362 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



contributed ey flora w1nstone. 



Bulletin de la Society Zoologique de 

 France (Paris, January and February, 1S98.) 

 In looking through this number, one is struck by 

 the activity now being shown in France for the 

 protection of the fast disappearing fauna of that 

 country. In a speech on the occasion of the 

 annual dinner of the Zoological Society of France, 

 Professor Bureau called on those interested in 

 zoology to use their best endeavours to protect in 

 France the inoffensive species of birds and 

 mammals whose destruction is largely due to a 

 desire for gain, or even a wanton pleasure in 

 killing. He especially mentioned the beaver. 

 In 18S9 there were only seventy or eighty known 

 specimens left in the country, though the re'moval 

 in 1S91 of a reward of fifteen francs a head 

 for their extermination has done much towards 

 arresting the active crusade against this little 

 animal. The wild goat, he says, has entirely 

 vanished from the Alps, Pyrenees and Swiss 

 mountains, but it is still occasionally found in 

 Upper Savoy and upon the heights of Courmayeur, 

 which overlook the Valley of Aost, and a few other 

 places. Among cetaceous animals, Balaena biscay- 

 ensis is now rarely seen upon the shores of France, 

 though in the last century it was the source of a 

 large industry on the coasts of France and Spain. 

 With regard to birds, he mentions especially the 

 bustard, at one time so plentiful on the plains 

 of Champagne and in the neighbourhood of Chalons- 

 sur-Marne, now completely disappeared. The heron 

 is no longer seen except in preserved heronries. 

 Many other examples are given. Those interested 

 in this subject will do well to refer to " La Feuille 

 des Jeunes Naturalistes " for December, 1897, and 

 February, 1898 (Science-Gossip ante p. 302). On 

 February 25th, at a meeting of the Zoological 

 Society, Professor Cuenot gave an address on 

 " The Means of Defence possessed by Animals." 



Termeszetrajzi Fuzetek (Budapest, March, 

 1898). This number contains, among many others, 

 an article by Dr. Emerich Lorenthey, in German, 

 upon a work recently issued by Max Hantken v. 

 Prudnik, on the " Decapoda of the Tertiary Strata 

 near Budapest." Nine beautiful plates, produced 

 in the usual excellent manner of this magazine, 

 illustrate the paper. The text and the plates are 

 both indexed. Professor L. v. Mehelij contributes 

 an account in English of " The Reptiles and Batra- 

 chians collected by M. Biro in New Guinea," 

 with one plate, containing eleven figures. Some 

 further specimens collected by Signor Luigi Biro 

 from New Guinea are described in Italian by 

 Prof. Giovanni Canestrini : families Trombi- 

 didae, Oribatidae, Nothridae and Uropodidae of 

 the Acaroidae are the subjects of this month's 

 paper. Herr Sandor-tol - Mocsary contributes 

 some notes in Hungarian on the Hymenoptera 

 of Hungary. Professor Joannes Thalhammer 

 describes in Latin a new dipteron, which he names 

 Elachiptcra pnbcscens. Full particulars of a new 

 species of the hymenopterous group Cecidomyia 



are given in Hungarian by Dr. Kertesz Kalmantol, 

 it is named Asphondylia riibsaatneni, and is illus- 

 trated by eight anatomical figures in the text, and 

 one of the manner of feeding in the flowers 

 and fruit of Asphondylia pimpinellae, one of the 

 Umbelliferae. 



La Feuille des Jeunes Naturalistes (Paris, 

 1898.) In the March number of this journal, 

 M. Plateau commences a series of articles upon 

 the " Gravel of the Lower Stratum " at Chalons- 

 sur-Vesle, in the neighbourhood of Rheim ; it has 

 two illustrations. A synoptic study of Coleoptera, 

 more especially the Longicornes, is contributed by 

 M. Maurice Pic : this is also the first of a series. 

 In this number the genus Cortodera is discussed. 

 M. Ernest Andre continues his synopsis of the 

 Mutillides of France. M. Emile Anfrie writes 

 on the "Birds in the Calvadas," joining, as he 

 says, his opinions with those of MM. X. Raspail, 

 C. Van Kempen and Lomont, as to the rapid 

 disappearance of various species of birds in the 

 different Departments of France ; more especially 

 the Insectivores. He advocates immediate and 

 effectual protection. (April and May.) M. L. 

 Vignal gives a study, accompanied by a plate with 

 ten figures, on the " Potamides of the Eocene Period 

 at Gaas," the shells belonging chiefly to the family 

 Cerithiidae Gagea Joliosa (Roem and Schult), is 

 fully described in an article with two illustrations, 

 by M. C. de Rey-Pailhade. This plant, new to the 

 flora of France, was discovered last year in the 

 neighbourhood of Beziers, by Brother Sennen, 

 director of the Christian school at Prades. 

 M. G. de Rocquigny-Adanson writes of the 

 altitudes at which Saturnia pyri (Schieff) is found. 

 The minimum height, says he, is about the fruit 

 garden of Derbent in the Caucasus, situated upon 

 the shores of the Caspian. In Central France, at 

 Moulins, this moth has been captured at 200 and 

 250 metres above the sea. In Switzerland, the 

 caterpillar has been found at 300 metres. The 

 highest altitude at which it has at present been found 

 is on the mountains of Western or Central Europe, 

 such as in the Pyrenees, Vosges, Jura, Alps, 

 Boehmerwald and Carpathians at 1,500 metres. 

 The " Synopsis of the Mutillides of France," by 

 M. Ernest Andre, is completed in this number. It 

 also contains the completion of M. Maurice Pic's 

 notes on Coleoptera, which deals especially with 

 the genus Cortodera. From the pen of M. W. 

 Broeleman there are some particulars of the 

 " Centipedes around Avignon." The district of the 

 Lirac, he says, is a particularly favourable neigh- 

 bourhood for divers forms. 



Proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1898). In 

 the January part, Mr. Thomas Meehan read a 

 paper on "The Plants of Lewis and Clark's 

 Expedition across the Continent, 1804-1806." The 

 account of this journey is extremely interesting, if 

 only for the sake of showing the advance made in 

 botanical knowledge. It is uncertain what became 

 of the collection made by Captain Lewis and 

 Mr. Clark. Part of the herbarium made during the 

 ascent of the Rocky Mountains and the Northern 

 Andes was unfortunately lost, and the history of 

 the rest cannot be clearly traced, though about 

 two years ago search was made, at the suggestion 

 of Professor C. Sargent, among the property of the 

 American Philosophical Society, with the result 

 that some packages of plants were found that from 

 various evidence were considered to be some of 

 those collected by Captain Lewis. 



