360 abstracts: botany 



linear increase became considerable when poor dielectrics such as wooden 

 masts, trees, and buildings were in the field and that the resistance of 

 the antenna was also increased at all Avave lengths. It was also found 

 that considerable energy loss may be occasioned by running the lead 

 of an antenna into a building. It is most important to design an 

 antenna so as to minimize these sources of energy loss. J. M. M. 



GEOLOGY. — Evaporation of brine from Searles Lake, California. 



W. B. Hicks. U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 



98-A. Pp. 8. 1916. 

 One thousand grams of brine from Searles Lake, California, were 

 evaporated in stages on the steam bath at 78°C. and the deposited 

 crystals were separated from the solution by filtration. The filtrate 

 was cooled to 30°C. and a second fraction of crystals was obtained. 

 Seven such successive stages reduced the brine to about 55 grams and 

 yielded 14 fractions of crystals — 7 deposited from the hot solution 

 during evaporation and 7 deposited as the solution was cooled from 

 78°C. to 30°C. Each fraction of crystals as well as the original brine 

 and the final filtrate was analysed. Most of the sulphate was de- 

 posited from hot solution in the first few fractions, and more than 60 

 per cent of the potassium was deposited as the solution was cooled 

 to 30°C. in the last three fractions. The tabulated results give the 

 percentage composition of the crystals deposited, the percentage of 

 each constituent deposited, and the changes in the composition of the 

 solution during evaporation. W. B. H. 



BOTANY. — New or noteworthy plants from Colombia and Central 

 America — 5. Henry Pittier. Contributions from the United 

 States National Herbarium, 18: 143-171, ph. 57-80, figs. 88-97. 

 March 3, 1916. 

 The present paper is the fifth of a series dealing with new or little 

 known species from South and Central America. Besides descriptions 

 of a few species, either old or here proposed as new and belonging to 

 the Myristicaceae, Anacardiaceae, Hippocrateaceae, Flacourtiaceae, 

 Sapotaceae, Symplocaceae, and Verbenaceae, it contains a full discus- 

 sion of the genera Brownea and Browneopsis, based mainly on the au- 

 thor's collections. It includes also a comparison of Bombax and Pa- 

 chira, which has resulted in the establishment of a new and intermedi- 

 ate genus, Bornbacopsis, the two known species of which are natives 

 of Panama and the eastern part of Central America. H. P. 



