SOUTHERA CALIFORNIA ACADEMy OF SCIENCES. 79 



forms and hybrids are noticed. The genus has its largest development 

 in Central and Eastern Asia. The North American continent has but 

 twenty species, and Europe but eighteen. The species and varieties of 

 our own region, as recognized by the author, may be recognized by the 

 following key: 

 Leaves all distinct, petioled, never stipulate; corollas yellow, pubescent. 



Leaves grayish tomentose beneath. L. subspicata. 



Leaves glabrous. L. subspicata denudata. 



At least the uppermost pair of leaves connate. 



Leaves never stipulate; corollas yellow, glabrous. L. interrupta. 



Middle leaves stipulate; corolla pink. 



Flower whorls few, slender peduncled. L. hispidula. 



Whorls many, in elongated spikes. L. hispidula Californica. 



The first of these plants is common throughout the cismontane re- 

 gion, but its variety is confined to the coastal sub-region. L. interrupta 

 is a more northern species, but has been collected at Acton by Hasse. 

 L. hispidula is also more northern in its range, and its variety is ap- 

 parently confined in our region, to Santa Catalina Island. S. B. P. 



Among "Publications Received" our readers will note two original 

 works by local scientists. Prof. B. M. Davis in conjunction with Prof. 

 Ritter has issued a volume of "Studies on the Ecology, &c., of the En- 

 tero'pneusta, ' ' while Prof. C. F. Baker, of Pomona, has, through the U. 

 S. National Museum, issued a valuable work on the Fleas of America. 



It is with extreme pleasure we welcome the "Flora of Los Angeles 

 and Vicinity. ' ' Its author, Mr. Le Roy Abrams, of Stanford Univer- 

 sity, has in recent years personally examined the flora of this district 

 and the fruit of his labors are embodied in the handsome volume before 

 us. The nomenclature and arrangement are in accordance with the 

 latest methods; the typographical work is very good. 



The description of the species are accurate and original, many new 

 records have been added to the district and not a few new species. 



This flora will satisfy all the requirements of the ordinary botani- 

 cal student in Southern California, while for those of Los Angeles and 

 Orange Counties it will be the standard text-book for many years to 

 come. In our educational institutions this work is indispensable. We 

 heartily recommend the work. Price $2.00 from local publishers. 



Transactions for April, 1 904. 



ASTRONOMICAL SECTION. 



At the regular monthly meeting of the Section, held April 18th, 

 19U^, Chairman Knight introducc'd the exercises with an interesting ex- 

 hibit of relative distances of planets from the sun as compared to the 

 relative distances of some of the leading stars from their companion 

 stars, showing that the distances that separate the companions of 

 Procyon, Sirius, Alpha Centauri and Castor from their respective prin- 

 cipals, do not exceed the distance between the sun and our most distant 

 planet Neptune. 



Mr. Knight also referred to the apparently remarkable rapidity of 

 revolutionary motion of some of the binary stars as indicated by the 

 rapid succession of a certain variation in the luminosity. 



Mr. Melville Dozier then presented the subject of the trise-ction of 

 an angle, developing a method by which this can be accomplished with- 

 out resorting to higher mathematics. The method is also equally ap- 

 plicable to the division of an angle into any number of equal parts and 

 to the division of a circumference into any number of equal arcs. 



MELVILLE DOZIER, Secretary. 



