November 16, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



763 



sions from the technical journals and from many 

 experts among business men. 



R. H. Thurston. 



GENERAL. 



Messes. Gaudry and Baeeois and their con- 

 freres in France have brought out in the form of 

 a guide- book to the geological excursions under- 

 taken this summer under the auspices of the 

 International Congress of Geologists, a veritable 

 hand-book of the geology of France, entitled 

 ' Livret-guide des Excursions en France du 

 VHP Congres Geologique Internalional.' The 

 work is beautifully illustrated with reproduc- 

 tions from photographs, with cuts of sections and 

 colored maps, making the collection of papers 

 on the different geological provinces of the Re- 

 public by far the most complete publication of 

 the kind for any country. The matter is pre- 

 sented in such a form that it will serve the 

 reader as well as the geological traveler. Paper 

 and press-work are of the best quality. 



J. B. W. 



In the first part of his work ' Ueber Museen 

 des Ostens der Vereinigten Staaten von Nord 

 Amerika,' Dr. A. B. Meyer, the director of the 

 Dresden Museum, describes the museums of 

 New York City, Albany and Buffalo. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Siattis of the Mesozoic Floras of the United States- 

 Lester F. Ward, with the corroboration of Wji. 

 M. Fontaine, Ateeus Wanner and F. H. 

 Knowlton. Washington, Government Printing 

 Office. 1900. Pp. 213-430. Plates XXI-CXLIV. 



A Practical Course in Mechanical Drawing. WILLIAM 

 Fox and Charles W. Thomas. New York, D. 

 Van Nostrand Co. 1899. Pp. vi -f- 98. 



Chemical Technology, t'dited by C. E. Groves and 

 William Thoep, Vol. III. Gaslighting. Charles 

 Hunt. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Son & Co. 

 1900. Pp. xviii + 312. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 The Botanical Gazette, October, contains an 

 important paper by Dr. R. A. Harper, of the 

 University of Wisconsin, on 'Cell and Nu- 

 clear Division in Fuligo varians,' a common 

 slime mold. The results have led Dr. Har- 

 per to discuss in a general way the processes 



of cell division, and he discovers no such defi- 

 nite rules of cleavage as have been urged by 

 authors. Mr. W. J. G. Land, of the Hull Bo- 

 tanical Laboratory, describes cases of double 

 fertilization in Erigeron and Silphium, in both 

 of which cases he discovered the second male 

 cell conjugating with the endosperm nucleus 

 or with one of the polar nuclei. The male 

 cells of Silphium are remarkable in that they are 

 much elongated and spirally coiled. Miss Mary 

 HefFeran, of the Bacteriological Laboratory of 

 the University of Chicago, describes ' A New 

 Chromogenic Micrococcus,' discovered in the 

 course of an examination of river water for the 

 Sanitary District of Chicago. Mr. E. R. Hod- 

 son, of the Iowa Agricultural College, describes 

 'A New Species of Neovossia,' a smut affecting 

 the ovaries of Phragmites communis. Mr. Henry 

 Ki-aemer, of the Philadelphia College of Phar- 

 macy, writes concerning the origin of tannins 

 in galls, coming to the conclusion that the crys- 

 talline compound found in the galls which he 

 examined is gallic acid, which becomes trans- 

 formed into tannin. 



The Auk, for October, has for its first article 

 an account of ' A Nuptial Performance of the 

 Sage Cock,' with a plate showing how the bird 

 slides along on its breast with distended air 

 sacs. J. A. Allen discusses 'Aptosochromatism,' 

 reviewing the most recent articles on alleged 

 change of color in feathers without moiilt, 

 changes which Dr. Allen does not consider as 

 taking place. James J. Carroll presents ' Notes 

 on the Birds of Refugio County, Texas,' giving 

 a list of 185 species, and William H. Kobb6 

 in ' The Birds of Cape Disappointment, Wash- 

 ington,' gives an annotated list of 63 species. 

 W. E. Saunders describes the ' Nesting Habits 

 of the Cerulean Warbler.' J. A. Allen under 

 ' North American Birds Collected at Santa 

 Marta, Colombia,' presents a list of 43 species. 

 Finally Jonathan Dwight, Jr., makes another 

 of his important contributions to ornithology in 

 ' The Moult of the North American Shore 

 Birds {Limicola}),^ which has a very direct 

 bearing on the question of change of color 

 without moult. Dr. Dwight emphatically states 

 that changes of color in plumage are the results 

 of moulting and wear. There are the customary 

 General Notes and Reviews of Recent Litera- 



