)4B 



NATURE 



[August 13, 1908 



only 200 kilometres. According to Reuter, al Echtci- 

 dingon, a sudden violent thunderstorm breaking over the 

 town struck the balloon at its moorings and blew one of 

 the cars into the air. The car fell back, striking the 

 ground, and a motor exploded, setting fire to the adjoin- 

 ing parts of the airship. Several soldiers helping to hold 

 down the airship were dragged into the air with the ascend- 

 ing car, and severely injured by the explosion. The 

 blazing airship was caught by the storm and driven up 

 into the air, where it was completely destroyed, and the 

 framework blown away by the storm. A Times corre- 

 spondent states that the most probable explanation of the 

 disaster appears to be that when the airship was torn from 

 its moorings by the force of the sudden hurricane the 

 machine was brought into violent collision with trees and 

 other obstacles, with the result that the benzene exploded 

 and set fire to the whole fabric. The German Govern- 

 ment has sanctioned the payment to Count Zeppelin of 

 the grant of 25,000?. voted to him by the Reichstag last 

 spring as compensation for his many years of self- 

 sacrificing creative work in the building of airships. A 

 public subscription has been inaugurated in Germany, and 

 is meeting with a liberal response. Public and private 

 donations to the amount of about three million marks 

 (50,000/.) have been promised already toward a great 

 national testimonial to Count Zeppelin. 



The ovster-fishory in the Lim Fjord forms the subject 

 of parts XV. and xvi. of the report of the Danish Bio- 

 logical Station for 1908. After a historical survey of the 

 discovery of oysters and the development of the fishery in 

 this locality, the author, Dr. C. G. J. Petersen, refers 

 to the present unsatisfactory state of the trade, and makes 

 certain suggestions as to the best means of improving it 

 in the future. The most obvious method is by preventing 

 the enormous wastage of " spat " which now takes place, 

 and, with this object in view it is suggested that the beds 

 would show a much better yield if they were regularly 

 dredged by Government, or were leased out to private 

 owners on more favourable terms than at present. 



In a paper published in the An. Mux. Nac. dc Buenos 

 Aires, vol. xvii., on the structure of the scapular arch in 

 edentates and monotremes, as affording evidence of the 

 reptilian descent of those groups, Dr. F. Ameghino recalls 

 that in 1893 Mr. Lydekker proposed a new scheme of 

 nomenclature for the bones of this part of the skeleton 

 in vertebrates. It was shown, for instance, that in 

 dicynodonts there exist a coracoid and metacoracoid, of 

 which the first is represented in edentates, while both 

 occur in monotremes (where the first is generally mis- 

 called epicoracoid and the second coracoid). It follows 

 from this that the so-called coracoid of a bird and a 

 lizard is a metacoracoid. .Although Mr. Lydekker's views 

 were strongly opposed at the time of their publication. Dr. 

 Ameghino maintains that they are indisputably correct, 

 and that the revised nomenclature of the bones should be 

 adopted in anatomy. 



A SECONl> paper by Dr. .\meghino in vol. xvii. of the 

 Anales of the Buenos Aires National Museum is devoted 

 to the alleged occurrence of remains of armadillos in the 

 Oligocene of France and Germany. In view of the 

 opinions which have been advanced as to the reptilian 

 nature of these remains (which consist mainly of the plates 

 of the dermal head-shield), the author states that he can 

 no longer definitely assert that they indicate the occur- 

 rence of armadillos in the European Oligocene. ."Kt the 

 same time, he refers to a figure of the microscopic struc- 



NO. 2024, VOL. 78] 



ture of one of these bony plates, published by Filhol, which 

 accords very closely with similar figures of armadillo plates, 

 and differs markedly from the structure presented by the 

 plates of certain lizards. To settle the question, it is urged 

 that sections of the plates of the so-called Necrodasypus 

 should be compared w-ilh those of the dermal armour of 

 the approximately contemporaneous lizard Placosaurus. 



In a paper published by the Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington (No. loi) under the title of " The Variation 

 and Correlations of Certain Taxonomic Characters of 

 Gryllus," Mr. F. E. Lutz records the results of a series 

 of observations undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining 

 whether detailed measurements of those parts of the body 

 on which the distinction between the various American 

 species of crickets mainly rests would afford absolute data 

 for the determination of such species. The observations, 

 which relate to an enormously large series of specimens, 

 were intended to apply to the question of the exact deiini- ' 

 tion of species in general. So far as American crickets are 

 concerned, the results show that in the matter of length 

 of various parts — especially the ovipositor — there is an 

 almost complete gradation from the maximum to the 

 minimum dimension, and consequently that the half-dozen 

 or so species which have been named have no real exist- 

 ence in nature. Nevertheless, it is urged, the recognition 

 of such species is advisable for convenience of reference. 

 Local conditions of environment have, it is true, some 

 effect on the taxonomic characters, such as the length of 

 tlie ovipositor, but \'erv similar variations occur in one and 

 the same locality. It is added that these insects exhibit 

 a dimorphic feature — namely, large or small wings — quite 

 independent of the so-called specific characters. 



In his presidential address delivered before the annua! 

 meeting of the Linnean Societv, held on May 24, Prof. 

 W. A. Herdman discussed the question whether the prac- 

 tice of taking small samples of the oceanic plankton in 

 particular localities at certain intervals of time affords a 

 sufficient and trustworthy means of ascertaining the micro- 

 organic contents of the oceans as a whole. As the result 

 of observations at Port Erin, it has been ascertained that 

 there exists, in the first place, a sequence and periodicity 

 of stages in the life-history of these organisms ; secondly, 

 there are irregularities due to the interaction of organisms, 

 as when one group serves as food to another ; while, 

 thirdly, there occur periodical changes and abnormalities 

 of either time or abundance brought about by the nature 

 of the water or by climatic conditions, which largely affeci 

 the plankton. From these facts it is clear that observa- 

 tions taken every three months, or even fortnightly, are 

 inadequate to give a proper idea of the plankton of any 

 one area, and it is therefore necessary to have samples 

 taken weekly, and during three months of the year daily, 

 to furnish a trustworthy basis of calculation. In the course 

 of his address, tlie president directed attention to the 

 occurrence in the Irish plankton of an extraordinarily large 

 number of what are usually regarded as " oceanic " types. 



The report of the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Ceylon, for 1907, gives cover to the reports of the various 

 officers attached. The post of scientific assistant to the 

 director has been abolished. In connection with the 

 curatorship of the gardens, Mr. H. F. Macmillan refers 

 to the flowering of the giant bamboo, Deiidrocalamiis 

 gigantens, and the giant orchid, Graminatopliylbiin 

 ■ speciosum ; the bamboo has been flowering irregularly for 

 three years, producing a proportion of fertile seed. An 

 indigenous liliaceous plant, Ophiopogon intermedins, is re- 

 commended for edgings under the shade of trees. Colvillea 



