proceedings: biological society 175 



The 505th regular meeting was held January 11, 1913, with President 

 E. W. Nelson in the chair and 54 persons present. The chairman 

 appointed standing committees on Publications and Communications 

 for the year. 



C. V. Piper exhibited a vase made of wood and covered with a thin 

 veneer of "silk-wood." This veneer is cut from one of the large Poly- 

 porus fungi and takes a beautiful polish. 



A. S. Hitchcock and E. W. Nelson each reported his recent return 

 from a successful collecting trip, the former having collected grasses in 

 Jamaica, Trinidad, and Tobago, while the latter had secured birds and 

 mammals in Arizona. 



The regular program consisted of the communications : 



The rediscovery of (Enothera grandiflora: S. M. Tracy. The speaker 

 gave an account of two trips made by him to the locality of Bartram's 

 original discovery of this species. (1776). The locality is near Dixie 

 Landing, Alabama, and the flower described by Bartram was found 

 abundant over a limited area. A second visit was made last year in 

 company with Dr. Hugo de Vries. 



The yrohlem of the identity' of Oenothera Lamarckiana: H. H. Bartlett. 

 The speaker gave a history of various cultivated strains of plants of this 

 species and its hj^brids. He predicted that its original habitat and iden- 

 tity — as yet unknown — would eventual^ be discovered, probably in 

 America south of the United States and on the Pacific Slope. 



Saivflies and their relation to forestry: S. A. Rohwer. These very 

 destructive insects were classed as defoliators and wood borers, and 

 many instances of serious damage by them to growing timber were given. 

 The paper was [illustrated by numerous lantern slides showing various 

 species of sawflies — adults, pupae, and larvae — and also illustrations of 

 damaged timber. 



The 506th regular meeting was held January 25, 1913, with the Presi- 

 dent in the chair and 47 persons present. 



The follo^ving resolution relating to Zoological Nomenclature was 

 presented to the Society with the endorsement of the Council and adop- 

 ted unanimously: 



Whereas certain zoologists have gone on record as favoring (1) A 

 permanent and increasing list of exceptions to the law of priority; 

 (2) A return to the principle of elimination regardless of the generic 

 types that have been designated under the rules, and (3) A rejection of 

 the present unanimous vote rule that has obtained for so many years in 

 the International Congress on Zoological Nomenclature, 



Therefore, be it resolved by the Biological Society of Washington that 

 we favor (1) The consistent application of the Law of Priority in all 

 cases; (2) The acceptance of the first designation of a genotype, regard- 

 less of the method followed in designating it, and (3) The present unani- 

 mous vote rule as making for conservation and stability in nomenclature. 



Under the heading Brief Notes, etc., Paul Bartsch exhibited a small 

 Ographic camera, ^\'ith a number of small pictures made with it and 

 enlargements of the same. He spoke briefly of its convenience and adap- 

 tability to field uses. 



