January 18, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



105 



cumulative in effect." This eonservatism is 

 particularly refreshing in view of the many 

 positive utterances as to the natural extinc- 

 tion of animals, the truth heing that we 

 actually hnow very little about it. T. D. A. 

 Cockerell discusses at length ' The Alpine 

 Flora of Colorado,' giving many tables show- 

 ing the northerly range and vertical distribu- 

 tion of various species : The third long paper, 

 by Thomas J. Headlee deals with the ' Blood 

 Gills of Simulium Pictipes.' The number 

 contains the title page and index for the 

 volume. 



The Museum News of the Brooklyn insti- 

 tute for January notes ' An Interesting Case 

 of Retardation of Pupae of a Texas Moth,' 

 Agapema galhina, a number of cocoons ob- 

 tained in 1903 having yielded perfect insects 

 for three consecutive years with the prob- 

 ability that one or two more may appear in 

 190Y. It is stated that the museum has ob- 

 tained by the bequest of Mr. Henry Mumford 

 the fine series of shells secured by the late 

 Isaiah Greegor comprising 2,400 species and 

 15,000 specimens. This collection by the 

 terms of the will is henceforth to be known 

 as the Phebe L. Mumford Collection. A 

 brief description is given of the exhibit of 

 the museum, under the auspices of the New 

 York Academy of Sciences, to illustrate 

 progress in zoology. The leading article in 

 the section devoted to the Children's Museum 

 is on the skunk. It is stated that while the 

 general attendance at the Children's Museum 

 is less than during 1905 the attendance of 

 teachers is much greater. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON 



The 420th meeting was held on November 

 17, 1906, with President Knowlton in the 

 chair and an audience of forty persons. 



Professor A. S. Hitchcock remarked on the 

 code of nomenclature recently adopted by the 

 International Congress of Zoologists, com- 

 paring its provisions with similar codes adopt- 

 ed in this country. Mr. A. A. Doolittle ex- 

 hibited an abnormal rose, lacking a pistil and 

 with the stem continued into the flower. 



Dr. E. L. Greene spoke ' On So-called Rhus 

 Toxicodendron.' The purpose of the paper 

 was twofold. First, that of demonstrating 

 fundamental distinctions between Rhus and 

 Toxicodendron as perfectly distinct genera, 

 according to which view no such name as 

 Rhu^ Toxicodendron should be used. Proper 

 Rhus has always a many-pinnated foliage, and 

 its inflorescence is always one only to each 

 branch and that strictly terminal. Toxico- 

 dendron as universally exhibits but three leaf- 

 lets to each leaf, and as many inflorescences, 

 almost, as there are leaves on the branch, 

 namely, one in each axil, none ever terminal. 

 The individual fruits are again as widely dif- 

 ferent in the two genera. Moreover, Rhu^ in 

 all its species is innocuous. Toxicodendron 

 is acridly poisonous in all its forms. A his- 

 toric sketch of Toxicodendron was given, be- 

 ginning with its first publication as a three- 

 leaved ivy, by Cornutus, at Paris in 1635; 

 after that, separated from the Ivy, and pro- 

 posed as a genus Toxicodendron by Tourne- 

 fort in 1694; augmented by Dillenius in 1732; 

 suppressed by Linnaeus, who made the name 

 Rhus Toxicodendron in 1753; restored to 

 generic rank as Toxicodendron vulgare by 

 Philip Miller in 1768. Secondly, a long series 

 of Toxicodendron specimens was exhibited, 

 from almost all parts of North America from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Maine 

 to central Mexico; these portraying as much 

 diversity of foliage, fruit and modes of growth 

 as, were they oaks or maples, would be ac- 

 cepted for two dozen species. Rhus Toxico- 

 dendron, so-called, is really a genus Toxico- 

 dendron made up of probably twenty or more 

 valid species. Some remarks followed, chiefly 

 on that part of the paper in which the action 

 of Toxicodendron poison and its reputed reme- 

 dies were touched upon. 



The second paper was by Dr. Barton W. 

 Evermann on 'Fish Culture and Fish and 

 Game Protection in the Cornell and Tale 

 Forest Schools.' He explained the relation 

 of fish culture and the protection of fish and 

 game to forestry and to the practical work of 

 the forester, and the consequent incorporation 

 of instruction on these subjects as a regular 

 part of technical forestry courses. His re- 



