118 
Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. 1, No. 7 
NEWS AND NOTES. 
The Summer Field Meeting of the Ohio State Academy of Science 
will be held at Wooster, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, May 31 and 
June 1, 1901, under the auspices of the University of Wooster, the 
Ohio Experiment Station and the Wooster Field Naturalist’s Club. 
The plan includes Friday about the small lakes southwest of 
Wooster, and an evening meeting in Wooster; Saturday morning at 
the Experiment Station, to be followed by an excursion to North 
Lawrence with its mines and Fox Lake with its tamarack bog. 
Prof. Charles S. Prosser in an article in the Am. Jour, of Sci. 
11:191-199, 1901, discusses the names applied to the formations of the 
Ohio Coal-measures. The following names are proposed. 
Present Names. 
Upper Barren Coal Measures 
Upper Productive Coal Measures 
Lower Barren Coal Measures 
Lower Productive Coal Measures 
Proposed Names. 
Dunkard formation 
Monongahela formation 
Conemaugh formation 
Allegheny formation 
The Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus L.) is one 
of our interesting spring plants and will repay careful study. The 
leaves of the stem in most individuals have a decided polarity and 
for the most part are twisted so as to stand in a single plane. In this 
respect the plant is as striking as any of the so-called compass plants, 
although the plane in which the leaves lie may be in any direction. 
Another interesting adaptation is the drooping of the top of the 
young plant. The entire inflorescence nods at first and finally the 
individual heads, but one by one these assume the upright position 
as the flowers begin to open. 
J. H. S. 
Winter Adaptation of Opuntia— The Ohio species of cactus, 
Opuntia humifusa Raf., has an interesting habit which seems to be 
a protective measure against cold. At the approach of Winter the 
flattened stems lose their upright position and press themselves 
closely to the surface of the ground. 
The stems lose considerable of their moisture at the same time, 
becoming wrinkled but not at all flaccid. By the end of April they 
are again upright and distended. 
F. J. T. 
