March 



l8e^4 



NA rURE 



451 



better, though still rough, workmanship, was a small 

 pipkin-like vessel, with its handle perfect. Some of these 

 pieces were roughly and simply ornamented. Specimens 

 from the uppermost level were clearly more modern. 



Three of the caves yielded dark gi'ay or black spindle- 

 whorls of burnt clay, of fairly good workmanship. 



The metal objects included a bronze fibula and ring, a 

 silver coin supposed to be about the year 140, and iron 

 arrow- and lance-heads of media;val form. 



We arc grateful for this contribution to the palaeon- 

 tology and anthropology of Europe, and are encouraged 

 by it to entertain the hope that Prof. Ronier may be 

 enabled to make arrangements for the complete and 

 j-)'.fto«rt//(r exploration of at least one of the Ojcow caves 

 at present untouched ; and that sufficient means may be 

 at his disposal to place the work under continued scientific 

 superintendence. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 

 Poisons : their Effects and Detection. By Alex. Wynter 



Blyth, M.R.C.S. (London: Charles Griffin and Co., 



1884.) 

 This elaborate volume forms a part of the second 

 edition of the author's treatise on "Practical Che- 

 mistry," which has been wisely split up into two volumes, 

 one on "Foods," the other on "Poisons." Mr. Blyth's 

 experience as a health-officer and public analyst guarantees 

 that his conclusions arc largely based on actual practice 

 as a lexicologist ; and the book will be found to abound 

 in records of his own experiences. 



But Mr. Blyth is also an accomplished linguist, and his 

 book bears ample evidence of extensive reading, and a 

 wide acquaintance with the European literature of toxi- 

 cology. Almost every page teems with references to 

 original memoirs in the French, German, and Italian 

 languages ; and this circumstance alone would render it 

 an indispensable work of reference to be placed in the 

 library of every toxicologist. But " Poisons " has other 

 and distinguishing merits. 



The general reader will find the introductory chapter on 

 the old poison-lore of great interest, and replete with many 

 but little known facts and fables relative to the history of 

 poisons and their secret administration. Following on 

 this we find a succinct account of the growth and deve- 

 lopment of the modern methods of chemically detecting 

 poisons, at the end of which nearly three pages are de- 

 voted to a bibliography of the chief works on toxicology 

 of the present century, in which we miss any reference 

 to one of the most complete treatises on poisons extant — 

 that forming the bulk of the seventeenth volume of 

 Ziemssen's " Cyclopaedia of Medicine." 



In giving a scientific definition of a poison, Mr. Blyth 

 somewhat enigmatically remarks that "The definition of 

 a poison, in a scientific sense, should be broad enough to 

 comprehend not only the human race, but the dual world 

 of life, both animal and vegetable." He finally defines a 

 poison thus : — "A substance of definite chemical compo- 

 sition, whether mineral or organic, may be called a poison, 

 if it is capable of being taken into any living organisms, 

 and causes, by its own inherent chemical nature, impair- 

 ment or destruction of function." He excludes the 

 bacteroid bodies met with in certain diseases, but appa- 

 rently ignores the views of those observers who are of 

 opinion that these organisms form or excrete true poisons 

 of definite chemical constitutions. 



A novelty in the work is the devotion of a section to 

 what are termed " life-tests," z>. the identification of poisons 

 by their effects on living animals. This, and the elaborate 

 instructions given on the authority of various writers, as 

 to the methods to be adopted for separating and identi- 



fying the various poisons, will be found invaluable to the 

 analyst ; and his only difficulty will be the choice of one 

 out of the almost innumerable methods given for the 

 separation of a single poison, say arsenic or opium. 



TH0M.4S Stevenson 



Informe Official de la Comision cientifica agregada at 

 estado mayor general de la Expedicion al Rio Negro 

 {Patagonia) realizada en los meses de Abril, Mayo, y 

 Jj/nio de 1879, bajo las ordtncs del General D. Julio A. 

 Roca. Entrega 1. Zoologia (con 4 laminas). Part i. 

 4to, 168 pp. (Buenos Ayres, 1881.) 

 In 1879 the Government of the .Argentine Republic 

 despatched an expedition to the southern confines of 

 their territory for the suppression of the hordes of Indians 

 that had for many years previously rendered the district 

 of the Rio Negro unsafe to travellers and to settlers. 

 Under the command of General Roca these marauding 

 savages were successfully driven off to the south of the 

 Rio Negro, and a new frontier, which they are not 

 allowed to cross northwards, was established. General 

 Roca (whose excellent example on this occasion it would 

 be well if some of the Governments of Europe would 

 follow) having invited a commission of scientific men to 

 accompany his expedition. Dr. P. G. Lorentz and Mr. G. 

 Niederlein were sent with him as botanical collectors, 

 and Herr Schulz, Inspector of the Zoological Museum of 

 Cordoba, as zoologist. The results of the last-mentioned 

 naturalist's labours are contained in the volume now 

 before us, which has been prepared by Dr. A. Doering, 

 with the assistance of Dr. Berg, Dr. Holmberg, and D. 

 Enrique Lynch Arribdlzaga, and is highly creditable to 

 the youthful .Academy of Natural Sciences of Cordoba, 

 to whom, it would appear, the task of working out the 

 scientific collections was intrusted. 



Dr. Doering commences his labours by a chapter of 

 general observations upon the fauna of the newly occupied 

 territory, which he divides into four "zoogeographic 

 zones" — (i) the region of the Southern Pampas: (2) 

 the river-region of Northern Patagonia; (3) the central 

 mountain-region ; and (4) the eastern slopes of the Cor- 

 dillera. The two last regions being very little known and 

 not having been traversed by the expedition, are not dis- 

 cussed in the present essay, but the two former are sub- 

 divided into minor districts, and the principal zoological 

 characters of each of their subdivisions are pointed out. 

 Lists are also given of the principal mammals, birds, 

 amphibians, and land-moUusks that are chiefly peculiar 

 to the different districts. 



Dr. Doering's instructive " zoogeographical" essay is 

 followed by the systematic portion of the volume, in which 

 the vertebrates and land-shells are treated of by the same 

 naturalist, while his colleagues. Dr. Berg and Dr. Lynch 

 ArribAlzaga, have worked out the insects, and Dr. Holm- 

 berg the arachnidans. We have thus before us an excel- 

 lent basis for a fauna of this hitherto little-known portion 

 of the great Neotropical Region, which does credit alike 

 to the Government of the Republic which instituted the 

 investigation, and to the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 of Cordoba, under whose auspices the work has been 

 elaborated. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



[ The Editor does 710I hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 liy his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, 

 or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications. 



\The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters 

 as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great 

 that it is impossible otherwise to insure the appearance men 

 of communications containing interesting and novel facts ."^ 



Instinct 



In his letter under this heading in last week's Nature (p 

 428), Mr. Romanes says that I now admit that the actions of 



