924 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. Ko. 78. 



twenty years ago the late Dr. Eugelmaun made 

 an attempt to classify and describe the species 

 of Agave of the United States, the genus to 

 which the Century plant and Maguay belong. 

 Since that time much information and material 

 have been accumulating, and in St. Louis, 

 where Engelmann's notes and specimens are 

 preserved, the study of this difBcult genus has 

 been again undertaken. Miss Mulford, whose 

 work was the basis of a thesis for which she ob- 

 tained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from 

 Washington University in 1895, has brought 

 together in a carefully arranged synoptical 

 form the technical descriptions of all of those 

 species which are now recognized as occurring 

 within the limits of the United States, and has 

 added much information of a popular character 

 concerning their economic uses. The paper is 

 supplemented by reproductions of habit photo- 

 graphs and a large series of accurate detail il- 

 lustrations from drawings by Miss Johnson. 



Two Interesting and Bare Water Plants.* Mr. 

 Thompson gives an exhaustive account of the 

 structure, and, so far as known, the biology, of 

 two very rare duckweeds, "VVolflSa gladiata, var. 

 Floridana, and W. lingulata, the former hereto- 

 fore known only from Florida, but collected 

 last year in the swamps of southern Missouri, 

 where it occurs associated with other pecul- 

 iarly Floridan plants, such as Leitneria ; the 

 other heretofore known only from the Mexican 

 tablelands, but detected by Mr. Thompson iu 

 Kern County, California, last year. 



GENERAL. 



The associated press sends news of a terrible 

 earthquake disaster in the Island of Yesso, 

 Japan. It is stated that there were as many as 

 150 shocks lasting in all about 20 hours. The 

 earthquake and the accompaning tidal wave 

 caused great loss of life and property. 



The library building presented to the town 

 of Branford, Conn., by Mr. Timothy Black- 

 stone at a cost of about $300,000 was dedicated 

 on June 17th. 



* The Ligulate WolfiSas of the United States. By 

 Charles Henry Thompson. Issued May 26, 1896. 

 Eepi-inted from the Seventh Annual Eeport of the 

 Missouri Botanical Garden. Pages 101-111, plates 

 64-66. 



The Scientific American states that the Egyp- 

 tian government has determined to commence 

 a geological survey. The work will be begun 

 this year, and will take about three years for 

 its completion. The estimated cost is $125,000. 

 Capt. H. G. Lyons, R. E. , who is at present en- 

 gaged under the Public Works Department of 

 the Egyptian government in superintending the 

 excavation of the ruined temples of Philoe, will 

 have charge of the survey. 



Fifty photographs from the recent exhibi- 

 tion at the Cosmos Club, Washington, have 

 been selected for purchase by the U. S. National 

 Museum. There will be held next year at 

 Washington a second exhibition of art photog- 

 raphy under the name of ' The National Photo- 

 graphic Salon of 1897.' 



The Romanes Lecture for 1896 was deliv- 

 ered by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Pe- 

 terborough, on June 17, his subject being : 

 ' English National Character. ' 



We learn from Nature that Sir George Stokes 

 and Dr. Carl L. Griesbach, Director of the 

 Geological Survey of India, have been elected 

 honorary members of the Austrian Academy of 

 Sciences. Dr. Roux has been elected Associate 

 of the Academy of Medicine in the room of the 

 late M. Pasteur. 



Prof. F. A. March, of Lafayette College, 

 the eminent philologist, will receive during the 

 present month the degree of Lit. D. from Cam- 

 bridge University, and the degree of D. C. L. 

 from Oxford University. 



Miss L. Bruce has given to the University 

 of Heidelberg a photographic telescojje said to 

 be even larger than the one she gave to Har- 

 vard University. 



The Mississippi Valley Medical Association 

 will meet at St. Paul, Minn., under the presi- 

 dency of Dr. H. O. Walker, from October 20th 

 to 23d. 



At a meeting of the board of managers of the 

 New York Botanical Garden on June 17th the 

 Committee on Plans reported favorable progress, 

 and the report of the Committee on Annual 

 Members, Fellows and Patrons stated that a 

 large number of annual members had been re- 

 cently added to the rolls, and that President 



