SCIENCE. 



[N. S.- Vol. VIII. No. 183. 



different species. Illustrative specimens were 

 exhibited. 



Attention was called to a collection of ex- 

 quisite drawings of Australian flowering plants 

 exhibited to the meeting by Mks. F. C. Rowan. 

 The Secretary thanked Mrs. Rowan on behalf 

 of the Academy for the opportunity of examin- 

 ing the paintings, which are not only of high 

 artistic value, but of great interest botanically 

 on account of their accuracy of delineation and 

 coloring. The artist has represented upwards 

 of five hundred species, many of which were 

 brought by her for the first time to the knowl- 

 edge of the late Baron Ferdinand Von Midler, 

 in whose collection specimens of all the plants 

 represented were placed. The work was per- 

 formed under unusually favorable circumstances 

 by Mrs. Rowan, who cruised among the Aus- 

 tralasian islands in a small steamer chartered 

 for the purpose, the result being a collection of 

 drawings of altogether extraordinary beauty 

 and botanical interest as representing probably 

 the most gorgeous flora in the world. Mrs. 

 Rowan is now preparing similar illustrations of 

 American plants. While the material at her 

 disposal is not so striking, the results will, with- 

 out doubt, be equally artistic. 



Professor Henry Pilsbry spoke of the sci- 

 entific work of the late Professors Jules Marcou 

 and Fridolin Sandberger, correspondents of the 

 Academy, whose deaths were announced at the 

 meeting. 



At the meeting on June 14th the Entomo- 

 logical Section having precedence, ])e. Henry 

 Skinner made a communication on a collection 

 of lepidoptera and other orders of insects, illus- 

 trating variations in size, peculiarities of color- 

 ing and habits, structure, sexual diversity, pro- 

 tective mimicry, etc. Other illustrations were 

 shown by means of lantern and screen. 



Me. Philip P. Calvert spoke of mimicry 

 and its relation to so-called natural selection. 

 The two kinds of mimicry, known as Batesian 

 and Muellerian, were defined. 



Professor H. A. Pilsbry called attention to 

 a collection of land shells from the arid region 

 of central Australia. Their distribution resem- 

 bles that of species from an island-dotted sea. 



,the desert land being supplied with fugitive 

 lakes in the surroundings of which the species- 

 are found. They are mostly ground species 

 and their distribution is not affected appreciably 

 by birds. They are probably survivors of a less 

 arid time. 



Professor Carter described a method of his 

 own for the destruction of the round-headed 

 apple-tree borer. He sprays the burrows with 

 carbon bisulphide by means of a common ato- 

 mizer and then covers the openings with soft 

 clay. While the grubs are in every case de- 

 stroyed, the trees are not affected. 



Papers under the following titles were pre- 

 sented for publication : 



' List of fishes collected at the Canary 

 Islands by Mr. O. F. Cook, with descriptions of 

 four new species,' by David Starr Jordan and 

 James Alexander Gunn, Jr. 



' Hyalodendron navalium, a new genus and 

 species of Euplectillid sponge,' by J. Percy 

 Moore. 



The type of the genus and species described 

 in the latter paper is one of a small collection 

 of silicious sponges gathered in Japan in 1893, 

 by Mr. Frederick Stearns, of Detroit, and sent 

 to the Academy for determination. They were 

 collected by native fishermen and brought into 

 Yokohama harbor by the dredge boats. The 

 single specimen of Hyalodendron is the only 

 one which has been reported. The specimens 

 are accompanied by a set of sketches by a 

 native artist. j,^^_ j_ ^^^^^^ 



Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 



A Laboratory Ouide in Qualitative Chemical An- 

 alysis. H. L. Wells. New York, John 

 Wiley & Sons ; London, Champman & Hall,. 

 Ltd. 1898. Pp. vii + 189. 



A Short Course in Inorganic Qualitative Analysis- 

 for Engineering Students. J. S. C. Wells. 

 New York, John Wiley & Sons ; London, 

 Chapman & Hall. 1898. Pp. vi + 293. 



Technical Mycology. Franz L.4far. London,. 

 Chas. Grifiin & Co. ; Philadelphia, Pa., Lip- 

 pincott. 1898. Vol. I. Pp. xviii + 405. 



The Art of Taxidermy. John Rowley. New 

 York, D. Appleton. 1898. Pp. xi + 244. 



