NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 439 



difficulty he could dispose of. He had had in his garden for a 

 number of years a Quercus aquatica from seed gathered near 

 Vicksburg, where it was evergreen. But with him the same tree 

 was deciduous. In regard to the range, De Candolle noted on 

 the authority of Michaux that it grew in Maryland, and Mr. Can- 

 by reports it common in Delaware. This brings the range of the 

 species up to our doors. 



It is therefore clear that Quercus heterophylla is simply an 

 outpost in the camp of Quercus aquatica, barely indeed ranking 

 as a variety ; and the result of our investigation is a tribute to 

 the remarkable acumen of Alphonse De Candolle, who, with so 

 little material before him, was able to guide us who had it all. 



Hybrid Juglans. Mr. Meehan, continuing his remarks on natu- 

 ral hybrids, exhibited a fruit from a tree growing near Mead vi lie, 

 Pennsylvania, and handed him by Alfred Huidekoper of that 

 place. The fruit was of the oval form of J. cathartica (Butternut), 

 but had the comparatively smooth surface of J. nigra (Black 

 walnut), and was quite destitute of viscous glands. It was be- 

 lieved to be a natural hybrid between these two species. 



Hybrids of Pyrus Sinensis. Not exactly as natural hybrids, 

 continued Mr. Meehan, but yet as hybrids without intention by 

 man, were some pears he now exhibited, raised by Mr. Peter Kie- 

 fer of this place. For near twenty-five years Mr. K. had grown 

 the Pyrus Sinensis, or Chinese sand pear, and for some years 

 past had been fruiting seedlings from the original tree, and these 

 have fruit uniformly the same as its parent, and as they seem to 

 do in other parts of the world. Mr. Meehan exhibited a fruit and 

 compared it with a figure in a recent number of the Gardener's 

 Chronicle of London, then lying on the table, the two as similar 

 as if the specimen had been used as copy for the sketch. Some 

 years ago a Flemish beauty pear, a well-known variety of our com- 

 mon garden fruit, had flowered in close proximity, and since then 

 pears mixed in character had been raised from this supposed to 

 be hybrid seeds. The specimens exhibited by Mr. Meehan were 

 much larger than the sand pear, the female parent, and as large 

 as the average Flemish beauty of our markets ; the red cheeks, and 

 fine lemon color, being rather more beautiful than the average of 

 Flemish beauty, though this kind is popular as a particularly hand- 

 some fruit. 



November 9. 

 Dr. LeConte, Vice-President, in the chair. 

 Twenty-three members present. 



A paper entitled " On a New Genus of Lophobranchiate Fishes," 

 by Edw. D. Cope, was presented for publication. 



