129 



The resignation of Miss Margaret A. Griffin, 131 Erie Ave., 

 Midland Park, N. J., and Dr. Raymond H. Wallace, Connecticut 

 Agricultural College, Storrs, Conn., were accepted with regret. 



Dr. Bold read a letter from Mr. Schuyler Miller of the New- 

 York Trails Conference stating that a bill was before the New York 

 State Legislature to permit the construction of a ski trail 80 feet in 

 width and 20 miles long on Whiteface Mountain in the Adiron- 

 dacks Dr. Bold moved that the following resolution be adopted by 

 the Club : 



Be it resolved that the Torrey Botanical Club heartily approves the 

 action of the New York Trails Conference under date of August 18, 1940, in 

 registering the unanimous disapproval of its membership concerning the pro- 

 posed amendment to Section one, Article fourteen of the New York State 

 Constitution. This amendment (at present pending as Assembly Bill 30 and 

 Senate Bill 25), if adopted would permit the construction of ski trails 80 feet 

 in width and totaling 20 miles in length on Whiteface Mountain, Essex 

 County, New York. Such inroads on the natural forest vegetation of the 

 mountain would initiate erosion and the serious consequences it entails. The 

 Torrey Botanical Club, therefore, strongly urges that the proposed amend- 

 ment be defeated. 



After discussion of the motion, Dr. Bonisteel seconded the 

 motion and the Club voted that the resolution be adopted. 



The President stated that the officers had regretted not being 

 able to personally introduce new members to the Club. The Receiv- 

 ing Committee had called his attention to the fact that three mem- 

 bers who had joined the Club in recent years were present. He 

 asked Mr. George H. Peters, Miss Ethelwyn Doolittle and Mrs. 

 Herbert Lawrence to rise, and introduced them to the Club. 



The scientific part of the program consisted of a talk on "The 

 Vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains" by Dr. Stanley A. Cain 

 of the University of Tennessee. The speaker's abstract follows : 



One hundred Kodachrome slides were used to illustrate some of the more 

 interesting aspects of the flora of the Great Smoky Mountains. Plants of 

 taxonomic or geographic interest were selected to show that the vegetation 

 of the region has had a long and varied history. Some of the more striking 

 affinities of the mountain plants of the Smokies are with Japan and other 

 eastern Asiatic places, with Europe, with the tropics of America, and with 

 the Canadian coniferous forest. Especial attention was given to the Ericales 

 which are represented in the Smokies by a large series of species. An hybrid 

 Azalea complex from Gregory's Bald Mountain was shown with evidence 

 for the intermingling of three parent species : Azalea calcndulacea, A. arbo- 

 rescens var. RicJiardsoni, and the newly described species, A. cumberlandense. 



