Febktjaet 19, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



319 



Some Recent Advances in Spectrum Analysis: 

 By Joseph S. Ames. Attention was called to 

 the fact that the supposed discovery of oxygen 

 in the sun was disproved by observations of 

 Mr. Jewell ; that as yet there was no spectro- 

 scopic evidence of the presence of two elemen- 

 tary gases in clevite gas ; that for the formula 

 connecting lines in the series so often observed 

 in spectra Balmer has recently suggested 



-^ — " — ; — 



A n' + c 



where n = 3, 4, 5, etc. ; that series of this kind 

 have been discovered in the spectrum of oxygen ; 

 that a most important mathematical relation 

 has been found to exist between the series ob- 

 served in the spectrum of any one element. 

 The importance of the study of these series 

 with reference to molecular theories was 

 touched upon. 



Chas. Lane Poor, 



Secretary. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. — 271ST 

 MEETING, SATURDAY, JANUARY 30. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam spoke of ' The Pribi- 

 lof Island Hair Seal,' stating that it differed 

 from the Eastern Harbor seal, Phoca vitulina, 

 in its greater size, in the simpler character of 

 the true molars and in the greater extent of the 

 articulation of the premaxillaries with the 

 nasals. As specimens were lacking between 

 Greenland and Bering Sea, it was uncertain 

 whether the Pribilof seal was a species or sub- 

 species, although it was probably the« latter. 

 Several names had been applied to hair seals 

 from the North Pacific, but the one which would 

 probably stand was Phoca larga. 



Mr. C. H. Townsend presented a paper on 

 ' The Origin of the Alaskan Live Mammoth 

 Story, ' saying that of late years many reports had 

 appeared in newspapers to the eflFect that Indians 

 declared that the mammoth was still living in 

 Alaska. The speaker stated that in 1885 he 

 visited Cape Prince of Wales in the Corwin, and, 

 in reply to questions of the natives concerning 

 the bones of the mammoth with which they 

 were familiar, showed them figures of the skele- 

 ton and drew a restoration of the animal. 

 These figures were copied by the natives, and, 



as the natives of widely separated regions have 

 communication with each other by canoes and 

 dog teams, he had no doubt that in this manner 

 the figure and information had become widely 

 spread. Being subsequently related and shown 

 to visitors these had given rise to the reports of 

 living mammoths. 



Mr. Frank Benton spoke at some length on 

 ' The Giant Bee of India,' saying that apiarians 

 were much interested in introducing this spe- 

 cies into the United States, owing to the increas- 

 ing demand for wax in the arts. The species 

 built a large comb on the under side of a limb 

 or overhanging rock, and was much sought for 

 by the natives of the regions where it is found. 

 Mr. Benton described his efforts to obtain speci- 

 mens and bring them to the United States and 

 said that, although these first attempts had not 

 succeeded, he thought that the bee could be 

 successfully introduced into the southern United 

 States. 



Mr. L. O. Howard presented a communica- 

 tion entitled ' Parasites of Shade-tree Insects in 

 Washington,' in which he showed the exact de- 

 tails of the reduction of Orgyia leucostigina, 

 which appeared in extraordinary numbers in 

 the District of Columbia in the summer of 1895, 

 to perfect harmlessness in the summer of 1896. 

 Thirty-seven species of parasitic insects were 

 engaged in this work ; 17 species were primary 

 Hymenopterous parasites, 6 primary Dipterous 

 parasites and 14 Hymenopterous hyperpara- 

 sites. Among the hyperparasites 12 were sec- 

 ondary, 2 tertiary and one of the latter probably 

 also quaternary. The speaker generalized at 

 some length on the subject of insect parasitism 

 as illustrated by this rather striking instance. 

 F. A. Lucas, 

 Secretary. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, BIOLOGICAL 

 SECTION, JANUARY 11, 1897. 



Dr. G. S. Huntington read a paper entitled 

 ' A Contribution to the Myology of Lemur 

 bruneiis. ' 



The paper deals with some of the ventral 

 trunk muscles and the appendicular muscles of 

 the forelimb and pectoral girdle. A comparison 

 of the structure of these muscles with the cor- 

 responding parts in other members of the sub- 



