220 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XLIII. No. 1102 



bers were elected and three honorary members, 

 consisting of Dr. Jacob Bigelow, Dr. William 

 Darlington and Dr. William P. C. Barton. Meet- 

 ings of the society were held until March 27, 

 1826, when the society adjourned sine die. It was 

 ordered that the library of the society be de- 

 posited in the Washington Library. The her- 

 barium was placed under the care of Dr. McWill- 

 iams, but its subsequent disposition has not been 

 learned. The records of the society eventually 

 found their way into a local second-hand book 

 store and were presented to the late Dt. Lester P. 

 Ward in 1883, remaining in his possession until 

 his death, when his library was given to Brown 

 University. After correspondence with the li- 

 brarian of Brown University to learn if the rec- 

 ords were there, formal request was made to the 

 trustees of Brown University by the secretary of 

 this society for the return of the records to 

 Washington, which request was granted. The 

 proceedings of the meetings for the first few years 

 show considerable progress in the study of the 

 local flora and offer much interesting historical 

 data. 



The fifteenth annual meeting of the Botanical 

 Society of W'ashington was held in Room 33, 

 West Wing, New Department of Agriculture 

 Building at 1:30 p.m., October 19, 1915, with 

 twenty-four members present. The report of the 

 executive committee showed the following facts 

 concerning the activities of the society for the 

 preceding year: Average attendance of seventy- 

 three members and guests. Seven members were 

 lost during the year, one by resignation and six 

 by change of residence. Eighteen new members 

 were elected, making a total net membership of 

 one hundred and forty-three. One joint meeting 

 was held with the Washington Academy of Sci- 

 ences. Twenty-one formal scientific papers were 

 presented and the following visiting botanists were 

 entertained: Professor J. C. Bose, Drs. Camillo 

 Schneider, F. Kolpin Eavn, Otto Appel and Gen- 

 taro Tamada. 



The customary reports were presented and ap- 

 proved and the following officers elected for the 

 ensuing year: President, Professor A. S. Hitch- 

 cock; Vice-president, Dr. J. W. T. Duvel; Record- 

 ing Secretary, Clias. E. Chambliss; Corresponding 

 Secretary, W. E. Safford; Treasurer, Dr. C. E. 

 Leighty; Vice-president in Washington Academy 

 of Sciences, Dr. E. H. True. 



Perley Spaulding, 

 Corresponding Secretary 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASH- 

 INGTON 

 At the 490th meeting of the society, held No- 

 vember 2, 1915, Dr. Walter Hough spoke on 

 "Progress in Anthropology in California." He 

 showed how means of transportation and food and 

 water supplies influenced the direction of migra- 

 tions in California. The entire Pacific coast was 

 described as a swarming place of tribes offering 

 perplexing problems to the ethnologist. Among 

 others, Bancroft, Lummis and Cowan, have made 

 contributions in this field. The great museum col- 

 lections in San Francisco and Los Angeles were 

 described and the important researches of Kroeber 

 and others at the University of California; also 

 a study of the 400 shell mounds of San Francisco 

 bay made by G-ifford, Nelson and Waterman. The 

 exhibits at the expositions have been previously 

 described before the society. 



At the 491st meeting of the society, held De- 

 cember 7, 1915, Mr. Francis LaFlesehe read a 

 paper on the "Bight and Left in Osage Kites." 

 The Osage, in the early days of their tribal or- 

 ganization, believed that all life proceeded from 

 the fructifying union of the sky and the earth 

 and founded their gentile organization upon this 

 concept. They divided the people into two parts, 

 the "Tsi-zhu" (household), representing the sky, 

 and the "Ho°-ga" (sacred), representing the 

 earth. They likened the tribe to a living man 

 facing the east, the Tsi-zhu division being on the 

 north, the Ho°-ga on the south. When organizing 

 a war party, however, the position of the village 

 was changed so that the symbolic man faced to 

 the west. All ceremonial movements were made 

 with reference to the right and left sides. The 

 same idea determined the placing of symbolic 

 articles used in the ceremony and appeared in the 

 daily customs of the people. 



In discussing the paper. Miss Alice C. 

 Fletcher and Messrs. Hodge, Swanton, Fewkes, 

 Mooney and Michelson referred to similar con- 

 cepts and organizations in other tribes, as among 

 the Hopi of the south and the Piegan of the 

 north. Several thought that the origin of 6 as a 

 ceremonial and sacred number had reference to 

 the six "cardinal points," north, south, east, 

 west, up, and down. Explanations were also sug- 

 gested for the preference given the left hand in 

 these ceremonies. The sky concept possibly had 

 a religious significance. 



Daniel Folkmab, 



Secretary 



