55 



stature, with short curly hair, and obtain a precarious living while 

 wandering through the forests. They are excellent tree climbers 

 and most useful to the collector if they can be induced to work. 

 From this region Mr. Williams went to the town of Baguio, some 

 one hundred and fifty miles northward, and at an elevation of 

 5,000 feet, remaining till the beginning of 1 905. During the 

 summer of 1904 the heaviest rainfall on record for the islands was 

 encountered, one hundred and thirty-nine inches falling in the 

 months of June, July, August, and September. Going south- 

 ward from this place, the time from January to July was chiefly 

 spent in the island of Mindanao, first collecting near Zamboanga 

 in the southwest part, then in the southeastern country about the 

 Gulf of Davao and Mount Apo. This mountain is one of the 

 highest in the islands, nearly 10,000 feet, and proved a most 

 interesting field where a lifetime, rather than a few months, could 

 be spent in exploring its often almost inaccessible mountain sides, 

 canons and streams. On returning to Manila from Mindanao, 

 the boat stopped at Jolo, the chief town of the Sulu Archipelago, 

 for a few days, and here the last collecting of the trip was done 

 before returning to the United States. 



Professor Underwood was asked to act as delegate to the 

 Council of the Scientific Alliance for 1906. 



The meeting adjourned until the second Tuesday in February. 



C. Stuart Gager, 

 Recording Secretary. 



NEWS ITEMS 



Dr. A. B. Rendle has been appointed keeper of the botanical 

 department of the British Museum in the place of Mr. George 

 Murray, who has recently resigned. 



The spring course of lectures in the Wagner Free Institute of 

 Science of Philadelphia includes ten lectures on " North Ameri- 

 can Trees " by Dr. John W. Harshberger, of the University of 

 Pennsylvania. 



Dr. Forrest Shreve, Adam T. Bruce fellow in biology in Johns 

 Hopkins University, has been appointed professor of biology in 



