26 
tions of the names, especially as the term plug 
as used by geologists, including Russell, does 
not imply Jateral expansion. 
The third and last paper was by Mr. J. A. 
Taff. Mr. Taff’s observations on ‘Changes in 
the Canadian River in Western Choctaw Nation, 
Ind. Ter.,’ brought out facts showing that this 
river once flowed from where it now crosses the 
Choctaw-Chickasaw line southeastward, well 
into what is now the hydrographic basin of Red 
River; that the present river has eroded its bed 
100 feet below its old channel; that the old 
river was 1 to 3 miles wide and had filled its 
channel with sand, as the present river has 
done. The migration of the Canadian north- 
ward was shown to be, most probably, due to 
capture by a tributary of Little River by head- 
water erosion along the strike of friable beds 
of sandstone and shale. The old channel of 
Canadian River was surveyed and mapped for 
50 miles. Wo. F. Morse Lt. 
May 15, 1899. 
TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
THE annual June meeting of the Academy 
was held at Austin on the 12th inst. The fol- 
lowing papers were presented : 
1. Some Theorems in Geometry : Dr. W. H. Bruce, 
Athens, Texas. 
2. Southwestern Texas : William Kennedy, Austin. 
3. The Ecology and Embryology of the ‘Rain 
Lilies :’ Felix E. Smith, Austin. 
4. ‘An Annotated Record of the Geology of Texas 
for the Decade Ending December 31, 1896,’ with re- 
marks : Dr. Frederick W. Simonds. : 
5. A Case of Fistula on the Neck of an Adult Man: 
Dr. W. W. Norman. 
6. The Behavior of Certain Caterpillars: Dr. W. 
W. Norman. 
7. Life Zones and Crop Zones in Texas: Dr. Wil- 
liam L Bray. 
The election of officers, which occurs annu- 
ally in June, resulted in the following choice: 
President, Dr. Frederic W. Simonds, Uni- 
versity of Texas. 
Vice-President, R. S. Hyer, Regent of South- 
western University, Georgetown, Tex. 
Treasurer, Professor T. U. Taylor, Univer- 
sity of Texas. 
Secretary, Dr. William L. Bray, University 
of Texas. 
SCIENCE, 
(N.S. Von. X. No. 236. 
Librarian, Dr. W. W. Norman, University of 
Texas. 
First Member of Council, H. L. Hilgartner, 
M.D., Austin, Tex. 
Second Member of Council, Professor J. C. 
Nagle, Agricultural and Mechanical College, 
College Station, Tex. 
Third Member of Council, Dr. H. W. Har- 
per, F.C.S. London, University of Texas. 
The office of Librarian was created by vote of 
the Academy, and the Librarian made ex-officio 
member of the Council. The Academy library, 
consisting thus far of valuable exchanges, is as- 
suming gratifying proportions. 
WILLIAM L. BRAY, Secretary. 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, MAY 31, 1899. 
On the part of the Committee on Nature 
Study, Miss Sanial described briefly the use of 
plant material in the vacation schools of New 
York City, and the need of donations of fresh 
flowers and other natural objects. They are 
used for study and for brush work. Many of 
the children have never seen any wild flowers 
whatever. Any one who will write to the 
Board of Education, labeling the communica- 
tion ‘For Vacation Schools,’ will receive the 
necessary blanks for forwarding, and such con- 
tributions of plant material are earnestly de- 
sired, 
Dr. Arthur Hollick followed with a brief 
abstract preliminary to a paper entitled ‘A 
Comparison between Geological Sequence and 
Biological Development in the Vegetable King- 
dom.’’ He alluded to the first occurrence of 
modern genera in the Mesozoic, and of modern 
species in the Tertiary; and to the vigorous 
growth made by lower forms of algze in the 
hot waters of Yellowstone Park, suggesting 
that similar algal life was probably character- 
istic of the earlier heated waters of the globe. 
He stated that many of the Cambrian casts 
claimed to represent alge are undoubtedly 
rightly interpreted; and then sketched the 
successive appearances of the earliest known 
gymnosperms, in the Devonian, monocotyle- 
dons, in the Triassic, and dicotlyedons in the 
Cretaceous, by the middle of which period 
many modern genera are recognized. Ferns 
and Lycopods of modern families appeared in 
