584 

NATURE 
[APRIL 28, 1923 
The “ Zoological Record.” 
Wilt the exception of the “ Archiv fiir Natur- 
geschichte,’’ which is about nine years behind- 
hand and consequently of very little use, the “‘ Zoo- 
logical Record ”’ is at present the only bibliographical 
guide to zoological literature being published in 
the whole world. In the annual report which the 
Council of the Zoological Society will lay before the 
forthcoming annual general meeting it is recom- 
mended that the Society shall not undertake the 
printing of any further volumes after the issue of the 
one in hand unless it receives substantial assistance 
towards meeting the cost. It is estimated that the 
cost of preparation and printing is 1900/., towards 
which about 8o0o0/. is received from sales and sub- 
scriptions, leaving a net cost of 1100. . 
With the object of ascertaining the views of 
other societies interested in scientific zoology on the 
question, a meeting of representatives was held in 
the Board Room of the Natural History Museum on 
April 16. In the absence of Sir Sidney Harmer, 
the director, owing to a family bereavement, the 
chair was taken by Lord Rothschild, a Trustee of the 
Museum and himself an eminent zoologist. Among 
the institutions and societies represented were the 
following: Linnean Society, Geological Society, 
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 
Imperial Bureau of Entomology, British Ornitho- 
logists’ Union, British Ornithologists’ Club, Royal 
Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Wellcome 
Bureau of Scientific Research, Malacological Society, 
Conchological Society, Challenger Society, Ento- 
mological Society of London. Letters urging the 
need for the ‘ Zoological Record ”’ were received from 
representatives of the Tropical Diseases Bureau, 
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and the 
Universities of Cambridge, Durham, Birmingham, and 
Wales. The meeting was unanimously agreed as 
to the imperative need for the continuance of the 
Record, and authorised Sir Sidney Harmer to form a 
committee of those interested to confer with the 
Zoological Society as to the arrangements for carrying 
on the work. 


In response to a question as to the attitude of the 
Trustees of the British Museum, Lord Rothschild 
stated that they had ordered the following statement 
to be sent to the Zoological Soeiety for use in support 
of its appeal for assistance : 
“The Trustees of the British Museum recognise the 
great value of the services rendered to science by the © 
Zoological Society, which has for some years pro- 
duced the annual volumes of the ‘ Zoological Record.’ 
The indexing, year by year, of the names of newly- 
described genera and species, and of alterations in 
the names of others, may be regarded as an absolutely 
essential adjunct to work in this science. 
Although 
primarily of importance to systematists, the establish- 
ment of a correct nomenclature and the recording of 
new names are quite as necessary to workers in other 
branches of zoology, who are ultimately dependent 
on the systematists for the discrimination of the 
species with which they deal. With the accumulation 
of an enormous body of new facts, increasing in 
amount each year and much of it hidden away in 
the pages of publications which are difficult of access, 
the study of zoology is peculiarly dependent on having 
the record kept complete and up-to-date. The work 
of future naturalists would become almost impossible 
if each investigator had to make for himself a complete 
survey of the literature of his subject, published 
during many years without being indexed. The 
Trustees are accordingly of opinion that the continued 
publication of the ‘ Zoological Record ’ is indispen- 
sable to the progress of zoology. They have heard 
with regret that the Council of the Zoological Society 
is unable to undertake the sole financial responsi- 
bility for the appearance of the annual volume, and 
they have no hesitation in expressing their conviction 
that in these circumstances a strong effort should 
be made to obtain contributions from scientific 
societies and other bodies interested, with the view 
of relieving the Zoological Society of a part o1 
the burden which it is no longer willing to carry 
unaided.” 
Agricultural Progress in India. 
HE steady advance in the progress of scientific 
agriculture in India is reflected in a recent 
number of the Agricultural Journal for India (xvii., 
part vi.), in which a variety of experimental work 
is reported. D. R. Sethi describes successful at- 
tempts to reclaim large tracts of the desert area of | 
the Kapurthala State, illustrated by striking photo- 
graphs. Since 1918 about roo acres of the worst 
land in the district have been levelled and provided 
with an ample supply of irrigation water, free from 
alkali salts, by means of a large tube well equipped 
with power-driven machinery. The loose sandy 
soil was rendered more tenacious by green manuring 
with sann-hemp, which decays in about a fortnight 
after ploughing in and has a most marked action 
in binding the sand together, further improve- 
ment being effected by the introduction of clay 
carted from the low-lands. Good crops of maize, 
cotton, wheat, sugar-cane, cow-peas and other legumin- 
ous crops are now being grown on the land, and it 
is hoped to be able to render such reclamation an 
economic proposition. 
As the relative value of nitrogenous organic manures 
depends largely upon their nitrifiability, F. J. Plymen 
and D. V. Bal have tested a number of these on 
various typical soils of the Central Provinces and 
NO. 279!, VOL. 111] 

Behar, under varying conditions of climate and 
cultivation. The nitrogen of castor cake appears 
to be quickly available in most soils, the others 
| following in decreasing order of availability. Ground 
nut cake is exceptional in that it decomposes slowly 
in most soils, but very rapidly and effectively in 
black cotton soil. The nitrifying power of typical 
rice soil, where the cultivation is of an anaerobic 
or semi-anaerobic nature during a great part of the 
year, is much less than that of soils subject to open 
cultivation. : 
The phosphatic manuring of rice soil has received 
attention from M. R. Ramaswami Sivan in pot and field” 
~~... 
experiments with Trichinopoly phosphatic nodule. — 
This mineral contains too much lime, iron, and 
alumina to be manufactured economically into super- 
phosphate, but it appears to be a suitable manure 
for paddy lands when applied with decomposing 
organic matter. In pot cultures with rice the phos- 
phate alone was ineffective, but the addition of 
green manure brought the phosphate into action 
and resulted in a very considerable increase in crop. 
Nitrogen, as sulphate of ammonia, was a less efficient 
agent in rendering the phosphate available. The 
residual effect of this mineral phosphate seems to be 
considerable, but this point is still under investigation. 
| 
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