904 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. ; 



while the circumference below the girdled area 

 was about 24J inches, the tree above had ex- 

 panded to a circumference of about 47 inches. 

 The discussion developed the fact that this 

 occurrence is not unusual in some kinds of 

 trees when they have been girdled. 



The main portion of the evening was de- 

 voted to a symposium on Cuban vegetation. 



Mr. C. L. Pollard briefly suggested the eco- 

 logical areas as he recognized them, illustrat- 

 ing his remarks by mounted specimens. 



Mr. "William Palmer, of the U. S. National 

 Museum, gave an exhaustive account of the 

 geological formations of the island and their 

 effect on vegetation. Mr. Palmer also dis- 

 cussed at some length the influence annual 

 fires have had on the vegetation. 



By invitation. Dr. 0. F. Millspaugh, of the 

 Field Columbian Museum, gave a short ad- 

 dress on West Indian vegetation in general, 

 pointing out the life zones and commenting on 

 the zones of vegetation. A brief discussion 

 followed on the character of the peculiar red 

 soils common in most parts of Cuba. Mr. 

 Woods pointed out that these soils are also 

 common in Bermuda and that it is probable 

 that in many cases such soils are subject to 

 change of color after long cropping. 



Herbert J. Webber, 

 Corresponding Secretary. 



SEVENTH REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOTANICAL 

 SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The seventh regular meeting of the Botan- 

 ical Society of Washington was held at the 

 Portner Hotel, April 26, 1902, with Presi- 

 dent A. F. Woods in the chair. 



Mr. L. C. Corbett called attention to the 

 use of ether in forcing dormant plants into 

 flower. Experiments which have been eon- 

 ducted indicate that treatment with fumes of 

 ether in tight receptacles covering the tops 

 will succeed in bringing dormant plants into 

 bloom in from twelve to fourteen days. Ex- 

 periments thus far conducted have been mainly 

 with the lilac. 



Mr. A. F. Woods called attention to the fact 

 that the treatment of seeds with ether hastens 

 germination, and spoke briefly of experiments 



conducted by himself which demonstrated this 

 fact. 



Mr. V. K. Chesnut reviewed a paper by Dr. 

 Maurice Henseval entitled 'L'Abrine du 

 Jequirity,' published in La Cellule, Vol. 17, 

 pp. 139-197, 1900. In this paper the author 

 describes numerous accurately performed ex- 

 periments upon the smaller animals with 

 sterilized solutions containing a definite quan- 

 tity of the toxalbumin airin, extracted from 

 the seeds of Ahrus precatorius, showing in con- 

 siderable detail its chemical, physical and 

 physiological characteristics, especially in their 

 relation to the destruction of abrin in the in- 

 testines and by leucocytes. 



Dr. C. 0. Townsend discussed a report by 

 Professor Jones, of the Vermont Experiment 

 Station, on the 'Use of Bodo and Pyrox,' two 

 fungicides prepared by the Bowker Chemical 

 Company. Bodo, it was stated, compares in 

 general with Bordeaux mixture, while pyrox 

 compares with a mixture of Bordeaux and 

 Paris green, and is used as a fungicide and 

 insecticide. In Professor Jones' experiments 

 it was found that these preparations gave very 

 satisfactory results. Dr. Townsend also men- 

 tioned experiments made by himself with bodo 

 in which very satisfactory results were ob- 

 tained. The conclusion seemed to be that 

 while bodo may not be as effective as freshly 

 prepared Bordeaux mixture, when properly 

 made, it is probably better than improperly 

 prepared Bordeaux. 



Mr. M. A. Carleton called attention to two 

 general laws regarding seed of wheats which 

 havecome tobe generally understood. (1) That 

 in case of spring wheats seed brought from the 

 north ordinarily ripens earlier and gives bet- 

 ter yields and quality than seed of the same 

 variety brought from the South. (2) That in 

 the case of winter wheats just the opposite is 

 true, that is, that seed from the South gives 

 the best results. This was stated as being a 

 general law for winter crops. As a rule seed 

 from the South in the case of winter crops 

 ripens earlier and yields better than seed from 

 the North. Mr. C. E. Ball called attention to 

 the fact that varieties of cow-peas which in 



