128 



NA TURE 



[July 22, 1922 



Research Items. 



The Art of the Marquesas Islanders. — In 1595 

 the Spanish admiral, Alvaro de Mendana, discovered 

 a group of islands about midway between the Peruvian 

 coast and New Guinea, to which he gave the name of 

 Marquesas, a shortened form of the name of his patron, 

 the Viceroy, Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, Marques de 

 Canete. In the Museum Journal, issued by the 

 University of Pennsylvania, Mr. H. Usher" Hall 

 describes a fine collection of the art of the islanders, 

 including finely carved war-clubs, warriors' fillets, 

 amulets made from cylinders of human bones, the 

 war conch-shell, fans carved in whale ivory and wood. 

 The human figures used in the ornamentation of 

 canoes are particularly interesting. The article is 

 illustrated by an exceptionally fine collection of photo- 

 graphs. 



The Development of Flint Implements. — In 

 L' Anthropologic (vol. xxxii.Nos. 1-2) M. A. Vayson, 

 under the title of " L'F/tude des outillages en pierre," 

 publishes a valuable, well-illustrated article on the 

 development of flint implements. Two principles 

 which he lays down deserve attention : "La 

 similitude des outils n'implique pas la communaute 

 de races ou de civilisation de leurs fabricants ; 

 l'identite de forme des outils en pierre ne signifie 

 pas ridentite d'emploi. Ainsi les similitudes vu les 

 differences des outils en pierre que nous pouvons 

 etudier ne permettent pas de conclure nettement 

 sur leur emploi et sur les autres industries dont ils 

 etaient auxiliaires." 



A Remarkable Parasite. — An interesting study 

 of the flowers of the parasite Rafflesia Arnoldii is 

 published by P. Justesen in Annales du Jardin 

 Botanique de Buitenzorg, xxxii. Pt. 1, 1922. The 

 observations were made on flowers and buds growing 

 on " vines " in the highlands of Sumatra. The paper 

 is illustrated by good photographs showing the form 

 and structure of the large flowers ; full measure- 

 ments are also given of the mature male and female 

 flowers. It is estimated that the complete development 

 of a flower from a prominence just recognisable on 

 a vine root occupies almost a year, and Mr. Justesen 

 gives tables showing the increase in size of the buds 

 during their development. Seven mature flowers 

 were found — four female and three male. One of 

 the female flowers, which is illustrated, measured 

 64 cm. across, but the largest was 72 cm., while the 

 largest mature male flower measured 75 cm. in 

 diameter. The author gives some details of the 

 ripening of the seeds, which appear to take several 

 months to reach maturity, and he has made some 

 interesting observations as to their dispersion. The 

 fertilisation of the dioecious flowers also presents 

 some unsolved problems. The author suggests that 

 the small seeds may be carried into the earth by 

 termites, and that in so doing they may easily bring 

 them into contact with the roots of the vines. He 

 also suggests, from the finding of Rafflesia in widely 

 separated areas which are nearly always just within 

 the edge of primeval forest, and close to the tracks of 

 pigs and other animals, that wild pigs, pangolins, and 

 mice may be the agents for the wider dispersal of 

 the seeds. A fine model of the flower of Rafflesia 

 1 1 noldii, which is the largest flower in the world, may 

 be seen in Museum No. 1 at the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew. 



Physiology of Fungi. — In the Annals of the 

 Missouri Botanical Garden (vol. viii. No. 3) appear 



NO. 2751, VOL. I IO] 



two additions to the excellent series of studies in 

 the physiology of fungi. The first, by G. M. Arm- 

 strong, is entitled " Sulphur Nutrition : The Use of 

 Thiosulphate as Influenced by Hydrogen-Ion Con- 

 centration." Three fungi, Aspergillus niger, Peni- 

 cillium glaucum, and Botrytis cinerea, were grown in 

 various solutions containing different compounds of 

 sulphur, and a study was made of the end products of 

 thiosulphate and of its efficiency as a source of sulphur. 

 Reversions of reaction from the more acid condition 

 towards neutrality were observed with both Asper- 

 gillus and Peniciflium. R. W. Webb, in his study 

 of " Germination of the Spores of Certain Fungi in 

 Relation to Hydrogen-Ion Concentration," finds 

 that the majority of the fungi employed exhibit a 

 distinct maximum of germination between Ph. 3-0 

 and 4-0. It is not until Ph. 1 -5-2-5 is reached that 

 inhibition of germination is evidenced. A study is 

 made of the effect of different nutrient solutions such 

 as Czapek's solution and solutions of mannite, 

 peptone, and beet decoction, and curves of germina- 

 tion are given for different hydrogen-ion concentra- 

 tions. In some solutions, A. niger and B. cinerea on 

 germination produced no change in reaction, but in 

 alkaline cultures of sugar - beet decoction caused a 

 slight shift towards neutrality. The data presented 

 by Webb are of considerable interest and importance 

 and should be taken into consideration in any future 

 study of fungicides or spray mixtures. 



Giantism among Gastropods. — The stories circu- 

 lated of a gigantic gastropod in the Wealden strata 

 of Sussex have been confirmed by Mr. B. B. Wood- 

 ward in a paper on " Dinocochlea ingens, n. gen. et. 

 sp." (Geol. Mag., 1922, p. 242). A photograph is 

 given of a specimen lying in calcareous sandstone 

 of the Wadhurst Clay series, and it appears that this 

 spiral object is the cast of a gastropod that sometimes 

 attained a length (or altitude) of 2-22 metres (about 

 7 ft. 3 inches). The affinities of this giant are with 

 the Tiaridas. The shells are lost by solution, but the 

 spiral casts show that they conformed to molluscan 

 rules of growth. The whorls, some 23 in number, 

 increase only slowly in size from the apex to the mouth, 

 and the whole form is thus fairly cylindrical. Mr. 

 Woodward shows how these objects differ from the 

 concretions that occur in the same beds ; but the 

 seemingly abrupt appearance and extinction of 

 Dinocochlea present a fascinating puzzle. The 

 author reminds us that the Carboniferous Actinoceras 

 giganteum may have been at least as large. The 

 writer of the present note recalls the vertical cylindri- 

 cal " concretions," some 10 feet in height, in the 

 Potsdam (Upper Cambrian) sandstone of Blake's 

 Quarry, near Kingston, Ontario, which he inclines 

 to attribute to the burrows of gigantic worms. The 

 notion has hitherto seemed fantastic ; but surprises 

 evidently await the palaeontologist. 



The " Turtle-Oreodon Layer " in S. Dakota. — 

 The Oligocene continental strata now under in- 

 vestigation by Princeton University in the Big 

 Badlands of the White River, S. Dakota, afford an 

 interesting parallel with the flood-deposits of Upper 

 Miocene age which entombed the turtles of Old 

 Castile (Nature, vol. cviii. p. 481). Prof. W. J. 

 Sinclair describes (Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc, Phila- 

 delphia, vol. lx. p. 457, 1921) how the remains of 

 enormous numbers of land-turtles occur in all 

 positions in the Oreodon beds, with skulls of mammals, 

 bones gnawed by rodents, and coprolites of carnivores. 



