February i8, 1909] 



NATURE 



473 



iiiiperfcclly known, in spite of their comparative abund- 

 ance, and some of the species arc extremely diflicult to 

 identify. Otit of a total ot thirty-eight bouth African re- 

 presentatives 01 the family, no less tttan twenty-two belong 

 to the genus Clinus, of which twelve are described by the 

 authors as new. In the second paper a very large number 

 ul species belonging to sundry genera and families are 

 named and described ; one of these — referable to Chryso- 

 plirys — is locally known as the " Englishman," and the 

 authors have accordingly named it Ch. angUcus, which 

 scarcely seems a satistactory designation for a South 

 African species. 



To the issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of I'hiladelphia for December, 1908, Mr. 

 H. W. Fowler contributes a paper on the Pennsylvanian 

 fresh-water fishes of the family Cyprinid^, in the course 

 of which a new species of Notropis is described. Owing 

 to pollution of the streams, some species of these fishes are 

 in danger of e.xtermination. 



Much has of late years been written on the develop- 

 ment and life-history of the eel, a further addition to the 

 subject being a paper, illustrated with figures and a map, 

 by Mr. Knut Dahl, which appears in the January number 

 (it Natiiren. 



From fishes we pass to whales, the Arctic fishery for 

 which during the past season receives a brief notice by 

 Mr. T. Southwell in the Zoologist for January. Six 

 vessels were dispatched for whahng purposes in 1908, two 

 of which visited the Greenland seas, while three proceeded 

 to Davis Strait and one to Hudson Bay. The Greenland 

 fishery proved the most productive, yielding ten out of the 

 fifteen right-whales constituting the season's catch. In 

 addition to these, the season's expedition yielded 540 white 

 whales, 899 walruses, 3084 seals, and 241 bears. With 

 whalebone at about 2000/. per ton, the total value of the 

 produce (inclusive of a cargo brought from Pond's Bay 

 station by the Eclipse) may be estimated at between 

 29,000/. and 30,000/. 



Turning to invertebrates, the first paper for notice is 

 one by Dr. J. Stafford, of Montreal, published in the 

 January issue of the .'liiicriL-ati Naturalist, on the larva 

 and spat of the Canadian oyster. The fact that .American 

 oysters are unise.Kual renders possible artificial fertilisation 

 of the eggs and rearing of the larva;, and these young 

 stages have been long familiar to the naturalist, but there 

 was a big gap in our knowledge between these stages and 

 the fi.xed condition. Accordingly, the author set himself 

 the difficult task of learning to identify oyster-fry amid 

 the hundred forms of life to be met with in the pelagic 

 plankton. In this he was eventually successful, having 

 observed what he took to be the larvae settle themselves on 

 glass plates and develop into undoubted oyster-spat. 

 Further study of the plankton will probably enable the 

 height of the breeding-season to be definitely determined. 

 At present it seems that oyster-larvas occur in the water 

 from July 11 to September 1, and that spat make their 

 appearance from August 16, thus suggesting that during 

 the second half of August there occur the last stages of 

 growth of late larva;, and that the period of growth of 

 the masses dates from between July 11 and August 16. 

 The eggs are therefore probably deposited about the first 

 of July. The paper concludes with a summary of the 

 results of the author's investigations, and also contains 

 remarks upon the important bearing of these and earlier 

 observations on the problems and methods of artificial 

 oyster-culture. 



The last two papers for notice are by Dr. Gilchrist, the 

 one, in the above-mentioned issue of the Annals of the 

 South African Museum, on two new species of Ptychodera, 

 and the other, in vol. xvii., part ii., of the Transactions 

 of the .South African Philosophical Society, on new forms 

 of Hcmicliordata from South Africa. In the former paper 

 Dr. Gilchrist observes that, in addition to the undcr- 

 mrntioned Ptychodera capcnsis, another representative of 

 the same genus is found in the same localities in fair 

 abundance under stones, but usually somewhat nearer 10 

 high-water mark. .Among the adult forms were found a 

 number of smaller ones, in which the proboscis and collar 

 were in all stages of development, this apparently indicating 

 a process of natural fragmentation or proliferation from 

 tlv tail end of this species, for which the name Pt. pro- 

 NO. 2051, VOL. 70] 



lijcraiis was accordingly suggested. The second, Pt. 

 natalcnsis, is from the Natal coast, and is characterised, 

 among other features, by the extremely short proboscis. 

 Pt. capcnsis is described in the second paper. 



In the latter paper it is mentioned that the three orders 

 of the Enteropneusia are now known to be represented in 

 South African waters, the Enteropneusta by the above- 

 mentioned species of Ptychodera, the Pterobranchia by a 

 species of Cephalodiscus, and the Phoronidea by a new 

 species of the type-genus (_Plioroiiis capcnsis), and by the 

 new genus and species Plioronopsis albomaculala. The 

 last-named, which is figured in its fully expanded form 

 alongside Phoronis capcnsis, is an exceedingly beautiful 

 organism, differing from the type-genus mainly in having 

 an involution of the epidermis with definitely differentiated 

 (cubical) cells. The involution occurs below the nerve- 

 ring, which it partially covers, and passes round the 

 body so as to encircle the mouth, vent, and nephrideaf 

 apertures. 



ME.INING AND METHOD OF SCIENTIFIC 

 RESEARCH.' 



TN this day of encyclopjedias numerous and ponderous, 

 ■'■ one is often struclc with the fact that in spite of the 

 manifest care and conscientious thought bestowed by the 

 responsible editors, the omissions and evidences of dis- 

 continuity of treatment, and lack of recognition of the 

 prime purposes of the compilation, are as noteworthy as 

 the imposing array of the results of our steadily advancing 

 knowledge is startling. For a philosophic treatment — one 

 fully appreciative of that which the student really requires, 

 not only to enlighten him with regard to a particular 

 subject, but also to stimulate him to research where it is 

 most needed — I frequently get more satisfaction out of 

 the older encyclopjedias than from our modern ones, even 

 though they can but present the status of the subject up 

 to the time they were written. 



As an illustration, take the word "research," or any 

 of the associated terms — "discovery," "experiment," 

 " investigation," and " observation." Turning to the 

 index volumes of the ninth and tenth editions of the 

 " Encyclopajdia Brirannica," I find but two references in 

 which the word " research " appears — one to the exploring 

 vessel, the Research, and the other to " research degrees." 

 Turning to the page on w^hich the latter occurs, we find 

 this interesting statement referring to Oxford Uni- 

 versity : — 



" New degrees for the encouragement of research, the 

 B.Lit. and B.Sc. (founded in 1895, and completed in 1900 

 by the institution of research doctorates), have attracted 

 graduates from the universities of other countries. In 

 1899 a geographical department was opened, which is 

 jointly supported by the University and by the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society." Now comes the interesting statement 

 which I beg to emphasise : — " OJ more bearing on prac- 

 tical Ufa arc the Day Training College Delegacy (1892) 

 and the diploma in education (i8q6). Under the former 

 elementary school teachers are enabled to take their train- 

 ing course at Oxford, and do so in growing numbers," 

 &c. 



We thus see what the writer of this article thinks of 

 the relative value in practical life of research foundations 

 and normal school foundations ! Sir Norman Lockyer, in 

 his luminous inaugural address before the British Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science in 1903, on the 

 "Influence of Brain-power on History," says: — "A 

 country's research is as important in the long run as its 

 battleships." Why, then, does not the standard encyclo- 

 pa;dia of that country make space for a representative 

 article on " research "? 



Under " investigation " there also appears absolutely 

 nothing. However, we have the Investigator ship. In- 

 vestigator Shoal, Investigator Group, &c., but not a word 

 about the general methods employed by " scientific in- 

 vestigators " ; and so it is with the word "discovery" — 

 there is no reference whatsoever to an article on the 



1 Abritig-d from an address by Dr. L. A. Bauer as retiring president 

 the Philo'^ophical Society of Washington, delivered before the Society on 

 Decembers, igoS. 



