October i i, 1906] 



NA TURE 



593 



ccloproitous Hrvcizua f(}nii iho subject of tin- third luliili-, 

 l>> Mr. O. Romor. 



In tliP Kcvm- Siiciilifujiic (Septombi-r i) Dr. .\. C'alniplte 

 iIImusscs Ihp channels of pnlrance of the tubercle bacillus 

 into the orj,'anisni. The chief conclusion is thai both in 

 man and animals the tubercle virus usu.illy i^.-iins access 

 by the dif^estive tract, particularly the inleslim-. 



Till- Bio-Clicmic,il JoiinutI for .September (vol. 1., No-. 

 S and o) has a number of important papers, including a 

 sludy of the digestive gland in mollusca and Crustacea, by 

 Mr. H. K. Roaf ; variations in the gastric hydrochloric 

 .uid in carcinoma, by Mr. F. W. Morton Palnier ; an 

 investigation of the staining act with eosin-melhylene blue, 

 by Dr. W'akelin Barratt ; secretin in relation to diabetes 

 iuellitus, by Messrs. I'. A. Bainbridge and A. P. Beddard ; 

 and further observations on the treatment of diabetes by 

 acid extract of duodenal mucous membrane, by Prof. B. 

 Munre, Mr. K. S. Kdie, and Dr. J. 11. .\bram. 



I\ the opening article of the sixth numbr'r (July) of the 

 I'hilippinc Journal of Science, published at Manila, .Mr. 

 P U. W'oollev discusses the disabilities against which the 

 serum-laboratory has had to contend in its crusade against 

 rinderpest in the islands, one of these being the difficulty 

 1)1 procuring cattle sufficiently susceptible to the disease. 

 .\s the investigations connected with the nature of the 

 virus art only in their infancy, it will suffice to slate that 

 llie results at present obtained lu'e not in all ways in iiccord 

 wiib previous theories. .As the result of a preliminary 

 survey of the Lobu Mountains, in the Batangas province, 

 Mr. W. D. Smith is enabled to report the occurrence of 

 post-Eocene strata containing the gastropod genus Vicarya, 

 so widely distributed in the Indo-Malay countries. The 

 remaining articles are devoted to the vegetation of the 

 l.amao forest, a catalogue of Philippine Hymenoptera, with 

 descriptions of new species, and notes on Mindoro birds. 



.\n extension of cotton cultivation is again recorded in 

 the annual report for 1905-0 on the botanic station in 

 .\ntigua, the crop being estimated at forty tons. A new 

 variety, Centreville, received from the Department of Agri- 

 culture in the United .States, and said to be immune to 

 wilt, was grown experimentally ; the yield was good, but 

 the staple proved to be irregular. An experiment is being 

 fostered by the curator, Mr. T. Jackson, to grow broom 

 corn with the object of manufacturing brooins to supplv 

 local requirements. 



l-N an article on .\ntarctic botan) , printed in the Scollisli 

 Geographical Magazine (September), Mr. R. X. R. Brown 

 discusses our present knowledge and fuline problems. 

 Only two flowering plants have been collected in the 

 .\ntarctic regions as compared with about 400 species from 

 .\rctic countries, but the lichens and algic are better re- 

 presented, and fifty mosses have been recorded. Seeing 

 that the mean summer temperature never rises to 32° K., 

 the vegetation is richer than would be expected. Much 

 still remains to be done in collecting, especially from the 

 Pacific and Indian sides, to obtain data that mav throw 

 light on the former configuration of land and water. 



In the annual report for ic)o5-(> on the botanic station 

 and experimental plots in St. Kilts, the curator, Mr. I'". R. 

 Shepherd, notes that a number of cacao and rubber plants 

 have been distributed, the latter being principally speci- 

 mens of Castilloa elaslica ; a first consignment of Hevea 

 plants was received during the year. The crops grown 

 on the experimental plots included sweet potatoes, cassava, 

 NO. 1928, VCL. 74] 



yams, onions, and cotton. The cotton exports from .St. 

 Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla, amounting to 120 tons of 

 lint, showed a very large increase over the preceding y^ear. 

 .\ trial was made in St. Kitts of growing wrapper tobacco 

 under shade and .Sumatra tobacco in the open ; as this 

 was a first atteinpt, th<' curing presented riilliculties that 

 might be avoided in the future. 



W'l; have received a short pamphlet referring to the 

 preservation of a portion of the primeval forest, known as 

 Riccarton Bush, that still exists on the Canterbury Plains 

 in New Zealand, about two miles from Christchurch. The 

 pamphlet gives .some details as to the indigenous and rare 

 plants growing there, and contains a list of the flowering 

 plants and ferns. The dominant tree is the Itahikatea, 

 Podocarpus dacryoides, but there are large specimens of 

 two other species of Podocarpus and two species of EI.to- 

 carpus. There are also found the urticaceous milk-tree 

 Pardtrophis heterophylla, a Pseudopanax with protean 

 foliage, the pepper tree, Drimys colorata, and other 

 specialities. The acquisition of forest land containing so 

 many unique specimens merits the consideration, not only 

 of the citizens of Christchurch, but of the inhabitants of 

 New Zealand generally. .An influential committee has been 

 formed to raise the necessary funds, and the Government 

 of New Zealand has promised a vole of about one-fifth of 

 the sum required. 



.A MEMOIR of the Geological Survey on the water supplv 

 of the East Riding of Yorkshire, by Mr. C. Fox-Strang- 

 ways and Dr. H. R. Mill, has just been published by the 

 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. The memoir contains 

 an outline of the geology of the East Riding and of por- 

 tions of the vales of A'ork and Pickering, with especial 

 reference to the water-bearing strata. It includes records 

 of all known sinkings and borings in the area, together 

 with analyses of waters and a bibliography. There is also 

 a section on the rainfall, with a colour-printed map. 

 Copies may be obtained froin any agents for the sale of 

 Ordnance Survey maps, or directly, or through any book- 

 seller, from the Ordnance Survey OHiee, Southampton, 

 price 3^. 



The latest addition to the series of reports designed bv 

 the Geological Survey to describe the mining centres of 

 Western Australia is a report (Bulletin No. 22, Perth, 

 1906) by Mr. H. P. Woodward on the auriferous deposits 

 and mines of Menzies, North Coolgardie goldfield. It 

 covers ninety-two pages, and is accompanied by two maps 

 and six plates of sections. The area embraced covers 

 about fifty square miles, and consists of a comple.x series 

 of basic rocks through which have been intruded a series 

 of acidic dykes. The quartz veins, which are confined to 

 the greenstones, are of \'arious types, most of the gold 

 having been obtained from segregation veins of lenticular 

 form. From the area described there have been produced 

 403,787 ounces of gold, derived from the treatment of 

 348,967 tons of quartz. The deepest mine in Menzies, the 

 Menzies Consolidated (iold Mine, has yielded 65,875 ounces 

 from 99,371 tons of qu.-irtz. The vei[i in this case'is clearlv 

 of the true fissure type. 



Tin-: standardisation of error is a difficult problem to 

 which the attention of the Engineering Standards Com- 

 inittee has been directed. Much has been written on the 

 limits of error, but no attempt has hitherto been made to 

 deal with the subject in the exhaustive manner that it is 

 treated in reports No. 25 (London : Crosby Lockwood and 

 .Son, price los. bd. net) and No. 27 (price 2s. 6d. net), issued 

 by sectional committees of the Engineering .Standards Com- 



