species (E. linarius,= fuscescens, rostratus and Holböllii; and Æ. exilipes, E. canescens, of which this is the smaller southern race) it differs in lacking the red pileum, and in the total absence of the dusky gular spot; besides in many other minor respects. The adult male of true Æ. flavirostris has the rump rosy, but has no crimson on the crown; and has the primaries and rectrices conspicuously edged with white. In view of the total differences from Æ. linarius and exilipes — in all the numerous stages of plumage — and taking into account its close resemblance to the female of Æ. flavirostris, it seems reasonable to place this specimen near that species; while at the same time, the features in which it does not correspond with the latter are sufficiently important to warrant our characterizing it as a different race which, perhaps, represents the true flavirostris on our Continent; we accordingly name it Ægiothus (flavirostris var.) Brewsterii; under which name it is noticed in Professor Baird's new work on North American Birds, now in press.- ROBERT RIDGWAY.

A SPIKE-HORN MULEDEER.-Prof. Cope, at a meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences, May 21, called attention to the anterior curvature of the axis of the horn in the common deer, Cariacus Virginianus, and said it was a point of interest to determine whether the true axis or beam, was curved forwards or not. On comparison with the Cariacus macrotis of the Plains, it was found that the true beam was partly erect and was branched (as already shown by Baird), while an anterior snag was directed forwards, marking exactly the curved line of the axis of the C. Virginianus. The curvature of the latter was then shown to be due to the predominant development of this large anterior snag, and the partial suppression of the true beam. He then exhibited a spike, or second year's horn of the C. Virginianus, and alluded to the occasional occurrence of permanent spike-horned deer in the Adirondack region of New York. He said Alexander B. Lamberton, a gentleman who had spent much time in that region, confirmed the statements that had been made as to their existence, but said that they were rare. He then exhibited a pair of simple beams, or spikes, of two feet and a half in length, which had been taken from a black-tailed deer (C. macrotis), shot within three miles of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, in Kansas. They had evidently belonged to an adult animal, and were the first examples

of spike-horned deer of that species which had been recorded. It was obtained by Dr. J. H. Janeway.

ECONOMICAL ENTOMOLOGY.-The plant lice affecting the vines to such a fearful extent in France, and which in this country have already done considerable damage, is still attracting much attention. The French Academy, as we learn from the "Revue Scientifique," has offered a prize of twenty thousand francs to encourage studies to ascertain a remedy which shall protect the vine without destroying it. The best remedy against the Phylloxera, as it is called, is the use of phenic acid, a substance much like carbolic acid. The French Government has always been alert and liberal in this matter of practical entomology, a subject more important to agriculture than dreamed of in this country, where it is estimated that we lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the attacks of injurious insects, etc. Two states in the Union-Illinois and Missouri have salaried officers, who, with a good knowledge of entomology, do much by spreading facts about noxious and beneficial insects among the people. But the leading agriculturists of other states practically, with one or two exceptions, ignore the matter. During the past summer the losses of wheat, corn, and other crops in the Western States have been enormous. The farmers in one county in Massachusetts have lost at least fifteen thousand dollars' worth of onions, their most valuable crop, next to hay, from the attacks of a minute insect, called Thrips. This annual loss, much of which could be now prevented, will accumulate in intensity, and be most grievous a century hence, when our country will become more densely populated and every grain of food will be needed.

The foresight of the French people, despite the present gloomy views of the "Revue Scientifique" and "France Scientifique" over the decadence of science among them, is conspicuous in their prompt and scientific treatment of the silk worm disease. Pasteur and Quatrefages, and others whose names are illustrious as investigators, have been commissioned to study the causes of this disease; and it is now thought, following out the suggestion of Pasteur the result of profound studies on this subject that if healthy eggs be selected and those infested with the parasitic fungus be destroyed, silk culture will be again restored in France and Southern Europe. A single silk-raiser, whose worms this year

will produce thirty-two thousand ounces of eggs, hopes next year to have a hundred thousand ounces, and the prospect of a profit of a million dollars! It should be remembered that this remarkable result is due primarily to the most minute researches upon microscopic plants by specialists, for the pure love of science. Their cloister studies, put to practical account, save the destruction of one of the largest agricultural interests in Southern Europe. In like manner had the government or individual states of America encouraged the entomologist and botanist in their studies, and caused them to be turned to practical account, we should not have had to give up the cultivation of wheat in the northernmost states, and our cotton crop could have been perhaps doubled, to say nothing of fruits and vegetables. Increased attention is paid now in England to economical zoology and botany. A botanist has recently been appointed to the Royal Agricultural Society, and an entomologist will soon be elected.

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF SETOPHAGA PICTA IN ARIZONA.- Lieut. Charles Bendire, U. S. A., stationed near Tucson, has communicated to Professor Baird the capture of the above-named species near that post. It was shot April 4th, 1872, and was found "running around the larger limbs of cottonwoods in search of larvæ and insects." Its manners are stated to be "considerably like the Certhiadæ.”— Robert Ridgway.

ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE.- "In the President's Address to the Entomological Society of London recently given by Mr. Wallace, one of the points most fully discussed is the rules of zoological nomenclature. These rules are undoubtedly of very considerable, though indirect, importance to science and it is not very satisfactory to find that great divergence of opinion as to what these rules are, or should be, still prevails amongst recent describers and cataloguers.

Some years ago I was entrusted by the Entomological Society with the task of preparing a synonymical catalogue of the Coleoptera of our islands, to be published under the auspices of the Society; my attention, therefore, has necessarily been directed to the questions under discussion in this matter, and I will here state the conclusions to which I have come.

1st. That a committee to frame and publish laws on zoological nomenclature is not to be desired. Such committee would have

no power whatever to enforce the laws it might make, and could not be expected to put an end to discussion on these points. The knot must be untied, not cut.

2nd. That the binomial system of nomenclature should not be arbitrarily considered to have commenced at any given date; but that recognisable names in all works in which this system is methodically employed should be used according to the rule of priority.

3rd. That it is not necessary to suppress a generic name in zoology because it has been previously used in botany (or vice versá); but that it is much to be regretted that any generic name should thus be in double use, and it should always be made a matter of reproach to an author that he has committed an act of this nature. 4th. That names must be Latin to the extent that renders them capable of being written or used in scientific Latin; but that classical emendations beyond this are entirely inadmissible; no line except this can be drawn between emendation, alteration, and total suppression. The laws of classical languages have per se, no more right over scientific nomenclature than has the Hindoo language. As regards the much talked-of Amphionycha knownothing,' it should be latinised in the simplest manner, as Amphionycha knownothinga; and I would further suggest that its barbarian author be well hissed whenever he ventures to show his face in a scientific assembly.

5th. That as regards placing an author's name after a species, the name so placed should always be that of the first describer of the species, not because he has any right in the matter, but as an additional means of certainty, and as a security against change.

6th. That the specific name is the name of an object, and therefore a noun, and should be changed in gender, or any other manner, when removed from one genus to another.

7th. That it is very undesirable to use the same specific name in two closely-allied genera; but that where this has been done already no alteration should be made till the names actually come into collision on account of the two genera being united as one genus. Surely to act otherwise is like cutting one's throat for fear somebody else should do it.

8th. That as regards placing an author's name after a genus, the name so placed should be that of the author who established the genus in the sense in which it is actually used. Carabus of

Linnæus included all the insects now comprised in the family Carabidae, at present divided into several hundreds of genera. To write, therefore, Carabus Linn., when we mean something entirely different, may be usual but is not desirable.

I may add, that I consider it useless to expect a perfectly stable zoological nomenclature, until zoology itself is complete and perfect; but that in order to reduce changes to a minimum, classical and other secondary claims must not be allowed any great importance." D. SHARP, in Nature.

GEOLOGY.

A NEW GENUS OF UNGULATES. At a meeting of the American Philosophical Society, April 2nd, Prof. Cope stated that the largest mammal of the Eocene formations adjoining those of Wyoming, i. e., of the Wahsatch group of Hayden, was the Bathmodon radians Cope, of about the size of Rhinocerus. It was an odd toed ungulate, with peculiar dental characters. The incisors were well developed above and below, as in the tapir, but the dental series was little interrupted. The crowns of the molars were all wider than long, and presented mixed characters. On the outer margin one only of the two usual crescents of Ruminants was present, but a tubercle represented the anterior one. The one which was present was very obliquely directed inwards. Inner crescents were represented by two angles, the posterior forming the inner angular margin of a flat table, the anterior a mere cingulum at its anterior base. The arrangement of these parts was stated to be of interest in connection with the relationships between the types of hoofed animals. The single outer crescent was a ruminant indication, while the inner table resembled the interior part of the crown of Titanotherium. It differed, however, in its early union with the outer margin, its edge being thus possibly homologous with the posterior transverse crest in Rhinocerus. The premolars had two or three lobes with crescentic section arranged transversely. He regarded the genus as allied to Chalicotherium. He stated that the mammalian fauna of Wyoming and Utah more nearly resembled that of the Paris Basin than any yet discovered in our country, and that it contained a still greater number of generalized mammalian forms. One of the most marked of these was the genus Anchippodus of Dr. Leidy.