NATURE 



[March 27, 19 13 



thi meeting of the American Society of Naturalists at 

 Cleveland on January 2, and a fifth on the fitness of 

 the environment, being an inquiry into the biological 

 significance of the properties. In the first Prof. May- 

 field discusses adaptation through natural selection and 

 orthogenesis, and in the second Prof. Livingston adap- 

 tation in the living and non-living, while in the third 

 Prof. Parker considers adaptation in connection with 

 animal reaction, and in the fourth Prof. Mathews 

 reviews the subject from the point of view of the 

 physiologist. As our readers may wonder what is 

 meant bv non-living adaptation, it may be mentioned 

 that Prof. Livingston cites the case of pumice frag- 

 ments in an inundation of the Colorado river. " Had 

 it not been for the floating adaptation, these pumice- 

 pebbles would have suffered temporary extinction in 

 the form of submergence, and would not have been able 

 ... to gain dominance ... in certain . . . beaches." 



We have received a copv of the issue of February 7 

 of an apparently new journal, published by the Cali- 

 fornia Associated Societies for the Conservation of 

 Wild Life at San Francisco, under the title of 

 Western Wild Life Call. California, it seems, is one 

 of the States in which wild-killed game is still per- 

 mitted to be sold, and it is one of the main objects of 

 the new venture to obtain the total prohibition of this 

 branch of trade. Among the species or races of 

 animals in imminent danger of exterminatipn in Cali- 

 fornia, even if some of them have not been already 

 killed off, are the wood-duck, the sharp-tailed duck, 

 the prongbuck, two kinds of wapiti, the beaver, and 

 the sea-elephant. The fate which has already over- 

 taken the passenger-pigeon is now threatening the 

 band-tailed pigeon (Columba fasciata) in California, 

 a species which has somewhat similar habits, and is 

 now being slaughtered in enormous numbers. So 

 urgent is the case that total prohibition for a period 

 of at least five years, and subsequently an annual 

 close season, are deemed necessary. 



Apropos of the correspondence which we have 

 recentlv had on ''retinal shadows," Mr. J. L. Her- 

 rick writes suggesting an explanation of the twink- 

 ling of distant lights. He has noticed at his home 

 in Yonkers, New York, where there are many street 

 lamps at different distances, that only the more dis- 

 tant lights twinkle, and he thinks that the occupation 

 of the lights may be due to blood corpuscles in the 

 retinal vessels. He applies the same explanation to 

 the twinkling of stars. The latter phenomenon has 

 received many explanations, physical and physio- 

 logical. With regard to the latter, the subject was 

 brought to the notice of the Physiological Society 

 some years ago by Dr. J. S. Haldane, and was dis- 

 cussed by the members. Several suggestions were 

 advanced, amongst others that it was due to the 

 pulse waves in the retinal vessels. No adequate proof 

 of any of the physiological theories was brought for- 

 ward, and it is doubtful whether any theory yet adduced 

 amounts to more than a plausible hypothesis. 



A report of the experiments carried out for the 

 Durham County Council, on the feeding of dairy 

 cows, has been published in bulletin form (Offerton 

 NO. 2265, VOL. 91] 



Bulletin No. 4), by Mr. F. F. Walker. The experi- 

 ments include a comparison of soya cake with decor- 

 ticated cotton cake, and Sudan dura with maize. In 

 the former case soya cake gave, if anything, slightly 

 better results than cotton cake, and in the latter dura 

 was shown to be equal in value as a food to maize, 

 and might profitably be adopted as a substitute in 

 times of low prevailing prices. Other experiments 

 with "crowdy" or watery foods as against concen- 

 trated foods tend to show that, on the whole, the 

 quantity and quality of the milk are not affected. A 

 possible action of "crowdy" rations in maintaining 

 the flow of milk for a longer period than dry rations 

 is indicated. 



Dr. E. J. Russell and Mr. F. R. Petherbridge con- 

 tribute a paper to the January number of the Journal 

 of the Board of Agriculture on the sterilisation of the 

 soil for glasshouse work. In continuation of earlier 

 experiments on this interesting and complex problem, 

 the authors have investigated the influence of heat 

 and numerous antiseptics on the fertility of tomato-, 

 cucumber-, and vine-sick soils, and have accumulated 

 sufficient evidence to show that one or other of the 

 various modes of treatment might be distinctly useful 

 to practical growers. The effects of treatment may be 

 attributed, in general, to the following changes : — (1) 

 An increased bacterial activity with greater food pro- 

 duction ; (2) the reduction in numbers or death of 

 disease organisms ; (3) a modification of processes 

 going on in the soil, so that certain unusual sub- 

 stances are present which produce special effects on 

 the plant. These lead to early maturity and greater 

 vields of tomatoes, early maturity in the case of 

 cucumbers, and darker green and larger foliage and 

 larger and brighter flowers with chrysanthemums. 

 The best results were obtained in heated soils or those 

 treated with formaldehyde, pyridine, or the higher 

 bases, collidine, lutidine, &c. 



Mr. R. Kirkpatrick, after zealous travel, consider- 

 able reading of recent geological literature, and pains- 

 taking observation, publishes a pamphlet entitled 

 "The Nummulosphere " (Lamley and Co., London, 

 1913). In this he attempts to resuscitate Eozoon by 

 findinc structures of a discoidal nature common to it, 

 to nummulites, and to almost every rock that he 

 examines. The existence of these dis s in nummu- 

 lites is held to prove that all these other materials, 

 including igneous lavas and granites, are of organic 

 origin. 



Students of the British Trias will find two papers 

 of interest in the Proceedings of the Liverpool Geo- 

 logical Society, vol. xi., part iii. (1912). Rev. C. E. 

 Spicer (p. 201) writes from personal observations of 

 "Present Trias Conditions in Australia," and Sir 

 T. H. Holland (p. 227) describes "The Origin of 

 Desert Salt Deposits," laying special stress on the 

 carrying of salt as fine dust by prevalent winds across 

 the plains of north-west India. The " red marls " of 

 the Trias are regarded (p. 245) as oxidised representa- 

 tives of the black muds stained by ferrous sulphide 

 found in modern salt-lakes in desert lands. Reasons 

 are given (p. 246) for regarding the wind-borne salt 



