August io, 1905] 



NA TURE 



349 



the basal portion (which is all now remaining) was clothed 

 with skin during life, and that upon this were growths 

 comparable to the horns of modern rhinoceroses. 



Trof. Albert M. Reese, of the Syracuse University, 



has gene to Florida, under the auspices of the Smithsonian 



I Institution, says the Scientific Amencan, to collect eggs 



t of the alligator with which to work out its embryology ; 



j subsequently he will spend some time at the biological 



I laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of the Dry Tcrtugas 



I studying the material he collects. Twenty-five years ago 



! alligators existed in great abundance in the region ranging 



' frcm North Carolina to the Rio Grande of Texas, but as 



alligator leather became fashionable about that time the 



.|. 11;, md thus created has reduced the supply by at least 



,- p.T cent. It is said that a person may travel now 



trom Jacksonville to Miami, Fla., without seeing a single 



alligator. It is estiinated that 2,500,000 alligators were 



killed in Florida from 1880 lo 1894. 



The list of new garden plants for the- year U1114 has 

 been published as appendix iii. to the /v'c-.e HuUctin. This 

 list not onlv affords information respecting new plants, 

 but also gives ofificial authentification to the names, thereby 

 providing an accurate guide for horticulturists. 



.\ REVi.sioN of the genus Zexmenia, prepared by Mr. 

 \V. \V. Jones, has been issued as No. 7 of vol. xli. of the 

 I'yocccdings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

 The genus is one of the helianthoid Composite' restricted 

 lo tropical and subtropical .Anierici. 



N.M'URE-STUDV, SO far as il is founded on the four 

 faculties of observation, deduction, memory, and con- 

 structive imagination, is closely allied to the methods of 

 Sherlock Holmes ; such is the gist of an article by Mr. 

 Lamborn in the May number of the N aiurc-study Reviciv, 

 and teachers in search of a novelty in nature-study may 

 be referred to the example which is quoted. A short 

 article on observation bee-hives for the schoolroom, by 

 Miss Comstock, suggests another line of work. There is 

 also much truth in the reasons which Mr. L. A. Hatch 

 assigns for failure in teaching the subject, the first and 

 foreinost being a want of the observational instinct. 



The Indian Forcslei- for June contains many interesting 

 articles rclaling to forestry and kindred subjects. A new 

 species of Diospyros (D. Kanjilnli) is described and figured 

 by J. F. Duthie. An article on the prohibition of grass 

 burning and its effects on the game of the country will 

 be read with interest by both forester and sportsman. 

 Another valuable illustrated article, entitled " Some Facts 

 , about Gutta Percha," by Mr. A. M. Burn Murdoch, 

 contains a great amount of useful information, especially 

 regarding the rubber trees of the Federated Malay -States. 

 The article gives a very clear idea concerning the species 

 and their distribution, the measures adopted for their 



I protection, together with harvesting, manufacture, and 

 properties of the gutta percha. There are many other 

 ' papers and reviews, together with matters of general 

 interest, which will repay perusal by those interested in 

 forestry and its sister subjects. 



The broad-minded view which the U.S. Department of 

 -\griculture takes of its function for instituting inquiries 

 is well exemplified in throe bulletins which have been 

 irnivi'd from the Bureau of Plant Industry. In Bulletin 

 Nil. (iS Mr. A. S. Hitchcock presents a carefully prepared 

 classification of North American species of Agrostis. The 

 author, in the preparation of this memoir, has consulted 

 all the large herbaria in Europe ; the number of species, 



including three new to science, is limited to twenty-seven, 

 and these, together with the principal varieties, are fully 

 described and illustrated. A method of exterminating 

 Johnson grass by means of a root-digger is explained by 

 Mr. \V. J. Spillman in Bulletin No. 72, and the problem 

 of range management in the State of Washington is dis- 

 cussed by Mr. J. S. Cotton in Bulletin No. 75. The 

 latter pamphlet deals with the protection and seeding of 

 land which had been over-grazed by nomadic stockmen. 

 Experiments on land situated at an altitude of 5000 feet 

 demonstrated that Timothy, brome-grasses, and tall fescue 

 would be found suitable for sowing on these mountain 

 pastures. 



We have received a copy of the year-book of the 

 Norwegian Meteorological Institute for 1904, containing 

 hourly observations of air pressure and temperature for 

 Christiania, in addition to observations made three times 

 daily, and monthly and yearly summaries at a number of 

 other stations in Norway. There is also a valuable 

 appendix showing the departures of the monthly and yearly 

 values from the normal at a number of stations for each 

 year from 1874 to 1904. Since 1903 the station at Bergen 

 has undertaken the duties of weather prediction and storm 

 warnings for the western part of Norway. This arrange- 

 ment allows Prof. Mohn, director of the Norwegian 

 Meteorological Institute, to devote more attention to 

 general climatology, and is conducive to more rapid dis- 

 semination of forecasts of the depressions arriving from 

 the Atlantic. 



The Annnuire mefeorologique of the Royal Observatory 

 of Belgium for 1905, published under the superintendence 

 of M. A. Lancaster, director cf the Belgian Meteorologic^il 

 Service, contains a large amount of useful information 

 relating to that country in particular and to meteor- 

 ological science generally. For sixty-eight years the 

 Anmiaire referred to astronomy and meteorology com- 

 bined, but since 1901 each of these sciences is separately 

 dealt with. Some 240 pages of the work now in question 

 contain valuable data relating to the variability of atmo- 

 spheric pressure and rainfall for each month since 1833, 

 and to the frequency of .sunshine since 1886. The follow- 

 ing contributions are worthy of special notice : — (i) A dis- 

 cussion of the late spring and early autumn frosts by Dr. 

 Vanderlinden, containing valuable particulars as to the 

 conditions under which they generally occur, and the 

 possibility of foretelling their occurrence. (2) .\ biblio- 

 graphy of meteorological treatises by M. L. Vincent from 

 the earliest times. The author gives most attention to 

 general treatises, but anyone wishing to study special 

 subjects, e.g. marine, agricultural, and medical meteor- 

 ology, or weather prediction, will find it an invaluable 

 guide. (3) A collection of meteorological and physical 

 constants and conversion tables which will be found 

 exceedingly useful for general reference. 



Capt.^in H. G. Lyons contributes to the Geographical 

 Journal for .\ugust an instructive summary of the 

 dimensions of the Nile and its basin. The length of the 

 Nile is given usually as 5400 kilometres (3355 stat. miles) 

 to the centre of Lake Victoria, or 6000 kilometres (3728 

 Stat, miles) for the continuous water-way from the source 

 of the Kagera to the sea ; the area of its basin is given 

 as about 2,900,000 square kilometres (1,119,737 square 

 miles). It is now possible to measure the length of the 

 river with sufficient accuracy to furnish a value which 

 later surveys probably will not materially alter. The 

 length of the Nile from Ripon Falls to Rosetta mouth is 

 5589 kilometres, or 3473 miles. The area of the catch 



