Seed of Acacia melanoxylon (Black Acacia) collected 

 near Orange produced weevils a few weeks after gathering. 

 The seed was separated in the above way and the hollowed 

 out seeds thrown on the ground, after a few weeks quantities 

 of seedlings appeared showing that in a certain number the 

 germ was not injured. This may be governed somewhat by 

 the size of the seed. In Acacia armata of which the seed 

 is very small practically all the inside was destroyed. In 

 Acacia podalyriaefolia and A. elata many of the seeds har- 

 boured two of the insects. 



Though this weevil appears to attack most species of 

 Acacia in California I have never found it in seed of Acacia 

 nerifolia (A. floribunda), or in A. latifolia. In the case of 

 the former it may possibly be that the seed is so very flat there 

 is not enough room for the insect to develop. This however 

 cannot be said of the later in which the seed is plump and 

 oval. 



It has been suggested that the early flowering species are 

 not so subject to the weevil as the late flowering ones. This 

 however is not borne out by the facts. A. podalyriaefolia, 

 blooming in January, was badly infected. A. dealbata and A. 

 baileyana, flowering in February, were both infected, while 

 A. latifolia blooming at the same time was not. A. mollissima 

 and A. melanoxylon, both flowering in April and May, were 

 also badly infected. 



*This beetle was identified by Mr. H. C. Fall. The com- 

 mon pea and bean "weevils'' are of the same genus. 



LEWIS SWIFT. 



Dr. Lewis Swift, a fellow and honorary member of this 

 Academy, died on Sunday afternoon, January 5, 1913, at 

 Marathon, N. Y., as a result of a paralytic stroke on New 

 Year's day, at the age of ninety-two vears. 



He was born at' Clarkson, N. Y., February 29, 1820. Was 

 educated at Clarkson Academy ; an honorary Ph. D., from 

 Rochester, 1879. Director of the Warner Astronomical Ob- 

 servatory, at Rochester, N. Y., from 1886 to 1894, and the 

 Lowe Observatory, Echo Mountain, Cal., 1894-1900. He re- 

 ceived three gold medals from the Emperor of Austria, under 

 the auspices of the Imperial Academy of Vienna, in as many 

 successive years, for contributing most to astronomy. He 

 also received the Lalande prize from the Paris Academy; the 

 Mrs. Hannah Jackson gilt bronze medals in 1897; four bronze 

 medals from the Pacific Astronomical Society, and other 

 prizes. He was a member of the Pacific Astronomical Society, 

 fellow Royal Astronomical Society, British Astronomical As- 



41 



