THE RECORD OF AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGY FOR 1869 will be published late in May. It will contain chapters by Messrs. Scudder and Uhler, Drs. Horn and Packard, and Baron Osten Sacken. Price, $1.00, which does not cover the cost of printing. We trust lovers of entomology will evince their zeal for the science by promptly subscribing to this useful publication. We hope that it will meet with better support than last year, as the publishers are sadly out of pocket in consequence of the small sale of the work for 1868.

THE WEEDS OF MAINE.*. This pamphlet, issued from the State Printing Office, consists of a few forms taken from the recent report of the Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture. The young man whose name appears as the author, has certainly shown a remarkable taste for botanical study. Wholly unassisted, even by friendly advice, he commenced the study of botany under great disadvantages and he has zealously prosecuted his herborizing during the too scanty leisure afforded by a Maine farm. The extraordinary power of diagnosis, which the author possesses, leads us to hope that he will devote the next few years to rigid disciplinary study, and then resume botanical work for which he seems to be so well fitted. The pamphlet itself is not to be criticised as a botanical work, and therefore we shall take the present opportunity to make it the text for a few very brief remarks. It is so easy to learn the names of plants and associate the two together, and so very difficult to learn the plant itself, that too many of our young botanical students are devoting their time simply to collecting, preserving, and naming specimens. In view of the many great questions in plant-physiology which are now being asked, it seems to be a sort of botanical dissipation to give up to the name what is due to the plant. These questions arise every week. The January 3d number of "Comptes rendus," contains a very interesting note by M. Prillieux upon the movements of chlorophyl grains under the influence of light. It is obvious that such a subject of study as this, one dealing with forces and with life itself, is more difficult than that of guessing at the names of all the Solidagos and half the Carices, but it is plain, too, that the thinkers of our time are asking that the former kind of work shall be done and faithfully done. Our plants are well named, and therefore we are justified in suggesting that our young botanical friends devote less time to mere "botanizing," as it is absurdly called, and give more time and better work to the study of the plant.

THE GEOLOGY OF THE NEW HAVEN REGION.†- Professor Dana describes the geology of New Haven and vicinity, with especial reference to the origin of its topographical features; showing by special facts, that the region, in the glacial era, like that of New England to the North, was moulded by ice, and that icebergs had no part in the matter, and the supposed iceberg sea over New England no existence.

By F. L. Scribner.

From the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy. 1870. 8vo, pp. 112.

NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY.

BOTANY.

COLLECTED NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN OAKS. — The first American oak noticed in botanical works is the white oak, mentioned by Parkinson in “Theatrum Botanicum," 1640, as Quercus alba Virginiana. Banister, 1686, in "Catalogus Plantarum in Virginia Observatarum" (in Rayi Historia) mentions Quercus alba virens (as Virginiana sempervirens), Phellos (as Ilex Marilandica) with a drawing by Ray, and ilicifolia Wy. (as Q. pumila).

Pluckenet in "Amagestum Botanicum," 1696, enumerates Quercus esculi divisura, which is Q. rubra L., Q. Americana rubris venis (Q. coccinea Wg.), var. 7 (DC.), Q. Virginiana salicis longiore folio (Q. Phellos L.), Q. Virginiana sempervirens (Q. virens Ait.), Q. castaneæ folio ( Q. prinus palustris Michx.), Q. pumila castaneæ folio Virginiensis (Q. prinus pumila Michx.), Q. rubra, Phellos and Prinus palustris, are illustrated.

Catesby in his "Natural History of Carolina," 1731, names Q. alba, Prinus palustris and virens. Q. nigra L., he calls Q. Marilandica; Q. aquatica Walt., he knows under the name Quercus folio non serrato; his Q. esculi divisura is Q. Catesbæi Michx., and his Q. humilis salicis folio breviore is Q. cinerea Michx.; all except the latter are illustrated.

Charlevoix in "Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France," Paris, 1744, knows Q. prinus palustris Michx., Q. alba L., Q. virens Ait., and Q. nigra L.; he gives drawings of the three latter.

In Gronovius' "Flora Virginica," 1743, containing the plants which John Clayton observed in Virginia, we find Q. Phellos, nigra, aquatica, Prinus palustris, ilicifolia, which he calls Q. pumila bipedalis, Q. stellata Wg. (to him Q. alba) and falcata Michx., which he calls rubra seu hispanica.

Kalm in his travels, or rather in his " Preliminary Report on his Botanical Collections," 1751, mentions only four oaks. Q. rubra and alba, the Spanish oak (Q. falcata Michx.) and another one with three lobes at the apex of the leaves, which is perhaps the var. triloba of the latter (Q. triloba Michx.). These are the American oaks known at the time when Linnæus' "Species Plantarum," 1753, was published. Linné established five species, Q. Phellos, comprising Q. virens and cinerea as varieties and 7. Q. nigra x and f (x being aquatica Walt.), Q. rubra, comprising rubra, coccinea and Catesbæi, Q. prinus (Q. prinus palustris Michx.) and Q. alba. Du Roi published (in "Harbke'she wilde Baumzucht," Braunschweig, 1771) a new species, Q. palustris.

Marshall published his "Arbustum Americanum," in 1785, in which he described the following oaks: Q. alba, Q. alba minor=stellata Wg., Q. alba palustris, which is apparently Q. Prinus tomentosa Michx., not Q.

alba. as Michaux says; Q. nigra=coccinea (Q. tinctoria Bartr.), Q. nigra digitata, Q. nigra trifida, Q. nigra integrifolia, the two latter certainly falling under Q. nigra L. var. ß, Q. nigra pumila=Q. ilicifolia Wg., Q. rubra; Q. rubra ramosissima=Q. palustris Du Roi; Q. rubra montana=Q. falcata Michx.; Q. rubra nana= Q. Catesbæi Michx.; Q. Phellos angustifolia and latifolia Q. Phellos L. (silvatica Michx.); Q. Phellos sempervirens=Q. virens Ait.; Q. Prinus=Q. Prinus monticola Michx.; Q. Prinus humilis= Q Prinus pumila Michx.

Wangenheim in his work on the "Americanische Holzarten," 1787, proposed some new species, of which three are acknowledged to-day: Q. stellata (the Q. alba minor of Marshall), Q. ilicifolia (the Q. pumila of Banister), and Q. coccinea (Q. rubra L., var. a). His Q. cuneata is Q. falcata Michx., var. 7 triloba, and his Q. uliginosa is the Q. aquatica Catesby.

Walter in "Flora Caroliniana," published in the year 1788, enumerated thirteen oaks: 1, Q. sempervirens (virens Ait.); 2, Q. Phellos; 3, Q. humilis (cinerea Michx., var. 7. humilis); 4, Q. pumila (cinerea Michx., var. pumila); 5, Q. Prinus; 6, Q. niyra; 7, Q. aquatica (nigra L., u); 8, Q. rubra (glandibus parvis globosis, perhaps Q. ilicifolia Wang.?); 9, Q. lævis (Catesbæi, Michx.?); 10, Q. alba; 11, Q. lyrata, which he first describes; 12, Q. sinuata, from the description of which it is not plain what it means; 13, Q. villosa already described by Wangenheim as Q. stellata. Michaux gives Catesby, who indeed described, but did not name it, the authorship of Quercus aquatica. De Candolle makes Walter the author of it; the latter published his Flora one year after the publication of Wangenheim's work, in which the species is described and called uliginosa. The descriptions of both the authors are as poor as possible; both the names derived from the hygrophile nature of the tree are good enough, only that the right of priority, acknowledged as a general rule by the international Botanical Congress at Paris, is in favor of Wangenheim's name. But the name aquatica is indeed older, and was first used by Clayton in Gronovius, so his name should be added. By the way, Walter is noteworthy for his modesty, which should be imitated by many an eager speciesmaker. His work is full of Anonymos," and in the preface he says: "Libertatem appellative assignandi paucis tantum concedendam sentit, quamobrem iis, qui in hac scientia merito duces sunt, jus reliquit dicendi quænam sint nomina plantis nunc primum descriptis." If so many botanists, who, overrating the doubtful merit of having created a new species, fill our botanical books with names, would follow modest old Walter, a good deal of wasted paper could be saved, and a good deal of unnecessary work. Indeed, it is much easier to make new species, than to clean those Augean stables of synonyms.

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Aiton in "Kew Garden," 1789, calls the long-known Q. sempervirens of Catesby Q. virens; the latter name is adopted.

William Bartram, in his "Travels through North and South Carolina," Phil. 1791, proposes the new species Q. tinctoria, which De Candolle in

his Prodromus reunites with Q. coccinea Wg., as var. 7 tinctoria. Bartram's Q. hemispherica and dentata are both varieties of Q. aquatica.

Luis Née joined the expedition of Malaspina from 1789 to 1794; he visited South America, Mexico and the Pacific Islands, and brought in his rich botanical collections to Europe, the first specimens of oak from those countries, which have been published in "Annales de Ciencias Naturales" by Cavanilles, 1798. Amongst these oaks are two California species, Q. lobata and agrifolia; the latter was already known to Plucknet as Ilex foliis agrifolii Americana (in "Phytographia,” London, 1691-93, with a drawing, but without flower or fruit); the others are Mexican, Q. circinata, magnoliafolia, salicifolia, microphylla, splendens, acutifolia, elliptica, castanea, and candicans, all considered yet to be "good species." His Q. lutea and macrophylla come under magnoliafolia; his diversifolia is a variety of Q. peduncularis Née, changed by Willdenow into Q. tomentosa, because the character Née took the name from is variable, and Nee's specimen is defective; Q. rugosa Humboldt and Bonpland changed into Q. crassifolia, Née's unique specimen being very defective and doubtful.

André Michaux explored from 1785 to 1796 the forests of Eastern North America. He published in 1801 his "Histoire des Chênes l'Amérique Septentrionale," in which for the first time is pointed out a character, very important to the methodical arrangement of the oaks, the time of maturation. His arrangement is the following:

I. The leaves of the old tree not bristle-pointed: fruit peduncled, annual. 1. Leaves lobed. Q. obtusiloba (stellata Wg.), macrocarpa (n. sp.) lyrata Walt., alba L.

2. Leaves toothed. Q. Prinus, with 5 varieties: palustris, monticola, acuminata, pumila and tomentosa.

3. Leaves entire. Q. virens, but the fruits are according to him biennial.

II. Leaves of the old tree bristle-pointed: fruit sessile, biennial.

1. Leaves entire. Q. Phellos, with three varieties, silvatica, maritima, and pumila. Q. cinerea, Q. imbricaria (n. sp.), Q. laurifolia, with the variety obtusifolia.

2. Leaves with short lobes. Q. aquatica, Q. nigra, Q. tinctoria, with two varieties (angulosa and sinuosa), Q. triloba.

3. Leaves deeply lobed. Q. Banisteri (ilicifolia Wg.), Q. falcata (hispanica Clayton, discolor Ait., elongata Willd.), Q. Catesbæi, Q. coccinea Wg., Q. palustris Du Roi and Q. rubra L.

The same species are enumerated in his "Flora Americana," published by L. C. Richard, but without this arrangement. The ripening of fruit is not there mentioned at all.

Willdenow in "Species Plantarum,” 1797-1810, enriched (?), the genus Quercus by new species, making out of the five varieties of Prinus, five species: Prinus, montana, bicolor (tomentosa), castanea (acuminata) and Prinoides (pumila); the varieties of Phellos, maritima and pumila he 24

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. IV.

changed into two species of the same name; tinctoria var., sinuosa into discolor, and his Q. myrtifolia is probably a variety of Q. aquatica.

Persoon in "Synopsis Plantarum," 1805 enumerates eighty-five oaks, of which forty-six are American; thirty from the eastern part of North America, two Californian and fourteen Mexican; all mentioned above.

F. A. Michaux, the son, published his "Arbres foréstières," 1810-13. He calls Q. Prinus tomentosa of his father Q. Prinus discolor, and proposed five new species: Q. heterophylla, which proves to be an hybrid; ambigua and borealis, which fall under Q. coccinea; ferruginea, which is Q. nigra L. B.; and olivæformis, which is macrocarpa.

Humboldt and Bonpland collected (1799-1804) twenty-three new species, of which thirteen are now considered as good ones: Q. confertifolia, crassifolia, crassipes, depressa, Humboldtii, lanceolata, laurina, obtusata, pulchella, repanda, reticulata, Tolimensis, Xalepensis; four are dubious: Q. Amalguerensis, chrysophylla, glaucescens and sideroxyla; three had been described already by Née: Q. stipularis= splendens Née; tridens: = castanea Née var. 7, and Mexicana · Castanea Née var. E; three are the same as other species of the same authors: Q. spicata is reticulata H. B.; pandurata and ambigua are obtusata H. B., var. and 7. They are all Mexican, except three from New Granada: Humboldtii, Tolimensis and Almaguerensis. They are described in "Plantæ Equinoctiales," 1805-1818.

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In Pursh's "Flora," 1814, are mentioned thirty-four species; except agrifolia, all are eastern and comprising all the species of Michaux, with the additions of the younger Michaux and Willdenow. In his arrangement the ripening o the fruit takes the first place as a diagnostic character, the second the presence or absence o the bristles of the leaves; the third the form of the leaves.

Nuttall in "Genera of North American Plants," 1818, follows the same. disposition, but the number of his species is thirty-two. He calls Q. Prinus discolor Mich. fil. Q. Michauxii, but at the same time he keeps Q. bicolor Willd. as a species with the variety mollis (probably Q. velutina Lam., which he believes is Q. filiformis Muhl.). Afterwards he proposes three more species: Q. Gambelli, Leana (a hybrid) and dumosa (in “Silva Americana,”) a doubtful species. Of Mexican species he knew ouly fif

teen.

Elliott in a "Sketch of the Flora of Georgia," 1824, enumerating twenty-six oaks, adds to those already known, a variety of falcata Michx. (var. pagodafolia).

Chamisso and Schlechtendal, 1830, in "Linnæa," v., described some new Mexican oaks from specimens collected by Schiede and Deppe: Q. calophylla, polymorpha, laurifolia, germana and oleoides, the latter being Q. virens Ait. These make the western species amount to thirty-six.

Hooker and Arnott published in 1841, the "Botany of Capt. Beechey's Voyage," comprising the plants which Lay and Collie, 1825-28, collected. We find amongst them three oaks, two Californian: Douglasii and densiflora, and one Mexican: aristata. In "Hooker's Flora boreali Americana,”