1880. ] Zoölogy. 669 
seen. Delphigium may be considered the highest and latest 
developed type of the three, and D. consolida would, seem to be 
of later origin than D. zricome and others. Aconitum may be a 
stage between Delphinium and Aquilegia. me 
The history of these different structures, the spur, the auto- 
matic filaments, etc., offers a very attractive field of investigation. 
he Ranunculacez, on account of their wide distribution, great 
numbers a@ffd variety of forms, seem especially favorable for 
studying this branch of vital dynamics.—¥. E. Todd, Tabor Col- 
lege, Towa. 
Ernst, in Nature, by large Sphinx moths, no flower gave a 
fruit without having its stigmata pollenized by crossing, self-fer- 
tilization being therefore excluded; he also confirms Bonnier's 
statement that the nectar is of no direct advantage to the plant. 
In this connection may be mentioned the excellent treatise 
of Mr, William Trelease on nectar, its nature, occurrence and uses, 
bacilli appearing to actively excite inflammation, the animal dying 
after a few days’ illness, showing no other symptoms than de- 
crease of appetite and weakness. The disease germs appeared in- 
the liver, sections of the capillaries being crowded with them. 
——Mr. W. T. T. Dyer contributes to Trimen’s Journal of Bot- 
any an article on Lattakia tobacco, which owes its flavor to being 
smoked with the wood of an oak, Quercus ruber var. 
ZOOLOGY.! 
- 
nave not looked for them farther north, but have no doubt they 
m be found generally in our latitude. , ; 
It is a small ant, the worker being about a line long. Itis ofa red- 
‘The departments of Ornithology and Mammalogy are conducted by Dr. ELLIOTT 
Coves, U. S. A. 
