304 



NA TURE 



[July 30, 1908 



carrifd on for the sake of the caviar yielded by these 

 sturgeons, although the flesh, which is smoked and dried, 

 also forms an important asset. These sturgeons attain a 

 maximum weight of about 140 lb., with a length of nearly 

 ti feet, and in the case of a female yield some 16 lb. of 

 roc. The average is, however, considerably below this, 

 the yield of. caviar being about 10 lb. Caviar is obtained 

 from the roe by washing the eggs out of the membrane 

 in which they are enveloped. The energy with which the 

 fishery is carried on has greatly reduced the number of 

 sturgeons in the lakes, where they do not breed, and plans 

 for increasing the stock are under consideration. One of 

 these fishes leaping out of the water in their characteristic 

 fashion forms the subject of a full-page illustration. 



In the June number of the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopical Science, Sir E. Ray Lankester states that a minute 

 chlorophyllogenous organism, described by himself in 1885 

 as Archerina boltoni, is identical with the subsequently 

 named Golenkinia radiala, and also with Riclitericlla 

 boiryoidcs, and he accordingly urges that the two last- 

 mentioned names should give way to the one proposed by 

 himself. Owing, apparently, to its frequent association 

 with extraneous amoeboid protoplasm, Archerina was re- 

 ferred by its describcr to the Protozoa, whereas it now 

 turns out to be a plant. Since names employed in zoology 

 are not considered to preoccupy those used in botany (and 

 vice vers/i), it remains to be seen whether the proposed 

 change in nomenclature will be accnplcd by the botanists. 

 In the same issue Prof. K. A. iMinchin continues his 

 account of the ascon-sponges, dp;iling in this instance 

 specially with the mode of spicule-formation in the genus 

 I.eucosolcnia, while Mr. C. L. Boulonger describes a new 

 genus of hydromedusans from Lake Qurun, in the Fayum 

 province of Egypt. 



A SHORT paper on the development of flowers as influenced 

 liv the partial removal of roots and leaves is communicated 

 liv Mr. M. Shiga to the Journal of the College of Science, 

 'I'okio (vol. xxiii., article 4). The result of the few ex- 

 periments recorded tends to show that moderate root- 

 jiruning hastens flowering, but leaf-removal is deleterious. 



Mr. H. Pittier supplies a note on the Lecythidaceae of 

 Costa Rica to the series of Contributions from the United 

 States National Herbarium (vol. xii.. No. 2), in which two 

 new species of Eschweiiera and one of Lecythis are de- 

 scribed and illustrated. These genera belong to the group 

 that bear the characteristic " pyxidium " fruit. The seeds 

 of the Lecythis are stated to have a finer flavour than 

 the Brazil nut. The number also contains the diagnosis 

 of a new apocynaceous genus, Tonduzia, by Mr. Pittier, and 

 the identifications of a collection of \'cnezuelan plants by 

 Mr. J. R. Johnston. 



.\ ricTfREsot-'E narrative of the expedition undertaken by 

 New Zealand men of science to the southern islands attached 

 to the dominion occupies the first place in the latest in- 

 stalment (No. 6) of the Kew Bulletin. Captain Dorrien 

 Smith furnishes the biological account of the -Auckland 

 Isles. The striking vegetative features consist of a Rata, 

 Metrosideros lucida, formation at the lower level ; higher 

 up, Danthonia bromoides forms large tussocks growing 

 out of its own peat, and Suttonia divaricatum develops 

 into a close scrub about waist high which can be 

 traversed above, or under which the traveller may crawl. 

 The occurrence of a tree fern, Hemitelia Sniithii, in this 

 southerly latitude testifies to the remarkable climate. Dr. 

 Cockayne's account of the Snares Islands is also repro- 

 <iuccd. 



NO. 2022, VOL. 78] 



Fro.m the article communicated to the Kc-d.' Bulletin 

 (No. 6) by Dr. O. Stapf, there is reason to expect that 

 a rubber-yielding tree of Indo-China, Bleekrodea tonkinensis, 

 which has been made the subject of special investigation 

 and report, may prove to be more valuable than the various 

 other recent discoveries in this direction. The tree was 

 found in the forests of Tonkin, where, on a dry soil, it 

 forms gregarious areas. It produces a latex fairly rich 

 in caoutchouc that is best separated by treatment with 

 sulphuric acid. The rubber, known in the vernacular as 

 " teo-non," has been compared with Para. In connection 

 with the rubber industry, the Bulletin contains a copy of 

 a despatch from Mexico announcing that the supply of 

 the plant yielding " Guayule " rubber is coming to an 

 end, as reproduction is for practical purposes impossible 

 owing to its slow growth. 



The first number of vol. vii. of Abhaiidluiii^en der k.k. 

 Gcographischen Geselhchaft in Wien contains a paper bv 

 Dr. Th. A. Ippen on the mountains of north-west .-\lbania. 

 After giving a general description of the mountain ranges. 

 Dr. Ippen discusses in detail the valleys on the south side 

 of the North Albanian Alps, commenting on the popula- 

 tion and the means of communication in the Drin or 

 Dukadschin mountains. Geographical details are given of 

 the Eandi valleys and the Mirdita district, and the relation 

 between the physical features and the industries of the 

 inhabitants noticed. In a section dealing with the valley 

 of the Mat, Dr. Ippen describes the Matja, Birschkasch, 

 Uraka, and Kurbin districts, and discusses the customs and 

 history of the inhabitants from evidence collected in the 

 ruins of ancient villages. Further observations are still 

 needed in the valleys of the Valbrona, Zmya, and Uraka, 

 and in the district between Prizren and Djakova. 



The recent claim that the geysers in the Yellowstone 

 Park are exhibiting signs of diminishing energy is dis- 

 cussed by Dr. Roland Dwight Grant in the Bulletin of the 

 American Geographical Society for May. Changes 

 observed in the colouring of the Minerva and Angel 

 Terraces indicate that apparent diminutions of energy are 

 due in reality to the diversion of the hot-water current to 

 a new direction. The E.xcelsior Geyser is mentioned as an 

 illustration of the many apparently dead geysers which 

 have ceased to play on account of less clearly defined 

 throats. Dr. Grant describes the Fountain and Black 

 Growler geysers, which ceased to play owing to breaks 

 in their pipes. He emphasises the fact, however, that in 

 both cases the energy, had merely been diverted to form 

 new geysers, and that the current tended to return when 

 the disturbing force ceased to act. The " mud volcano " 

 is described, and the regularity of its action noticed. As 

 a result of his observations in the Yellowstone Park, there- 

 fore. Dr. Grant is of opinion that the supposition of 

 diminishing energy is unfounded. 



We have received the results of the magnetical and 

 meteorological observations made at the Royal Alfred Ob- 

 servatory, Mauritius, in the year 1906. Having already 

 referred to the report of the observatory for that year, we 

 need only add that the results obtained from the self- 

 registering instruments, the records of which are tabu- 

 lated for each hour, and from eye observations, are very 

 carefully worked out on the pattern of the Greenwich ob- 

 servations ; monthly and annual rainfall at sixty-five stations 

 are also given. The mean rainfall for the year over 

 the whole island was 73-44 inches, as compared with the 

 average 80-34 inches. Particulars are given of sixty-four 

 earth movements shown by the photographic records of a 

 -Milne's seismograph during iCjcO. 



