THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 101 



BUSINESS MEETING. 



Saturday, P'ebruary 21, 1891. 



An adjourned meeting of the Society was holden at eleven 

 o'clock, the President, William H. Spooner, in the chair. 



The following report was presented and accepted : 

 The various Committees have voted to postpone the P^xhibitiou 

 of March 25, 26, and 27, to March 31, and April 1, 2, and 3, as 

 the first-named dates occur in the week preceding Easter, when 

 plants and flowers will be scarce. 



Patrick Norton, 



E. W. Wood, 



F. L. Harris, 

 C. N. Brackett, 

 Arthur H. Fewkes, 

 John G. Barker. 



Horticultural Hall, Boston. 

 February 14, 18!tl. 



Adjourned to Saturday, February 28. 



MEETING FOR DISCUSSION. 

 The Geographical Distribution of Plants. 



By W. F. Gaxoxg, Instructor in Botany, Harvard University, Cambridge. 



The subject I am to present to you this morning, as you may 

 perceive from its title, is not horticultural. A Botanist trained in 

 the methods of scientific Botany today, does not necessarily know 

 much, or anything, of those practical details so essential to the 

 successful pursuit of the most delightful of avocations — that which 

 is the province and pleasure of the members of this Society. Yet 

 Horticulture ought to be, and is, a broadening study, and I am 

 sure that a short excursion into fields of more abstract science will 

 have more than a passing interest for you. 



Certainly the field to which I invite you is broad enough and 

 scientific enough, being no less in extent than the earth's whole 

 surface, and the laws which govern the position upon it of every 



