The Zoologist/4th series, vol 3 (1899)/Issue 700/Editorial Gleanings
EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
Mr. W.L. Sclater, the Director of the South African Museum at Cape Town, has prepared, for the use of his friends and correspondents, a 'List of the Birds of South Africa' (Cape Town, 1899). This list comprises the species of birds found within the area over which his proposed 'Fauna of South Africa' will extend. This area is thus defined:—"The northern limits of South Africa, as treated of in this work, will be a line drawn from the Cunéné River on the West to the Zambesi at the Victoria Falls, and thence along that river to its mouth. Within it will therefore be enclosed the British Colonies of the Cape and Natal, the two Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the southern half of the Chartered Company's territory, German South-west Africa, and that portion of Portuguese East Africa which lies south of the Zambesi." The number of species enumerated in this list is 775, to which, however, considerable additions will doubtless have to be made. The first volume, by Arthur C. Stark, M.B., containing Part I. of the Birds, will shortly appear, and it is hoped that that relating to the Mammals, by Mr. Sclater, will be ready for publication during the course of the present year. This work will be a worthy companion to 'The Fauna of British India,' edited by W. T. Blanford. The London publisher is Mr. R.H. Porter.
The Natural History Department of the British Museum have issued a small pamphlet, 'How to collect Mosquitoes' (Culicidæ), and doubtless any traveller or resident abroad who is willing to assist the Museum by sending specimens can freely obtain this useful guide for collecting, preserving, and transmitting. It contains much accurate zoological teaching. Mosquitoes or Gnats (strictly speaking the terms are synonymous) are the names popularly applied to the family Culicidæ (Diptera). Culicidæ are by no means the only blood-sucking Diptera, for the order also comprises the blood-sucking Midges (genus Ceratopogon, belonging to the family Chironomidæ), the Simulidæ, Tabanidæ, and bloodsucking Muscidæ (Glossina, Stomoxys, Hæmatobia). The females of all of these suck blood in the perfect state, while the males are usually harmless, though in the Tsetse-fly the blood-sucking habit is stated to be common to both sexes,[1] as has been asserted to be the case in certain species of Mosquitoes. The other blood-sucking Diptera, with the possible exception of Ceratopogon, are sufficiently distinct from Culicidæ in outward form to obviate any risk of confusion. In countries in which Mosquitoes abound they are recognized without difficulty. In England, however, where some seventeen species of the family occur, though not, as a rule, in any great abundance, or causing much annoyance by their bites, a large amount of confusion apparently exists as to the characteristics of a Mosquito, or, as it is more commonly called, a Gnat. This confusion is mainly due to the fact that the Midges (Chironomidæ), which, with the exception of the genus Ceratopogon, are perfectly harmless, often attract attention from the habit of the males of dancing in the air in swarms on fine evenings in spring and early summer, and, owing to their similarity in shape, size, and general appearance, are commonly mistaken for Gnats (Culicidæ). A good plate well exhibits the differences between the wing of a Mosquito or Gnat (Culex sp.) and of a Midge (Chironomus plumosus).
We have received from Messrs. Friedländer and Sohn, of Berlin, a complete set of their 'Naturæ Novitates' for 1898, bound in one volume. This well-known publication, which not only records current biological literature, but is also a priced catalogue by which very many separata may be obtained, is much enhanced in value and convenience by being issued in a yearly volume. A good index is appended, and one "made in Germany" is seldom to be despised.
By the death of Samuel Stevens, F.L.S., F.E.S., who died on August 29th, after a few days' illness, in his eighty-third year, many readers of this magazine will regret the loss of a friend, and of a very familiar figure at meetings of naturalists, especially at those of the Entomological Society and Entomological Club. At the first—with one exception—he was the oldest member; of the second he was practically at one time a preserver. As an entomologist, he was a collector and lover of the study rather than a scientific worker, and probably acquired more happiness from the pursuit than is obtained by many of the better known and more technical workers. At one time he conducted a Natural History Agency, and was broker in the sales of the enormous collections made by Bates and Wallace. As to the way he conducted this business, the late H.W. Bates has often spoken to the writer of the gratitude he felt for the exhaustive manner in which his interests were safeguarded by Stevens. As these old familiar faces pass away, we realize how the old order changeth, and how practically we are meeting new men and an almost new science. Many present naturalists will long cherish the remembrance of kindly Samuel Stevens.
In the 'Scientific American' there has recently appeared a memoir on "The Pearl-Button Industry of the Mississippi River," by Mr. Hugh M. Smith, of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. The manufacture of buttons from the shells of native fresh-water Mussels began in the United States in 1891. Button-making has now become one of the principal businesses along a section of the Mississippi nearly two hundred miles in length. There are about four hundred species of Mussels found in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, but comparatively few are now utilized in or are adapted to button-making. We naturally find complaints as to the treatment of the "golden goose." "Not the least injurious feature of the fishery is the gathering of small Mussels for market, and the incidental destruction of small shells that are not utilized, but left on the banks or the ice to die." Mussels have many perils to surmount. "Animals which are known to prey on the Mussels are Muskrats, Minks, Raccoons, and Hogs, the first and last being especially destructive. The freshets to which the Mississippi is periodically subject undoubtedly do great damage to the Mussel-beds, burying them under sand and mud. Shifting sand-bars are also known to cover up beds. The fishermen sometimes find extensive beds of dead shells which appear to have been recently uncovered by the current. During freshets, when the stream finds new channels, many Mussels are carried from their beds, and left dry when the water subsides. Droughts are also liable to expose Mussel-beds, and cause much destruction. However, pollution of the water by refuse from cities and manufacturing establishments is perhaps the most serious menace to the Mussel-beds, next to the operations of the fishermen."
- ↑ Surgeon-Major David Bruce, A.M.S., 'Further Report on the Tsetse Fly Disease, or Nagana, in Zululand,' p. 3. London: Harrison & Sons. 1897.