XXXVI BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



THIRTY-SEVENTH MEETING, December 22, 1882. 



The President occupied the chair. Thirty-four members were 

 present. 



Dr. T. H. Bean read a paper ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE ALE- 

 WIFE IN CERTAIN LAKES OF NEW YORK.* The alewife (Clupea 

 vernalis) which is identical with the branch herring of the Potomac, 

 has been observed in immense numbers in Lake Ontario, and Cay- 

 uga and Seneca Lakes, New York its first appearance having 

 been in 1873. ^ i supposed to have been accidentally introduced 

 by fish-culturists when planting young shad. In the discussion of 

 this paper Messrs. Smiley, Barnard, True, Ryder, and Goode partici 

 pated. Mr. Ryder spoke of observations on a supposed hybrid be 

 tween the shad and the rock-fish. 



Prof. Riley read a paper on THE LIGNIFIED SERPENT OF BRA 

 ZIL^ a curious object lately discussed in scientific journals in 

 France and the United States, and pronounced by M. Olivier, a 

 French savant, to be an actual serpent converted into woody tissue. 

 This he demonstrated to be a woody formation developed in the 

 burrow of the larva of a wood-boring insect, which, by some slight 

 artificial changes, had been made to resemble a serpent still more 

 than in its original condition. 



THIRTY-EIGHTH MEETING, January 5, 1883. 

 (Third Annual Meeting.) 



The President occupied the chair. Sixty-six members were 

 present. 



The following board of officers was elected : 



President Prof. C. A. WHITE. 



* 1884. BEAN, TARLETON H. On the Occurrence of the Branch Alewife in 

 Certain Lakes of New York. <^The Fishery Industries of the United States. 

 Part I. pp. 588-593- 



11883. RILEY, CHARLES V. The Lignified Serpent of Brazil. <Washing- 

 ton Evening Star, Jan. 20, 1883; Scientific American Supplement, Feb. 17, 

 1883, and various other journals. 



