1909.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 55 



February 2. 

 Arthur Erwin Brown, Sc.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Twenty-eight persons present. 



The Publication Committee reported that a paper entitled "Action 

 of Chemical Solutions on Bud Development : An Experimental Study 

 of Acclimatization," by John W. Harshberger, Ph.D., had been pre- 

 sented for publication (January 28, 1909). 



Thomas H. Montgomery, Ph.D., made a communication on the 

 architecture of spiders. (No abstract.) 



February 16. 

 The President, Samuel G. Dixon, M.D., in the Chair. 



One hundred and thirty-nine persons present. 



The Publication Committee announced the reception of a paper 

 entitled "An Orthopterological Reconnoissance of the Southwestern 

 United States: Part II, New Mexico and Western Texas," by James 

 A. G. Pvehn and Morgan Hebard (February 4). 



The special business of the meeting being the commemoration of the 

 centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the fiftieth year of 

 the publication of the Origin of Species, the President spoke of the 

 influence of the doctrines of Natural Selection and Evolution on the 

 development of thought and the progress of humanity. 



Dr. Arthur Erwin Brown referred to the fact that the Academy 

 had been the first society in America to recognize the importance of 

 Darwin's work and quoted from his letter to Lyell of May 8, 1860, in 

 which he says: "This morning I got a letter from the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, announcing that I am elected a 



Correspondent It shows that some naturalists there 



do not think me such a scientific profligate as many think me here." 1 



1 Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, including an Autobiographical Chapter. 

 Edited by his Son, Francis Darwin. 1887. Vol. II, p. 100. 



