59Q 



NATURE 



[August 7, 1913 



kultur (Vienna, 1913), Dr. Paul Saborsky contributes 

 an exhaustive and well-illustrated account of Welsh black 

 cattle, in which their characteristic features, corporeal 

 measurements, osteology, and etiology are dealt with 

 in detail. The author fully endorses the opinion that 

 these cattle are nearly related to the extinct black 

 aurochs (Bos taunts primigenius) on one hand, and 

 to the white British park-cattle on the other, such 

 resemblances as they display to the Celtic shorthorn 

 IB. longifrons or brachyceros) being, perhaps, in- 

 herited from a local race of the aurochs. It is to be 

 regretted that as the memoir is written in German it 

 is not likelv to be widely read in this country. 



According to the report for 1912 the Field Museum 

 of Natural History, Chicago, continues to make 

 rapid progress, both in the matter of adding- to its 

 scientific collections, and in the installation of realistic 

 exhibits in the public galleries and halls. The report 

 is illustrated with photographs of several of these 



striking exhibits, including a group of grizzly bears 

 in a forest and a colony of beavers on a dam in one 

 of the great rivers; in all of these the foreground 

 is occupied by the animals themselves, mounted with 

 their natural inanimate surroundings, while the back- 

 ground is artistically painted. 



During a visit to a whaling station in the Faroes in 

 the summer of 1911, Dr. L. Freund had the oppor- 

 tunity of studying portions of the anatomy of several 

 species of whales, and has published the results of his 

 investigations in the issue for November and Decem- 

 ber, 1912, of the Sitzungsberichte of the Vienna 

 .V. el lie ol Sciences. It may be recalled that a short 

 time age n lei en., was made in Nature to Mr. T. B. 

 Goodall's opinion with regard to the homology of the 

 whalebom plates of the whalebone whales. Accord- 

 ing to Dr. Freund, this opinion is by no mean-, new. 

 but was long since adopted by Eschricht, who con- 

 tended, in opposition to current views, that the plates 

 do not represent the palatal rugse of land animal-.. 

 If we understand him rightly. Dr. Freund appears 

 NO. 2284, VOL. 91] 



inclined to support this interpretation, although he 

 points out that there are considerable differences in 

 the structural arrangement of the plates in different 

 groups of whalebone whales. Other items in cetacean 

 anatomy are also discussed in the paper, which like- 

 wise contains a section on the genitalia of the por- 

 poise. 



Wf have received from the Government Printing 

 Office, Calcutta, a series of extremely useful notes on 

 Indian timbers (Forest Bulletin-. Nos. [6 to 21, price 

 -)<i. each). The timbers dealt with are Gmelina 

 arborea, Pterocarpus marsupium, Terminalia tomen- 

 tosa, Lagerstroemia lanceolata, Oageinia dalber- 

 goides, and Anogeissus latifolia. Each of these bulle- 

 tins gives the distribution, locality, and habit of the 

 tree, properties and uses of the timber, minor pro- 

 ducts, if any, natural reproduction and rate of growth, 

 and other information, and includes a specimen of 

 the wood in the form of a thin section mounted in 

 a stout cardboard frame. These bulletins form part 

 of a series of notes on the lesser-known Indian tim- 

 bers, compiled by officers of the Forest Research In- 

 stitute, Dehra Dun, and it is announced that on 

 application to the forest economist specimens of any 

 timber will be supplied free, and inquirers put in 

 communication with local forest officers. 



As a result of much recent work on the effect ol 

 various metal salts on plant growth in water culture, 

 pot culture, and in the field, the possible value of 

 manganese salts as fertilisers is discussed in a leaflet 

 published by the U.S. Bureau of Soils, Circular 

 No. 75. Beneficial effects have been observed in the 

 cultivation of numerous crops, and in many cases the 

 increase has been very appreciable — upwards of 25 to 

 30 per cent. Its effect in soils is attributed partly 

 to a direct action on the soil constituents, partly to 

 an acceleration of enzymic changes in the plant, and 

 also to the stimulation of micro-organisms in the soil. 

 It has further been found that manganese increases 

 the absorption of other ingredients by the plant, par- 

 ticularly lime and magnesia. For experimental work 

 and as a complementary fertiliser to sodium nitrate, 

 phosphates, potash, and lime, the use of soluble man- 

 ganese salts in quantities not greater than 100 lb. per 

 acre is recommended. 



In connection with the movement for the conserva- 

 tion of natural resources in the United States, an 

 investigation has been made into the or< urrence of 

 potash salts in such amounts as to warrant their 

 extraction on a commercial scale (U.S. Bureau of 

 Soils, Bulletin 94). In no case has an artificial or 

 natural (subterranean) salt been found suitable for 

 further extraction, but the bitterns derived from the 

 manufacture of salt from sea-water contain potassium 

 in sin h amounts as to make it probable that they 

 could be evaporated to make valuable manure salts. 

 In addition to this, the brine of one desiccated lake 

 of southern California has been found to contain 

 sufficient potash to make it a possible commercial 

 source, but the largest and most practicable source 

 is to be found in the giant kelps of the Pacific littoral. 



We have received the first part of the Palaeonto- 

 logische Zeitschrifl (Berlin: Gebriider Borntraeger, 



