Records of Meetings 165 



/• A-D. June 1913- The author notes that many tetra- and tricarpellary 

 nuts were found in a lot from a grove in Santa Ana, Calif. 



Tri- and Tetracarpellary Walnuts. F, Alex. McDermott. Torreya 14: 

 127. July 1914- The author refers to his previous article and states that 

 since then he had obtained a lot of 106 abnormal walnuts from the same place, 

 89 tricarpellary and 17 tetracarpellary. 



Who will be the first one to contribute a tetracarpellary nut to our col- 

 lection? 



2. A weather phenomenon worthy of record is that on Sunday, December 

 26, 1915, at about 6.15 a. m., thunder and lightning accompanied a snow- 

 storm, and the steeple of the Dutch Reformed church on Tompkins Avenue, 

 New Brighton, and a dwelling house on Westervelt Avenue were struck. 

 The principal damage was done in connection with the church, where the entire 

 electric wiring system was destroyed. A long account of the storm was printed 

 in the Staten Island World of December 31, which is herewith contributed to 

 our loc?l items scrapbook. 



Mr. Harold K. Decker read a paper on the Evening Grosbeak in Greater 

 New York. (See this issue, p. 144.) 



Mr. William T. Davis read two papers: one on Interesting Records of the 

 Work of Woodpeckers (see this issue, p. 147) and one on the Local Occurrence 

 of Conocephalus strictus (see this issue, p. 149), and also read the following 

 note: 



The herring gull, Larus argentatus, usually disappears from New York 

 Bay by the middle of May. They did not do so, however, in 1915, for on 

 several occasions a number were seen in the bay in July. On July 6 five 

 herring gulls were seen; on the 7th, six in the morning, and toward evening 

 fifteen were observed flying toward their roosting place in the Lower Bay. 

 They were still present in the Upper Bay on July 21. The majority of the 

 birds were in dark plumage and were therefore not adults. Wilson's petrels, 

 Oceanites oceanicus, were also common in the Upper Bay during July 1915. 



H. H. Cleaves, 



Recorder. 



SECTION OF APPLIED SCIENCE 



During the fiscal year 1915-16 the section held a total ot 11 meetings. 

 Three of these were business meetings, seven included both a business and a 

 scientific program, and one was a joint meeting witn the Association. 



By reason of the absence of a quorum at several of the earlier meetings 

 officers were not elected until December, wh^n the following were elected: 

 August E. Hansen, chairman; Carl F. Grieshaber, vice chairman; George L. 

 Mitchill, recorder. As soon as this was effected the section held a business 

 meeting to discuss ways and means of improving the section. The result 

 was the appointment of a committee on consideration of policy, which met 

 with the sectional committee and made certain recommendations to the 

 section. The section acted on these recommendations and organized a press 

 committee to assist the recorder in securing publicity, a reception committee 

 to promote sociability at the meetings, and a membership cqjnmittee to 



