January 21, 1909] 



NA TURE 



349 



The editorial of the Indian Forester (December, 1908I 

 is devoted to a well-merited eulogy of the services rendered 

 to the Government of India by Mr. S. Eardley-Wilmot, 

 the late Inspector-General of Forests. During the six 

 vears that he has occupied that post steps have been taken 

 towards the better training and higher qualification of 

 the staff, improved conditions of service, and the inaugura- 

 tion of the research institute at Dehra Dun ; further, public 

 opinion has been moved to recognise the value of the 

 forests and to appreciate the work of the forest officers. 



In the Journal of the Quckctt Microscopical Club 

 (November, iqoS) there is jniblished an account of an 

 investigation, by Mr. A. E. Hilton, into the streaming 

 movements of plasmodia of the Mycetozoa. It is 

 noted that the movements consist of rhythmic alternating 

 currents that reverse on an average about every ninety 

 seconds, and it was found possible to superimpose on the 

 normal currents special movements induced by tapping 

 lightly on a cover-glass placed on the specimen. Thus it 

 is argued that pressure and suction or pulsations in the 

 Plasmodium are the cause of the currents, and it is sug- 

 gested that such pulsations are probably indications of 

 respiration proceeding in the organism. 



The subject of plant fasciations is treated by Miss A. A. 

 Knox in Publication No. gS of the Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington. Fasciation is applied to stems that 

 deviate from the normal circular shape, becoming more 

 or less flattened, and that often show repeated branching. 

 The plants investigated were a£nolhcra biennis, Oenothera 

 criiciata, and other species of the genus. They produce 

 rosettes of closely compacted leaves in the first year, and 

 throw up flowering shoots later. They may either fasciate 

 as rosettes, producing lopsidedness of stem and leaves, or 

 subsequently, when the elongated stems become flattened 

 or branch. Four different methods of forming fasciations 

 are illustrated, but in each case development proceeds from 

 a special meristem. In all cases fasciation is attributed to 

 injuries inflicted by insects, and the author differs from 

 de Vries in considering that the tendency to fasciation is 

 not a heritable factor. 



The third and seventh volumes of the publication Recueil 

 lie rinstitui liotaniquc Leo Errcra, Brussels — to give the 

 title as modified on the last volume — have recently been 

 issued. This publication originated in connection with the 

 purpose of bringing together the papers emanating from 

 Prof. Errera's laboratory. The third volume, containing 

 contributions by several workers that were published in 

 various journals during the years 1885 to 1900, indicates 

 the wide scope of the research prosecuted there. Several 

 papers by Dr. E. Laurent, notably the account of a study 

 of the organisms giving rise to leguminous nodules, deal 

 with the action of soil and fermentation bacteria. Cultures 

 of the Mucedineae are described by Mr. A. de Wfevre, the 

 effect of external factors on karyokinesis is discussed by 

 Dr. E. de Wildeman, and the morphological articles by 

 Dr. J. Massart include a valuable thesis on recapitulation 

 and innovation in plant embryology. 



To the Reliquary for January Mr. J. L. Cowan con- 

 tributes an interesting paper on aboriginal .'\mcrican indus- 

 tries. The chief and earliest of these is basketry, which 

 was found in an advanced stage when Friar Marcos de Ni<a 

 visited the south-western States in 1539. The designs are 

 not accidental, nor do they represent the artistic concep- 

 tion of the worker. Each has its traditional significance — 

 the cobweb pattern being connected with offerings to the 

 spider deity, the deer-hunt with gods of the chase, and so 

 on. Even a break in the design marks a place where evil 



NO. 2047, VOL. 79] 



spirits can find exit, instead of being confined to injure 

 the owner. In the same way each colour has its own 

 significance, red being the most sacred, as typifying the 

 life of man. The transition from basketry to pottery, the 

 basket being covered with clay to save it from injury by 

 fire, can here be clearly traced. Pottery still maintains 

 its ancient perfection only among tjie Hopi and Zuni com- 

 munities, the former being specially noted for grace of 

 design, artistic decoration, and faultless workmanship. 

 The latest industry is that of blanket weaving. The arts 

 of plaiting and weaving were known to the natives before 

 the arrival of the European, but it is only since the intro- 

 duction of sheep and goats that the craft of blanket weaving 

 has been developed, with the result that the Navajos now 

 admittedly make the finest specimens in the world. 



Miss E. H. Hall has shown some courage in selecting 

 as the subject for a doctorate dissertation at Bryn Mawr 

 College '.' The Decorative Art of Crete in the Bronze Age," 

 while Dr. A. J. Evans is still engaged at Knossos, and 

 other promising sites in the island still remain unexcavated. 

 This art series, extending over some two thousand years, 

 begins with simple linear geometric ornament, notably with 

 the zigzag motive. This develops into curvilinear designs, 

 among vi'hich are motives resembling natural objects which 

 gratify the primitive instinct for imitative art. Later on 

 these exhibit increasing realism; but the non-imitative 

 ornament is even more typical. By the Middle Minoan III. 

 period this is superseded by pure naturalistic design, due 

 to a local school trained under Egyptian influence. In the 

 great palace-building age at Knossos and Phaistos con- 

 ventional flower designs replace, in part, naturalistic 

 motives. Lastly, we reach the stage of debased forms of 

 naturalistic motives unintelligently copied, indicating not 

 only lack of artistic originality, but the approach of a 

 purely geometric style. Miss Hall's classification and 

 analysis of the evolution of this school of art will probably 

 not meet with general acceptance in all its interpretations, 

 and her conclusions are always liable to be upset by new 

 discoveries, but as it is accompanied by good sketches of 

 typical examples it will be useful to students of this 

 chapter in art history. 



Under the title " The Diet of the Hindu," we published 

 in November last (p. 42) a descriptive notice of a memoir 

 by Captain D. McCay, in which he showed, in a systematic 

 manner, and after thorough investigation, that a vegetarian 

 diet has a deleterious effect on the metabolism and 

 efficiency of the inhabitants of Bengal. We have received 

 from Mr. Bernard Houghton, of Sagaing, Burma, a letter 

 in reference to this article in which he points out that the 

 Bengalis live in a damp, hot climate, that dhall bulks 

 largely in their food, and that this diet is rich in purine 

 substances. He is inclined to attribute part, at any rate, of 

 their malnutrition to these circumstances. He states that 

 the Burmese, who are rice-eaters, are in the hospital re- 

 turns free from the diseases Captain McCay alludes to, 

 and he believes that the same is true of wheat-eating 

 Punjabis. In conclusion, he asks whether there is any 

 evidence that these diseases are prevalent amongst the rice- 

 eating Chinese and Japanese peasantry. In reference to 

 these remarks, our reviewer, before whom we laid Mr. 

 Houghton's letter, replies that he did not deal with the 

 inhabitants of the Punjab and of Burma because he is not 

 aware that similar experimental and statistical evidence is 

 available on the metabolism of these people. If there are 

 any differences in the general metabolism of the two classes 

 of vegetarians referred to, they may be due to variation 

 in climatic influences or to the amount of purine substances 

 in the food, but positive statements cannot be made until 



