176 



insect agency. Prof. Schrenk remarked on the habit of flies visit- 

 ing the flowers S. herbacea after the plant has been taken indoors. 

 - Dr. Britton spoke of the introduction of Neliimbo speciosa, 

 Willd., into ponds and streams in Mercer and Burhngton coun- 

 ties, N. J., first planted by Mr. E. D. Sturtevant in a pond two 

 miles east of Bordentown, and read extracts from a letter from 

 Dr. C. C. Abbott as follows : The plant was introduced by Mr. 

 Sturtevant some seven years ago and is now thoroughly estab- 

 lished. It has been taken to various parts of Mercer and Bur- 

 lington counties, and wherever the water has been deep enough 

 to prevent the ice reaching its roots the plant has flourished. 

 When once established it crowds out other water lilies and even 

 Calamus. Cows are fond of the leaves and devour them greedily 

 when five or six inches above water. He also distributed speci- 

 mens of Viola tejtella, Muhl, collected by Miss A. B. Rich^at 

 Bridgeton, N. J., stating that in his opinion this violet is native 

 to America and distinct from V, tricolor. 



Dr. Eccles spoke of the practice of using the comma after the 

 name of a plant or animal, and thus before the author of the 

 name, remarking that while this was the practice in the BULLE- 

 TIN and had been adopted by the compilers of the new catalogue, 

 that certain other journals and recent authors were omitting it 

 The President remarked that the best English authors use it. 



Dr. Rusby then read the announced paper of the evening, ''On 

 Andean Fern Habitats," profusely illustrated with specimens. 



Proceedings of the Section of Histology and Crvp- 



TOGAMIC Botany, May 22d.— Prof. Schrenk showed sections 

 from the bulb of Phajiis gr an difo litis, illustrating the origin of 

 starch-grains from rod-Hke masses of protoplasm in the leucoplas- 

 tids and stated that as the coatings nearer the outside were ex- 

 amined, gradually chlorophyll grains were found instead of starch. 

 He also exhibited two excellent mounts oi Fimaria hygrometricay 

 (pi. m and pi. f ) the cell contents fixed by chromic acid, one per 

 cent, solution. 



Mrs. Britton exhibited twelve slides and some excellent draw- 

 ings by S. E. Jelliffe of Ulota phyllantha, Brid, the flowers and 

 fruit of which she had discovered in Howell's last distribution on 

 specimens from Yaquina Bay, Oregon. The specimens are 

 complete, showing beautifully the '' brown articulate cyHndrical 

 bodies " at the tips of the leaves. The specimens are mostly old, 

 so that only a few showed well the characters necessary for a de- 

 scription and drawings of the fruit, heretofore unknown, which 

 will appear in a subsequent number of the BULLETIN. 



