402 Scientific Intelligence. 



secondary sexual characters; by T. H. Morgan. Pp. 108, 10 

 plates. 



No. 286. The ecological relations of roots; by John E. 

 Weaver. Pp. vii, 128 ; 33 plates, 58 text figures. 



Xo. 287. The carbohydrate economy of Cacti; by Herman 

 Augustus Spoehr. Pp. 79. 



No. 288. Studies of heredity in rabbits, rats, and mice; by 

 W. E. Castle. Pp. 56, 3 plates, 5 text figures. 



3. National Academy of Sciences. — The autumn meeting of 

 the National Academy will be held in New Haven, Connecticut, 

 on November 10-12. The local committee consists of Professors 

 Bumstead, Mendel and Harrison. 



4. The Birds of North and Middle America; by Robert 

 Ridgway— Part VIII. Bulletin No. 50 of the U. S. National 

 Museum. — This volume of 852 pages, accompanied by 34 plates, 

 is the eighth in the important work undertaken by Mr. Ridgway. 

 "Without attempting to give the names of all the families repre- 

 sented, it may be sufficient to say that those represented include 

 chiefly the birds prominent on our seacoast. Part IX is now 

 in course of preparation and, as the effects of the war conditions 

 are no longer so serious, its appearance may be expected at no 

 distant date. 



5. Biographical notice of Joseph Barrell. — Through an over- 

 sight, the name of Professor Charles Schuchert was omitted 

 as the author of the notice of Professor Joseph Barrell in the 

 October number, pp. 251-280. 



Obituary. 



Frederick Braun, the oldest American dealer in fossils and 

 minerals, died at Brooklyn, New York, on November 12, 1918. 

 He was born on April 29, 1841, at Nordhausen, Germany, and 

 in 1861 emigrated to Chicago, where he worked as a carpenter. 

 Later he settled at Cincinnati, and here he was employed for a 

 time by Mr. Paul More, a merchant, to gather fossils for him. 

 At Crawfordsville. Indiana, he opened the first quarry for the 

 famous Keokuk crinoids. and his well-cleaned material is now 

 scattered in the museums of America and Europe. In 1889 he 

 removed to New York City, and later to Brooklyn. He was 

 often employed by individuals and museums to make collections 

 of fossils, or to arrange and label their material. He was an 

 indefatigable collector, willing to go anywhere, under the most 

 trying of conditions, and his results were always good. He was, 

 however, an independent character who would do things only 

 in his own way, and for this reason he never reaped the reward 

 that might and should have been his. The finest specimens he 

 laid away for his private collection, always hoping to sell it 

 intact to some institution as the Fred Braun Collection. No 

 one, however, was able to purchase it in his time, but it is to be 

 hoped that the collection will be acquired by one of our larger 

 museums. 



