48 THE AVEST AMEEICAN SCIENTIST. 



FOUQUIERA GIGANTEA, NEW SPECIES. 



Trunk erect, 20 to 40, or even 60 feet in height, branching above the middle 

 and sending up a few simple stems to nearly the height of the main stem; bark 

 glaucous green, set from the bases of the main trunk and the branches to their sum- 

 mi s with numerous small leafy twigs (an eighth of an inch in diamete • and 4 to 20 

 inches in length): leaves spatulate to ovate, h, inch to an inch long, the primary at- 

 tenuate into a rigid petiole and the blade and inner portion of the petiole at length 

 deciduous (as in F. splendens), leaving the dorsal part as a stout divaricate spine an 

 inch long or less, the axils producing several sessile leaves: flowers produced at the 

 summit of the stems on short pedicels in nearly simple jacemes six or more inches 

 long: corolla unknown, said to be white (?): capsule as in P. splendens but rather 

 shorter: seeds unknown. 



Abundant near the missions of Rosario and San Fernando (near the 31st degree 

 N. lat. ) in Lower California, and said to extend far to the south and into Mexico. 

 Known to the Mexicans as the cereo. The large pith is said to be eaten with a relish 

 by cattle, and the hollow trunks are excellent hives for the numerous swarms of 

 wild bees in that district. As there are no other trees in that arid region, except a 

 few large cactuses, this forms a prominent feature in the landscape and is well de- 

 scribed as a huge invert :d carrot. The stem consists of a large pith surrounded by 

 ligneous fibres nearly a half inch thick, another pi hy layer an inch thick, and then 

 numerous small woody fibres next to the thin epidermis. 



C. R. OECUTT. 



EDITORIAL, 



We are informed that the volcano Cerro de las Virgenes, in Lower California, 

 referred to on p. 33 of the current volume of The Scientist as extinct, is in an active 

 state. 



We would thank the following authors for valuable publications received: Hon. 

 E. M. Goodwin; Chas. E. Putnam; H. B. Baker, M. D.; Dr. Asa Gray; Geo. H. 

 Perkins, Ph. D.; Verplanck Colvin; C. B. Bradley; Prof. Sereno Watson and others. 



Amateur journalism, we are pleased to record, made its first appearance in this 

 county in the neat 'Voice of the West,' May, 1886. May others follow. 



A fine portrait of Dr. Asa Gray appears in the June 'Century,' with an inter- 

 esting account of Harvard's botanic garden and its botanists, by Ernest Ingersoll. 



It is intended to publish this journal with greater regularity in the future, and 

 to make it of greater value to all its patrons. To do so, however, it is necessary to 

 have a much more liberal support and more assistance from those who are inter- 

 ested in the work. While it may be devoted largely to horticultural or kindred 

 subjects, yet no pains will be spared in sustaining its character of a popular scien- 

 tific monthly. If the reader has not already subscribed, we would extend our in- 

 vitation for him to do so at once. We would thank the many new subscribers who 

 have sent in during our absence in Lower California. 



