i8 



NATURE 



[July i, 1909 



there were seventeen days with the temperature above 70°, 

 and in May of the. present year there were ten such warm 

 days, the thermometer exceeding 80° on three days, whilst 

 in June the highest temperature was 74°. 



The latest contribution of Prof. W. Trelease to the 

 elucidation of the genus Agave, published in the Trans- 

 actions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis Cvol. 

 xviii., No. 3), deals with the Mexican species yielding 

 fibre known as " Zapupe." Although in three cases 

 flowers were not obtainable, five botanical species with 

 local names are distinguished primarily according to the 

 characters of the spines. The species Zapupe, Lespinassei, 

 Deweyano are only known in cultivation, but Endlichiana 

 and aboriginum are indigenous. Bulbils are described for 

 two species, and it is stated that all appear to be freely 

 bulbiferous after flowering, thus affording " pole " plants 

 as well as offsets. 



The list of new garden plants for 1908, issued, accord- 

 ing to precedent, as appendi.x iii. of the Kexv Bulletin 

 (1909), has only recently been received. It furnishes the 

 correct names with brief diagnoses, gives the reference 

 to the original publication and the introducer, and also 

 indicates which plants are in cultivation at Kew and would 

 probably be available for distribution in the regular course 

 of exchange. About one-third of the entries refer to 

 orchidaceous plants, many being garden hybrids, and 

 others mere varieties or forms. Two natural and several 

 garden hybrids are noted under the genus Saxifraga. 

 Messrs. Sanders are credited with the introduction of three 

 palms and the cycad Encephalartos Woodii. 



An investigation of the medullary rays in the beech, 

 the oak and Aristolochia sipho, with the object of tracing 

 the contour of the rays, has been carried out by Dr. K. 

 Zijlstra, who communicates his results in Extrait du 

 Recueil dcs Travaiix hotaniques Nicrlandais (vol. v.). 

 The contours of the rays in the oak and beech obtained 

 by a comparison of tangential sections are fairly regular, 

 being interrupted in places by fibre layers. They show an 

 irregular but distinct increase in height towards the 

 cambium. The height of the rays in Aristolochia stems 

 approximates to the length of the internodes, if, as is 

 assumed, the separate overlying portions are regarded as 

 part of one original ray. 



Dr. p. Lowell contributes to the Bulletin of the 

 American Geographical Society (May) the first portion of 

 a description of the plateau of the San Francisco peaks 

 with reference to its effect on tree life. The peaks, which 

 are for the most part cones of volcanic origin, rise out 

 of a plateau having an elevation of 7000 feet. The desert 

 nature of the region has kept it free from human destruc- 

 tion and the dry climate has preserved in a remarkable 

 manner the fossil remains. The altitudinal distribution 

 of the trees forms the chief subject of the paper. The 

 zones of vegetation are said to topographise the country 

 as with contour lines. The yellow pine, Pintis poiiderosa, 

 dominates the slopes from 6500 feet to 8500 feet. Then 

 the Douglas fir, the silver fir, Abies concolor, the curious 

 cork fir, Abies subalpina, and the aspen share the ground 

 up to an elevation of 10,300 feet. Higher still, the Engel- 

 mann spruce and fox-tail pine, Pinus aristata, ascend to 

 the tree limit, about 11,500 feet. 



Mr. J. Parkinson contributes to the last number of 

 the Journal of the African Society a collection of folk- 

 tales current among the Yoruba-speaking peoples, which 

 form an interesting supplement to the classical account of 

 this people by the late Major Ellis. Like the Basutos, 

 Pondos, and races beyond the African area, lightning is 

 NO. 2070, VOL. 81] 



associated with a bird, and the thunderbolt is the subject 

 of a special cult. The tortoise as the wise, helpful anima! 

 here takes the place of the hare, iaclcal, or frog in Bantu 

 and Basuto tradition, several tales dealing with his clever- 

 ness and supplying etiological myths to account for the 

 various marks still to be seen on his carapace. 



In the June number of Man the Rev. J. Roscoe describes 

 a remarkable cult of the python at Uganda. The floor 

 of its shrine was found to be carpeted with sweet-smelling 

 grass, and on one side was the sanctuary of the serpent 

 and its guardian, the latter being a woman pledged to 

 a life of celibacy. A log and stool for the python, covered 

 with a piece of bark-cloth, lay on the floor of the shrine, 

 and a round hole was cut in the wall for the ingress and 

 egress of the reptile. It had been trained to resort to 

 this shrine, where it was regaled with milk, fowls, and 

 small goats. The snake is supposed to control the river] 

 and its fish, and offerings are made to it to ensure succ^s, 

 in fishing. During worship a medium is dressed in pieces 

 of bark-cloth, a goat-skin apron, and a cloak of leopard 

 skin. The spirit of the python then is supposed to enter 

 him, when he wriggles about on the ground like a snake 

 and utters prophecies, which are unintelligible to the 

 worshippers, and are explained by an interpreter. The 

 python is also supposed to confer offspring, and if he be 

 neglected punishes his votaries by bringing sickness on 

 their children. When a suitable offering is presented he 

 prescribes the use of certain herbs, which effect a cure. 

 The cult thus presents striking analogies to that of 

 iEsculapius, who, according to Prof. J. G. Frazer, was 

 originally a serpent, the anthropomorphic god provided 

 with a serpent symbol being a later development of the 

 cult. 



Miss Nina Layard, already well known for her re- 

 searches in the Saxon cemetery at Ipswich, describes in 

 the June number of Man a series of flint implements dis- 

 covered by her on the sea-coast at Larne, co. Antrim. 

 This site had already been explored by Messrs. Du Noyer, 

 Knowles, and Gray, whose discoveries have led to pro- 

 tracted controversy, and the age and character of the speci- 

 mens are still matters of uncertainty. They do not 

 correspond closely with either the pala;oliths or neoliths 

 of England, and though many acres of land are covered 

 by these raised beaches, nothing in the shape of a ground 

 weapon has been found. The presence of many flints in 

 a rolled condition leads to the inference that they are 

 older than the formation in which they were found, and 

 the occurrence of these specimens, which many authori- 

 ties hold to be Neolithic, at such enormous depths in 

 gravel is subversive of all English experience. Miss 

 Layard, in the circumstances, is content to designate them 

 " the older series," because since they were dropped on 

 this shore there must have occurred, not only a gradual 

 sinking of the beach and the formation of gravels 20 feet 

 in depth containing the worked flints, but also a sub- 

 sequent elevation until the surface of the gravel stands 

 no less than 20 feet above high-water mark. In the same 

 connection, the account in the same number by Mr. 

 Worthington G. Smith of a Palaeolithic implement found 

 near the British Museum in 1902 is interesting. It is 

 remarkable in this specimen that an oval flint pebble 

 forms part of the basis of the implement, the maker of 

 the tool, by clever flaking, having designedly left this 

 pebble intact. 



The geological section of the Belfast Naturalists' Field 

 Club organised on June 19 an excursion to Scawt Hill 

 for the study of the volcanic neck there. The geological 

 structure of the district is that common to the plateau 



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