Fkbeuaey 13, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



257 



the skeleton of Lampris was submitted to 

 renewed examination. That examination 

 forced the speaker to acceptance of the 

 ideas of the older ichthyologists, rather 

 than those of Boulenger; the four actin- 

 osts, or pterygials, of acanthopterygian 

 fishes are recognized, and the coraeoid 

 of Boulenger is identified with the fourth 

 actinost. The hypocoracoid is found in 

 the great posterior, bone called interclav- 

 icle by Boulenger. Thus the normal 

 structure of an acanthopterygian fish is 

 recognized. As a consequence, the genus 

 is restored to the group of acanthop- 

 terygians. The forms and proportions 

 of the principal bones of the shoulder 

 girdle are nearly paralleled by undisputed 

 acanthopterygians and relatives of the 

 scombroideans— the CaproidiB or Aiiti- 

 goniidiE. Nevertheless, the differences be- 

 tween Lampris and all other fishes, as 

 Boulenger has shown, are sufSciently great 

 to entitle it to rank as the type of not 

 only a distinct family (Lamprididas), but 

 a special superfamily (Lampridoidea). 

 C. JuDSON Herrick, 



Secretary. 



8ECTI0:!f a, BOTAVY. 

 The meetings of Section G of the Ameri- 

 can Association were held in Lecture Hall 

 No. 1, on the first fioor of the Columbian 

 University Medical School. Sessions were 

 held Tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon 

 and Wednesday morning, December 30 and 

 31, 1902. 



The abstracts of papers presented are 

 as follows : 



Eange of Variation in Eutypella gland- 

 ulosa (Cke.) E. & E.: C. L. SnEiUJ, De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, 

 D. C. 



Eutypella glandulosa is a pyrenomycete 

 growing on dead Ailanthus glandulosus. 

 Specimens recently collected at Washing- 

 ton illustrate well the variability which 



may be expected in various parts of the 

 plant and the conditions which seem to 

 influence it. The parts most variable are 

 the stromata, perithecia (number and 

 shape) and ostiola (length and character 

 of mouth). The stroma is sometimes 

 almost entirely wanting, at other times 

 well developed and conspicuously pulvi- 

 nate. The perithecia vary in number from 

 one to forty, and in shape from globose to 

 pyriform, with all sorts of irregularities 

 caused by pressure against each other. 

 The ostiola are sometimes scarcely discern- 

 ible, while in some specimens they reach 

 5 mm. in length. The tips are normally 

 quadrisulcate, but in the -long examples 

 they are frequently acute and smooth. 

 The asei and sporidia appear most con- 

 stant, showing no corresponding variation 

 in the extreme specimens noted. The vari- 

 ations found seem directly connected with 

 the supply and the manner of supply of 

 moisture during the development of the 

 fungus; the maximum extreme in size and 

 number of parts occurring where the 

 branches bearing the plants were lying in 

 a low place, and were more or less covered 

 with matted grass. It is very desirable to 

 determine the parts most variable and the 

 range of variation in order to segregate 

 correctly the different species in this as 

 well as in other genera of pyrenomycetes. 



Antithetic versus Homologous Alterna- 

 tion: Douglas H. Campbell, Stanford 

 University. 



Bryophytes have left scanty fossil re- 

 mains, hence their relation to other forms 

 must be deduced from comparative mor- 

 phology. This discussion will concern 

 itself with a single class of pteridophytes— 

 the ferns. Antithetic alternation assumes 

 that the sporophj^te of the ferns is an 

 elaboration of some bryophytic sporogon- 

 ium; homologous alternation assumes that 

 biyophj^tes and pteridophytes are not 



