May 20, 1915] 
NAT ORE 
Jeo) 

government would have sufficed to bring it about, 
although Ellsworth Huntington has shown that 
general desiccation has been a factor. Increase of 
conserved rainfall follows extension of irrigation, and 
it is suggested that, the chlorophyll reaction being 
endothermic, there must be a perceptible lowering of 
the temperature over large tracts of cultivation. If 
this is the case, it may possibly have an appreciable 
effect on condensation. 
Messrs. C. G. SELIGMANN and F. G. Parsons de- 
scribe, in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological 
Institute for July-December, 1914, a skeleton found 
in 1903 at Gough’s Cave, Cheddar. It is that of a 
young adult male whose stature was about 5 ft. 43 in. 
It was found in association with implements of the 
late Palzolithic or Magdalenian period. The cranium 
shows a fairly close resemblance to that of the River 
Bed type from whom, in the present state of know- 
ledge, the writers believe the Neolithic people to be 
descended. There are marked contrasts between the 
Cheddar skull and two of the Aurignacian age with 
which the writers are familiar, and though the face 
and the cranium, except that the latter is long, differ 
rather markedly from those of the Saxons, the 
cranium alone could not be distinguished from that 
of a medieval Englishman. The face and orbits are, 
however, very different. The conclusion arrived at is 
that the similarity of the Cheddar and English 
medieval skulls is not so much a sign of racial affinity, 
as an indication that among the latter a cranium 
closely resembling that of the River Bed type had 
been produced incidentally by numerous crosses. 
Tue Royal Zoological Society of Dublin is to be 
congratulated, inasmuch as it possesses the only 
living gorilla in Europe. But, according to the Irish 
Naturalist for May, their captive has been suffering 
from a tumour on the right side of the neck and 
face. A microscopic examination of the pus obtained 
therefrom showed that the growth was due to 
actinomycosis. This much having been discovered, 
it became possible to determine on a suitable course 
of treatment, which we are glad to note gives promise 
of success. Having regard to the rarity of gorillas 
in captivity, and the importance of the results of a 
study of their habits, it is devoutly to be hoped that 
a complete cure will be effected. 
EXPERIMENTS in acclimatisation should never be 
undertaken save when they promise to yield some 
definite and worthy end. But what appears to be a quite 
harmless venture has been made on Lambay Island, 
Co. Dublin, where, according to the Irish Naturalist 
for May, more than two thousand reptiles and 
amphibians have been turned out. For economic 
reasons Dr. Scharff, the director of the Dublin 
Museum, now suggests an addition to this number in 
the diamond-backed terrapin (Malacoclemmys terra- 
pin). . This species he considers might do well in the 
harbour, since it lives in North America in salt 
marshes, feeding on molluscs and crabs. In this event 
a lucrative ‘‘fishery’’ might in course of time be 
established, since in America terrapin stew—and 
champagne sauce—is held in high regard. 
NO. 2377, VOL. 95| 

Two very interesting articles bearing on the 
problems of sexual selection will be found in the 
May number of Wild Life. The first, which is all 
too short, is by Mr. H. B. Macpherson, who describes 
the ‘“‘tournament”’ of the blackcocl, illustrating his 
remarks by some admirable photographs. The second 
is from the pen of Mr. Edmund Selous, and describes 
the early breeding habits of the shag. Anything 
Mr. Selous writes about the courtship of birds is sure 
to be interesting, and this account of the shag is no 
exception to the rule. His notes seem to show that, 
as with the Phalaropes, and some other species, the 
sexual rvéle is reversed in the matter of courtship, 
the advances being made by the female. This being 
so, the assurance that polyandry prevails with this 
species is not surprising, though the evidence produced 
to favour this view is by no means convincing. 
Tue characteristics of molybdenite are discussed in 
a short but interesting article in the Scientific Aus- 
tralian for March. Since the outbreak of the war the 
price of this mineral has advanced from 6ol. to 725). 
per ton. Happily for us, more than half of the 
molybdenite ore of the world is obtained in Australia. 
Though principally used for hardening steel—armour 
plate containing about 20 per cent. of molybdenite—it 
is also used for the preservation of certain explosives 
and as a substitute for tungsten, while the salts of 
molybdenum furnish a blue pigment used in colour- 
ing porcelain and in the dyeing of silk and woollen 
goods. The normal method of washing the ore 
proving very wasteful, the experiment of oil flotation 
is being tried, and promises to effect a great saving. 
Experiments by the United States Bureau of Mines 
in smelting molybdenite ores electrically are also being 
made, and these have shown that ferro-molybdenum, 
low in carbon, can be made directly from molybdenite 
in the electric furnace, with excess of lime as a de- 
sulphurising agent, and that the sulphur can be readily 
slagged off as calcium sulphide. 
Tue appalling rate at which the extermination of 
the native fauna of Australia is proceeding is tersely 
told by Mr. W. H. Le Souef in the Scientific Aus- 
tralian for March. The ravages of foxes and feral 
cats, introduced by settlers, is answerable for much 
of the mischief that has been done. The fox, he 
remarks, “will in course of time overrun the whole 
of Australia—it is half over already—and in con- 
sequence all ground game . . . will suffer severely.” 
The loss to Australia cannot well be computed in 
cash, as, besides native game, the fox destroys young 
lambs, turkeys, geese, ducks, and other domestic 
poultry. The introduction of the rabbit has proved 
no less disastrous. The realisation that these agents 
of destruction need never have been introduced 
makes the consequences the more deplorable. The 
inevitable removal of timber and scrub, the drainage 
of swamps, and the erection of miles of wire fences 
have proved even more speedy and complete factors 
of elimination. Wire fences alone have accounted for 
the deaths of thousands of emus and kangaroos, 
which are now prevented from making their customary 
migrations in search of water, and consequently die 
maddened with thirst. Mr. Le Souef pleads for an 

