October 12, 1911] 



NATURE 



495 



In No. i860 (vol. sli., p. 207) of the Proceedings of the 

 U.S. National Museum Mr. C. W. Gilmore describes, under 

 the new generic and specific name of Brachychampsa 

 montana, a crocodilian skull from the Cretaceous of 

 Montana. The specimen indicates an alligator-like reptilp, 

 distinguished from all other members of the alligator-group 

 by the absence of a posterior expansion of the hinder part 

 of the premaxilke to roof over the front of the nares. 

 There are fourteen pairs of upper teeth, five of which are 

 borne by the premaxilla;. 



A new species (B. tener) of the stegocephalian genus 

 Branchiosaurus, from the Rothliegendes of north-western 

 Saxony, is described by Mr. G. Schonfeld in the Abhand- 

 Jungen Ges, Isis for 191 1, p. 19. It is characterised by 

 the gills persisting at least to a late period of life, by the 

 slenderness of the bones of the middle of the roof of the 

 skull, the presence of teeth on the vomers and palatines, 

 and in the young state on the pterygoids, and by the small 

 scales being marked with a radiating sculpture and con- 

 centric growth-lines. 



The " Bibliotheca Geographica " for 1907 has been pub- 

 lished by the Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde of Berlin, having 

 been edited, as in the preceding years, by O. Baschin. 

 In size this most useful volume of reference remains about 

 the same ; a few changes in the classification have been 

 made as experience has shown to be desirable, and this 

 sixteenth volume fully maintains the high reputation of its 

 forerunners as a most convenient and comprehensive guide 

 to geographical literature. 



In the Mitteilungen der k.k. Geographischen Gesellschaft 

 of Vienna (Heft 8) a detailed account is given of the con- 

 struction of a map from the photographs taken by Dr. 

 Pietschmann during a recent expedition in Mesopotamia. 

 An ordinary camera and stand, slightly modified to enable 

 him to take rounds of views suitable for cartographical 

 purposes, enabled him, it is claimed, to obtain material 

 sufficient for producing a far more complete and accurate 

 map than he could otherwise have done, and that without 

 too great interference with his other occupations. 



In the August and September numbers of The Geo- 

 graphical Journal Mr. J. C. Brauner discusses at some 

 length the geological structure of Bahia and the form and 

 position of the principal mountain ranges of this part of 

 Brazil, in which he spent eight months in 1907 when study- 

 ing the geology. The paper contains a great deal of 

 interesting geological material, but, as a geographical de- 

 scription, lacks that coordinating treatment which is needed 

 to give a full and explanatory account of an area. 



Prof. Otto Nordenskjold, in the September number 

 of The Geographical Journal, discusses some questions of 

 general importance relating to the nature of the Antarctic 

 regions. The general orography of the north-western por- 

 tion, which faces the South American continent, is sketched 

 out, and the Antarctic climate and the character of its 

 glaciation is considered, especially with reference to the 

 influence of land-ice. The great masses of it which collect 

 .fewer the summer temperature and tend to make that of 

 winter somewhat milder, so that the land is gradually 

 wrapped in ice, and vegetable and animal life is extremely 

 sparse. Full discussion of such matters will appear in 

 the course of the year in the geographical part of the 

 results of the Swedish South Polar Expedition. 



The Meteorological Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean 



for October, published by the Deutsche Seewarte, shows 



that at the beginning of September icebergs were seen in 



the Belle Isle Strait, and were still met with to the east- 



NO. 2189, VOL. 87] 



ward on the ocean routes. A useful series of synoptic 

 charts illustrates the very stormy weather which occurred 

 between the Azores and the European coast from April 

 18-22, 1909, inclusive. It rarely happens that storms of 

 hurricane force travel eastwards from the Azores in April. 

 The monthly charts show that at this period depression* 

 originating to the west of those islands usually take a 

 northerly course. The disturbance in question travelled in 

 an E.N.E. direction until April 21 at the rate of 400-500 

 miles a day, then struck northwards, joined an area of 

 low pressure coming from N.W., and arrived off the south 

 of Ireland early on April 22. The sudden and unexpected 

 appearance of this storm is referred to in the report of the 

 Meteorological Committee for the year ended March 31, 

 1910. 



We have received the first four numbers of the Journal 

 of the Washington Academy of Sciences, to be published 

 semi-monthly except in July, August, and September, when 

 monthly. The academy publishes a series of Memoirs, of 

 which the first volume is dated 1866, the second 1884, the 

 third 1S85, and the remaining volumes at somewhat 

 irregular intervals ; these memoirs contain long papers. 

 In 1899 a series of Proceedings was commenced containing 

 papers shorter than those in the Memoirs, issued to 

 members at intervals ; at the end of each year these are 

 collected into volumes, with indexes and title-pages. The 

 present serial will replace the Proceedings, and is intended 

 for shorter papers written or communicated by resident or 

 non-resident members of the academy, for abstracts of 

 scientific literature published in or emanating from 

 Washington, for proceedings and programmes of the 

 affiliated societies, and for notes of events connected with 

 the scientific life of Washington. Parts i. and ii. (pub- 

 lished together) contain 4S pages, and part iii. 56 pages. 

 Many of the papers are of considerable interest, and extend 

 over a wide range of subjects. The abstracts appear to be 

 well done; the references give the name of the publication, 

 the volume and pages of the beginning and end of the 

 paper, and they are all from papers of the present year, 

 indicating the -desire to print the abstracts so soon as 

 possible after the appearance of the originals. The Journal 

 of the academy will be more useful both to residents and 

 non-residents than the Proceedings of which it takes the 

 place. 



The July number of Science Progress, which was not 

 received until last month, while particularly strong on the 

 biological side, is sufficiently catholic in its articles to 

 ensure that its -eaders have a wide and accurate know- 

 ledge outside their own special grooves. Dr. Waller, one 

 of the advisory committee of the journal, proves that to 

 Magendie rather than to Bell must be ascribed the dis- 

 covery of the functions of motor and sensory nerves. Dr. 

 Russell shows how the work of the Bureau of Soils of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture has suffered 

 materially owing to their neglect of the biological, as 

 distinct from the chemical, processes going on in the soil. 

 Prof. Bragg gives an outline of the facts of radio-activity, 

 and shows that they force us to give up the idea of the 

 impenetrability of matter. 



Publication No. 149 of the Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington consists partly of a reprint of a paper from 

 The Philosophical Magazine, partly of new matter, and 

 deals with a detailed investigation by Prof. C. Barus and 

 his son of the conditions under which light produced by 

 diffraction at a plane grating can be made to give inter- 

 ference fringes. The grating is mounted at one end and 

 the eye-piece at the other end of a rod, the ends of which 

 slid, along tracks at right angles to each other, as in the 



