September 25, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



441 



dency toward seedlessness is seen in many 

 cultivated plants, of which the potato is a 

 good example. Since new varieties come 

 mostly from seeds, many persons have sup- 

 posed that plant-breeding must eventually 

 <;ease in these plants ; but the speaker 

 pointed out that the constant choice of 

 seeds for sowing is itself a powerful agent 

 in conserving the seed-producing power of 

 ishe plant. So long as we select seeds, so 

 long we may expect the effects of this selec- 

 tion to give seeds in at least a part of the 

 individuals of every generation. 



Distribution of 2^l(^nts on fresh-tvater islands: 



By Conway MacMillan. 



The islands in Lake of the Woods were 

 selected for study and description, and, 

 after a general account of the geology and 

 physiography of this body of water and its 

 surroundings, a classification of islands was 

 proposed as follows : 1. Floating bog is- 

 lands ; 2. Scirpus-bar islands ; 3. Sand- 

 dune islands ; 4. Irregular rock islands ; 5. 

 Dome-shaped rock islands. 



The paper proposed a classification of 

 strand plants and surf plants, and laid par- 

 ticular stress upon an interesting zonal 

 distribution of plants which characterized 

 the dome-shaped islands. In these it was 

 shown that an outer ring of shrub was suc- 

 ceeded towards the center by a zone of 

 trees, an inner zone of shrub and a central 

 meadow or shrub. This distribution was 

 explained as resulting from the silting off 

 of soil, until a thicker ring of soil was 

 formed at the periphery of the islands. 



The paper was illustrated by fifty lantern 

 slides, showing island landscapes and cal- 

 culated to bring out the points made con- 

 cerning strand plants and zonal distribu- 

 tion, together with views of islands in which 

 irregularity of surface prevented zonal and 

 promoted crevice distribution. 



Geo. F. Atkinson, 



Secretary. 

 Cornell University 



THE TRIED SUM3IER MEETING OF TEE 

 AMERICAN MATHE3IATICAL SOCIETY. 



The Third Summer Meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Mathematical Society was held in the 

 lecture hall of the Buffalo Society of Natural 

 Sciences, at Buffalo, N". Y., on August 31st 

 and September 1st. Among those present 

 were : 



Dr. E. M. Blake, Prof. M. Bocher, Mr. J. M. 

 Brooks, Prof. F. N. Cole, Prof. J. E. Davies, Prof. 

 A. T. DeLury, Prof. E. W. Davis, Dr. L. E. Dick- 

 son, Prof. W. P. Durfee, Prof. H. T. Eddy, Prof. T. 

 S. Fiske, Miss Ida Griffiths, Dr. G. W. Hill, Dr. J. 

 E. Hill, Dr. J. I. Hutchinson, Prof. E. W. Hyde, 

 Prof. T. F. Holgote, Mr. P. A. Lambert, Dr. G. H. 

 Linj^, Prof. J. McMahon, Prof. M. Merriman, Prof. 



E, H. Moore, Prof. W. F. Osgood, Prof J. P. Pier- 

 pont, Dr. V. Snyder, Mr. W, M. Strong, Prof. O. 

 Schmiedel, Prof. L. G. Weld, Prof. H. S. White, 

 Prof. C. B. Williams, Miss E. C. Williams, Miss M. 



F. Winston, Prof. F. S. Woods and Prof. A. Ziwet. 



The President, Dr. G. W. Hill, occupied 

 the chair. Two sessions were held each 

 day, beginning respectively at 10 a. m., and 

 2 :30 p. m. The following papers were read : 



1. Methods of defining monogenic functions. Dr. E. 

 M. Blake. 



2. An existence theorem for a class of linear eiithymor- 

 phic functions of a single variable. DR. E. M. Blake. 



3. A geometric method for the study of uniform conver- 

 gence and certain double limits. Prof. W. F. Osgood. 



4. Non-uniform convergence and the integration of series 

 term by term. Prof. W. F. Osgood. 



5. Two triply -infinite systems of simple groups. DR. L. 

 E. Dickson. 



6. Ternray algebras. Prof. J. B. Shaw. 



7. Tlie geometry upon three surfaces of the seventh order. 

 Dr. J. E. Hill. 



8. A special form of a quartic surface. Dr. J. I. 

 Hutchinson. 



9. Note on the integral and integro-geometric series. 

 Prof. E. D. Eoe. 



10. The cross ratio group of n! {n~3)-ic Cremona trans- 

 portations of flat space of n-3 dimensions. PROF. E. 

 H. Moore. 



11. Criteria for the reality of nodes in Diqnn's cyelides, 

 with a corresponding classification. Dr. V. Snyder. 



12. Numerically regular reticulations upon surfaces of 

 deficiency higher than 1. Prof. H. S. White. 



13. Loci of the equations p = ^^e and p = (p='il>ye 

 Prof. E. W. Hyde. 



