July 22, 1909] 



NA TURE 



107 



have nested, and it is not improbable that the nightjars 

 may have laid in a recently made clearing. The Selborne 

 Society desires to make it known that its work is by no 

 means limited to birds, but that antiquities, as well as 

 many other subjects, come within its purview. 



The New York Zoological Society has recently issued 

 a special "Wild-Life Preservation Number," dealing with 

 the efforts that have been recently made, alike in the 

 States and in British Columbia, to preserve a remnant of 

 the big-game fauna of the country. The year under re- 

 view is a notable one, on account of marking the estab- 

 lishment of no fewer than five new game-reserves on the 

 North American continent. By special enactment, the 

 prongbuck, of which it is estimated that above 5000 head 

 still remain, has been placed on the totally protected list ; 

 but it is a question whether the law will be obeyed in 

 remote districts. If not, the only course is to form a 

 reserve in the special habitat of this remarkable and in- 

 teresting species. 



It is surprising how long it takes to acquire a complete 

 knowledge of the structure even of an animal so thoroughly 

 investigated as the frog. It is not many months since the 

 existence of Reissner's fibre in the canalis centralis of the 

 central nervous system of this animal was first announced 

 by Nicholls, and now we learn that the frog also possesses 

 a nervus terminalis, morphologically similar to that of 

 fishes. For this information we are indebted to Herrick, 

 who contributes a short paper on the subject to the May 

 number of the Journal of Comparative Neurology and 

 Psychology. The nerves in question, for they are, of 

 course, paired, are extremely short and slender, and may 

 be observed in transverse sections lying beneath the olfac- 

 tory bulbs, but they appear to be quite distinct from the 

 olfactory nerves. They are composed of non-medullated 

 fibres. In the next paper in the same journal, R. E. 

 Sheldon records the occurrence of the same pair of nerves 

 in the carp. 



Students of embryology will find much to interest them 

 in two recent numbers of the Zeitschrift fiXr wissenschaft- 

 liche Zoologic (vol. xcii., parts iii. and iv.). A memoir 

 by Erwin Taube on the development of the Euphausids 

 deals with the segmentation of the egg up to the time 

 of gastrulation, and constitutes an important contribu- 

 tion to our knowledge of cell-lineage in the earlier stages 

 of ontogeny. A kindred topic is ably handled by E. 

 Martini in a study on the constancy of the histological 

 elements in Oikopleura longicauda. The author maintains 

 that in many species certain cell-individuals in every 

 specimen come to occupy exactly the same position in the 

 body, always show the same relations to their surroundings, 

 and can also be recognised as homologous by their histo- 

 logical characters. He refers to Goldschmidt's recent work 

 on the central nervous system of Ascaris as one of the 

 best examples of such constancy, and finds a similar con- 

 dition of things in the nervous system, notochord, and 

 certain other organs of Oikopleura, while the endostyle 

 does not conform to the general rule. 



In the May number of the journal of Experimental 

 Zoology, Raymond Pearl sketches out a comprehensive 

 scheme for the study of the physiology of reproduction in 

 the domestic fowl, and makes a commencement with a bio- 

 metrical investigation of the shape of the eggs laid by a 

 particular pullet. The first egg was very abnormal in 

 shape, but the normal form was ultimately attained by a 

 progressive regulatory change which is shown to follow a 

 logarithmic curve. The author concludes that the shape 

 of the egg is determined by the muscular activity of the 

 NO. 2073, VOL, 81] 



walls of the uterus. The physiology of nematocysts is 

 dnalt with in the same journal by O. C. Glaser and C. M. 

 Sparrow, whose investigations support Grosvenor's view 

 that the discharge of the thread-cells is brought about by 

 osmotic pressure. They also afford further proof of the 

 fact, recently demonstrated by Toppe, that the threads are- 

 capable of penetrating the tissues of other animals ; but 

 it appears that in order to do this they must make their 

 punctures before eversion is complete. 



We learn from the Transvaal Agricultural Journal (No. 

 27) that Phylloxera vastatrix has appeared in the Trans- 

 vaal vineyards, and may be expected to spread and do ai 

 considerable amount of damage. Fortunately the Transvaal 

 possesses an excellent Agricultural Department, and all 

 proper steps to cope with the pest will be taken. In an 

 article in the journal Mr. Davis, the Government horticul- 

 turist, describes phylloxera-resistant vines that would be- 

 suitable for the country and should in future be planted. 



The Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope 

 recently directed attention to the ravages caused by the 

 Antheraea tyrrhca caterpillar in certain districts, and pub- 

 lished an appeal from the Government entomologist, Mr. 

 Lounsbury, for material. The caterpillar comes as a plague, 

 but between its intervals of abundance it appears to be held 

 in check by some parasitic enemy. Two parasites are 

 known, and others are being looked for as the simplest and 

 most effective way of getting rid of the caterpillar. 



The necessity for looking after fruit trees properly is 

 well brought out in a Bulletin (No. 253) recently issued by 

 the Michigan State Agricultural College. Upon many 

 Michigan farms there are said to be mature apple orchards- 

 that have been neglected for many years, and have produced 

 no income beyond an occasional small crop of apples of 

 uncertain quality. A detailed account is given of the 

 methods, chiefly involving pruning and spraying, by which 

 three such orchards were improved and made to yield an 

 average net profit of 104 dollars per acre per annum for a 

 period of five years. 



The results of field experiments in Shropshire and 

 Staffordshire, and at the Harper Adams Agricultural Col- 

 lege, have just been issued by the Staffordshire Education 

 Committee. They include manurial trials on grass land, 

 potatoes, mangolds, and swedes, and are on the lines 

 generally adopted in such cases. Unfortunately, no analyses 

 of the soils are given, nor any descriptions sufficient to 

 enable anyone to apply the results to any other case. How- 

 ever, if the intention was simply to show that artificial 

 manures increase crops the experiments have been a success. 

 The experiments carried out at the college are fuller, and' 

 some interesting notes are added from the various depart- 

 ments on black scab of potatoes, by Mr. Malthouse ; black 

 leg in cattle, by Mr. Wilson ; and agricultural chemical 

 analyses, by Mr. B. F. Davies. 



It has always been recognised in England that an 

 agricultural college should have its own farm, but in Scot- 

 land the conditions have hitherto been rather different, and 

 it has been held that the college could do without one. 

 We now learn, however, from the North British Agricul- 

 turalist, that the Glasgow College of Agriculture has de- 

 cided to acquire a farm at Kilmarnock, to be used both 

 for teaching and experimental purposes. The sum of 

 3000!. will be needed for equipment, but the Scotch Educa- 

 tion Department has promised to contribute one half, on 

 condition that the other half can be raised locally. The 

 experiment is attracting a good deal of attention among 

 agriculturists in Scotland. 



