Pennsylvania for Sessions igoi-igoj. Ixxxi 



had also secured a seven-spurred type. He considered such 

 flowers to be due to imperfect nutrition conditions, and 

 while they may be abundant in one season, they are rare in 

 others ; seasons which favor the growth of root crops in 

 general appear to give rise to pelorian development. 



Dr. Leffmann then gave a communication entitled "Plants 

 Used in the Chemical Laboratory." He said that chemical 

 indicators or tests had wholly been secured from the vege- 

 table kingdom till within recent years, when substitute pro- 

 ducts drawn from the aniline or coal tar bodies largely took 

 their place. He then reviewed several test substances. He 

 also exhibited a set of ingeniously constructed models of 

 leaves and flowers prepared with various test papers, and 

 which gave beautiful contrast color reactions under acid 

 and alkaline treatment. 



Mr. E. E. Wildman then gave "Notes on an Apparent 

 Hybrid Oak," the plant being found on Pocono Manor, 

 Pocono, Pa. It occurred on a dry hillside at about i,8oo feet 

 elevation, and was probably eight years old. It grew asso- 

 ciated with others of like type, so as to suggest that there 

 may have been older trees from which these had sprung. In 

 Sargent's "Silva" a similar leaf was figured, and there it 

 was stated that the same supposed hybrid had been found 

 in the early 70's near Washington, D. C, and also in North- 

 ern Vermont. The supposed parents were Q. alba and Q. 

 Priniis, and the specimens of leaves shown were fairly inter- 

 mediate. He stated that histological characters of the sup- 

 posed parents were scarcely distinct enough to form a basis 

 for comparison of the hybrid. 



Dr. Macfarlane exhibited a collection of seventeen vol- 

 umes recently added to the Bartram Library, and also a 

 copy of the rare first edition of Linnjeus' "Species Planta- 

 rum," recently secured for the University Library. He also 

 exhibited from the Botanical Garden a cut and lobed variety 

 of Scolopendriiim vulgare brought by Mr. Goucher from 

 Central Ireland, which bore abundant sporangia on the 



