173 
Nov. 30, 1910. The Queensland Natukalist. 
serves ; ‘ give them a week or two of warm weather, say, 
+ 40° F., and they are content to be frozen up for years.’ 
It is not a little surprising to find in these regions Floscu- 
laria cornuta and Hydatina seiita, and it may be legitimate 
to inquire whether Captain Scott’s previous expedition 
had anything to do with the introduction of these species.” 
PROTECTION OF NATIVE FAUNA AND FLORA. 
In view of the rapid destruction of many of our 
native animals and plants, the following extract from 
The Journal of Botany (Sept., 1910) may be of interest : — 
“ We learn from the Selhorne Magazine that a reservation 
for alpine fauna and flora is being made in Switzerland. 
A small band of naturalists and botanists have devoted 
themselves to this work of preservation and have suc- 
ceeded in setting aside as a National Park the wild and 
beautiful valley of Cluoza in the Engadine. This valley, 
situated at the foot of the lofty Piz Quartervals and sur- 
rounded by natural walls of rock, will have nothing to fear 
henceforth from civilization in the shape of railways, 
monster hotels and factories. Here, too, the extermina- 
tion of wild flowers will be strictly prohibited, and the 
chamois and even perhaps the bear will roam unmolested,” 
PHOTOGRAPHING THE FLIGHT OF INSECTS. 
The August number of Knowledge contains some ex- 
cellent articles, among which may be mentioned one by 
Dr. Alfred Gradenwitz on Photographing the Flight of 
Insects. The writer describes an ingenious method dev- 
eloped by a Parisian scientist, M. Lucien Bull, which in- 
creases the speed of the cinematograph to almost incredible 
figures. “ Whereas the ordinary apparatus takes from 
thirty to fifty instantaneous pictures during a second, 
this high-speed cinematograph, in fact, enables as many 
as two thousand views to be taken during this short interval. 
It is thus possible to decompose the most fugitive i^heno- 
mena, such as the motion of insect Avings, as far as can be 
desired, and by projecting the component pictures on a 
screen in more or less rapid succession, to study their very 
mechanism. It may be said that by investigating the 
flight of insects, it is hoped to arrive at a true understanding 
■of many problems met with in aviation.” 
