PROCEEDINGS. 



JANUARY 5, 1893. 



President C. V. Riley in the chair and 13 members present. 



The following new members were elected : 



Active members W J McGee, Dr. J. B. Jones, Frederick 

 C. Pratt. Corresponding members W. G. Johnson, Palo Alto, 

 Calif. ; J. W. Tourney, Tucson, Arizona ; C. H. Rowe, Maiden, 

 Mass., and Wm. H. Patton, Hartford, Conn. 



The Publication Committee reported the publication of No. 3, 

 Volume II, of the Proceedings, copies of which were issued De 

 cember 3 1 , 1892. The new Publication Committee was appointed 

 by the chair as follows: Messrs. Marlatt, Schwarz, Howard, 

 Stiles, and Ashmead. 



The discussion of the annual address of the President had been 

 postponed, from lack of time, to the present meeting and was 

 opened by Dr. Stiles, who made the following remarks : 



PARASITISM. 

 By C. W. STILES. 



[Author's abstract.] 



Although Dr. Riley, in his interesting address, considered the 

 subject of " parasitism " entirely from the standpoint of an en 

 tomologist, it may be well for us, in discussing the subject, to 

 draw other groups of organisms besides insects into comparison. 

 I would therefore take the liberty of presenting a few remarks 

 upon parasitism from the standpoint of an helminthologist. 



Starting with Leuckart's definition of a parasite as " an organ 

 ism which lives in or upon another organism from which it draws 

 its nourishment," I would admit two fundamental ideas in para 

 sitism : first, the association of two or more individuals, and, 

 secondly, the sponging of nourishment. As might be expected, 

 however, if we accept this view (or in fact any other view upon 

 the subject) we find numerous gradations between the parasites 

 and the free-living animals, so that we are unable to draw any 

 sharp line between them. 



