August 4, 19 10] 



NATURE 



149 



<if a pigeon, e.g., weighs twenly-five limes that of a plaice 

 (if ihe same weight, and is about equal to that of a salmon 

 fifioen times as heavy as the pigeon. A thrush, and a 

 guinea-pig of six or seven times its weight, have hearts of 

 about equal size." 



In the Psychological Bulletin for June Dr. J. C. Hubbard 

 '\' M-ribes a curious visual phenomenon resulting from 

 siimulation of the macular region of the retina. It was 

 first, and can be best, observed when the pupil is dilated 

 by atropin, but it is also said to occur under ordinary con- 

 ditions when any feeble source of light is viewed against 

 a dark background. If, for example, " a patch of soft 

 red colour, such as a ruby lamp wrapped with tissue paper, 

 be viewed in a dark room, diffuse brushes of bluish tint 

 are seen, apparently spreading laterally from it. With the 

 right eye alone the brushes seem to extend to the right 

 of the source, and with the left eye to the left." These 

 brushes terminate at a point which is found to correspond 

 to the position of the blind spot, for the source of light 

 when not too large disappears if the eye be turned to the 

 point of termination of the brushes. The brushes disappear 

 in two or three seconds if the eye remains carefully fixed, 

 but reappear upon slightly moving the eye. They also 

 occur when the source of light is daylight, are brightest 

 in orange-yellow and yellow spectral light, and are almost 

 imperceptible in blue and violet light. Dr. Hubbard points 

 out that the distribution of these brushes of blue light is 

 strikingly similar to that of the bundles of optic nerve- 

 fibres radiating from the macula to the blind spot. He 

 suggests that certain stimnii, " passing from the macular 

 region along these fibres to the optic nerve, are capable of 

 inducing secondary effects in portions of the retina along 

 which they pass." 



The preliminary announcement made in the Times of 

 July 27, by Dr. Max O. Richter, of the discovery by Dr. 

 K. Koritzky and himself of the site of the famous Cyprian 

 temple of .-Vphrodite-.Astarte will, if the facts are verified, 

 rank justly as one of the most important archaeological 

 events in recent years, and a well-deserved triumph for 

 German science. We can only express the regret that, in 

 spite of much exploration in Cyprus by British scholars, 

 they have faued to secure the honour of this discovery. 

 The clue to the supposed site of the temple at Rantidi, or 

 Randi, was gained through the examination of some in- 

 scribed stones which were smuggled out of the country, 

 the first having been accidentally found by a shepherd. 

 Whether this be the shrine of the Paphian Venus or not, 

 the remains are certainly numerous and interesting. The 

 German archaeologists have taken measures to secure the 

 rights of e.\cavation, and Dr. Richter believes that t'le 

 antiquities to be unearthed will prove to be so numerous 

 that it will be necessary to erect a special museum for 

 their reception, probably at Limassol. The examination of 

 the shrine will probably solve the much debated question 

 o' the relation of the worship of the goddess to Oriental 

 culls. Jn spite of the fact that the law protecting antiqui- 

 ties in Cyprus is severe, we regret to learn from Dr. 

 Richter that many of the precious inscriptions have been 

 removed from the ruins by the Government engineers and 

 broken up for ballast for the new road from Nicosia to 

 Limassol. 



The presidential address on " Nature and Nurture " 

 delivered by Prof. Karl Pearson at the annual meeting of 

 the Social and Political -Education League in April lasl 

 has been published by Messrs. Dulau and Co. in the 

 Eugenics Laboratory Lecture Series. Prof. Pearson lavs 

 stress on' the necessity for exact methods in the study of 

 NO. 2127, VOL. 84] 



sociological problems, and indicates the difficulty of 

 analysing the resultant effects of nature and nurture so as 

 to exhibit the relative importance of each factor. A few 

 pedigrees are given illustrating the appalling extent to 

 which abnormalities may be propagated by a fertile 

 degenerate slock, and conversely the persistence of intel- 

 lectual eminence in superior stocks ; and the strength of 

 nature is contrasted with that of nurture by two tables, the 

 first showing correlations between parent and offspring or 

 between members of the same family, and the second 

 correlations between various factors taken as inaices of 

 environment and physical characters of children. Prof. 

 Pearson concludes that " there is no real comparison 

 between nature and nurture ; it is essentially the man w'ho 

 makes his environment, and not the environment which 

 makes the man." Not everyone will agree that the data 

 are adequate to prove the conclusion, and from many of 

 Prof. Pearson's obiter dicta the reader is likely to dissent; 

 but the address gives a lucid and stimulating exposition, in 

 popular language, of the lecturer's views. 



No. 1746 of the Proceedings of the U.S. Nat. Mus. is 

 devoted to an account, by Mr. G. C. Embody, of a new 

 species of amphipod crustacean, found in abundance in a 

 large, spring-fed pond or lake some three acres in 

 extent near .Ashland, Virginia. When first collected, in 

 1908, they were referred to Eiicrangony.-c gracilis, but they 

 are now found to be distinct, and described as En. serratm. 

 .Although these amphipods formed a portion of the food 

 of at least three species of fishes, the thick fringe of 

 vegetation round the pond, coupled with their rather rapid 

 propagation, prevents any very great destruction of the 

 crustaceans. 



In the July number of the American Naturalist, Mr. 

 H. B. W'ood discusses recent views as to the original source 

 and spread of bubonic plague. Russian naturalists have 

 urged that the bobac marmot (or perhaps some kindred 

 central Asiatic species) is the sole originator of plague, 

 and that it is permanently infected with the disease, thereby 

 periodically re-infecting rats, and thus the human race, by 

 means of fleas. The extermination of the bobac has, 

 therefore, been demanded ; but, as the author points out, 

 there are probably other sources of original infection, and, 

 in any case, certain American rodents have now become 

 permanent centres of the disease. It is known, for in- 

 stance, that a species of suslik, or ground-squirrel 

 (Spermophilus, or Citellus, beecbeyi), is plague-infected in 

 California, and the same is the case with one of the wood- 

 rats of the genus Neotoma, only in a less degree. Susliks 

 may become infected inter se by the burrowing owl 

 (Speotito) acting as flea-carrier, the fleas being probably 

 carried from susliks to man by either cattle or rats, although 

 direct transference from the former may take place. Two 

 kinds of Californian rat-fleas will bite man, as will some 

 suslik-fleas ; and it has also been ascertained that rat-fleas 

 will carry infection from rats to susliks, while suslik-fleas 

 will carry it from one species of suslik to another, and 

 likewise to rats and guinea-pigs. 



.An account was given in the Times of July 2.'j of the 

 deep-sea observations in the North .Atlantic made by the 

 Michael Sars expedition, which left Plymouth on .April 7. 

 It will be remembered that Sir John Murray liberally 

 financed the expedition and took part in the cruise. The 

 work was under the control of Dr. John Hjort, w-ho had 

 the assistance of Prof. Gran, Mr. Helland'-Hansen, and 

 Captain Iversen. Physical and biological investigations 

 were made at most of the seventy-four observing stations. 

 Upwards of 600 temperature observations at different 



