Vol i9 : o7 :iv ] Not€s and News - 463 



and for its entertainment were elaborate, and the weather was exception- 

 ally favorable. On Monday evening a reception was tendered by the 

 Local Committee at the Art Museum, through the courtesy of the Trus- 

 tees; on Wednesday evening a reception was given by the President at 

 the Hotel Somerset. The mornings were occupied with the sectional 

 meetings, the general sessions being held in the afternoons, at which the 

 bu iness of the Congress was transacted, followed by addresses, including 

 the address of the President, and addresses by distinguished delegates on 

 subjects of wide interest. The week closed with an excursion on Satur- 

 day to Harvard University. 



The Congress organized in ten Sections, as follows: I, Animal Behavior; 

 II, Comparative Anatomy; III, Comparative Physiology; IV, Cytology 

 and Heredity; V, Embryology and Experimental Zoology; VI, Entomol- 

 ogy and Applied Zoology; VII, General Zoology; VIII, Palrcozoology; 

 IX, Systematic Zoology; X. Zoogeography and Thalassogeography. 

 The names of these sections indicate how greatly changed has become the 

 lines of zoological research during a single generation; of the 300 or more 

 papers and addresses entered on the program, less than one third were 

 listed under sections VII-IX. The attempt to organize a section of Orni- 

 thology (see Auk, XXIV, April, 1907, p. 239) failed through lack of 

 response on the part of ornithologists, who, both abroad and at home, 

 seemed to take little interest in the Congress. The eleven titles on the 

 program relating to ornithology are: in Section I, J. P. Porter, A Com- 

 parative Study of Birds with respect to Intelligence and Imitation; J. E. 

 Duerden, The Influence of Domestication on the Behavior of the Ostrich; 

 F. H. Herrick, Organization of the Gull Community, a Study of the 

 Communal Life of Birds. In Section II, W. A. Locy, The Fifth and 

 Sixth Aortic Arches in Birds and Mammals. In Section IV, C. B. Daven- 

 port, Reversion in Poultry. In Section V, M. Blount, On the Cleavage 

 and Formation of the Periblast and the Germ Wall in Pigeons; J. T. Patter- 

 son, On Gastrulation in Birds. In Section VII, S. A. Forbes, A Statistical 

 Study of the Local Distribution and Ecology of Birds; C. W. Beebe, 

 Geographic Variation in Birds, with special reference to Humidity. In 

 Section VIII, C. H. Sternberg, Hesperornis regalis, the Royal Bird of the 

 West. In Section X, F. M. Chapman, Remarks on the Geographical 

 Origin of North American Birds. About sixty entries of " demonstrations, 

 exhibits, etc.," were on exhibition during the Congress, including instru- 

 ments, and apparatus, models, drawings, books, and preparations, illustrat- 

 ing special lines of research. 



The Report of the International Commission on Nomenclature was 

 unanimously adopted at the general session held on Friday, and is of 

 general interest to systematic zoologists. In addition to several recom- 

 mendations in amplification of Articles 8, 14, 20 and 29. and several general 

 rulings, covering 'The nature of a systematic name,' 'The status of publi- 

 cations dated 1758,' 'The status of certain names published as manuscript 

 names,' and 'The status of certain pre-Linna3an names reprinted subse- 



