RECORDS OF MEETINGS 187 



Photographs were shown, and various possibilities were suggested as to 

 the cause or causes of the anomaly. That the effect was due to the ex- 

 posure to radium rays was held to be possible, though not conclusively 

 shown. The antecedent history of the plant and the fact that hybrids 

 between the two unlike halves manifested, in the F x and F 2 generations, 

 the characters of only one of the parent shoots, was interpreted to empha- 

 size the fact, already recognized, that the inheritance of a character and 

 its expression are two quite different phenomena. 



Mr. Andrews gave an account of a recent seven-months' stay at the 

 Japanese whaling stations, telling of the methods employed in capturing 

 and preparing the whales for commercial use; also of new notes on the 

 habits of finback, blue and sei whales. The latter species, called by the 

 .Japanese "sardine whale," is referable to Bakenoptera arctica Schlegel, 

 and although it has been taken for a number of years at the Japanese 

 stations, almost no material relating to it is extant. The species is so 

 closely allied to Balcvnoptera borealis Lesson of the Atlantic that further 

 investigation will probably prove it synonymous. Photographs of the 

 rare North Pacific blaekfish (Globicephalus scammoni) and of several 

 species of dolphins were also shown. It was announced that a new poi'- 

 poise of a most peculiar body shape had been secured and would be de- 

 scribed in a future number of the American Museum Bulletin. The 

 paper was illustrated with lantern slides. 



The Section then adjourned. 



L. Hussakof, 



Secretary. 



SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY. 



23 January, 1911. 



Section met at 8:15 p. m.. Y ice-President Campbell presiding. 



The minutes of the last meeting of the Section were read and approved. 



The following programme was then offered : 



Clifford B. Harmon, Experiments in Aviation. 



Hudson Maxim, Practical Utility of Flying Machines. 



Philip Wilcox, The Aeroplane. 



James H. Hare, Taking the First Photographs of the Flights 



of the Wright Broth ers at Kitty Hawk. 



North Carolina. 



