August 20, 1908] 



NA TURE 



375 



presses the opinion that the worlt of systematic naturalists 

 should be more specially directed towards throwing further 

 light on the problems involved in the origin of species. 

 The barrenness of general results in this direction, par- 

 ticularly in work on reptiles, cannot be entirely attributed 

 to lack of facts, but, in some degree at any rate, is due 

 to the methods employed. Garter-snakes follow the usual 

 laws of geographical distribution, closely related forms on 

 the same line of descent generally inhabiting adjacent 

 regions. Originating apparently in northern Mexico, the 

 garter-snakes became there differentiated into four main 

 groups, which subsequently radiated in all directions, but 

 principally to the northward. Wherever they entered 

 different regions, the different environmental conditions 

 acted unfavourably, retarding growth, and differentiating 

 the group into dwarfed forms. 



In a paper on the ancestry of the tailed amphibians, 

 published in the June number of the American Naturalist, 

 Dr. R. L. Moyelic comes to the conclusion^ that the 

 labyrinthodontsgor stegocephalians should be split up into 

 two distinct groups, namely, the Branchiosauria of the 

 Carboniferous and Permian, on the one hand, and a second 

 group, embracing the Microsauria, Aistopoda, and the more 

 typical labyrinthodonts, on the other. The first group is 

 regarded by the author as representing the ancestral stock 

 of the modern tailed amphibians, whereas the second is 

 closely related to reptiles, and should not improbably, 

 indeed, be included in that class. From the Microsauria, 

 in which the ribs are long and curved, the Branchiosauria, 

 as typified by the minute Protriton (Brachiosaurus) of the 

 European Permian, are distinguished by their short ribs, 

 which articulate with the transverse processes of the 

 vertebras. The Branchiosauria agree, in fact, with the 

 modern Amphibia Caudata in their short, straight ribs, the 

 stout transverse processes arising from the bodies of the 

 vertebrEE, practically in the number of the presacral 

 vertebrae, as well as in the structure of the skull and 

 pectoral and pelvic girdles, in the number of the toes (four 

 in front and five behind) and of their component segments, 

 as well as in the structure of the long bones, the shape ol 

 the body, and the existence of a lateral-line-system. In 

 skull-characters, as well as in the shoulder-girdle, the 

 modern tailed amphibians exhibit marked signs of degenera- 

 tion, and they may accordingly be regarded as degenerate 

 derivatives of the Branchiosauria. Similarly, the Aistopoda 

 are provisionally regarded by the author as a degenerate 

 branch of the Microsauria. 



The Uganda Protectorate comprises numerous districts, 

 such as Busoga, Bukedi, Unyoro, Toro, Ankole, &c., and 

 the kingdom of Uganda. In the " Official Gazette of the 

 Uganda Protectorate," vol. i.. No. 6 (June 15), the follow- 

 ing notice appears : — " The Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies has approved of the use officially of the name 

 Buganda for the Kingdom of Buganda, as distinct from 

 the word Uganda, which is still to be used as designating 

 the whole of the territory included within the Protec- 

 torate." As an example of the great strides that civilisa- 

 tion is making in Central .Africa, it may be noted that in 

 the same " Gazette " tariffs are quoted for motor-waggon 

 and motor-car fares between Entebbe and Kampala. 



A GRE.-VT deal has been written about the antiquity of 

 the use of iron in China. Commandant Bonifacy (Bull. 

 Soc. d'Anth., Paris, 1907, p. 512), from a study of the 

 languages of numerous tribes in south China, finds that 

 since a long period of time the metals have borne some- 

 times a Chinese name and sometimes a particular name 

 which varies according to the tribe, from which he 



NO. 2025, VOL. 78] 



naturally concludes that certain of these metals were intruv 

 duced by the Chinese, whereas others were known to the 

 tribe before its contact with Chinese civilisation ; iron 

 belongs to the latter group, and copper and bronze to the 

 former. Hence the tribes of south China and of Indo- 

 China knew iron before copper. They employed worked 

 flint in China 2200 years B.C., when iron was already 

 known. China has not passed through an age of bronze 

 or copper. 



In the Essex Times of August 8, the Rev. J. \V. Hayes, 

 of West Thurrock Vicarage, Grays, has directed attention 

 :o some old underground workings for chalk at Hemel 

 Hempstead, which in his opinion throw much light on the 

 origin and use of dene-holes generally. It appears that in 

 arder to obtain chalk suitable for lime-making it was until 

 recently the practice in parts of Hertfordshire to work the 

 chalk in subterranean chambers reached by deep shafts. 

 One pit, dug as lately as 1882, attained a depth of 90 feet. 

 A vertical shaft, of circular section, about 5 feet in 

 diameter, was sunk through superficial deposits until the 

 hard chalk was reached, and from the bottom of the shaft 

 three so-called " arches " were struck out. These arches 

 were chambers, which in some cases were more than 12 feet 

 high. The chalk was mined in these drifts for a length 

 of twenty to twenty-five yards, and when the distance of 

 the working face from the bottom of the shaft became 

 inconveniently great, or when the roof proved unsound, a 

 new pit would be sunk. The centre of the industry was the 

 parish of Hemel Hempstead, but many abandoned pits 

 are to be found in the country between Tring on the west 

 and Shenley, near Barnet, in the south. 



We have received copies of a new publication, Neue 

 Weltanschauung, published in Stuttgart under the editor- 

 ship of Dr. W. Breitenbach, with the object of diffusing 

 the results of modern scientific research in its application 

 to philosophy and culture. The editor contributes an 

 article on modern theories in connection with heredity and 

 their scientific foundation, in which he discusses the 

 " pangenesis " theory of Darwin, dfc Vries's theory of 

 "pangenes," and Haeckel's conception of " plastidules." 

 An appreciation of Charles Darwin, and a photographic 

 reproduction after Collier's drawing, have been evoked by 

 the Darwin jubilee. 



A LIST of rare shrubs for growing in the open garden, 

 compiled by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, is published in the 

 Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society (vol. xxxii., 

 part ii.). The author prefaces the article with the intima- 

 tion that his remarks refer to plants grown in Hertford- 

 shire on a cold, clay soil where severe frosts are experi- 

 enced in late spring. Rosa ferrngiiiea among the roses, 

 Colletia cruciata, Cotoneasler aculifolia, and Sambucus: 

 canadensis are some of the plants receiving special com- 

 mendation ; several species are selected under the genera 

 Berberis, Spiraea, Ribes, Syringa, and Ilex. The author 

 also mentions the tree paionies, varieties of Paconia 

 Moutan, that he has imported directly from Japan. In the 

 same number of the journal Mr. J. Hudson discusses the 

 subject of plants for terrace gardening. He supplies 

 useful notes on the methods of training scented geraniums, 

 and recommends the species radula major, " Clorinda," 

 and capitatum. Aloysia citriodora is another choice, and 

 some bamboos, palms, and species of Phormium are 

 suggested. 



The Philippine Weather Bureau has just issued part ii. 

 of the annual report for 1905. Besides the Centra! 

 Observatory at Manila, the Bureau controls forty-four 



