April i6, 1908J 



NATURE 



565 



of the author apply. These birds are much less exclusively 

 vc'tjctarians than other members of the finch tribe, nearly 

 half their food-supply consisting of animal substances. 

 Moreover, the five species discussed in the pamphlet con- 

 sume, on the average, nine times more wild seeds than 

 grain and fruit, while the proportion of noxious to useful 

 insects devoured by them is nineteen to one. Cardinal 

 grosbeaks and their relatives are, therefore (after due 

 allowance is made for certain injuries they inflict), of great 

 economic value to the farmer, by whom they ought to be 

 encouraged and protected. 



We offer our congratulations and best wishes for a 

 .'.uccessful life to the Transvaal Biological .Society, the 

 first meeting of which was held at the Transvaal Museum, 

 Pretoria, on January 17, Dr. Theiler, C.M.G., being in 

 the chair. We are unable to find space for descriptions 

 of the papers read at the opening meeting, but the titles 

 lire given among our reports of societies and academios. 

 The honorary secretary and treasurer of the sorirtv is 

 Dr. I.. H. Gough. 



.\n account of the sporangium in the Ophioglossacea?, 

 luntributcd by Mr. I,. L. Burlingame to the Botanical 

 Gazette (July, 1907), is based on an examination of the 

 middle and later stages of development of the sporangium 

 of Ophioglossum reticiilatum. Irregular divisions of the 

 sporogenous tissue, a remarkable difference in the stages 

 of division of the mother cells, and an absence of definite 

 arrangement in the positions of nuclear spindles in adjacent 

 cells, were the chief points brought out in the investiga- 

 tion. A multipolar spindle changing to a tripolar, and 

 subsequently to a bipolar, condition is figured. The 

 development of the sporangia in the three genera Ophio- 

 glossum, Botrychium, and Helminthostachys is collated in 

 tabular form. 



Dr. H. von Schrenk communicates to the report of the 

 -Missouri Garden for 1907 two interesting notes on growth 

 connected with natural injuries to trees. In the one case 

 sycamore buds were caught by the late frosts, with the 

 result that the outer buds on the branches were killed, 

 but the lower buds survived, and there was also a well- 

 marked development of adventitious buds. The second 

 note refers to hollow or button-like branch cankers formed 

 jn shrubs of Rhododendron maximum as a consequence 

 of the slow growth of the healing callus tissue. Mr. H. 

 Hus records his experiments on the germination ol 

 Ilydraxlis canadensis, a sylvestral plant yielding rhizomes 

 that are officinal in certain pharmacopoeias. The same 

 .lulhor instances a case of virescence in the petals of 

 O.vn/is siricta, and mentions that the character was trans- 

 mitted to the second generation. 



The annual report of the botanic station, agricultural 

 school, and experiment plots in Dominica contains also 

 an account of the inception and development of these 

 establishments, and illustrations of local views. In 

 Dominica much attention has been paid to the cultivation 

 of limes ; the establishment of a spineless variety of the 

 fruit, and the introduction of the system of manufacturing 

 citrate of lime for export, are expected to improve the 

 industry. The characters of the spineless lime and the 

 qualities of the juice are compared with those of the 

 ordinary variety. .Another feature has been the dissemina- 

 lion of the value of budding and grafting; in this con- 

 nection, experiments in grafting cacao are noteworthy; 

 training in these methods forms a part of the curriculum 

 provided at the agricultural station. The manurial ex- 

 periments on cacao plots indicate that various manures 

 may be profitably applied, but the best results were 

 obtained with mulchings of grass and lawn sweepings. I 



NO. 2007, VOL. 77] 



A REVISED list of the flora of Natal, compiled by Mr. 

 J. M. Wood, has been published in the eighteenth volume 

 (part ii.) of the Transactions of the South African Philo- 

 sophical Society. The preponderance of the order Com- 

 positas is very marked, and is partly due to the numerous 

 species of Helichrysum, Senecio, Berkheya, and \'ernonia. 

 The next largest orders are the Graniinese and Legu- 

 minosa;, then the Liliacea; and OrchidaceEB. The genera 

 Crassula, Indigofera, Royena, Selago, and Mahernia are 

 well represented. The author recognises three botanical 

 regions, and alludes to the palms Hyphaene ciinita and 

 Phoenix reclinata, Sirelitzia atigusta, and the handsome 

 shade tree, Trichilia Dregeana, that grow in the coastal 

 region. In the midlands the hills are grass-clad, and the 

 forests are generally confined to the valleys, where two 

 species of Podocarpus and Ocoiea buUata occur. In the 

 uplands, Cailitris cupressoidcs — one of the three conifers 

 indigenous to the country — forms isolated forests ; two 

 plants with conspicuous flowers are Raniinciiltis Cooperi 

 and Anemone Fanninii, and the well-known Galtonia 

 candicans is found. 



Ix the Reliquary for -April, a noteworthy article is that 

 by Mr. E. D. Goddard on certain fibuUe of the La Tfene 

 type found in Wiltshire, which mav be dated about 200 B.C. 

 This is a useful supplement to the discussions on the same 

 subject by General Pitt-Rivers, Prof. Ridgeway, Mr. 

 Reginald Smith, Dr. Arthur Evans, and others. The 

 writer traces twentj-six examples found in England, of 

 which Wiltshire and the adjoining counties claim no fewer 

 than twenty — a fact which he thinks may imply a special 

 connection of this part of England with Gaul in the period 

 preceding the Roman invasion. In the same number Mr. 

 J. L. Cowan contributes a well-illustrated article showing 

 the evolution of house building in the Pueblo region of 

 Xew Mexico, -Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. 



The Observatory of Rio de Janeiro is doing very useful 

 work in collecting and publishing in its Boletim Mensal 

 series of meteorological observations made at various 

 places in Brazil. In the number for January-March, 1907, 

 which we have recently received, are to be found — in 

 addition to the current tri-houriy observations at the 

 observatory and ten-day means for other stations — monthly 

 and annual summaries referring to several departments for 

 1906. Monthly and annual rainfall values are also given 

 for Recife (Pernambuco) for fifty-four separate years 

 between 1842 and 1906. 



A COPY has just reached us of the observations made at 

 the Royal Magnetical and Meteorological Observatory at 

 Batavia in 1905 ; the principal change for this year is the 

 omission of the hourly values of atmospheric humidity. 

 In this valuable series of hourly readings the meteor- 

 ological observations date from 1866, the magnetical from 

 1868; in both of these elements the influence of the moor» 

 has been taken into account. The seismometrical observa- 

 tions date from 1898. The present volume includes the 

 results of meteorological observations for 1901-5, and for 

 1866-1905 ; we also note that a discussion of the rainfall 

 at 700 stations in the archipelago is in the press. Three 

 important appendices accompany the volume ; one of these 

 gives a list of magnetic disturbances during 1SS0-1899 ; 

 some of the statistical results have been published bv the 

 Amsterdam Academy. ^Ve hope to refer to the others, 

 dealing with meteorological subjects, later on. 



The Survey Department of the Ministry of Finance of 

 Egypt has issued an account of the magnetic observations 

 made in Egypt during the ten years 1895-1905, together 

 with a summary of the observations made previously in 

 northern Africa. According to the charts which embody the 



