NA TURE 



[March 26, 1908 



RUSSIAN SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS. 



IN the Journal of the Imperial Russian Geographical 

 Society, vol. xlii., parts ii. and iii., Mr. V. U. 

 Grigorieff writes on the agricultural position of the natives 

 of the Minusin country, Yenisei government. The author 

 carefully examines the economic and legal relations of 

 Russian colonists and aborigines, and considers that agri- 

 cultural prospects are good, but would be improved by the 

 introduction of scientific methods. The Tartar natives of 

 Minusin have changed but little during centuries of inter- 

 course with Russians, and this persistence of racial 

 characteristics and habits contradicts the opinion of some 

 investigators that the natives will disappear unless 

 Russified. It is interesting to note that cattle-rearing is 

 carried on best on the borders of steppe and forest land, 

 and is not so satisfactory if conducted exclusively in the 

 steppe or the forest. 



Mr. A. V. Koltshak describes the last expedition in 

 search of Baron Toll to Bennett Island, which was fitted 

 out by the Academy of Sciences. The Baron left the 

 vessel Da-tm in May, 1902, with the intention of explor- 

 ing the island. The search expedition came across some 

 notes by the Baron, indicating the date of his departure 

 for the south. Thorough search failed to reveal fresh 

 traces, and there appears to be no doubt that the names 

 of Baron Toll and his party have to be added to the long 

 roll of explorers who, since Sir John Franklin, have 

 perished in Arctic regions in the cause of science. Mr. 

 K. N. Tultshinsky writes on a commercial journey to 

 Bering Straits, during which he witnessed mining opera- 

 tions in Alaska. Statistics of means of communication in 

 Russia are contributed by Mr. I. F. Borkovsky. 



The various Tartar tribes along the Volga and the con- 

 ditions of their education have been studied by Mme. S. V. 

 Tshitsherin, who worked among them during the famine 

 of 1899. She describes the " Ilminsky " system of educa- 

 tion, the work of an enlightened, patriotic Russian and 

 Slavophil, N. I. Ilminsky, who spent many years among 

 the heathen tribes, winning their love and esteem by 

 sympathy and knowledge of their languages and con- 

 ditions, and will be remembered for his philanthropic 

 efforts to introduce Russian civilisation. Statistics of 

 population and interesting illustrations accompany this 

 article. 



An important contribution, by Mr. A. I. Voieikoff, bears 

 the comprehensive title of " Distribution of Populations of 

 the Earth in Dependence upon Natural Conditions and the 

 Activity of Man," with numerous statistics and charts. 

 It is tempting to dwell on Mr. \'oieikoff's facts and figures 

 at great length. In Siberia, Turkestan, and the Caucasus 

 there are opportunities and land enough to sustain 

 millions if the necessary knowledge and capital were 

 applied. Of countries of which details of population are 

 published, New Zealand possesses the smallest mortality, 

 and this may be accounted for by its agricultural people 

 living in plenty, the small number of children, and the 

 fact that the mothers do not labour in the field ; but New 

 Zealand is still in its jmmigration stage, and there are 

 few old men as compared with Ontario and Australia, 

 where the process of colonisation began earlier. Paucity 

 of births in Australia is a serious question. Such 

 Tiindrances to population as plagues, artificial feeding of 

 infants, and alcoholism are discussed, and two conclusions 

 arrived at are worth noting : — (i) degeneration undoubtedly 

 exists among the more cultured classes of the Russian 

 nation and in the manufacturing population ; (2) alcoholism 

 Is less prevalent among the Russian people than among 

 other nations of Europe and their colonies. Alcoholism, 

 i.e. chronic poisoning by alcohol through daily — though 

 moderate — use of vodka or beer, must be distinguished 

 from drunkenness. Scarcely a question is left untouched, 

 and the author's studies range over ancient and modern 

 history, medical and registrars' reports, and the trade 

 statistics of many countries. 



Vol. xxxvi., part ii., of the Proceedings of the Imperial 

 Society of Naturalists of St. Petersburg contains a vast 

 amount of important and interesting material. Prof. 

 N. E. Wedenskv contributes an obituarv notice, with a 

 portr.-xit and account of the work, of Prof. I. M. 

 Setchenoff, an eminent phvsiologist, pupil of Du Bois 

 Reymnnd, Funke, lAuKvig.'and Helmholtz, founder and 

 NO. 2004, vni . 77] 



teacher in the Russian physiological school, and a leading 

 authority on the brain and nerves. With the death of 

 this man of science Russia lost a distinguished son. A 

 list of his writings on medical and chemical subjects 

 follows. An exhaustive study of fresh-water Rhizopoda 

 is given by Mr. S. Avcrintseff, who begins with the 

 physical properties of protoplasm and passes to the struc- 

 ture of shells. A bibliography, lists of species, and hand- 

 some plates are given. The first section is taken up with 

 the general morphology and physiology of Rhizopoda, the 

 si'tond is devoted to A', testacea, and a further part on 

 R. Hilda is promised. 



The rest of the volume is occupied with papers on the 

 study of nerves. Mr. \V. K. Denemark examines and 

 describes the excitability and conductibility of nerves ex- 

 posed to the action of distilled water. This influence, due 

 to the extraction of salts, produces in nerves the successive 

 functional alterations observed under the influence of posi- 

 tive agents — narcotics, salt solutions, high temperature, 

 &c. Restitution is only effected by the application of 

 sodium salts. The author considers that the presence of 

 sodium salts in the chemical structure of a nerve is abso- 

 lutely essential for its functions. The effects of a constant 

 current on a nerve which has been subjected to the action 

 of narcotics are described by Mr. N. N. Malisheff. Mr. 

 G. Levitsheff details the action of halogen acids on nerves, 

 and Mme. H. N. Gulinoff the influence of freezing. Prof. 

 N. E. Wedensky contributes a lengthy paper on the effects 

 of strychnine intoxication on the reflex system. 



In No. 17 of the Proceedings of the Zoological and 

 Zootomical Cabinets of St. Petersburg University, Mr. 

 V. Zhuk writes on the lamprey, describing external 

 marks, the organs, skin, skeleton, and muscles, with 

 illustrations. .An extensive bibliography of Cyclostomi 

 follows. Studies in the anatomy of Piscicola are 

 furnished by Mr. V. D. Zelensky, with a German 

 ri^sum^. P. geometra is the only species found in 

 European fresh waters. Mr. Zelensky treats (i) meta- 

 merism with reference to the nervous system, and (2) the 

 vessel system. A short bibliography follows. Mr. V. M. 

 Shimkevitsh, one of the editors, writes on the correlations 

 of Bilateria and Radiata. In conclusion, he remarks that, 

 speaking generally, the principle of gradual displacement 

 of one source of origin by a neighbouring one, sometimes 

 even developed from another embryonic layer, has had 

 far greater application in embryology than is usually con- 

 sidered. This principle enables a comparison between 

 organs not at all homologous in origin to be established. 



In the Proceedings of the Imperial Society of Naturalists, 

 vol. xxxiv., part v., Mr. K. D. Glinka records extensive 

 observations with regard to weathering. Observations of 

 this nature, he points out, should not be confined to the 

 surface of soils, but should embrace lower strata. An 

 alumino-silicate dissolved in water may, in favourable 

 circumstances, give rise to a series of new combinations, 

 e.g. zeolites. Analysis of a fresh piece of rock shows 

 that out of I per cent, of alumina. 0-72 per cent, is lost 

 in solution. This high solution indicates that a consider- 

 able portion of alumina in sandstone docs not exist in the 

 form of primary silicates, but in a free form. The author 

 discusses the genesis of the mineral serizite, first discovered 

 in the Taunus range, and taken for talc, to which it bears 

 external resemblance. Numerous tables of analyses are 

 furnished. Taking widely separate districts in Russia, 

 Mr. Glinka describes weathering of biotites, augites, 

 zeolites, &c., at considerable length. There is a short 

 report by Prof. P. A. Zemiatchensky on the rate of 

 weathering of sand and limestone formations, with hints 

 as to calculation of their antiquity. Mr. V. Lehmann 

 sends a contribution, with a plate, on Terebratulacea in 

 layers with Virgalites virgatiis and Oxynotireras cateiiu- 

 lattis. The attention of palaeontologists has been directed 

 chiefly to the study of ammonites, and it is important to 

 examine other forms. The author corrects the hitherto 

 accepted list. 



The Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences is 

 worthy of comparison with the highest publications of 

 this nature. Wc have received three handsome volumes, 

 containing the proceedings of the physico-mathematical 

 section. In vol. xxii., Mr. T. Wyragevitch writes on the 

 .Actinia of the Black Sea in the neighbourhood of 

 Balaclava, and Mr. A. Borissiak contributes notes on 



