February ii, 1909] 



NA TURE 



435 



Mr. OuAuiTtii has forwarded to us a copy of a cata- 

 logue of books on natural history, containing many rare 

 volumes from the library of a naturalist and collector now 

 abroad, and some hcrbals from that of the late Lord 

 Amherst of Hackney. 



CoLOUR-VARi.vTioN in some British slugs formed the sub- 

 ject of Mr. \V. E. Collinge's presidential address to the 

 Conchological Society in October last, the address, of which 

 we have been favoured with a copy, being published in the 

 Journal of Conchology. Colour-variations of a major and 

 a minor type have long been known to occur in the two 

 species forming the subject of the investigation, but the 

 author is of opinion that even the better-marked varia- 

 tions are far less constant than has been hitherto sup- 

 posed to be the case, wliile the minor ones are almost 

 endless, and appear of little importance to the naturalist. 



To Dr. E. Rev, of Leipzig, we are indebted for a 

 separate copy of a preliminary paper from vol. xxxiv. of 

 the Orniihologischer Monatschrijt, in which are recorded 

 the results of an examination of the contents of the 

 stomachs of a number of insectivorous birds. The various 

 insects (together with other invertebrates) found therein are 

 tabulated according to their orders, and in the case of the 

 beetles according to their families, those that are harmless 

 being entered in one column and those that are injurious 

 in a second, while such as come under neither of these 

 headings are assigned a thirf column. The ultimate object 

 of the investigation is to show to what extent insectivorous 

 birds are beneficial to the agriculturist, but further ex- 

 aminations are essential before definite conclusions can be 

 formulated. 



Bulletin No. 136 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of 

 the U.S. Department of Agriculture is devoted to an article, 

 bv Mr. O. F. Cook, on methods and causes of evolution. 

 The doctrine of evolution is now being made of practical 

 use in the solution of problems connected with breeding 

 and acclimatisation, and the paper is written to a great 

 extent from this point of view. The author commits him- 

 self to the opinion that " evolution is not caused by the 

 struggle for existence, nor limited to characters of environ- 

 mental fitness. Harmless and even harmful characters may 

 be acquired by species in the same way as beneficial 

 adaptations." This is endorsed by Dr. A. G. Bell, who 

 communicated the following comment quoted in the letter 

 of transmittal : — " L too, entertain the feeling that natural 

 selection does not, and cannot, produce new species or 

 varieties, or cause modifications of living organisms to 

 come into existence. On the contrary, its sole function is 

 to prevent evolution. In its action it is destructive merely, 

 not constructive — causing death and extinction, not life 

 and progression. Death cannot produce life ; and though 

 natural selection may cause the death of the unfit, it can- 

 not produce the fit — far less evolve the fittest. It may 

 permit the fit to survive by not killing them o'ff if they 

 are already in existence ; but it does not bring them into 

 existence or cause improvement in them after they have 

 once appeared. We must look to other agencies for the 

 causes of evolution." 



The tenth number, completing the volume for 1908, of 

 the Kew Bulletin was issued last month. It contains 

 determinations of new plants, chiefly from Africa and 

 India, also a letter descriptive of a journey in the Nelson 

 district of New Zealand, by Captain A. A. Dorrien-Smith. 

 A note on the poisonous plant Rhus toxicodendron, that 

 grows either as a shrub or a climber, is intended to re- 

 move the confusion, caused by recent inaccurate descrip- 

 tions, between the leaves of this plant and of the harm- 

 less unrelated plant, AmpeJopsis Veitchii. 



NO. 2050, VOL. 79] 



In the tenth (igo8) number of the Kcw Bulletin an article 

 on the drug cascara sagrada furnished by the bark of two 

 American plants, Rliamnus Purshiana and Rhamnus cali- 

 fornica, is published with a view to the possible introduc- 

 tion of these trees into cultivation on the western coasts 

 of the British Isles. The species Purshiana has made 

 successful growth at Kew, and a chemical report on the 

 bark pronounces the extract made from it to be indis- 

 tinguishable from the product of American bark. There 

 is a difficulty in getting fertile seed which has so far been 

 imported, but where plantations are once formed coppice 

 reproduction might be relied on, judging from the abund- 

 ance of shoots produced from the stump of a tree cut 

 down at Kew. Rhamnus califontica is not recommended 

 for cultivation in Great Britain. 



For the inception of the new botanical publication, Zcil- 

 schrift fiir Botanik, that has been initiated in circum- 

 stances already explained in N.^tuke, the editors have been 

 fortunate in securing an original article by Dr. H. Fitting 

 on the effect of pollination and other influences on orchid 

 liowcrs. The experiments carried out in Buitenzorg tend 

 to show that post-floration changes are not the necessary 

 consequence of pollination, although it normally provides 

 the stimulus ; thus, premature withering of the flowers 

 and swelling of the gynostemium can be induced by smear- 

 ing the stigma with dead pollen or an extract of pollen 

 juice, although growth of the ovary does appear to depend 

 upon the formation of the pollen-tube. The number, 

 running to about 100 pages, contains also critical notices 

 of recent publications, and an index to new literature 

 arranged as in the Botanisches Centralblatt, which it 

 resembles in form and appearance. 



The phytogeographical account of the littoral and alluvial 

 districts of Belgium by Prof. J. Massart published in the 

 seventh volume of the Recueil de I'Institut botaniquc Leo 

 Errera, provides a remarkably comprehensive and attractive 

 study of the conditions and associations existing there. 

 The author discusses the past history of the region, the 

 action of climate and soil, morphological modifications, 

 the associations of plants, and the origin of the flora. A 

 primary distinction is drawn between the clay soils of the 

 estuaries and of the polders — the low-lying lands retained 

 by the system of dykes — and the sandy soils of the dunes. 

 The latter are bound with such typical species as Amnw- 

 phila arenaria, Carex arenaria, and Eryngium maritimum, 

 while Salix repens and Uippophae rhamnoides are dominant 

 in the hollows. Occasionally plantations of alders or Scots 

 pine are attempted, and in parts crops of potatoes and 

 secale are raised. The nature of the associations is well 

 shown in the photographs, which, with several charts and 

 a list of plants, are published in a separate part. The 

 flora difi'ers from the northern littoral floras by the in- 

 clusion of calciphilous elements, and resembles the flora 

 of the French littoral, with which it shares a southern 

 origin. 



We learn from the North British Agriculturalist of 

 January 21 that a new process for sterilising milk has 

 been tried at Edinburgh under the superintendence of the 

 inventor. Dr. Budde, of Copenhagen. It depends on the 

 presence in milk of an enzyme, catalase, which decomposes 

 hydrogen peroxide with liberation of o.xygen. The milk 

 is heated to 120° F., and treated with hydrogen peroxide ; 

 after a time the pathogenic organisms are destroyed, and 

 the milk is run into sterilised bottles fitted with air-tight 

 stoppers, and is then ready for delivery. 



Teachers in agricultural schools and colleges will 

 welcome the set of wall pictures recently issued by Messrs. 



