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president of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science from 1910 to 191 1, of the Botanical Society of America 

 from 1895 to 1896, of the Society for the Promotion of Agri- 

 cultural Science, from 1889 to 1891, of the department of natural 

 science of the National Education Association, from 1895 to 1896, 

 and of the American Microscopical Society in 1902. Dr. Bessey 

 was also a member of the Botanical Seminar of the University 

 of Nebraska, the Academy of Science of St. Louis, the Washington 

 Academy of Sciences, the Wild-Flower Preservation Society, 

 the American Forestry Association, the American Breeders' 

 Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and of Sigma Xi." {Evening Post.) 

 On August I, 1912, Dr. Bessey was in New York and was the 

 guest of honor at a dinner given by Dr. Britton to about a dozen 

 botanists who were in town at the time. Those who were present 

 and heard Dr. Bessey reply to the toast "The Nestor of American 

 Botany," will remember his plea for sound scholarship and a 

 greater vision in our work, and particularly his earnest advice 

 to "stick at it." Dr. Bessey has probably turned out more 

 successful professional botanists than any other teacher in 

 America, and his text-books are known wherever botany is 

 taught. He was a member of the Torrey Club for many years. 

 An account of Dr. Bessey's life will appear in an early number 



of TORREYA. 



Dr. Alfred Dachnowski, in charge of plant physiology at 

 Ohio State University, has been granted a year's leave of absence; 

 he is continuing his investigations at the Carnegie Desert 

 Botanical Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona, under a grant from the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 



The International Botanical Congress, which was to have been 

 held in London during the coming season, and the International 

 Phytogeographic Excursion, which was to have toured the Alps, 

 have both been postponed on account of the war. 



Professor LeRoy Abrams, of Stanford University, is preparing 

 a descriptive manual of the Pacific coast trees and shrubs. 

 F. V. Coville, C. R. Ball and S. B. Parish are contributing the 

 text for Ribes, Salix, and the cacti. 



