~ i 
L bes co Ad ty Oa a ae = SAS + ahi Mat? cated 
234 
obtained in their own words, over their own 
signatures. One can hardly over-estimate the 
value of the added enthusiasm which assist- 
ants will bring to their work under this method. 
Not only will they do more work, but it will 
be of a much higher quality; and the office 
in which they are engaged will be able at an 
early day to command the services of a corps 
of specialists instead of mere day-laborers. 
At the same time a large part of the work of 
each individual in an office of this kind must 
be merged into what shall go out as the work 
of the office. And it is not the assistants 
alone who suffer from this; for the chief must 
devote much attention to executive duties, 
which shorten greatly his time for study. 
In this report there are two papers by Pro- 
fessor Forbes’s assistants. The first is an im- 
portant article on the gall-mites, by Mr. H. 
Garman. It deals with the general character- 
istics of structure and habits of the Phytopti, 
and includes descriptions of seven new spe- 
cies, and the cecidii of several species for 
which names are not proposed. Previous to 
this, but three species have been indicated by 
name in the United States. The second paper 
Ba RS i 
SCLENCE. 
ee al A 
is by Mr. F. M. Webster, and is an excellent , 
account of the angoumois grain-moth and its’ 
parasites. There is also an account by Prof. 
T. J. Burrill, of the habits of Agrilus granu- 
latus, which he has found to be a destructive 
borer of the Lombardy poplar. 
First annual report on the injurious and other insects 
of the state of New York. By J. A. LINTNER, 
state entomologist. Albany, 1882. Senate doc. 
No. 93. (Issued October, 1883.) 381 p., 84 cuts. 
Se. 
AFTER an interval of eleven years, we are 
again favored with a report of a state ento- 
mologist of New York. This first report by 
Mr. Lintner is a large one, and evidently rep- 
resents a great amount of work. The first 
eighty pages are devoted to a history of Ameri- 
can economic entomology, and a discussion of 
the more important insecticides now in use. 
Then follow accounts of thirty species of in- 
sects. Of especial interest among these are 
those of Polype laricis, Crambus vulgivagellus, 
and some species of Anthomyiidae. In an 
appendix there is a very complete account of 
the writings of Dr. Fitch. 
INTELLIGENCE FROM AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC STATIONS. 
GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 
Geological survey. 
Paleontology. — During the field-season of 1883, 
Prof. W. W. Fontaine was detailed to collect and 
study fossil plants in Virginia. Late in July he 
began an examination of the tertiary strata in the 
vicinity of Richmond. Throughout the remainder 
of the season his field-work was continued on the 
mesozoic and tertiary of eastern Virginia, after 
which he was occupied in the preparation of draw- 
ings of the specimens collected. 
Prof, L. C. Johnson, who has been working in the 
South Atlantic district, principally in Alabama, has 
returned to Washington after a most successful sea- 
son. He is now engaged in unpacking and arranging 
the large collections that he secured during the 
summer and autumn. Several barrelfuls of material 
from the Claiborne group in Alabama were obtained; 
and the sorting of the extremely interesting collec- 
tion included in them has kept him busy since his 
return from the field. 
Mr. J. B. Marcou (assistant to Dr. C. A. White, in 
charge of the department of mesozoic paleontology) 
reports that a collection of very interesting fossils 
has been sent to the National museum from Skonum 
Point, British Columbia, by Mr. James G. Swan of 
Port Townsend, W. T. These fossils are being ex- 
amined by Mr. Marcou, who says some of them are 
new, and that others are evidently identical with 
specimens from the cval-bearing rocks of Queen Char- 
lotte Island, described for the Canada geological sur- 
vey by Dr. J. F. Whiteaves in his ‘ Mesozoic fossils 
of Queen Charlotte Island.’ Mr. Marcou says that 
the collection presents quite an oolitic facies. 
Miscellaneous. — Mr. F. M. Pearson, topographer, 
who has been working in eastern Tennessee, says 
that the waste of valuable timber in that region, 
which has only recently ceased, is almost inconceiv- 
able. The finest specimens of walnut and cherry 
timber are found, and are used by the inhabitants for 
fence-rails, fire-wood, and other wasteful purposes. 
Since the survey has been working in the country, it 
has been instrumental in working a change in this 
respect, and the people are beginning to appreciate 
the value of their timber resources. Another result 
is, that the mineral resources are becoming known, 
and investments both in timber and in mineral prop- 
erties are now being made where but a short time 
ago they would have been considered unprofitable. 
Dr. Thomas M. Chatard of Baltimore has been ap- 
pointed assistant chemist on the survey, and will be 
in the laboratory at Washington with Prof. F. W. 
Clarke. 
Educational rock suites. —'The survey proposes to © 
collect suites of about one hundred representative 
rocks, to be used in teaching the elements of lithology. 
Two hundred specimens of each kind of rock will be 
Aten 
[Vor. Ill, No. Game 
