foL. XXIV. No. 12.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
183 
ittle, and wlien looking after birds cannot help 
Beping half an eye on the ground. A street we 
flen travel cuts through a bank containing many 
pdules, which we often turn over, hoping to find a 
ssil. At last we have succeeded. Broken through 
be middle, it lay halfway up the bank, and there on 
fcth parts was the impress of a fern. It is about 
ree inches long, and stands out on one piece in 
[lief, while the other is depressed. One of our 
embers is deep in the study of electricity, and is 
kperimenting with batteries, motors, and galvan- 
neters in all his spare time. — May Walter, Sec. 
j 694, Plainfield, N. J., [C].— Our Chapter has been 
divided into three sections — mineralogical, botani- 
cal, and entomological. In the fall we devoted four 
meetin|;s to the lives of great naturalists. We 
have studied the big trees of California, the lotus 
of ancient Egypt, and reviewed the principal botan- 
ical orders. The botanical section has held twelve 
regular meetings and one field-day. It has seven 
members. The entomological section, with ten 
members, has held fourteen regular meetings de- 
voted to the study of butterflies. — Miss Arnold, Pres. 
[614, New Orleans, La., [C]. (Henry H. Straight 
emorial Chapter). — The year has meant a great 
ll to us, and J am really proud of the two year's 
JFowth. The young people are learning to depend 
more and more on themselves, and the Chapter is 
making a reputation for earnest, hard work. The 
Chapter is a great aid in the regular school work, 
and I am most grateful to you for originating the 
\. A . as I am sure hundreds of other teachers must 
be. I am especially delighted with one boy's pro- 
gress. "The Agassiz" has made him! I never 
before saw so wonderful a growth in two years, and 
yet a quite natural growth, — nothing startling, for 
he is of the plain, plodding sort. His growth 
would make your heart glad, and be a crumb 
of compen-sation for all the labor and anxiety that 
must have come to you as President of the A. A. 
With many good wishes from Chapter 614, very 
cordially yours, Eliza A. Cheyney, Sec. 
6j2, Ulica, N. Y., [B]. — We have ten active and 
four honorary members. We study chemistry in 
winter and botany in summer. We have held 
during the past year forty-seven meetings and three 
lield-days, besides several evening tramps, which 
liave been a delightful feature of our work. During 
the long days from June to September we met once 
a week and walked from 5 to 9 P. M., taking a differ- 
ent country road each time. — Walter S. Crocker, Sec. 
652, East Orange, N. J., [C]. — We have entered 
ipon our fourth year with undiminished interest in 
ur pursuit of "a knowledge of natural science by 
personal observation." We now have eleven active 
members, the last one to join us being a grand- 
mother who is devoted to botany. We have held 
our meetings regularly every other Monday after- 
noon, excepting for two months in the summer. 
Botany is still our favorite study, but many of us 
are also interested in birds, and a few of us in 
insects and rocks, and our collections in all are 
increasing steadily. Two members of the geologi- 
cal section met regularly all winter, and completed 
the study of the minerals of the second grade in 
Professor (juttenberg's course. Last summer our 
former President, who is now an honorary member, 
mounted ojr botanical specimens, so that we now 
have an herbarium of nearly 200 plants, which we 
found a great help in our winter meetings. Papers 
have been read by members on dragon-flies, owls, 
orchids, and bats, and many specimens of each 
were also shown. The "personal observations" 
of members reported at each meeting have become 
more and more interesting. We have been repre- 
sented at the meetings of the New Jersey Assembly, 
and some of us have gone on most of the Hill and 
Dale Club excursions. As the latter has had so 
many excursions, our Chapter has only made two — 
one up the Passaic River in a naphtha launch, and 
the other to Short Hills. One member had her 
class in school celebrate Agassiz's birthday, and one 
has joined the Wilson Ornithological Chapter. — 
Dr. Mary D. Iliissey, Sec. 
699, Odin, Pa., [A]. — This Chapter is much scat- 
tered at present. One member being in college, 
an,d the Chairman and Secretary being nine miles 
apart, of course regular meetings are nearly impos- 
sible. Yet we have done some good botanical 
work. I inclose a list of the flowers observed by 
our younger members. — Mrs. Emma H. Beebe, Sec. 
It gives us pleasure to announce that Pro- 
fessor Guttenberg is now issuing the leaflets 
and specimens for the third grade of his 
course in mineralogy. Perhaps we cannot 
better notice this most excellent course than 
by reproducing the professor's latest circular. 
COURSE OF MINERALOGY 
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
(Agassiz Association Course.) 
PLAN OF THE COURSE. 
The student receives a book and a handsome par- 
titioned box containing twenty-five minerals; the 
minerals are numbered, but not labeled ; the student 
determines the minerals by means of the directions 
given in the book, draws up a report and sends it to 
the author; if the report is satisfactory, the student 
can take a higher and more difficult grade if he so 
desires. There are four grades in all. 
PK1C£ FOK HOOK AND COLLECTION (FIRST GKADE) ONE 
DOLLAR. POSTAGE, 25 CENTS. 
In the First Grade, the student learns to determine 
minerals by examining their hardness, lustre, color, 
transparency, streak, taste, and odor; all he needs 
for this is a streak and scratch plate, which is fur- 
nished with the collection, and a pocket-knife. The 
collection for this grade has been .selected with a 
view of enabling even those who do not care to go 
further in the course, to determine most of the com- 
mon stones and to get an idea of the relations and 
differences that exist between minerals. 
In the Second Grade, the easier chemical tests are 
introduced, such as tests with acids, flame tests, 
heat tests with the open and closed tube. Part 
of the necessary tools are furnished with the collec- 
tion. 
In the Third Grade, the student is initiated in the 
art of using the blow-pipe, and of determining the 
ores of the useful metals. The collection contains 
the necessary minerals for these lessons. 
The Fourth Grade is devoted to the study of crys- 
tals, and the collection for this grade consists prin- 
cipally of specimens showing characteristic crystal 
forms. 
+♦► 
CHAPTER ADDRESSES, NEW AND 
REVISED. 
No. of 
No. Name. Members 
Ul HKlclontieW, .\..J. A 14 
Mrs. 11. A. Cawley. 
.578 liHliaiiapulis, Ind. 1> 33 
Miss Kose Kliiott, 374 I'l'i'u St. 
343 SprinjirtcU'l, III. A 5 
J. Kieigli Taylor, 984 Kciteiprisc St. 
180 London, s. W., Knglanil. A -a 
A. N. Copelanil, Ulukc House, Woodlielil Ave. 
ail l)ela\vai-e, o. B 4 
K. T. HraiHleburjf. 
181 Sanfonl.Fla. A 5 
Robert WJ-llfc, Sylvan Lake, Flu. 
325 Cattaraugus, N Y. B '. 4 
Clarence B. Farrar. 
3>6 Galesburg, 111. B i) 
Oscar Larson. 7U5 Brook St. 
132 Bliffilo,N.Y. B 17 
liiclaril K. Morgan. UM Ellicott St. 
3.32 Tombstone, Ariz A 6 
Miss CaiTle F. Bagg. 
Reports of Chapters i-ioo should reach 
the President by January i. 
The Agassiz Association is a society com- 
posed of members of all ages, who are inter- 
ested in natural science, and who are willing 
to study by the modern approved methods 
of per.sonal observation and laboratory work, 
instead of by the old rote methods of reading 
and committing to memory lessons from books. 
All are cordially invited to join. Full partic- 
ulars and illustrated circulars free. Address, 
Mr. II. H. Ballard, President A. A., 50 
South Street, Pittsfield, Mass. 
OBSERVATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY- 
SUMMER OF 1890. 
BY J. E. WALTER, 
PERU, IND. 
(selections from prize ESSAY.) 
[Mr. Walter's complete notes would nearly fill an entire \ 
number of the Science News, and are profusely illustrated 
with beautiful penand-ink drawings, of which we reproduce a 
few of the best examples.— Ed. J 
ARIS-tMA TRIPHYLLUM. 
So well known is jack-in-the-pulpit that a descrip- 
tion is almost out of place here. However, a few 
remarks may be appropriate. Fig. i represents a 
young plant just coming up. May 6, 18S8, and Fig. 
2 another plant. May 20, 188S. In the summer 
of 1889 I saw a very large plant, a leaf of which 
was thirteen inches long and nine inches broad. I 
Fig. I. 
have noticed some variations in the color of the 
spathe. The most of them are green, striped with 
light green; but I have noticed some plants where 
the spathe was nearly black, with light stripes. 
I will now mention some abnormal growths I 
have observed of the Indian turnip, this being the 
principal reason of my speaking of this plant. 
June 3, 1888, I met with the plants represented by 
sketch No. 3. The larger is the one particularly 
noted. It consisted of a single stem, which, instead 
of being solid as it is in a perfect plant, was hollow, 
as shown by Fig. 4. A is a vertical section of the 
stem, and shows the hollow running from the 
tuberous root nearly to the top, where it ends 
almost at the surface. B is a cross section one inch 
above the root. Fig. 5 shows cross sections of the 
stem of a normal plant in comparison with the one 
just named. The leaf of this plant was trifoliate. 
