24 
THE PLANT WORLD. 
has occurred to many, namely, that the constant addition of tap- 
water to potted plants and its constant evaporation from the ex¬ 
posed surfaces leads to an accumulation of salts in the soil which 
may be sufficient to increase materially the concentration of solu¬ 
tion in the soil water, and this would contribute to the physiolog¬ 
ical dryness. This point is of particular application to plants 
grown indoors, where evaporation is very marked, and where the 
pots are not flushed, in which case the efflorescence becomes pro¬ 
nounced after a time, as all know who have grown plants in the 
house. Sorauer speaks of the point, but in relation to over¬ 
manuring, and recommends the use of pure water* but apparently 
does not lay stress on the constant addition of ordinary water as 
a cause. F. E. L. 
The 53RD meeting of the American Association for the Ad¬ 
vancement of Science, held at Philadelphia, December 27-31, 1904, 
was a notable one from the point of view of botanical science. 
There met at that time, in addition to the Botanical Section of the 
Association, the following societies : the Botanical Society of Amer¬ 
ica, the Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology, the Ameri¬ 
can Mycological Society, the Botanical Club of the Association, the 
Wild Flower Preservation Society of America, the Fern Chapter 
and the Sullivant Moss Chapter, the Society for the Promotion 
of Agricultural Science and the Society for Horticultural Science. 
There were presented before the first three named societies alone, 
in addition to the annual addresses by the presidents or chairmen, 
fully seventy-five papers upon the most various subjects. In 
addition to the scientific interest of the meeting, it derived impor¬ 
tance also from the fact that steps were taken by the different 
leading societies to form a single united society, and it is expected 
that the common principles agreed upon and accepted by all con¬ 
cerned will form the basis for a complete union of interests. 
The next annual meeting of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science is to be held at New Orleans, December 
28, 1905 to January 3, 1906. 
* Sorauer-Weiss, Physiology of Plants. 
