EDITORIAL. ogj 



There is a great dearth of readable books on Indian Natural History subjects, 

 the standard works so far pubhshed are admirable in themselves but pre- 

 suppose a knowledge of the subject on the part of the reader and as such are 

 unsuited to the majority of the pubUc. 



In making a plea for Scientific Literature such as could be read and assimilated 

 by the ordmary layman we would quote the words of the late President Roosevelt 

 who was, among many other thmgs, an ardent naturalist : " Very few scien- 

 tists have written interestingly and these few have usually feft apologetic 

 about it. Yet sooner or later the time wiU come when the michty 

 sweep of modem scientific discovery will be placed by scientific men with 

 the gift of expression at the service of intelligent and cultivated laymen. In- 

 deed I beheve that already science has owed more than it suspects to the 

 unconscious Hterary power of some of its representatives, for instance in regard 



to evolution where their predecessors have created 



hardly a riple Darwin and Huxley succeeded in effecting a complete revolution 

 in the thought of the age. I beheve that the chief explanation of the difference 

 was very simple in that Darwin wrote what was interesting to read." 



It is not too much to hope that Roosevelt's prophecy will be fulfilled au') 

 that the time will come when the scientist will write not alone for his brother 

 scientist but also for the wider brotherhood of his fellowmen. This hope has 

 akeady been fulfilled not only in this Journal but in others and in this con- 

 nection we would invite attention to the very interesting article on Some 

 Parasitic Flies written by Harold Russell in the July number of the Quarterly 

 Review. We hope to induce IVIr. Harold RusseU to wTite on the subject of 

 Indian Parasitic Fhes in this Journal. 



The Society receives from time to time not only the Journals of learned Socie- 

 ties, but also Government publications of various kinds and from various coun- 

 tries. From the supplement to The Federated Malay State GovER^^MENT 

 Gazette we extract the following : — 



Zoological Expeditions. The expenditure on Museums during the year 

 amounted to .S35,483. Expeditions for zoological purposes were made to Pen- 

 insular Siam, to the Endau and ICumpin Rivers in Pahang, to the " One 

 Fathom Bank " off the Selangor coast, to Pulau Jarak in the Straits of Malacca, 

 and to Sarawak. The expedition to Penmsular Siam was one of considerable 

 importance, and produced large results, several new species being comprised 

 in the collections, while the expedition to Sarawak resulted in the addition of 

 some 1,600 specimens of vertebrates, many of which are of great rarity. 



Botanical Work. A very extensive Botanical collection from lower Siam 

 was forwarded during the year to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, but 

 little other work was done"^in this branch,' partly owing to the pre-occupation 

 of the staff ^vith zoological work, and partly to the enormously increased cost 

 of paper, of which large quantities are requu-ed for botanical work. 



Public Health. The work done by the Malaria Bureau was severely handi- 

 capped by the sickness which is the unavoidable concomitant of such work, 

 but much valuable information was collected. The great amount of field work 

 done, in spite of sickness and shortage of staff, is indicated by the foUowmg 

 figures :— . 



Breeding places found and examined .7V rrp 



Larvae identified microscopically iqIio 



Adults bred out and identified • • , ' , . •, 



Much increased interest in the work of the Bureau has been shown by outside 

 workers and others. 



An interesting and somewhat disturbing question raised in the course of the 

 field work during the last two years is as to whether there is not a danger 

 of domesticating the Anophohne as a result of anti-malarial clearing and dram- 

 age work as at present carried on. During the whole of 1913 Anopholines were 



