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NATURE 
[AucusT 21, 1902 
controlling authority of sufficient independence might be obtained 
by a modification of the present departmental arrangements in 
each of the three countries of the kingdom ; but a single depart- 
ment to have charge of all questions connected with salmon- 
fishing in both seas and rivers is what is really wanted. Whether, 
however, the control be triple, dual, or single, it is essential 
that the holder of the office should himself be an expert on 
matters connected with salmon and salmon-fishing, and that his 
time should not be frittered away by attention to official details. 
The second section of the report deals with the life-history of 
the salmon, which is set forth in considerable detail. The 
Commissioners point out many deficiencies in our knowledge of 
this subject, such as whether fish entering rivers at different 
seasons of the year frequent particular branches or parts of the 
main river at spawning time. Information is likewise much 
needed with regard to the migration of kelts, and still more so 
concerning the history of the fish, both in its immature and 
adult condition, during its sojourn in the ocean. Experiments 
have shown that while a certain number of fish return to the 
rivers they left, others seek fresh spawning-grounds ; and it will 
be obvious that fuller information on this point is of prime | 
importance before steps are taken for the improvement of the 
fishery in any given district. In regard to the general idea of 
the deterioration of salmon-fisheries, the Coinmissioners are 
extremely cautious, stating that ‘‘it is useless to attempt to 
submit the popular belief that there has been a deterioration to 
any severe test. We can only accept the fact that such belief 
exists.” 
THE parliamentary Blue-book just issued on the working 
and expenditure of the British Museum for the past year shows 
that important additions have been made to the natural history 
collections at South Kensington, and considerable improvements 
effected in regard to the arrangement of the specimens exhibited 
to the public at that branch. It is satisfactory to learn that, in 
cooperation with the Trustees, the Egyptian Government 
vigorously carried on the survey of the fishes of the Nile during 
the year, nearly 700 miles of the river having been examined, 
resulting in the acquisition of several new generic and specific 
types. In the spring of 1901 Dr. Smith Woodward was dis- 
patched by the Trustees to explore the well-known mammaliferous 
beds of Pikermi, Attica, with the result that a fine series of remains 
from this horizon (previously very poorly represented in the 
collection) was acquired for the Museum. During a visit made 
to the Fayum district of Egypt in company with Mr. Beadnell, 
of the Geological Survey of Egypt, Dr. Andrews was fortunate 
enough to be the joint-discoverer of a hitherto unknown Tertiary 
vertebrate fauna of remarkable interest. Collections were also 
made under the auspices of the Trustees in Tripoli. In the 
Museum itself a section of economic zoology has been established. 
Among other acquisitions, the collection has been enriched 
by the magnificent series of birds’ eggs bequeathed by the 
late Mr. Crowley, as well as by the gift of Lord Walsing- 
ham’s unrivalled cabinet of micro- Lepidoptera and library per- 
taining to the same. 
Walter Rothschild is likewise a notable addition, which is 
exhibited in a case (also the gift of the same benefactor) with 
the Antarctic seals presented by Sir G. Newnes. The series of 
domesticated animals has been largely increased ; and much pro- 
gress has been made in arranging and mounting the collection of 
recent mammals and birds according to modern ideas. The insect 
collection—both in the public galleries and in the study rooms— 
has likewise claimed a large share of attention on the part of 
the staff. Indeed, the whole Natural History Branch of the 
Museum is to be congratulated on a good record of progress. 
THREE pamphlets for the information of the islanders have 
recently been published by the Imperial Department of Agri- 
NO. 1712, VOL. 66] 
The elephant-seal presented by Mr. | 
culture for the West Indies. No. 14, by Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy, 
deals with ‘‘ Screw Worm in Cattle at St. Lucia.” In October 
last it was reported to the Department that a ‘‘ fly maggot” 
was causing injury to cattle in the island. Mr. Hudson, the 
agricultural instructor, made careful observations of the habits 
of the fly and the extent of the injuries it inflicted, and Mr. 
Maxwell-Lefroy, on the suggestion of the administrator, visited 
St. Lucia to investigate the matter personally. The fly proved 
to be the ‘‘screw worm” of the southern United States, and 
also widely distributed in the West Indies. The pamphlet is 
devoted to the life-history of the worm, its mode of attack, the 
treatment of the wounds, prevention, &c. No. 15 is entitled 
“Plain Talk to Small Owners at Montserrat,” being the sub- 
stance of anaddress to the small cultivators in the island by Mr. 
Watkins, the Commissioner of Montserrat. In a small compass 
much information is conveyed in simple language on the value 
of the soil, manuring, the cultivation of foodstuffs for home 
consumption and for export, the regulation of the quality 
of fruit for exportation, bee-keeping and other subjects. 
No. 16 is by the same authority, ‘‘ Hints on Onion Culti- 
vation,” also an address to the small cultivators of Mont- 
serrat. Based on experiments carried on during the past two 
years on the island, the prospects of the onion industry are con- 
sidered to be distinctly promising, and this little brochure of 
twenty-five pages, which gives the essential particulars at every 
stage, from the selection of soil and seed to harvesting, packing 
and shipping, should prove invaluable, not only to the onion 
growers of Montserrat, but also to those of the other islands 
where the industry is being introduced. 
For several years past explorations have been carried on by 
the Geological Survey of Canada in the North-West Territory, 
chiefly in the Belly River formation of Assiniboia and Alberta. 
This formation underlies the Fox Hills-Ft. Pierre Group, and 
is, therefore, Mid-Cretaceous, as distinguished from the Upper 
Cretaceous Laramie of Wyoming and Colorado, which overlies 
these marine beds. It thus enables an examination to be made 
of the characters of the Mid-Cretaceous land fauna of North 
America. The fossils have been collected by Mr. Lawrence M. 
Lambe, who has also prepared and figured them. The manu- 
script report upon this collection, entitled ‘‘ On Vertebrata of 
the Mid-Cretaceous of the North-West Territory,” has just been 
completed under the direction of Prof. Osborn. It includes two 
parts, the first a general introduction entitled ‘‘ Distinctive 
Characters of the Mid-Cretaceous Fauna,” by Prof. Osborn, 
the second entitled ‘‘ New Genera and Species from the Belly 
River Series, Mid-Cretaceous,” by Mr. Lambe. It will be 
illustrated by twenty-one plates and a large number of text 
figures, and will appear from the press of the Canadian Geo- 
logical Survey early in the autumn.’ The comparison of these 
Belly River Dinosaurs, especially the Iguanodonts and horned 
Dinosaurs or Ceratopsia, with those of Montana appears to 
demonstrate that a part at least of the Montana fauna is con- 
temporaneous with the Belly River and represents an older 
horizon than the Laramie of Wyoming described by Marsh. 
The Belly River contains some of the older Jurassic families, 
which, so far as known, are wanting in the Laramie. The 
Montana fauna has hitherto been regarded as contemporaneous 
with the Wyoming and Colorado Laramie fauna, but there do 
not appear to be adequate grounds for this opinion in the 
vertebrates now known. 
In the April number of the Journal of Physical Chemistry 
is a paper by Mr. J. E. Mills in which several interesting appli- 
cations of the kinetic theory of gases are made. By considering 
the transition from the liquid to the gaseous state in a particular 
way, an equation is obtained in which all the quantities 
| are measurable, and it affords an experimental test of the 
| 
