500 



NA TURE 



[September 12, 1907 



From the Economic Proceedings of the Royal Dublin 

 Society (vol. i., part ii., August) has been reprinted, as in 

 previous years, a very valuable report on some of the 

 injurious insects and other animals observed last year in 

 Ireland, and reported on by Prof. Carpenter. The report 

 consists of only thirty-one pages, and yet is full of new, 

 interesting, and important matter, and such that one can 

 thoroughly rely upon. Amongst the thirty pests reported 

 on, the most interesting is the cabbage stem-borer 

 (Psylliodes chrysoccphala, Linn.), of which an excellent 

 account of the larva is given, of scientific as well as 

 practical value. Another new pest is dealt with, the long- 

 horned barley-fly (Elachyptera cornuta. Fallen) attacking 

 barley in Ireland. A willow beetle {Phyllodccta vtilga- 

 lissinia, Linn.), as yet unrecorded as a pest in England, 

 where its place is taken by P. vitellinac, is also dealt 

 with, owing to the harm caused by it 'in Lurgan. 

 Amongst the parasites of domesticated animals, notes are 

 given on the sheep louse (Trichodcclcs sphaerocephahis), 

 known also as the red louse. Prof. Carpenter wisely re- 

 commends dipping twice at an interval of ten days to 

 clear the sheep of these pests. We hope he will insist 

 on this necessary treatment also in sheep scab, for just as 

 in red lice so in the sheep Acarus, eggs hatch out some 

 days after dipping, not having been affected by it, and 

 thus the disease is carried on, and dipping " orders " lose 

 much of their value. .Amongst other pests mentioned we 

 note the lackey moth in the south of Ireland, small ermine 

 moths in Waterford County, mussel scale attack, the 

 turnip moth (Agrotis scgetuin) feeding on mangolds in 

 Queen's County, the beet carrion beetle in County Wick- 

 low, and the pine bark beetle in County Dublin. There 

 are eleven figures in the text, three being original, and 

 six plates, two excellent ones giving details of the larval 

 Psylliodes chrysoccphala and damage caused by it. A 

 plate (xli.) showing the life-history of the lackey moth is 

 given, photographed from a museum preparation ; this does 

 not seem to us to give a natural representation of the 

 larva; feeding, &c. 



Acting on the instructions of M. Maspero, Directeur 

 g^n^ral du Service des Antiquit^s, Prof. Elliot Smith re- 

 moved the wrappings from the mummy of M^nephtah — 

 the Pharaoh engulfed in the Red Sea while in hot pursuit 

 of the Egyptians. From the writing on the shroud, the 

 process of embalming, the resemblance to Rameses II. 

 (M^nephtah's father) and to Seti the Great (lis grand- 

 father), there is every reason to believe that M. Maspero 

 is right in the identification of this as the mummy of 

 M^nephtah. From a very thorough examination of the 

 mummy, Prof. Smith infers that M^nephtab at the time 

 of his death was " a somewhat corpulent old man of 

 rather more than medium height (1714 m.), almost com- 

 pletely bald, with only a narrow fringe of white hairs," 

 with calcareous patches in the walls of his arteries, 

 calcified costal cartilages, and with few remaining teeth. 

 The mummy had suffered much at the hands of plunderers, 

 while there is also evidence that the embalmers had taken 

 liberties with the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Prof. Smith's 

 report appears in the Aniialcs des Aiitiquites de I'Egypte, 

 1907. 



The first Bulletin for the current year of the Socl^t^ 

 d'Anthropologie de Paris contains the annual address of 

 the president, M. Zaborowsky, which is mainly devoted 

 to a review of the work in recent years, and to an appeal 

 for the recognition of anthropology as an exact science 

 by " the official hierarchy " of the .^cad^mie des Sciences. 

 NO. 1976, VOL. 76] 



The most important contribution is that of M. E. T. 

 Hamy, on representations of the human figure in the 

 monuments of ancient Egypt, supplementary to other 

 studies by the author on the same subject. He discusses 

 the influence of the system of hierographs on the attitudes 

 of the figures, which usually face the right, and he reviews 

 the characteristics of the persons depicted by comparison 

 with existing races. Incidentally, he criticises the classifi- 

 cation adopted by Prof. Flinders Pctrie in his communica- 

 tion on the same subject published in vol. xxxi. of the 

 Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. The 

 conmiittee appointed to allot the Broca prizes has con- 

 ferred the first on .M. A. M. Lapique, for his researches 

 on Negro races, and awarded medals and honourable men- 

 tion to M. A. M. Choquet, for his contribution on teeth 

 with reference to sex and race, and to M. A. M. Fischer, 

 for his investigation of the variations of the radius and 

 ulna. 



The Linnean bicentenary was celebrated in Washington, 

 U.S.A., by a joint meeting of scientific societies, at which 

 Mr. E. S. Greene delivered a Linnean memorial address. 

 In the address, published in the Proceedings of the 

 Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. ix., the author 

 presents a description of Linnseus's chequered career and 

 his associations with contemporaneous European botanists 

 and physicians. 



As a method of stocking forest land in dry districts of 

 the Deccan, Mr. L. S. Osmaston recommends a combined 

 system of agriculture and tree planting, which he describes 

 in the June number of the Indian Forester. The land is 

 let out to cultivators for two years ; after the preliminary 

 clearing, the lessee is allowed to plant the whole area 

 with his crops during the first year, but in the following 

 year is required to sow a proportion of seed for trees. In 

 the case of the experiments quoted, the trees planted were 

 Mclia azadirachta, Hardwic'kia binata, Albizzia Lelbek, 

 and Tamarindus indica ; the crops cultivated were 

 sesamum, cotton, and Indian hemp. An interesting ex- 

 periment of planting live teak stakes is recorded by Mr. 

 T. R. Singh. Shoots from the buds developed favourably 

 for two or three months, but subsequently died, as the 

 stakes became rotten before roots were developed. 



Dr. J. C. WiLus takes the opportunity afforded by the 

 completion of ten years' service as director of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens in Ceylon to review the work of that 

 period in his annual report for 1906. In 1897 he dis- 

 covered the " wound response " of Para rubber trees, 

 that the first tapping leads to an increased yield of latex, 

 and Mr. J. Parkin introduced the system of preparing 

 rubber in biscuit form. Impetus was given to camphor 

 cultivation by Mr. K. Bamber's work on the distillation 

 of camphor. Green manuring and treatment of cacao 

 canker have been profitable subjects of investigation at 

 the experiment station. Cotton cultivation has been tried 

 with some measure of success in the north of the island 

 since 1903. The advances made in these subjects and in 

 the exploitation of numerous minor products, the prepar- 

 ation of practical leartcts, and a considerable amount of 

 scientific research furnish a remarkable record of material 

 progress. 



The methods and objects of keeping land in good ti 

 are explained in Irish Gardening (August), to which 

 A. D. Hall contributes a practical article, and Prof. J 

 Wilson also writes on the same subject. The editorial 

 article refers to the passing of the Destructive Insects 

 and Pests Act, and the speedy issue of an order applyinj 



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