18 Proceedings of Indiana Academy of Science 



who came on the three o'clock train the next morning located head- 

 quarters by the pile of peanut shells off the sidewalk. Maurice Thomp- 

 son was there with his gun. He was trying to get specimens of two 

 species of woodpeckers to study the anatomy of their tongues. One, 

 the Flicker, he maintained had the tongue bones poorly developed, while 

 the other, Picus, he said, had the bones so long that they passed over 

 the head to the ear. The sensations produced by the movement of an 

 insect larva in a tree were conveyed to the ear, when the bill was pressed 

 against the trunk. Thereby the bird was able to locate his game and 

 "go for him". Jenkins was not satisfied with his explanation — or pre- 

 tended not to be. He addressed the Academy, explaining his perplexity, 

 and said, "Mr. President, as near as I can make out, it is like a per- 

 son trying to smell a rotten apple through a knitting needle stuck in his 

 ear". The speaker evidently became offended at the discussion, for 

 so far as I recall he never again attended a meeting. One has to know 

 how to take these scientists. 



All in all, the spring meetings are among our most valuable ones. 

 They afford an opportunity for acquaintance and fellowship that the 

 more formal' ones do not. 



From the small group that met here 87 years ago, the Academy 

 has steadily grown. Its members are spread over the whole world. 

 Where can one go where they are not? Our organization is highly 

 regarded in the scientific world. Many times have I heard it spoken 

 of by leaders in the scientific field as the best of all the state academies 

 of science. 



Here we are, back to the place where it originated — to Brookville — 

 hail and all hail. 



