The West American Scientist. 161 



various clutches of Merula merula, and the author concludes that 

 "the greater the fertility, the darker the color of the eggs." 



The Mammoth Not Extinct. In Science Gossip, Septem- 

 ber, 1889, p. 214, is quoted a clipping from the Saturday Journal, 

 to the effect that the mammoth {Elep has primi genius) still exists 

 in Alaska! A certain Mr. Fowler, it seems, has interviewed a 

 man who killed two of them. But the public unkindly scoffs 

 and makes mention of the horse marines! 



Diorchidium tracyi, De Toni. Journ. of Mycol., June, 

 1889, vol. 5, p. 95 and pi. x. Good figures are given of this 

 species from New Mexico, which is the only North American 

 species of its genus known. We confess, however, that we do not 

 quite see on what grounds it is called D. tracyi, since it was appa- 

 rently first described by Tracy and Galloway as Puccinia verti- 

 septa, last year. The name ought surely to be Diorchidium verti- 

 septa, (T. & G.), verti-septa not being preoccupied or otherwise 

 inappropriate. Dr. De Toni' s ideas of priority are, we hope, not 

 those of most other mycologists. The same number of the Jour, oj 

 ??iycol. that contains the description of P. verti-septa has an article 

 on Doassansia by him in which he proposes to alter D. puncti- 

 formis (Niessl, 1872) to D. Niesslii,De Toni, because an Austra- 

 lian species was named D. punctiformis by Winter in 1887, D. 

 punctiformis Niessl not being at that time recognized as belong- 

 ing to the genus! It is the Australian D. punctiformis, Wint., 

 that must be changed — say to D. Lythri, as it was found on 

 Ly thrum. T. D. A. C. 



R. K. Macadam. North American Agarics. J. oj Mycol. , 

 June, 1889, p. 58. Descriptions and localities are given for 11 

 species of Russula, only three of which are quoted from any- 

 where on the Pacific Slope. There is probably a great deal yet 

 to be done amomg the Western Agarics. T. D. A. C. 



H. J. Elwes. Notes on genus Krebia. Trans. Entomological 

 Society of London, 1889, p. 317. This very interesting paper 

 deals with this genus of butterflies at considerable length, and 

 gives a list of the species. There are also remarks on the geo- 

 graphical distribution of the genus, which number altogether 57 

 species. A new var. brucei of E. epipsodea is described from 

 Colorado. It is smaller, without ocelli, and the red band is 

 almost obsolete. It is possibly a distinct species. T. D. A. C. 



D. W. Coquillett. The Imported Australian Ladybird, 

 (Vedolia cardinalis). Insect Life, Sept. 1889, p. 7°- Of this article 

 on the imported Australian Coccinellid, and the wonderful work 

 it is doing in destroying that pest, the Iccrya, in California, we 

 need only say that it is of the greatest interest, and ought to be 

 read by all who care for the welfare of agriculture on the Pacific 

 Slope. T. D. A. C. 



