188 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



October, 



ican Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, although not show- 

 ing as large an attendance as some 

 other meetings, was one of the most 

 profitable which the writer has ever 

 attended. The people of Buffalo 

 were very earnest in their effort to do 

 all in their power toward the success 

 of the meeting. 



vSeveral very pleasant receptions 

 and excursions were given the mem- 

 bers, including an excursion to Niag- 

 ara and dinner at the International 

 Hotel. 



The section of biology in which 

 the readers of the Journal will be 

 more particularly interested listened 

 to a good number of able papers. 

 The following, among those read be- 

 fore the section, were based upon mi- 

 croscopical research to a greater or 

 less degree : — 



Prof. W. J. Beal, of Michigan 

 Agricultural College, gave the re- 

 sults of investigation regarding the 

 arrangement of the bulliform or hy- 

 groscopic cells in the leaves of 

 grasses and sedges, showing the rel- 

 ative position of these cells in a con- 

 siderable number of species and the 

 relation of their position to the roll- 

 ing or falling of the leaf to prevent 

 excessive evaporation. 



Prof. J. M. Colter, of Wabash 

 College, Indiana, showed that a 

 much more satisfactory classification 

 of the pines of North America can 

 be given if it be based upon certain 

 anatomical characters of leaves. Dr. 

 W. G. Farlow, of Harvard College, 

 presented some important facts relat- 

 ing to the life-history of several of 

 our United States gymnosporangia, 

 with special reference to the identity 

 of cei'tain forms heretofore described 

 as species of other groups, with early 

 stages of gvmnosporangia. 



Prof. D. E. Salmon, of the U. S. 

 Agricultural Department, gave the 

 results of a somewhat elaborate se- 

 ries of experiments to determine the 

 cause of immunity from contagious 

 diseases resulting from inoculation 

 with attenuated virus. Subsequently 



Prof. Salmon presented a paper upon 

 the 'Theory of Immunity from 

 Contagious Disease,' based upon the 

 results of these experiments. Prof. 

 J. S. Kingsley, of Salem, Mass., 

 described in one paper an ingenious 

 method of orientation of small ob- 

 jects, and gave an outline of the re- 

 sults of his observation upon the em- 

 bryology of Cromgon. 



Dr. C. S. Minot, of the Harvard 

 Medical School, presented the results 

 of his researches on the development 

 of the human chorion. In a subse- 

 quent paper he discussed certain im- 

 portant homologies in the segmenta- 

 tion of the orum in vertebrates, show- 

 ing that some of the supposed dis- 

 crepancies are disproved by the most 

 recent investigations. Prof. C. R. 

 Barnes, of Purdue University, pre- 

 sented a valuable contribution upon 

 the revision of the North American 

 species of the genus Fissidens. Pro- 

 fessors Salmon and Theobald Smith 

 contributed interesting facts in regard 

 to nature and variability of the Bac- 

 terium of swine-plague, and Prof. 

 S. A. Forbes, of Champaign, 111., 

 on • Some Contagious Diseases of 

 Insects,' particularly referring to a 

 contagious disease of the ' cabbage- 

 worm,' and experiments to ascertain 

 if the disease can be caused to prop- 

 agate itself to such a degree as to be 

 a benefit to the gardener in ridding 

 him of the troublesome pest. 



Miss Fanny R. Hitchcock pre- 

 sented some valuable observations in 

 regard to the nature of the crystalline 

 stvle in JSIva arenaria. 



The papers read before the section, 

 which were not directly based upon 

 microscopic investigations, were as 

 follows : — 



'Atavism the Result of Cross- 

 Breeding Lettner,' by E. Lewis 

 Sturtevant, of Geneva, N. Y. 



' Plan for Laboratory Work in 

 Chemical Botany,' by Lillie J. Mar- 

 tin. 



' A Study in Agricultural Botany,' 

 by E. Lewis Sturtevant. 



' Biology of Timber Trees, with 



