1897.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 651 
Tuesday evening, April 13th.—Dr. Albert Schneider presented a 
paper entitled “ Methods Employed in the Examination of Powdered 
Drugs and their Adulterants,” 
He described certain microscopic structural features which he had 
investigated with a view to find characters by which to distinguish the 
more important drugs, giving details of such characteristics determined 
by him for mace, senna, leaves of Eucalyptus globules, ete. 
Dr. Britton spoke of the utility of this work and of its objects in 
behalf of the new edition of the U. S. Pharmacopeia. 
Wednesday evening, April 28, 1897.—In the absence of officers, 
Professor Underwood was elected Chairman of the meeting and Pro- 
fessor Britton Secretary pro tem. There were 26 persons present. 
The Chairman announced to the Club the recent death of Dr. Emily 
L. Gregory, Professor of Botany in Barnard College, and remarked on 
her life and works. Dr. H. M. Richards, Dr. H. H. Rusby and Miss 
Alexandrina Taylor were appointed a committee to draw suitable reso- 
lutions and report them to the Club at a subsequent meeting. 
The scientific program comprised the following papers: 
1. By Professor L. M. Underwood: “ Notes on the Ferns of Japan.” 
(Abstract). 
The immediate occasion of this paper was the receipt during the 
past year of two separate collections of Japanese ferns of about 50 spe- 
cies each, which, being from different portions of the island, scarcely 
duplicated each other. Some of the more interesting were shown, in- 
cluding Camptosorus sibiricus, Cystopteris japonica and Struthiopteris 
orientalis. 
The insular position of Japan together with a considerable range of 
latitude, equalling that from St. Paul, Minn., to Mobile, Ala., gives 
Japan a larger proportion of ferns than we have in the United States, 
although the area of the islands is only that of the northeastern States 
as far as the Virginias together with about one-half of Ohio. 
The ferns are those of temperate climates and agree well with those 
of the adjacent mainland so far as the latter are known. A few sub- 
tropical forms enter the flora, but the really tropical species do not 
reach the islands. 
Many species are common inhabitants of Europe as well as the east- 
ern United States, but the ferns of Japan offer very little support to 
the once prevalent notion of the great similarity to the flora of the 
eastern United States. In fact about as many Japanese species have 
as many near allies in Pacific America as in other portions of the 
country if we exclude the species quite generally distributed through 
the North Temperate Zone. 
