Marcu 28, 1912] 
NATURE 
QI 
Ix a paper recently contributed to the Proceedings 
of the British Academy, Mr. D. G. Hogarth discusses 
certain problems of Hittite history in relation to the 
excavations now in progress under the control of the | 
British Museum at the mound of Jerablus, the Car- 
chemish of the Old Testament. These excavations 
are still only in a preliminary stage, but sufficient 
evidence has already been collected to prove that there 
were Hittites, or at least Hittite influences, in Syria 
before its conquest by the king of the Hatti of 
Boghaz Keui; that the Cappadocian occupation 
established by the latter did not eliminate the earlier 
stock at Carchemish, and was not very long-last- 
ing; and that it was succeeded by a period of in- 
dependence of Cappadocia and dependence upon 
Assyria, prior to complete conquest by the latter 
power. The exact relation of this Syrian culture to 
that of Mesopotamia, Assyria, and the A®gean is a 
problem on which these important excavations may 
be expected, at an early date, to throw welcome light. 
In an article on megalithic remains in Gloucester- | 
shire, contributed to the March issue of Man by Mr. 
A. L. Lewis, the question is raised whether the 
chambered barrow at Uley was used for the cult of 
the dead so late as Roman times. This theory was 
advocated by Mr. W. C. Borlase (“‘The Dolmens of 
Ireland,” p. 974), who laid stress on the discovery of 
a Roman lachrymatory in one of the side chambers. 
Mr. Lewis sees no reason to object to this view, but 
he points out that Thurnam (‘Archzologia,” vol. 
xlii.) speaks only of ‘‘a small vessel described as re- 
sembling a Roman lachrymatory.’’ It is possible 
that this may have dropped into the chamber of the | 
barrow from a secondary interment on the summit, 
the date of which is established by the discovery with 
the corpse of brass coins of the three sons of Con- 
stantine the Great. 
Mr. R. Ripeway is to be congratulated on the issue 
of the fifth volume of his valuable descriptive cata- 
logue of the birds of North and Middle America 
(published as Bulletin No. 50 of the U.S. National 
Museum). This volume brings the subject down to 
the end of the trogons. The number of species and 
subspecies (apart from certain extra-limital forms) re- 
corded in the five volumes already published is 2038, 
leaving from about 1150 to 1200 to come. 
Butietin No. to1 of the Entomological Section of 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture is devoted to an 
account, by Mr. A. F. Burgess, of the elaborate 
measures taken to introduce and acclimatise in New 
England the European’ ground-beetle, Calosoma 
sycophanta, for the purpose of keeping in check the 
destructive gipsy and brown-tail moths (introduced in- 
advertently from Europe), on the caterpillars of which 
these beetles prey. 
tisation has been successfully accomplished. 
In the section on marine biology in the Ceylon 
Administration Reports for 1910-11 and in the 
January number of Spolia Zeylanica, Dr. J. Pearson 
records the work that has been recently accomplished 
in connection with the pearl-banks, the windowpane- 
oyster (Placuna) fishery, and the fresh-water fisheries 
NO. 2213, VOL. 89] 
of the island. For some years past the Placuna beds 
in Lake Tamblegam have been commercially unprofit- 
able, and a survey of the lake has been accordingly 
undertaken. This shows that in some parts there are 
beds of living oysters, while in others only dead shells 
are to be found, and it is considered that much may 
be done by transplantation. To make this effective, 
annual surveys are deemed necessary. Steps are also 
to be taken for introducing a fresh supply of that 
valuable food-fish the gurami, as only three survivors 
of those introduced by Dr. Willey were discovered. 
SruDENTs of zoology should welcome the appear- 
ance of the third and fourth volumes of the delightful 
little monographs of indigenous animals prepared by 
Profs. Ziegler and Woltereck (Leipzig: Verlag von 
Dr. Werner Klinkhardt). The third volume, by Dr. 
Otto Steche, deals with Hydra and the Hydroids, 
and is an altogether admirable account of the fresh- 
water polypes and their marine relatives, including a 
most useful introduction to experimental biology. 
The fourth volume is devoted to the edible snail 
(Helix pomatia), which is treated in a very compre- 
hensive and thorough manner. The beautiful 
coloured frontispieces form one of the most attractive 
features of these volumes, which are published at 
four marks each. 
AssumING the observations to be .trustworthy, a 
most remarkable case of the efforts of an organism to 
free itself from a parasite has been recently recorded. 
In 1910 Mr. O. Schroder (Zeits. wiss. Zool., vol. 
xlvi., p. 525) described and figured, under the name 
of Buddenbrockia plumatellae, a parasite infesting 
the body-cavity of polyzoans of the genus Plumatella. 
At the time the parasite was provisionally regarded 
as a mesozoan. This determination was, however, 
on the face of it improbable, seeing that the Mesozoa 
| are a marine group, and the author (Verk. nat.-med. 
Heidelberg, N.F., vol. xi., p. 230, 1912) has recently 
come to the conclusion that the parasite is in all 
probability a very degenerate nematode. Be this as it 
may, the interesting point is that after the parasite 
has become established in the body-cavity of its host 
some of the spermatozoa of the latter penetrate the 
eggs of the former, which thereupon swell up and 
undergo a kind of degenerate development, until they 
ultimately perish, the polyzoan thus making use of 
its male generative products as torpedoes to destroy 
an enemy. Such a mode of repelling a hostile attack 
appears quite unknown in any other group of 
organisms. 
Tue Agricultural Statistics of India for the years 
1905-6 to 1909-10 have recently been published at 
| Calcutta by the Department of Revenue and Agri- 
After much trouble, the acclima- | 
culture of the Government of India. The first 
volume, a large Blue-book of more than 400 pages, 
deals with British India; the second, a much smaller 
one, with the native States. The first section deals 
with the classification of areas in each district into 
forest, land not available for cultivation, land cultur- 
able but at present waste, and areas cropped; irriga- 
tion statistics are also given. In a later section the 
areas under the various crops are set out. Other 
