27f 



NA TURE 



(July 20, 1905 



hurricane in August, K/03, caused such widespread 

 devastation that the Government of Jamaica deemed it 

 advisable to malve temporary loans, thus assuming liabili- 

 ties which would have been unnecessarv had a cooperative 

 system of borrowing money been in existence. In the same 

 volume diverse opinions are expressed on the question 

 of rotation of crops in connection with cotton cultivation 

 in Jamaica. Cotton every third or fifth year, with inter- 

 mediate crops of cassava or yams, maize, and legumes, is 

 suggested ; these rotations preclude the possibility of 

 securing a second crop of cotton. 



An instructive discussion of the law of biogenesis that 

 " ontogeny repeats phylogeny " will be found in the paper 

 forming Publication No. 30 of the Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington, in which Mr. G. H. .Shull bases his argu- 

 ments upon a study of the leaf variation in Simh! 

 cicutaefolium. In the seedlings the first leaf after the 

 cotyledons is extremely variable, the second leaf is generally 

 simpler, but subsequently a pinnate leaf is developed which 

 passes into a much dissected type. Well marked but less 

 regular variations occur at periods of rejuvenescence and 

 on the inflorescence. Mr. .Shull concludes that ontogenetic 

 leaf-characters afford no satisfactory clue to phylogeny. 

 but that differentiation is due to the changed structure of 

 the protoplasm. 



'• Perceptio.v i»; Pl.ants " is the title of an article in 

 Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrlft (June), in which 

 Prof. L. Kny discourses on tropisms and movements pro- 

 duced by other causes. Under heliotropism Prof. Kny 

 mentions the views recently advanced by Haberlandt that 

 the epidermal cells of a leaf are to be regarded as the 

 perceptive region, and that their shape and contents enable 

 them to act like a lens in collecting the rays of light. A 

 photograph representing a surface view of the leaf of 

 Anihurium Maximiliani tends to support this hypothesis, 

 and also the observation that such a leaf, when submerged 

 in water, fails to react. 



We have received from Messrs. Flatters and Garnett, 

 Ltd., 48 Deansgate, Manchester, slides exhibiting the 

 structure of the root in the male fern and onion. They 

 are remarkably good, and slides such as these will be of 

 value to collections used for teaching purposes. The pre- 

 paration of the material has been carefully attended to, 

 and the details of cell and nuclear division are well shown. 



Vol. i. of the report of the Royal Commission on 

 London Traffic (appointed in February, 1903, to inquire into 

 and report upon the means of locomotion and transport in 

 London) has just been issued. It will be followed by seven 

 more volumes, dealing respectively with the following sub- 

 jects : — vol, ii., minutes of evidence taken, with index and 

 digest ; vol. iii., appendices to the evidence taken, and 

 index; vol. iv., appendices to the report and index; vol. v., 

 maps and diagrams furnished to or prepared by the Royal 

 Commission; vol. vi., maps and diagrams furnished to the 

 Royal Commission ; vol. vii., report of the advisory board 

 of engineers, and index; vol. viii., appendix to same. 



The June issue of the Bulletin de la Society d'Encouragc- 

 ment pour I'lndustric nationale has been received. It 

 contains a report, presented by M. A. Moreau on behalf 

 of the Constructions and Fine .-Xrts Committee, on 



Ruberoid "; an account of a scheme for the extension 

 of the international system to .screws with a diameter of 

 less than 6 mm. ; and a paper by M. Maurice Alfassa on 

 the organisation of labour in the United States. The 

 economic notes, those on chemistry, and those on the 

 mechanical sciences are as usual suggestive and interesting. 



The Xatioiial Geographic Magazine for July contains 

 many interesting communicationr, among which are an 

 address delivered to the National Geographic Society by 

 Prof. E. A. Grosvenor on the " Evolution of Russian 

 Government," an article entitled "The Purple Veil," the 

 " veil " being the product of the Lophius piscatorius. 

 known popularly as the "goose-fish," the "all-mouth," 

 and the "angler," and a short paper (superbly illus- 

 trated) on " The Victoria Falls." The National Geo- 

 graphic Society, of which the magazine is the organ, is 

 now housed under a deed of trust in the Hubbard 

 Memorial Hall at Washington, the building being " in 

 trust for the sole use and benefit of the said National 

 Geographic Society so long, and for and during such period 

 of time, as said Society shall continue its corporate exist- 

 ence under its present charter, and shall continue to use 

 and occupy the said land and premises and the improve- 

 ments thereon for the objects and purposes set forth in its 

 certificate of incorporation." 



TuE July number of the Popular Science Monthly con- 

 tains an illustrated article on the University of Virginia, 

 which, founded eighty years ago by Thomas Jefferson, has 

 now as its first president Dr. E. A. Alderman. The illus- 

 trations contained in the paper show that the university 

 possesses many buildings devoted to the teaching of science. 

 .Another article deals with Prof. C. A. Young, who, after 

 more than fifty years' devotion to science, recently 

 retired from the professorship of astronomy at Princeton 

 University and Ihe directorship of the Halstead Observ- 

 atory. 



In view of the approaching meeting of the British 

 Association in South Africa, a special number of Know- 

 ledge and Illustrated Scientific News has been issued. It 

 contains portraits of the president and of the presidents of 

 sections, a programme of the proceedings, with a route 

 map, and many articles dealing with South Africa and 

 likely, therefore, to be of interest to those taking part in 

 the association's meeting. 



Mr. Ml'rr.av announces " Noteworthy Families 

 (Science)," by Mr. Francis Galton, F.R.S., and Mr. 



E. .S. (ialton. The work will form vol. i. of the publi- 

 cations of the Eugenics Record Office of the University 

 of London. Another book to be brought out by Mr. 

 Murray is "The Book of the Rothamsted Experiments," 

 by Mr. A. D. Hall, the director of the Rothamsted 

 Experiment Station. 



Messrs. John Wiieldon and Co., of Great Queen Street, 

 Lincoln's Inn Fields, have sent us part i. of their new 

 botanical catalogue dealing with Cryptogainia, and con- 

 taining some 700 titles of books and papers. 



Messrs. J. H. D.-vllmeyer, Ltd., have just issued their 

 new list of photographic lenses, cameras, telescopes, pris- 

 matic binoculars, &c. 



A SECOND Italian edition of " Mattoni e Pietre di Sabbia 

 e Calce," by M. E. Stoffler and Prof. .M. Glasenapp, has 

 been published by the firm of Ulrico Hoepli, of Milan. 

 This edition is provided with eighty figures in the text 

 and three folded plates at the end of the volume. 



The second edition of " The Central Alps of the 

 Dauphiny," by W. A. B. Coolidge, H. Duhamel, and 



F. Perrin has just been issued by Mr. Fisher Unwin. The 

 work, which is one of the " Conway and Coolidge's 

 Climbers' Guides " series, has been revised and brought 

 down to the end of 1904, and the arrangement of the 

 sections has to some extent been altered. 



NO. 1S64, VOL. 72] 



