272 El Zortllo. — [ ZOE 
Aplopappus arenarius Benth., is a plant of the sea shore, and in 
the field seems very different from the one referred to this species 
by Vasey & Rose. 
Viguiera tomentosa Gray, blooms two months earlier than /. 
deltoidea, and is much handsomer, partly on account of its soft sil- 
very leaves. Both species grow to be tall, reaching a height of fif- 
teen feet sometimes. 
Dysodia speciosa Gray, is a very handsome species, and found at 
low elevations from La Paz to San José and to Todos Santos. 
Amongst bushes it becomes five feet high, but when growing alone 
it is low and sometimes almost prostrate. 
Physalis glabra, Benth., when protected by bushes becomes much 
branched and four feet high, but it is usually small, especially when 
growing upon the sand. It is very distinct from P. crassifolia of 
Magdalena Bay, to which it was formerly compared by the writer. 
Celosia floribunda Gray, is usually a bush eight to ten feet high, 
but in some places becomes a small tree, having a well defined trunk. 
It seems to reach its best development along the streams north of 
Todos Santos. 
Euphorbia leucophylla Benth., is extremely abundant on the 
ocean beach. 
EL ZORILLO. 
BY WALTER E. BRYANT. 
Within the comparatively narrow confines of the extreme south- 
ern portion of the peninsula of Lower California, commonly known 
as the “cape region,”’ is found a small terrestrial mammal more 
feared by the inhabitants than drought, yellow fever, small-pox or 
cholera—an animal which very few have ever seen, but known and 
dreaded by all. It is known to the Mexicans, as “ zorillo,” and to 
naturalists as the little striped skunk, recently described _as a new 
_ species (.Spz/ogale lucasana Merriam.) North of the Tropic of Cancer 
the skunk is not feared, but within the region south of the tropic 
the greatly magnified danger of hydrophobia, resulting from the 
bite of this animal, keeps many from the comfort of sleeping out- 
doors at night, and even closes the doors of the ill-ventilated houses. - 
During a recent trip from San Jose del Cabo to La Paz, I learned 
