October 29, 1908] 



NA TURE 



67. 



Among plants which are most fiequpnlcd by butterflies 

 are those following : — Seium spectabilc, S. Sicholdii, 

 Reseda odorata (mignonette), Cistus ladaniferiis, Lini- 

 nanthcs Dotiglasii, Borago officinalis (Borage), Pulmonaria 

 ojjiciiialis (lungwort), Viola odorata (sweet violet), 

 Alysstiin maritiinum (sw-eet Alyssum), Phacelia tanaccli- 

 folia, Gilia tricolor, Gilia nivalis, Aster Amcllus, and 

 Helianthus (sun-flowers) ; but almost all flowers that pro- 

 duce honey or nectar are visited by butterflies as well as 

 bees, though the construction of some flowers prevents the 

 butterflies and bees from reaching the nectar secreted in 

 them. Among " honey " flowers may be mentioned Apple, 

 Apricot, Peach, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Raspberry, Black- 

 berrv, Anchusa italica, Arabis, Wallflower, Crocus, Snow- 

 drop, Godetia, Lupin, Magnolia, Maple, Salvia, Phlox, 

 Scabious, Sage, Malope, Ivy, Cercis Siliquastrum (Judas 

 tree), Tilia vulgaris (lime), common Thyme, Tropacoluws 

 niajiis and miinis, Wistaria sinensis, Acer pseudo-platanus 

 (sycamore), Vitis vinifera (grape vine), Fragaria (straw- 

 berry), C)«tisus, Ribes (currant), Acacia, Clarkia, Ribes 

 grossularia (gooseberry). Asparagus, Trifolium (clover), 

 CoUinsia, Cucumis (cucumber and melon), Genista, 

 Ncpeta Glechoma (ground ivy). Erica (heather), Lepto- 

 siphon. Allium (onion), and Vicia (vetch). If it be desired 

 to attract butterflies permanently to the garden, means 

 should be taken to prevent sparrows becoming numerous, 

 as these birds have been observed in the act of eating the 

 perfectly developed butterflies. 



The Philippine Journal of Science for July (iii.. No. 3) 

 contains several important papers, notably one by Assist. - 

 Surg. Garrison on the prevalence and distribution of the 

 animal parasites of man in the Philippines, and another 

 by Dr. Strong on the diagnosis of .African ticli fever and 

 the differentiation of the speciem of human spirocha:tcs. 



It has been found by Bail and others that blood serum, 

 and particularly the serum of pathological e.xudates, may 

 favour infection by micro-organisms. Thus a germ-free 

 exudate, harmless in itself, may, if mixed with a non- 

 harmful dose of a pathogenic bacterium, cause a fatal 

 infection. Bail has supposed that substances derived from 

 the bacteria are present in the exudate, which neutralise 

 or antagonise the natural defences of the body ; to such 

 substances the name of " aggressins " has been applied. 

 Cole and Smirnow have found that normal pigeon and 

 rabbit sera exert an " aggressive " effect with the pneumo- 

 coccus, and suggest that this may therefore be due to the 

 natural toxic action of serum, and not to the hypothetical 

 aggressins derived from bacteria in serum exudates (Bull. 

 Johns Hopkins Hosp., September, 190S, p. 249). 



Dr. F. a. Bather was mentioned in a brief note 

 (Nature, October 15, p. 609) on Mr. A. H. Clark's paper 

 on the nomenclature of crinoids. The note apparently 

 suggested that he had attempted to revise the names of 

 the crinoid genera, which number some 500, and that, in 

 Mr. Clark's opinion, he was only right in two cases. This 

 is not the case. The facts are stated by Dr. Bather as 

 follows : — " In his most useful revision of the nomencla- 

 ture of the recent crinoids, Mr. Clark refers to my essay on 

 ' Pentacrinus : a Name and its History ' (i8g8), which 

 dealt with the numerous names applied at different times 

 to five genera, and apparently he agrees with me as to 

 the names to be applied to four of these genera. As to 

 the fifth, I may have been wrong in adopting Encrinus 

 fiiim C. F. Scliulze ; but that is a matter of opinion." 



Mr. F. a. Lucas, curator-in-chief of the museums of 

 the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, in his report 



NO. 2035, vol.. -81 



for 1907 directs attention to the opening of the new 

 eastern wing of the main building. He adds that, for 

 want of sufficient case-room, he has found it impossible 

 to put the natural exhibits In the condition in which he 

 should like to see them. He hopes, however, that in the 

 course of the next two years it will be possible to do 

 more In this respect than it has been found practicable to 

 accomplish during the past decade. The museum sent a 

 collecting expedition to Venezuela and Trinidad, of which 

 an account will be found in the report, which also con- 

 tains a history of the rise of the Brooklyn Museum. 



We have received from the publishers — Messrs. Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd. — two samples of a series of coloured 

 pictures of farm animals, reproduced in chromollthography 

 from paintings by Mr. J. Macfarlane. Each picture 

 measures 30 inches by 20 inches, and the animal occupies 

 nearly the whole length of this space, so that the series 

 Is suitable for display in large rooms, such as schools and 

 colleges. The animals depicted are all prize-winners or 

 champions, those shown in the samples received being 

 the shorthorn " Sweetheart " and the Ayrshire " Adam- 

 hill Bertha 2nd." The reproductions appear singularly 

 successful, and as the surface Is highly glazed, the pictures 

 can be framed and hung without glass. In connection 

 with this subject it may be mentioned that, on the closing 

 of the exhibition at Earl's Court, the Hungarian Minister 

 of Agriculture presented to the natural history branch 

 of the British Museum a number of the beautiful miniature 

 models of domesticated horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and 

 poultry executed by Mr. Georges \'astagh, of Budapest. 



The female crayfishes of the genus Cambarus inhabiting 

 .■\merica east of the Rocky Mountains have long been 

 k^iown to difi'er from their relatives of other parts of the 

 world by possessing special receptacles for the sperm in 

 the shells ; the sperm in other species being deposited on 

 the general surface, of the shell. The examination of a 

 Cuban and a Mexican species has now enabled Mr. E. A. 

 Andrews to state (Proceedings of the Washington Academy 

 of Science, vol. .x., p. 167) that the presence of sperm- 

 receptacles Is common to all the representatives of Cam- 

 barus, as it Is to the American lobster. These chambers, 

 although occurring In both groups on the under surface 

 of the body, do not, however, correspond structurally, the 

 receptacle in the lobster being an external space roofed 

 over by the annular plate of the seventh thoracic segment, 

 w-hereas in the crayfishes It is a na:row pocket excavated 

 in the same plate. 



In a supplement to the Journal of the South .African 

 Ornithologists' Union for 1908, issued as a separate 

 pamphlet of the Bird Protection Committee of the union, 

 Mr. Alwin Haagner discusses the economic relations of 

 the local birds-of-prey and the treatment they deserve at 

 the hands of the agriculturist and stock-owner. Through- 

 out the world most birds-of-prey, both diurnal and 

 nocturnal, are the subject of suspicion or persecution, and 

 It appears that quite recently the Transvaal Game Protec- 

 tion Association offered a reward for the destruction of 

 hawks of all kinds, a proceeding which gave rise to a 

 protest from the author of the present pamphlet. With 

 the possible exception of Pel's fishing-owl, which may kill 

 guinea-fowls, all the nocturnal species are wholly 

 beneficial, as are also very many of the diurnal group, in- 

 cluding all the vultures. A certain number of diurnal 

 birds-of-prey, such as the crested hawk-eagle and the 

 bateleur eagle, are partially beneficial and partially 

 harmful, while a small group, including most of the eagles 

 and a few hawks, is held to be wholly mischievous. 



