108 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 55. 



fauna. The real semi-tropical in Texas occu- 

 pies an extremely small area, namely, the delta 

 of the Rio Grande from the mouth of the river 

 to the head of the Arroyo Colorado. The latter 

 is an ancient bed of the Eio Grande, and forms 

 the northern boundary of the semi-tropical 

 fauna. Within this area the fauna in question 

 occurs in narrow isolated strips, within the bends 

 of the river, along the various resacas which in- 

 tersect and meander through this region. The 

 more elevated land separating these strips is 

 occupied by the general fauna of southwestern 

 Texas, but there is a maritime fauna of a more 

 tropical character extending along the coast, 

 probably as far north as Corpus Christi Bay. 

 Finally the fauna of the yucca-covered ridges 

 running parallel with the coast also belong to 

 the semi-tropical region. 



Dr. Gill said that Mr. Schwarz's observations 

 on the extremely limited character of this 

 fauna in Texas agree with his own deductions 

 from the study of fishes. The paper was 

 further discussed by Messrs. Ashmead and 

 Howard. 



Mr. Ashmead presented a paper on the genera 

 of the Eupelmiuie, showing that ten years ago 

 only eight genera were tabulated by Cresson, 

 and only one of these was known to occur in 

 the United States. As a result of recent studies 

 he has found in the United States representa- 

 tives of 25 genera, several of which are new. 

 He spoke briefly of some of the peculiar forms. 



A paper by Mr. C. F. Baker on ' The Affini- 

 ties of Neolarra,' was read by the Secretary. 

 The writer concluded that this genus does not 

 belong to the Bembecidse, with which it had 

 been placed by Ashmead, but to the Apidas. 

 The paper was discussed by Mr. Ashmead, who 

 said that he agreed with Mr. Baker in his con- 

 clusions. The speaker in his original descrip- 

 tion of Neolarra had been led to place it with 

 the Bembecidse, largely from the fact that the 

 type was in such poor condition that some of 

 its important characters could not be well un- 

 derstood. He further said that he agreed with 

 Haliday in considering the Bembecidse as rather 

 closely related to the bees on account of the 

 structure of the mouthparts. 



L. O. HOWAKD, 



Secretary. 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



At the last meeting of the Philosophical 

 Society of Washington the following communi- 

 cations were presented : 



1. By Lieutenant W. H. Beehler, United 

 States Navy, on ' The compensation of vibra- 

 tions and other motions of a vessel at sea for 

 the constant level-base of the Solarometer. ' 

 Illustrated by diagrams and a solarometer in- 

 strument itself. 



2. By E. D. Preston, on ' Some original 

 methods of reducing stars from mean to ap- 

 parent place.' Illustrated by diagrams show- 

 ing how results are quickly obtained graphi- 

 cally. Beraed R. Gkeen, 



Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 The Sun. C. A. Young. New and Revised 

 Edition. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 



1895. Pp. xii+363., $2.00. 

 Introduction to the Study of Fungi. M. C. Cooke. 



London, Adam and Charles Black. New 

 York, Macmillan & Co. 1895. Pp. x+360. 



Mechanics and Hydrostatics. R. T. Glazebrook . 

 Cambridge, University Press. New York; 

 Macmillan & Co. 1895. Pp. xiv-(-208-(- 

 xxiv. $2.25. 



Primer of the History of Mathematics. W. W. 

 Rouse Ball. London and New York, Mac- 

 millan & Co. 1895. Pp. iv+158. 65cts. 



Plane and Solid Geometry. Woostbr Woodruff 

 Beman and David Eugene Smith. Boston 

 and London, Ginn & Co. 1895. Pp. ix-|- 

 320. $1.35. 



The Theory of Social Forces: Simon N. Patton. 

 Philadelphia, American Academy of Political 

 and Social Science. 1896. Pp. 151. 



Ethnology. A. H. Keane. Cambridge, Uni- 

 versity Press. New York, Macmillan & Co. 



1896. Pp. xxx+442. $2.60. 



Principles of Metallurgy. Arthur H. Hiorns. 

 London and New York, Macmillan & Co. 

 i895. Pp. xiv+38S. 



The Chemists^ Compendium. C. J. S. Thompson. 

 London, Whittaker & Co. New York, Mac- 

 millan & Co. 1896. Pp. 230. $1.00. 



Practical Inorganic Chemistry. G. S. TURPIN. 

 London and New York, Macmillan & Co. 

 1895. Pp. vii -1-156. 60 cents. 



