Apeil 17, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



627 



Formatioia of New York' (American Geolo- 

 gist March, 1903); B. E. Livingston, 'The 

 Distribution of the Plant Societies of Kent 

 County, Mich. (Mich. Surv., 1901), by Pro- 

 fessor Grabau. Stuart Weller, ' The Com- 

 position, Origin and Eelationships of the 

 Corniferous Fauna in the Appalachian Prov- 

 ince of North America ' (Journal of Oeology, 

 May-June, 1902) ; G. F. Matthew, ' Notes on 

 Cambrian Faunas ' (Trans. Boy. Soc. Can., 

 1902-03), by Miss Florence Henry. 



H. W. Shimer. 



NEW YORK SOCIETY OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS. 



The third meeting of the academic year 

 was held Friday, January 30, 1903, at 8:15 



P.M. 



The topic for the evening's discussion was 

 ' The Public Scientific Institutions and the 

 School System.' Dr. H. C. Bumpus, of the 

 American Museum of Natural History, 

 opened the discussion. He said, in part, that 

 certain of the collections had been directly 

 planned with a view to helping teachers and 

 students, that rooms and a working library 

 had been set apart for their use, and that 

 sets of guide leaflets had been issued for the 

 express purpose of making the collections 

 more directly available to the teaching public. 

 He then indicated how certain exhibits might 

 be arranged to cover a number of special sub- 

 jects, and especially to bring the museum into 

 use as a factor of public instruction in mat- 

 ters of current interest. 



Dr. N. L. Britton then explained in detail 

 to what extent the New York Botanical Gar- 

 dens were available to teachers and students. 

 Especially with reference to the trips under 

 guidance of a detailed ofBcial, the permanent 

 microscopic exhibit, the arboretum, the mu- 

 seum and public lectures, the garden was of 

 practical assistance to the teacher. It was 

 hoped later to furnish some plant material 

 free to the board of education. 



Dr. C. H. Townsend called attention to the 

 fact that the New York Aquarium was al- 

 ready cooperating with the high schools of 

 the city to the extent of setting aside ma- 

 terial and balanced salt-water aquaria for 

 them, and in closing the aquarium to the 



public for two days in the week to allow 

 classes from the schools to work in quiet. 

 He furthermore offered to supply the schools 

 with invertebrate material as needed in co- 

 operation with the board of education. 



Dr. A. G. Mayer pointed out some practical 

 examples of what was being done by the 

 Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences for 

 the schools, and gave his ideals of a children's 

 museiun which should be incorporated in the 

 museum. 



After the regular program a general dis- 

 cussion followed, with this practical result: 

 A committee was appointed by the president 

 of the association to endeavor to obtain, so 

 far as possible, the fullest cooperation between , 

 the public scientific institutions and the city 

 schools. 



The following ofiicers were elected to hold 

 office for 1903: 



President — H. A. Kelly, Ethical Culture School. 

 Vice-President — ^Miss K. B. Hixon, Morris High 

 School. 



Secretary — G. W. Hunter, Jr., DeWitt Clinton 

 High School. 



Treasurer — Miss I. M. Clennedin, Girls' High 

 School, Brooklyn. 



G. W. Hunter, Jr., 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 

 the types of linNjEan genera. 



The interesting note of Mr. O. F. Cook, on 

 the ' Types of Pre-Linnsean Genera ' (Science, 

 February 27, 1903, p. 350), touches the most 

 important question still unsettled in the 

 nomenclature of animals and plants. We 

 have yet to agree on a means of fixing the type 

 for the genera of the earlier writers, our con- 

 ception of a genus being necessarily that of a 

 cluster of species grouped around the type 

 species of a genus. The fixation of type by 

 elimination is an utter failure, as Mr. Cook 

 has pointed out. It is impossible to define 

 this process so as to bring out the same result 

 in different hands and in different groups. 



We have already recognized that the selec- 

 tion of names must not in any degree be left 

 to individual choice. We must agree that the 

 choice of the type of the genus must be made 



