﻿MAY 
  4, 
  1922 
  proceedings: 
  BIOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY 
  231 
  

  

  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  ACADEMY 
  AND 
  AFFILIATED 
  

  

  SOCIETIES 
  

  

  BIOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY! 
  

  

  622nd 
  meeting 
  

   The 
  622nd 
  meeting 
  was 
  held 
  in 
  the 
  lecture 
  hall 
  of 
  the 
  Cosmos 
  Club, 
  on 
  

   March 
  5, 
  1921 
  at 
  8 
  p.m. 
  Vice 
  President 
  A. 
  S. 
  Hitchcock 
  presided, 
  and 
  32" 
  

   persons 
  were 
  present. 
  Upon 
  recommendation 
  of 
  [the 
  Council 
  Mr. 
  M. 
  A. 
  

   Murray 
  was 
  elected 
  to 
  membership. 
  

  

  Brief 
  notes 
  

  

  Mr. 
  IvAR 
  TiDESTROM 
  exhibited 
  two 
  books. 
  One 
  was 
  202 
  years 
  old, 
  had 
  

   seen 
  constant 
  usage, 
  and 
  was 
  still 
  in 
  excellent 
  condition; 
  the 
  second 
  book, 
  

   somewhat 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  year 
  old, 
  was 
  in 
  poor 
  condition, 
  both 
  as 
  to 
  binding 
  and 
  

   the 
  printed 
  pages. 
  The 
  first 
  book 
  illustrated 
  the 
  durability 
  of 
  rag 
  paper 
  as 
  

   compared 
  with 
  the 
  pulp 
  paper 
  now 
  commonly 
  used 
  even 
  in 
  reference 
  works. 
  

   Dr. 
  Paul 
  Bartsch 
  cited 
  the 
  deterioration 
  of 
  a 
  book 
  lying 
  exposed 
  from 
  Sat- 
  

   urday 
  to 
  Monday. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  H. 
  C. 
  Oberholser 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  whistling 
  swan, 
  which 
  had 
  returned 
  

   to 
  nearby 
  waters 
  for 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  years 
  past, 
  after 
  an 
  absence 
  of 
  twenty 
  years, 
  

   were 
  seen 
  this 
  last 
  winter 
  in 
  increasing 
  numbers. 
  Dr. 
  Paul 
  Bartsch 
  stated 
  

   that 
  Holboell's 
  Grebe 
  had 
  been 
  observed 
  recently 
  in 
  the 
  Tidal 
  Basin; 
  also 
  

   that 
  nineteen 
  species 
  of 
  spring 
  flowers 
  had 
  been 
  reported 
  at 
  a 
  recent 
  meeting 
  

   of 
  the 
  Wild 
  Flower 
  Preservation 
  Society. 
  

  

  Formal 
  program 
  

  

  H. 
  M. 
  Hall: 
  The 
  synthetic 
  method 
  of 
  botanical 
  taxonomy. 
  

  

  Botanical 
  taxonomy 
  has 
  not 
  much 
  to 
  its 
  credit 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  past 
  achieve- 
  

   ments. 
  At 
  present 
  it 
  is 
  at 
  a 
  nearh^ 
  static 
  or 
  stationary 
  stage 
  in 
  its 
  evolution. 
  

   In 
  order 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  dynamic 
  and 
  progressive 
  more 
  attention 
  should 
  be 
  paid 
  to 
  

   three 
  phases 
  of 
  the 
  subject. 
  

  

  (1) 
  The 
  development 
  of 
  a 
  philosophic 
  aspect. 
  Relationships 
  of 
  phylogeny 
  

   should 
  be 
  taken 
  as 
  the 
  guiding 
  principle 
  in 
  all 
  taxonomic 
  work. 
  Analytical 
  

   methods 
  now 
  employed 
  should 
  be 
  combined 
  with 
  synthetic 
  methods 
  having 
  

   as 
  their 
  aim 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  these 
  small 
  units 
  into 
  larger 
  natural 
  assem- 
  

   blages, 
  the 
  data 
  for 
  such 
  work 
  to 
  be 
  obtained 
  from 
  comparative 
  morphology, 
  

   paleontology, 
  ontogeny, 
  and 
  geographic 
  distribution. 
  

  

  (2) 
  The 
  development 
  of 
  new 
  methods. 
  The 
  present 
  observational 
  de- 
  

   scriptive, 
  and 
  qualitative 
  methods 
  may 
  well 
  be 
  replaced 
  by 
  methods 
  that 
  

   are 
  experimental, 
  quantitative 
  and 
  exact, 
  thus 
  elevating 
  systematic 
  botany 
  

   to 
  the 
  stage 
  of 
  a 
  true 
  science. 
  

  

  (3) 
  The 
  development 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  method 
  for 
  the 
  expression 
  of 
  results 
  in 
  a 
  

   concise 
  and 
  readily 
  intelligible 
  manner. 
  The 
  use 
  of 
  diagrams 
  to 
  illustrate 
  

   phylogeny 
  is 
  advised. 
  More 
  important 
  is 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  a 
  system 
  of 
  

   nomenclature 
  that 
  will 
  express 
  both 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  plants 
  and 
  their 
  relation- 
  

   ships. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  recommended 
  that 
  the 
  term 
  "species" 
  be 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  

   original 
  comprehensive 
  sense, 
  that 
  onl)^ 
  these 
  inclusive 
  units 
  or 
  true 
  species, 
  

  

  ' 
  Reports 
  for 
  the 
  627th 
  and 
  628th 
  meetings 
  were 
  pubUshedinthis 
  Journai<12: 
  188-191.. 
  

   1922. 
  

  

  