424 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1270 



footnotes, where tliey do not break tlie con- 

 tinuity of the descriptive text, and of adding 

 further geological information in an appendix 

 is useful in drawing attention to the geo- 

 logical value of an interpretation of the physi- 

 ography in a paper written primarily to ex- 

 plain and describe the land forms. This 

 method I adopted in " The Physiography of 

 the Middle Clarence Valley, ISTew Zealand."^ 



In the case of my paper " Block Mountains 

 in l^ew Zealand," to which Professor Rich 

 refers, the age of the covering strata in Cen- 

 tral Otago is uncertain within fairly wide 

 limits. The statement that they are probably 

 Oamaruian but possibly "Wanganuian would 

 not convey much definite information to 

 American readers. When I was preparing 

 the paper for publication the temptation to 

 discuss the age question was strong, and I 

 yielded to it. Eealizing that the discussion 

 would be out of place in the body of the 

 paper I placed it in an appendix, which, how- 

 ever, the editor wisely omitted. 



This article was not written with a dual 

 purpose. The geological significance of the 

 land forms of Central Otago, as well as the 

 closely related forms throughout 'New Zealand 

 had already received full attention in a paper 

 entitled " The Structure and Later Geological 

 History of ISTew Zealand," published in the 

 Geological Magazine.^ This and "Block 

 Mountains in N"ew Zealand" were in prep- 

 aration at the same time, the one frankly 

 geological, the other geographical. As such 

 the latter was intended for publication in a 

 geographical periodical and was offered to 

 the Eoyal Geographical Society, which was 

 imable, however, to find space for it in its 

 Journal. 



C. A. Cotton 



Victoria Univeksitt College, 

 Wellington, N. Z. 



"a wave of life" 



An interrelation of organisms somewhat 

 suggestive of Hudson's " wave of life " was 

 observable about the University of Montana 



iGeog. Jour., vol. 42, 1913, pp. 225-46. 



2 December 6, vol. 3, 1916, pp. 243-249, 314-320. 



Biological Station on Flathead Lake the past 

 season. 



During the summer of 1917 flowers bloomed 

 luxuriantly about the station grounds, and 

 humming-birds and butterflies visited the 

 flowers very commonly. Eodents were present 

 in normal numbers, but attracted no particu- 

 lar attention. 



Conditions were markedly changed during 

 the summer of 1918. Por unknown reasons 

 the rodents became very abundant. Pine 

 squirrels and chipmunks were everywhere pres- 

 ent. Spermophiles appeared on the station 

 grounds for the first time in the history 

 of the institution. The chipmunks quickly 

 cleared the ground of flowers and ascended to 

 the tops of trees to strip the honeysuckle vines 

 of their blossoms. Deprived of their natural 

 food in this vicinity humming-birds were 

 rarely seen and butterflies were very uncom- 

 mon. Pine squirrels kept the ground under 

 the pine trees well strewn with pine cones, but 

 the effect of this inroad upon the pine cones 

 was not so apparent upon other forms of life. 



Weasels, which were not observed, about the 

 station the preceding summer, were seen 

 several times during 1918. Great horned owls 

 hooted at night in the nearby tree tops. These 

 birds had not been reported for 1917. 



G. B. Claycomb 



University of Illinois 



QUOTATIONS 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF A WORKING DAY 



Gradual reduction of the hours of labor 

 from ten or nine to eight, and now to seven 

 or six, must have made many people wonder 

 whether some scientific basis might not be 

 found for the hours which should be worked 

 in various trades. Major A. C. Farquharson 

 raised the matter in the discussion on the 

 second reading of the Ministry of Health 

 Bill. Speaking as one who had spent the 

 greater part of his professional life in the 

 service of the miner, he expressed his astonish- 

 ment that members of the House of Commons 

 should be so ready to put forward the idea 

 that the number of hours a man should work 

 day by day was to be settled by the arbitrary 



