30 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 392. 



second map, in 1879, shows them narrower, 

 straighter and in every way more peculiar. 

 His third map, in 1882, presents them as of 

 geometric precision; as he himself remarks, 

 as if laid down by rule and compass. His 

 fourth map shows that they afterward kept 

 such a character. 



Had their precision been of his devising, 

 they should not have gained in it as time went 

 on and his eye grew versed in decipherment. 

 That they did so implies that the recognition 

 was forced upon hiui from without. 



9. The third deduction is : 



III. That an evolution in detail marks the 

 series, and can be traced steadily on from the 

 beginning to the end. The additions made in 

 each period find themselves superposed upon 

 the work of the period before. Similarly 

 each map of any given period adds to its pre- 

 decessor and is corroborated and extended by 

 its successor. Thus a chain of evidence is 

 made by them whose strength depends upon 

 this very intertwining of results. 



The discussion called forth by the paper 

 was participated in by many, among whom 

 was Mr. Nikola Tesla. S. A. Mitchell. 



TORREY BOT.-iNICAL CLUB. 



A MEETING of the Club was held at the New 

 York Botanical Garden on May 28. 



The first paper on the program was by Mrs. 

 N. L. Britten under the title of ' Remarks on 

 West Indian Mosses.' Comments were made 

 on several questions of synonymy and nomen- 

 clature arising from a study of collections 

 recently made in Porto Eico by Mr. A. A. 

 Heller and by Professor Underwood, and in St. 

 Kitts by Dr. Britton. Attention was directed 

 particularly to the genus Sematophyllum, Mitt. 

 1864 {=Raphidostegium, De Not. 1867=Rhyn- 

 chostegium, section Raphidostegium Br. & Sch. 

 1852). This genus is chiefly tropical or sub- 

 tropical in its distribution, though eleven spe- 

 cies are known to occur in North America, 

 north of Mexico. 



The second paper was by Dr. P. A. Ryd- 

 berg on ' Some Genera of the Saxifragaeeae.' 

 The speaker presented some of the results of 

 studies intended as a contribution to a pro- 

 jected work on the flora of North America. 



The family name Saxifragaeeae was used in a 

 restricted sense, excluding Ribes, Hydrangea, 

 Philadelphus, Parn-assia, Itea, etc. The mem- 

 bers of the family in this narrower sense are 

 all herbaceous plants, with the exception of a 

 single species of Eeuchera which has a sort of 

 aerial woody stem. Dr. Rydberg commented 

 especially upon the genera Bolandra, Thero- 

 fon, Telesonix, Hemieva, Tiarella, Reuchera, 

 Tellima, Lithophragma, Mitella, and Chryso- 

 splenium, referring to the geographical distri- 

 bution and number of species of each. Heu- 

 chera is the largest of these genera, being 

 represented by 58 species in North America 

 including Mexico. The paper was discussed 

 by Dr. Britton and others. 



Professor F. S. Earle made a brief report on 

 a recent trip to western Texas and Eastern 

 New Mexico, stating that 800 numbers of bo- 

 tanical specimens were collected. April and 

 May seemed too early in the season for finding 

 many herbaceous plants in flower, ' and this 

 was especially the case with the monocotyle- 

 dons. 



Dr. N. L. Britton showed specimens of 

 Washingtonia longistylis collected a few days 

 previously near Washington, D. C, differing 

 from Torrey's type of the species in greater 

 hairiness. 



Mrs. Britton alluded to the organization of 

 ' The Wild Flower Preservation Society of 

 America.' Professor Earle remarked upon 

 the region west of the Pecos River, where veg- 

 etation has been nearly exterminated by over- 

 stocking with cattle, as a proper field for the 

 activities of the society. 



Dr. MacDougal showed a corm of Amorpho- 

 phallus, kept for twenty months in a dark 

 room, where it had flowered. New buds, ap- 

 parently adventitious, had formed near its 

 base. 



Marshall A. Howe, 

 Secretary pro tern. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



zoological nomenclature in botany. 



To the Editor of Science: On returning 

 from Central America I find Dr. Dall's note 



