January 6, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



31 



Ernest A. Bessey, ia ' How some Pistils close 

 up,' gave a study of the pistils of the buttercup 

 and larkspur. 



' Observations on the Leonid Meteors of 

 1898,' by Professor G. D. Swezey. Observations 

 made simultaneously at Lincoln, Crete and Bea- 

 trice, from which the heights and actual paths 

 of a number of the meteors was determined. 



A. B. Lewis read a paper on 'The Occur- 

 rence of a Fresh-water Nemertine in Nebraska,' 

 ■which described a marine animal which has been 

 discovered in fresh water near the round house. 



Miss Carrie Barbour showed geodes from the 

 Bad Lands, formations which are called by the 

 cowboys blossom- stones. 



Notes on the ' Falling of Leaves from a Cot- 

 tonwood Tree,' by C. J. Elmore, described a 

 tree sixteen inches in diameter and forty-five 

 feet high. The Cottonwood was shown to 

 adapt itself to climates and conditions and to 

 be unaffected by the change of seasons. 



Dr. R. H. Wolcott, of the zoological depart- 

 ment, read a paper on ' The Hydrachnidas of 

 Nebraska.' He had already found sixteen new 

 species and one new genus. 



The geology of Lincoln's surroundings, as de- 

 scribed last year by C. A. Fisher, was illus- 

 trated by charts and outlines by Miss Barbour. 



The following papers were read by title only: 

 ' Botanical Notes for the Year 1898,' by Dr. C. 

 E. Bessey. 'Fossil Bryozoans of Nebraska,' 

 by Mr. G. E. Condra. ' Some new Grasshop- 

 pers and other related Insects from Argentina,' 

 by Professor Lawrence Bruner. ' A new Bird 

 Tape Worm,' by Mr. Geo. E. Condra. ' On the 

 Poisonousness of Pure Water,' by Dr. A. S. 

 von Mansfelde.' ' Obituary of Professor Wells 

 H. Skinner;' by Mr. A. T. Bell. 



The following persons were elected to honor- 

 ary membership in the Academy : Alexander 

 Agassiz, LL.D.; John M. Coulter, LL.D.; Pro- 

 fessor Samuel H. Scudder ; Joseph Le Conte, 

 LL.D.; Simon Newcomb, LL.D.; Dr. Otto 

 Kunze ; Professor Victor Hensen. 



The election for officers resulted as follows : 

 President, Professor G. D. Swezey, of Lincoln ; 

 Vice-President, Dr. H. Gifford, of Omaha ; Sec- 

 retary and Custodian, Professor Lawrence 

 Bruner, of Lincoln ; Treasurer, G. A. Loveland ; 

 Directors, Professor Charles Fordyce, of Univer- 



sity Place, and Professor J. H. Powers, of Crete ; 

 Professor H. Brownell, of Peru. 



SCIENCE CLUB OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, 

 EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. 



At the December meeting of the Science 

 Club, of Northwestern University, Professor A. 

 R. Crook, of the department of mineralogy, 

 read a paper on ' Notes on Russian Geology.' 



Until within recent years the number of Rus- 

 sians working in geology has been insignificant. 

 The results of their work have for the most 

 part been published in a language inacces.sible 

 to non-Russians. The police barrier erected by 

 the government against travelers has kept out 

 foreign geologists. Hence our knowledge of 

 Russian geology has been meagre. The meet- 

 ing of the International Geological Congress in 

 St. Petersburg was an event of great impor- 

 tance. A hundred workers from other lands 

 visited mines and formations from one part of 

 the country to the other, and thus gained a per- 

 sonal knowledge of Russian geology, an ac- 

 quaintance with the tasks and methods of work 

 of Russian geologists, and an inclination to 

 learn the Russian language. Russian geology 

 offers interesting material in paleontology, 

 mineralogy and general geology. The first 

 contains less of importance than the last two. 



The topaz, turmaline, emerald, alexandrite, 

 phenacite, amethyst, rhodonite, malachite, 

 platinum, gold and a hundred other less valu- 

 able minerals found in the Urals shed light 

 upon the association, occurrence and genesis of 

 minerals, while exhibiting the species in most 

 perfect form. 



The crystallines and eruptives of Finland and 

 the Urals, the question of the Silurian in the 

 Urals, the development of the Permian, the 

 Carboniferous of South Russia, the igneous 

 rocks of the Caucasus, together with their pres- 

 ent glaciers, and the glacial deposits which 

 cover the larger part of Russia, court investiga- 

 tion and attract the petrologist, the glaciologist, 

 the stratigrapher, the physiographer, the pale- 

 ontologist. 



Natural and cut gems, maps and lantern 

 slides were used in illustration. 



Wm. a. Locy, 



Secretary. 



