]Sro^^i:MBEE 9, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



601 



The writer believes that the probable cause of 

 the mammato-cumulus is to be found in a de- 

 scending air movement, which, however, in 

 view of its usually being very limited in area, 

 seldom reaches down to the lowest air strata. 



BIRD MIGRATION AND WEATHER IN HUNGARY. 



The spring dates of arrival in Hungary of 

 migrating birds have been studied in relation 

 to weather conditions for the period 1894r-1903, 

 by J. Hegyfoky, who presents the general re- 

 sults in the September number of the Meteoro- 

 logische Zeitschrift. Weather which is warm 

 and pleasant accelerates the arrival of the 

 birds, while unpleasant cool weather delays 

 their coming. When high pressures prevail 

 over the continent the arrival is regular, but 

 when depressions, of short duration, occur, 

 the arrival is irregular. 



NOTES. 



J. E. Sutton, meteorologist of the De Beers 

 Consolidated Mines at Kimberley, continues 

 his valuable discussions of the meteorology of 

 the South African table-land in a paper on 

 * The Climate of East London, Cape Colony ' 

 (Trans. So. Afr. Phil. 8oc., XVI., 3, August, 

 1906). 



E. DeC. Ward. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



papers on fungi. 

 Two years ago Dr. G. P. Clinton, of the 

 Connecticut Experiment Station, published a 

 very helpful monograph of the North Amer- 

 ican Ustilagineae (Proc. Boston Society Nat. 

 Hist., Vol. 31) which was noticed in this 

 journal (Science, July 7, 1905). The same 

 author has published another paper on the 

 same group of plants, but for a restricted area 

 under the title, * The Ustilagineae, or Smuts, 

 of Connecticut.' It constitutes Bulletin No. 3 

 of the State Geological and Natural History 

 Survey, and includes forty-four pages of text 

 and seven full-page plates. There is first an 

 introduction of seven pages in which the gen- 

 eral characters, life history and economic im- 

 portance of the smuts are discussed, and this 

 is followed by a systematic key to the genera, 

 of which there are twelve represented by spe- 



cies in the state. Under each genus, after its 

 characterization there is a key to the species 

 with the specific descriptions clearly drawn. 

 No synonyms are included, but hosts and lo- 

 calities are given with much fulness. In all, 

 forty-nine species and one variety are de- 

 scribed. The plates (mostly half-tones) add 

 much to the usefulness of the paper. 



In ' A Preliminary Report of the Hymeni- 

 ales of Connecticut ' Professor Edward A. 

 White published (in Bulletin 3 of the State 

 Geol. and Nat, Hist. Survey) the results of 

 his studies of the larger fungi (mainly toad- 

 stools and pore-fungi) of Connecticut. It 

 constitutes a thick pamphlet of eighty-two 

 pages of text, and forty excellent half-tone 

 plates of photographs. As stated in the pref- 

 ace, the author's aim ' has been to compile as 

 far as possible a complete and accurate list of 

 native species, together with notes regarding 

 the characteristic genera.' This plan has 

 been so carried out that one finds here clear, 

 non-technical descriptions of fifty-five genera, 

 aided by the very good plates, and following 

 each generic characterization is a list of the 

 species with localities and notes in regard to 

 edibility. There are enumerated of Agarica- 

 ceae 233 species, Polyporaceae 103, Hydna- 

 ceae 23, Thelephoraceae 18 and Glavariaceae 

 11. This pamphlet should prove useful to 

 beginners in the study of the larger fungi in 

 Connecticut, as by it the genus of any speci- 

 men can be determined, and that is all that 

 the beginner should attempt. The identifica- 

 tion of species may well be deferred until 

 genera are pretty well fixed in mind. 



Professor Doctor Arthur contributes to the 

 volume * Resultats scientifiques de Congres 

 international de Botanique Vienne 1905' a 

 paper on the classification of the Uredineae 

 based upon their structure and development 

 (' Eine auf die Struktur und Entwicklungs- 

 geschichte begriindete Klassifikation der Ure- 

 dineen'), in which he proposed an entirely 

 new arrangement of the group. He divides 

 the order Uredinales into three families, viz., 

 Goleosporaceae, with seven genera (e. g., 

 Coleosporium, Chrysospora, etc.) representing 

 three subfamilies; TJredinaceae, with twenty- 



