794 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1039 



writer point to the invariable precedence of 

 the former, so that these may set up processes 

 of differentiation. M. Morse 



Madison, Wis., 



September 25, 1914 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



botanical society op WASHINGTON 



The ninety-eighth regular meeting of the Bo- 

 tanical Society of Washington was held in the as- 

 sembly hall of the Cosmos Club at 8 p.m., October 

 6, 1914. Forty members and two guests were pres- 

 ent. The following scientific program was given: 



Mr. P. H. Dorsett, "The Botanical Garden of 

 Eio de Janeiro, Brazil" (with lantern). 



Mr. W. F. Wight, "Andean Origin of the Culti- 

 vated Potato" (with lantern and specimens). 



Both papers are to be published elsewhere. 



The fourteenth annual meeting of the Botanical 

 Society of Washington was held at 1:30 p.m., Oc- 

 tober 23, 1914, with twenty-nine members present. 

 The customary reports were presented and ap- 

 proved and the following of&cers were elected for 

 the ensuing year: Dr. E. H. True, president; Mr. 

 Gr. N. Collins, vice-president; Professor C. E. 

 Chambliss, recording secretary; Dr. Perley Spauld- 

 ing, corresponding secretary; Mr. H. C. Gore, 

 treasurer, and Mr. W. E. Safford, vice-president to 

 the Washington Academy of Sciences. 



The ninety-ninth regular meeting of the Bo- 

 tanical Society of Washington was held in the as- 

 sembly hall of the Cosmos Club at 8 p.m., Novem- 

 ber 3, 1914. Forty-nine members and three guests 

 were present. Mr. Wilson Popenoe was unani- 

 mously elected to membership. The scientific pro- 

 gram was: 



Mr. Paul Popenoe, "The Date Palm in Antiq- 

 uity" (with lantern). 



The speaker referred particularly to the influ- 

 ence of the date palm on the religion of the Semi- 

 tic peoples. Prized for the food and drink it fur- 

 nished, it was revered because of the mystery of sex 

 emphasized by its monceciousness, and became 

 identified with the primitive mother goddess of 

 fertility. A sacred palm in a garden at Eridu, 

 near the mouth of the Euphrates River, is thought 

 by many investigators to be the origin of the Tree 

 of Life of the Garden of Eden, described in Gene- 

 sis. The culture of the palm was thoroughly known 

 at a very early period, the Babylonian inscriptions 

 giving reason to believe that it was more skilful 

 1900 years B.C. than it is in that region 1900 years 

 A.D. 



Mr. W. E. Safford, "The Economic Plants of 

 Ancient Peru." 



This paper was based upon collections and ob- 

 servations made by the writer while cruising along 

 the Peruvian and Chilian coast, in 1887, and while 

 acting as commissioner for the World's Columbian 

 Exposition to Peru and Bolivia, in 1891 to 1893. 

 Prehistoric graves were opened at Caidera, Iqui- 

 que, Ariea, the Eimac Valley, Ancon, Chimbote, 

 Truxillo, and the vicinity of Payta. The material 

 obtained is mainly in the Field Columbian Mu- 

 seum at Chicago and the United States National 

 Museum. In addition to objects of ethnological 

 interest many articles were found illustratiag the 

 ethnobotany of Ancient Peru. Not only were 

 seeds, seed-pods, dried fruits, leaves and tubers 

 found, but beautiful representations of many of 

 the food plants in terra-cotta, in the form of fu- 

 neral vases, were discovered in graves near the 

 coast, especially at Chimbote and Truxillo. 

 Among these were a number not included in Witt- 

 mack's list published in Eeis & Stuebel's great 

 work "Das Todtenfeld von Ancon." Beautiful 

 models in terra-cotta of the tubers of Solanum 

 tuberosum were found, also of the fruits of Sola- 

 num muricatum and Lucuma obovata, and most in- 

 teresting of all the almond-like kernels of Caryooar 

 amygdaliforme E. & P., easily distinguished by 

 their protruding recurved embryo. Another inter- 

 esting ob.-ject was a terra-cotta vase representing 

 the roots of the achira (Carina edulis). The col- 

 lections include specimens of Phaseolus vulgaris 

 and Phaseolus lunatus, a gourd full of peanuts 

 (AracMs hypogoea) and models of the same on 

 terra-cotta vases; mandioca roots and models of 

 the latter; quantities of maize and models of the 

 same on funeral vases; bags of coca leaves 

 (Erythroxylum Coca), and specimens of raw cot- 

 ton, dark brown, light brown and white, together 

 with spindles with cotton yarn upon them; looms 

 with half -woven fabrics and textiles of beautiful 

 and intricate designs. Among the most interesting 

 of the funeral vases were forms representing the 

 corn god of ancient Peru, a monster with pro- 

 truding tusks, surrounded by ears of maize; and 

 the god of agriculture, represented with a stalk of 

 maize in one hand and a stalk of mandioca in the 

 other, with a cluster of roots at the base very 

 much like those of a dahlia. 



The paper was illustrated by numerous slides, 

 principally of objects in the collection of the Field 



Columbian Museum. 



Perley Spaulding, 

 Corresponding Secretary 



