132 



doptera, Diptera and certain Hymenoptera are more numerous than 

 the other orders ; that the number of genera, species and individuals 

 of nectarophilous insects is proportional to that of flowers, and is 

 sometimes incalculable; that the hours of opening and closing ot 

 nyctitropic flowers (which are much more numerous than usually be- 

 lieved) are synchronous with the awakening and sleep of insects ; 

 that the apparent number of nectarophilous insects is in physiological 

 and physical relation with the number of their favorite flowers, the 

 calorific and hygrometric, calm or troubled state of the atmos- 

 phere, and also with the rainy, stormy, dark or bright state of the sky. 

 M. Musset adds that dew is one of the predominant causes of the 

 temporary absence of insects. 



Botanical Literature. 



Contributions to American Botany. X. By Sereno Watson. From 

 the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

 , Vol. xvii., pp. 3 T 6-382. 

 The contents of this tenth Contribution by Mr. Watson, which 

 was presented .to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences May 

 5th, and issued August loth of the present year, are: L 'List of Plants 

 from Southwestern Texas and Northern Mexico, collected chiefly by 

 Dr. E. Palmer in i879-*8o. (Part i. Polypetalae).' — This collection 

 Avas made in 1879, mostly in the region lying northwest of San An- 

 tonio, Texas, and along the routes from that place to Laredo and 

 Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande, and in 1880 in the States of Coahuila 

 and Nuevo Leon in Mexico, In addition, determinations are given 

 of a collection made by Dr. J..G. Schaffner in the State of San Luis 

 Potosi, as well as of some plants received from Prof. Alfred Duges 

 of Guanajuato, Mexico. Forty-six new species are described. IL 

 ' Descriptions of New Species of Plants €hiefly from our Western 

 Territories/ — In this paper, descriptions are given of seventy-seven 

 species, all but three of which have hitherto been unknown to science. 



U. S, Commission of Fish and Fisheries. {Part vii.) Report of the 

 Commissio7ier for 1879. Washington: Government Printing 

 Office, 1882. 



In this Report, just distributed, we find Prof. Farlow's elaborate 

 account of the Marine Algae of New England — a paper which the 

 author issued over a year ago in the form of a reprint, and which we 

 noticed at some length at the time. (Bulletin, Vol. viii., p, 94.) 



Serial Publications. 

 Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. Vol. iv., No. 3. 



(August).— ^The Plants of Buffalo and its Vicinity' (Part i.), by 

 David F. Day. 



_ 



The Syracuse Botanical Club.— We leam from Mrs. Rust that' at 

 the March meeting of the Syracuse Botanical Club the following of- 

 ficers were elected for the ensuing year : President, Mrs. M. J. 

 Myers ; Vice-President, Mrs. D. F. GoT.i ; Recording Secretary, 

 Mrs. Harriet White ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Kate S. 

 Barnes ; Treasurer, Mrs. Annie D. Fairbanks. 



S 



*. 



