Personal and Scientific News. 391 
"large countries." Unfortunately the undersigned have not 
received any response to the letters addressed to Mr. Hauche- 
corne of the executive committee on the map, and are therefore 
unable to proi)Ose a plan of distribution. 
The London Congress decided that the next session should 
be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and ap- 
pointed a provisional committee to take such action as might 
appear best to provide for the session. This committee 
appointed a larger committee, of which Dr. Newberry is chair- 
man. 
Your committee reports progress and asks to be continued. 
James Hall, Chairman, 
Persifor Frazer, Secretary. 
This report was adopted and the committee was continued. 
The second annual meeting of the Western Society of Nat- 
uralists was held at Madison, Wis., Oct. 23rd and 24th. Pres- 
ident T. C. Chamberlin gave an evening address on "The 
method of multiple working hypotheses." Much of the time 
of the meeting was given to a discussion of methods in inves- 
tigation and instruction and the exhibition of apparatus. 
Profs. Barnes and Van Hise discussed laboratory microscopes 
and petrographic methods. Profs. Arthur, Bessey, Salisbury, 
McMillan and Birge carried on an interesting and profitable 
discussion of "Laboratory facilities in vegetable physiolog}'," 
and "What to do with a beginner in botany." There was an 
exhibition of the Newton and Wright electric projecting micro- 
scope. Profs. Birge, Nachtrieb and Barnes read papers on 
"Elementary bacteriology in college courses," "Taking of 
food by certain protozoa, especially Paramoecium," and 
"Recent methods in histology and embryology." 
The Society adopted a resolution urging the free importa- 
tion of scientific books and apparatus. 
The following officers were elected for the ensuing year : 
Prof. C. E. Bessey, Lincoln, president ; Dr. E. A. Birge, Mad- 
ison, vice-president; Dr. J. S. Kingsley, Lincoln, secretary; 
Dr. Stanley Coulter, Lafayette, treasurer; the time for the 
annual meeting was changed to November and the next will 
be held at Lafayette, Ind. 
In the July number of the American Geologist mention 
was made of the finding of the teeth of a mastodon by Dr. 
Stephen Bowers in Ventura, California. The doctor refers 
them to 3fasfodon shephardi. He also discovered what he 
believes to be the remains of the large llama, Holomeniscus 
californicus. He also reports Eqiius orcidentalis from that 
locality, and remains of a large seal, Eumetoppias stelleri. 
Of the latter he found the skull, teeth, vertebra and other 
bones. Also the remains of whales, the vertebra? measuring a 
foot in diameter. The most numerous remains of the whale 
are those of Escrichtlus davidsoni. He has also found the 
