98 INSTITUTE NOTES. 



an umbrella shaped top. In Fall all this drops off and a 

 flower stalk an inch high shoots forth. In January progress 

 is slow. Toward the middle of Februar}^ the growth is rapid, 

 some eighteen inches in six days. The flower opens and 

 yields a nauseous odor, which is retained twenty-four hours. 

 The bloom lasts about a week, when the stalk decays at the 

 base. The plant belongs, in familiar language, to the Jack- 

 in-the-Pulpit family. 



A recent development in the Institute has been the organi- 

 zation of an Electrical Section. The new Section is com- 

 posed of Junior Members, with Francis C. Beekley as chair- 

 man. The older members of the Institute are much interested 

 in the movement and some of them are regular attendants at 

 the meetings, which are held on Friday evenings. The inter- 

 est of the Section at present is directed principally toward 

 wireless work, but it is expected to go into all branches of the 

 subject. 



Through the kindness of Mrs. Welles, the Museum has 

 received a donation of a collection of five stuffed and mounted 

 owls from the collections of the late Charles S. Welles. They 

 are unusuall}- fine specimens. 



Mrs. Martha Patton, of Media, has presented to the 

 Museum of the Institute a handsomely mounted specimen of 

 Great Blue Heron {Ardea hcrodias), a bird which is seldom 

 seen at present in this neighborhood. It was shot at Palm- 

 er's Dam, Ridley Creek, near Media, in 1896, but has been 

 kept in private collections until recently. 



In view of the fact that the Institute is the only society in 

 the affiliated organizations of the Delaware Valley Natural- 

 ists' Union which publishes a journal, the Publication Com- 

 mittee would be pleased to receive suitable scientific contribu- 

 tions from members of the various societies constituting the 

 Union. 



