January 2, 1908J 



NA TURE 



-05 



It has long been a matter of common knowledge that 

 squirrels aid the forester by burying nuts, of which some 

 sprout and ultimately develop into trees, but that he is 

 also indebted to earthworms for aid of a similar nature 

 is claimed by Mr. E. A. Andrews in the November (1907) 

 number of the American Xaturatist to be a new discovery. 

 In America it appears that the dry, flat fruits of the 

 silver-maple arc frequently employed by worms to plug 

 the apertures of their burrows, in the fashion long since 

 described by Darwin. In districts too dry for them to 

 germinate under ordinary conditions, a certain proportion 

 of maple-seeds thus drawn into their holes by the worms 

 were found to sprout and grow into seedlings, and 

 although these ultimately perished under the influence of 

 the late summer drought, the author is of opinion that 

 under less unfavourable conditions a certain number would 

 survive. Worms, he concludes, " probably more than 

 amend, by planting trees, the damage with which they 

 are credited through destroying seedlings in gardens." 



Early in 1906 Prof. W. B. Benham communicated lo 

 N.ATURE (vol. Ix.xiii., p. 559) a note to the effect that the 

 doubts expressed a short time previously with regard to 

 the alleged carnivorous habits of the kea were not justified 

 by the facts. Since that date he has been endeavouring to 

 obtain more definite information on the subject, and the 

 results of his investigation are published in the Trans- 

 actions of the New Zealand Institute. A second investi- 

 gator, Mr. G. R. Marriner, of Canterbury College, has 

 likewise been pursuing inquiries, apparently independently, 

 on the same subject, a summary of which is also published 

 in the same volume. Both writers are in accord in re- 

 garding the accusation against the kea of worrying sheep 

 for the sake of feeding on their flesh as now fully proved, 

 and both likewise agree that the prime object of attack is 

 not the kidneys and kidney-fat. Mr. Marriner, in addi- 

 tion, records some very interesting facts concerning the 

 breeding-habits of this bird, notably that the eggs are laid 

 and the young reared in mid-winter at an elevation of 

 between three and four thousand feet above sea-level, where 

 the winter cold is intense. 



Rats, in connection with plague, form the subject of a 

 pamphlet and two articles recently published in India. In 

 the first number of Memoirs of the Indian Museum, Dr. 

 \V. C. Hossack gives an account of the species of rats 

 found in Calcutta, illustrated with several coloured and 

 other plates, and a key to their identification. The so- 

 called Indian mole-rat {Xesocia bengalensis) appears to be 

 the species most abundant in the Indian metropolis, where 

 it is probably the one most concerned in the dissemination 

 of plague, as it is extremely common in grain-stores, 

 which are notorious as being centres whence the disease 

 has spread. Originally a field-hunting, grain-storing 

 species, it has in Calcutta become a parasitic inhabitant of 

 stables, grain-stores, &c. " Aids to the Identification of 

 Rats connected w-ith Plague " forms the subject of a 

 pamphlet, by the same author, published by the trustees 

 of the Indian Museums, and printed at the Pioneer Press, 

 .•Mlahabad. Finally, to the third part of another new zoo- 

 logical journal — Records of the Indian Museum — Captain 

 C. A. Gourlay contributes a note on the rats of Dacca, 

 eastern Bengal, where the black rat {Miis ratlus) is the 

 most abundant species. 



No. 18 of the Bulletin biologique (Dorpat) contains an 

 editorial article on the need for exhibitions devoted to 

 modern biological technique. It is pointed out that the 

 NO. 1992, VOL. 77] 



progress of biological science is now so dependent upon 

 improvements in technique, while the methods in use are 

 so varied and elaborate, and demand an acquaintance with 

 so many branches of science, that without exhibitions of 

 this nature it is almost impossible for workers to keep 

 thoroughly abreast of the times, or to find out in what 

 direction improvements are required. Histology, for 

 example, cannot advance without the aid of chemistry, 

 while the physiologist is largely dependent upon the aid 

 of the mechanician. Similarly, there is a close connection 

 between the study of the tissues and minute structure of 

 animals and optics. It is recommended that an exhibition 

 of this nature should be divided into the following main 

 sections : — (i) methods of collection ; (2) the care of living 

 animals and plants; (3) preservation of specimens; 

 (4). transport of living organisms ; (5) anatomical methods ; 

 (6) methods of microscopic work ; (7) methods of studying 

 development ; (8) methods of chemical investigation of 

 animal structures ; (9) physiological research ; (10) the 

 methods of bacteriological investigation; (11) methods of 

 illustration; (12) modelling; (13) museum installation and 

 arrangement. 



To the Times of December 26, 1907, Sir T. Digby Pigott 

 contributes further information concerning the luminous 

 owl recently seen in Norfolk, from which it appears that 

 the phenomenon was observed by several independent 

 witnesses. A letter from a Welsh fisherman is quoted to 

 the efl'ect that on the night of December 12, 1907, the 

 woollen garments of the writer and his companions were 

 observed to be luminous, and that such phenomena have 

 long been known is demonstrated by an extract from a 

 work published in London in 1704. A very important 

 piece of evidence appeared in the issue of the Times of 

 the same date, with the signature of " A Country 

 Teacher." In this the writer states that in February, 

 1890, he first noticed a luminous appearance in a pair of 

 barn-owls, which then inhabited a farm-building near his 

 school, in Somersetshire. " I saw the luminosity several 

 times," he writes, " but it was not so bright as Sir Digby 

 Pigott's correspondent observed, and usually lasted only 

 for a short time, though I could see the birds flying about 

 after the luminous gleam had ceased. I never saw both 

 birds luminous at the same time, and I am unable to say 

 whether the male or female, or both, possessed this power. 

 ... I thought the luminosity might be connected with 

 the electrical condition of the atmosphere, but though it 

 was usually brightest and lasted longest when the elec- 

 trical potentiality of the atmosphere was highest, it was 

 not always so. ... I could observe nothing to indicate 

 that the luminosity was under the control of the owl." 

 The writer also mentions that the phenomenon was per- 

 fectly familiar to the children in his school, who spoke of 

 the bird as a " glim uUert." 



The importance of cacao cultivation in Grenada is evident 

 from the report for 1906-7 of Mr. R. D. .'\nstead, super- 

 intendent of the botanic station. Plots have been estab- 

 lished in five districts with the view of instructing peasant 

 proprietors, and some of the planters have laid out large 

 experimental areas on their estates for carrying out 

 manurial tests. Seedling sugar-canes, of which the variety 

 D. 95 was distributed, cacao, coffee, and bananas were the 

 economic plants chiefly in demand, also seeds of Castilloa 

 and Hevea. A feature of the report is the inclusion of 

 several photographs. The collection of palms, amounting 

 to eighty named species, contains many valuable kinds foj 

 the seeds of which there is a brisk demand. 



