45 
Classes from Public Schools—Under the general supervision 
of the department of public instruction, arrangements are being 
made for regular classes of pupils from the public grammar 
schools and high schools. Classes from the high schools began 
to hold regular sessions at the Garden during the fall and winter 
of 1913, and work on a similar basis with grammar school pupils 
will begin in January, 1914. 
Neighborhood Work.—Several classes have been organized with 
children who live near the Garden, though in several instances the 
interest in this work has spread to boys and girls living far enough 
away to necessitate a trolley ride in order to reach the Garden. 
This work is, of course, in the very early stages of its develop- 
ment, but there is every evidence that it will soon assume as large 
proportions as we can care for advantageously. 
Seminar and Journal Club—A seminar and a journal club are 
among the most stimulating of all influences to any body of 
workers engaged in scientific or other scholarly research. These 
meetings serve as a clearing house for new ideas, as a medium 
for the discussion of new problems, and as a means of keeping 
alive to new work that is being accomplished elsewhere. The 
value of these meetings does not lie in the number who attend, 
but in their motive and purpose. Such conferences are essential 
to the maintenance of a good tonus, and of a lively esprit de corps. 
Our seminar and journal club meet on alternate weeks from 
October to June, and we have been pleased, as also during 1912, 
to welcome at the meetings a number of biology teachers from 
various Brooklyn high schools. 

Miscellaneous Matters 
Meetings at the Garden.—The meeting of the Japan society on 
May 21, as the guests of the Central Museum and the Garden 
jointly; the meeting of the Sullivant Moss Society on May 24; 
the first meeting of the International Phytogeographical Excur- 
sion at the Garden and at the Hempstead Plains, under the 
auspices of the Garden, on July 27; and the opening reception 
and inspection of the new buildings for the trustees and members 
of the Council of the Institute, and the members of the Depart- 
ment of Botany, and their friends, on December 13, have all been 
recorded in various issues of the REcorp. 
