186 



"In 1912 Professor Hiram Bingham of Yale University, director of several 

 expeditions under the auspices of Yale University and The National Geo- 

 graphic Society to study the old Inca civilization of Peru, discovered Macchu 

 Pichu, the lost capitol of the Incas. It vi^as a city of refuge built in the 

 canyon of the Urubamba River, 2,000 feet above the stream with surrounding 

 mountains that tower a mile high. This former capitol of white granite is 

 now in ruins under encroaching tropical vegetation and is one of the great 

 archeological sites of the Americas. 



The most striking feature of the West Coast of South America is the 



extensive arid region which extends some 1,800 miles from Ecuador to the 



middle portion of Chile. The bleak barrenness of this area, destitute of any 



conspicuous vegetation extends inland to the high plateau of Bolivia and 



is watered only here and there by rivers, in the valleys of which there is 



natural vegetation and farming. The aridity of this region, where rain 



seldom falls, is a result of the cold Humboldt current which flows north 



along the coast and meets the warmer Japan current near the northern end 



of the barren coast. This cold current teems with fish which sustain the 



world's greatest flocks of birds, the cormorants, pelicans and others, which 



have built up the valuable guano deposits of the Peruvian coast. 



South of Santiago there is sufficient rainfall to sustain farming and about 



40° S. latitude forests of virgin timber are encountered about the beautiful 



Lake Region of Southern Chile." 



Clyde Chandler 



Recording Secretary 



Meeting of May 17, 1939, at the New York Botanical 



Garden 



The meeting was called to order by the President, Dr. Arthur 

 H. Graves, at 3.15 P.M. 



Twenty-two persons were present. 



Minutes of the previous three meetings were approved as read. 



Mr. Harry L. Weaver, Columbia University, New York City, 

 and Dr. George B. Cummins, Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Lafayette, Ind., were elected to annual membership. 



Mr. C. A. Butt, 11 Hawthorne Avenue, East Orange, N. J., and 

 Mr. Louie C. Hardy, 6 Valley Street, Newark, N. J., were elected 

 to associate membership. 



The resignation from associate membership of Miss Gretchen 

 D. Taylor, 59 Mercer Street, Somerville, N. J., was reported. 



The President asked Dr. Harold N. Moldenke to serve on the 

 membership committee. 



The scientific program consisted of a talk by Dr. W. G. Whaley 

 on "The Apical Meristem in Plant DevelojMuent." The author's 

 abstract follows : 



