486 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1377 



tions were made during the evenings of June 

 5 and 6, 1920, from a house boat on the 

 Tachin Eiver, in the district of Sarm Prarm, 

 Nakom Chaisri, Siam. A distinct flashing of 

 dark and light was observed. A whole tree of 

 flies would flash all together at regular inter- 

 vals of, by count with a watch, between 105 

 and 109 flashes a minute. 



Frequently entire trees filled with fireflies 

 are observed at the College of Agriculture, 

 Los Bancs, Lagtma, Philippine Islands and it 

 was at first thought by the writer that an 

 extremely rapid flashing in unison took place. 

 After, however, observing the distinct flashing 

 in unison of the fireflies in Siam it can be 

 stated with certainty that no such synchronal 

 flashing took place at Los Banos. 



Determinations made by H. E. Woodworth, 

 of the College of Agriculture, Los Bancs, on 

 fireflies from Siam, showed these flies to be 

 of the genus Calaphotia. Professor "Wood- 

 worth states that the firefly at Los Banos is of 

 the same genus, but of a different species. 

 Neither species has been determined. 



Otto A. Eeinking 



College of Agricultuke, 

 Los Banos, Philippine Islands 



I 



FRANZ STEINDACHNER 



i To THE Editor of Science: I read with 

 much interest the article of Dr. Jordan on 

 Eranz Steindachner. I had the great pleasure 

 of visiting Dr. Steindachner twice; once in 

 1878 and again twenty years later in 1898. 

 He was living in the simple way described by 

 Dr. Jordan on the occasion of both my visits. 

 His maiden sister at that time, however, was 

 living and was keeping house for him in a per- 

 fectly simple manner. 



I do not wish to speak of Steindachner's 

 great aehievemenits in ichthyology. I want 

 to add my little tribute to his value as a 

 friend. The simplicity of his life, the won- 

 derful clarity of his character and his de- 

 votion to his friends make him almost as re- 

 renowned as his achievements in the investiga- 

 tion of fishes. At the time of my last visit 

 he had achieved the full distinction of head 

 superintendent of the Eoyal Imperial Mu- 



seums. He enjoyed to a remarkable degree 

 the confidence of the Em.peror Franz Josef. 

 'Through a special permit from the imperial 

 palace I was permitted under his guidance to 

 visit the castle with all of its belongings in 

 which the heir to the throne was murdered 

 a few years before. 



I I was particularly struck with the amity 

 and friendship shown him by the people with 

 whom he worked. As a host he was the es- 

 sence of geniality and at the same time of 

 simplicity. I carried letters to him on my 

 first visit from friends in Harvard who knew 

 him when he was a resident of Cambridge. 

 He had a great admiration for this country 

 and he numbered many personal and profes- 

 sional friends on this side of the water. While 

 war broke up all political and many social re- 

 lations with Germany and Austria, I feel 

 quite certain all the personal friends of Dr. 

 iSteindachner on this side remained loyal to 

 him through his later years of sorrow and dis- 

 tress, due to the exigencies of the war. The 

 grief for him as a friend is more poignant 

 than the regret of his loss to science. 



H. W. "Wiley. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Chemische KrystaUographie. By P. Groth. 



Leipzig, "Wilhehn Engelmaim. Vol. I., 1906 ; 



IL, 1908; in., 1911; IV., 1917; V., 1919. 



4,443 pages, with 3,342 figures; Svo, cloth. 



All persons interested in crystallized sub- 

 stances will be delighted to know that this 

 monumental work, in the preparation of which 

 Professor Groth spent several decades, has 

 been finally completed. Notices of the publi- 

 cation of the first three volumes have abeady 

 appeared in Science.^ Vol. IV. was issued in 

 1917 and Vol. V. late in 1919. 



According to the original plan it was 

 thought that all the available material could 

 be conveniently published in four volumes; 

 the first two to be devoted to inorganic, and the 

 last two volumes to organic compounds. The 

 aromatic organic compounds, however, proved 

 to be much more numerous than had been 



1 Vol. XXV., 143-144; Vol. XXVIII., 843; Vol. 

 XXXIII., 253. 



