207 



The President announced that the Council had elected Dr. W. G. 

 Whaley of Columbia University as Treasurer of the Club. 



Dr. Dodge moved that the Corresponding Secretary be in- 

 structed to draw up a letter expressing a vote of thanks to the 

 former Treasurer, Dr. Moldenke. Dr. Hazen seconded the motion 

 and the Club so voted. 



Dr. Bold stated that January 21, 1942, was the birthday of Dr. 

 Harper. Dr. Bold moved that the 1942 volume of the Bulletin of 

 the Club be dedicated to Dr. Harper. Dr. Hazen seconded the 

 motion and after discussion the motion was carried. 



President Karling, on behalf of the Club, extended thanks to the 

 Boyce Thompson Institute for their courtesy in entertaining the 

 Club. 



The scientific part of the program consisted of three talks. The 

 first speaker was Dr. Arthur Hillegas of Columbia University who 

 spoke on "The relative abundance of chytridaceous fungi during the 

 winter." The speaker's abstract follows : 



Collections of water and decaying vegetation were made monthly during 

 October to April in Van Cortlandt Park Lake, New York City. These sam- 

 ples were "baited" for saprophytic chytrids with corn leaves, from which 

 the chlorophyl had been extracted with alcohol, and non-waterproof cello- 

 phane. From each collection, at least three, in some cases seven, species of 

 chytrids belonging to the families Rhizidiaceae and Cladochytriaceae were 

 obtained on these substrata. This survey indicates the abundance and variety 

 of chytridiaceous fungi present during the winter months. 



The second speaker was Dr. Norma E. Pfeiffer of the Boyce 

 Thompson Institute who spoke on "Storage of pollen of some orna- 

 mentals." The speaker's abstract follows : 



The life of pollen of some ornamentals, including Lilium, Amaryllis, 

 Gladiolus, Zephyranthes, Rhododendron, and Azalea, has extended far beyond 

 the natural duration under ordinary conditions, by means of controlled con- 

 ditions of humidity and temperature in the darkness. Saturated solutions 

 of magnesium chloride, calcium chloride and potassium carbonate, in closed 

 containers, provide suitable humidities in the atmosphere over the solutions 

 while the temperature in automatic refrigerators is advantageous. Favor- 

 able humidities may also be attained through the use of sulphuric acid solu- 

 tions. Still another method is storage of pollen in tubes which are then evacu- 

 ated and sealed, and kept at low temperatures, as 5° C, — 5° C. or as low 

 as — 15° C. Tests for viability include germination of pollen on artificial 

 media and setting of seed after application to the stigma. Strong plants 

 grown from seed resulting from the use of Easter lily pollen stored three years 

 and one from pollen stored five years are evidence of successful methods. 



