348 feecent Literature. [zon = 
Branches 2-3 dm. long (as collected); petioles 1 mm. long; leaves 
3-8 mm. long, 2-4 mm. broad; capsule 2 mm. long, 214 mm. broad. 
Todos Santos, January 20, January 29. Named in recognition of 
the numerous species Prof. Sereno Watson has worked over so 
carefully and thoroughly in this genus from Northern Mexico. 
' EupHorsia XantI Engelm. (in litt.) La Paz, January 5. 
[ EupHorsia ( T7richerostigma) HINDsIANA Benth. (Bot. Sulph., 
51.) The mark of doubt placed after this species (collected on Mag- 
dalena Island, in 1889, by Mr. Brandegee) in Proc. Cal. Acad., Ser. 
_ 2, vol. ii, 229, should be removed.] 
EUPHORBIA CALIFORNICA Benth. (Bot. Sulph.. 49), var.? Todos 
Santos, January. ‘ 
EupHorsi (Poinsettia) HETEROPHYLLA Linn. var. ERIOCARPA 
Millsp. (Proc. Cal. Acad., Ser. 2, vol. ii, 230.) Sierra de la La- 
guna, January 26. 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
Inthe January Auk notice is given of the Biological Survey 
which is now at work in Inyo County, Cal., in charge of Mr. T. S. 
Palmer, under the direction of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the 
Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture. 
The party comprises the most thoroughly equipped and largest 
scientific staff that has ever been placed in the field in this country. 
Notices of the ‘Death Valley Expedition’’ have appeared from 
time to time in the local press, and in some instances accompanied 
by illustrations. One article* tells us that ‘‘ Death Valley is so 
called because of death and despair it is the very abode, the like of 
which is not to be found elsewhere in the world. Imagine a narrow 
strip of arid plain shut in between two mighty mountain walls, the 
peaks stretching up 10,000 feet into the burning sky. * * * * 
The surface of this plain is composed of salt and alkali * * * 
through which the animal you ride breaks up to his knees intoa | 
thick alkali paste which eats both hair and hide. * * * But the 
_ Supreme horror of the place is the heat, which is unspeakable. 
* * Into this natural furnace the sun pours its rays, with never “oe he 
* Washington Star. 
