143 



NA TURE 



IDcr. 1 6, 1880 



Cornu proceeds (Paragraph V.) to sketch "the most 

 favourable conditions for the introduction of the insect " as 

 follows : — '■' A phylloxera is removed in the soil, say a 

 pregnant mother, which survives for a period of five days ; 

 it lays an egg before dying ; the egg takes fifteen days to 

 hatch (at the mean temperature of 59 deg. Fahr.), and the 

 young insect which is produced five days to die. This 

 makes in all twenty-five days." That is to say, that the 

 maternal phylloxera, when in articiilo mortis at the end of 

 hsr five days' dessication and starvation, is to lay an egg ; 

 that this egg, produced under such extraordinary con- 

 ditions, is to hatch in due course, and, after undergoing 

 total starvation from its birth, is to live out the normal 

 term of five days allotted to the mother (presumably well 

 fed until she started on the dolorous voyage), and after 

 all this is to land at the Cape and propagate its species in 

 the nearest vineyard at hand ! If these are " the most 

 favourable conditions " under which the phylloxera would 

 be introduced, we may surely say with Dr. Cornu in 

 another part of the same report (Paragraph VII. a) that 

 " it would require a concatenation of circumstances which 

 it is difficult to imagine to bring about the misfortune of 

 the insect's introduction." It is as well also to note that 

 the writer expressly states (Paragraph V.) tha(t the egg's 

 hatching is accelerated when the temperature exceeds 59 

 deg. Fahr., so that in the supposed case, if the starve- 

 ling progeny ever did see the light on the voyage, it would 

 probably emerge in a tropical temperature long before the 

 normal fifteen days allowed, and so resign its life of total 

 abstinence before reaching the promised land of plenty 

 at the Cape. 



Let us now turn to the "winter egg," which, as Dr. 

 Cornu states (Paragraph VI.), "is particularly to be 

 dreaded." This is the rarest condition of the insect, 

 each female of the generation which includes both sexes 

 laying only one egg (Paragraph VI.). 



" It is to this egg alone that the introduction of the 

 phylloxera in packing-cases, straw, &c., could be attri- 

 buted ; this would however require confirmation ; in 

 fact I am not aware of any well-authenticated instance 

 of the introduction of the phylloxera resulting from the 

 transmission of the winter egg" (Paragraph VII.). 



This admission on the writer's part seems to reduce 

 any apprehension about the winter egg to infinitesimal 

 proportions, especially when it is noted that the " winter 

 egg," as its title implies, is a state limited to cold weather, 

 and "commences to develop at the return of the fine 

 weather" (Paragraph VI.). If a specimen of this rare 

 aiif d'hiver did by any chance (in the absence of the 

 vine-stems or branches upon which it is laid) start on 

 a voyage for South Africa, v.^e may be very sure that in its 

 passage through the whole extent of both tropics it would 

 very speedily cease to merit its title, and become a miser- 

 able //y/fo.nViz d'l'tc, only to share the fate of its luckless 

 relative, produced from the last dying egg of the mcri: 

 pondeuse. It does not mend matters to find Dr. Cornu 

 stating in italics (Paragraph VII.), "Such introduction 

 is nevertheless possible from a scientific point of view." 

 Impossibility can with accuracy be predicated of but very 

 few propositions ; as a rule it is safer to say of most 

 matters apparently incredible that it is ne.xt to impossible, 

 and this may very certainly be said in the present case ; 

 and when all known facts and conditions place every 

 probability against a bare possibility, wise men will know 

 how to act. 



As long as vines and all parts of vines from abroad are 

 kept out of the Cape, the requirements of the wine industry 

 are fully met. This prohibition was put in force by the 

 late Government, by Proclamation No. 8S, of November 

 30, 1876, and has been in force ever since that date. As 

 late as the 4th December last, attention was specially 

 directed to this Proclamation, with the intimation that its 

 provisions would be strictly enforced (in Government 

 Notice, No. 1288, of 1S79), The present superfluous 



and vexatious restrictions were added by Proclamation 

 No. 14, of January, 1880, and all the facts adduced by 

 Dr. Cornu point to their futility. 



SONGS OF THE SCIENCES— T. ZOOLOGY 



W^ must regard it as a noteworthy sign that science 

 has begun to percolate so through society generally, 

 that it has reached the pages of Punch. Almost every 

 week we find a bit of more or less telling waggery, and 

 last week the first of a series of "Songs of the Sciences" 

 appeared, which we reproduce : — ■ 

 ( h ! merry is the Madrepore that sits beside the sea, 

 Tlie cheery litlle Coralline hath many charms for me ; 

 I love the fine Echinoderras of azure, green, and grey, 

 Tliat liandled roughly fling their arms impulsively away : 

 Then bring me here the microscope and let me see the cells, 

 Wherein the little Zoophile like garden floweret dwells. 



We'll take the fair Anemone from off its rocky seat, 

 Since Rondeletins has said when fried 'tis good to eat ; 

 Dyspeptics from Sea-Cucumbers a lesson well may win, 

 They blithely take their organs out and then put fresh ones in. 

 The Rotifer in whirling round may surely bear the bell, 

 With Oceanic Hydrozoids that Huxley knows so well. 



You've heard of the Octopus, 'tis a pleasant thing to know, 

 He has a ganglion makes him blush not red, but white as snow : 

 And why the strange Cercaria, to go a long way back, 

 Wears ever, as some ladies do, a fashionable "sac " : 

 And how the Prawn has parasites that on his head make holes, 

 Ask Dr. Cobbold and he'll say they're just like tiny soles. 



Then study well zoology, and add unto your store, 

 The tales of Biogenesis and Protoplasmic lore : 

 As Paley neatly has observed, when into life they burst, 

 The frog and the philosopher are just the same at first. 

 But what's the origin of life remains a puzzle still. 

 Let Tyndall, Haeckel, Bastian go wrangle as they will. 



THE AUGUST AURORAS 



A S I had the pleasure of witnessing to great advantage 

 -^~*- at Christiania the superb aurora of August 12 last, 

 as well as that of the 13th, it is possible that some account 

 of these displays as seen in Norway may be useful for 

 comparison with accounts of their appearance in England. 

 My attention was first drawn to the aurora on going 

 into the open air at II p.m. At 10.30 p.m. a friend had 

 remarked that the night seemed unusually dark, and that 

 the stars were shining brightly. When first seen by me 

 the aurora consisted of a wide arch of diffused light, the 

 centre of which was about 30° in height. A few broad 

 streamers were then beginning to appear. I walked as 

 quickly as possible to a hill whence a good view could be 

 obtained, but I had hardly got there before the aurora 

 had already reached, about 11. 10 p.m., its maximum splen- 

 dour. Broad streamers had by this time covered almost 

 the whole of the northern half of the heavens, converging 

 to a point considerably south of the zenith, forming a 

 grand corona. The arch was still highly luminous, and 

 from its upper margin coruscations or waves of white 

 light shot up every two or three seconds towards the 

 zenith. At this time also there suddenly appeared 

 to the east of magnetic north a splendid sheaf of 

 rays proceeding from the horizon altogether beyond 

 the auroral arch, and apparently in complete indepen- 

 dence of it. These rays, through bright, attained an 

 elevation of only some 35°, and belonged apparently 

 to a distinct auroral discharge. At 11. 15 the arch had 

 already begun to fade, but a mass of rays shone out 

 brightly near its eastern termination. Throughout the 

 display I was struck by the tendency to the formation of 

 compact bodies of streamers which seemed to flank each 

 end of the arch. As the arch faded the pulsations of 



