July 4, 1907] 



NA TURE 



been carried on; in fi ; ner years we endeavoured by ex- 

 periment to find oui the essential features of cancer ; 

 during the past year \vc have been engaged in studying 

 special problems, and more especially the relations of 

 cancer-cells to those of the organism in which they occur. 

 Considerable attention has been paid during the past year 

 to the alleged cures for cancer which have come before 

 us. I regret to say that it is impossible to ascribe a 

 curative value to any of them. A further series of experi- 

 ments with trypsin alone, or in conjunction with amylopsin 

 or as pancreatic extract, have been made, and it appears 

 in mice to exert no effect on the growth or development 

 of the tumours. 



We have received from Mr. Ouaritch, of Grafton Street. 

 a copy of the third part of a catalogue of rare and 

 valuable works on natural history. The contents include 

 works on various groups of invertebrates, on palaeontology 

 and geology, and on general biological subjects. 



Supplemental notes on the mammals and a list of the 

 myriopods of the Forth or Edinburgh area constitute the 

 contents of No. 8 of vol. xvi. of the Proceedings of the 

 Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, both papers being by 

 Mr. W. Evans. The additions to the mammal list include 

 a bat and the Greenland, or harp, seal, a specimen of 

 the latter having been taken in March, 1903, in the upper 

 estuary of the Forth. 



We have received copies of Nos. I53C^-6 of the Proceed- 

 ings of the U.S. National Museum. Among these, reference 

 mav be made to reviews of the loaches and sticklebacks 

 of eastern Asia, by Mr. L. Berg (Nos. 1533, 1536), in 

 which it is shown that Misgurnus fossilis (loach) and 

 Cobitis taenia of the British Isles are represented by 

 specifically identical forms in the Amur. The description 

 of a new genus (Spherarmadillo) of terrestrial isopod 

 crustaceans from Guatemala, by Miss H. Richardson (No. 

 1555), is also a matter of considerable interest. 



In his report for 1906, the director of the Field Museum 

 of Natural History, Chicago (the new title of the Field 

 Columbian Museum), has to deplore the death of its 

 founder, Mr. Marshall Field, which took place during the 

 vear under review. Mr. Field, although he held no official 

 post in connection with it, was a constant visitor to the 

 museum, where his commendation was always regarded 

 bv the officers as a high honour. In all departments the 

 museum appears to be making steady progress, several 

 new acquisitions and exhibits being illustrated in the re- 

 port. .Among the former, attention is directed to a series 

 of meteorites from a recent fall in Kansas, and to a large 

 number of vertebrate remains from the Loup Fork beds 

 of Nebraska and Wyoming. 



In connection with the preceding paragraph, reference 

 mav be made to the valuable series of catalogues of 

 mammals compiled by Dr. D. G. Elliot, honorary curator 

 of the zoological department of the Field Museum, Chicago, 

 and published by the museum. While the previous 

 volumes deal with the mammalian faunas of -America, the 

 one now before us is a catalogue of the specimens of 

 mammals from all parts of the world in the collection of 

 the Field Museum. .Although simply a catalogue, with 

 references to original descriptions, the volume contains a 

 number of excellent illustrations of striking types of 

 mammals, many of which students familiar with the 

 subject will recognise as reproductions from well-known 

 figures. The collection of mammals in the museum, now 

 comprising about 15,000 specimens, has been mainly 



brought together by the energy of Dr. Elliot, and every 

 specimen, with its full history, is catalogued in the present 

 volume. Whether Dr. Elliot's views or nomenclature be 

 generally accepted in their entirety or no, the work cannot 

 fail to be of great value to naturalists, and the entire 

 series of catalogues forms a monument to the untiring and 

 ceaseless industry and perseverance of the author. 



In the Scientific Memoirs of the Government of India, 

 No. 27, Captain Patton, M.B., I. M.S., records the frequent 

 occurrence of the Leishman-Donovan body in the peri- 

 pheral circulation in cases of kala-azar in Madras, the 

 parasite being seen in the leucocytes but not in the red 

 blood cells nor free in the plasma. In certain cases of 

 the disease, accompanied with extensive ulceration of the 

 large intestine, the polymorphonuclear leucocytes are in- 

 creased in number, and many of these cells contain the 

 parasite. The parasite was recovered from certain lice 

 allowed to bite patients, but not from several mosquitoes 

 nor from a tick. In the Indian bed-bug (Ciiiic.v macro- 

 cephaltis) the parasite was found in considerable numbers, 

 and all stages of development, from the round body to 

 fullv developed flagellates, were observed. In Memoir 

 No. 28, Captain Christophers, M.S., I.M.Sr, describes the 

 sexual cycle of development of the hjemogregarine para- 

 site of the dog, the Leucocytozoon canis, in the tick, R. 

 sanguineus. Soon after the tick has ingested blood con- 

 taining the parasites, free verniicules appear ; some of these 

 become embedded in the protoplasm of the gut cells and 

 become stouter and more bulky. The bulky forms undergo 

 fission into two, four, or even eight vermicules, some of 

 which are large and sexually mature, conjugate, and form 

 oocysts. The protoplasm of the oocyst then divides into 

 sporozoits, but the means by which these reach and infect 

 the dog have not been made out, as they have not been 

 found in the ova of the tick. 



A BOTANICAL exploration of the north-western portion of 

 the county of Limerick, comprising the barony of Shanid, 

 undertaken by Messrs. M. C. Knowles and C. G. O'Brien, 

 has yielded several interesting plants and added many 

 new species to the flora of the district. An account of 

 their collections appears in the Irish Naturalist (June). 

 Two notable discoveries were the grasses Giyceria Foucaudi 

 and Giyceria Festucaeformis. A variety of Rosa stylosa 

 was found in apparently native surroundings, and the 

 same opinion is expressed with regard to the habitat of 

 Epilobium angustifolium. 



On the reproduction of trees from seedlings, a problem 

 that offers peculiar difiicultics to foresters in a hot, dry 

 climate, several articles appear in the Indian Forester 

 (.\pril|. The requirements of " sal " seedlings, Slwrea 

 ■rnbusta, with regard to soil, protection from frost and 

 light are discussed by Mr. W. H. Lovegrove and Mr. 

 E. M. Coventry, and Mr. L. S. Osmaston refers to ex- 

 periments in connection with artificial methods for raising 

 voung trees. The discovery noted by Mr. E. P. Stebbing 

 of the coccid Lecanium capreae on almond trees in 

 Baluchistan provides the first record for India. A useful 

 summarv, by Dr. E. Nesbit, of Indian trees providing 

 timber suitable for export is concluded in this nuinber of 

 the journal. 



On the subject of the interrelation between the phases 

 of the moon and the cutting of bamboos and other 

 material, a correspondent writes to say that in Mexico 

 and other .American countries the belief is commonly and 

 strongly held that material should be cut when the moon is 

 waning if durabilitv is desired. The statement is advanced 



NO. 19^6 VOL. 76] 



