haps to the root, as Mr. W. H. Ravenel surmises, through the 

 tubular cells in the leaf-stalk. 



F. E. Nipher called attention to the discovery of Dr. Kerr, of 

 London, who has rendered plate-glass birefrangent by submitting 

 it to electrical tension. Mr. Nipher remarked that he himself 

 had made many attempts, during the past year, to produce this 

 effect, but had never succeeded. He is engaged in a research on 

 the effect of magnets and electric currents on tesseral or mono- 

 metric crystals while in the act of crystalizing from a solution, by 

 which they appear to receive permanently the property of double 

 refraction. He will in due time present a paper on the subject. 



Dr. H. Kinnear was elected an Associate Member. 



February 21, 1876. 



Hon. Albert Todd, Vice-President, in the chair. 



Eight members present. 



The Corresponding Secretary made his usual report. 



A letter from Wm. H. Wahl, of the Polytechnic Review of Phila- 

 delphia, requesting reports of our proceedings for publication in 

 his journal, was referred to the Recording Secretary. 



Dr. Geo. Engelmann exhibited several photographs of Califor- 

 nia plants, taken by J. C. Parker of San Diego. One of them rep- 

 resented Agave Shawii, recently described by him in our Trans- 

 actions, in full bloom in January. 



He also stated that the fossil from Louisiana in this State, sub- 

 mitted to his examination four weeks ago, was coniferous wood, 

 imbedded in chert. 



The Library Committee was instructed to confer with the 

 Library Committee of the Public School Board, with a view to 

 secure cooperation in the binding of books. 



Geo. C. Pratt, George Dennison and Edmund F. Allen were 

 elected Associate Members, and Dr. G. W. Barnes of San Diego, 

 Cal., and Prof. Gustavus Hinrichs of Iowa City, Iowa, were 

 elected Corresponding Members. 



