August 24, 191 1] 



NATURE 



255 



Writing from Chinanfu, Shantung, China, Mr. Alfred 

 refers to a statement made in a note in Nature 

 fjfune 8, p. 493) that "rice in China takes the place of 

 wheat with us as the chief source of starchy food," and 

 points out that in Shantung rice is little used, other cereals 

 being substituted, and that the diet is a liberal one. The 

 statement, of course, was only a general one ; and obviously 

 in a country so huge as China, with climates varying from 

 tropical to almost Arctic, the diet in different districts must 

 be equally variable. 



In a paper on the chemical differentiation of species, 

 Miss Muriel Wheldale suggests that the presence of par- 

 ticular chemical compounds in plants may be of value 

 either in the differentiation of, or in accentuating resemblances 

 between, orders, families, genera, or even species. Thus 

 the glucoside " aucubine " was first isolated from Aucuba 

 japonica (Cornaceae), and subsequently from seven species 

 of Garrya, another genus of the Cornaceae. It is also 

 stated to be present in various species of Plantago 

 (Plantaginaceas). It would be interesting to discover if 

 there are other connecting links between these two groups. 

 Some of the purins are known only in the genus Thea 

 (Bio-Chemical Journal, v., 1911, No. 10, p. 445). 



In his report on the Giza Zoological Gardens for 1910 

 Captain Stanley Flower states that the number of visitors 

 continues to show a gratifying increase, and that the 

 number of animals, other than fishes, in the collection is 

 larger than in any previous year, comprising at the annual 

 stock-taking 1464 specimens, referable to 391 species. 

 Among the more important additions were a rhinoceros and 

 a Blue Nile elephant. 



In The Field of August 12 Mr. R. I. Pocock illustrates 

 the different ways in which the Indian and the African 

 elephant use the tip of their trunks. In the former, some 

 small object, such as a handful of bran, is held by the tip 

 of the trunk being bent on itself, so that the object is 

 squeezed between the tip and the lower surface of the 

 trunk, whereas in the latter the object is held between the 

 two lips of the trunk-tip, much after the fashion in which 

 fruit is placed in a cornucopia;. 



The recorder of Section D (Zoology) of the British 

 Association sends us the following provisional programme 

 of the section for the forthcoming meeting at Ports- 

 mouth : — Presidential address, Prof. DArcy W. Thompson. 

 Discussions : On the origin of the Mammalia, Prof. G. 

 Elliot Smith, Dr. C. VV. Andrews, Prof. A. Keith, and Dr. 

 Marett Tims; on Wallace's line, C. Tate Regan and Guy 

 Marshall ; on the systematic position of the cyclostomes, Dr. 

 Woodland, Prof. Dendy, and E. S. Goodrich ; on the nutri- 

 tion of marine organisms, Dr. Dakin, Prof. Herdman, 

 Prof. Gamble, and Prof. V. H. Blackmail. Lectures (with 

 illustrations) : Mr. F. Enock, on fairy flies ; Dr. C. W. 

 Andrews, on the extinct reptiles of the Oxford Clay of 

 Peterborough. Papers: Recent advances in sex problems, 

 G. Smith ; some points in the anatomy of Squilla, Dr. 

 Woodland ; new species of Balanus collected by the Siboga 

 in the Malay Archipelago, Dr. P. P. C. Hoek ; a new 

 epizoic hydroid on a copepod (n.g. + n.sp.) parasitic on 

 Scopelus glacialis, Prof. H. Jungersen ; note on the maims 

 of a young Indian elephant, Prof. R. J. Anderson ; some 

 points in the manus and pes of Primates, Prof. R. J. 

 Anderson ; on the effect of Sacculina on the fat meta- 

 bolism of its host, G. C. Robson ; notes on a trypanosome 

 found in a sheep tick, and its probable connection with 

 the disease known as louping-ill, Major C. F. Bishop, 

 R.A. ; on the dorsal vibratile organ of the rockling 

 NO. 2 182, VOL. 87] 



(Mbtella), Dr. J. Stuart Thomson ; momentum in evolu- 

 tion, Prof. Dendy ; Polytrema and its allies, Prof. S. J. 

 Hickson ; the life-history and metamorphosis of Murae- 

 noids, Dr. J. Schmidt (Copenhagen) ; le cycle animal des 

 glandes geriitales de VEchinocardium cordatum, Prof. 

 Caullery (Paris) ; the hypostome and antennae in a recon- 

 structed trilobite (Calymene), Prof. Malcolm Laurie ; 

 (1) the vernal-plumage changes in the adolescent black- 

 bird (Turdus merula) and their correlation with sexual 

 maturity ; (2) case of a remarkable egg of Falco 

 tinnunculus laid in remarkable circumstances, Prof. 

 C. J. Patten; (1) the lantern of Aristotle as an organ of 

 locomotion ; (2) solaster development, Dr. James F. 

 Gemmell. 



Messrs. Friedlander, of Berlin, have conferred an 

 inestimable benefit on zoologists and palaeontologists by 

 the issue of a second edition of the " Zoologischer Adress- 

 buch " (International Zoologist's Directory), which con- 

 tains the names and addresses, so far as they could be 

 ascertained, of all living persons specially interested in 

 zoology, anatomy, physiology, and animal palaeontology 

 throughout the world, together with taxidermists and 

 natural history dealers. The previous edition was pub- 

 lished by the German Zoological Society in 1S95, to which 

 a supplement appeared in 1901. The present volume com- 

 prises 1 109 pages, of which 88 are devoted to the index 

 of names. As in the American " International Scientist's 

 Directory," the names of the persons referred to are 

 entered under the heading of their respective countries, 

 but in place of the names being arranged in alphabetical 

 order, they are classified according to the place of resi- 

 dence. Whether this is an improvement or the reverse 

 we do not propose to discuss ; but, whatever may be the 

 general opinion on this point, the index renders it per- 

 fectly easy to find the individual addresses. Taking the 

 British Isles as a sample of the whole, we find, so far as 

 we are acquainted with them, both the names and the 

 addresses entered with what is really marvellous accuracy. 

 The names of a few deceased naturalists, such as the late 

 T. Southwell and C. J. Cornish, are retained on the lists, 

 while a few living naturalists, e.g. Mr. Hugh Gladstone, 

 are omitted ; and we notice some confusion between the 

 officials of the Victoria and Albert Museum and those of 

 the Science Museum. Errors of this nature are, however, 

 practically unavoidable, and the publishers are to be 

 heartily congratulated on the manner in which they have 

 carried out an arduous task. As the expense in producing 

 the work must have been very heavy, it is to be hoped 

 that they will receive liberal support from that section of 

 the public interested in natural history. 



In the current issue of Scientia M. J. Costantin directs 

 attention to some of the recent phases of the culture of 

 orchids. He points out that 600 hybrids have been pro- 

 duced in the genus Cypripedium alone, many of which do 

 not resemble their parents but look like new species, and 

 are indefinitely fertile, and so can be crossed with each 

 other. Observations are added on the association with 

 orchids of a mycorhiza, three species of which have been 

 recorded ; one of these is found in the roots of Cypri- 

 pedium, Cattleya, and Laelia, another in Phalaenopsis and 

 Vanda, and the third in Odontoglossum. The inoculation 

 of an orchid with a species of mycorhiza other than that 

 usual to it leads to one of three results : either the plant 

 dies, the fungus dies, or they become accommodated to 

 each other ; but in this case a plant of unusual form is 

 produced. The author suggests that these facts indicate 

 that the environment may be responsible for the appear- 

 ance of new characters. 



