future of asking a participation in the inshore fisheries of the British provinces, and thus enable us to dispense with fishery treaties or fishery relations of any kind with the British or other governments." HORN'S SYNOPSIS OF THE BURYING BEETLES OF THE UNITED STATES. Although this essay is modestly called a "Synopsis, it is much more than that, as the characters of the family and its sub-divisions, of every species and genius, are given with sufficient fullness, and moreover the common species which were described years ago are re-described. This is an excellent feature, because in synopses of different groups of insects it is usually the case that the species already described are mentioned only by name, and to the beginner it is difficult to learn what are really the common species briefly and imperfectly described in the often inaccessible works of Linnæus, Fabricius, Olivier, Dejean and others. Another excellent feature of the essay is that the author has himself given excellent figures in outline of all known genera (with few exceptions), nearly all of which have been drawn by himself from nature. Dr Horn has made some changes in the limits of the group, and all the foreign genera have been included in the study and mentioned in the generic tables, though not described. The family is an interesting one, as it includes the true burying beetles, and also a good proportion of the cave beetle of Europe and America. It is interesting to trace, as Dr. Horn has done, the relationship of our Adclops of the Mammoth Cave to the out-of-door forms, and to see, a point not however noticed by the author, that Adelops simply differs from its out-of-door allies of the genus Ptomaphagus in the small eyes, and longer, slenderer antennæ, and other slight characters, so as to lead our author to say that Adelops "is closely allied to Ptomaphagus and I am in doubt whether it should be retained as distinct." We should reason from this that Adelops hirtus was originally derived from some out-of-door species of Ptomaphagus which had got into the cave and been modified by its cave-life into its present form. The main results of a cave life are the impairment or actual loss of the eyes, and to compensate for this the elongation of the antennæ, which probably renders the sense of touch, and possibly of smell, more acute. This also adds another to the cases which almost demonstrate that all the cave animals have originated from out-of-door forms. In conclusion we may express the hope that the recent labors of Drs. LeConte and Horn, may enable them ere many years to prepare a compact manual of our United States Coleoptera, a consummation most devoutly to be wished. With fair compendiums 1 Synopsis of the Silphide of the United States with reference to the genera of other countries. By GEO. H. HORN, M.D. From the transactions of the American Entomological Society. Philadelphia, 1880. 8°, pp. 219-320. 3 plates. of our native bees, wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, bugs and grasshoppers and Neuroptera, an immense impetus would be given to the study of entomology As it is, we fear that the twentieth century will be far advanced before these desirable works will be published. ROBINSON'S FLORA OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.-Essex county enjoys the distinction of being at an early date one of the botanical centers of the United States, as it was the home of Dr. Manasseh Cutler, Dr. George Osgood, Dr. Andrew Nichols, Dr. Charles Pickering and, more particularly, of William Oakes, to whose memory the genus Oakesia has recently been dedicated by Mr. Sereno Watson. The names also of Rev. John L. Russell and Mr. Geo. D. Phippen, Mr. S. B. Buttick, and of others, should be mentioned; while Mr. C. M. Tracy, in his Flora of Lynn, was the first to publish a list of Essex county plants. These and other facts are related by our author in the historical introduction to his Flora. It appears that originally almost the only extended collection of dried Essex county plants were those of the late Mr. Oakes, but the list before us is based upon the herbarium recently collected by Mr. Robinson, and nearly all of which is represented in that of the Peabody Academy of Science, at Salem. The notes under the specific names are quite full and interesting as regards the flowering plants; the enumeration of mosses and thallophytes, in which the author was assisted by other botanists, is less complete. We would like to have seen a more detailed bibliograpy, i. e., the titles given in full, with complete references to articles by the earlier botanists, of which the titles and dates are not always given; only the name, without the date, of the magazines or transactions containing them. But this is a minor blemish. The undertaking has been well carried out, the volume is a handsome one, and it will be a vade mecum to the herbalist of eastern New England. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE ON ANALYSES OF INKS.-A committee of the Franklin Institute was appointed by a vote of that body at its November meeting, for the purpose of examining into the truth of certain statements made and the value of certain tests proposed for the detection of iron in inks. The object of the appointment was stated to be that during the interval of time which should elapse between now and the legal remedy of the expert abuse in court, an extra judicial court might criticise all statements professing to be scientific and the fear of reversal before their peers might be an additional security for the value of expert statements. The committee resolves "that inasmuch as the methods for the "detection of iron in inks and for the identification of inks are "described in numerous and well-known works on chemistry; "and inasmuch as the chemical expert testimony in the Whittaker The Flora of Essex county, Massachusetts. JOHN ROBINSON, Salem. Institute, 1880. 8° pp. 200. Essex will case contains nothing new of scientific interest, your com"mittee beg to be relieved of further consideration of the subject. "Resolved, That we call the attention of the Franklin Institute to "the numerous objections to which expert investigations are open, when undertaken as at present by parties securing the serIvices and interested in the decision of the court, and we earn"estly recommend that the Franklin Institute takes such action. "that the change from the present plan may become a subject of "legal enactment." The signers of this remarkable production are Dr. W. H. Greene, Dr. Geo. A. Koenig, Dr. Wm. H. Wahl, Mr. Moody, Mr. Pemberton, Sr., and Dr. Isaac Norris. The humorous points of this report cannot be better appreciated than by comparing it with the statements of some of those experts whose testimony the committee was to examine. Compare the first "inasmuch" with this by the ex-President of the Franklin Institute, Prof. R. E. Rogers: "I don't recall in any of our chemical books a direction for examining writing for iron. I do not know a single authority" (Wed., April 14, 1880, 54th day, p. 6469). Dr. Genth says: "I do not believe anybody has ever made any experiment in that direction" (i. e., the conditions under which potassium ferrocyanide and sulphuric acid react on each other). The second "inasmuch" is equally opposed to the testimony. Committee's Report.-" And inasmuch as the chemical expert testimony in the Whittaker Will case contains nothing new of scientific interest-." Dr. Rogers." It has been entirely overlooked by the writers of the text books that these reagents" (i. e., potassium ferrocyanide and potassium sulphocyanide.) "are not sufficiently retined for the nice determination of the pres ence or absence of iron" (p. 6420). "There may be writing which contains iron that tested for iron by the method which has been adopted will fail to show the presence of iron" (6430). 66 -The "fire test devised by Dr. Rogers for determining iron in inks and pronounced the "most rigorous" (p. 6438--9). Mr. Johnson." Professor, is the fire test stated in the books?" No, sir." "Then it is a result from your own origi. nal experimenting?" "Yes, sir" (p. 6470). -Mr. Johnson." But they do see that there is a blue, the result of the mixture?" Dr. Rogers." Of what?" Mr. Johnson." Of the sulphuric acid and ferrocyanide of potassium." Dr. Rogers.--" No, they do not. I don't think such a thing has been observed generally." Mr. F.-"When you put them in one bottle, how can you avoid it?" Dr. Rogers." They are not put in one bottle." Mr. J.-"Suppose they are." Dr. R.-"I have never known them to be put in one bottle, except instances in which I have done it" (p. 6497). It will sufficiently appear from the above that either the distinguished representatives of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania and the Jefferson College are mistaken or else great chemical discoveries have been the result of the Whittaker will trial. The advice of the committee does not seem to be apropos to anything; as its reason for not undertaking the duty assigned to it, viz. that the duty would not be profitable, seems to be gratuitous. The whole report is a very good illustration of "how not to do it."-Persifor Fraser. OUTLINES OF LINGUISTIC SCIENCE.-In what has appeared of the second volume of his "outline of linguistic science," the celebrated Austrian linguist has given to the world a series of short, but lucid sketches of the languages of Eastern Siberia, not belonging to the Ural-Altaic family; of Ale-ut, Eskimo and also of the whole Malay-Polynesian family scattered over the whole Pacific ocean. The languages of Western and Southern Africa was disposed of in the first volume, and in one of the next numbers the author will reach the American languages. MOLINA'S DICTIONARY OF THE AZTEC LANGUAGE. This work is a most praiseworthy republication of the second edition of Molina (1571), the only copious dictionary which exists on the Aztec language. To students, who were almost discouraged by the high price of the original, this republication is now offered at a moderate figure (50 marks in Leipzig, unbound) and will enable them to study the sonorous Aztec tongue from the best authority in existence. The volume contains over 50,000 terms. RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.-Sur l'uniformité de la Nomenclature Géologique dans tous les pays, en ce qui regarde les Terrains et les Etages. (Ext. du Compte Rendu Stenographique du Congrès International de Géologique, 1878.) Par M. Stéphanesco. 8vo, pp. 4, 1880. From the author. Some Copper Deposits of Carroll county, Maryland. By Persifor Frazer. pp. 8. Maps 1, 1880. From the author. Extraits de Géologique pour les années 1877 et 1878. 1880.) Par MM. Delesse et de Lapparent. Svo, pp. 242. authors. Svo. (Ext. des Ann, des Mines, Paris, 1880. From the The Food of Fishes. (From Bull. No. 3, Ill. State Lab. Nat. Hist., November, 1880.) By S. A. Forbes. 8vo, pp. 61. From the author. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior on the operations of the department for the year ending June 30, 1880. 8vo, pp. 81. From the department. Drug Adulterations. By S. V. 1880.) pp. 7. From the author. Clevenger. (From the Druggist for December, Cerebral Anatomy Simplified by Comparative Anatomy Studies by S. V. Clevenger, (From the Chicago Med. Journ. and Examiner for November, 1880.) 8vo, pp. 9. From the author. Erster Nachtrag zum Katalog der herpetologischen Sammlung des Basler Museum. Von F. Müller. 8vo, pp. 49, pl. 1. 1880. From the author. 1 Dr. Friedr. Müller, Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft. Wien. 1880. 8°. A. Flölder, publisher. Vol. II, No. 1a. 2a. 2 Vocabulario de la lengua Mexicana, compuesto por el P. Fr. Alonso de Molina; publicado de nuevo por Julio Platzmann. Edicion facso'milaria. Leipzig, B. G. Teubner. 1880. 4°. Parte 1. Castell, Mexic. 121 double pages. Parte II. Mexic.Castell. 162 double pages, of two columns each. Expedition Geológica por la Provincia de Toledo en 1877, por D. de Cortázar. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Report for 1878. 8vo, pp. 988, plates 36. Washington, 1880. From the commissioner. Observations Générales sur la Famille des Scincoidiens por M. Bocourt. (Ext. de la Zool. de Mex., 3e partie.) Folio. pp. 7, pls. 2. From the author. A structural Feature, hitherto unknown among Echinodermata, found in Deep Sea Ophiuraus. By Theodore Lyman. (From Anniv. Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.) 4to, pp. 12, pls. 2. Boston, 1880. From the author. Beiträge zur Paläontologie von Österreich-Ungarn und den Angrenzenden Gebieten. Herausgegeben von E. v. Mojsisovics und M. Neumayr. 4to, pp. 71, pls. 8. From the editors. Illustrations of Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States, with text. By Thomas G. Gentry. 4to, pls. 3 and 4. Philadelphia, 1880-'81. From the author. :0: GENERAL NOTES. BOTANY.1 THE FUNGI WHICH PRODUCE MILDEW ON COTTON GOODS.—In a recent English work upon "Sizing and Mildew in Cotton Goods," by G. E. Davis, Charles Dreyfus and Philip Holland, the following fungi are enumerated as found growing on cotton goods and in analogous situations, viz: Stachybotrys lobulata, Stachybotrys atra, Penicillium sitophilum, Myxotrichum deflexum, Polyactis fascicularis, Sporocybe alternata, Rhopalomyces pallidus, Papulaspora sepedonioides, Acremonium alternatum, Ascophora mucedo, Penicillium chartarum, Penicillium crustaceum, Aspergillus glaucus, Aspergillus roseus, Periconia glaucocephala, Cladosporium herbarum, Chaetomium chartarum, Ascotricha chartarum, Orbicula cyclospora, Allographum maculare, Diplodia cordelli, Sphæropsis sp., Ascobolus saccharinus, Typhula gyrans, Arcyria ochroleuca, Perisporium vulgare. Of these the authors say, "the above have all been found on decaying vegetable fibers, the most common being Cladosporium herbarum, Penicillium crustaceum, and Sporocybe, with two species of Aspergillus. The fungus giving a reddish hue to stale rice paste is known as Papulaspora sepedonioides, whilst Diplodia cowdelli is the cause of black spots on damp cot ton. We have noticed others in our experiments, notably Macrosporium cheiranthi, Rhinotrichum lanosum, Myxotrichum chartarum, Mucor phycomyces and Mucor mucedo, but we hesitate in placing these species as being nominally found in cotton goods." Further on the authors say, "The colored stain which first attracts the eye when examining a specimen of mildewed cloth, is due possibly to the mycelium, or it may arise from the fructification of a fungus; or, again, organic colors produced by the decomposition of a nitrogenous substance, or carbo-hydrate in the matrix may be the cause of it. When nitrogenous substances Edited by PROF. C. E. BESSEY, Ames, Iowa. |