October 27, 1910] 



NATURE 



547 



of representative timbers, of whicli original specimens are 

 stored at the Forestry College in Miinden. The author 

 records a preponderance of species for the families 

 LeguminosEE, ApocynaceiTC, Euphorbiacese, and Moracea;. 

 Among the more important trees are Chlorophora excelsa, 

 apparently identical with African teak; Enantia cliloraiiiha, 

 a yellow-wood; Eiitandophragma Candollei, a source of 

 mahogany ; hophira atata, known as ironw'ood ; and 

 Mimusops djave, that furnishes Congo mahogany. 



In connection with the economic side of Indian forestry, 

 Mr. R. S. Troup has prepared reports on the fissibility of 

 some Indian woods and the prospects of the match industry 

 in the Indian Empire, the former published in the Indian 

 Forest Records (vol. ii., part ii.), the latter in the Indian 

 Forest Memoirs (vol. ii., part i.). The experiments on 

 fissibility indicate that splitting depends mainly on the 

 nature of the grain, and that a hard wood with straight 

 grain, such as Acacia catechu, splits more readily than 

 a cross-fibred soft wood, such as Boinbax nialabaricufn. 

 Tests were also made to compare the cleaving force re- 

 quired in tangential and radial planes, with the result that 

 for most timbers cleavage proved to be easier in the 

 tangential plane. The memoir on match woods is very 

 comprehensive, and sets out the results of practical 

 manipulation with different woods, suitable locations for 

 factories, the possibility of obtaining supplies, and an 

 article on the manufacture of matches. Species of poplar, 

 willow, and alder — the trees that yield wood used in 

 European factories — are found in parts of India, but not 

 in suflicient quantity. Fortunately, a number of Indian 

 trees yield suitable wood, amongst which Bombax insigne 

 and B. malabariciim are expected to furnish the bulk of 

 supply. 



An article in the Kcw Bulletin (No. 6) on new trees and 

 shrubs, contributed by Mr. \V. J. Bean, refers with one 

 exception to Chinese introductions. Three conifers are 

 described : Larix Potaninii, a larch attaining a height of 

 70 feet ; Picea complanata, a flat-leaved spruce ; and Tsuga 

 yuimanensis. Of the dicotyledons, a pinnate-leaved species 

 of Syringa is a novelty collected by Mr. Wilson for Messrs. 

 Veitch ; Pyrus Folgiieri is an attractive horticultural 

 addition to the genus, and ilcliosma Veitchiorum possesses 

 both morphological and horticultural interest, as it is the 

 only tree in the family Sabiaces hardy enough for out- 

 door cultivation in this climate, and promises to be a most 

 ornamental acquisition to the garden. Considerable 

 interest attaches to a revision of the genus Entandophragnia 

 communicated by Mr. T. A. Sprague, because various 

 species of the genus, and the allied genera Pseudocedrela 

 and Swietenia, are important sources of timber. 



SELECTIONS FROM AMERICAN ZOOLOGICAL 



WORK. 

 J\TATURE for 1908, vol. Iviii., p. 140, contained an 

 •' '' illustrated account by Mr. N. H. Corquodale of a 

 pair of hartebeest horns attacked by a tineid larva. 

 -Another instance of antelope horns — in this instance those 

 of a waterbuck — being attacked by such larvae is illus- 

 trated by Mr. A. Busck in vol. Ivi., No. 8, of Smithsonian 

 Miscellaneous Collections. The author claims to have 

 shown the nature of the larval tubes — apparently the work 

 of Tinea vastella — more distinctly than has been done 

 before. 



The spolia of the Smithsonian Expedition to East Africa 

 continue to afl'ord the bases for new work, among which 

 we may refer to a description by Mr. W. H. Ball, in 

 No. 10 of the volume just. cited, of three new land-shells, 

 two referable to Buliminus and the third to Limicolaria. 



It is always satisfactory when two or more observers 

 arrive independently at the same conclusion. An instance 

 of this is alTorded in a paper on chimaeroid fishes by 

 Messrs. Bean and Weed, published in Proc. U.S. Nat Mus., 

 No. 1723, w^here the authors come to the conclusion that 

 the Japanese species described by Mr. S. Tanaka under 

 the new generic title of Anteliochimaera is not separable 

 from the long-beaked chimeras of the genus Harriotta, a 

 view which had been previously adopted by Messrs. Holt 

 and Byrne, although this was unknown to the authors 

 until their paper was in type. Excellent figures are given 

 of the typical Harriotta raleighana. 



NO. 2139, VOL. 84] 



In this connection it may be mentioned that the part of 

 the Journal of the College of Science of Tokyo University 

 containing Mr. S. Tanaka's description of the so-called 

 .Anteliochimsera has only lately been received, although it is 

 dated October, 1909. 



Among papers relating to the North American fauna, 

 mention may be made of Messrs. Meek and Hildebrand's 

 list of fishes inhabiting the lakes, rivers, and lagoons of the 

 Chicago district, issued as No. 9 of vol. vii. of the 

 Zoological Publications of the Field Museum. Special in- 

 terest attaches to the fish-fauna of the district owing to the 

 cjianges caused by the growth of the great city ; and it is 

 hoped that the paper will lead to careful study of these 

 changes, as well as to observations on the distribution and 

 habits of the various species. 



In another faunistic paper, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 

 1719, Mr. D. Coquillett supplies a list of the type-species 

 of North .'American genera of Diptera, a subject which 

 comes very opportunely at a time when so much attention 

 is being devoted to the biting Hies of the world. That 

 there was need for revision is exemplified bv the statement 

 that a certain fly, Tachina vulgaris, has been redescribed 

 and renamed 257 times, one writer alone having made 

 from it 24:; species, arranged in five genera ; this being; 

 only one — it may be hoped the worst — out of many cases- 

 The author carries priority in nomenclature to the bitter 

 end, a matter of less moment in this than in many other 

 groups. 



Perhaps the most important of all the papers in the 

 batch on which these notes are based is one by Mr. A. H. 

 Clark (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 1756), on Proisocrinus. 

 ruberrimus, a new genus and species of stalked crinoid 

 from the Philippines. The new form is by far the tallest 

 existing member of the group hitherto discovered, the 

 height, exclusive of the root, exceeding 40 inches. la 

 colour it is brilliant scarlet, thereby differing from the 

 purples and greens of the Pentacrinidje, and the yellows oC 

 the Apiocrinidae and Bourgueticrinid^e. The family posi- 

 tion of the new genus is still uncertain ; the general 

 structure of the calyx and arm-bases recalling Bathycrinus,, 

 while the arms and pinnules are of the type of those of 

 the Pentacrinid.-E, although most of the stem resembles that 

 of Calamocrinus. There is also an approximation — • 

 apparently more than superficial — to Millericrinus. 



In No. 1759 of the aforesaid Proceedings Mr. J. A. 

 Cushman describes a collection of arenaceous Foraminifera 

 obtained by the Albatross during her recent cruise in the 

 Philippines. Ten species and one genus (Sphferammina)i 

 are believed to be new. In the new genus the test consists 

 of a series of spheroidal or ovate chambers arranged on a 

 straight axis, with the one last formed envleoping the rest. 

 In several respects it recalls the Miocene Ellipsoidina 

 ellipsoides. R. L. 



DISTRIBUTION OF WEEDS. 



'X'HE numerous means by which nature ensures the dis- 

 tribution or dispersal of seeds of wild plants are well 

 known to students of botany. For example, some seeds 

 (Papaver, Orobanche) are very light and easily scattered 

 by the wind ; others (Cnicus, Senecio, Rhinanthus) bear 

 flight organs or " wings," by means of which they sail 

 away on the breeze ; some seed vessels are so constructed 

 that on ripening and opening they throw out the seed! 

 with considerable force (Lupinus) ; while some fruits bear 

 hooks, by which they become attached to animals and 

 man, and so secure distribution (Galium, Arctium). Un- 

 happily, many serious weed pests are also distributed by 

 man in agricultural and horticultural seeds and various 

 other means, and doubtless many botanists have read of 

 the emigrant Scotchman who, in the pride of his heart, 

 took specimens of the national emblem to Australia, and 

 so introduced a very harmful weed. 



A tew months ago an advertisement, resembling a paper 

 butterfly, was widely distributed, and, probably for realism 

 and novelty, it was made to bear the burr of the burdock 

 {Arctium Lappa). This advertisement doubtless received 

 attention owing to the fact that recipients attached it (by 

 the " burrs ") to the clothing of other members of the 

 household ! It appears that the same method has been 

 utilised — perhaps by the same advertisers — in Australia, 



