October 5, 1911] 



NATURE 



457 



in phonetics at University College, has provided a useful 

 addition to our knowledge of African linguistics and 

 phonology. He pleads for the general adoption of the 

 national phonetic alphabet, because, in the first place, it 

 is -scientifically constructed on the " one sound one symbol " 

 principle ; secondly, because it is not the pet system of any 

 single individual, but was prepared by representatives of 

 a number of European languages ; and, thirdly, because it 

 is in more general use than any other existing system and 

 is international. Missionaries engaged in the study of the 

 languages of savage or barbaric tribes, and natives desirous 

 of acquiring the correct pronunciation of English, French, 

 or German, would be well advised to adopt it. 



The second part of vol. xi. of the Annals of the South 

 African Museum is devoted to a continuation of Messrs. 

 Gilchrist and Wardlaw Thompson's descriptions of Natal 

 marine fishes. Five species, including a mullet, are 

 described as new. 



As the result of a study of the luminous organs of 

 certain fishes, Mr. H. Ohshima, writing in the Journal 

 of the Tokyo College of Science (vol. xxviii., art. 15, 

 finds that whereas in sharks these structures lack definite 

 numerical arrangement, and are merely diffuse, minute 

 epidermal swellings partially sunk in the cutis, in the 

 SternoptychidEe they are arranged in a definite order and 

 limited in number, with a complicated structure. Still 

 greater specialisation attends these organs in the 

 Myctophidae, in which there may be a sexual difference in 

 arrangement. The luminosity in sharks is faint and 

 diffuse. 



In a continuation of his notes on zoological gardens, 

 museums, &c, in the September Zoologist, Captain Stanley 

 Flower expresses his admiration of the large size of the 

 paddocks accorded to ungulates in the municipal mena- 

 gerie at Lyons, which is further notable on account of the 

 large amount of water running through the grounds. 

 This establishment is open free to the public. Admiration 

 is likewise expressed for the site of the new zoological 

 gardens at Munich, which occupy a picturesque position 

 on the Isar, are well timbered and watered, and contain 

 scarped cliffs, bushy coverts, wooded ponds, and open 

 meadows admirably suited for animals of many kinds. 

 At the Naples Aquarium Captain Flower was interested in 

 some living file-fishes (Balistes), which, although healthy 

 at the time of his visit, were not likely to live long, as in 

 confinement these fishes generally die at the approach of 

 winter. They feed on molluscs and crustaceans, the shells 

 of which are cracked so smartly by the powerful teeth 

 that the sound is audible through the glass of the tank. 



Biologisches Centralblatt for September 15 (vol. xxxi., 

 No. 18) contains a preliminary account of investigations 

 undertaken by Mr. S. Kowalewsky in regard to sex- 

 determination in animals, the second title of the paper 

 being the capricious determination of the sex in the germ 

 of mammals and birds. Previous theories on the subject 

 are reviewed, notably the opinion that poor nutrition in 

 the female parent is conducive to the production of male 

 offspring, and vice versa. Considerable importance appears 

 to attach to this from the circumstance that, according to 

 the author, female foetuses are found in that portion of the 

 ovary of guinea-pigs and rabbits which receives the greatest 

 supply of blood, males being developed in the less richly 

 nourished area, while where the blood-supply is still poorer 

 the germs are infertile. It is also shown that subcutaneous 

 injection of alcohol leads to a great preponderance of males 

 in guinea-pigs, as does also a poverty of acid. The latter 

 NO. 2l88, VOL. 87] 



phenomenon seems connected with the fact that in races 

 (such as Tatars and Australians) in which the females 

 arrive early at puberty there is a marked preponderance 

 of males over females. 



We have received two parts (Nos. 27 and 29) of Dr. 

 F. E. Schulze's Das Tierreich, now in course of publica- 

 tion by Messrs. Friedlander. In the former Dr. F. Werner 

 deals with the chamasleons (Chamaeleontidae), while in the 

 latter Mr. R. von Ritter-Zahony treats of that remarkable 

 pelagic organism known as Sagitta, and its relatives, which 

 collectively form the group Chaetognathi. The chamoeleons 

 comprise a much larger number of species than are recog- 

 nised in the third volume of Mr. Boulenger's British 

 Museum Catalogue of Lizards (1887). In the latter work 

 forty-four species of the typical genus Chamaeleon are cata- 

 logued, whereas the number is now raised to seventy-four. 

 In 1887 the Malagasy genus Brookia was represented by 

 three species ; it now includes seven. A still greater increase 

 occurs in the tropical African Rhampholeon, of which Mr. 

 Boulenger recognised but two species in 1887, whereas the 

 present author enumerates seven. The Cha;tognathi are 

 classified under six generic headings, one of the genera 

 having been named by the author during the present year ; 

 twenty species are included in the type genus, while the 

 other genera contain from one to three. Excellent figures 

 of the structure of these organisms are given, and the 

 diagnosis of the group is clear and succinct, but nothing 

 is said with regard to certain views which have been 

 recently expressed as to the taxonomic position of the 

 Chaetognathi. 



An interesting paper on plant-inhabiting mites of a 

 useful nature, contributed by Prof. G. F. Scott-Elliot, 

 appears in the Transactions and Proceedings of the 

 Botanical Society of Edinburgh (vol. xxiv., part iii.). The 

 red spider and other inimical mites are well known, but 

 the beneficial mites, although exceedingly common, have 

 received less attention. Their homes, in the shape of 

 small hollows behind hairs on the undersides of leaves on 

 trees, are termed acarodomatia ; they are not confined to 

 dicotyledonous trees and shrubs, as was supposed, but are 

 common on tall herbaceous plants, and the author has 

 found them on the leaves of Solomon's Seal. With respect 

 to their sphere of usefulness, it is asserted that they feed 

 on scale insects, fungus spores, and other pests. The 

 author suggests that with bacteria they help to prepare 

 organic dust particles for the benefit of plants. 



The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of 

 London for August is concerned with British zones and 

 fossils. E. S. Cobbold and C. A. Matley respectively 

 describe trilobites and brachiopods from the Lower Cambrian 

 beds of Comley. D. Woolacott directs attention to the 

 brecciation of the Permian rocks of Durham, which may 

 be due to thrusts of Miocene age. H. Bolton brings his 

 intimate knowledge of our Coal-measures to bear on the 

 stratigraphy of the Bristol Coalfield. He finds that the 

 fossils of the marine bands are of no service in marking 

 zones. S. H. Reynolds and A. Vaughan have investi- 

 gated the Avonian series of Burrington Combe in Somer- 

 set in the light of modern research, and now publish work 

 that has extended over several years. The paper concludes 

 with some interesting evolutionary generalisations (p. 389). 

 The Carboniferous system receives further study from 

 F. G. Collins, E. N. Arber, and G. C. Crick in a paper 

 on the Culm of the Exeter district. The Lower Culm- 

 measures are regarded as equivalent to the Midland Pendle- 

 side series. The name Culm thus becomes misleading, 

 especially from a Continental point of view (see p. 399). 



