36 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1123 



discussion of papers and of asking the original 

 speaker to answer all questions at the end of the 

 discussion and to close the same. 



Under the heading of brief notes and exhibition 

 of specimens, Dr. Howard E. Ames referred again 

 to the dorsally placed mammse of the coypu 

 (Myocastor coypu) and exhibited photographs of 

 a female coypu in the collection of the Philadel- 

 phia Zoological Society showing the mammse so 



The first paper of the regular program was by 



A. T. Speare, "Some Fungi that Kill Insects." 

 Mr. Speare spoke briefly of certain experiments 

 that were conducted in Europe about 1885, in which 

 place the ' ' green muscardine ' ' fungus was used in 

 a practical way to combat the cockchafer of wheat. 

 Eeference was also made to similar work that has 

 recently been conducted in Florida and Trinidad, 



B. W. I. The writer spoke also of the present 

 status of the chinch-bug disease and of the brown- 

 tailed moth disease. In regard to the latter he 

 spoke in detail of the methods employed in spread- 

 ing this disease in the field. At the end of the 

 paper he exhibited lantern slides illustrating vari- 

 ous types of entomogenous fungi, some of which 

 were collected by him in the Hawaiian Islands. 

 Mr. Speare 's communication was discussed by 

 General Wilcox and by Dr. Howard. 



The second paper was by L. 0. Howard: "The 

 Possible Use of. Lachnosteriia Larvje as a Food 

 Supply." Dr. Howard briefly referred to the 

 prejudice against insects as food, and gave an ac- 

 count of his experiments recently undertaken with 

 white grubs sent in from Wisconsin. They were 

 sterilized, thoroughly washed, the contents of the 

 alimentary canal removed, and were then served as 

 a salad and in a broth. They were eaten by several 

 members of the Bureau of Entomology and by Mr. 

 Vernon Bailey of the Bureau of the Biological Sur- 

 vey and were pronounced distinctly edible. The 

 speaker urged further experimentation with abun- 

 dant species of insects as to their food value. Dr. 

 Howard's communication was discussed by the 

 chair, Mr. W. E. Safford, General Wilcox and Med- 

 ical Inspector Ames. 



The last paper was by W. E. Safford: "Agri- 

 culture in Pre-Columbian America." Mr. Safford 

 described the various plants used by the early in- 

 habitants of America, particularly those of Mex- 

 ico, Central and South America, the manner of 

 their use and preparation, and called attention to 

 those employed at the present day and which have 

 been adopted by civilized man. The prominent 

 part which these plants played in the life of the 



pre-Columbian inhabitants is shown in ceremonial 

 objects, earthenware products, etc., ornamented 

 by designs based on these plants and in some cases 

 by molds of parts of plants. Mr. Safford 's com- 

 munication was illustrated by numerous lantern- 

 slide views of the plants under consideration and 

 of many objects bearing plant designs. It was 

 discussed by the chair, General Wilcox and Pro- 

 fessor E. O. Wooton. M. W. Lyon, Jk., 



Recording Secretary 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 

 At the 499th regular and 37th annual meeting 

 of the Anthropological Society of Washington, on 

 April 18, Dr. John B. Swanton, president of the 

 society, read a paper on ' ' The Influence of In- 

 heritance on Human Culture. ' ' 



The speaker distinguished between the physical 

 and mental traits which one inherits in his own 

 person, and the store of ideas and things which 

 have been passed down to him by previous gen- 

 erations. The environment into which one is born 

 is of two kinds, the environment unaffected by 

 man, and the environment as modified by man; 

 and the advancement of a tribe depends on the 

 amount of environment it is able to grasp and 

 transmit. In this way a mental and material cap- 

 ital is laid up which enables further progress to 

 be taken much more easily. Nevertheless, all of 

 this world capital is not good, since false ideas 

 and injurious institutions may be transmitted as 

 well as true principles and beneficent institutions. 

 One of the most pernicious of these institutions 

 is that which permits monopolization of ideas and 

 things by limited classes. A general diffusion of 

 knowledge and improvement of the means of dis- 

 tributing it has largely destroyed monopoly in 

 ideas, but monopoly in property still persists. The 

 cure for this condition is to be found, the speaker 

 believed, either in binding together use and owner- 

 ship in such a manner that they can not be sepa- 

 rated, or in vesting ownership in an immortal body 

 such as the state and allowing use to individuals 

 during their lives. 



The following officers were elected for the en- 

 suing year: President, Dr. John B. Swanton (re- 

 elected) ; Vice-president, Mr. William H. Babcock; 

 Secretary, Miss Frances Densmore; Treasurer, Mr. 

 J. N. B. Hewitt (reelected) ; Councillors, Dr. Tru- 

 man Miehelson, Mr. Neil M. Judd, Mr. Francis La- 

 Flesche, Dr. C. L. G. Anderson, and Dr. Edwin L. 

 Morgan. Frances Densmore, 



Secretary 



