THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



THE GRAY MEMORIAL BOTANICAL CHAPTER 



OF THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION. 



OFFICERS FOR 1892. 



The following officers have been 

 elected for 1892. 

 President. — J. M. Holzinger, Dept. of 



Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

 Seceetaby. — Dr. W. S. Moatt, 177 



Dearborn St., Chicago, Ills. 

 Treasueee. — Miss H. H. Keyer, 53 



Washington St., Watertown, N. Y. 

 Executive Council. — Prof. C. "T. 

 Wheeler, Agricultural College, P. 0. 

 Mich. 



The Chapter voted to return to quar- 

 terly reports. 



There is a vacancy in the Executive 

 Council. Send in your votes to the new 

 president for this member as soon as 

 possible. He will assume his duties at 

 once aiijd everything bids fair to make 

 this the most successful year of the 

 Chapter. 



I lay down the President's gavel with 

 feelings of regret and with the determi- 

 nation to do all in my power in making 

 the Chapter successful. 



G. H. Hicks. 

 The President of the Chapter has 

 failed to supply us with enough matter 

 to fill the page this month, so after 

 waitiug a week or more we have taken 

 the liberty to fill in the page with read- 

 ing matter rather than leave it blank. 

 The Editoe. 



Ornithology and Botany are Cousins. 



Every ornithologist must have notic- 

 ed how closely botany is connected with 

 his chosen pursuit. The seeds and 

 fruits that form an important item in 

 the diet of most birds, the many trees 

 and bushes in which birds live, nest 

 and find their food, the vegetable sub- 

 stances of which the nest is composed, 

 — all these and many more belong to 

 botany. To one who wishes to under- 

 stand all that is written aboiit birds a 

 knowledge of botany is indispensible. 

 Unlike many sciences, the rudiments of 

 botany are easily acquired with a book 

 like Gray's "School and Field Botany," 

 or "Wood's "Class Book of Botany," a 

 person of average intelligence can mas- 

 ter the principles of this delightful 

 science without the aid of a teacher. 

 By a little application this wintei-, any 

 one will be able to identify the flowers 

 aS fast as they bloom in spring. 



"Picus." 



For want of space we have left out 

 our exchange column which will appear 

 • next month on the cover page. The 

 February number will be out iu about 

 two weeks. 



Taxidermy a Decaying Art. 



"There isn't the money in taxidermy 

 that there used to be," said a well- 

 known taxidermist. "I don't think 

 there are more than two taxidermists in 

 New York today who make a living 

 without having some other iron in the 

 fire, Fifteen years ago there was mon- 

 ey in the business. We used to get 

 ten dollars apiece for stuffing pet cats 

 and dogs, and we could run off two or 

 three a day. There isn't any call to do 

 that sort of thing. Our principle sales* 

 are now stuffed doves for funeral pur- 



