596 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 119. 



Mr. E. O. Wooton made ' Remarks on some 

 of the rarer Plants of New Mexico,' sketching 

 briefly the botanical regions of New Mexico, 

 and tracing upon a map the routes traversed by 

 most of the botanical collectors who have visited 

 them. Mr. Wooton was himself practically the 

 first to make collections in the southeast section 

 of the Territory, a very interesting, botanical 

 region, with high mountains, some of which 

 were illustrated by photographs. Specimens of 

 Mr. Wooton's collecting were then shown, ex- 

 hibiting about thirty-flve flowering plants and 

 ferns, and including, among those familiar in 

 the East, Pellsea atropvrpvrea, Cysfopteris fragi- 

 tis, Pteris aquilina and Cheilanthes tomentosa. 



Mr. Rydberg compared some of the features 

 presented by the sand region of central Ne- 

 braska ; referred to Muhlenhergia pungens and 

 other so-called ' blow-out grasses ' of the sand- 

 hills, and described the formation of the 

 characteristic ' blow-outs ' or hollows, origi- 

 nating in spots where the grasses had died out 

 and deepening rapidly, sometimes to 300 feet, 

 producing a country where the hills are moving 

 every year, and where he, when camping, 

 could find no fuel except roots of sand-cherries 

 exposed along fresh 'blow-outs.' 



Dr. H. M. Richards spoke ' On Some of the 

 Reactions of Plants Toward Injury,' as shown 

 by his experiments in Germany last summer. 

 Diagrams illustrating the effect of injury upon 

 both respiration and temperature were shown. 

 In the former case it was seen that the respira- 

 tion is greatly increased by wounding, attaining 

 its maximum about 24 hours after the injury 

 was inflicted ; this increase depending both on 

 the stimulus of the wound itself and upon the 

 access of atmospheric oxygen to the tissues. 

 The occurrence of a corresponding rise in tem- 

 perature, of a local nature, was also briefly re- 

 ferred to ; the temperature curve corresponding 

 closely to that described by the increased respi- 

 ratory activity. The thermo-electric apparatus 

 used was described ; its delicacy is such as to 

 indicate a difference of jjij of a degree ; the 

 result with potatoes showing a maximum rise of 

 temperature of a little over i% of a degree at the 

 end of the second day, falling to the end of the 

 fifth day. A remarkable temperature rise in 

 the onion of nearly 3J degrees was explained 



by the fact that here the rise was not local, but 

 affected the whole onion, in accordance with 

 the morphological structure, and with the fact 

 that metabolism is carried on very fast in the 

 onion. 



The next paper was a contribution from Dr. 

 Alexander Zahlbriickner, of Vienna, a corre- 

 sponding member of the Club, entitled, ' Revisio 

 Lobeliacearum Boliviensium hucusque cogni- 

 tarum.' The paper, which is in Latin, enumer- 

 ates all the species, giving synonymy and refer- 

 ences to the literature, and cites collectors and 

 their numbers. There are 39 species, as follows : 

 9 in Centropogon, 2 new ; 20 in Siphocampylos, 7 

 new ; 1 in Laurentia ; 2 in BMzocephalum ; 3 in 

 Hypsela; 4 in Lobelia. 



Edward S. Burgess, 



Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 Agriculture in some of its Relations to Chemistry. 

 F. H. Stobee. New York, Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. 1897. Seventh edition, revised 

 and enlarged. Three Volumes. Pp. iv+610, 

 iv+602, vi+679. $5. 



Stones for Building and Decoration. Geoegb 

 P. Merrill. New York, John Wiley & 

 Sons. 1897. Second edition, revised and 

 enlarged. Pp. ix+506. $5. 



The Elements of Physics. Vol. III. Light and 

 Sound. Edward L. Nichols and William 

 S. Franklin. New York and London, The 

 Macmillan Co. 1897. Pp. vii+201. $1.50. 



The Outlines of Physics. Edward L. Nichols. 

 New York and London, The Macmillan Co. 

 1897. Pp. xi+452. $1.40. 



Hypnotism. Albert Moll. London, Walter 

 Scott, Ltd. 1897. Fourth edition, revised 

 and enlarged. Pp. x+448. Is 6d. 



Art Education. W. T. Harris. Syracuse, N. 



Y., C. W. Bardeen. 1897. Second edition. 



Pp. 77. 50 cents. 

 Les gaz de V atmosphere. H. Heneiet. Paris, 



Gauthier-villarsetFils,Ma.ssonetcie. Pp. 192. 

 Anleitung zur Mikrochemischen Analyse der Wich- 



tigstenorganischenVerbindungen. H. Behebns. 



Hamburg and Leipzig, Leopold Voss. 1897. 



Viertes Heft. Pp. vii+129. M 4.50. 



