82 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. ' 
and die close around the dish. The paper is moistened from 
time to time with fresh formaline solution. 
An effective trap is made by placing a little mixture of 
honey and vinegar in a tumbler, and making a paper funnel 
to the fit the mouth of the same. A hole is then punched in 
the end, and the funnel placed in position, so that the hole 
is a little above the liquid. Flies will then swarm in through 
the hole. ; : 
Another and yet simpler method is to half-fill a number of 
tumblers with soapy water, over which a piece of paper, 
smeared on the undersurface with honey or treacle, should be 
tied. A hole in the centre of the paper forms an entrance 
through which the flies will swarm. 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
ASYMMETRY oF THE Ceracean Sxuty.—Frederick Houssay, 
in Anat. Anzeig, Vol. XXXVI., 1910, expounds an ingenious 
theory, similar to Kirkenthal’s, as to the origin of the asym- 
metry in the cetacean skull. The primitive Cetacean is sup- 
posed to have had a tendency to roll round on its axis; the 
flippers counteract this; the result is dissymmetrical pressure 
on the head, and this brings about a deformation of the skull. 
New Zeavanp Jape.—The largest specimen of jade known 
in any museum in the world is that in the American Museum. 
It was found in 1902, and weighs three tons, measures seven 
feet long and four feet wide, and, in fact, is the largest mass 
of jade, of which we have any record, that has ever been 
brought to civilised lands from anywhere. One of the greatest 
previously known is that in the British Museum, and the 
second largest piece known, which was found by Mr. G. F., 
Kunz in 1899, came from Silesia. This latter specimen is also 
deposited in the American Museum. Maori ornaments made 
of jade (green-stone) are well known. The largest deposits 
of this stone are found on the west coast: of the South (Middle) 
Island at Milford Sound, in boulders associated with, and 
presumably found in, a rock-matrix of chlorite schist. _ The 
boulders appear in the mountain streams and usually range 
in weight from a few ounces to fifty or sitxy pounds. In 
composition it is a silicate of lime and magnesia. It is a 
trifle less hard than quartz, but from its matted, felt-like 
structure is of extreme toughness, thus requiring much more 
manipulation to shape or polish than does quartz or agate. 
Much New Zealand jade has been worked into Chinese. art 
objects, but the greater part of the material used in China, 
whether green or white, came from the Kuen-lun Mountains 
in Turkestan, south of Khotan. No white jade has ever been 
