602 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 355. 



while a limited one, is highly organized. 

 It is succulent and rich in water by reason 

 of its many contrivances for husbanding all 

 its resources. Consolidation tends to re- 

 duce expenditure. Pleiocyclic herbs suc- 

 cessfully maintain themselves by reason of 

 their highly developed underground organs. 

 The prevailing color of the flowers is yellow. 

 Some of the vegetation is exceedingly toler- 

 ant of alkali, raising the question whether 

 this property is due to histological peculiar- 

 ities or represents a physiological difference 

 in the protoplasm. 



16. ' Effects of Salt Solutions on Seeds 

 and Plants ' : E. E. Slosson. 



Experiments have been carried on for 

 several years' on the action of the salts oc- 

 curring in the soil of arid regions, as alkali, 

 on the germination of seeds and the growth 

 of plants. Solutions of sodium chloride, 

 sulphate and carbonate ; potassium sul- 

 phate and chloride ; magnesium sulphate ; 

 and sugar ; in solutions ranging in strength 

 from to 100 atmospheres osmotic pressure 

 had been tested, the following seeds being 

 used : corn, wheat, sunflower, peas, buck- 

 wheat, rape, beans, alfalfa, rye, clover, 

 Scirpus paludosus and, for comparison, wood. 

 It has been found that the imbibition of 

 water is less from all solutions than from 

 pure water. Solutions of all salts and of 

 sugar of the same osmotic pressure retard 

 and lessen the imbibition of water by seeds 

 to about the same extent. Isosmotic solu- 

 tions produce nearly the same effect in re- 

 tarding the germination of seeds. Solu- 

 tions of slight osmotic pressure stimulate 

 germination. The same results are ob- 

 tained with growing plants. Plants and 

 seeds absorb a greater amount of potassium 

 than of sodium salts from solutions of the 

 same osmotic pressure, and more sulphates 

 than chlorides. Hydroxyl ions increase the 

 absorption of salts and of water by seeds. 

 This paper will be printed in Bulletins of the 

 Wyoming Experiment Station. 



17. ' The Position of Protococcus and 

 Mosses on Trees ' : Henry Keaemer. 

 (Read by title.) 



18. ' Contributions to the Knowledge of 

 the Physiology of Karyokinesis ' : A. C. 

 Lewis. (Pead by title.) 



This paper will be published in the Bo- 

 tanical Gazette. 



19. ' Seedlings of Ariscema dracontium ' : 

 PosiNA J. Pennert. (Read by title.) 



20. ' Some Plant Adaptations on the Tuc- 

 son Plains' : J. W. Toumey. (Read by 

 title.) 



Ernst A. Bessey, 

 Secretary, Section G. 



MEMBERSHIP OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIA- 

 TION. 



The following have completed their mem- 

 bership in the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science during the month 

 of September. 



Edward G. Acheson, President International Ache- 

 son Graphite Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y. 



Cnrtis Alexander, Mining Engineer and Metallur- 

 gist, Spearfish, S. D. 



J. Hartley Anderson, M.D., Physician, 4630 Fifth 

 avenue, Pittsburg, Pa. 



Bion J. Arnold, 4128 Prairie avenue, Chicago, 111. 



Andrew J. Bigney, Professor of Biology and Geol- 

 ogy, Moores Hill College, Moores Hill, Ind. 



E. I. Bond, M.D., Physician, Hartshorne, Ind. Ter. 



Edwin D. Carnaghan, Mechanical Engineer, Dur- 

 ango, Do, Mexico. 



Willard Colfax Cheney, Electrical Engineer, Port- 

 land, Ore. 



Francis A. Crandall, 2319 15th street, N.W., Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



Col. William Crozier, U. S. A. Ordnance Office, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Dr. Kary Cadmus Davis, Professor of Horticulture 

 and Forestry, W. Virginia State University, 628 N. 

 High street, Morgantown, W. Va, 



Wm. S. Hall, Professor of Mining and Graphics, 

 Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. 



John Hays Hammond, Mining Engineer and Geolo- 

 gist, Denver, Colorado. 



Dr. Felix B. Herzog, Electrical Engineer, 51 West 

 24th street, New York, N. Y. 



Julius Hortvet, State Chemist, 1521 University 

 avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minn. 



