October 24, 190?.] 



SCIENCE. 



657 



color process, showing the protective re- 

 semblance and seasonal forms of butterflies, 

 and the natural attitudes of British insects. 

 There is an undoubted tendency on the 

 part of insects, and also of many other ani- 

 mals, not only to adopt the color tone of 

 their immediate surroundings, but also to 

 imitate the appearance of other insects so 

 as to escape the dangers threatening their 

 own species. Professor Poulton lucidly ex- 

 plained how the phenomena exemplified by 

 the slides can best be interpreted by the 

 theory of natural selection. Professor Mc- 

 Bride and Dr. Masterman summarized the 

 results of their investigations, extending 

 over several years, of the development of 

 the starfish. But on several important 

 points the two authors appear to have ar- 

 rived at opposite conclusions, and further 

 investigation is evidently needed. Pro- 

 fessor Ewart continued the interesting con- 

 tributions he has made to this section on 

 the subject of the inter-crossing of animals, 

 with an account of his experiments on dogs. 

 His main contention was that in the second 

 generation a purer offspring was obtained 

 than in the first ; but the general opinion 

 was that this conclusion was scarcely war- 

 ranted after so limited a number of experi- 

 ments. 



The address of the president. Sir Thomas 

 Holdich, in Section E (Geography) ought 

 to be of great service in this department, 

 insisting as it did on the necessity for the 

 introduction of more scientific methods in 

 geographical work, and especially in the 

 work of exploration, which may now^ be 

 said to have passed be3'ond its pioneer stage. 

 Mr. R. B. Buckley, in his paper on 'Colo- 

 nization and Immigration in British East 

 Africa,' gave an excellent example of the 

 practical uses to which geographical in- 

 vestigation may be put, if only conducted 

 on rigidly scientific lines; while Professor 

 Libbey, in the account which he gave— 

 admirably illustrated as it was by photo- 



graphs taken with intelligence and dis- 

 crimination—of his recent work in the 

 Jordan Valley, showed the instructive re- 

 sults which may be achieved by the scien- 

 tific method applied to pure geographical 

 investigation. Other examples pointing in 

 the same direction were the papers of Dr.. 

 Herbertson on the windings of the Even- 

 lode; Mr. Lloyd Praeger on geographical 

 plant groups in the Ii-ish flora ; Mr. Porter 

 on the Cork Valleys; and especially that 

 of Professor Watts on a buried Triassie 

 landscape, Charnwood Forest. Professor 

 Milne's brilliant account of his investiga- 

 tions into world-shaking earthquakes 

 showed the perfection to which his seismo- 

 logical records have attained, and the im- 

 portant discoveries which he has thus been 

 able to make as to the part played by these 

 disturbances in altering, not only the face 

 of the dry land, but also the bed of the 

 ocean. As might have been expected, the 

 subject of Antarctic exploration formed a 

 prominent feature in the meetings of this 

 section. Nothing could have been more 

 admirable than Dr. Mill 's exposition of the 

 various stages of our knowledge of the 

 South Polar region and of the actual re- 

 sults of exploration up to the present time ; 

 while Mr. Bruce, the leader of the Scottish 

 Antarctic Expedition, had a hearty and 

 thoroughly sympathetic reception when he 

 came forward to explain the objects and 

 equipment of that expedition, which, as 

 distinguished from others now at work in 

 the Antarctic, will be mainly oceanograph- 

 ical. The communication from Sir Clem- 

 ents Markham, with reference to a possible 

 search expedition for Captain Sverdrup, 

 was highly instructive— though, happily, 

 now that Captain Sverdrup has arrived 

 home, no such expedition will be required. 

 Dr. Johnston's account of the Survey of 

 the Scottish Lakes, which is being con- 

 ducted under the direction of Sir John 

 Murray, showed what a vast amount of ex- 



