70 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 81. 



total number of fellows on the list was 3744 

 and the income for the financial year was over 

 £10,000. 



TIDAL WAVES IN THE PACIFIC, 



The Eastern papers quote from the Oregon 

 Gazette a description of a tidal wave which has 

 been seen at Victoria and along the North Pa- 

 cific coast, doubtless caused by the recent 

 Japanese earthquake. On June 15th the resi- 

 dents at the mouth of Eogue Eiver witnessed 

 a series of tidal waves. The fishermen, out 

 in the river with their boats, noticed soon af- 

 ter noon a series of waves coming into the 

 river, increasing the volume of water con- 

 siderably. The waves continued to grow in 

 size until they became dangerous, and boatmen 

 had to watch carefully to keep from being 

 swamped. Between two and three o'clock the 

 waves were from three to six feet high. The in- 

 rushing volume of water made itself felt for 

 over a mile up the river, beating against the 

 banks in waves several feet high, while the 

 water of the river was backed up for several 

 miles. The disturbance lasted all the afternoon, 

 being at its height from two to three o'clock, 

 gradually diminishing until the waves disap- 

 peared about six o'clock. During the afternoon 

 the bar and sea were smooth, with a light swell 

 running. A number of the largest waves in the 

 river were timed, and it was found that they 

 came abovit a mile apart and travelled the mile 

 in about three minutes. 



A correspondent of the Washington Star 

 writes from Honolulu that the western coast of 

 the island of Hawaii was visited by tidal waves 

 of destructive force from 7 a. m. to 2 p. m. on 

 June 15th. At Keanhou the water reached 

 points 35 feet above the sea. 



The shocks of the earthquake were, it ap- 

 pears, registered by instruments in Italy. 



PROTECTIVE SOUNDS AND COLORS, 



In the July number of Natural Science Mr. R, 

 I. Pocock describes the stridulating organ in 

 the Indian and African scorpions and argues 

 that it is protective in character. He writes : 

 ' ' Since the organs that have been here described 

 are equally well developed in both males and 

 females, and appear in the young long before 



the attainment of maturity, there is no reason 

 to suppose that they are of a sexual nature, 

 serving, like the chirrup of the cricket or the 

 call of the cuckoo, to inform the one sex of the 

 whereabouts of the other. If this were the 

 case we should expect to find, firstly, that the 

 organs were exclusively confined to one sex, or, 

 at all events, better developed in it than in the 

 the 'other ; and, secondly, that they put in an 

 appearance either just before or simultaneously 

 with the reaching of the adult stage. Again, 

 in spite of the opinion of many authorities, who 

 maintain that the existence of a sound-produc- 

 ing organ implies of necessity the existence of 

 an auditory apparatus in the same individ- 

 ual, we can only assert again that there 

 is not a particle of evidence that either the 

 large spiders or the scorpions can hear the 

 sounds that their own stridulating organs emit. 

 All the available evidence goes to show that in 

 these groups of arachnids the organ is brought 

 into use when its possessor is under the influ- 

 ence of irritation or fright, exactly as in the 

 case of the rattlesnake's rattle. Like the snake 

 too, both the scorpions and the spiders are fur- 

 nished with highly developed poison glands, 

 and it is a well known fact in natural history 

 that animals so gifted are frequently rendered 

 conspicuous by bright and staring colors, so 

 that they may not be destroyed by carnivorous 

 creatures in mistake for other harmless and 

 edible species. Nature, in fact, for purposes of 

 protection, has labeled them with her poison 

 badge ; and apparently with the same end in 

 view, she has supplied the rattlesnake and the 

 large spiders and scorpions with a sound pro- 

 ducing apparatus, which, when in action, serves 

 as a danger signal to meddlesome intruders, 

 warning them to beware of hostile interfer- 

 ence." 



On the other hand it appears from experi- 

 ments made by Mr. Frank Finn that the lizard 

 eats indiscriminately plain-colored and bright- 

 colored butterflies, the supposed protective col- 

 oring not being of use in this case. 



NEUROLOGIC NOMENCLATURE. 



The following Report of the Committee on 

 Neuronymy, Prof. Burt G. Wilder, Chairman, 

 was adopted unanimously by the American 



