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NA TURE 



[October 24, 1907 



arranged for, one or two of the lectures to be given each 

 session ; the lectures at present decided upon are : — on the 

 British Islands, by Mr. H. J. Mackinder, and on Australia, 

 by Prof. J. \V. Gregory, F.R.S. Beginning on Thursday, 

 January 23, and continued weekly, a course of six lectures 

 will be given by Dr. H. R. Mill on the geographical 

 distribution of rainfall in the British Islands. 



From Mr. John Wheldon we have received a copy of 

 a catalogue of ornithological literature, comprising nearly 

 J 000 books and papers. 



A PAPER by Messrs. W. K. Brook and S. Rittenhousc 

 on the life-history and development of the hydroid 

 Turfitopsis nutricula, in which both the hydroid-stock and 

 the free-swimming medusas are described, is published in 

 the Proceedings of the Boston (U.S.A.) Natural History 

 Society, vol. xxxiii.. No. 8. 



In the list of additions to the Zoological Society's 

 menagerie in the Regent's Park, attention may be directed 

 to a specimen of Phillips's dik-dik antelope from Somali- 

 land, the first of its kind ever exhibited in the gardens. 

 A true zebra from Cape Colony is likewise an important 

 addition to the collection. 



The council of the Ealing Scientific and Microscopical 

 Societv deplores, in its report for the past year, the lack 

 of interest displayed by local residents in matters scientific, 

 and the consequent want of expansion in the membership 

 roll of the society. Unless at least twenty new members 

 are enrolled during the coming year, the society's 

 expenses must be cut down. Among the reports of 

 addresses delivered during the year, attention may be 

 directed to one on the continuity of the germ-plasm, in 

 which an abstruse subject is explained in a remarkably 

 clear manner. 



It has long been known that the North American cat- 

 fishes of the genera Noturus and Schilbeodes can inflict 

 painful wounds with the spines of their pectoral fins, 

 but some difference of opinion has hitherto prevailed 

 whether a sac opening by a pore in the axillary region 

 of these fishes is a true poison-gland. In the September 

 number of the American Naturalist Mr. H. D. Reed, after 

 careful examination of several species of these cat-fishes, 

 states that the pore, which is the aperture of a gland, 

 is present in all, and that in at least one species the 

 secretions of the gland are poisonous. It has also been 

 found that in species in which the spines are not strongly 

 serrated, glands of the same type are developed on the 

 pectoral and dorsal fin-spines. In these species, in which 

 they attain their highest development, the glands are 

 structurally similar to those of the weaver-fishes. 



Among a number of interesting articles in the October 

 issue of Science Progress, special reference may be made 

 to one by Mr. F. V. Theobald on the economic relations 

 of birds to agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. Despite 

 the enormous amount of literature on British ornithology, 

 the author is of opinion that our present information con- 

 cerning the majority of the species is insufficient to admit 

 of a definite pronouncement as to their utility or harm- 

 fulness, and that it is consequently necessary to study 

 their food in a much more systematic manner than has 

 hitherto been attempted. Some birds Mr. Theobald does 

 not hesitate to condemn to destruction, among these being 

 the black-cap, blackbird, and sparrow-hawk. Attention 

 may also be directed to an article by Dr. A. Dendy on the 

 pineal gland. .-Mthough its wonderful developmental 

 history is fairly well known, we are still ignorant of the 

 NO. 1982. VOL. 76] 



function of this organ. To remedy this wc require a 

 series of investigations into the physiology of the pineal 

 organs, both in those animals in which they still exist 

 as a sense-organ, and in those in which the epiphysis 

 cerebri has assumed the character of a ductless gland. 



The Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for 

 September (.xviii.. No. 198) is longer than usual, and 

 contains a number of important papers on pathological 

 subjects. Prof. W. G. MacCallum gives a short outline 

 of an experimental course in pathological physiology which 

 the students of the Johns Hopkins Hospital have the 

 privilege of attending. 



From Messrs. G. W. Bacon and Co. we have received 

 a set of the first part of their " Photographic Nature 

 Drawing Cards," reproducing illustrations of leaves. The 

 size of the prints averages about 5 inches by 3 inches, and 

 on each a single leaf is figured. They are nicely printed, 

 and serve to indicate general shape, outline, and veining, 

 but obviously the advantage lies with natural specimens. 



A CATALOGiJE recently received of Leitz microscopes 

 contains several new designs and fittings. A novel and 

 improved form of fine adjustment, providing endless move- 

 ment by means of a cam, is supplied with the better 

 stands ; being fitted to the connecting piece between the 

 frame and the tube-holder, it is possible to curve the 

 frame so as to give accommodation for large objects on 

 the stage. In the so-called museum microscope there is 

 a circular drum on which a dozen preparations can be 

 fixed that rotates under the objective. Special features 

 are combined in the mineralogical microscopes, and an 

 opaque illuminator for fitting on the end of the tube has 

 been designed. A pamphlet describing Edinger's drawing 

 and projection apparatus has also been published. 



The July number of the Philippine Journal of Science, 

 vol. ii.. No. 4 of the botanical series, is assigned to the 

 identification of specimens collected by Mr. E. D. Merrill 

 and others on Mt. Halcon, Mindoro. With regard to 

 new plants described by Mr. Merrill, the most notable 

 is a ,species of Centrolcpis providing the first record for 

 the order Centrolepida; in the Philippines. The order is 

 typically .Australian, as four out of six genera are entirely 

 confined to Australasia, and out of twenty species of 

 Centrolepis this and one other only occur outside 

 Australia. Several other plants of the collection bear out 

 the same affinity ; Dianella caenilea, Halorrhagis halcon- 

 ensis, and Cladium latifolium afford good examples. Two 

 new genera are proposed, Halconia under the order 

 Tiliaceae, and Mearnsia under the order Myrtaceae. A 

 small parcel of mosses collected on the same expedition 

 was referred to Dr. V. F. Brotherus. His determinations 

 and those of the orchids consigned to Mr. O. Ames are 

 also published. 



Dr. Virginia Ridsdale has published a thesis (Lord 

 Baltimore Press, 1906) dealing with the arrangement ot 

 the real branches of plane algebraic curves. The Harnack 

 and Hilbert processes of small variation from specially 

 degenerate curves are applied to curves with the maximum 

 number of branches, and the various possible arrangements 

 of internal and external ovals are discussed. The author 

 concludes that the theorem with which the paper professes 

 to deal can be stated in several alternative forms. This 

 theorem relates to the greatest and least numbers of ovals 

 for a curve of given degree. 



The Weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological 

 Office for the week ending Saturday, October 19, states 



