626 

his paper is illustrated with some very beautiful draw- 
ings. 
AN interesting contribution to our knowledge of 
abnormalities in the reproduction of vertebrates has 
been made by Mr. R. Curtis in a paper on the relation 
of simultaneous ovulation to the production of double- 
yolked eggs in the domestic fowl (Journ. Agric. Re- 
search, vol. iii., No. 5). Such eggs may have (1) the 
entire set of egg-envelopes common to the two yolks, 
or (2) the chalaziferous layers separate and the thick 
albumen common, or (3) entirely separate albumen 
envelopes and only the membrane and shell common. 
Of the eggs examined, 71 per cent. belonged to the 
second type. In only very few cases was there 
evidence of simultaneous ovulation, and the author 
believes that ‘‘the fusion of follicles and a resulting 
common blood-supply is by no means the usual cause 
for the production of a double-yolked egg.” In the 
Report of the Maine Agric. Exp. Station for 1915 (pp. 
65-80) Dr. R. Pearl and Mr. F. M. Surface describe 
a cow which assumed some of the secondary char- 
acters of the male, developing thickness of neck and 
smoothness of rump, and also behaving in many re- 
spects like a bull. This animal had been, before the 
strange change, a normal cow, having borne three 
calves and shown a high milk record. Post-mortem 
study showed cystic degeneration of the ovaries in 
which no corpora lutea were being formed. Hence 
the authors conclude that the corpus luteum is of im- 
portance in maintaining female secondary characters 
in full development. 
WE have received a eopy of a paper on the fungus 
diseases of Hevea brasiliensis contributed by Mr. T. 
Petch, Government mycologist, Ceylon, to the Inter- 
national Rubber Congress held at Batavia yast year. 
It is reassuring to read that notwithstanding the vast 
areas under Hevea cultivation, often under bad condi- 
tions, no very serious parasitic fungus has as yet been 
noticed. Fomes semitosus, the root disease, first 
recorded by Ridley at Singapore in 1904, which was 
much feared, is proving to be of minor importance 
as the plantations increase in age and as the jungle 
stumps on which it flourishes disappear. The stem 
diseases, of which six have been recorded, are perhaps 
the most dangerous. Three of these, pink disease 
(Corticum salmonicolor), die-back (caused especially 
by Botryodiplodia theobromae), a well-known cacao 
disease, and canker due to Phytophthora faberi, are 
especially to be feared. It is suggested that Bordeaux 
mixture may prove effective as a preventive to canker. 
Tue annual report of the agricultural and horticul- 
tural research station of the University of Bristol, 
otherwise known as the National Fruit and Cider 
Institute, at Long Ashton, contains a series of papers 
on cider and perry, mainly by Prof. B. T. B. Barker 
and Mr. Otto Grove; papers on the treatment of 
plant disease, by Mr. A. H. Lees; on economic myco- 
logy, by Mr. S. P. Wiltshire; on fruit culture trials, 
by Prof. Barker; and on soils and manures, by Mr. 
C. T. Gimingham. Among these papers one on the 
use of pure yeast in the fermentation of cider by Mr. 
Grove, and a note by Mr. Gimingham on the use of 
the waste from saw-mills as a source of potash have a 
NO. 2388, VOL. 95] 
NATURE 

[AuGuST 5, 1915 
general interest. The fact that the ash or flue-dust 
from saw-mills which burn wood as fuel contains from 
5 to 9 per cent. of potash, is not generally realised, 
and no attempt has been made hitherto to store or 
utilise this material, which certainly has a manurial 
value, especially at the present time. In September 
last the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries organised 
a series of experiments on the preservation of fruit 
and vegetables by drying, canning, and other methods, 
and preliminary experiments were made by Dr. Hamil- 
ton at Studley College, and by Mr. C. S. Martin at 
Dunnington Heath. This work has now been de- 
veloped, and two experimental factories are being 
carried on at Dunnington Heath and Broom Junction. 
A CATALOGUE of earthquakes felt in the Philippine 
Islands during 1914 has been issued by the U.S. 
Weather Bureau. The year was apparently unevent- 
ful, the total number of shocks recorded in the islands 
being 146. None of the earthquakes was of destruc- 
tive strength, and only twenty-nine were of intensity 
above the fourth degree of the Rossi-Forel scale. As 
in all distinctly seismic countries, many of the dis- 
turbed areas were extremely elongated in form. The 
Philippine earthquakes are, however, peculiar in 
possessing large disturbed areas. For instance, the 
average area disturbed by earthquakes of intensity 
4 is 9660 square miles. In Great Britain, the corre- 
sponding figure is 260 square miles. 
THE refined methods of modern seismology are well 
exemplified in a paper by Prince Galitzin, presented 
to the Paris Academy of Sciences on June 21 (Comptes 
rendus, vol. clx., p. 810), dealing with the earthquake 
widely recorded on February 18, 1911. This disturb- 
ance has been prevented from falling into oblivion by 
the fact that the survey work of a Russian officer 
has brought to light the simultaneous occurrence of a 
cataclysmic land slide at Sarez, a situation well within 
the area of the epicentre as determined from 
the records obtained at Tashkent, Tiflis, and Pulkowa. 
It is easy to calculate the energy (E) liberated in this 
catastrophe from estimates of the weight of the dis- 
rupted mountain and the average vertical fall, whence 
in c.g.s. units E=2-1 to 6.0 x 1078 ergs. Prince Galitzin 
next determines the energy by means of the Pul- 
kowa seismographic records, and obtains finally 
E=4-3x107% ergs. The two values are of pre- 
cisely the same order of magnitude; hence the 
conclusion is drawn that the landslip at Sarez was 
the cause, and not the effect, of the earthquake of 
February 18, 1911, which thus presents a unique case 
where the energy liberated at the epicentre, here 
identical with hypocentre, is known. 
Tue Department of Agriculture and Technical In- 
struction for Ireland has reissued the explanatory 
memoir of the Geological Survey of Ireland, illustrat- 
ing parts of the counties of Armagh, Fermanagh, and 
Monaghan (H.M. Stationery Office, Dublin, 1914; 
pp. i-iv+26; coloured map; price 33d.), The 
memoir describes the country around the town of 
Monaghan, one-inch map sheet 58. The issue of a 
larger and cheaper edition has provided an opportunity 
to add a chapter on the relation of the soils to agri- 
culture in the district, and to describe the drumlins, 
