May 6, 1915] 
NATURE 
271 

identity has not been determined. These small crus- 
tacea are parasitic on Serpulid worms, whence they 
escape, by rupturing the body wall of the host, to 
liberate their ova. This they do as free-swimming 
organisms, but lacking a functional alimentary canal, 
death ensues on the completion of the reproductive 
functions. 
In the Australian Zoologist for February, Mr. Allan 
McCulloch gives a brief, but extremely interesting 
account of the hitherto unrecorded migration of the 
larval eel-gudgeon (Galaxias attenuatus) from the sea 
to fresh water. He found numbers of these larve, 
about 38 mm. long, and quite transparent, making 
their way through the surf into a small fresh-water 
stream about 6 ft. wide. Very little is known of the 
habits of Galaxias, but some interesting notes on the 
occurrence of G. truttaceus in damp soil in Tasmania 
have been made by Mr. T: Hall and Mr. J. Fletcher. 
It would seem that this species is capable of. burrow- 
ing into soft earth to a depth of eight or nine inches, 
when the water dries up in times of drought, and there 
zstivating until released by the rains. 
How insect pests extend their range into new and 
distant areas is shown by Mr. W.. J. Rain- 
bow in the Australian Zoologist for February, 
where he records the occurrence of the carpet 
beetle (Attagenus piceus) in woollen goods im- 
ported from London by a large drapery estab- 
lishment, and of a West Indian longicorn beetle 
(Eburia binodosa), which had worked its way out of 
of an imported oak chair. This insect, doubtless in a 
similar manner, has also made its way into England, 
but so far with no evil results. The discovery of the 
carpet beetle in Australia is, however, a more serious 
matter, for much damage had been done before it was 
detected. Hence there is a possibility that its ravages 
may spread. 
Tuer peculiar methods of feeding displayed by the 
starfish are well known; but Mr. H. N. Milligan, in 
the Zoologist for April, describes for the first time the 
means adopted for disposing of a victim so unusual 
as a pipe-fish. After some experimenting the body 
was seized between two of the arms, and held in 
position by means of the suckers, while the three 
remaining arms were made to serve as the legs of a 
tripod. The upper portion of the abdomen of the 
still living captive was brought immediately under the 
mouth of the captor, when the stomach was everted 
in the usual manner to envelop this unwieldy morsel, 
which was held there until hunger was appeased. No 
similar case seems ever to have been recorded. Two 
excellent figures add not a little to the interest of this 
strange record. 
From the annual repert of the Zoological Society 
of London, it is apparent that the war has not 
only curtailed its income, and made rigid economy 
necessary, but it has further hampered the smooth 
running of the menagerie. More especially is this 
true in regard to the fish supply. Early in August 
the contractor was unable to continue his supply, and 
fish had to be bought daily at from 43d. to 7d. per 
NO. 2375, VOL. 95| 


pound, instead of 14d. per pound. Then the inspector 
of the Fishmongers’ Company at Billingsgate came 
to the rescue, and allowed the society to take away 
from the market quantities of fish good for immediate 
consumption, but not fit to distribute through the 
retail trade. But this source of supply failed when 
the cold weather came. Happily, so far it has been 
possible to arrange for a regular supply from Grimsby. 
We would suggest that should this fail recourse should 
be had to netting some of our inland waters for 
“coarse fish,’’ of which there must be an abundance 
for a long time to come. 
Ir is extremely gratifying to learn, from the spring 
number of Bird Notes and News—the organ of the 
Bird Protection Society—that the colonies of the 
great skua are still increasing on the Shetlands, 
though they have to be guarded jealously against the 
raids of the egg-collector. Strenuous efforts are being 
made to save from extermination the red-throated 
diver, the black-tailed godwit, and the harrier. It is 
to be hoped that these efforts will meet with their 
due meed of success during the coming nesting season. 
The largest colony of great black-backed gulls in 
Great Britain, we are told, is to be found on Noss. 
But this does not afford us unmixed satisfaction. 
This bird is ruthlessly destructive of the eggs of other 
species, and of late years has become unduly nume- 
rous; measures might, therefore, with advantage, be 
taken to reduce their numbers. In the same number 
we learn with much pleasure that the choughs and 
buzzards are more than holding their own in Corn- 
wall, thanks to the efforts of the society’s watchers. 
Tue report for 1913 of the periodic variations of 
glaciers (Annales de Glaciologie, vol. ix. (1914), pp- 
42-65) includes the Swiss, Eastern, and Italian Alps, 
and gives some information about the glaciers of 
Norway, Russia, the Himalayas, New Zealand, and 
North America, especially Alaska. The Alpine glaciers, 
on the whole, are still retreating, though a few 
advances are recorded. For instance, of sixty-one 
Swiss glaciers, twenty-five continued to recede in 1913, 
and ten probably did the same, while only one cer- 
tainly and ten probably advanced; the movements of 
the rest being doubtful. In the other two Alpine dis- 
tricts the observations are numerous, but on 
the whole they point in the same direction. In other 
countries the evidence, which, however, is sometimes 
rather imperfect, shows that glaciers in the same 
neighbourhood are uncertain in their movements, but 
are generally receding, the small being more sensitive 
than the large to the annual snowfall. This, how- 
ever, seems certain, that in the Alps the ice-streams 
have not nearly regained the ground which they began 
to lose rather more than half a century ago. At 
present information about these variations, though in 
a few cases it goes back some three centuries, is too 
imperfect to admit of any satisfactory explanation. 
Oscillations such as have been observed during several 
years, including the last one, are probably due to 
variations in the temperature and snowfall during 
one or more preceding seasons, but the great ad- 
vances, with corresponding thickening of the 
less 
ice- 
