692 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 724 



the United States, Mexico and other tropical 

 and subtropical countries could do an im- 

 portant service by the discovery of this plant. 

 It will be interesting to know whether it is 

 distributed through the intervening region be- 

 tween North Carolina and Ecuador, or whether 

 it is more probable that it has been intro- 

 duced through the agency of co mm erce from 

 one country to another. My attention has 

 recently been called to the fact that a form of 

 this plant was distributed in Ellis & Everhart's 

 " Eungi Columbiani " No. 2166 collected on 

 Aschpias pumila at Stockton, Kansas, July 

 18, 1904, by E. Bartholomew and determined 

 by Dr. Farlow as forma asclepiadis Earl. The 

 rhizoid system does not seem to be nearly so 

 well developed in this form as in that on the 

 ragTveed. This not only shows a greater 

 geographic range, but also an extension to 

 genera outside of the Composite. It ought to 

 be found on other hosts. The writer will be 

 pleased to receive specimens from other sec- 

 tions if they are found. 



The plant was discovered in North Caro- 

 lina by Dr. E. L. Stevens. Since the note 

 was written for the Gazette^ Dr. Stevens has 

 given additional notes on the occurrence of 

 the plant. The first collection was made in 

 August, 1903, at West Ealeigh. It occurs 

 there every year in great abundance. In 

 many cases the ragweed is so affected that 

 the distortion can be recognized from the car 

 windows. The stems and leaves affected are 

 more or less stunted, twisted and curled. 

 Rarely the affected areas on the stems may be 

 slightly greater in diameter. 



Other locations in North Carolina, with 

 dates on which it has been collected by Pro- 

 fessor Stevens, are given herewith. 



1. Polkton August 1, 1908. 



2. Clayton " 2, 190S. 



3. Carey " 5, 190S. 



4. McLeansburg " 7, 1908. 



5. Davidson " 13, 1908. 



6. Mt. Ulla " 15, 1908. 



7. Hiddenite " 17, 1908. 



8. Taylorsville " 18, 1908. 



9. Connelly Springs " 20, 1908. 



10. Connelly Springs " 21, 1908. 



11. Marion " 21, 190S. 



12. Rutherfordton August 22, 1908. 



13. Hendersonville " 25, 1908. 



14. Auburn " 27, 1908. 



Geo. F. Atkinson 



the present state of our knowledge of the 

 odonata of mexico and central america 



The completion of the account' of the 

 Odonata in the Biologia C entrali- Americana 

 and the rather restricted circulation which the 

 book must enjoy, owing to the necessarily 

 expensive character of this series,^ wiU per- 

 haps justify the publication in Science of a 

 summary of the main results obtained, and of 

 a comparison with previous work done in this 

 field. 



The preparation of this volume successively 

 undertaken by McLachlan, of London ; Hagen, 

 of Cambridge, Mass., and Karsch, of Berlin, 

 and successively relinquished by each of them 

 under the pressure of ill-health or of other 

 work, was entrusted to the present writer in 

 the beginning of 1899. 



The material on which it is based was 

 primarily that acquired for the purpose by 

 Dr. Godman, editor of the Biologia, and his 

 associate, the late Osbert Salvin, E.E.S., but 

 thanks to the directors, curators and owners 

 of public and private museums, a still larger 

 series of specimens has been available. It is, 

 therefore, a great pleasure to acknowledge the 

 aid thus rendered by the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia, the United States 

 National Museum, the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology, the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History, the Carnegie Museum of Pitts- 

 burg, the California Academy of Sciences, 

 the Eield Columbian Museum, the late 

 Eobert McLachlan, E.R.S., and Messrs. E. B. 

 Williamson, C. C. Adams, C. C. Deam, J. G. 

 Needham, H. Kahl, O. S. Westcott and E. A. 

 Smyth, Jr. 



' " Odonata," by Philip P. Calvert, forming 

 pages 17-420, v-xxx, plates II.-X., 1 map, of 

 volume Neuroptera, Biologia C entrali- Americana. 

 Edited by F. Dueane Godman, F.R.S., etc., Lon- 

 don, 1901-8, 4to. 



-A sketch of the Biologia was published in 

 Entomological Neics, XVI., pp. 317-322, Decem- 

 ber, 1905. 



