214 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. II, No. 4, 
that ‘ ‘ it necessitated a modification of the characters of Circaea ’ ’ ; 
it matches a specimen received by Dr. Torrey, from Agardh, col- 
lected in Scania, Sweden, and named C. intermedia, but the true 
C. intermedia Elirh., from Central Europe is evidently different.” 
Item ii. The Botanical Gazette gives a brief notice of a paper 
by Bernard, printed in Comptes Rendus, which is of such interest 
as to warrant reproduction here. ‘ ‘ Bernard makes the surprising 
statement that it is his belief that the tubers of the potato are 
essentially galls and due to fungus infection. He shows that 
Fusarium solani is always present in the tubers, and it seems 
likely that this fungus causes the arrest of the terminal bud and 
the development of hypertrophied tissues, which become filled 
with starch. The author's experiments, while not yet conclu- 
sive, strongly support his theoretical conclusions, since a decided 
parallelism is seen to exist between the amount of tuber forma- 
tion and the development of the fungus. However, no cultures 
entirely free from fungus have yet been made. Bernard notes 
that when the potato was introduced into France, tubers could 
not be produced from seed cultures, presumably because Fusarium 
solani did not then infest the soil.” 
MEETING OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLUB. 
Orton Hall, January 6tli, 1902. 
The Club was called to order by the president and the minutes of 
the previous meeting were read and approved. The first paper was 
by Prof. Osborn who gave an account of the Chicago meeting of 
the Am. Society of Naturalists. 
Mr. Coberley followed with some observations on the winter 
foliage of plants growing near Georgesville, O. He mentioned a 
number of plants which retain their foliage through the winter. 
I 11 discussing this paper Prof. Schaffner spoke of the moth mul- 
lein, Verbascum blattaria L., as being well protected for the win- 
ter. Its leaves contain anthocyauin and also exhibit a strong 
geotropic curvature. 
Mr. Bridwell next read a paper on insect pollination of flowers. 
Insects belonging to the groups Diptera, Hymenoptera and 
Lepidoptera are the most frequent agents of pollination. 
Under the head of personal observations, Prof. Prosser gave a 
report of his explorations in Nebraska and also of the summer’s 
work on the conglomerate in northern Ohio. This rock is ex- 
posed at Nelson Ledges and farther north at Thompson’s Ledge 
and Little Mountain. A large block was brought down and 
placed near the drive north of Orton Hall. 
Messrs. O. L. Eckman, A. P. Easton, R. L. Hyde and F. M. 
Surface were elected members. The Club then adjourned. 
F. J. Tyler, Secretary. 
Pages 193 to 214 issued Feb. 22, 1902. 
