30 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
The discussion was continued by Prof. J. Z. Gilbert, of the depart- 
ment of science in the Los Angeles High Schools, from the standpoint 
of the relation of carbon to the plant and animal life of the globe. 
At great length and with scholarly exactness, Prof. Gilbert depicted the 
numerous and marvelous combinations upon which animal and plant 
life are dependent, in all of which carbon plays a most conspicuous part. 
He also showed the utter hollowness of the pretentions recently made 
to the production of life by artificial chemical compounds; proving all 
apparent vitality and growth under such conditions to be mere accre- 
tions, without the presence of the all-important life germ. 
At the December meeting of the Board of Directors seventeen persons 
were elected to membership in the Academy. 
At the opening of the general meeting of th Acadmy, Vice-President 
Kxnight read a letter from Prof. Hale, Director of the Mount Wilson 
Observatory, transmitting to the Academy two magnificent photographs 
of the Sun, recently taken at the Observatory, showing the sun-spots 
with striking definiteness, one picture exhibiting the calcium floculi and 
the other the hydrogen floculi. Copies of these pictures are to appear 
in the Bulletin. After delivering a brief but eloquent answer to the 
question, ‘‘ What has Science to do with Beauty?’’ the Chairman intro- 
duced the first speaker of the evening, Mr. Edward J. Harper, City 
Forester of Los Angeles, who spoke fluently and most instructively on 
the topic of beautifying th streets of the city by planting and cultivat- 
ing systematically the shade trees best adapted to the purpose. Mr. 
Harper displayed a remarkable familiarity with his subject, and entered 
with such spirit and interest into his topic as to carry his audience 
with him into all the details of his address, which abounded in that 
which is eminently practical in closest touch with the most aesthetic. 
At the close of the Forester’s address, the Chairman introduced Mr. H. 
W. O’Melveny, formerly a member of the Board of Park Commissioners, 
who delivered a carefully-prepared and very valuable paper on the 
““Punetions of Park Development in Beautifying the City.’’ The 
speaker treated his subject with much breadth of view and in a 
scholarly manner, showing the large and important part played by pub- 
lic parks in the development of the highest physical, intellectual and 
moral life of a community, and emphasizing the immense advantage 
enjoyed by Los Angeles in this respect, especially in the great areas 
dedicated to park purposes, but not yet rescued from their nature state. 
These two addresses, on subjects of such practical local value and 
interest, were a revelation to those present of the untold possibilities 
of healthful and attractive ornamentation in our streets and parks, 
adding immensely to the attractiveness of our city and the pleasure 
and profit of our people. 
MELVILLE DOZIER, Secretary. 
