IGO PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



Engelraann. after his distinguished Iriend, and which name it still 

 retains, he found a considerable quantity in that canon also. He 

 was attracted Ly the light green cones, as distinguished from the 

 puri)lish ones of Ablefi grandis, but on climbing the trees, and 

 examining the characters, he concluded it was but a variation 

 from A. grandis^ similar to what he was already familiar with in 

 A. balsamea. Prof. Porter had also found it in Cheyenne Canon 

 in 1872 ; and, if really distinct from A. gi-andis, it is probabl}'- 

 much more widel3- diifused through the Rocky Mountains than 

 has been supposed. 



Fertilization of Gentiana. Mr. Thomas Meehan called atten- 

 tion to the fact that the autumn-blooming gentians were now in 

 flower ; and a close investigation promised an interesting field to 

 the botanist. They belonged to the class with gelatinous pollen, 

 and whicli was now believed to require the aid of insects in fertili- 

 zation ; but many of our species had closed corollas, which seemed 

 to make fertilization by this agency difficult. In connection with 

 this subject he said Dr. Engelraan had made some curious ol)ser- 

 vations on the gentians of the Rocky Mountains. All the large 

 flowered species (as Gentiana affinis, G.frigida^ G. Parryi, etc.) 

 have the anthers definitely fixed, and open outwards towards 

 the corolla; while those of the smaller species (such as G. acuta^ 

 and neighboring genera, Sioertia and Pleurogyne) have the face 

 of the anthers directed towards the ovary at an earl}' stage of 

 development, but, on expansion of the corolla, are thrown over 

 the filament, and then face outwards as the others. The stigma 

 is cloven, but the lobes do not expand till several hours after the 

 anthers have shed their pollen. Mr. Meehan finds the anthers of 

 the large flowered eastern species accord with Dr. Engelman's 

 observations on the Colorado ones, in having the anthers fixed 

 from the first outwardl}-, at least in all that he has been able to 

 examine. 



Variations in Leaves of Ailanthus glandulosa. Some leaflets 

 gathered from the trees by Dr. H. Leffman were exhibited, in 

 which the usual lanceolate form was departed from, and a triangu- 

 \av\y hastate, or aceriform shape, assumed. 



Note on Dryocampa. Prof. Leidy stated that the oaks in the 

 forests of New Jerse}', during the last summer, were greath' devas- 

 tated by the Dryocampa senatoria. In the earl}- part of Septem- 

 lier, in passing along the edge of a forest skirting a cranberry 

 swamp, at Absecom, New Jersey, he had observed multitudes of 

 the Dryocampa lying dead on the swamp and all bristling with the 

 sinaular fungus Aclilva prolifera. 



The death of M. Elie de Beaumont, a correspondent of the 

 Academy, was announced. 



