426 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVn. No. 950 



Sawflies and their BelaUons to Forestry: S. A. 



EOHWER. 



These very destructive insects were classed as 

 defoliators and wood borers, and many instances 

 of serious damage by them to growing timber were 

 given. The paper was illustrated by numerous 

 lantern slides showing various species of sawflies 

 — adults, pupEe and larvEE — and also illustrations 

 of damaged timber. 



The 506th regular meeting was held January 

 25, 1913, with the president in the chair and 47 

 persons present. 



The following resoliition relating to zoological 

 nomenclature was presented to the society with 

 the endorsement of the council and adopted unan- 

 imously : 



Whereas certain zoologists have gone on record 

 as favoring 



1. A permanent and increasing list of exceptions 

 to the law of priority, 



2. A return to the principle of elimination re- 

 gardless of the generic types that have been desig- 

 nated under the rules, and 



3. A rejection of the present unanimous vote 

 rule that has obtained for so many years in the 

 International Congress on Zoological Nomencla- 

 ture. 



Therefore, be it resolved by the Biological So- 

 ciety of Washington that we favor 



1. The consistent application of the law of pri- 

 ority in all cases, 



2. The acceptance of the first designation of a 

 genotype, regardless of the method followed in 

 designating it, and 



3. The present unanimous vote rule as making 

 for conservation and stability in nomenclature. 



Under the heading Brief Notes, etc., Paul 

 Bartsch exhibited a small photographic camera, 

 with a number of small pictures made with it 

 and enlargements of the same. He spoke briefly 

 of its convenience and adaptability to field uses. 



Barton W. Evermann reported that a wireless 

 message had just been received from Agent Lemb- 

 key at the Pribilof Islands in which it was stated 

 that the reindeer herds on St. Paul and St. George 

 had increased during the past year from 87 to 65 

 animals and that all are in excellent condition. 



The regular program consisted of two com- 

 munications : 

 Notes on the Biology of the Common Termites of 



the Eastern United States: Thomas E. Snyder. 



This paper was illustrated by many lantern 

 slides and was discussed by E. A. Schwarz. 



The Biting Poivers of Arits: W. L. McAtee. 



The speaker 's personal observations as well as 

 instances gathered from many sources were cited 

 to show the powers of these small animals. 

 Messrs. E. A. Schwarz, A. C. Weed, A. D. Hopkins 

 and the author of the paper took part in the dis- 

 cussion which followed. 



The 507th regular meeting was held February 

 8, with President Nelson in the chair and 57 per- 

 sons present. 



Professor Burt G. Wilder gave an illustrated 

 lecture on ' ' The Brain as a Guide to the Afiinities 

 of Vertebrates, ' ' basing his remarks primarily on 

 the brain of the shark Pentanchus recently de- 

 scribed by Smith and EadclifEe as the type of a 

 new family. The speaker showed by means of 

 diagrams the evolution of the selachian brain 

 from the most primitive form found in CMamydo- 

 selachus through the other Notidani to the typical 

 sharks; and announced his conclusion, from the 

 evidence afforded by the brain, that Pentanchus 

 is not a notidanid. He did not venture, however, 

 to say just what the systematic position of this 

 shark may be until the vertebrse and intestine 

 have been studied, although it is certainly not 

 related to the Scylliorhinidffi, to which Eegan ' 

 assigns it on the theory that the single dorsal fin 

 is an abnormality. 



In the discussion which followed, H. M. Smith 

 said that in assigning Pentanchus to the order of 

 ancient sharks, partly on account of the single 

 dorsal fin, he and Mr. Eadcliffe had been aware 

 of characters in which this shark differs from 

 typical Diplospondyli, but that no other course 

 seemed expedient at the time the preliminary 

 description was published. The vertebrs, while 

 not diplospondylous, but modified cyclospondylous, 

 are of a very primitive type, being only half the 

 size of those in a seylliorhinid shark of the same 

 length, with an extremely small centrum and a 

 very large neural canal. 



Theodore Gill discussed the subject at length, 

 and agreed with Professor Wilder in attaching 

 great taxonomic importance to the brain in sharks 

 and rays. He had concurred in the assignment of 

 Pentanchus to the Notidani, and now regarded it 

 as the type of a peculiar family whose afiinities 

 remain to be determined. 



D. E. Lantz, 

 Becording Secretary 



' Science, July 19, 1912. 



