Febkuaky 28, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



m 



3. 



FEBRUARY 4. 



Prof. Carter, of the High School, described a 

 tree about eighteen feet long and ten inches in 

 diameter from ten feet below the surface of a 

 sandstone quarry in Montgomery county, Pa. , 

 which had been turned into iron. The Hasma- 

 tite had been entirely leeched out of the sand 

 in the vicinity of the tree. 



Mr. F. J. KEELEYdescribedthe characters of 

 a microscopic preparation of jade. It was of 

 interest in connection with the ethnological dis- 

 cussion at the last meeting, as Dr. Brinton be- 

 lieved that American jade could be distin- 

 guished fi-om the Asiatic mineral by its micro- 

 scopic characters. 



FEBRUARY 11. 



A letter was read from Dr. Karl A. von Zit- 

 tel, expressing in complimentary terms his 

 gratification at the action of the Academy in 

 conferring upon him this year the Hayden 

 Memorial Geological Award. 



Papers under the following titles were pre- 

 sented for publication: 'The Earliest Record 

 of Arctic Plants,' by Theodore Holm; 'A 

 Note on a Uniform Plan of describing the Human 

 Skull,' by Harrison Allen. 



Prof. Cope exhibited and described a portion 

 of a cetacean cranium from the Neocene beds of 

 the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. For 

 a whalebone whale, which it probably was, the 

 frontal and parietal bones are of an unusual 

 character. The presence or absence of denti- 

 tion had not been determined. The specimen 

 indicated a new genus and species for which 

 the name Metopcetus durinasus was proposed. 

 Edw. J. Nolan, 

 Recording Secretary. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 255TH 

 MEETING, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8- 



F. V. CoviLLE exhibited specimens of a 

 poisonous cactus Anhalonium Lewinii from En- 

 sinal Co., Texas, stating that the tops were 

 sliced and dried and used by the Indians as an 

 intoxicant and stimulant during their religious 

 dances. The cactus was a spineless species and 

 its poisonous juice was apparently for protec- 

 tion. 



Charles L. Pollard exhibited a specimen of 

 a desert milkweed, Asclepias albicans and 

 commented on its adaptation to desert condi- 

 tions. 



David White exhibited specimens and spoke 

 at some length on ' Some Neiv Forms of Palmozoic 

 A Igse from the Central Appalachian Region. ' For 

 one of these a delicate ribbon-like dichotomous 

 and spirally-twisted organism, which seemed 

 unique in some respects, the new generic name 

 Spirophycus was suggested. Another form, 

 which, like the preceding, was found near the 

 top of the Lower Carboniferous along New 

 River, W. Va. , seemed to belong to the group 

 of Devonian AlgiB for which Pantallon in 1893 

 revived Brongniarts genus Dictyotites. But this 

 name having long ago become a synonym, was 

 rejected by the reader who proposed to substi- 

 tute for Dr. Penhallow's group the name Dictyo- 



Charles L. Pollard read a paper entitled 

 ' Observations on the Flora of the District of Co- 

 lumbia,' and enumerated a list of 17 plants new 

 to the Washington flora, in addition to those re- 

 corded in a previous paper by Mr. Holm. About 

 one-third of these consisted of weeds introduced 

 in ballast or cultivated grounds ; an equal pro- 

 portion contained stray escapes from cultivation 

 chiefly in the public parks, while the remainder 

 comprised species hitherto overlooked or pos- 

 sibly actual accessions to the flora. The author 

 also commented on the structure and relation- 

 ship of the anomalous Phacelia Covillei, giving 

 the views of various botanists upon the species, 

 and showing the proposition that it is a hybrid 

 between P. parvijlora and Macrocalyx nycielea to 

 be untenable. F. A. LucAS, 



Secretary. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The Philosophical Society of Washington 

 held its regular meeting on February 1.5th, at 

 which the following papers were presented : 

 An Expedition to Seriland, by W J McGee. 

 The Thermophone, by A. M. Ritchie, of Boston. 



This is a new instrument for measuring tem- 

 peratures. It is an electrical thermometer of 

 the resistance type, using two resistance coils 

 of diiierent metals. The description was illus- 

 trated by an exhibition of the instrument itself. 



