139 



Coffee Fruit in Relation to Beverage Quality and Effects." The 

 qualit\' of the beverage is dependent upon fruit size, seed size, 

 and the altitude at which the coffee trees are grown. A height of 

 ah(Hit 5 meters and a fruit size of .8 -.9 cm. are necessary condi- 

 tions for the production of the best coffee. Coffee seeds of a fine 

 hard structure containing from 1-2% caffein are also best. 

 Coffea arabica has been found to possess the greatest number of 

 desirable qualities and is very widely cultivated, the production 

 areas of coffee in general following the equator. 



Dr. Cheney then showed some very interest charts demon- 

 strating the effect of coffee and caffein on various physiological 

 processes of animals and man. It was shown that the stimula- 

 tory effect of coffee is not entirely due to caffein. 



D. Elizabeth Marcy 

 Recording Secretary 



Meeting of April 6, 1937 



The meeting, at the Museum of Natural History, was called 

 to order at 8: 15 p.m. by President Barnhart. Forty five persons 

 were present. 



Dr. John W. Shive, Plant Physiologist at the New Jersey 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, was the speaker of the eve- 

 ning, and the subject of his address, "Cryptotrophic Nutrition of 

 Plants." Dr. Shive stated that he preferred the word "trace 

 element" to "cryptotrophic" and explained that, although very 

 small doses of certain elements were necessary for nutrition, the 

 importance of these elements was in no sense minor. Many so- 

 called "physiological diseases" are due to a lack of one or an- 

 other of them. His first slide showed the characteristic symp- 

 toms of deficiencies of potassium, calcium, boron, magnesium, 

 iron, manganese, and phosphorus. 



The effects of boron deficiency w^ere discussed in detail. 

 Deficiency symptoms appear one week to ten days after the 

 boron has been omitted from the culture solution. The chief 

 injury is to the meristematic tissues. The entire growing tip is 

 killed and further growth prevented. If boron is then supplied, 

 new shoots may start from the base of the plant. The leaves of 

 boron deficient plants have a wrinkled appearance and char- 

 acteristic breaks or cracks in the midrib. The disease "cracked 



