PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED 



SOCIETIES 



BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 113th regular meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly 

 Hall of the Cosmos Club, Tuesday, May 2, 1916. Mr. Frank N. 

 Meyer, geographical explorer of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 was elected to membership. The program consisted of the following- 

 papers. 



Dr. Edward L. Greene, an appreciation: H. H. Bartlett. As it was 

 impossible for Mr. Bartlett to be present at the meeting, the paper 

 was read by title. It has since been published in Torreya. 1 



Winter rape and adulterants of this seed (with lantern) : Edgar Brown. 

 Five types of plants raised from seed imported into the United States 

 under the name of rape were briefly described and illustrated. The 

 Dutch and German sources of the winter rape seed normally used in 

 this country for the production of forage having been shut off, seed was 

 imported from other sources, including winter rape from England, 

 France, and Japan, annuals of no forage value from Argentina, France, 

 China, and Japan, and biennials of no forage value from France and 

 Japan. 



An economic Amaranthus of ancient America (with exhibition of speci- 

 mens and lantern) : W. E. Safford. Among the tributes paid to Monte- 

 zuma by the pueblos of Mexico was a certain grain of ivory whiteness 

 and more minute than a mustard seed, called by the Aztecs huauhtli. 

 Eighteen imperial granaries were filled with it each year, each having 

 a capacity of about 9000 bushels. In some parts of Mexico, at times 

 when maize was scarce this seed was used in its stead and along the 

 Pacific coast it was an important food staple. Cabeza de Vaca noticed 

 it in Sonora in 1536. Its most important use was in religious cere- 

 monies, when a paste, called tzoalli, was made of it together with 

 maguey syrup, and images of the god Uitzilipuztli were molded of it. 

 After having been adorned with beautiful ornaments and carried in 

 procession, the image was carried to the top of the pyramidal temple 

 in the city of Mexico. Sacrifices were made to it, including human 

 beings, and the next day it was broken up into fragments and served 

 as communion to the people. For a long time the botanical identity of 

 this seed was unknown. The late Edward Palmer, while making col- 



x 16: 151-175, with portrait. July, 1916 



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