July 2, 1908] 



NA TURE 



205 



Lysimachia. The species Littoniana, falling in the section 

 CapitatEe, produces a deep spike of crowded flowers, in 

 which the red calyces of the buds form a strong contrast 

 to the deep purple expanded flowers. Primula Forrcsiii 

 bears numerous flowers of a deep orange colour, and, judg- 

 ing from the root-stocks, continues to grow for fifty years 

 or longer. Three of the four known species of the unique 

 section Omphalogramma — taking their name from the oval, 

 flattened shape of the seed — are recorded. The list is dis- 

 tinctly one that horticulturists will do well to examine. 



The heredity of hair in man forms the subject of an 

 article by Gertrude and Charles Davenport in the May 

 issue of the American Naturalist. Starting with the 

 assumption that the straight, cylindrical (Mongolian) type 

 of hair, as agreeing with that of mammals generally, is 

 more primitive than the frizzly, compressed type character- 

 istic of negroes, the authors discuss the Mendelian rela- 

 tions of these and the intermediate wavy and curly types. 

 The results suggest that straight hair is recessive to the 

 frizzly type, although the latter may in some instances 

 fail to dominate. Further, wavy hair is usually, if not 

 invariably, a heterozygous type, and not recessive to a 

 higher (curly) and dominant over a lower (straight) stage. 

 The paper concludes with a summary of the colour of the 

 eyes and hair in the children of parents who are similar 

 or dissimilar in these respects. 



In the June number of Man Prof. Dubois discusses Mr. 

 J. Gray's investigations on pigmentation by the use of his 

 newly modified Lovibond's tintometer. He accepts the 

 suggestion that hair contains two coloured pigments, 

 orange and black, the black pigment increasing uniformly 

 in amount from blonde to black, the orange pigment re- 

 maining practically constant in that hair series. In the 

 red-hair group, on the contrary, the orange pigment is 

 predominant, its increasing amount causing the coloration 

 from light to dark red. Finally, red hair is derived from 

 dark hair by the conversion of more or less of the dark 

 pigment into an equal amount of the orange. This last 

 group, for which he suggests the name pyrrhotism 

 (/>yrr/!os = foxy-red), he considers to result from an easily 

 occurring chemical modification of the melanochrome into 

 pyrrhochrome pigments. But the observed facts are in- 

 consistent with the view of Topinard and others, that red- 

 hairedness may be regarded as having the character of a 

 variety of atavistic origin. 



In a short article published in Nature last March (vol. 

 Ixxvii., p. 465), attention was directed to the interesting 

 results in reference to the chemistry of Egyptian mummies 

 which had been elucidated by the recent work of Dr. 

 W. .'\. Schmidt. His conclusions, however, do not seem 

 to have met with universal acceptance, and Mr. F. Lucas 

 has in particular questioned one of them {Cairo Scientific 

 Journal, vol. ii., April), namely, that relating to the com- 

 position of the bath in which the ancient dead were soaked. 

 .According to .Schmidt, the " natrum " bath of Herodotus 

 consisted mainly of common salt, and not of " natrum " 

 or crude Egyptian sodium carbonate, which is found 

 encrusted on the bottom and sides of certain lakes in the 

 land of the Pharaohs ; if natrum was used at all, it was 

 employed for stuffing the mummy after the pickling bath 

 of brine. Mr. Lucas believes, on the other hand, that 

 " natrum " was actually used in the bath, though in some 

 cases it was applied in solid form, and that the use of 

 common salt was not introduced until the beginning of 

 the Christian era. 



Mrs. Andrew Johnson sends us a diagram of a curious 

 ring around the moon observed by her at Arundel on 

 June II, at lo p.m., that is, three days before full moon. 

 The ring was not a complete circle, but segment-shaped, 

 corresponding to the phase of the moon at the time. Two 

 mock moons seen respectively to the east and west of the 

 moon itself, and a second halo touching the chord of the 

 segment, were also similarly shaped. The diagram is un- 

 suitable for reproduction, but the distortion of the halo 

 and mock-moons represented by it is of noteworthy 

 interest. 



The results of the meteorological observations on the 

 summit of the Sonnblick (3105 metres) for the year 1907 

 give the mean temperature of January as 4°-5 F., of July 

 as 30°-2 ; the absolute maximum was 49°-5, in .August, 

 and the minimum — 18°.2, in January. The precipitation 

 was equivalent to 658 inches, in 241 days, of which 

 5-6 inches fell as rain between May and September. Fog 

 was observed every month, the total number of days being 

 262 ; it was least frequent in November, eleven days. The 

 report contains particulars of several other mountain 

 stations, including an interesting account of the Etna 

 Observatory (2950 metres), with a photographic illustra- 

 tion of the volcano as seen from Catania. 



.\mong the various useful articles in the Journal of the 

 Meteorological Society of Japan for January-.'Vpril 

 (abstracts of which are now given in English), we may 

 mention : — (i) relation between climate and tobacco 

 cultivation, by K. Asakura, and (2) climate and rice crops, 

 by H. Ogiwara, containing interesting particulars of the 

 influence of rainfall and temperature on different stages 

 of the growth of these crops ; (3) a summary of the 

 temperature and rainfall observations made during the last 

 three years at stations in south China, by M. Ishida. The 

 tables show that the climate there is not far different 

 from that of the western part of Japan, except that the 

 absolute maximum temperature in south China is more 

 extreme, reaching at times 102°. The Yang-tse-kiang 

 has a great influence in moderating the continental 

 climate. Particulars are given in the ."April number of 

 the journal of a new system of storm signals introduced 

 in Japan on .April i, showing, during the day time, by 

 means of drums, cones, and balls, the position of the 

 storm centre, its direction of motion, speed, and other 

 details. During the night time lights are displayed, in- 

 dicating only the position of the storm centre. 



The Sierra Club Bulletin (January) contains an article 

 by Mr. G. K. Gilbert on " Lake Ramparts." Special 

 attention is directed to the lake ramparts in the sierra 

 of southern Utah, and the influence of glacial action in 

 their formation is discussed. The absence of ramparts in 

 the lake basins forms the basis of the theory that some 

 force has been exerted to move the boulders to their present 

 positions on the shores. The nature of this moving agency 

 is discussed, the suggestion that the work was carried 

 out bv aboriginal inhabitants of the country being dis- 

 missed as improbable. The theory which adopts ice as the 

 moving force is supported by the fact that ramparts are 

 found only in cold countries. Mr. Gilbert illustrates this 

 theory by means of sections of sheet-ice, showing modes 

 of cracking and the effects of thrust on the shores, and 

 explains how this action may have transferred the boulders 

 from the lake basins to the shores. 



The Berlin Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde has issued a 

 bibliography of geographical literature published during 



NO. 2018, VOL. 78] 



