342 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1318 



THE CORNELL UNIVERSITY ENTOMOLOGICAL 



EXPEDITION TO SOUTH AMERICA 



OF 1919-20 



Under the leadership of Professor J. Chester 

 Bradley the Cornell University Entomological 

 Expedition to South America of 1919-20 is 

 carrying- on entomological investigation and 

 making collections in various South American 

 countries. 



Dr. Bradley sailed for Brazil early in Sep- 

 tember last on the steamship Vestris; owing 

 to a fire developing in one of the holds of the 

 steamer, a delay of thirteen days occurred at 

 the Island of Santa Lucia, where interesting 

 and unexpected collecting was done. At Eio 

 de Janeiro he was joined by a volunteer as- 

 sistant, Mr. E. Gordon Harris. 



After spending some time in Eio de Janeiro, 

 a trip was made in company with Brazil's 

 foremost entomologist. Dr. Adolph Lutz, to 

 the State of Minas Geraes in the north, as 

 far as to Pirapora, the head of navigation on 

 the Sao Francisco Eiver; some days were 

 spent at Lassance on the Eio das Velhas as 

 guests of the Institute Oswaldo Cruz. It was 

 at this place that Dr. Chagas first worked out 

 the details of the transmission by a Eedwing 

 bug (Conorhinus) of a trypanosome causing 

 a very serious endemic disease of the region. 

 Some days were also spent on the alpine 

 meadows at Diamantina, Brazil's highest city, 

 and also as guests of the State of Minas 

 Geraes at the Capital, Beldo Horizonte. 



Eeturning to Eio de Janeiro, the party pro- 

 ceeded to cross the States of Sao Paulo and 

 Matto Grossa by sail to Corumba on the 

 Paraguay Eiver, and thence to Urucum. In- 

 teresting collecting was encountered at vari- 

 ous points along this trip, but especially at 

 Urucum, 20 kilometers from Corumba, on an 

 isolated mountain range at an elevation of 

 2,200 feet, at the upper limit of a tropical 

 forest. Here, despite continuous rainy 

 weather, a very interesting and abundant 

 fauna was encountered. 



Prom Corumba they proceeded by rail via 

 Sao Paulo to Uruguayana on the Uruguay 

 Eiver, at the Argentinean frontier, a distance 

 of 2,500 miles; from there they were about to 



proceed, when last heard from, to the Falls of 

 the Iguazu on the Alta Parana Eiver. 



The plans of the party contemplate spending 

 a brief while in Argentina, at Buenos Aires, 

 La Plata, Cordoba, Mendoza and possibly 

 Tucuman, a visit to Montevideo, and then to 

 spend from six weeks to two months in Chile, 

 visiting several places, to as far south as 

 Chiloe Island; thence to Oruro, Cochabamba 

 and La Paz in Bolivia, and to Lima in Peru. 



At Lima Dr. W. T. M. Forbes and Jesse 

 Williamson will join the expedition, which 

 will, if conditions prove favorable, cross the 

 Andes via the central route and down the 

 Pichis, fachitea, Ucayalli and Maranon 

 Elvers to Iquitos ; stopping at favorable points 

 on the eastern side of the Andes. The party 

 will return to New York in September next. 



The expedition is entrusted with the de- 

 livery of extensive collections of North Amer- 

 ican insects and of vertebrates to four scien- 

 tific institutions in South America. While 

 not neglecting general collecting, Dr. Brad- 

 ley is devoting especial attention to the col- 

 lection of Hymenoptera, especially of the 

 aculeates, and is endeavoring to obtain series 

 of nests of Vespidss with their inhabitants. 

 Mr. Harris is doing general collecting of in- 

 sects. Dr. Forbes will devote his attention 

 primarily to Lepidoptera, and relieve the other 

 members of the necessity of devoting attention 

 to this time-exacting group after he joins the 

 expedition. Mr. Williamson will collect 

 Odonata. 



ST. LOUIS MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY 



The spring meeting of the American Chem- 

 ical Society will be held with the St. Louis 

 and University of Missouri Sections in St. 

 Louis, April 13 to 16, inclusive. Every in- 

 dication points to the fact that the meeting 

 will be one of the largest and most interest- 

 ing ever held in the West by the American 

 Chemical Society. St. Louis is the center of 

 the rapidly growing Middle West and con- 

 tains large and varied chemical interests. It 

 has always been the leading dnig center of the 

 West, and leads the country in the production 



