JuLy 3, 1902] 
have demonstrated by photographs of the spectra of bilirubin, 
biliverdin, urobilin and proteinchrom that the characteristic 
bands in the violet part are absent. But from this observation 
we must not necessarily infer that these organic pigments are 
not derivatives of heemoglobin, for, as these investigators point 
out, the characteristic absorption bands in the violet area of the 
spectrum produced by the complex molecule of hzemoglobin may 
not depend on the constitution of the nucleus forming the basis 
of this complicated mother substance, but may arise from 
certain atomic groups which may not appear in some of its 
derivatives. 
A CORRESPONDENT directs attention to the absence of any 
reference to Dr. Gaskell’s work in the note in our issue of 
June 19 (p. 184) on Prof. Patten’s account of the affinities of 
Tremataspis, The same absence characterises Prof. Patten’s 
paper, to which our remarks were restricted. 
In the geological series of publications issued by the Field 
Columbian Museum, Mr. E. S. Riggs describes the Triassic and 
Jurassic of the Rio Grande, Colorado, which have yielded so 
many remarkable dinosaurian remains. The paper is illustrated 
with some excellent photographic reproductions of the striking 
scenery of the district. 
In describing a species of ‘‘ sand-fly” allied to Ceratopogon 
albopunctatus, Mr. W. R. College, in vol. xvii. part i. of the 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, states that it is 
probably only the females of these irritating insects which attack 
human beings. Out of fifty specimens caught on the author’s own 
hands, only one was a male. The sexes are readily distinguish- 
able by the antennze, which are plumose in the female and 
filiform in the male. 
WE have received from the authors, Messrs. Eckel and 
Paulmier, a copy of a synopsis of the snakes of the north-eastern 
United States published in the Aulletéx of the New York 
State Museum and forming the first instalment of a complete 
catalogue of the reptiles and amphibians of New York. In the 
present part the distinctions between venomous and harmless 
Serpents are indicated in a clear manner, while the various 
species are well described and in many cases illustrated by 
figures of the head. 
We have received from the authors copies of two papers 
relating to the iguanodons of Bernissart, in Belgium, and the 
nature of the country at the time of the entombment of their 
remains. The one, by Mr. L. F. de Pauw, who restored the 
skeletons, appears in vol. iv. of the Memozres of the Hainaut 
Scientific Society, while the other, by Prof. van den Broeck, is 
issued in the Axz/letin of the Belgian Geological Society for the 
present year. Both writers support the view of Messrs. Cornet 
and Schmitz that the Bernissart iguanodons inhabited the mar- 
gins of a lake, and not, as has been supposed, a narrow gorge 
cut in Carboniferous rocks and filled up by deposits of Wealden 
age. The features in the section which led to the promulgation 
of the latter view may be explained by earth-movements of post- 
Wealden age. Mr. Pauw has made an interesting restoration of 
a group of iguanodons round the old Bernissart lake, a 
photographic reproduction from which accompanies the memoir. 
The author believes that these reptiles often walked on all fours, 
especially when leaving the lake. 
AMERICAN naturalists are devoting more and more attention 
to the mammals and other vertebrates of the Old World, and 
by means of vigorous collecting are adding largely to the list of 
species and races. Inthe Proceedings of the U.S. Museum, 
for instance, Mr. G. S. Miller describes a large collection of 
mammals from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the 
course of which he names a number of mice, as well as other 
NO. 1705, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
231 
forms. No less than thirty-five species of mammals are de- 
finitely recognised from these islands. Another paper by 
the same author, dealing with oriental mammals, based on 
specimens collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott on the islands 
of the Malay and China seas, appears in the Proceedings of 
the Philadelphia Academy for March, and likewise contains 
descriptions of a number of forms regarded as new. In a third 
contribution, published in the journal last mentioned, Mr. A. E. 
Brown describes a collection of reptiles and amphibians from 
Borneo and the Liu-kiu Islands, in the course of which a few 
new names are proposed. In the case of mammals, forms 
inhabiting different islands, no matter how closely related, are 
regarded as distinct. 
THE Lancet of June 21 publishes the report of a lecture 
delivered by Dr. Rose Bradford before the University College 
Medical Society on the relation of biology to medicine. After 
remarking that the subject may be regarded from three points of 
view—from its educational value, from its relation to practice, 
and the influence which it has exerted, and probably will exert, 
on the progress of medical research—the lecturer calls attention 
to the value of biological study, and more especially to the work 
of the field-naturalist, as a means of promoting accurate 
observation. Biological studies, both anatomical and physio- 
logical, have a further great advantage to the medical student in 
giving him a broader conception of the complexity of living 
matter than if he confines his studies to the human subject. In 
regard to the relation of biological study to medical practice 
and research, Dr. Bradford emphatically urges its importance, 
pointing out the number of diseases now definitely known to be 
due to animal or vegetable organisms, such as malaria and other 
blood-affections, and the morbid processes originated by the 
presence of funguses. It is further suggested that the true 
nature of cancer may be discovered by biological rather than 
by purely pathological researches. The lecture concludes by 
emphasising the importance of a careful study of variation and 
heredity to the medical practitioner who hopes to advance his 
profession. 
THE Report of the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago for 
1900-1901 indicates a continued and rapid progress of this 
institution. ‘‘ Inappropriate and undesirable material,” writes 
the director,” is constantly disappearing, to be supplanted by 
that which is nearer the standard, and the Museum is 
doing museum work; while the laboratory and the study are 
not neglected, yet the fact that the Museum is dedicated to the 
enlightenment, instruction and in a measure to the entertain- 
ment of the public is not ignored, and those things calculated to 
advance this policy are those that most engage the attention of 
the officers of the institution. As a natural consequence, the 
general appearance of the Museum is never the same, constant 
additions, changes and renewals, &c., making the exhibition 
halls always fresh and inviting.” The Field Museum was one 
of the first to adopt the system of mounting the larger mammals 
on artificial groundwork in imitation of their natural surround- 
ings, and the Report before us contains a photograph of a big- 
horn sheep and another of a ‘‘sounder” of wart-hogs taken 
from groups in the Museum, which serve to show the careful 
and realistic manner in which the plan is carried out. An 
exhibit of much interest is a model of a limestone cave, with 
natural stalactites and stalagmite, and specimens of the animals 
which inhabit such situations. This model is lit up by electricity. 
The idea is so excellent that it might be adopted by other 
museums. 
Tue Hull coins and tokens in the Hull Museum have been 
described by Mr. William Sykes, an authority on the subject, 
and issued as one of the illustrated penny guides to the 
