296 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 217. 



limiuary catalogues published already by this 

 Club, by Mr. W. H. Leggett in 1875-6, and by 

 Britton, Sterns and Poggenburg in 1888. Local 

 catalogues withiu our range include those of 

 Suffolk County, L. I., by Miller and Young ; of 

 Staten Island, by Dr. Hollick and others ; of 

 New Jersey, by Dr. Britton, Dr. Rusby and 

 others ; of Long Island, by Dr. Jelliffe. Special 

 interest attaches to Mr. Bicknell's work on the 

 Westchester County Flora. It was desired that 

 the new committee continue and combine the 

 researches contributory to the ultimate publi- 

 cation of a comprehensive Flora of the Metro- 

 politan District, adding such details as possible 

 as to ecological and quantitative characters. 



In behalf of the Committee on Local Crypto- 

 gamic Flora, Mrs. E. G. Britton reported that 

 a catalogue of the Mosses of the Botanical Gar- 

 den at Bronx Park is about to be published in 

 its annual report. 



Dr. Britton read a letter which he had re- 

 ceived that morning from Mr. A. A. Heller, 

 from Ponce, Porto Rico, announcing his arrival 

 in health. He observed many interesting 

 plants, as Crotons, in the vicinity of Ponce. 

 Mr. Henshaw is about to join him, for further 

 collections, particularly of living material for 

 the Botanical Garden. 



Dr. Britton also reported the formal opening 

 of work on January 3d, toward the great range 

 of Horticultural Houses for the Botanica 

 Garden, which it is hoped may be ready for in- 

 stallation in October. 



Dr. Rusby reported his possession of a manu- 

 script catalogue of the economic plants of Cuba 

 and Porto Rico, giving the botanic names, uses 

 and common names, in about 8 volumes of 200 

 pages each. This is the work of our corre- 

 sponding member, Professor De la Maza, of the 

 University of Havana, who, although but a 

 young man, has formed a large collection of 

 plants there, comparing them carefullj' with the 

 Charles Wright collection of Cuban plants, 

 which is also in the LTniversity of Havana. 



Dr. Britton also referred to the tour Dr. Fair- 

 child is now taking along the Chilian coast in 

 the hope of establishing some plant exchanges. 



Edwaed S. Burgess, 



Secretary. 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 495th meeting of the Society was held at 

 8 p. m., at the Cosmos Club, on February 4th. 

 An informal communication was first presented 

 by Dr. L. A. Bauer, read by Mr. J. F. Hayford, 

 entitled ' Is the Principal Source of the Secular 

 Variation of the Earth's Magnetism Withiu or 

 Without the Earth's Crust? ' The first regular 

 paper was by Mr. J. H. Gore, on the ' Begin- 

 nings of Geodesy in the United States.' The 

 second paper was by Mr. E. D. Preston, on 

 ' Geodetic Operations in the United States.' 

 Both of these papers will, probably, appear in 

 full in Science within a short time. 



E. D. Preston, 



Secretary. 



ALABAMA INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 



The annual meeting of the Alabama Indus- 

 trial and Scientific Society was held in the city 

 of Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday afternoon, 

 February 1, 1899, with about twenty members 

 in attendance. In the absence of the President, 

 Professor M. C. Wilson, caused by a delayed 

 train, the meeting was called to order by ex-Pres- 

 ident F. M. Jackson. After the reading of the 

 minutes of the last meeting, the action of the So- 

 ciety at that meeting, recommending amend- 

 ments to the State mining laws for the purpose 

 of securing monthly returns of the production of 

 the various minerals of the State, was reconsid- 

 ered, and it was decided to recommend that the 

 laws be amended so as to include only yearly re- 

 turns of the production of coal, coke, iron ores, 

 pig iron, limestone, dolomite, building stones, 

 clays, bauxite, etc. The present law requires re- 

 turns only from the producei'S of coal and coke. 



Upon recommendation of the Council, three 

 new members were elected and a number of 

 papers accepted. 



Under the head of new business, a resolution 

 was adopted favoring the passage of United 

 States Senate Resolution No. 205, ' To provide 

 for a Division of Mines and Mining in the United 

 States Geological Survey,' and the Secretary 

 was instructed to communicate this resolution 

 to the Alabama Senators and Congressmen, and 

 also to bring the matter to the attention of the 

 Commercial Club of Birmingham, with request 

 that like action be taken by that body. 



