256 



and showed how authorities differ in regard to it. The following 

 definition was suggested : *' Trees are woody plants, the seeds of 

 which have the inherent capacity of forming a definite trunk 

 supporting a crown of branches." 



After some discussion of the paper, the meeting adjourned. 



Friday, August 17TH. 



After some prehminary business, the following resolutions, 

 in memory of Professor Gray, prepared by the committee ap- 

 pointed for that purpose, were unanimously adopted : 



''Resolved, That the Botanical eiub of the American Association sincerely 

 regrets that, meeting hut once a year, it should be among the last to place on record 

 the sense of the greai loss which the whole range of science suffers by the death 

 of Professor Gray. 



''Resolved, That, though among the last to contribute to the wreath of sorrow 

 with which science is everywhere crowning the memory of Dr. Gray, this body 

 takes a mournful pride in remembering that he was one of its honor^ members, 

 and that it was as a botanist he won such eminent renown, Wc feel that we have 

 a right to be among the chief mourners at his departure from the field of labor he 

 loved so wx'll, and in a special degree to unite our sympathies with the many 

 thousands who miss him everywhere. 



''''Resolved^ That copies of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of our 

 deceased friend and to the botanical and other scientific periodicals for publication. 



Papers were read by Prof. C. R. Barnes on '*The Cause of 

 the Acridity in the Corm of Ariscema,'' and by Mr. A. A, 

 Crozier on '' Secondary Effects of Pollination." Professor Barnes 

 stated that it was probable that the intensely burning taste of 

 the juice of AriscBma was due, as suggested by Stahl for the 

 European Arum mamlatum, to mechanical causes ; i. e. the irri- 

 tation produced by the numerous rhaphides with which the juice 

 is filled. Professor Barnes found that when these were removed 

 by filtering the acrid taste was completely lost, 



Mr. Crozier's paper was read by Prof. Cowell, the author 

 being absent. From the author's experiments, mostly in different 

 varieties of apples, he concluded that the influence of foreign 

 pollen did not extend beyond the seeds. 



Mrs. H. L. Wolcott exhibited the leaves of a form of choke- 

 cherry which she described as having amber-colored berries and 

 much shorter racemes than the ordinary form. 



Prof W. R. Lazenby brought up the question as to the dis- 



* 



See this Bulletin, p. 267, 



m 



