374 Miscellany. [zoe 



large number of species and several new genera to those already 

 known, enabling us now to judge with great certainty as regards the 

 geographical distribution of the plants and their connection and de- 

 scent from neighboring geographical plant districts. New species 

 will of course after this be added to those already described and 

 enumerated, but they will be comparatively few, and the flora of Baja 

 California can now be said to be very completely and comprehensibly 

 known. Of birds and mammals the collections brought home are 

 large and good, and descriptions of some thirteen ne\v rodents will 

 soon be published by W. E. Bryant. They are mostly the results 

 of his trapping during last year's expedition to the Cape region, 

 or the southern extremity of the peninsula, remarkable for its high 

 mountains, beautiful and luxuriant vegetation, tropical climate and 

 isolated position. 



The fresh water fishes collected there are in the hands .of Prof. 

 < Gilbert, of the Stanford University- The collection of reptiles and 

 batrachians is good and when described will undoubtedly contain 

 much of general interest- A large collection of arachnids from the 

 Cape region, collected during the late expedition, is now in the care 

 of Prof George Marx, of Washington, the acknowledged authority 

 on American spiders. He designates the collection as valuable and 

 interesting. His paper will be well illustrated. A collection of 

 Colembolas and Thysanuras is being worked up by Prof. Harold 

 Schott, a well-known European specialist, who has already described 

 a number of new Colembolas from Upper California, and who has since 

 received a number of new forms both from Upperand Baja California, all 

 of which are to be embodied in one general paper, on the Colembolas 

 and Thysanuras of the Pacific Coast. Dr. Otto StoU, of Zurich, 

 whose beautiful work on acarides in the Biologia Centralo Americana 

 is generally admired, will describe a small collection of acarides, prin- 

 cipally from the Cape region. The collection of diptera from Baja 

 California is not large, but it may be counted upon to contain much 

 of interest. It will be describr^d by C. H. Tyler Townsend, a well- 

 known specialist of this class of insects. 



The collection of orthoptera has been forwarded to Lawrence 

 Bruner, and a valuable paper from his hand is expected, though his 

 preliminary opinion on the collection has not yet reached us. The 

 coleoptera were well represented with some 500 species, principally 



