786 
NATURE 
[JUNE 9, 1923 

Research Items. 
STEATOPYGOUS FIGURES FOUND IN FRANCE.— 
Female figures with that remarkable conformation 
known as steatopygous have been found in southern 
Europe from time to time, and have been connected 
with the peculiar build of Bushmen-Hottentot 
women. A figure of this kind discovered at Lespugue, 
Haute-Garonne, is described by Dr. René de Saint- 
Peérier in L’ Anthropologie, vol. xxxii. No. 5-6, with 
a useful list of references to other figures of the same 
kind. 
BaLKAN EMBROIDERY PATTERNS.—In the May 
issue of Man Miss Edith Durham publishes a series 
of interesting embroidery patterns from the Balkan 
Peninsula. Those worked in cross-stitch are generally 
used by the Slav-speaking peoples, those in chain- 
stitch by the Albanians. 
embroidery was used lavishly on the garments of 
both men and women. The superiority of the 
Albanian as a designer is marked in this series. 
He is the artist of the Balkans, and the curvilinear 
patterns run through the inlaid metal work and 
carving, which is now fast dying out. He is usually 
his own silversmith, and the rough ornaments which 
he makes are extraordinarily like those found at 
Glasinatz, which include little doves pierced to wear 
as amulets. 
““ SHEEP-TRACKS '’ ON GRAssy SLOPES,—Close-set 
grassy ridges running parallel along the surface of 
a bank are familiar in many countries, and almost 
everywhere the popular explanation of their presence 
is that they are due to the traffic of sheep. Hilmar 
dum, of the Danish Geological Survey, has recently 
made a study of their appearance and development 
in the Feerée Isles and in Denmark, and finally disposes 
of the myth of their zoological origin (Danmarks 
geolog. Undersfg., Rek. iv. Bd. 1). He finds that 
the formation of the ridges, which he names “‘ terra- 
cettes,’’ originates in a settling of the loose earth on 
an unstable slope into a position of greater stability. 
At first a series of horizontal cracks appears in the 
turf covering a steep slope, then the narrow turf 
section between two cracks sinks slightly, turning 
at the same time about a horizontal axis, so that its 
surface comes to rest at an inclination rather less 
steep than that of the slope as a whole. The ridges, 
once begun, increase in definiteness, owing to the 
filtering out by the grassy coating and final settling 
of soil particles washed down by rain. The whole 
process is of a superficial character and is entirely 
a geological phenomenon. 
THE PopuLaTION oF INDIA.—In anticipation of 
the report on the Indian Census of 1921, Mr. J. T. 
Marten, Census Commissioner, gave an interesting 
review of the results in a lecture delivered before the 
Royal Society of Arts and published in the Society’s 
Journal of April 6. The economical conditions of 
the country suffered naturally from the effects of the 
War, and the difficulties attending the enumeration 
were increased by the failure of discipline among the 
people resulting from political unrest. The most 
interesting departure on this occasion was the attempt 
to extend the census of industries, but the weakness 
of the Industrial Department has made the result 
somewhat disappointing. Mr. Marten remarks: “ We 
have a population with very considerable natural 
capabilities of increase. That increase is checked by 
ignorance of and indifference to maternal and infant 
welfare, by occasional famines and by epidemics, 
such as malaria, plague, and influenza. We endeavour 
year by year to minimise the effect of these checks. 
NO. 2797, VOL. 111] 
Up till very recent days 
| not be entirely restricted to the colloidal field. E 

What if our endeavour should be successful? Can 
India support a considerable increase of population 
in the future under any conditions that seem likely to 
arise ? If not, which is to leadethe way to economy, 
the birth-rate or the death-rate, and will the other 
follow ? In this connexion we have made some 
tentative efforts to collect in some provinces, where 
circumstances seemed most suitable, on special 
schedules, some statistics of the size and sex constitu- 
tion of families in different social strata, with a view 
to obtaining information as to the normal fertility of 
married couples. The attempt is beset with diffi- 
culties.” 
CHROMOSOMES IN Man.—The number of chromo- 
somes in man has long been uncertain. In 1914 
von Winiwarter published the most trustworthy 
account, finding 47 chromosomes in male germ cells 
and inferring 48 in the female. Other investigators 
found 24, and at one time it appeared that this 
half number was characteristic of the negro. Dr. 
T. S. Painter (Journ. Exptl. Zool. vol. 37, p. 29) 
has recently published a paper which probably 
settles the matter. He finds 48 chromosomes in 
both the white man and the negro. The reports 
of 24 were probably due. to clumping of the chromo- 
some pairs before fixation. Dr. Painter finds that ” 
the 48 chromosomes include an. X-Y pair of sex- 
chromosomes. The Y-chromosome is very smal] and 
was probably overlooked by von Winiwarter. Painter 
also finds giant spermatogonial cells with larger 
nuclei and twice as many chromosomes (approxi- 
mately 96). The occurrence of giant spermatozoa 
has long been known. If they are functional then 
triploid individuals might arise, and it is pointed 
out that some of these with new combinations of 
sex-chromosomes might be intersexes or herma- 
phrodites, such as have been shown to occur in a 
similar way in Drosophila. 
MINERAL CONSTITUTION OF SOIL-TYPES.—James 
Hendrick and George Newlands (Journ. Agric. 
Science, 1923, p. 1) have examined the mineral — 
particles constituting the more sandy grades separated 
from the ‘‘ fine earth’’ of a number of British soils, 
dealing with the material finer than 3 mm. in diameter, 
They find that the separation of different minerals is 
practically impossible for grades below the “ fine 
sand ’”’ of English workers—that is, finer than 0°04 
mm., a figure that should have been stated. The 
coarser grades, however, can be divided mechanically, 
magnetically, and microscopically, into an “ ortho- 
clase group,” including all the felspars, a “ quartz 
group,’”’ and a “‘ ferrosilicate group.’”” A number of 
minerals, such as zircon, garnet, and tourmaline, that 
are ‘“‘accessory’’ in the parent rocks appear in 
“surprising amount’”’ in the soils, owing to their 
resistance to abrasion and decay. A greater surprise 
is the constant record of granular hematite, side by 
side with scaly yellow limonite. The authors hope 
that such investigations may be of service as showing 
the reserve of bases present in the silicate particles. 
The fresh state, however, of many of the felspars 
suggests that the agriculturist has little to gain from 
the coarser grades, apart from their influence on soil- 
texture, unless, as is quite possible, chemical exchanges 
take place on the surfaces of the grains. It is well, 
indeed, that the study of adsorptive reactions should — 
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Lanp MOLLUSCA OF THE SOUTH-WESTERN UNITED 
Srates.—In the year 1905 Dr. H. A. Pilsbry 
published the first of a series of memoirs on the 
“ Mollusca of the South-western States.’ Later instal- 
