POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



283 



Phonetics of the Kayowe Language. By Al- 

 bert 3. Gatschett. Pp. 6. 



A Dictionary of Musicand Musicians. Edited 

 by George Grove, D. C. L. Parts XV and XVI. 

 London and New York : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 

 272. $2. 



Sanitary Tracts. Issued by the Citizens' 

 Sanitary Society of Brooklyn. Pp. 12. 5 cents. 



Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. Transac- 

 tions No. 3. Ottawa, Canada : Citizens' Print- 

 ing and Publishing Company. Pp. 60. With 

 Two Plates. 



The Practice of Gynaecology in Ancient 

 Times. By Edward W. Jenks, M. D., LL. D. 

 Chicago, Illinois. Pp. 46. With Two Plates. 



Statistics in Relation to Gold and Silver. 

 Compiled by E. J. Farmer. Cleveland, Ohio. 

 Pp. 37. 25 cents. 



The Analogy between Sound and Color. By 

 G. G. Finn. Cleveland, Ohio. Pp. 22. 



The Muscles of the Limbs of the Raccoon. 

 By Harrison Allen, M. D. Pp. 30. 



Tornadoes. Their Special Characteristics 

 and Dangers. With Practical Directions for 

 Protection of Life and Property. By John P. 

 Fiuley. Kansas City, Missouri ; Ramsay, Millett 

 & Hudson. Pp. 29. 



Tornado Studies for 1882. By John P. Finley. 

 Kansas City, Missouri : Ramsay, Millett & Hud- 

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Notes on Physiological Optics. By W. Le 

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Unscientific Materialism. A Criticism of 

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A New View of our Weather System. By 

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POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



The Flora of North America. Professor 

 Asa Gray gave an historical account, at the 

 last meeting of the American Association, of 

 the study and compilation of the North Amer- 

 ican flora. The first "Flora" of the coun- 

 try was published by Michaux, in 1S03. It 

 embraced plants representing the whole re- 

 gion from Hudson Bay to Florida, and con- 

 tainedl, 530 species. The work of Pursh fol- 

 lowed about twenty years afterward, and 

 represented a much smaller territory, not ex- 

 tending west of Virginia or north of Lake 

 Champlain, but contained 740 genera and 

 3,700 species. Dr. Gray himself started on 

 his great botanical work in 1 830, while he was 

 an assistant in a doctor's office in New York. 

 It is not exactly known when Dr. John Tor- 

 rey conceived the idea of publishing a third 

 " Flora of North America," but he invited 

 Nuttall to join him in the work as early 

 as 1832. Arrangements were afterward 

 made with Dr. Gray, and the first volume 

 of the conjoint work was issued in 1838. 

 It was generally thought that the orders 



remaining to be described could be soon 

 worked out, and the " Flora " completed, but 

 the rapid publication which the fulfillment 

 of such an anticipation required was not 

 possible. Dr. Torrcy had already been to 

 Europe and spent a considerable time in the 

 study of foreign herbaria. Dr. Gray also 

 visited Europe at the end of 1838, and spent 

 several months in the same work, paying 

 especial attention to the American herbaria 

 of Michaux, Pursh, De Candolle, and others. 

 A second volume of 500 pages appeared in 

 1840, and carried the " Flora " to the end of 

 the Compositce. The work was then inter- 

 rupted by the pressure of other duties, so that 

 the third volume was not added to the series 

 till 1880. The labor of pushing the work to 

 completion is very difficult now compared 

 with what Pursh endured when the species 

 were fewer and the number of specimens 

 collected of each was many times less. The 

 first volume of the present '' Flora " con- 

 tained about twice as many species as Pursh 

 gave for the same orders ; and the number 

 of species in these families has increased 

 greatly in the thirty years since its publica- 

 tion. American flowering plants can not 

 now be represented with less than 10,000 

 species, and the number is increasing daily, 

 so that soon 12,000 may be required. The 

 amount of material collected is vast ; addi- 

 tions are constantly pouring into the Har- 

 vard herbarium, and the time of the com- 

 pilers is severely taxed to work it over. 

 The work in the future must be divided up 

 among many persons, each doing a part ; 

 and Dr. Gray earnestly solicits the co-opera- 

 tion of all botanists. 



The Proposed Geological Map of En- 

 rope. The International Geological Con- 

 gress, which met at Bologna last year, de- 

 cided upon the preparation of a geological 

 map of Europe, which should exemplify a 

 uniform terminology and a uniform system 

 of coloring, and appointed an International 

 Committee to superintend the work. The 

 execution of the map will, of course, re- 

 quire many years, but its general plan and 

 the regulations under which it is to be 

 carried on have been already provisionally 

 agreed upon. The map is to be published 

 at Berlin, under the immediate direction of 

 Messrs. Beyrich and nauchecorne, of the 



