146 proceedings: biological society 



exhibited a copy of the Journal of the Wild Bird Society, a new journal. 

 Dr. Palmer also spoke of a List of the mammals of Siam by Nils 

 GyldenstolpE, of Sweden. This is one of a series of memoirs by the 

 Natural History Society of Siam, and is unusual as a rather complete 

 list of an extended country. 



Regular program: Vernon Bailey, The bean motise of Lewis and 

 Clark, Maximilian, and others. The speaker exhibited in glass bowls 

 living individuals of the meadow mouse, white-footed mice, pocket 

 mice, and a pocket gopher, captured in North Dakota and Minnesota, 

 and kept alive for the study of their habits. Mr. Bailey told of the 

 beans procured from the Indians of the upper Missouri Valley by 

 Lewis and Clark, Maximilian, Father De Swet, and other more recent 

 travellers, and greatly prized by both Indians and whites as food. 

 These beans are wild peanuts, growing underground, and gathered by 

 some mouse or small rodent for a winter store of food. But the Indians 

 find the food stores and appropriate them to their own use, paying for 

 them by a return of com or other food. Although the beans thus ob- 

 tained have been known to white men for over a century, the species of 

 mouse which stored them has not been determined until the past 

 autumn, when Mr. Bailey took the mice at their store houses in close 

 proximity to the stores of ground beans and artichokes. They prove 

 to be a western form of our common eastern meadow mouse, Microtiis 

 pennsylvaniais. Mr. Bailey also told of many interesting habits of 

 other species of the mice and gophers exhibited, and of his plans to 

 continue the studies of such obscure small mammals in captivity until 

 something is known of their every-day habits. A full account of these 

 species will be published in his report on the Mammals of North Dakota. 



The paper was discussed by Dr. M. B. Waite, Dr. A. D. Hopkins, 

 Mr. H. C. Oberholser and Mr. N. Dearborn. 



A. D. Hopkins: The hioclimaiic law. Dr. Hopkin's paper, which 

 was illustrated by maps and lantern slides, has been published in this 

 Journal, 10: 34-40. It was discussed by Mr. J. Kotinsky, Mr. H. C. 

 Oberholser, Dr. M. B. Waite, Dr. L. O. Howard and Mr. V. Bailey. 



603 D meeting 



The 603d regular meeting (the 40th annual meeting) of the Bio- 

 logical Society of Washington was held in the lecture hall of the Cosmos 

 Club on December 13, 1919, with President H. M. Smith presiding, and 

 21 persons present. 



The regular order was laid aside and the chair recognized Dr. T. vS. 

 Palmer, who introduced Mr. W. L. Sclater, of London, Editor of The 

 Ibis, Recorder for the Zoological Record, and a prime mover for the Sys- 

 iema Avium. Mr. Sclater spoke of the necessity of clearing the confusion 

 as to nomenclature of birds which was in evidence in editing Ibis. 

 Thus an authoritative list, "Systema Avium," as it may be called, 

 may be prepared to reduce the lack of uniformity as to the names of 



