330 
NATURE 
[JuLY 31, 1902 
numerous parasites with which the bat is commonly affected may 
be the means of propagating the germs, and this view is con- 
firmed by experiments previously made in the author's labora- 
tory on the common flea. A further confirmation is afforded 
by the observation that subcutaneous injections of infected 
matter, even in small quantities, are sufficient to transmit the 
disease to bats. 
THE Zoologist for July contains but two papers, the one, by 
Dr. A. G. Butler, on birds in captivity, the ‘other, by the 
Messrs. Ticehurst, on birds met with in Finmark. 
THE ‘‘corallines,” or calcareous algas, of Japan form the 
subject of a memoir by Mr. K, Yendo in the second part of 
vol. xvi. of the Journal of the College of Science of Tokyo, 
the other two articles in the same issue being also devoted to 
botanical subjects. 
IN the first part of vol. Ixxii. of the Zedtschrift fiir wissen- 
schaftliche Zoologie, Herr E. Schultz continues his studies in 
“regeneration,” taking as his text the turbellarian worms. The 
superficial nerve-cells in the spinal chord of birds and reptiles 
form the subject of an article in the same journal by Herr A. 
Kolliker. : : 
To the Aarbog of the Bergen Museum for 1902, Mr. J. A. 
Grieg contributes a review of the echinoderms of northern 
Norway ; while Mr. H. Friele describes the molluscs obtained 
during the cruise of the fishery steamer A/7chael Sars in the 
North Sea during the summer and autumn of 1900. In the 
latter paper several new forms are named. A third article, by 
Mr. H. H. Gran, forms the continuation of a memoir on marine 
bacteria. 
IN a memoir on a new generic type (Gephyrocrinus) of 
crinoid dredged by the Prince of Monaco at a great depth in 
the Atlantic, the authors, Messrs. Koehler and Bather, state 
that it is allied to Hyocrinus, represented by a single species 
obtained by the Chad/enger. Only one specimen, and that im- 
perfect, of the new form was obtained. The paper is published 
in vol. xv. of the AZémozres of the French Zoological Society. 
FRoM an article in the Zgyftzan Gazette we learn that the 
additions to the Zoological Gardens at Ghizeh during May and 
June were seventy-six in number, and include many very valu- 
able and rare animals. Nearly all are natives of the Nile Valley 
except four Capuchin monkeys from South America, received in 
exchange, and a specimen of the two-humped Bactrian camel, 
which has been purchased and delivered in Egypt through the 
assistance of Dr. Biittikofer, the well-known Swiss naturalist, 
now Director of the Rotterdam Zoological Gardens, where this 
species of camel is bred with success. In Egypt, where the 
one-humped camel is so well known, it is specially interesting 
to be able to see a specimen of the two-humped camel, and to 
the native visitor it is perhaps the most astonishing animal in 
the menagerie. 
A? a special memorial meeting held on April 25 of this year 
under the joint auspices of the Natural History Society, the 
Teachers’ School of Science and the University of Boston (of 
which an account appears in vol. xxx. No. 4 of the Proceedings 
of the first-named society), addresses were delivered in com- 
memoration of the work of the late Prof. A. Hyatt. According 
to the inaugural address, Hyatt was born at Washington in 1838 
and died suddenly at Cambridge, Mass., in January of the 
present year on his way to attend a meeting of the Boston 
Natural History Society, of the museum of which he was so long 
curator. Hyatt ‘‘ was professor of zoology and palzontology at 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1870 to 1888, 
and professor of biology at Boston University from 1877. He 
NO. 1709, VOL. 66] 
was the founder of the seaside laboratory at Annisquam, and 
took the leading part in the foundation of the Teachers’ School 
of Science and of the American Society of Naturalists.” 
ONE evening in the autumn of last year, while strolling on the 
beach of a small watering-place near Christchurch, New Zealand, 
Dr. A. Dendy picked up a small gelatinous object thrown up 
by the tide. On examination this object turned out to be a 
relatively large pelagic hydroid polyp. When found it was in 
a moribund condition, and the body was seen to be covered 
with a number of medusz in various stages of development. A 
full account of this remarkable organism is given by its dis- 
coverer in the July issue of the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 
scopical Science. The organism, which is endowed with free- 
swimming power, indicates an entirely new type of hydroid, 
for which the name VLelagohydra mirabilis is proposed. 
Structurally it comes nearest to the aberrant Corymorpha. 
“Tt is a very curious fact,” remarks the describer, “‘ that two 
distinct genera of tubularian hydroids agreeing in such striking 
anatomical peculiarities should have become adapted to two 
such different modes of life, the one (Pelagohydra) swimming 
freely in the open ocean, and the other (Corymorpha) rooting 
itselfin the sand at the bottom. . . . So far as I am aware, 
there is no other hydroid yet known which has become specially 
adapted to a pelagic mode of life.” 
A NEW popular edition of Mr. Oliver G. Pike’s pleasantly 
written book entitled ‘‘In Bird-Land with Field-Glass and 
Camera” has been published by Mr. T. Fisher Unwin. The 
book is illustrated by eighty-three reproductions of photographs 
of birds and nests taken direct from nature by the author. A 
notice of the original edition, with one of the illustrations, 
appeared in NATURE two years ago (vol. Ixii. p. 418). 
Mr. HENRY FROWDE will publish shortly the first instalment 
of the ‘‘ Tebtunis Papyri” found by Dr. B. P. Grenfell and Dr. 
A. S. Hunt at Umm el Baragat in the south of the Faytim and 
edited by them, with the assistance of Mr. J. Gilbart Smyly. 
This volume deals with the papyri in which the mummies of 
crocodiles were wrapped, and they date from the end of the 
second or the early part of the first century B.c. Mrs. Hearst 
supplied the funds for the excavations on behalf of the Uni- 
versity of California, and this volume inaugurates a series of 
publications by the University dealing with Egyptian archzo- 
logy. The book is being issued conjointly by the Egypt 
Exploration Fund to subscribers to the Graeco-Roman branch. 
IN the July number of the Monzteur Sctentzfique, Prof. Zinno 
describes a synthesis of tartaric acid suitable for the production 
of this substance on the large scale. The method consists in 
passing a current of carbonic acid gas under a pressure of about 
three atmospheres over potassium glycerate, the reaction being 
very similar to that of Kolbe by which sodium salicylate is pro- 
duced. Potassium glycerate is easily obtained by oxidising 
glycerin by means of lead dioxide or minium and nitric acid, 
and then adding to the boiling solution of the lead salt potassium 
carbonate. Numbers are given in the paper which show that 
cream of tartar can be produced by this method at a cost which 
should justify the commercial development of the process. 
THOSE who are interested in the sulphuric acid industry will 
find a noteworthy series of articles bearing upon the subject in 
the July number of the AMonzteur Scientifigue under the title 
“© Grande Industrie Chimique.” The first of these, by Messrs. 
Niedenfiihr and Luty, is entitled ‘‘ A comparative economic study 
of the manufacture of sulphuric acid by the anhydride and the 
modern lead chamber processes.” Much interesting matter is 
contained in the paper, and the authors arrive at the conclusion 
that at the present time the lead chamber processes, when con- 
ducted properly, are considerably more economical than the 
