1850.] 81 



September 3d, 1850. 

 Dr. Morton, President, in the Chair, 



A letter was read from the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, 

 dated Washington, August 10th, 1850, acknowledging the reception 

 of Vol. 1st., new series, of the Journal, by that Institiition. 



A letter was read from Dr. D. D. Owen, addressed to President Morton, 

 dated July 18, 1850, stating the fact as worth}- of record, that the 

 cane (Miegia arundinacea) had this year borne flowers and pro- 

 duced seed in Indiana, a rare occurrence with this plant. Mr. Nuttali, 

 in his " Genera of N. A. Plants," in reference to " M. gigantea?," per- 

 haps a variety of " macrosperma," says, " this species is supposed to 

 flower but once in 20 or 25 years." 



Mr. Clay observed that this occurrence was not confined to Indiana 

 this year, but was very extensive in the Western States. Similar facts 

 in relation to the flowering of other plants, as the Bamboo, were also 

 adverted to. 



Mr. Robert Kilvington exhibited a collection of Australian plants, 

 twenty-three in number, which he had raised from seed presented to 

 the Academy by Dr. Charles Nicholson, of Sydney. They were all in 

 a fine healthy condition, and consisted of Acacia rutifolia, A. meloxylon, 



A. , Aotus villosa, Bossiosa scolopendrium, B. prostrata, B. 



rotundifolia, Calotis , Calothamnus villosa, Callistachys ovata, 



Casuarina tenuifolia, Dillwynia ericifolia, D. phylicoides, Hibiscus 

 Richardsonii, Kennedia rubicunda, Indigofera gracilis, Leptospermum 

 australis, Pomaderris discolor, Pultenaea hirsuta, Sphcerolobium vimi- 

 neum, Lamia australis. 



September 10th. 



Dr. Morton, President, in the Chair. 



Dr. Morton offered some remarks on the value of the word species 

 in Zoology. 



On this point there is great diversity of opinion among naturalists. Some 

 deny the law of specific distinctions at least, their arguments lead to this infer- 

 ence. Thus, Lamarck and Geoffroy St. Hilaire insist upon the uninterrupted 

 succession of the animal kingdom the gradual mergence of one species into 

 another, from the earliest ages of time ; and they suppose that the fossil animals 

 whose remains are preserved in the various geological strata, however different 

 from those of our own time, may nevertheless have been the ancestors of those 

 now in being. Sir Charles Lyell has opposed this theory with great ingenuity 

 and general success ; yet whoever will examine the facts and arguments 

 employed by its authors, maybe disposed to admit that it is not altogether devoid 

 of foundation in some exceptions to the general law of Nature. 



PROCEED. ACAD. NAT. SCI. OF PHILADELPHIA. VOL. V. NO. V. 11 



