JuLY 30, 1897.] 
lowlands are confined to the pneumatic 
cabinet in their search for these benefits. 
From what has been said regarding the 
mechanical change which respiration under- 
goes we gather that a temporary employ- 
ment of condensed air, besides its various 
other effects, would be a good preparation 
for the proper performance of the respira- 
tory function in a morerarefied atmosphere.* 
G. von LiEpiIc. 
UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH. 
NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE 
WILMINGTON REGION. 
A sRIEeF collecting trip to the vicinity of 
Wilmington, N. C., made about the middle 
of April, greatly impressed me with the 
natural history advantages of the region. 
I publish these few notes in the hope that 
they may be of service to other naturalists 
who think of visiting the Southern coast. 
In Wilmington itself no one can fail to 
notice the admirable shade tree, the laurel 
oak (Quercus lawrifolia Michx.), so common 
along the streets. This tree in Wilmington 
passes under the name of water oak; in 
South Carolina it is known as the Darling- 
ton oak. Its straight bole, symmetrical 
top and moderate size give it an elegance 
of shape well suited to city streets, and the 
impression of finish is heightened by the 
glossy aspect of the foliage. 
From the city there runs a most excellent 
road, eight miles long, to Wrightsville, a set- 
tlement on the coast. The road is a well- 
kept shell road, smooth, hard, and good for 
bicycling. Scrub oaks, elms, long-leaf pines 
and ecypresses edge it, and near the sound 
the full green heads of the live oaks are 
seen on all sides. In the open meadow- 
like places (savannahs) to the right and 
left of the road there grow in great abun- 
dance insectivorous plants, the most inter- 
esting members, to the general biologist at 
* Translate1 from the author’s MS. by Henriette 
Weber, Columbus, O. 
SCIENCE. 
163 
least, of that rich Wilmington flora made 
known through the labors of Curtis, Wood 
and other systematic botanists. The yel- 
low-flowered pitcher plant, Sarracenia flava, 
dots the savannahs in all directions; its 
great flower (four inches wide) upheld by a 
scape one to two feet, making it a con- 
spicuous object. The fly-trap, Dionea, and 
sun-dew, Drosera, neither in flower at the 
time of my visit, are scattered thickly 
about. Intermingled with these are a 
blue and yellow species of butterwort, 
Pinguicula, their bright, flowers standing 
out clearly against the (at this time) 
brownish savannah and often leading one to 
patches of Dionea and Drosera, which oth- 
erwise would have been passed by unno- 
ticed. These five insectivorous plants may 
sometimes be found growing together in a 
little patch of ground, eae. larger than 
a square foot. 
The topography of the Wrightsville dis- 
trict is that characteristic of the Carolina 
coast, and in a less degree of the Southern 
coast in general. A sound separates the 
mainland from a seaward strip of land, 
known as the ‘banks.’ Wrighisville, largely 
made up of houses occupied only during 
the summer, is on the mainland. Opposite 
it, on the banks, is a newer summer settle- 
ment. Between the two, the sound is 
crossed by a railroad trestle, the piles of 
which afford good collecting. 
The sound something less than two miles 
wide, is divided into a narrow outer portion, 
adjoining the banks and known as the banks 
channel, and a wider inner portion, studded 
with sandy-mud shoals. The banks channel 
is anarrow but pretty boating ground, open- 
ing out to sea through two inlets, one re- 
cently made in a heavy storm. Along the 
inner edge of the channel lie some islands, 
the ‘hammocks,’ wooded with live oaks, 
about which jackdaws (Quiscalus major) 
were flying. This bird is said to spend 
the winter here. 
