July 2?, igroj 



NATURE 



117 



eviMi flow and by mutation in different characteristics at 

 dilTerent times." 



In the Scientific American of July 2, Mr. \V. L. Beaslcy 

 describes, with large-size illustrations, the method em- 

 ployed in the American Museum of Natural History, New- 

 York, of mounting the skins of large mammals on specially 

 prepared models, or " manikins," which in some cases are 

 based on clay statuettes of living specimens. After being 

 roughly modelled, the manikins are carefully finished by 

 aitists, and the skins iilted upon them, the method being 

 illustrated in the case of an East African zebra, or bonte- 

 quagga, and a hippopotamus. The article specially relates 

 to the collection of large mammals obtained by the expedi- 

 tion to East Africa under Mr. Roosevelt. The director of 

 the museum. Dr. Bimipus, has planned a comprehensive 

 and striking exhibition of .African mammals, to be, in due 

 course, displayed in the buildings under his charge. The 

 main part of this exhibit is destined to be shown in a series 

 of new halls about to be added to the west wing of the 

 museum, but some specimens will be used to fill gaps in 

 the existing series. The cost of the additions to the 

 building is to be defrayed by Mr. Samuel Thorne, who has 

 already done much for the museum. Unless funds are 

 forthcoming for the addition of a new north-west wing to 

 our own Natuial History Museum, that institution will be 

 altogether beaten by New York in the show of big-game 

 animals. 



The July number of the Sclborne Magazine, with which 

 Nature Notes is now incorporated, contains an abbreviated 

 report of the lecture delivered by Mr. J. Buckland on 

 June 17, at the annual meeting of the Selborne Society, on 

 the traffic in feathers and the need for legislation in connec- 

 tion with the same. To the same issue Mr. Buckland 

 communicates an illustrated article on illegal practices in 

 the feather-trade, dealing especially with India. It is 

 pointed out that, in 1903, the Indian Government prohibited 

 the exportation of the skins and feathers of birds, except 

 those of domesticated species and ostriches, together with 

 natural-history specimens. This prohibition, according to 

 the author, is, however, to a great extent evaded by 

 feathers being shipped as cow-hair, horse-hair, or silk 

 material. One such consignment of " cow-hair " was 

 opened by the custom-house officers at the London Docks in 

 1908, and found to contain more than 6000 paraquet-skins ; 

 but as these were not contraband, they were, after some 

 delay, handed over to the consignee. Further investigation 

 proved that, during a previous period of eight weeks, no 

 fewer than twenty-three cases of bird-skins had been landed 

 in London under false declarations. The author sums up 

 as follows : — " A vast number of the feathers which are 

 used in the millinery trade in Great Britain are able to be 

 brought into her ports only by means of false declarations, 

 which are a direct evasion of the law, and which declara- 

 tions are made deliberately for the purpose of deceiving 

 ship captains and the customs authorities of the countries 

 from which the feathers are shipped." 



The fourth part of Bulletin No. 82 of the Entomological 

 Bureau of the U.S. Department of .Agriculture is devoted 

 to an account, by Mr. W. B. Parker, of the life-history 

 and the means of controlling the hop flea-beetle (Psylliodes 

 putictulata), which has of late years done much damage 

 to hops in British Columbia. The species, which is widely 

 distributed over the northern United States, and ranges 

 into southern Canada, normally feeds on rhubarb, sugar- 

 beet, and a few other plants, and was not known as a 

 serious pest until a few years ago, when it began to 

 NO. 2126, VOL. 84] 



devastate the hop-gardens in certain parts of British 

 Columbia. When hop-cultivation commenced in the 

 Chilliwack Valley in 1894, the beetle was noticed, but did 

 little harm until 1903, when it appeared in force. From 

 1904 until 190S the numbers of these insects gradually in- 

 creased, attaining their maximum in the year last named. 

 " As soon as the hops began pushing through the ground, 

 the beetles were observed swarming around the vines, 

 giving the soil in the immediate vicinity a black metallic 

 appearance. These swarms of flea-beetles devoured the 

 hop-shoots as fast as they appeared, and in places where 

 the vines were a foot or more on the string the attack 

 was so severe that in a few days the field looked as if it 

 had been burned. The infestation resulted in a loss of 

 about 75 per cent, of the crop." 



Theories of life we have in plenty ; it is somewhat 

 a novelty to come across a pamphlet in which we 

 have a theory of death propounded (" Das Altern und 

 der physiologische Tod." By M. Miihlmann. Published 

 by G. Fischer, Jena. Price 1.20 marks). The occurrence 

 of physiological death is comparatively rare ; most human 

 beings die of accident, under which term disease is, of 

 course, included ; very few pass unscathed from such 

 accidents, and die of simple old age, a gradual slowing 

 down and final stoppage of life's machinery. But when 

 it does occur. Dr. Miihlmann's theory is that it is due 

 primarily to changes in the nerve cells, and that the run- 

 down of the other organs is produced secondarily by 

 changes in the ruling system of the body, the nervous 

 system. Moreover, this degenerative change, which becomes 

 evident to the microscope as a formation of pigmentary and 

 lipoid granules, begins quite early in life ; from one point 

 of view, therefore, it is a form of growth which produces 

 death, and considerable importance is laid by the author 

 upon granules in cells as an essential protoplasmic con- 

 stituent. The brochure contains many interesting data, 

 such as the rate of growth of the different organs in 

 various periods of life, and this, together with his views on 

 the phenomena of regeneration, will amply repay careful 

 perusal. 



A NUMBER of the Bulletin du Jardin Imperial Botanique, 

 St. Petersburg (vol. ix., part ii.), is devoted to a paper on 

 lichens by Mr. A. N. Danilov, in which he adduces morpho- 

 logical evidence opposed to the theory of a mutually advan- 

 tageous symbiotic union of alga and fungus. In the 

 summary the author states that his results confirm the 

 evidence of Peirce and Schneider with regard to the close 

 investment of the algal gonidia with a net of hyphal 

 threads, and the complete absorption of the contents of the 

 gonidial cells. 



.'\rising out of a demand from members of the Man- 

 chester Microscopical Society for specimens illustrative of 

 marine zoology, a quarterly publication, the Micrologist, 

 has been initiated by Messrs. Flatters, Milborne, and 

 McKechnie, of Manchester, which will contain directions 

 for m.anipulations of such specimens, and thereby take the 

 place of instructions that would otherwise be required. 

 The specimens will be issued quarterly with the journal, and 

 mounted preparations will also be available for purchase. 



A NEW volume — the fifth — of the Circulars of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, opens with a report on the tea 

 plots at the Peradeniya experiment station, and subsequent 

 numbers deal with " Rubber in the Early Days " and a 

 visit to a rubber factory. In the last named. Dr. J. C. 

 Willis gives an account of a visit to the large factory in 

 Hanover. With regard to the tea experiments, the chief 



