Decembeb 4, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



823 



ever been had upon any subject at its meet- 

 ings. But the society has developed a tra- 

 ditional constitution of some complexity 

 that is closely followed. Although it now 

 exists solely as a scientific society connected 

 with the botanical department of the Uni- 

 versity, many traces of its original char- 

 acter remain, such as the seal, the designa- 

 tions of the officers and the method of de- 

 termining them, certain ceremonies of in- 

 itiation, etc. 



The decennial exercises were begun by 

 a public meeting in the afternoon. At this 

 meeting, announcements were made of five 

 public meetings for the reading of papers 

 to be held during the year, and two ' sym- 

 posia,' or oral discussions of certain sub- 

 jects under the leadership of one member. 

 It was also announced that Dr. William 

 Trelease would deliver the annual address 

 before the Seminar in May next. Prof. 

 Bessey read a paper entitled ' The Evolu- 

 tion of a Botanical Journal,' which is pub- 

 lished in the American Naturalist for Decem- 

 ber. Mr. Clements read a paper on ' The 

 Plant- formation as an Element.' Mr. Pound 

 read a ' Report on the Work of the Semi- 

 nar 1886-1896.' The following items are 

 taken from this report : 



The Seminar maintains four grades of 

 membership, two for graduates and two for 

 undergraduates, known as socii, ordinarii, 

 novitii and candidati. Since the reorgani- 

 zation of the Seminar, all but socii have 

 been required to submit to an oral and a 

 written examination for each grade by ex- 

 aminers appointed by the Seminar. Four- 

 teen examinations have been held and seven 

 members have been admitted under this 

 system. The subjects examined upon have 

 been Anatomy and Morphology of Antho- 

 phyta and Pteridophyta, Physiology, Mor- 

 phology and Development of the Lower 

 Plants, Embryology of the Anthophyta, 

 Taxonomy, Bibliography, History of Bot- 

 any, Nomenclature, the Flora of Nebraska 



and Spencer's Principles of Biology. Twent}'^ 

 members have taken part in the work of 

 the Seminar since its organization, of whom 

 eight are now resident. Two students are 

 now preparing for examination. 



Since 1888 forty-five meetings have been 

 held for reading papers, at which one hun- 

 dred and fifteen papers have been read. 

 About twenty-five of these have been pub- 

 lished in various scientific periodicals. The 

 titles of the papers read show great im- 

 provement since the Seminar began to hold 

 such meetings. Among the title of papers 

 read the first year are : ' The present 

 Status of the Algo-Lichen Hypothesis,' 

 ' History of the Classification on Fungi,' 

 * Buchloi? and its Eelatives,' ' The Homo- 

 logies of the Uredineae.' In 1894-95 some 

 titles are : ' Some Observations on Trans- 

 piration,' 'Sketch of a Revision of the 

 Mucoracese,' ' The Derivatives of the Apical 

 Cell in Beta vulgaris,' ' Becent Discoveries 

 as to Cell- division.' In 1895-96 among the 

 papers read are : ' The Phytogeography of 

 the Little Blue Valley,' ' The Muciferous 

 Canals in the Laminariacete,' ' The Position 

 of the Ovule in Banunculus.' 



In 1895 the custom of an annual address 

 by a botanist of note was established. Dr. 

 Coulter delivered the first of the series. 

 Professor MacMillan followed in May, 1896, 

 and in May, 1897, Dr. Trelease will deliver 

 the address. In addition, short talks have 

 been made to the Seminar by Dr. Coulter, 

 Dr. Burrill, Professor A. S. Hitchcock and 

 Professor MacMillan. 



In 1892 the Seminar undertook the Botan- 

 ical Survey of Nebraska. When Dr. Bessey 

 came to Nebraska, in 1884, no proper work 

 had been done upon the flora of the State. 

 An extensive and pretentious catalogue and 

 several pretentious lists had been put out, 

 but they were based on conjecture as to 

 what should be in the State rather than on 

 observation and collection, and were en- 

 tirely unreliable. In 1886 the members of, 



