122 
near the Army Medical Museum was un- 
veiled with appropriate ceremonies, and 
at 8:15 p. m. the President of the Congress, 
Prof. Dr. Wm. H. Welch, of Johns Hop- 
kins University, Baltimore, delivered the 
Presidential address, which has been pub- 
lished in SCIENCE. 
On May 6th the Executive Committee, 
through the Secretary, reported a recom- 
mendation that the next meeting of the As- 
sociation should be held at Cornell Univer- 
sity in December, 1897, in conjunction with 
the Society of American Naturalists and 
other affiliated societies. On motion the 
Association adopted the report. 
The President called attention to the 
fact, that inasmuch as the Congress met 
every three years, the election for delegate 
to its Executive Committee every two 
years seemed to cause some confusion. 
After some discussion Dr. Hewson moved 
that hereafter the election for delegate 
occur every three years, and this was 
adopted. Dr. Wilder, from the Committee 
on Anatomical Nomenclature, reported 
progress. Report accepted. Dr. Gerrish, 
from the Committee auditing the Treas- 
urer’s account, reported the accounts cor- 
rect. 
Dr. Huntington made remarks on ‘The 
Cerebral Convolutions of two Brains from 
Natives of British Guiana.’ Illustrated 
by casts and photographs. Discussed by 
Drs. Baker and Wilder. 
Dr. F. J. Shepherd, of Montreal, showed 
a specimen of double internal cuneiform 
bone of right foot of a white woman aged 
17; and photographs of hands and feet of 
same subject, showing multiple digits. 
Dr. W. P. Carr, of Washington, showed 
some anatomical models on a large scale il- 
lustrating the circulation of the blood 
through the heart, the formation of a blood- 
vessel, and the corona radiata. Discussed 
by Drs. Wilder, Huntington and Shepherd. 
Dr. Blake read a ‘Contribution to the 
SCIENCE. 
[N. 8. Von. VI. No. 134. 
Topographical Anatomy of the Mediasti- 
num Superior Theoracic Aperture.’ Dis- 
cussed by Drs. Baker, Wilder and Hunt- 
ington. 
Dr. Addinell Hewson, of Philadelphia, 
showed the forms of record used in the dis- 
secting rooms of Jefferson College, Phila- 
delphia, Pa., and made remarks thereon. 
Discussed by Drs. Baker, Huntington, 
Reisinger and Wilder. 
Dr. C. A. Hamann, of Cleveland, showed 
specimens of congenital malformation of 
the extremities. Discussed by Drs. Hunt- 
ington and Geo. T. Kemp. 
The Association then adjourned sine die. 
After the adjournment, at the suggestion 
of Dr. Kemp, Dr. G. C. Huber, of the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, exhibited slides showing 
the terminal endings of the nerves in the 
epithelium of the urinary bladder and the 
sensory nerve endings of the muscle. 
D.S. Lames, 
Secretary. 
SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF TEXTILE 
AND OTHER USEFUL FIBERS OF THE 
WORLD.* 
Tuer advantages of a broader and more 
systematic classification for textile and 
other useful fibers has long been appre- 
ciated by the author. While engaged in the 
preparation of a descriptive catalogue of fi- 
bers of the world in which over a thousand 
species of useful fiber plants are enumerated, 
the necessity for a better classification be- 
came apparent, and the scheme herewith 
presented was devised. The term fiber 
is popularly understood to relate to those 
forms of filamentous substance that can be 
spun and woven, or twisted into cordage, 
though it should not be employed in so 
restricted a sense. In fact, many of the 
true fibers are used in other ways, for there 
are kinds of cordage, and even cloth substi- 
*Abstract of a paper read before the Philosophical 
Society of Washington, by Chas. Richards Dodge. 
