1909] Proceedings. 87 



Dr. George P. Barth spoke on The Nesting Habits of the Crabro- 

 nidse. He stated that since the publication of a recent paper he had 

 discovered many facts which support and some that oppose his own 

 recorded observations and those of other authors. The speaker ex- 

 hibited a series of glass tubes showing the living contents of various 

 nests. In addition a number of blackboard diagrams served to heighten 

 the interest shown in the lecture. 



Mr. A. C. Burrill then spoke of the Distribution of the Flora of 

 Milwaukee County. Specifically, the lecturer treated the forest trees, 

 basing his observations on a series of colored lantern slides showing 

 present and past conditions in all parts of the county. 



The formation of knolls in tamarack swamps, and the theory that 

 life occurs in waves, were informally discussed by Messrs. Teller, Bur- 

 rill, Barth and Muttkowski. 



Upon motion the meeting then adjourned. 



Milwaukee, August 26, 1909. 



Meeting of the combined sections. 



President Barth in the chair. Sixteen members present. 



Mr. Charles T. Brues gave the talk of the evening on the Puget 

 Sound Marine Station — its location and equipment, and the Inverte- 

 brate Fauna of the Sound. As an introduction the speaker distributed 

 a series of photographs illustrating conditions of the locality. 



Mr. Brues then gave a general survey of the collections obtained 

 during his sojourn of six weeks at the station. He contrasted the 

 marine fauna of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, saying that the latter 

 shows more variety and greater abundance than the Eastern coast in 

 the same latitude, though the temperature averaged the same. Marine 

 collecting was two-fold, littoral and deep. The great difference be- 

 tween tides, twelve feet between high and low tide was very favorable 

 for collecting littoral species. Many fine invertebrates, that were left 

 stranded by the outflowing tide, were picked up on the gravel beach. 

 For the collection of the deeper fauna a shrimp dredge had been fur- 

 nished by the Station, by means of which many rare and interesting 

 specimens were brought up. 



Mr. Brues called attention to the abundance of barnacles in the 

 Sound saying that practically everything not moving was covered with 

 colonies of these crustacea ; they also fastened themselves to crabs 



