14 EL1SHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL 



The Forms of Sand-Dunes as Influenced by Neighboring- 

 Forests. Collier Cobb, Chapel Hill. (Illustrated by photo- 

 graphs). 



While the deforesting of the sandreefs is the primary cause 

 of the dunes along the North Carolina coast, there are several 

 instances in which, the trees are the obstacles which have 

 produced the dunes. In all these cases "The Banks" run 

 directly across the course of the prevailing winds, which 

 come from the southwest, and just as soon as the vege- 

 tation becomes so dense that it prevents this southwest 

 wind from blowing the wave-driven sand back into the 

 sea, a sandwave forms equal in height to the height of 

 the forest. This is best shown in the high dune north 

 of Manteo, on Roanoke Island. It is also noticeable on 

 Currituck Beach, and at several points opposite Masonboro 

 Sound; and forests were influential in forming the dunes 

 at Nag's Head. On the Kinnakeet section of Hatteras 

 Island the dunes were started by the deforesting of a strip 

 next the shore, when they rose to the height of the forest 

 which they finally covered and destroyed. The barren sand- 

 waste there is still known as "The Great Woods.'" Dunes in 

 many of these cases along our coast might be removed by 

 thinning out the forest and removing the tangle of vines and 

 undergrowth which prevent the west winds from driving the 

 sands back into the sea. 



Even where the dunes are formed by the prevailing winds, 

 as between Fort Caswell and Lock wood's Folly and on Shackle- 

 ford Banks, in every case where the forest growth is dense 

 the encroaching bank of moving sand is at the same height 

 as the tops of the trees. When the trees are sparse and scat- 

 tered in clumps the moving sands form irregular sandhills 

 instead of great waves. 



Work on a List of Insects of North Carolina. Franklin 

 Sherman, Jr., Raleigh. (Abstract). 



The author is endeavoring to compile a card-catalogue of 

 all species of insects actually known to occur within the State 

 of North Carolina. Three methods are being followed: (1) 



