pposed to belong to the Echinoderms. What can be ore unlike each other than male and female of Bonellia iridis? How long did it take to ascertain the true lation of the so-called Hectocotylus to the Cephalopods? nd only a few years ago a simple appendage of a ell-known mollusc, Tethys, was described as a special enus by one of the most distinguished French zoologists. uch being the difficulties it can hardly be wondered at that, or instance, the same species of a Pycnogonid has had the onour of being described under nine specific and generic ames, the greater part of them even by the same author, ecause he ignored that male and female differed, and mat their larval stages again differed from each other nd from the adult.

It was then that I planned the publication of a great eries of monographs under the title "Fauna and Tora of the Gulf of Naples." Several of my assistants nd myself set to work, each one selecting a group of wer marine animals. The main object of these monoraphs was to create a firm basis for systematical knowedge, but in the meantime I left everybody free to ncorporate as much of anatomy, histology, and mbryology as he thought convenient, thus giving reater variety to the monographs, and leaving the athors free to follow up those lines of research for hich they had the greatest interest.

In

I wished to lay great stress upon illustrations. ooking over the existing iconography of the lower marine animals, and comparing them with those of terestrial animals, the inferiority of existing illustrations of he former was apparent, and especially as regards the eproduction of the colouring of the living marine organsms. Colour in animals may have relatively little scientific interest compared with structure, nevertheless t has a meaning, and its good reproduction facilitates greatly the recognition of the species. Besides, practical reasons spoke very much in favour of good coloured illustrations as a means to facilitate the sale of the monographs, which were to be published on subscription, and as the safest way for covering the great expenses which were to be incurred.

I remember in this regard a conversation which I had with the great German publisher, Wilh. Engelmann, of Leipzig, to whom I offered the commission of all the publications of the Zoological Station. When discussing the project of the "Fauna and Flora" I asked his advice as to the number of copies to be printed, and proposed myself 500. Engelmann almost fainted when I pronounced that number. "My dear friend," exclaimed he, "you are going to ruin yourself! There is not the remotest possibility of such a number! Of such costly publications as you project hardly one hundred copies are sold, and if we print 150 copies, it will be more than enough." I remonstrated, and insisted on at least 300, and as I intended to pay all the expenses, Dr. Engelmann on his side kindly reducing the cost of commission to five per cent., I felt pretty safe, to find the necessary number of subscribers in the course of time-a confidence which was not in the least shared by Dr. Engelmann, who called me a Phantast, and a Utopian-denominations to which I had already become so much used that they made hardly any impression upon me. And I have only to regret that I did not insist on my first proposition, for the first volume of the "Fauna and Flora," the monograph on the Ctenophora by Prof. Chun, has been out of print for almost ten years, and single copies are sold at double the original price.

The secret of this success consisted largely in the magnificent plates which accompanied this and the following volumes. It is true that the high scientific standard of these monographs and the low rate of subscription for them caused their sale among all the more important libraries and universities, but the large number

of public and private libraries who subscribed to the "Fauna and Flora" did so partly out of sympathy for the Zoological Station, and partly out of enthusiasm for the splendid illustrations which accompany the greater part of the nineteen published volumes, and are executed in the most masterly way by the celebrated lithographic firm of Werner and Winter, at Frankfurt-on-Maine. In fact, it is not too much to say that the world-wide fame of this firm has partly been created by the first volume of the "Fauna and Flora of the Gulf of Naples," whose illustrations were all personally engraved by Mr. Winter himself.

It is doubtless true that the cost of production of these plates is very great; nevertheless, I may be permitted to state that the balance-sheet of the "Fauna and Flora" shows how justly I appreciated the chances when I began this large publication; and though since the last four or five years the number of subscribers has decreased, chiefly by death, the Zoological Station hopes, nevertheless, to continue the series of monographs in the same way for many years to come.

The volume which I have under review is a very fair specimen of the value of these plates, for I hardly say too much if I state my conviction that nowhere have illustrations of Copepoda been produced to rival those of Dr. Giesbrecht's volume. One can hardly look on the first five plates without wishing that some of these fantastical and splendid figures might find their way even beyond the range of scientific literature, and serve as decorative elements in art and industry, where birds, butterflies, and flowers already occupy such an enormous field.

Thirty years have elapsed since the appearance of Claus's well-known monograph of the free-living Copepoda. Many smaller, and even some larger works have been published in the interval, enlarging the field to such a degree that it seemed advisable to divide the whole group into several parts for a new monographical study. Dr. Giesbrecht selected the pelagic marine forms instead of the littoral ones, partly on account of their better qualification for anatomical and ontogenetical researches, partly because they are yet less known than the others, and lastly, because he thinks they include the more ancestral forms of the whole entomostracous crustaceans. The bulky volume lying before us forms only the first part of the monograph, treating the systematical and faunistical chapters. But as such it gives much more than its title announces, for not only have the pelagic Copepoda of the Gulf of Naples been examined, but the whole mass of forms resulting from the oceanic cruise of the Vettor Pisani, an Italian corvette, and captured and carefully preserved by Capt. Chierchia, so well known among biologists, are included in Giesbrecht's work. Altogether, this volume treats of 298 species of pelagic Copepoda; 125 belong to the fauna of the Gulf of Naples, whilst 229 have been captured by Capt. Chierchia all over the globe. If one compares the last number with that of the Challenger expedition, where only 85 species of Copepoda are reported, one can imagine with what industry Capt. Chierchia went to work, and how carefully Dr. Giesbrecht examined the material.

The descriptions of the author are extraordinarily detailed; nevertheless he obviates great bulkiness and repetition, having introduced abbreviations for homological parts of the body and the extremities, which are also adopted on the plates. Moreover, the single species are not described one after the other, as is usually the case, but those belonging to the same genus are treated as a whole, their differences being treated in a diagnosis and by the help of synoptical lists (pp. 706-766) and indication of the plates where their specific characteristics are figured, the determina

tion is greatly facilitated. As to nomenclature and synonymy, Giesbrecht is very rigorous in favour of priority, thus restoring even many older names to species described by Claus. A complete list of all de scribed species, with complete indication of bibliography, is to be found on pages 676-705. The 54 plates contain 2300 figures, drawn masterly from nature by the author himself, and the first five plates, as mentioned above, give an idea of the variety of colour and form of appendages which exists even among these small marine organisms.

The systematical views and arrangements of Giesbrecht differ considerably from those of former authors. It is well known that the near relationship of the parasitical with the free-living Copepoda has been recognised already by H. Milne-Edwards; but it was Zenker who established systematically the two great groups of Natantia or Gnathostomata, and Parasita or Siphonostomata, a division which hitherto has been universally accepted. Giesbrecht points out the difficulties with which this division meets when one considers natural affinities, and thinks it impossible to adopt the manifold varieties of the construction of the oral appendages as a fundamental basis for classification. He proposes to divide the whole class into two great groups-the Gymnoplea and the Podoplea. The Gymnoplea are to be recognised by the following characteristics:-(1) chief body division occurring between the segment of the 5th foot-pair and the genital segment; (2) abdomen without rudiments of feet; (3) 5th foot-pair of the male transformed to an organ of copulation, genital organs asymmetrical; (4) heart in most cases present; (5) female carrying rarely ovisacs; (6) extremities plentifully articulated and provided with appendages. On the other hand, the Pleopoda are distinguished by (1) chief body division before the fifth pair of feet; (2) this latter rudimentary never serving as copulation organ; (3) male genital openings symmetrical; (4) heart always wanting; (5) female carrying always one or two ovisacs; (6) extremities rather scarcely provided with articulations and appendages. The great group of the Gymnoplea is further divided into two tribes-the Amphaskandria (male with symmetrical antennæ: family Calanidae) and the Heterarthrandria (male on one side with prehensile antenna: families Centropagidæ, Candatidæ, Pontellida); to the family Centropagidæ are to be numbered all the Gymnoplea of fresh water. The description of the group of the Podoplea only takes up a small portion of the present monograph; therefore our author does not enter into a more detailed discussion of its classification, especially as not only all the littoral forms but most likely all the parasites belong to this group; he divides the group into two tribes-the Ampharthrandria (first pair of antennæ of the male symmetrical prehensile organs: families Misophriide, Mormonillidæ, Cyclopidæ, Harpactitidæ, Monstrillidae) and the Isokerandria (antennæ of the male similar to those of the female; genital openings of the female dorsally situated: families Ontæidæ, Corycæidæ).

The rich harvest of pelagic Copepoda made by Capt. Chierchia on the three years' expedition of the Italian corvette, Vettor Pisani, enabled our author not only to describe a great number of new or incompletely characterised species of former authors, especially Dana's, but it gave him the possibility of explaining his views on the geographical distribution of the group, which we will only sketch with a few words, since a larger discussion of these views is impossible on account of the necessity to enter on the general conditions of pelagic life. According to Dr. Giesbrecht there are three great districts in the distribution of the pelagic Copepoda: two arctic ones, north and south, whose boundaries are at 47 N. and 44 S., and the intermediate one. The number of species belonging to this latter one is by far the greatest, almost

85 per cent. of all known species, whilst the north. Art. contains 5 per cent., the south Arctic 1 per cent. In faunistic differences between these three districts r greater than those of the three oceans; nevertheles there occur also in the Atlantic and in the Pardic species peculiar to each of them, especially in their northers parts. Pelagic Copepoda occur down to a depth.. 4000 metres, and it seems that the boundaries of the above-named three districts stretch even down to these depths. Some species seem to live in very differer. depths, others exclusively near the surface; whether there are such that live exclusively in greater depths has r as yet been established. The character of the fauna de pending more on latitude than on longitude it seems re determining causes of their geographical distrib must depend chiefly on physical agents such as light at: temperature, but since the abyssal forms in the trop ca parts of the Pacific are not identical with those al te northern and southern seas, which live on the same or ditions of light and temperature, the difference in the three faunistic districts must be explained in part by still e causes. The distribution of other holopelagic anim. seems to be identical with those of the Copepoda. Accha ing to Giesbrecht one seems to be justified in attributing de causes of the daily vertical wandering of pelagic an.m.is to the influence of light, whilst the annual wandering depend on temperature; besides these periodical wancerings some pelagic Copepoda seem to exist as eggs greater depths and go slowly to the surface after theNauplius stage.

I refrain from entering here into any greater details of the 831 large quarto pages of the volume lying before se expressing only the hope that Dr. Giesbrecht may soon be able to publish his anato nical and embryological re searches on the same group in a second volume. But 15 editor of the "Fauna and Flora," I may be permitied wo congratulate the Zoological Station and science in general on the production of this volume, which answers fulto the programme of the whole series of monographs. I may be permitted to state here that another b volume, treating of the Gammarida of the Gulf of Naples and prepared by Prof. Della Valle, of the University! Modena, will soon follow the Copepoda of Giesbrecht and will examine in a complete way these interest crustaceans, including their embryology and anatomy Splendid plates accompany also the work of Della Vale and will give perhaps for the first time the varied and remarkable natural colouring of these creatures, generi only figured in outline and diagram by former authors. After Della Valle's monograph a large, highly inter esting, and most complete monograph of the Enter~ pneusta (Balanoglossus), by Prof. Spengel (Giessen,, be published. Most likely both these volumes will app this year. A very large work on the Cephalopods » Dr. Tatta is in preparation, and its first volume, containing the classification and grosser anatomy, accompanied most splendid plates, is nearly ready. A monograph by Dr. Burger of Göttingen, treating the Nemerteans, is ie in MSS., and the Ostracods, by Dr. W. Müller, of Greifs wald, are in the press; the Hirudinea by Prof. Apathy, Klausenburg, have been in hand for five years, a botanica monograph treating the Rhodomeleæ, by Prof. Falcão.. burg, of Rostock, is near completion; Prof. Ludwig wi contribute several volumes on the Echinoderms, of which most marvellous drawings by the artist of the Zoological Station, Mr. Mercoliano, have been prepared, and several other authors are engaged on other groups.

Some years ago a discussion took place at the British Asociation, whether it would be right to continue the grant for a table, and it was questioned whether the Zoologica Station at Naples was really destined for research and not rather an educational institution; if it were necessary to strengthen the arguments in favour of the first statement, I think the enumeration of the monographs of re

"Fauna and Flora of the Gulf of Naples," either already published (Dr. Giesbrecht's monograph is the nineteenth volume published) or in preparation may convince also those who may still be doubtful in this regard.

Later, and in another article, I may be permitted to discuss some questions regarding another great publication of the Zoological Station, the Zoologischer Jahresbericht, a discussion which will touch some of the most vital questions of scientific organisation.

ANTON DOHRN.

BRITISH ASSOCIATION, NOTTINGHAM
MEETING.

URTHER information has been forwarded since the

of Sections, of which the following statement is a summary:

play "Pharaoh." It is hoped that members will avail themselves of the invitation extended to them for this entertainment, and that it will induce them to remain in Nottingham, and take advantage of the excursions arranged for the following day. Other items worthy of mention are a special concert, which will be given by the Nottingham Sacred Harmonic Society on the Saturday night; and a garden-party, given by Mr. J. W. Leavers, in whose grounds some of the old rock-dwellings of Nottingham are to be seen. Geologists and naturalists will be interested to know that amongst the special local literature will be a little book entitled "Contributions to the Geology and Natural History of Nottinghamshire," which has been edited by Mr. J. W. Carr, M.A., with the assistance of local specialists. FRANK CLOWES.

SCIENCE IN THE MAGAZINES.

Permanganate on Sulphites and Thiosulphates," by G. E. Brown and W. W. J. Nicol; "The Relation existing between Chromium and Certain Organic Acids, and some New Chromoxalates," and on "The Action of Phosphorus Pentachloride on Urethanes," by Emil A. Werner; "The Occurrence of Cyanonitride of Titanium in Ferromanganese," by T. W. Hogg; "Hydrogen Flame-cap Measurements, and the Adaptation of the Hydrogen-flame to the Miners' Safety-lamp," by Prof. Frank Clowes. A general statement of the arrangement of work in this Section appeared in last week's NATURE. The only probable alteration is the shifting of M. Moissan's demonstration to Friday, September 15, and of the Bacteriological discussion to Monday, 18.

An interesting paper is promised to Section E by Mr. Cope Whitehouse, a distinguished American citizen of New York and Cairo.

The presidential address in Section F, on "The Reaction in favour of the Classical Political Economy" will be mainly inspired by the idea that the principles and methods of the classical and orthodox economists have only been modified and supplemented, not displaced, by recent writers; and that both theoretically and practically there are signs of a reaction in favour of the older doctrines as against socialism.

The probable arrangement of work in Section H is as follows:-On Thursday, September 14, the President's address will be delivered, and a few papers on physical anthropology will be read. On Friday, 15, Dr. Hans Hildebrand, Royal Antiquary of Sweden, will read his paper on "Anglo-Saxon Remains, and the Coeval Ones in Scandinavia," and this will be followed by archeological papers. On Monday, 18, various papers will be taken. On Tuesday, 19, Dr. Munro will describe "The Structure of Lake Dwellings," and Mr. Arthur Bulleid will give an account of "The Recently Discovered Lake or Marsh Village near Glastonbury."

Papers which have not been already mentioned in Section H are "Anthropometric Work in Schools," by Prof. Windle; "The Prehistoric Evolution of the Theories of Punishment, Revenge and Atonement," by Rev. G. Hartwell Jones; "Pin-wells and Rag-bushes," by Mr. Hartland; and "The Tribes of the Congo," by Mr. Herbert Ward.

The Local Secretaries wish to announce that the local programme and the list of hotels and lodgings are ready for issue, and may be obtained by application at the British Association Office, Guildhall, Nottingham, until September 9; after that, application should be made at the Reception Room, Mechanics' Institution. It may also be stated that the local committee has engaged the Theatre Royal for Wednesday night, September 20, when Mr. Wilson Barrett's Company will give the new

zines. There are, however, one or two important articles which claim attention. in the Contemporary Review Prof. A. Weismann writes on "The All-Sufficiency of Natural Selection," his essay being an answer to two articles by Mr. Herbert Spencer directed against Prof. Weismann's views on heredity and natural selection. The essay is not merely controversial, but also a clear explanation of Weismannism. The following is the concluding paragraph :

I hold it to be demonstrated that all hereditary adaptation rests on natural selection, and that natural selection is the one great principle that enables organisms to conform, to a certain high degree, to their varying conditions, by constructing new adaptations out of old ones. It is not merely an accessory principle, which only comes into operation when the assumed transmission of functional variations fails; but it is the chief principle in the variation of organisms, and compared to it, the primary variation which is due to the direct action of external influences on the germ-plasm, is of very secondary importance. For, as I previously said, the organism is composed of adaptations, some of which are of recent date, some are older, some very old; but the influence of primary variations on the physiognomy of species has been slight and of subord. inate importance. Therefore I hold the discovery of natural selection to be one of the most fundamental ever made in the field of biology, and one that is alone sufficient to immortalise the names of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. When my opponents set me down as an ultra-Darwinist, who takes a onesided and exaggerated view of the principle discovered by the great naturalist, perhaps that may make an impression on some of the timid souls who always act on the supposition that the juste-milieu is proper; but it seems to me that it is never possible to say a priori how far-reaching a principle of explanation is: it must be tried first; and to have made such a trial has been my offence or my merit. Only very gradually have I learned the full scope of the principle of selection; and certainly I have been led beyond Darwin's conclusions. Progress in science usually involves a struggle against deep-rooted prejudices: such was the belief in the transmission of acquired characters; and it is only now that it has fortunately been overcome that the full significance of natural selection can be discerned. Now, for the first time, consummation of the principle is possible; and so my work has not been to exaggerate, but to complete.

Two articles of scientific interest appear in the Fortnightly Review. One, by Mr. W. Bevan Lewis, on "The Origin of Crime," deals with drunkenness, insanity, epilepsy, and similar affections in their mutual relationship to crime; in the second,. entitled "The Climbing of High Mountains," Mr. W. M. Conway enthusiastically supports mountaineering in unexplored regions. Ordinary official surveys do not supply the detailed information with regard to buttress and fold in which resides the clue of mountain structure. It is for mountaineers to make up the deficiency.

vations over the North Atlantic the disturbance was tracked from the tropics, along the coast of the United States, and eventually to our own shores. Doubtless the Weather Bureau of the United States will undertake a thorough and exhaustive study of the cyclone which has but just occurred.

On the 28th ult. a hurricane passed over the more northerly of the Azores Islands, and caused great damage.

THE REV. Leonard Blomefield, father of the Linnean Society, died at Bath on September 1, in his ninety-first year.

AN International Exposition will be held in the city of San Francisco, State of California, beginning on January 1, 1894, and continuing for six months. The general classification will be as follows:-Department A—Agriculture, food and its accessories, forestry and forest products, agricultural machinery and appliances; horticulture, viticulture, and pomology; fish, fisheries, products and apparatus of fishing. Department B— Machinery; mines, mining, and metallurgy; transportationrailway, vessels, vehicles; electricity and electrical appliances. Department C-Manufactures; liberal arts-education, literature, engineering, public works, constructive architecture, music and the drama; ethnology, archæology; progress of labour and invention. Department D-Fine arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, decoration. Department E-Isolated and collective exhibits. Mr. M. H. de Young is the Director-General and President of the Executive Committee, and all applications for space, &c., must be made to him, addressed DirectorGeneral, California Midwinter International Exposition, San Francisco, California, U. S. A.

It is a custom to break clay vessels as a funeral rite in modern Greece, and there are proofs of the existence of similar customs among various Asiatic, African, American, and Australian peoples. Prof. N. G. Politis has investigated the origin of the practice (Journal of the Anthropolgical Institute, August), and has been led to conclude that it is connected with the purifications which now, as of old, form part of the funeral ritual. In a great many places, people on returning from a funeral or visiting a house of mourning, wash their hands, or are purified in some way with water, the vessels and towel used being afterwards destroyed. Prof. Politis is therefore of the opinion that the breaking of vessels is based upon two leading notions: (1) that everything used in the ritual of purification ought to be destroyed, lest the efficacy of the purificatory act be annulled through the profane use afterwards of things employed in its performance; and (2) that objects given to the dead must be destroyed, to guard against the possibility of their use for other purposes which annul their dedication to the dead, the belief being that all chattels must perish by fracture or mutilation of some kind in order to serve the purpose of a dead person, becoming through such mutilation unfit for living use.

IN "Midsummer Night's Dream," Shakespeare refers to Russet-pated choughs many in sort, rising and cawing at the gun's report," but there appears to be a difference of opinion among ornithologists as to the bird so distinguished. So far back as 1871 Mr. J. E. Harting, in his "Ornithology of Shakespeare," interpreted the expression as meaning the grayheaded jackdaw, but the reviewer of the book in these columns remarked at the time that "without doubt the poet had in his mind the real Cornish chougb, and the expression is quite accurate. Russet-pated' is having red pattes, or feet (e.g. the heraldic croix pattée, not a red pale or head), a feature equally inapplicable to chough or daw, while the red feet of the former are as diagnostic as can be." Mr. Harting returns to the subject in the Zoologist for September, and, in support of his view that the gray-headed jackdaw, and not the red-legged chough, is referred to, brings forward evidence to show (1) that the

name chough was not exclusively bestowed upon the bird with red bill and red legs, but was also applied to the jackdaw; (2) that "pated" means "headed," and cannot be read "patted" for "footed"; (3) that "russet" is not red, though it may be reddish and is often used for gray; and (4) that the habit of the birds referred to by Shakespeare as "many in sort, rising and cawing," indicate a mixed flock of jackdaws and rooks, and not choughs and rooks.

WE have received from the Deutsche Seewarte vol. xv. of Aus dem Archiv, containing the report upon the work of that institution for the year 1892. In the department of maritime meteorology, especially, much activity has been shown, notwithstanding the serious obstacles experienced by the lamentable cholera epidemic. The various publications under this head include sailing directions for the Indian Ocean, daily synoptic weather charts for the North Atlantic (in conjunction with the Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen), and the collection of observations made beyond the sea. The observations received

from ships alone amounted to an aggregate of 192 years, and these are used in the discussion of the meteorology of the ocean, which for this purpose is divided, according to the usual practice, into squares of ten degrees of latitude by ten of longitude. The department of weather telegraphy is also conducted with marked activity, and daily and monthly reports are regularly published. In addition to these operations, and the testing of numerous meteorological instruments and chronometers, many valuable discussions are undertaken, some of which are contained in the monthly Annalen der Hydrographie, &c. We shall refer later on to one or two of the special discussions included in the present

volume.

As regards the behaviour of pathogenic forms in vegetable tissues, Russell states that, with but few exceptions, they were unable to exist for any length of time under these conditions, Lominsky, however, who conducted no less than 300 experi ments on the vitality of anthrax, the typhoid bacillus, and staphylococcus pyogenes aureus in plants (Wratsch 1890), found that these organisms were not only able to exist but to multiply. Of especial interest was the behaviour of the anthrax bacillus when inoculated into agapanthus leaves. The bacilli grew into long threads, and at the end of seven days signs of spore formation were detected, both spores and threads being found later, not only at the point of inoculation, but within the healthy cells of the soft part of the leaf; moreover, after fortytwo days' residence in the leaf, their virulence, as shown by inoculation into animals, was in no way impaired. Although saprophytic bacteria, as well as pathogenic forms, have not so far been found capable of inducing any disease in plants when artificially introduced, yet bacteria have been isolated which are especially pathogenic to plants. Amongst these may be mentioned the B. hyacinthi of Wakker affecting the bulbs and leaves of hyacinths, and the more recent B. hyacinthi septicus of Heinz, which affects also the flower clusters. The pear blight has been traced to a distinct bacillus, and Savastano describes a bacillus (B. olex-tuberculosis) causing destruction of tissue and formation of spaces in the tissue of numerous fruit trees, whilst closely allied to this form is a bacillus which produces tumours on the Aleppo pine. The list, although limited, is receiving constant additions, and there is a wide field open for researches on the bacterial diseases of plants, which may, moreover, be prosecuted without the intervention at present of the anti

vivisectionist !

HERR F. VON HEFNER-ALTENECK, in the Electrotechnische Anzeiger, makes a provisional statement about a system of electric control of clocks which appears likely to solve this much-attempted problem in a satisfactory manner. The main difficulty up to the present has been the necessity for a special