November 15, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



675 



separated as B. airicristatus sennetU Eidg- 

 way; the small Floridian form of B. hicolor 

 has been named B. hicolor floridanus Bangs; 

 while the maximum of the same species, found 

 in eastern Kansas, could be called B. hicolor 

 missouriensis (Parus missouriensis Baird) if 

 it were worthy of a name, which Dr. Allen 

 thinks doubtful. These differences are clearly 

 geographic and are apparently dependent upon 

 climate, directly or indirectly. It is quite 

 possible that in part, at least, they represent 

 what Tower calls "place-variation." In both 

 species there is some difference in color accom- 

 panying that of size, and in the case of the 

 black-crested titmouse this is quite marked. 

 If the birds can be readily bred in captivity, 

 they afford a fine opportunity for experimental 

 work. 



AFRICAN ISOPODS 



In a descriptive account' of the terrestrial 

 Isopod Crustacea collected in Liberia by Dr. 

 0. F. Cook, Miss Harriet Richardson describes 

 four species of the genus Ethelum Budde- 

 Lund, stating that " all the species of this 

 genus hitherto described are from the West 

 Indies." It is interesting, as showing how 

 little we know about tropical Isopods, to find 

 that all the species of Eubelidse collected by 

 Dr. Cook, twelve in number, were new to 

 science. 



T. D. A. 0. 



BOTANICAL NOTES 

 SUNDRY BOTANICAL PAPERS 



Elmer D. Merrill, of the Biological 

 Laboratory of the Bureau of Science, at 

 Manila, has published in a recent number of 

 the Philippine Journal of Science an interest- 

 ing account of the flora of Mount Halcon on 

 the island of Mindoro. He confines his paper 

 to the spermatophytes, the vascular cryptogams 

 having been catalogued by Copeland in an 

 eailier number of the same journal. One 

 species of Agathis (Pinuceae) , three of Dacry- 

 dium, eight of Podocarpiis, and one of Phyllo- 

 cladus (Taxaceae) make up the list of gymno- 

 sperms. But nine species of grasses are re- 

 corded, including one Bamhusa. The sedges 



'Smithsonian Misc. Coll., September, 1907. 



are scarcely better represented, having but ten 

 species in the list, only one of which is a 

 Carex. Of the palms there are but two 

 species. The families Juglandaceae, Fagaceae 

 and Ulmaceae are represented respectively by 

 single species of Engelhardti-a, Quercus and 

 Gironniera. Of the Rosaceae and Legu- 

 minosae there are^but three species each, while 

 there is but one umbelliier. Even the great 

 family Compositae is represented by only nine 

 species. The largest family is the Bubiaceae 

 with 27 species, followed with Melastomaceae 

 (18), Taxaceae (12), Myrsinaceae (12), and 

 curiously enough, the Ericaceae also with 12 

 species. In the latter there are two species of 

 Rhododendron, one of Oauliheria (subscan- 

 dent!) and eight of Vaccinium (mostly epi- 

 phytic!). 



In the September Botanical Gazette Mary 

 S. Young publishes an interesting short paper 

 on the germination of the pollen of Dacry- 

 dium, one of the Taxaceae. The material was 

 obtained in New Zealand. 



Mr. Ellsworth Bethel, of Denver, and Dr. 

 W. C. Sturgis, of Colorado Springs, have pro- 

 jected a series of papers to be published under 

 the general title of " The Myxomycetes and 

 Fungi of Colorado." The first number has 

 appeared in the " Colorado College Publica- 

 tion " for September, and is entitled '' The 

 Myxomycetes of Colorado." It was prepared 

 by Dr. Sturgis. He does not attempt to de- 

 termine whether these organisms are plants or 

 animals, " nevertheless," he says, " the study of 

 these organisms is, and always has been 

 mainly in the hands of botanists." After a 

 few paragraphs on their structure, collection 

 and preservation, microscopic examination, 

 and literature, he gives a key to the genera 

 known to occur in Colorado. This is followed 

 by a fully annotated list of the species ar- 

 ranged under their genera. No attempt is 

 made to characterize the genera otherwise than 

 is done in the key, and only new and hitherto 

 unreported species or varieties are described. 

 About one hundred species and varieties are 

 included. 



" Linne and the Love for Nature " is the 

 title of a pretty and appreciative paper by 



