38 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 2. 



W. K. Brooks, of the Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity. The subject was: An Intrinsic 

 Error in the Theories of Galton and Weisniann. 

 It will be published in full later. The 

 principal point taken was against the theory 

 of variation springing from a mixture of an- 

 cestral characters. It was shown that manj'' 

 lines of descent maj^ arise from a verj' small 

 number of parents and represent a slender 

 thread, consisting of very few strands, manj^ 

 individuals of the same species having an 

 identical remote ancestry. In other words, 

 sexual environment instead of being unlim- 

 ited is very narrow, and as we pass back- 

 wards the number of ancestors increases 

 rapidty for a number of generations, and then 

 decreases instead of increasing indefinitely. 

 The causes of variation are therefore to be 

 sought rather in modern conditions of organ- 

 isms than in the remote past. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam, of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, contri- 

 buted an exhibition and discussion of a 

 beautiful series of mammal and bird tj^Des 

 exhibiting protective coloring and a number 

 of dynamic variations. The origin of pro- 

 tective colors is to be sought in fortuitous 

 vax-iation preserved by selection. The the- 

 ory of the direct action of environment in 

 modifying color as in the bleached tj^pes of 

 the desert regions is not borne out by obser- 

 vations and is disproved in the case of noc- 

 turnal types. A second and distinct class 

 of facts comes under the head of Dynamic 

 Variation, and to this class we refer to 

 modifications of the beak, of the feet and 

 limbs as due primarily to the habits and 

 activities of the animals themselves. 



At the close of the afternoon session, Pro- 

 fessor E. B. Wilson, of Columbia College, 

 exhibited by means of the stereopticon, lan- 

 tern slides, 23i"epared fi-om photographs 

 taken from sections, illustrating the cytolo- 

 gical changes during maturation, fecunda- 

 tion, and segmentation. The different ef- 

 fects of the various killing, fixing and stain- 



ing agents upon the ultimate details of cell- 

 structure, were admirablj' brought out. 



At eight o'clock the Society had the 

 pleasure of listening to Professor William 

 Libbey, of Princeton, who told of his expe- 

 riences during Two Months in Greenland. 

 The lecture was illustrated by a large num- 

 ber of magnificent views of Polar Scenery. 



After the lecture the members were en- 

 tertained by the authorities of the Johns 

 Hoi^kins University and the citizens of Bal- 

 timore at a most pleasant assembly in Mc- 

 Coy Hall. 



The Society reassembled at nine o'clock 

 on Friday morning, Dec. 2Sth. 



OfBcers for the year 1895 were chosen as 

 follows : 



President — Professor E. D. Cope, Univer- 

 sity of Pennsj^lvania. 



Vice Fresidents — Professors Wm. Libbey, 

 Jr., Princeton University ; W. G. Farlow, 

 Harvard University; C. O. Whitman, Chi- 

 cago Universitj'. 



Secretary — Professor H. C. Bumpus, Brown 

 University. 



Treasurer — Doctor E. G-. Gardiner, Bos- 

 ton, Mass. 



Committee-at-Large — Professors E. B. Wil- 

 son, Columbia College ; W. H. Howell, 

 Johns Hopkins University. 



The following persons were elected to 

 membership in the Society : 



William Ashmead, U. S. Dept. Agricul- 

 ture, Washington ; Severance Burrage, 

 Mass. Inst. Tech., Boston; W. E. Castle, 

 Harvard University ; H. E. Chapin, Uni- 

 versitj^ of Ohio, Athens, Ohio ; J. E. Hum- 

 phrey, Johns Hopkins University ; M. M. 

 Metcalf, Woman's College, Baltimore; H. 

 C. Porter, University of Pennsylvania ; W. 

 H. C. Pynchon, Trinity College, Hartford ; 

 Charles Schuchert, U. S. ISTational Museum; 

 Norman Wyld, late of Bristol, England. 



The report of the Treasurer showing a 

 balance of somewhat over $200 was ac- 

 cepted by the Society. 



