FEpruaky 2, 1912] 
Association; Mr. David Van Shaack, of the tna 
Life Insurance Company, and others. The Asso- 
ciation for Labor Legislation also held an impor- 
tant meeting on Friday afternoon on ‘‘The Un- 
employment Problem in America.’’ Secretary 
Nagel presided. 
The only criticism that could be made is that 
there were too many important meetings held at 
substantially the same time, so that it was impos- 
sible to attend them all. The general result was 
that one attended that meeting wherein his own 
personal interest lay, and thus lost the opportunity 
of hearing and knowing about other subjects, 
which frequently throw a side light previously 
unnoticed on one’s own ideas and viewpoint. 
SeyrMovurz C. Loomis 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 
THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 
At the meeting of the American Philosophical 
Society, at Philadelphia, on January 5, 1912, Pro- 
fessor D. W. Johnson, of Harvard University, 
presented a paper on ‘‘The Physical History of 
tke Grand Canyon District.’’ 
Few points of geological interest appeal so 
strongly to the public as the Grand Canyon of the 
Colorado River. Both in the Canyon itself and 
in the adjacent plateaus, the geological structure 
most profoundly affects the scenery. The scenic 
features may be best appreciated if we know the 
succession of events in the physical history of the 
region which are responsible for the present sur- 
face forms. This succession was made clear by 
means of a series of diagrams representing various 
stages in the development of the district. It was 
shown that the ancient crystallines of the Granite 
Gorge, the inclined beds of the Algonkian wedge, 
and the horizontal strata of the Plateau series, as 
well as the great erosion surfaces which separate 
these groups of rocks, have all played a part in 
determining the character of the Canyon scenery; 
while the Plateau scenery has been profoundly 
affected by the north-south folds and fractures, 
yuleanism and long-continued erosion periods. 
This relation of geology to topography was shown 
by colored lantern views of the principal features 
of the district. On the basis of these views a 
more detailed analysis of certain events in the 
geologic history was presented. 
THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 
THE 7ith regular meeting of the society was 
held at the Cosmos Club, Tuesday, January 9, 
SCIENCE 
199 
1912, at eight o’clock P.M. President W. A. 
Orton presided. Twenty-six members and ten 
guests were present. E. O. Wooton and F. D. Far- 
rell were admitted to membership. 
The following papers were read: 
Botanical Gardens of the East: Lyster H. DEWEY. 
The author made a trip to Java to attend the 
International Fiber Congress and Exhibition held 
at Soerabaia in July, 1911, and visited en route the 
botanical gardens in Gibraltar, Algiers, Penang, 
Singapore, Buitenzorg, Hongkong and Taihoku, 
Taiwan (Formosa). After describing these gar- 
dens in detail the author stated that they are 
fulfilling a many-sided mission in attracting tour- 
ists, educating even the casual observer as to the 
identity of- plants, indicating the sources of plant 
products, introducing and distributing plants of 
economic value and affording research workers 
exceptional opportunities for study. 
Fermentation of Cellulose: K. F. KELLERMAN, 
I. G. McBeru and F. M. Scates. (Presented 
by Mr. Kellerman.) 
In the formation and maintenance of humus in 
agricultural soils the fermentation of cellulose is 
probably of fundamental importance, yet our 
knowledge of this question is inadequate. Omeli- 
ansky’s generally accepted conclusions that cellu- 
lose is destroyed only under anaerobic conditions 
and gives rise either to hydrogen or to methane 
are erreneous. 
Two species of cellulose-destroying and five 
species of contaminating bacteria were isolated 
from a culture of Omeliansky’s hydrogen organ- 
ism, and one cellulose-destroying and two contam- 
inating forms from his methane culture; none of 
the three fermenting species showed any resem- 
blance to Omeliansky’s hydrogen or methane fer- 
ments. In addition to the species isolated from 
Omeliansky’s cultures eleven other species have 
been isolated from various other sources; one 
isolated from manure belongs to the thermophile 
group. 
Contrary to Omeliansky’s observation that cel- 
lulose-destroying bacteria do not grow upon solid 
media, most of the species isolated were found 
to grow readily upon such media as beef agar, 
gelatin, starch and potato. Some are facultatively 
anaerobic, but none are strictly anaerobic. 
Tt is usually supposed that filamentous fungi are 
of little*importanee in agricultural soils; these 
investigations show them to be at least as impor- 
