September 28. 191 1] 



NATURE 



425 



1 characters distinguishing the. genera 



I il Dasylirion. The species are 



pronounced xerophytes with a succulent caudex ; some 



of them reach trei Molina longifolia and Bcau- 



ii His that are illustrated. The focal centre 



of the tribe lies on the Mexican tabli land, with a distri- 



southwards to Central America and northwards to 



r..\ Colorado. Half the species are assigned to 



ami only seven arc placed under Beaucarnea. 



Among the sixty-' d out in connection 



with the Clare Island Survey, one of the earliest and a 



-ling number is the graphic account of the 



ns contributed by Miss A. Lorrain Smith. The region 



ock, moorland, and sea coast on Clare Island and the 



m mainland is particularly favourable to their de- 



1 rocks are clothed with black 



Ramalina scopulorum and Ramalina 



cuspidata grow within reach of the spray, and Physica 



parieiina gives colour to the boulders; proceeding inland, 



Lecanora parella and Lccanora atra are first prominent, 



and then Lecidea rivulosa. The peaty soil carries fine 



growths of Cladonia and Stereocaulon, and in the grass 



species of Pcltigera are abundant. The present list, not 



regarded as exhaustive, enumerates 2S0 species, of which 



only about thirty were previously recorded for the county, 



while the new records for Ireland approximate to this 



p include li thopyrenia lepi 



.1. microsbila irians, Microthelia dissepta, 



and the alpine Pertusaria gyrocheila. 



The reopening of the old alluvial goldfield in eastern 

 Sutherland was referred to in Nature of July 13 (p. 51). 

 It was then remarked that gold was being obtained, but 

 whether it occurs in paying quantities had still to be 

 proved. Information recently received from the field 

 that the experiment has been a financial failure, but 

 fresh attempts are being made at another locality. 



The twelfth half-yearly review of mining operations in 



South Australia records the further development of the 



Tanami Goldfield in the Northern Territory, and stati s 



that instructions for the provision of a batterv have been 



by the Minister foi Mines. The most important 



mineral product of South Australia is copper, and owing 



to its low price during the half-year copper mining had 



en active. Further progress is being made in the 



opment of the carnotite lode at Radium Hill, and the 



manufacture of gas fire-blocks has begun a fresh use f 



the extensive china-clay deposits of South Australia. 



In the September number of The Scottish Geographical 

 ine there appears a paper on the plant geography of 

 Ardgoil, a public park of the Corporation of Glasgow, 

 comprising some 14,000 acres, bordering on Loch Long 

 and Loch Goil. Maintained in its natural condition of a 

 Highland estate, it offers an excellent field for the study 

 of such problems; and Mr. T. Nisbet's paper, read to 

 the geographical section of the Royal Philosophical Society 

 of Glasgow, is an excellent example of the useful work 

 which can be done in local investigations. The present 

 distribution of trees and plants is compared with the 

 records in early statistical accounts, and the controlling 

 influence of the greater hillside and glen population which 

 existed a century and more ago is pointed out. 



In the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Prof. 

 G. A. J. Cole describes the glacial features in Spitsbergen, 

 and compares them with such as are to be seen in Ireland, 

 where we associate with the waning of the Irish Ice 

 age. The general appearance of aridity in the form and 

 NO. 21S7. V( iL. 87 



ring in Spitsbergen is very striking, 

 and the action of penetrating water and repeated frosts 

 leads to a rapid destruction of the rock, often forming 

 1 irque-like basins on the hill-slopes. Such cirques, illus- 

 trations of the arid type of weathering, Boulder-clay, and 

 fluvio-glacial deposits are well shown by photographs 

 taken by the author, who discusses the possibility of some- 

 what similar conditions having existed over Ireland during 

 the Glacial period. 



A correspondent asks what is " teart land," for the 

 investigation of which the Development Commissioners 

 have made a grant. The use of the word " teart " in 

 connection with certain soils was referred to in Nature 

 of November 3, 1910 (p. 251, and oi May it, 1911 (p. 364), 

 both times in reference to Mr. C. T. Gimingham's very 

 promising work on problems presented by such lands. Dr. 

 E. J. Russell informs us that the word is used to denote 

 certain pastures in Somersetshire on which cattle 



scour," or get diarrhoea badly, whilst on other pastures 

 round about they remain perfectly healthy. Botanical 

 examination of the pastures reveals nothing that can 

 account for the scouring, nor is there any evidence of 

 organisms. Only the Lowei Lias formation is 

 [fleeted, alluvial pastures all round a Lias pasture being 

 quite sound. The whole problem is very baffling and 

 extraordinary, but it i, typical of many other pasture 

 problems which require investigation. 



In the- August number of La Geographic M. Paul 

 Mougin discusses the snowfall in Savoy. The material 

 available includes many references to the deficiency or 

 excess of snowfall in different v. a.-, and by research 

 among the documents preserved in the official centres of 

 hi province a large amount of information has been 

 collected which reaches back for many years. But such 

 data are but approximate, and are only available for 

 exceptional years; nevertheless, from 1773 onwards the 

 dates of the earliest and latest snowfalls have been recorded 

 at Annecy. Taking the mean dates for each twenty-five 

 years, there seems to have been a maximum annual dura- 

 tion of snow in the period 1801-25, since when it has 

 decreased. It is pointed out that this corresponds with 

 the maximum extension of the glaciers in 1818-20, and 

 do not contradict their retreat, which commenced after 

 1863. From 1853 the depth of snow falling in each year 

 has been recorded at Annecy, and since 1900 the Adminis- 

 tration des Eaux et Forets has considerably increased the 

 number of observing stations. From such data M. Mougin 

 discusses the increase of snowfall with altitude, and the 

 marked increase recorded in passing from north to south. 

 There are also localities of exceptionally heavy snowfall 

 which are not on the highest parts of the mountain range. 



The interesting weather charts of the North Atlantic for 

 September 7-13, prepared from radio-telegrams and other 

 data, and published in the first issue of the valuable 

 monthly meteorological charts for October by the Meteor- 

 ological Office, show that the distribution of barometric 

 pressure was subject to considerable variation. The chief 

 features were the movement of high and low systems, 

 generally of small intensity, across America to the Atlantic, 

 and their subsequent tracks across the ocean. At the close 

 of the period the eastern half of the Atlantic was under 

 the influence of a very large high-pressure system extending 

 from Greenland and Iceland southward to the edge of the 

 tropics, and the office was enabled to predict successfully 

 a continuance of these conditions for some days. On the 

 same chart it is notified that the French Meteorological 

 Office has commenced the dispatch of wireless messages 



