314 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 582. 



row, only slightly tapering toward their 

 bases' ( confirmatus, etc. ) . 



OcMerotatus Arrib. 

 FF. Outstanding scales chiefly very broad, 

 strongly tapering toward their bases, sev- 

 eral of them emarginate at their apices 

 (type, squamiger) . Lepidoplatys m. gen. 

 EE. Scales of the mesonotum chiefly rather 

 broad, obovate, outstanding scales of the 

 wing veins narrow ( type, cyanesoens ) . 



Lepidosia n. gen. 



For want of knowledge of the egg-laying 

 habits, the genus Culicella is omitted from the 

 above table; also the genera Melanoconion 

 and PneumaculeXj both of which have rather 

 broad scales on the wing veins. The synon- 

 ymy of the other proposed names, so far as 

 these can be made out at the present writing, 

 is as follows : 

 CuLEX Linne : Heteronycha Arrib., Neoculex 



Dyar. 

 Gbabhamia Theob. : Feltidia Dyar. 

 OcHLEROTATUS Arrib. : Culicelsa, Culicada, 

 Ecculex and Protoculex Felt; Pseudoculex 

 Dyar and Grabhamia Dyar (not of Theo- 

 bald). D. W. COQUILLETT. 

 U. S. National Museum, 

 January 19, 1906. 



IMPORTATIONS OF THE PRICKLY PEAR FROM 

 MEXICO. 



The United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, through the Office of Grass and Forage 

 Plant Investigations, has within the past three 

 months made some large importations of spe- 

 cies of economic cacti from the plateau region 

 of Mexico. There is probably no region in 

 the world where these plants are of so much 

 importance as food for man and beast as they 

 are in the great highland region of this re- 

 public. While some of the recent accounts 

 of these plants which have appeared in the 

 popular journals are spectacular and much 

 overdrawn, there is still a great deal of well- 

 founded popular and scientific interest in the 

 prickly pears in this country. The impor- 

 tance of the prickly pear in the region above 

 mentioned is apparent to all who have traveled 

 in Mexico and observed Mexican habits and 

 customs at all closely during any season of 



the year, for there is scarcely a day through- 

 out the year that the fruits, to say nothing of 

 portions of the plants themselves, are not 

 offered for sale on some of the markets in the 

 cities of the republic. 



The following brief list of imported varie- 

 ties will serve as an illustration of the wealth 

 and variety of material which the Mexican 

 people have at their command: Nopal agua- 

 mielillo, nopal amarillo, nopal amarillo-blanco, 

 nopal amarillo-liso, nopal arton, nopal bianco, 

 nopal blanco-liso, nopal charol, nopal caidillo, 

 nopal camueso, nopal caxdon, nopal cardon- 

 blanco, nopal castillo-blanco, nopal cascaron, 

 nopal cenizo, nopal chamacuero, nopal cha- 

 veno, nopal cochinero, nopal cogonoxtle (car- 

 dencha), nopal Colorado, nopal cristalino, 

 nopal euijo, nopal duraznillo, nopal duraznillo 

 bianco, nopal duraznillo Colorado, nopal fafa- 

 yuco, nopal huevo de perro, nopal encarna- 

 dillo, nopal jarillo, nopal jocoquilla, nopal 

 joconoxtle, nopal joconoxtle-chato, nopal joco- 

 noxtle-cuaresmaro, nopal leonero, nopal liso, 

 nopal loco, nopal manaeyo, nopal manso- 

 morado, nopal naranjado, nopal negrito, nopal 

 opalillo (apalillo), nopal pachon, nopal pala- 

 mito, nopal paloalteno, nopal San Juanero, 

 nopal sarco, nopal tapon, nopal tapon liso, 

 nopal teca, nopal temperanillo, nopal vinatero, 

 nopalito de jardin. About as many more un- 

 named economic forms in addition to the 

 above have been imported. 



Some of the above popular names refer to 

 the same plant, being different appellations 

 for the same thing from different localities, 

 and others are varietal names only, but it is 

 believed that the majority of them represent 

 good botanical species. 



David Griffiths. 



U. S. Depabtment of Agbicultuee. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 



MOISTURE FOR HEATED HOUSES IN WINTER. 



The dryness of the air in our furnace or 

 steam-heated buildings in winter has often 

 been referred to, and has also been experi- 

 mentally investigated. Recently Mr. G. A. 

 Loveland, section director of the Nebraska 

 Climate and Crop Service, has made some cal- 



