June 24, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



867 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



MEETING OF THE NEW YORK SECTION OP THE 

 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 



The New York Section of the American 

 Chemical Society held its meeting on the third 

 instant at the College of the City of New York, 

 forty-four members present, and Dr. Wm. Mc- 

 Murtrie presiding. 



The following papers were read : 



(1) F. J. Pope, ' A Preliminary Note on the 

 Titaniferous Magnetites of Eastern Ontario.' 



(2) E. J. Levine, ' A Comparison of Some 

 Methods used for the determination of Starch.' 



(3) C. H. Fulton, 'The Assay of Teluride 

 Ores.' 



(4) W. S. Meyers, ' Note on a Convenient 

 Method for Maintaining Reduction of Ferrous 

 Solutions.' 



(5) C. F. McKenna, 'Slag Cements.' 



(6) G. L. Heath, 'A Short Study of Methods 

 for the Estimation of Sulphur in Coal. ' Read 

 by title. 



Dr. McKenna' s paper gave a very interesting 

 resume of the status of slag cements and was dis- 

 cussed by Messrs. Richardson and McMurtrie. 



A report by the Secretary showed that nine 

 regular and two special meetings had been held, 

 at which thirty-five papers had been read, with 

 an average attendance of about fifty. The 

 membership of the section is 276. 



The election of officers for the ensuing year 

 took place in accordance with the recent action 

 of the Section in ordering the election for the 

 June meeting instead of October, as formerly, 

 thus enabling the summer months to be more 

 profitably used in accumulating material for the 

 next season's meetings. 



Dr. McMurtrie was unanimously re-elected 

 Chairman, after a neat little speech by Professor 

 Bogert, in which the appreciation of the Section 

 was well expressed for the efficient conduct of 

 the meetings during the season. Dr. McMurtrie 

 replied that it was his desire that some one else 

 should succeed him, but that if it were the wish 

 of the section to have him continue in office an- 

 other year he would not decline, but would 

 continue in the efibrt to make the New York 

 Section the largest and most active of any of the 

 sections ; in which effort, however, he needed 

 and desired the hearty cooperation and assist- 



ance of every member, present and absent. On 

 motion the nominations were closed and a 

 unanimous rising vote taken. 



Durand Woodman was re-elected Secretary 

 and Treasurer, no other nomination being made, 

 as also the Executive Committee — C. A. Dore- 

 mus, A. C. Hale and A. A. Breneman. Dele- 

 gates to the Scientific Alliance — E. E. Smith 

 and Marston T. Bogert. 



The next meeting will be held early in 

 October. Durand Woodman. 



Secretary. 



TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, APRIL 12, 1898. 



The scientific program was as follows : 



1. Dr. Underwood presented a paper by Rev. 

 E. J. Hill, of Chicago, on ' Vitis Labrusca and 

 its Westward Distribution,' describing its 

 growth on the sand-hills south of Lake Michi- 

 gan, there showing, among its specific charac- 

 ters, a tough skin and pulp, large seeds, blue 

 to vinous-purple color, and globose or depressed 

 fruit even larger than in cultivated varieties, 

 such as the Concord. 



Discussion followed. Dr. Britton speaking of 

 the high value to be attached to the character 

 founded on intermittent tendrils. The Secre- 

 tary and Dr. Rusby spoke of pink, purple and 

 other colors among its variants in nature. Mr. 

 Rydberg mentioned the similar wide range of 

 color-variants in Prunu,i in Nebraska, where 

 leaf and other characters may be indistinguish- 

 able, but the fruit will vary in color, and also 

 in flesh, taste and flavor. 



2. A communication on ' South American 

 Piperaceee ' was presented by Dr. Rusby, on 

 behalf of Professor Casimir de Candolle. Pro- 

 fessor de Candolle, in studying the last of the 

 collections in this family made by Mr. Bang, 

 had also determined a considerable number of 

 Bolivian specimens pertaining to the early 

 collections of Weddell, Mandon and others. 

 Among the results were the eleven new species 

 now described. These new species were ex- 

 hibited, and remarks were also made by Dr. 

 Rusby descriptive of the habits and appearances 

 of these plants as they grow in the Andes. 



Dr. Britton spoke of the interest attaching to 

 the Piperacese as the simplest type of the Dicoty- 

 ledons, because of the simple character of the 



