632 
We have found 
direct-vision spectroscope is 
projection. 
When salts are placed in the crater the effect is 
just as striking as with iron, but naturally more 
transitory. Ix. P. Harrison. 
Physical Laboratory, Presidency College, 
Calcutta, July 18. 
in this laboratory that 
most satisfactory 
a large 
for 
Strepsiptera in India. 
IN a notice on Dr. W. W. Fowler’s recent volume 
on Coleoptera (Fauna of British India Series), the 
reviewer makes a statement (vide Narurr, May 16, 
1912, p- 267) to the effect that ‘“‘the abnormal Coleo- 
ptera, Strepsiptera or Stylopidz, - are not yet 
proved to be Indian.” If, as I gather from the 
context, by ‘‘Indian”’ is meant “represented in the 
Indian region,” this statement is incorrect. So long 
ago as 1858 Westwood described Myrmecolax nietneri, 
obtained from a species of ant in Ceylon. W. Dwight 
Pierce refers to this record in his ‘‘ Monographic 
Revision of the Insects comprising the Order Strep- 
siptera’’ (Smithsonian Institution, Bulletin 66, p. 88, 
1909), and in the same author’s ‘‘ Notes on Insects of 
the Order Strepsiptera’’ (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 
vol. xl., p. 490, 1911) he refers to the same species 
an insect that I captured at light in the Yatiyantota 
district of Ceylon. In the same paper (p. 505) he 
describes a new species—Pentazoe peradeniyae—bred 
by me from the Homopteron—Thompsoniella arcuata 
—at Peradeniya. 
Another species, as yet undetermined, is a common 
parasite of the allied Jassid—Tettigoniella spectra. 
Again, in his useful work, “Indian Insect Life,” 
Lefroy records the occurrence of a species of Xenos in 
the bodies of the wasp Polistes hebraews in India. I 
think that these references are sufficient to prove the 
existence of Strepsiptera in the Indian region. 
E. ERNEST GREEN, 
Entomologist to the Ceylon Government. 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniva, Ceylon, 
July 5. 
In reference to Mr. Green’s letter, I should per- 
haps have verified the statement to which he takes 
exception, but will now merely quote a passage from 
Dr. Fowler’s work concerning the Strepsiptera :— 
“They have been found in Europe, North America, 
Brazil, Africa, and Mauritius, and stylopized bees 
have been observed in Tasmania and other countries; 
most probably they are represented in the Indian 
region.” Tue Reviewer. 
The Occultation of a Star by Jupiter. 
Ix reference to the occultation of the star 
# Ophiuchi by the planet Jupiter on September 15, I 
should like to direct attention to the possibility that 
one or other of the satellites may make a close 
approach to the star, so that it would be worth while 
to observe the planet for several hours before and after 
the occultation itself. Satellite I. will be nearest to 
the star about 6 p.m. on that date, at which time 
Jupiter will be favourably situated for observation in 
Europe and Africa. The second satellite will be in 
conjunction with the star about 6 a.m. on September 
16, and satellite III. about midnight on September 15. 
The latter is in transit on the evening of that day, 
and emerges from the disc shortly after the com- 
NO. 2234, VoL. 89] 
NATURE 
[AUGUST 22, 1912 
mencement of the occultation. The conjunction of 
this satellite with the star will therefore be visible in 
America. Satellite IV. is at this time well to the east 
of the planet, and its nearest approach to the star, 
which takes place in the early afternoon of September 
15, may therefore be witnessed in India and China. 
It is unfortunate that the occultation of this fairly 
bright star (mag. 4°5) will not be visible in this 
country. The star disappears behind the planet be- 
tween gh. 20m. and gh. 30m., the time varying 
slightly in different localities owing to the effect of 
parallax. Reappearance takes place between 
toh. 45m. and 11h. om. ARTHUR BURNET. 
52 Prospect Terrace, Hunslet Moor, Leeds. 
August 15. 
Boulder Clay in Essex. 
WitH your kind permission I should like to supple- 
ment the letter which you were good enough to print 
in Nature for June 20; 1912. 
(1) To the geological formations recognised in the 
erratics must now be added varieties of Millstone-grit 
(rather frequent), Marl-slate (as seen at the base of 
the Magnesian Limestone in Notts), and a highly 
weathered, roughly cleaved slate, reminding one of 
the Swithland quarries (Charnwood). A slab of Mill- 
stone-grit (32 in. x 28 in.x8 in.) is the largest erratic 
observed. A very coarse-grained Oolite (unfossil- 
iferous) has also turned up. 
(2) Two miles south of Harlow the limit of the 
Boulder Clay is reached, and we come upon the 
London Clay, with frequent Septaria. 
first underlying the ‘‘till,’ and from that point south- 
wards nothing but London Clay is met with. 
(3) Several fragments of crystalline rock have now 
been found, but these have not yet been accurately 
determined or identified as to their original home. 
(4) Mindful of recent speculations as to the anti- 
quity of the Hominid in relation to the great Chalky 
Boulder Clay of southern England, a keen but futile 
search has been made for anything of the nature of 
a human artefact. A. IRVING, 
Bishop’s Stortford, August 17. 
The Prairie Wolf and Antarctic Dog. 
In my book on the distribution and origin of life 
in America, I stated that an intimate relationship 
existed between the prairie wolf of North America 
and the Falkland Island wolf. The reviewer of my 
.book, however, remarks (Nature, July 25) that this 
is a complete fallacy. Might I ask whether your 
reviewer would be good enough to mention the 
grounds on which he bases his assertion ? 
R. F. ScHarrr. 
National Museum of freland, Kildare Street, 
Dublin, August 2 
My reason for speaking as I did about the alleged 
relationship between the prairie wolf and the Antarctie 
dog was to prevent the mistake being passed any 
further into zoological literature, and my assertion 
that the two species are not closely allied was based 
partly upon some external features, but mainly upon 
the characters of the skulls, which show clearly that 
C. antarcticus must be affiliated with some of the 
Neotropical Canidae, and C. latrans with the wolves 
and jackals of the northern hemisphere. I will justify 
this opinion more fully elsewhere. Rae. 
This occurs at~ 
a ae, 
