90 



NATURE 



[March 27, 1913 



at the ancient connection between South Africa, 

 Australia and South America. His sketch of the 

 geology of Central Africa, written in 1857, his 

 description of the former plutonic activities of the 

 south-west Tanganyika region, of the coal-bearing 

 strata of the Ruvuma and west Nyasaland, and 

 his hearsay reports of the gold and copper of 

 Katanga have stood the test of time in their 

 substantial accuracy. His meteorological records 

 of the rainfall, temperature and climate of Central 

 Africa still await publication. 



Indeed, it is possible that much of Livingstone's 

 scientific research work has never yet been pub- 

 lished, and that when it is disinterred and printed 

 we may find ourselves still further indebted to this 

 missionary-consul-explorer for valuable informa- 

 tion about the southern third of Africa. 



H. H. Johnston. 



PLANT DISEASES AND INSECT PESTS. 

 IWT OST of the investigations on this subject 

 •^A are carried out at agricultural research 

 institutions and have for their primary object 

 the discovery of means for destroying the pest, 

 rather than the elucidation of the relationship 

 between the host and the parasite. Yet the latter 

 problem must be of extraordinary interest, and 

 we can only hope that the investigators will turn 

 to it as soon as some of their pressing economic 

 problems are solved. 



Of the British Colonial departments, the West 

 Indian is among the most prolific in publications 

 on these subjects. The papers are issued in the 

 reports of the various schools and departments 

 and in The West Indian Bulletin. No. 4, vol. xii., 

 of this journal contains papers by H. A. Ballou, 

 J. R. Bovell, and F. W. South on the use of 

 entomogenous fungi in combating scale insects 

 in Barbados, one of the most interesting methods 

 of pitting one organism against another for the 

 benefit of mankind. Fungi parasitic on the 

 insects are cultivated and the spores distributed : 

 they are then applied to the insects directly these 

 appear on the tree. The authors are very hope- 

 ful about the method ; one, indeed, thinks it 

 may enable most of the insect pests to be kept 

 in check. 



The bud rot of the cocoa-nut palm, described 

 by J. B. Rorer in another paper, is an interesting 

 example of a bacterial disease of plants. The 

 disease has been much studied in the United States 

 by Johnston (Bull. 228, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture), 

 who comes to the remarkable conclusion that it 

 is caused by Bacillus coli. 



The United States Department of Agriculture 

 and the entomological laboratories of the various 

 colleges are, however, by far the most active 

 investigators of plant diseases and insect pests. 

 From the department itself issues a con- 

 tinuous stream of publications which we can- 

 not pretend adequately to review. A. L. Quaintance 

 has recently, in Circular 154, described the leaf , 

 blister mite (Eriophyes pyri, Pagenstecher), one ' 

 of the smallest animals (they are not true insects) ', 

 NO. 2265, VOL. 91] 



attacking horticultural crops.' H. M. Russell, in 

 Circular 151, deals with the greenhouse thrips 

 (Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis, Bouche), which does 

 considerable damage in attacking ornamental 

 plants. E. S. Tucker, in Circular 152, describes 

 the rice water-weevil (Lissorhoptrus simplex, Say), 

 the larvae of which feed on the roots of rice plants, 

 while the adult weevils cause some harm by feed- 

 ing on the rice leaves ; altogether, this insect is 

 regarded as the most serious enemy of rice in the 

 southern States. 



The Hawaiian Station has issued an account of 

 Dr. Lyons's investigation of the curious sugar- 

 cane disease known as iliau, endemic in the island 

 and not known elsewhere. He traces it to a 

 fungus producing two types of fruiting bodies : a 

 perfect form belonging to the genus Gnomonia 

 and an imperfect form referable to the genus 

 Melanconium ; he proposes to call it Gnomonia 

 iliau. 



NOTES. 

 The ninth International Congress of Zoology now 

 sitting at Monaco, under the presidency of H.S.H. 

 the Prince of Monaco, was opened on Tuesday at the 

 Oceanographical Museum. There are seven sections 

 and one subsection, as follows : — (1) Comparative 

 Anatomy and Physiology; (2) Cytology and General 

 Embryology; (3) Systematic Zoology; (4) General 

 Zoology, Palaeozoology, and Zoogeography ; (5) 

 Oceanographical Zoology and Plankton ; (6) Applied 

 Zoology, Parasitology, and Museums ; (7) Zoological 

 Nomenclature; subsection, Entomology. Every con- 

 sideration for the convenience and comfort of mem- 

 bers has been given. The sections meet in the 

 Oceanographical Museum and Lyceum, close by. The 

 common subject of conversation of members is con- 

 cerning zoological nomenclature; we learn that there 

 have been several preliminary unofficial meetings, and 

 that proposals are forthcoming which will probably 

 result in a decision satisfactory to zoologists in 

 general. The Prince of Monaco opened the proceed- 

 ings on Tuesday at 6 p.m., after which there was a 

 reception in the museum. The programme shows 

 that there are many and interesting communications. 

 British membership on the opening day exceeds 

 eighty out of a total of 723, the largest yet 

 recorded for any international zoological congress. 

 There is, however, not a proportionate number of 

 British communications; those on the list on Monday 

 were by Prof. Elliot Smith, of Manchester; Prof. J. 

 Arthur Thomson, of Aberdeen; Dr. R. F. Scharff, of 

 Dublin; Mr. E. Hall, of London; Dr. E. J. ' O. 

 Hartert, of Tring; Dr. W. S. Bruce, of Edinburgh; 

 Dr. M. Annandale and Dr. B. L. Chandhuri, of 

 Calcutta; Dr. R. J. Anderson, of Galway; and Dr. 

 Hornell, of Madras. Lord Walsingham will move an 

 important resolution on zoological nomenclature, and 

 among British members who are likely to take part 

 in this discussion are Dr. S. F. Harmer and the Hon. 

 Walter Rothschild. 



Exceptionally wild and stormy weather was ex- 

 perienced over the south of England on Saturday, 

 March 22. A severe thunderstorm occurred in the 



