
AprRIL 22, 1915 | 
NATURE 
215 


gonia.”” He concludes that the genus is really pro- 
boscidean, but his views (which are supported by 
Sefior C. Ameghino in Physis for December, 1914) 
are disputed in a review by Mr. R. S. Lull in vol. 
xxxviii., p. 482, of the American Journal of Science, 
where it is urged that the characters relied upon by 
Prof. Loomis are not of taxonomic value, and that 
Pyrotherium is not entitled to a place among the 
Proboscidea. The question has an important bearing, 
not only on the phylogeny and “radiation” of that 
group, but on mammalian distribution in general. 
Great interest attaches to an article by Mr. A. H. 
Clark in Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 
Ixv., No. 1, on the distribution of Peripatus and its 
allies, collectively constituting the group Onycho- 
phora. This group, which is apparently an ancient 
one, though there is no direct evidence on this point, 
occurs in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra; Ceram, 
Papua, New Britain, Australia, Tasmania, and New 
Zealand; Ethiopian Africa; and Central and South 
America, and the West Indies. The distributional 
area is thus limited to countries with a mean annual 
temperature of from approximately 50° to 80° F.; most 
of the species, however, occur in countries where the 
mean is from 60° to 70° F. All the species are re- 
stricted to the region south of the tropic of Cancer, 
while the great majority are confined to the southern 
hemisphere, the West Indies and Central America 
being the only localities where an appreciable number 
of species occur north of the equator. The group is 
divided into the two families, Peripatidae and Peri- 
patopside, and nowhere, so far as known, are species 
of the two families found in the same area. More- 
over, the two subfamilies into which the Peripatidae 
are divided are sundered by the entire breadth of the 
Indian Ocean. Then, again, the two subfamilies of 
the Petipatopsidz inhabit separate areas in the Aus- 
tralasian region, one being restricted to Papua and 
the neighbouring islands, while the other is found in 
Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand; both groups, 
however, co-exist in South Africa. 
No. xxxix. of the Notes of the Royal Botanic Gar- 
den, Edinburgh, contains papers on some new 
Japanese mountain plants, by Mr. H. Takeda, an 
enumeration of the Chinese Astragali by Mr. N. D. 
Simpson, and contributions to the knowledge of the 
Asiatic Polypodiums by Mr. Takeda. The mountain 
plants come from the mountain group, Ytparodake 
in the island of Yezo, some 6000 ft. high, which has 
not been properly explored botanically before, and a 
great many interesting records have been obtained 
and new species collected, salient details of some of 
which are figured. Mr. Simpson’s paper on a very 
difficult genus is of considerable value, since he has 
given a careful synopsis of the Chinese species, setting 
them out in clearly defined sections, and has assigned 
the specimens to their respective species. Seventeen 
new species, chiefly from Yunnan and Szechuan, are 
also described. 
In the Philippine Journal of Science Mr. Frank G. 
Gates gives an account, illustrated by a map and 
plates, of the re-development of vegetation on Taal 
Volcano, a low mountain in the middle of Bombon 
NO. 2373, VOL. 95| 

Lake, Batangas Province, Luzon. The lake is 22 km, 
long by 14 km. wide, and the island is therefore not a 
very great distance from the surrounding shores. The 
devastating earthquake occurred on January 30, 1911, 
and the progress of the re-growth of vegetation has 
been carefully noted. Strand plants, Ipomaea Pes- 
Caprae and Canavalia lineata, first appeared, due to 
water transport of seeds, then grasses became estab- 
lished from wind-borne seeds. In contrast to Kraka- 
toa, very few ferns have appeared, probably as only a 
few are found on the mainland. After the grasses 
came shrubs and small trees, and the latter are fol- 
lowed by trees and bamboos. The plants found are 
discussed in connection with the ecological formations 
in which they may be grouped. 
Tue annual report on the Forest Administration of 
Southern Nigeria for the year 1913, recently received, 
is, like its predecessors, an interesting document, 
though it records much that is to be deplored. The 
destruction of forest which is talking place to give 
more land for cultivation is a very serious matter, for 
whole ranges of hills have been denuded of forest 
growth right up to their crests, and the sources of 
their many streams have been exposed. The result of 
this forest destruction will mean, not only the wash- 
ing away of the soil from the slopes, but, even more 
important, the loss of a proper water supply to the 
fertile valleys. With bare hills, the rain precipitated 
will at once run off instead of being conserved by the 
forest and released gradually, and the cultivation of 
cacao and kola in the valleys will become impossible. 
The chief conservator, who has toured widely through 
the country, records the same tale of reckless destruc- 
tion of forest on all sides. It is to be hoped that 
prompt action will be taken, as was done in India 
when roads and railways opened the country, to save 
the existing forest from the general wreckage and 
also ensure a continuous water supply. 
TuoucH it has been usual to regard the great 
Hawaiian earthquakes of 1868 as of volcanic origin, 
Mr. H. O. Wood, in a valuable paper, has recently 
collected evidence which seems to show that they 
were tectonic, rather than true volcanic, earthquakes 
(Bull. Seis. Soc. America, vol. iv., 1914, pp- 169-203). 
He points out that the most violent earthquake of the 
series, that of April 2, was preceded and followed by 
numerous accessory shocks, that it disturbed an area 
of about 375,000 square miles, that the depth of its 
origin must have been considerable, and that it gave 
rise to important seismic sea-waves. In all these 
respects, it differed from earthquakes of the ordinary 
volcanic type, many of which, however, are probably 
not directly connected with volcanic operations, but 
are due to fault-slips along radial and peripheral frac- 
tures of the volcano. 
Ir has long been known that magnets are some- 
times made to oscillate during the passage of earth- 
quake-waves; and the phenomena, especially those 
observed with the Riviera earthquake of 1887, have 
given rise to considerable discussion. A recent memoir 
by Prof. H. F. Reid (Bull. Seis. Soc. America, vol. iv., 
1914, pp- 204-14) ought to end the controversy. He 
shows that there are certain periods for horizontal 
