NOVEMBEB 15, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



665 



Principes et Forinules de Trigonometrie Eecti- 

 ligne et Spherique, by G. W. Myers; Schu- 

 bert's Beispiel-Sammlung zur Arithmetik und 

 Algebra, by G. W. Myers; Russell's Elemen- 

 tary Treatise on Pure Geometry, by O. 

 Veblen ; Bruns's Wahrscheinlichkeitsrecbnung 

 and KoUektivmasslehre, by H. L. Rietz; 

 Engel's Hermann Grassmanns gesammelte 

 matbematiscbe und pbysikalische Werke, Band 

 2, by E. B. Wilson; Jaumann's Grundlagen 

 der Bewegungslehre, von einem modemen 

 Standpunkte aus, by G. W. Myers; Slocum's 

 Text-Book on the Strength of Materials, by 

 G. W. Myers) ; Notes ; New Publications. 



The November number (volume 14, number 

 2) of the Bulletin contains : Report of the 

 Fourteenth Summer Meeting of the American 

 Mathematical Society, by E. N. Cole ; " On a 

 Special Algebraic Curve having a Net of 

 Minimum Adjoint Curves," by Virgil Snyder; 

 " Note on Certain Inverse Problems in the 

 Simplex Theory of Numbers," by R. D. 

 Oarmichael ; " Third Report on Recent Prog- 

 ress in the Theory of Groups of Finite Order," 

 by G. A. Miller; Notes; New Publications. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 



The first fall meeting for the year 1907 was 

 held on October 8, 1907, at the American 

 Museum of Natural History. The meeting 

 was called to order at 8 :30 by the secretary, 

 and Dr. E. B. Southwick was elected chair- 

 man. Eleven persons were present. 



The announced program consisted of in- 

 formal reports upon the summer's work and 

 observations. In response to calls by the 

 chairman the following members made re- 

 marks : 



Remarks on the Absence of Undergrowth in a 

 Hemlock Forest: C. Stuart Gager. 

 Hemlock seeds germinate freely under the 

 parent trees, but seldom attain a height of 

 more than three or four inches. It was sug- 

 gested that there may be present in the soil 

 a substance or substances secreted by the hem- 

 lock roots, and deleterious to the germination 

 and growth of hemlock seedlings. This, as 

 well as poor insolation, must be considered in 



attempting to explain why the seedlings fail 

 to develop. 



Botanical Observations made in Pownal, Vt.: 



M. A. Howe. 



Dr. Howe reported his attendance at the 

 annual summer field meeting of the Vermont 

 Botanical Club, which was held in Pownal, the 

 extreme southwestern township of Vermont. 

 In this town are the only known Vermont sta- 

 tions for Liriodendron tulipifera, Morus 

 rubra, Aster sagittifolius and several other 

 species of interest. 



Plant Studies on the Northern Coast of the 

 Gulf of 8t. Lawrence: C. B. Robinson. 

 Dr. Robinson had spent the first two or three 

 weeks of August at Seven Islands, on the 

 northern coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 about 325 miles below the city of Quebec. 

 The coast to the east of the bay of Seven 

 Islands is a nearly level sandy plain, but the 

 western side, and the islands across the mouth, 

 are formed of steep crystalline rock, a kind 

 of feldspar. A range of hills attaining 1,700 

 feet in height runs parallel with the coast 

 about ten miles inland. With the exception of 

 a few plants like Sibhaldiopsis tridentata, 

 Empetrum nigrum and Achillea millefolium 

 the rocks and the sand bore strikingly different 

 floras. There was a tendency in some cases 

 for the species of the woods to invade the sand, 

 bringing there species like Linnwa americana, 

 Moneses uniflora and Peramium ophioides. 

 Three species of Botrychium grew in still 

 more open places on the sand. The flora, at 

 best a scanty one, is particularly poor in trees. 

 The shores are lined by black spruce, and the 

 white spruce is less common. Beginning a 

 short distance from the shore, the sand plain 

 becomes a pine barren, with Pinus Banksiana 

 as practically the only tree. Two species of 

 paper birch, the fir, larch, aspen and moun- 

 tain maple are the only other real trees. It 

 had been hoped that the higher latitude would 

 sufiiciently compensate for altitudes lower than 

 those of the hills of Gaspe, and thus give a 

 flora comparable with that of the latter. A 

 few such species were found, among them Dia- 

 pensia lapponica, Vaccinium ovalifolium, Y. 

 uliginosum, Comandra livida, Euphrasia Ban- 



