JULV 14, 1910] 



NATURE 



49 



Island may be a survival in mother-right of a preceding 

 condition of patrilinear descent. This theory Dr. Rivers 

 dismisses as quite opposed to all known facts. The theory 

 which he finally adopts is that when, for instance, a frag- 

 ment of a man's umbilical cord and parings of his nails 

 are given to the sister of his father, the intention is to 

 entrust them to her as the representative of a group which, 

 according to rules of descent, is necessarily foreign, and 

 therefore hostile, in the hope that she may be able to pre- 

 vent any member of that group from working black magic 

 against her nephew. It is also possible that this strange 

 relation indicates an increasing recognition of the kinship 

 of the father, who deputes his sister to perform certain 

 acts as an assertion of his paternity, thus bringing her 

 functions into line with those which, according to one 

 view, belong to the Couvade. 



The r.^mains of the gigantic extinct .Australian marsupial, 

 Diprotodon, have just been re-arranged in a newly con- 

 structed wall-case in the Geological Department of the 

 British Museum (Natural History). The restored skeleton 

 of the animal, for which bones and plaster casts were 

 given by the South .Australian Museum, through Dr. E. C. 

 Stirling, F.R.S., occupies the greater part of the case. It 

 displays especially well the massive carpal and tarsal bones 

 and the diminutive toes, which are so characteristic a 

 feature. The limb-bones from Queensland, described by 

 Owen, are arranged on a shelf above the skeleton, and 

 include the first discovered femur, which was originally 

 mistaken for that of an elephant. The skull, as described 

 by Owen, was purchased in a restored state in a sale- 

 room, and has now been carefully divested of all super- 

 fluous plaster, proving that the restoration erroneously 

 increased its length by 4 inches. With the skull are several 

 well-preserved jaws showing all the teeth. Palaeontologists 

 are still awaiting with interest the promised complete 

 description of Diprotodon by Drs. Stirling and Zietz, of 

 the South Australian Museum. 



.Among other additions to the exhibited collection in the 

 Geological Department of the British Museum (Natural 

 History) may be mentioned a new model of the skull and 

 mandible of the gigantic extinct lemur, Megaladapis 

 insigiiis, from Madagascar. Thanks to the explorations 

 of Dr. H. F. Standing in the swamps, the model is no 

 longer in any respect hypothetical. It clearly suggests an 

 animal adapted for an aquatic life, and the characters of 

 the known limb-bones confirm this suggestion. To the 

 table-case near the fossil lemurs has just been added a 

 plaster cast of the much-discussed Palaeolithic human skull 

 from Galley Hill, in Kent. The original specimen stll' 

 ; miins in a private collection. 



In the Entomologists' Monthly Magazine for the current 

 month, the Rev. F. D. Morice records a male saw-fly from 

 Brockenhurst new to the British fauna. Provisionally the 

 specimen is referred to Xeurotoma mandibularis, a Con- 

 tinental species hitherto known only by the female. A 

 detailed description, in Latin and English, is appended. 



British Birds for July opens with an obituary notice, 

 accompanied by an excellent portrait, of the late Mr. Boyd 

 .Alexander, who, it will be remembered, was murdered on 

 April 2 by hostile natives in the heart of Africa to the 

 north-west of Abeshr, -in the Wadai. In another article 

 Mr. \V. Farren records, with illustrations, the nesting of 

 tlie marsh-warbler in Cambridgeshire in June, 1909 ; only 

 one previous instance, and that many years ago, is known 

 of the species breeding in that county. 

 NO. 2124, VOL. 84] 



It has been pointed out by a correspondent that in a 

 note upon a paper by Prof. Steinmann on ammonite phylo- 

 geny (N.vruKE, vol. Ixxxii., p. 289, January 6) the author 

 was somewhat misrepresented. It was stated " that, in 

 place of being a member of the ' Circumnodosi ' group, 

 Heterotissotia is really related to the Triassic Ceratites, 

 of which it is to be regarded as the Cretaceous 

 descendant.". It should have read "that Heterotissotia is 

 nearly related to the Triassic Ceratites, and especially 

 the ' Circumnodosi ' group, of which it is to be regarded 

 as the Cretaceous descendant." 



In the May number of SpoUa Zeylanica Mr. T. South- 

 well records the capture of a large female saw-fish (Pristis 

 cuspidata) on the Ceylon pearl-banks in December last. 

 The specimen, which measured 15 feet in length, and 

 weighed about 17 lb., was of special interest on account 

 of containing twenty-three intra-uterine embryos. All 

 these embryos were in a horizontal position ; but while 

 some had their beaks close to the aperture of the cloaca, 

 others were exactly opposite. They measured 14 inches in 

 length, and in each the yolk-sac was united to the abdomen 

 by a placental stalk 5 inches long. The teeth, from twenty- 

 three to twenty-eight in number on both sides, were 

 arranged irregularly, varying between alternation and a 

 distribution in pairs. 



In the same issue {Spolia Zeylanica, vol. vi., p. 174) 

 Mr. H. O. Barnard states, as the result of personal 

 observation, that the alleged partiality of cobras for music 

 is a myth. " The sole effect, so far as I could see, was 

 to arouse their curiosity, as they would project their heads 

 out of their holes equally well for any kind of noise, from 

 the shrill piping affected by snake-charmers down to the 

 tinkling noise made by dragging a chain past their dwell- 

 ing, or even that made by light and repeated tappings with 

 a switch close to their holes. It would appear, however, 

 that the tone must be high, as grave sounds, such as tom- 

 tom beating or deep notes from a flute, had no effect upon 

 them." Mr. Barnard likewise confirms the observations, 

 made in the London Zoological Gardens, as to the absence 

 of a " fascinating " influence of serpents on birds. 



In No. 1745 of the Proceedings of the U.S. National 

 Museum Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell discusses the bees of 

 the genus Nomia, with the description of several new 

 species. All the American members of the group are re- 

 ferred to the typical genus, although an alternative classi- 

 fication is mentioned, in which Nomia would be excluded 

 from the American fauna. If this scheme were adopted, 

 there would, however, be difficulties with regard to the 

 non-American forms, which are not easy to classify. " The 

 group," it is added, " is a peculiar one, and apparently 

 its little morphological jokes must not be taken too 

 seriously." 



The gipsy moth is so important a pest that a laboratory 

 has been established at Melrose Highlands, Massachusetts, 

 known as the Gipsy Moth Parasite Laboratory, where a 

 complete study may be made of the parasites. Mr. J. 0. 

 Crawford has issued a description of several members of 

 the families Chalcididee, Perilampidse, Pteromalidse, and 

 Eulophidee occurring in the United States or introduced 

 from Europe or Japan and known to be parasitic on the 

 moth. The paper is published by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology. 



The Agricultural Journal of British East Africa does not 

 confine itself entirely to agriculture, but includes papers 

 on other subjects connected with the Protectorate. Part iv. 

 of vol. ii. contains, as special agricultural papers, accounts 



