450 



NA TURE 



[August 29, 1907 



iXrimcL'maria Falconeri flowered sporadically in localities in 

 England and India in 1876, and partial flowering occurred 

 in other localities in 1875 and 1877. Another partial 

 flowering has been proceeding for the last three years ; 

 the author suggests that the present more protracted 

 period may be due to cultivation. Anmdinaria Simoni, 

 after partial flowering for some years, flowered com- 

 pletely in 1904-5, and then the plants died off. Most of 

 the varieties of Phyllostachys nigra have also succumbed 

 to the efforts attending complete flowering. 



To the popular series of garden pamphlets issued by 

 the .Agricultural and Horticultural .Association has been 

 added one by Mr. S. Arnott on hardy garden bulbs and 

 how to grow them. The precise notes on planting details 

 will be found useful, as also the selection of hardy and 

 choice species. Another pamphlet, on the weather, by 

 Hon. H. A. Stanhope, the president of the association, 

 is not of such direct interest, but contains a number of 

 facts that the weather-wise — and with good reason many 

 gardeners have such a reputation — should know. 



Teachers of geology and travellers in India will alike 

 welcome Mr. Vredenburg's pamphlet of seventy pages, 

 entitled " A Summary of the Geology of India " (Calcutta : 

 Thacker, Spink and Co., 1907). It is a summary that is 

 full of information, and yet it is both readable and attrac- 

 tive. The most recent work of the Geological Survey of 

 India is included, as may be seen from the account of 

 the Cretaceous Deccan Trap and the references to Burma 

 and Baluchistan. The recession of the sea at the close 

 of Cretaceous times is regarded as a " universal " pheno- 

 menon, while the " Glacial period " is spoken of lightly, 

 as resulting in a " temporary glaciation of high lati- 

 tudes." In both the.se statements we note a little more 

 dogma than is prudent in an abstract, where discussion 

 is impossible. Mr. Vredcnburg is, however, no mere 

 abstractor of the work of others, but an observer and 

 a discoverer, whose personality adds weight to the present 

 lucid summary. 



A NEW gem is reported to have been di.scovered in San 

 Benito County, California. It is described as a clear, 

 transparent, blue stone with violet tints in the deeper- 

 coloured portion, and to be about as hard as chrysolite 

 and harder than moonstone or opal. Under heat it turns 

 a bright red, but on cooling it resumes its normal colour. 

 It has been given the name of Benito, from the countv 

 in which it was found. 



A LARGE and remarkable cave was, according to the 

 Scientific American, recently discovered in the Santa 

 Susanna Mountains, some fifty miles from Los Angeles, 

 California, U.S.A. The cave contains many halls, some 

 of very large extent, and the walls of one are covered 

 with rude drawings, some of which are almost obliterated, 

 but others are quite clear. The drawings, says our con- 

 temporary, represent incidents of the chase, showing 

 Indians on foot pursuing bear, deer, and other animals. 

 One wall-drawing shows the bear pursuing the hunter. 

 The work is executed by soft red stone. 



The connection between radium and the safe working 

 of collieries does not at first sight appear to be a very 

 intimate one, but the discovery announced by Profs. Elster 

 and Geitel in Die Welt dcr Technik, that fire-damp con- 

 tains six or seven times the amount of radium emanation 

 that is generally found in the air of coal mines, brings 

 the two into close relation with each other. Comparative 

 tests of the electrical conductivity of the air due to the 

 NO. 1974, VOL. 76] 



presence of the emanation can readily be made by means 

 of a simple aluminium foil electroscope, and as only a 

 comparatively small sample of the gas is necessary, the 

 tests may be carried out outside the mine. It will be 

 interesting to see the electroscope become part of the 

 normal equipment of a colliery. 



In the July number of the BnUclin de la Sociiiti 

 d' Encouragement poitr Vlndustric nationale, M. O. 

 de Faria gives a description and an account of the tests 

 of his alternating electric current rectifier. The electrodes 

 are of aluminium and an alloy of lead and antimony re- 

 spectively, and the electrolyte a solution of phosphate of 

 soda. The cell is so arranged that during working a 

 rapid circulation of the electrolyte is maintained. In one 

 of the tests of which details are given a rectifier intended 

 for 10 amperes was run for five hours at 15 amperes on 

 a loo-volt circuit, and showed an efficiency of 66 per cent. 

 with a final temperature of 47° C. The efficiency appears 

 to be independent of the temperature of the cell. 



The origin and relationships of the so-called Atlantic 

 animals and plants of western Norway are discussed at 

 considerable length by Dr. L. Stejneger in vol. xlviii., 

 part iv., of Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. The 

 mammals include the west Norwegian red deer (which 

 the author regards as inseparable from the Scottish re- 

 presentative of the species, although markedly distinct from 

 the Swedish race), the so-called Celtic horse or pony, the 

 reindeer, lemming, and Arctic fox. It is concluded that 

 if the more characteristic types of this " .Atlantic biota " 

 came from Scotland, they travelled by way of a land- 

 bridge connecting that country with western Norway to the 

 northward of lat. 50°. This bridge existed subsequent to 

 the first great (Scandinavian) glaciation, and this portion 

 of the " biota " certainly survived the second glaciation. 

 The red deer and Arctic animals reached Scotland from 

 Central Europe, whence they migrated first into Ireland 

 and then into Scotland. Reindeer, on the other hand, 

 appear to have reached Scandinavia by several routes, 

 one stock having probably entered Sweden from the south 

 and .a second from the north-east via Finland and Russia, 

 while the Norwegian stock arrived from the west. If 

 well founded, these conclusions absolutely cut away the 

 ground from Dr. Scharff's theory that reindeer reached 

 Europe from Greenland, a theory controverted by several 

 other considerations. 



In a paper on the birds of Labrador, forming No. 7 of 

 vol. xxxiii. of the Proceedings of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History, Messrs. C. W. Townsend and G. M. 

 Allen take occasion to refer to the appalling destruction 

 of birds and their eggs which is still allowed to go on in 

 Newfoundland, Labrador. The fishermen, who use single- 

 barrel, muzzle-loading guns, make no secret of the fact 

 that they take every bird and egg upon which they can 

 lay hands. If efficient means of protection are not 

 promptly put in force, the authors are of opinion that the 

 bird-nurseries of the district will become things of the 

 past. 



Having observed sand-martins in Hampshire during the 

 winter — November to January — Mr. H. Beeston, in the 

 July number of the Zoologist, confesses himself unable to 

 explain where these birds passed the nights during the 

 period in question. .\s there appear to be no sand-banks 

 in the district where the observations were made, it seems 

 impossible for the birds to follow theii usual practice of 

 sleeping in their nesting-burrows. 



