80 



visory Council of the New York Botanical Garden since April 

 1936. In recent years it is doubtful if any one individual had a 

 greater influence on American horticulture than Mrs. Wilder. 

 In 1936 she was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor of the Gar- 

 den Club of America for her "outstanding achievement in intro- 

 ducing the growing of alpine plants in this country, for her 

 general knowledge of horticulture, and for her many books on 

 gardening." Her books and innumerable magazine articles, one 

 of which had appeared every month for a number of years in 

 House and Garden, were noteworthy in that they reflected 

 exclusively her own experiences. In her small but remarkable 

 garden in Bronxville she raised rare plants from all over the 

 world, and she was able to tell others how they too could de- 

 velop unusual and successful gardens. 



The first letter in many months from Dr. A. C. Smith was 

 written February 22 from John Melville's ranch, Wichabai, on 

 the Rupununi River in British Guiana, where Dr. Smith was 

 making his headquarteis for an additional three months of bo- 

 tanical collecting after other members of the Terry-Holden Ex- 

 pedition had returned to Georgetown and New York. The letter 

 was received by Dr. W. H. Snedigar, herpetologist of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History, also remained to collect in an 

 adjacent region. The two men plan to start for home in June, 

 when John Melville, who has lived in the interior of British 

 Guiana for many years, will transport them down to the coast. 



With Mr. Snedigar, Dr. Smith worked in the Shodikar re- 

 gion — Shodikar Creek is the last eastern affluent of the Upper 

 Essequibo — and in the Akarai Mountains for three weeks, 

 spending a couple of days on the Brazilian slopes in the Trom- 

 betas basin. 



Dr. Smith is the first man ever to make a botanical collection 

 in the region of the upper Trombetas River, which until two or 

 three years ago was entirely inaccessible. 



The summer meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science will be held at Ottawa from June 27 

 to July 2. The Section on Botanical Sciences will hold a sym- 

 posium on "Physiographic Problems of Northeastern Canada." 

 The Ecological Society of America will have scientific sessions 

 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and field trips on Friday 

 and Saturday. The American Society of Plant Physiologists, the 

 American Phytopathological Society, the Society of American 

 Foresters, and the Genetics Society of America will also hold 

 sessions. 



