JUNE 12, 1913] 



NATURE 



379 



superior culture ; on the countrary, they have not 

 emerged from the condition of the Stone age. While 

 the people to the north smoke cigars and those to 

 the south use pipes, they make a treacly decoction 

 from the leaf which friends lick ceremonially in the 

 tribal palaver, or to ratify a contract. When twins 

 are born, the second, particularly if a girl, is killed; 

 and deformed or sickly children are drowned by the 

 mother. Among the Boro the father practises the 

 couvade. The only social or artistic function is the 

 dance, announced by beat of drum heard at a dis- 

 tance of eight or ten miles. Prisoners are slain and 

 ceremonially eaten by their captors. After death the 

 soul hovers round the hut for a time, and then 

 wanders to the happy hunting-grounds of the Good 

 Spirit. It may be hoped that Capt. Whiffen will pub- 

 lish a detailed account of these people, with a repro- 

 duction of the good photographs which he exhibited 

 before the Folk-lore Society. 



Those who were present at the fourth International 

 Congress of Genetics at Paris in 19 11 will always 

 recall it as a meeting that was very much alive, and 

 evidence of this is to be found in the report which 

 has recently appeared. Some fifty-eight communica- 

 tions made to the congress are printed in this volume 

 of nearly 600 pages. The greater part of them deal 

 with plants, though there are a dozen papers on 

 animals, and several of a general nature. Many of 

 the communcations are of great interest and per- 

 manent value, and special mention may be made of 

 Orton on the inheritance of disease resistance in 

 plants, of Lotsy on crosses between different species 

 of Antirrhinum, and of Walther on the inheritance 

 of coat colour in horses. But the whole volume is 

 full of interest and suggestion, and valuable as giving 

 an excellent idea of the scope of genetic research, 

 and of the great activity at present prevailing. Two 

 languages are used throughout — French and English. 

 A French abstract is given with the English papers, 

 while all other papers are in French with an English 

 abstract appended. The volume is beautifully got up 

 and fully illustrated, a pleasant feature being the 

 collection of portraits of workers in this branch of 

 knowledge. It is published by Masson et Cie., and 

 costs 25 francs. 



In an address given at the anniversary meeting 

 of the Royal Society of South Africa in March last, the 

 president of the society, Dr. L. Peringuey, dealt with 

 the antiquity of man in South Africa. So far no 

 human remains have been found in South Africa 

 which belong to the Palaeolithic period. On the 

 other hand, stone implements of the various 

 European Palaeolithic periods of culture abound in 

 South Africa — Chellean, Acheulean, and Mousterian — 

 but there is no evidence that these types followed 

 each other in point of time ; all seem to have been in 

 use at the same period. Dr. Peringuey is convinced 

 that there was a direct relationship between the later 

 Palaeolithic cultures of Europe and South Africa — 

 the Aurignacian and Solutrean. The problem of 

 determining the degrees of antiquity of the various 

 Palaeolithic cultures of South Africa is rendered diffi- 

 cult by the fact that the climate and the fauna of 

 NO. 2276, VOL. 91] 



South Africa have altered very little, if at all, during 

 the Pleistocene period, whereas in Europe there have 

 been recurring periods of change. Lately the fossil 

 remains of two extinct antelopes — "gnu- and pallah- 

 like creatures " — have been discovered in the Free 

 State, with large flakes and other implements of a 

 Palaeolithic type. Remains of very similar antelopes 

 occur in the Pliocene formations of India and Attica. 

 Molar teeth of a mastodon have also been found in 

 gravels of the Vaal River along with Palaeolithic 

 implements. It will be thus apparent that man's 

 presence in South Africa is of great antiquity, 

 although as yet the necessary data have not been 

 gathered for estimating the degree of that antiquity. 

 So far only Europe and certain parts of America 

 have been searched for man's earliest traces ; it seems 

 very probable that Dr. Peringuey and his colleagues 

 may soon be in a position to elucidate, by their dis- 

 coveries in South Africa, some of the problems which 

 are at present puzzling their European colleagues. 



Mr. R. S. Pearson, of the Indian Forest Service, 

 has published (Indian Forest Records, vol. iv., part v.) 

 a detailed and valuable report on the utilisation of 

 bamboo for the manufacture of paper pulp. Four 

 I species of bamboos (Bambusa arundinacea, B. poly- 

 niorpha, Cephalostachyum pergracile, Melocanna 

 bambusoides) were examined with regard to their 

 suitability for paper-making; the area over which 

 the examination took place was restricted to Lower 

 Burma and the west coast of the Indian peninsula, 

 as both these localities are geographically well suited 

 for import and export purposes, and contain vast 

 areas covered with bamboos. Figures as to yield, 

 &c, were carefully collected; in order to obtain prac- 

 tical proof of the quality and cost of preparing pulp 

 from bamboos about eighty tons of raw material of 

 the four species were converted into pulp, and even- 

 tually into paper at Calcutta ; and the report is printed 

 on paper made from B. polymorpha (the most useful 

 species), both nodes and internodes being used. The 

 report contains very valuable data for estimating the 

 probability of the success of establishing a paper-pulp 

 industry in Burma and India. 



The interesting weather maps for May 9-15, pub- 

 lished in the first issue of the Meteorological Office 

 charts of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean for 

 June, show a continuation of the type of conditions 

 which had prevailed during the preceding two weeks, 

 affording a noteworthy illustration of an almost 

 stationary cyclonic system over the north-eastern 

 quarter of the Atlantic for nearly three weeks. The 

 high pressure in the north of Europe and western 

 Siberia spread along the arctic circle to Iceland, 

 formed a barrier against the eastward progression of 

 Atlantic disturbances, and held the depression above 

 referred to in practically the same position until 

 nearly the middle of May. The latest reports showed 

 that " a huge area of high barometrical pressure 

 covered nearly the whole of the North Atlantic." 

 Some icebergs w-ere passed in 42 30' N. and 49 W. 

 about April 4. Since April 10 (up to the time of 

 going to press, on May 15) ice had not been sighted 

 j south of latitude 44 N. 



