i68 



NA TURE 



[August 5, 1909 



welcome indication of the progress being made in this 

 department. Tlie observations, whicli extended to 591 

 subjects, have been tabulated on the plan recommended by 

 Dr. John Beddoo, and have been examined by the aid of 

 the index of nigrescence adopted by the same authority, 

 and also by the index of M. CoUignon. According to the 

 former, the people of these Surrey parishes turn out to 

 be four times as fair as the fairest people of Scotland ; 

 according to the latter the result is inconclusive, the reason 

 being that the outstanding feature of the record is the 

 predominance of medium eyes and the comparatively high 

 percentage of brown hair. On the whole, girls are slightly 

 darker than boys, and as the difference lies mainly in 

 eve-colour, this is possibly a sex characteristic ; and there 

 seems to be some connection between red hair and medium 

 eyes. The author suggests a third method of examination 

 in addition to those of Beddoc and Collignon. The paper, 

 on the whole, shows a decided aptitude on the part of the 

 author for statistical work of this kind, and it may be 

 hoped that she will follow up the subject, largely increas- 

 ing the area of her inquiry and the number of subjects. 



One of the most interesting of the numerous writings 

 to which the recent Darwin anniversaries have given 

 occasion is the first article in the current number of the 

 Quarterly Review. The article, which is by Prof. Poulton, 

 discusses the various criticisms that have been directed 

 against the Darwinian theory both in early and in recent 

 times. The author passes in review the work of Weis- 

 mann, of Mendel, and of de Vries, showing the relation 

 of the results obtained by each of these investigators to 

 the conclusions reached by Darwin. He demonstrates by 

 an ample series of quotations that the idea of " muta- 

 tions " was constantly present to Darwin's mind, and that 

 he only rejected the supposition that they might be con- 

 cerned in the production of new species after giving the 

 fullest consideration to the whole question. Prof. Poulton 

 concludes, on several lines of evidence, including that of 

 palaeontology, that the mutationist theory of evolution is 

 untenable, and that the only explanation of the course of 

 evolution which really accounts for the facts is the prin- 

 ciple of the accumulation of small differences by natural 

 selection, as maintained by Darwin and Wallace. He is 

 inclined to attach weight 10 de Vries 's distinction between 

 " elementarv species " and varieties, as exemplified by their 

 different behaviour in relation to Mendel's law, but he 

 considers that the only fundamental change in the original 

 Darwinian doctrine which is actually valid is that brought 

 about by Weismann's denial of the transmissibility of 

 acquired characters. 



A FIRST volume of Transactions has been issued by the 

 Liverpool Botanical Society, in which are published 

 several papers read before the society, and a biographical 

 list of deceased Lancashire botanists, prepared by the 

 secretary, Mr. A. A. Dallman. A communication by Prof. 

 R. J. Harvey-Gibson on the problem of photosynthesis 

 concludes with a reference to experiments supporting the 

 hypothesis that formaldehyde is produced in the leaf from 

 carbon dioxide by electric currents generated by the chloro- 

 phyll. Messrs. J. A. Wheldon and W. G. Travis con- 

 tribute a list of hepatics for South Lancashire. 



In the course of an article in the Sitztmgsberichtc der 

 kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna (vol. 

 cxvii., part viii.), describing certain fungi collected in 

 Java, Prof. F. von Hohnel adduces convincing evidence 

 to show that there has been indiscriminate naming of 

 tropical fungi, due partly to great variation in the species, 

 partly to the examination of insufficient or dried material. 

 Thus, with regard to fungi growing in the nests of white 

 NO. 2075, VOL. 81] 



ants, all the portions of agaric material collected were 

 referable to a single species, which the author assigns to 

 ]'oh'ai'ia eurhiza ; two species of Xylaria were also found 

 in the nests, and a species of the nature of a Hypocrea. 

 Another variable species is determined as an Oudemansiella. 

 .\mong the new species identified are a Sph^rocreas and 

 a Corditubera. 



We have received a copy of the schedule and rules of 

 the International Agricultural Exhibition to be held at 

 Palermo (Buenos Aires) by the Sociedad Rural Argentina 

 from June 3 to July 31, 1910, under the auspices of the 

 Government of the .Argentine Republic, in celebration of 

 the emancipation of the Argentine, May 25, 1810. The 

 conditions of entry of live-stock, implements, &c., are 

 clearly set forth, and full information is given for intend- 

 ing exhibitors. 



The education committee of the Durham County 

 Council has issued a report on further experiments on 

 the feeding of dairy cows at Offerton Hall, by Messrs. 

 F. P. Walker and S. H. Collins. The effect of brewers' 

 grains has been again tested, both on the quantity of 

 milk produced and on the percentage of butter-fat present. 

 Mr. Collins also shows, in another experiment, that boric 

 acid can get into milk if the cows are fed on food which, 

 like Indian cotton cake, contains much of that substance. 



The reports on experiments with crops and stock carried 

 out during the past year at the Midland Agricultural and 

 Dairy College, Kingston-on-Soar, and in the contributing 

 counties, have just been published, and they show a very 

 commendable zeal and activity on the part of the staff. 

 The experiments deal with varieties of mangolds, potatoes, 

 swedes, and oats, and also with the manuring of swedes 

 and oats, and are designed to assist the farmers in select- 

 ing varieties of crop and the combinations of manure 

 likely to prove profitable. 



An interesting series of papers by Dr. Juritz has been 

 appearing in recent issues of the Agricultural Journal of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, discussing the soils of Cape 

 Colony. Large numbers of chemical analyses and a 

 certain number of mechanical analyses are quoted, and 

 references are made to the special agricultural character- 

 istics of some of the soils. Whilst the work in question 

 forms by no means a complete soil survey, it marks a 

 beginning, and shows that the Cape agricultural authori- 

 ties are fully alive to the necessity of making systematic 

 <'X.iminations of their soils. 



A NUMBER of bulletins have reached us from the United 

 States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology, 

 including papers on the codling- moth in the Ozarks (E. L. 

 Jcnne), the striped cucumber beetle, Diabrotica vittata. 

 Fab. (F. H. Chittenden), the hop flea-beetle, Psylliodes 

 punctulata, Melsh. (F. H. Chittenden), the spring grain- 

 aphis, Toxoptera graminum, Rond. (F. M. Webster), and 

 the wheat-straw worm, Isosoma grande, Riley (F. M. 

 Webster and G. I. Reeves). A very useful pamphlet gives 

 a list of all the publications issued from the Bureau since 

 it was established in 1863. 



The Journal of Agricidture for South Australia for June 

 publishes the report of the experiments made at the 

 Roseworthy College for the seasons 1907-q. The most 

 important experiments are naturally those on wheat. Land 

 values in many parts of South Australia are rising, and 

 the old plan of growing wheat as the main crop with 

 frequent fallows is no longer so profitable as before. The 

 experiments show that the fallow is not necessary, but can 

 be displaced by another crop ; a rotation system has there- 

 fore to be evolved. The average rainfall is 174 inches. 



