RATTLESNAKE ANTIDOTES. 
BY FRANK H. VASLIT. 
A third Pacific Coast plant has put in a claim as an infallible cure 
for rattlesnake bites. This one is ieractum Scouleri, a Composite 
plant, one of the hawkweeds of the Sierra Nevada. The two 
‘others (north of Mexico where there are many with similar reputa- 
tion) are Euphorbia—various prostrate species confused ; and Caz- 
calis microcarpa, though as a matter of fact nine out of ten speci- 
mens of this last “infallible” remedy, sent in for identification by 
enthusiastic believers, are found to be Daucus pusillus. 
While there is no objection to the trial of any or all of these rem- 
edies— and they probably serve a useful purpose, if the victim has 
any faith in them, in saving him from death by fright—yet, if the 
wound has been made in uncovered flesh by a vigorous rattlesnake 
not previously exhausted of its venom, the proper and most press- 
ing thing for him to attend to is to set his household in order with 
all convenient speed. 
a 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
North American Fauna, No. 3; Results of a Biological Survey of 
the San Francisco Mountain Region and Desert of the Little Colo- 
vado, Arizona, Parts T, 2, 3; and 4, by Dr. C. Hart MERRIAM. 
_ The survey of this interesting part of Arizona has been productive 
~ of generalizations of the utmost interest to zoologists the world over, 
and especially to American naturalists. Fauna No. 3 is divided into 
five parts, the first four by Dr. Merriam, and the fifth, on the reptiles 
of the region, by Leonhard Stejneger. By far the most important 
part of the bulletin is Part I, which contains the generalizations on 
Be the distribution of animals in North America based on their distrib- 
ution in the San Francisco Mountain Region. In the words of the 
author: “The most important of the general results are: (1) The 
discovery that there are but two primary life areas in North America, 
a northern (boreal) and a southern (subtropical), both extending . 
completely across the continent and sending off long interpenetrat- 
ing arms. (2) The consequent abandonment of the three life areas 
commonly accepted by naturalists, namely: the Eastern, Central and 
Western Provinces. (3) The recognition of seven minor life zones 
