402 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1107 



carried on to a greater or less extent. The pos- 

 sible animals that may be bred for fur are the 

 fox, mink, marten, otter and beaver, but so far it 

 has only proved practicable with foxes and minks. 

 Silver foxes are successfully bred in the interior 

 and fed on salmon and rabbits to a large extent. 

 Blue foxes are successfully raised along the coast, 

 especially on certain of the islands. The paper 

 was discussed by Dr. C. W. Stiles who called at- 

 tention to the prevalence of certain forms of hook- 

 worms in the dogs and foxes of Europe and 

 Alaska but seldom found in the dogs of the United 

 States. 



M. W. Lyon, Jr., 

 Recording Secretary 



THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 110th regular meeting of the Botanical 

 Society of Washington was held in the Assembly 

 Hall of the Cosmos Club at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb- 

 ruary 1, 1916. Fifty-three members and four 

 guests were present. Messrs. Chas. H. Clark, 

 Felix J. Schneiderhan, and Dr. T. Tanaka were 

 elected to membership. The following papers 

 were presented: 

 Egyptian Use of Date Tree Products Other than 



Fruit (with lantern) : S. C. Mason. 



To be published in full elsewhere. 

 Botanical and Economic Notes on the Dasheen 



(with lantern and exhibit) : R. A. Young. 



The dasheens represent one type of the taro, 

 which is well known in the Orient and the Islands 

 of the Pacific. All belong to the genus Colocasia. 

 The variety under special consideration was th3 

 one known as the "Trinidad" from the island of 

 Trinidad. It is believed to have come originally 

 from China. Slides were shown illustrating the 

 differences in floral and other characters between 

 two very distinct types of Colocasia, which for 

 the past sixty years have been included under the 

 name C. antiquorum (L.) Schott. One of the 

 types, which includes the dasheen, was recognized 

 tentatively by Schott, in 1823, as a good species, 

 under the name C. eseulenta (L.) Schott. In 1856 

 he reduced it to a varietal rank. The other type, 

 which is represented by the "qolqas" or "colo- 

 casia" of Egypt, is the species C. antiquorum. It 

 is contended that the reduction of C. eseulenta to 

 varietal rank was an error and it is proposed to 

 restore it to specific rank. The true C. antiquorum 

 properly includes the common elephant-ear plant, 

 generally referred to as Caladium esculentum, of 

 Ventenat. 



The dasheen is gaining in importance in the 

 far south, and a northern market is developing. 

 Many culinary experiments have been made and 

 a number of delicious and attractive dishes have 

 resulted. After the program, dasheens which had 

 been parboiled and baked with electric stoves, 

 were served. 



The Pathological Inspection Work of the Federal 



BorticulturaZ Board: Geo. E. Lyman. 



The Plant Quarantine Law seeks to prevent the 

 introduction into the United States of injurious 

 plant diseases from abroad by requiring the in- 

 spection of imported plant material. The inspec- 

 tion of commercial importations presents few diflS- 

 culties, inasmuch as the variety of host plants in- 

 volved is not great and the importations are ordi- 

 narily from countries where the diseases are well 

 known. But importations by the Department of 

 Agriculture for experimental and introduction 

 purposes present many problems, since they come 

 from every quarter of the globe and are prac- 

 tically unlimited in variety of host plant. Both 

 host and disease may be new and hence potentially 

 dangerous. All such importations are received in 

 a specially constructed inspection house in Wash- 

 ington, and the packages are opened in the pres- 

 ence of the inspectors, all wrappings being 

 burned. The plant material is closely examined 

 and suspicious specimens are referred to experts 

 of the Department of Agriculture for study and 

 determination. Extraordinary precautions are 

 taken to prevent infection being carried on the 

 hands or clothing of the inspectors. 



After inspection the material may be (1) passed, 

 if it is apparently clean; (2) burned, if danger- 

 ous diseases are found; (3) ordered fumigated or 

 cleansed when the pests found can be eradicated 

 by such treatment (facilities for treating mate- 

 rial are present in the inspection room) ; or (4) 

 ordered grown in quarantine. The quarantine 

 greenhouse adjoining the inspection room is di- 

 vided into small units where suspicuous plants may 

 be isolated and grown under close observation 

 until the proper disposition of them is determined. 



Moreover, much of the material which passes 

 inspection is ordered grown in the propagation 

 gardens of the government, one of which is situ- 

 ated at Yarrow, Maryland. Here the plants are 

 propagated and grown under observation and are 

 given a last close inspection when finally ready for 

 distnbution. 



W. E. Sapford, 

 Corresponding Secretary 



