PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED 



SOCIETIES 



WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



150th meeting 



The 150th meeting was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club on 

 Thursday, November IS, 1920. Dr. Elmer D. Merrill, Director of the Bu- 

 reau of Science, Manila, P. I., delivered a popular lecture, Man and nature 

 in the Philippines, illustrated by lantern slides. 



From an ethnological standpoint the Filipino people include three distinct 

 types: the primitive negrito, who were undoubtedly the original inhabitants 

 of the archipelago; the proto-Malayan or Indonesian, representing the first 

 invaders; and the Malayan, now numerically and economically the most 

 important element in the native population, comprising the so-called Chris- 

 tian Filipinos and the Mohammedan peoples of Mindanao and the Sulu 

 Archipelago. At the present time more than 40 different languages are spoken 

 in the Archipelago. The language distribution was indicated by a colored 

 lantern slide. Types of many of the different tribes were shown also, and 

 brief notes given regarding them. 



In connection with a relief map shown, the essentially mountainous char- 

 acter of the Archipelago was discussed, and some of the more important 

 volcanos were illustrated. The three different types of climate (the constantly 

 wet regions, those having alternating wet and dry seasons, and others of an 

 intermediate type) were similarly indicated, and the causes discussed: the 

 northeast monsoon, the southwest trades, the typhoons, and the topography. 

 The effects of climate on plant distribution were noted, particularly as de- 

 limiting rather strongly the distribution of the major agricultural crops, such 

 as sugar, abaca or manila hemp, coconuts, and tobacco. Types of vege- 

 tation were shown and briefly discussed: the virgin forest, secondary forests, 

 open grass lands, and settled areas. The indications are that the original 

 vegetation was a continuous virgin forest of one type or another, and that 

 primitive man through his destructive methods of clearing land by felling 

 trees and burning, and then after one or two seasons moving on to a new 

 clearing, was largely responsible for the vast areas of open grass lands and 

 second-growth forests now so characteristic of many parts of the Archipelago. 



Brief notes were given also regarding the extent of the flora and concerning 

 its special relationship, which is distinctly with Celebes and the Moluccas, 

 New Guinea, and northeastern Australia. Bornean elements are few and 

 practically fail to reach the Archipelago proper, nor are there any notable 

 special alliances with the Sunda Islands and the Malay Peninsula. The 

 conchology, entomology, ornithology, ichthyology, and general zoology of 

 the Philippines were briefly mentioned, with an indication of the enormous 

 development in species in the first two groups. From a geological stand- 

 point the islands are comparatively recent. This is reflected in the present 

 fauna and flora, the latter in particular being notably rich in endemic species 

 but poor in endemic genera. 



In conclusion the speaker gave an interesting account of the Bureau of 

 Science and its work. 



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