E Botany. 297 
out these beds is also accounted for. (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., Pt. 4, 
1896.) 
Geological News.—Mr. R. P. Whitfield notes a new genus of 
Phyllocaridæ from the Lower Helderberg, near Waubeka, Wisconsin. 
He proposes the name Entomocaris, from the resemblance of the cara- 
pace to that of an ostracode entomostracan. (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. 
Hist., 1896.) 
A recent paper by Mr. F. A. Bather gives a morphological descrip- 
tion of Uintacrinus socialis, and discusses the relations of the genus to 
certain Paleozoic crinoids. He shows that Uintacrinus cannot be re- 
lated either to the Camerata, as Jaekel has supposed, or to the Ichthyo- 
crinidæ, as maintained by Von, Zittel, Neumayer, and others. By a 
process of comparison and elimination he finally determines that of all 
the known genera Dadocrinus is probably the most nearly related to 
the ancestor of Uintacrinus. (Proceeds. London Zool. Soc. (1895) 1896.) 
A new genus of fossil birds is reported from the Pliocene of South 
Australia. The specimens consisting of portions of a dozen birds were 
found at lake Collabonna. They are described by Messrs. Stirling and 
Lietz under the name Genyornis newtonii. The generic name refers 
to the conspicuous feature afforded by the relatively large size of the 
lower mandible. The femur indicates a gigantic bird, its dimensions 
Surpassing those of Pachyornis elephantopus, and nearly equalling those 
of Dinornis maximus. (Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austral., XX, 1896.) 
According to Lydekker, the affinities of the so-called extinct Giant 
Dormouse (Myoxus melitensis) are not with the Myoxide, but with the 
Sciuromorpha, He suggests for it the new generic title Leithia, defin- 
ing the genus, and figures its type of dentition. (Proceeds. Zool. Soc. 
London, 1895.) 
BOTANY.’ 
Long Stolons of Phragmites.—Several years ago some remark- 
able specimens of a running grass were brought to me from the islands of 
the Platte River in Central Nebraska. Although quite puzzling at first 
they were soon found to belong to the common Reed Grass (Phragmites 
phragmites [L.] Karsten). Some of the specimens were of astonishing 
length, one measuring a little more than seventeen meters! At every 
| Edited by Prof. C, E. Bessey, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, 
