1056 The American Naturalist. [ November, 
Carya amara Nutt. = H. minima (Marsh.) Britt. 
Leersia virginica Willd. = Homalocenchrus virginica (Willd.) Britt, 
Leersia oryzoides Swartz — Homalocenchrus oryzoides (L.) Poll. 
Phragmites communis Trin. = P. vulgaris (Lam.) B. S. P. 
Chamecyparis spheroidea Spach. = C. thyoides (L.) B. S. P. 
Pinus tnops Ait. = P. virginiana Mill. 
Pinus mitis Michx. = P. echinata Mill. 
Picea nigra Link. = Picea mariana (Mill.) B. S. P. 
Larix americana Michx. = L. laricina (DuRoi) B. S. P. 
Many other changes might be cited, but these will serve to show the 
treatment of the vexed question of nomenclature and synonymy. 
While some of the changes are quite startling and uncomfortable, there 
can be little doubt that a rigid enforcement of the “law of priority” 
will eventually result in a greater fixity of names than now exists.— 
HARLES E. BEssEv. 
The West American Oaks.?—Dr. Albert Kellogg began the 
preparation of a series of drawings to illustrate the oaks, pines, and 
other trees of the Pacific coast of the United States, intending to ac- 
company them by appropriate descriptions, but death closed his work 
long before it came to completion. Now, through the munificence of 
Mr. McDonald and the aid of Professor Greene, the work is brought 
out in an appropriate form. 
The first species figured and described is Quercus kelloggii Newberry, 
which bears a strong resemblance to the eastern red oak (Q. rubra). 
It is the ©. sonomensis Benth. of DeCandolle's ** Prodromus. Then 
follow Q. morehus Kellogg, Q. wizliseni A.DC., and Q. agrifolia 
Nee, all apparently related, although the first is deciduous and the 
others evergreen. — Q. hypoleuca Engelm. is a narrow-leaved species 
. quite distinct from the preceding. Q. garryana Dougl. and Q. lobata 
Nee, are closely related, and resemble the white oak of the eastern 
United States, The last-named species is the ©. Aindsii Benth. of the 
Pacific Railroad Reports, Q. gambelii Nutt. is still more like the 
white oak, both in leaf and acorn. It is a shrub of six to eight feet in 
height, or a middle-sized tree from thirty to sixty feet high, with a 
trunk three feet in diameter. The tree form is confined to the ** mid- 
dle and higher elevations of the mountains of southern New Mexico 
and Arizona, and of adjacent Mexico." The smaller form occurs upon 
Illustrations of West American Oaks, From drawings by the late Albert Kel- 
logg, M.D., the text by Edward L. Greene, Published from funds provided by James M. 
McDonald, Esq., San Francisco, May, 1889. 4to, pp. xii -+ 47, with XXIV. plates. 
West American Oaks. Part IL, San Francisco, June, 1890, pp. 52 to 84, with 
plates XXV. to XXXVII. 
