164 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes (Oporto, July, 

 1894). Mr. VV. C. Tait has an interesting paper 

 on '• Mimicry of American Insects." During a visit 

 the author made to Brazil towards the end of 1888, 

 he collected several insects and made several 

 observations, which he now communicates. Dr. 

 Lopez Vieira contributes a note on the "Comparative 

 Study of the Skeleton of the Dog and the Wolf." 

 Mr. W. C. Tait continues his paper on the Birds 

 of Portugal. The Editor (M. Augusto Nobre) 

 gives a note on the " Habitat of Vipera herns in 

 Portugal." M. A. Goltzde Carvalho contributes a 

 paper entitled, " On a Teratological Case of Portunus 

 father.'' The subject of this note, a crab, has the 

 right first leg provided with a double claw. A list 

 of Portuguese marine mollusca by the Editor ; a 

 paper on sea fish by Dr. Lopez Vieira ; on the 

 malacological fauna of S. Thome and Madeira, 

 and a study on the aquatic fauna of the rivers of 

 Northern Portugal by the Editor. Further, a note 

 by Mr. E. J. Johnstone on the rare sedge Carex 

 duriai with a plate, and description of a new- 

 species of Vaginula, with a plate by the editor. 



Il Naturalista Siciliano (Palermo, May, 

 1894). Dr. Del Guercio contributes an article of 

 eighteen pages, on new or little known Coccidae 

 (cochineal insects), in which he describes two new- 

 species. A detailed description of the insect, 

 accompanied by a woodcut, is followed by a full 

 account of the larva and egg, after which the 

 classification is discussed, and its life-history 

 completes each section devoted to a new species. 



Il Xaturalista Siciliano (Palermo, Jul}', 1894). 

 The Marquis of Monterosato has a paper on the 

 Terrestrial Shells, living and fossil, of Monte 

 Pellegrino. Dr. Liugi Facciola continues his note 

 on the metamorphoses of Conger haUaricus. Notes 

 on conchiferous sand from Carthage and the 

 neighbourhood of Tripoli, by the Marquiss A. 

 De Gregorio. 



The Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis, Mo.) 

 is the Fifth Annual Report (1894) published by 

 the trustees, and forms quite an important book of 

 166 large Svo pages, with thirty-two plates and eight 

 handsome photographic views from the gardens. 

 Among the scientific papers is one by Dr. Glatfelter 

 on the study of the venation of willow leaves, 

 illustrated by three plates. Mr. W. Trelease has 

 an elaborate paper on the North American Maples, 

 being a "Winter Synopsis," with thirteen plates, 

 chiefly of buds and twigs. 



Compte-rendu de la Societe Philomatique 

 (Paris, July, 1S94, No. 19). — M. Franchet publishes 

 five new species of Adonis from China, Japan and 

 Manchuria, giving short diagnoses of each. 



Fecilles des Jeunes Naturalistes (Paris, 

 August, 1894). The geology of Spitzbergen (first 

 parti, by M. G. Ramond. Description of some 

 larvae of Cecidomyas (Hessian flies) (continued), by 

 the Rev. J. J. Kieffer. M. Geneau de Lamarliere 

 concludes his series of articles en the Peronosporas. 

 Mr. Bavav contributes a lenethv note on the 



habitat of Helix quimperiana, in which he combats 

 the opinion that this shell has been introduced in 

 the north-west of France. After showing that its 

 range in that part of its habitat is not much more 

 restricted than in the Pyrenees, he brings forward 

 the hypothesis that its range formerly extended 

 over the ^hole littoral of a vast stretch of land 

 uniting Brittany with Spain, which, being since 

 submerged, the greatest part of the stock of this 

 shell has disappeared, leaving only the two outlying 

 stations at the extremities of its original habitat 

 to record the tale. 



Proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences (Philadelphia, June, 1894). "Some 

 Notes from a Study of the Provancher Collection of 

 Ichneumonidae," by Mr. G. L. Davis. This 

 collection being located in Parliament Buildings 

 in Quebec, the author made a special journey to 

 inspect the insects of this family with a view to 

 clear up some of the doubts existing as to their 

 correct location. The notes w-hich follow are all 

 critical, but relate only to classification of the 

 species in the right genus. While a few synonyms 

 are given, the author hopes to complete that 

 part of the work later. 



Natur dnd Haus (Berlin, August, 1894, i. and 

 ii.). "Woodpeckers in Captivity," by Herr Jean 

 Bungartz, with an illustration of the Great Black 

 Woodpecker (Picus martius). Herr H. Loeper 

 relates how he manages to tame and train lizards. 

 Herr G. Poppendorff informs his readers how to 

 collect and prepare fungi, and describes several 

 species, accompanied by excellent woodcuts, which 

 will enable any tyro to identify his finds. Herr H. 

 Tetens has a very interesting article on Indian 

 Butterflies, with three excellent illustrations, 

 Ornithoptera priamus, male and female, and the 

 female of the variety prone ma. 



Journal de Conchyliologie (Paris, October, 

 1893, published August, 1894). — Preliminary note 

 by M. H. Crosse, and synonymic and bibliographi- 

 cal list of the terrestrial and fluviatile Mollusca of 

 New Zealand, by Mr. H. Suter. After the bulky 

 list of the New Zealand Mollusca, by Hedley and 

 Suter, published in Proceedings of the Linnean 

 Society of New South Wales for 1892, one would 

 have thought the last had been said for some time. 

 But we have another list of seventy-three pages, 

 by Mr. Suter, which goes over the same ground and 

 is compiled on the same principle as the former. 

 Some modifications in the system of classification 

 and the synonymy make this another valuable con- 

 tribution to the literature of this region. It would, 

 however, have greatly assisted reference had the 

 numbers of the previous list been quoted, as in the 

 present list each species bears a different number. 

 One objectionable feature in the previous list has 

 here been eliminated, some of the so-called genera 

 containing one, two, or three species each, having 

 now been incorporated with some of the larger 

 genera and given sectional rank. A well-executed 

 coloured plate, illustrating six species, accompanies 

 the paper. MM. Crosse and Fisher describe six 

 new Unios from Mexico, and M. Cossmann con- 

 tinues his " Summary Revision of the Fauna of 

 the Marine Oligocene from the Environs of 

 Etampes." The author informs us that he first 

 intended to include the lacustrine and terrestrial 

 species of the superior Oligocene, but this would 

 have increased the paper inordinately, and he 

 therefore hopes to make a separate monograph of 

 these. A lithographed plate accompanies the 

 paper, illustrating eight species. 



