372 



NATURE 



[September 22, 1910 



We have received from Mr. J. Wrench Towse, clerk to 

 the Fishmongers' Company, two notices which give useful 

 summaries of the regulations made by Parliament and by 

 the Fisheries Local Committees relative to the seasons for 

 fishing with respect to salmon, trout and char, crabs and 

 lobsters. 



A SCHEME for the cultivation in Dalmatia of the spine- 

 less variety of cactus raised by Burbank is advocated with 

 considerable reason by Dr. C. C. Hosseus in Miia 

 (August), the object being to supply cattle fodder, of which 

 there is a deficiency. The author points out that the 

 natural conditions are favourable, and indicates how the 

 scheme should be inaugurated. 



The details of a Rhododendron producing double flowers 

 in its wild state are given by Dr. M. Miyoshi in the 

 Journal of the College of Science, Imperial University, 

 Tokyo (vol. xxvii., art. ii). The species Rhododendron 

 hrachycarpitm grows in the mountains of central and 

 northern Japan. The anomalous plants shower a second 

 partial or complete corolla whorl. The author notes that 

 double flowers have also been recorded for Rhododendron 

 ferriigineum in the Tyrolese Alps, and for Rhododendron 

 albiflorum in North America. 



Mr. C. J. Ch.ameerlain continues to provide original 

 information regarding the lesser known cycads, his latest 

 contribution, in the Botanical Gazette (December, 1909), 

 being a general description of Dioon spinulosuni, based 

 upon observations made in southern Mexico, where the 

 plants grow in such profusion as to form almost a forest, 

 and the largest specimens attain a height of 16 metres ; 

 this species, therefore, in contrast to the short-stemmed 

 Dioon edule, supplies the tallest cycads known, with the 

 exception of Cycas media. The leaves of an average speci- 

 men are about 20 cm. long, and bear more than a hundred 

 pinnae on either side. The ovulate cones are the largest 

 known for any gymnosperm, as they may weigh as much 

 as 15 kilos, and measure 50 cm. in length by 27 cm. in 

 diameter. No staminate cones were collected in Mexico, 

 but the author describes a specimen received from the 

 Missouri Botanical Garden. 



One of the most interesting articles in the Transactions 

 of the Scottish Arboricultural Society (vol. xxiii., part ii.) 

 is a contribution by Sir John Stirling-Maxwell giving early 

 results of trials in Inverness-shire with the Belgian system 

 of tree planting on turfs. Intended primarily for afforesta- 

 tion on moors, but also suitable for rough, grass-covered 

 ground, the system consists in turning over turfs, leaving 

 them to dry and sweeten for some months, and then plant- 

 ing in the centre in a heap of soil enriched with a small 

 proportion of basic slag. The young plants take a year 

 to become established, and then grow on quickly. The 

 author also recommends the Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, 

 for planting at an elevation of about 1000 feet, in which 

 there is agreement with the conclusions communicated in 

 an article by Mr. H. M. Cadell, who considers that it is 

 superior to larch, Scots pine, and Norway spruce for 

 growing in an exposed situation. 



Dr. .■\. WiLMORE, in a paper in the Geological Magazine, 

 19 10, p. 357, has carefully reviewed what is known of the 

 relations of uralite and other secondary amphiboles to 

 their parent minerals. He accepts the possibility of an 

 interchange of material between permeating liquids and 

 an original pyroxene, and does not regard uralite as 

 necessarily an exact paramorph of a pyroxene. 

 NO. 2134, VOL. 84] 



The geological section of the Belfast Naturalists' Field 

 Club has issued its report for 1909-10 in the Proceedings 

 of the club, and it is clear that a large amount of educa- 

 tional work results from its meetings and excursions. 

 The interesting volcanic neck at Scawt Hill, and a selected 

 series of Cretaceous exposures, have been studied, and a 

 class has been formed under Dr. Dwerryhouse for petro- 

 logical work. The section is fortunate in continuing to 

 include, several members whose contributions involve 

 sound original research. 



We have received the Bibliothcca Gcographica, issued by 

 the Berlin Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde, for the year 1906. 

 This volume, the fifteenth of the series, has been prepared 

 under the editorship of Dr. Otto Baschin ; it contains no 

 important changes in general arrangement, but, like all 

 works of the kind, tends to grow in bulk with the ever- 

 increasing volume of the annual output of geographical 

 literature. One of the most characteristic features is the 

 steady increase in the proportion of publications dealing 

 with geographical principles and methods as distinct from 

 purely regional and descriptive matter. 



In vol. xxiii. of the Annalen des k.k. Naturhistorischen 

 Hofmuseums Prof. Friedrich Berwerth describes in full 

 detail the meteoric iron which fell on August i, 1898, near 

 Quesa (39° N., 0° 40' W.), in the province of Valencia, 

 Spain, and makes an important contribution to the study 

 of the structure of such bodies. Thanks to the generosity 

 of Kommerzialrat J. Weinberger, the entire mass, with 

 the exception of a small piece weighing 30 grams, which 

 had been previously broken off in Spain for use in the 

 investigation of the character of the meteorite, has been 

 added to the fine collection in the Vienna Museum. A 

 slice weighing 375 grams has been cut from it, and the 

 total weight of the mass is now 10,370 grams, 300 grams 

 being lost in cutting. Thanks to its excellent state of 

 preservation, Prof. Berwerth is able to determine that the 

 wedge-like shape of the iron is due to the large develop- 

 ment of an octahedron and an icositelrahedron face, the 

 remaining surfaces being three small octahedron faces. 

 He discusses at some length the nature of the depressions 

 — rhegmaglypts (^7)7^0, fracture ; y\vip(ii', engrave) as he 

 terms them — caused by the fierce heat generated by the 

 meteorite's swift rush through the earth's atmosphere; 

 they must not be confused with the hollows due to 

 weathering which are ordinarily seen in irons. The paper 

 is illustrated by reproductions of several excellent photo- 

 graphs. 



The meteorological chart of the North .Atlantic for 

 October, issued by the U.S. Weather Bureau, contains an 

 instructive account of the great tropical storm of October, 

 1909, known as the Key West Hurricane, accompanied 

 by synoptic charts showing the weather conditions over 

 the North Atlantic from October 10-15. The Weather 

 Bureau records verify the general laws of cyclonic move- 

 ments in the West Indies, announced by the late Father 

 Vines, that the storms reach further westward as the 

 I season advances ; they also show that averages of tracks 

 can be given but little weight in forecasting those of in- 

 dividual hurricanes. Observations indicated that a disturb- 

 ance was developing in the Caribbean Sea on October 2, , 

 but the probable course of the storm could not be deter- 

 mined until October 6. On October 9, during its passage 

 over the western part of that sea, a destructive wave 

 swept from the Gulf of Mexico over the low-lying islands 

 and coast of Yucatan. On October 10 the centre of the dis- 

 turbance had curved and began to move north and north- 



