November 12, 1908J 



NA TURE 



45 



author, can sav dcfinilclv that these remains are not prote- 

 aceous. If tliey be referable to that group, we have, in 

 Prof. Cockerell's opinion, further evidence of a land-con- 

 nection between the great southern continents. In our 

 own view this is not so, as the supposed ProteaceEe might 

 apparently have travelled from north to south along the 

 main continental lines. 



Is describing the skull of a domesticated dog from a 

 prehistoric station of the llallstatt period, near Karlstein, 

 Amtsgericht Reichenhall, Dr. T. Studer {MiU. naturfor. 

 Gcs. Bern., 1907, p. 155) takes the opportunity of review- 

 ing the state of our knowledge of prehistoric dogs gener- 

 ally. In the PaliEolithic epoch we have Canis poutjaiini, 

 an animal of the size of a German sheepdog, with all the 

 general characters of C. familiaris, but showing affinity 

 with the dingo of Australia and C. tenggerianus of Java. 

 This dog probably lived with Palasolithic man in a half- 

 wild condition, and by crossing with the wolf seems to 

 have given rise to a breed like the " laiki " of Siberia, 

 this being represented by C. inostransewi of Lake Ladoga 

 and the Phalbauten of Lake Neuenburg, while by a cross 

 with a flat-headed wolf arose the Neolithic C. leineri, the 

 ancestral form of the modern deerhounds. In another line 

 we have from C. poutjaiini the sheepdogs, and in yet 

 another the hound group, the earliest representatives of which 

 are C matris-optimae and C. intermedins of the Bronze 

 age. Perhaps by further crossing with the wolf or with 

 C. inostranzewi was produced the small C. familiaris 

 palustris of the Pfahbauten. Crossing of the larger breeds, 

 aided perhaps by intermixture with high-skulled wolves, 

 gave rise to the boarhound group, to which the Karlstein 

 skull pertains, this group not making its appearance until 

 the Glacial period. The group seems to have been 

 characteristic of the Alpine region, where it is still re- 

 presented by the St. Bernard. 



The whole of the conjoint issue of Xos. 1-3 of the 

 Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale dcs Naturalistcs de 

 Moscou for 1907, comprising 430 pages and six plates 

 (which has just been issued), is devoted to a paper by 

 Prof. A. N. SewertzofT, of St. \'ladimir University, Kiew, 

 on the development of the muscles, nerves, and limbs of 

 the lower four-limbed vertebrates, with special reference 

 to a theory relating to the pentadactylate extremities of 

 vertebrates in general. The author claims to be the first to 

 have investigated the subject from the point of view of the 

 muscles and nerves, previous workers having confined 

 their attention to the skeleton. It is considered that in the 

 ancestral Tetrapoda (Protetrapoda) the skeleton of the free 

 extremities was composed of a small number of skeletal 

 rays, probably not exceeding seven, such a type of extremity 

 being evidently derived from a sparsely rayed fin. On the 

 pre-axial side the number of rays (four) must have been 

 greater than on the post-axial (two). Each ray was seg- 

 mented, and consisted of a large number of similarly 

 formed short elements, such elements being most numerous 

 . in the main axis and least so in the peripheral rays. The 

 main axis of the protetrapodous fin formed a right angle 

 with the spinal axis. In many respects the fore-fin of 

 Ceratodus approximates to this ancestral type, but it must 

 be assumed that the Tetrapoda are derived from a form 

 in which the fins had a horizontal direction. Such a 

 direction probably existed in the ancestors of Ceratodus, 

 whence it may be inferred that the extremities of the 

 Pentadactylia and the Dipnoi have had a divergent evolu- 

 tion. Accordingly, it seems probable that the pentadac- 

 tylate extremity has been evolved from a" dipnopterygium " 

 which was specialised towards the Ceratodus type. The 

 KG. 2037, VOL. 70] 



resemblance to the hitler may, indeed, be partly due to 

 convergence, but the author is nevertheless convinced that 

 Dipnoi and Tetrapoda have been evolved from the same 

 stock. 



An article by Dr. A. J. Ewart, published in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria (vol. xxi., part i.), 

 deals with the longevity of seeds, and touches on several 

 interesting side-points. The summary of a long list of 

 germination tests shows that a large number of legu- 

 minous seeds are macrobiotic, that is, they maintain their 

 vitality for a long period ; outside this family comparatively 

 few seeds, and those chiefly belonging to the mallow and 

 myrtle orders, could be so described. A marked feature 

 of most macrobiotic seeds is an impermeable coat, shown 

 by Miss J. White to be supplied by the cuticle. The best 

 method of inducing germination in the case of har'd-coated 

 seeds consists in steeping the seeds in sulphuric acid for 

 a few hours. 



That the breeding of plants with the object of tracing 

 the results of specific raisings or crosses requires verv 

 elaborate precautions will be patent to anyone who has 

 contemplated such work. Dr. G. H. ShuU contributes an 

 article to the Plant World (vol. xi.) on pedigree culture, 

 in which he describes the precautions taken at the Station 

 for Experimental Evolution. The soil for the cultures is 

 sterilised in autoclaves, surface watering of the seed-pans 

 is avoided so far as possible, and paraffin bags are used 

 for covering up the flowers. No less important than the 

 cultural details are the labelling of specimens and the 

 registration of records, on which subjects the author offers 

 some suggestions. 



The part (No. 8) of the Keiv BuUclin recently issued is 

 assigned to two extensive systematic articles on the 

 Gentianacea2 ; the former, contributed by Dr. A. W. Hill, 

 deals with the genera Seba;a and Exochsenium ; the latter, 

 by the director, Lieut. -Colonel Prain, traces the limits of 

 the genera Chironia and Orphium. ' A note records the 

 identification of two new rubber-yielding plants from 

 Madagascar as Plectaneia elastica and Mascarenhasia 

 lisianthiflora, both apocynaceous genera, but neither species' 

 appears to have much economic value. 



A VOLUME of the Mc moires du Comite geologique de 

 Russie (part xxxviii.) is devoted to the description of 

 certain Jurassic plants from the Caucasus and Turkestan, 

 prepared by Prof. A. C. Seward. The collections from 

 the Caucasus include impressions of Equisetites, also fertile 

 and sterile fronds of Klukia exilis, Marathiopsis Muensteri, 

 and a new species of Zamites. Among the Turkestan 

 specimens, well-preserved casts provide the material for 

 a new species, Equisetites ferganensis ; the others are 

 chiefly fronds of ferns such as Cladophlebis and Conio- 

 pteris, but some fragments are referred to Ginkgo and 

 coniferous genera. 



We have received a fine opus registered as vol. xxv., 

 article 19, of the Journal of the College of Science, Tokio 

 University, in which Mr. B. Hayata describes certain 

 flowers collected on Mt. Morrison and other slopes of 

 the Formosan range. Some of the collections are not 

 yet worked out. The determinations furnish indication 

 of careful compilation, the printing is generous, and the 

 plates form an admirable contrast to many inferior 

 process illustrations now too often provided. The conifers 

 supply the most notable group, as they include a Libo- 

 cedrus, two new species of Juniperus, a new and only 



