Df.cember 5, 190 1 J 



NATURE 



A CONXISE handbook of the geology of the city of New 

 York has been published by Mr. L. P. Gratacap, of the 

 American Museum of Natural History. 



The periodic variations of glaciers are dealt with by Dr. S. 

 Finsterwalder and M. E. Muret in the sixth report of the 

 International Comnnission on Glaciers {Anh. Sc. Phys. et Nat. 

 Geneve, tome .\ii., 1 901). 



"Ice Caves and Frozen Wells as Meteorological Phenomena " 

 is the title of a paper by .Mr. H. II. Kimball (Monthly IVea'.her 

 Revte-M, August 1901). The author's observations were made 

 in New York co. and Vermont, and he concludes that the 

 phenomena are due to the cold air of winter circulating to 

 unusual depths below the surface and freezing the small quantity 

 of water with which it comes in contact. The ice may not 

 entirely disappear during the following summer, but continue 

 under certain conditions to accumulate for ages. 



In the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India (vol. 

 xxxi. part ii., 1901) there is a geological sketch of the Balu- 

 chistan Desert and part of eastern Persia, by Mr. E. Vreden- 

 burg. The rocks comprise marine strata ranging in age from 

 Upper Cretaceous to Upper Eocene. Interbedded with them 

 is a large proportion of volcanic rocks, and these, together with 

 numerous igneous intrusions, form the chief hill masses. Con- 

 siderable areas are occupied by Siwalik strata, land deposits of 

 Miocene age, which consist of conglomerates, friable sandstones, 

 and clays frequently white or brightly coloured in various tints 

 of pale terra-cotta, ochre or green. Much of the low ground is 

 concealed by modern alluvium and sand dunes. Except in the 

 unusual event of a storm the plains are absolutely dry, and when 

 such an occurrence takes place the flood seldom lasts more than 

 an hour. Then the water rushes through a network of irregular 

 and ever-shifting furrows, rolling along with it large boulders 

 which rattle loudly as they come into collision. These floods 

 by their suddenness constitute a source of danger to the flocks, 

 especially to sheep and goats, which may be carried away if not 

 driven off in time by the shepherds. In the western portion of 

 the country examined there are several recent volcanoes, one of 

 which still shows signs of activity. 



The artesian waters of Australia were dealt with by Mr. 

 J. P. Thomson in a paper read at a recent meeting of the Royal 

 Geographical Society of Australia. Although the whole of the 

 Australian colonies have taken an active part in the somewhat 

 minute and altogether elaborate search for artesian water, it is 

 to (Queensland that the greatest credit is due for having dis- 

 covered the existence of an unlimited and practically inexhaust- 

 ible supply in the lower cretaceous formation that underlies the 

 vast rolling downs of the western portion of that State. 

 Several of the inland towns and many parts of the western 

 district are now watered by numerous artesian wells or bores. 

 In some remarks upon the subject, the president of the Society, 

 Sir Hugh Nelson, pointed out that up to the present time the 

 amount of artesian water brought to the surface at the bores has 

 had very little effect as an irrigating agent upon the great areas of 

 land in the west during seasons of drought. This water is 

 valuable for drinking purposes for stock, but stock cannot exist 

 upon water alone — they require herbage, and the supply of 

 water is not plentiful enough to irrigate the runs. The Hon. 

 \. C. Gregory also explained that artesian water contains a 

 small percentage of saline matter, and while it might be used 

 for irrigating small areas of cultivation the saline properties of 

 the water have the reverse of a .beneficial effect upon the land 

 when the water is used to irrigate large tracts of country. 



We have received a copy of " A Catalogue of Crustacea and 

 Pycnogonida in the Museum of University College, Dundee," 

 by Prof. d'Arcy W. Thompson. The list is a long one. 

 NO. 1675, VOL. 65] 



The Egyptian Government has just issued a series of " Notes 

 for Travellers and Sportsmen in the Sudan." These give full 

 information with regard to the game of the country and the 

 conditions under which it may be killed. The regulations for 

 the protection of the rarer species seem well calculated to attain 

 the end in view — at least for a time. 



The nesting and other habits of one of the North American 

 cat-fishes of the genus Amiurus forms the subject of a paper, by 

 Mr. A. C. Eycleshymer, in the American Naturalist for 

 November. " Although repeated efforts were made," writes 

 the author, " to find the nests, they were unsuccessful until 

 June 8, 1S96, when three nests were found in Fowler Lake, 

 Wisconsin. Two of these were in pieces of stovepipe, the third 

 in an old pail. The nests were in clear water, near a bold 

 rocky shore, and at a depth of four or five feet ; all contained 

 embryos, and each was guarded by a parent fish — which one I 

 did not ascertain." 



The latest issue of the Zeitschrift fiir Wissenschaftliche 

 Zoologic (vol. Ixx. pt. iii. ) contains two papers, one, by Dr. R. 

 Hesse, on the eyes of arthropods (being the seventh of a series 

 on the visual organs of invertebrates), and the second, by Herr 

 C. Rabl, on the origin of limbs. In the latter memoir 

 much attention is devoted to the question whether fins, as 

 Gegenbaur thought, are derived from modified gill-arches, or 

 whether, as suggested by Balfour and Thacher, from lateral 

 folds, the author favouring the latter view. The diagrams 

 illustrating the various modifications of carpal and tarsal 

 structure in the lower vertebrates are especially interesting. 



To the November number of the American Naturalist Mr. 

 H. L. Osborne communicates some interesting notes on axolotis 

 from Colorado and Dakota. Two kinds of metamorphosis 

 occur during the passage of these creatures from an aquatic to a 

 terrestrial existence, first of all in the development of the 

 limbs and lungs, the alteration of the circulatory system and the 

 maturation of the reproductive organs. But there are also 

 secondary changes, which may occur either early or late in life. 

 In some districts axolotis pass into the adult amblystoma state 

 when quite small ; but in Mexico the secondary changes never 

 take place at all, so that the animal, although adult in other 

 respects, remains in the aquatic condition throughout life. 



An important paper in the November issue of the Quarterly 

 yournal of Microscopical Science is one by Mr. E. S. Goodrich 

 on the pelvic girdle and fins of the " fringe-finned ganoid" fish 

 Eusthenopteron. The specimen on which the communication 

 is based is from the Devonian of Canada, and is preserved in 

 the British Museum. It is remarkable as being the only known 

 example among the numerous remains of the extinct repre- 

 sentatives of the group in question in which the pelvis and fins 

 are preserved in a complete state and showing their natural 

 relations to one another. Although the structure of the fin-rays 

 shows a curious approximation to the type of the more 

 specialised modern bony fishes, in other respects the pelvic fins 

 of this fish show signs of being derived from a type allied to that 

 which persists in the (Queensland lung-fish (Ceratodus). Another 

 article in the same journal, by Mr. E. P. Allis, deals with 

 certain parts of the anatomy of the small shark known as 

 Mustelus lacvts. 



The Transactions of the New Zealand Institute for 19CX3 

 contain a large number of papers on the zoology of the colony, 

 as well as others connected with acclimatisation and stock- 

 breeding. Among the former, reference may be made to Prof. 

 Benham's description of the New Zealand lancelet, of which only 

 two examples appear to be known. This form is now referred to 

 the genus Heteropleuron, the commonest type of the group in 

 the southern hemisphere, under the name of I/, hectori. In 



