986 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 130. 



quent than such forms are in Europe. On 

 the face of things, it certainly appears as if 

 the colony were reverting to the European 

 type. At the same time, it must be re- 

 membered that Morrison's remarkable vari- 

 ations were picked out of a very large num- 

 ber of shells — a far larger number than those 

 sent by Mrs. Brooke. Unfortunately Profes- 

 sor Morrison never published the detailed 

 statistics he had accumulated, but from data 

 he sent me I gather that there were about 100 

 split-band shells to 2100 others, i. e., about 

 4.8%. The split-band forms in Mrs. 

 Brooke's lot above are about 4%, and are 

 not nearly so remarkable as many of Mor- 

 rison's. But Mrs. Brooke probably put 

 aside the best variations ; in fact, she sends 

 for my inspection the following, taken by 

 her at Lexington at various times, and new 

 to the list for that locality, three being 

 new formulse : 



rubella 12045. I have taken a young example o£ this 

 in England — at Beckenham, Kent. The for- 

 mula was recorded before from Lexington 

 with a different ground-color. 

 riibella OOSjO. The formula was recorded from 

 Europe by Roebuck. 

 " 10045. Very pale ground color. A new com- 

 bination. 

 petiveria 1 (23)(45). = goupilia Moquin-Tandon 

 Also in France. 

 " 00305 = gabillotia, Locard. Also in 



France. 

 " (123) (45). = loicea. Moquin-Tandon. 

 Also in France, England 

 and Ireland. 

 " 1(23)(45). 

 libellula 00(3== )00. nov. formula 



" 00305 = hruguieria, Moquin-Tan- 



don. Also in France and 

 England (Kent). 

 " (12)33(33)3(45) nov. formula. This is 

 the most remarkable 

 shell sent by Mrs. 

 Brooke. It seems to 

 have been found dead, 

 and so may date back to 

 earlier times. 

 " 003055. The formula has been recorded 



from Europe by Kreglinger. 

 " ■ (12)x 3(45) nov. formula. 



While the percentage of split-band forms 

 may seem small, European collectors will 

 appreciate their relative abundance in the 

 Virginia colony, and the large number of 

 different formulse in the latter which have 

 not yet been seen in Europe. Very many 

 more split-band formulse are now on record 

 from the Virginia colony than from the 

 British Islands all together, notwithstand- 

 ing the collecting that has been done in the 

 latter country. 



I regret that it is not possible to definitely 

 assert as yet whether the peculiar varia- 

 tions of the Virginia colony are losing 

 ground, but such seems to be the case to a 

 slight degree at least. Certainly there is 

 no evidence of their increase. Probably Mrs. 

 Brooke will be able at a later date to give 

 us more conclusive statistics. 



The reader will observe the names (as 

 goupilia, lowea, &c.) given to the different 

 combinations of color and banding. These 

 were first introduced by Moquin-Tandon ; 

 and many were added by Locard, but a 

 very large number of combinations have no 

 such names. I find that they are rather 

 useful, as they can be remembered better, 

 and are not so easily written or printed 

 wrongly as the formulse, etc., they represent. 

 If I were writing a large treatise on the vari- 

 ation of H. nemoralis, I should be inclined 

 to prefer names to formulse when discussing 

 distribution and other matters. 



The colony of jET. nemoralis at Burlington, 

 N. J., is very different from the Virginia 

 one, and so far as known contains nothing 

 peculiar. Specimens sent to me by Mr. W. 

 G. Binney belonged to rubella, guettardia and 

 cuvieria. 



T. D. A. COCKEEELL, 



N. M. Agr. Exp. Sta. 



Mesilla, N. M., April 20, 1897. 



CUBBENT NOTES ON METEOBOLOGY. 

 NAVIGATION IN FOG. 



A PAPEE by Prof. E. C. Pickering, on 



