746 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 697 



Grout under the title " A Botanist's Vacation 

 in North Carolina." The lecture was of a 

 eemi-popular character and the numerous 

 lantern-slides from photographs taken by the 

 6i)eaker illustrated the scenery and fauna as 

 well as the flora of the mountains of western 

 North Carolina. The speaker's abstract fol- 

 lows: 



Seven weeks of last summer's vacation were 

 passed in the " Pink Beds " on the estate of 

 Geo. W. Vanderbilt about forty miles west of 

 Asheville and twelve miles from Brevard. 

 Our visit was made possible and profitable 

 through the assistant director of the Bilt- 

 more Forest School, Dr. Clifton D. Howe. 

 The Pink Beds is a mountain valley over 

 3,000 feet above sea-level and derives its name 

 from the color given to the whole valley in 

 spring by the innumerable blossoms of Azalea, 

 Rhododendron and Kalmia. The climate is 

 cool, like that of Vermont and New Hamp- 

 shire, but the almost daily thunderstojms, 

 often almost torrential in character, are an 

 inconvenience to the botanist. The fauna as 

 well as the flora is an interesting mixture of 

 northern and southern forms. Many of the 

 forms which at first seem identical with 

 northern species on closer examination are 

 found to have good varietal or even specific 

 differences. The chipmunk, for instance, is 

 undoubtedly a chipmunk but so dark in color 

 as to be scarcely recognizable when first seen. 

 Of our familiar northern flowers, the daisy, 

 evening-primrose, trailing arbutus, Indian 

 pipe, Clintonia horealis, two species of 

 Trillium, bluets, Indian turnip and many 

 others are common ; of the shrubs, vidtch-hazel, 

 Kalmia,- Rhododendron maximum, the pink, 

 and the white, azalea are noticeable; of the 

 trees, the chestnut, several species of oak, 

 hickory, a few sugar maples, a few white and 

 pitch pines, some ash, and the sassafras, all 

 seem to give the country a familiar look. 

 But on the other hand two additional species 

 of Rhododendron, the flame-colored Azalea, 

 chinquapin, the great number of tulip-trees 

 and magnolias, the Nyssa, Oxydendron, Caro- 

 lina hemlock and other unfamiliar trees, the 

 open forest filled with innumerable unfamiliar 



flowers or unfamiliar species of familiar 

 genera, such as Phlox, Lilium, Listera, 

 Hahenaria, etc., emphasizes the difference in 

 one's latitude and keep one's interest awake. 



Miss Gertrude S. Burlingham found about 

 the same number of species of Lactaria in 

 Vermont and in North Carolina, i. e., 30-35, 

 and about half of this number were common 

 to both. 



About 130 species of mosses were collected; 

 of these about 100 are found in Vermont, but 

 many of these 100 differ appreciably from 

 northern forms. 



Hoolceria Sullivantii, Entodon Sullivantii, 

 Raphidostigium Novce-Cesarece, Pylaisia suh' 

 denticulata, Campylopus introflexus, Campy- 

 lostelium saxicola, and three species of 

 Zygodon were some of the interesting species 

 collected. The moss flora was found to be 

 essentially like that recorded by Mrs. Britton 

 from southwest Virginia, but fifteen to twenty 

 species that she did not find were collected 

 and several common northern forms which 

 she recorded were not met with. The absence 

 of Polytrichum commune and Earpidium and 

 the abundance of Entodon, Thuidium and 

 Pissidens suhhasilans were very notable. 



The open pasture-like mountain summits 

 covered with herbs and some low trees con- 

 trasted strongly with the rocky barren ridges 

 of the northern Appalachians, and spruces and 

 firs (Ahies Fraseri) hardly appear under 5,000 

 feet altitude. 



Marshall A. Howe, 

 Secretary pro tern. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 



THE STATUS OF THE JAPANESE SOFT-SHELLED 

 TURTLE 



In my " Herpetology of Japan " ' I raised 

 the question whether the Japanese soft-shelled 

 turtle had been properly united with Amy da 

 sinensis. The question had not previously 

 been discussed in any detail by competent 

 authority and based upon adequate material. 

 As the specimens at my command seemed to 

 indicate that these turtles in China and Japan 

 have split up into forms corresponding to the 



»Bull. 58, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1907, pp. 515-519. 



