50 THE WEST AMEEICAN SCIENTIST. 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



The Museum, of Philadelphia has just made its first appearance 

 as a monthly for young people and is a highly creditable journal. 

 Price $1.50 a year. It will rank 'with the best journals of the day 

 and is a valued addition to our exchange list. 



The second annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the 

 Smith. Inst, contains a great mass of literature on the Myths of 

 the Iroquois, Art in shells of the ancient Americans, animal carv- 

 ings from the mounds of the Mississippi valley, the Zuni, etc. 



The Century for May begins its thirtieth half-yearly volume 

 with a first edition of a quarter of a million copies. It contains an 

 interesting article on the New Orleans Exposition, an account of 

 Greely at Cape Sabine, and a discussion by T. T. Munger on Im- 

 mortality and Modern Thought— a subject possessing the greatest 

 interest to the thoughtful reader, and here ably treated by a writer 

 who cannot be too widely read. The Century Co., N. Y. 



Science, May 8, gives four fine composite portraits of American 

 scientific men, one of twelve mathematicians, another of sixteen 

 naturalists and a third of thirty-one prominent men of science. 

 The arrangements were such that an exposure of sixty-two seconds 

 would be sufficient to take a good picture, and with an exposure for 

 two seconds of the negatives of each of the thirty-one men was ob- 

 tained a photograph showing the prominent characteristics that 

 were common to all, without the individual characters of any. 



Space forbids separate mention of the many papers received, 

 but their publishers and authors will please accept thanks. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



The beautiful Gilia bella, Gray, was found among the earlier 

 flowers on the mountains of Lower California during April, while 

 Gilia Orcuttii, Parry, was found abundant on the hills in this 

 county at an elevation of about a thousand feet. 



Pev. E. L. Greene made a very successful trip off the coast of 

 Lower California, returning with probably thirty new species of 

 plants. Among them was a new Eschscholzia, with small green- 

 ish flowers and of a very different aspect from the other species of 

 the genus. A type of a new genus was found on one of the islands 

 and a second congeneric species on the mainland. He also obtained 

 specimens of Veatch's " elephant tree," Veatchia Cedrosensis, Gray. 

 Mr. Greene found several interesting plants on his return to San 

 Fra cisco from this place, by rail. 



