May 19, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



795 



dangerous it is to deviate from this rule is 

 made evident by the fact that no less a class- 

 ical scholar than Regan himself has mistaken 

 the neuter adjective Cyclopium for the geni- 

 tive plural of Cyclops. If, as Eegan thinks, 

 Cyclopium is not generically distinguishable 

 from Arges, all the species should go by the 

 older name Cyclopium. 



The reason for shifting the name Ancistrus 

 from cirrhosus as the type are not apparent 

 and should have been distinctly stated. The 

 name Ancistrus was proposed by Kner (Hy- 

 postomiden 272, 1853) for the following de- 

 scribed species and one of them must be con- 

 sidered the type: 



{a) Brachypteri: (1) cirrhosus, (2) doli- 

 chopteri, (3) gymnorhynchus, (4) mystacinus, 

 (5) pictv^, (6) hrachyurus, (7) scaphirhyn- 

 chus. To these described species Kner adds 

 medians and itacua. Of mystacinus he says : 

 " Diese Art scheimt dem Hyp. guacharote Val. 

 sehr nahe zu stehen, doch lasst sich bei der 

 Ungenauigkeit der Beschreibung des letzten 

 iiber die etwaige Gleichartigkeit beider nich 

 sicher entscheiden." 



(6) Macropteri: (1) duodecimalis, (2) 

 longimanus, (3) gibhiceps, (4) litturatus. 



It is to be emphasized that guacharote 

 was known to him only from a description, 

 considered too general for specific distinctions. 



Gill (' Synopsis of the Freshwater Fishes of 

 the Island of Trinidad,' 47) amended the 

 genus Ancistrus by separating the species of 

 group (b) under the new name Pterygoplich- 

 thys, saying: "The genus Ancistrus seems to 

 have been framed with especial regard to those 

 fishes to which the name is here restricted, 

 and is by Dr. Kner divided into two sections, 

 which correspond to Ancistrus and Pterygo- 

 plichthys, his section ' a ' answering to the 

 former genus, and ' & ' to the latter." A more 

 definite restriction to the species described by 

 Kner could not be desired. The Ancistrus 

 of Gill is identical with section 'a' of the 

 Ancistrus of Kner. Gill described some speci- 

 mens from Trinidad as Ancistrus guacharote 

 Val. This is the first formal introduction of 

 guacharote to the genus Ancistrus. But 

 Giinther later maintained that the guacharote 

 of Gill is not that of Valenciennes and named 



the former trinitatis. Regan has been un- 

 able to decide whether trinitatis is distinct 

 from guacharote or not; nevertheless, it ap- 

 pears that on the fact that Gill described 

 guacharote Regan has selected the latter as 

 the type of the genus Ancistrus. Gill did not 

 formally select guacharote as type, and if 

 any inference is permitted it must certainly 

 be that the first species described by Kner, 

 cirrhosus, is the type — certainly not the 

 guacharote or trinitatis, which was unknown 

 to Kner. However, neither Kner nor Gill 

 specifically indicated a type. Bleeker* for- 

 mally selected cirrhosus as the type, and there 

 seems to be no reason why cirrhosus should 

 be placed anywhere than in the genus Ancis- 

 trus. Nevertheless, this species is placed in 

 a new genus, Xenocara. Guacharote, on the 

 other hand, is placed in the genus Ancistrus, 

 and strange enough in a new subgenus, Lasi- 

 ancistrus. There may be reasons for the rul- 

 ing in these premises but they are not evident 

 from a perusal of the paper. Regan's name 

 Xenocara may be retained for those of the 

 Ancistroids without tentacles. 



Regan's monograph is so welcome a con- 

 tribution and so enthusiastically conceived 

 and executed that it is ungracious to differ 

 with the author in the minor points indicated. 



C. H. ElGENMANN. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 



KITE-FLYING AT SEA: RECENT RESULTS. 



The results obtained by means of kite- 

 flights from the Prince of Monaco's yacht 

 during the summer of 1904 are discussed by 

 Professor Hergesell in the Comptes rendus. 

 Vol. CXL., p. 331. Twenty-five ascents were 

 made, eight in the Mediterranean, one in 

 the Baltic and sixteen in the Atlantic. 

 In the region of the trades the adiabatic 

 gradient, of 1° in 100 meters, is always 

 found in the lowest strata, and is even ex- 

 ceeded, the thickness of this stratum being 

 between 100 and 600 meters. The relative 

 humidity rises from 70 per cent, or 80 per 

 cent, at sea level to 95 per cent, or 100 per 

 cent. Above this stratum the temperature 

 rises quickly several degrees, and the humidity 



* Nederl. Tijdschr., I., 1863, 77. 



