March 12, 190SJ 



NA TURE 



445 



<l:iileiicns, and aflcr the recond those of llii- Uiazilinn 

 N. rid);iuayi, which exhibit a progressive degree of darli 

 marking on the breast. Later on the captive birds develop 

 dark markings unparalleled in any wild species. The 

 author then discusses the bearing of these facts on the 

 reco}<nition of geographical races and species of birds, con- 

 cluding, if we rightly understand his argument, that such 

 recognition need not on this account be abandoned. 



It is a matter of considerable interest to botanis;s that 

 a new edition of the " Botanist's Directory " is being pre- 

 pared by Mr. I. Dorller, of Vienna. The last (second) 

 edition was published in 1002, and owing to the changes 

 that take place in six years is much in need of revision. 

 The care bestowed on the work by the publishers, and the 

 general support accorded by botanists in all parts of the 

 world, render the book authentic and remarkably complete. 



Dr. S. .Sciionlam) contributes to the Records of the 

 .\lbany Museum, vol. ii., part ii., the diagnoses of new 

 species of .Moe, Crassula, Cotyledon, and Kalanchoe 

 collected in various South .\frican States. The most 

 singular is Crassvla Engleri, of which all the flowers 

 examined showed stamens only and no female organs, 

 furnishing evidence of dicecism. The same author is re- 

 sponsible for the first part of a list of flowering plants 

 found in the districts of .Albany and Bathurst, Cape Colony, 

 that is supplementary to an earlier enumeration in the 

 Record^. .\ new species of Gasteria is recorded. 



Tin-; physiology and morphology of some Californian 

 hepatics form the subject of a paper contributed, by Mr. 

 H. B. Humphreys to the Proceedings of the Washington 

 Academy of Sciences, vol. x. (January). The author 

 describes an endophytic fungus developing sclerotia that 

 was commonly found in the vegetative parts of plants of 

 Fossoiiibronia longisclti. Fungi were also found associated 

 with .liicMrii muUifida, Anthoceros Pearsoni, and Porella 

 holamicri. In all these cases there was every indication 

 that the fungus acted as a parasite. Another feature of 

 interest examined was the development of tubers by the 

 Fossombronia and two species of Anthoceros ; these serve 

 to tide the plants over the dry season. The author also 

 investigated the power of plants and spores to resist 

 desiccation. The use of Knop's solution for germinating 

 spores is noteworthy. 



.'\ MONOGRAPH on the stem of the flax plant, prepared 

 by Miss T. Tammes, has been published in the Katuiir- 

 Imudiyc Vcrhandcliiigi'ti I'an dc hoUandschc Maatschappij 

 dfr }Vftfiischappen, vol. vi., part iv. Certain problems 

 connected with flax culture, such as the usual practice of 

 importing seed from Russia, the influence of soil, dimen- 

 sions of the fibres, &c., are discussed. \Mth regard to 

 the origin of the cultivated plant, the author sees no 

 reason to connect it with Linuni angustifoliiim, Lintin' 

 liumilc, or any other wild species. It was found that the 

 length of the fibres, varying on the average between 

 25 mm. and 40 mm., is greatest in long and thick stems; 

 a maximum length of 120 mm. is recorded. The fibres 

 increase in length from the base of the stem upwards to 

 ' within a short distance below the fruit. 



The Carnegie Institution of Washington has issued an 

 elaborate research memoir, covering 144 pages, on high 

 steam-pressures in locomotive service, by Mr. W. F. M. 

 Cjoss. The results apply to practice involving single- 

 expansion locomotives using saturated steam. The results 

 of the tests show that the higher the pressure the smaller 

 the possible gain resulting from a given increment of 

 NO. 2002, VOL. 77] 



pressure. A simple locomotive using saturated steam will 

 render eflicient service when the running pressure is as low 

 as 160 lb. No argument is to be found in the economic 

 performance of the engine which can justify the use of 

 pressures greater than 200 lb. 



Five paUeontological contributions to the geology of 

 Western Australia are contained in Bulletin No. 27 of the 

 ecological Survey of that colony. They comprise notes on 

 plant remains from the Collie coalfield by Mr. R. 

 Etheridge, and on fossils from the same coalfield by Mr. 

 F. Chapman, two reports on fossils from the Irwin River 

 coalfield by Mr. R. Etheridge, and a report on the 

 foraminifera from a calcareous marlstone at Gingin by 

 Mr. W". Howchin. They add considerably to the know- 

 ledge of the organic remains of the rocks of U'estern 

 Australia, and two of the contributions throw light upon 

 the vexed question of the geological age of the Collie River 

 Coal-measures, and are of scientific interest in their relation 

 to the important question of the distribution of Glossopteris 

 flora. A re-examination of two leaf fragments, previously 

 thought possibly to belong to the Mesozoic genus Sageno- 

 ptcris, proves them to belong to the Paljeozoic genus 

 Glossopteris. 



The occurrence of " black rain " in Ireland on October 

 8-q, 1907, is reported by Dr. O. Boeddicker in Syinons's 

 Meteorological Magazine for February. On the afternoon 

 of October 8 a dark cloud approached Birr from the S.E., 

 and " black rain " was reported from several places. A 

 letter addressed by Lord Rosse to the Irish Times brought 

 a large number of replies, showing that the fall of soot 

 was greater to the S.E. and E. of Birr than to the N.W. ; 

 the deposit was considerable in Westmeath, Meath, and 

 Monaghan, and was also traced to the west of Mayo. The 

 evidence seems to show that the cloud originated in South 

 Wales, crossed the Irish Channel and the whole of Ireland, 

 finally disgorging its soot into the Atlantic Ocean. 



In del et Terre of January i, ^L J. Vincent gives an 

 account of the unmanned balloon ascent of July 25, 1907, 

 in which the extraordinary altitude of 26,557 metres was 

 reached. The tandem balloons left Uccle (near Brussels) 

 a few minutes before 7h. a.m. (G.M.T.), wind E.N.E., 

 temperature I2°.i C. The usual inversion was well shown ; 

 at 12,112 metres the fall in the thermometer, which read 

 — 57°.o C. ( — 7o°-6 F.), was arrested, and was succeeded 

 by a sudden rise of 6°-7 C. between that height and 

 13,591 metres. -An isothermal zone was then met with, 

 followed by another rise which slowly brought the read- 

 ing to — 42°.2 at about 8h. 6m. a.m., the time when the 

 upper balloon burst. The ventilation of the thermometer 

 was sufficient during the whole of the ascent. The 

 humidity began to decrease rapidly at 1016 metres, where 

 it was 72, at 1690 metres it was 22, and at 6109 metres it 

 had fallen to 9 ; it decreased but little after that, the lowest 

 reading being 6. .At the time of the inversion the wind 

 changed froin S.S.W. to W. ; then during the slight 

 inversion which followed up to 26s kilometres two currents 

 were met with, the lower from S.S.E. and the upper from 

 E. ; on descending, the S.S.E. current was replaced by a 

 southerly wind. 



A THOROUGH examination of the relative merits of the 

 radiomicrometer, the linear thermopile, the radiometer, 

 and the bolometer, for the measurement of radiation, has 

 been made by Mr. W. W. Coblentz, of the United States 

 Bureau of Standards, and is published in the January 

 number of the Bulletin. The conclusion arrived at is that 

 the bolometer is the quickest acting of the four, and should 



