168 
Our Island-Continent: a Naturalists Holiday in Aus- 
tralia. By Dr. J. E. Taylor, F.L.S. With Map. 
(London: S.P.C.K., 1886.) 
Dr. TAYLOR took a trip to Australia for his health, during 
which he visited South Australia, Victoria, and New 
South Wales. He has of course scarcely anything new 
to tell us, though his little book is pleasant reading, and 
many features of the island-continent are brought out 
that would only strike a naturalist. Why does Dr. Taylor 
not state the year of his visit ? 
The Handy Guide to Norway. By Thomas B. Willson, 
M.A. (London: Stanford, 1886.) 
THIS is a business-like and compact guide which can 
easily be put into the tourist’s pocket, though its price is 
rather surprising. This is probably due to the fact that 
it contains many sectional maps, an exceedingly useful 
feature to the intelligent traveller. The appendix on the 
Flora and Lepidoptera of Norway, by Dr. R. C. R. 
Jordan, will prove serviceable to the tourist interested in 
natural history. 
Mountain Ascents in Westmoreland and Cumberland. 
By John Barrow, F.R.S. (London: Sampson Low 
and Co., 1886.) 
Mr. Barrow is an experienced Alpinist, but has a genuine 
appreciation of the gentler heights of his native land. 
He has ascended nearly every peak of any consequence 
in the Lake region, and this volume describes simply and 
clearly how he did it. The book will be useful as a guide 
to any who wish to follow Mr. Barrow’s example ; while 
the notes on the botany of the district render it of some 
scientific interest. 
An Account of a West Indian Sanatorium, and a Guide 
to Barbados. By the Rev. J. H. Sutton Moxly. (Lon- 
don: Sampson Low and Co., 1886.) 
THIS is a special plea for Barbados as a health resort, 
and Mr. Moxly adduces many facts in support of his 
position. The climate is superb, and the great drawback 
is want of drainage, giving rise to epidemics of typhoid 
fever. The book is well worth perusal by those in search 
of a winter-summer. The book will be useful as a guide, 
though we regret to note the absence of any map. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
[Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 
pressed by his correspondents: Neither can he undertake to 
return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu- 
scripts. No notice is taken of anonymous communications. 
[The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters 
as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great 
that it is impossible otherwise to insure the appearance even 
of communications containing interesting and novel facts.) 
Fishermen’s Foul Water 
PERMIT me to call attention to the fact that the small gela- 
tinous masses that annually, about this time, cause the sea-water | 
to become what fishermen call “foul,” are now in great abund- 
ance on this coast. Their recurrence this year being somewhat 
later than usual is doubtless owing to the low temperature of 
May. 
On viewing a sample of the water in a glass vessel, the 
spherical and pyriform masses giving a brownish tinge are 
readily seen ; and a pocket lens makes evident the presence of 
large specimens of the diatom Hucampia britannica that are 
seen as perfect spirals, some of which have four or five complete 
turns, and also some filamentous rods. Microscopic examination 
of the sediment deposited in the course of a few hours enables 
one to see RAzzosolenia, Asterionella, and several other diatoms 
whose names are not known to me. 
Respecting the gelatinous bodies, I may remark that they are 
studded with granules that appear to be nucleated. 
In one of these masses that I have had under observation 
INA LT ORE. 
| une 24, 1886 
to-day there has been a gradual segregration of the embedded 
germs, and this evening these exhibit individual movements 
which I think indicate the existence of cilia, although with a 
j-inch objective and C eye-piece (the highest power at hand) I 
cannot distinguish the cilia themselves. 
It will be interesting to know how far round our shores at the 
present time these organisms extend, and I hope, by thus again 
directing attention to them, that some one more competent than 
myself will be led to investigate their life-history. 
Sheerness W. H. SHRUBSOLE 
Solar Halo 
AT 6 p.m. this evening I observed an unusual halo and mock 
suns, a diagram of which is annexed. 
F Cc 
G Oo Oo 
B A B 
A, the sun; B, B, mock suns; ¢, portion of halo, convex side towards sun ; 
D E, portion of halo, concave side towards sun; F G, portion of halo 
touching DEatH. Distance—a to B, 22°; A to C, 22°; A to H, 44. 
The sky after having been overcast for the largest portion of the 
day was at this time fairly clear; very little lower cloud, but a 
good deal of cirrus. The measurements were observed with a 
sextant, and were exactly as given, reading the even degree in 
both cases. T. H. TizarpD 
H.M.S. Z7i/on, Great Yarmouth, June 21 
Ampere’s Rule 
In reviewing Mr. L. Cumming’s ‘‘ Electricity Treated Expe- 
rimentally,” ‘* J. T. B.” (NATURE, May 27, p. 74) humorously 
points out how easily students may get confused in trying to 
make use of ‘‘ Ampére’s rule.” There is another rule, published 
by Pfaundler if I am not mistaken, which is in so far much 
simpler, as it does not compel the imagination to fancy move- 
ments and actions of the human body which it in reality never 
could perform :— 
“* Follow the direction of the current in moving the 77g/¢ hand 
along the wire, but holding it so that the stretched fingers are 
parallel to the wire and the palm is turned towards the north 
pole of the magnet. The outstretched thumb then gives the 
direction in which the north pole will be deflected.” 
Dresden-Striesen, June 12 G. DAEHNE 
THE A.O.U. CODE AND CHECK-LIST OF 
AMERICAN BIRDS 
Some few years since the British Ornithologists’ Union 
appointed a Committee to draw up and publish an 
authoritative list of the birds of the British Islands. This 
Committee consisted of the following English ornitholo- 
gists:—P. L. Sclater (Chairman), Osbert Salvin, F. Du 
Cane Godman, Henry Seebohm, Howard Saunders, H. 
E. Dresser, R. Bowdler Sharpe, and H. T. Wharton 
(Secretary). The Committee held seventy-one meetings, 
and ultimately a list of British birds was published under 
the title “A List of British Birds, compiled by a Com- 
mittee of the British Ornithologists’ Union.” 
Notwithstanding the adverse criticism which has been 
passed on this little book by a few ornithologists, there 
can be no doubt that it has supplied a want, and that the 
high scientific position of many of the members of the 
Committee invested the publication with a degree of 
