RECORDS OF MEETINGS 311 



EEPOET OF THE POETO EICO COMMITTEE 



Under the direction of the Committee of the Academy appointed in 

 1913 work on the scientific survey of Porto Eico has been continued 

 during the year in many branches of the subject, both in the field and 

 in the laboratory and in the preparation of preliminary papers and of 

 the final reports. 



Areal geological surveys have been carried out by Mr. Bela Hubbard 

 in the northwestern part of the island, which included, among other 

 points of special interest, the study of a stratum at the base of the Ter- 

 tiary series of the island previously detected by Dr. C. A. Eeeds, con- 

 taining large numbers of fossil plants ; this discovery, being the first indi- 

 cation of the occurrence of Tertiary fossil plants in the West Indies, is 

 of great interest, and the study of the fossil leaves may give us our 

 first knowledge of the ancestors of some tropical plants; the collections 

 have been referred to Dr. Arthur Hollick for study. Dr. Charles E. 

 Fettke carried out an areal survey of the southwestern districts, which 

 included a detailed study of the large areas of eruptive rocks in that part 

 of the island. Mr. A. K. Lobeck studied the physiographic geology of 

 the whole island. The reports of Mr. Douglas E. Semmes on the areal 

 survey of the San Juan District, and that of Mr. Edwin T. Hodge on 

 the Coamo-Gruayama district, based on their field work of the previous 

 season, are completed and ready for publication. Progress has also been 

 made in the study of the pal^eontological collections made by the several 

 field expeditions, and data relative to economic geology are being assem- 

 bled. 



In botany the most important field work accomplished was the expe- 

 dition of Professor H. H. Whetzel, of Cornell University, and Dr. E. W. 

 Olive, of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, for the study and collection of 

 parasitic fungi, which was prolific in results, their collections including 

 several hundred specimens, which are under investigation by a number of 

 different experts. The Uredinese (rusts) of this large collection, taken 

 together with the specimens of this family previously collected, have 

 enabled Professor J. C. Arthur to prepare a noteworthy paper on this 

 group for early publication. Professor P. L. Stevens has published 

 during the year his monograph on the Porto Eican species of the genus 

 Meliola. Additional general collections by Mr. John A. Stevenson, of 

 the Insular Experiment Station at Eio Piedras, have added to our knowl- 

 edge of a number of plants. Work on the manuscript for the final re- 

 ports has been continued by several botanists, and a large number of 



