52 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 80. 



biology' from two of our leading univer- 

 sities, still has work to do. As Prof. Brooks 

 tells us (Science III., p. 708), the Johns Hop- 

 kins University had not in the twenty years of 

 its history examined a candidate for the doctor- 

 ate in 'biology.' Yet this year, perhaps as a 

 declaration of independence from the influence 

 of Prof. MacMillan, it has conferred the degree 

 ^f Doctor of Philosophy on a candidate who 

 chose 'biology' as one of his subjects. 



Questions of nomenclature seem to be more in- 

 teresting to the botanist than to the zoologist, 

 and it is not the present writer's intention to 

 discuss this one. But the occasion seems 

 favorable for asking Prof. MacMillan why it is 

 that zoology has become to such a large extent 

 synonymous with biology. Is it not, perhaps, 

 because the zoologist is usually a biologist, 

 whereas the botanist is usually only a botanist ? 

 The great advances which, during the past forty 

 years, have transformed biology, have come al- 

 most exclusively from the side of the zoological 

 sciences. Zoologists have not hesitated to use 

 botany when they could, but in the advance- 

 ment of biology, botany, even as a silent 

 partner, does not seem to have contributed its 

 share of capital. Y. 



AN UNCOMMON AFTER-IMAGE. 



Some days since, while traveling by boat, I 

 awoke in the early morning, and, thrusting my 

 head out of the window, was almost over- 

 powered by the yellow glare. I then raised the 

 blind with its yellow horizontal slats, and for a 

 moment noticed the glare pouring through them. 

 Then, shutting my eyes, I had for a few seconds 

 an after-image of some half-dozen vertical green 

 lines gradually fading away into vertical violet 

 lines. 



Hiram M. Stanley. 



Mackinac Island, June 20. 



THE nine-banded ARMADILLO. 



To the Editor of Science : In his recent 

 paper, in the Bulletin of the American Museum of 

 Natural History^ on mammals collected in Bexar 

 County and vicinity, Texas, Prof. Allen re- 

 fers to the capture of specimens of the nine- 

 banded armadillo at several places north and 

 west of Bexar County, but mentions none from 



that county. It may be of interest, therefore, 

 to note that five specimens were taken in the 

 county in May, 1895, about four miles from 

 San Antonio. There were two adults and 

 three young, all captured immediately after 

 a heavy rain which had driven them from their 

 burrow. This family of armadillos was pre- 

 sented by Mr. F. Hardman, of San Antonio, to 

 the National Zoological Park in this city, where 

 two of its members may still be seen, appar- 

 ently in excellent health. 



A. B. Baker. 



Washington, D. C, June 22, 1896. 



rochefort on the caribbeans. 



To THE Editor of Science : Appropos of 

 the wonderful explorations of Mr. Frank Ham- 

 ilton Cushing and his party in San Marco, 

 Florida, last winter, under the auspices of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, I would call atten- 

 tion to the following sentence in Rochefort 

 (Caribby Islands, London, 1666, p. 291). Speak- 

 ing of the Caribbeans he says : ' ' Their Habita- 

 tions are somewhat near one to another, and 

 disposed at certain distances after the manner 

 of a Village ; and for the most iDart they plant 

 themselves upon some little ascent, that so they 

 may have better air and secure themselves 

 against those pestilent flies which we have else- 

 where called Mosquitos and Maringoins, which 

 are extreamly troublesome, and whereof the 

 stinging is dangerous in those j^arts where there 

 is but little wind stirring. The same reason it 

 is that obliges the Floridians, beyond the bay of 

 Carlos and Tortiigues, to lodge themselves for 

 the most part at the entrance of the Sea in Huts 

 built on Piles or Pillars. ' ' 



O. T. Mason. 



U. S. National Museum, July 2, 1896. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 Handhucli der paldarktischen Gross- Schmetterlinge 



fiir Forscher und Sammler. Ziveite gdnzlich 



umgearbeitete und durch Studien zur Descen- 



denztheorie e^^weitete Auflage, etc. Yon Dr. 



Max Standpuss, mit 8 lithographischen. 



Tafeln und 8 Textfiguren. Jena, Gustav 



Fischer, 1896. 8^. Pp. 392. 



This is much more than an ordinary hand- 

 book for the lepidopterist, since it comprises a 



