596 



NA TURE 



[October lo, 1907 



into positive proof that the Ceylon jungle-fowl is entitled 

 to occupy that position. An important point in the case 

 is the fact that when domesticated fowls tend to revert to 

 the wild type, the cocks develop red or brown (never 

 black) breasts. As the Indian Galliis banhiva is black- 

 breasted, the reversion is thus in the direction of the 

 Ceylonesc species, which has a reddish-brown breast in the 

 males. 



It is a well-known fact that many lizards inflate the 

 body, the region of the mouth, or special laryngeal sacs, 

 for the apparent purpose either of frightening enemies or 

 as a means of sexual attraction, or perhaps for both 

 together. Examples of this are displayed by the inflation 

 of the body in Lacerta and Phrynosoma, in the expansion 

 of the frills of Chlamydosaurus, and the dilatation of the 

 gular sacs of Metopoceros and other iguanas. Such effects 

 might be enhanced, it is reasonable to suppose, by a 

 swelling-out of the head and protrusion of the eyes. 

 Such a function, according to Dr. H. L. Bruner in 

 the American Journal of Anatomy, vol. vii., pp. 1-117, 

 is, however, insufficient to explain the existence in the 

 heads of both sexes of many lizards and snakes of an 

 apparatus of muscles and vascular sinuses for producing 

 excessive blood-pressure, and consequent swelling in this 

 region. In lizards, at any rate, this mechanism is 

 developed for the purpose of aiding in the shedding of the 

 scales, and acts physiologically by accelerating lymph 

 movements, and thus prgmoting metabolism, and 

 mechanically by stretching the skin over the soft parts. 

 This being so, the probability is that the same factor 

 holds good in the case of snakes and tortoises. In some 

 instances, however, the function may be modified for 

 terrifying or sexual purposes, and it is probable that the 

 ejection of blood from the eyes of the " horned toads " 

 (Phrynosoma) is a special development of the same 

 mechanism. 



A Gri-ek pamphlet lately published at .-\thens (P. D. 

 Sacellarius) under the tille of " Ai ran' Lamarck Kal Darwin 

 &€capiai irapot Tt2 'ApcrTOTtXei," give"! an interesting scronnt 

 of various passages in the works of Aristotle which 

 contain anticipations of modern observations and dis- 

 coveries. The existence of a placenta in selachians and 

 the sexual dimorphism of certain cephalopods were 

 among the facts well known to the Greek philosopher, 

 who also shows a considerable grasp of the pheno- 

 mena of correlation, of the influence of external con- 

 ditions on individual development, and of the rivalry 

 between organisms in which the weakest goes to the wall. 

 It is, however, rightly pointed out that Aristotle, though 

 he had distinctly before his mind the principle of natural 

 selection as propounded by Empedocles, deliberately re- 

 jected that principle as a factor in organic evolution. A 

 passage from the " Physics," frequently quoted and almost 

 as frequently misinterpreted, shows conclusively that 

 Aristotle, though no theist, held firmly to the view that 

 the scheme of nature is purposeful and rational ; but 

 adaptations, in his opinion, came into existence ready- 

 made, and not by degrees. The difference between this 

 latter position and that of Darwin is clearly emphasised 

 in the present pamphlet, but even here the force of the 

 argument in the passage we allude to does not seem to 

 have been fully realised. 



We have received a reprint of the memoir (Biometrika, 

 vol. v., part iii.) by Mr. J. F. Tocher on the anthro- 

 pometric characteristics of the inmates of asylums in 

 Scotland, based on data collected by a survey organised 

 NO. 1980, VOL. 76] 



by Mr. Tocher under the Henderson Trust of Edin- 

 burgh. The characters observed and recorded were 

 stature, head length, head breadth, and head height, 

 hair colour, eye colour, and nose contour. The data 

 are discussed very fully by Mr. Tocher, with especial 

 reference to the methods of Prof. Karl Pearson ; to those 

 not familiar with his methods the memoir will prove 

 somewhat difficult reading, the more so as Prof. Pearson'^ 

 symbols are frequently used without definition. It i- 

 impossible to compare the measured characteristics with 

 those of the sane, since no such survey of the sane popula- 

 tion has yet been carried out ; as regards hair and eye 

 colour, however, comparisons can be made with the results 

 of a survey of school children, and it appears that the 

 sane and insane differ significantly, the latter being lighter 

 eyed and darker haired than the sane population. The 

 majority of the frequency distributions for measured 

 characters are skew, but not more so than similar distribu- 

 tions, drawn from other sources, for the same characters 

 of sane populations. The whole of the original individual 

 data and measurements, concerning 4381 males and 3925 

 females, together with correlation tables, are given in an 

 appendix. 



The publications of the Natural History Section of the 

 Indian Museum, Calcutta, will in future consist of 

 Memoirs, to be issued periodically, and of Records, 

 which will contain shorter papers on zoology and the 

 allied branches of anthropology, and will be issued, so 

 far as possible, quarterly. The first two numbers of the 

 Records contain many contributions of interest. Captain 

 Lloyd describes a collection of the fauna of the Arabian 

 Sea, which was made in the course of a voyage by the 

 Indian survey ship Investigator between Aden and 

 Muscat. Considering that this is new ground, the results 

 are disappointing, only a small number of new specimens 

 having been obtained ; but the repeated recurrence of 

 many of the species at different stations is remarkable, 

 and the appearance of the giant isopod, Bathynoinus 

 giganteus, and the large bilaterally symmetrical hydroid, 

 Branchiocerianthus imperator (here recorded for the first 

 time -in the Indian seas), is noteworthy. Mr. C. A. Paiva 

 discusses the Hemiptera and Hymenoptera of the 

 Himalayas, and Dr. Annandale, with the assistance of 

 the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, continues his reports on 

 the fauna of the brackish pools at Port Canning, to which 

 .Mr. R. Gurney adds some further notes on Indian fresh- 

 water Entomostraca. In part ii. the most elaborate 

 papers are that of Mr. E. Brunetti on the revision of the 

 Oriental Stratiomyidae, and a report on a new large 

 collection of batrachia, reptiles, and fish from Nepal and 

 the Western Himalayas, by Mr. Boulenger, Dr. Annan- 

 dale, and Mr. Regan. It is not difficult to explain the 

 prevalence of malarial fever in Bengal when we learn 

 that Mr. Chattcrjee found within three hours no fewer than 

 250 specimens of the Anopheles mosquito in the rest- 

 house at Port Canning. It has been suggested that this 

 pest might be destroyed by admitting sea-water into the 

 pools occupied by them ; but while there are recorded 

 instances of mosquito larvse being found in salt water, it 

 has now been ascertained that the brackish pools at 

 Port Canning contain an abundant supply. Here at least 

 petroleum is likely to hold its ground as a remedy. 



A PR.ACTICM. article on pruning cocoa is contributed by 

 Mr. W. Cradwick to the Bulletin of the Department of 

 Agriculture, Jamaica (June and July), and the diagnoses 

 of two new species of Comocladia are furnished by Dr. 

 N. L. Britton. The report prepared by Mr. F. Stockdale 



