560 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 302. 



season in the Wichita Mountains, but per- 

 mission to enter the Kiowa reservation, in 

 which the mountains are situated, not hav- 

 ing been granted, the plan of the route was 

 changed. From N"orman, the seat of the 

 university, the party went north to Perry 

 and Stillwater, then west across the north- 

 ern part of the Territory as far as Camp 

 Supply, south to the Washita river, and 

 east through Norman, across the Seminole 

 and Creek reservations to Okmulgee, north 

 past the Tulsa coalfields, through the Chero- 

 kee and Osage nations to the Kansas line 

 and south again to Norman. In all about 

 1,500 miles were covered and every county 

 in Oklahoma except three were visited. 



Although the trip was of necessity little 

 more than a reconnaissance, still the work 

 as a whole was most satisfactory. The 

 Eed-beds — one of the most vexing of 

 western geological groups — were studied 

 throughout the Territory. Three large salt 

 plains were visited; the ledge of gypsum 

 which extends from Kansas to Texas was 

 traced and mapped for several hundred 

 miles ; fossils were collected from five dif- 

 ferent localities representing as many 

 horizons in the Red-beds. Numerous out- 

 crops of Comanche Cretaceous fossils were 

 located in the western part of the Terri- 

 tory. Collections of considerable impor- 

 tance were made in the various formations, 

 and the fossils are now being worked up 

 in the Museum of the University. When 

 these shall have been identified it is hoped 

 that the question of the age of the Red- 

 beds will be definitely settled. In the east- 

 ern part of the Territory the relation of the 

 coal and oil fields of the Cai-boniferous to 

 the Eed-beds was investigated. Through- 

 out the trip the question of water supply 

 was given considerable attention. 



Dr. Van Vleet made good collections of 

 the animal life of the region, paying par- 

 ticular attention to snakes and birds. Mr. 

 White's large collection of plants is of 



much interest in that it comprises several 

 species that are probably new to science. 



Mr. Hadsell devoted much time to col- 

 lecting historical data, particularly that per- 

 taining to Indians and old government trails 

 and forts. About 150 photographs were 

 taken illustrating the various phases of the 

 work. 



A report of the progress of the survey 

 will be presented to the Governor before 

 the meeting of the next Legislature. In 

 addition, a number of short articles will be 

 written setting forth the work in greater 

 detail. It is confidently hoped that legis- 

 lative appropriation will be sufficient to 

 enable much more effective work in the 

 future. 



Charles Newton Gould. 



The Univeesity of Oklahoma, 

 Sept. 18, 1900. 



3I08QUIT0ES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Fob many years a few medical men have 

 nursed the theory that mosquitoes may be 

 carriers from man to man of the germs of 

 human malaria. Quite recently physicians 

 have produced evidence that makes this no 

 longer a theory but a demonstrated fact. 

 The result is that there is a great demand 

 in all civilized countries for information re- 

 garding mosquitoes. This demand found 

 the entomologists of the world illy pre- 

 pared with definite facts about the lives and 

 habits of the different kinds of mosquitoes. 

 It was not until 1896 that any thoroughly 

 satisfactory figure of a well- determined spe- 

 cies of mosquitoes from the United States, 

 or any account of its early stages, was to be 

 found in the literature. Then Dr. L. O. 

 Howard, U. S. Entomologist, published 

 (Bull. 4, New Series, U. S. Div. of Ento- 

 mology) a full and carefully illustrated ac- 

 count of Culiix pungens, and also included a 

 digest of his previous articles on remedies 

 for mosquitoes and a tabulated statement 

 regarding the different species in this 



