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which Dr. Osborn says is 400,000 years old." In spite of this great age, our new 

 friend seemed remarkably well preserved. Miss Alice Kendall brought with her 

 a series of exquisite glycerine mounts of complete moss-plants, showing in full 

 detail the gross and microscopic structure of the various species, as well as per- 

 mitting microscopic examination. It is certainly a pity that so few of our mem- 

 bers could have the opportunity of examining these mounts at first hand. In 

 addition to this, Miss Kendall had a large amount of material from North Green- 

 land, collected in "chunks," as it grew, and dried without pressure, giving a 

 vivid idea of the state in which the plants naturally exist. These latter specimens 

 she most generously distributed at the close of the meeting to all who desired them. 

 Miss Daisy Levy, besides many microscopic slides, had a number of Petri dishes 

 containing growing material of moss-protonema, which had been germinated 

 upon agar. These showed various stages from the spore to the minute buds 

 of the future gametophytes, and served to illustrate her paper later in the morn- 

 ing. 



To render more clear the details of his paper upon the lichens of Whatcome 

 County, Washington, Dr. Herre had forwarded various official maps, showing 

 the general relationships of the topography and altitudes, as well as surface 

 conditions. From Mr. Plitt and the Lichen herbarium there were two complete 

 fascicles of the Lichens now in course of distribution from Dr. Hasse's duplicates, 

 and additional material illustrating the original state in which the specimens 

 were received from Dr. Hasse. It was a source of regret to all that an accident 

 at the last moment prevented Mr. Plitt from telling us in person about the collec- 

 tion. A large number of photo-micrographs of mosses or hepatics were shown 

 by Miss Helen Greenwood, and these were eagerly examined by the members, 

 many of whom remembered those shown at Philadelphia two years before. These, 

 and the slides later shown by Dr. Grout, indicate what a wide range of usefulness 

 is open to the camera in rendering accessible and intelligible both the gross and 

 the minute features of mosses and hepatics. In both these cases we regret that 

 the present situation in the paper trade does not permit us to offer illustrations 

 of the photographs to members. 



Mrs. Frank Lowe brought to the meeting, at no small trouble, several boxes 

 of "naturally dried mosses." These consisted of turfs of the various species 

 cut out to fit small pasteboard boxes, and then dried without pressure, so as to 

 preserve the natural appearance of the plant as usually seen growing. To the 

 Secretary, this was one of the most interesting exhibits, and, in connection with 

 the material shown by Mrs. Dunham, seemed to open new opportunity for the 

 local museum. The average exhibition specimen of a moss is a sad corpse. Save 

 to an expert, it presents little of interest and is of slight help in determining 

 specimens. These specimens of Mrs. Lowe's actually bring into the museum 

 the characteristic facies of the out-of-door plant, and make amateur study possible 

 without technical description, in the same manner that a well selected series of 

 local birds does. Mrs. Dunham's specimens were of single moss plants, or groups 

 of plants, specially mounted between sheets of celluloid which in turn were 

 fastened to cardboard frames. In this form material can be passed from hand 



