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NEWS NOTES 



The British Association for the Advancement of Science met 

 in Toronto from the 6th to the 15th of August for its 92nd 

 Annual Meeting. The Association is organized in thirteen 

 sections which met separately. There were also joint meetings 

 of two or three sections and general meetings of a popular nature. 

 Among the papers read before the Botanical Section were the 

 following: — 



The Black Dot Disease of Potato, by Dr. B. T. Dickson. 



The Growth of British Columbia Trees as Indicated by Annual 

 Rings, by Dr. A. H. Hutchinson. 



Certain Fluorescence Pigments and their Structural Relations, 

 by Professor F. E. Lloyd. 



On the Changes in Chloroplasts at Low Temperatures, by 

 Professor F. J. Lewis. 



On the Distribution of Potassium in Living Plant Tissues, 

 by Mr. Dowding. 



Parasitism in the Genus Comandra, by Mr. Moss. 



The Botanical Situation in China, by Dr. J. M. Coulter. 



The Effect of Noxious Gases on Plants, by Dr. William 

 Crocker. 



The Present Status of the Doctrine of Recapitulation, by Dr. 

 E. C. Jeffrey. 



Discussion on "The Ascent of Sap and the Transport of Food 

 Materials in Trees," by Professors H. H. Dixon, D. F. Curtis, 

 D. T. Macdougal, V. H. Blackman and J. H. Priestley. 



Joint Discussion with Section D, Zoology on "Species Con- 

 cept" and on "Chromosomes and Species," by Dr. Hyslop 

 Harrison, Mr. J. S. Huxley, A. D. Peacock and others. 



Excursions were also arranged for the visiting scientists to 

 points of interest. 



The California Bigtree Dates Back Before Adam • 



The history of the tree known as the Bigtree, or technically 

 the Sequoia Washingtoniana, now found in isolated and sheltered 

 spots in the Sierra Mountains of California, reaches back into 

 the very beginnings of history, to a period when this tree prob- 

 ably covered the slopes of western coast mountains twice the 

 height of the present ranges, and extended from some point well 



