of commercial prestige to this country, is the Nicaragua Canal. It is the one grand link yet wanting to enable commerce to circle the globe without going beyond the limits of the tropical zone.

The gentleman who preceded me has covered the general bearings of the theme most eloquently, yet I cannot help trenching a bit upon his domain. The Nicaragua canal will bring every Atlantic port nearer every Pacific port; it will move the mouth of the Mississippi to the centre of the Pacific; it will give our western coast an impetus which will in a few years place it as far beyond what it is to-day as it is to-day beyond what it was when our statesmen were discussing the advisability of its purchase.

It will be a national stimulus to invention and with its great demand during construction, for men, machinery, materials and supplies, will offer a field for engineers, architects, machinists, contractors, business men, skilled labor of every kind, and a great market for supplies, which of itself alone will be of the greatest value to this country.

ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF E. B. ELLIOTT. By Mrs. L. O. TALBOTT, Washington, D. C.

THE TRUE BASES FOR DEALINGS IN MILLS. By HENRY E. ALVORD, Agricultural College, Maryland.

THE MONEY HOARD IN THE UNITED STATES TREASURY. By EDWARD DANIELS, Washington, D. C.

OUR MONETARY SYSTEM. By Edward DaniELS, Washington, D. C.

THE HISTORY OF STATISTICS AND THEIR VALUE. BY WILLIAM F. SWITZLER, Bureau of Statistics, Washington, D. C.

CREMATION: PAST AND PRESENT; WITH DESCRIPTION AND DIAGRAM OF THE BUFFALO CREMATION COMPANY'S FURNACE. BY CYRUS K. REMINGTON, Buffalo, N. Y.

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FOR VAGRANT CHILDREN AND IMMIGRANTS. By Mrs. LAURA O. TALBOTT, Washington, D. C.

ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLEVELAND MEET

ING OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE A.A.A.S.

the

THE Club met as per announcements, Aug. 15, at 9 o'clock, A. M., President, Mr. JOHN B. SMITH of Washington, in the chair. The Secretary, Prof. A. J. Cook, being unable to attend, Prof. HERBERT OSBORN was elected Secretary for the Cleveland meeting.

Sessions of the Club were held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during hours when Section F was not in session. The following members were present: John B. Smith, Washington, C. V. Riley, Washington, L. O. Howard, Washington, D. S. Kellicott, Buffalo, N. Y., O. S. Westcott and Mrs. O. S. Westcott, Chicago, F. M. Webster, Lafayette, Ind., C. J. S. Bethune, Port Hope, Ont., James Fletcher, Ottawa, Canada, J. Mackenzie, Toronto, S. H. Peabody, Champaign, Ill., E. A. Schwarz, Washington, D. A. Robertson, St. Paul, Minn., A. B. Mackay, Agricultural College, Miss., S. B. McMillan, Signal, Ohio, L. C. Wurtele and Miss Wurtele, Acton Vale, P. Q., Herbert Osborn, Ames, Iowa.

The annual address by the President, J. B. Smith, entitled Entomology and Entomological Collections in the United States, was delivered on Wednesday afternoon and subsequently discussed by Messrs. Riley, Howard, Fletcher, Webster and Osborn.

Mr. James Fletcher gave an interesting account of collections and entomological work in Canada.

A note On the Origin of the Wing in Aleurodes was presented by Prof. Herbert Osborn and illustrated with microscopic preparations. Papers by Mr. Clarence M. Weed were presented and discussed as follows:

On the Parasites of the Honey-suckle Sphinx, Hemaris diffinis Boisd. On the Hymenopterous Parasites of the Strawberry Leaf-roller, Phoxopteris comptana Fröl.

Professor Osborn presented a paper, On the Food Habits of the Thripi

dæ.1

Dr. D. S. Kellicott presented a note on Hepialus argentio-maculatus. Prof. Herbert Osborn presented a note On the Occurrence of Cicada rimosa Say, in Iowa.

Prof. O. S. Westcott in a paper entitled "Entomological Memoranda" presented notes On Attraction of Carrion for Butterflies; the coincident occurrence of varieties marcia and morpheus of Phyciodes tharos; peculiar place of pupation for an Agrotis (?); occurrence of Lachnosterna fusca and gibbosa.

Mr. L. O. Howard remarked upon experiments with kerosene emulsion for underground larvæ.

Published in full in Insect Life No. 5.

Mr. James Fletcher gave an account of an expedition to Nipigon north of Lake Superior and described methods of rearing butterflies from eggs. Mr. E. A. Schwarz presented a paper entitled, The Insect Fauna of Semitropical Florida with special regard to the Coleoptera. This called forth a long discussion participated in by Messrs. Riley, Smith, Howard, Bethune, Fletcher, Peabody and Osborn.

The election of officers for the next annual meeting resulted as follows: President, JAMES FLETCHER, Ottawa, Canada; Vice President, L. O. HowARD, Washington, D. C.; Secretary, D. S. KELLICOTT, Columbus, Ohio.

In accordance with a vote of the club the proceedings have been published in full in Entomologica Americana and all papers not otherwise indicated have been included in full in that report, which will be found in Nos. 6-9, Vol. iv, 1888.

HERBERT OSBORN,

Secretary of the Club for the Cleveland meeting.

ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLEVELAND MEETING OF THE BOTANICAL CLUB OF THE A.A.A.S.

Wednesday, August 15. Meeting called to order at 9 a. M. The President, Mr. DAVID F. DAY in the chair. Rev. W. M. BEAUCHAMP was elected Secretary pro tem. in the absence of Prof. V. M. SPAULDING. The President opened the meeting by an address including a memoir of Dr. Gray and a recommendation that the Club be incorporated as a section of the Associa

tion.

Before the reading of the papers in the day's programme two motions were made and carried: one to the effect that the Secretary should be provided with a book for permanent records of the Club; the other, that a committee be appointed to consider the proposition in regard to uniting the Club with the biological section of the Association. As members of this committee the Chairman appointed Messrs. W. H. Hale, Thos. Meehan and J. F. Cowell.

It was also resolved that a committee should be appointed to provide for the publications of the proceedings of the Club. The committee appointed consists of Messrs. W. H. Seaman, W. H. Hale and Thos. Meehan.

Mr. Thos. Meehan read papers on "Diœcious Labiatæ," and "The Elastic Filaments of the Stamens of Compositæ ;" and Mr. J. F. Cowell followed with "Observations on Azalea nudiflora and Corallorhiza.”

Thursday, August 16. After the meeting had been called to order, the question of making the Club a special section of the Association, or else a sub-section of Section F, was discussed. The report of the committee was read, and in this they strongly recommended that the independent organization of the Club should be maintained. After further discussion, their recommendation was unanimously adopted.

The President then announced that an invitation had been extended to the Club, by Mr. J. D. Rockafeller, to visit his grounds. As, however,

the time of the Club was already fully provided for, it was decided that the Club as a body could not set a date when it would be possible to accept the invitation, and on motion of Prof. C. R. Barnes, the regrets of the Club at their inability to accept the invitation were ordered to be transmitted to Mr. Rockafeller.

Mr. Thos. Meehan spoke of the death of Dr. Gray and suggested that resolutions ought to be adopted by the Club in reference to it, and the following gentlemen were appointed as a committee to draft such resolutions: Messrs. C. R. Barnes, Thos. Meehan and D. S. Kellicott.

Rev. W. M. Beauchamp read a paper on "Onondaga Indian Plant Names." Mr. Beauchamp also exhibited specimens of Erythræa Centaurium, gathered near Oswego, a plant new to most of those present.

Mr. Thos. Meehan read a paper on "Irregular Tendencies in the Tubulifloral Compositæ."

Prof. E. L. Sturtevant read a paper on "Observations on the genus Capsicum," accompanied by numerous beautifully executed colored drawings, showing the great variations in the fruit of different varieties. The author pointed out the difficulty of distinguishing species in plants that had been long cultivated, and expressed his doubts as to the validity of certain of the genus under consideration. Mr. Meehan expressed his interest in the paper, and said he was inclined to believe that all the cultivated Capsicums were merely varieties of a single species.

The last paper was by Prof. B. E. Fernow, on the subject "What is a Tree?" In the paper the author pointed out the desirability of a generally accepted definition of the word "tree," and showed how authorities differ in regard to it. The following definition was suggested: "Trees are woody plants, the seeds of which have the inherent capacity of forming a definite trunk supporting a crown of branches."

After a discussion of the paper, the meeting adjourned.

Friday, August 17. After some preliminary business, the following resolutions, in memory of Professor Gray, prepared by the Committee appointed for that purpose, were unanimously adopted :—

Resolved, That the Botanical Club of the American Association sincerely regrets that, meeting but once a year, it should be among the last to place on record the sense of the great loss which the whole range of science suffers by the death of Professor GRAY.

Resolved, That though among the last to contribute to the wreath of sorrow with which science is everywhere crowning the memory of Dr. GRAY, this body takes a mournful pride in remembering that he was one of its honored members, and that it was as a botanist he won such eminent renown. We feel that we have a right to be among the chief mourners at his departure from the field of labor he loved so well, and in a special degree to unite our sympathies with the many thousands who miss him everywhere.

Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of

1 Printed in Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club, Oct., 1888,

our deceased friend and to the botanical and other scientifle periodicals for publication.

Papers were read by Prof. C. R. Barnes on "The Cause of the Acridity in the Corm of Arisæma," and by Mr. A. A. Crozier on "Secondary Effects of Pollination." Professor Barnes stated that it was probable that the intensely burning taste of the juice of Arisæma was due, as suggested by Stahl for the European Arum maculatum, to mechanical causes, i e., the irritation produced by the numerous rhaphides with which the juice is filled. Professor Barnes found that when these were removed by filtering the acrid taste was completely lost.

Mr. Crozier's paper was read by Professor Cowell, the author being absent. From the author's experiments, mostly in different varieties of apples, he concluded that the influence of foreign pollen did not extend beyond the seeds.

Mrs. H. L. Walcott exhibited the leaves of a form of choke-cherry which she described as having amber-colored berries and much shorter racemes than the ordinary form.1

Prof. W. R. Lazenby brought up the question as to the distinctness of the two forms of Virginia Creeper, which was discussed at some length by several members.

A letter from Dr. Geo. Vasey was read on "American Desert Plants," after which the meeting adjourned.

In the afternoon the Club made an excursion to Brighton, a suburb of Cleveland, but the flora of the vicinity did not present many novelties. One of the most interesting plants found was Jeffersonia diphylla, of which fine specimens were obtained in fruit.

Saturday, August 18. The entire day was devoted to a trip on the steamer "City of Cleveland," to the Put-in-Bay Islands. The trip was such a long one as to allow but little time for botanizing.

Monday, August 20. The following papers were read: by Prof. Jos. F. James on "Dentaria laciniata and D. multifida;" by Mr. F. L. Scribner on "Observations on Nomenclature" and "Sphærella Fragariæ;" and by Mr. Thos. Meehan, on "Peduncular Bracts in Tilia."

Professor James also exhibited a form of Asclepias tuberosa with flexuous stem and sub-opposite leaves, which he thought was sufficiently distinct to be regarded as a variety.

The committee on nominations of officers for the ensuing year reported in favor of Prof. T. J. BURRILL, of Champaign, Ill., for President, and DOUGLAS H. CAMPBELL, of Detroit, Mich., for Secretary, and also recommended that the office of Vice-President be created, and named Prof. BYRON D. HALSTED of Ames, Iowa, for the office. The report of the Committee was accepted, and the officers as named were elected.

Tuesday, August 21. Prof. W. R. Lazenby read a paper on "The Flowering Plants of Ohio," and was followed by some remarks by Mr. David F. Day on those of the vicinity of Buffalo, and by Mr. Beauchamp on the Cayuga flora.

1 Printed in Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club, Oct., 1888.