3H 



NATURAL SCIENCE. May, 



them together under the throat, and subsequently working them into 

 a compact mass, much as ymccasella does the powdery pollen of other 

 yuccas. The stamens are often quite violently shaken, so quick and 

 energetic are the movements of the moth. 



As the author suggests, the relationship of the Yuccas to one 

 another and to the Pronuba moths would be far more intelligible 

 could we trace their history, even a short way back, into geological 

 time, but as no certainly identifiable Yuccas exist in even the latest 

 deposits, this is as yet impossible. 



He thinks it reasonable to suppose that an ancient type, repre- 

 sented in the tree-like Y. brevifolia, with an equally ancient type of 

 Pronuba, has persisted in the Pacific region, perhaps, for the same 

 reasons that have led to the preservation of the gigantic Sequoias in 

 the same region, while the m.ore widely distributed species have become 

 differentiated, and, with their pollinator, passed to the south under 

 new conditions. 



The " Zoological Record." 



In the Report of Accounts of the Zoological Society for 1892, 

 there is an item of ^937 for " cost of Zoological Record. '' The same 

 entry for 1890 amounted to ^650, and for 1891 to ^420. There is no 

 statement as to the reason of this enormous increase — a somewhat 

 unfortunate oversight on the part of those who drew up the Report — 

 and it is well that the matter should be explained. The £g■i^ not only 

 includes the Record for 1891, but includes a great part of the Record for 

 1890. The "sales" for this invaluable compilation were, in 1890, 

 ;^2g8 ; in 1891, ^266; in 1892, ^354 ; a net improvement in the last 

 year of the three of £^6. 



It seems rather difficult to believe that a volume like the Zoolo- 

 gical Record should only enjoy the ridiculous sale of barely 250 copies ; 

 and it is certainly most praiseworthy that the Zoological Society, 

 despite the annual loss, refuses to allow the good work it is doing to 

 fall to the ground. Surely there is no museum or laboratory in 

 existence that can afford to neglect zoological literature to such an 

 extent as to refuse to subscribe to the Record ; and yet it is hard 

 to believe that there are only 250 museums or libraries of repute in 

 the whole world. There is certainly no other Record that is any- 

 thing like so up-to-date as the Zoological Society's publication. It 

 has always been a matter of regret that some amicable under- 

 standing has not been arrived at by the Royal, the Linnean, the 

 Geological, and the Zoological Societies which will allow the 

 proper listing and publication annually of a complete literature of 

 the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. The Zoological Society, 

 despite the enormous outlay required by the Gardens, cheerfully bears 

 the whole of the expense of providing students of zoology with 



