296 



NA TURE 



[September 2, 1909 



reached, and the Ninnod was taken along the edge of 

 the Great Ice Barrier, the enormous cliff of ice towering 

 high above the vessel's crow's nest. The pack ice barred 

 the way to King Edward VII. Land, where it had been 

 intended to winter, so the vessel steamed to McMurdo 

 Sound, and winter quarters were established at a spot 

 twenty miles north of the point at which the Discovery 

 expedition wintered. The party which ascended Mount 

 Erebus made valuable observations of the volcano. In the 

 old crater, above the southern end of which rises the 

 active cone, a number of curious mounds were seen which 

 proved to be fumeroles. The steam from the funieroles is 

 converted into ice as soon as it reaches the surface of the 

 snow plain,, and the result is the production of ice mounds. 

 The active crater of Erebus was found to be between 

 800 feet .ind 900 feet deep, with a maximum width of 

 half a mile, and at the bottom were seen three well-like 

 openings from which the steam is projected. The height 

 of the volcano was found to be 13,350 feet, and immense 

 moraines ascend the western slope to a height of fully 

 1000 feet above sea-level. As the adjacent sea is at least 

 300 fathoms deep, this indicates that when at its maximum 

 development the ice sheet must have had a thickness of 

 not less tiian 2S00 feet. 



In Publication No. 60 of the Hull Museum Mr. T. 

 Sheppard figures a fine skull of Bison priscus recently 

 obtained from gravel at Kelsey Hill, Yorks. 



We have to acknowledge the receipt from Mr. B. B. 

 Woodward of a copy of his presidential address to the 

 Malacological Society upon the subject of Darwinism and 

 malacology. 



In the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 of Philadelphia for May Mr. J. P. Moore describes part 

 of a collection of polycha^tous annelids dredged in 1904 

 off southern California ; a large number of new species 

 are included in the collection. 



In the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society 

 Messrs. Heron-.Mlen and Earland continue their account 

 of the Foraminifera found in the sand at Selsey Bill, 

 Sussex. These include, not only recent, but also many 

 extinct forms from various geological horizons. 



In No. 191 of the Proceedings of the .American Philo- 

 sophical Society are included addresses on Darwin and 

 Darwinism delivered at a commemorative meeting held 

 at Philadelphia on April 23. In the first of these Mr. 

 Bryce, British Ambassador at Washington, gives interest- 

 ing personal reminiscences of Darwin and of the reception 

 accorded to the " Origin of Species " on its first appear- 

 ance. Mr. G. L. Goodale and Mr. G. S. Fullerton follow 

 on with addresses respectively devoted to the influence of 

 Darwin on the natural and on the mental and moral 

 sciences, while Mr.' E. G. Conklin winds up with the 

 world's debt to Darwin. 



In February last Dr. N. Annandale obtained on the 

 Orissa coast of India a number of small more or less 

 nearly globular organisms in the tide-wash. When placed 

 in water their shape changed from globular to conical, 

 and indicated that they were evidently pelagic sea- 

 anemones, although devoid of tentacles. The mouth is 

 conspicuous, forming a relatively long, narrow slit ex- 

 panded at one end, and the whole organism presents a 

 milky appearance, which conceals the internal organs. 

 Externally a vinous tinge, deepening into brown at the 

 aboral pole fwhich is perforated by a pore) was notice- 

 able. As these actinians, which are apparently adult, 

 although no gonads are visible, evidently indicate a new 

 generic and specific type. Dr. Annandale has described them 

 under the name Anactinia pclagica. 

 NO. 2079, VOL. 81] 



Invi'stigalo- sicariiis is the name proposed by Captain 

 F. H. Stewart in vol. i.. No. 4,. of Memoirs of the Indian 

 Museum for a new type of gephyrean worm of which 

 specimens were obtained by the .s.s. Investigator in the 

 Gulf of Manaar and off the .■\rakan coast. This annelid 

 is regarded as indicating, not only a new genus and' 

 species, but likewise a new order, which it is proposed to ' 

 designate by the uncouth title of " Investigatoroidea." " 

 This order is defined as gephyreans with an anterior ' 

 terminal mouth and posterior subterminal vent, and a 

 nervous system composed of dorsal cerebral ganglia and 

 two lateral nerve-cords. The replacement of the median 

 ventral nerve-cord by a pair of ventro-lateral cords is not 

 considered sufficient to bar the inclusion of the new 

 organism in the Gephyrea. 



Considerable interest attaches to an article in the 

 August number of the American Naturalist, by Prof. D. H. 

 Campbell, on the new flora of Krakatau (Krakatoa). 

 When the island was first visited by scientific men two 

 months after the great eruption of 1883, the whole surface 

 was buried under a layer of ashes and pumice averaging 

 qo feet in depth, and in some places reaching double this 

 di-plh. A clean sweep of living organisms was thus made. 

 F^xcept phosphorus and nitrogen, the elements necessary 

 for plant-life existed in the ashes. By 1886, when the 

 island was visited by Dr. Treub from Java, a number of 

 plants had already established themselves, slimy, blue- 

 green algoe being of special importance in preparing the 

 soil for higher plants. The plants in the interior were 

 found to be quite different from those near the coast, and 

 the preponderance of ferns was remarkable. Since 1897, 

 when another visit was paid, the progress of the new flora 

 has been rapid, this being especially, noticeable in 1906 in 

 the case of the forest trees, which make it evident that 

 the island will ere long be as densely afforested as ever. 

 Nitrogen-forming bacteria have plaj'ed an important part 

 in rendering the soil fitted for vegetation. , As regards 

 distributional agencies, there seems no doubt that the 

 earliest plant-immigrants, such as bacteria, blue-green 

 alga;, ferns, and mosses, were wind-borne, and the same 

 is probably true of the first phanerogams, Compositae, and 

 grasses to reach the island. On the other hand, ocean- 

 currents have probably been the chief agents in transport- 

 ing seeds and fruits, those of the strand-plants being almost 

 ceitainly water-borne. 



.'\n article on the American Forest Service contributed 

 by Mr. T. S. Woolsey to the Indian Forester (June and 

 July) for the information of foresters in British India will 

 certainly interest readers who follow the development of 

 scientific forestry. It is mentioned that the actual adminis- 

 tration of national forests in America by trained foresters 

 only dates back four years, and in that time opposition 

 has been overcome and public opinion educated by 

 the . publications which have • been liberally distributed.' 

 The general nature of arrangements for timber sales is 

 described, in detail, and the outlines for working -plans 

 on national forests are indicated. Research at the experi- 

 ment stations is concerned • with tree and stand studies, 

 run-olT and ground-water measurements, and meteorological 

 observations. 



In consequence of the observation that lumps of gum 

 are occasionally exuded by the bromeliad, Guzmannia 

 zahnii, an investigation of other plants belonging to the 

 same family was undertaken , by Mr. K. Boresch. It was 

 then found that several allied plants, notably Aechmca 

 pineliana, showed the same phenomenon. The gum 

 passages are situated in the cortex of the stem ; they 



