342 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 31. 



sioner of agriculture. The index is prepared by Wil- 

 liam Baynes-Eeed, and consists of a serial and a 

 classified list of illustrations, and a general index to 

 the text. It appears to be prepared and printed care- 

 fully. 



— The death of the famous M'tesa, King of Uganda 

 and baiter of missionaries, is announced. 



— The following papers were prepared during the 

 past year by members of the Lawrence scientific 

 school. Harvard university, under the supervision 

 of Dr. E. L. Mark in the embryological laboratory 

 at the Museum of comparative zoology : — 



On the development of Oecanthus, and its parasite 

 Teleas, by Howard Ayers of Fort Smith, Ark. ; on 

 the development of the posterior fissure of the si^inal 

 cord, and the reduction of the central canal, in the 

 pig, by William Barnes of Decatur, 111. ; notes on 

 the development of Phryganidae, by William Patten 

 of Watertown, Mass. ; the relation of the external 

 meatus, tympanum, and eustachian tube, to the first 

 visceral cleft, by Albert H. Tuttle of Dorchester, 

 Mass. 



The papers by Mr. Ayers and Mr. Patten have 

 been awarded respectively the first and one of the 

 second Walker prizes by the Boston society of natural 

 history, as already stated in these columns. All are 

 to be published in the course of a few weeks. 



— The eighth annual report of the Buffalo micro- 

 scopical club shows a membership of forty-six, — a 

 gain of fifteen during the year. The average attend- 

 ance at the monthly meetings is stated to have been 

 about twenty-five, — certainly a very large percent- 

 age. 



, — Prof. D. P. Penhallow, having resigned his con- 

 nection with the experiment department of Houghton 

 farm as botanist and chemist, has accepted the lec- 

 tureship of botany at McGill university. 



— Messrs. Allen, Coues, and Brewster sign a call 

 for a convention of American ornithologists, to be 

 held in Kew-York City, beginning on Sept. 26, 1883, 

 for the purpose of founding, an American ornitholo- 

 gists' union, upon a basis similar to that of the ' Brit- 

 ish ornithologists' union.' The object of the union 

 will be the promotion of social and scientific inter- 

 course between American ornithologists, and their 

 co-operation in whatever may tend to the advance- 

 ment of ornithology in North America. A special 

 object, which it is expected will at once engage the 

 attention of the union, will be the revision of the 

 current lists of North-American birds, to the end of 

 adopting a uniform system of classification and no- 

 menclature, based on the views of a. majority of the 

 union, and carrying the authority of the union. 



It is proposed to hold meetings at least annually, 

 at such times and places as may be hereafter deter- 

 mined, for the reading of papers, and the discussion 

 of such matters as may be brought before the union. 

 Those who attend the first meeting will be considered 

 ipso facto founders. Active and corresponding mem- 

 bers may be elected in due course after organization 

 of the union, under such rules as may be established 

 for increase of membership. Details of organization 

 will be considered at the first meeting. 



— ' The books of science ' is the title of a work 

 announced by Leypoldt as in preparation by William 

 C. Lane of Harvard college library. It is to be an 

 annotated catalogue of the most trustworthy works 

 for the study chiefly of the physical and mathemati- 

 cal sciences. From what we know of the compiler 

 and of the manuscript, a portion of which we have 

 examined, we may confidently predict a very useful 

 work. 



— In his address before the American forestry con- 

 gress last year at Cincinnati, recently printed in the 

 American journal of forestry, Prof. F. L. Harvey 

 gives a catalogue of the forest-trees of Arkansas,' of 

 which he enumerates a hundred and twenty-nine 

 indigenous species. According to his summary, Ar- 

 kansas is remarkable for its extensive belts of pine, 

 for the area of hard-wood growth, and for the nimiber 

 of species usually classed as shrubs, which here attain 

 the dimensions of trees. More than half the species 

 belong, to the six orders Magnoliaceae, Rosaceae, 

 Urticaceae, Oleaceae, Juglandaceae, and Cupuliferae. 

 Professor Harvey believes that physical conditions, 

 rather than geological horizon, affect the specific 

 character of the vegetation in Arkansas, where the 

 north-western part of the state is upland and paleo- 

 zoic, and the remainder lowland and of more recent 

 date. 



RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. 



Paluzie, F. La bistoria natural explicada a los ninos, se- 

 giin las clasificacioues de Couvier. Madrid, PerdiguerOj 1883. 

 160 p. S°. 



Regristro general de la industria espanola, con una seccidn 

 extrangera, en que figuran las fabricas y eelahlecimieutos indus- 

 trjales mas iraportantes de loe diveisos paises de Europa y 

 America, y agenda del induelrial, continuacion del Almanaque 

 publicado desde ]87o, por la Gaceta industrial. Aiio primero 

 (1881-82). Madrid, re^/o, 1882. 23S p. 4°. 



Ritsema Bos, J. Insektenschade op boii-wen Weiland. 

 Handleiding voor de kennis van de kleine vijanden Tan akker-en 

 weidebouw. Groningen, 1883. 216 p. 8°. 



Roiti, A. Elemenli di fisica. Firenze, 1883. 12+356 p. 16*. 



Roura, J. Tratado sobre los vinos, su destilacidn y aceites. 

 Madrid, Perdiguero, 1883. 113 p. 8°. 



Sack, J. Die verkehrs-telegraphie der gegenwart. Wien, 

 1883 (Elektro-techn. bibl., v.). 272 p., jllustr. 8°. 



Sieiro y Gonzalez, J. Principios de psicologia 6 anthro. 

 pologia psicinica, logica y 6tica. (Ureuse), impr. RamoSy 1882. 

 319 p. 8'. 



Smith, Ob. Conic sections. London, 1883. 8°. 



Smith, J. M. The Hades of Ardenne, a visit to the caves of 

 Han. Described and illustrated by the T. T. Club. London, 

 1883. illustr. 8°. 



Sonklar v. Innstaedten, C. Von den ueberschwem- 

 mungen, enthaltend die ueberscbwemmnngen ira allgemeinen, 

 chronik der ueberschweramungen und mittelder abwehr. Wien, 

 1883. 151 p. S^ 



Sundman, G-., and Reuter, O. M. The fishes of Finland 

 (and Sweden), pt. 1. Helsingfors, 1883. 9 p., 3 col. pi. V. 

 Will contain about 30 parte. 



Tobler, A. Die elektriscben ubren und die feuerwehr-lelc- 

 gvapbie. Wien, 1883 (Elektro-techn. bibl., xiii.). 240p., illustr. 8'. 



Ung'arD,, Geologische special karte von. Herausget eben 

 von der k. ungariecber geologischen reiclisanstalt. Budapest, 

 1883. 



"Walras, L. Theorie matlieraalique de la richesse eocialc. 

 Leipzig, 1883. 256 p., 6 pi. 8°. 



Wittstein, G. C. Handworterbucb der pbarinrkognosle 

 des pflunzenreicbs. Breelau, 1883. 994 p. gr. 8^ 



Zacharias, J. Die elektriscben leitungen und ihre anlage. 

 Wien, 1883. (Elektro-tecbn. bibl., xvi.) 272 p., illustr. 8". 



