November 8, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



635 



connection special adaptation to divers habitats 

 brings about great differences in plants, and we 

 find those of high altitudes and dry sunny loca- 

 tions differing widely from those of moist low 

 places. Many of the problems of distribution 

 and of special floras are touched upon in this con- 

 nection. The special functions of the green 

 leaves in the formation of organic food from the 

 absorbed inorganic food ; the transport of sub- 

 sta;nces in living plants and the propelling 

 forces in the conversion and distribution of ma- 

 terials constitute an interesting but a much more 

 technical grovip of facts, leading naturally to 

 the treatment of growth and ultimate structure 

 of plants, till we reach the completed structures, 

 passing by progressive stages in complexity 

 from unicellular organisms to plant bodies and 

 the forms of their roots, stems and leaves. 



The remainder of the work is promised soon 

 and will be looked for with much interest. The 

 translators deserve a great deal of credit for 

 the clearness of the style, the beauty of the 

 text and the fine character of the illustrations, 

 which are taken ft'om the original plates, by 

 permission of the author. 



A traverse le Caucase. Emile Levier. Neu- 



chatel, Attinger Freres. 1894. 



As the rest of the title indicates, these are the 

 notes and impressions of a botanist, illustrated 

 by numerous photographs taken by one of the 

 party, Mr. Stephen Sommier, supplemented by 

 others from the collection of Vittorio Sella, 

 whose Alpine and Caucasian views are famous. 

 The illustrations add great interest to the work, 

 giving, as they do, views of the people, their 

 towns and buildings, and the wild, picturesque 

 country in which they live. The journal also 

 is full of word pictures, and recounts in a lively 

 and interesting manner the experiences of the 

 party, the details of their journey as well as 

 their adventures in the wild gorges among the 

 snow-clad mountains which they traversed. 

 Their experiences with the natives, the numer- 

 ous courtesies and hospitalities received from 

 the Russian officials, their adventures in search 

 of plants and game, their photographic trials 

 and anthropological researches, fill a large and 

 handsome volume of 335 pages and hold the 

 interest of the reader from beginning to end. A 



map completes the list of illustrations, one of 

 which is a picture of the Botanic Garden at Tif- 

 lis. A list of new species detected is appended. 

 Elizabeth G. Beitton. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON, 247TH 

 MEETING, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19TH. 



Mr. Sylvester D. Judd read a paper en- 

 titled ' The Food of the Catbird, Brown 

 Thrasher and House Wren,' in which he said 

 that these three birds destroy beetles, ants, 

 caterpillars, grasshoppers and many other in- 

 sects ; also, that the wren is exclusively insec- 

 tivorous, but that the catbird and thrasher sub- 

 sist largely on wild fruits, occasionally making- 

 inroads on cultivated varieties. 



Mr. L. O. Howard spoke briefly of a new 

 enemy of the Hellgrammite fly. In August of 

 the present year Mr. R. S. Clifton called his 

 attention to the fact that the egg masses of the 

 Hellgrammite on the shores of the Potomac 

 River were being eaten by some insect. Inves- 

 tigation showed that the egg masses, which had 

 never before been known to be attacked by any 

 insect, were being eaten wholesale by the larva 

 of Anthicus lialdemanni, an extremely rare An- 

 thicid beetle. Of the hundreds of egg masses 

 examined none were unattacked. The beetle 

 gnaws a hole through the cover of the egg mass 

 and lays its eggs within. The larvte feed upon 

 the Hellgrammite eggs until full grown, then 

 crawl away to a crack in the rocks and trans- 

 form to pupse. 



The speaker claimed especial interest for the 

 observation from three facts : (1). The egg 

 masses of the Hellgrammite were previously 

 supposed so be uninfested by any insect enemy. 

 (2.) Anthicus haldemanni is a very rare beetle, 

 which has never before been taken in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia. It occured in hundreds this 

 season at the point where the observations were 

 made. (3.) Almost no observations are upon 

 record regarding the early stages of the family 

 Anthicidfe. Of the 130 odd North American 

 species the larvse of none have heretofore been 

 observed. 



Mr. Dall showed some fat still containing a 



