184 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1442 



dred miscellaneous specimens of fishes and rep- 

 tiles. He is now carrying on local field work, 

 having in view the collection of material for 

 several butterfly groups. 



E. W. Miner, of the department of inverte- 

 brate zoology, is continuing field studies in 

 southern New Jersey in connection with the 

 construction of a new rotifer group. Assisting 

 him is Research Associate Frank J. Myers, 

 whose well equipped laboratory at Ventnor, 

 New Jersey, is the basis of operations. 



Dr. Russell J. Coles is collecting material 

 for the department of ichthyology off the coast 

 of North Carolina. Mr. Louis L. Mowbrey 

 has sent in some important material for this 

 department from the Florida waters. 



Dr. G. K. Noble, of the department of 

 herpetologjf, accompanied by Mrs. Noble, has 

 left for the Dominican Republic. The chief 

 object of this expedition is to secure data, pho- 

 tographs and material toward the construction 

 of the two habitat groups for the new Hall of 

 Reptiles in the museum. The West Indian 

 region is rich in reptilian and amphibian life. 

 Perhaps the two most striking creatures in this 

 locality are the rhinoceros iguana and the giant 

 tree frog. Both these forms are confined to 

 the island of Santo Domingo. The expedition 

 will travel over a large part of the island in 

 the course of its investigations. The rhinoceros 

 iguana is found 'to-day chiefly in the arid south- 

 western portion of the island in the vicinity of 

 a dead sea, the surface of which is more than 

 a hundred feet below sea-level. The giant tree 

 frog has been taken only in the Central Cor- 

 dillera and on the Quita Espuala, a range of 

 mountains in the northeastern part of the 

 island. It will be necessary for the expedition 

 to carry on its work during the height of the 

 rainy season in order to secure information in 

 regard to the life history of the giant tree frog. 

 Although this species is the largest and most 

 spectacular tree frog in the world, its life his- 

 tory is entirely unknown, and the expedition 

 hopes to secure valuable scientific data as well 

 as exhibition material. 



While field work in the department of an- 

 thropology is necessarily restricted for the 

 present year, nevertheless, Mr. Nelson, of the 

 Division of Archeology, is in Eui'ope, engaged 



in a study of the paleolithic and neolithic col- 

 lections in the museums abroad, and will en- 

 deavor to secure specimens to round out the 

 exhibition series in this museum. During his 

 trip Mr. Nelson will visit Norway, Sweden, 

 Spain and Belgium. 



Earl H. Morris, who for a number of years 

 has been engaged on the Huntington Expedi- 

 tion work at Aztec, New Mexico, in company 

 with Charles L. Parnheimer, of this city, is 

 now busy making a general reconnaissance of 

 the Navajo mountain region of New Mexico. 

 Dr. P. E. Goddard, of this department, accom- 

 panied by Lieutenant G. T. Emmons of 

 Princeton, left early in June for a trip to the 

 Northwest Coast. It is the intention of this 

 party to secure specimens and authentic data 

 which will make possible an early completion 

 of the North Pacific Coast Hall. 



PROPOSED FEDERATION OF AMERI- 

 CAN BIOLOGICAL SOCIETIES 



The second conference called to consider the 

 question of cooperation or federation among 

 biological societies met in Washington in the 

 rooms of the National Research Council, on 

 April 23, 1922. This meeting was held in pur- 

 suance of a resolution adopted at an informal 

 conference in Toronto, December 27, 1921, and 

 approved by the societies there in session. The 

 conference organized under the chairmanship 

 of Professor L. R. Jones, who had also pre- 

 sided over the Toronto gathering. 



Plans for the 1922 meeting, in so far as they 

 could be arranged by agreement among the 

 officers of the several societies, were entrusted 

 to a committee consisting of the secretaries of 

 the American Society of Naturalists, Botanical 

 Society of America, and American Society of 

 Zoologists, in cooperation with the permanent 

 secretary of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science. 



The view was generally expressed that the 

 conference should, if it decided to recommend 

 any form of federation, present a definite plan 

 of organization. A committee was accordingly 

 raised to formulate such a plan. This com- 

 mittee, of which Professor F. R. Lillie was 

 chairman, reported to the conference the fol- 



