702 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 540. 



at 7 :30 p.m., in the physical lecture room, Sci- 

 ence Hall. The program of the evening con- 

 sisted of an address by Dr. L. Kahlenberg, on 

 the subject, ' The Nature of the Process of 

 Osmosis.' The speaker presented the main 

 results of an extensive experimental study of 

 osmotic phenomena in which so-called semi- 

 permeable membranes have largely figured. 

 Much of the work was done with non-aqueous 

 solutions of various kinds. The speaker held 

 that the substance which passes through the 

 membrane dissolves in the latter, and is ex- 

 tracted from the resulting quasi-solid solu- 

 tion by the liquid bathing the other side of 

 the membrane. He showed that whether 

 osmosis will take place or not depends upon 

 the nature of the membrane and the liquids 

 in contact with it. On the basis of the views 

 set forth, he could furthermore predict in 

 which direction osmosis would take place and 

 specify which substances would pass through 

 the membranes. 



The quantitative measurements of osmotic 

 pressures were made with a new and unique 

 form of apparatus, the results obtained with 

 semipermeable membranes showing that the 

 osmotic pressure does not follow the gas laws. 

 The views of osmosis set forth are much like 

 those of Overton who worked along physiolog- 

 ical lines. It is of special interest to note 

 that the speaker found cases where colloids 

 pass through membranes much more rapidly 

 than crystalloids, thus furnishing instances 

 in which the commonly accepted views which 

 we owe to Graham are completely reversed. 

 The results of this investigation will be pub- 

 lished in detail by the speaker in the near 

 future. 



F. W. WOLL, 



Secretary. 



THE TOUREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



At the meeting of the club held on March 

 29, 1905, at the New York Botanical Garden, 

 Vice-President Underwood in the chair and 

 twenty-three additional members present, the 

 following papers were read: 



' Remarks on Califomian Conifers,' by Le 

 Roy Abrams. The conifers of California 

 have been of extreme interest to the botanical 



world from the time that that country was 

 first explored. Nowhere do we find such 

 unique trees as the sequoias, and nowhere is 

 there such a profusion of genera and species. 

 Nearly two thirds of the species of the United 

 States, and all but two of the genera occur 

 within the state. The distribution of these 

 species, especially of some of the more local 

 ones, is of considerable interest, and it was 

 upon this subject that Mr. Abrams chiefly 

 dwelt. 



. By far the greater number of species occur 

 in the extreme northern part of the state. 

 Here, within a radius scarcely exceeding one 

 hundred miles, no less than eleven genera and 

 at least thirty species may be met with. This 

 great profusion is mainly due to the fact that 

 we have in this region a mingling of the 

 typical Califomian species with those of the 

 northwest. 



Nearly all of the local species are confined 

 to the coastal region. Some of these, such as 

 Finns Torreyana, Ahies venusta and Cupressus 

 macrocarpa, are extremely local, indeed. The 

 causes of this peculiar distribution along the 

 coast are of great interest and suggest a field 

 for investigation which is full of untold pos- 

 sibilities. Mr. Abrams was of the opinion 

 that present climatic conditions together with 

 the broken and unconnected mountains were 

 no doubt largely responsible for the present 

 status of distribution. He suggested that the 

 great changes in land areas to which this re- 

 gion has been subjected during very recent 

 geological time must have had much to do 

 with shaping the destiny of the flora. 



After considerable discussion adjournment 

 followed. 



Edward W. Berry, 



Secretary. 



TICE ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF 

 THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



The 160th meeting of the Elisha Mitchell 

 Scientific Society was held in the Chemical 

 Lecture Room, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., April 11, 

 1905. The following papers were given: 



Professor J. E. Latta : ' The Edison Storage 

 Cell.' 



