I901] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 219 



rocky beaches, and in the course of a quarter of an hour thereafter, be in 

 the midst of a landscape that, from its rich vegetation, suggests anything 

 but the sea-shore. 



The insect fauna of the region is interesting, as it contains many of 

 those forms which extend southward from colder regions and northward 

 from the warm Southern States. 



The Biological Laboratory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Scien- 

 ces is situated on the shore of Cold Spring Harbor, and one of the chief 

 objects of this Laboratory is to afford every possible facility for the study 

 of land animals and plants. The opportunities for the study of insects 

 will be especially good during the coming summer, for laboratory and 

 lecture work upon the subject will be pursued, and every opportunity will 

 be given for research work upon this group, the study of which has 

 already lead to the founding of such corollaries of the theory of natural 

 selection as those of mimicry, protective resemblance and warning color- 

 ation. — Alfred G. Mayer. 



Doings of Societies. 



A meeting of' the Feldman Collecting Social was held 

 Wednesday evening, June 19, at the residence of Mr. H. W. 

 Wenzel, 1523 S. 13th Street; 12 members present. Visitor, 

 Mr. H. Viereck. 



The Vice-Present, Mr. Charles Boerner, in the chair. Pro- 

 fessor Smith exhibited specimens of Cystcodevius armatus, 

 collected in alcohol and pinned ^xy. Those that were collected 

 in alcohol were black, like the specimens seen in most collec- 

 tions, while those pinned dry were covered with an orange 

 bloom. In speaking of the little knowledge we have of the 

 desert fauna, Professor Smith mentioned a new species of 

 Noctuid which he had received from that region which was 

 entirely different from anything known, and read the follow- 

 ing extracts from a letter he had received from a collector in 

 that district : 



"From April 8th until June ist I travelled with pack 

 animals through one of the most difficult, and I may say 

 dangerous, desert regions in the United States. Men perish 

 there almost every year for want of water, as there are many 

 places of from twenty to fifty miles between waters, and in 

 many cases the water is uncertain or very bad when you do 

 get to it. 



