SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 45 



Mr. Kuight spoke of the successful lecture tour of the chairman at San 

 Francisco, under the auspices of the Santa Fe Railway Co., in the interests 

 of a reading room, established by the Company, for the use and benefits of 

 its employes. 



Mr. Knight also called attention to the lecture to be delivered before 

 the Academy on March nth, by Prof. Campbell, Director of the Lick Ob- 

 servatory, and read some highly commendatory statements relative to 

 Prof Campbell, from the pen of Prof, Newcomb. 



The chairman also emphasized the importantance of the approaching 

 meeting of the Academy in view of the high standing of Prof. Campbell 

 among the astronomers of the world. 



The discussion of the evening was then introduced by Mr. Melville Do- 

 zier, being an exposition of the effects of longitude and latitude upon the 

 measurement and division of time and the fixing of dates. The question of 

 the so-called "International Date Line" was elucidated, and by the aid of 

 diagrams, its true nature and practical value made clear. Other points of 

 interest, growing out of the revolution of the earth on its axis, were inci- 

 dentally involved in the discussion, in which many took part. 



After the reading by Mr. Knight of a humorous paraphrase of the 

 astronomical terms the meeting adjourned. Mei,ville DoziER, Sec'y. 



BOTANICAL SECTION. 



The regular monthl\- meeting was duly held on the evening of Mon- 

 day, March 24th. Mr. Austin Campbell-Johnston, Chairman of the Section 

 presided, and there were also present Messrs. Braunton, Russell, Davidson 

 and Greata. 



There being no especial business before the meeting, the evening 

 was devoted to the examination and discussion of various plants. 

 Among the most interesting of the specimens examined were Rosa Moha- 

 vensis, Parish, collected by Mr. Parish at a place called Cushenberry 

 Springs, on the edge of the Mohave Desert, and Sphaerostigma erythra, 

 collected by Dr. Davidson near Clifton, Arizona. This species will be des- 

 cribed in a subsequent issue of the Bulletin of the Academy. 



Mr. Greata submitted a collection made by him in the neighborhood of 

 Lake Tahoe in June last. The beautiful red Gilia, G. aggregata, was per- 

 haps the most striking plant in the collection, although by no means the 

 most interesting. Many old friends of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino 

 Mountains were found to occur in the Tallac region, and it was not uninter- 

 esting to find the Desert Sage growing in close proximity to Mountain 

 Flora. 



A very handsome Panicum, from the neighborhood of Mount Shasta, 

 was deposited by Mr. Greata with the Division of Agrostology at Washing- 

 ton, and has been published by the Division as Panicum shastense. It is 

 near P. dichotomum. Louis A. GreaTa, Secretary. 



GEOLOGICAL SECTION. No meeting held. 



BIOLOGICAL SECTION. 

 The meeting for March was postponed on account of the inclemency of 

 the weather. 



