122 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Tlie circumscribed nature of the swelling is charac- 

 teristic of all lip injuries by the "kissing bug" and dif- 

 fers considerably from the diffused edematous swelling that fol- 

 lows stings by bees and wasps. The similarity of the swelling 

 in all cases I have seen is proof to my mind that the insect in- 

 jects some poison into the wound and does not merely infect it 

 by an accidentally introduced poison. Mr. Marlatt (Bulletin 

 No. 4, Division of Entomology U. S. Dept. Agriculture) in 

 speaking of this household pest has related a few instances 

 where symptoms of general poisoning had followed a bite of 

 this insect and he presumes that in these cases the individual 

 was poisoned by some irritant accidentally introduced, as it is 

 not improbable that these blood-loving insects occasionally feed 

 on carrion. 



Last month a gentleman brought me in a specimen of Con- 

 orhinus from Victor on the jMohave desert where he said the 

 insect this season had appeared in considerable numbers and 

 had proved quite troublesome. This proved to be Conorhinus 

 protractus Uhler, a species described from lower California, 

 which also occurs in the Dragoon ]\Iountains. Arizona, and at 

 San Diego. There is a general impression that this insect is 

 more common than it used to be, and as the climate is quite 

 favorable to its increase in Southern California it may pos- 

 sibly be extending its range. 



Los Angeles. 



PUBLICATIONS EECEIVED. 



"Missouri Botanical Garden." Fourteentli Keport. l&OS. 



"Spodnmenefrom San Diego Co., Cal.," by W. T. Schaller. Bull. 

 Dept. Geology. Vol. 3, No. 13, University of California Publications. 



' ' The Culture of the Central American Eubber Tree. ' ' Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 49, V. S. Dept. Agriculture. 



' ' The Description of Wheat Varieties. ' ' Bureau of Plant Industiy, 

 Bulletin No. 47. 



"Experiment Station Eecords," Vol. 14, No. 12, and Vol. 15, No. 1, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



"The Cold Curing of Cheese." Bureau of Animal Industry. Bulle- 

 tin No. 49, IT. S. Department of Agriculture. 



"Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science." Fifty second meeting, .lanuary, 1903, 



