406 proceedings: biological society 



On the northeast flank of the mountain, a mile or more from the 

 crater, a few breadcrust bombs were found, but these are angular in 

 contour and are deemed to have acquired their breadcrust surface from 

 superficial rather than from initial plasticity. Proof of this is found in 

 the fact that some of the breadcrusted material is nothing more than 

 scoriaceous tuff. No evidence was discovered that the breadcrusting 

 was associated with the May outbreak. 



The absence of convincing evidence of very high temperatures, or 

 of chemically active gases, suggests the conclusion that the activity 

 may have been caused by explosions of superheated steam resulting 

 from the approach of meteoric water to the volcano hearth. 



Carroll H. Wegemann, Secretary. 



THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 556th regular meeting of the Biological Society of Washington 

 was held at the Cosmos Club, Saturday, May 6, 1916; called to order 

 by President Hay at 8 p.m., with 45 persons present. 



On recommendation of the Council Victor J. Evans, Washington, 



D. C, was elected to active membership. 



The President announced the recent deaths of Charles A. Davis 

 and S. M. Gronberger, members of the Society. 



The first communication of the regular program was by M. W. 

 Lyon, Jr., Longevity of bacteria. Dr. Lyon described a culture of 

 Bacillus paratyphosus B. which had been hermetically sealed in a glass 

 tube in ordinary culture medium for the past ten years, and exhibited 

 a living subculture which had been made from it. He called attention 

 to the short life of certain organisms and the long life of others, espe- 

 cially those producing spores. 



This communication was discussed by Dr. L. 0. Howard and Mrs. 



E. M. Enlows. 



The second paper was by Dr. L. Stejneger: The amphisbaenoid 

 lizards and their geographic distribution. Dr. Stejneger called attention 

 to various theories that have been advanced to account for the distribu- 

 tion of animals, and explained how the amphisbaenoid lizards, with 

 their peculiar morphology and habits, were particularly adapted to 

 show former connections with now separated land masses and islands. 

 The distribution and relationships of these lizards clearly showed a 

 former land connection between South America and Africa. 



Dr. Stejneger's paper was illustrated by charts, diagrams, and maps 

 showing the classification, the structural taxonomic characters, the 

 probable evolution, and the geographic distribution of the amphis- 

 baenoid lizards. The Chair, Dr. L. 0. Howard, Dr. C. H. T. Town- 

 send, Gen. T. E. Wilcox, and others took part in the discussion. 



The last paper of the evening was by W. L. McAtee: Sketch of the 

 natural history of the District of Columbia. Mr. McAtee gave a very 

 interest historical account of the study of the natural history of the 

 District of Columbia from the earliest accounts of Capt. John Smith 



