878 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 76. 



Hadley's Concerning the Cause of the General 

 Trade Winds, originally published in the Philo- 

 sophical Transactions in 1735. This paper, al- 

 though very short, was one of very great im- 

 portance in relation to the theory of the trade 

 winds. Hadley's explanation of the direction 

 of these winds, which he rightly ascribed to the 

 deflective effect of the earth's rotation, was not 

 complete or accurate, yet his theory is com- 

 monly found given in many books of the pres- 

 ent day. The paper .was distinctly epoch- 

 making, and, as such, is well deserving of a 

 place in Dr. Hellmann's admirable series. The 

 notes in the Hadley reprint are as full and as 

 suggestive as in the other numbers. 



The publishers of the Neudrucke are Asher 

 & Co., of Berlin, but we are informed that Dr. 

 Hellmann has sent over several copies of each 

 of the last two volumes to Mr. A. Lawrence 

 Rotch, Readville, Mass. , in order that Ameri- 

 cans may be saved the trouble of writing to 

 Europe for them. The reprints may be ob- 

 tained at cost price on application to Mr. 

 Eotch, the price of Die Bauern-Praktik being 

 $1.75, and that of the Hadley reprint 50 cents. 

 R. De C. Ward. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 



PSYCHE, JUNE. 



The body of the number contains but a 

 single short article, in which J. W. Folsom de- 

 scribes and figures a new Thysanuran which he 

 regards as representing a new genus and family, 

 Neelidfe. Two supplements are added, in one 

 of which T. D. A. Cockerell continues his de- 

 scriptions of new species of bees of the genus 

 Prosapis, mostly from Colorado and Nevada; 

 in the other F. C. Bowditch gives a list of 674 

 Coleoptera found on Mt. Washington, N. H., 

 both above and below the timber line, with 

 brief notes. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF "WASHINGTON, 262D 



MEETING, SATURDAY, MAY 16. 



The evening was devoted to the discussion 

 of The Fauna and Flora of the Islands off the 

 Coast of Southern and Lower California, Including 

 the Gulf of California. 



Dr. E. L. Greene discussed in brief the flora 

 of the islands. The entire group, from Guada- 

 lupe, ofl^ the coast of Mexico, lying a hundred 

 miles or more distant from the mainland, to 

 those forming the channel of Santa Barbara and 

 holding distances of only thirty and fortj' miles 

 from the Californian shore, is a remarkable group 

 among continental islands, as presenting in its 

 flora so many points of divergence from that of 

 the adjacent mainland. The islands of the At- 

 lantic seaboard, even those lying farther out at 

 sea than do any of those of the Cailforuian coast, 

 yield only such genera and species as are com- 

 mon on the continent. But in the case of the 

 Mesico-Californian group there are not less than 

 fifty good species already known which are 

 absolutely peculiar to the islands ; some of them 

 representing even generic types, like Lyono- 

 thamnus, consisting of two very distinct species 

 — one a large shrub, the other a small tree — 

 with no very near relatives in any other part of 

 the world. Crossosoma, another genus of shrubs, 

 has one fine species indigenous to several 

 islands, with none on the immediately neigh- 

 boring mainland, though a second small and in- 

 significant member of the genus occurs away 

 beyond the continental mountain ranges, on the 

 verge of the deserts of the distant interior. 

 And this insular genus Crossosoma is almost 

 more than a genus. It probably represents a 

 natural order, some authors referring it to the 

 Dilleniacse, the genera of which are all Aus- 

 tralian and South American, others placing it 

 provisionally in the Papaveracese, while in char- 

 acter it is difierent from either family. Th& 

 most surprising case of entire divergence from 

 continental flora is that of four very strongly 

 marked species of Lavatera, which are scattered 

 up and down the archipelago, while not a 

 single species is indigenous to the American 

 continent, either North or South, all the gen- 

 eric allies of these fine shrubs being of the flora 

 of the Mediterranean region, with the exception 

 of three or four, which are confined to remote 

 and truly oceanic islands. 



Another and negative point of divergence 

 between the insular and mainland floras is the 

 almost or quite total absence from the island 

 of representatives of certain of the most prev- 

 alent mainland genera, such as Bibes Lu~ 



