

J f IS CELL AX y 



763 



Report on the State Lunatic Asylum. 

 Pp. 72. Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co. 

 print. 



American Shakespeare Bibliography. 

 By K. Knortz. Pp. 16. Boston: Schoen- 

 hof & Moeller. 



The State and Primary Education. By 

 R.D.Allen. Pp. 7. St. Louis: Ware & Co. 



Animal Resources of the United States. 

 By G. B. Goode, M.A. Pp.126. Wash- 

 ington : Government Printing-Office. 



Human Rights and the Natural Laws of 

 Marriage. By G. J. Ziegler, M. D. Pp. 263. 

 Philadelphia: The Author. 



The Russian System of Shop-work In- 

 struction. Pp. 24. Boston : Kingman, 

 print. 



Development of Anterior Brain-Mass in 

 Sharks and Skates. By B. G. Wilder. Pp.3. 

 From American Journal of Science and 

 Arts. 



The Teeth of Wheels. By S. W. Rob- 

 inson. Pp. 130. New York : Van Nos- 

 traud. Price, 50 cents. 



Imports and Exports of the United 

 States. Pp. 100. Washington : Govern- 

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Congressional Directory. Pp. 152. 

 Washington : Government Printing-Office. 



Catalogue of Red Double Stars. By S. 

 W. Burnham. Pp. 8. Chicago. 



Geological Survey of Minnesota. By 

 N.H. Winchell. Pp.162. With Maps. St. 

 Paul : Pioneer Press print. 



Insects and Plants. By T. Meehau. 

 Pp. 9. Salem (Mass.) : Press print. 



A Village of Cottage Hospitals. Pp. 47. 

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The Textile Colorist. Monthly. New 

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MISCELLANY. 



A Preliminary Note on Menopoma AI- 

 leghaniensc of Harlan. At the Buffalo 

 meeting of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, Prof. A. R. 

 Grote read a paper with the above title on 



the Menopoma, an aquatic salamander, with 

 soft, leathery, scaleless skin, inhabiting the 



tributaries of the Mississippi River. After 

 the examination of a large number of spe- 

 cimens, the characters separating the spe- 

 cies Menopoma Alleghaniense and fuscum, 

 as recently accepted by Cope, were found 

 inconstant, and Grote comes to the conclu- 

 sion that " there is only one and not two 

 species inhabiting the water-shed of the 

 Mississippi." After watching the habits of 

 the animals in the aquarium, Grote suc- 

 ceeded in ascertaining the fact that the out- 

 er layer of the skin is shed as in snakes 

 and toads, and is, in some cases at least, 

 swallowed by the animal, since it was in 

 one instance taken out of the mouth of the 

 specimen. Grote succeeded in obtaining 

 eggs laid on August 3flth, and draws atten- 

 tion to the fact that the Menopoma puts on 

 a " marriage-dress " during this period of 

 its life, the tail broadening, and a plaited 

 extension of the skin appearing along the 

 sides of the body. The habits of the Me- 

 nopoma seem, to be nocturnal, and its eggs 

 are laid along the muddy banks of the 

 streams it frequents. The egg contains a 

 yolk about the size of a pea floating in a 

 glairy white fluid, surrounded by a mem- 

 brane like that enveloping the albumen in 

 a bird's-egg, and taking in a certain amount 

 of water by endosmosis. 



Insect Parasites in Kuddy Tront-Fonds. 



In the fall of 1873 the owner of a pond 

 near Amsterdam, in this State, put into the 

 pond some yearling trout. About the mid- 

 dle of last July a few dead fish were seen 

 floating upon the water. On the tail of one 

 of these dead fish was found " a very curi- 

 ous green bug, about the size of a pumpkin- 

 seed ; long legs, red eyes, and a long sting- 

 er." Hereupon the owner of the pond con- 

 sulted Mr. Seth Green, and the latter ex- 

 pressed his belief that the insects were de- 

 stroying the trout. " The cause is," he 

 writes, " that you have no quick-running 

 water, like a creek, with gravel bottom, run- 

 ning in your pond. By having such a place, 

 when any insect is fastened on a trout, he 

 will go to the quick-running water, and will 

 soon rub it off. Putting trout in a pond 

 with mud and weedy bottom that contains 

 water-insects, and no stream flowing into it, 

 is like tying a man's hands and placing him 



