1S83.] 363 [Sharpies. 



Salix cordata. Water Willow. Collected by T. F. Hathaway, 

 South Paris, Maine. Wood light brown soft. Sp. Gr. 0.4597, 

 0.4752, 0.5730, 0.5310 ; av. 0.5097. Ash, 0.6657; av. 0.62. 



Cocos nucifera. Cocoa Nut. Collected by A. H. Curtiss on the 

 Everglades, Florida. The cocoa nut has been introduced into the 

 south of Florida, where it is cultivated for its fruit. The wood 

 is a light brown and resembles cork with copper wires run 

 through it longitudinally, and is about as hard to work as such 

 a compound would be ; it rapidly removes the edge from a plane. 

 Sp. Gr. 0.6036, 0.5661 ; av. 0.5849. Ash, 1.32, 2.02 ; av. 167. 



Agave rigida var. sissalina. Sissal Hemp. Collected by A. H. 

 Curtiss near Bay Biscayne, Florida, growing on rocks. The stem 

 of this plant consists of two distinct parts, a large soft pith, sur- 

 rounded by a hard rind. The hard portion has a specific gravity 

 of 0.3604,0.3943,0.3686; av. 0.3744. Ash, 1.53, 1.39; av. 1.46. 

 The Sp. Gr. of the pith is 0.0500, this was the lightest substance 

 met with during the investigation. 



All the above specific gravities are referred to water as unity. 

 The ash in every case being stated in per cents. 



The work done for the census, and which will appear in the 

 forthcoming volume of the report on forestry includes determina- 

 tions of the specific gravity and ash of all the trees of the United 

 States, and also, many determinations of strength, elasticity, &c, 

 the report being the most complete that has ever been published 

 on the woods of any region covering so large an area as the 

 United States. 



General Meeting, October 3, 1883. 



The President, Mr. S. H. Scudder, in the chair. Thirty-five 

 persons present. 



A letter from the chairman of the Committee on Walker 

 Prizes was read announcing the award of the second prize for 

 1883 to H. W. Conn, of Baltimore, for an essay on the develop- 

 ment of Thalassema, and to Wm. Patten, of Watertown, Mass., 

 for an essay on the embryology of a Phryganid — the amount of 

 the prize to be divided equally between the two authors. 



The following papers were read : — 



