i8o 



NA TURE 



[December 26, 1907 



give the number of patients at a given time or during a 

 given period. Taking the figures for tainted stocks only 

 (pedigrees of asylum patients), 2i per cent, of the offspring 

 were insane when both parents were sane, 24 per cent, 

 when one parent was insane, and 50 per cent, when both 

 parents were insane, the last figure being, however, some- 

 what doubtful, as it is based on very few cases. There 

 does not appear to be any lack of fertility in the tainted 

 stocks, the mean size of family in 331 families containing 

 at least one insane member being 5-97 ; eighty-seven 

 matings in which one parent was insane gave a mean of 

 5- 18 children, matings which were not necessarily com- 

 pleted. 



Mr. T. Sheppard, the curator of the Hull Museum, 

 continues his useful work of issuing bulletins at the cost 

 of one penny each, describing the collections under his 

 charge. The most recent issues are devoted to " Notes 

 on the more Important Discoveries in East Yorkshire," 

 and to an account of a British chariot burial discovered 

 during the present year at Hunmanby, in the same district. 

 In the first pamphlet he has collected records of the most 

 notable discoveries, adding useful references to the publica- 

 tions in which they are described. Many valuable relics 

 have passed into other museums or into the hands of 

 private collectors, while several have altogether dis- 

 appeared. Now that a suitable building has been provided, 

 the collections are rapidly increasing. The British chariot 

 burial at Hunmanby presents many features of interest. 

 The bottom of the grave was occupied by a great wooden 

 shield, apparently of oak, ornamented with thin plates of 

 bronze. The greater part of the woodwork was, un- 

 fortunately, destroyed in the landslip which directed atten- 

 tion to the interment. The bones were in a state of decay,, 

 but the recovery of two teeth of a horse indicates that the 

 animal was buried with its master. Considerable portions 

 of the chariot were recovered ; and while in other York- 

 shire burials of this class the bridle-bit is usually of iron 

 coated with bronze, here it is of bronze throughout. The 

 date of the interment is fixed in the first or second 

 century B.C. In more than seven hundred early British 

 burial mounds excavated by Canon Greenwell, Mr. 

 Mortimer, and others, only about half-a-dozen chariot 

 burials were discovered. The " find " at Hunmanby is 

 thus of considerable archaeological importance. 



The first appendix to the Ke-w BtiUetiii for 1908, being 

 the list of seeds of hardy herbaceous plants and of trees 

 and shrubs available for exchange with botanic gardens 

 and correspondents of Kew, has been received. 



Pkof. W. Trelease contributes to the annual report 

 (No. 18) of the Missouri Botanical Garden a note on the 

 genus Yucca, supplementing his monograph published in 

 a former report (No. 13). Under the group of Sarcoyucca 

 the author revises the species allied to Yucca valida, 

 making a new species. Yucca decipiens, and indicates their 

 distribution on a map. Characteristic illustrations of Yucca 

 periculosa, and a new species, Yucca Endlichiana, are 

 given. The latter, sent under the vernacular name of 

 " pitilla," is said to yield good fibre; it is acaulescent, 

 and bears very small, often dark, flowers. 



An account of the chemical examination, by Mr. E. A. 

 Mann and Dr. W. H. Ince, of certain West Australian 

 poison plants is published in the progress reports issued 

 as two pamphlets by the Department of Agriculture for the 

 colony. About fifty poisonous plants are said to occur in 

 the State, of which several belonging to the genera Gastro- 

 lobium and O.xylobium are regarded as the most general 

 sources of stock poisoning. One species of each of these 



NO. 1 99 1, VOL. yyl 



genera was examined, and from each a strongly toxic 

 alkaloid was isolated. The authors also attempted to find 

 an antidote ; this, so far as experiments go, is furnished 

 by a preparation of which permanganate of potash is the 

 important constituent. 



In the course of investigations into the nature of Para 

 rubber. Dr. D. Spence was led to examine the constituent, 

 always present, that is insoluble in choloroform or similar 

 solvents. Proceeding from the known occurrence of protein 

 substances in the 'atex, he comes to the conclusion that 

 the insoluble portion is a protein giving a strong xantho- 

 proteic reaction, and comments on the peculiar fibrous 

 structure shown markedly in sections stained with silver 

 nitrate. This conclusion raises the practical question 

 whether the presence of this insoluble constituent in the 

 latex does not exercise an important physical function in 

 the raw product. The paper is published by the Liverpool 

 Institute of Commercial Research in the Tropics as 

 journal reprint No. 13. 



The Journal of the Department of Agriculture of South 

 Australia for October contains an account of the law 

 relating to certain specified noxious weeds, with popular 

 descriptions of them. Any landowner suffering these weeds 

 to grow on his land, or on the adjoining roadsides, is 

 liable to severe penalties. Should the District Council not 

 enforce the law — and it appears this sometimes happens — 

 the Commissioner of Crown Lands is authorised to have 

 the weeds destroyed, and recover the cost from the council. 



The October numbers of the Transvaal Agricultural 

 Journal and of the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural 

 journal have recently come to hand. The former contains 

 an excellent article by Mr. F. B. Smith on agricultural 

 education and research. Mr. Smith's department has been 

 so successful in dealing with agricultural problems, and 

 has appealed so strongly to the Boer farmer, that his plea 

 for a sound and comprehensive system of agricultural 

 education in the Transvaal is not likely to pass unheeded. 

 There are also a number of articles dealing with practical 

 farming matters, and some analyses of Transvaal fodder 

 crops. The Cape of Good Hope has not the advantage of 

 a 'large agricultural department, and its journal is con- 

 sequently smaller. Some experiments are described by 

 Prof. IKierden in which the rale of growth of ostrich 

 feathers was found to be if inches per week. 



Worcestershire fruit growers suffer a great deal from 

 the attacks of the apple sucker (Psylla mali), and arrange- 

 ments were therefore made last year for Mr. Kenneth G. 

 Furley, acting under the supervision of Mr. F. V. Theo- 

 bald, to visit certain districts and carry out spraying experi- 

 ments. The results are now issued as a report by the 

 Worcestershire Education Committee. Very few eggs were 

 found on the trees at the beginning of October, though 

 the winged " Psylla " were flying about in great numbers; 

 but about the middle of the month the eggs were thick 

 on the trees, especially on the spurs. The dates of hatch- 

 ing varied; some came out on .'\pril 3, while others in the 

 same orchard only appeared on April 10 ; the blossom 

 and leaf buds were then attacked. Of the various washes 

 tried, the most effective was the mixture of lime and salt 

 recommended by Mr. Howard Chapman. The experiments 

 were evidently well carried out, and the example of the 

 Worcestershire Education Committee might well be 

 followed by others. Considering the enormous losses 

 caused to fruit and hop growers and gardeners generally 

 by insect or fungoid pests, and the great amount of money 

 spent on washes, it is surprising how little systematic work 

 on the subject is done in England. 



