338 
Unfortunately, no heights are given, and there are 
many errors in the geographical co-ordinates of the 
stations, some of considerable magnitude. The re- 
mainder of the meteorological section of the volume 
is devoted to an important paper by H. Helm Clayton 
on ‘Atmospheric Circulation and the Weather in 
Argentina.” 
The hydrometric section was founded in July, 1902, 
and there are now 109 gauges at work on the principal 
rivers and lakes, daily forecasts being made of the 
probable height at important points. The elevation of 
the underground water is also gauged at twenty-two 
stations. The magnetic branch of the service was 
established in 1904, with a central station at Pilar, 
near Cordoba, in charge of Mr. L. G. Schultz, who, 
with assistants, prosecuted field-work at regular inter- 
vals, notably in 1908 and peer 1912-13. This work 
is “sufficient to give a very fair knowledge of the 
values of the magnetic elements in all parts of the 
country, as well as their respective secular variations.” 
Lines of equal declination, inclination, horizontal in- 
tensity, and vertical intensity for the epoch January, 
1914, are given in graphic form, while mean hourly 
values of the principal magnetic elements registered 
at Pilar from 1905 to 1914 are shown for the months, 
seasons, and the year (pp. 56-145). Bulletin No. 5 
contains a condensed summary of the magnetic results 
with special reference to the field-worlk accomplished. 
Vol. xv. of the Anales contains the hourly and other 
meteorologicai observations made in Buenos Aires from 
1877 to 1910, in continuation of the series published in 
vol. i. of the Anales. The printing of the discussion, 
which is ready, has been meanwhile postponed owing 
to the reduction of appropriations. 8 
The hourly meteorological and magnetic observations 
made at Laurie Island, South Orkneys (lat. 61° S.), 
from 1905 to 1910, with a discussion of all the available 
material since 1903, appears in vol. xvii. of the Anales. 
This station was taken over in February, 1904, from 
the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, and is 
now completing its thirteenth year under Argentine 
auspices. The maintenance of this observatory in- 
volves the dispatch every summer of a relief expedi- 
tion from Buenos Aires. The climate of the South 
Orkneys is in general insular from October to March, 
and continental during the rest of the year, when the 
surrounding seas are frozen. At all seasons the island 
is enveloped in a current of Antarctic origin, so that 
the mean temperature of the warmest month (Febru- 
ary) does not exceed 06° C. The coldest month is 
July, with a mean of —11-9° C., and the mean annual 
temperature is —4-4° C. The extremes noted have 
been 88° and — 40°. Féhn is not uncommon, and 
during its occurrence the temperature, even in mid- 
winter, rises considerably. The mean annual pressure 
is 744 mm., with extreme readings of 774-7 and 
7o9:1 mm. Pressure is low from January to May, and 
again in November, and relatively high from June to 
October, and also in December there is much cloud 
and the air is very humid. Storms are comparatively 
rare, and are most common at the equinoxes, and least 
frequent at the solstices. The station lies in the west- 
wind system, and winds from the east are seldom 
observed. The upper currents are also from the west, 
and the cloud drift becomes more and more towards 
the east as the height increases. The lower clouds are 
at a greater height in summer than in winter. The 
precipitation, mostly in the form of snow, and difficult 
to measure owing to drift, amounts to 447 mm. 
(17-60 in.) annually. The snow is deepest a month 
before the winter solstice, and in some summers does 
not disappear at sea-level. The diurnal range of all 
the elements, although distinct, is very small. An 
interesting chapter on the frequency and distribution 
NO. 2461, VoL. 98] 
NATURE 
country of a destructive pest. 
| DECEMBER 28, 1916 
of the ice in the seas surrounding the South Orkneys, 
showing the very variable conditions experienced from 
year to year, concludes the meteorological summary of 
the results. The rest of the volume is taken up with 
a discussion of the magnetic data to 1912, The 
analysis of the whole material is very complete, and 
there are twenty-two plates, some of which possess 
new features, 
Bulletin No. 4, by Prof. Bigelow, as the title sug- 
gests, is highly mathematical, and does not lend itself _ 
to condensation. R. G. M: 
A PLAGUE OF VOLES IN ITALY, AND ITS 
CONTROL, 
[RES the past summer the province of Foggia 
in Apulia has suffered great depredations by 
field-voles (Pytymys savii), the grain crop having been 
almost entirely destroyed. Prof. Splendore has given 
an account (in two papers in Rendiconti R. Accad. 
Lincei, Classe fis. mat. nat., vol. xxv., July and. 
August, 1916) of his investigations, carried out in 
Prof. Grassi’s laboratory in Rome, with the view of 
finding some method of destroying the voles. Of 
about forty voles sent to him from Cerignola (province 
Foggia), some died en route, and had been partially 
eaten by the survivors; the others died a few days 
after arrival in Rome. In all these a coccobacillus 
was present in the blood, in the internal organs, 
and in the lymphatic glands. Around Cerignola 
there was a remarkably high mortality among the 
voles, attributed by Prof. Splendore to the cocco- 
bacillus which was found in all the voles examined. 
This spontaneous epizootic, which spread extensively, 
presents the features of a septicaemia, the internal 
organs being congested, especially the spleen and liver, 
which are always enlarged. Prof. Splendore has com- 
pared the coccobacillus with Bacillus typhi muriwn 
and the typhi-coli group, and considers that it presents 
such clear differences as to justify him in placing it, 
provisionally at least, in a new species—Bacterium 
pytynrysi. 
Healthy, well-nourished voles from a locality where 
the epizootic was not known to occur died in less 
than twenty-four hours after subcutaneous inoculation 
with an emulsion of the spleen or liver of an infected 
vole; others fed with infected material died in three 
or four days. When.dead or infected voles were 
placed among healthy ones, the latter developed the 
disease in a few days. The organism was found to 
be pathogenic also to mice, rats, and rabbits. 
Prof. Splendore isolated the organism from the in- 
testine of fleas found on an infected vole. The intes- 
tinal contents of three similar fleas were inoculated 
subcutaneously into a healthy vole, which died in 
less than twenty-four hours. Another healthy vole, 
placed in a vessel with three vole-fleas, died three 
days later. Both voles were found to exhibit the usual 
congestion of the internal organs and to contain the 
coccobacillus. Prof. Splendore considered that these 
experiments confirmed his previous suspicion that the 
natural method of propagation of the infection is by 
means of fleas. He recommended that voles infected 
by inoculation should be distributed in the areas in- 
vaded by voles, where the epizootic has not yet ap- 
peared, so that the disease would be propagated by fleas 
and would continually extend until the areas were freed 
from the rodents. It will be interesting to see how 
far this method has been successful in ridding the 
Possibly the new organ- 
ism may be found useful in attacking other species of 
destructive rodents, e.g. rats, but investigations will 
no doubt first be made as to its pathogenic relations 
to domestic animals and man. 
