86 



away from the old method was Kern in his monograph of Gym- 

 no spora7igiuni in 191 1. With Klebahn's culture work the con- 

 fusion of so-called physiological or biological species was made 



prominent, in which the specialization of the rust goes with the 

 dissimilarity of the hosts. This was illustrated by the Aster- 

 SoUdago-Erigeron-Carex complex, going under many names but 

 doubtless a single specialized species. The geographical speciali- 

 zation of a species was illustrated by Piiccinia siihnitens with 

 aecia on Sarcohatus, Chenopodinm and various crucifers. A 

 morphological specialization explains the application of the names 

 Uromyces Spartinae and U. acuminatus to the same species of 

 rust. The rule to be adopted in defining species seems to require 

 dependable morphological characters and a uniform life-cycle. 



However, Tranzschel has pointed out a troublesome, and yet 

 unexplained parallelism, in which the telia of a short-cycled 

 species resemble morphologically those of a long-cycled species, 

 the host of the short-cycled form being identical with the aecial 

 host of the long-cycled form. It is yet uncertain whether such 

 parallel species should be considered independent species, possi- 

 bly belonging to tv\-o genera, or tv\'o forms under one species. 

 Other equally disturbing problems in the limitation of both species 

 and genera were mentioned and their relation to the species 

 question in general indicated. 



Dr. Britton and Professor Harper led the discussion which 

 followed. 



[Meeting adjourned. B. O. Dodge, Secretary 



NEWS ITEAIS 



At a recent meeting of the board of managers of the Xew York 

 Botanical Garden, Dr. X. L. Britton, the director, reported the 

 transfer by the City of Xew York of additional land in Bronx 

 Park, to the Xew York Botanical Garden. The newly acquired 

 area contains a large tract of forest, the old Lorillard mansion, 

 and consists of about 150 acres, making the whole area of the 

 Garden nearly 400 acres. 



Professor Duncan S. Johnson, of Johns Hopkins University, 

 has been given leave of absence for the spring term. He will 



