PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED 



SOCIETIES 



WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The meeting of the Board of Managers on February 18, 1918, was 

 devoted chiefly to the discussion and amendment of the report of a 

 special committee on membership poHcy. The Board adopted rules 

 for the guidance of the Committee on Membership, limiting the resi- 

 dent membership of the Academy to 20 per cent of the active scientific 

 population of Washington, as represented by the number of names in 

 the "Red Book" (the biennial directory of the Academy and its affili- 

 ated societies). The requirements for admission to membership, 

 which are stated only in general terms in the By-Laws of the Academy, 

 were more exactly defined by the Board; the principal qualifications 

 adopted is that "the nominee shall have attained recognition for 

 original and meritorious scientific investigation." 



Robert B. Sosman, Corresponding Secretary. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 578th regular meeting of the Society was held in the Assembly 

 Hall of the Cosmos Club, Saturday, January 26, 1918; called to order 

 at 8 p.m. by President Rose; 62 persons present. 



On recommendation of the Council, J. B. Norton and S. F. Blake, 

 both of the Department of Agriculture, were elected to membership. 



On recommendation of the Council a proposed amendment to the 

 constitution was announced by which members of the Society might 

 become life members upon the payment of fifty dollars in two annual 

 instalhnents of twenty-five dollars each. 



Under the heading brief notes and exhibition of specimens the fol- 

 lowing informal communications were presented: 



A. Wetmore remarked on food habits of grackle with reference to 

 eating and cracking pin-oak acorns, the peculiar structure of the bill 

 of the genus Quisqualus being specially adapted for this purpose. This 

 was discussed by Messrs. Paul Bartsch, Vernon Bailey, and F. V. 



COVILLE. 



A. S. Hitchcock called attention to a recently issued flora of the 

 Rocky Mountains by P. A. Rydbsrg, in which 6000 species of plants of 

 that region are described. 



Paul Bartsch referred to a recently received collection of Philip- 

 pine shells from the island of Luzon, containing an unusually large 

 number of new forms. 



L. O. Howard referred to the utiHzation of acorns for the manufac- 

 ture of alcohol. 



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