274 [ FEBRUARY, 
pubescence. Racemes small, simple; berries large, :2 of an inch in diameter, 
round, black, reddish or white. 
This vine most frequently produces fruit of a delicious flavor and very sweet. 
In North Carolina much wine is made from the grapes, but generally it is spoilt by 
mixing it with peach brandy or whiskey to increase its strength. Among the 
ignorant it is commonly thought that no fermented juice of fruit can be kept for 
any length of time, unless it is adulterated with alcoholic spirit. 
In the pine forests of Georgia the V. rotundifolia is found prostrate, with stems 
scarcely three feet long. 
12. V. patmaTa. Foliis ovato-cordatis utrinque glabris, profunde quinque 
lobatis palmatis, laciniis sublanceolatis, inequaliter lateque crenatis vel incisis. 
Racemis subdensis subsimplicibus baccis magnis albis gena cuprea. 
Hab. In North Carolina and on the banks of the Ohio. V. palmata Vahl. 
V. virginiana Poiret. 
This grape, which is the true Bland’s grape of former years, was once (30 
years ago,) extensively cultivated in the gardens of this city, but has since been 
utterly lost. I cannot now find a single plant of it. It was perfectly hardy, 
bore profusely and ripened before the frosts. 
The above description is made from memory assisted by Vahl’s and Poiret’s 
descriptions. I have seen it growing wild in the mountains of North Carolina 
and have been informed that it was once common on the banks of the Ohio 
river. There is certainly no grape found in America that can be compared 
with it; in every respect it is equal to any variety of the V. vinifera, being 
very sweet and perfectly free from pulp, and without that peculiar flavor which 
‘is more or less common to all other American species. 
The V. cordifolia Mx. I have never met with, at least a species correspond- 
ing with his description has never fallen in my way either in the North or South. 
It is said to extend from Pennsylvania to Florida. There is another small and 
sweet grape called the Orwigsburg which I have omitted, although said to be 
native; I could never satisfy myself that it was so. It has much the appearance 
of foreign varieties. 
Of the foregoing species, those most worthy of cultivation are of No. 1, the 
white variety, and the Isabella or Catawba, which would probably flourish in the 
coldest parts of Europe; No. 6and No. 11 and No. 12, all of which are sweet and 
agreeable and furnish good wine. 
The Committee on Dr. Le Conte’s “Synopsis of the N. Ameri- 
can Siphales,” and “Synopsis of the Scaphidilia of the United States,’ 
reported in favor of publication in the Proceedings. 
Synopsis of the StnpHALES of America, North of Mexico. 
By Joun L. Le Conte, M. D. 
In the following synopsis, I have included also the Coleoptera which form 
Erichson’s family Anisotomini, as the characters of that group appear to be by 
no means sufficient to entitle it to rank as a distinct family. Schiddte has al- 
ready* made similar remarks, detailing at the same time, strong reasons in sup- 
port of his opinion. 
The genus Silpha presents among its species peculiarities which would furnish 
abundant material for reflection to the philosophic naturalist; the species found 
in this country, differ among themselves, by such variations of structure that 
each becomes the type of a separate group. Several authors have already 
designated many of these groups by generic names, yet the differences between 
them appear in value so much less than those which distinguish the genera, 
* Specimen Faune Subterranee: translated in the Transactions of the Ento- 
mological Society of London, New Series, vol. 1, p. 134, et seq. 
