i8 



NA TURE 



{l^ov. 5, 1874- 



We have just received a paper by Dr. Pietro Pavesi, Professor 

 of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the University of 

 Genoa, entitled " Contribuzione alia storia naturale del genere 

 Selache," in which that naturalist shows that the Rashleigh 

 Shark (PolysprosopKs raslikigkaniis) and the Broad-headed 

 Gazer {P. maccr), described as British by Mr. Crouch in his 

 work on the fishes of our seas, are not, as Dr. Giinther suggests 

 in his valuable Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum, 

 monstrosities of Selache maxwia, but belong to a species found 

 in the Mediterranean, Selache rostrata (Macri), in which the eyes 

 are situated at the base of the elongate, narrow, nasal snout, 

 instead of near the point of the short snout, as they are in 

 .y. maxima. 



We have received a liLtle book with a very long title, pub- 

 lished by Messrs. Ward, Lock, and Tyler. It is called ' ' Arcadian 

 Walks and Drives in the North-west Suburbs of London, for 

 the Pedestrian, Carriage, Horse, and Bicycle," and contains a 

 variety of hygienic and other hints to pedestrians, and forty-two 

 schemes of walks and drives in the north-west district, together 

 with notes on the fauna, botany, &c., of the localities visited. 

 This " booklet " would he much improved and rendered more 

 generally useful by the addition of a map. 



A GRE.\T deal of interest is attached to the last report of Dr. 

 King, the superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Ciardens, for, 

 besides the usual details as to the e.\change of plants and seeds 

 with the Royal Gardens at Kew, and other similar colonial and 

 foreign establishments— which exchange, by the way, has not been 

 a light affair, inasmuch as from April 1S73 to March 1S74, 

 I2,8i2 plants and 2,532 parcels of seeds were sent to various 

 parts of the world — we have satisfactory accounts of the culti- 

 vation of the mahogany tree, the ipecacuanha, and the Para 

 rubber tree. The former, as is well known, is a native of 

 Central America and the West Indies ; but there are, as Dr. 

 King telli us, a good many old mahogany trees about Calcutta, 

 which, however, rarely if ever yield perfect seed, so that fresh 

 plants have been obtained direct from their native country. lie 

 says, further, that " it has been abundantly proved that the tree 

 will thrive in most parts of Bengal, and^ that the Indian grown 

 timber is valuable." There are fine mahogany trees in the 

 gardens at Saharunpore and Madras, and Dr. King doubts not 

 that it will grow admirably in almost any part of India in 

 situations free from frost, and where a little moisture can be 

 secured in very dry weather. Of the few trees that were left in 

 the Calcutta Botanic Gardens after the last cyclone in 1S67, the 

 mahoganies are by far the finest ; they were planted about eight 

 years since, and are now from 8 to 11.^ ft. in circumference, 6 ft. 

 from tlie ground. The quality of the wood of some of the 

 trees blown down in the cyclones of 1S64 and 1867 was found 

 to be excellent. Such, then, are the prospects'of the successful 

 acclimatisation of one of the most valuable furniture woods 

 known : . so valuable indeed is it in European commerce, that 

 about 40,000 tons are annually imported into Great Britain from 

 Honduras, Jamaica, and San Domingo. So far as the increase 

 of the ipecacuanha plants is^_concerned, the propagation by root 

 and leaf-cuttings has been so successful that there is at present 

 a stock of 63,000 living plants ; whereas only four years since 

 there were but twelve cuttings at the Cinchona Gardens, and 

 seven out of these twelve were afterwards accidentally destroyed. 

 Then again, with regard to the most valuable of all the india- 

 rubber producing plants, namely, that of Para — the Ih-'ca brasi- 

 licnsis — six plants of which Dr. King took with him from Kev/ on 

 his return to India in November last, we are told that already a 

 few plants have been raised from cuttings taken from these six 

 plants, and before the lapse of another year Dr. King hopes "to 

 be able to report a considerable increase. " The advantages to 

 be obtained by the successful introduction of these trees into 

 India are many, for besides the great superiority of the rubber 



over that obtained from the East Indian figs, the principal of 

 which is Ficiis elastica, and consequently a higher market value, 

 it will add to the Indian revenue by establishing a course of 

 regular industry by a systematic tapping of the trees, and it will 

 perhaps, to some extent, relieve the figs from a continued strain 

 upon them, and probable future exhaustion. 



In a recently issued report on the trade and commerce of 

 Java, we read that the total amount of Cinchona trees of all 

 sizes and ages growing in Government plantations at the end of 

 1S72 was 1,705,542, and the bark crop for the same year 

 amounted to 18,000 kilogrammes. 



It has recently been discovered that the bamboo contains a 

 dangerous poison which the natives of Java extract from the 

 cane in the following manner. The cane is cut at each joint, 

 and in the cavity is found a certain quantity of small fibrous 

 matter of a black colour, which is covered with an almost imper- 

 ceptible coating of tissue which contains the poison. If swal- 

 lowed the filaments do not pass into the stomach, but remain in 

 the throat and produce violent inflammation and ultimately 

 death. Experiments are to be made with various kinds of 

 bamboo, to test the existence and nature of this alleged poison. 



The Syndicate appointed last June to collect information as 

 to the space and accommodation required for a new Geological 

 Museum have issued their report. They consulted the present 

 Professor of Geology (Mr. LIughes), who considers it desirable 

 that a very much larger number of specimens should be exhibited 

 under glass than is the case at present ; that there should be 

 larger intervals in the arrangement of the collection ; that more 

 ample accommodation should be provided for students wishing to 

 work at special points in detail, and for lecturers who wish to 

 bring a class or private pupils ; that work-rooms, class-rooms, and 

 library, together with private rooms for the Professor and a 

 Palaeontologist, which are wholly wanting at present, should be 

 provided. The estimated space for the museum and necessary 

 offices would be 31,700 square feet. The Syndicate do not re- 

 gard tlie estimate as excessive, and there is no difficulty respect- 

 ing a site, as the ground of the old botanic garden affords one 

 of sufficient dimensions in proximity to the other museums of 

 natural science. The sum of 10,500/., which has up to the pre- 

 sent time been subscribed towards a new museum as a memorial 

 to Professor Sedgwick, would be far from sufficient for the erec- 

 tion of a museum such as is indicated by Professor Hughes. The 

 cost of such a museum, with suitable fittings and furniture for every 

 department, could not be estimated at less than 25,000/. The 

 Syndicate do not consider by the terms of their appointment 

 that they are called upon to suggest any source from which this 

 sum can be supplied. 



The "Origin of Species" controversy has been resumed by 

 M. Blanchard, a member of the French Institute, in the Revue 

 dcs deux Mondes. The learned naturalist supports strong anti- 

 Darwinian theories. 



A TELEGRAM from St. Petersburg has been received at Paris, 

 stating that the Imperial Commission appointed to survey the Sea 

 of Aral has finished its work. The level of that large inland 

 sea is about 165 ft. above that of the ocean. 



The signature to the letter on " Supernumerary Rainbow," 

 in Nature, vol. x. p. 503, should not be Joseph, but Hugh 

 Blackburn. 



The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens during the 

 past week include a Bonnet Monkey {Macaciis radiatus) from 

 India, presented by Mr. S. T. Hughes ; a Black-backed Piping 

 Crow {Cymnotiiiiia teiicoiio/n) from .South Australia, presented by 

 Mr. F. Fuller ; a Speckled Terrapen ( Cletiimys guttata) from 

 North America, presented by Mr. A. B. Duncan ; a White Stork 

 (Ciconia alba), two Thicknees {(Edicnemus crepitans), European, 

 deposited. 



