568 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1276 



fully-equipped laboratories and staffs, who 

 should he " continually irrigating the profes- 

 sion from the springs of the pure sciences." 

 In that way, or in another, the problem must 

 be solyed, if English medicine is to keep its 

 unsurpassed position in the world.- — The Lon- 

 don Times. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



A Sketch of the Natural History of the Dis- 

 trict of Columhia, together with an Indexed 

 Edition of the U. S. Geological Survey's 

 1917 Map of Washington and Vicinity. By 

 W. L. McAtee. Bulletin of the Biological 

 Society of Washington, No. 1, May, 1918, 

 pp. 142, 5 maps. 



Reliable information regarding the biology 

 of restricted areas is, for many reasons, of 

 much value far beyond, its mere local signifi- 

 cance. The capital city of our country has 

 been fortimate during the past century in the 

 many famous naturalists that have either 

 resided or studied here. The present compre- 

 hensive though succinct account of biological 

 aspects of the region about the city of "Wash- 

 ington is therefore most acceptable. Its pur- 

 pose is to present a brief biological history of 

 the District of Columbia, to point out the best 

 places for field study, and to furnish geo- 

 graphical assistance in locating them. Thus 

 the bulletin falls naturally into three parts : 

 (1) A historical sketch of the various branches 

 of natural history in their relation to the 

 District of Columbia; (2) an account of the 

 distribution of life in the District of Colum- 

 bia region; and (3) an index to the United 

 States Geological Survey's 1917 map of "Wash- 

 ington and vicinity. 



The history of the biology of the District of 

 Columbia, it is interesting to note, dates back, 

 we are told in a brief introduction, to the 

 year 1608, and the redoubtable Captain John 

 Smith of Pocahontas fame was the first ob- 

 server. A number of early authors on gen- 

 eral subjects have references to the animals 

 and plants of the region. 



The first information regarding the botany 

 is by Petiver in 1698, who published some 

 notes on animals and plants sent him from 



Maryland. The first actual list of plants of 

 the District of Columbia appeared in 1816, as 

 a part of David Baillie "Warden's " Choro- 

 graphical and Statistical Description of the 

 District of Columbia," and contained 142 

 species. A resume of the progress of botanical 

 study in the District of Columbia since that 

 time down to the present shows a final list of 

 1,598 species, many of which hate been de- 

 scribed as new from local material. A short 

 botanical bibliography includes the most im- 

 portant local publications. 



The first insects from the District of Colum- 

 bia were recorded in 1816 by "Warden, but 

 little was known of this group imtil 1859, 

 when Baron Osten Sacken began the publi- 

 cation of his important articles on the insect 

 fauna of the District. Many workers since 

 his time have, like him, found the District of 

 Columbia excellent collecting ground for in- 

 sects, and the total list of species for the 

 region is now very large, including 3,000 

 beetles alone. Many hundred species, chiefly 

 diptera and hymenoptera, have been described 

 from material collected near Washington. A 

 partial bibliography, arranged according to 

 orders and covering 16 pages, shows graphi- 

 cally the activity of local entomologists. Of 

 other invertebrates there have been recorded 

 from the District 90 species of mollusks, 308 

 species of spiders, 10 species of phalangids and 

 246 rotifers. 



Pishes have here received more attention 

 than any other group of vertebrates excepting 

 birds, and the list of species now totals 94, 

 several of which were described from speci- 

 mens taken in the vicinity of Washington. 

 The distribution of fishes in this region is 

 made interesting by the fact that tidewater 

 ends here, so that in addition to the fresh- 

 water fauna at least 26 species of salt-water 

 fishes occur more or less regularly. 



Of batrachians, 27 species are said to occur; 

 and of reptiles, 36. The only poisonous snake 

 at present extant is the copperhead, though 

 the rattlesnake formerly lived in this region. 

 As with the other groups, the account of 

 reptiles and batrachians is followed by a short 

 bibliography. 



