DECEMBER 22, 1899.] 
the fact that one of the most expert of the as- 
sistants of the Bureau of American Ethnology 
spent a whole season in the great ditch dug 
through this gravel without finding a single 
specimen, is a powerful argument in favor of the 
contention of Holmes and McGee .that those 
found are from the talus or within a few feet of 
the surface. 
The finding of pottery, arrow and lance 
heads, and axes with Koch’s mastodon in Mis- 
souri can not be said to be a scientific argument 
in support of a paleolithic period during which 
Dr. Wilson asserts man did not possess three 
of the four objects enumerated, it appears 
equally true that the drilled objects of Bour- 
geois hardly strengthens the theory of tertiary 
man if we follow correctly the argument. 
European drilling, all things considered, ap- 
pears to have been accomplished with better 
tools than were those of America, and the holes 
were commonly larger and drilled through 
harder stone than were those drilled in America. 
We can not expect to find any of the remains 
of man in the gravel of the drift which has 
usually ground to powder all other stones 
softer than flint, and the Calaveras skull alleged 
to be found in the auriferous gravel could 
hardly have survived; even the pestles and 
mortars found with it were like those of to-day 
and the skull is said not to present the appear- 
ance of a fossil. J. D. McGuire. 
ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND. 
A NATURALIST’S DIRECTORY. 
A BOOK which recently came to this library 
was called to the author’s attention a few days’ 
ago. The book is entitled ‘The Naturalist’s 
Directory’ and is published by L. Upcott 
Gill, London, 1899. In the preface it is stated 
that the object and purpose of the book has 
been so enlarged as to include all naturalists, 
especially of Great Britain, and we were lead 
to believe by this preface that the book might 
be of value as a directory to naturalists in gen- 
eral. When, however, we turned to the lists 
of naturalists outside of Great Britain, we were 
at once impressed with the incompleteness of 
the work, and this incompleteness is especially 
noticeable in the case of the United States. 
Under the general head of zoology, which 
/ SCIENCE. 
937 
includes entomology and mere collectors, as 
well as scientific zoologists, only thirty-three 
names are mentioned as pursuing this line of 
work in the United States. Of these names 
only eight or ten are of men who are at all 
well known. Im the subjects of Microscopy 
and Botany, we were astounded to find that 
only three men in the United States were pur- 
suing these branches of science. Of these 
names two are well known. According to the 
lists of workers in geology and paleontology, 
we find that the United States can boast of six 
men to grace these professions. Besides these 
interesting discoveries, we notice that there is 
one gentleman in the United States who is in- 
terested in Indian relics, and one other gentle- 
man who is making a study of anthropology. 
It would seem as if even in such a far away 
town as London, more complete information 
might be obtained concerning the status of sci- 
entific work in this country 
E. V. WILcox, 
U.S. Dep’T or AGRICULTURE. 
DR. G. W. FOSTER AND THE ‘LAKESIDE 
MONTHLY.’ 
To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE :—I have read 
with much interest, in your issue for November 
17th, the sketch of my old friend Dr. J. W. 
Foster. One statement, however, needs correc- 
tion: that ‘‘he was the editor of the Lakeside 
Monthly.’’ Dr. Foster was for a year or two a 
frequent and valued contributor to the Lakeside, 
but was at no time its editor. 
FRANCIS F, BROWNE. 
BOTANICAL NOTES. 
THE WILT DISEASE OF COTTON, WATERMELON 
AND COWPEA. 
A FEW days ago Dr. Erwin F. Smith, of the 
Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology 
of the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, issued an important contribution to our 
knowledge of the fungi which produce plant 
diseases. After about five years of investiga- 
tion enough facts are known to warrant the 
publication in a pamphlet of seventy-two pages 
of what the author calls a condensed account 
of the disease, and the fungus which causes it. 
The gross symptoms of the disease in the water- 
