158 
NATURE 
[APRIL 8, 1915 

Hudson brings forward evidence, which appears to 
be quite conclusive, that the interpretation of this 
point as marking the decomposition of the 8B phase 
of brass into a+y, which has been elaborated by Prof. 
Carpenter in a series of papers, is erroneous, and 
that the B phase merely undergoes a polymorphic 
change from £ to £,. A striking method of proof 
adopted by Mr. Hudson is that of preparing a series 
of alloys in a single piece of metal by the method of 
superposition. By superposing molten zine on a layer 
of solid copper, the alloys can be formed at a tem- 
perature below 460° C., and yet a phase which corre- 
sponds to 8 makes its appearance. If what Carpenter 
has called ‘“‘apparent 6’’ were really unstable below 
460° C., it could never be produced synthetically below 
that temperature. 
Equally interesting from another point of view is 
the paper, and resulting discussion, by Mr. Arnold 
Philip dealing with the causes of corrosion in con- 
denser tubes. In the recent Report to the Corrosion 
Committee of the Institute of Metals, Dr. Bengough 
and Mr. Jones had been led to reject entirely the 
view that particles of foreign matter, such as coke, 
which might set up local electrolytic effects, could 
thereby accelerate local corrosion and produce “ pit- 
ting.’ Mr. Philip traverses this conclusion, and 
suggests that it was reached on insufficient evidence, 
while he adduces positive evidence to show that 
particles of coke can cause local pitting. While such 
divergence of views among those studying these 
matters is somewhat unfortunate from the point of 
view of the practical man seeking guidance for his 
practice, it serves to show the great need which exists 
for the further exhaustive investigation of such funda- 
mental questions, and at the same time demonstrates 
the useful work of the Institute of Metals in en- 
couraging such work and providing a meeting ground 
for full and—fortunately—dispassionate discussion. 
Further papers of special scientific interest are those 
by Mr. S. W. Smith on the surface tension of molten 
metals, by Mr. Phelps on the effect of hydrogen on 
the annealing of gold, and by Messrs. Bengough and 
Hanson on the tensile properties of copper at high 
temperatures. In a ‘‘Note”’ Prof. Huntington also 
deals with the tensile properties of metals at high 
temperatures, but while Bengough and Hanson find 
in their results strong support for the theory that the 
crystals of a metal are held together by something 
of the nature of an amorphous cement, Huntington 
urges somewhat vague objections to that view. 
Another ‘“Note,’’ contributed by Prof. Carpenter, 
deals with ‘‘The Extraction of Native Cooper at 
Calumet, Lake Superior’’; while in itself not un- 
interesting, it is difficult to understand why this 
note has been included in the Journal of the Institute 
of Metals, since it deals with a subject outside the 
scope of its work and coming well within that of the 
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. Although un- 
important in itself, such a departure from accepted 
limitations causes confusion when references have to 
be looked up. 

RECENT WORK ON INVERTEBRATES. 
{pee journal of a college of agriculture is about 
the last kind of periodical in which we should 
expect to find descriptions of deep-sea cephalopods. 
Nevertheless, three out of the four articles constitu- 
ting the contents of the seventh number of vol. iv. 
of the Journal of the College of Agriculture, Imperial 
University of Tokyo, are devoted to new and rare 
species of squids, the remaining communication deal- 
ing with the eels of the Japanese, Corean, and 
Formosan seas. In the first of the three articles on 
NO. 2371, VOL. 95] 



squids, all of which are very fully illustrated, Mr. 
C. Ishikawa describes a new species of the genus 
Enoploteuthis from the Japan Sea, while in the 
second Messrs. Ishikawa and Wakiya treat of a 
number of fragments of a gigantic species taken from 
the stomach of a sperm-whale. The latter is identi- 
fied with Moroteuthis robusta, of which it forms the 
fifth known example; in the third article the last- 
named writers describe a new species of the same 
genus under the name of M. loennbergi. 
In an article, illustrated by one coloured and four 
black-and-white plates, in the February number of 
the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, Dr. T. A. 
Chapman describes the larva of the butterfly Everes 
argiades, with figures, not only of the entire cater- 
| pillar, but also magnified representations of the shed 
skins at various stages of development. In the same 
issue Dr. D. Sharp continues his account of the 
beetles of the group Holophorini, dealing in this 
instance with the structure in the genital tube known 
as the adeagus, which, as exemplified in Meghelo- 
«phorus aquaticus, is described in great detail. 
Aberrant modes of reproduction in certain well- 
known insects, such as the blue oil-beetle, the para- 
sitic genus Stylops, and the vine-phylloxera, form 
the subject of an illustrated article by Mr. W. M. 
Scheyen in the January number of Naturen. A con- 
tinuation is promised. 
Writing in the January number of the Zoologist 
of non-sexual reproduction in sea-anemones, as 
observed at the Millport Marine Biological Station, 
Mr. R. Elmhirst remarks that although division is 
usually completed in a few days or weeks, especially 
among the members of the genus Anthea, yet that 
he has seen instances in which ‘double ’’ individuals 
of Actinoloba showed no change during a period of 
several months, He also records a case in which an 
Actinia with two complete discs, mouths, and rings 
of tentacles retained the same form for close on four 
years in an aquarium. Possibly, of course, the some- 
what unnatural conditions in such an environment 
may be a factor in these cases. 
In Spolia Zeylanica, vol. x., part 36, Mr. A. 
Rutherford mentions that the females of a “ glow- 
worm” (Dioptoma adamst), in addition to the usual 
terminal light, have a number of other luminous 
points, apparently arranged in ten transverse rows. 
Somewhat similarly situated points of light also occur 
in the smaller males. 
In the February number of the Irish Naturalist Mr. 
A. W. Stelfox gives a list of land and fresh-water 
molluscs from the Dingle Promontory, Kerry. 
Seventy-four indigenous species are recognised. 
Rem 
MINERAL STATISTICS.1 
ROBABLY the first point that will strike the 
student of mineral statistics when he sees the 
report now before us is the extreme dilatoriness of 
our Home Office. This report, which covers the 
mineral statistics of the world up to the end of 
Ig12, was not published until the end of 1914; the 
Chief Inspector endeavours to excuse, this delay by a 
reference to the lateness of the publication of official 
foreign statistics, but it is a significant fact that a 
private firm in the United States of America issued 
a large volume covering the world’s mineral statistics 
for 1913 in July last, so that our own official produc- 
tion is no fewer than eighteen months behindhand. 
Statistics of mineral production are practically value- 
less unless they are published promptly, and all the 
1 ‘Mines and Quarries. General Report with Statistics for 1912." By 
the Chief Inspector of Mines, Part iv., Colonial and Foreign Statistics. 

