July 25, 1907] 



NA rURE 



299 



also of the Marquesns and Torlugas groups, arc graphic- 

 ally shown in a series of maps prepared by Mr. C. F. 

 Millspaugh as publication No. iiS of the Field Columbian 

 Museum. The mangrove vegetation in which Rhizophora 

 mangle is the dominant species is an almost universal 

 feature ; an association of Uniola paniculata and Euphorbia 

 huxifnlia is commonly found, and a characteristic growth of 

 St(riatw niaritima occurs on two of the Tortugas keys. 



A SYSTEMATIC attempt is now being made to catalogue 

 the flora of the county of Glamorgan. The work was done 

 partly by the late Mr. John Storrie, but the new catalogue 

 is being compiled by Prof. Trow, of the University College, 

 Cardiff, assisted by a number of competent members of the 

 Cardiff Naturalists' .Society, and with the advice and help 

 of Mr. A. Bennett, of Croydon. The catalogue will appear 

 in the Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society, and 

 is not expected to roach the complete form for another four 



K' the botanical section of the Philippine Journal of 

 Science, vol. ii., No. i, contains a collation of Philippine 

 Cyperacefe founded on the material in the Kew Herbarium 

 bv the late Mr. C. B. Clarke, and a short list of Philip- 

 pine my.Nogastres named by Mr. G. Massee. In connection 

 with an account of the pteridophytes collected bv Mr. E. D. 

 Merrill on Mt. Halcon, in Mindoro, Prof. E. B. Copeland, 

 who is responsible for the identifications, notes the pre- 

 dominance of the Celebes element over the Bornean. The 

 collection includes a large number of species of Polypodium, 

 several of which are n^w, four new species of Diplazium, 

 Tmcsiplcris tannciisis, and a new species of Lycopodium. 



The first number of vol. ii. of the botanical memoirs of 

 the Department of Agriculture in India relates to diseases 

 of cereals caused by Sclerospora graminicola, a member of 

 th':' Peronosporeas. While dealing with a matter of 

 economic importance, the author. Dr. E. J. Butler, also 

 gives consideration to the teralological aspect. The most in- 

 teresting alteration occurs in the central prolification of the 

 floral axis with the suppression of the pistil. The mycelium 

 attains its maxTmum development in the leaves, and the 

 reproductive organs are only produced there. ■ The conidia 

 arising on short, stout stalks germinate in water and give 

 rise to zoospores ; oogonia are formed in the leaf tissues at 

 a later stage. Sclerospora disease has also been observed in 

 India on Sorghum iiulgare and Italian millet. 



K' a reference to the sixth report of the Woburn Experi- 

 mental Fruit Farm (Nature, July 4, p. 231), Mr. F. V. 

 Theobald stated that it had been found that " lead arsenate 

 wash badly scorches the leaves under certain conditions 

 and at certain strengths." Mr. Spencer Pickering informs 

 us that the results obtained at the Woburn Fruit Farm do 

 not lead to this conclusion : and upon referring the point to 

 Mr. Theobald we find that the word " badly " written by 

 him in his article should have been " slightly." 



In the Philippine Journal of Science for May there are 

 an address delivered by Dr. Paul Freer, on modern theories 

 of immunity ; a preliminary communication, by M. 

 Mirjajima, on the cultivation of a bovine piroplasma, in 

 which it is shown that the Piroplasma parvum of cattle in 

 a blood-broth culture medium seems to develop into 

 trypanosomes ; and an exhaustive article, by Messrs. Ash- 

 burn and Craig, on dengue fever. 



We have received a copy of the special bulletin of the 

 State Board of Health containing a summary of the 

 sanitary legislation in the United States enacted during 



iqo6. Among others, we note that Massachusetts and 

 Rhode Island have passed .Acts to prohibit the misuse of 

 vessels used in the sale of milk ; Mississippi has passed an. 

 Act requiring the disinfection of public buildings, railway 

 dep6ts, railway coaches, and sleeping cars ; New Jersev an 

 Act to provide for locating and abolishing inosquito-breed- 

 ing places ; and \^irginia an Act prohibiting spitting irv 

 public places. 



We have received from the Count Camillo Raineri- 

 Biscia a copy of n reprint of the work entitled " Fior di 

 Pensieri sulle Pietre Preziose di Armed Teifascitc 

 (Bologna : L. Andreoli, 1006), translated from the Arabic 

 aiid annotated by .\ntonio Raineri-Biscia. The translation 

 was published originally in 1818, the translator being the 

 eminent professor of Oriental languages at the University 

 of Pisa, who died in 1S3C1. A biography of the translator 

 is given, and of his numerous works there recorded none 

 is of greater interest than this translation of the Arabic 

 manuscript on precious stones by Ahmed Teifascite, pre- 

 served in the Royal Library at Florence. The work is 

 divided into twenty-five chapters, each dealing with the 

 formation, occurrence, properties, and value of a different 

 mineral. Some of the minerals are somewhat difficult to 

 identify with certainty, but they appear to be as follows : — 

 pearls, hyacitith, emerald, topaz, balas ruby, amethyst 

 (benfesc), garnet, diamond, cat's eye, turquoise, carnelian, 

 onyx, magnetite, corundum, fluorspar (dahnag), lapis 

 lazuli, coral, agate, heliotrope igiemest), jet (khamahan), 

 jasper, rock crystal, and talc. The translation is adniir- 

 ablv reproduced, and forms a valuable contribution to 

 mineralogical history. 



As might have been expected. Sir H. Risky 's theory 

 that the Bengalis represent a blend of Dravidian and 

 Mongoloid elements with a strain of Indo-Aryan blood in 

 the higher groups has been contested by those members of 

 that enterprising race who claim a higher ethnical origin. 

 The latest critic of this school, Rama Prasad Chanda, 

 deals with the subject in the April number of East and 

 West (Bombay). Admitting, as he is compelled to do, that 

 the Bengalis are brachycephalic, he urges that the inclusion 

 in the anthropometrical statistics of partially assimilated 

 races, like the Mais, Koch, and Maghs. unduly increases 

 the ratio of brachycephaly. He proposes a new ethnical 

 classification of the Indian races, including in what ho 

 calls the " Outlandic " group tribes of such varied charactei 

 as Pathans, Baloches, Bengalis, and some races of the 

 Brahmaputra valley, with the population of Coorg and 

 Bellary in South India, all distinguished by round or 

 medium heads, regular features, and moderate stature. In 

 thus excluding a Mongoloid element from Bengal and 

 associating the Bengali with the Turko-Iranian tribes of 

 ths North-western Frantier, his views arc- not likely to be 

 received favourably by competent Indian ethnologists. 



A SELECT list of books, with references to periodicals, 

 relating to iron and steel in commerce in the Library of 

 Congress has been compiled by Mr. A. P. C. Griffin 

 (Washington : Government Printing Office, 1907). The 

 list, which covers twenty-four pages, is in no sense exhaus- 

 tive. It forms, however, a handy guide to the most recent 

 accessible literature of the subject. 



In view of the recent discussion of matters connected 

 with Belgium's exploitation of the Congo, a well-informed 

 paper on the railways of the Upper Congo, by Mr. D. C. 

 Boulger, in the Engineering Magazine (vol. xxxiii.. No. 4I, 

 deserves careful attention. It is a friendly estimate of 

 Belgian enterprise and achievement in pushing the railway 



NO. 1969, VOL. 76] 



