May 13, 1915| 

orifices.—Léon Bloch; Optical resonance in the mag- 
netic field.—A. Leduc: The determination of the ratio 
y by means of the velocity of sound. A discussion 
of the values of the ratio of the two specific heats of 
gases and vapours obtained from experimental deter- 
minations of the velocity of sound. The author con- 
cludes that the values of y thus obtained are generally 
inexact.—N. Arabu: Studies on the tertiary formations 
of the basin of the Sea of Marmora.—Henry Hubert : 
The distribution of rain in western Africa.—Henri 
Coupin: The morphogenic action of increased- salinity 
on the marine bacteria. Increasing the salt percentage 
in the culture media of marine bacilli increases the 
length of the organisms and in some instances trans- 
forms them into true Spirillae—Robert Sorel : Wounds 
received in battle and the sun cure. A list of cases 
cured in the Alexandra Hospital at Monte-Carlo by 
sun treatment.—Maxime Ménard; The radioscopic 
localisation of foreign bodies by the method of Hirtz. 
CatcuTta, 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, April 7.—P. Brown: A pre- 
liminary note on the prehistoric cave paintings at 
Raigarh. These were originally discovered on the 
rock-surface of a shallow cave in the State of Rai- 
garh, Central Provinces, by Mr. C. W. Anderson, of 
the B.N. Railway, in toro. This note is the result 
of a visit to the caves in March, 1915, by the author 
and Mr. C. W. Anderson. Certain geological 
evidences were obtained on the occasion, such as agate 
implements, etc., which have been submitted to the 
Geological Survey for investigation. The cave con- 
taining the paintings is apparently only the ruin of 
a much larger excavation. At some remote age the 
entire front must have fallen in, thus hermetically 
sealing up the cave and preserving the drawings. At 
a much more recent date the débris which had thus 
closed up the opening broke away and slipped another 
stage down the cliff, exposing the remains of the 
paintings to view. The paintings are mainly hunting 
scenes, and in some instances bear a remarkable 
resemblance to the cave paintings at Cojul in Spain, 
which are said to be 50,000 years old. In the tech- 
nique there is also a striking similarity to some of 
the ‘‘cross lined” pottery of prehistoric Egypt. The 
paintings are evidently of very great antiquity, prob- 
ably older by thousands of years than any other paint- 
ings yet discovered in India.—J. Evershed : Sun-spots 
and prominences.—W. Burns and S. H. Prayag: 
Grafting the mango-inflorescence. Starting from~ the 
observation that the inflorescence of Mangifera indica, 
L., often becomes partly or wholly vegetative, a pheno- 
menon already studied by Burkill and Bose, the 
authors give an account of experiments on the arti- 
ficial production of mixed inflorescences by grafting 
an inflorescence either on a vegetative branch or on 
another inflorescence, the grafted inflorescence either 
dying after the ripening of the fruit which it bears or 
sometimes persisting and producing vegetative axillary 
branches.—M. O. Parthasarathy Iyengar: Observa- 
tions on the defoliation of some Madras trees. The 
author talkes- as his starting point the observation 
that, in Madras, trees do not remain in a leafless 
condition during the period of drought, but produce 
fresh leaves during the latter period, and he concludes 
that, in the case of Madras trees, the leaf-fall is not 
due to the failure of water-supply, but possibly due 
to the necessity of a replacement of the old by fresh, 
physiologically more efficient leaves, the greater 
efficiency of the latter being due to their cuticle being 
less permeable to water, to their stomatal mechanism 
being more perfect, to their being less charged with 
excretionary matter and less clogged by dust, and to 
greater vitality. The fall of the older leaves may 
also be caused by successful competition of the grow- 
NO. 2376, VOL. 95| 
NATURE 



397 
ing young leaves for supply of materials. The author 
also directs attention to the fact that prolonged wet 
weather may cause trees to shed their leaves. He 
deals in greater detail with a group of trees—called 
by him the Odina group—which remain in a leafless 
condition for a considerable length of time, and which 
flower while in the leafless condition. Defoliation 
due to salt-laden sea-breezes is referred to, and a 
number of special cases are considered in greater 
detail.—P. F. Fyson: Note on the flora of the South 
Indian, Highlands. The region considered comprises 
those parts of the Nilgiri and Palney Hills which rise 
above the 6500-ft. level. Forty-five per cent. of the 
430 indigenous phanerogamic species are endemic in 
South India and Ceylon, 17 per cent. are shared 
with the Khasia Hills, 12 per cent. occur also in the 
temperate Himalayas, and 9g per cent. are Chinese and 
Japanese.—W. F. Smeeth: The geological history 
of southern India. A general account of the geology 
of Mysore.—H. C. Das-Gupta: Paleontological notes 
from Hazara. In this paper the author has described 
a few fossils obtained from the Triassic, Jurassic, 
Gieumal, and Tertiary beds of Hazara, and these 
fossils include one new species of Corbula (C. middle- 
missii), and another new species of Nautilus (N. 
hazaraenois).—H. WV. Nanjundayya: Some aspects of 
ethnographic work. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
The Earth: its Life and Death. By Prof. A. 
Berget. Translated by E. W. Barlow. Pp. xi+ 371. 
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The Principles of Fruit-Growing. By L. H. Bailey. 
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Fly-Fishing : Some New Arts and Mysteries. By 
J. C. Mottram. Pp. xii+272. (London: The Field 
and Queen (Horace Cox), Ltd.) 5s. net. 
Improved Four-Figure Logarithm Table. By G. C. 
McLaren. Pp. 27. (Cambridge: At the University 
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The Golden Bough. By Sir. J. G. Frazer. Third 
edition. Vol. xii. Bibliography and General Index. 
Pp. vii+536. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.) 
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The Complete Science of Fly Fishing and Spinning. 
By F. G. Shaw.- Pp. xiiit432. (London: The 
Author, Neville Court, Abbey Road, N.W.) 21s. 
Tropical Diseases Research Fund. Report of the 
Advisory Committee for the Year 1914. Pp. iv+248. 
(London : H.M.S.O.; Wyman and Sons, Ltd.) _2s. 3d. 
New Zealand. Department of Mines. N.Z. Geo- 
logical Survey. _ Palzontological Bulletin, No. 2. 
Revision of the Tertiary Mollusca of New Zealand. 
By H. Suter. Part i. Pp. v+64+plates. (Welling- 
ton, N.Z.: J. Mackay.) 
Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of 
Tasmania for the Year 1914. Pp. 112. (Hobart: 
Royal Society.) ; 
Land and Freshwater Mollusca of India. Supple- 
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logia Indica. By Lieut.-Col. H. A. Godwin-Austen. 
Vol. ii. © Plates cxxxiii-clviii. Vol. ii. © Part xii. 
December. Pp. 311-442. (London: Taylor and Fran- 
cis.) 25s. 
Practical Physical Chemistry. By J. B. Firth. Pp. 
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