Mabch 30, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



503 



THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 165th meeting of the society was held 

 in the Cosmos Club on Thursday, March 8, 

 1906. 



Dr. Edwin A. Hill read a paper on ' The 

 Use of Physical Properties in Confirming 

 Stereochemical Inferences as to Molecular 

 Structure,' illustrating his ideas by means of 

 models. He pointed out the relation existing 

 between the melting- and boiling-points of 

 the CIS and trcuis forms of stereoisomers, and 

 showed that, in doubtful cases, this relation 

 may be of use in supplementing chemical 

 data as to structure. He also explained his 

 ideas regarding the plane projection of stereo- 

 chemical formulas of open and closed chain 

 compounds, speaking especially about the 

 paraffin hydrocarbons and the sugars. 



Dr. William Frear, chairman of the stan- 

 dards committee of the Association of Official 

 Agricultural Chemists, spoke of the objects 

 and work of that committee. He stated that, 

 in their attempts to establish standards of 

 purity for food products, they were at first 

 strongly opposed by the manufacturers, many 

 of whom now endorse their work. 



C. E. Waters, 



Secretary. 



THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



The club met at the museum building of 

 the JSTew York Botanical Garden on February 

 28. Vice-president Professor L. M. Under- 

 wood presided, and twenty-one persons were 

 in attendance. 



The first paper on the scientific program 

 was by Dr. W. A. Murrill, on ' A Destructive 

 Disease of the Chestnut Trees.' The disease 

 in question was discovered last summer by 

 Mr. H. W. Merckel in the New York Zoolog- 

 ical Park, where most of the chestnut trees 

 were found to be affected and many of them 

 injured beyond hope of recovery. Besides 

 being abundant about New York City, it is 

 known to occur also in New Jersey, Maryland 

 and Virginia, and its presence is suspected in 

 Georgia and Alabama. The disease is appar- 

 ently unknown to all our mycologists and the 

 fungus appears to be undescribed. By cul- 

 tures, inoculations and field studies, its mor- 

 phology and life history have already been 



quite well determined; but no treatment be- 

 yond clean culture can as yet be suggested. 

 The paper was illustrated by specimens, pho- 

 tographs, drawings and cultures. 



The second paper was entitled ' Crataegus 

 of Dutchess County, N. Y.,' by W. W. Eggle- 

 ston. Many herbarium sheets were shown. 

 The paper will appear in the April number 

 of Torreya. It was briefly discussed by Pro- 

 fessor Underwood. 



The last paper, by Miss Alice A. Knox, was 

 entitled ' A Cucurbitaceous Stem of the 

 Desert.' Ihervillea Bonorw, an American 

 desert species of the Cucurbitacese, is note- 

 worthy for its enormously thickened perennial 

 stem, which frequently reaches a diameter of 

 forty centimeters. This stem can exist an 

 indefinite time without water, sending up 

 yearly long flexible shoots. Its anatomy 

 shows in general the ordinary stem structure 

 of cucurbitaceous plants. There is a double 

 ring of bicollateral bundles, a ring of stere- 

 ome, and coUenchyma in the cortex. Pecu- 

 liarities of its histology are the irregular 

 number of bundles, the absence of interfas- 

 cicular cambium, and the great breadth of the 

 medullary rays. An active cambium is found 

 within as well as without the hadrome regions. 

 Scattered sieve tubes occur in the periphery, 

 and an elaborate system of secretory canals 

 adjoins the leptome regions ramifying also 

 through pericycle and cortex. In the older 

 stems supernumerary leptome bundles develop, 

 often accompanied by pitted ducts which are 

 cut off from the primary hadrome by the 

 renewed activity of the wood parenchyma. 

 A large periderm gradually forms, its cells 

 finally encrusted with calcium carbonate. It 

 is difficult to trace the age of these tubers, as 

 the medullary rays are not formed yearly, but 

 judging by the increase at the base of old 

 shoots and by the development of young 

 plants, they may sometimes be the product of 

 half a century of growth. The paper was il- 

 lustrated by drawings and living specimens. 

 The paper was discussed by Dr. Eydberg, who 

 mentioned the stem characters and geograph- 

 ical range of Cucurhita. 



C. Stuart Gager, 



Secretary. 



