Jury 29, 1915] 
NATURE 
599 

that Sir Edward Schafer founded this new physiological 
journal, and we wished it good-speed. The, publication 
retains the high standard insisted upon by its editor, 
and the present number, among the interesting papers 
which it contains, is specially noteworthy as showing 
the activity of physiological laboratories in British 
dominions beyond the seas. One of these comes from 
Winnipeg, and deals with vasomotor reflexes (by Prof. 
Swale Vincent and Dr. A. T. Cameron); the other 
is by Prof. Jolly, of the South African College, Cape 
Town, and treats of the electro-cardiogram; in his 
attempt to unravel the meaning of the component 
parts of the curve he makes the interesting sugges- 
tion, and supports it by experimental arguments, that 
the two phases of metabolism (anabolism and kata- 
bolism) which have opposite electrical expressions are 
responsible for the alternating direction of the varia- 
tions seen in the electro-cardiogram. Both Profs. 
Swale Vincent and Jolly are former assistants in Sir 
Edward’s department at Edinburgh. 
THOSE interested in the study of spiders, and of 
Indian spiders in particular, will welcome the first of 
what is intended to be a long series of ‘‘ Notes on 
Indian Mygalomorph Spiders” in the Records of the 
Indian Museum, vol. xi., part 3, by the assistant 
superintendent of the museum, Mr. F. Gravely. The 
author makes stimulating comments on_ the 
Ischnocolee of the subfamily Aviculariine, so 
well represented in the Indian Peninsula, since 
from their many primitive characters they afford 
an insight into many evolutionary problems which yet 
await investigation. The Indian genera of this group 
seem to present a marked sexual dimorphism, all the 
known males being distinguished by the more or less 
extensive and conspicuous development of white hair 
on the feet, especially the anterior ones. His views 
on nomenclature and certain aspects of systematics 
seem to be yet in a state of flux. 
Att who are in any way concerned with the problems 
of economic ornithology, or of pisciculture, should 
read the report of Mr. P. A. Taverner on the ‘‘ Double- 
crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and its 
Relation to the Salmon Industries on the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence,’”’ issued by the Canada Department of 
Mines (Biological Series No. 5, April, 1915). It is 
one of the most admirable summaries of its kind ever 
issued, and is the result of an inquiry instituted by 
the Geological Survey into the complaints of those in- 
terested in the salmon fisheries of the destruction 
caused to the fisheries by the ravages of the cor- 
morants. The full account of a prolonged and im- 
partial investigation is given in this bulletin, and the 
verdict arrived at shows conclusively that the harm 
attributed to this bird is absolutely without founda- 
tion. The author shows that while a small percentage 
of parr are undoubtedly eaten by cormorants, the bull 
of the food of these birds is furnished by far less agile 
fish, having for the most part no economic value. 
The greatest enemies of young salmon, in the rivers, 
are older salmon, and the greatest toll on their 
numbers is taken during their sojourn in the sea by 
enemies which have yet to be determined. A precisely 
NO, 2387, VOL. 95] 

similar charge was levelled, some years ago, against 
the cormorants of the Murray River in Australia, 
where, to increase the salmon supply, a huge colony of 
cormorants was wiped out. But the unexpected 
happened. The salmon disappeared with the birds. 
It was then found that the latter had been feeding on 
crabs and eels, which in turn fed upon salmon eggs 
and fry. With the extermination of their enemies they 
increased in such numbers that scarcely a salmon egg 
remained, the fry from such as did escape were eaten 
by the eels. Those responsible for the massacre of the 
cormorants are now repentant! 
In the Philippine Journal of Science (vol. x., Sec. C, 
No. 2, March, 1915) Mr. E. D. Merrill publishes the 
second instalment of his ‘Studies on Philippine 
Rubiacez.’’ The paper consists of critical notes on 
the genera Mycetia, Chasalia, Psychotria, and 
Grumilea in particular, with descriptions of forty-two 
new species in various genera. The genus Pravinia, 
hitherto known from Borneo and Celebes with two 
species in each locality, is now found to be repre- 
sented in Negros, Philippines, by a new species, 
P. everettti. Some ninety distinct species of the genus 
Psychotria are already known from the islands. 
Mr. Y. TokuGawa contributes a paper on the 
physiology of pollen to the Journal of the College of 
Science, Imperial University of Tokyo, vol. xxxv., 
December 17, 1914, a copy of which has just reached 
us. He finds that suitable osmotic pressure and suit- 
able nourishment are essential for the growth of the 
pollen tube, and that cane-sugar alone is not sufficient 
for its growth. Among inorganic salts those of the 
heavy metals are more injurious than these of the 
lighter to the growth of the pollen. The pollen tube 
finds its way to the canals of the style and to the 
micropyle owing to the presence of a chemotropic sub- 
stance. A fact of interest which is brought out is that 
the pollen grains of monocotyledons can germinate on 
the stigmas of dicotyledonous plants, and vice versa, 
though pollen grains frequently fail to germinate on 
the stigmas of plants nearly related to those whence 
the pollen was obtained. 
Science for May 28 contains an interesting paper 
on disease resistance in plants, being a lecture de- 
livered by Dr. Otto Appel, of Berlin, at various uni- 
versities in the United States in October, 1914. The 
author points out that disease in plants is usually 
combated by killing the parasite before it enters the 
host, but the main theme of the lecture concerns the 
control of disease by breeding disease-resisting plants. 
As illustrations of the latter method of control, the 
breeding of rust-resistant wheats, the introduction of 
Coffea robusta as a plant less susceptible to attacks 
of Hemileia vastatrix, and the grafting of the 
European vine on resistant American stocks in dealing 
with Phylloxera are cited among other cases. There 
is no mention in the paper of the extensive work on 
wheats undertaken successfully by Prof. Biffen at 
Cambridge to produce immune varieties of wheat, 
nor is .Dr. Appel’s statement correct that rust has 
disappeared with the destruction of Barbery bushes, 
since the summer or uredo-spores have been found 
