544 



NA TURE 



[April 6, 1899 



of the kettle is found to be coated with solid carbonic acid 

 frozen from the fire, which glows intensely a hand's breadth 

 away. Yet liquid air will boil with apparently the same 

 violence if set upon a cake of ice." Popular knowledge of the 

 phenomena of liquid air in America is due almost entirely to 

 Mr. Tripler, whose experiments with gallons of liquefied air 

 have excited considerable interest. 



The remarkable discoveries, made in the first place by 

 Japanese botanists, respecting the mode of fertilisation inGym- 

 nosperms, have been followed up by two further papers published 

 in the journal of the Colkge of Science of Tokyo (vol. xii., parts 

 2 and 3). Prof, llirase gives (in French) a further contribution 

 to our knowledge of the impregnation and biology of Gingko 

 hiloha (Salishuria adiantifolia); and Prof Ikeno (in Clerman) a 

 further account of the development of the sexual organs and the 

 process of impregnation in Cycas r,-foluta. The mature pollen- 

 grain of Gingko consists of three cells of unequal size ; the 

 largest is the vegetative cell ; a small intermediate cell is the 

 antheridial cell ; the smallest exterior cell is inactive. From 

 the largest of these cells is produced the pollen-tube, which 

 branches and spreads over the surface of the nucellus. The 

 intermediate cell divides into a body-cell and a stalk-cell ; the 

 contents of the body-cell again divide into two antherozoids, 

 their formation being accompanied by the appearance of attrac- 

 tion-spheres. In the formation of the archegone of Cycas three 

 periixls may be distinguished — the " primordium " (Anlage) 

 period, the period of growth, and that of maturity. The pollen- 

 grain consists of two small prothallium cells and a large 

 embryonal cell. Shortly after pollination the i>ollen-grain 

 produces a tube. The inner prolhallium-cell divides into a 

 body-cell and a stalk-cell : in the former appear two centrosomes. 

 Shortly before impregnation the nucleus of the body-cell, or 

 spermatogenous cell, divides into two nuclei, and the cell itself 

 into two spermatids. The nucleus of each spermatid forms an 

 antherozoid, with a nucleus, and a tail composed of cytoplasm. 

 In the nucleus of the oosphere is a crater-like cavity, which the 

 antherozoid enters, in order to fuse with the nucleus of the 

 oosphere. 



From a paper by Mr. E. S. Salmon on the genus Fissideiis 

 in the Aniial! of Kotany, we learn that the following is the 

 geographical distribution of this genus of mosses, the first 

 number in each case being the total number ol species, and the 

 second the number of endemic species : — Europe, 32, 13 ; Asia, 

 92, S4 ; Africa, 159, 140; North America, 74, 49; South 

 America, 118, 106 ; Pacific, 60, 50. 



We learn from the Allahabad Pioneer Mail that I)r. Stein, 

 the learned Principal of the Oriental College at Lahore, has 

 published, through the Punjab Government Press, a detailed 

 report of the results of his examination of the archajological 

 remains in Buner. Dr. Stein accompanied Sir Bindon Blood's 

 force in the expedition to the Buner country in December 1897, 

 and had a unique opportunity of investigating the ruins, rock 

 sculptures, and inscriptions of a portion of the ancient Udyana 

 which had previously been inaccessible to scholars. The mono, 

 graph is certain to be read with great interest by archR:ologists 

 lH>ih in India and in Europe. 



Some interesting statistics with reference to the seal and 

 whale fishery in 1898 are given by Mr. Thomas Southwell in 

 the Zoologist for March. The total number of seals taken by 

 the fleet of eighteen steamers, of the aggregate cajxicily of 5595 

 Ions, and manned by 3S02 seamen, which left Si. John's, New- 

 foundland, in March 1S9S, for the Gulf fishery grounds, was 

 241,70s, of a net value of .about 80,000/., as com[»ared with 

 126,628, valued at 32,564/., in the previous season. In ad- 

 dition to these, about 30,000 seals were taken by the sailing 

 NO. 1536, VOL. 59] 



vessels and by the shore fishermen. Mr. Southwell slates that 

 the seal fishery in the Greenland seas, so far as the Dundee 

 vessels are concerned, has practically become a thing of the past, 

 and, such as it is, has almost drifted into the hands of the Nor- 

 wegian vessels. Right whales were extremely scarce during the 

 season ; the absence of the whales from Greenland seas being 

 attributed to fine weather and light ice. The bottle-nose whale 

 fishery, which was once so productive, is now quite discarded 

 by the British vessels. The total catch of the Dundee fleet il> 

 1898 was 6 right whales, 9S4 white whales, 591 walrus, 77^ 

 seals, and 80 bears, yielding 297 tons of oil and 112 cwts. of 

 bone. 



The United States Department of .Vgriculture has recently- 

 been devoting a good deal of attention to dietary studies 

 amongst the poor in different parts of the country, and the 

 Office of Experimental Stations has already issued quite a 

 number of difterent bulletins on this subject. The most recent 

 addition to the series is one on dietary studies in Chicago in 

 1895 ^"'' '896. To obtain satisfactory statistics on this subject 

 is by no means e.asy, for the data sought include the character, 

 amount, and cost of food consumed during a given length of 

 time, the age, sex. and occupation of the difterent members of 

 the various families selected, the number of meals taken by 

 each person, and, as far as possible, the financial and hygienic 

 conditions of the family in question. To facilitate the conduct 

 of an inquiry of so personal a nature, two ladies from the Hul> 

 Settlement, which is situated in a densely-p<5pulated district of 

 Chicago, were asked, on account of their intimate acquaintance 

 with the neighbourhood and inhabitants, to collect the inform- 

 ation required. Families of Italians, French Canadians, 

 Russian Jews (both orthodox and unorthodox\ and Bohemians 

 were chosen ; whilst for comparison three .-American families 

 were also included : in all, about fifty studies were carried 

 through more or less satisfactorily. National prejudices and 

 idiosyncrasies render living for foreigners more expensive in 

 many instances th>an for natives, as, for example, is the case 

 with Italians, who cannot be persuaded to exchange the im- 

 ported oil, wine, and cheese for the far less costly food to be 

 obtained in -American cities. The result of the inquiry em- 

 phasises the need for education among the pixjrer classes, both 

 in household man.agement and cookery, and also in the selec- 

 tion of foods. Taste and cost are usually the only considerations 

 to which attention is paid ; the fact that foods vary greatly in 

 nutritive value is rarely, if ever, recognised. In many cases 

 families could obtain a more nutritious diet for the sum ex- 

 pended, or an equally nutritious diet for a smaller sum. 



We have received from Profs. A. Ricco and G. Saya a copy 

 of the results of hourly simultaneous meteorological observations 

 made at four stations between the Observatory at <3atania (alti- 

 tude 65 metres) and the Etna Observatory (altitude 2947 

 metres) : the heights of the intermediate stations being re- 

 spectively 705 and 1S86 metres. The observations were only 

 made onjuly 26-2S, 1S97, and March 27 and 28, 1898, so that 

 we shall merely refer briefly to one or two of the general 

 results. In July the din>inution of temperature, with respect to 

 altitude, was less between the two lower stations than betweeiv 

 the upper ones : while in March the diminution was somewhat 

 less, and much more uniform. In July the relative humidity 

 decreased between the first and third stations, but increased 

 between the third and fourth. In March there was scarcely 

 any decrease between the first and second .stations, and a con- 

 siderable increase between the second and fourth stations. 

 The same authors have sent us a copy of the results of observ- 

 ations of air and .sea temperature, and of the colour of the 

 water, in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The maximum tem- 

 peratures, esjiecially of the surface water, are nearly equal ir» 



