84 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



On the 26th I went over the pass (about 13,000 feet), and descended about 

 3,000 feet on the other side to the village of Gurikot in the Burzil Valley. I 

 collected some interesting plants on the pass. One very striking feature in the 

 vegetation of the upper part of the Kamri Yalley is the abundant growth of 

 a most remarkable cruciferous plant called Megacarpcea polyandra. It has 

 thick hollow stems upwards of 4 or 5 feet high. It grows in open grassy 

 places, and at some little distance these tall herbaceous plants look very like 

 young trees. The local name is chach, and the young leaves are used as sag 

 or spinach. It is also found on the Pir Panjal Range, where it is called 

 chattarhaTc , or chatri. 



I marched to G-urais the next day (27th), about 13 miles of very pretty road 

 along the banks of the Burzil Stream, which joins the Kishenganga about one 

 mile above Gurais. I had to stay here and rest for a few days and was getting 

 back my strength when I unfortunately met with an accident resulting in a 

 broken rib. This, of course, interfered a good deal with further botanical 

 exploration. I had with me, however, an experienced collector who was on 

 the look-out for anything new. 



The poisonous grass (Stipa sibrica) is abundant on the wooded slopes of the 

 Gurais Valley. 



I have reason to believe that the results of this tour will prove to be a 

 valuable contribution to our knowledge of the botany of Baltistan and Gilgit. 

 A complete set of the specimens has been prepared for the Saharanpur 

 Herbarium ; and two other sets have been distributed, one to the Royal 

 Herbarium at Kew and the other to Dr. King at Calcutta. The whole of the 

 mosses, of which a large collection was made, have been sent to Dr. Brotherus 

 at Helsingfors in Finland for determination, also a complete set of the grasses 

 to Dr. Hackel in Austria. 



The remaining sets will be distributed next cold weather to various institu- 

 tions in Europe, and elsewhere by way of exchange. 



MOSQUITOES.** 



By J. Alston Moffat, London, Ont. 



The mosquitoes belong to the order Diptera, or two-winged flies, which 

 includes all insects of whatever size, form, or colour which have but two wings, 

 making them easily separable from the Hymenoptera, to which the bees 

 and wasps belong, which are possessed of four wings. 



Again, the mosquitoes belong in that order to the family Culicidce which 

 are characterized by long and slender mouth-parts, long legs and antennae, 

 of which there are many genera, and the genus to which the mosquito belongs 

 is called Culex, which is reoognizable from the other genera of the family 

 by its biting propensity, whilst the distinguishing or specific name of our 



* This paper appeared in the Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario. 



