530 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 617, 



plots in the same formation 120 species were 

 found of which the five commonest form 30 

 per cent., and 91 form each less than 1 per 

 cent. Quite as striking as the wealth in spe- 

 cies and the poverty in individuals is the 

 variation between the different plots in the 

 same formation. 



Note has been taken of the lianes, epiphytes 

 and herbaceous vegetation, and many valuable 

 observations made on the foliage, bark, latex, 

 buttresses and cauliflory of the trees. It is 

 unfortunate that more attention could not 

 have been given to the herbaceous vegetation. 



The paper as a whole, with its abundant 

 illustrations, gives a vivid picture of the vege- 

 tation of a region not before well known to us. 

 Manifest importance' attaches to the carrying 

 into the tropics of the detailed and compre- 

 hensive methods of studying vegetation which 

 have been in use in the temperate regions. 

 The fact that our methods and our points of 

 view are both the products of the study of 

 temperate vegetation must compel care in the 

 application of these in the tropics. While the 

 method of the study of plots gives interesting 

 results as to the wealth and composition of a 

 tropical forest when first applied in a par- 

 ticular region, yet it does not give facts of 

 the same order as those ascertained by the 

 study of plots in the temperate zone, as may 

 be seen by a comparison of the lists for plots 

 in the same formations in the Lamao reserve. 

 The reviewer doubts if the term ' climax for- 

 est ' is one that would have come into exist- 

 ence if the first students of physiological 

 plant-geography had resided and worked in 

 the tropics. The term is certainly an ex- 

 tremely elastic one as used by Dr. Whitford. 



It is greatly to be hoped that we may have 

 in the near future further papers of this na- 

 ture from members of the botanical and for- 

 estry staffs of the Philippines. 



Forrest Shreve. 

 The Woman's College, Baltimore. 



ner ; an account of ' The Nesting of the 

 Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker in the Adiron- 

 dacks,' by Lawrence Achilles; an article on 

 ' The Eose-breasted Grosbeak,' by Frederick 

 L. Holtz, and one on ' The Habits of the 

 Black Vulture,' by A. A. Saunders. W. W- 

 Cooke contributes the eighteenth paper on * The 

 Migration of Warblers.' In notes and news 

 are the records of two plume sales in London, 

 footing up over 35,000 birds, including 19,000 

 birds-of -paradise. The Audubon leaflet is de- 

 voted to the blue jay. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin for October 

 has an article, with a good illustration, on the 

 African pigmy Ota Benga, and there are good 

 papers on ^ The Collection of Reptiles,' ' How 

 Seals are Trained,' ' The White Peacock ' and 

 ' How Birds get Their Food.' The capture 

 of two tarpon in New York Bay is recorded 

 and there is a description of a new sea-horse 

 from Bermuda to which the name Hippo- 

 campus hincaidi is given. Judging from the 

 figure, it should belong in another genus- 

 There is probably a slip of the pen in the 

 statement under the cut of ' One of the 

 Largest of Our Tortoises ' that ' The growtb 

 of this specimen has been so great as to oppose 

 the theory of the great age which these rep- 

 tiles are supposed to attain.' What is doubt- 

 less meant is that great size does not neces- 

 sarily mean great age, for these tortoises have 

 been known to live over one hundred years. 



The Museum News of the Brooklyn Insti- 

 tute Museums for October begins its second 

 volume with a brief summary of the summer's- 

 work. In the section devoted to the Chil- 

 dren's Museum is a good account of Tadourae 

 and the Saguenay River, in which the occur- 

 rence of the killer, Orca, is noted. The mu- 

 seum has a living specimen of Hyla ander- 

 soni. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 Bird-Lore for September-October contains 

 a well-illustrated article on ' The Home Life 

 of the Red-tailed Hawk,' by Robert W. Heg- 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE ST. LOUIS CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The first meeting after the summer recess 

 of the St. Louis Chemical Society, was held 

 on Monday, October 8. A report ' On the- 

 National Pure Food and Drug Law, and On 

 the Recent Hearing by the Ofiicial Commis- 



