September 26, 1907J 



NA TURE 



55: 



years by any competitor, the trophy will become his 

 personal property. This fine example of the silversmith's 

 art is of real beauty. From a green onyx base with a 

 silver cartouche rises the massive silver trophy, measur- 

 ing 32 inches over all. At the summit, projected away 

 from the earth, is an aeroplane in high relief, standing 

 away from the silver globe, with its frame held together 

 by silver guy ropes. The trophy is valued at 5ooi. 



The life-history of a trypanosome infesting the alimen- 

 tary canal of a leech (PonlobdcUa muricata) parasitic on 

 skates and more rarely angler-fish is discussed by Miss 

 M. Robertson in the Proceedings of the Royal Physical 

 Society of Edinburgh, 1906-7, part iii. Possibly, despite 

 a marked disparity in point of size and appearance, this 

 trypanosome may be the earlier stage of Trypanosoma 

 raiac, but this has still to be confirmed. After describing 

 in detail (with a number of coloured illustrations) all that 

 is at present known concerning the development of the 

 trypanosome in the leech's intestine, the author proceeds 

 to discuss its methods of division, which exhibit consider- 

 able diversity. Some of such divided individuals suggested 

 the conjugation of a male and female element (gamete), 

 but further examination negatived this interpretation, and 

 showed that division is the sole factor in the phenomenon. 

 This suggests caution in regard to other alleged instances 

 of conjugation among Protozoa, although theoretical con- 

 siderations render it probable that such a process really 

 occurs at some stage of development. 



In connection with the preceding paragraph, reference 

 may be made to a paper by Miss H. D. King, in the June 

 issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Philadelphia, 

 on a new sporozoan parasite (Bcrtrawia hufouis) foimd in 

 " Bidder's organ " — a rounded body at the fore-end of the 

 testis — of the common American toad. The interest of the 

 discovery lies In the fact that hitherto scarcely any sporo- 

 zoans have been recorded in amphibians ; but, as the author 

 observes, these creatures are probably as much subject to 

 parasitic infestation as other vertebrates, and they may 

 accordingly be expected to yield many new forms if 

 thoroughly examined. 



From an article on the history of the tomato, con- 

 tributed by Mr. W. Durkop to Naturwissenschaftliche 

 W ochenschrijt (September i), it appears that the plant 

 was introduced into Europe, probably into Spain or 

 Portugal, from Peru, shortly before the year 1560, and 

 was first cultivated for its ornamental appearance. Fruits 

 of different colours and shapes were grown in the sixteenth 

 century, but the cultivation declined until the last century, 

 when the fruit came into favour as an esculent. 



Mr. T. H. Gates has published in the Botanical Gazette 

 (February and July) two interesting papers dealing with 

 the cytology of Oenothera Lamarckiana and the mutant 

 Oenothera lata raised by de Vries. The author investi- 

 gated the development of the anther in Oenothera lata, 

 but was unable to discover why the pollen fails to mature, 

 although it appears to be connected with the early dis- 

 integration of the tapetal cells. The pollen of Oenothera 

 Lamarckiana was used for raising a hybrid in which the 

 sporophyte stage showed twenty or twenty-one chromo- 

 somes, thus differing remarkably from the parents, which 

 both contain only fourteen chromosomes in this stage. 



The July number of the Indian Forester opens with a 

 brief appreciative notice, contributed by Mr. S. Eardley- 

 Wilmot, referring to the work of the late Sir Dietrich 

 Brandis, the founder of the Indian Forest Department, and 



NO. I97S, VOL. 76"! 



friend of many senior officers in the service. A record of 

 the flowering of the bamboo Cephalostachyum pergracile 

 in Lower Burma is reported by Mr. E. V. Ellis. The 

 flowering, although not quite complete, was observed over 

 several hundred acres, and the plants were of two different 

 ages, but neither mature. Gregarious flowering over a 

 few acres had been noted previously. Mr. A. M. Burn- 

 Murdoch communicates a note on damar collection in the 

 Federated Malay States, and Mr. M. Hill provides an 

 account of the introduction of the mahogany tree, 

 Siuietenia mahagoni, into India. 



The first translator into modern Persian of Morier's 

 famous novel, " Haji Baba," was Haji Shaikh Ahmad- 

 i-Kirmani, a member of the so-called " heretical " sect of 

 the Babis. He retired from Persia to Constantinople in 

 order to continue his studies, and when the Sultan became 

 alarmed at the assassination of the late Shah, Nasr-ud- 

 din, the Turkish authorities basely surrendered the Babi 

 to his hereditary enemies, by whom he was slain at 

 Tabriz. When his version of " Haji Baba " reached 

 Ispahan, it was welcomed with enthusiasm by the Persians 

 as the first great novel written in their language ; but 

 when they became acquainted with the English original it 

 ceased to be popular, and was regarded as a satire on all 

 grades of Persians from the Shah downwards. This 

 translation has now been reprinted in Calcutta by Lieut. - 

 Colonel Phillott, Secretary to the Board of Examiners, 

 who has added a brief grammar of modern Persian and 

 a body of valuable notes explaining, not only the slang 

 and popular expressions which abound in the book, but 

 many usages, superstitions, and beliefs of the people. In 

 its present form the book is certain to become popular 

 among all who desire to learn, not so much the classical 

 language, as that now spoken in Persia. 



As exhaustive monograph on the asbestos and man- 

 ganese ore deposits of Ilocos Norte, by Mr. Warren D. 

 Smith, is published in the Philippine Journal of Science 

 (vol. xi.. No. 3). The deposits occur in the northern 

 portion of the island of Luzon, and are of considerable 

 extent. The region is of special interest from the varied 

 character of the geology. More diverse features are 

 exhibited than in most parts of the archipelago. The 

 region is primarily one of metamorphism, and this meta- 

 morphism is regional rather than local. 



An interesting note by Prof. Omori on the tilting of 

 the ground during a storm appears in the August Bulletin 

 of the Japanese Imperial Earthquake Investigation Com- 

 mittee. On October 10 and 11, 1904, a cyclone, the centre 

 of which passed over the sea to the east of Tokio, was 

 accompanied by a tilting of about 3*" towards the area 

 of low pressure; on January 10 and 11, 1906, the track 

 of a cyclone centre passed over land, close to Tokio, from 

 south-west to north-east, and was accompanied by a tilt- 

 ing, first to the east and afterwards, as the low pressure 

 passed eastwards, to the westward, the total change of 

 inclination being about z'-Sy. In the latter case the 

 ground rose under the area of low pressure, in the former 

 it sank. The difference is attributed to the fact, recorded 

 in a previous paper, and noticed in Nature of November 

 3, 1904, that the sea-level commonly rises by more than 

 the amount necessary to compensate for the diminution 

 of barometric pressure, so that the resulting pressure on 

 the sea bottom is actually greater with a low than with 

 a high barometer. This number of the Bulletin also 

 contains, among other papers, a note on the long-distance 

 records of the Turkestan earthquake of August 22, 1902, 

 in which we notice that the word " mean " seems to 



