Ixxxi 



is flattened and almost turned to lignite bv pressure and lapse of time. 

 But what is still more interesting are the cones or fruit which the tree 

 bore. These cones are about an inch in length and somewhat resemble 

 those of a species of conifer, different, however from any known species. 

 We place before jou other remains of this ancient vegetation. 



Dr. Engelmann remarked that he had formerly found near St. 

 Louis a fragment of tooth similar to the walrus tooth exhibited, 

 but it had been lost in the fire which destroyed the museum of 

 the Academy. 



December i8, 1882. 



The President in the chair. Seven members present. 



Dr. Engelmann said that the jumping-seeds presented at the 

 previous meeting were Ruellia tuberosa^ growing in dry coun- 

 tries. The pods open when wet, and when the conditions for 

 successful germination are most favorable. The plants are com- 

 mon in Texas, Mexico, and the West Indies. The seed is muci- 

 laginous like the flax-seed, but he did not find the leaves to be so.. 

 He also remarked that allied species are found here, around St. 

 Louis, although the seed-pods of our species have not been ob- 

 served to have the properties of tuberosa. 



Dr. Engelmann also reported that the cones found by Mr. Mc- 

 Adams in the drift clays of Jersey Co., Ills., and shown at the 

 last meeting, seem to belong to the white-spruce, a tree now found 

 in northern Michigan and Wisconsin, around Lake Superior. 



yanuary 2, 1883. 



The President in the chair. Nine members present. 



George W. Lettermann presented the Academy with trunk 

 sections of the following varieties of wood : Diospyros Texano^ 

 Austin, Texas ; common persimmon, Allenton, Mo. ; Juglans 

 rupestris, Baird, Tex. ; Crai^gus brevispina. Wood Co., Tex. ; 

 Morus microphylla, Baird, Tex. ; Ungnadia speciosa, Dallas, 

 Tex. ; Forestiera pubescens^ Baird, Tex. ; Rhus aromatica (tri- 

 loba), Baird, Tex. 



Mr. Nipher exhibited a working set of duplex telegraph instru- 

 ments and explained their action. 



iv— 3— B [April 3, 1884. 



