March 4, 1909] 



NATURE 



•7 



evolution as efficient as ever. It is, therefore, one of the 

 tragedies of science that in this matter Darwin should 

 have been ready to surrender his main position rather than 

 to receive and to join forces with those who were coming 

 to his aid." 



In the number of Man for February Mrs. M. E. 

 Cunnington describes the result of the excavation of a 

 late Celtic rubbish-heap near Oare, in Wiltshire. From 

 the number of potsherds unearthed it was supposed by 

 some authorities that the mound represents the accumu- 

 lated d(5bris of a pottery ; but there are no signs of dis- 

 tortion during baking in any of the fragments, and the 

 number of animal bones points to the existence of a con- 

 siderable settlement. The pottery falls into two classes, 

 that of native manufacture and that imported. Most of 

 the examples of the former type are not inelegantly shaped 

 bowls with a contracted mouth and bead rim. These are 

 of purely British manufacture, and are characteristic of 

 the late Celtic period, like the examples from Weymouth 

 in the British Museum and those of the same period at 

 Colchester. The foreign ware is of various types — Belgic 

 of the first century a.d., green-glazed Roman ware from 

 Ciaul, and several pieces of very thin white and cream- 

 coloured pottery, which probably came from Rheims about 

 the same time. More remarkable are examples of the rare 

 .'\rretine ware, while the absence of the later Gaulish red 

 Samian corroborates the date of this accumulation, which 

 seems to have been made just before the Roman occupa- 

 tion of that part of the island. If the date of the neigh- 

 bouring Martinsell Camp could be established, it is possible 

 that its garrison may have had some connection with the 

 inmates of this settlement. 



The National Geographic Magazine for January con- 

 tinues its campaign against the destruction of the State 

 forests of America by lessons drawn from two countries of 

 the old continent. Mr. E. L. Harris, in his notes on the 

 buried cities of Asia Minor, shows that in the neighbour- 

 hood of Pergamus the ruin has been so widespread that it 

 is doubtful if any rational system of forestry can now 

 restore the trees which once covered the higher grounds 

 and permitted a flourishing agriculture in that region. Mr. 

 F. N. Meyer points out that in a large part of northern 

 China, which in the time of Marco Polo was the seat of 

 extensive silk culture, the mulberry trees have disappeared, 

 the rivers once used for carriage of goods have shrunk in 

 volume, and the deserted wells bear witness to the shameful 

 destruction of the forests. The denudation of the hill-sides 

 is said to have diminished the rainfall, the soil on the slopes 

 has disappeared, and disastrous floods result from the rapid 

 dissipation of the water in the rainy season. Here, too, the 

 mischief seems to be almost past remedy, and unless the 

 Chinese Government takes immediate and active measures 

 the eastern extension of the Mongolian desert is inevitable. 



There is certainly room for a popular, well-illustrated 

 periodical dealing with the lighter side of geographical 

 work, and this want seems likely to be supplied by the 

 new magazine Travel and Exploration. The March 

 number contains articles by competent writers describing 

 expeditions in many parts of the world. The best of these 

 is that by Lord Hindlip on a hunting trip in the Nahlin 

 or Cassiar mountains, near the famous Dawson Trail 

 leading to Klondike, in which he was successful in obtain- 

 ing fine specimens of the wild sheep. Miss E. C. Sykes 

 is also a little off familiar ground in her account of a ride 

 along the little-known route in northern Persia from 

 Meshed to the railway line which runs between Merv, 

 .X-kabad, and Krasnovodsk. The scheme of this new 

 NO. 2053, VOL. 80] 



periodical includes reviews of current geographical litcia- 

 ture, which, it may be hoped, will soon develop into an 

 adequate bibliography. 



A SUMMARY and bibliography of literature dealing with 

 Russian botany, that was published in 1906, has been 

 issued as a supplement to the Bulletin du Jardin imperial 

 botaniqtie, St. Petersburg. The contents are, it may be 

 mentioned, practically inaccessible except to Russian 

 scholars. 



Sir Joseph Hooker has. made a further contribution to 

 the classification of the genus Impaticns in the first number 

 of the Keiv Bulletin for the current year, where he 

 furnishes a description of species from Indo-China and the 

 Malayan Peninsula. The comparison of selected characters 

 leads to the conclusion that the species from these regions 

 are closely allied, and show some affinity with Burmese 

 species, but differ greatly from the Chinese. Four of the 

 specimens are made the types of new species. Another 

 systematic article is provided by Mr. T. A. Sprague, being 

 a revision of the section Omphacarpus of the genus 

 Grewia. 



Dr. M. Samec communicates to the Sitzungsberichte der 

 kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (vol. cxvii., 

 part v.), Vienna, a note on the variation in the intensity 

 of light at different altitudes. During a balloon journey 

 he took a series of readings for comparison with measure- 

 ments made by Prof. Wiesner in the course of his investi- 

 gations regarding the amount and nature of the light fall- 

 ing upon plants. Readings were taken of the intensity 

 of sun-light and of diffused light. The figures are some- 

 what irregular, but the intensity of sun-light increased 

 with ascent, and more rapidly than the intensity of the 

 diffused light. The measurements of light reflected from 

 below showed a series of maxima corresponding with the 

 passage of the balloon over water. 



An account of the constructive work for restraining the 

 flow of torrents and of the rehoisement of mountain slopes 

 near Interlaken contributed by Mr. C. E. C. Fischer to 

 the Indian Forester (January) should indicate to the 

 authorities in India the value attached to such precautions 

 in Switzerland, and may possibly help towards the establish- 

 ment of a similar policy. Although avalanches and storms 

 are important factors in denudation, the prime agent is the 

 browsing goat. The chief features in construction are the 

 retaining walls built at intervals across the valley, the 

 channels for leading off the streams, and wattle fences 

 for checking the downward flow. Grass is planted between 

 the fences, and prepares the ground for early settlers such 

 as Sedtim annuiim and Adenostyles ; later on, Parnassia, 

 orchids, aconites, and other plants appear on the scene, 

 and in two or three years alders or pines may be planted. 



We have received a discussion of the winds at Rome by 

 Dr. I. Massarini, deduced from anemograph records for 

 1876-1905, and reprinted from the .Annals of the Italian 

 Meteorological Office, vol. xxvii., part i. The author has 

 dealt with the subject in great detail, and has calculated, 

 inter alia, the frequency of wind direction under si.xteen 

 points and their velocity with respect to the hours of the 

 day, as well _as for months, years, and for periods of ten 

 and thirty years ; also the velocity for the same periods, 

 irrespective of direction, and has exhibited the results in 

 fifty-four tables and nine plates. We can only note here the 

 following general remarks : — (1) Direction. The most fre- 

 quent winds are (in order of their frequency) N.N.E., N., 

 and S. ; the least frequent is the E. wind. (2) Velocity. 

 The strongest winds are S.S.E., S., S.S.W., and N.N.E. 



