September 15, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



151 



particulars of a curious Zuni dramatic ceremonial; and 

 Dr. Cyrus Alder reviewing museum collections made to 

 illustrate religious history and ceremonies. 



Thursday morning was assigned to folk-lore, and papers 

 were presented by Mr. W. W. Newell on ritual regarded 

 as a dramatization of myth; by Dr. Pranz Boas on the 

 ritual of the Kwakiutl Indians; by Mr. J. Walter Fewkes 

 on Tusayan ceremonial dramatization; and by Mr. George 

 Kunz on the folk-lore of x^recious stones. The afternoon 

 was devoted to the collections of American archaeology in 

 the anthropological building under the care of Professor 

 F. W. Putnam, Chief of the Department, who delivered 

 the ojJening address on the subject. He was followed by 

 Mr. Frank Gushing on the "cliff-dwellers"; by Mrs. Zelia 

 Nuttall on Mexican archaeology; by Mr. Gr. A. Dorsey on 

 South American archaeology; and by Mr. E. Volk on 

 cache-finds from ancient village sites in New Jersey. 



"Religions" was the subject taken up on Friday morn- 

 ing. Dr. Morris Jastrow, Jr., began with an explanation 

 of the method and scope of their historical study ; Mrs. 

 Sarah T. Stevenson gave an interesting sketch of an ancient 

 Egyptian rite illustrating a phase of primitive thought; 

 Mrs. Matilda C. Stevenson contributed a chapter in Zuni 

 mythology obtained by jDersonal study on the spot; and 

 Mr. P. Parry read a theory relating to certain elements of 

 religious symbolism. The afternoon was given to discus- 

 sion of various points in North American ethnology by 

 Professor O. T. Mason and to the ethnology of Paraguay 

 by Dr. Emil Hassler. 



The last day, Saturday, was set apart for "Linguistics," 

 and for reading paj)ers which had been crowded out on 

 previous days. Dr. Daniel Gr. Brinton gave a brief review 

 of the present status of our knowledge of American lan- 

 guages with especial reference to the parts of the con- 

 tinent in which it is deficient. These he especially found 

 in Mexico and central South America. Dr. Boas stated 

 his classification of the languages of the north Pacific 

 coast; Dr. C. Abel illustrated his theory of the affinities 

 of the Egyptian and European languages; Mr. Richard- 

 son read on the Cameroons of South Africa; Mr. Wild- 

 man on the ethnology of the Malay jjenuisula; and Dr. 

 Jahn on the ethnological collection in the German village 

 at the Pair. The session and the week closed with a 

 social dinner in the Midway Plaisance given by the Amer- 

 ican to the foreign delegates, presided over by Professor 

 F. W. Putnam and Dr. D. G. Brinton, which closed the 

 scientific proceedings in the most agreeable manner. 



All of the papers mentioned above were read before the 

 congress and discussed as far as time permitted. Besides 

 these, a number were read by title from writers who could 

 not be present. Among them were Mr. Horatio Hale, A. 

 L. Lewis, Dr. A. P. Chamberlain, Dr. P. S. Krauss, M. 

 Raoul de la Grasserie, Dr. P. Jacobsen, Senor C. De la 

 Torre, and others. 



The number of foreign delegates embraced a fair pro- 

 portion of those present, and in this resjsect the Congress 

 merited its title as an "international" one. Among them 

 may be mentioned Dr. Carl Peters, the Imperial German 

 Commissioner for East Africa, Senor Manuel M. de Per- 

 alta. Minister from Costa Rica, Dr. Carl Abel, the well- 

 known Egyptologist, Mr. C. Staniland Wake, of London, 

 Dr. A. Ernst, of Venezuela, etc. 



It was decided to print at an early date the transactions 

 of the Congress by subscription. They will form a vol- 

 ume of 500 pages, price $5.00, subscriptions for which may 

 be sent to Dr. Pranz Boas, Secretary, Department of Eth- 

 nology, Columbian Exposition, Chicago. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



^■^Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The 

 writer's name is in all cases required as a proof of good faith. 



On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number con- 

 taining his communication will be furnished free to any corres- 

 pondent. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with 

 the character of the ioumal. 



Insect Swarms. 



On the evening of June 26th, last, the fire department 

 was called to two of the highest buildings in this city, the 

 alarms being caused by an appearance as of smoke issuing 

 from the pinnacles of the towers. In both cases the ap- 

 pearance was found to be caused by clouds of insects. On 

 the following evening I witnessed the same interesting 

 phenomenon about the court-house tower. I knew that 

 I was looking at a swarm of insects, yet it was difficult to 

 realize that it was not smoke, issuing from the summit, and 

 driven by a brisk breeze. Near the tower the swarm was 

 narrow and dense, gradually widening and thinning to a 

 distance of about fifty feet, where it seemed to vanish 

 by attenuation. The extent of the swarm varied but lit- 

 tle during my observation, but the constant changes 

 within it exactly simulated puffs of smoke driven away by 

 the breeze. The deception was still more comjjlete from 

 the fact that the insects swarmed on the leeward side. 

 On other dates up to July 18th I saw the same disjDlay, 

 in each instance agreeing in every detail with the above 

 descrijotion. The insects appeared to gather just before 

 sunset and probably remained till attracted by the lights 

 of the city. 



On a store front near-by I captured some insects which 

 I have good reason to believe were identical with the 

 swarmers. These are Neuropters, about one-half of an 

 inch in length, exclusive of the antennae, geniis and species 

 unknown. C. D. MuLouth. 



Muskegon, Mich., Sept. 2. 



Fkedeeick Waene & Co. vrill issue immediately a "Dic- 

 tionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English 

 and French Sources." 



Prosopophora; a Genus of Scale-Insects New to the North 

 American Fauna. 



Some time ago, I found at Las Cruces, -N. Mex., a 

 chenopodiaceous plant suffering severely from the attacks 

 of scale insects (Coccidse). On examination, it turned 

 out that there were three species of these insects pi'esent, 

 all new to the fauna of the United States. One is a form 

 of Mylilaspis albtcs, Ckll., known hitherto only from 

 Jamaica; the second is Ceroplastes irregularis, Ckll., the 

 description of which, from Mexican specimens, is about to 

 be published; and the third, to my surprise, proves to be 

 a new species of Mr. Douglas's genus Vrosopophora. 



The genus Prosopo2:ih(yra was established in 1892 (Ent. 

 Mo. Mag., August) for a species found on orchids in 

 Demerara, which superficially resembled a Lecanium, but 

 was distinguished by a number of jseculiar characters. 

 This year (Trans. N. Z. Inst.) Mi-. Maskell has described 

 two more species of the genus, found in Australia on 

 Acacia and Eucah/ptiis respectively. Now we have a fourth 

 from the United States, — so that within a little more than 

 a year four species have been discovered of a remarkable 

 genus, which had been altogether overlooked until 1892 ! 



Mr. Maskell has kindly sent me both his Australian 

 species, and I have the Demerara one from Mr. Newstead. 

 Our insect is most like P. acacice, Mask., in ajDiiearance 

 and color, but it is amply distinct in its structural charac- 

 ters. I i^rojiose to call it P. rufescens, and the following 

 short descrij)tion includes its more important characters: 

 Prosopophora rufescens, n. sp. Scale waxy, about 4 to 4^ 

 mm. long, shape and outline of Lecanium hesperidum, with 

 a slight but distinct median keel, and a subdorsal row of 

 raised points on each side. Posterior end with a small 

 oval orifice, as in P. acacice. Surface obscui-ely granular 



