10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1880. 



a vital power, that they were soon killed when severe weather 

 occurred. In the grape vine, for instance, the extreme ends of the 

 strong branches and whole lengths of weaker ones died during 

 the winter. These remained on till cut a,wa,j by the pruner, or 

 until they fell by natural decay. In the AmpeJopsis named they 

 were thrown oil' by an articulation, so that by spring no dead 

 wood of the past season's growth would be found on the plants. 

 Every node included in the dead poi'tion, separated ; so that under 

 the plants the pieces ma}' be gathered like the separate vertebra; 

 in a skeleton. 



The Ampelopsis, when running up a tree or wall, seldom sent 

 out lateral branches till it reached the summit. When these side 

 branches were produced, they appeared, after a few 3^ears,as thick 

 bushy masses, having the look of a hedge annuallj^ pruned. It 

 appears that in these cases the annual growth is disarticulated at 

 just one node above that one made last year— the branch thus 

 gaining but one node a year. A bushy branch of a dozen years 

 old, will thus have but a dozen nodes of living wood. 



The observations were of some interest just now, from the dis- 

 covery of a species of Vitis in the South racific, which produced 

 tubers at the end of the branches, which at the end'of the season 

 were thrown off by a disarticulation, and in this way aided in 

 propagation and distribution. Though the disarticulation in the 

 neighboring genus Amp)elopsis^ as now noted, results only in 

 ridding the plant at once of useless wood, it showed a relation of 

 powers in allied species that must be of service to those engaged 

 in studies of derivation. 



Geo. Yaux was elected a member of the Council to serve for 

 the unexpired term of C. Newlin Pierce. Aubrey H. Smith was 

 elected to serve for the unexpired term of Edw. D. Cope. 



January 20. 

 The President, Dr. Ruschenberger, in the chair. 

 Forty persons present. 



Notice of the Cruel Thread Worm, Filaria immitis, of the 

 Dog. — Prof. Leidy directed attention to a specimen, presented by 

 Mrs. Laura M. Towne, of Beaufort, S. C, consisting of the heart 

 and part of one lung of a dog, containing thread worms. The 

 right ventricle of the heart and the pulmonary artery contained a 

 bunch of the parasites, and several also were contained in the 

 lung. A similar specimen, with the ventricle literally stuffed full 

 of worms, is preserved in the museum of the University of Penn- 



