1028 
last fact leads me to think that the nervous 
system plays an important part in regeneration 
of planarians. A paper, soon to appear, will 
deal more fully with these facts and the inter- 
pretation of them.”’ 
At the second session of the Club, held on 
January 23, Miss Elizabeth Meek gave the 
results of a statistical study of variation in the 
mandibles of the stony-beetle. An abstract of 
this paper has already appeared in Vol. XIII. 
of SCIENCE. C. M. CHILp, 
Secretary. 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 
Art the meeting of the Club on May 14, 1901, 
the scientific program was as follows: Pro- 
fessor Underwood spoke on ‘The Genus Péeri- 
dium,’ the type of which is the widely dis- 
tributed and well known Pteris aquilina of 
Linneeus. It was separated from the genus 
Pteris by Gleditsch in 1751, followed by Scopoli 
in 1760. The principal generic character as 
distinguished from Pteris is the presence of a 
double indusium. Specimens of various species, 
varieties, and forms were shown, including 
extremely large specimens of Pleridiwm aqui- 
linum collected by the speaker in southern 
France. Three species may be recognized in 
North America. The first of these is the 
common and variable Pteridiwm aquilinum, of 
which the recently described variety pseudo- 
caudatum Clute is more or less common from 
New Jersey southward. The second species is 
Pt. caudatum, found in the extreme tropical 
of Florida. The third, which occurs in the 
West Indies, seems to be identical with a 
species originally deseribed from Brazil, though 
it has been confused with a species from the 
Society Islands. Species from South Africa, 
India, and the Hawaiian Islands were also 
mentioned. 
Dr. D. T. MacDougal gave an account of 
‘Carpotropic Movements of Flowers,’ taking 
his illustrations from plants in bloom at the 
time. The two classes of movements.of flowers 
are the induced or protective and the develop- 
mental or automatic. Of the former, the wild 
carrot furnishes a good example, its umbels 
being erect during the day and pendent or 
inverted at night. The segments of the perianth 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Vou. XIII. No. 339. 
of the tulip also furnish a good illustration of 
movements induced by changing conditions of 
temperature. 
Developmental movements, 7. e., those due 
to forces which originate within the plant, are 
well shown in the inflorescence of Allium 
Neapolitanum. The inflorescence here is nod- 
ding when in the bud, but the development of 
the flowers sends a stimulus to the curved por- 
tion of the peduncle, causing it to straighten. 
In addition, the plant is provided against 
accident by the fact that each pedicel has 
the power of independent movement. Each 
pedicel will bend so as to erect the flower if 
the peduncle is prevented from straightening. 
Under normal conditions the pedicels take 
positions separating the flowers equally. In 
Claytonia Virginica the buds are nodding, the 
flowers erect. After fertilization, there is an- 
other curvature, more abrupt and nearer the 
base of the pedicel. In Streptocarpus, the flower- 
stalk is curved and somewhat coiled in the bud, 
while the open flower is horizontal, bending 
the stalk at a right angle, and after fertilization 
the maturing fruit becomes erect. The move- 
ments of the fruit, in many cases at least, are 
for the better dissemination of the seeds, and 
the movements of the flower are commonly 
connected with methods of fertilization. Dr. 
MacDougal referred also to the curious de- 
velopment of the cotyledons in Streptocarpus. 
One of the cotyledons ceases to grow after a 
time, while the other elongates very much. In 
one species, this cotyledon remains the only 
foliage of the plant. 
~ Dr. N. L. Britton gave an account of ‘An 
Undescribed Species of Stachys.’ He remarked 
that many North American species were until 
a few years ago referred to the Stachys palustris 
of Europe, but have more recently been rec- 
ognized as distinct. A plant which grows on 
the sand hills along the beach near New Dorp, 
Staten Island, is really very different from the 
European S. palustris, and may safely be con- 
sidered a new species. It has been collected 
in Michigan by Mr. Farwell and a specimen 
from Illinois is in the Chapman Herbarium. 
The species is apparently confined to sandy 
shores. M. A. Howe, 
Secretary pro tem. 
