ABSTRACTS 



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 this issue. 



BOTANY. — The catalpa septum: a factor in distinguishing hardy catalpa. 



William H. Lamb, Forest Service. Proceedings of the Society of 



American Foresters, 7: No. 1. 1912. 

 This is a discussion of the distinguishing characteristics of hardy 

 catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), and common catalpa {Catalpa catalpa), with 

 emphasis upon the septum as a distinguishing feature. The septum is 

 the long wrinkled partition within the pod, along which the seeds are 

 arranged. The septum of hardy catalpa is greatly thickened along the 

 middle, giving it a rounded appearance in general outline. The septum 

 of common catalpa, on the other hand, is only shghtly thickened along 

 the middle and appears relatively flat. This variation in shape fur- 

 nishes us with a valuable means for recognizing hardy catalpa. Dia- 

 gramatic drawings of enlarged sections of tj^pical septa have been made 

 to illustrate this important distinction. W. H. L. 



ZOOLOGY. — Crinoidea (supplement). Austin Hobart Clark. 



Ergebnisse der Hamburger siidwest-australischen Forschungsreise 



1905, Bd. 4: Lief. 6: S. 307-315, Taf. 4. 1913. 

 Since the publication of the author's memoir on the crinoids of west 

 Australia (this series, 3, part 13, pp. 435-467) additional specimens col- 

 lected by the Hamburg Southwest Australian Expedition have come to 

 light. An account of these, including the description of a new genus 

 (Petasometra) and species (P. helianthoides) , is here given. Li an ap- 

 pendix is a list of annotations by which the information included in the 

 original memoir, written three years ago, is brought up to date. 



A. H. C. 



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