500 



NA TURE 



[June 24, 1909 



■rats," a name usually restricted to the representatives of 

 «he genus Spalax. A better title is bandicoot-rats, taken 

 from the ordinary name of the largest species. Captain 

 Lloyd's investigations were undtrtaken as supplemental to 

 those dealing with rats and plague, and certain very 

 interesting deductions are drawn in connection with this 

 iispect of the investigation. It is shown, for instance, that 

 the brown rat, the great disseminator of plague, is absent 

 from Madras, the only Indian port at present free from 

 plague, where its place in the sewers of the city is taken 

 "by the great bandicoot-rat. The inference from this 

 Teature in distribution is obvious, although in some degree 

 •discounted by the occurrence of plague in districts where 

 ihe brown rat is rare or unknown. 



Fro.vi the report of the director for 1008. we learn that 

 the aquarium of the New York Zoological Society is 

 Tj-roming more and more attractive as a place of popular 

 resort, the number of visitors during the year under review 

 Ijeing considerably more than two and a half millions, 

 forming a daily average of nearly seven thousand. During 

 iqo8 a sea-water system was installed, with an under- 

 ground reservoir capable of holding 100,000 gallons, and 

 the result of this has rendered it possible to keep a number 

 of marine animals never previously exhibited in the 

 ■establishment. It is stated that the difliculties encountered 

 in the heating of sea-water by means of iron and bronze 

 lieaters, which corrode and break down, have apparently 

 ■been solved by the employment of a heavy coiled heater 

 made of chemical lead, which has lasted much longer than 

 •others previously tried. No other aquarium has problems 

 to contend with like those which have developed in New 

 York, where sea-water is heated in winter for tropical 

 species and fresh-water refrigerated in summer for northern 

 torms. With warm and cold tanks of both fresh and salt 

 water, there are four distinct water-systems in use. .\bout 

 200 species of fishes are usually kept in the ninety-four 

 •glass-fronted tanks, including from 3000 to 4000 specimens 

 ■of native marine and fresh-water species and tropical 

 species from the Bermudas. These figures do not include 

 the product of the fish-hatchery. The collection of in- 

 -vertcbrates is at present limited to local marine forms. The 

 large ponds contain seals, sea-lions, alligators, crocodiles, 

 turtles, and sturgeons, while in the table tanks are usually 

 shown about twenty species of fresh-water tortoises. 

 During September the large centr.-il pond contained two 

 porpoises, and a leathery turtle weighing 840 lb. Unfortu- 

 nately, some of the lung-breathing marine animals are ill 

 ndapted to indoor life, and it may prove undesirable to 

 repeat experiments with those affected by the warm air 

 when the building is heated. 



Prof. E. Gaupp, the eminent comparative anatomist of 

 Treiburg, has turned aside, as so many past and present 

 anatomists and physicians have done, to investigate the 

 problem of man's right-handedness. His essay, in which 

 Tie brings together the best that is known concerning the 

 preeminence of the right hand, has just been published 

 "by Mr. Gustav Fischer, of Jena, as the first part of a 

 "" Sammlung anatomischer und physiologischer Vortrage 

 vnd .-Xufsatze, " edited by himself in conjunction with Prof. 

 AV. Nagel. He regards right-handedness as a human 

 characteristic, and agrees with those who seek an ex- 

 planation in the preponderance of the left hemisphere of 

 the brain. This preponderance he thinks may be explained 

 1)y the asymmetry of the blood-vessels and other organs of 

 the body. The essay, while adding little that is new to 

 the subject, is a clear and useful summary of its litera- 

 ture. English writers are very fully cited, with one notable 



NO. 2069, VOL. 80] 



exception — no mention is made of Prof. Elliot Smith's 

 paper, the most important that has yet appeared. Advo- 

 cates of ambidextry will be glad to learn that they have 

 gained a supporter in the professor of comparative anatomy 

 of Freiburg. 



Dr. Max Martmann discusses the meaning of sexuality 

 in relation to the formation of gametes in a very interest- 

 ing little work (" .\utogamie bei Protisten ") published by 

 Mr. G. Fischer, Jena, as a reprint from the well-known 

 Archiv. j. Protistenkunde. The author briefly describes 

 the various forms which the sexual elements assume, and 

 points out the importance of paying due regard to the 

 sexual fusion of very nearly related gametes. He gives a 

 useful summary of the various forms of sexuality, and 

 traces the gradual disappearance (apomixis) of the latter in 

 extreme cases of parthenogenesis and apog.imy. He re- 

 gards these types as derived from originally differentiated 

 sexual conditions, and supports his view by an interesting 

 review of the protista regarded from this standpoint. Dr. 

 Hartmann very rightly insists on the f.ict that the sexual 

 process as it presents itself in the higher forms is not a 

 simple function, urging that it includes several distinct 

 processes. He disagrees with Hertwig's views, ■which 

 would imply a mere restoration of a specific relation 

 between nucleus and cytoplasm, and seems to consider that 

 the essence of sexuality consists in the union of nuclei which 

 have distinct properties, the one more especially related to 

 trophic, the other to kinetic, functions. But he expresses 

 himself with great reserve, and concludes by admitting 

 that, while this conception of the dual nature of the sexual 

 nuclei is a good working hypothesis, it is hardly likely 

 to prove the master key to all the problems of sexuality 

 and fertilisation. 



A STRIKING array of new plants is presented by Dr. 

 J. N. Rose in the sixth of his studies of Mexican and 

 Central .■^nieriiin plants, published as vol. xii., part vii., 

 of the Contributions from the United States National 

 Herbarium. .\ new species of Dioon with both kinds of 

 cone, and an Ephedra, were collected in southern Mexico. 

 Four species are added to the strange parasitic genus 

 Pilostyles, making a tot.il of eight American species ; all 

 have been found growing on leguminous plants, generally 

 on species of Paroscla. The Caclacea; received special 

 attention on collecting trips, and illustrations are given of 

 Echinocaclus palmeri, which has a stem 5 feet high ; 

 Opiiiilia Lli'vilii, an arboreal species; and a dwarf creep- 

 ing plant, {)/iii)i/ia vilis. The author proposes to split up 

 the genus I.o;x-2ia with the formation of three new genera, 

 Pseudolopczia, Pclozia,. and Jehlia. 



As ecological sketch of the Streletz steppe in Ihe neigh- 

 bourhood of Kursk is presented by Mr. \V. .'Mcchin in the 

 botanical sciiion (series iv., fasc. i) of Travaux de la 

 SocU'tc des Saturalistes, St. Petersburg. The area is 

 described as a meadow steppe, in which bushes form the 

 chief feature, while grasses are of subsidiary importance ; 

 plants of thr- eompositc family are in great abundance. 

 Around the sieppe are woods, consisting chiefly of oak 

 trees. The author comes to the conclusion that it is part 

 of an ancient and original steppe formation, and that the 

 woods are innovations. The succeeding fascicle is 

 assigned to a p:ipcr, by Mr. W. P. Sawitsch, on the lichen 

 vegetation in the south-west portion of the government 

 of St. Petersburg. A study of the factors regulating dis- 

 tribution points to the importance of light and shade and 

 moisture conditions, combined with the physical nature of 

 the substratum. 



