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January 20, 1923] 
NATURE 
83 

Most Swahilis have only a shadowy conception of 
what a whale is; to them it is a great snake which 
devours men and even boats. When God is angry 
with one of these beasts, he lets down a rope by 
which the monster is caught and drawn struggling 
to heaven. H. E. Horney. 
Mpapua, Tanganyika Territory, 
November 21. 

The Cause of Anticyclones. 
In Nature of December 23, 1922, p. 845, Mr. W. H. 
Dines points out that the main features of the pressure 
distribution of the atmosphere are of a permanent 
character, and, strange to say, the great areas of low 
pressure are over the cold poles, while the two belts 
of high pressure are on both sides of the equator 
in latitudes 30° or thereabouts; and, so far as the 
troposphere is concerned, the atmosphere is warm 
over areas of high pressure. Mr. Dines remarks, 
“ The difficulty should be faced and not ignored.” 
At the Royal Society, on Novémber 23 last, I had 
the pleasure of hearing a paper read by Lindemann 
and Dobson, who have succeeded in determining 
the temperature of the upper atmosphere (strato- 
sphere) by observations of the luminosity of meteors. 
hey estimate that at a height of 60 km. the tempera- 
ture of the air is in the neighbourhood of 300° Abs. 
In a paper communicated to the Phil. Mag. (vol. 
_ xxxv., March 1918, p. 233) I gave a diagram showing 
results the 
the probable temperature of the atmosphere between 
the poles and the equator up to heights of 70 km. 
This diagram was constructed by plotting the 
eae ascertained by sending up self-register- 
ing loons, and extrapolating for greater heights. 
At the poles the temperature arrived at was about 
285° Abs. at 60 km. Im the paper referred to I 
concluded that the stratosphere over the poles and 
equator is much hotter than it is over the high 
pressure belts at latitudes 30° N. and S. of the equator 
—20° C. or more—and suggested that the winds of 
the earth are very largely affected by these differences 
of temperature. 
The temperature values found by Lindemann and 
Dobson showed considerable variations when the 
results obtained by one falling star were compared 
with another. I would suggest that the several 
obtained be plotted on a diagram, the 
ordinates being temperatures at 60 km. and the 
abscisse barometric pressures. Knowing the time 
and position of each falling star, the pressures could 
be obtained from meteorological charts. My sugges- 
tion was that the upper atmosphere is hotter over 
low pressure areas than it is over high i areas. 
R. M. DEELEY. 
Tintagil, Kew Gardens Road, Kew, Surrey, 
December 27. 

Soil Reaction, Water Snails, and Liver Flukes. 
In Nature of November 25, p. 7or, Dr. Monica 
Taylor mentions that the distribution of Limnea 
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_ Sheep are known to be infected with liver flukes. 
_truncatula in S.W. Scotland is very local, being rare 
or altogether absent from certain districts in which 
In 
Such districts L. peregra is found infected with per- 
fectly developed cercarie of Fasciola hepatica. f ree 
active cercarie of the latter are also found. 
In Nature of December 23, p. 845, Mr. R. Hedger 
Wallace directs attention to the prevalence of liver 
fluke disease in the Swansea valley, where rough 
pastures have been limed. He asks, ‘‘ Does liming a 
wet pose pasture make it more congenial to the water 
sn ? ” 
NO. 2777, VOL. 111} 
For the past year, as occasion permitted, we have 
been engaged upon the study of the distribution of 
snail species in relation to the hydrogen ion concen- 
tration of the soil and water. A very striking limita- 
tion is found for certain species, and but few are 
found in the more acid habitats. Thus, over quartz- 
ite at PH4:°8, nothing but a few Hyalinias could be 
found, whereas around H7 numerous species exist, 
including L. truncatula, Fewer species are found at 
PH8, but those that do are often in great numbers, 
Helicella caperata and more especially H. virgata. 
Upland peat soil is usually close to pH4:6, and rough 
pastures may be between that and ~H5-4 or some- 
what over, so it seems highly probable that liming 
such land, by bringing it to the neighbourhood of 
~H7, does make the conditions more favourable for 
the snails concerned in the transmission of the disease. 
In cases where certain sheep in a flock are infected, 
it would seem advisable to drive the flock to the most 
acid soil available, provided it is strongly acid, for in 
such a site the infected sheep will not be able to infect 
others, and so the disease may be stamped out or 
reduced in amount. 
Where the neutral or slightly acid soil which appears 
to favour the occurrence of liver fluke disease is 
wanting, transference to chalk or limestone soil, at 
about PH8, may perhaps be equally effective ; but it 
must be remembered that, owing to leaching by rain, 
the steep places in such districts may be less alkaline, 
or even acid. 
It is very desirable that the limits of distribution of 
L. truncatula and L. peregra should be defined in 
relation to the reaction of the soil and water, and the 
writers would be glad to receive samples of soil from 
infected and uninfected localities. 
The distribution of snails in relation to soil reaction 
is similar to that of plants, and it may be added that 
there is a widespread belief in the west of Ireland that 
liver fluke disease is caused by eating a certain plant 
found in fields where the disease has been known to 
occur. The Gaelic name of the plant was mentioned 
to one of us, but, unfortunately, it has been forgotten. 
The distribution of the plant may serve as a guide to 
the distribution of the snails in question. 
W. R. G, Arkins. 
M. V. LEBourR. 
Marine Biological Laboratory, Plymouth, 
: December 28. 

Amber and the Dammar of Living Bees. 
In the issue of NATURE for June 3, 1922 (vol. 109, 
Ke 713), a letter is published from Prof. T. D. A. 
ckerell, of the University of Colorado, on “ Fossils 
in Burmese Amber.’’ This refers mainly to amber 
obtained from the amber mines in the Hukong 
Valley, which I visited in February 1921. In that 
letter Prof. Cockerell, after investigating the insects 
reserved in specimens of the amber, agrees with me 
in placing the age of the amber-bearing beds as the 
earlier part of the middle Eocene, there being no 
doubt that the Nummulites found by me are actually 
Nummulites biaritzensis d’Arch. 
In the second part of his letter, however, Prof. 
Cockerell introduces a new problem. In addition 
to the specimens from the Hukong Valley amber 
mines, he mentions a number of beads of extremely 
ale and pellucid amber which he afterwards received 
rom Mr. R. C. J. Swinhoe, of Mandalay. These 
contained well-preserved insects all different from 
those identified in the amber from the Hukong 
Valley mines. Mr. Swinhoe was uncertain whether 
these beads were Burmese amber or whether they 
had been imported from China. Prof. Cockerell, after 
