968 
Montana willows, with Salix rotundifolia from 
the island of Unalaska, are the smallest shrubs 
of Salicacex in the world. Two of these pyg- 
mies are new to science ; one of which, grow- 
ing often only half an inch high, is believed to 
be the smallest species of willow ever known. 
Dr. Britton remarked that Mr. Rydberg’s 
Montana trip of last summer was the first ex- 
pedition sent out officially by the New York 
Botanic Garden; to which his collection of 
alpine plants will return. 
Professor Burgess referred to a supposed age 
of thirty-four years for a dwarf willow of about 
six inches stem from Alaska, and Dr. Rydberg 
mentioned twelve years as perhaps the age 
reached by the dwarfs of his present paper, 
their stems dying along the rooting base too 
rapidly to permit great age. 
Dr. Rusby spoke of Arctic willows as part of 
the food of beavers in northern Russia, and of 
reindeer. 
The second paper was by Dr. John K. Small, 
“On the Genus Eriogonum North of Mexico,’ a 
genus founded by Michaux upon a single 
species in 1803, and increased to ninety-five in 
its fourth monograph, that by Dr. Sereno 
Watson, in 1870. 
In discussing this paper, Dr. Allen contrib- 
uted an entertaining description of his difficul- 
ties in bringing growing specimens of Hriogo- 
num Alleni from near White Sulphur Springs 
to the Botanic Garden here. 
Dr. Britton reported that the specimens then 
secured have done well in cultivation at Bronx 
Park, and have matured seeds. 
Dr. Allen spoke of finding two or three species 
of Eriogonum in the Grand Cafion of the Colo- 
rado last summer, and described his descent of 
the cafion by mule trail, and also his journey to 
California in search of Characeze. 
Dr. Britton reported two cases of naturaliza- 
tion of escapes from greenhouses ; the first that 
of a creeping form of Ovalis corniculata, now 
becoming a noxious weed at Whitestone, L. I. 
The second case is that of a fern, apparently 
an Asplenium from a temperate habitat. 
Other cases of fern naturalization which have 
been previously reported include that of an 
Adiantum in Rhode Island, by Mr. Davenport, 
and a Pteris in a rock-cut near the New York 
SCLENCE. 
[N. S. Von. VI. No. 156. 
Central Railroad tunnel in our own city, noted 
by Mr. W. A. Clute. 
EpwArpD §. BuRGEss, 
Secretary. 
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 
American Chemical Journal, December. ‘ De- 
composition of Heptane and Octane at High 
Temperatures,’ by R. A. WoRSTALL and A. W. 
BURWELL: A study of the decomposition of these 
substances when heated in the Pintsch gas 
plant. The chief products of the decomposi- 
tion are the olefines, methane, acetylene and 
the aromatic hydrocarbons. All hydrocarbons, 
under the same conditions of temperature, seem 
to yield the same products. ‘ Anethol and Its 
Isomers,’ by W. R. ORNDORFF, G. L. TERRASSE 
and D. A. Morton: Preparation and study of 
properties and molecular weight of nine 
isomeric substances. ‘Action of Sulphur on 
Silicides, Production of Silicon,’ by G.DE CHAL- 
MOT: Conditions under which the silicon is 
replaced by sulphur. ‘ Acetylene Diiodide,’ by 
G. DE CHALMOoT. ‘The Action of Sodium upon 
Methylpropylketone and Acetophenone,’ by 
PAULC. FREER and A. LACHMAN. ‘Solubility of 
Lead in Ammonia,’ by H. ENDrMANN. ‘The 
Decomposition of Sulphonic Ethers by Water, 
Acids and Salts,’ by J. H. KAstTLze, PAUL Mur- 
RILLand J. C. FRAZER: A study of the rate of 
decomposition. ‘A Study of Zinc Hydroxide 
in Precipitation,’ by V. J. HAtL: Effect of 
chlorides and sulphates on the precipitation. 
J. ELLIOTT GILPIN. 
NEW BOOKS. 
Repetitorium der Chemie. C. ARNOLD. Highth 
edition. Revised and enlarged. Hamburg 
and Leipzig, Leopold Voss. 1898. Pp. xii+ 
616. 
Les végétaux et les milieux cosmiques. J. Cos- 
TANTIN. Paris, Alean. 1898. Pp. 292. 6 fr. 
Suggestions for Laboratory and Field Work in 
High School Geology. RALPH S. TARR. New 
York and London, The Macmillan Co. Pp. 
100. 
Memory and its Cultivation. F. W. EDRIDGE- 
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1897. Pp. 311. 
