October 19, 191 1] 



NATURE 



527 



same county. The committee regrets to announce grievous 

 destruction at the earthworks of Wellington in Bedfordshire, 

 Penmaenmawr in Carnarvonshire, Uley Bury in Gloucester- 

 shire, Stainton in Westmorland, and of the ditch round 

 the top of Windmill Hill at Aveburv, in Wilts. Excava- 

 tions have been carried out on several sites, the most 

 important being those at Aveburv under the control of 

 Mr. St. George Gray, and some preliminary investigations 

 of Stokeleigh Camp, ir. Somersetshire, by Prof. C. Lloyd 

 Morgan and Mr. A. E. Hudd, but nothing was found to 

 throw further light on the origin and construction of the 

 camp. At Old Sarum the work of the Society of 

 Antiquaries was practically confined to the uncovering of 

 masonry structures. 



In 1878 ("Cat. Chiroptera Brit. Mus.") Dr. Dobson 

 gave the name Kerivoula brunnea to a bat collected by Sir 

 Andrew Smith years previously, leaving it open whether 

 the habitat was South Africa or Madras. Until a short 

 time ago that specimen remained the only known repre- 

 sentative of the species ; but it is announced in the Annals 

 of the- Transvaal Museum for April that a second example 

 has been obtained in Portuguese East Africa, thus fixing 

 the habitat. 



In an article on a new species of Hipparion (H. pro- 

 boscideum) from the Upper Tertiary of Samos, published 

 in Verh. Deutsch. Zool. Ges., 1910-11, p. 192, Prof. 

 Studer expresses the opinion that the preorbital depression 

 or pit found in the skull of many members of the horse 

 group is not for the reception of a lacrymal gland, but 

 is for the purpose of muscular attachment, and attains its 

 maximum development in species like Onohippidium and 

 Hipparion proboscideum, which were probably furnished 

 with a proboscis. The position of the pit, it is stated, 

 differs somewhat from that of a true larmier, and the 

 inframaxillary foramen is always some distance from the 

 pit. This accords, in some degree, with the views of Mr. 

 R. I. Pocock, who has pointed out that in Onohippidium 

 the pit is divided into two moieties, one of which may have 

 contained a gland, and that the pit in Hipparion is prob- 

 ably also glandular. From the fact that a preorbital pit 

 occurs in Merychippus, as well as in the above-mentioned 

 genera, Dr. Studer is inclined to think that a proboscis 

 may have been developed in most or all of the forerunners 

 of the horse group. 



A third part of the publication " Illustrations of New 

 South Wales Plants," for which Mr. J. H. Maiden is 

 responsible, contains descriptions of .seven species of 

 Callistemon, the bottle-brushes, and four species of 

 Swainsona ; all except Callistemon lanceolatus are illus- 

 trated. A key to the species of Callistemon, prepared by 

 Mr. E. Cheel, separates a large section having anthers 

 with free filaments from a small section displaying 

 coherent filaments. Certain species are cultivated, notably 

 C. rigidus and C. pinifolius, here described. Swainsona, 

 belonging to the Papilionatae, includes some fodder plants 

 and a few that are poisonous to stock. 



A pl'zzling fossil organism, named Traquairia by Mr. 

 Carruthers, forms the subject of a short article contributed 

 by Mrs. D. H. Scott to the Annals of Botany (April), a 

 separate copy of which has just reached us. The chief 

 feature in the organism is the complicated structure of the 

 outer envelope, with an elaborate system of anastomosing 

 tubes connected with prominent spines. It was originally 

 referred by Mr. Carruthers to the radiolarians, but sub- 

 sequent botanical investigators have regarded it as a 

 possible reproductive organ of a cryptogamic plant. With- 

 NO. 2I90, VOL. 87] 



out expressing a definite opinion, the author inclines 

 towards the original suggestion. The chief object of the 

 paper is to identify and describe four species that differ 

 primarily in the nature of the spines. 



Arising out of an investigation into the sources of the 

 Ignatius beans of commerce, furnished by species of 

 Strychnos, Mr. A. W. Hill has prepared a revision of 

 East Indian and Philippine species of the genus, and it is 

 published in The Kew Bulletin (No. 7). The section, 

 characterised by long corolla tubes and large fruits con- 

 taining strychnine, forms a very natural group, ranging in 

 distribution throughout the area, although the individual 

 species conform to the general rule of localised distribu- 

 tion. Types of seven new species are described. Another 

 systematic article is provided by the list of new African 

 plants, which includes two new genera, Discoglypremna 

 and Sclerodactylon. Also a new genus, Dipentodon, show- 

 ing unique floral characters, is discussed by Mr. S. T. 

 Dunn, who places it provisionally in the Celastracese. 



The United States Geological Survey has published ten 

 bulletins (Nos. 457-464, 469, 472, 473) dealing with the 

 results of spirit-levelling during the last ten or fifteen 

 years in various parts of the country. A plate showing the 

 form of bench-mark used is now included to facilitate 

 recognition of the bronze or aluminium plate on which the 

 altitude to the nearest foot, before the final corrections are 

 applied in the office, is stamped. 



The Canadian Department of Mines has published a 

 summary of the triangulation and spirit-levelling carried 

 out in Vancouver Island, B.C., in 1909. Descriptions of 

 the stations are given, and the azimuths, back-azimuths, 

 and distances of points observed from each station are 

 tabulated ; but the method of observing is not stated, nor 

 is the accuracy attained anywhere indicated. An S-inch 

 theodolite, with two micrometer microscopes reading to 

 two seconds, was used. The levelling was carried out with 

 a 14-inch Dampy level, each line being run at least twice ; 

 altitudes are tabulated to o-ooi foot, but here again there 

 is no indication of the precision aimed at or attained. 



The mining town of Burketown is in the north-western 

 corner of Queensland. Its ore deposits were first dis- 

 covered by Mr. F. H. Hann in 18S7, but mining was only 

 begun in 1897 ; since then several of the ore deposits have 

 been worked, and concentrates carted to the coast at 

 Burketown, one hundred miles distant. The leading 

 mining company of the district, the Queensland Silver Lead 

 Mines, Ltd., recently arranged for an inspection of the 

 field by one of the officers of the Queensland Geological 

 Survey. The work was entrusted to Mr. Lionel C. Ball, 

 whose report, illustrated by five maps, twenty-three plates, 

 and forty plans, has now been issued by the Geological 

 Survey of Queensland (Publication No. 232). Mr. Ball 

 is impressed by the widespread distribution of the ores ; 

 but the quantity of high grade is small, and the success 

 of the field will depend upon the large low-grade ore 

 bodies. The ore deposits are mainly brecciated lodes in a 

 series of silicified sandstones and indurated shales. The 

 report contains not only a precise account of the chief 

 mineral deposits, but includes some important contribu- 

 tions to the geology of north-western Queensland. 



The U.S. Weather Bureau has issued a special bulletin 

 relating to the destructive hurricane which visited the 

 South Carolina-Georgia coast on August 27-28. Synoptic 

 weather charts are drawn for the Atlantic Ocean for 

 August 25—28, giving the position of the hurricane ; reports 

 from vessels show that the storm was in process of forma- 



