives of new genera 

 — so that it is manifest that, like the fauna, the flora 

 of Socotra possesses a strong autochthonous element.^ 

 Of this we hope to be able to give some account when 

 Prof. Balfour is further advanced in his work. Mean- 

 while there can be no question that the Socotran Com- 

 mittee have accomplished a most useful bit of work, and 

 that in this case, at all events, the public money devoted 

 to scientific research has been well applied. 



A GEOLOGISTS NOTES ON THE ROYAL 

 ACADEMY 

 /^NLY of late years has the importance of accuracy in 

 ^^ the drawing of rock structure been recognised either 

 by artists or by the general public. For this we are 

 indebted to no one so much as to Mr. Ruskin, whose 

 chapters on the subject in the fourth volume of " Modern 



' " Descriptions of the .\mphisbsenians and Ophidians collected by Dr. 



Bayley Balfonr in the Island of Socotra " (Proc. Zool. Soc. April 5, i88i). 

 - *' Oil the Litards C'. llected by Prof. Bayley Balfour in Socotra." {/did.) 

 3 A very fine new Begonia from Socotra, of which tubers brought home 



by Dr. Balfour have flowered at Kew, is figured in the April number of the 



Botanical MngazitUi tab. 6553. 



Painters ' should be read again and again by every 

 student who considers the faithful representation of 

 Nature not unworthy of the aims of Art. It is true that 

 some of the greatest among the older masters — as Titian 

 or Durer — rendered with great spirit and considerable 

 accuracy the more salient features of rock structure, but 

 from one cause or another they seldom entered into 

 details, and were rather prone to exaggeration. The 

 majority, till almost the present time, appeared to con- 

 sider themselves unfettered, and "improved "upon Nature 

 in accordance with the fancied requirements of the prin- 

 cipal theme of their pictures. Some of the results may 

 be seen in the volume to which we have refeiTed. Within 

 the last few ye^rs a due estimate of the special excellencies 

 of Turner's work has produced a salutary influence, and 

 more than one artist (like Elijah Walton, to speak only 

 of the dead) has grappled successfully with the difficulties 

 of rock structure. Thus the boulders, studied apparently 

 from lumps of modeller's clay, the dilapidated crags, 

 tottering like liabitual inebriates, the attenuated peaks, 

 which might have been decapitated with a walking-stick, 

 are rapidly disappearing from the walls of our exhibitions. 

 In many pictures however we still perceive more of good 

 intention than of knowledge, and the number of those 

 who cannot be said to " draw with the understanding " is 

 by no means small. 



We venture then to offer a few remarks on rocks as 

 they are represented on the walls of the Royal Academy. 

 In No. 13, " Gorse-cutting," passing clouds render the 

 hiUside in the background rather vague, but it may be 

 doubted whether this is the only cause of an indefinite- 

 ness in the rock-structure, which is certainly also observ- 

 able in that of the foreground. 28, " Llyn and Nant 

 Gwynant," exhibits much careful mapping-out of the 

 rocks, but cannot othi:rwise be said to be successfuL 

 There is a want of character in the craggy hillside in SSi 

 "A Mountain Road," and the boulders are flat and 

 indefinite, as though the artist had inserted them in 

 his studio when the memory of their appearance 

 in the field was beginning to fade from his mind. 

 The saine inability to seize the dominant charac- 

 teristics of the rocks appears in So, "Waiting for 

 the Ferry." In 85, how'ever, the " Land of Streams," 

 its artist has been much more successful. Mr. C. E. 

 Johnson has given us a painstaking study of a mass of 

 hard stratified rock, which, as it dips away from the 

 spectator, forms outcropping, curving ledges, over which 

 the water dashes. In these, and in the craglcts, both in 

 foreground and middle distance, the principal facts of 

 bedding and jointing are accurately rendered. Not so, 

 however, in 89, " The Head of Teesdale," where we are 

 led to conclude that the rocks are modelled from the 

 same material as those in the scenes of theatres. The 

 artist of 98, " .\ Storm in the Desert," has been more 

 careful, but unless there is something exceptional in the 

 locality it is difficult to conjecture what the rock may be. 

 A mountain streaked with snow in the background of 122, 

 " A Sermon in the Hayfield," is carefully studied, but 

 still is rather wanting in character, and the colouring 

 strikes us as crude. Mr. C. E. Johnson has again been 

 successful in "The White Sands of lona" (1S8), which is 

 a very careful rock study. Rough craglets either of 

 granite or of the granitoid gneiss, common on the western 

 coast of Scotland, crop out among the slopes of sand. Of 

 some the upper parts are smooth and polished, exhibiting 

 traces either of the action of glaciers, like many another 

 reef around the Western Highlands, or possibly in this case 

 an e.xample of the gentler attrition of blown sand ; the 

 rocky knolls in the middle distance should also be 

 noticed. "The Scapegoat" (211) is a picture which 

 causes us some little perplexity. There is an appearance 

 of careful study both in the foreground craglets and in the 

 bare momuains, which make up the scenery of this "Land 

 not inhabited" ; but still it is diflicult to decide upon the 



