a 
14 
THE WEST-AMERICAN SCIENTIST. 
. she . . 
«~igid and inclined to curve on the 
upper face, mostly opposite or in 
ternate whorles, often fasciculate 
in the lower axils, and with short 
reduced branches on the lower 
shoots. 
Habitat;—Dry, sandy or rocky 
plains and hills of Lower Califor- 
nia, flowering irregularly after 
sufficient rain; foliage dull green 
with reddish branches; 2 to 5 feet 
in height, irregularly branched. 
Staminate plants more slender. 
C. C. Parry, February, 1883 
near Table mountain, imperfect 
fruiting specimens from which 
Dr. Engelmann determined the 
generic character. C. R. Orcutt, 
Sept. 1884, near Santo Thomas. 
with complete flowering speci- 
mens. 
' Kew, England, Jan’y, 1885. 
———_e—__—_———_ 
A REMARKABLE PHENOMENON. 
A party returning from a picnic 
at La Jolla a little before sunset, 
the evening of the 4th instant, re- 
port having seen a very beautiful 
and unusual phenomenon. When 
near the northeast city limits a 
large meteor shot athwart their 
course in a direction a little north 
of east, and continued at a leisure- 
ly pace until it faded from sight 
in the glowing horizon. The me- 
teor looked much like an electric 
light, with perhaps aslight bluish 
tinge. Sparks were emitted from 
it at intervals, giving it the ap- 
pearance of a rocket. The phe- 
nomenon was one of rare beauty 
and its occurrence in daylight was 
certainly unusual—tI[San Diego 
Union. 
MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 
We take the following notes 
from a preliminary report of the 
committee on bird migration, by 
C. Hart Merriam, M. D., of the 
American Ornithological Union: 
Over 1000 sets of blank sched- 
ules and circulars have been dis- 
tributed to lighthouses, lightshtps 
and beacons of the United States 
and British America. In conse- 
quencea large number of the heads 
and wings of birds which dash 
themselves against the lights were 
received, together with an excep- 
tionably valuable amount of data. 
In South America and the West 
Indies great numbers of birds de- 
stroy themselves against the lights 
and five to six hundred birds have 
been reported as picked up ina 
single morning. 
The committee has now estab- 
lished observation stations in 
every State except Nevada, and 
returns have already been received 
from nearly 1000 persons, compar- 
atively few of whom are ornithol- 
ogists or even bird collectors, the 
great bulk being intelligent farm- 
ers, tradesmen and light keepers. 
Those who know only the com- 
monest birds can contribute data 
of great value, and their services 
are eagerly sought. 
Though there were only forty 
observers on this coast, the most 
valuable report yet received is 
that of Mr. L. Belding, Superin- 
tendent of the Pacific District. It 
contained notes on no less than 
280 species, and is such an impor- 
‘tant contribution to the ornithol- 
ogy of our western coast that the 
committee hopes to publish it in 
full at an early date. 
