KOVEMBEK 11, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



675 



THE LOWER SONOEAN COCHINEAL. 



It is well known to residents and travellers 

 in the Southwest that the cacti of that region 

 furnish a kind of cochineal, but whether it was 

 identical with the commercial insect long re- 

 mained in doubt. The purpose of the present 

 note is to separate and define the Lower Sonoran 

 form, which has hitherto remained nameless. 

 Four kinds of cochineal have came to my no- 

 tice, as follows : 



(1) Coccus cacti, L., of tropical Mexico and south- 

 ■ward. The type locality is Surinam. 



(2) Coccus tomentosus, Lam. {opunfiie, Licht. ) of the 

 Mexican tableland south of the Tropic of Cancer. 



(3) Coccus tomentosus sribsp. newstendi, suhsp. DOy.' 

 of the Lower Sonoran in Arizona, Texas and northern 

 Mexico. 



(4) Coccus tomentosus subsp. confusus, Ckll., of the 

 Upper Sonoran in New Mexico and Colorado. 



The subsp. neivsteadi was first described by 

 Mr. R. Newstead in the Entomologists^ Monthly 

 Magazine, April, 1897, pp. 75-76, from speci- 

 mens imported to Kew Gardens on Opuntiaful- 

 gida from Arizona. He intended at first to 

 name it as distinct, but finally treated it as 

 tomentosus. It is a fair intermediate between- 

 tomentosus and confusus, both structurally and 

 geographically. It has the spines and glands 

 about as in tomentosus, but averages smaller, 

 with the antenniE usually 6-segmented, and the 

 cottony secretion abundant, much as in confusus. 

 It occurs in Wabash Creek Canon, near Flag- 

 staff, Arizona (Ehrhorn), La Fuerta Eancho, in 

 Tamaulipas {Townsend), Point Isabel, Texas 

 Townsend), etc. 



There is no probability that either newsteadi 

 or confusus can be used commercially. (See 

 Bull. 3, Tech. Sec, Div. Ent., Dept. Agricul- 

 ture, p. 35.) 



T. D. A. COCKEBELL. 



Mesilla Paek, N. M., October 8, 1898. 



THE ENDOWMENT OF AMERICAN ARCHiEOLOGY. 



To THE Editor of Science : I should like to 

 make a suggestion through Science to all the 

 universities and organized societies of the United 

 States that a strong and systematic effort be 

 made to celebrate that point in the age of the 

 world called the year 2000 A. D. by a fund of 

 $2,000,000, whose interest would be devoted to 



a study of the archeology of America. The 

 money and the willingness to give and to use it 

 are in plenty, and among scientific needs there 

 is nothing that can compare. The splendid 

 monuments of antiquity, rapidly fading away, 

 especially in Mexico, Central America and Peru, 

 offer the greatest rewards. 



Two strong expeditions or parties ought to 

 be kept in the field constantly. A committee 

 of the schools and colleges should plan the 

 work systematically, and arrange a method for 

 making results accessible to all the public, by 

 descriptions, models, photographs, etc. The 

 suggestion is respectfully submitted. 



W. S. Prossee. 



AUBUBN, Cal. 



the sense of solidity. 



To the Editor of Science : Having had 

 frequently the following experience, I record it 

 with the hope that it may call forth either 

 analogous experiences from others or some 

 explanation. 



On falling asleep with any weight in my 

 arms I have noticed that on waking at a cer- 

 tain stage of drowsiness the feeling of solidity 

 has entirely vanished. It is not only that the 

 sensation of weight is very much dulled, but 

 the sense of continuity in the held body is gone. 

 Indeed, it often seems as if the hole between 

 the parts whose contact is actually experienced 

 could be felt. The contrast with ordinary ex- 

 perience is so great that it serves to bring out 

 very effectually the fact that ordinarily in hold- 

 ing an object we have not only a sense of con- 

 tact and of weight, but also a sense of ' filling- 

 in,' of tactile solidity or continuous extension. 

 In the experience referred to, the contact sen- 

 sations also appear to have a granular rather 

 than a continuous character. 



John Dewey. 



University of Chicago, 



October 21, 1898. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 The Free Expansion of Gases. Edited by J. S. 

 Ames, Ph.D. Scientific Memoirs. New York, 

 Harper & Brothers. 

 A few months ago the pleasing announcement 



