392 Scientific Intelligence. 



it is an arsenite of calcium and iron. — Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Philad., July 3, 1888. 



8. The Minerals of New York County, including a list com- 

 plete to date ; by B. B. Chambeelin. — This little pamphlet, by 

 the late Mr. Chamberlin, is a valuable contribution to the local 

 mineralogy of New York, a subject to which the author had 

 given much attention. 



III. Botany and Zoology. 



1. Dr. Sereno Watson's Contributions to American Botany. 

 — The last two numbers of this important series have not yet 

 been noticed in this Journal. For reference the titles are here 

 given. No. 14 contains: — List of plants collected by Dr. Edward 

 Palmer in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, in 1886. In this list the 

 Gamopetalse were determined by Professor Gray, the Juncacese 

 and Cyperaceae by Dr. N. L. Britton, the Gramineae by Dr. 

 Vasey, and the ferns by Professor Eaton. Proceedings of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. xxii, pp. 396-485. 

 Also in the same volume, pp. 466-489: a second paper, entitled, 

 New Species. These species are about 40 in number. — No. 15, 

 same Proceedings, vol. xxiii, contains [1] Some new species of 

 plants of the U. S. with revisions of Lesquerella ( Vesicaria), and 

 of the North American species of'Draba, pp. 249-267. [2] Some 

 new species of Mexican plants chiefly of Mr. C. H. Pringle's col- 

 lection in the Mountains of Chihuahua, in 1887, pp. 276-283. 

 [3] Description of some plants of Guatemala, pp. 283-287. 



G. L. G. 



2. Flora of Middlesex County, Mass.; by L. L. Dame and F. 

 S. Collins, Maiden, Middlesex Institute, 1888, pp. 201, with map. 

 — The authors of this work have spared no pains to ensure a good 

 degree of accuracy and completeness. In the first place, they are 

 themselves botanists of experience and have personally examined 

 with great care some of the most interesting portions of the dis- 

 trict. And, second, they have availed themselves of the assist- 

 ance'of a goodly number of local collectors, while all important 

 doubtful determinations have been submitted to special authori- 

 ties. Thus, doubtful Composite were examined by the late Pro- 

 fessor Gray, Mr. Bebb aided in determining the willows, and Drs. 

 Watson and Farlow assisted at many points by the collections in 

 their charge. 



The county is irregular in outline and considerably diversified 

 in surface. Its highest land, Mt. Watatic, in the western part, 

 is somewhat less than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, sea- 

 level being reached at the eastern limit. The county is abund- 

 antly watered, and would seem from the map which is crowded 

 with lakes, ponds, and rivers, to promise a rich vegetation, but 

 the soil consists chiefly of the usual deposits and admixtures of 

 gravel, sand, and clay, with which residents of eastern Massachu- 

 setts are only too familiar. Hence there are here lacking many 



