72 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1151 



by Professor A. S. Eastman, University of the 

 South, Sewanee. 



"Chemists' Present Opportunities and Duties," 

 by Dr. J. I. D. Hinds, Castle Heights School, Leb- 

 anon. 



"Some Practical Applications of Bacteriolog- 

 ical Eeseareh, " by Dr. Herman Spitz, Nashville. 



"The Eaison d'etre of the Tennessee Academy 

 of Science," by Dr. Samuel M. Barton, Univer- 

 sity of the South, Sewanee. 



"The Origin of Reelfoot Lake," by Dr. A. H. 

 Purdue, State Geological Survey, Nashville. 



' ' Following the Compass across Sahara, ' ' by 

 Dr. D. W. Berky, University of the South, Se- 

 wanee. 



"James M. Safiford," by Dr. J. T. McGiU, Van- 

 derbilt University, Nashville. 



"West Indian Hurricanes: Their Origin, Move- 

 ment and Extent," by Eoscoe Nunn, U. S. 

 Weather Bureau, Nashville. (Discussed by E. S. 

 Maddox, State Forester, Nashville.) 



Annual address of the president: "The Inter- 

 relation of Plant and Animal Pathology," by 

 Professor Samuel M. Bain, University of Tennes- 

 see, Knoxville. 



The election of officers for the ensuing year re- 

 sulted as foUows: 



President, Samuel M. Barton, University of the 

 South, Sewanee, Tenn. 



Vice-president, Archibald Belcher, Middle Ten- 

 nessee State Normal School, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 



Editor, A. H. Purdue, State Geologist, Nash- 

 ville, Tenn. 



Secretary-Treasurer, Eoscoe Nunn, U. S. Weather 

 Bureau, Nashville, Tenn. 



The president appointed as members of the 

 executive committee. Dr. Brown Ayres,. Univer- 

 sity of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., and Dr. John 

 T. McGill, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. 



Eoscoe Nunn, 



Secretary 



Nashville, Tenn. 



THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 

 The 560th meeting of the society was held in 

 the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Saturday, 

 November 18, 1916, called to order by President 

 Hay at 8 p.m. with 86 persons in attendance. 



On recommendation of the council, Irwin Hoff- 

 mann was elected to active membership. 



Under the heading, brief notes, exhibition of 

 specimens. Dr. O. P. Hay exhibited one of the 

 cervical vertebras of a deer from a deposit in 

 Florida. He called attention to the fact that the 



remains of Florida deer have usually been re- 

 ferred to the existing species, Odocoileus osceola. 

 A comparison of this vertebra with the corre- 

 sponding one from recent deer, other than the 

 Florida deer, showed that possibly the extinct 

 Florida deer was a different species from the ex- 

 isting deer. Dr. Hay said that there were no ex- 

 amples of cervical vertebrae of Florida deer for 

 making comparisons, and until such examples were 

 seen the identification of the extinct deer must re- 

 main doubtful. 



Under the same heading Dr. Paxil Bartsch called 

 attention to a hybrid duck which he had lately 

 seen exposed for sale in the markets. It was a 

 cross between the black mallard and the domestic 

 duck. 



The regular program consisted of two papers : 



H. Pittier: "Forests of Panama," illustrated 

 by lantern slides. 



Professor Pittier gave first a condensed review 

 of the results to the present date of the botanical 

 part of the biological survey of Panama, under- 

 taken under the auspices of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution. Then he showed how the distribution of 

 the main ecological types of vegetation is de- 

 pendent upon the rggime of the winds and of the 

 rainfall. Mixed dicotylous forests cover at least 

 six tenths of the area of the Isthmus, the rest be- 

 ing occupied by savannas and park-like formations. 

 Eain-forests with evergreen foliage extend over the 

 entire northern watershed and part of Darien on 

 the south side. Other forests of the southern slope 

 belong to the type called monsoon-forest and are 

 characterized by the presence of many species with 

 deciduous foliage. The xerophytic character of the 

 vegetation is more marked in the broken forests of 

 the savanna-belt, without, however, assimiing an ex- 

 treme degree. The change in the composition of 

 the vegetation with the increase in altitude has 

 been dwelt upon by several travelers and botanical 

 explorers of the Isthmus; it is very gradual but 

 nevertheless very radical. Several genera of trees 

 observed at high altitudes are gregarious; there 

 are, for instance, oak-forests, subtropical or even 

 temperate in their general appearance. Lantern 

 slides illustrating types of forest, or of individual 

 trees and flowers, were shown at the conclusion of 

 the lecture. 



J. H. Paine: "Scientific Photography in the 

 Study of Insects," illustrated by lantern slides. 



During the last half of the meeting Dr. H. H. 

 T. Jackson was acting secretary. 



M. W. Lyon, Jr., 

 Becording Secretary 



