March 3, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



351 



observed, and necessitate the presence of occa- 

 sional dunes, or lines of dunes, of noteworthy 

 size whose origin could not in any way be 

 doubted. 



In the ant hill theory two possible lines of 

 development were suggested : (1) That the 

 mounds are the work of the Attn, or leaf- 

 cutting ants, (2) that they are the remains 

 of hills of a mound-building variety of white 

 ants, the termites. According to Professor 

 W. M. Wheeler, Atta hills in western Texas 

 reach a diameter of forty to fifty feet and a 

 height of one to two feet; and Mr. E. A. 

 Schwarz, of the National Museum, reports 

 that the Atta hills in Cuba often reach a 

 height of ten to twelve feet and a diameter 

 several times as great. These occurrences are 

 considered to add greatly to the possibility of 

 an ant origin. 



Regarded as the work of mound building 

 termites, which are now restricted to the 

 tropical regions, these mounds suggest a 

 warmer and moister climate. Modifications 

 such as those which permitted large elephants, 

 camels and animals of the sloth and armadillo 

 families to live in this region would also have 

 permitted these now similarly restricted 

 mound-building termites to do the same; and 

 the causes which resulted in the extinction of 

 the larger animals would also, though at a 

 later date, have destroyed the mound-building 

 termites. 



Of the theories of origin yet suggested none 

 are entirely satisfactory, and the dune and 

 ant hill theories are the only ones well sup- 

 ported. If either of these hypotheses is cor- 

 rect the mounds are indications of important 

 climatic changes in very recent time. It was 

 suggested that the matter should be ap- 

 proached by the careful excavation of a num- 

 ber of these mounds at widely different points 

 in order to fully determine the relation of the 

 mounds to the beds which underlie them and 

 to the soil surrounding them. 



II. F. Baix, 

 Secretary. 



CLEMSON COLLEGE SCIENCE CLUB. 



The fiftieth regular meeting of the club 

 was held Friday, December 16. By way of 



special observance of the occasion, Professor 

 M. B. Hardin, the first president of the club, 

 gave informally a brief account of the organ- 

 ization and early days of the club, and re- 

 counted some of the more interesting of the 

 former programs. 



Professor T. G. Poats discussed ' Recent 

 Advances in Astrophysics,' dwelling particu- 

 larly upon those made possible by the use and 

 improvement of the spectro-heliograph. 



Professor Harmon Benton, under the head 

 of ' Economic Possibilities of the ilay-pop,' 

 gave an account of his preliminary experi- 

 ments in improving the wild may-pop (Passi- 

 flora incarnata L.) by increased fertility of 

 soil, selection and crossing upon the edible 

 species of Passiflora. Results to date indi- 

 cated that the plant responded readily to im- 

 provement, and its development into an eco- 

 nomic fruit can be predicted with no little 

 certainty. These experiments will later be 

 published as a bulletin of the South Carolina 

 Experiment Station. 



Dr. P. H. Mell gave an account of the Des 

 Moines meeting of the Association of Ameri- 

 can Agricultural Colleges and Experiment 

 Stations and Professor C. E. Chambliss re- 

 ported on the boll-weevil convention at Shreve- 

 port. 



The fifty-first regular meeting on Friday, 

 January 20, was given up to reports from 

 those who attended the Philadelphia meeting 

 of the American Association: Dr. P. H. Mell, 

 Professor P. T. Brodie, Professor C. E. Cham- 

 bliss and Dr. Haven Metcalf, reporting on the 

 work of the sections and affiliated societies in 

 geology, engineering, entomology and botany, 

 respectively. Haven Metcalf, 



Secretary. 



THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OP SCIENCES. SECTION 

 OF BIOLOGY. 



At the January meeting Dr. W. M. Wheeler 

 assumed the chairmanship for the year 1905. 

 Papers were presented by Dr. Esther F. 

 Byrnes and Dr. Wheeler. 



Dr. Byrnes described ' Transitional Stages 

 and Variations in some Species of Cyclops.' 

 The species C. signatus occurs sexually ma- 

 ture in morphologically incomplete stages. It 



