DECEMBER 24, 1897. ] 
mon skin, while the Ranzaniinze (Orthrago- 
riscint Bon) have the skeleton ‘Sub-osseous’ 
and the rays distinct. The most important of 
the other characters were detailed. 
Dr. C. W. Stiles presented a paper on ‘ The 
Honorary Ph. D.’ 
F. A. Lucas, Secretary. 
U.S. NaTIoNAL MusEuM, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
THE 268TH REGULAR MEETING OF THE AN- 
THROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, TUESDAY, 
DECEMBER 7, 1897. 
THE evening was devoted to a symposium 
upon Anthropology at the Field Columbian 
Museum, by Professor Wm. H. Holmes ; at the 
American Museum of Natural History, by Pro- 
fessor Otis T. Mason, and at the Brussels Inter- 
national Exposition, by Dr. Thomas Wilson. 
Professor Holmes described briefly the origin 
and growth of the Field Columbian Museum, of 
Chicago, and presented a photographic view 
and ground plan of the building—the Art Build- 
ing of the World’s Fair. The plan was colored 
to show the arrangements of the departments 
of the Museum, and especial attention was given 
to Anthropology. The arrangement of the 
collections was pointed out and the more in- 
teresting and valuable exhibits described. 
Professor Otis T. Mason gave a description 
of the arrangement of the exhibits at the 
American Museum of Natural History in New 
York, and dwelt upon the Polynesian collec- 
tion and the method of its being brought to- 
gether, stating that each object, as it was ob- 
tained, was labeled with its origin, with its sur- 
rounding history and every fact that it was pos- 
sible to find. He noted the difference between 
the various methods employed by the heads of 
the several museums, and believed that a diver- 
sity of methods was valuable, as it gave an op- 
portunity for the display of each man’s idea, 
and that stress was thus laid on the subject 
from many points of view. 
Dr. Thomas Wilson gave a review of the 
Brussels International Exposition, of which 
Professor J. H. Gore and himself were the 
United States Commissioners. The Exposition 
was primarily a commercial one and was in- 
tended to show, first, what Belgium had to sell, 
SCIENCE. 
967 
and secondly, what she had tobuy. The scien- 
tific department was under the direction of a 
number of scientific gentlemen, of whom Profes- 
sor Houze was Chairman or Director-in-Chief. 
The scientific department was located in the 
great hemi-cycle, which embraced one of the 
great or main entrances. 
Since the United States was only allowed 
$5,000 by Congress for its exhibit, no part of 
which could be expended for salaries of the 
Commissioners or for defraying the freight ex- 
penses of private exhibitors from America, the 
exhibit from this country was necessarily 
smaller than usual. 
The anthropologic exhibit was not large, 
but was very good. The Belgian division was 
unusually fine, the prehistoric finds of the 
caves and grottos being very full and complete. 
J. H. McCormicr, 
Secretary. 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, OCTOBER 27, 1897. 
THE first paper, by Mr. P. A. Rydberg, en- 
titled ‘ Botanical Exploration in Montana Dur- 
ing the Summer of 1897,’ discussed the alpine 
flora of Montana, adding herbarium specimens 
and drawings. Mr. Rydberg described a col- 
lecting trip made by him and Mr. Ernest A. 
Bessey to Old Hollowtop, a mountain of 10,000 
feet altitude in the Pony or South Boulder 
Mountains. Their characteristic plants, like 
those of other alpine regions, are remarkable 
for their small size and their brightly colored 
flowers. Most of them are but 2-3 inches high ; 
few exceed 5 inches. The mountain side of 
Old Hollowtop presents a mixture of golden- 
yellow, indigo-blue, the richest magenta, the 
most delicate pink, violet and snowy white, 
with a carpet of the brightest green for a back- 
ground, The forage plants of these alpine 
peaks are chiefly small cespitose clovers, and 
include but few grasses. Among the trees and 
shrubs of the alpine peaks, the most remark- 
able were the five small alpine willows col- 
lected, forming a light green mat covering the 
mountain-side above timber line. The smaller 
willows of the White Mountains and of the 
Alps and of Siberia are giants compared with 
these dwarfs of the Rockies. Four of these 
