;82 



NATURE 



[December 5, 1912 



discussed in relation to some phylogenetic prob- 

 lems of the floral structure. 



One of the chief objects of this lesearch was 

 to see how far the data obtainable would agree 

 with Van Tieghem's view that five of the vascular 

 bundles of the corolla represent the supply of a 

 suppressed second whorl of stamens. The bundles 

 in question traverse the tube of the corolla in an 

 antisepalous position, and usually each of them 

 forks into two just below the limb, the two branches 

 then passing out into the adjacent lobes of the 

 corolla so as to form lateral bundles in them. Van 

 Tieghem regards the suppression of the stamen as 

 having led to its vascular supplj' being utilised by 

 the neighbouring lobes of the corolla. 



The author has carefully traced the vascular 

 bundles from the floral axis upwards into the two 

 perianth-whorls. This has revealed the fact that, 

 in those species which possess lateral bundles in 

 the calyx-lobes, the origin of these bundles is 

 precisely comparable to that of the lateral bundles 

 of the corolla-lobes. In each perianth-whorl the 

 lateral bundles are derived (and in a similar way) 

 from the strands which become the median bundles 

 of the lobes of the other perianth-whorl. Thus 

 any theory applied to the origin of the lateral 

 bundles of the corolla and inapplicable to the calyx 

 gains no support from the course of the vascular 

 strands. 



A comparison of the different forms, including 

 those with " staminodes," yields further data, which 

 also appear to militate against Van Tieghem 's 

 theory, and to supply some interesting material 

 relating to floral phylogeny. 



(i) Ne-w South Wales. Historical, Physio- 

 graphical and Econoniic. By A. W. Jose, 

 T. Griffith Taylor, Dr. W. G. Woolnough. 

 Edited by Prof. ,T. W. Edgeworth David, 

 F.R.S. Pp. xii + 372. (Melbourne: Whit- 

 combe and Tombs, Ltd., n.d.) Price 4s. 6d. 

 (2) Cambridge County Geographies : Radnorshire 

 By Lewis Da\ies. Pp. xi+156. Renfrewshire 

 by Frederick Mort. Pp. ix+177. Perthshire 

 By Peter Macnair. Pp. xii+i8o. Dumfries 

 shire. By Dr. James King Hewison. Pp 

 ix+170. North Lancashire. Bv Dr. J. E 

 Marr, F.R.S. Pp. xii+180. '(Cambridge 

 University Press, 1912.) Price is. 6d. each. 

 ( I ) The interaction between the relief of the land 

 and its climate, between the passive, or physio- 

 graphic, factors and the active, or human, factors 

 in the development of the life of a country is 

 strikingly illustrated by this book on New South 

 Wales, which summarises the latest information 

 rcg.irding that region. The student, who has 

 hitherto had to search through the volumes of 

 various scientific societies for his facts, will be 

 grateful to the authors, not only for this concise 

 summary, but also for the coherence with which 

 the facts have been collated. The treatment of 

 climate and that of the development of the physical 

 features of the country seem the most valuable 

 parts of a thoroughly sound exposition. 

 KO. 2249, VOL. 90] 



(2) The well-known features of the Cambridge 

 County Geographies are preserved in the new 

 volumes. It remains but to mention points of 

 special interest. Radnorshire is strong regarding 

 the agriculture and the military history of 

 the county ; Renfrewshire on the relationship be- 

 tween the county and the estuary of the Clyde ; 

 Perthshire includes a panorama of the mountains 

 and a population map showing the influence of 

 the valleys on the distribution of the people ; 

 Dumfriesshire has an interesting map connected 

 with the place names of the locality ; and North 

 Lancashire emphasises the relation between the 

 geology and the scenery of the county. Perth- 

 shire contains a map of the rainfall of Scotland 

 by Dr. Mill, which differs, especially in the case 

 of the .Southern Uplands, from the more detailed 

 map by Mr. ;\ndrew Watt which is printed in the 

 other volumes. B. C. W. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken 0/ anonymous communications.] 



The Moon and Poisonous Fish. 



iMu. E. G Bryant, in Nature of November 14, asks 

 a question regarding the effect of moonlight in 

 "turning" fish. I have lived many years in South 

 Africa, and have encountered the same belief, that 

 moonlight will hasten the turning bad of fish; and 

 at one" time, when living at Muizenberg, I obtained 

 some experimental proof of the moon's action on fish. 

 It seems curious, at first sight, that moonlight, which 

 has so little effect on meteorological instruments, 

 should have this effect on fish. I have thought it 

 probablv due to insects or some low form of life 

 which would bo abroad, or be stimulated to action, on 

 moonlight nights and not on dark nights. 



The "action of moonlight in stimulating the rise of 

 sap in trees is widely believed in by practical wood 

 cutters in almost every quarter of the world. 



D. E. HuTcniNS. 



Ridlev, Kent, November 2^,. 



What the British Caves might tell us. 



Will you kindly allow me, as one who has made 

 considerable additions to our Pleistocene fauna, verte- 

 brate and invertebrate, to support Mr. Hunt's appeal 

 for the resurrection of that vast amount of material 

 now slored away that was obtained in Kent's Cavern? 

 Those of us who have paid attention to the subject 

 are aware that the recorded lists give us but a poor 

 idea of what the caves could tell us, and that from 

 the waste dumps have been obtained a large number 

 of new species, and even from the lowest layers these 

 bones mclude those of man himself. In these circurn- 

 stances we feel the time has come, not only for this 

 material to be put into competent hands, but for the 

 caves to be reworked on modern lines and in the 

 light of recent research. 



W. J. Lewis Arbott. 



