October 19, 1905 J 



NATURE 



607 



now in course of publication. In addition to the 

 above periodicals, three " special memoirs " have also 

 been issued, and it is hoped that others will be added 

 from time to time. In 1885 appeared Prof. Meldola's 

 and Mr. \\'hite's " Report on the East .Anglian Earth- 

 quake of 18S4," in 1890 Mr. Miller Christy's " Birds 

 of Esse.x," and in i8g8 Mr. Henrv Laver's 

 " Mammals, Reptiles and Eishes of Essex." .All 

 these works were noticed in our pages at the time of 

 publication. Eour " museum handbooks " must also 

 be credited to the club. 



Not the least important part of the results achieved 

 since 1880 is the establishment and maintenance of 

 iwo museums, one of a strictly local character for 

 the Epping Forest district at Oueen Elizabeth's 

 Lodge, Chingford, and the other of a countv and 

 educational character at West Ham in connection 

 with, and attached to, the Municipal 'I'echnical 

 Institute (see illustration). The first of these 

 is carried on under an agreement with the Cor- 

 poration of London, as conservators of Epping 

 l'"orest. The other (county) museuin was founded for 

 the club by Mr. Passmore Edwards, and is main- 

 tained by the Borough Council of \A'est Ham and 

 the Essex F'ield Club, the library and headquarters 

 of which are now in this same building. The 

 personnel of the club as narrated bv Mr. Christy is 

 .ilso of interest. The presidency has been held in 

 succession bv Prof. Meldola, Prof. Boulger, Mr. T. V. 

 Holmes, .Mr. E. .A. Fitch, Mr. H. Laver, Mr. F. 

 Chancellor, Mr. David Howard, Prof. Meldola, Mr. 

 F. W. Rudler, and Mr. .Miller Christy. .\11 these are 

 still living and active supporters of the club, while 

 Mr. William Cole has acted as hon. secretary, editor 

 iif the publications, and curator of the museums 

 (luring the whole twenty-five years of the society's 

 existence. 



There are few, if any, local societies in this country 

 N\liich can show such a good record. The Essex 

 l'"ield Club has earned the gratitude, not only of its 

 own county, but of the world of field naturalists 

 generally for the splendid example which it has set 

 in showing how such organisations can keep alive the 

 spirit of scientific research in the rural districts. In 

 congratulating the club on its past achievements, we 

 feel sure that the wish that its future work may be 

 carried on with equal success will be cordially 

 endorsed bv all readers of Nature. 



THE MOSOL'irOES OF PARA.' 

 T \ 1859, when H. W. Bates returned from Para, 

 ^ the town, though rapidly improving- even then, 

 was still a little-known Brazilian port, and Bates 

 embarked on a North .American trading vessel, " the 

 United States route being the quickest as well as the 

 pleasantest way of reaching England." .At present, 

 however. Para is a very important place, and well 

 up to date in scientific matters — if we may judge by 

 the handsome publication before us, on one of the 

 more recent branches of scientific inquiry — the trans- 

 mission of yellow fever and other diseases by means 

 of mosquitoes. 



Four essays are included in the present volume, 

 the first dealing with the mosquitoes of Pard re- 

 garded as a public calamity. This section is devoted 

 to an historical sketch of the subject, the biology of 

 mosquitoes, the views of various writers on the 

 sanitary importance of the subject, and on the urgent 

 need of practical efforts to abate the evil. 



1 " Memorias do Museu Goeldi (Museu Paraense) de Historia Natural e 

 Fthnographia," IV. Os Mosqiiilos no Para. Reuni.io <ie .jualro trabalhos 

 sobre OS Motquilos -ndigeras, principalmente as especies que molestam ■• 

 homem. By Prof. Dr. "Emilio Augusto Goeldi. Willi loo figures in lexl 

 and 5 chromo-lilhographic plates. Pp. 154. (Para, Brazil : C. Wiegandt, 

 1905 ) 



NO. 1877, VOL. 72] 



The second essay contains an abstract of the results 

 of experiments undertaken in 190J, with special 

 reference to Stegoinyia fasciata and Culex jatigans, 

 regarded from a sanitary point of view. 



The third essay is devoted to biological details 

 chiefly relating to the development of the principal 

 indigenous species. 



The fourth essay consists of a report on SlCi;oniyia 



Fig. I. — Larva oi Sit\i;oi>iyiix/a$citita. 



fasciata and its connection with the transmission of 

 yellow feyer. This was presented to the International 

 Zoological Congress at Berne in .August, 1904. 



The book appears to be an extremely careful and 

 valuable piece of work, and the paper, printing, and 

 illustrations leave little or nothing to be desired. It 

 must not be overlooked by any worker who is 

 interested in mosquitoes either from a scientific or 





from a medical point of view. Several new forms are 

 described ; and on p. 73 even the musical note of 

 Stcgomyia fasciata is discussed — a slight but signifi- 

 cant illustration of the intimate connection and inter- 

 dependence of all branches of human knowledge. 



The figures which we have selected for reproduc- 

 tion represent the larva and imago of Stcgomyia 

 fasciata. W. F. K. 



NOTES. 

 In connection with the Conservatoire des -Arts et 

 Metiers, a musciiin of industrial hygiene will be opened 

 this month at Paris by the Tresidcnt of the Republic. 



Prince Serc.e Troubetzkoi, Rector of the University of 

 Moscow, and professor of philosophy in that university, 

 died at St. Petersburg on October 12. 



Tme death is announced of Mr. A. C. Pass, one of the 

 early and most enthusiastic members of the Bristol 

 Naturalists' Society, and for many years president of the 

 geological scrlion of the societv. 



