15 



Meeting of December 14, 1926 



This meeting was called to order at the American Museum of 

 Natural History. The following candidates were elected to 

 membership by unanimous vote of the Club : 



Miss Grace Grififin, Johnson Hall, 41 1 W. i i6th St., N. Y. C, 



Miss Ruth Turner, Johnson Hall, 41 1 W. i i6th St., N. Y. C. 



Miss Olga Hingsberg, 1285 Hoe Avenue, New York City. 



Mr. William P. Jenks, Morristown, N. J. 



Mrs. William P. Jenks, Morristown, N. J. 



Mr. Randolph Jenks, Morristown, N.J. 



The program for the evening consisted of an illustrated lecture 

 by Dr. Fred J. Seaver entitled "Views of the Bermudas, with 

 notes on some botanical features." Dr. Seaver said in part: 

 The Bermuda Islands are located about 700 miles from New 

 York City and nearly 600 miles from the nearest land, few islands 

 in the world being more remote from large bodies of land. The 

 islands are said to be 365 in number, one for each day in the year. 

 They are so arranged as to form a long irregular hook of land 

 about 20 miles long and never more than 3 miles in width; the 

 total area being about 19 }4 square miles. 



The islands, built up through the agency of coral organisms 

 on a volcanic base, are composed of white limestone, made up of 

 broken shells, corals, and calcareous algae, which have been 

 ground into sand and fused together. The soil is of a reddish 

 color and not of any great depth. The predominating type of 

 vegetation is the Bermuda cedar, similar to our red cedar, but 

 more spreading and of larger growth. 



One species of palm, Sabal blackburniana, endemic on the 

 Islands, has been threatened with extinction, since it has been 

 in great demand for several purposes. The leaves were used by 

 the first settlers for thatching the roofs of their houses, the buds 

 were found to be edible, and large numbers of trees were thus 

 destroyed. Also, it was found that a good rum could be manu- 

 factured from the pith. Finally, however, the government in- 

 terfered. Nowadays the houses are built of the soft, white 

 limestone which is easily quarried and can be cut with a saw. 

 Even the roofs are made of thin overlapping slabs of this, which 

 becomes harder on exposure to the air. The red cedar, Jun- 

 iperus bermiidiana, is much used now in the building of houses. 



