SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 493. 



of Covillea, Prosopis, Acacia, Opuntiaj 

 Echinocactus, Cereus, Parhinsonia, etc. The 

 presence of the Santa Catalina range, which 

 rises to 6,000 feet, adds a mountain element 

 to the vegetation. A further advantage of 

 great importance lies in the central location 

 of the laboratory with reference to the deserts 

 of Texas, Mexico and California. 



The general physical features of deserts are 

 discussed in a caption filled with valuable 

 meteorological and soil data. In connection 

 with the latter, it is pointed out that lack 

 of water is the fundamental cause of deserts, 

 and that areas in which the water content is 

 largely non-available are deserts as well as 

 those in which the water content is low. The 

 current conceptions of deserts are shown to be 

 wholly inaccurate, particularly with respect to 

 vegetation. Two great desert regions, called the 

 Sonora-lSTevada and the Chihuahua desert, are 

 recognized by the authors. The former corre- 

 sponds to the Great Basin region and the dry 

 coast lands of northwestern Mexico ; the latter 

 extends northward from Chihuahua through 

 parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to 

 the Bad Lands of South Dakota and the Red 

 Desert of "Wyoming. The annual rainfall in 

 the most intense areas is less than 3 inches; 

 in the least intense, 14-16 inches. Maximum 

 temperatures of 110°-120° F. are frequent 

 during the summer. The relative humidity 

 is very low, the minimum frequently falling 

 below 15°. The critical investigation of the 

 physical factors, especially the water content, 

 of these deserts is an alluring field for future 

 workers at the Desert Laboratory. 



Dr. MacDougal contributes a series of in- 

 structive experiments upon the transpiration 

 of certain xerophytes of the region with rela- 

 tion to temperature, and makes an illumina- 

 ting comparison of the results with those ob- 

 tained from mesophytes. The xerophyte, in 

 spite of its great insolation and the low humid- 

 ity, loses water less rapidly than the meso- 

 phyte. The report closes with a valuable 

 bibliography of desert vegetation, and of the 

 climate, soil and water of deserts, which has 

 been prepared by Dr. Cannon. It can not be 

 too highly praised for the beauty of the plates, 

 which have a much greater value for the un- 



derstanding of the text than is at present the 

 fashion in ecology. 



Frederic E. Clements. 

 University op Nebraska. 



International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 

 ture. First Annual Issue — Q — Physiology. 

 Including Experimental Psychology, Phar- 

 macology and Experimental Pathology. 

 Part I., pp. xiv -f 404, 1902. Part II., pp. 

 xii -|- 664, 1903. London, Harrison & Sons. 

 Physiologists will heartily welcome tliis 

 long-expected catalogue. The first volume, 

 which has recently appeared after some delay, 

 is devoted to the literature of 1901 (a fact 

 which should be, but is not, mentioned on the 

 title page), and includes 1,094 pages of text 

 and the surprisingly large number of 6,010 

 titles. Owing to the difficulties of organizing 

 the work of the regional bureaus in the time 

 at hand, it is issued in two separate parts; 

 but it is intended that in the future only a 

 single unbroken volume in each year shall be 

 published. Each part of the present volume 

 opens with a preface and instructions to the 

 reader, both in the English language only. 

 It would enhance their value if the instruc- 

 tions were printed also in French, German 

 and Italian. There follow in order a schedule 

 of classification and an index of the subject- 

 matter of the science, which are repeated in 

 each of the above four languages; then an 

 authors' catalogue and a subject catalogue; 

 and, lastly, a list of journals. 



The scheme of classification of subject-mat- 

 ter is practically that which was submitted for 

 criticism five years ago, though a considerable 

 number of new subjects are introduced, and 

 the order in some cases is changed for the 

 better. It is to be regretted that one defect, 

 earlier pointed out, was not remedied, namely, 

 the introduction of a group to include general 

 physiological phenomena, such as physiological 

 division of labor, irritability, summation of 

 stimuli, rhythm, specific energy, automaticity, 

 fatigue, etc. If a reader wishes to leam what 

 has been written on these subjects during the 

 year, he finds it possible only by going through 

 practically the whole scheme of classification. 

 Rhythm and fatigue are found entered in the 



