October 21, 1909J 



NA TURE 



305 



common with the Solenostomidae, the Fistulariidae, the 

 Aulostomids, and the Centriscidje, these families forming 

 with the Lophobraachii a natural group, the " Solen- 

 ichthyes " of Regan. 



The scapular arch is cartilaginous to a much greater 

 t^xtent than is the case in other Teleosteans, but a small 

 ossified scapula is to be found as well as a coracoid. 



The three anterior vertebrae are immovably joined 

 together, their neural arches being firmly bound by sutures 

 with long dentations ; in addition, the two anterior ones 

 are fixed to the expanded clavicle. The vertebra; bearing 

 the interspinous bones for the dorsal fin are provided with 

 secondary transverse processes behind the primary ones, 

 thus enlarging the surface which gives attachment to the 

 powerful muscles of the dorsal fin, the chief agent in 

 swimming. 



After a paper by Dr. S. Hadwen on Texas fever in 

 cattle, and its cure by the use of drugs, the day's pro- 

 gramme closed with the reports of the special committees 

 on grants. 



The meeting on Monday, .'\ugust 30, was opened by 

 Prof. A. B. Macallum, who read a paper, illustrated by 

 numerous lantern-slides, on palaeobiology and the age of 

 the earth. 



Prof. C. J. Patten followed with two papers : — (1) on 

 the pre-nuptial plumage in Calidris arenaria, illustrated by 

 lantern-views of the sanderling at different periods ; (2) on 

 the germinal disc in naturally incubated eggs of Passer 

 domesticiis. Due reflection of the facts that nests (or, in 

 the case of those birds which make no nest, the soil on 

 which the eggs are deposited) vary to an extraordinary 

 extent in their heat-retaining properties ; that the protect- 

 ing egg-shells varv strikingly, not only in their thickness, 

 but in their porosity and other structural peculiarities ; 

 and, lastly, that avian embryos vary to a considerable 

 extent as regards their vitality when heat is withdrawn 

 from the shell, has led the author to think that the method 

 of studying avian embryology by means of the artificial 

 incubator is not always the most trustworthy. He there- 

 fore described the changes which he observed during the 

 first six hours in a clutch of naturally incubated eggs of 

 the house-sparrow (Passer domesticus). 



The next paper, on the role of visual function in animal 

 and human evolution, was, in the absence of the author. 

 Dr. G. M. Gould, taken as read. 



Prof. S. H. Reynolds read a paper on the British 

 Pleistocene Canid^. Three species are found, tiie wolf, 

 the fox, and the .Arctic fox. There is no evidence of the 

 existence in Britain in Pleistocene times of any animal 

 that could be called a dog. The jaw described as Lycaori 

 aiiglicus is thought by the author to be better regarded 

 as a somewhat abnormal wolf. While, apart from any 

 difference in size, the skull of a fox is readily distinguished 

 from that of a wolf or dog by the depressions in the post- 

 orbital processes of the frontals, it is extremely difficult, 

 if not impossible, to find any valid distinctive character 

 between dogs and wolves. The most useful character, for 

 which we are indebted to Studer, is the orbitofrontal angle. 

 He regards as belonging to wolves skulls in which this 

 angle measures 40°-45°, and as belonging to dogs skulls 

 in which the angle is greater than 45°. The author's 

 measurements, while confirming Studer 's contention that 

 the angle in question tends to be decidedly less in the wolf 

 than in the dog, show that the distinction is not absolute, 

 and cannot be relied on in all cases. 



The programme for the last day of the meeting, Tues- 

 day, August 31, opened with a paper by Mr. C. F. 

 Rousselet, on the geographical distribution of Rotifera. 

 The author showed that the results of recent investiga- 

 tions point more and more to the fact that the Rotifera 

 enjoy a cosmopolitan distribution, which is not limited to 

 continents, but extends to all places on the surface of the 

 earth where suitable conditions prevail. Wherever search 

 has extended in Europe, America, Africa, India, China, 

 .Australia, and even the north and south polar regions, 

 the same genera, and even species, have been met with, 

 and it is not possible to speak of any typical or peculiar 

 rotatorian fauna for any continent, zone, or region. 



The very erratic appearance of rare or uncommon species 

 in widely separated places seems to show that distance is 

 no obstacle to their distribution, provided only that they 



NO. 2086, VOL. 81] 



find suitable conditions. To account for such a distribu- 

 tion over the whole of the globe, it has been supposed 

 that most species of Rotifera can be dried up and their 

 bodies carried by the wind, as dust, for long distances, 

 and then come to life again on landing in suitable surround- 

 ings. This Mr. Rousselet showed to be a very erroneous 

 generalisation of the fact that a very few species of 

 bdelloid Rotifera, and in particular Philodina roseola, are 

 capable of secreting a gelatinous envelope in which they 

 can resist drought for many months, and come to life 

 again on being placed in water. The author's experience 

 has shown him that the vast majority of rotifers die 

 immediately on being dried, and do not revive after com- 

 plete desiccation ; but their eggs, and in particular their 

 resting eggs, can stand a prolonged state of desiccation 

 and also freezing, and can therefore readily be transported 

 by the wind or by aquatic birds and other animals, and 

 will hatch when deposited in suitable pools of water. In 

 his opinion it is by this means that the cosmopolitan dis- 

 tribution of the Rotifera over the world has in the course 

 of time been brouglit about. 



Dr. J. Pearson read a paper on the processes of auto- 

 tomy in the Crustacea, and Prof. H. Jungersen communi- 

 cated an account, by Dr. J. Schmidt, of the distribution 

 of the fresh-water eels (.Anguilla) throughout the world. 



The following papers were, in the absence of the authors, 

 taken as read : — Dr. F. A. Dixcy, on the parallelism 

 between the n\'mphaline genera .^delpha and Chlorippe ; 

 and Mr. W. J. Dakin, histology of the eye of Pecten. 



In the afternoon Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner delivered a 

 lecture on coral-reefs, illustrated by numerous lantern- 

 views. 



Two resolutions were passed by Section D during the 

 meeting at Winnipeg : — 



(i) " The zoological section of the British .Association 

 wish to record their sense of the danger caused by the 

 approach of the Norwegian rat, which threatens the wheat 

 industry of western Canada, and to urge the Governments 

 concerned to take immediate steps to organise the 

 e-xtermination of this dangerous pest." 



(2) " In view of the enormous importance of the fisheries 

 of Canada in connection with her prosperity and her rapidly 

 developing position as the great source of the food supply 

 of the Empire, and appreciating the danger of exhaustion 

 which menaces certain of the fisheries, the members of the 

 zoological section of the British Association for the 

 .Advancement of Science, now in meeting in Winnipeg, 

 desire to congratulate both the Dominion and the Provincial 

 Governments upon the work already accomplished in con- 

 nection with the study of the food-fishes, upon the establish- 

 ment of a marine biological station on both the Atlantic 

 and Pacific coasts, and upon the cooperation with the 

 Government of the United States in an International Com,- 

 mission from whose labours much may be expected. 

 -At the same time, the niembers of the section are of the 

 opinion that further and more extensive efforts in all these 

 directions are urgently needed if certain of the fisheries, 

 notably that of the Pacific salmon, are to be maintained 

 even at their present condition of productiveness. For the 

 frt-iming of satisfactory and effective regulations for the 

 utilisation and conservation of the food-fishes a complete 

 knowledge of their life-history is absolutely necessary, and 

 the section desires to impress on the Governments con- 

 cerned the immediate need for an extensive prosecution of 

 investigations along this line, for greater facilities for the 

 scientific study of the fisheries, especially those of the 

 Pacific coasts, and for a continued cooperation of the 

 Dominion Government with the governments of the 

 provinces and also those of the United States in all efforts 

 looking towards the conservation of the fisheries, one of 

 the most valuable natural resources of Canada." 



GEOGRAPHY AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 

 'T^HIS section was presided over this year by Colonel Sir 

 Duncan A. Johnston, K.C.M.G., C.B., formerly 

 director-general of the Ordnance Survey of the United 

 Kingdom, and, as usual, the opening address dealt with 

 matters of which the president had been made intimately 

 cognisant through his life-work. After briefly referring to 



