Nov., 1908.] Meeting of the Biological Club. 395 



one might decide that the only course to take would be to accept 

 the Vienna rules. But no dictum of any convention will prob- 

 ably ever be binding on the conscience of the average American 

 unless all botanists the world over can have a voice in the 

 decision. The only correct scientific convention which legislates 

 for botanists in general must be one organized on the American 

 principle of proportionate representation. In the meantime 

 morphologists and ecologists who use plant names only as a 

 means to an end will not be able to understand each other 

 without the aid of a book of synonyms. 



J. H. S. 



Correction. 



In the paper entitled, "On the Origin of Polar Conjugation 

 in the Angiosperms," February Naturalist, page 257, line 20, 

 read: "All polar conjugations, according to this view, had their 

 origin in the original conjugation of one or both polars with the 

 second sperm, typically in the second way through triple fusion. 

 The polars acquired the property or function of conjugating 

 with each other through their common attraction to the second 

 sperm. 



Now the question arises as to whether there is a triple fusion 

 in Sagittaria and other such cases. Does the second sperm come 

 down later and fuse with the first upper endosperm nucleus after 

 the partition wall is formed, etc. 



Meeting of the Biological Club. 



Orton Hall, June 1st, 1908. 



The regular monthly meeting of the club was called to order 

 by the president, Dr. Geo. D. Hubbard, at 7:40 p. m. The 

 minutes of the last meeting were approved as read. 



The first paper of the evening was by Mrs. Alma D. Jackson, 

 who spoke on her thesis, "The Genus Lepidocertes." She 

 mentioned their relation to other Thysanuran forms, their 

 occurrence and size. She also discussed the work done on these 

 forms in attempts to discover whether or not these insects 

 breathe by trachea. They are very sensitive to killing agents 

 of all sorts. The adults moult on an average of every seven or 

 eight days. They perspire freely before moulting. The larval 

 forms are similar to adults in every detail. 



The next thesis reported on was by Prof. Durant. His sub- 

 ject was North American Mallophaga. These are wingless 

 insects, chiefly parasitic on birds. Their food consists chiefly of 

 hair, feathers or epidermal scales. The Mallophaga are biting 



