Dec, 1914] Proceedings of the Society. 335 



secondary matter attacking sugar cane, quoting several West Indian agricul- 

 tural reports, in none of which did it, however, appear to be a serious pest. 



Dr. Lutz gave details from his personal experience in Dominica and from 

 the Cuban journey with Mr. Leng of its habits, stating that the banana trunks 

 in which it normally feeds are very sappy and fibrous and that any physically 

 similar vegetation as sugar cane or Bromeliads are therefore liable to attack. 

 Dr. Lutz added that the gnawed fiber is finally gathered together for the pupal 

 covering. 



Speaking of the various names for Hispaniola, Dr. Lutz said that Haiti, 

 while commonly used really covered only half the island, the other part being 

 known as San Domingo, and that a confusion of records would result from 

 using either exclusively ; while Hispaniola was not only the older but the 

 only proper name for the whole island. 



Mr. Shoemaker exhibited Platynus caudatus, quoted as rare in spring in 

 Ulke's List of Beetles of District of Columbia, and said he had personally 

 found it rare on June 2d and missing in July, but it reappeared late in August 

 and was plentiful in September along the banks of the Potomac above the 

 Free Bridge. His captures resulted from free use of bottles baited with syrup. 

 Mr. Miner spoke of the distribution of the land snails of the genus Cerion, 

 inhabiting Cuba, Haiti, Porto Rico, Bahamas and Florida Keys, entirely absent 

 in Lesser Antilles, but found in Curagao. The habit of these Mollusca is to 

 live about 300 yards from the sea and to form local colonies which offer char- 

 acteristic variations, so that the Cuban species is quite distinct from others. 

 Distribution is necessarily a slow process and salt water becomes an impassible 

 barrier except by the aid of floating wood. This distribution is interesting as 

 confirming Dr. Britton's view that the regions in which the genus occurs con- 

 stitute a unified province, separate from Jamaica, for instance, where the 

 snails do not occur. 



Mr. Schaeffer said it was prudent to check distribution records obtained 

 from one group of organisms by similar records from other groups, giving 

 instances from his experiences in Texas and Arizona of the different results 

 deducible from comparisons in different families and orders. 



Mr. Leng, referring to the possibly assumable elevation of the continental 

 shelf on which rested the coral reefs of Cuba, Bahamas and Florida, pointed 

 out that the same assumption had previously been made to explain the isolated 

 Carolinian flora of the sandy areas about Bay St. George, Newfoundland. 



Mr. Roberts spoke of the importance of the coxal file as an index of 

 specific dift'erence in Laccophilus, affording an absolutely certain means of 

 separating species of great resemblance in color. Applying this test demon- 

 strated that L. proximus, described by Say from Louisiana and Texas, occurs 

 also in the Antilles, the americanus of Aube (but not of Crotch), cited in 

 Antillean lists being an absolute synonym. 



Dr. Osburn exhibited Tabanns zonalis Kirby taken by Mr. Sleight in Bear 

 Swamp, near Ramsey, N. J., May 28, 191 1, saying that the specimen shared 

 with one taken by Mr. Watson at Greenwood Lake the honor of establishing 



