NoVEMBER 16, 1916] 
NATURE 209 
LETTERS TO. THE EDITOR, 
{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 
opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 
can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 
the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 
this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 
taken of anonymous communications.] 
The Concilium Bibliographicum of Ziirich. 
THERE appears to be in England some misapprehen- 
sion in regard to the Concilium Bibliographicum of 
Ziirich. All zoologists are probably aware that the 
international agency founded by the International Con- 
gresses of Zoology and Physiology has for twenty-one 
. years been concerned in editing the ‘ Bibliographia 
Zoologica"; but many seem to believe that the owner- 
ship has remained vested in the hands of Wilhelm 
Engelmann, of Leipzig, and that the undertaking 
has consequently fallen a victim to the war. To give 
the proper historical perspective to the work, its 
genealogy may be tabulated as follows :— 
Titles 
or (* Bibliotheca historica naturalis,” I.) 1700-1846 13,500 
II. (‘* Bibliotheca Zoologica”) ... ... 1846-1861 40,750 
III. (‘‘ Bibliotheca Zoologica,” II.) ... 1861-1880 125,000 
IV. (Zoologischer Anzeiger) as . 1861-1895 115,000 
: Prior to Concilium 294,310 
V. (‘ Bibliographia Zoologica”)... ... 1896- 202, 500 
’ Total... 496,810 
On the death of Prof. J. Victor Carus, in 1903, the 
Concilium Bibliographicum became sole editor of the 
“ Bibliographia Zoologica’’; but the work remained a 
part of the Zoologischer Anzeiger, and was printed 
and distributed in Leipzig. In 1909 arrangements 
were made for printing in Ziirich. Three years later 
the Concilium Bibliographicum acquired all rights 
over the “ Bibliographia,” and the relationship with 
the Zoologischer Anzeiger was severed. Vols, xxiii.— 
XXv. (1912-13), however, were still distributed to the 
book trade through the intermediary of Wilhelm Engel- 
mann, the last part being ready in March, 1914. 
Vol. xxvi. went to press in April, 1914, and a circular 
announcing the fact that all services had been brought 
together in Ziirich and that the new volume would 
be sent only to such as filed a new order was issued 
in June and July. The vacations and the outbreak of 
the war have caused this circular to be entirely over- 
looked, so that many zoologists have fancied that the 
great historic work had been suspended. “This is far 
from being the case. Despite formidable difficulties, 
vols. xxvi.—-xxix. have appeared, and vol. xxx. is in 
the press. ‘ ; 
There has doubtless been a great falling off in the 
scientific output of all European countries, and the 
postal service is to blame for many gaps, but, in 
general, the experience of the past two years has 
shown the wisdom of the choice of a small neutral 
State as the centre for international co-operation. It 
is also worthy of being pointed out to the world of 
science that Switzerland, in spite of financial difficul- 
ties, which made it necessary for the Government to 
suspend almost all its support of Swiss science, made 
an exception for this international agency. The Presi- 
dent of the Confederation proclaimed allegiance to the 
“Red Cross” of science, and our international insti- 
tute continued to receive State subsidies.. At the same 
time a public subscription brought together the neces- 
sary funds for covering the war-time deficit. 
HERBERT Havitany FIELD, 
_ Director of the Concilium Bibliographicum. 
Sunnyside, Mayow Road, Forest Hill, S.E., 
Loess October 31/0 
NO. 2455, VOL. 98] 
Scarcity of Wasps, 
Jupcinc from the correspondence which has recently 
‘appeared in Nature, the dearth of wasps this autumn 
in many parts of England has been most pronounced, 
but I have not noticed any reference to the county of 
Somerset. 
From August 26 to September 12 I was staying, with 
my wife and son, in a cottage on Christon Hill, on the 
Mendip Hills, situated between Loxton and Banwell, 
and although sunshine was only occasional, and rain 
somewhat frequent and often yery heavy, we were 
simply besieged by wasps, which were particularly 
tiresome at the breakfast-table. They were so 
numerous at times, coming in from the open windows, 
that we frequently had to abandon our meals tem- 
porarily to punish the offenders, my son continuing his 
captures often for half an hour at a time. They were 
killed by the score daily, but still they seemed to infest 
everything, not only preserves and other food, but 
one’s clothing also. In neighbouring houses we heard 
of the abundance of wasps. About 150 yards ‘from 
our cottage we found a large nest of wasps in a bank 
by the roadside. ; 
I cannot recollect ever having seen so many wasps 
in a house, unless “it was during the hottest part of 
1911 (August 31 to September 9), when I was conduct- 
ing archeological excavations on Exmoor. At the 
hotel we were greatly pestered by the quantities of 
wasps which attacked the food. 
H. Sr. Grorce Gray. 
Taunton Castle, November 4. 
A Peculiar Thunderclap. 
REFERRING to Mr, Don’s letter (NaTuRE, August 17), 
it may be of interest to note that for many years | 
have been observing thunderstorms, often from high 
places on Etna, and from a distance, and I have never 
seen a lightning flash which was a single one. Light- 
ning flashes from the clouds to’ the earth are always 
two, three, or more, either very rapidly repeated on 
the spot and along the same track, or in different 
places, sometimes very far apart, and simultaneously. 
In connection with the remarks by ‘“H. O. F.” 
(Nature, August 24), it may be worth mentioning 
that, as is well known, a lightning stroke induces in 
volcanic rocks a permanent magnetisation, often strong 
enough to make the needle of a pocket compass turn 
through an angle of 180°. From a large number of 
observations on Etna and Stromboli, my brother, Prof. 
Gaetano, and I have noted that, when lightning 
strikes a wall, or a large lava block, or the earth- 
wire of a lightning rod near a wall, south polarity is 
found in the lava, or in the bricks of the wall, to the 
right of the observer, and north polarity to the left. 
Such a disposition shows that the discharge was from 
+electricity of the ground to —electricity of the clouds. 
Other observations on similar autoregistrations of 
lightning strokes and of their direction have shown 
that the discharge from the clouds to the earth is 
much less frequent than that from the earth to the 
clouds. 
My brother and I will be glad to send our published 
notes to anyone who cares to have further details on 
the subject. : GIOVANNI PLaTANia. 
University of Catania, October 6. 
The Pollination of Toadflax. 
Can any reader kindly state—from observation— 
which insect pollinates the round-leaved toadflax— 
Linaria spuria? Se: 
'Linaria spuria, Miller, is a not uncommon weed of 
cornfields ori calcareous soils in the Midlands and 
south of. England,.in’ western, central, and southern 
