June i i. 1908J 



NA TURE 



133 



own affairs should have to devote their time to the pre- 

 paration of evidence to show the Select Committee upon 

 the Bill the disturbing nature of the scheme proposed ; but 

 as to the weight of competent opinion against the Bill 

 there can be no question. 



The Institution of Electrical Engineers will hold a 

 conversazione at the Natural History Museum, South 

 Kensington, on Thursday, June 25. 



To a new species of amphipod crustacean inhabiting 

 sand at the roots of trees at Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, 

 the Rev. T. R. R. Stcbbing (Proc. U.S. National Mus., 

 vol. xxxiv., p. 24!, No. 1609) gives the name Orchestoidea 

 hiolleyi. 



.\s the result of recent legislation for regulating the 

 importation of wild animals which might possibly become 

 acclimatised in the United States, the Zoological Society 

 of Philadelphia, according to its report for 1907, finds a 

 marked diminution in the number of specimens received 

 during the year. Although, runs the report, the wisdom 

 of preventing the introduction of objectionable animals is 

 not to be questioned, " regret may be expressed that the 

 minute and vexatious details which must be complied with 

 on bringing into the country even single specimens by 

 casual travellers or steamship-employes, imposes this serious 

 limitation upon zoological gardens." 



From America we have received a batch of pamphlets 

 dealing with the protection and encouragement of birds. 

 .\mong these is one issued by the National Association of 

 .\udubon Societies on the winter-feeding of wild birds, and 

 a second on the best methods of constructing and placing 

 artificial nesting-places. Statutory bird-protection in 

 Massachusetts forms the subject of a pamphlet sent out 

 by the Board of Agriculture for that State, while some of 

 the commoner birds of Oregon are described and figured 

 in a tract issued by the Oregon State biologist. The 

 claim of the Virginian quail to considerate treatment by 

 the agriculturist is urged by Miss E. A. Reed in a leaflet 

 published by the aforesaid association under the title of 

 " Bob White the Farmer's Friend "; while, finally, we have 

 the first annual report (illustrated by an excellent coloured 

 plate of the wood-duck) of the good work by the Audubon 

 Societv of South Carolina during its (at present) short 

 career. 



To the Century Magazine for June, Mr. G. H. Thayer 

 contributes an article on the concealing (protective) colora- 

 tion of animals. The article, which discusses the problem 

 from the point of view how and to what extent — and not 

 why — animals are protected by their colouring, is mainly 

 based on the experiments conducted by the well-known 

 artist Mr. Abbott H. Thayer, which were reviewed in 

 Nature in April, 1902, and are represented by a case 

 with models in the natural history branch of the British 

 Museum. The author re-asserts the claim of this artist 

 to have discovered that the arrangement of light and dark 

 colours on the upper and lower surfaces of the bodies of 

 animals is a factor of much more importance in rendering 

 them invisible than is an agreement between their own 

 colouring and that of their environment. This is graphic- 

 ally illustrated by means of photographs. 



Nearly the whole of the April number of the American 

 Naturalist is taken up with the report of a " symposium " 

 on the species-question which took place at a meeting of 

 the American Botanical Society held at Chicago in January 

 last, where various speakers discussed the topic from the 

 point of view of their own special line of study. The 



NO. 2015, VOL. 78] 



first speaker urged that we are in danger of destroying 

 the usefulness of taxonomy in our zeal for describing every 

 differing form as a separate species. We have lost sight 

 of the primitive reason for the formation of species, 

 namely, that we should have fewer things to hold in 

 mind. A second referred to the statement made by 

 ornithologists to the effect that a species may differ by 

 characters which cannot be put into words, so that it can 

 only be recognised when placed alongside specimens of 

 its nearest relatives. In opening a general discussion on 

 all the papers submitted to the meeting, Prof. J. M. 

 Coulter remarked that all the speakers seemed in accord 

 as to the need for action of some kind, and that, the idea 

 of a species must be modified. He himself favoured the 

 plan of continuing to name easily recognised forms, call- 

 ing them species if desired, and then to indicate minor 

 distinctions by numbers. By this the excessive multipli- 

 cation of names would be avoided, while an exact record 

 would be established. This plan is to a great extent a 

 modification of trinomialism — with the important difference 

 that the third term in the name is discarded in favour of 

 a number. 



The degree to which trees, especially in the seedling 

 stage, will flourish under shade is a consideration of some 

 importance in the regeneration of forests. Mr. R. S. 

 Pearson contributes to the Indian Forester (April) a list 

 of Indian trees roughly classed in five sections, according 

 to their light-demanding requirements. Teak, Terminalia 

 tomentosa, Bassia latifolia, and Boswellia serrata are 

 noted as strong light demanders, while the ironwood tree, 

 Xylia dolahriformis, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, and Aegle 

 marmelos are placed among the heavy shade bearers. A 

 note appended by the editor to an article on Eucalyptus 

 trees offers the practical hint that leaves of the blue gum 

 and other species boiled in cylinders or boilers will be 

 found useful in removing any hard incrustation of lime. 



Opinions with regard to the limits, sources, and possi- 

 bilities of Indian cottons are so widely divergent that 

 nothing short of detailed experimental cultivation under- 

 taken by an experienced specialist seems likely to meet 

 with general acceptation. Mr. H. M. Leake publishes in 

 the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (vol. iv., 

 part i.) a short account of some experiments in the 

 nature of an introductory note. The criterion selected is 

 a " leaf-factor," according to which a leaf may be dis- 

 tinguished as narrow or broad-lobed. Crosses were made 

 between Gossypium arboreum or Gossypium neglectum and 

 Gossypiiim indicum. The conclusion is arrived at that 

 plants with an intermediate leaf-factor are crosses, and 

 other facts are cited tending to support the view that 

 natural crosses between cotton plants do occur. 



It is always a difficult matter to identify the trees that 

 yield the timber imported from new countries. In this 

 connection it may be said that the sources of West African 

 mahogany have been mainly conjectural, so that it is 

 useful to have the identifications based on the authority 

 of Mr. H. N. Thompson, conservator of forests in 

 northern Nigeria, that are published in the Kew Bulletin 

 (No. 4). The three species senegalensis, grandifolia, and 

 Punchii of the genus Khaya furnish " Benin " mahogany; 

 similar timber from Entandophragma CandoUei, and 

 " Sapeli " mahogany from a species of Pseudocedrela, are 

 also in demand. " Batum " mahogany is obtained from 

 Mimusops multinervis, and a red ironwood said to resist 

 white ant and terido worm is derived from a species of 

 Lophira. Other trees furnish timber that is classed as 

 mahogany, satinwood, cedar, and greenheart. 



