574 



NA TURE 



[October 28, 1922 



Perhaps, therefore, the following facts will be of 

 interest. 



(a) In a work entitled " Knowledge Acquired 

 concerning the Production of Gold," an edition of 

 the text of which, with a translation, I have in the 

 press (Geuthner, Paris), the author, Abu'l-Qasim 

 Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-'Iraqi, quotes several 

 passages which he attributes to Marianus (Morienus, 

 supra), the teacher of Khalid ibn Yazid. Many of 

 these passages occur in the Latin " Liber de Com- 

 positione Alchemiae," ascribed to Morienus, which 

 is to be found on pp. 509-519 of vol. i. of Mangeta's 

 " Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa " (1702). 



(b) On p. 217 of vol. ii. of the latter treatise is a 

 work entitled " Epistola Solis ad Lunam crescentem," 

 which begins, " In tenuitate enim nimia dabo tibi 

 de pulchritudine mea lumen." This work is strongly 

 Arabic in atmosphere, and is apparently a translation 

 of the " Risalatu'l-shams ila al-hilal " (Letter of the 

 Sun to the New Moon) written by Abu Abdullah 

 Muhammad ibn Umail at-Tamimi, who lived in the 

 secofld half of the third century after the Flight 

 (ca. a.d. 900). There is a manuscript of this work, 

 with a commentary by Al-Jildaki, in the British 

 Museum (Add. 23,418, xvi.). The Latin line quoted 

 above is an exact translation of the first line of the 

 Arabic poem ; I have not yet seen the MS., so that 

 I cannot say whether the agreement between the 

 " Epistola " and the " Risala " holds throughout. 



The second part of Berthelot's statement, namely, 

 that in which he expresses his opinion that Geber's 

 works are forgeries, opens a question too wide for 

 discussion here. I would point out, however, that 

 Berthelot examined less than a dozen of the Arabic 

 works of Jabir ibn Haiyan, and as the latter is said 

 to have written more than 500 books Berthelot was 

 perhaps a little premature. Jabir, in his " Book of 

 Properties " (a manuscript of which is preserved in 

 the British Museum), refers to another book of his 

 called " The Summary," which may possibly be 

 the " Summa " of Geber. There is, moreover, in 

 Mangeta (vol. i. p. 562) a work entitled " Testa- 

 mentum Gebri " ; now a commentator of Jabir 's 

 " Book of Mercy " refers to the same author's 

 " Kitab wasiyya mautihi," or " The Book of his 

 Last Will and Testament." 



Evidence of this and other sorts is gradually 

 accumulating, and it would not surprise me to find 

 that Geber and Abu Musa Jabir ibn Haiyan were, 

 as for so many centuries they were held to be, one 

 and the same. E. J. Holmyard. 



Clifton College, October 9. 



On the Occurrence of the Archiannelids, Saccocirrus 

 and Protodrilus, on the South and West Coasts 

 of England. 



In Nature (vol. 91, pp. 85 and 348) the present 

 writer recorded in 1913 the occurrence — for the first 

 time in England — of abundance of Protodrilus in 

 many situations, and a few Saccocirrus in one situation 

 near Plymouth, and it was shown that both these 

 forms have the curious preference for situations near 

 high-water mark where fresh water trickles through 

 or over the foreshore at low water, but covered by 

 sea water at high tide (I.e. 348). Since 1913 the 

 writer has searched for and found Protodrilus in 

 similar situations and in a large number of places 

 between Salcombe and Falmouth, and this year was 

 successful in taking the same animal at two places 

 on the west coast of England, namely, on September 7, 

 near high-water mark where the Wanson (so-called) 

 river runs info the sea at the south end of Widemouth 



Bay near Bude. (See Ord. Survey Map, 1 in. to mile, 

 river Torridge, Sheet 127, iH, 47-53), and on 

 September 22 in a similar situation on a beach — 

 formerly well known for shells — at Woolacombe (see 

 O.S. Map, 1 in. to mile, Barnstaple, Sheet 119, 

 4C, 16-02). 



In 1 91 7 and on various occasions since, the writer has 

 also taken large numbers of Saccocirrus (e.g., 80 from 

 a hole in the gravel about 1 ft. by 1 ft. deep in half an 

 hour) on a beach at Portwrinkle in Whitsand Bay (see 

 Ord. Sur. Map, 1 in. to mile, Plymouth, Sheet 148, 5F, 

 83-15) in a position exactly similar to that described 

 formerly (I.e. p. 348). This year a few individuals 

 were also taken in the gravel on the above-mentioned 

 shell-beach at Woolacombe. Protodrilus and Sacco- 

 cirrus therefore probably occur in all suitable situa- 

 tions in the south-west of England, and may no doubt 

 be recorded — after search in suitable places — from 

 a much more extended area in the British Isles. 

 The specimens of each genus from all localities 

 belong respectively to one species, so far as can be 

 gathered from external characters, namely Protodrilus 

 flavocapitatus, and an apparently new and as yet 

 undescribed species of Saccocirrus. It is hoped that 

 the characteristic restless side-to-side movement of 

 the head and anterior region of Saccocirrus may 

 shortly be portrayed by cinematograph. 



Living in about the same situation as Protodrilus 

 and Saccocirrus is almost always found the planarian 

 Gunda ulvae. This planarian is large and easily 

 found under stones in pools, and therefore serves as 

 a guide in the search for the archiannelids. The 

 apparent positive geotropism of Gunda, which is 

 probably true, is an interesting phenomenon and not 

 well known ; if a number of the planarians be taken 

 on a flat stone, they can be made to change direction 

 a large number of times by holding the stone vertically 

 towards the light and turning it repeatedly through 

 an angle of 180 . 



The occurrence of the above-mentioned animals 

 only in the peculiar habitat where the water undergoes 

 violent fluctuations in salinity suggests the presence 

 of an undetected special food supply. 



J. H. Orton. 



Marine Biological Laboratory, 



The Hoe, Plymouth, 



October 10. 



Origin of the Name of the Genus Masaris. 



In Ed. Andre, " Species des Hymenopteres d'Europe 

 et dAlgerie," vol. ii. p. 829, it is stated that the 

 derivation of the name "Masaris" is unknown. The 

 first species described under this genus is M. vespiformis 

 F., from Egypt ; it also occurs in Algeria. 



May I suggest that the origin of the name is the 

 Arabic name for Egypt, " Masr " (also used colloqui- 

 ally for its capital, Cairo). As a common noun 

 " masr " means " a fortified place," and its plural 

 is " amsar " ; the word is connected with the Hebrew 

 word rendered " Mizraim " in Genesis. It has long 

 seemed to me that this derivation is at least probable, 

 and I should be glad to know if any other has been 

 suggested. E. W. Adair. 



Turf Club, Cairo, September 26. 



Fabricius, 1793, " Ent. Syst." ii. p. 283, in found- 

 ing the genus Masaris, did not indicate any derivation 

 for the name, and L. Agassiz, 1845, " Nomencl. 

 Zool. (Hymenoptera)," masks his inability to give a 

 derivation by the suggestion that Masaris is a proper 

 name. F. A. B. 



NO. 2765, VOL. I IO] 



