June 16, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



943 



The Library of Congress as an Aid to Scientific 



Besearcn: E. W. Gudger. 



The Library of Congress, with its vast aggrega- 

 tions of books and journals, including the price- 

 less Smithsonian collection, is the greatest aid in 

 America to the historical side of scientific re- 

 search. Through the system of inter-library loans, 

 nearly any and all of this enormous mass of lit- 

 erature is available to the scientific researcher, 

 provided that his college library bear the cost of 

 transportation. The writer has during the past 

 five years carried on three separate extensive 

 historical researches in ichthyological literature 

 which would have been impossible without access 

 (at a distance) to this great library. It is a 

 pleasure to record the prompt and efficient service 

 with which every one of many requests for books 

 has been met, and to call the attention of scien- 

 tific men to this great adjunct to their work. 



Occurrence of the Yellow Fever Mosquito at 



Saleigh: C. S. Brimley, Raleigh. 



In the summer of 1910 the writer found a rather 

 small mosquito with white banded legs to be com- 

 mon in his house in the daytime. On investigation 

 this proved to be Stegomyia calopus, the species 

 which transmits yellow fever. The species was 

 active all day, biting even at noon in a well- 

 lighted room, while mosquitoes taken after dark 

 almost invariably turned out to be other species. 

 The species has not been taken by other Ealeigh 

 entomologists. No breeding places were discov- 

 ered. 



Proposed Beform in our Calendar: Andrew H. 



Patterson, University of North Carolina, 



Chapel Hill. 



A discussion of the various methods proposed 

 in recent years for the reform in our present 

 calendar. 



Some Interesting Water Molds: W. C. Cokek, 

 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

 The occurrence in Chapel Hill of Thraustotheca 

 clavata (DeBary) Humphrey was reported. It 

 seems to have been found previously only at 

 Strassburg, Germany. In this singular mold the 

 sporangial wall dissolves away almost completely, 

 suggesting the method of spore liberation in 

 SMzopus, and the encysted spores are allowed to 

 fall apart in all directions. The spores escape 

 from their cysts in the laterally ciliated form, 

 showing that the first swimming stage is sup- 

 pressed. 



There also occurs in Chapel Hill a species of 

 Victyuchus in which the entire sporangium breaks 



away from the hypha as soon as the spores be- 

 come distinct. After some time the spores escape 

 singly through individual tubes as is normal in 

 the genus. Other points reported were the ap- 

 pearance of a variety of Achlya americana with 

 hypogynous tubes, the occurrence in Chapel HHl 

 of Achlya racemosa Hildeb., and the fact that 

 Saprolegnia diclina Humphrey is at least not 

 always dioecious. 



Ehizoctonia of BucTcwheat: F. L. Stevens and 

 G. W. Wilson, North Carolina College of Agri- 

 culture and Mechanic Arts, West Ealeigh. 

 Mention was made of a serious outbreak of 



rhi2octoniose on buckwheat in the western part 



of North Carolina. 



The Finned-tailed Larva of the Butterfly Bay, 

 Pteroplatea maclura: E. W. Gudger. 

 The adult ray has a very short tail, in length 

 about equal to one third of the body, with very 

 faint traces of dorsal and ventral finfolds. A 

 photograph was exhibited of three young attached 

 to flattened yolks, showing each embryo with a 

 profusion of long external gills and a tail three 

 fourths as long as the body. All three larvffi have 

 the hinder halves of their tails distinctly finned 

 above and below, thus forming broad paddle-like 

 organs. The significance of this in the phylo- 

 genetie history of this ray is very great. 



More than half the material is at hand for the 

 embryology of the fish, and an effort will be made 

 to collect the remaining stages this season. 



The Whistling Arc in the Study of Auditorium 



Acoustics: C. W. Edwards, Trinity College, 



Durham. 



Employing the well-known device of usiag a 

 sound emitting light for a source of sound waves, 

 a whistling are was used for investigating con- 

 fusion and distortion in an auditorium. The very 

 large variety of sharp clear notes that the arc 

 could be made to emit by varying the inductance 

 made it especially useful in the study of the less 

 practical problem of distorsion. Small mirrors 

 were used, following the method of F. E. Watson, 

 of the University of Illinois, to trace the path of 

 the sound waves after reflection from various 

 surfaces. 



No abstracts have been received for the follow- 

 ing papers: 

 Survivals along the Sea Islands from Eatteras to 



Key West: Collier Cobb, University of North 



Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

 The Feat Deposits of North Carolina: Joseph 



H. Pratt, Chapel HHl. 



