January 13, 19 10] 



NA TURE 



'M 



for the months refer to varying aspects of the weather 

 in relation to outdoor phenomena and anmiate nature. 

 The calendar is very suitable for the study and class-rooms 

 where natural science is taught, both for the information 

 supplied and as a suggestion for children to draw up a 

 calendar for themselves. 



Owing to the want of agreement between recent in- 

 vestigators of species of Isoetes, any additional informa- 

 tion derived from the examination of different species, as 

 the account by Miss A. G. Stokey in the Botanical Gazette 

 (.April, 1909), is of direct interest to botanists. The 

 anatomy of four American species was investigated. The 

 chief point of originality lies in the interpretation of the 

 so-called " prismatic layers " formed centripetally by the 

 cambium ; the author dissents from the explanation, first 

 offered by Russow, that certain of these cells are phloem 

 elements, but regards the whole of the prismatic layers as 

 secondary xylem. With respect to the phylogenetic position 

 of the genus, the author favours affinity with the Lepido- 

 dendrese, on the ground of morphological characters. 



The identification of the lichens collected during the 

 second Norwegian .Arctic Expedition in the From, 1898 to 

 1902, chiefly by Mr. H. G. Simmons, was entrusted to 

 Dr. O. V. Darbishire ; the results are embodied in Report 

 \o; 2 1 of that expedition, together with a systematic 

 enumeration of all the species — about 500 — recorded from 

 the .Arctic regions exclusive of Alaska. The material 

 brought on this journey from Ellesmere Land and King 

 Oscar Land yielded more than a thousand specimens, from 

 which i6i different species have been obtained, including 

 the types of eight new to science. The fruticulose lichens 

 play an important part in the vegetation ; the various 

 species of Cetraria occur in large quantities over wide 

 areas. It is noted that no specimen of the reindeer moss 

 was collected. The author institutes a comparison between 

 the lichen flora of the .Arctic regions, Germany, and the 

 Tyrol to point out that nearly three-fourths of the species 

 are found in the Tyrol and two-thirds in Germany. 



The Kew Bulletin (No. 9) opens with an article by Mr. 

 \V. J. Bean providing garden notes on some of the newly 

 introduced trees and shrubs collected by Mr. E. H. Wilson 

 in western and central China at elevations ranging from 

 2500 feet to 10,000 feet. A primary object of Wilson's 

 expeditions was to introduce ornamental horticultural 

 novelties in the shape of arborescent plants that would 

 be hardy in the British Isles. Many of the plants raised 

 from seed have already survived the rigours of more than 

 one English winter. The plants selected for description 

 are almost entirely monotypical genera. Another article 

 by Mr. Bean refers to the Canadian wild rice, Zizania 

 aquatica, recommending it for trial as an ornamental plant 

 in ponds and backwaters. It is an annual requiring plenty 

 of sunshine, and it is especially necessary to keep the 

 seeds moist between collection and sowing. Dr. O. Stapf 

 contributes an article on the perennial species, Zizania 

 lati folia, which is cultivated in China for use as a vege- 

 table, but cannot be recommended as an ornamental plant. 



The annual report from the Experiment Station, Tortola, 

 Virgin Islands, records a year of steady progress. In the 

 cotton industry the export of lint amounted to 52,528 lb., 

 an increase of 2500 lb. over the preceding year. A lime 

 industry on similar lines to the cotton industry has also 

 been successfully started, the fruit being purchased from 

 peasants at the experimental station. The Agricultural 

 Department not only gives advice and assistance, but forms 

 a direct market for much of the produce raised in the 

 islands. 



NO. 2098, VOL. 82] 



Lc-CERNE-GROWiNt; in South .Africa has, according to the 

 .Igricultnral Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, recently 

 suffered from a stem-infesting nematode, viz. Tylenclnis 

 dipsaci (devestatrix), which has hitherto not appeared in 

 South .Africa, although well known in Europe. The adult 

 worm is a fifteenth of an inch long, and produces character- 

 istic distortions and discolorations in the plant. Infested 

 shoots only grow out a few inches ; the whole plant 

 languishes and dies in the course of about a year. The 

 infection spreads in a variety of ways, and in time the 

 entire crop is so badly attacked as to be not worth cutting 

 or feeding off. Up to the present no successful means of 

 combating the pest is known. 



The Agricultural Journal of India, issued from the 

 Research Institute, Pusa, differs from most of its kind in 

 that it is intended for the intelligent non-technical reader 

 and therefore appeals to a wider class than the more 

 technical memoirs issued from the same institute. One 

 of its most interesting features is the description of native 

 methods of cultivation, management of crops and of stock. 

 In the current issue the Kachin cultivation of tea is dealt 

 with. In other articles an extension of the area under 

 fibre plants is urged, and methods of growing lucerne are 

 described. Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy has a suggestive paper on 

 the cultivation of shellac. The scale-insects of the genus 

 Tachardia, which form shellac as a resinous covering, live 

 on a variety of trees and suck out the sap ; they occur to- 

 a very great extent in Indian forests, and are, indeed, 

 already cultivated to some extent. 



The reports on the Botanic Station Experiment Plots 

 and Agricultural Education, Antigua, are to hand. There 

 has been a shrinkage in the number of acres planted in 

 cotton in the island to one-third what it was last year, 

 chiefly because of bad seasons and insect pests. Details 

 are given of experiments with sweet potatoes, yams, 

 and other crops. The sugar-cane experiments are carried 

 out on an extensive scale, there being more than iioo 

 plots of varieties of canes and 256 plots of manurial 

 experiments. Some interesting results are expected 

 from the work on limes and broom-cotton. A new 

 industry, the production of cocoa-nuts, has been started 

 and promises success in certain districts where the con- 

 ditions are favourable. The report from St. Kitts-Nevis 

 also shows a ' great amount of activity ; the principal 

 industry being sugar production, much attention is 

 given to experiments with the sugar-cane. A good deal 

 of work is being done in cotton, now an established in- 

 dustry in the presidency, and likely to be of considerable 

 economic importance. The report from Grenada deals 

 with cacao, rubber, Sea Island cotton, and other crops. 

 Some interesting experiments are recorded on mulching 

 cacao, but the problem is not yet solved, because of the 

 difficulty of getting plants to grow in the shade of a cacao 

 plantation. 



Attention is directed in a recent number of the Agri- 

 cultural News to the fact that about 20 per cent, of the 

 bananas grown in banana-producing countries are unfit 

 for export, and are often completely wasted. Attempts to 

 make a saleable product by drying the fruit and pro- 

 ducing banana flour have been only partially successful. 

 Experiments made at the Central Laboratory, tluate- 

 mala, described at length in the Journal d' Agriculture 

 Tropicale, have shown how to obtain from this waste 

 material a spirit resembling whisky in flavour. The yield of 

 spirit from each bunch of bananas is estimated at 4J litres, 

 and the cost of manufacture is said to be much less than 

 that of whisky. Over a period of two years the process 

 has proved to be a commercial success. A very similar- 



