56 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 810 



illustrate, at a cost of about $10,000 it has 

 been demonstrated experimentally how bella- 

 •donna can be grown commercially in Cali- 

 iornia. There is no plausible reason why 

 California should not supply all or nearly all 

 ■of the belladonna required in the United 

 States, which may be estimated at about 

 1,000,000 pounds annually valued at $150,000. 

 This is merely one example which will how- 

 ■ever serve to explain the practical purpose of 

 .a botanical garden as above outlined. The 

 probabilities are that from five to twenty-five 

 ■practical tests would be carried on at one time 

 and perhaps two or three tests would be con- 

 cluded each year. From what has been said 

 it is evident that the gardens should devote 

 the major effort to establishing new plant in- 

 dustries and developing them. No time and 

 effort should be wasted on useless things, as 

 botanical freaks, botanical curios, purely tech- 

 nical research without practical significance, 

 theoretical research and experiments, etc. 

 Neither should time and effort be wasted on 

 -simple experiments which can be done by any 

 ■agriculturist in any field or garden. Also, 

 ■such gardens must be in charge of competent 

 •directors, men who by technical training and 

 practical experience are qualified to direct 

 ■such experiments as will bring practical net 

 ■results in the shortest time possible. 



Albert Schneider 



classification of the edentates 

 Dr. E. H. Lane, in " A Corrected Classifi- 

 'cation of the Edentates," ' has proposed the 

 new ordinal name Lepidota for the Manidae. 

 That, like Squamata and Pholidota, was how- 

 •ever long ago preoccupied (by Vogt in 1851), 

 :as was also Cataphracta, another designation 

 proposed by J. E. Gray. Squamigera, having 

 the same meaning, might be taken as a sub- 

 -stitute, but such is scarcely necessary, as 

 Nomarthra may be restricted to the suborder 

 (or order) represented by Manids alone. I 

 concur now with Weber, G. Elliot Smith, 

 Gregory and Lane in thinking it inadvisable 

 to combine the Manids and Orycteropodids in 

 a group contrasted with the Xenarthra. 



I can not consider the combination of 

 'Science, June 10, 1910, 913-914. 



sloths and anteaters in a group distinct from 

 the armadillos as an improvement in the 

 taxonomy of the Xenarthra, and therefore the 

 name Pilosa appears to me to be superfluous. 

 Flower himself virtually confesses as much. 

 The suborders Tardigrada and Vermilinguia, 

 recognized by me in 1872, appear to be at 

 least as distinct as are the " Loricata " from 

 the Tardigrada. 



If we are to apply the same rigorous rules 

 to the nomenclature of the higher groups as 

 to genera and species, " Loricata Flower " is 

 another preoccupied name (unless accepted 

 from Vicq d'Azyr) unusable for the arma- 

 dillos and their relatives. Instead, Cingulata 

 of niiger (1811) might be revived as a sub- 

 ordinal term. 



Vermilinguia of lUiger was long ago (1872) 

 accepted as a subordinal designation for the 

 anteaters. 



Structural differences among the " Lori- 

 cata " or Cingulata appear to be as great as 

 (or greater than) those which have been used 

 to distinguish families among the better- 

 known carnivores, ungulates and rodents, and 

 consequently have been recognized under the 

 family names Tatusiidse, Dasypodidse and 

 Chlamyphoridse. These have been indicated 

 in the " Standard (or Riverside) Natural 

 History." 



Hoplophoridffi (Huxley), 1864, appears to 

 be retainable, Glyptodontidse not having been 

 given till years after (1879). Eoplophorus 

 (Lund, 1838) is not preoccupied, in the opin- 

 ion of many, by Eoplophora (Perty, 1830). 



There are other complications in the classi- 

 fication and nomenclature of the edentates 

 which need not be considered at this time. 

 Theo. Gill 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 Fungous Diseases of Plants. With Chapters 

 on Physiology, Culture Methods and Tech- 

 nique. By Benjamin Mlsoe Duggae. Bos- 

 ton, New York, Chicago and London, Ginn 

 & Co. 1909. Price $2.00. 

 The appearance of an American book on 

 plant pathology is a matter of great interest 

 to a considerable circle of readers. For the 



