34 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 210. 



mycetes and Schizophycefe.' Mr. Lloyd re- 

 marked that the work of Strasburger (1884), and 

 later of Lister, gives evidence that the nucleus 

 of the Myxomycetes is a definite organ possessed 

 of a nuclear membrane and containing chroma- 

 tin. During cell-division the chromatin is seg- 

 regated into rounded masses lying in the nu- 

 clear plate. A spindle is formed. After the 

 formation of a fine nuclear membrane the 

 spindle fibres gradually disappear. The small 

 number of these parallel fibres and absence of a 

 cell plate led Strasburger to compare the nu- 

 cleus to the animal rather than the plant type. 

 Precisely similar conditions are, however, found 

 in some plant cells. 



The presence of a nucleus in the Schizophyta 

 has been a point of controversy. Biitschli as- 

 serts the nuclear character of the central body, 

 and regards the red granules as chromatin. A. 

 Fischer denies the accuracy of the former's con- 

 clusions, the question remaining an open one. 

 When our knowledge is complete it is highly 

 probable that the nucleus will be found to be of 

 the distributed type, of a type, therefore, com- 

 parable to that of the simpler protozoa. In any 

 case the nucleus of the lowly plants is much 

 more primitive than that of the Myxomycetes. 

 "We are led, therefore, to regard these curious, 

 much-debated forms, the Myxomycetes, as 

 either plants of a higher type than the Schizo- 

 phyta, which have degenerated, or as animals 

 related probably to the sporozoa. For the for- 

 mer view there is now little evidence. 



The Secretary addressed the Club briefly re- 

 garding the discarded species Aster gracilentua, 

 T. & G., and exhibited its type specimen, which 

 formed a sheet of the herbarium of M. A. Cur- 

 tis, now at Princeton, and was exhibited 

 through the courtesy of Professor George Mac- 

 loskie, of that University. 



Mr. Howe exhibited a number of examples of 

 WolflBa, discovered floating in Van Cortlandt 

 Lake, constituting the third recorded collection 

 within New York State of this minutest of 

 flowering plants. 



Dr. Rusby exhibited a Paulownia blossom in 

 which half an anther had grown on the outside 

 of the corolla. Dr. Britton reported two inter- 

 esting additions to the collections of the New 

 York Botanic Garden : 1st, a valuable collec- 



tion of photographs illustrating the cultivation 

 of the poppy in Asia Minor ; and 2d, a gift to 

 the Garden from Mr. Peter Barr, the English 

 horticulturist, of a collection of Narcissus and 

 Pieonia for planting in the Botanic Garden. 

 The claim of free entry as museum material 

 was at first refused by the New York custom 

 house ; but, after five different appeals, the final 

 decision was that the material was proper to an 

 outdoor museum, and free entry was granted. 

 Edwaed S. Burgess, 



Secreta7-y. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE PUMAS OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



A RECENT examination of Eafinesque's de- 

 scription of Felis Oregonensis {Atlantic Journal, 

 Vol. 1, No. 2, page 62, summer of 1832) brings 

 up an interesting question as to the relationship 

 of this name and those recently proposed by Dr. 

 C. Hart Merriam for the Pumas of our Western 

 States. 



Eafinesque in the above article describes two 

 species. The second of these is Felis macroura, 

 based on an account in Leraye's Travels, of an 

 animal resembling the Conguar of the Alle- 

 ghanies, but not larger than a cat, ' with tail as 

 long as the body, which is from one to two feet 

 long only.' The source of this information is 

 unreliable and the probability is that no such 

 animal existed. 



The first species described is, however, of 

 more importance. Rafinesque's description is 

 as follows : 



" I. Var. Oregonensis. Dark brown, nearly 

 black on the back, belly white ; body six feet 

 long, three high, tail two or three feet long. A 

 large and ferocious animal of the mountains. 

 Is it not a peculiar species? Felix [sic] orego- 

 nensis. ' ' 



In the introductory paragraph of the article 

 he says: "In addition to the article on our 

 Couguars, page 19, I have to state that several 

 other varieties of tygers are found in the west- 

 ern wilds of the Oregon mountains, or east and 

 west of them, which deserve to be noticed. I 

 find in my notes that two other varieties of Cou- 

 guar have been seen there east of the moun- 

 tains." 



The Felis macroura, he states distinctly, 



