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JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 


OF  SCIENCES 


VOLUME  12,  1922 


■^••^ 


.LxJ  L  I  3  R  A  R 


S.  F.  Blake 

BUREAU  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
Sidney  Paige 

GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


E.  D.  WlIvUAMSON 
GEOPHYSICAL  LABORATORY 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 


H.  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAL  SOCIETY 

N.  HOLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 


S.  A.  ROHWER 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

G.  W.  Stose 

GEOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

J.  R.  Swanton 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL  80CI8TY 


PUBLISHED   semi-monthly 
EXCEPT   IN   JULY,   AUGUST,   AND   SEPTEMBER,    WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE   OF   PUBLICATION 

211    CHURCH    STREET 

EASTON,   PA. 


DATES 
The  following 
Washington. 

No.  21.  (Vol.  11) 

No 


OF  RECEIPT  OF  DELAYED  JOURNALS 
table  gives  the  date  of  receipt  of  the  Journai.  in 


No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
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No.  10. 
No.  11. 
No.  12. 
No.  13. 
No.  14. 
No.  15. 
No.  IG. 
No.  17. 
No.  18. 
No.  19. 
No.  20. 


1.  (Vol.  12), 

2 

3. 

4. 

o. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 


Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  19 
Due  19 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due  4 
Due  19 
Due    4 


Dec. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

Apr. 

May 

May 

June 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

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Oct. 

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1921 . 
1922. 
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1922, 
1922. 


Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
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Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 
Received 


9  Jan. 
20  Jan. 
20  Jan. 

9  Feb. 
16  Feb. 

4  Mar. 

23  Mar. 
6  Apr. 

24  Apr. 
9  May 

22  May 
6  June 

20  June 
19  July 

21  Aug. 

21  Sept. 
6  Oct. 

23  Oct. 
11  Nov. 

22  Nov. 
6  Dec. 


1922. 
1922. 
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1922. 
1922. 
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ERRATA 
Vol.  12,  1922 

P.  254,  line  24 For  kuntzii 

P.  273,  line  28 For  Atypus 

P.  278,  line  17  from  bottom.  .  .For  Densore 


read  combsii 
read  Pachnaeus 
read  DensmorE 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  January  4,  1922  No.  1 


MATHEMATICS. — A  mathematical  note  on  the  annealing  of  glass. '^ 
B.  D.  Williamson,  Geophysical  Laboratory,  Carnegie  Insti- 
tution of  Washington. 

In  a  recent  paper^  Adams  and  Williamson  have  discussed  at  some 
length  the  annealing  of  glass.  It  is  not  the  object  of  the  present  note 
to  revise  the  deductions  made  from  the  experimental  data  but  rather 
to  show  how  the  mathematical  treatment  of  the  equations  represent- 
ing these  deducticns  may  be  made  more  rigorous.  The  immediate 
practical  aim  is  to  discover  whether  this  course  will  indicate  a  possible 
procedure  by  which  the  time  spent  in  the  annealing  process  can  be 
materially  shortened.  We  shall  anticipate  by  saying  that  this  is 
found  to  be  the  case  and  a  fifteen  per  cent  reduction  of  time  can  be 
made.  A  future  communication  will  give  detailed  schedules  for  va- 
ious  types  of  glass  on  this  new  basis. 

The  problem  to  be  solved  may  be  stated  as  follows.  A  block  of 
glass  is  found  to  be  in  a  condition  of  internal  strain.  By  holding  it 
at  a  temperature  somewhat  below  the  softening  point  the  strain  may 
be  removed  at  a  rate  depending  on  that  temperature.  Further  strain 
will  be  added  during  the  cooling  process  due  to  temperature  differences 
set  up  in  cooling.  It  is  required  to  find  at  what  temperature  to  hold 
the  glass,  how  long  to  hold  it  at  that  temperature  (or,  what  is  the 
same  thing,  to  what  degree  of  completeness  to  remove  the  strain) 
and  how  rapidly  to  cool  at  every  point  in  the  course  of  cooling  so  that 
the  least  possible  time  be  taken  consistent  with  the  final  strain  being 
inside  the  allowable  limits. 

The  notation  used  is  that  of  the  paper  already  cited. 

^  =  temperature  in  degrees  Centigrade. 

do  =  temperature  at  which  glass  is  held  to  remove  strain. 

*  Received  November  15,  192L 

*  L.  H.  Adams  and  E.  D.  Wiluamson.  Journ.  Franklin  Inst.  190:  597-631;  835-870. 
1920. 


2  JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SClENCEvS        VOL.  12,  NO.  1 

/i  =  cooling  rate  in  degrees  per  minute. 

ho  =  initial  cooling  rate  at  60 . 

A/^  =  total  strain  allowable  in  optical  units. 

AA^a  =  strain  left  in  glass  after  holding  at  do. 

AA/^c  =  strain   introduced   by   temperature   differences   in   cooling. 

/a  =  annealing  time  =  time  the  glass  is  held  at  60. 

/c  =  time  spent  in  cooling. 

A  =  annealing  constant  as  found  in  table  3,  op.  cit. 

Ao  =  value  of  A  at  60. 

c  =  constant,  depending  on  the  type  of  glass,  defined  by  equation 
(10),  page  841,  op.  cit. 

The  last  part  of  the  problem  will  be  solved  first.  That  is,  if  the 
glass  has  been  held  at  do  till  the  strain  is  reduced  to  AN^  how  must 
it  be  cooled  so  that  t^  may  be  a  minimum  consistent  with  the  final 
strain  being  A'',  or  in  other  words,  having   ANc  =  N—  AN  J 


tc=  -\  —r-  and  A^  -  AN^  =  AAT,  =  -cM  A 

J     w  ^  h 

the  latter  being  the  integral  of  equation  12  in  the  previous  paper 
which  depends  on  the  experimental  results  set  forth  there.  Applying 
the  calculus  of  variations  to  find  /j  as  a  function  of  d  yields 


const —  (  — 
6h\h 

h'--^\^  constant  =  Ao  Uo '  -  —^  j  (1) 

Now  it  is  shown  in  the  previous  paper  that 

e  -0o 


A=Ao.2 


10 


Therefore  (/.- ^'U  (^/.o-^^^  2  ^'. 


(• 


c'     J      V  c' 


Equation  (1)  shows  how  the  rate  may  be  increased  as  the  temperature 
drops,  and  ho,  the  initial  rate,  may  be  found  by  the  condition  that 
ANc  =  N—  AN^.     The  time   consumed  will   then   be   the   minimum 


JAN.  4,  1922 


WILLIAMSON :   ANNEALING  OF  GLASS 


possible  under  the  conditions  of  the  problem.     An  example  of  how 
the  cooling  rate  changes  is  found  in  table  1. 

The  problem  may  now  be  restated.  t^  is  a  function  of  ^o  and  ^N^, 
and  t^  can  also  be  expressed  in  terms  of  these  by  means  of  equation  (1) 
and  the  proper  value  of  ho ,  that  is,  provided  the  necessary  integrations 
can  be  carried  out.  Can  values  of  Ao  and  AN^  be  chosen  so  that 
{io  +  ^c)  iii^y  t)e  a  minimum? 


Now/,=  -- 


huth^ 


ANJ 


{'■-'¥) 


10 


From  the  latter,  taking  the  logarithm  of  each  side  and  differentiating 

20hdh 


dd=  - 


(--'-f) 


In  2 


Therefore  L  = 


20 


dh 


10  c 


ln2\      _AiV„ 


ANJn2 


In 


ho 


h  + 


AN. 


In  actual  practice  the  cooling  proceeds  over  a  range  of  several  hundred 
degrees.  By  this  time  h  is  large  compared  with  ANJc  so  that  the 
upper  limit  of  the  integral  may  be  taken  as  containing  In  1  and  hence 
is  zero. 

The  result  therefore  is 


t  = 


10c 


he 


AN^  In  2 


In 


c 


ho  —  — 
c 


in  which  ho  has  yet  to  be  determined  by  the  condition 


V 


4  JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  1 

N-  AN.=^  -c'X^"^ ^    de. 


Making  the  same  substitution  as  before  for  dd,   and  remembering 


10 


that  A  =  Ao  2o        ,  the  integration  is  simple,  and  yields 

20  c^Ao[ho 


TV  -  AiV„  = 


In  2 


Taking  the  value  of  ho  from  this  and  substituting  in  the  value  of  t, 
we  get 


c> 


tr    = 


10    C 


AN  a  In  2 


In 


"(N  -  aN^)  In  2  +  40  cAo  AN^ 
{N-  AN,)  In  2 


We  shall  assume  that  the  original  strain  in  the  glass  is  so  large  that 

1 
its  reciprocal  is  negligible  compared  with  "TT7~      Then  by  equation 

{7c)  in  the  previous  communication 

1 


^^      Ao  AN. 


Therefore  t^-h  tc  = 


+ 


10c 


AoAN.       AA^„ln2 


In 


XN  -  ANg)  In  2  +  40  cAo  AN, 
{N  -  AiVJln2 


] 


Partial  differentiation  with  respect  to  ^4©  and  AN^  yields  two  equations 
as  conditions  for  (t,  +  t^)  having  a  minimum  value.  After  a  little 
simplification  these  take  the  form 

580  AN^c'^Ao^  =  (AT  -  AN,)  In 2  +  40  ANMo 


and  In 


(A^  -  ANg)  In  2  +  40  ANMq 
{N  -  AA^,)ln2 


AA^,ln2 


{N  -  AN,)  10  cA, 


The  form  of  the  second  equation  makes  it  necessary  to  use  an  approxi- 


JAN.  4,  1922  WII.LIAMSON:   ANNEALING  OF  GI^ASS  5 

mate  solution.     A  sufficiently  close  one  is 

cAo  =  0.075 
A^^    =  0.725  N. 

If,  then,  we  know  c,  the  constant  which  depends  on  the  elastic  prop- 
erties of  the  glass,  and  have  a  table  like  table  3  in  the  older  paper 
showing  the  values  of  A  for  various  temperatures,  the  required  prob- 
lem is  completely  solved  and  one  can  say  definitely  that  the  glass 
must  be  held  a  certain  temperature  for  a  certain  time  and  be  cooled 
at  a  predetermined  rate  at  every  instant  of  its  cooling  in  order  that 
the  necessary  conditions  may  be  fulfilled. 
The  total  time  necessary  for  the  process  is 

re  c 

+  ^  ^, ^^^   .    =66.9-- 


0.075X0.725  A      0.075X0.275  A  N 

In  computing  this  the  value  of  tc  was  simplified  by  means  of  the  second 
conditional  equation. 

As  an  illustration  the  case  of  a  slab  of  plate  glass  2  cm.  thick  will 
be  treated.  This  is  the  same  example  that  was  previously  used  to 
illustrate  four  different  procedures.     In  this  case  c  is  about  13  and 

0.075 


we  shall  suppose  A  =  5  as  in  the  older   work.     Then   Ao  = 


13 


0.0058,  and  reference  to  figure  12,  in  the  original,  places  this  at  about 
520°  C,  which  is  6°  higher  than  in  the  fastest  previous  schedule. 
ANa  will  be  equal  to  3.625.     The  glass  must  be  held  at  this  temperature 

for  =  47 . 6  minutes,  and  the  total  time  will  be  174 

0.0058X3.625 

minutes  or  a  little  better  than  15  per  cent  less  than  in  the  best  previous 
schedule. 

^,      ..,.,,       ,        1-7         (iV-  ANJ\n2  +  20cAo  AN, 

The  initial  rate  of  cooling  ho  = ^  

20  c~Ao 

=  (in  this  case)  0.33°  per  minute.     The  table  shows  how  that  rate 
increases  as  the  temperature  drops. 

We  have  been  asked  recently  how  long  a  time  is  necessary  for  an- 
nealing a  sheet  of  glass  25  feet  in  diameter  and  2  feet  thick.  If  the 
glass  be  one  for  which  the  constants  are  known  the  question  can  be 
easily  answered.  Suppose  the  glass  is  of  the  same  type  as  in  the 
previous  example,  then  c  will  be  approximately  13  X  30".     The  final 


6  JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  1 

allowable  strain  in  this  particular  case  was  given  as  A^  =  20.     We 
then  find 

13  X  30^ 
*'  =    0.075X0.725X20    '"'""'"'    =    ^°^''°  "'""^'^    =    ^'^  ^^^^- 

13  X  30^ 
Total    time  =  66.9  X  — — minutes  =  39140  minutes  =  27.2  days. 

0.075 
=  13  ^  3Q2  =  0.0000064. 

Therefore  ^o=419°  C.     (see  table  5  and   equation  (8),  op.  cit.),  and 


30^ 


ho  =  0.33  X  ^2  X  1440°  C.  per  day  =  2.11°  C.  per  day.     The  glass 


should  therefore  be  held  at  419°  C.  for  seven  and  one-half  days  and  then 
cooled,  the  initial  cooling  rate  being  a  little  over  2°  per  day  and  in- 
creasing as  in  the  table. 

TABLE  1. — Schedule  According  to  Which  the  Cooling  Rate  Should  Be  Increased 

Initial  rate  1.00 

Rate  after  10°  cooling  1.12 

Rate  after  20  °  cool  ing  1 .36 

Rate  after  30  "cooling  1.73 

Rate  after  40°  cooling  2.30 

Rate  after  50°  cooling  3.15 

Rateafter  60°  cooling  4.36 

Rate  after  70  °  cooling  6.12 

Rate  after  80°  cooling  8.60 

Rateafter  90°  cooling  12.15 

Rateafter  100°  cooling"  17.14 

"  In  the  later  part  of  the  range  the  cooling-rate  practically  doubles  every  20  °. 

SUMMARY 

From  the  equations  representing  the  results  of  experimental  work 
previously  described,  the  most  favorable  conditions  for  annealing  a 
given  piece  of  glass  can  be  deduced.  Formulas  are  found  which, 
used  in  conjunction  with  tables  of  the  elastic  and  annealing  constants 
of  the  glass,  show  at  what  temperature  to  hold  the  glass,  how  long 
to  hold  it  at  that  temperature,  and  how  rapidly  to  cool  it  in  order  to 
get  any  degree  of  fineness  of  annealing  in  the  least  possible  time. 
Examples  are  solved  to  illustrate  the  processes. 


JAN.  4,  1922  schaller:  gillespite  7 

MINERALOGY.— Gille spite,  a  new  mineral.'^     Wai^demar  T.  Schal- 
LER,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey, 

A  small  rock  specimen  collected  from  a  moraine  near  his  claim  near 
the  head  of  Dry  Delta,  Alaska  range  (about  100  miles  S.  E.  of  Fair- 
banks), Alaska,  by  Mr.  Frank  Gillespie  (after  whom  the  mineral  is 
named)  of  Richardson,  Alaska,  was  brought  to  the  Chemical  Labora- 
tory of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  by  Dr.  Philip  S.  Smith  of  the 
Survev. 

The  rock  specimen  is  composed  chiefly  of  a  mica-like  mineral 
(gillespite) ,  with  a  striking  red  color,  w^hich  could  not  be  identified 
by  simple  tests.  By  chemical  analysis  the  mineral  proved  to  be 
a  silicate  of  ferrous  iron  and  barium  with  the  composition  Fe"BaSi40io. 
Two  other  minerals,  a  grayish  green  diopside  and  a  white  barium  feld- 
spar, with  the  red  gillespite,  compose  the  rock.  Several  other  minerals 
are  seen  in  thin  sections  but  only  in  very  small  quantities.  The 
mode  of  occurrence  of  the  rock  is  not  known  but  it  suggests  contact 
metamorphism  with  the  development  of  abundant  barium  minerals. 

The  red  gillespite  forms  thick  scaly  masses  from  one  to  five  milli- 
meters across  and  nearly  as  thick.  The  rock  mass  is  compact  and 
although  no  crystal  faces  except  the  basal  plane  could  be  detected, 
thin  sections  of  the  rock  suggest  an  occasional  terminal  plane  on  a 
gillespite.  The  mineral  does  not  scale  off  like  mica  but  the  basal 
cleavage  is  very  well  developed.  The  physical  properties  are :  brittle, 
H.  =  4,  sp.  gr.  =  3.33.  Luster  vitreous,  color  red,  streak  pink.  The 
color  is  close  to  Ridgway's^  "Pomegranate  Purple,"  PI.  XII,  hue  no. 
71,  tone  i,  and  to  "Spinel  Red,"  PI.  XXVI,  hue  no.  71,  tone  b.  The 
powder  approaches  "Geranium  Pink,"  PI.  I,  hue  no.  3,  tone  d.  Trans- 
lucent. Optically  uniaxial,  negative,  birefringence  very  low,  strongly 
pleochroic.  Refractive  indices:  e  (rose  red)  1.619,  co  (pale  pink  to 
nearly  colorless)  1.621. 

In  the  blow-pipe  flame,  gillespite  fuses  easily  and  quietly  to  a  black 
non-magnetic  globule.  Heated  in  a  closed  tube,  it  darkens  and  as- 
sumes a  deep  violet  color,  the  original  red  color  being  regained  on 
cooling.  Readily  decomposed  by  HCl,  without  gelatinization,  the 
mineral  flakes  being  changed  to  glistening  flakes  of  silica  which  retain 
the  shape  of  the  original  mineral.     These  residues  of  silica  are  doubly 

^  Received  October  24,  1921.     Published  by  permission  of  the  Director,  U.  S.  Geological 

Survey. 

2  R.  RiDGWAY,  Color  standards  and  color  nomenclature.     Washington,  D.  C,  1912. 


8  JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.   1 

refracting  and  are  being  further  studied.     Sulphuric  acid  decomposes 
the  mineral  with  separation  of  silica  and  formation  of  barium  sulphate. 
An  analysis  of  a  hand-picked  sample  of  gillespite,  with  only  a  few 
per  cent  of  other  mineral  present  gave  the  following  results : 

Analysis  of  gillespite  Ratios 

Si02 50.08  0.831     4.034  or  4  X  1 .01 

FeO 14.60  0.203     0.985  or  1  X  0.99 

BaO 31.02  0.202     0.980  or  1  X  0.98 

AI2O3 0.34 

FeaOs 0.56  0.008     

MnzOa 0.14 

Insoluble 2.20 

Water" 0.82 

99.76 
"  Water  determined  by  "ignition  loss"  corrected  for  (assumed)  oxidation  of  FeO  to 
Fe203.     Selected  pure  fragments  of  gillespite  give  no  water  when  heated  in  a  closed  tube. 

The  formula  of  gillespite  is  FeO.Ba0.4Si02  or  Fe"BaSi40io.  If 
the  ferrous  iron  and  the  barium  be  considered  as  isomorphously  re- 
placing each  other,  then  the  formula  simplifies  to  (Fe",Ba)Si20r,. 
There  is,  however,  no  evidence  for  such  isomorphous  replacement 
and  as  the  ratios  of  ferrous  iron  and  barium  in  the  analysis  are  sharply 
1:1,  the  formula  Fe'^BaSi^Oio  is  to  be  preferred. 

The  presence  of  the  small  quantity  of  manganese  was  definitely 
determined  and  it  is  assumed  to  be  present  in  the  strongly  chromatic 
manganic  state;  the  combination  of  such  manganic  manganese  with 
possibly  a  small  quantity  of  ferric  iron  yielding  the  deep  red  color  of 
the  mineral.     Titanium  is  not  present. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  group  of  minerals  to  which  gillespite 
is  closely  related,  considering  its  properties  and  chemical  composition. 

ICHTHYOLOGY. — Notice  of  a  spiral  valve  in  the  Teleostean  fish 
Argentina  silus,  with  a  discussion  of  some  skeletal  and  other  char- 
acters.^ William  C.  Kendall  and  Donald  R.  Crawford, 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Fisheries. 

introduction 

Distribution.- — -Argentina  silus  is  found  rather  infrequently  along 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States,  although  it  is  not  rare  off  the 
coast  of  Norway.  The  flesh  is  edible,  but  Argentina  silus  is  not 
taken  in  sufficient  quantities  to  be  of  economic  importance. 

*  Received  November   19,   1921. 


JAN.  4,   1922  KENDALL  AND  CRAWFORD:   ARGENTINA  SILUS  9 

» 

The  following  are  the  only  records  known  to  us  of  the  capture  of 
the  species  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States.  A  specimen 
was  found  in  the  stomach  of  Physis  tenuis  taken  off  Sable  Island  in 
200  fathoms,  which  is  recorded  by  Goode  and  Bean  as  type  number 
U.  S.  N.  M.  21624,  "Argentina  syrtensium"  (Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus., 
1878,  page  261),  and  in  Oceanic  Ichthyology,  page  52,  as  Argentina 
silus. 

In  July,  1891,  a  specimen  18  inches  long  (U.  S.  N.  M.  No.  43708) 
was  caught  by  a  boy  with  a  hook  and  line  in  the  harbor  of  Belfast, 
Maine.  (Goode  and  Bean,  Oceanic  Ichthyolog}^  page  52.)  Another, 
No.  37801,  15  inches  (381.0  mm.)  long,  was  taken  at  Biddeford  Pool, 
Maine  (loc.  cit.),  March  19,  1886. 

In  1904,  Mr.  John  R.  Neal,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  sent  in  for  identi- 
fication by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Fisheries  a  specimen  about  13.5  inches 
(342.9  mm.)  long,  taken  by  a  fisherman  probably  on  Georges  Bank, 
September  19  of  that  year.  Another  specimen  in  the  collection  of 
the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  No.  55636,  was  found  at  Fletchers  Neck, 
near  Ocean  Beach,  Maine,  May  7,  1906. 

In  the  collection  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Welsh,  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Fish- 
eries, are  two  young  specimens  collected  on  the  coast  of  Maine  as 
follows:  1  specimen  49  mm.  long,  August  14,  1912,  in  a  closing  net 
at  a  depth  of  35  fathoms,  33  miles  north  from  Mt.  Desert  Rock. 
Another,  38  mm.  long,  August  13,  1913,  25  miles  N.  K.  from  Petit 
Manan  light,  somewhere  above  a  depth  of  110  fathoms. 

In  December,  1912,  a  specimen  about  15  inches  (381.0  mm.)  long  was 
found  on  Hampton  Beach,  N.  J.,  and  was  sent  to  the  Bureau  of  Fish- 
eries by  Mr.  B.  F.  Smart,  of  the  U.  S.  Life  Saving  Service. 

Early  in  January,  1914,  a  specimen  nearly  14  inches  (355.6  mm.) 
long  was  found  at  Hampton  Beach  and  sent  in  to  the  Bureau.  These 
latter  specimens  form  the  basis  for  the  observations  comprised  in 
this  paper. 

Habits.- — Little  is  know^n  of  the  habits  of  this  fish.  It  has  been  caught 
in  the  north  Atlantic  from  Iceland  to  the  coast  of  Ireland,-  in  rather 
deep  water.  The  eggs^  of  Argentina  silus  are  3.0  to  3.5  mm.  in  di- 
ameter and  are  bathypelagic ;  that  is,  they  float  far  below  the  surface 
where  they  have  been  taken  in  50  to  over  1,000  meters  of  water. 

*  JOHS.  Schmidt,  On  the  Larvae  and  Post-larval  Development  of  the  Argentines  (Argentina 
silus  Ascan.  and  Argentina  sphyraena  Linne).  Meddelelser  Fra  Kommissionenfor  Hovun- 
ders  gelser,  Sene  Fiskeri,  Kobenhavn.     2:  1-20.     Nov.  4,  1906. 

«  Op.  cit. 


10        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOIv.  12,  NO.  1 

It  is  known  that  this  fish  may  be  caught  on  bait  of  mussels  {Mytilus, 
according  to  Nilsson),  or  on  pieces  of  herring.^  According  to  Holt,^ 
one  specimen  caught  off  the  coast  of  Ireland  had  in  its  stomach  remains 
of  shrimps  and  copepods,  one  of  which  was  identified  as  Calamus 
finmarchichus,  which  is  known  to  inhabit  the  bottom. 

VISCERAL  ANATOMY 

Alimentary  Tract  and  Spiral  Valve 

The  presence  of  a  spiral  valve  is  of  considerable  interest  since  up 
to  the  present  time  but  one  living  adult  Teleost  was  known  to  possess 
a  true  spiral  valve  in  the  intestine. 


Fig.  1.  Stomach  and  intestine  of  Argentina  silus  X  Vs- — h  attachment  of  liver; 
s,  cardiac  limb  of  stomach;  p,  pyloric  limb  of  stomach;  pc,  pyloric  caeca; 
<f,  duodenum;  5Z>,  spiral  valve;  c,  rectum.  ^,  small  portion  of  spiral  valve, 
with  part  of  the  outer  wall  removed  to  show  internal  structure,  semi-diagram- 
matic, X  6. 

In  Argentina  silus  it  has  no  doubt  been  overlooked  partly  because 
its  presence  hitherto  was  unsuspected  and  also  because  of  the  com- 
paratively few  specimens  available  for  study.  It  is  not  known  from 
the  limited  material  examined  whether  or  not  this  structure  is  as 
variable  in  different  individuals  of  Argentina  silus  as  it  is  known  to 
be  in  different  individuals  of  some  species  of  rays  and  sharks.  The 
two  specimens  at  hand  were  essentially  the  same,  each  showing  a 
true  spiral  cavity  wound  around  a  small  central  canal.     Thus,  the 

*  F.    A.    SMifT,  Scandinavian  Fishes,  ed.  2,  2:  916.     Stockholm,  1895. 

'  W.  L.  Holt,  The  Great  Silver  Smelt,  Argentina  silus,  Nilss.  An  addition  to  the  List 
of  British  Fishes.  Journal  of  the  Marine  Biological  Association  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
N.  S.  5:  341-342.     1897-99. 


JAN.  4,  1922  KENDALL  AND  CRAWFORD:   ARGENTINA  SILUS  11 

spiral  valve  in  Argentina  silus  is  fully  as  well  developed  as  it  is  in  the 
ganoids,  among  which  it  is  very  well  developed  in  Polypterus  and 
the  Sturgeon,  but  vestigeal  in  Lepidosieous  and  Amia   (Amiatus).^ 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  spiral  valve  is  absent  in  the  more 
specialized  Teleostei  with  the  possible  exceptions  of  Chirocentrus 
and  possibly  some  Salmonidae.  In  making  the  latter  exception 
reference  is  made  to  Rathke's  work  published  in  1824. 

In  discussing  the  folds  of  the  mucous  membrane  lining  the  intestines 
of  various  fishes,  Rathke^  mentions  crossfolds  (Querfalten)  and  ring- 
folds  (Ringfalten)  as  occurring  in  C/zi^eaa/csa,  the  grayling  {Thymallus), 
whitefish  {Coregonus),  and  Salmo  trutta.  While  Rathke  evidently 
was  aware  of  the  presence  of  these  folds,  it  is  clear  that  he  did  not 
interpret  them  as  spiral  valves,  for  he  does  not  use  the  term  "Spiral- 
falten"  in  this  connection  as  he  does  in  describing  the  spiral  valve  of 
the  Sturgeon.  The  more  exact  meaning  of  the  term  "vestige"  still 
remains  to  be  determined;  but  at  present  such  a  discussion  seems  to 
be  extraneous.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  writers  have  found 
that  in  some  specimens  of  "Rainbow"  trout  {Salmo  sp.)  there  were 
six  or  seven  well-developed  spiral  folds  in  the  posterior  end  of  the 
intestine  which  will  be  discussed  more  fully  in  a  future  paper. 

Of  the  remaining  Teleosts  in  which  there  are  so-called  rudiments 
or  vestiges  of  spiral  valves,  Gymnarchus^  apparently  possesses  a 
slight  spiral  valve  which  disappears  43  days  after  hatching.  How- 
ever, according  to  Cuvier  and  Valenciennes,^  there  is  a  well-developed 
spiral  valve  in  Chirocentrus,  one  of  the  Physostomi.  It  is  described 
as  follows:  "Upon  opening  the  intestine,  one  finds  a  mucous  lining 
very  remarkable  for  its  exceedingly  numerous  and  close-set  folds, 
which,  for  the  whole  extent  of  the  canal,  form  a  series  of  connivant 
valves,  or  rather  an  internal  lamina  wound  in  a  very  compact  spiral — 
une  lame  sur  une  spirale  tres-seree "  The  description  is  sup- 
plemented by  a  drawing  which  differs  from  other  drawings  ^°  of  the 
spiral  valve  of  Chirocentrus.     However,  it  is  apparent  that  Chiro- 

«  Parker  and  Haswell,  A  Text-Book  of  Zoology,  2:  218.     1897. 

''  Heinrich  Rathke,  Uher  den  Darmkanal  und  die  Zeugungsorgane  der  Fische,  62-65, 
83.     1824. 

*  R.  Assheton,  The  Development  of  Gymnarchus  niloticus.  The  Work  of  John  Samuel 
Budgett.     Edited  by  J.  Graham  Verr.     P.  326. 

»  Cuvier  and  Valenciennes,  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Poissons,  19:  117;  also  PI.  565 
between  pp.  312-313.     1846. 

1"  E.  S.  Goodrich,     A  Treatise  on  Zoology,  fig.  77A.     Edited  by  Sir  Ray  Lankester. 


12         JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF*  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  1 

centrus  hitherto  has  been  the  only  Teleost  known  in  which  there  is  a 
true  spiral  valve  in  the  adult. 

The  stomach  of  Argentina  silus  is  siphon-shaped,  somewhat  like 
that  of  a  salmon,  although  the  posterior  end-curve  is  conical,  suggest- 
ing a  short  caecum.  The  pyloric  limb  is  the  shorter,  being  about 
half  the  length  of  the  cardiac  limb. 

The  duodenum,  as  it  extends  forward,  curves  downward  and  then 
upward.  It  then  passes  to  one  side  of  the  stomach  near  the  median 
line.  In  the  specimen  from  which  the  drawing  was  made  (Fig.  1), 
there  were  twenty-five  pyloric  caeca.  Just  posterior  to  the  stomach, 
the  intestine  bends  sharply  upward  and  transversely,  then  backward, 
after  which  it  runs  in  a  straight  line  to  the  anal  opening.  This  part 
of  the  intestine  is  occupied  by  a  well-developed,  though  simply  con- 
structed, spiral  valve  (Fig.  lA).  The  exterior  shows  eighteen  or 
twenty  transverse  septa  on  a  little  over  two-thirds  the  length  of  the 
straight  part  of  the  intestine,  but  there  are  several  incomplete  whorls 
at  the  anterior  end  and  a  few  closely  folded  ones  at  the  posterior  end 
which  do  not  show  externally.  Back  of  the  spiral  valve,  the  intestine 
is  a  straight  tube. 

A  specimen ^^  of  young  Argentina  silus  49  mm.  long  shows  a  well- 
developed  spiral  valve. 

The  air  bladder  is  thick-walled  and  silvery,  with  a  small  aperture 
in  the  posterior  end  which  suggests  a  pneumatic  duct  connection 
but  which  could  not  be  traced. 

SOME  SKELETAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

Cranium.- — ^The  most  prominent  feature  in  a  dorsal  view  of  the 
cranium  is  the  large  frontal  bones  which  extend  backward  above  the 
eyes  and  nearly  to  the  posterior  margin  of  the  cranium,  almost  com- 
pletely covering  the  parietals.  The  frontals  overlap  each  other  and 
they  are  so  closely  bound  together  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  them. 
When  they  are  removed,  the  thin  and  rather  narrow  parietals  are 
seen  lapped  underneath  these  bones.  The  parietals  overlap  each 
other  widely  and  also  cover  the  supraoccipital  except  for  the  supra- 
occipital  crest  and  a  narrow  posterior  margin.  The  supraoccipital 
bone  is  extended  foreward  into  a  tongue-shaped  process  upon  which 
the  parietals  rest.     This  process  is  connected  by  a  cartilaginous  bridge 

"  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Welsh,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Fisheries.  Grampus  station 
10027.     August  14,  1912. 


JAN.  4,   1922  KENDALL  AND  CRAWFORD:   ARGENTINA  SILUS  13 

to  the  sphenotic  bones  on  each  side  and  a  narrower  ridge  extends 
upward  on  the  inner  side  of  the  alisphenoid.  There  is  a  cartilage 
extending  downward  between  parts  of  the  opisthotic^-  and  epiotic 
bones. 

The  parietals  extend  laterally  and  cover  the  large  pit  on  either  side 
which  is  bounded  by  the  opisthotics,  pterotics,  and  epiotics.  This 
pit  is  filled  ordinarily  by  the  foreward  extension  of  the  large  lateral 
muscles  of  the  body.  In  Salmo,  this  pit  is  bounded  by  the  same  bones 
as  in  Argentina,  but  it  is  not  covered  over  by  the  parietals.  In  Os- 
merus,  the  pit  is  bounded  by  the  pterotic  and  epiotic,  the  parietals 
not  covering  it.  Neither  do  the  parietals  in  Osmerus  meet  in  front 
of  the  supraoccipital. 

The  preoperculum  falls  almost  perpendicularly  from  its  fascet. 
Its  two  limbs  form  nearly  a  right  angle,  the  lower  limb  which  extends 
forw^ard  being  as  long  as  the  upper,  and  both  are  connected  at  the 
angle  by  a  heavy  flange  which  is  roughly  quadrate  in  outline.  The 
metapterygoids  are  much  reduced.  The  large  mesopterygoids  extend 
downward  between  the  metapterygoids  and  quadrate  bones. 

The  symplectic  extends  from  the  hyomandibular  diagonall}^  down- 
ward to  the  top  of  the  lower  limb  of  the  preopercle  and  thence  for- 
ward. A  part  of  the  quadrate  bone  extends  backward  on  top  of 
the  lower  limb  of  the  preopercle  and  overlaps  the  forward  extension 
of  the  symplectic.  The  whole  apparatus  has  the  appearance  of  being 
drawn  dow^nward  and  forward.  There  are  no  teeth  on  the  mesop- 
terygoids,^^ maxillaries,  or  premaxillaries,  but  there  are  small,  sharp 
teeth  in  single  rows  on  the  anterior  margin  of  the  vomer  and  palatines, 
and  a  few  on  the  tongue.  The  preorbital  and  three  suborbital  bones 
extend  from  the  premaxillary  backward  across  the  cheek.  There  is 
no  supplementary  maxillary.  The  premaxillaries  are  securely  fastened 
to  the  vomer  by  connective  tissue  which  makes  these  bones  immov- 
able. 

The  upper  margin  of  the  bones  of  the  lower  jaw  is  strongly  arched, 
the  apex  of  the  arch  being  at  the  overlapping  of  the  dentary  and  artic- 
ular bones.  The  anterior  margin  of  the  dentary  is  concave  and  tooth- 
less, but  it  is  hard  and  chisel-edged.  Between  the  dentary  and  artic- 
ular bones  is  a  splenial  bone,  which  lies  on  top  of  the  Meckel's  car- 

^2  Regan  did  not  recognize  the  existence  of  the  opisthotic  bone  in  the  skull  of  Argentina. 
It  may  be  seen  to  best  advantage  after  the  f rentals  and  parietals  are  removed. 
^^  There  are  teeth  on  the  mesopterygoids  of  Osmerus. 


14         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  1 

tilage.  The  upper  and  outer  surface  of  this  bone  forms  a  broad  contact 
with  the  inner  surface  of  the  articular.  The  articular  is  heavily 
reenforced  on  the  inner  surface  at  its  articulation  with  the  quadrate. 
The  angular  bone  is  present. 

Vertebrae. — There  are  thirty-six  abdominal  and  thirty  caudal  vertebrae 
in  the  vertebral  column  of  our  specimens  of  Argentina  silus}"^  In  the 
first  twenty-one  abdominal  vertebrae,  the  neurapophyses  are  not  fused 
into  neural  spines  and  the  neural  canal  is  not  closed  above  in  the 
first  twenty.  The  neural  canal  is  closed  in  the  twenty-first,  but  there 
are  still  two  neural  spines.  The  parapophyses  of  the  abdominal 
vertebrae  extend  outward  as  rather  broad,  rhomboidal  platforms 
which  lie  nearly  horizontal,  the  ribs  being  attached  to  the  outer 
corners.  The  parapophyses  become  progressively  narrower  poste- 
riorly and  gradually  merge  into  the  haemapophyses  of  the  caudal 
vertebrae.  There  are  ribs  on  all  but  the  last  three  abdominal  para- 
pophyses. In  Salmo,  the  first  two  abdominal  vertebrae  do  not  bear 
ribs. 

Kpipleurals  are  borne  on  at  least  twenty-six  of  the  abdominal 
vertebrae.  These  bones  are  ankylosed  with  the  neural  spines  and 
may  not  be  separated  from  them  without  breaking  them  apart.  The 
neurapophyses  of  these  vertebrae  are  articulated  loosely  to  the  centra 
and  each  may  be  lifted  off  of  the  centrum  with  the  attached  zyga- 
pophysis  and  epineural.  In  those  vertebrae  which  do  not  bear  epineu- 
rals,  the  neurapophyses  are  ankylosed  with  the  centrum.  None 
of  the  epipleurals  of  Salmo  or  Osmerus  are  ankylosed  with  the  neura- 
pophyses. 

In  the  caudal  vertebrae,  the  haemal  arch  is  closed,  but  in  the  first 
nine,  the  haemapophyses  extend  downward  separately,  but  they  are 
bridged  across  by  an  arch  instead  of  a  solid,  straight-edged  connection, 
as  in  Salmo.  They  increase  in  length  posteriorly  and  taper  inward 
toward  each  other  until,  in  the  tenth,  there  is  a  single  haemal  spine. 
The  45th  vertebra  is  shown  in  figure  2,  E.  The  last  undoubted 
vertebra  is  much  like  that  of  Osmerus.  The  caudal  stylus  is  composed 
of  elements  extending  from  the  upper  and  lower  sides  of  the  centrum 
whose  axis  is  directed  slightly  upward.  The  upper  element  of  the 
stylus  is  the  heavier,  while  the  reverse  is  true  in  Osmerus.  However, 
there  are  three  rather  indistinct  vertebrae  whose  axes  are  directed 

"  The  following  numbers  of  vertebrae  in  Argentina  situs  are  recorded  in  various  ich- 
thyological  works:     Day,  65;  Smitt,  65-68;  A.  Schubberg,  66. 


JAN.  4,   1922  KENDALL  AND  CRAWFORD:   ARGENTINA  SILUS 


15 


upward  posterior  to  the  stylus,  while  in  Osmerus  this  is  not  the  case. 
(Fig.  2,  D.) 

Pelvic  Bones. — The  pelvic  bones  differ  widely  from  those  of  other 
Isospondyli.  There  is  one  distal  pterygiophore  loosely  articulated 
to  the  basipterygium.  Above  it,  there  is  a  large,  spheroidal  swelling 
of  hard  bone  excavated  on  the  inner  side  to  which  the  first  ray  is 
articulated.     From  this  spheroidal  swelling,  a  slender  shaft  projects 


A 


3 


V 


Fig.  2.  A,  basipterigium  of  Argentina  silus,  X  IVal  B,  basipterigium  of  Osmenus 
mordax,  X  3;  C,  basipterygium  of  Salmo  sehago,  X  2;  D,  caudal  vertebrae  of 
Argentina  silus,  X  2;  E,  45th  vertebrae  of  Argentina  silus,  showing  the  arched 
connection  between  the  haemopophyses,  X  2. 

forward  along  the  margin  and  another  shaft,  originating  at  the  base 
of  the  first,  runs  diagonally  forward  across  the  basipterygium.  The 
anterior  margin  of  the  basipterygium  extends  diagonally  across  the 
ends  of  the  two  shafts,  the  whole  bone  being  trapezoidal  in  shape, 
as  shown  in  figure  2,  A.  In  this  respect,  it  differs  from  the  basip- 
terygia  of  other  Isospondyli  which  are  roughly  triangular  in  outline. 
(Fig.  2,  B,  C.)  A  lateral  process  extends  inward  to  meet  a  similar 
process  on  the  opposite  side. 

Pectoral  Girdle. — There  is  no  postclavical  such  as  that  found  in 
a  salmonid.  The  actinosts  are  thin,  but  they  are  connected  by  webs 
of  bone.  The  mesocoracoid  is  present  and  well  developed.  The 
supratemporal  is  a  thin,  blade-shaped  bone  loosely  attached  to  the 
upper  posterior  margin  of  the  supraoccipital.  Of  the  two  processes 
of  the   posttemporal  bone,  the  lower  which  curves  downward  is  the 


16         JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOI..  12,  NO.  1 

longer.  It  is  firmly  attached  to  the  base  of  the  exoccipital  by  tough 
connective  tissue. 

The  pectoral  girdle  is  further  attached  to  the  skull  and  vertebrae 
by  three  rod-like  ligaments  on  each  side.  The  upper  ligament  passes 
from  the  posttemporal  to  the  basioccipital.  The  second  is  attached 
to  the  supraclavical  and  the  first  vertebra  which  is  ankylosed  with 
the  skull.  The  third  ligament  attaches  the  clavical  to  the  second 
vertebra,  or  the  first  which  is  not  ankylosed  with  the  skull. 

Scales. — The  scales  of  Argentina  silus  differ  greatly  from  those  of 
Osmeridae  or  Salmonidae.  In  these  two  families,  the  scales  are  smooth 
and  cycloid,  but  in  Argentina  silus  they  are  roughened  by  small  spines, 
and  they  are  ctenoid  in  a  manner  similar  to  certain  clupeids  and 
percids  (Menhaden  and  Stizostedion) .  The  heart-shaped  scales  as 
described  by  Smitt  appear  only  along  the  lateral  line. 

SUMMARY    OF    CHARACTERISTICS     OF    Argentinidae    as    INDICATED     BY 

Argentina  silus 

Visceral  characteristics 

Stomach  bluntly  caecal;  intestine  with  well-developed  spiral  valve; 
pyloric  caeca  much  less  numerous  than  in  Coregonidae,  not  much 
less  numerous  than  in  Salmonidae,  and  much  more  numerous  than 
in  Osmeridae;  air  bladder  thick  and  silvery;  pneumatic  duct,  if  any, 
connected  with  its  posterior  end. 

Skeletal  characteristics 

Cranium: — Frontals  extend  backward  overlapping  parietals,  nearly 
covering  them.  Parietals  overlapping  on  top  of  supraoccipital ; 
opisthotic  present;  splenial  bone  present  in  lower  jaw;  mesopterygoids 
and  jaws  toothless;  no  supplementary  maxillary. 

Vertebrae: — 66  all  told.  Double  neural  spines  in  first  21,  canal 
being  open  in  first  20.  Ribs  on  all  but  last  three  abdominal  vertebrae. 
Osseous  epipleurals  on  at  least  26  abdominal  vertebrae;  these  are 
ankylosed  to  zygapophyses  and  neural  spines ;  haemapophyses  of 
abdominal  vertebrae  bridged  by  arch  instead  of  straight-edged  piece 
as  in  Salmo;  pelvic  bones  with  trapezoidal  instead  of  a  triangular 
basipterygium. 

Pectoral  girdle: — With  no  postclavical  process  and  with  thin  acti- 
nosts  which  are  connected  by  webs  of  thin  bone. 


JAN.  4,   1922  KENDALL  AND  CRAWFORD:   ARGENTINA  SILUS  17 

Scales: — Ctenoid.     Modified  along  lateral  line. 

SYNOPSIS   AND   REVIEW    OF   THE   HISTORY   OE   THE    CLASSIFICATION    OP 

Argentina 

The  statement  by  Linnaeus  that  there  are  teeth  on  the  jaws  and 
tongue^^  {''Denies  in  maxillis,  lingua")  is  not  borne  out  by  Artedi^^ 
to  whom  Linnaeus  refers,  or  by  subsequent  descriptions.  Artedi 
says  teeth  on  tongue  and  palate  {"Denies  in  lingua  &  Palate").  Fur- 
thermore, Linnaeus  states  the  branchiostegal  rays  as  8.  Artedi  does 
not  mention  the  number  but  all  subsequent  descriptions  state  them 
as  6.  While  Linnaeus  does  not  mention  the  number  of  pyloric  caeca 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Artedi  says  that  there  are  6  or  7.  Both 
of  the  foregoing  refer  to  the  Mediterranean  species  Argentina  sphyraena. 

In  their  discussion  of  the  genus  Argentina,  Cuvier  and  Valenciennes 
indefinitely  mention  numerous  caecal  appendages^''  and  state  that 
the  stomach  ends  in  a  cul-de-sac.  The  genus  is  included  in  "Sal- 
monoides."  Gunther^^  says:  Pyloric  appendages  in  moderate  num- 
bers. He  refers  the  family  to  Salmonidae,  which  includes  Salmo, 
Oncorhynchus,  Brachymystax,  Luciotrutta,  Plecoglossus,  Osmerus, 
Thaleichthys ,  Hypomesus,  Mallotus,  Retropinna,  Coregonus,  Thymallus, 
Argentina,  and  Microstoma  comprised  in  the  first  group  Salmonina, 
in  the  order  named. 

In  recognizing  the  subfamily  Argentininae  of  Bonaparte,  Gill  states 
that  it  differs  from  Salmoninae  by  the  stomach  ending  in  a  blind  sac 
posteriorly.  In  this  he  agrees  with  Cuvier  and  Valenciennes.  Gill's 
original  observations,  however,  were  apparently  on  the  smelts  and 
allied  forms.  In  the  subfamily  he  recognized  two  genera,  Argentina 
and  Silus,  the  first  with  cycloid,  the  other  with  spinigerous  scales. 
Later  Gill  placed  the  subfamily  Argentininae,  comprising  Mallotus, 
Osmerus  and  Microstoma,  also  by  implication,  other  Osmerids  and 
Argentina,  in  the  family  MicrostomidaeJ^  Ten  years  later,  however, 
Jordan  and  Gilbert  include  Argentina  in  the  family  Salmonidae, 
recognizing  no  subfamilies  in  the  description  of  the  genus,  thus  follow- 
ing Gunther. 

15  Systema  Natura:  315.     1758. 

^^  Ichthyologia,  5:  8.     1738. 

1'  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Poissons,  21:  299.  1898. 

'*  Catalogue  of  the  Physoslomi,  British  Museum,  p.  202.     1866. 

"  Catalogue  of  the  Fishes  of  the  East  Coast  of  North  America.    Smith.Misc.  Coll.  1873:11-32. 


18         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.   1 

Without  stating  any  additional  characters,  Gill,  in  1884,  established 
the  family  Argeniinidae}^  By  inference  the  family  distinction  is 
that  of  the  caecal  stomach. 

Smitt^"^  retains  Argentina,  as  well  as  the  Osmerids,  etc.,  in  Sal- 
monidae.  In  his  diagnosis  of  the  genus,  no  character  of  more  than 
generic  value  is  mentioned.  In  expressing  the  relationship  of  Ar- 
gentina to  other  forms,  however,  he  says  that  the  odor  and  few  pyloric 
appendages  point  to  the  Smelt  and  the  stiff  but  fragile  fin  rays  and 
the  singular  shape  of  the  scales  are  reminders  of  the  Scopelids.  Also 
that  the  peculiarity  of  the  scales  suggests  the  extinct  genus  Osmer aides, 
which,  however,  in  its  numerous  branchiostegals  and  dentition  was 
more  like  the  salmon.  Jordan  and  Evermann  accept  Argentinidae,  of 
Gill,  comprising  the  Osmerids,  etc.,  as  well.  Their  characterization 
is  largely  composed  of  the  generic  characters  of  the  Osmerids.  They 
state  that  the  stomach  is  a  blind  sac,  and  the  pyloric  caeca  few  or 
none.  Following  the  family  diagnosis,  the  statement  is  made  that 
there  are  about  ten  genera  and  perhaps  a  dozen  species  which  are 
reduced  Salmonidae  smaller  and  in  every  way  feebler  than  the  trout, 
but  similar  to  them  in  all  respects  except  in  the  form  of  the  stomach. 

More  recently  Regan  separated  the  Osmerids  from  the  Argen- 
tinidae making  for  them  the  family  Osmeridae,  the  latter  differing 
from  the  Argentinidae  in  having  toothed  mesoptery golds.  Both 
the  Argentinidae  and  Osmeridae  he  supposed  to  differ  from  the  Sal- 
monidae in  the  absence  of  opisthotics  and  upturned  vertebrae  at  the 
posterior  end  of  the  vertebral  column. 

Unless  the  ensemble  of  previously  designated  generic  characters 
of  Argentina  is  considered  of  family  rank,  no  one  prior  to  Regan 
has  enunciated  a  valid  family  character,  and  even  he  was  mistaken 
concerning  the  absence  of  the  opisthotic  in  Argentina.  However, 
its  presence  in  Argentina  and  absence  from  the  Osmerids  strengthen 
the  family  rank  of  the  latter.  The  fact  that  Argentina  possesses 
opisthotics  and  vestigial  or  rudimentary  upturned  vertebrae,  as 
previously  indicated,  might  be  construed  by  some  to  show  that  the 
genus  represents  an  intermediate  between  the  Osmerids  and  Coregonids, 
and  even  the  shape  of  the  stomach  as  represented  by  our  specimens 
of  Argentina  silus  would  support  this  view.     However,   there  are 

^^  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  the  year 
188-4  (1885),  p.  619. 
^^  Scandinavian  Fishes,  2:912.     1895. 


JAN.  4,  1922  abstracts:  geology  19 

other  characters  in  which  they  diverge  but  in  which  they  should  inter- 
grade  if  they  represent  true  intermediates  in  a  direct  line  of  develop- 
ment. Most  of  the  characters,  as  well  as  those  mentioned  by  Smitt 
and  others  enumerated  in  the  classifications  of  Argentina,  show  re- 
semblances merely,  rather  than  actual  indications  of  relationship. 
And  those  resemblances  represent  some  of  the  Salmonoid  tendencies 
of  characters  possessed  by  the  generalized  ancestral  form,  Argentina 
being  a  highly  specialized  terminal  product  of  an  early  divergent. 
The  fact  that  it  is  a  comparatively  deep  water  group,  of  apparently 
wide  distribution,  possessing  an  intestinal  spiral  valve,  considered 
together  with  its  general  structure,  would  support  this  view. 

ABSTRACTS 

Authors  of  scientific  papers  are  requested  to  see  that  abstracts,  preferably  prepared 
and  signed  by  themselves,  are  forwarded  promptly  to  the  editors.  The  abstracts  should 
conform  in  length  and  general  style  to  those  appearing  in  this  issue. 

GEOLOGY. — The  New  Salem  lignite  field,  Morton  County,  North  Dakota. 
Eugene  T.  Hancock.  U.  S.  Geo!  Surv.  Bull.  726-A.   Pp.   39.     1921. 

The  Nevv  Salem  field  is  part  of  the  great  lignite  region  of  western  North 
Dakota  and  adjacent  regions.  The  history,  commercial  geography,  and 
surface  features  of  the  area  are  summarized  in  two  pages.  Six  pages  are 
given  to  the  discussion  of  the  geologic  section  which  includes  the  I,ance  and 
Fort  Union  formations.  Within  the  Lance  is  the  Cannonball  marine  member 
which  has  been  the  subject  of  much  recent  discussion  and  is  named  from 
the  Cannonball  River  traversing  this  field.  One  bed  of  lignite  was  found 
in  the  Lance  below  the  Cannonball  member,  but  the  valuable  beds  are  con- 
fined to  the  upper  200  to  300  feet  of  the  Fort  Union. 

The  beds  in  most  of  this  field  have  a  very  gentle  dip  (5  to  10  feet  to  the 
mile)  toward  the  northwest,  with  minor  folds;  in  the  northwest  part  of  the 
field  they  form  a  gentle  syncline.  About  three  pages  are  given  to  physical 
and  chemical  data  and  graphic  sections  of  the  coal  in  considerable  detail. 
The  heating  value  ranges  about  6,000  to  7,000  calories  for  coal  as  mined. 
Fourteen  pages  are  devoted  to  a  description  by  townships  of  the  occurrence 
of  the  coal  in  the  seventeen  townships  examined. 

Marcus  J.  Goldman. 

GEOLOGY. — Ground  water  in  the  Southington-Granhy    Area,    Connecticut. 
Harold  S.   Palmer.     U.   S.  Geol.  Surv.  Water-Supply  Paper  466. 
Pp.   213.     1921. 
This  paper  is  the  fourth  to  appear  of  a  series  of  detailed  reports  on  the 
ground-water  resources  of  selected  areas  in  Connecticut.     The  first  part 
is  of  a  general  character  and  treats  of  the  water-bearing  formations,  occur- 
rence and  recovery  of  ground  water,  and  its  quality.     This  is  followed  by 
descriptions  of  the  eighteen  towns  included  in  the  area,  which  is  partly  in 
the  Central  Lowland  and  partly  in  the  Western  Highland  of  Connecticut. 


20         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  1 

Almost  everywhere  water  may  be  obtained  in  small  quantities  from  fissures 
and  joints  in  the  bed  rocks  which  include  crystalline  rocks  of  pre-Triassic 
age  and  sandstone,  shale,  and  trap  of  Triassic  age.  The  till  that  mantles 
the  bed  rock  of  the  hills  and  upper  valley  slopes  yields  in  general  satisfactory 
domestic  supplies.  The  stratified  drift  or  glacial  outwash  deposits  of  the 
lowlands  yield  abundant  supplies  of  water  except  in  the  more  unfavorable 
topographic  situations. 

Maps  show  the  distribution  of  the  water-bearing  formations,  the  distri- 
bution of  woodlands,  and  the  locations  of  the  wells  and  springs  referred  to 
in  the  tables  in  the  text. 

HYDROIyOGY. — Ground  water  for  irrigation  near  Gage,  Ellis  County,  Okla- 
homa. David  G.  Thompson.  U.  S.  Geol.  Surv.  Water-Supply  Paper 
500-B.     Pp.  21.     1921. 

This  paper  contains  a  brief  description  of  the  geology  and  occurrence  of 
ground  water  in  a  part  of  Ellis  County  in  western  Oklahoma.  The  region 
is  in  the  semi-arid  belt  and  in  years  when  the  precipitation  is  deficient  crops 
may  fail.  In  August,  1918,  in  a  well  that  was  being  drilled  for  oil  near  Gage 
a  large  flow  of  artesian  water  was  struck,  which  it  was  hoped  could  be  used 
for  irrigation.  Investigation  showed  that  the  water  comes  from  the  Permian 
"Red  Beds"  and,  although  in  sufficient  quantity,  it  is  generally  so  highly 
mineralized  that  it  cannot  be  used  for  irrigation.  Water  of  good  quality 
can  be  obtained  from  the  Tertiary  rocks,  but  these  rocks  do  not  yield  enough 
water  to  provide  for  irrigation.  The  conclusion  is  reached  that  water  can 
be  obtained  for  irrigation  only  along  the  floodplains  of  the  larger  streams 
in  the  area.  D.  G.  T. 

ORNITHOLOGY.— MMtowcfa  ornithologica.  IX.  H.  C.  Oberholser. 
Proc.  Biol.  vSoc.  Wash.  33:  83-84.  1920. 
Preoccupied  names  of  five  species  of  birds  cause  the  following  nomen- 
clatural  changes.  The  bird  commonly  known  as  Dendrocitta  sinensis  (Latham) 
is  renamed  D.  celadina.  The  name  of  the  wagtail  now  called  Motacilla  longi- 
cauda  Riippell  is  changed  to  M.  rhadinura.  The  South  African  warbler,  Eremo- 
mela  flaviventris  (Burchell),  is  hereafter  to  be  called  E.  griseoflava  perimacha. 
The  Indian  babbling  thrush  that  has  long  been  known  as  Crateropus  griseus 
(Gmelin)  is  renamed  Ttirdoides  polioplocamus ,  since  in  addition  to  the  pre- 
occupation of  its  specific  name,  the  generic  name  Turdoides  Cretzschmar 
must  supersede  Crateropus  Swainson.  Furthermore,  Arrenga  cyanea  (Hors- 
field)   will  henceforth  be  known  as  A.  glaucina  (Temminck).       H.  C.  O. 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Unusual  types  of  apparent  geographic  variation  in  color 
and  of  individual  variation  in  size  exhibited  by  Ostinops  decumanus.*  F. 
M.  Chapman.     Proc.  Biol.  vSoc.  Wash.  33:  25-32.     1920. 

Study  of  Ostinops  decumanus  shows  that  there  are  great  individual  differ- 
ences in  size  apparently  attributable  to  age,  and  this  involv^es  a  remarkable 
variation  not  only  in  the  length  but  in  the  shape  of  the  wing  chiefly  in  males. 
Furthermore,  an  interesting  geographic  color  variation  in  which  there  appear 
wholly  or  partly  yellow  feathers  scattered  throughout  the  plumage  of  the 
body  and  wing  coverts  indicates  an  undescribed  race  in  Bolivia,  which  is 
described   as  Ostinops  decumanus  mactdosus.  H.   C.   Oberholser. 


JAN.  4,  1922  proceedings:  philosophical  society  21 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Food  habits  of  seven  species  of  American  shoal-water 
ducks.  Douglass  C.  Mabbott.  Bull.  U.  S.  Dept,  Agric.  862.  Pp. 
67,  pis.  7.     1920. 

The  food  of  Chaulelasmtis  streperus  to  a  large  extent  consists  of  leaves 
and  stems  of  water  plants,  and,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  Mareca  americana, 
includes  a  larger  percentage  of  vegetable  matter  than  any  other  species. 
The  food  of  Mareca  americana  is  almost  the  same  as  that  of  the  previous 
species.  As  many  as  64000  seeds  of  the  spike  rush  {Eleocharis)  have  been 
noted  in  a  single  stomach.  The  diet  of  Mareca  penelope  and  Nettion  carolinense 
is  made  up  principally  of  water  plants  and  their  seeds. 

The  blue-winged  teal  (Querquedtda  discors)  feeds  to  a  large  extent  on  the 
seeds  and  other  parts  of  water  plants,  although  nearly  one-third  of  its  food 
is  animal  matter,  mostly  mollusks,  insects,  and  crustaceans.  The  food  of 
Querquedula  cyanoptera  is  very  similar. 

Vegetable  matter  comprises  about  seven-eighths  of  the  diet  of  Dafila  acuta 
tzitzihoa,  and  this  is  chiefly  seeds  and  other  parts  of  plants,  principally  those 
growing  in  or  near  water.  Individual  birds  have  been  known  to  consume 
for  a  single  meal  28000  seeds  of  Salicornia  amhigua.  The  remaining  portion 
of  the  food  of  this  duck  consists  of  animal  matter,  such  as  mollusks,  crusta- 
ceans, and  insects. 

The  well-known  Aix  sponsa  feeds  mostly  on  the  seeds  and  other  parts  of 
water  plants,  on  acorns,  grapes,  berries,  and  the  seeds  of  trees  and  shrubs. 
From  a  single  stomach  10000  seeds  of  lizard's  tail  {Saururus  cernuus)  have 
been  taken.  About  one-tenth  of  its  diet  is  animal  matter,  chiefly  insects 
and  spiders. 

In  all,  2888  stomachs  of  the  seven  species  have  been  examined,  and  the 
various  items  of  food  identified  in  each  species  are  shown  in  an  extended 
table  which  closes  this  bulletin.  Harry  C.  Oberholser. 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Records  of  several  rare  birds  from  near  Washington, 
D.  C.  B.  H.  Swales.  Proc.  Biol.  Soc.  Wash.  33:  181-182.  1920. 
The  following  interesting  birds  are  here  recorded  from  the  region  about 
Washington,  D.  C.,  all  except  one  from  specimens  obtained:  Colymbus  hol- 
boellii,  Oceanites  oceanicus,  Phalaropus  fulicarius,  Numenius  americanus, 
Pluvialis  dominica  dominica,  Coragyps  urubu  urubu,  and  Aquila  chrysaetos. 

H.  C.  Oberholser. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 
856th  meeting 

The  856th  meeting  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington  was  held 
in  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium,  Nov.  19,  1921.  It  was  called  to  order  at 
8:20  p.m.  by  President  Faris  with  49  persons  present. 

The  first  paper  of  the  evening,  on  Dip-needle  errors  arising  from  minute 
pivot  defects,  'was  presented  by  Mr.  H.  W.  Fisk,  and  was  illustrated.  It  was 
discussed  by  Messrs.  L.  A.  Bauer  and  L-  J.  Briggs. 

After  all  compensating  reversals  of  instrument  and  needle  have  been  made 
in  determining  the  magnetic  inclination  or  dip,  with  a  dip  circle,  there  will 


22         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  1 

be  outstanding  characteristic  differences  between  results  obtained  at  the 
same  station  with  two  or  more  needles.  These  are  probably  due  to  irregu- 
larity of  general  form  of  pivot  and  are  eliminated  by  applying  corrections 
derived  from  least  square  reductions  where  data  are  available,  or  from  em- 
pirical graphs  otherwise. 

Occasionally  a  needle  will  give  a  result  differing  widely  from  the  mean  of 
the  others  used  at  the  same  station,  and  a  critical  study  of  several  cases  of 
this  kind  derived  from  results  of  field  work  in  widely  separated  regions, 
shows  that  when  not  purely  accidental,  these  differences  vary  with  the  varying 
dip  as  they  would  if  they  were  caused  by  a  small  particle  adhering  to  the 
pivot  of  the  needle.  A  method  was  presented  of  analyzing  the  results  de- 
rived from  a  series  of  stations  at  each  of  which  the  dip  had  been  obtained  by 
use  of  four  needles,  so  that  such  deviations  from  the  normal  value  could  be 
readily  recognized.  Cases  illustrating  the  results  of  such  analysis  were 
presented. 

Theory  was  developed  by  which  it  was  shown  that  the  occasional  differ- 
ences under  investigation  could  be  produced  by  a  very  minute  particle  of 
rust,  and  an  equation  was  given  by  which  the  diameter  and  thickness  of 
the  particle  could  be  determined.  By  this  method  it  was  found  that  a  minute 
patch  of  rust  0.02  millimeter  in  diameter  and  6  X  10~^  millimeters  thick, 
on  the  pivot  of  an  ordinary  Dover  dip  needle,  would  produce  an  error  of 
6  minutes  in  arc  in  the  determination  of  dip  at  a  place  where  the  total  mag- 
netic force  is  0.55. 

An  example  was  given  to  show  that  the  rust  particle  might  later  become 
detached  so  that  the  needle  would  behave  normally  at  the  value  of  dip. 
Also  it  was  shown  that  particles  of  this  kind  develop  very  quickly.  From 
these  examples  it  is  concluded  that  the  correction  for  a  dip  needle  cannot 
be  relied  upon  permanently  at  any  one  place  nor  be  safely  transferred  to  a 
place  where  the  field  has  a  different  direction  or  intensity  without  a  comparison 
with  such  a  reliable  standard  as  is  afforded  by  the  latest  type  of  portable 
earth  inductor.  In  case  a  dip  circle  must  be  used,  not  less  than  four  needles 
should  be  employed  in  order  to  furnish  an  improved  mean,  and  to  better 
detect  such  errors  as  arise  from  minute  pivot  defects.     (Author's  abstract.) 

The  second  paper  on  The  latitude  of  Ukiah  and  the  motion  of  the  Pole  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Walter  D.  Lambert  and  was  illustrated.  It  was  dis- 
cussed by  Messrs.  I,.  H.  Adams  and  L.  A.  Bauer. 

Prof.  A.  C.  lyawson  in  support  of  his  explanation  of  certain  earth  move- 
ments in  California  brings  forward  the  evidence  afforded  by  the  astronomic 
latitudes  at  Ukiah,  California,  one  of  the  stations  of  the  International  Latitude 
Service.  These  latitudes  show  an  apparent  increase  of  about  0.01  a  year, 
which  is  explained  as  an  actual  shifting  northward  of  the  crust  at  Ukiah 
relative  to  its  substratum.  Ukiah  is  somewhat  outside  of  the  region  in  which 
the  existence  of  large  earth  movements  has  been  proved  by  the  evidence  of 
triangulation  executed  at  different  dates.  The  attempt  is  made  in  this 
paper  to  see  whether  the  astronomical  evidence  at  Ukiah  may  properly  be 
interpreted  otherwise  than  as  indicating  a  creep  of  the  surface  strata. 

It  is  found  that  the  other  stations  of  the  International  Latitude  Service 
show  increases  or  decreases  of  the  same  order  of  magnitude  as  that  of  Ukiah, 
the  general  tendency  being  toward  an  increase,  a  feature  especially  noticeable 
toward  the  end  of  the  period  of  observation.  At  Gaithersburg,  Maryland, 
the  rate  of  increase  even  exceeds  that  at  Ukiah.     The  universality  of  these 


JAN.  4,  1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  23 

changes  and  their  apparent  dependence  on  the  longitude  of  the  station  make 
it  natural  to  seek  an  explanation  in  a  displacement  of  the  Earth's  Pole  toward 
those  stations  showing  the  most  rapid  increases.  It  is  found  that  the  ob- 
served rates  of  change  may  be  satisfied  within  reasonable  limits  by  a  shifting 
of  the  North  Pole  toward  the  Equator  along  the  meridian  of  77°  West  of 
Greenwich  at  the  rate  of  about  0.0050  second  a  year  combined  with  a  cumu- 
lative correction  to  the  average  declination  of  the  stars  used,  a  correction 
varying  with  the  time  as  the  program  of  stars  varies.  A  brief  discussion 
is  given  of  the  geophysical  aspects  of  such  a  shifting  of  the  Pole. 

Certain  incidental  results  of  the  investigation  are  also  mentioned,  in  par- 
ticular a  rough  confirmation  of  Helmert's  work  on  the  figure  of  the  Earth 
and  its  moments  of  inertia  as  deduced  from  gravity  observations.  Even 
a  rough  confirmation  is  of  value  on  account  of  the  presence  in  the  observed 
values  of  gravity  of  systematic  influences  due  to  local  geological  and  topo- 
graphic conditions,  and  also  on  account  of  the  fact  that  good  determinations 
of  gravity  are  possible  only  on  one-fourth  of  the  earth's  surface,  that  is,  on 
land.  The  results  on  the  moments  of  inertia,  etc.,  as  deduced  from  the  ob- 
servations of  the  International  Latitude  Service  are  subject  to  a  correction, 
probably  small  but  not  yet  precisely  evaluated,  for  the  mobility  of  the  ocean 
waters.     (Author's  abstract.) 

H.  H.  Kimball,  Recording  Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

Mr.  A.  A.  Baker  has  been  appointed  geologic  aid  in  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey,  and  has  been  assigned  to  the  Alaskan  Division. 

Mr.  W.  N.  BramlETTE,  assistant  geologist  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey, 
has  been  furloughed  from  the  Survey  for  several  months  to  take  up  work 
with  the  Department  of  Marine  Biology  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Wash- 
ington. 

Mr.  David  I.  Bushnell,  Jr.,  is  preparing  for  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology 
a  short  account  of  the  Cahokia  and  other  mounds  in  Illinois,  near  East  St. 
Louis,  Missouri.  A  unique  feature  of  his  report  will  be  aero-photographs 
of  the  whole  group,  the  first  attempt  to  obtain  bird's-eye  views  of  North 
American  prehistoric  mounds  from  an  aeroplane. 

Mr.  W.  O.  Clark  has  resigned  from  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  effective 
Januar}^  1,  to  accept  a  position  as  water-supply  geologist  with  a  firm  in 
Honolulu,  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Dr.  Arthur  L.  Day,  director  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory,  Carnegie 
Institution  of  Washington,  gave  an  illustrated  public  lecture,  at  the  Institu- 
tion on  the  evening  of  November  29,  on  The  eruption  of  Mount  Lassen. 

Prof.  Charles  Moureu  of  the  College  de  France  and  president  of  the 
International  Union  of  Pure  and  Applied  Chemistry,  and  Prof.  A.  MayER 
of  the  University  of  Strasbourg,  are  in  Washington  as  chemical  advisers 
to  the  French  delegation  to  the  Conference  on  Limitation  of  Armaments. 

Mr.  Wilson  Popenoe,  agricultural  explorer  for  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture,  returned  to  Washington  in  November  after  a  two  years' 
absence  in  Guatemala,  Costa  Rica,  Colombia,  Ecuador,  Peru,  and  Chile. 


24        JOURNAL  OF  THS  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  1 

Mr.  Paul  C.  vStandlEy  of  the  National  Museum  left  Washington  early 
in  December  for  a  botanical  collecting  trip  to  Central  America  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Museum,  Harvard  University,  and  the  New  York  Botanical 
Garden.     He  will  spend  several  months  in  Guatemala  and  Salvador. 

Mr.  R.  W.  vStonE  has  been  appointed  assistant  state  geologist  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  has  resigned  from  the  U.  S.  Geological  vSurvey,  the  resignation 
to  be  in  effect  January  1.  His  headquarters  will  be  at  Harrisburg,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Dr.  George  I^.  StreETER,  director  of  the  Department  of  Embryology 
of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington,  gave  an  illustrated  public  lecture 
at  the  Institution  on  the  evening  of  November  22,  on  Recent  studies  on  the 
ear  as  an  organ  determining  equilibrium. 

Dr.  H.  U.  SvERDRUP,  physicist  of  the  Roald  Amundsen  Arctic  Expedition, 
which  recently  completed  the  passage  by  water  north  of  Siberia,  is  spending 
several  months  as  research  assistant  at  the  Department  of  Terrestrial  Mag- 
netism, Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington.  He  is  taking  part  in  reduction 
of  magnetic  observations  already  taken  and  also  preparing  for  new  series 
of  magnetic,  oceanographic,  meteorological  and  other  observations  to  be 
taken  on  the  continued  expedition  across  the  north  Polar  Sea  to  be  begun 
by  the  Amundsen  party  in  the  spring  of  1922. 

Secretary  CD.  Walcott  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  has  been  elected 
a  corresponding  member  of  the  Societe  Geologique  de  Belgique,  of  Liege, 
Belgium. 

Mr.  Chung  Yu  Wang,  consulting  mining  engineer  and  geologist,  is  one  of 
the  technical  councilors  with  the  Chinese  delegation  to  the  Conference  on 
Limitation  of  Armaments. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  January  19,  1922  No.  2 


ZOOLOGY. — The  evolution  of  the  animal  body}  Austin  H.  Clark, 
U.  S.  National  Museum. 

In  a  recent  number  of  this  Journal^  I  gave  a  brief  synopsis  of 
the  steps  in  the  evolution  of  animals  based  upon  the  progressively 
increasing  complexity  of  structure  correlated  with  increased  economic 
efficiency.  The  subject  was  treated  in  much  greater  detail  in  a  later 
paper.  ^ 

Superposed  upon  this  evolutionary  line  there  is  another  having 
to  do  with  the  development  of  the  body  as  a  whole  instead  of  with  the 
refinement  of  its  internal  organization,  and  to  a  large  extent  the  two 
are  quite  independent. 

All  the  higher  animals  are  ultimately  derived  from  an  attached 
animal  colony  within  which  the  component  zooids  are  more  or  less 
differentiated  for  the  better  performance  of  certain  more  or  less  definite 
functions,  this  animal  colony  being  in  general  comparable  to  the  colony 
of  phytons  known  as  a  flowering  plant. 

In  the  sponges  the  colonial  nature  of  the  animal  is  evident,  but 
there  are  no  definite  organs  or  tissues,  and  the  mass  is  imperfectly 
or  not  at  all  divided.  The  sponges  are  thus  comparable  to  certain 
of  the  so-called  thallophytes. 

The  coelenterates  have  a  definite  body  structure  and  are  funda- 
mentally colonial,  the  colony  being  produced  asexually  by  budding  and 
the  component  individuals  usually  showing  more  or  less  differentiation 
into  (a)  nutritive,  {h)  reproductive  and  (c)  excretionary  ("defensive") 
types,  the  latter  bearing  numerous  cells  containing  a  secretion  and  also 
a  coiled  tubule.  Free  living  coelenterates  occur,  and  these  arise  (1) 
through  the  assumption  of  a  free  floating  existence  by  the  colony  as  a 
whole  (siphonophores),  or  (2)  through  the  partial  (medusae  of  hydroids) 
or  complete  {Aurelia,  Trachomedusae,  most  actinians,  etc.)  dissociation 
of  the  units  of  the  colony. 

^  Received  December  16,  1921. 

2  This  Journal  11:  207-208.     May  4,  1921. 

3  Bull,  de  ITnstit.  Oceanographique  (Monaco),  400:  1-24.     20  septembre,  1921. 

25 


26         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

The  jointed  cestodes  represent  the  strobila  stage  of  Aurelia,  but 
are  somewhat  more  completely  unified,  the  proglottides  sharing  a 
common  nervous  and  excretory  system  and  their  detachment  being 
greatly  retarded.  The  pronounced  bilateral  symmetry  of  most  ces- 
todes and  the  marked  difference  in  the  two  sides  of  the  proglottides 
seen  in  others  together  with  certain  features  connected  with  the 
budding  of  the  scolex  suggest  their  relationship  with  the  graptolites 
of  which  they  are  possibly  the  recent  representatives. 

By  a  further  consolidation  and  unification  of  the  jointed  cestode 
body  correlated  with  a  loss  of  the  individuality  of  the  component 
segments  the  annelid  body  type  was  evolved,  and  a  further  consolida- 
tion gave  rise  to  the  crustaceans,  within  which  group  the  tendency  is 
to  compress  all  of  the  functions  of  the  body  within  the  compass  of  a 
few  anterior  segments,  and  the  insects,  in  which  there  are  three  small 
groups  of  segments  each  with  a  definite  function,  (a)  the  head,  most 
unified,  controlling  and  directing,  (b)  the  thorax,  less  unified,  loco- 
motor, and  (c)  the  abdomen,  largest  and  least  unified,  enclosing  the 
digestive,  reproductive  and  other  organs. 

Most  crustaceans  are  more  or  less,  and  many  are  conspicuously, 
asymmetrical,  while  in  all  there  is  noticeable  a  great  development  of 
the  dorsal  surface  as  compared  with  the  ventral.  Both  of  these  fea- 
tures are  especially  characteristic  of  certain  barnacles,  become  greatly 
accentuated  in  the  Pelmatozoa,  and  reach  an  extreme  development 
in  the  unattached  echinoderms  in  which  the  body  consists  of  five 
half  segments  only  arranged  in  a  circle  and  enclosed  entirely  by  the 
dorsal  surface,  the  ventral  having  almost  completely  disappeared.^ 

The  evolution  of  solitary  animals  through  the  progressive  consolida- 
tion of  a  colony  correlated  with  increasing  loss  of  individuality  by 
the  component  units  can  thus  be  traced  from  the  coelenterates  through 
the  cestodes  to  the  arthropods  and  echinoderms. 

Closely  allied  to  the  cestodes  are  the  trematodes,  and  from  them 
or  from  very  similar  organisms  another  very  different  line  of  develop- 
ment has  arisen. 

The  development  of  the  liver  fluke,  like  that  of  the  tapeworm, 
in  the  division  of  the  sporocysts  and  the  subsequent  development  of 
cercariae  from  sporocysts  and  rediae  is  comparable  in  its  essential 
features  to  strobilization,  but  the  budding  takes  place,  so  to  speak, 
within  a  closed  scyphistoma;  that  is,  the  sporocysts  and  rediae  undergo 

*  Smith.  Misc.  Coll.  27:  No.  11,  1-20.     July  20,  1921. 


JAN.  19,  1922  CLARK:   EVOLUTION  OF  THE  ANIMAL  BODY  27 

a  sort  of  invaginated  strobilization,  the  larvae  (cercariae,  correspond- 
ing to  ephyrae)  finally  escaping  by  the  disintegration  of  the  nurse. 

The  unsegmented  cestodes  bear  approximately  the  same  relation  to 
the  tapeworms  that  Lucernaria  does  to  the  scyphistoma  of  Aurelia, 
and  the  turbellarians  in  their  relations  to  the  liver  flukes  and  their 
allies  are  comparable  to  the  Trachomedusae  as  compared  with  the 
colonial  coelenterates ;  that  is,  they  are  solitary  animals  ultimately 
derived  through  the  dissociation  of  the  units  of  a  primarily  colonial  type. 

Of  the  remaining  acoelomate  Kumorphozoa  the  Polyzoa  and  Calysso- 
zoa  are  clearly  comparable  to  colonial  coelenterates ;  the  rotifers  in  their 
asexual  and  direct  development  suggest  a  fragmented  colony  while 
the  round  worms  and  the  Acanthocephala  are  solitary,  like  the  Tracho- 
medusae, some  cestodes,  and  the  turbellarians. 

All  other  animals  agree  in  the  possession  of  that  structure  known  as 
a  coelome.  The  coelome,  which  arises  by  budding  from  the  enteron, 
consists  of  three  sections,  (a)  the  perivisceral,  forming  a  body  cavity, 
(b)  the  gonadial,  and  (c)  the  nephridial.  There  is  thus  a  curious 
correspondence  between  the  three  divisions  of  the  coelome  and  the 
three  classes  into  which  the  polyps  of  the  coelenterates  naturally  fall, 
and  this  suggests  the  possibility  of  coelomate  animals  having  arisen 
through  a  gastruloid  structure  resembling  a  redia  by  the  budding  off 
from  the  enteron  of  three  units  which  remained  within  the  gastruloid 
and  there  became  differentiated  into  the  three  types  characteristic  of 
the  externally  budded  coelenterate  polyps,  subsequently  undergoing 
further  development. 

The  priapulids,  sipunculids,  molluscs,  nemerteans,  phoronids, 
brachiopods,  chaetognaths,  enteropneusts,  tunicates,  cephalochordates 
and  vertebrates  would  thus  be  explained  as  colonial  animals  derived 
from  a  coelenterate-like  colonial  type  through  a  process  of  invagination 
by  which  the  additional  units  were  produced  within  the  original 
gastruloid  ancestor  by  budding  from  the  enteron  instead  of  externally 
as  in  the  coelenterates  and  polyzoans. 

Such  an  interpretation  would  account  for  (1)  the  entire  absence 
in  these  groups  of  that  external  segmentation  so  characteristic  of 
the  cestodes,  the  annelids,  the  arthropods  and  the  echinoderms;  (2) 
the  entire  absence,  except  in  the  enteropneusts  and  tunicates,  which 
stand  quite  apart  from  the  other  phyla,  of  all  forms  of  asexual  repro- 
duction, this  being  here  represented  by  internal  budding;  (3)  the  al- 
most complete  absence  of  parasitism  (occurring  only  in  a  very  few 
molluscs  and  nemerteans),  since  the  transference  of  the  asexual  bud- 


28         JOURNAL  OF  the:  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

ding  to  the  interior  prevents  that  proHfic  asexual  reproduction  by 
budding  and  fission,  by  parthenogenesis,  or  by  polyembryony  always 
present  in  those  groups  in  which  parasitism  is  a  prevalent  condition; 
and  (4)  the  almost  complete  absence  of  attached  forms  which,  except 
for  secondarily  attached  molluscs,  are  found  only  among  the  brachio- 
pods  and  the  tunicates. 

The  annelids,  in  addition  to  their  dominant  external  segmentation, 
also  possess  a  coelome,  but  this  becomes  greatly  reduced  in  the  crusta- 
ceans and  insects.  In  the  echinoderms,  however,  the  curious  distortion 
leads  to  a  relatively  considerable  average  length  for  each  of  the  five 
segments  represented,  and  with  this  annelidan  feature  the  coelome 
reappears  in  a  highly  perfected  form. 

The  development  of  the  annelids  indicates  a  very  close  relationship 
with  the  molluscs.  These  two  groups  thus  carry  onward  the  essential, 
differences,  as  well  as  the  essential  similarities,  between  the  cestodes 
and  the  trematodfes.  Similarly  the  arthropods  and  the  echinoderms 
appear  to  be  structurally  parallel  to  the  nemerteans,  phoronids, 
brachiopods  and  chaetognaths,  the  former  representing  the  cestode- 
annelid,  the  latter  the  trematode-priapulid-sipunculid-moUusc  type. 

The  enteropneusts,  the  tunicates,  the  cephalochodates  {Amphioxus, 
etc.)  and  the  vertebrates  are  quite  unrepresented  in  the  externally 
segmented  line,  which  culminates  in  the  arthropods  and  echinoderms. 
They  differ  from  all  other  animals  in  the  possession  of  gill  slits  or  pores. 
These  structures  represent  the  final  step  in  the  organization  and 
centralization  of  the  respiratory  function  and  its  connection  with  the 
endoderm.  This  is  obviously  a  minor  structural  detail,  presumably 
of  late  origin,  and  as  such  it  suggests  that  while  the  other  major 
animal  types  probably  all  appeared  almost  or  quite  simultaneously 
the  evolution  of  the  forms  with  gill  apertures  was  considerably  delayed. 

GEOPHYSICS. — The  latitude  of  Ukiah  and  the  motion  of  the  pole.'^ 
Walter  D.  Lambert,  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 
In  January,   1921,  Professor  A.  C.  Lawson  of  the  University  of 
California  published  an  article  on  earth  movements  in  California.^ 

1  Presented  before  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington,  November  19,  1921.  Re- 
ceived December  7,  1921.  The  substance  of  this  paper  was  also  presented  at  a  meeting 
of  the  American  Astronomical  Society  at  Swarthmore,  Pa.,  December  29,  1921.  This 
paper  is  based  on  a  longer  article  by  the  author  entitled  An  investigation  of  the  latitude  of 
Ukiah,  California,  and  of  the  motion  of  the  Pole,  which  will  appear  as  a  Special  Publication 
of  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 

^  The  mobility  of  the  Coast  Ranges  of  California,  an  exploitation  of  the  elastic  rebound 
theory.     Univ.  Calif.  Publ.,  Bull.  Dept.  Geol.  12:  No.  7.     Jan.  11,  1921. 


JAN.  19,  1922  LAMBERT:    LATITUDE  OP  UKIAH  29 

His  thesis  is  that  there  are  slow  movements  of  the  surface  as  a  result 
of  stresses  arising  from  a  subcrustal  flow  that  carries  the  surface  with  it. 
In  time  these  stresses  increase  to  the  breaking  point;  there  is  then 
rupture  with  attendant  seismic  shocks  and  a  rebound  toward  the 
original  position. 

In  support  of  this  thesis  Professor  Lawson  adduces  the  triangulation 
executed  by  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey^  in  California  at  various 
times  before  the  earthquake  of  1906  and  during  the  months  immedi- 
ately following.  He  adduces  also  the  observed  astronomic  latitudes 
at  the  Ukiah  latitude  station,  one  of  the  stations  of  the  International 
Latitude  Service  maintained  for  the  study  of  the  variation  of  latitude 
and  the  motion  of  the  Pole.  It  should  be  stated  that  Ukiah  lies  outside 
of  the  area  that  was  treated  as  potentially  movable  in  the  discussion 
of  the  triangulation.  The  line  of  greatest  disturbance  during  this 
earthquake  runs  along  the  San  Andreas  fault ;  the  nearest  point  of  this 
fault  is  some  30  miles  from  Ukiah  and  not  far  from  the  point  where  the 
fault  itself  runs  out  to  sea  in  a  northwesterly  direction. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  interpret  the  evidence  from  the 
triangulation,  but  solely  to  consider  the  meaning  of  the  astronomic 
latitudes  at  Ukiah,  which  constitute  a  problem  quite  independent  of  the 
problem  presented  by  the  triangulation. 

The  latitude  of  Ukiah  appears  to  be  increasing  with  some  regularity 
at  a  rate  not  much  smaller  than  0.01  second  per  year,  that  is,  a  dis- 
placement of  almost  1  foot  or  30  cm.  per  year.  This  deduction  was 
made  by  Professor  Lawson  from  curves  given  in  an  article  by  Sir 
Frank  Dyson, ^  Astronomer  Royal  of  England.  It  should  be  said  that 
the  curves  are  used  by  Dyson  for  quite  a  different  purpose,  and  that 
this  increase  in  latitude  is  not  mentioned  by  him,  nor  would  its  exis- 
tence affect  his  results  to  any  perceptible  degree.  It  should  be  said  on 
the  other  hand  that  an  apparent  increase  of  this  sort  is  very  evident 
from  a  mere  inspection  of  the  curve  for  Ukiah,  which  is  shown  in  figure  1 . 

As  is  well  known,  the  two  principal  periodic  terms  in  the  expression 
for  the  variation  of  latitude  have  periods  of  one  year  and  of  about  14 
months.  The  curve  shows  the  observed  variation  of  latitude  with  the 
effect  of  the  annual  term  removed  by  computation.  The  annual  term 
was  deduced  by  harmonic  analysis  from  the  observed  latitudes  at 
Ukiah  only  and  is  therefore  independent  of  any  assumption  as  to  the 

^  J.  F.  Hayford  and  A.  L.  Baldwin,  The  earth  movements  in  the  California  earthquake  of 
1906.     U.  S.  Coast  and  Geod.  Surv.  Ann.  Rept.  1907,  App.  4. 
*  F.  W.  Dyson.     Month.  Not.  Roy.  Astr.  Soc.  78:  452.     1918. 


30         JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  2 


motion  of  the  Pole  other  than  the  mere  lengths  of  the  periods  concerned. 
If  the  variation  of  latitude  conformed  to  the  simplifying  assumptions 
that  we  often  make,  the  curve  would  be  a  simple  sine  curve  with 
constant  amplitude  and  with  its  phase  changing  at  a  uniform  rate. 
There  is,  however,  a  marked  increase  in  the  amplitude  although  the 
phase  change  is  nearly  uniform.  The  ordinate  represents,  not  the 
observed  latitude  itself,  but  the  difference,  A<^,  between  the  observed 
latitude  and  an  arbitrary  but  fixed  initial  latitude.  The  initial  latitude 
is  such  that  near  the  beginning  of  the  period  this  conventional  zero 
line  of  A(j)  coincides  very  nearly  with  the  true  zero  line,  or  line  running 
midway  between  the  points  of  maximum  and  minimum.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  period  the  curve  has  shifted  so  much  that  most  of  it 
lies  above  the  conventional  zero  line.  The  angle  between  the  true  zero 
line  and  the  conventional  zero  line  represents  the  rate  of  increase  of  the 
mean  latitude,  that  is,  of  the  latitude  freed  from  the  effects  of  all  known 
periodic  terms.  This  slope  or  rate  Professor  Lawson  determined  by  a 
graphic  adjustment ;  he  drew  a  straight  line  passing  as  near  as  possible 


Fig.  1.     The  latitude  of  Ukiah,  California,  from  Dyson's  curves,  with  lines  drawn  by  Lawson 
to  show  the  progressive  increase  of  latitude. 

to  the  maxima  of  the  curve  and  a  similar  line  for  the  minima,  and  then 
drew  a  line  bisecting  the  angle  between  the  two  lines  just  found.  This 
bisector  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  true  zero  line. 

The  slope  of  this  true  zero  line  referred  to  the  conventional  one  is, 
as  found  by  Professor  Lawson,  0'^0094  or  0.29  meter  a  year.  His 
method  does  not  use  all  the  information  afforded  by  the  curve,  but 
merely  the  maxima  and  minima;  the  lines  drawn  to  fit  these  are 
necessarily  affected  by  personal  idiosyncrasies.  The  following  method 
is  free  from  these  objections. 

The  curve  supposedly  contains  only  the  effect  of  the  14-month 
component  and  of  a  possible  progressive  shifting  of  the  zero  line. 
The  former  effect  will  be  eliminated  from  the  mean  of  14  successive 
calendar  months,^  leaving  in  the  mean  only  the  progressive  shift 

^  The  exact  period  is  432.5  days  rather  than  14  calendar  months  (426  days),  but  the  error 
arising  from  the  substitution  of  one  period  for  the  other  is  negligible. 


JAN.  19,  1922 


LAMBERT :   LATITUDE  OP  URIAH 


31 


of  the  zero.     Table  1  shows  the  result  of  taking  these  means.     They 
are  also  shown  graphically  in  figure  2. 

Instead  of  adjusting  a  straight  line  to  the  means  by  eye  we  may  do 
it  by  the  method  of  least  squares.  The  observation  equations  would 
then  be  written  in  the  form 

A(f)  =  x  -\-  yt, 

TABLE  1. — Mean  Value  op  A<l>  for  Ukiah 


Middle  of  14-month 

Mean 

Middle  of  14-month 

Mean 

period 

A(j> 

period 

A0 

1900,  Aug.  1 

+0".001 

1908,  Oct.  1 

+0".047 

1901,  Oct.   1 

-0  .040 

1909,  Dec.  1 

+0  .058 

1902,  Dec.  1 

+0  .001 

1911,  Feb.  1 

+0  .070 

1904,  Feb.  1 

+0  .047 

1912,  Apr.  1 

+0  .063 

1905,  Apr.  1 

+0  .054 

1913,  Jun.  1 

+0  .055 

1906,  Jun.  1 

4-0  .068 

1914,  Aug.  1 

+0  .118 

1907,  Aug.  1 

+0  .066 

1915,  Oct.   1 

+0  .152 

+.1.=^ 

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1910 


1915 


Fig.  2.     The  latitude  of  Ukiah,  California,  means  by  14-month  periods  and  line  showing  adjusted 
rate  of  increase;    derived  from  Dyson's  curves. 

where  t  is  the  time  reckoned  from  some  convenient  epoch,  x  is  the 
adjusted  value  of  A^  at  the  epoch,  y  is  the  adjusted  rate  of  change  of 
the  mean  latitude,  and  the  A<^  represents  one  of  the  values  of  A<^  in 
the  table.     The  result  of  the  adjustment  gives  for  the  equation  of  the 


32        JOURNAI,  Olf  THS  WASHINGTON  ACADKMY  OS  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

true  zero  line 

A4>=  +0".0590  +  0".0081/, 

where  t  is  the  time  in  years  reckoned  from  the  epoch,  Oct.  1,  1908. 
This  line  is  the  one  shown  in  figure  2.  The  slope  +0".0081,  with  a 
probable  error  =i=0".0010  per  year,  is  somewhat  smaller  than  the 
+0".0094  found  by  Professor  Lawson  but  still  quite  large  enough  to  be 
of  interest,  and  if  taken  at  its  face  value,  it  is  large  enough  to  render 
probable  Professor  Lawson's  thesis  of  a  northward  movement  of  the 
superficial  crust  at  Ukiah. 

Before  reaching  definite  conclusions  in  the  matter  it  is  desirable  to 
see  what  is  happening  at  the  other  stations  of  the  International  Lati- 
tude Service.  These  stations  all  use  the  same  program  of  stars  and 
any  errors  in  the  declinations  used  affect  all  stations  alike  except 
insofar  as  bad  weather  may  cause  the  stars  observed  to  be  different 
at  the  different  stations.  It  is  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  the 
difference  in  the  effect  at  different  stations  of  errors  in  declination 
due  to  the  different  stars  actually  used  may  be  considered  as  causing 
accidental  errors  in  the  result  rather  than  systematic  ones.  The 
observatories  of  the  Latitude  Service  are  all  close  to  the  paralleP  of 
39°  8';  they  are:  Mizusawa  in  Japan,  still  running;  Tschardjui  (or  as 
more  simply  spelled  Charjui)  in  Russian  Turkestan,  closed  at  the  end 
of  1914 ;  Carloforte  on  a  little  island  off  the  larger  island  of  Sardinia,  still 
running;  Gaithersburg,  Maryland,  closed  at  the  end  of  1914;  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  work  for  the  International  Latitude  Service  discontinued 
at  the  end  of  1915 ;  Ukiah,  California,  still  running. 

It  was  the  original  intention  to  have  all  the  observatories  constructed 
on  exactly  the  same  plan  and  equipped  with  zenith  telescopes  of  the 
same  pattern.  It  proved  impracticable,  however,  to  live  up  to  this 
plan  and  the  instruments  at  Tschardjui  and  Cincinnati  are  smaller 
than  those  at  the  other  stations.  This  fact  and  perhaps  also  the 
vagaries  of  their  climates,  which  are  more  markedly  continental  in 
character  at  these  stations  than  at  the  other  four,  have  caused  the 
probable  errors  of  the  results  from  Cincinnati  and  Tschardjui  to  be 
relatively  large.  Furthermore,  the  Tschardjui  results  are  complicated 
by  the  removal  of  the  observatory  in  1909  to  a  new  location,  a  removal 
forced  by  the  wanderings  of  the  Amu  Darya  River,  the  ancient  Oxus. 
The  old  site  was  threatened  and  finally  inundated  and  the  latitude 
connection  between  the  old  and  new  sites  is  rather  weak.     All  these 

8  For  longitudes  see  table  2  on  p.  36 


JAN.  19,  1922  LAMBERT:   LATITUDE)  OF  UKIAH  33 

circumstances  combined  have  made  the  results  at  Tschardjui  relatively 
so  inaccurate  that  they  have  very  little  weight  in  the  final  results  of  this 
discussion.  To  a  less  degree  the  same  holds  good  of  Cincinnati. 
The  observations  at  the  four  remaining  stations  are  about  equal  in 
quality. 

Sir  Frank  Dyson  did  not  give  curves  like  that  at  Ukiah  for  all  the 
six  stations  and  there  appeared  to  be  some  uncertainty  about  the 
declinations  used  in  the  latter  part  of  the  period  that  he  treats,  a  matter 
important  for  the  present  purpose  but  not  very  important  for  his 
purpose,  so  it  was  decided  to  start  afresh  and  to  derive  curves  for  all 
six  stations,  utilizing  all  the  observed  latitudes  available;  these  ex- 
tended from  1900  through  1917,  a  year  beyond  the  time  covered  by 
Dyson.  The  new  curves  were  based  on  the  definitive  latitudes  of  the 
International  Latitude  Service'^  and  the  provisional  results  published 
from  time  to  time  in  the  Astronomische  Nachrichten.^  These  results 
are  all  on  a  common  declination  system,  that  of  Vol.  3  of  the  Resultate, 
not  the  ideal  system  perhaps,  but  one  consistent  with  itself.  On  ac- 
count of  the  precession  some  of  the  stars  necessarily  drop  out  of  a  star 
program  as  time  goes  on.  In  the  provisional  results  these  discontinued 
stars  have  not  been  replaced  by  others.  The  provisional  results 
therefore  depend  on  a  smaller  number  of  stars,  thus  reducing  the  weight 
of  the  results  to  about  Ve  oi  that  of  the  definitive  ones. 

The  latitudes  of  the  several  stations  were  plotted,  curves  were 
drawn  to  smooth  out  the  worst  roughnesses  in  the  plotted  values,  and 
these  curves  were  analyzed  harmonically  to  obtain  the  amplitudes 
and  epochs  of  both  the  annual  and  the  14-month  components.  Each 
station  was  treated  by  itself.  Some  refinements  not  found  in  all 
harmonic  analyses  were  introduced  and  seemed  to  justify  their  intro- 
duction by  the  better  agreement  thus  obtained  between  the  various 
determinations  of  the  same  quantity.  The  details  will  be  given  in  my 
longer  publication  on  the  subject. 

By  taking  out  the  annual  term  from  the  curve  of  observed  latitudes 
it  would  have  been  possible  to  draw  curves  like  Dyson's,  containing, 
presumably,  only  the  effects  of  the  14-month  term  and  of  a  possible 
shift  in  the  true  zero  line.  At  least,  if  other  effects  were  present, 
they  would  be  treated  as  accidental  errors.     By  reading  these  new 

"  Zentralbureau  der  Internationalen  Erdmessung  (Berlin).  Resultate  des  Internationalen 
Breitendienstes.     3:  1909.     5:  1916. 

»Astr.  Nachr.  198:  No.  4749.  1914.  201:  No.  4802.  1915.  203:  No.  4855.  1916. 
206:  No.  4908.     1917.     208:     No.  4969.     1918. 


34        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  2 


curves  at  uniform  intervals  and  taking  the  mean  of  the  readings  over 
a  period  of  14  months,  the  effect  of  the  14-month  term  would  be  made  to 


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Fig.  3.  The  latitude  of  Tschardjui,  Russian  Turkestan:  means  by  calendar  years  and  lines 
showing  adjusted  rates  of  change;  derived  from  the  latitudes  of  the  International 
Latitude  Service. 

disappear  from  the  mean,  leaving  only  the  effects  of  a  shifting  of  the 
zero  line,  that  is,  of  a  progressive  change  in  the  mean  latitude. 


JAN.  19,  1922 


I^AMBHRT:    LATITUDE  OF  UKIAH 


35 


It  would  be  equally  legitimate  to  interchange  the  processes  by  which 
the  two  periodic  portions  of  the  latitude  variation  were  eliminated. 
Instead  of  taking  out  the  effect  of  the  annual  portion  by  computing 
from  an  assumed  expression  for  it  in  the  form  of  an  harmonic  term, 
we  could  take  out  the  14-month  component  by  assuming  it  to  be  ex- 
pressed by  a  harmonic  term  and  computing  the  necessary  values. 
The  remaining  periodic  portion  of  the  variation  would  be  the  annual 
portion  and  could  be  eliminated  by  taking  means  over  the  period  of 
a  year.  These  means,  being  free  from  the  effects  of  periodic  terms, 
should  bring  to  light  the  progressive  variation. 

Both  methods  were  employed  and  the  two  rates  thus  obtained  for 
the  progressive  change  of  latitude  at  a  station  agreed  well  in  all  cases. 
There  appeared  to  be  some  reason  for  thinking  that  the  rate  of  change 
might  be  different  for  the  later  years ;  with  this  in  mind  the  experiment 


ass 


1900 


1905 


1910 


191S 


Fig.  4.     The  latitude  of  Mizusawa,  Japan ;  means  by  calendar  years  and  lines  showing  adjusted 
rates  of  change;    derived  from  the  latitudes  of  the  International  Latitude  Service. 

was  tried  of  fitting  two  straight  lines  to  the  mean  latitudes  instead  of 
only  a  single  line,  the  two  lines  to  show  the  same  latitude  at  a  pre- 
determined epoch.  This  epoch  was  taken  not  far  from  the  end  of 
1911.  The  considerations  governing  this  choice  were  in  part  the 
general  appearance  of  the  plotted  mean  latitudes  and  in  part  the  change 
in  the  star  program  at  the  end  of  1911  already  referred  to  and  due  to 
the  dropping  of  certain  stars. 


36         JOURNAL  OF  THB  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

The  closeness  of  the  fit  of  the  two  lines  or  of  the  single  lines  may  be 
judged  from  figures  3  and  4.  Figure  3  shows  the  results  for  Tschardjui, 
the  means  being  taken  by  calendar  years.  It  has  been  said  that  this 
station  has  been  subject  to  great  irregularities  and  this  appears  plainly 
from  the  diagram.  The  only  thing  that  clearly  appears  is  a  tendency 
for  latitudes  to  increase  very  sharply  towards  the  end  of  the  period. 
Figure  4  shows  Mizusawa,  perhaps  the  most  regular  station,  though 
the  other  stations  except  Tschardjui  and  Cincinnati  are  not  greatly 
inferior  to  it.  Even  the  most  regular  of  stations  shows  considerable 
departure  from  a  perfectly  uniform  progressive  increase,  although  the 
irregularity  is  somewhat  exaggerated  to  the  eye  by  the  large  vertical 
scale  used  for  the  latitudes.  The  probable  error  of  the  mean  of  a  single 
year  or  of  a  single  14-month  period  is  about  ±0".010  at  Mizusawa  as 
determined  from  the  residuals  arising  from  attempting  to  fit  the  two 
straight  lines  to  the  successive  means.  The  probable  error  is  rather 
larger  when  only  a  single  line  is  used,  a  fact  which  tends  to  prove  the 
reality  of  the  assumed  change  in  rate.  Similar  results  hold  for  the 
other  stations  except  Tschardjui  and  Cincinnati,  the  probable  errors 
being  about  ±0".015  for  the  two  lines  and  about  ±0".018  for  one  line. 

The  mean  rates  of  increase  are  shown  in  table  2.  They  represent 
the  mean  results  of  the  two  methods  of  procedure  already  referred  to, 
mean  latitudes  being  taken  by  calendar  years  and  by  14-month  periods. 
The  fitting  of  the  straight  lines  to  the  means  was  done  by  the  method 
of  least  squares. 

TABLE  2. — Mean  Annual  Rates  op  Change  "op  Latitude 

Observations  Annual  rates  of  change 

Station  Longitude       end  with  year      1900-11  1912-end        1900-end 

Mizusawa,  Japan 141°  08' E             ..  -0".0025  +0".0096  +0".0008 

Tschardjui,  Russian  Turkes- 
tan   63    29   E  1914  +0".0036  +0".0597  -1-0".0115 

Carloforte,  Sardinia 8    19   E             ..  +0  .0002  +0  .0182  +0  .0053 

Gaithersburg,  Maryland....  77    12  W  1914  +0.0087  +0.0206  +0.0105 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 84    25  W  1915  +0  .0029  +0  .0404  +0  .0099 

Ukiah,  California 123  13   W            ..  +0.0075  +0.0194  +0.0106 

The  first  two  columns  under  the  general  heading  "Annual  rates  of 
change"  give  the  slopes  or  rates  of  change  of  latitude  when  two  lines 
are  used.  The  last  column  gives  the  slope  when  only  one  line  is  used. 
The  rate  of  change  may  vary  with  the  period  of  time  covered  so  that 
only  in  the  first  column  are  the  rates  for  all  stations  strictly  comparable 
with  one  another.  In  the  second  and  third  columns  the  rates  of 
Mizusawa,  Carloforte,  and  Ukiah  are  comparable  in  this  way.     The 


JAN.  19,  1922  LAMBERT:   LATITUDE  OF  UKIAH  37 

rates  in  the  second  column,  particularly  the  rates  of  stations  now  dis- 
continued, depend  on  only  a  few  mean  latitudes,  and  offer  only  an 
insecure  basis  for  conclusions. 

The  rates  of  change  at  Ukiah  are  not  very  different  from  the  rates 
found  from  Dyson's  curves,  namely,  +0".0094  by  Lawson  and 
+0".0081  by  the  author.^  The  striking  fact,  however,  is  that  a  rate 
of  this  size  is  no  longer  a  solitary  phenomenon.  There  are  many  rates 
of  this  order  of  magnitude  and  with  one  exception  all  rates  are  positive. 

Before  seeking  an  explanation  I  think  it  will  be  wise  to  rule  out  the 
results  for  Tschardjui  altogether.  If  results  were  weighted  according 
to  their  probable  errors,  the  Tschardjui  results  would  get  weights  only 
from  1/10  to  1/20  as  large  as  those  of  other  stations,  and  would  thus 
have  little  effect  on  our  final  conclusions. 

We  might  explain  the  positive  rates  at  all  stations  by  a  northward 
creep  of  the  surface  strata,  as  Professor  Lawson  has  done  for  Ukiah, 
but  such  an  explanation  is  scarcely  satisfactory  when  it  must  be  made 
to  apply  to  so  many  stations.  A  better  partial  explanation  is  decli- 
nations. The  so-called  observed  latitudes  are  also  computed  ones  to  a 
certain  extent,  and  errors  in  the  declinations  of  the  stars  used  appear 
with  practically  full  effect  in  the  so-called  observed  latitudes.  It 
would  appear  from  the  table  as  if  the  average  declinations  became 
increasingly  erroneous  with  the  lapse  of  time;  an  error  of  this  kind 
would  naturally  be  looked  for  in  the  adopted  values  of  the  proper 
motions.  But  even  an  error  in  the  proper  motions  and  the  consequent 
declinations  does  not  explain  all  the  rates  in  the  table.  An  error  in 
the  star  places  would  affect  all  stations  alike,  except  insofar  as  bad 
weather  might  cause  the  stars  actually  observed  to  vary  from  station 
to  station.  It  is  clear  that  latitudes  are  increasing  much  faster  on  the 
American  continent  than  elsewhere,  and  for  a  while  in  the  opposite 
quarter  of  the  world,  as  at  Mizusawa  from  1900  to  1911,  they  were 
actually  decreasing.  An  obvious  explanation  of  an  increase  in  latitude 
on  one  side  of  the  earth  accompanied  by  a  decrease  in  the  other  is  a 
shifting  of  the  Pole. 

I  believe  that  the  explanation  of  the  changes  of  latitude  set  forth  in 
the  table  will  be  found  in  a  shifting  of  the  Pole  combined  with  an  in- 
creasing error  in  the  declinations.  This  hypothesis  may  be  tested  by 
a  least-square   adjustment.     Let  u   and   v   denote   the   components 

^  The  number  in  the  table  most  nearly  corresponding  to  the  result  for  Ukiah  found  from 
Dyson's  curves  is  the  -f0".0106  in  the  last  column.  The  difference  is  probably  due  in  great 
part  to  the  declination  system  used.     See  below. 


38         JOURNAL  OF  TH©  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  2 

of  the  assumed  annual  shift  of  the  North  Pole  towards  the  Equator 
along  the  meridians  of  Greenwich  and  of  90  °  W,  respectively ;  let  w 
denote  the  annual  increase  in  latitude  common  to  all  stations  and  due 
to  erroneous  declinations;  then  the  observation  equations  have  the 
form 

u  cos  \  -{-  V  sin  \  -{-  w  =  observed  annual  rate, 

where  X  is  the  west  longitude  of  the  station  in  question. 

Various  least-square  solutions  were  tried  with  different  weights  for 
the  several  stations  and  different  sets  of  annual  rates.  Full  details 
will  be  given  in  the  longer  publication.  The  results  were  fairly  con- 
sistent and  the  adopted  result  was  a  motion  of  the  North  Pole  southward 
along  the  meridian  of  77°  West  of  Greenwich  at  a  rate  of  about  0".0050 
a  year.  The  values  of  w  depend  on  the  star  program  and  represent 
mean  cumulative  corrections  to  the  declinations  for  the  period 
covered;  they  might  therefore  be  expected  to  dififer  according  to  the 
set  of  rates  used,  even  if  the  components  of  the  polar  motion  remained 
constant.  This  was  found  to  be  the  case,  the  values  of  w  ranging  from 
+0".0013to+0".0050. 

This  then  is  the  interpretation  I  would  offer  of  the  apparent  increase 
in  latitude  at  Ukiah;  cumulative  errors  in  the  declinations  combined 
with  a  shifting  of  the  North  Pole  towards  the  American  continent. 
There  might  be  also  the  surface  creep  which  Professor  Lawson  offers 
as  the  all-sufficient  explanation,  but  I  believe  that  if  this  creep 
exists,  its  contribution  to  the  increase  in  latitude  is  quite  subordinate 
to  the  contributions  of  the  other  causes. 

The  suggestion  of  a  displacement  of  the  Pole  towards  the  American 
continent  has  been  made  before.  Wanach,^°  the  successor  to  Albrecht 
in  the  work  of  the  International  Latitude  Service,  found  from  the 
observations  of  the  Service  from  1900  to  1911,  inclusive,  a  displacement 
of  the  North  Pole  at  the  rate  of  not  more  than  0".0030  a  year  and  in 
the  general  direction  of  Newfoundland,  say  along  the  meridian  of 
56  °  West.  The  period  of  time  covered  is  different,  likewise  the  method 
of  treatment  and  the  weights  assigned  to  Tschardjui  and  Cincinnati. 
The  differences  doubtless  explain  the  differences  in  the  results,  differ- 
ences not  particularly  large  in  view  of  the  difficulties  of  the  subject. 

It  is  evident  that  the  burden  of  proof  for  this  explanation  of  the 
change  of  latitude  at  Ukiah  by  a  shifting  of  the  Pole  rests  chiefly  on  the 
results  at  Gaithersburg,  for  Ukiah  is  suspected  of  being  on  unstable 

"  B.  Wanach.    ResuUate  des  Internationalen  Breitendienstes  5:  219.     1916. 


JAN.  19,   1922  LAMBERT:    LATITUDE  OF  UKIAH  39 

ground  and  Cincinnati  is  subject  to  a  large  probable  error.  A  little 
consideration  will  show,  however,  that  an  explanation  of  the  kind 
supposed  that  is  numerically  adapted  to  fit  Gaithersburg  as  well  as  the 
other  stations  except  Ukiah  must  be  a  passable  fit  for  Ukiah  also. 

The  deduced  shifting  of  the  Pole  must  be  considered  as  limited  to  the 
period  discussed,  the  years  1900-1917,  inclusive.  No  examination  has 
been  made  of  earlier  records  to  see  whether  such  a  shifting  might  have 
taken  place  in  the  past,  and  until  the  causes  of  such  a  shifting  have 
been  found  it  is  unwise  to  predict  the  future.  In  regard  to  the  past, 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  polar  shifting  of  this  sort  and  about 
this  magnitude  might  have  gone  on  during  the  whole  historical  period 
without  changing  the  climate  perceptibly.  If  we  put  the  historical 
period  at  10,000  years  in  round  numbers,  the  maximum  change  of 
latitude  during  that  time  is  less  than  a  mile.  It  might  perhaps  be 
possible  for  a  change  of  this  particular  sort,  namely  along  the  meridian 
of  77  °  West,  to  have  gone  on  since  the  beginning  of  modern  astronomy 
of  precision — ^say  since  Bessel's  time — ^without  being  noticed,  simply 
because  the  longest  series  of  accurate  records  are  in  central  or  western 
Europe,  regions  which  are  on  meridians  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  displacement  and  which  therefore  undergo  a  relatively  small 
change  of  latitude. 

It  is  of  interest  to  consider  the  possible  causes  for  such  a  displacement 
of  the  Pole.  A  little  calculation  shows  that  the  shifting  of  mass  due 
to  erosion  and  deposition  of  all  sorts,  even  on  the  most  favorable 
hypotheses,  is  quite  insufficient  to  produce  a  shifting  of  0".0050  a  year 
in  the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis  within  its  mass.  Theories  postu- 
lating large  departures  of  the  Pole  from  its  present  position  have  been 
much  in  favor  with  certain  geologists  but  seem  fantastic  to  mathema- 
ticians and  astronomers.  An  interesting  criticism  of  these  theories 
is  to  be  found  in  an  article  by  the  late  Professor  Barrell.^^  The  classic 
paper  on  this  subject  from  the  mathematical  point  of  view  is  by 
Darwin.  ^2  ^  shifting  of  the  Pole  may  be  brought  about  by  wide- 
spread though  slight  elevations  and  subsidences  of  the  Earth's  crust. 
On  the  most  favorable  assumption  that  seemed  in  any  way  plausible 
from  a  geological  point  of  view,  Darwin  found  a  possible  displacement 
of  from  1°  to  3°  in  any  one  geological  period.  The  term  "geological 
period"  is  conveniently  vague  as  a  unit  of  time,  but  if  we  take  a  geolog- 

^^  J.  Barrell.     The  status  of  the  hypothesis  of  polar  wanderings.     Science  40:  333.     1914. 
'^  G.  H.  Darwin.     On  the  influence  of  geological  changes  on  the  Earth's  axis  of  rotation, 
Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  Lond.  I.  167:  271.     1877.     Or  Scientific  Papers  3: 1. 


40         JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  2 

ical  period  as  meaning  a  million  years/^  which  corresponds  to  one 
estimate  of  the  duration  of  the  entire  glacial  epoch,  including  all  the 
various  periods  of  glaciation  and  the  interglacial  periods  between  them, 
then  a  shift  of  0". 0050  a  year  would  mean  a  change  of  1  °  23'  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Poles  during  the  glacial  epoch,  a  quantity  within  Darwin's 
limits. 

Now  the  fact  that  the  shifting  of  the  North  Pole  towards  the  Amer- 
ican continent  appears  to  have  continued  for  the  18  years  from  1900  to 
1917,  inclusive,  does  not  oblige  us  to  suppose  that  it  has  continued  in  the 
past  or  will  continue  in  the  future.  Indeed,  very  recent  observations 
at  Ukiah  would  indicate,  if  taken  at  their  face  value,  that  the  mean 
latitude  of  Ukiah  is  decreasing,  that  is,  that  the  Pole  is  moving  back 
again.  No  satisfactory  conclusions  can  be  reached,  however,  until  the 
observations  at  the  other  latitude  stations  become  available.  There  is 
some  evidence  of  certain  periodic  effects  in  the  variation  of  latitude 
other  than  those  represented  by  the  annual  and  the  14-month  terms, 
effects  whose  periods  are  three  years  or  more  and  which  may  be 
connected  with  the  periods  of  the  still  obscure  meteorological  and 
climatic  cycles.  The  shifting  of  the  Pole  may  represent  chiefly  the 
combined  effect  of  meteorological  causes  running  their  courses  in 
periods  of  a  few  years  or  a  few  decades  and  be  due  only  in  very  small 
part  to  elevations  or  subsidences  of  the  crust. 

Some  of  the  by-products  of  the  investigation  may  now  be  men- 
tioned. The  calculations  necessary  to  derive  the  foregoing  conclusions 
were  quite  extensive  and  made  it  possible  to  obtain  with  but  little 
additional  labor  other  results  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  general 
problem  of  the  variation  of  latitude.  Fuller  details  will  be  given  in 
the  larger  publication  already  referred  to. 

An  examination  was  made  with  a  view  to  detecting  terms  in  the 
variation  with  periods  of  three  and  six  years.  Terms  of  these  periods 
in  the  distribution  of  barometric  pressure  over  the  earth  were  found 
by  Angenheister;^^  the  magnitudes  of  the  fluctuations  of  pressure 
appeared  to  be  probably  sufficient  to  affect  the  motion  of  the  Pole 
perceptibly.     Harmonic  constants  were  deduced  from  the  observations 

13  Cited  by  M.  P.  Rudzki  in  his  Physik  der  Erde  (Leipzig,  1911),  p.  552,  as  the  estimate 
of  Penck  and  Bruckner  for  the  duration  of  the  glacial  epoch. 

1*  G.  Angenheister.  tjher  die  dreijdhrige  Lujtdrnckschwayikung  und  ihren  Zusamtnen- 
hang  mit  Polschwankungen.  Nachr.  kon.  Ges.  Wiss.  Gottingen,  Math-phys.  Kl.  1914:  1. 
The  paper  is  described  as  a  preliminary  communication  but  nothing  further  from  Angen- 
heister on  the  subject  has  come  to  the  author's  attention. 


JAN.  19,  1922  LAMBERT:   LATITUDE  OF  UKIAH  41 

for  terms  of  these  periods,  but  the  amplitudes  and  epochs  thus  found 
differed  considerably  according  to  stations  used  and  the  period  of  time 
covered  by  the  observations.  Probably  there  are  perceptible  terms  of 
this  sort,  but  the  mathematical  expressions  for  them  are  still  quite 
uncertain. 

Expressions  in  harmonic  form  were  found  for  the  annual  portion  of 
the  polar  motion  and  of  the  Kimura  term.  For  corresponding  periods 
of  time  these  expressions  were  in  excellent  agreement  with  similar 
expressions  deduced  by  the  International  Latitude  Service,  although 
the  methods  of  deduction  were  quite  different. 

Similar  expressions  in  harmonic  form  were  found  for  the  14-month 
portion  of  the  motion  of  the  Pole.  In  deducing  these  terms  the  motion 
of  the  pole  of  rotation  was  not  assumed  to  be  uniform  and  circular,  as 
it  would  be  if  changes  in  position  of  the  pole  of  figure  were  strictly 
periodic  and  if  the  two  principal  equatorial  moments  of  inertia  of  the 
Earth  were  equal.  If,  however,  the  assumption  of  uniform  circular 
motion  is  made  in  this  discussion,  as  it  is  in  the  work  of  the  Inter- 
national Latitude  Service,  the  expressions  for  the  14-month  motion  of 
the  Pole  agree  well  with  the  corresponding  ones  deduced  by  the  Lati- 
tude Service,  in  spite  of  the  difference  in  methods.  Without  the  as- 
sumption of  circular  motion  the  observations  always  give  an  elliptical 
14-month  path  for  the  Pole,  but  one  so  nearl}'  circular  that  the  exact 
direction  of  its  major  axis  is  not  very  certain.  The  major  axis  should 
coincide  in  direction  with  the  meridian  of  the  larger  principal  equatorial 
moment  of  inertia^''  if  there  is  any  perceptible  difference  in  the  principal 
equatorial  moments,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  it  is  of  interest  to 
determine  the  position  of  the  major  axis  of  the  ellipse  of  polar  motion. 
Wanach  of  the  International  Service  speaks  discouragingly  of  the 
results  obtained,  ^^  but  in  the  present  investigation  the  results  for 
different  six-year  periods  show  a  fair  degree  of  agreement,  perhaps 

1^  This  statement  is  subject  to  a  correction  for  the  effect  of  the  yielding  of  the  ocean  waters 
to  the  forces  arising  from  a  change  in  position  of  the  Pole.  If  the  ocean  covered  the  Earth, 
its  yielding  would  prolong  the  period  of  the  latitude  variation  as  compared  with  that  of  an 
otherwise  similar  earth  without  an  ocean,  but  the  position  of  the  major  axis  of  the  ellipse  of 
polar  motion  would  be  the  same  for  both  earths.  On  account  of  the  unsymmetrical  dis- 
tribution of  land  and  water  on  the  actual  Earth  the  position  of  the  axis  of  the  ellipse  of  polar 
motion  is  affected,  but  the  amount  of  the  correction  appears  not  to  be  sufficient  to  change  the 
general  character  of  the  observed  results.  The  subject  has  been  investigated  by  A.  Brill 
in  his  doctor's  thesis  entitled  Uber  die  Elastizitdt  der  Erde  (Gottingen,  1908).  His  conclus- 
ions do  not  appear  to  be  in  a  form  immediately  applicable  to  the  problem  in  hand.  The 
question  is  being  further  investigated. 

1^  ResuUate  des  InternaUonalen  Breitendienstes.  5:  220,  footnote. 


42         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

on  account  of  the  refinements  in  harmonic  analysis  already  referred  to. 

In  table  3  X  is  the  west  longitude  of  the  meridian  along  which  the 

major  axis  lies. 

TABLE  3. — Direction  of  the  Major  Axis  of  the  Elwpse  of  Polar  Motion  (432.5 

Day  Period) 


Years,  inclusive 

Number  of  stations 

Direction  of  major  axis 
X 

1900-05 

6 

59°  W 

1906-11 

6 

90    W 

1912-17 

3 

117    W 

1910-15 

4 

75    W 

1900-11 

6 

81    W 

1900-17 

3 

110    W 

The  first  three  lines  give  results  for  each  of  the  three  six-year  periods^^ 
into  which  the  time  covered  by  the  observations  is  divided.  The 
fourth  line  represents  a  series  cutting  across  two  other  series  and  serves 
as  a  check.  Other  check  results,  not  given  here,  were  obtained  and 
were  all  to  the  same  general  effect.  The  last  two  lines  are  mean 
results  for  the  periods  specified.  A  mean  for  the  result  of  the  entire 
discussion  might  be  taken,  somewhat  arbitrarily  perhaps,  as  90° 
West.  Helmert^^  has  determined  the  same  quantity  from  gravity 
observations,  his  result  being  107  °  West.  Since  gravity  can  at  present 
be  observed  satisfactorily  only  on  land,  that  is,  on  one-fourth  only  of 
the  Earth's  surface,  and  since  the  influence  on  gravity  of  local  topo- 
graphic and  geologic  conditions  is  considerable,  it  is  satisfactory  to 
have  even  a  rough  agreement  of  the  results  from  the  two  methods. 

The  amount  of  the  difference  between  the  principal  equatorial 
moments,  A  and  B,  may  be  specified  by  giving  the  ratio 

{B-A)^[C-y2{A+B)], 
the  letter  C  denoting  the  moment  of  inertia  about  the  axis  of  rotation. 
Helmert  finds  for  this  ratio  1/46.  The  same  ratio  may  be  deduced 
from  the  eccentricity  of  the  ellipse  of  polar  motion ;  the  results  of  this 
investigation  point  to  a  value  of  the  same  order  of  magnitude  but 
apparently  somewhat  larger,  perhaps  1/30  or  1/20,  ratios  which  would 
follow  from  some  of  the  gravity  formulas  which  Helmert  derives  only 
to  reject  in  favor  of  the  formula  leading  to  1/46.  From  the  ratio 
(B—A^[C  —  }4{A-\-B)]  we  may  deduce  the  difference  between  the 
greatest  equatorial  radius  of  the  Earth  and  the  least.  For  Helmert's 
ratio  1/46  this  difference  is  230  meters;  for  larger  or  smaller  ratios  the 
difference  between  the  equatorial  radii  varies  proportionally. 

1^  The  six-year  length  of  series  is  particularly  suitable  for  harmonic  analysis. 
^^  F.  R.  Helmert.     Neue  Formeln  fiir  den   Verlauf  der  Schwerkraft  ini  Meeresniveau 
beim  Festlande.     Sitz.-Ber.  kon.  preuss.  Akad.  Wiss.  1915:  676. 


JAN.  19,  1922  abstracts:  ornithology  43 

Since  this  ratio,  like  the  direction  of  the  major  axis,  is  subject  to  a 
correction  for  the  yielding  of  the  ocean  waters  under  the  centrifugal 
force  arising  from  the  variation  of  latitude  itself,  no  precise  results 
are  stated  in  this  connection  as  the  definitive  results  of  the  investiga- 
tion until  this  correction  can  be  investigated  and  applied.  The 
important  points  are  (1)  that,  contrary  to  Wanach's  implied  opinion, 
there  is  some  prospect  of  getting  information  regarding  the  moments 
of  inertia  and  the  figure  of  the  Earth  out  of  the  observations  of  the 
variation  of  latitude;  and  (2)  that  the  results  so  far  obtained  confirm 
in  a  general  way  the  results  of  Helmert  from  gravity  observations. 

The  principal  results  of  this  investigation  may  be  summed  up  as  the 
prospect  just  mentioned  of  getting  data  on  the  figure  of  the  Earth  out 
of  the  latitude  observations,  and  the  conclusion  previously  discussed 
that  the  increase  in  latitude  at  Ukiah  is  due  partly  to  the  declinations 
used,  being  to  that  extent  unreal,  and  partly  due  to  a  shifting  of  the 
North  Pole  towards  the  American  continent. 

ABSTRACTS 

Authors  of  scientific  papers  are  requested  to  see  that  abstracts  preferably  prepared, 
and  signed  by  themselves,  are  forwarded  promptly  to  the  editors.  The  abstracts  should 
conform  in  length  and  general  style  to  these  appearing  in  this  issue. 

OCEANOGRAPHY. — Tidal  observations  off  the  entrance  to  Delaware  Bay. 
H.  A.  Marmer.     Journ.  Franklin  Inst.  191:  819-821.     1921. 

This  paper  discusses  the  results  of  a  forty-hour  series  of  offshore  tidal 
observations  made  on  Five  Fathom  Bank,  about  18  nautical  miles  off  the 
entrance  to  Delaware  Bay,  by  a  hydrographic  party  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic 
Survey.  Special  interest  attaches  to  this  series  of  observations,  because  of  its 
being  made  at  some  distance  from  the  coast  and  also  because  of  the  simple 
and  inexpensive  tide  gauge  used.  At  present  our  knowledge  of  the  time  and 
range  of  the  tide  away  from  the  coast  is  extremely  meager,  since  tidal  observa- 
tions have  been  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  coast. 

A  description  of  the  tide  gauge  inprovised  for  observing  the  height  of  the 
tide  is  described  and  the  results  compared  with  simultaneous  tidal  observations 
at  Breakwater  Harbor,  Delaware,  about  23  miles  west  of  Five  Fathom  Bank. 
The  cotidal  hour  as  determined  from  these  observations  agrees  well  with  the 
cotidal  lines  for  this  region  constructed  by  Harris  from  theoretical  consider- 
ations. H.  A.  M. 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Washington  region  [February  and  March,  ig2o].  H.  C. 
Oberholser.  Bird  Lore  22:  167.  1920. 
Notwithstanding  a  backward  spring,  birds  appeared  about  Washington 
in  about  their  usual  numbers  and  at  about  their  usual  time  during  February 
and  March,  1920.  The  European  Starling  {Sturnus  vulgaris  vulgaris)  has 
become  thoroughly  established  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington.     Without 


44         JOURNAL  OF  THB  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIFNCFS         VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

doubt  the  outstanding  feature  of  interest  was  the  astonishing  number  of 
ducks  that  frequented  the  Potomac  River.     The  species  most  abundant  were 

Marila  marila,  Marila  affinis,  Anas  ruhripes,  and  Glaucionetta  dangula 
americana.  Flocks  of  geese,  Branta  canadensis  canadensis,  and  swans, 
Olor  cohinibianus,  were  also  present.  H.  C.  O. 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Birds    of   the    Clear   Creek   District,    Colorado.     F.    C. 
Lincoln.     Auk  37:  607.     1920. 
Systematic  investigations  in  the  region  about  Clear  Creek  near  Denver, 
Colorado,  during  a  period  of  five  years  have  resulted  in  a  list  of  182  birds, 
including  a  number  of  rare  species.  '  H.  C.  Oberholser. 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Relative  abundance  of  wild  ducks  at  Delavan,  Wisconsin. 
N.  HoLLisTER.  Auk  37:  367-371.  1920. 
Records  of  ducks  obtained  at  Delavan,  Wisconsin,  during  the  years  1892 
to  1899  give  an  interesting  indication  of  the  relative  abundance  of  species 
during  that  period.  A  list  is  given  showing  the  species  observed  in  the  order 
of  their  abundance.  H.  C.  OberholsER. 

ORNITHOLOGY. — Four  new  birds  from  the  Philippines  and  Greater  Sunda 
Islands.  J.  H.  Riley.  Proc.  Biol.  Soc.  Wash.  33:  55-58.  1920. 
The  following  subspecies  of  East  Indian  birds  are  described:  Anthreptes 
malacensis  paraguae,  from  Palawan,  Philippine  Islands,  A.  m.  bornensis,  from 
British  North  Borneo;  Enodes  erythrophrys  centralis,  from  Celebes;  and 
Munia  punctulata  particeps,  from  Celebes.  H.  C.  Oberholser. 

GEOLOGY. — Oil  prospects  in  Washington  County,  Utah.  Harvey  BasslER 
and  John  B.  Reeside,  Jr.  U.  S.  Geol.  Surv.  Bull.  726-C.  Pp.  87-107. 
1921. 

Washington  County,  in  extreme  southwestern  Utah,  is  drained  by  Virgin 
River,  one  of  the  larger  tributaries  of  the  Colorado.  Exploratory  drilling 
for  oil  has  not  been  extensive  in  Washington  County.  Drilling  near  Virgin 
City  resulted  in  several  small  wells  as  early  as  1907. 

The  rocks  of  the  region  range  in  age  from  Mississippian  to  Tertiary,  but 
those  of  greatest  importance  as  possible  sources  of  oil  are  the  older  rocks, 
beneath  what  is  known  as  the  Shinarump  conglomerate.  These  older  rocks 
are  included  in  the  Moenkopi  formation,  the  Kaibab  limestone,  and  a  sand- 
stone formation  which  represents  the  Coconino  sandstone  and  Supai  formation 
of  the  Grand  Canyon  area. 

The  region  may  be  considered  structurally  as  two  districts  separated 
by  the  Hurricane  fault,  which  runs  north  and  south  on  a  line  15  miles  east 
of  St.  George.  East  of  the  fault  the  rocks  are  relatively  little  disturbed. 
Some  smaller  faults  and  some  low  anticlines  are  present,  but  as  a  whole  the 
district  is  one  of  low  monoclinal  dips  without  any  large  modifications.  West 
of  the  Hurricane  fault  folds  and  smaller  faults  of  various  sizes  have  so  greatly 
changed  the  original  attitude  of  the  rocks  that  the  district  is  structurally 
complex  in  comparison  with  that  east  of  the  fault. 

Nothing  more  was  done  in  the  field  near  Virgin  City  east  of  the  Hurricane 
fault  until  1918,  when  the  three  producing  wells  were  cleaned  out  and  shot, 
pumping  was  started,  and  a  small  local  refinery  was  built.  A  new  well  was 
drilled  near  the  old  wells  and  has  a  production  of  4  or  5  barrels  a  day.  The 
total  production  from  the  four  wells,  which  are  uncased  holes  550  to  600  feet 


JAN.  19,  1922  proceedings:  botanical  society  45 

deep,  is  about  20  barrels  a  day  (September,  1920).  The  bulk  of  this  amount 
is  coming  from  one  well,  the  other  wells  pumping  much  more  water  than  oil. 
The  refinery  will  handle  800  gallons  of  crude  oil  per  8-hour  shift,  and  the 
products  find  a  ready  local  market. 

The  oil  is  reported  to  range  in  gravity  from  25°  to  35°  Baume,  to  have 
a  paraffin  base  that  includes  some  asphalt,  and  to  contain  some  sulphur. 
The  oil  comes  from  a  1-foot  bed  of  limestone  which  is  at  the  top  of  the  basal 
Rock  Canyon  conglomeratic  member  of  the  Moenkopi. 

It  seems  most  probable  on  the  evidence  presented  that  terraces,  or  areas 
of  low  dip,  are  favorable  to  the  accumulation  oil  in  this  field  and  that  the 
steep  slopes  are  unfavorable.  There  are  no  anticlines,  faults,  or  other 
features  closely  enough  associated  with  the  producing  field  to  offer  an  ex- 
planation for  the  accumulation  of  oil,  so  that  the  only  likely  factor  left  is  that 
of  accumulation  on  a  terrace. 

The  value  of  the  region  west  of  Hurricane  fault  as  a  possible  producer  of  oil 
it  is  impossible,  of  course,  to  gage  in  advance  of  drilling.  The  region  near 
St.  George  contains  favorable  structural  features,  and  there  are  rocks  in  them 
capable  of  serving  as  reservoirs  for  oil.  At  certain  places,  there  is  evidence 
favorable  to  the  assumption  that  these  rocks  carry  some  oil.  Whether  oil  is 
actually  present  in  these  rocks  in  the  anticlines  and  domes  remains  for  the 
drill  to  determine. 

The  report  closes  with  recommendations  for  drilling,         H.  W.  Stone. 

PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND   AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BOTANICAL  SOCIETY 

The  152nd  regular  meeting  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  Washington  was 
held  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8  p.m.,  Tuesday,  May  3, 
1921.     There  were  32  present. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  Chambliss,  after  which  the 
minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  approved.  The  executive  com- 
mittee presented  the  names  of  Mr.  A.  J.  Bruman,  Mr.  Frank  G.  O'DonnELL 
and  Robert  Claude  Wright  as  candidates  for  membership. 

Dr.  Robert  F.  Griggs  of  the  National  Geographic  Society,  Mr.  Charles 
G.  Woodbury,  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Raw  Products  Research,  National 
Canners'  Association,  and  Mr.  John  W.  Taylor  of  the  Office  of  Cereal 
Investigations  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  whose  names  were  presented 
at  the  April  Meeting,  were  voted  into  the  Society. 

A  letter  from  the  Commission  of  Fine  Arts  to  the  Society  in  regard  to  the 
establishment  of  a  National  Botanic  Garden  on  the  Mount  Hamilton  tract 
was   read. 

Mr.  PicTER  moved  that  the  Chair  appoint  a  committee  to  represent  the 
Society  in  furthering  the  Botanic  Garden  project.  This  was  seconded,  the 
motion  put  and  carried.  President  Chambliss  later  appointed  on  this  com- 
mittee the  following: 

Mr.  David  G.  Fairchild,  Chairman 

Prof.   L.   G.    CORBETT 

Mr.  F.  V.  CoviLLE 

Mr.  Walter  T.  Swingle 

Mr.  George  B.  Sudworth 


46        JOURNAL  OF  THS  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

The  regLilar  program  of  the  evening  followed: 

Peter  Bisset:  Roses  for  Garden  Decoration   (illustrated). 

The  conditions  suitable  for  best  results  in  growing  roses  may  be  summarized. 
The  location  should  be  open  to  the  sun  from  the  East  and  vSouth  and  protected 
from  the  West  and  North  by  trees,  preferably  evergreens.  The  soil  must  be 
well  drained  and  should  be  enriched  b}'^  the  application  of  well-rotted  manure, 
which  should  be  thoroughly  spaded  in.  Four  pounds  of  bone  meal  should  be 
added  to  each  wheelbarrow  load  of  soil. 

Concerning  varieties;  the  tea  roses  are  very  popular.  The  hybrid  tea  is 
probably  the  rose  of  the  future  for  American  gardens.  Maman  Cochet,  a 
hardy  tea  rose,  is  well  adapted  to  the  climate  of  Washington.  Of  the  hybrid 
perpetuals,  Baroness  de  Rotheschild,  Mrs.  John  Laing,  Mad  Gabriel  Luzett, 
Ulrich  Brunner,  Paul  Neyron  and  Frau  Karl  Druschke  are  among  the  most 
beautiful.  The  ramblers  have  their  use  and  can  transform  an  ugly  fence  or 
unsightly  place  into  an  attractive  picture.  Among  the  Rugosas,  which  come 
to  us  from  China,  the  most  attractive  are  Mrs.  George  Bruant,  Blanch  double 
de  Coubert,  with  its  semi-double  flowers,  and  Alba  semi-plenarj'-  and  the 
hybrid  Conrad  F.  Meyer.  Hugonis  is  one  of  the  latest  arrivals — a  new  yellow 
rose. 

Twenty-four  varieties  of  roses  are  recommended  for  general  garden  culture : 

Augustine  Guinoisseau  Mme.  Abel  Chatenay 

Caroline  Testout  Mme.  Hoste 

Cecile  Brunner  Mme.  Jean  Dupuy 

Dean  Hole  Maman  Cochet 

Fabvier  Marie  van  Houtte 

Fisher  Holmes  Mrs.  John  I.aing 

Florence  Pemberton  Mrs.  R.  G.  Sharmon-Crawford 

Frau  Karl  Druschki  Rosette   de  la   Legion   d'Honneur 

Gustave  Grunerwald  Souvenir  du  President  Carnot 

Gustave  Regis  Ulrich  Brunner 

Kaiserin  Augusta  Victoria  Victor  Hugo 

La  France  White  Maman  Cochet 

Dr.    C.    D WIGHT    Marsh:    Poisonous  Wkorled   Milkweeds    (illustrated). 

Asclepias  galioides,  the  whorled  milkweed,  is  one  of  the  most  poisonous 
plants  which  has  been  investigated.  This  species  is  confined  to  Arizona, 
New  Mexico,  Colorado  and  Utah.  Two  to  three  ounces  of  a  fresh  plant  of 
A .  galioides  will  kill  a  sheep.  The  effects  from  eating  are  violent  spasms,  then 
death.  High  temperatures  are  reached  in  some  animals  in  acute  stages. 
This  species  is  equally  poisonous  to  sheep  and  horses  but  is  not  so  poisonous 
to  cattle,  that  is,  with  equal  doses  per  hundred  weight. 

There  are  at  least  two  toxic  substances  in  plants:  (1)  a  narcotic  glucoside, 
(2)  a  spasmodic  principle.  These  have  been  separated.  Capillary  congestion 
is  caused  in  the  organs  of  the  animal,  also  degeneration  in  the  organs.  This  is 
so  serious  that  recovery  rarely  occurs. 

Asclepias  pumila  is  found  on  the  plains  in  Eastern  Colorado.  Eating  of 
these  plants  caused  same  symptoms  in  the  animal  as  A.  galioides,  but  the 
plant  is  not  so  toxic.     The  dosage  is  4  times  as  great. 

A.  verticillata  geyeri — Missouri  Valley,  Iowa.  Animals  eating  this  plant 
show  same  symptoms,  but  plant  is  still  less  toxic.  Dosage  10  times  as  much. 
It  is  of  little  importance  as  a  poisonous  plant.  Dosage  2  pounds  per  100  lbs. 
plants. 


JAN.  19,  1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  47 

A.  mexicana  is  found  in  Nevada  and  California  extending  south  into  Mexico. 
Same  symptoms — not  as  toxic  about  like  pumila — dosage  4  times  galioides. 

All  produce  same  effect  on  animals.  Galioides — a  dry  land  plant — spreads 
by  seed  and  by  roots — cultivation  spreads  plant. 

Dr.  Arno  ViEhoever:  Edible  and  Poisonous  Beans  of  the  Lima  Type. — 
Phaseolus   hinatus  L.  (illustrated). 

Beans  of  the  lima  type  {Phaseolus  lunatus)  are  rich  in  food  essentials, 
carbohydrates,  protein  and  fat.  All  varieties  contain,  in  addition,  the 
glucoside  linamarin,  yielding,  like  the  amygdalin  of  bitter  almonds,  hydro- 
cyanic acid  when  macerated  with  water.  In  domestic  cultivated  forms  the 
amount  of  hydrocyanic  acid  is  so  small  that  the  beans  can  be  considered  safe 
for  consumption.  The  majority  of  samples  obtained  from  tropical  countries, 
however,  were  found  to  yield  excessi\^e  amounts  of  the  poisonous  acid  in  dif- 
ferent samples  as  well  as  in  individual  beans  of  the  same  sample.  The  amount 
of  hydrocyanic  acid  found  in  the  domestic  lima  beans  ranged  from  a  trace 
to  the  maximum  of  10  mg.  per  100  g.  of  beans.  We  obtained  from  the  tropical 
beans  quantities  of  hydrocyanic  acid  amounting  to  as  much  as  300  mg.  and 
more  in  100  g.  of  the  material. 

The  large,  uniformly  white  lima  bean,  grown  on  an  extensive  scale  in 
California,  and  also  imported  from  Madagascar,  has  been  found  harmless. 
Small  lima  beans  cannot  be  considered  as  coming  from  a  different  species 
than  the  large  lima  beans.  The  most  poisonous  forms  found  were,  however, 
beans  of  the  small  type. 

The  color  does  not  diflFerentiate  the  harmless  from  the  poisonous  forms, 
neither  do  the  morphology  or  structure  of  the  beans  give  safe  means  of  separa- 
tion and  differentiation.  There  are,  however,  morphological  and  anatomical 
characteristics  which  permit  the  ready  differentiation  of  beans  of  the  lima 
type  from  beans  of  other  types,  one  of  the  most  striking  means  being  the 
general  absence  of  calcium  oxalate  in  the  seedcoat  of  Phaseolus  lunattis. 

Cooking  of  the  poisonous  beans  does  not  render  them  harmless,  although  the 
boiling  water  will  extract  a  portion  of  the  compound  yielding  hydrocyanic  acid. 

The  name  "Lima  Bean"  should  be  limited  to  the  edible  forms. 

Roy  G.  Pierce,  Recording  Secretary. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

Forty-one  Federal  Government  periodicals  suspended  publication  on 
December  1,  for  lack  of  specific  authorization  from  Congress  for  their  con- 
tinuance. Among  the  scientific  and  technical  periodicals  suspended  are: 
Experiment  Station  Record;  Journal  of  Agricultural  Research;  Monthly  Weather 
Review;  and  Public  Roads. 

The  Petrologists'  Club  met  at  the  home  of  H.  G.  Ferguson  on  December 
20,  and  discussed  the  following  topics:  E-  B.  Sampson:  Origin  of  serpentine 
in  the  lime  type  of  asbestos  deposits;  S.  H.  Cathcart:  Review  of  W.  N.  Benson's 
''Origin  of  serpentine;"  C.  S.  Ross  and  E.  V.  Shannon:  Iddingsite  as  a  deuteric 
mineral. 

The  National  Museum  reports  the  receipt  of  a  fragment  of  a  heretofore 
unknown  meteorite  (a  pallasite)  from  Cold  Bay,  western  Alaska.  The 
entire  mass  as  found  was  in  the  form  of  a  badly  oxidized  mass  of  but  a  few 
pounds  weight,  which  was  at  once  broken  up  by  the  finders  and  in  large  part 
lost.  The  find  is  the  second  from  Alaska  proper,  the  first  having  been  that 
of  Chilkat  (an  iron). 


48         JOURNAL  Olf  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  2 

The  Bureau  of  Standards  announces  that  a  considerable  improvement  has 
been  noted  in  the  quaHty  of  American  analytical  weights.  A  number  of  sets 
have  been  received  recently  in  which  every  weight  was  within  the  prescribed 
tolerances,  while  four  recent  sets  of  foreign  weights  showed  20  to  32  per  cent 
of  the  weights  outside  the  tolerances. 

A  dinner  was  given  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  Friday  night,  December  16,  by 
the  officers  of  the  Academy  and  the  Chemical  Society  in  honor  of  Prof. 
Jacques  Cavalier,  recteur  of  the  University  of  Toulouse  and  Exchange 
Professor  at  a  group  of  American  universities.  The  dinner  followed  a  lecture 
by  Prof.  Cavalier  at  the  Bureau  of  Standards  in  the  afternoon,  on  Les  in- 
dustries chimiques  en  France  pendant  la  Guerre. 

Dr.  Barton  W.  EvErmann,  at  one  time  with  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission 
in  Washington,  and  a  former  editor  of  the  Proceedings  and  of  the  Journal  of  the 
Academy,  has  been  appointed  director  of  the  new  Steinhart  Aquarium  of  the 
California  Academy  of  Sciences  at  San  Francisco,  California. 

A  course  of  ten  lectures  on  applied  anthropology  is  being  given  by  Dr. 
Ales  Hrdlicka,  of  the  National  Museum,  under  the  joint  auspices  of  the 
Educational  Department  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the 
Institute  of  Vocational  Research  of  Washington. 

Dr.  W.  J.  Humphreys  of  the  Weather  Bureau  lectured  before  the  Physics 
Club  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  on  November  28,  on  The  temperature  and 
other  conditions  of  the  free  air. 

Dr.  Franz  August  Richard  Jung,  a  practicing  physician  in  Washington, 
and  a  resident  member  of  the  Academy  since  1902,  died  at  his  home  at  1868 
Columbia  Road  on  December  16,  1921,  in  his  fifty-third  year.  Dr.  Jung  was 
born  in  Thuringia,  Germany,  October  9,  1869.  He  came  to  the  United  States 
in  1896,  and  took  up  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Washington  in  collabora- 
tion with  his  wife.  Dr.  SoEiE  A.  Nordhoff-Jung.  They  were  in  Munich 
when  the  War  began  in  1914,  and  opened  there  an  American  Red  Cross 
Hospital,  which  was  closed  in  1917  when  the  United  States  entered  the  War. 
Dr.  Jung  was  a  member  of  the  Academy  and  the  Medical  Society,  and  was  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  medical  journals,  especially  on  subjects  related  to 
digestion  and  assimilation. 

Mr.  S.  Kruse,  associate  electrical  engineer  at  the  Bureau  of  Standards, 
who  has  been  engaged  in  radio  development  work  at  the  Bureau,  has  been 
granted  a  year's  leave  of  absence  and  has  accepted  a  position  with  the  Ham- 
mond Radio  Research  Corporation,  Gloucester,  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  A.  A.  Stevenson,  chairman  of  the  American  Engineering  Standards 
Committee,  spoke  before  the  Washington  Section  of  the  American  Society 
of  Mechanical  Engineers  on  December  9  on  The  significance  of  standardization 
to  industry  and  the  Federal  Government. 

Dr.  Raymond  W.  Woodward  has  resigned  as  physicist  and  chief  of  the  sec- 
tion of  mechanical  metallurgy  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  to  becomec  hief  met- 
allurgist for  the  Whitney  Manufacturing  Company  of  Hartford,  Connecticut. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  February  4,  1922  No.  3 


MINERALOGY. — Tschermigite  {Ammonium  Alum.)  from  Wyoming. 
E.  Theodore  Erickson.^     U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

INTRODUCTION 

A  sample  of  mineral  to  be  tested  for  potash  was  received  from  Mr. 
C.  R.  McGregor  of  the  firm  of  McGregor  Brothers  Company,  contrac- 
tors and  builders,  Ogden,  Utah.  The  mineral  was  identified  as  tscher- 
migite, natural  ammonium  alum,  and  as  far  as  known  is  the  first  re- 
ported occurrence  of  this  mineral  in  America.  Mr.  McGregor  has 
kindly  furnished  information  regarding  the  deposit  of  the  mineral;  it 
is  located  about  5  kilometers  (3  miles)  south  of  Wamsutter,  and  65  Km. 
(40  miles)  west  of  Rawlins,  Wyoming,  both  places  being  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad.  The  mineral  occurs  in  a  2  meter  ledge  of  black 
shale  and  is  traceable  along  the  brink  of  the  hills  for  nearly  5  km. 
(3  miles). 

The  writer  wishes  to  express  his  thanks  to  Dr.  W.  T.  Schaller  for  his 
cooperative  interest  in  the  work  and  preparation  of  this  paper. 

ASSOCIATION  AND  PROPERTIES 

In  the  specimens  received  by  the  Geological  Survey,  tschermigite 
forms  the  cementing  material  holding  together  seams  of  pure  tscher- 
migite, fragments  of  brown  bituminous  shale,  nodules  of  yellow 
jarosite  and  a  few  scattered  gypsum  crystals.  The  cementing 
tschermigite  is  intimately  mixed  with  the  shale  fragments  and  asso- 
ciated minerals.  Many  of  the  smaller  pieces  of  shale  are  rudely  rec- 
tangular in  shape  and  where  these  have  fallen  away,  cubic  cavities  re- 
main in  the  compact  tschermigite.  An  abundance  of  pure  material 
suitable  for  analysis,  could  readily  be  obtained  from  the  seams. 

The  jarosite  coats,  and  in  places  is  inclosed  in,  the  alum,  and  also 
forms  small  pure  nodular  masses.     It  is.  pale  yellow  in  color  and  very 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Director,  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.  Received  Novem- 
ber 3,    1921. 

49 


50         JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  3 

fine  grained,  the  individual  crystals  and  their  rhombohedral  character 
being  recognized  only  under  the  highest  magnifying  power  of  the  pet- 
rographic  microscope.  The  probability  of  this  jarosite  containing 
ammonia  was  suggested.  A  carefully  selected  sample  was  obtained, 
largely  from  the  small  nodular  masses.  Treatment  with  water  at 
room  temperature  (near  25°  C.)  yielded  0.87  per  cent  soluble  matter, 
consisting  of  some  tschermigite,  together  with  a  small  quantity  of 
jarosite,  and  a  trace  of  organic  matter.  If  it  be  considered  that  the 
water-soluble  content  of  the  jarosite  is  practically  all  tschermigite  the 
0 .  87  per  cent  soluble  matter  would  contain  only  0.05  per  cent  am- 
monia as  (NH4)20.  The  jarosite  sample  was  found  to  contain  1 .30 
per  cent  (N  114)20,  which  when  corrected  for  the  ammonia  in  0.87 
per  cent  of  admixed  tschermigite,  gave  1.25  per  cent  for  the  pure 
jarosite.  A  lack  of  suitable  material  prevented  further  work  being 
done  other  than  to  establish  quantitatively  the  presence  of  consider- 
able potash  and  a  slight  amount  of  soda.  As  far  as  know  this  is  the 
first  recorded  occurrence  of  an  ammoniacal  jarosite.  The  small  amber 
colored  gypsum  crystals  are  not  very  abundant  and  do  not  present 
any  evidence  of  unusual  composition. 

The  tschermigite  is  colorless  or  white  in  thick  masses  and  has  a 
clear  glassy  appearance  in  small  pieces.  The  mineral  is  isotropic  and 
the  broken  pieces  do  not  show  any  cleavage.  The  refractive  index 
was  found  to  be  1.457  and  the  density  1.645.  Cornu-  found  the 
density  of  the  Dux,  Bohemia,  tschermigite  to  be  1.636.  The  arti- 
ficial ammonium  alum  has  the  density  1.626.  The  value  1.50  given 
for  tschermigite  in  Dana's  System  of  Mineralogy  is  obviously  too  low. 

In  some  of  the  cavities  are  small  incomplete  crystals  of  tschermigite 
and  some  of  the  columnar  masses  have  a  large  number  of  minute 
facets  of  the  same  crystal  form  along  their  side.  Crystal  faces  are 
also  present  on  top  of  parts  of  the  seams,  but  nowhere  were  complete 
crystals  evident.  The  incomplete  crystals  were  seldom  larger  than 
one  or  two  millimeters.  The  forms  noted  are  a (100),  o(lll)  and 
d(llO),  all  developed  nearly  equally,  but  with  a  very  nonequal  devel- 
opment of  the  different  faces  of  a  form  on  the  same  crystal. 

CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION 

The  mineral  readily  fuses  in  its  own  water  of  crystallization 
below  the  boiling  point  ot  toluene  (105°  C).  It  is  easily  soluble  in 
cold  water  and  gives  the  usual  reactions  for  ammonium  alum.     The 

^  Reference  given  under  analysis  III. 


FEB.  4,  1922 


ERIckson:  tschermigite 


51 


quantitative  analyses  were  made  on  a  uniform  sample  of  carefully  se- 
lected material  which  was  practically  free  from  associated  mineral 
and  gangue. 

The  average  results  obtained  are  tabulated  below  (I) ,  together  with 
the  theoretical  composition  of  ammonium  alum  [AI2 (804)3- (NH4)2S04.- 
24H2O]  (II),  and  analyses  of  the  mineral  from  Bohemia    (III,  IV). 


TABLE  1. — Analyses  of  Tschermigite 


I 

II 

III 

IV 

Average     analysis 
of    tschermigite 
from    Wyoming 

Composition    of 

[Al2(S04)3. 

(NH4)2S04.24H20] 

Tschermigite 
from  Dux, 
Bohemia 

Tschermigite 
from  Briix 
Bohemia 

A1003 

11.57 

11.28 

11.40 

11.39 

(NH4)20.... 

5.23 

5.74 

5.86<^ 

5.62 

NaaO 

K2O 

0.21 
Trace 

[0.06 

[0.17 

MgO 

0.13 

SO3 

35.11 

35.33 

34.99 

35.14 

H2O 

47.82 

47.65 

[47.69''] 

[47.59^] 

Insol 

0.06 

0.08 

FezOg.CaO.Cl 

Trace 

O.Ol'^ 

Total 

100.13 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

**  Given  as  3.83  per  cent  (NH4)20,  but  obviously  an  error,  the  3.83  per  cent  representing 
NH3.  The  value  has  been  changed  to  its  equivalent  (5.86)  for  (NH4)20.  The  water  con- 
tent given  as  49 .72  has  been  correspondingly  corrected  to  47 .69. 

^  Given  as  3.67  per  cent  NH3  which  has  also  been  changed  to  its  equivalent  value  of 
5.62  per  cent  (NH4)20.  A  correction  has  likewise  been  made  of  the  reported  water  per- 
centage, 49.54  obtained  by  difference,  to  47.59  per  cent. 

'  FeaOs. 

Analysis  III;  Deichmiiller,  J.  V.,  Neues  Vorkommenvon  Ammonium-alaun.  Sitzb.  d.  n. 
Ges.  Isis,  Dresden,  1885,  33.  Analysis  by  Geissler.  Locality,  Vertrau  auf  Gott  mine 
near  Dux,  Bohemia.  This  occurrence  is  also  described  by  Cornu,  F.,  Tschermigite  von 
Schellenken  bei  Dux  in  Bohmen.     Centr.  Min.  Geol.  1907,  467-468. 

Analysis  IV;  Sachs,  A.,  Uber  ein  neues  Tschermigitvorkommen  von  Briix  in  Bohmen, 
etc.  Centr.  Min.  Geol.  1907:  465-467.  Locality,  Guidoschacht  in  Nieder-Georgental 
near  Briix,  Bohemia. 

A  set  of  four  earher  analyses,  by  Gruner,  Pfaff,  Lampadius,  and 
Stromeyer,  showing  similar  results,  are  given  by  Rammelsberg,  in  his 
Handbuch  d.  Mineralchemie,  p.  285  (1860).  Natural  ammonium  alum 
also  occurs  at  Tschermig,  Bohemia  (from  which  place  the  mineral  is 
named);  and  has  been  reported  from  Tokod  near  Grau,  Hungary; 
Saalfeld  in  Thuringia;  in  crater  of  Mt.  Etna  with  other  sulfates; 
and  at  Solfatara  at  Pozzuoli. 


52         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  3 

The  ammonia  was  determined  by  the  direct  distillation  of  the  sam- 
ple in  the  customary  Kjeldahl  apparatus.  A  gram  sample  was  dis- 
solved in  a  500  cc.  Kjeldahl  flask  with  150  cc.  of  distilled  water,  an 
excess  strong  NaOH  solution  was  then  added  witb  the  usual  precau- 
tions and  75  cc.  of  distillate  were  slowly  received  into  25  cc.  N/10  H2SO4. 

The  excess  of  acid  in  the  distillate  was  titrated  with  N/10  NaOH 
solution,  using  methyl  orange  indicator,  the  neutralization  value  of  the 
distilled  ammonia  being  obtained  by  difference  and  its  percentage 
computed.  Duplicate  determinations  agreed  closely  and  were  cor- 
rected for  a  blank  test  made  on  all  reagents  used. 

The  mineral  was  dried  to  constant  weights  at  temperature  intervals 
between  105°  C.  and  410°  C.  inclusive,  with  the  following  results.  At 
105°  C.  a  loss  of  36.48  per  cent  was  obtained,  which  is  slightly  over 
three-fourths  of  the  total  percentage  of  water.  At  200°  C.  the  remain- 
ing water,  excepting  about  one  per  cent  of  the  total,  was  given  off. 
At  350°  C.  a  few  tenths  of  one  per  cent  of  water  are  still  retained  in 
the  residue.  Losses  in  excess  of  the  actual  percentage  of  water  com- 
menced near  360°  C.  and  became  about  three  per  cent  at  410°  C. 
Evidently  ammonium  sulfate  in  the  double  compound  commences  de- 
composition near  360°  C.  which  is  about  80°  C.  higher  than  the 
decomposition  temperature  of  pure  ammonium  sulfate. 

TABLE  2. — The  Loss  Obtained  by  Heating  Tschermigite 


Temperature                          Percentage  of  loss 

Toluene  bath    (105°  C.)      .    .    .     36.48 

Air  bath             125°  C. 

38.07 

200°  C. 

47.10 

215°  C. 

47.18 

250°  C. 

47.26 

' 

310°  C. 

47.26 

350°  C. 

47.58  ] 

Percentage  of  water  in 

360°  C. 

47.93  J 

mineral  47 .  82 

410°  C. 

50.62 

The  strongly  ignited  residue  gave  a  total  loss  of  88.06  per  cent. 
This  loss  consisted  of  the  water  and  ammonia  [(NH4)20]  content  to- 
gether with  nearly  all  of  the  sulfuric  anhydride,  a  slight  amount 
(0.10)  being  retained. 

In  order  to  interpret  correctly  the  function  of  the  small  quantity 
of  substances  besides  AI2O3,  retained  in  the  ignited  residue,  some  com- 
parative experiments  with  a  prepared  sodium  alum  were  carried  out. 
The  percentage  of  strongly  ignited  residue  from  sodium  alum  was 
found  to  be  nearly  identical  with  the  sum  of  the  percentages  of  Na20 


FEB.  4,  1922  ERICKSON :  TSCHERMIGITE  53 

plus  AI2O3.     The  average  results  on  the  prepared  sodium  alum  are  as 
follows : 

TABLE  3 
Partial  Analysis,  Theoretical  Composition  and  Ignition  Results  of  Sodium  Alum 


Partial  analysis  of 
the  prepared  so- 
dium alum 

Theoretical  per- 
centage of  NazO 
-f   AI2O3 

Residue  obtained 
by  strong  igni- 
tion 

Theoretical  per- 
centage of  Na2S04 
+  AI2O3. 

NasO 

AI2O3 

Total 

6.96 
11.07 

17.76 

17.91 

17.78 

26.64 

Although  the  ignited  residue  from  the  sodium  alum  contained  a 
small  quantity  of  sulfate  which  compensates  for  the  loss  of  a  small 
quantity  of  volatilized  alkali,  the  result  seems  to  indicate  the  forma- 
tion of  a  sodium  aluminate,  since  in  the  ignited  residue  practically  all 
of  the  sulfate  radical  is  volatilized. 

The  partial  elimination  of  SO3  from  Na20  in  the  ignited  residue  of 
tschermigite  is  thus  explained.  It  is  possible  that  the  small  amount 
of  MgS04  in  the  tschermigite  residue  reacts  in  a  similar  way  with  the 
AI2O3.  However  MgS04  alone  in  small  quantities  will  dissociate  con- 
siderably into  MgO  and  SO3  in  the  temperature  of  the  ordinary  strong 
blast. 

The  percentage  of  water  was  obtained  by  subtracting  the  sum  of 
the  (NH4)20  and  the  volatilized  SO3  (the  total  percentage  of  SO3  cor- 
rected for  SO3  retained  in  the  ignited  residue)  from  the  total  loss  on 
ignition.     The  average  results  for  tschermigite  are  tabulated  below. 

Table  4. — Total  Water  Content  of  Tschermigite 

(NH4)20 5 .23 

Total  SO3 35.11 

SO3  retained  in  the  ignited  residue.  .  .        0  .  10 

Volatilized  SO3 35 .01 

40.24 

Total  loss  upon  ignition 88 .06 

Subtracting  the  total  of  (NH4)20  and  volatilized  SO3 40 .24 


Water  by  difference 47 .82 

Ignited  Residue  of  Tschermigite 

Residue  upon  ignition 11 .94  per  cent 

Sum  of  constituents  other  than  AI2O3 0 .  50 

AI2O3  by  difference 11 .44  per  cent 

AhOb  by  direct  determination 1 1 .  57  per  cent 


54         JOURNAL  OF  THE)  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  3 

The  percentage  of  residue  obtained  was  corrected  for  the  minor  non- 
volatile constituents,  as  follows:  Na20,  0.21  per  cent;  MgO,  0.13 
per  cent;  nonvolatile  insoluble  matter,  0.06  per  cent,  and  SO3  retained 
in  the  residue,  0.10  per  cent;  the  sum  of  which  is  0.50  per  cent. 

BOTANY. — On  the  species  of  Dalbergia  of  Mexico  and  Central  America. 
H.  PlTTlER.^ 

As  considered  in  the  light  of  modern  taxonomy,  the  genus  Dal- 
bergia includes  the  former  genera  Amerimnon  and  Ecastophyllum. 
There  is  no  generic  difference  between  Amerimnon,  established  by 
Browne  in  1756  to  include  Dalbergias  with  samaroid  pods,  and 
Ecastophyllum  of  the  same  author  and  date,  containing  the  species 
with  nummular  pods.  On  the  other  hand,  on  the  evidence  of  the 
generic  definition,  the  species  of  Amerimnon  do  not  fit  into  Ecasto- 
phyllum, and  species  of  Ecastophyllum  cannot  come  under  Amerimnon. 

In  1781,  Linnaeus  filius  described  his  new  genus  Dalbergia,  which 
under  both  the  International  and  the  American  Rules  would  not  be 
valid,  but  for  the  fact  that  neither  of  the  two  names  having  the  priority 
really  represents  a  generic  entity,  but  only  one  part  of  a  single  genus, 
while  the  later  name  was  intended  to  apply  to  both  parts. 

In  this  paper,  therefore,  in  accordance  with  the  well  founded  con- 
clusions given  by  Prain^  in  his  extensive  monograph  ''The  Species  of 
Dalbergia  of  South  Eastern  Asia,"  the  name  Dalbergia  is  retained  to 
designate  the  genus;  Amerimnon  becomes  the  name  of  a  subgenus, 
while  the  species  of  Ecastophyllum  are  transferred  to  a  single  section 
of  the  same.  This  is  the  view  accepted  by  all  European  botanists 
and,  I  believe,  by  the  majority  of  those  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
In  all  the  recent  literature  on  the  subject,  including  the  description  of  a 
large  number  of  species  old  and  new,  the  same  name  is  used,  so  that 
the  resuscitation  of  Amerimnon  as  a  substitute  for  Dalbergia  would 
cause  a  great  and  useless  confusion,  even  omitting  the  fact  that  it 
cannot  be  applied  to  the  genus  as  understood  today. 

In  its  original  form,  the  present  paper  included  full  descriptions  of 
all  Mexican  and  Central  American  species.  Circumstances  now  have 
made  it  necessary  to  suppress  the  descriptions  of  old  species  and  to  re- 
duce the  paper  to  a  simple  enumeration  of  them ,  with  their  known  dis- 
tribution, and  to  descriptions  of  only  the  proposed  new  species. 
In  addition,  the  following  key  has  been  prepared. 

^  Received  December  15,  1921. 

2  Ann.  Bot.  Gard.  Calc.  10:  10-11.     1904. 


FEB.  4,  1922 


PITTIER:    DALBERGIAS  of  MEXICO 


55 


1.  D.  cuhilquitzensis . 


2.  D.  tucurensis. 


3.  D.  melanocardium. 


KEY  TO  THE  MIDDLE  AMERICAN  SPECIES  OF  DALBERGL.\ 

Standard  blade  straight  or  hardly  reflexed;  style 

short  and  thick  (Sissoa). 

Leaflets    ovate    or    oblong-lanceolate,     rather 

large    (3    to    11    cm.    long);     stamens    9. 

Flowers  about  5.5  mm.  long,  the  standard 

obovate,  subauriculate  at  the  base ;  leaflets 

3  to  8  cm.  long,  1.5  to  2.5  cm.  broad. 

Flowers  about  3.5  mm.  long,  the  standard 

ovate  or  oblong,  attenuate  at  the  base; 

leaflets  4  to   11   cm.  long,   2   to  5  cm. 

broad. 

Leaflets    ovate    or    ovate-long,    rather    small 

(seldom  over  4  cm.  long) ;  stamens  9  or  10. 

Stamens  9. 

Inflorescences  loose,   dichotomous-panicu- 
late;     flowers    about    4    mm.    long; 
leaflets   ovate,    obtuse   or   subacumi- 
nate.     Ovary       1 -ovulate;     standard 
suborbiculate. 
Inflorescences    congested,    cymose-panicu- 
late. 
Flowers  3  to  3.5  mm.  long;   ovary  gla- 
brous, 2  or  3-ovulate;    leaflets  3  to 
5  cm.  long. 
Flowers    about    5.5    mm.    long;     ovary 
hairy,  1  or  2-ovulate;  leaflets  0.5  to 
3  cm.  long. 
Stamens  10. 
Pistil  glabrous. 

Ovary  4   or   5-ovulate;    wings  narrow, 
elongate,    the    base    of    the    blade 
truncate,  2-auriculate ;    leaflets  ob- 
long or  obovate,  whitish  and  rufo- 
reticulate  beneath. 
Ovary   1   or  2-ovulate;    wings  oblique, 
obovate,  1-auriculate;  leaflets  ovate, 
emarginate,     ferruginous-pubescent 
beneath. 
Pistil  more  or  less  hairy.     Ovary  2  or  3- 
ovulate. 
Flowers  5  mm.  long,  the  pedicels  1  mm. 
long  or  less;   ovary  minutely  pubes- 
cent; standard  subauriculate. 
Flowers  10.5  mm.  long,  the  pedicels  2.5 
to  3.5  mm.  long;  ovary  hairy  on  the 
margins;   standard  attenuate  at  the 
base. 
Standard    blade    reflexed    (with    one    exception, 
D.    hrownei,    but    then    leaves    1-foliolate) ; 
style  slender,   often  subulate   (Amerininon). 


4.  D.  glomerata. 


5.  D.  congestiflora. 


6.  D.  tahascana. 


7.  D.  cibix. 


8.  D.  mexicana. 


9.  D.  campecheana. 


56         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  3 


Flowers  not  over  12  mm.  long;  style  geniculate, 
short  and  straight;    legume  orbicular  and 
1 -seeded,    or    ovate-oblong    and    1    to  3- 
seeded  {Ecastophyllum) . 
Legume  ovate-oblong,  rounded  at  the  apex, 
1   to  3-seeded;    flowers  about   11   mm. 
long;   standard  obov'ate,  straight;  leaves 
1-foliolate;   stamens  10. 
Legume  orbicular,  1  -  seeded ;  standard  orbic- 
ulate,  reflexed. 
Leaves  1-foliolate;    flowers  about  10  mm. 

long;   stamens  10. 
Leaves  3  to  5-foliolate;    flowers  about  6 
mm.  long;   stamens  9. 
Flowers  not  less  than  14  mm.  long;   style  long 
and  strongly  arcuate ;   legume  more  or  less 
lanceolate,    1    to    5-seeded.     Stamens    10 
(Miscolobium) . 
Leaves   entirely   glabrous,    5   to   7-foliolate, 

the  leaflets  3  to  4  cm.  long. 
Leaves   more   or   less   pubescent,    7    to    15- 
foliolate. 
Leaves   and   pods   hardly   changing   color 
in  desiccation;   leaflets  7  to  11,  ovate, 
glaucous    beneath;     legume    1    to    5- 
seeded,  rounded-obtuse  at  the  apex. 
Leaves  and  pods  turning  black  in  desic- 
cation. 
Leaflets  suborbiculate  or  broadly  ovate, 
not  over  5  cm.  long,  the  margin  not 
re  volute. 
Leaflets  ovate  or  oblong,  up  to  10.5  cm. 
long,   the   margins   re  volute. 
Flowers  about  15  mm.  long,  the  ped- 
icels 4  to  5  mm.  long;    standard 
suborbiculate,  more  or  less  emar- 
ginate  at  the  base. 
Flowers  about  16  mm.  long,  the  ped- 
icels about  5  mm.  long;   standard 
ovate  or  oblong,  attenuate  at  the 
base. 


10.  D.  hrownei. 

11.  D.  ecastophyllum. 

12.  D.  monetaria. 


13.  D.  calycina. 


14.  D.  hypoleuca. 


lb.  D.  granadillo. 


16.  D.  retusa. 


17.  D.  lineata. 


ENUMERATION  OF  SPECIES 

1.  Dalbergia  cubilquitzensis  (Donn.  Smith)  Pittier. 

Dalbergia  variabilis  var.  cubilquitzensis  Donn.  Smith,  Bot.  Gaz.  57:    417. 
1914. 
Type  Locality  :     Cubilquitz,  Alta  Verapaz,  Guatemala,  altitude  about  350 

m.{von  Tuerckheim  4091). 
Other  Specimens  Examined: 

Guatemala:     Los  Amates,  Department  Izabal,  1905,  Kellerman  4789. 

This  species,  considered  by  Mr.  Donnell  Smith  as  a  mere  variety   of  D. 
variabilis  Vogel,  differs  from  this  in  the  pubescence,  the  shape  and  size  of  the 


FEB.  4,  1922  PITTIER:   DALBERGIAS  of  MEXICO  57 

calyx  lobes,  the  shape  of  the  petals,  the  number  of  stamens,  the  shape  and 
size  of  the  leaves  and  leaflets,  etc. 

2.  Dalbergia  tucurensis  Donn.  Smith,  Bot.  Gaz.  46:  111.     1908. 

Type  Locality:     Concepcion  near  Tucuon,  Alta  Verapaz,  Guatemala   (von 
Tuerckheim  II.  1712). 

3.  Dalbergia  melanocardium  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Medium  sized  tree;  branchlets  terete,  ferruginous  pubescent,  later 
glabrate  and  grayish. 

Leaves  7  to  11-foliolate,  the  rachis  terete,  minutely  pilosulous,  4  to  13  cm. 
long.  Leaflets  subcoriaceous,  the  petiolules  sparsely  ferruginous-pubescent, 
3  to  4  mm.  long,  the  blades  ovate,  rounded  or  subacute  at  the  base,  obtuse 
and  subretuse  at  the  apex,  1.5  to  4.5  cm.  long,  1.3  to  2.5  cm.  broad,  dark 
green  and  pilosulous  above,  paler  or  rufescent,  ferruginous-pubescent  and 
reticulate  beneath,  the  very  slender  veins  prominent  on  both  faces. 

Inflorescences  paniculate,  axillary  and  terminal,  congested,  shorter  than 
the  leaves,  the  branched  rachis  ferruginous-pubescent.  Bractlets  small, 
ovate  or  orbiculate,  ferruginous-pubescent.  Flowers  sessile  or  short  pedicel- 
late, about  4  mm.  long.  Calyx  subbilabiate,  broad,  fulvous-hairy,  about  2.5 
mm.  long,  the  two  vexillar  lobes  broad  and  rounded,  the  2  lateral  ones  equally 
long  and  obtuse,  but  narrower,  the  carinal  one  about  tw^ice  longer,  obtuse  or 
bilobulate.  Petals  glabrous;  standard  suborbiculate,  the  claw  oblique,  0.8 
to  0.9  mm.  long,  the  blade  subbiauriculate  at  the  base,  emarginate  at  the 
apex,  about  3  mm.  long  and  broad;  wings  free  from  the  keel,  auriculate  on 
both  margins  at  the  base,  obtuse  at  the  apex,  about  4  mm.  long  (including 
the  claw)  and  1.4  mm.  broad;  carinal  petals  broader  than  the  wings,  ovate, 
auriculate  on  the  vexillar  side,  obtuse,  about  3.8  mm.  long,  1.5  mm.  broad. 
Stamens  9,  monadelphous,  the  staminal  tube  glabrous,  open  above.  Pistil 
4.5  to  5  mm.  long,  the  ovary  stipitate,  1-ovulate,  ferruginous-villous,  the 
style  thick,  arcuate,  glabrous,  the  stigma  inconspicuous. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  258410,  collected  at  Ojo  de 
Agua,  Department  of  Santa  Rosa,  Guatemala,  altitude  about  900  meters. 
May,  1892,  by  He3^de  and  Lux  (J.  D.  Smith  3295). 

Known  among  the  natives  under  the  name  of  "Ebano,"  and  distributed  as 

Dalbergia  variabilis  Vogel.     Like  this  species  it  has  a  calyx  with  two  broad 

more  or  less  connate  upper  lobes,   and  three  narrower    lower    lobes,    the 

middle    (carinal)   one  about  twice  longer,  but  obtuse  or  retuse.     But  the 

flowers  are  sessile,  shorter  and  broader,  there  are  9  stamens,  the   ovary  is 

densely  villous-hairy  and  the  congested  inflorescence  is  not  cymose. 

4.  Dalbergia  glomerata  Hemsl.  Diag.  PI.  Nov.  1:8.     1878. 
Type  Locality:     Sangolica,  Mexico  (Botteri  1027). 

5.  Dalbergia  congestiflora  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Small  tree,  3  to  4  m.  high;  branchlets  terete,  striate,  sparsely  lenticel- 
late,  at  first  minutely  grayish-pubescent. 

Leaves  7  to  13-foliolate,  the  rachis  slender,  sparsely  pubescent,  4  to  11  cm. 
long.  Leaflets  subcoriaceous,  the  petiolules  pilosulous,  2  to  3  mm.  long,  the 
blades  ovate-oblong,  broadly  cuneate  at  the  base,  rounded,  slightly  emargi- 
nate and  sometimes  mucronulate  at  the  apex,  0.5  to  3  cm.  long,  0.3  to  2.3 
cm.  broad,  sparsely  pilosulous  on  both  faces,  reticulate  and  with  the  venation 
prominulous  above,  beneath  lineate-reticulate,  the  costa  and  veins  prominent. 


58         JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  3 

Inflorescences  paniculate,  cymose-branched,  axillary  or  terminal  on  defoli- 
ate branchlets,  congested,  not  over  3  cm.  long,  the  rachis  densely  ferrug- 
inous-hairy. Bracts  and  bractlets  oblong,  ferruginous-hairy,  very  small, 
caducous.  Flowers  pedicellate,  5.5  mm.  long,  the  pedicels  1  to  1.5  mm.  long. 
Calyx  subcampanulate,  2  to  2.5  mm.  long,  sparsely  pubescent,  the  2  vexillar 
lobes  broad,  rounded  and  adnate,  the  lateral  lobes  narrower  and  acute,  the 
carinal  lobe  apiculate  and  longer.  Petals  glabrous;  standard  ovate  or 
oblong,  more  or  less  attenuate  at  the  base,  emarginate  at  the  apex,  3.6  mm. 
long,  1.4  to  1.6  mm.  broad;  wings  elongate,  oblique,  more  or  less  attenuate  at 
the  base,  rounded  at  the  apex,  about  3  mm.  long,  0.9  to  1.1  mm.  broad;  cari- 
nal petals  ovate,  auriculate  on  the  vexillar  side,  obtuse  at  the  apex,  the  claw 
about  0.8  mm.  long,  the  blade  about  2.5  mm.  long,  1.5  to  1.8  mm.  broad. 
Stamens  9,  glabrous.  Pistil  2.5  to  3  mm.  long,  hairy,  ciliate  on  the  margins, 
the  ovary  1-ovulate  (?),  the  style  short  and  thick,  the  stigma  inconspicuous. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Hebarium,  no.  381855,  collected  on  lava  fields 
near  Cuernavaca,  Morelos,  Mexico,  altitude  about  1650  m.,  March  17, 
1899,  by  C.  G.  Pringle  (no.  6981). 

Distributed  as  Dalbergia  glomerata  Hemsley,  but  the  leaves  are  much 
smaller,  the  leaflets  less  numerous,  more  than  half  smaller,  pilosulous  on  both 
faces,  the  flowers  are  larger,  the  standard  is  sensibly  longer  than  the  wings 
and  keel  and  not  suborbiculate  but  ovate  or  distinctly  oblong,  the  ovary  is 
apparently  1-ovulate,  etc. 
6.  Dalbergia  tabascana  Pittier,  sp. 

Shrub  (?);  branchlets  grayish,  sparsely  lenticellate,  at  first  minutely 
grayish-pubescent. 

Leaves  6  or  7-foliolate,  the  rachis  slender,  minutely  pilosulous,  3  to  3.5  cm. 
long.  Leaflets  subcoriaceous,  the  petiolules  minutely  pubescent,  1  to  1.5  mm. 
long,  the  blades  oblong  or  obovate,  rounded  at  the  base  and  apex,  1  to  2.5  cm. 
long,  0.5  to  1  cm.  broad,  dark  green  and  glabrous  above,  whitish  or  rufescent, 
rufo-reticulate  and  minutely  pilosulous  beneath. 

Inflorescences  few-flowered,  subcymose,  axillary  or  paniculate  at  the  end 
of  the  branchlets,  the  rachis  branched,  sparsely  gray-pubescent.  Bracts 
and  bractlets  ovate-oblong,  pubescent,  not  over  1  mm.  long,  caducous.  Flow- 
ers pedicellate,  about  9  mm.  long,  the  pedicels  minutely  gray-pubescent, 
2  to  4  mm.  long.  Calyx  tubular-campanulate,  3.5  to  4  mm.  long,  sparsely 
pubescent  or  glabrescent  at  the  base,  pubescent  on  the  lobes,  subbilabiate, 
the  carinal  lobe  apiculate,  not  much  longer  than  the  vexillar  ones,  these  ob- 
tuse, the  lateral  ones  smaller  and  acute.  Petals  glabrous;  standard  obovate- 
oblong,  straight,  attenuate  and  subauriculate  at  base,  rounded  and  slightly 
emarginate  at  apex,  the  claw  about  2  mm.  long,  the  blade  5.5  mm.  long,  1 .6  mm. 
broad;  wings  elongate-oblong,  auriculate  on  the  vexillar  side,  subauriculate 
on  the  carinal  side,  rounded  at  apex,  the  claw  2  mm.  long,  the  blade  about 
5.5  mm.  long,  1.6  mm.  broad;  carinal  petals  falcate,  auriculate  on  the  vexillar 
side,  obtuse  at  the  apex,  the  claw  2.2  mm.  long,  the  blade  about  4  mm.  long 
and  1.8  mm.  broad.  Stamens  10,  monadelphous,  glabrous,  alternately  short 
and  long.  Pistil  about  6  mm.  long,  glabrous,  the  ovary  long-stipitate,  4  or 
5-ovulate,  the  style  oblique,  straight,  the  stigma  subcapitellate. 

Type  in  the  John  Donnell  Smith  Herbarium,  collected  in  inundated  places 
near  Mayito,  Tabasco,  Mexico,  August  17,  1889,  by  J.  N.  Rovirosa  (no.  583). 


FEB.  4,   1922  PITTIER:    DALBERGIAS  of  MEXICO  59 

The  tvpe  specimen  is  labelled  Dalbergia  campecheana  Benth.,  but  the  leaves 
are  small,  with  few,  distinctly  petiolulate  leaflets,  the  inflorescences  are  few- 
flowered,  the  ovar}^  is  4  or  5-ovulate,  etc. 

7.  Dalbergia  cibix  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Scandent  shrub  or  vine,  ascending  to  20  m.  above  the  ground;  branchlets 
terete,  grayish,  more  or  less  lenti'cellate,  at  first  densely  ferruginous-pubescent. 

Leaves  7  to  9-foliolate,  the  rachis  terete,  slender,  ferruginous-hirtous,  4  to 
5  cm.  long.  Leaflets  submembranous,  the  petiolules  ferruginous-pubescent, 
about  1.5  mm.  long,  the  blades  ovate,  rounded  at  the  base,  rounded  and 
slightly  emarginate  at  the  apex,  1  to  2  cm.  long,  0.6  to  1.3  cm.  broad,  sparsely 
pilosulous  and  minutely  reticulate  above,  beneath  densely  ferruginous-pubes- 
cent, the  costa  prominent  and  the  veins  impressed;  margins  re  volute. 

Inflorescences  paniculate,  many-flowered,  axillary,  terminal  or  more  or  less 
fasciculate  on  defoliated  nodes,  the  rachis  branched,  ferruginous-hair}^ 
Bracts  and  bractlets  suborbiculate,  pubescent,  1  mm.  long  or  less,  caducous. 
Flowers  pedicellate,  white,  about  7  mm.  long,  the  pedicels  1  to  1.5  mm.  long. 
Calyx  subtubular,  bilabiate,  2.5  to  3  mm.  long,  sparsely  pubescent,  the  2 
vexillar  lobes  broad,  rounded  and  adnate,  the  2  lateral  lobes  small  andacute, 
the  carinal  lobe  narrow,  acute,  twice  as  long  as  the  others.  Petals  pink 
(?),  glabroas;  standard  oblong,  hardly  auriculate  at  the  base,  emarginate, 
the  lobes  rounded  at  the  apex,  the  claw  1.2  mm.  long,  the  blade  5.5  mm.  long, 
3.3  mm.  broad;  wings  oblique,  obovate,  auriculate  on  the  vexillar  margin 
at  the  base,  obtuse  at  the  apex,  the  claw  about  1.5  mm.  long,  the  blade  4.5  to 
5  mm.  long,  about  2  mm.  broad;  carinal  petal  subfalcate,  auriculate  on  the 
vexillar  side,  subacute,  the  claw  as  in  the  wings,  the  blade  3.2  mm.  long, 
1.5  mm.  broad.  Stamens  10,  monadelphous,  alternately  long  and  short, 
glabrous.  Pistil  about  5  mm.  long,  glabrous,  the  ovary  stipitate,  1  or  2-o\'u- 
late,  the  style  slightly  arcuate,  truncate  at  the  apex. 

Legume  ovate-oblong,  membranous,  attenuate  at  the  base  in  a  short, 
slender  stipe,  rounded  at  the  apex,  1-seeded,  4.5  to  6  cm.  long,  1.5  to  1.7  cm. 
broad,  glabrous.     Seeds  immature. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  571750,  collected  at  Yaxcaba, 
Yucatan,  Mexico,  1895,  by  G.  F.  Gaumer  (no.  721). 

According  to  a  communication  of  Dr.  Millspaugh,  the  fruits  just  de- 
scribed, which  bear  the  no.  57934,  were  collected  at  a  different  place  by  Dr. 
Gaumer  but  referred  to  the  above  species,  under  no.  721. 

The  Maya  name  of  these  pods  is  "Kuxub-tooch,"  that  of  the  type  speci- 
mens "cibix." 

8.  Dalbergia  mexicana  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Branchlets  terete,  finely  striate,  ferruginous-puberulous,  glabrate. 

Leaves  9  to  11-foliolate,  the  rachis  terete,  slender,  sparsely  ferruginous- 
pubescent,  5  to  7  cm.  long.  Leaflets  subcoriaceous,  the  petiolules  ferryginous- 
hairy,  about  2  mm.  long,  the  blades  ovate,  or  sometimes  suborbicular  or 
obcordate,  rounded  at  the  base,  rounded-emarginate  at  the  apex,  1  to  4  cm. 
long,  1  to  2  cm.  broad,  dark  green,  lustrous,  reticulate,  glabrous  or  sparsely 
ferruginous,  reticulate  and  sparsely  pubescent  beneath,  the  costa  subimpressed 
on  both  faces,  the  veins  prominulous  above,  obsolete  beneath. 

Inflorescences  axillary,  ven.'  short  (not  over  2  cm.  long),  few-branched, 
the  ramifications  subcymose,  the  rachis  ferruginous-hair^^  Bractlets  ovate, 
acute,  hairy,  not  over  0.5  mm.  long.     Flowers  pedicellate,  about  5  mm.  long, 


60         JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  3 

the  pedicels  hairy,  1  mm.  long  or  less.  Calyx  cupulate,  2  to  3  mm.  long, 
sparsely  hairy  at  the  base,  more  so  on  the  lobules ;  vexillar  lobules  subacute 
and  broad,  lateral  lobules  small,  acute,  close  to  the  carinal  one  and  separated 
from  the  former  by  deep  sinuses;  carinal  lobule  subulate,  twice  as  long  as  the 
vexillar  ones.  Petals  glabrous;  standard  obovate,  subbiauriculate  at  the 
base,  slightly  emarginate  at  the  apex,  the  claw  1.2  mm.  long,  the  blade  4.2 
to  4.6  mm.  long,  3  to  3.3  mm.  broad;  wings  obovate,  rounded-auriculate 
on  the  vexillar  side,  subauriculate  on  the  carinal  side,  rounded  at  the  apex, 
the  claw  1.2  or  1.3  mm.  long,  the  blade  about  4  mm.  long,  1.7  or  1.8  mm.  broad; 
carinal  petals  obovate,  auriculate  on  the  vexillar  side,  rounded  at  the  apex, 
the  claw  1.3  to  1.5  mm.  long,  the  blade  about  3  mm.  long,  1.5  mm.  broad. 
Stamens  10,  monodelphous,  the  tube  open  above,  glabrous.  Pistil  4.8  mm. 
long,  the  ovary  minutely  pubescent  on  the  margins,  2  to  3-ovulate,  the  style 
arcuate,  glabrous,  the  stigma  inconspicuous. 

Type  in  the  John  Donnell  Smith  Herbarium,  collected  in  Mexico,  without 
definite  locality,  by  E.  Kerber  (no.  434). 

9.  Dalbergia  campecheana  Benth.  Journ.  Linn.  Soc.  4:  Suppl.  37.  1860. 
Type  I^ocality:     Campeche,  Mexico. 

vSpecimens  Examined  : 

Guatemala:     Aquascalientes,  1909,  Deam  6125. 

Mr.  J.  Donnell  Smith  identified  these  specimens  with  Bentham's  above 
named  species.  This,  however,  seems  to  have  larger  leaves,  with  7  to  19 
almost  sessile  leaflets,  while  in  Beam's  specimens  these  are  9  to  11  and  petiolu- 
late.     The  other  characters  seem  to  agree. 

10.  Dalbergia  brownei  (Jacq.)  Urban,  Symb.  Antill.  4:  295.  1905. 
Amerimnon  brownei  Jacq.  Enum.  PI.  Carib.  27.  1760. 

Dalbergia  amerimnum  Benth.  Journ.  Linn.  Soc.  4:    Suppl.  36.  1860. 

Type  Locality  :     Jamaica. 
Specimens  Examined: 

Venezuela:     Puerto  Cabello,  1874,  Kuntze  1721. 

Columbia:  Negiiangue,  on  the  coast  between  Santa  Marta  and  Rio 
Hacha,  1898,  H.  H.  Smith  1750.  Dagua  Valley,  Cauca,  altitude  25  meters, 
Triana  1130. 

Panama:  Providence  Island,  Bocas  del  Toro,  1885,  Hart  182.  Beach 
between  Fato  and  Playa  Damas,  1911,  Pittier  3834.  Rio  Grande  swamps, 
near  Panama  City,  Hayes.  La  Palma,  southern  Darien,  1914,  Pittier  6613. 
Coiba  Island,  Seemann  626. 

Costa  Rica:  Ceibo  River  near  Buenos  Aires,  altitude  200  meters,  1892, 
Tonduz  6675.     Santo  Domingo  de  Osa,  1896,  Tonduz  9892. 

Nicaragua:     San  Juan  del  Norte,  1895,  Pittier  9658. 

Guatemala:  Boca  del  Polochic,  Department  Izabal,  1889,  /.  D.  Smith 
1708.     Livingston,  1906,  von  Tuerckeim  II.  1216. 

Mexico:  Veracruz,  1910,  Adole  (?).  Tampico,  1898,  Pringle  5764, 
6809.     Rincon  Antonio,  Oaxaca,  1910,  Orcutt  3263. 

Several  species  may  be  included  under  this  name.     According  to  Bentham, 

it  is  a  tree;  Tonduz  describes  it  as  a  shrub  (arbrisseau) ;   while  H.  H.  Smith 

says  it  is  a  "twining  plant,  reaching  30  feet,  with  a  prickly  main  stem  and  2 

inches  or  more  in  diameter."     In  my  own  notes,  no.  3834  is  described  as  "a 

shrubby  vine,  with  white  flowers,"  and  no.  6613,  as  a  small  tree  branching  from 


FEB.  4,  1922  pittier:  dalbergias  of  mexico  61 

the  base."  The  only  fruits  at  hand  differ  a  Httle  from  Bentham's  description, 
and  in  Donnell  Smith  no.  1708,  from  Guatemala,  I  find  the  petals  narrower, 
the  standard  auriculate,  the  ovary  5-ovulate  and  other  small  differences. 
Although  distinctly  characteristic  of  the  strand  formation,  Dalbergia 
hrownei  is  sometimes  found  far  above  sea-level.  H.  H.  Smith  observed  it, 
for  instance,  up  to  about  700  meters  in  Santa  Marta. 

11.  Dalbergia  ecastophyllum  (Iv.)  Taub.  in  Engl.  &  Prantl,  Pflanzenfam.  3^: 
335,  1894. 

Hedysarum  ecastophyllum  L.  Syst.  ed.  10,  2:  1169.  1759. 

Ecastaphyllum  brownei  Pers.  Syn.  2:  277.  1807. 
Type  Locality:     West  Indies. 
Specimens  Ex.\mined: 

Trinidad:     Port  of  Spain,  1874,  Kuntze  764. 

Venezuela:  Paparo,  mouth  of  Rio  Grande  del  Tuy,  Barlovento,  Miran- 
da, 1913,  Pittier  6349. 

COLOMBL^:     Santa  Marta,  1914,  Sinclair. 

Panama:  Chagres,  1854,  Fendler  315.  Colon,  Hayes  155.  Without 
definite  locaHty,  1874,  Kuntze  764. 

Costa  Rica:     Boca  Banano,  1895,   Tondiiz  9156.      Diquis  River,  1891, 
Tondiiz  4014.      Punta  Mala,  in  the  Diquis  delta,  1892,  Tonduz  6775. 
Santo  Domingo  de  Osa,  1896,  Tonduz  9892. 

Guatemala:     Puerto  Barrios,  1905,  Deam  59. 

Honduras:  Puerto  Sierra,  1903,  Wilson  248.  Ruatan  Island,  1886, 
Gaumer. 

British  Honduras:     Manatee  Lagoon,  1906,  Peck  463. 

Dalbergia  ecastophyllum  has  also  been  reported  from  many  localities  from 
Rio  de  Janeiro  northwards  and  including  the  Guianas  on  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board of  South  America,  from  all  over  the  West  Indies,  and  from  Florida. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  this  shrub  does  not  seem  to  have  been  recorded  from 

Mexico. 

12.  Dalbergia  monetaria  L.  f.  Suppl.  317.     1781. 
Type  Locality:    Surinam. 

Specimens  Examined: 

French  Guiana:     Karouany,  Sagot  159. 

Venezuela:     Bosque  de  Catuche,  above  Caracas,  1913,  Pittier  6297. 

Panama:  Rio  Sirri,  Trinidad  Basin,  province  of  Colon,  near  sea-level, 
1911,  Pittier  4029. 

Honduras:  Tela  River,  near  Puerto  Sierra,  1903,  Wilson  77.  Laguna 
Quemada,  Atlantic  Coast,  1903,  Wilson  627. 

Guatemala:     Puerto  Barros,  1905,  Deam  70. 

This  species  is  scarcer  in  Central  America  than  either  D.  brownei  or  D. 
ecastophyllum.  It  does  not  figure  in  the  Biologia  Centrali- Americana,  and, 
since  the  publication  of  this  work,  has  been  reported  only  from  a  few  localities 
as  shown  above,  all  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  from  Guatemala  southeast- 
wards.  It  is  found  also  in  the  West  Indies  and  on  the  eastern  watershed  of 
South  America  as  far  south  as  the  Amazon  basin.  It  penetrates  far  into  the 
interior  along  the  main  rivers,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Caracas  reaches  an  altitude 
of  about  1200  meters. 


62         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  3 

Unless  it  has  been  incorrectly  stated,  the  habit  of  this  species  is  very  varia- 
ble. Some  report  it  as  a  shrub  or  small  tree  up  to  3  meters  high;  Bentham^ 
says  "caulis  lignosus  vulgo  scandens;"  and  the  notes  corresponding  to  my  no. 
6297  from  near  Caracas  are  as  follows:  "a  large  vine,  often  15  cm.  in  diam.  at 
the  base  and  climbing  to  the  top  of  the  highest  trees."  The  shape  of  the 
fruit  is  also  different  inspecimens  from  different  localities,  although  I  have 
never  seen  the  oblong  type  reproduced  in  plate  63  of  the  work  just  cited. 
With  reference  to  this  plate  it  may  be  opportune  to  mention  that  although 
Bentham  indicates  only  9  stamens,  as  always  found  by  myself,  he  gives  two 
illustrations  of  the  androecium  of  D.  monetaria,  each  with  10  stamens. 

13.  Dalbergia  calycina  Benth.  Journ.  Linn.  Soc.  4:  Suppl.  35.     1860. 
Type  Locality:     Guatemala  (Friedrichsthal) . 

14.  Dalbergia  hypoleuca  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Tree;    young  branchlets  ferruginous-pubescent. 

Leaves  7  to  11-foliolate,  the  rachis  terete,  pubescent,  glabrescent,  10  to 
20  cm.  long.  Leaflets  coriaceous,  often  opposite  or  subopposite,  the  petiol- 
ules  canaliculate,  grayish-pubescent,  5  to  7  mm.  long,  the  blades  ovate  or 
ovate-oblong,  rounded  at  the  base,  obtuse  and  subretuse  at  the  apex,  3  to 
7  cm.  long,  2  to  3  cm.  broad,  glabrous  and  finally  reticulate  with  the  venation 
prominulous  above,  beneath  grayish  or  whitish,  minutely  pubescent,  with 
the  costa  very  prominent  and  the  veins  slightly  so ;  margins  strongly  revolute. 

Inflorescence  axillary  or  terminal.     Flowers  not  known. 

Legume  coriaceous,  glabrous,  long-stipitate,  rounded-attenuate  at  the  base, 
rounded  and  mucronulate  at  the  apex,  1 -seeded  and  then  8  cm.  long  and  2  cm. 
broad,  or  2  to  5-seeded  and  up  to  about  16  cm.  long,  the  breadth  varying 
between  1.7  and  1  cm. 

Type  in  the  John  Donnell  Smith  Herbarium,  collected  at  El  Escobal, 
near  Atenas,  Costa  Rica,  by  Federico  Golcher.  Represented  also  in  the  U.  S. 
National  Herbarium  (no.  716263)  by  the  same  collection,  without  date,  and 
numbered  1747,  which  probably  corresponds  to  the  series  of  the  Instituto 
fisico-geografico. 

This  is  the  Costa  Rican  Cocobola,  equal  in  value  to  that  of  Panama,  but  even 
scarcer.  It  is  probably  a  close  relative  of  the  latter,  but  the  leaflets  are  less 
numerous,  and  the  pods  much  narrower. 

15.  Dalbergia  granadillo  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Tree.  Leaves  7  to  13-foHolate,  the  rachis  terete,  at  first  pubescent,  9  to 
17.5  cm.  long.  Leaflets  submembranous,  often  subopposite,  the  petiolules 
sparsely  pubescent  or  glabrescent,  canaliculate,  4  to  5  mm.  long,  the  blades 
suborbiculate  or  ovate,  broadly  rounded  at  the  base,  obtuse  or  subacumi- 
nate  at  the  apex,  3  to  5.5  cm.  long,  2  to  4  cm.  broad,  glabrous  and  reticulate 
with  the  venation  prominulous  above,  glabrous  except  on  the  prominent, 
sparsely  pubescent  costa,  and  the  veins  prominulous,  beneath,  margins 
not  revolute. 

Inflorescence  paniculate,  axillary  or  terminal,  the  rachis  few-branched, 
ferruginous-pubescent.  Flowers  few.  Calyx  cupulate,  ferruginous-pubes- 
cent, persistent.     Other  floral  details  not  known. 

3  In  Mart.  Fl.  Bras.  15':  229.     1862. 


FEB.  4,  1922  pittier:  dalbergias  oe  mexico  63 

Legume  lanceolate,  long-stipitate,  attenuate  at  the  base,  acute  at  the  apex, 
glabrous,  lustrous,  1-seeded  and  about  9  cm.  long  and  1.8  or  2  cm.  broad,  or 
2  to  4-seeded  and  then  up  to  17.5  cm.  long.  Seeds  oblong-reniform,  not 
mature. 

Type  in  the  Gray  Herbarium,  collected  at  El  Tibor,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Balsas  River  (between  the  States  of  Guerrero  and  Michoacan),  Mexico,  Au- 
gust 22,  1898,  by  E.  Langlasse  (no.  294). 

Like  D.  retusa  and  D.  hypoleuca,  this  species  furnishes  a  precious  wood, 
which  is  hard,  fine,  and  red- veined,  and  is  known  locally  as  granadillo. 

The  specimens  at  hand  are  hardly  satisfactory  for  a  description,  but  they 
belong  to  a  section  heretofore  not  known  to  be  represented  in  Mexico,  and 
differ  from  the  other  Middle  American  species  of  the  group  in  the  shape, 
consistence  and  indument  of  the  leaflets,  and  in  the  shape  and  appearance 
of  the  pods.  It  is  consequently  pretty  safe  to  consider  them  as  correspond- 
ing to  a  type  specifically  distinct. 

16.  Dalbergia  retusa  Hemsl.  Diagn.  PI.  Nov.  1:  8.     1878. 
Type  Locality  :     Paraiso,  Panama  {Hayes  642) . 
Specimens  Examined  : 

Panama:  Penonome,  Code,  1908,  Williams  425.  Chagres  River  above 
Alhajuela,  1911,  Pittier  3511.  Vicinity  of  La  Palma,  southern  Darien,  1914, 
Pittier  6606. 

Costa  Rica  :  Salinas  Bay,  between  the  littoral  plain  and  La  Cruz  de  Guan- 
acaste,  1908,  PiUier  2737. 

This  is  the  Panama  "cocobola,"  a  hard  wood  very  well  known  commercially 
and  obtained  probably  from  several  species  of  the  same  genus.  I  have  seen 
no  specimens  from  the  type  collection,  but  ours  agree  generally  with  the 
description.  The  leaflets,  however,  are  more  numerous  and  not  usually 
retuse  and  the  flowers  seem  to  be  smaller. 

In  Panama  this  tree  has  been  exploited  with  such  diligence  as  to  have  be- 
come very  scarce  in  the  central  and  western  districts.  In  1914  the  more  im- 
portant logging  camps  were  at  Sumacate  and  Rio  Congo  in  Darien. 

17.  Dalbergia  lineata  Pittier,  sp.  nov. 

Large  deciduous  tree  with  rounded  crown;  young  branchlets  minutely 
fuliginous-pubescent. 

Leaves  8  to  15-foliolate,  the  rachis  8  to  20  cm.  long,  more  or  less  fuliginous- 
pubescent.  Leaflets  petiolulate,  at  first  membranous,  often  opposite  or 
subopposite,  the  petiolules  grayish -hairy,  about  7  mm.  long,  the  blades 
ovate  or  oblong,  cuneate  or  attenuate  at  the  base,  obtuse  at  the  apex,  4  to 
8  cm.  long,  2  to  3.5  cm.  broad,  glabrous  above,  with  the  costa  and  veins 
prominent,  densely  grayish-pubescent  beneath.  Stipules  ovate,  acute, 
fuliginous-pubescent  without,  up  to  7  mm.  long  and  3  mm.  broad,  very  cadu- 
cous. 

Inflorescences  paniculate,  axillary  or  terminal,  few-flowered,  the  rachis 
fuliginous-pubescent,  4  to  15  cm.  long.  Bracts  and  bractlets  fuliginous- 
hairy,  very  caducous,  the  latter  oblong,  obtuse,  not  over  1  mm.  long,  inserted 
in  pairs  close  to  the  calyx.  Flowers  about  16  mm.  long,  the  pedicels  densely 
fuliginous-hairy,  about  3  mm.  long.  Calyx  cupulate,  5  to  6  mm.  long,  densely 
pubescent,  the  vexillar  lobes  broader,  equal  in  length  to  the  lateral  ones,  the 


64         JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  3 

carinal  lobe  linear-apiculate  and  longer.  Petals  white,  delicately  purple- 
lined,  glabrous;  standard  strongly  reflexed,  ovate,  attenuate  at  the  base, 
emarginate  at  the  apex,  the  claw  3  mm.  long,  the  blade  10  mm.  long,  8.5  mm. 
broad;  wings  obovate,  oblique,  auriculate  on  the  vexillar  side,  the  claw  3.5 
mm.  long,  the  blade  11.5  mm.  long,  4.5  mm.  broad;  carinal  petals  falcate, 
auriculate  on  the  vexillar  side,  obtuse  at  the  apex,  the  claw  as  in  the  wings, 
the  blade  about  10  mm.  long,  4  mm.  broad.  Stamens  10,  monadelphous, 
alternately  long  and  short.  Pistil  about  13  mm.  long,  glabrous,  the  ovary 
long-stipitate,  linear,  4  to  6-ovulate;  style  strongly  arcuate;  stigma  capitel- 
late,  inconspicuous. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  577918,  collected  at  Nicoya, 
Costa  Rica,  April,  1900,  by  A.  Tonduz  (no.  13969). 

A  specimen  (Inst,  fis.-geogr.  n.  13887),  obtained  by  the  same  collector  from 
the  forest  of  Nicoya,  is  probably  the  same  species.  However,  the  specimens 
are  leafless  and  floral  panicles  larger  and  many -flowered.  Mr.  Tonduz  says 
that  the  tree  they  proceed  from  is  a  preponderant  one  in  the  forests  of  the 
peninsula,  being  gregarious  and  giving  a  characteristic  bluish-gray  color  to 
the  forests  in  April,  the  flowering  time. 

The  affinities  of  this  species  are  evidently  with  Dalhergia  retusa  Hemsley. 

EIvKCTRIClTY. — Electromotive  force  of  cells  at  low  temperatures.^ 
G.  W.  ViNAL  AND  F.  W.  Altrup,  Bureau  of  Standards. 

The  practical  importance  of  a  knowledge  of  the  electromotive  be- 
havior of  dry  cells  and  storage  batteries  at  low  temperatures  has  arisen 
from  their  use  in  the  Arctic  and  at  high  altitudes.  In  June,  1921  the 
Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  of  the  Carnegie  Institution,  of 
Washington,  through  Dr.  S.  J.  Mauchly,  requested  the  Bureau  of 
Standards  to  furnish  information  in  answer  to  the  following  questions : 
(a)  What  is  the  open  circuit  voltage  of  dry  cells  at  approximately  0° 
Fahrenheit  and  below?  (b)  Are  dry  cells  fit  for  use  after  they  have 
been  frozen  and  thawed  out  again?  Since  there  was  no  reliable  in- 
formation available  on  this  subject,  experimental  work  was  under- 
taken which  included  observations  on  storage  batteries  also.  In 
the  first  experiment  the  temperature  range  was  extended  to  —  72°  C. 
and  as  the  open  circuit  voltage  of  the  cells  was  not  materially  changed 
by  cooling  them  to  this  temperature,  the  work  was  extended  to 
— 170°  C.  because  of  the  theoretical  interest  in  the  application  of  the 
Gibbs-Helmholtz  and  Nernst  equations  to  these  cells. 

Two  methods  of  cooling  the  cells  were  employed.  For  the  range 
+25°  to  —72°  C,  the  cells  were  submerged  in  a  gasoline  bath  to  which 
small  amounts  of  carbon  dioxide  snow  were  added  gradually  until  the 

^  Published  by  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards.  Received  Jan- 
uary 6,  1922. 


FEB.  4,   1922     VINAL  AND  ALTRUP:    CELLS  AT  LOW  TEMPERATURES  65 

lowest  temperature  attainable  by  this  means  was  reached,  when  an 
excess  of  the  snow  was  packed  around  the  cells.  For  the  range 
+ 20  °  C .  to  —  1 70  °  C .  liquid  air  was  used  for  cooling .  The  dry  cells  were 
placed  in  a  double  walled  glass  jacket  similar  to  a  Dewar  vessel, 
but  having  air  at  atmospheric  pressure  between  the  walls.  This  was 
submerged  in  liquid  air  contained  in  a  larger  Dewar  flask.  The  stor- 
age cell,  contained  in  a  glass  test  tube,  was  similarly  arranged  with  the 
addition  of  a  ground-cork  packing  to  protect  it  from  breakage.  By 
this  means  the  cooling  was  gradual,  about  2  hours  being  required  for 
the  cells  to  fall  from  room  temperature  to  the  lowest  temperature 
available. 

The  temperature  was  measured  by  a  thermocouple  of  standardized 
constantan  and  copper  wire.  Since  it  was  not  practicable  to  insert 
the  thermocouple  in  the  dry  cells  of  which  the  e.m.f.  was  measured, 
the  thermocouple  was  placed  at  the  center  of  a  similar  dry  cell  which 
was  grouped  symmetrically  with  the  other  cells.  The  temperature 
of  the  storage  cell  was  measured  by  placing  the  thermocouple,  protected 
by  a  thin-walled  glass  tube,  in  the  electrolyte  between  the  positive  and 
negative  plates  of  the  cell.  The  electromotive  forces  of  the  thermocou- 
ples were  read  on  a  high  resistance  potentiometer. 

The  dry  cells  measured  were  "^ I ^  inch  diameter  X  ^2}  1%  inch  high, 
taken  from  flashlight  batteries  of  a  well  known  make.  A  few  experi- 
ments on  silver  chloride  dry  cells  were  made  also.  The  storage  cells 
were  made  by  cutting  strips  of  suitable  size  from  the  pasted  plates  of 
an  automobile  starting  and  lighting  battery.  These  were  placed  in 
test  tubes  about  1  inch  in  diameter  with  perforated  hard  rubber  sep- 
arators and  a  few  glass  beads.  The  electrolyte  was  adjusted  to  a  spe- 
cific gravity  of  1.275  to  1.280  at  the  end  of  5  days  of  continuous  charg- 
ing at  0.4  ampere. 

The  voltage  of  the  cells  during  test  was  measured  by  3  different 
methods  but  the  open-circuit  measurements  at  the  lowest  tempera- 
tures could  be  made  only  by  an  electrometer.  This  instrument  was 
loaned  to  us  by  the  Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism.  The  open 
circuit  voltages  were  also  measured  on  a  20,000-ohm  potentiometer 
which  afforded  a  very  sensitive  method  before  the  cells  were  frozen 
although  after  this  it  was  nearly  useless.  A  voltmeter  having  a  scale 
of  2.5  volts  and  a  resistance  of  25,000  ohms  was  used  for  some  of  the 
measurements. 

The  results  of  experiments  with  dry  cells  of  the  ordinary  type  are 
shown  in  Table  1  and  Fig.  1.     Curves  A  and  B  represent  the  open- 


66         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOI^.  12,  NO.  3 


circuit  voltages  as  measured  for  two  different  cells  by  the  electrom- 
eter and  the  potentiometer.  Curves  C,  D,  E  and  F  represent  the 
terminal  voltage  when  the  cells  were  discharging  through  25,000, 
100,  25  and  4  ohms,  respectively.  The  curves  indicate  the  existence  of 
a  critical  point  at  about  —21°  C. 

The  open-circuit  voltage  curves  indicate  that  changes  in  the  temper- 
ature coefficient  occur  at  certain  temperatures.  Between  +26°  and 
0°  C.  the  coefficient  was  found  to  be  constant  and  somewhat  less  than 
a  millivolt  per  degree.  The  coefficient  is  positive,  that  is,  increase 
in  temperature  is  accompanied  by  increase  in  voltage.     Between  0° 


TerTjocrK/Zar-G.  c/efir^as  Ce/^;^5<^-oofe> 


Fig.  1.     Effect  of  temperature  on  the  voltage  of  dry  cells. 

and  -20°  C.  the  coefficient  is  still  positive,  but  larger.  At  -20.4°  C. 
a  break  occurs.  The  temperature  coefficient  becomes  much  larger 
during  the  next  few  degrees  and  then  changes  to  negative  at  about 
—  24°.  At  —54°  the  coefficient  again  becomes  positive.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  at  —  54°  C.  the  voltage  is  higher  than  at  ordinary 
temperatures. 

Curves  C,  D,  E  and  F  show  that  the  ordinary  dry  cell  can  deliver 
current  down  to  about  —20°  C,  below  which  the  voltage  falls  off 
rapidly  to  zero. 


FEB.  4,  1922      VINAL  AND  ALTRUP:    CELLS  AT  LOW  TEMPERATURES 


67 


Silver  chloride  dry  cells  were  measured  in  a  similar  manner,  and  the 
open  circuit  voltages  are  given  in  Table  1.  When  the  voltage  was 
measured  by  the  25,000-ohm  voltmeter,  however,  the  terminal  voltage 
began  to  fall  rapidly  fromO°  C.  downward.  At  —10°  it  was  0.9  volt, 
and  from  this  point  it  decreased  nearly  linearly  to  0.05  volt  at  —50°. 

Experiments  were  also  made  to  determine  the  voltage  of  storage 
cells  within  the  range  +25°  to  —72°  C,  using  the  electrometer,  the 
potentiometer  and  the  voltmeter  to  measure  the  voltage.  As  freezing 
did  not  occur  within  this  range,  the  potentiometer  gave  the  most  ac- 
curate results  and  these  are  given  in  Table  1,  but  the  results  of   all 

TABLE    1. 
Open  Circuit  Voltages  of  Cells  for  Values  Below  —70°  C.  See  Fig.  2 


Temperature 

Ordinary*    dry 
cell 

Storage*  cell 

Silver**   chloride 
cell 

°c. 

Volts 

Volts 

Volts 

20 

1.540 

2.116 

1.06 

10 

1.537 

2.113 

1.05 

0 

1.533 

2.111 

1.04 

-10 

1.523 

2.107 

1.03 

-20 

1.512 

2.103 

1.02 

-30 

1.508 

2.100 

1.01 

-40 

1.530 

2.096 

1.00 

-50 

1.540 

2.092 

0.99 

-60 

1.540 

2.087 

0.98 

-70 

1.526 

2.081 

0.97 

*    Based  on  potentiometer  readings. 

**  Interpolated  values  based  on  electrometer  readings. 

methods  were  in  good  agreement.  The  temperature  coefficient  was 
small  and  constant.  This  fact  permitted  an  accurate  estimate  of 
the  temperature  coefficient  to  be  made  since  the  cell  had  sufficient 
time  for  thermal  equilibrium  to  be  established  at  the  beginning  and 
end  of  this  range.  The  temperature  coefficient  was  found  to  be 
0.000398  volt  per  degree  C. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  result  with  the  value  computed  from 
the  available  thermochemical  data  and  the  Gibbs-Helmholtz  equation. 
This  equation  is  usually  written 

2=^-T«^  (1) 

where  Q  is  the  heat  of  the  reaction;  W  the  available  work  and  T  the 
absolute  temperature.  This  equation  is  applicable  to  a  reversible 
cell  in  which  the  passage  of  current  does  not  involve  any  appreciable 


68        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  3 

change  in  volume.  If  E  denotes  the  open  circuit  voltage  of  the  cell 
W  equals  96500  E  volt-coulombs-  for  1  equivalent.  Q  expressed  in 
calories  may  be  converted  to  voltcoulombs  by  multiplying  by  4.183 
and  the  equation  becomes: 

dE       1 

—  =  -  (E- 0.000021674  Q).  (2) 

Both  E  and  Q  are  dependent  on  the  concentration  of  the  electrolyte 
which  for  this  experiment  was  of  1.280  sp.  gr.  The  value  of  E  cor- 
responding to  the  initial  value  T  was  observed  directly.  The  value 
for  Q  may  be  calculated  from  published  thermochemical  data. 

The  commonly  accepted  reaction  of  the  lead  accumulator  during 
discharge  may  be  described  by  the  following  equation: 

Positive  plate,     Pb02+H2S04 

+W.H2O  -^  2PbS04+(n+2)H20 
Negative  plate,  Pb+H2S04      J 

where  n  is  the  number  of  molecules  of  water  to  2  molecules  of  sulphuric 
acid  in  the  original  solution.  The  corresponding  thermochemical 
equation  is 

PbOo  +  Pb  +  2H2SO4  +  W.H2O  =  2PbS04  +  (w  +  2)H20  +  Q„ 
where  Q„,  the  heat  of  the  reaction,  depends  on  the  dilution  of  the 
acid,  which  is  fixed  by  n.  Since  the  chemical  reaction  must  take 
H2SO4  from  the  dilute  electrolyte,  the  energy  represented  by  Q„  for 
other  strengths  of  acid  will  be  less  in  amount  by  the  quantity  of  heat 
evolved  by  dilution  of  the  acid,  or  Q„  will  be  greater  if  the  concen- 
tration is  greater. 

Values  for  Q  have  been  determined  by  Streinz^  and  Tscheltzow^  to 
be  87000  and  88600  calories,  respectively.  The  mean  of  their  determi- 
nations is  87800  calories.  Dolezalek^  states  that  these  values  apply 
to  dilute  sulphuric  acid  (1  molecule  of  H2SO4  to  about  400  molecules 
of  H2O)  and  hence  a  correction  for  the  heat  of  dilution  is  necessary. 
The  heat  of  dilution^  of  the  acid  solution  from  a  specific  gravity  of 
1.280  as  used  in  our  experiment  to  the  concentration  equivalent  to 
1  molecule  of  acid  to  399  mols.of  water  is  2210  calories  per  gram  mole- 
cule.    Two  gram  molecules  are  involved  and  hence  the  value    for 

2  The  value  96500  coulombs  is  based  on  recent  determinations  with  the  silver  and  iodine 
voltameters  by  Vinal  and  Bates  at  the  Bureau  of  Standards  Sci.  Paper  No.  218. 
3Wied.  Ann.  53:  698.     1894. 

*  Comptes  Rendus  100:  1458.     1885. 

*  Theory  of  the  Lead  Accumulator,  p.  29. 

'  Thomsen's  data,  Landolt  and  Bornstein  tables,  ed.  4,  p.  885. 


FEB.  4,  1922      VINAL  AND  ALTRUP :    CELLS  AT  LOW  TEMPERATURES 


69 


the  heat  of  the  reaction  for  an  electrolyte  of  1.280  specific  gravity  is 
87800  4-  4420  =  92220  calories. 

The  value  for  K  at  25°  C.  and  electrolyte  of  specific  gravity  1.280 
was  2.120  volts.  The  temperature,  25°  C,  corresponds  to  298°  abso- 
lute. Substituting  these  values  for  T,  E  and  Q  in  equation  (2)  the 
value  for  the  temperature  coefficient  dE/dT  is  found  to  be  0.0004.07 
The  results  of  the  experiment  showed  a  decrease  in  the  open  circuit 
voltage  of  0.0386  volt  when  the  temperature  was  decreased  97°  from 
which  dE/dT  =  0.000398. 


Open   O/rcuj/  \/b//t^tBS    of/^^^  Cg// 
onc/S/or^c^e  Ce/J  a/JLow  '^rBjO'sr-cf/iir^s  _ 

an  G/ec^oin€;Mn 

Ce//s  /n  cr  cfoiziJc  CLKi/h</a/rjcic/r&/. 


'  J.ZVS  ^ 


ce//  J.ZVS 


Oc/yv,  J3itf 


_J I I L 


-J I I L_ 


TeTT^cer^c/ijr'e^,  c^ar&e^  O 


Fig.  2.     Open  circuit  voltages  of  dry  cell  and  storage  cell  of  low  temperatures. 

The  agreement  of  this  observed  value  with  that  calculated  from 
thermochemical  data  is  better  than  would  be  expected  and  gives  a 
striking  proof  of  the  validity  of  the  Gibbs-Helmholtz  equation  over 
a  wide  range  of  temperature. 

A  second  series  of  measurements  extending  the  temperature  range 
down  to  —170°  C.  was  then  made.  Only  the  electrometer  readings 
are  of  value  at  this  low  temperature.  The  results  on  a  dry  cell  and  a 
storage  cell  are  shown  graphically  in  Fig.  2.  These  are  the  open 
circuit  voltages  measured  electrostatically.     The  storage  cell  showed 


70        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  3 

marked  under-cooling  of  the  electrolyte  before  freezing  began.  The 
dry  cell  showed  a  considerable  increase  in  voltage  at  — 112°  C.  over  the 
normal  value.  The  most  remarkable  facts  are  the  reversal  of  voltages 
and  the  extraordinarily  large  values  of  voltage  exhibited  by  the  stor- 
age cell,  exceeding  ten  volts  at  the  lowest  temperatures.  The  cur- 
rent was  of  course  vanishingly  small. 

Nernst's  equation  applied  to  the  storage  battery  in  accordance  with 
Liebenow's  theory^  is  as  follows: 

^     RT  ^  ex. 

E  = In 


[Pb++][PbO— ] 


where  Cp  and  C^  are  the  solution  tensions  of  the  positive  and  nega- 
tive active  material  and  the  bracketed  values  represent  the  corre- 
sponding ionic  concentrations.  It  is  evident  that  a  decrease  in  the 
ionic  concentrations  would  result  in  an  increase  in  the  value  of  E  if 
other  quantities  remained  the  same. 

The  freezing  of  the  electrolyte  reduces  the  mobility  of  the  ions 
practically  to  zero.  If,  then,  the  ions  which  are  in  immediate  contact 
with  the  surface  of  the  electrodes  are  discharged,  they  cannot  be  re- 
placed by  the  migration  of  other  ions  from  the  electrolyte  and  the  effect 
in  the  region  of  the  electrodes  is  essentially  a  decrease  in  the  ionic  con- 
centrations. The  equation  therefore  suggests  the  possibility  of  in- 
creased values  of  B  as  was  observed  after  the  freezing  occurred. 

No  ready  explanation  of  the  reversal  of  voltage  is  available  unless 
it  be  assumed  that  the  variation  of  solution  tension  of  each  electrode 
with  temperature  is  such  that  curves  representing  them  would  inter- 
sect at  the  temperature  at  which  reversal  occurs.  Pressure  may  have 
had  something  to  do  with  the  voltage  variations  since  the  electrom- 
eter showed  violent  fluctuations  whenever  the  frozen  electrolyte  of 
the  storage  cell  "ticketed."  Ice  below  the  freezing  temperature 
sometimes  makes  a  similar  ticking  sound. 

The  genuineness  of  the  reversed  voltage  was  shown  by  the  following 
observations :  The  dry  cell  after  showing  a  steady  reversed  voltage  of 
about  1.4  volts  was  removed  from  the  liquid  air  and  in  the  course  of 
a  few  minutes,  the  reversed  voltage  decreased  steadily,  passed  through 
zero,  and  increased  to  a  normal  positive  value.  Secondly,  the  po- 
tentiometer used  for  simultaneous  measurements  with  the  electrom- 
eter on  the  storage  cell  retained  enough  sensibility  to  show  that  the 

^  Zeitschr.  f.  Elektrochem.  3:  625.     1897. 


FEB.  4,  1922  abstracts:  geology  71 

potential  was  reversed  at  the  same  time  that  the  electrometer  showed 
a  reversed  reading. 

All  of  the  cells,  including  the  ordinary  type  of  dry  cell,  the  silver 
chloride  cells  and  the  storage  cells  appeared  to  be  entirely  normal  after 
being  thawed  out.  The  glass  test  tube  containing  the  storage  cell  was 
not  broken. 

The  experiments  in  the  range  25°  to  —72°  C.  answer  completely 
the  practical  questions  which  prompted  the  investigation.  The 
thermodynamic  theory  as  expressed  in  the  Gibbs-Helmholtz  equation 
is  accurately  confirmed  by  the  measurements  on  a  storage  cell.  At 
temperatures  down  to  —170°  C.  points  of  theoretical  interest  were 
found.  These  suggest  that  potential  differences  of  normal  value  at 
ordinary  temperatures  may  be  greatly  magnified  at  extremely  low 
temperatures  when  the  current  is  vanishingly  small.  High  atmos- 
pheric potentials  sometimes  observed  may  have  some  relation  to  this 
effect. 

We  wish  to  thank  Dr.  L.  A.  Bauer,  Director  of  the  Department  of 
Terrestrial  Magnetism,  for  his  courtesy  in  lending  us  the  electrometer 
and  Dr.  Mauchly  for  assistance  in  taking  some  of  the  observations, 
also  Dr.  E.  Buckingham  for  valuable  suggestions. 


ABSTRACTS 

GEOLOGY. — Deposits  of  manganese  ore  in  Montana,  Utah,  Oregon,  and 
Washington.  J.  T.  Pardee.  U.  S.  Geo!.  Surv.  Bull.  No.  725-C.  Pp. 
141-243,  pis.  4,   figs.  11.       1921. 

The  demand  for  manganese,  created  by  the  World  War,  caused  the  de- 
velopment of  many  deposits  in  the  States  mentioned.  Those  at  Phillipsburg 
and  Butte,  Montana,  which  became  the  most  productive  in  the  United 
States  are  parts  of  the  quartz  veins  that  carry  silver  and  zinc.  They  were 
formed  in  Tertiary  time  by  the  replacement  of  country  rock  by  manganiferous 
carbonates  and  silicates  that  emanated  from  intrusive  granitic  magmas. 
The  superficial  parts  of  the  deposits  have  been  oxidized  without  noteworthy 
changes  in  their  manganese  content. 

In  Utah  deposits  of  manganese  ore  related  to  metalliferous  veins  are  found 
in  several  of  the  mining  districts.  In  the  Little  Grande  district  flat  lying, 
lens-like  or  tabular  masses  of  manganese  oxides,  found  at  a  certain  horizon 
in  the  Mesozoic  McElmo  formation,  were  deposited  originally  as  carbonate 
associated  with  limestone,  gypsum  and  other  sediments.  In  the  later  Terti- 
ary they  were  uncovered  by  erosion,  oxidized  and  locally  concentrated  into 
workable  bodies. 

In  the  Lake  Creek  district,  Oregon,  manganese  oxides  fill  cracks,  pores,  or 
other  cavities  in  a  Tertiary  volcanic  tuff.  The  manganese  was  deposited  by 
descending  solutions,  but  its  origin  is  obscure.     Other  deposits  formed  by 


72         JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES       VOL.   12,  NO.  3 

replacement  of  country  rock  by  carbonate  or  silicate  minerals  occur  in  south- 
western and  northeastern  Oregon. 

In  Washington,  in  the  Olympic  Mountains  and  the  northern  part  of  the 
Puget  Sound  region,  are  uncommon  deposits  that  consist  chiefly  of  bementite 
a  silicate  of  manganese.  Associated  with  the  bementite  are  quartz,  rhodonite, 
manganocalcite  and  unidentified  oxides  of  manganese.  Hematite  forms 
separate  though  closely  related  bodies.  Locally  the  bementite  is  cut  by 
veinlets  of  neotocite,  a  kindred  silicate,  and  in  places  it  contains  specks  and 
flakes  of  native  copper.  The  deposits  are  thought  to  be  manganiferous 
marine  sediments,  greatly  altered  by  regional  metamorphism.        J.  T.  P. 

GEOLOGY. — Deposits  of  chromite  in  California,  Oregon,  Washington  and 
Montana.  J.  S.  Diller,  L.  G.  Westgate  and  J.  T.  Pardee,  U.  S. 
Geol.  Surv.  Bull.  No.  725-A.    Pp.  84  with  maps,  5  plates  and  23  figures. 

During  the  World  War  it  became  necessary  to  determine  as  closely  as 
possible  the  chromium  resources  of  the  country.  It  was  demonstrated  that 
the  United  States  had  reserve  deposits  adequate  to  supply  a  war  demand  for 
several  years.  Now  that  the  war  is  over  the  country  is  conserving  its  domes- 
tic supplies  by  employing  higher  grade  and  cheaper  ore  from  foreign  countries. 

The  first  paper  "Chromite  in  the  Klamath  Mountains,  California  and  Ore- 
gon" discusses  in  detail  the  occurrence  and  origin  of  chromite,  and  in  this  re- 
spect serves  as  an  introduction  to  all  the  papers  that  follow. 

In  the  Klamath  Mountains  chromite  deposits  have  three  distinct  struc- 
tures, even  granular,  nodular  and  banded.  The  nodular  is  concretionary  and 
the  banded  is  gneissoid.  The  even  granular  deposits  are  the  most  abundant 
and  widely  distributed  in  California,  Oregon  and  Washington.  The  nodular 
structure  occurs  in  California  and  Oregon  and  the  banded  structure  in  Cali- 
fornia and  Montana.  In  California  the  banded  structure  is  distinctly  as- 
sociated with  gneiss ;  and  in  Montana  it  occurs  in  a  remarkable  dike  of  peri- 
dotitic  rock.  ^  T.  S.  D. 

GEOLOGY. — Geology  of  the  vicinity  of  Tuxedni  Bay,  Cook  Inlet,  Alaska. 
Fred  H.  Moffit.  U.  S.  Geol.  Surv.  Bull.  722-D.  Pp.  7,  with  geologic 
map,  1921. 

The  paper  describes  the  marine  sedimentary  rocks  of  a  small  area  on  the 
west  side  of  Cook  Inlet  where  a  section  of  Middle  and  Upper  Jurassic  beds 
is  particularly  well  displayed.  These  beds  comprise  a  succession  of  sand- 
stones, arkoses,  shales,  and  conglomerates,  derived  in  large  part  from  a 
nearby  ancient  land  mass  where  granitic  rocks  were  abundant,  and  reach  a 
thickness  of  possibly  9000  feet.  The  beds  are  especially  fossiliferous  in  the 
lower  part  and  are  there  characterized  by  an  abundance  of  plant  remains 
intermingled  with  the  marine  invertebrate  forms.  The  Jurassic  beds  are 
faulted  against  the  volcanic  rocks  of  the  Aleutian  Range  on  the  west  and  dip 
at  angles  ranging  from  10°  to  25°  south-southeast  or  toward  Cook  Inlet. 

Petroleum  seeps  are  known  in  these  rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  Iniskin  Bay 
about  40  miles  southwest  of  Tuxedni  Bay  but  were  not  seen  in  the  area 
which  is  described.  F.  H.  M. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  February  19,  1922  No.  4 


GENERAL  SCIENCE. — The  scientist  in  the  Federal  Service.  ^  Alfred 
H.  Brooks,  Geological  Survey. 

A  presidential  address  places  the  auditors  completely  at  the  mercy 
of  the  speaker,  for  custom  rules  that  no  matter  how  pitiless  his  barrage 
of  heresies  they  may  not  return  his  fire.  On  the  other  hand,  while 
it  is  obeying  the  order  "Attention!"  the  audience  is  able  to  examine 
the  enemy's  position  in  critical  detail,  to  note  the  accuracy  of  his 
fire,  and  to  determine  the  destructive  effect  of  his  projectiles.  Still 
a  retiring  president  has  the  advantage  in  that  he  can  venture  a  frontal 
attack  with  safety  and,  if  he  does  not  reach  his  objective  or  even  hold 
ground  temporarily  gained,  can  retire  to  his  trenches  of  oblivion  before 
a  counter  attack  can  be  launched. 

In  this  stronghold  of  Government  science  it  is  the  part  of  boldness 
to  discuss  the  scientists  in  the  Federal  service,  about  which  most  of 
you  have  first-hand  information  and  all  of  you,  no  doubt,  have  fixed 
convictions.  As  some  measure  of  defense  I  shall  not  omit  the  time- 
honored  plea  of  lack  of  opportunity  for  exhaustive  study,  though  it 
may  come  very  ungraciously  from  one  who  has  been  so  greatly  honored. 

The  conceptions  of  the  Federal  investigator  are  so  varied  as  to  make 
the  task  of  giving  a  composite  picture  of  him  absolutely  hopeless. 
To  the  man  on  the  street  the  Federal  scientist  is  a  learned  gentleman 
who,  supported  by  Government  bounty,  leads  in  general  an  easy  and 
indolent  life  but  who  on  occasion,  by  some  legerdemain,  saves  a  sit- 
uation. In  the  industries  he  is  classed  by  some  as  a  saving  angel, 
by  others  as  a  freak,  who,  because  he  asks  foolish  questions  and  shows 
a  tendency  to  pry  into  affairs  of  others,  may  be  a  public  pest,  one  who 
at  long  intervals  avenges  any  slight  by  inflicting  a  report  on  the  public, 
written  in  words  that  cannot  be  understood.  A  few  academicians 
appear  to  view  the  Federal  scientific  corps  as  composed  chiefly  of 
persons  of  mediocrity  who  are  occupied  in  routine,  propaganda, 
lobbying,  and  self-aggrandizement. 

^  Presidential  address  delivered  before  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  January 
10,  1922. 

73 


74  JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12.  NO.  4 

One  who  would  know  the  Federal  scientist  must  trace  him  to  his 
lair  and  must  learn  his  habits  while  he  is  running  wild  on  his  native 
heath.  His  environment  is  peculiar  and  must  be  studied  to  under- 
stand his  reaction  to  it.  Are  his  physical  and  mental  variations  from 
the  type  of  Homo  scientificus  sufficient  to  justify  the  setting  up  of  a 
new  species?  The  biologic  phase  of  the  problem  is  beyond  my  ken, 
but  I  venture  the  opinion  that  the  Federal  scientist  does  not  differ 
from  the  average  investigator.  During  a  century  of  evolution  this 
great  army  of  scientists  fortunately  has  not  developed  a  sufficient  class 
consciousness  to  make  it  a  unit.  The  strongest  critics  of  Federal 
science  come  from  within  the  service,  not  from  without. 

The  unique  intellectual  and  social  atmosphere  of  Washington, 
the  History  and  the  magnitude  of  Governmental  scientific  institutions, 
and  the  definite  limitations  set  by  law  have  developed  an  environ- 
ment for  the  Federal  scientist  quite  different  from  that  of  the  investi- 
gator supported  by  private  funds.  His  field  is  multifarious  in  character 
and  continental  in  dimensions;  it  includes  every  branch  of  science 
and  every  industry,  and  it  ministers  to  the  material  and  educational 
needs  of  over  a  hundred  million  people.  His  available  resources 
in  funds,  however,  limit  his  activities  to  only  part  of  his  field,  and  his 
apparently  boundless  opportunities  are  closely  circumscribed  by  very 
definite  laws  which  prescribe  both  his  methods  and,  to  a  large  extent 
his  objectives. 

Detailed  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  Federal  research  must  needs 
be  based  on  a  close  scrutiny  of  every  one  of  the  forty-odd  bureaus 
devoted  in  whole  or  in  part  to  scientific  inquiry.  This  scrutiny  I 
have  not  essayed,  for  it  is  beyond  the  capacity  of  anyone  even  had  he 
infinity  of  time.  Moreover,  I  have  a  suspicion  that  such  a  self- 
imposed  critical  inquiry  would  not  be  conducive  to  the  long  and 
happy  life  in  Washington  that  I  hope  to  enjoy.  It  is  fortunate, 
therefore,  that  the  examination  of  the  affairs  of  individual  bureaus  is  not 
essential  to  learn  the  general  conditions  that  control  Federal  research. 
The  peculiar  atmosphere  of  Washington,  a  city  of  Government  and 
little  more,  has  exercised  an  important  influence  on  Federal  science. 
Here  science  has  been  advanced  by  prescription  of  law  and  not  by 
force  of  tradition  or  local  demand.  During  a  century  there  has  been 
developed  here  one  of  the  great  scientific  centers  of  the  world,  and  it 
is  a  center  that  is  not  greatly  affected  by  outside  influences.  Only 
during  the  last  two  decades  have  researches  other  than  Governmental 
found   seat   at   the   National   capital.     Washington's  institutions   of 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  75 

higher  learning  were  founded  chiefly  to  meet  the  needs  of  her  citizens, 
and  their  influence  on  Government  science  has  been  negligible.  Other 
scientific  centers,  such  as  Paris,  Berlin,  and  London,  have  grown  up 
under  a  different  environment.  In  these  cities  science  was  fostered 
by  old  universities  and  learned  societies  long  before  national  research 
was  begun.  In  consequence,  Government  science  in  Europe  has  been 
closely  coordinated  with  the  great  institutions  of  learning  and  has 
been  molded  by  their  traditions  and  personnel.  The  learned  societies 
of  European  countries  have  also  had  a  strong  influence  on  Govern- 
mental science.  In  contrast  to  this.  Federal  science  in  the  United 
States  has  been  developed  without  academic  traditions  or  without 
close  affiliation  with  university  investigators  and  it  has  been  little 
influenced  by  learned  societies.  The  National  Academy  of  Science, 
founded  half  a  century  after  the  beginning  of  Federal  research,  though 
charged  by  law  with  advisory  duties  to  the  Government,  has  only 
occasionally  been  called  into  consultation.  Indeed,  before  the  war 
the  Academy  as  a  body  was  often  out  of  direct  touch  and  apparently 
somewhat  out  of  sympathy  with  scientific  work  in  Washington.  Now 
that  it  has  undertaken  the  difficult  task  of  coordinating  research 
throughout  the  land,  it  has  come  closer  to  the  Federal  investigator.. 
The  influence  of  the  National  Academy  in  the  past,  however,  has  been 
very  different  from  that  of  ITnstitut  de  France  and  the  Royal  Society 
of  Great  Britain. 

Federal  science  has  developed  its  own  traditions,  set  its  own  stand- 
ards, and  followed  its  own  self-chosen  paths.  It  may  not  be  denied 
that  this  freedom  from  academic  tradition  has  made  for  an  independence 
of  thought  that  is  not  without  value.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  well 
that  the  contact  between  Federal  and  university  science  is  less  close 
than  it  was  a  generation  ago.  The  Federal  bureaus  are  sometimes 
too  prone  to  regard  the  universities  only  as  training  schools.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  of  the  universities,  not  clearly  understanding 
the  purpose  of  the  Federal  service,  are  overcritical  of  its  results  in 
part,  no  doubt,  because  these  do  not  always  meet  the  special  needs- 
of  the  teacher. 

Another  dominating  feature  of  Washington  science  is  its  exclusively 
professional  character.  Most  Federal  investigators  devote  their 
entire  time  to  science  and  find  their  social  life  among  their  professional 
colleagues.  It  is  science  morning,  noon,  and  night,  with  but  few  other 
intellectual  interests.  In  contrast  to  this,  the  university  scientist 
divides  his  time  between  teaching  and  research,  and  the  vast  majority 


76         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  4 

of  his  colleagues  are  engaged  in  other  intellectual  pursuits.  Thus  the 
scientific  investigator  in  a  university,  living  in  an  atmosphere  of  wide 
intellectual  interests,  is  usually  more  scholarly  than  the  investigator 
in  the  Federal  service.  On  the  other  hand,  the  university  scientist 
has  no  rivals  among  his  immediate  associates,  and  his  results  do  not 
always  run  the  gauntlet  of  stern  criticism,  as  do  those  of  the  Federal 
scientist.  The  university  scientific  groups  therefore  have  a  tendency 
to  become  mutual  admiration  societies.  This  tendency  and  the  wor- 
ship of  his  disciples  among  the  students  sometimes  lead  the  university 
scientist  to  become  a  professional  oracle  whose  dicta  may  not  be  de- 
nied. Such  a  mental  attitude  prevents  right  thinking,  and  it  is  for- 
tunate that  the  Washington  atmosphere  is  unfavorable  to  its  growth. 

If  Washington  were  larger  and  had  more  diversified  interests,  like 
European  capitals,  it  would  include  a  large  number  of  amateur  scien- 
tists. I  use  the  term  amateur  in  lieu  of  a  better  word  to  designate 
the  nonprofessional  investigator,  who  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  dilettante.  The  amateur  brings  into  science  an  enthusiasm  for 
his  subject  which  in  the  professional  sometimes  becomes  dormant. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  he  is  almost  unknown  in  Washington,  for  he  could 
do  much  to  vivify  science,  which  may  become  too  much  a  matter  of 
the  day's  work  to  the  Federal  investigator.  Local  scientific  societies, 
too,  would  be  benefited  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  amateur,  for  these 
societies  are  highly  specialized,  and  their  meetings  too  often  resemble 
a  council  called  by  some  bureau  chief.  The  few  amateurs  in  Wash- 
ington, though  welcomed  at  these  meetings,  are  not  likely  to  find  the 
atmosphere  of  professionalism  congenial  to  their  aspirations.  The 
university  investigator,  on  the  other  hand,  has  the  advantage  of 
contact  with  the  amateur  as  represented  by  his  students. 

Most  European  scientific  centers  are  in  large  industrial  cities,  but 
the  industries  of  Washington  are  solely  those  needed  to  support  the 
population  domiciled  at  the  seat  of  Government.  Federal  investi- 
gators must  therefore  seek  contact  with  the  business  world  at  places 
away  from  the  scene  of  their  principal  activities.  Though  may  of 
them  do  so,  the  scientific  service  as  a  whole  is  isolated  from  commer- 
cial life.  Industry  sometimes  makes  the  charge  that  the  products 
of  Washington  science,  because  of  this  isolation,  are  impractical, 
meaning  thereby  that  they  cannot  be  used  at  any  given  time  for 
commercial  profit.  Obviously,  if  a  scientific  principle  is  true  it  can- 
not be  impractical,  and  it  falls  to  the  technician  to  determine  whether 
it  can  or  cannot  be  applied  to  the  advantage  of  industry.     This  mis- 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  77 

understanding  of  the  purpose  of  science  is  due  to  lack  of  clear  distinc- 
tion between  the  fields  of  the  investigator  and  of  the  technician. 
The  investigator  establishes  a  principle  of  science;  the  technician 
utilizes  that  principle  to  improve  some  practice  of  industry.  The 
confusion  of  thought  is  increased  because  in  some  fields  the  investigator 
may  also  be  the  technician  and  may  himself  apply  to  industry 
the  results  he  obtains  from  research.  Many  scientists  in  the  Federal 
service  are  acting  in  this  dual  capacity.  Many  inventors  and  nearly 
all  scientists  employed  by  industry  are  doing  the  same  thing.  How- 
ever successful  and  valuable  such  scientists  may  be,  the  fact  that  the 
Federal  service  is  largely  free  from  the  direct  influence  of  the  business 
world  has  without  question  been  of  great  advantage  to  science  and 
therefore  to  industry. 

Those  who  are  not  in  touch  with  Washington  life  and  who  know  the 
city  chiefly  as  a  political  center  may  hold  that  the  political  environ- 
ment must  have  an  important  influence  on  Federal  science.  Such  an 
opinion  is  without  basis  of  fact.  Political  Washington  and  scientific 
Washington  are  almost  as  far  apart  as  the  poles.  One  is  in  constant 
flux;  the  other  is  relatively  permanent.  One  has  its  strongest  ties 
elsewhere ;  the  other  is  rooted  deep  locally.  One  is  typically  assertive ; 
the  other  is  deliberative.  Political  and  scientific  Washington  have, 
indeed,  only  one  common  ground — that  of  public  service.  Chiefs 
of  scientific  bureaus  come  into  contact  with  political  leaders  in  setting 
forth  the  results,  purposes,  and  needs  of  their  organizations,  but  the 
Federal  scientific  investigator  himself  is  seldom  called  from  his  labora- 
tory, and  then  only  because  of  his  special  knowledge  of  some  problem 
of  public  welfare  or  policy.  These  and  other  occasional  contacts 
with  political  life  are  of  advantage  to  the  scientist  in  broadening  his 
outlook  on  the  needs  of  the  people  and  they  should  give  him  a  sounder 
opinion  in  choosing  a  field  of  research  than  that  held  by  his  professional 
colleague  in  private  life. 

The  founding  of  the  Coast  Survey  in  1816  marked  the  beginning 
of  the  Federal  scientific  service,  though  some  small  grants  for  investi- 
gations, chiefly  explorations,  were  made  in  earlier  years.  For  more 
than  half  a  century  the  growth  of  the  service  was  very  slow.  Fifty  years 
ago,  when  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington  was  founded,  it 
had  only  38  members,  and  during  the  succeeding  decade,  though  it 
remained,  except  for  the  Medical  Society,'-  the  only  local    scientific 

-  Founded  in   1819,  with  21  members.     The  Anthropological  Society  was  organized 
in  1879,  with  28  members. 


78         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

organization,  its  membership  increased  to  only  about  200.  It  is 
probable  that  during  its  early  years  the  Philosophical  Society  included 
in  its  membership  all  the  scientists  in  Washington,  and  that  most  of 
these  were  in  the  Government  service. 

In  the  time  available  I  have  been  unable  to  learn  accurately  the 
number  of  scientists  now  in  the  Federal  service.  There  are  some 
forty-odd  Government  institutions  devoted  in  whole  or  in  part  to 
scientific  work,  and  their  employees  number  many  thousands.  That 
only  a  small  number  of  these  should  be  classed  as  scientists  goes  with- 
out saying,  but  the  attempt  at  classification  would  not  only  necessitate 
a  close  scrutiny  of  the  duties  of  many  individuals,  but  even  then 
the  result  reached  would  be  a  matter  of  personal  opinion.  By  actual 
count  in  the  directories  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Science,  I 
venture  the  opinion  that  the  local  societies  included  600  Federal  scien- 
tists in  1910  and  770  in  1920.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  informed  by 
Dr.  Robert  M.  Yerkes  that  in  1919  there  was  a  total  of  4,888  scientific 
and  technical  employees  in  the  Federal  service.  It  is  probably  safe 
to  estimate  that  there  are  in  all  a  thousand  scientific  investigators 
in  the  Federal  service  at  Washington.  Some  of  the  scientific  bureaus 
have  much  the  larger  part  of  their  personnel  stationed  away  from 
Washington.  It  is  therefore  estimated  that  the  Federal  employees 
who  are  making  at  least  some  contribution  to  science  number  about 
fifteen  hundred. 

Though  these  figures  are  only  approximations,  they  give  a  measure 
of  the  enormous  growth  of  the  scientific  service  during  the  last  fifty 
years.  This  increase  has  indeed  taken  place  chiefly  during  the  present 
generation.  Before  tracing  the  circumstances  leading  to  the  present 
huge  Federal  scientific  service,  I  wish  to  picture  Washington  as  a 
scientific  center  at  a  time  antedating  its  enormous  expansion. 

The  typical  scientific  bureau  of  a  generation  ago  consisted  of  a 
group  of  independent  investigators  studying  problems  chiefly  of  their 
own  choice  and  by  their  own  methods.  Organizations  then  centered 
on  the  individual  scientist,  in  contrast  to  the  present  practice,  by  which 
the  problem  or  the  special  field  determines  the  administrative  unit. 
Devotion  to  science  was  the  ideal,  often  to  the  exclusion  of  any  thought 
of  public  welfare,  now  accepted  as  the  important  duty  of  Federal 
investigators.  Indeed,  there  were  some  who  boasted  that  the  results 
of  their  research  could  have  no  useful  purpose.  Applied  science  was 
then  so  rudimentary  that  an  investigator  was  perhaps  justified  in 
holding  that  by  advancing  knowledge  he  was  fully  meeting  his  obliga- 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  79 

tion  to  the  public.  Nevertheless,  nearly  all  the  bureaus,  in  theory  at 
least,  were  established  to  meet  some  material  need,  though  in  practice 
this  need  was  often  lost  sight  of.  Some  executives  appear  to  have 
been  willing  to  authorize  researches  without  too  careful  a  scrutiny  of 
the  limitations  imposed  by  law.  The  chief  of  a  scientific  bureau  looked 
upon  the  allocation  of  the  annual  grants  of  funds  and  a  personal  appeal 
to  Congress  for  increased  appropriations  as  his  principal  administra- 
tive duties  and  regarded  them  as  disagreeable  though  necessary  in- 
terruptions to  his  own  absorbing  researches.  Appropriations  were 
more  often  granted  because  of  the  personality  of  the  bureau  chief 
than  because  of  a  recognized  need  of  scientific  inquiry. 

By  tradition  the  scientific  bureaus  were  regarded  as  things  apart 
from  the  Federal  administrative  machinery  and  were  subjected  to 
little  interference.  Though  some  heads  of  departments  took  pride  in 
directing  research,  most  of  them  paid  small  heed  to  scientific  bureaus, 
deeming  their  work  of  only  academic  interest.  In  those  days  the 
scientist,  being  seldom  called  into  consultation  on  public  affairs,  was 
largely  left  to  his  own  devices.  There  was  little  pressure  for  his 
results,  for  neither  industry  nor  the  public  at  large  were  vitally  con- 
cerned with  them.  A  scientist's  work  room  of  that  day  was  more 
like  a  private  study  than,  as  now,  a  business  office .  Its  tranquillity 
was  seldom  disturbed  by  the  rattle  of  the  typewriter  or  the  jingle  of 
the  telephone  bell.  Stenographers  were  few,  and  many  treatises  were 
laboriously  written  with  pen,  to  the  evident  advantage  of  their  diction. 
Nor  was  the  investigator  greatly  disturbed  by  routine  matters,  the 
tremendous  growth  of  which  has  been  concomitant  both  with  the 
development  of  large  organizations  and  with  the  increase  in  the  de- 
mands of  the  public  for  enlightenment  on  problems  of  applied  science. 
Fiscal  regulations  were  as  abundant  then  as  now,  but  the  marked 
laxity  of  their  enforcement  in  many  scientific  bureaus  enabled  the 
investigator  to  evade  those  he  regarded  as  irksome.  The  small 
personnel  in  bureaus  and  even  in  departments  called  for  few  regulations 
and  restrictions.  There  being  no  civil-service  law,  each  investigator, 
in  theory  at  least,  was  left  untrammeled  in  his  choice  of  assistants. 
This  condition  made  political  appointments  possible,  and  these  were 
by  no  means  unknown  in  the  service. 

Many  of  the  investigators  were  called  to  the  Federal  service  be- 
cause of  their  long  recognized  standing  at  the  universities,  and  in 
general  there  was  a  closer  affiliation  between  the  scientific  service  and 
the  institutions  of  learning  than  there  is  now.     A  considerable  per- 


80         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

centage  of  the  appropriations  for  research  were  allotted  to  university 
men  and  the  grants  being  held  to  be  subsidies  for  research,  there  was 
little  supervision  of  their  use.  This  practice  followed  that  of  most 
European  countries,  which  maintained  only  skeleton  governmental 
scientific  institutes  and  supported  research  chiefly  by  allotments  to 
individuals.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the  exigencies  of  the 
war  led  in  part  to  abandonment  of  this  policy  in  Europe  and  resulted 
in  a  much  greater  centralization  of  research. 

A  generation  ago  few  universities  were  able  to  train  specialists, 
and  the  young  assistants  usually  had  only  a  general  scientific  education, 
though  they  had  a  better  academic  background  than  those  of  the 
present.  All  expected  to  serve  a  long  apprenticeship  before  they 
launched  out  as  independent  investigators. 

In  early  days  of  Federal  science  there  was  not  only  scant  supervision 
of  the  investigators  but  little  scrutiny  of  the  results  they  submitted 
for  pubUcation.  The  group  leader  was  regarded  as  competent  to 
determine  the  validity  of  his  conclusions,  and  the  less  experienced 
assistant  was  not  intrusted  with  independent  investigations.  Differ- 
ences of  opinion  between  scientists  were  left  for  them  to  settle  between 
themselves.  Washington  science  not  being  held  to  be  of  practical 
value,  the  public  was  indifferent  whether  this  or  that  theory  received 
official  sanction.  Indeed,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  an  official 
dictum,  and  the  originator  of  a  thesis  was  left  to  his  own  devices  in 
defending  it  in  the  public  arena. 

Some  exceptions  to  the  above  statements  should  be  noted.  For 
example,  the  Coast  Survey,  while  holding  to  its  long  established 
scientific  ideals,  was  engaged  in  the  very  practical  work  of  serving 
the  mariner  by  charting  the  shore  lines.  Again,  the  work  of  the 
Weather  Service  could  not  be  done  with  the  loose  administrative 
methods  that  were  common  to  most  of  the  other  bureaus.  Its  stricter 
organization  was  no  doubt  due  to  its  military  control. 

Living  costs  in  Washington  were  very  low,  and  the  small  salaries 
sufficed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  simple  standards  of  that  day. 
A  family  with  an  income  of  $2,000  was  then  better  off  than  one  today 
with  $6,000.  The  corps  of  investigators  was  so  small  that,  though 
officially  more  independent  than  now,  its  members  were  professionally 
and  socially  closer  together.  A  large  part  of  it  assembled  in  the  small 
rooms  of  the  Cosmos  Club  on  Monday  nights,  where  much  of  the  co- 
ordination of  science  took  place  under  the  inspiration  of  a  mug  of 
beer   and   the   smoke   of   a   churchwarden   pipe.     The   more   formal 


FEB,  19,  1922    brooks:  The  scientist  in  the  federal  service  81 

discussions  were  reserved  for  the  Philosophical  Society,  long  the 
meeting  place  of  the  investigators  in  all  sciences  who  were  not  too 
highly  specialized  to  maintain  a  lively  interest  in  the  work  of  their 
colleagues. 

The  atmosphere  of  Federal  science  during  this  early  period  may  be 
likened  to  that  of  a  university,  at  present  it  resembles  that  of  an 
industrial  establishment.  The  investigator  had  little  cause  to  make 
concessions  to  the  public,  either  in  choice  of  field  or  length  of  time 
devoted  to  a  problem.  To  him  came  conditions  favorable  to  construc- 
tive thinking  and  scholarly  presentation.  If  there  were  some  who 
yielded  to  a  certain  soporific  influence  in  their  tranquil  environment, 
their  lack  of  results  was  offset  by  the  work  of  those  who  found  in  this 
environment  the  opportunity  for  independent  effort  and  great  ac- 
complishment. 

The  great  changes  wrought  in  the  Federal  scientific  service  during 
the  last  generation  were  accomplished  by  gradual  evolution,  but  this 
was  greatly  accelerated  during  the  present  century.  Long  before, 
however,  the  practical  applications  of  science  had  greatly  multiplied. 
Federal  bureaus  had  been  much  enlarged,  and  their  scope  had  been 
changed.  Along  with  these  changes  had  come  closer  control  of  the 
investigator,  together  with  a  clearer  recognition  of  both  the  spirit 
and  the  letter  of  the  law.  The  change  from  the  individualistic  to 
collective  method  was  indeed  fully  under  way. 

The  improvement  of  business  methods  was  most  marked  after  1906, 
when  the  recommendations  of  the  Keep  Commission  were  introduced 
as  far  as  possible  without  legislative  action.  These  recommendations 
fairly  revolutionized  departmental  business  methods  and  were  the 
first  decisive  step  toward  eliminating  Governmental  red  tape.  The 
Keep  Commission,  unlike  most  others  having  a  similar  purpose,  was 
made  up  entirely  of  men  long  experienced  in  the  Federal  service 
and  was  therefore  in  a  better  position  to  introduce  reforms  than  those 
who  were  unfamiliar  with  the  work  of  the  departments. 

Collective  action  by  scientific  service  first  crystallized  when,  because 
of  the  needs  of  the  conservation  policy,  the  Federal  investigators 
undertook,  by  order  of  President  Roosevelt,  an  immediate  census  of 
national  resources.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  nearly  all  branches  of 
Federal  science  acted  with  a  common  purpose  and  were  asked  for  very 
definite,  practical,  and  above  all  quantitative  data.  This  taking 
account  of  stock  by  the  trustees  of  the  Nation  revealed  both  the 
strength  and  the  weakness  of  Federal  research  as  well  as  its  great 


82         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

utility  to  the  Nation.  One  result  was  the  promulgation  of  stricter 
rules  and  more  definite  instructions  and  the  placing  of  greater  limita- 
tions on  the  freedom  of  the  individual.  By  far  the  more  important 
result  was  the  realization  by  the  higher  Government  officials  of  the 
value  of  science  in  solving  problems  of  national  economics.  This 
realization  has  ever  since  been  one  of  the  most  potent  influences  in 
directing  Federal  research  toward  problems  connected  with  the  public 
welfare. 

Certain  conditions  that  are  peculiar  to  the  Federal  scientific  service 
have  been  noted;  others  will  now  be  mentioned.  Those  noted  have 
played  an  important  part  in  the  evolution  of  Governmental  research 
during  its  century  of  growth  from  a  single  bureau  with  a  few  investi- 
gators to  two  score  institutions  manned  by  more  than  a  thousand 
scientists.  Far  more  important  to  this  evolution  and  indeed  an 
integral  part  of  it  is  the  advance  of  science  itself  and  a  change  both 
in  the  type  of  the  investigator  and  in  the  broadening  of  his  ideals. 
These  changes  are  worldwide;  they  are  not  peculiar  to  the  Federal 
service.  It  will  be  well,  therefore,  to  trace  some  of  the  factors  in- 
volved in  the  genesis  of  modern  methods  and  ideals  of  research. 

Three  facts  stand  out  clearly:  First,  science  has  become  a  pro- 
fession— ^it  is  no  longer  an  avocation  of  men  engaged  mainly  in  some 
other  calling;  second,  science  has  become  organized  and  is  not  now 
advanced  solely  by  uncoordinated  individual  effort;  third,  science  by 
becoming  more  exact  has  become  more  useful.  The  transition  from 
the  old  to  the  new  era  has  not  been  synchronous  in  all  sciences.  Medi- 
cine was  a  profession  long  before  the  modern  epoch  of  science.  The 
work  of  the  astronomer  and  geodesist  was  professional,  organized,  and 
useful  long  before  that  of  the  naturalist.  It  will  be  a  matter  of  opinion 
as  to  whether  the  three  facts  above  set  forth  are  chiefly  the  cause  or  the 
effect  of  the  progress  of  science.  Until  the  investigator  could  give  his 
full  time  to  research,  progress  could  be  made  only  by  halting  steps. 
On  the  other  hand,  until  industry  found  science  useful  not  many 
professional  positions  could  be  open  to  the  investigator.  Again, 
the  multiplication  of  scientific  researches  to  meet  the  demands  of 
industry  called  for  better  organization,  and  this  again  has  led  to  the 
advance  of  science. 

The  professional  scientist — that  is,  the  scientist  who  gives  his 
entire  time  to  investigation,  is  a  comparatively  new  figure.  A  genera- 
tion or  two  ago  he  hardly  existed;  anyone  who  undertook  research 
then  had  to  support  himself  by  teaching  or  by  some  occupation  re- 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  83 

mote  from  science.  Even  as  late  as  the  beginning  of  this  century 
opportunities  to  the  scientist  for  professional  employment  were  by 
no  means  alluring.  In  contrast  to  this,  not  only  are  there  now  thou- 
sands who,  under  public  or  private  auspices,  find  a  means  of  livelihood 
in  scientific  work,  but  the  demand  for  scientists  exceeds  the  supply. 
Every  branch  of  investigation  offers  a  career  to  the  earnest  student. 
Scores  of  examinations  are  held  for  positions  in  the  Federal  scientific 
service,  and  many  others  are  offered  by  the  States  and  the  industries. 
The  student  of  the  present  day  on  choosing  his  career  can  weigh  care- 
fully the  financial  as  well  as  the  professional  opportunities  offered. 
His  predecessor  had  no  financial  motives,  for  the  best  he  could  expect 
was  only  a  bare  living.  In  1846,  when  Spencer  Baird  found  his  salary 
had  reached  the  dazzling  sum  of  $400  a  year,  he  felt  that  he  could 
well  afford  to  get  married. 

In  the  old  days  a  few  great  teachers  passed  their  knowledge  along  to 
small  groups  of  enthusiastic  disciples.  Now  the  universities  are 
annually  graduating  scores  of  highly  trained  specialists,  who  are  by 
education  far  better  fitted  to  advance  science  than  those  of  a  genera- 
tion ago  and  who  after  a  short  apprenticeship  can  be  trusted  with 
independent  research.  They  supply  the  highly  trained  and  brilliant 
investigators  that  are  so  typical  of  the  present  era.  On  the  other  hand, 
some  of  the  products  of  the  graduate  schools  bear  the  stamp  of  being 
machine  made.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  new  investigator  is 
the  result  of  opportunities  offered  by  a  university,  rather  than  of  an 
inspiration  for  a  scientific  career.  A  man's  exhaustive  knowledge  of 
the  facts  relating  to  some  specialty  is  no  measure  of  his  ability  as  a 
constructive  thinker.  A  student  may  believe  he  has  a  call  to  science 
when  actually  what  appeals  to  him  is  simply  the  fact  that  science  is 
an  honored  profession  and  a  career  giving  promise  of  employment. 
At  the  time  when  the  profession  of  the  scientist  was  hardly  existent, 
the  investigator  was  a  product  of  natural  selection  and  must  have  had 
that  God-given  love  of  his  subject  for  which  no  training  can  be  sub- 
stituted.    Science  was  then  not  a  profession  but  an  obsession. 

Berzelius  is  credited  with  the  statement  that  he  would  probably 
be  the  last  man  who  could  know  all  chemistry,  meaning  thereby  that 
the  science  had  grown  so  large  that  it  was  becoming  beyond  the 
grasp  of  a  single  mind.  Since  his  day  the  naturalist  has  been  sup- 
planted by  the  botanist,  zoologist,  and  geologist.  These  have  given 
way  to  the  taxonomist,  pathologist,  ecologist,  glaciologist,  and  paleon- 
tologist, to  name  only  a  few  of  the  present  subdivisions  of  the  older 


84        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

professions.  The  end  is  not  in  sight,  for  as  science  becomes  more 
exact  a  still  higher  degree  of  specialization  is  certain.  Now  a  scientist 
may  not  even  know  the  meaning  of  a  word  that  describes  the  work  of 
a  professional   colleague. 

The  tendency  of  modern  scientific  education  is  to  produce  specialists 
and  not  scholars.  Advance  of  science  must  be  effected  by  specializa- 
tion, yet  the  question  may  be  asked  whether  the  investigator  who  can- 
not see  the  forest  for  the  trees  is  not  too  great  a  factor  in  research. 
Unfortunately,  the  specialist  is  sometimes  little  more  than  the  collector 
of  dull  facts  he  cannot  or  will  not  interpret.  In  relation  to  their 
facts  some  specialists  may  be  likened  to  the  Indian  chief  who,  because 
of  a  certain  peculiarity,  was  called  "Man-afraid-of-his-horses."  Sweep- 
ing generalizations  in  science  are  a  thing  of  the  past  or  of  the  ignorant ; 
yet  in  spite  of  the  overwhelming  number  of  facts  now  available,  there 
is  perhaps  room  for  a  little  more  boldness  in  their  use. 

There  is  danger  at  the  present  rate  of  accumulation  that  the 
scientist  may  never  overtake  the  continual  inpouring  of  facts.  When- 
ever a  research  promises  to  bear  the  fruit  of  theory,  a  possible  source 
of  new  information  may  be  revealed,  and  thus  interpretation  may 
again  be  deferred.  Nowhere  is  this  more  evident  than  in  the  Federal 
service,  now  perhaps  the  largest  storehouse  of  scientific  facts  in  the 
world,  including  many  that  are  only  shopworn.  There  is  a  tendency 
in  the  service  to  neglect  interpretation.  Many  Federal  investigators 
could  well  cease  for  a  time  to  be  collectors  of  new  facts  and  devote 
themselves  exclusively  to  an  understanding  of  facts  already  on  file. 

When  any  branch  of  science  has  been  developed  to  the  point  that 
adequate  knowledge  of  it  can  no  longer  be  held  by  an  individual  but 
must  be  distributed  through  a  group  of  investigators,  how  are  its 
larger  problems  to  be  solved?  The  answer  evidently  lies  in  coopera- 
tive effort,  without  which  that  branch  of  science  cannot  continue  to 
progress.  This  brings  me  to  the  important  question  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  research. 

Through  countless  centuries  science  was  advanced  by  the  devoted 
investigator  working  alone,  and  it  was  during  this  individualistic 
period  that  it  took  root  in  our  own  country.  As  science  progressed 
there  was  an  increase  in  cooperation,  which  first  took  the  form  of 
grouping  of  investigators  at  universities  and  museums  and  the  founding 
of  scientific  societies  and  periodicals.  Gradually  more  orderly  methods 
of  inquiry  and  later  definite  units  of  research  were  developed.  The 
evolution  of  research  proceeded  from  individualistic  to  cooperative 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federai^  service  85 

and  finally  to  organized  methods.  The  organization  of  research, 
though  long  under  way  and  hastened  by  the  war,  by  no  means  covers 
the  whole  field  of  science  and  indeed  never  can,  for  much  of  scientific 
progress  must   always  be  individualistic. 

Some  of  the  physical  scientists  were  the  first  to  undertake  collective 
action.  The  astronomers  and  geodesists  early  recognized  the  neces- 
sity of  national  and  international  cooperation,  and  later  the  meteorol- 
ogists realized  that  their  work  could  not  be  greatly  advanced  by  the 
individual.  Still  later  men  engaged  in  other  physical  sciences  that 
require  long  periods  of  continuing  observation  found  the  value  of 
organization.  The  natural  sciences  long  lagged  behind  the  exact 
sciences  in  this  movement,  and  even  today  much  of  their  investigation 
is  essentially  individualistic.  Organization  has  now  gone  so  far, 
however,  that  we  have  come  to  think  of  scientific  progress  in  terms 
of  institutions  rather  than  of  individuals. 

One  grave  fault  of  organized  science  is  that  it  leaves  no  place  for 
the  amateur,  who  in  the  past  has  done  so  much  useful  work.  The 
amateur  cannot  now  hope  to  compete  in  the  fields  occupied  by  large 
institutions,  with  highly  organized  corps  of  professional  investigators, 
and  in  consequence,  he  is  active  only  in  some  of  the  least  organized 
natural  sciences.  This  is  unfortunate,  for  many  an  amateur  is  as  able 
an  investigator  as  the  highly  trained  professional  and  may  have  an 
even  greater  love  of  science.  Science,  indeed,  originated  with  the 
amateur,  and  until  recently  he  was  the  chief  instrument  in  its  progress. 
Now,  however,  he  is  being  crowded  out,  and  soon  he  may  be  as  extinct 
as  the  dodo. 

The  administration  of  scientific  inquiry  in  large  units  originated  in 
the  Federal  service  but  has  been  greatly  expanded  under  private 
auspices.  Whatever  faults  we  may  find  in  these  colossal  public  and 
private  institutions,  their  all-important  work  in  advancing  science 
cannot  be  denied.  The  mere  fact  of  their  great  multiplication  and 
growth  during  the  last  two  decades  proves  that  they  are  meeting  a 
public  need.  This  striking  departure  from  the  old  methods  of  research 
finds  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  science,  and  the  origin  of  its  form  of 
administration  must  be  sought  in  the  business  world.  The  government 
of  these  institutions,  like  that  of  a  corporation,  includes  a  board  of 
directors,  represented  by  Congress  or  by  trustees,  that  approves  the 
general  plan  of  operations  but  leaves  details  to  an  executive  who  may 
or  may  not  have  a  cabinet  of  advisors.  Though  the  methods  of 
conducting  such  institutions  vary  in  detail,  their  basal  principle  is 


86         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

essentially  autocratic,  and  their  success  can  be  taken  as  evidence  that 
a  wise  and  benevolent  autocracy  is  a  better  instrument  to  advance 
knowledge  than  a  democracy.  Indeed,  this  form  of  administering 
research  finds  a  close  parallel  in  the  government  of  our  universities. 
It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  centralization  of  authority  in  learned 
institutions,  be  they  educational  or  investigative,  is  following  a  natural 
law  of  evolution  and  has  not  been  arbitrarily  superimposed  on  science, 
as  some  believe.  Moreover,  it  is  but  one  manifestation  of  the  very 
general  national  tendency  toward  autocratic  administration  of  both 
public  and  private  affairs. 

As  institutional  research  is  the  very  keynote  of  modern  science 
and  dominates  Federal  inquiry,  it  will  be  well  to  scrutinize  its  methods 
and  to  consider  its  merits  and  demerits.  Research  institutions  differ 
greatly  in  their  scope  and  objectives,  but  the  advance  of  some  branch 
of  science  is  the  common  aim  of  all.  Their  chief  differences  lie  in  the 
field  of  investigation  chosen,  and  this  is  determined  principally  by  the 
terms  of  their  financial  support.  A  few  institutions  are  entirely  un- 
trammeled  in  the  selection  of  problems,  but  the  great  majority  must 
give  preference  to  this  or  that  phase  of  science.  The  work  of  the 
Federal  bureaus  is  very  definitely  controlled  by  law,  and  most  of  them 
are  compelled  to  give  first  heed  to  industrial  problems.  There  are 
also  private  endowments,  like  those  made  for  medical  research,  whose 
principal  purpose  is  to  investigate  problems  of  public  welfare.  Much 
of  the  investigation  of  industrial  problems  is  conducted  under  private 
auspices.  This  work  includes  that  done  by  institutions  whose  pur- 
pose is  to  advance  the  common  interests  of  certain  industries,  but 
much  the  larger  part  of  it  is  done  to  gain  information  that  will  be  of 
direct  profit  to  those  who  are  furnishing  the  financial  support.  In 
an  attempt  to  classify  research  institutions,  two  groups  can  be  recog- 
nized. One  group  will  include  all  institutions  whose  investigators 
are  made  directly  for  the  public  benefit;  the  other  will  include  those 
whose  investigations  are  made  for  private  profit.  Some  measure  of 
the  public  appreciation  of  science  could  be  had  if  the  ratio  were  known 
between  the  expenditures  made  for  these  two  classes  of  investigations. 
I  venture  the  opinion  that  the  annual  disbursements  for  commercial 
research  far  exceed  those  for  public  research. 

Nearly  all  research  is  supported  by  trust  funds,  and  this  fact  had 
led  both  public  and  private  institutions  to  establish  very  definite  regula- 
tions controlling  expenditures.  There  are,  indeed,  some  who  appear 
to  hold  that  the  scientific  ideals  of  an  investigator  are  lowered  if  he 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  87 

is  called  upon  to  follow  good  administrative  methods.  Yet,  it  is 
evident  that  unless  expenditures  for  research  are  made  on  sound 
business  principles  the  confidence  of  the  public  will  be  lost  and  finan- 
cial support  will  fail. 

It  may  not  be  denied  that  the  recent  progress  in  science  has  been 
very  largely  the  work  of  the  modern  research  institutions.  The  mere 
massing  of  investigators  is  in  itself  a  benefit,  for  it  produces  a  certain 
amount  of  attrition  that  tends  to  remove  those  bumps  of  self-esteem 
which  are  not  unknown  among  scientists.  Moreover,  a  large  institu- 
tion gives  a  serious  and  professional  atmosphere  to  the  investigator 
that  is  not  without  great  advantages,  though,  as  already  pointed  out, 
it  has  some  drawbacks.  The  more  direct  benefits  to  science  of  or- 
ganized investigation  are  self-evident.  Many  problems  can  be  solved 
only  by  the  cooperative  effort  of  investigators  in  several  specialized 
fields.  The  successful  solution  of  others  depends  on  long-continued 
and  widespread  observations  that  are  beyond  the  power  of  any  in- 
dividual. Moreover,  researches  that  involve  large  expenditures 
should  obviously  not  be  dependent  on  any  one  person.  Another 
advantage  of  institutional  oyer  scattered  investigation  is  economy  of 
administration . 

It  is  not  difficult  to  recognize  weakness  in  the  basal  principle  of 
organized  research.  Its  trend  is  toward  uniformity  and  the  sub- 
ordination of  the  individual  in  the  interest  of  the  whole.  In  theory 
at  least  each  investigator  of  an  institution  is  but  a  cog  in  the  great 
machine  of  collective  effort,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  collective 
is  superior  to  individual  mental  effort  in  the  production  of  constructive 
thought,  without  which  research  amounts  only  to  the  collection  of 
facts.  Therefore,  organized  research,  if  it  is  to  advance  science,  must 
ever  avoid  the  pitfall  of  drab  uniformity  in  both  effort  and  result  if 
it  is  to  escape  mediocrity.  This  danger  may  be  avoided  by  the 
brilliant  executive,  who  can  judge  to  a  nicety  just  how  far  individuality 
may  be  encouraged  without  endangering  results  that  are  to  be  attained 
only  by  coordination. 

Good  administration  will  seek  to  develop  the  individual  scientist, 
whatever  may  be  his  capacity.  In  the  enunciation  of  plans  for  re- 
search it  is  sometimes  tacitly  assumed  that  all  investigators  are  of  the 
same  general  type  as  the  best.  Yet  most  scientific  work  will  always 
be  done  by  men  of  average  capacity,  and  good  collective  results  can 
be  achieved  only  by  assigning  to  each  man  the  task  he  is  best  fitted 
to  perform.     Humiliating    as  it  may  be  to  our  professional  pride, 


88         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

most  scientists  are  and  must  remain  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of 
water,  and  a  proper  organization  of  research  will  take  due  account 
of  this  fact. 

In  former  days  each  investigator  advanced  science  by  interpreting 
facts  he  had  himself  ascertained.  In  contrast  to  this,  there  are  now 
many  problems  whose  solution  depends  on  the  collection  of  so  large  a 
number  of  precise  facts  that  the  task  is  far  beyond  the  capacity  of 
the  individual  observer.  This  condition  has  developed  the  obser- 
vational type  of  scientist,  a  man  who  is  both  highly  trained  and  makes 
an  enormous  contribution  to  knowledge  and  whose  very  lack  of  marked 
mental  independence  makes  him  all  the  more  valuable  as  an  observer 
and  recorder.  The  observational  investigator  obtains  his  best  op- 
portunities in  a  closely  administered  institution.  This  is  also  true 
of  the  investigators  of  minor  problems  of  science,  whose  best  results 
will  be  achieved  under  close  supervision.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
scientist  of  marked  individuality  may  not  obtain  the  best  results 
under  the  conditions  of  organized  research.  The  rare  scientific  genius, 
however,  needs  no  special  environment  to  reach  his  highest  develop- 
ment, for  he  cannot  be  suppressed. 

With  this  classification  of  investigators  it  will  be  evident  that  the 
vast  majority  will  do  better  work  as  members  of  an  organization  than 
as  individuals,  and  this  alone  is  a  very  strong  argument  for  institutional 
research.  Such  a  conclusion,  however,  postulates  good  adminis- 
tration of  science,  some  of  the  difficulties  of  which  may  be  considered. 

A  director  of  research  should  have  the  qualities  of  the  impresario,, 
for  the  scientist,  like  the  artist,  is  temperamental  and  refuses  to  be 
cast*  in  the  common  mold.  Though  originality  of  thought  must  be 
cultivated  in  every  scientific  institution,  there  is  a  constant  danger  of 
its  overproduction.  A  scientist  may  apply  his  originality  not  only  to 
research  but  also  to  financial  and  routine  matters,  at  a  serious  loss 
of  efficiency.  It  is  indeed  astounding  how  many  unnecessary  diffi- 
culties a  brilliant  investigator  can  create  by  ignoring  simple  business 
methods. 

Many  scientists  have  for  years  groaned  under  the  Federal  system 
of  accounting,  without  ever  understanding  its  basal  principle.  Govern- 
ment disbursement  is,  indeed,  complex  and  growing  needlessly  more 
so,  but  difficulties  come  chiefly  to  executives  and  professional  ac- 
countants; the  average  investigator  meets  only  its  simplest  forms.. 
The  days  are  past  when  the  efficiency  of  a  Federal  bureau  was  gaged 
by  the  perfection  of  its  vouchers,  and  although  disbursements  must 


FBB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  89 

comply  with  the  law,  they  are  not  now  held  to  be  an  end  but  only  a 
means  to  an  end. 

Many  a  scientist,  however,  still  believes  that  he  has  been  singled 
out  as  of  proved  dishonesty  because  some  official  has  directed  his  atten- 
tion to  an  infraction  of  jthe  law.  He  does  not  see  either  that  close  regula- 
tion of  Federal  disbursements  aggregating  billions  of  dollars  is  neces- 
sary or  that  the  legal  safeguards  must  apply  to  small  as  well  as  to  large 
transactions.  Indeed,  many  scientists  are  ignorant  of  the  principle 
of  all  fiscal  regulations,  namely,  that  the  law  holds  all  Government 
moneys  to  be  trust  funds.  The  law  also  provides  that  every  trustee 
must  be  able  at  all  times  to  submit  documentary  proof  that  he  has 
not  stolen  the  funds  in  his  custodianship.  Therefore,  upon  every 
Federal  employee  who  handles  public  funds  or  involves  the  Govern- 
ment in  liabilities  rests  the  burden  of  proof  that  his  trusteeship  has 
been  honestly  administered.  Evidently  all  purchases  are  governed 
by  the  same  principle,  and  the  purpose  of  competitive  bids  is  to  pre- 
vent dishonest  connivance  between  the  seller  and  the  Government 
agent. 

Certain  scientists  regard  the  limitations  placed  on  their  fiscal 
operations  as  a  personal  insult  and  an  attempt  by  a  bureau  chief  to 
assert  his  authority.  To  them  fiscal  regulations  have  no  purpose 
except  to  hamper  research,  and  they  never  come  to  understand  that  a 
regulation  is  nothing  but  an  interpretation  of  the  law.  If  these  men 
would  master  the  basal  principle  of  Federal  accounting  and  the  simple 
methods  they  are  called  upon  to  use  they  could  command  more  time 
for  their  own  work. 

The  fiscal  regulations  are  particularly  irksome  to  those  whp  re- 
member the  time  when  they  were  but  loosely  enforced  in  the  scientific 
bureaus.  In  those  good  old  days  scientists  and  sometimes  even  bureau 
chiefs  gloried  in  successful  attempts  to  evade  the  law,  or  in  what 
may  be  termed  "putting  one  over."  Such  practices  resulted  only 
in  more  stringent  laws  and  interpretations.  It  is  quite  likely  that 
Federal  auditors  have  blacklisted  individuals  and  even  certain  bureaus 
that  have  been  found  attempting  to  evade  the  law,  and  that  their 
vouchers  receive  a  specially  searching  scrutiny. 

Yet  there  is  certainly  room  for  improvement  in  the  laws  governing 
Federal  disbursements,  as  for  example,  in  the  restriction  placed  on 
the  use  of  automobiles.  It  seems  beyond  human  knowledge  to 
understand  why  the  use  of  horse-drawn  vehicles  is  unlimited,  while 
that  of  automobiles  is  closely  restricted.     It  is  as  if  Federal  trans- 


90         JOURNAL  Olf  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

portation  should  be  effected  only  by  stage  coach  and  canal  boat 
instead  of  by  railroad.  But  the  origin  of  this  anachronism  is  clearly 
traceable  to  some  abuse  in  the  employment  of  official  automobiles 
for  private  use.  This  is  an  example  of  an  ill-advised  law  enacted 
because  of  a  breach  of  trust  by  some  individual  or  small  number  of 
individuals. 

It  is  also  hard  to  understand  why  the  Federal  scientist  should  be 
penalized  when  traveling  on  official  business  by  not  being  reimbursed 
for  a  part  of  his  expenses.  It  would  be  equally  logical  to  force  him  tO' 
contribute  toward  the  cost  of  renting  or  heating  his  laboratory.  The 
law  limiting  the  amount  paid  for  subsistence  was  passed  because  a 
former  commission  indirectly  augmented  the  salaries  of  its  professional 
corps  by  allowing  a  large  per  diem  for  subsistence,  irrespective  of 
whether  the  men  were  working  at  the  home  office  or  in  the  field. 
Unfortunately,  Congress,  when  it  uncovers  such  an  exceptional 
abuse,  is  wont  to  believe  that  the  abuse  is  general  and  enacts  sweeping 
statutes,  whose  real  purpose  is  to  rectify  the  action  of  a  few. 

Although  there  is  a  growing  tendency  to  increase  the  restrictions 
on  Federal  disbursements,  yet  we  can  comfort  ourselves  with  the 
thought  that  both  efficiency  and  economy  are  now  included  in  the  war 
cry.  Probably  the  modification  of  less  than  a  dozen  statutes  would 
suffice  to  do  away  with  the  obstacles  that  prevent  Government  work 
being  carried  on  efficiently  and  therefore  economically.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  most  reformers  have  yet  to  discover  that  much  of  the  pro- 
verbial Government  red  tape  has  been  eliminated  and  that  much  of 
what  is  left  is  imposed  by  law  and  not  by  tradition  or  executive  order. 

A  private  institution  of  research  supported  by  trust  funds  is  also 
under  the  obligation  to  provide  definite  regulations  to  control  ex- 
penditures. These  regulations  can,  however,  be  framed  to  meet  its 
special  needs  for  it  is  not,  like  a  Federal  bureau,  a  very  small  part  of 
a  colossal  organization  charged  with  the  disbursement  of  huge  trust 
funds.  The  bureau  chief  must  enforce  the  law  as  he  finds  it,  even 
though  he  knows  full  well  that  it  decreases  the  efficiency  of  his  own 
organization. 

I  take  it  that  all  will  agree  that  the  first  test  of  good  administration 
of  science  will  lie  in  the  choice  of  investigators  to  do  the  work.  In 
this  matter  the  endowed  institutions  have  a  great  advantage  over 
those  of  the  Government,  in  being  able,  in  a  measure  at  least,  to  adjust 
their  salaries  to  meet  competition  in  the  commercial  world.  On 
the  other  hand,  some  will  be  attracted  to  the  Federal  service  because 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  91 

• 

of  the  opportunities  that  it  gives  of  being  of  direct  human  benefit. 
With  these  the  call  of  science  is  no  stronger  than  the  call  to  aid  their 
fellowman. 

Positions  in  newly  established  institutions  are  in  general  eagerly 
sought,  because  of  their  promise  to  yield  opportunities  in  untrodden 
fields.  As  a  consequence  the  scientific  personnel  of  such  institutions 
will  be  of  the  highest  type.  These  new  organizations,  moreover, 
are  unhampered  by  the  inclusion  of  investigators  who  have  not  ful- 
filled the  promise  of  their  earlier  years.  Unfortunately,  the  psycholo- 
gist has  not  yet  given  us  a  formula  by  which  the  hundredth  man  can 
be  definitely  selected.  Moreover,  even  though  he  may  be  found,  a 
transfer  to  a  new  environment  may  produce  an  atrophy  of  his  mind, 
for  a  scientist  of  a  certain  type  seems  to  require  the  stimulus  of  ob- 
stacles to  do  his  best  work,  and  the  easier  his  path  the  less  productive 
his  brain. 

If  no  errors  are  made  in  the  choice  of  investigators,  the  very  in- 
dependence of  thought  that  characterizes  the  best  investigators  will 
in  itself  make  difficulties  for  the  executive  head  of  an  institution.  He 
must  foster  individuality,  yet  he  must  mold  the  whole  to  produce 
collective  results.  The  most  valuable  investigator  may  be  the  very 
one  who  most  strongly  resents  any  interference  with  his  personal 
activities.  Even  Federal  scientists,  sometimes  pictured  as  a  set  of 
brow-beaten  investigators  who  dare  not  call  their  souls  their  own,  are 
in  truth  most  strongly  independent.  Their  faults  and  difficulties 
have  been  clearly  portrayed,  but  little  has  been  said  of  their  duties 
and  responsibilities. 

The  scientist  who  joins  the  Federal  service  assumes  other  very  defi- 
nite obligations  than  those  expressed  in  his  oath  of  office  emphasizing 
the  defense  of  the  constitution.  Generations  of  scientists  may  pass 
who  are  never  called  upon  to  defend  the  constitution,  but  the  respon- 
sibility to  obey  both  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  the  law  is  always  with 
them.  Even  more  binding  is  the  moral  obligation  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  people  under  whose  bounty  they  are  working.  This 
implies,  first  and  foremost,  that  they  work  for  the  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  for  without  this  ideal  both  pure  science  and  applied 
science  are  but  shams.  These  obligations  have  been  fully  lived  up  to 
by  most  Federal  investigators.  A  few  attempts  have  been  made  to 
gain  popularity  by  premature  announcements  of  assumed  epoch- 
making  discoveries,  but  these,  like  other  short  circuits,  led  to  quick 
disaster.     Some   Federal   investigators   feel   their   responsibilities   so 


92        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

keenly  as  to  err  on  the  other  extreme  and  become  lax  in  the  duty  of 
giving  any  returns  to  the  public. 

The  obligation  imposed  on  the  Federal  scientist  often  runs  counter 
to  his  personal  ambitions.  He  chafes  under  a  condition,  imposed  by 
law  or  by  public  need,  forcing  him  to  abandon  some  favorite  field  of 
research  for  one  of  less  interest.  It  makes  his  unsought  task  no  easier 
if,  as  sometimes  happens,  a  colleague  with  only  a  rudimentary  con- 
ception of  public  duty  implies  that  he  has  abandoned  pure  science 
for  some  more  popular  field. 

Every  administrator  of  research  finds  his  chief  problem  in  the 
control  of  his  scientific  personnel.  To  some  this  problem  appears 
most  simple  and  involves  only  the  giving  of  financial  support  to  the 
master  mind  and  then  allowing  it  to  wander  whither  it  will.  Such 
a  course,  however,  will  not  lead  to  the  solution  of  a  cooperative  problem. 
Moreover,  the  master  mind,  if  left  to  its  own  devices,  may  wander 
entirely  off  the  premises.  The  task  of  the  executive  is  to  harmonize 
the  work  of  a  group  of  strongly  individualistic  investigators,  whose 
tendency  is  centrifugal  rather  than  centripetal.  Success  will  be 
achieved  by  a  proper  balance  between  individualistic  and  cooperative 
inquiry.  There  is  the  danger,  on  the  one  hand,  of  discouraging  origi- 
nality of  thought,  and  on  the  other,  of  failing  to  maintain  the  necessary 
unity  of  purpose. 

The  executive  in  the  Federal  scientific  service  stands  between  the 
horns  of  a  dilemma.  If  his  bureau  is  not  so  organized  as  to  provide 
very  definite  control  of  the  work  of  the  individual  investigator  he  may 
fail  to  achieve  the  results  demanded  by  the  terms  of  his  grants.  If 
his  organization  is  such  that  it  does  not  give  full  play  to  constructive 
thought  by  the  individual  investigator  he  will  accomplish  little  to 
advance  his  science.  He  must  constantly  strive  to  have  his  adminis- 
trative machinery  sufficiently  elastic  to  develop  the  best  mental  work 
possible  by  each  of  his  scientific  staff.  At  the  same  time  he  must  not 
ignore  his  obligation  to  give  results  to  the  public.  Some  investigators 
need  constant  spurring  to  obtain  results;  others  need  restraint,  for 
their  productions  come  so  fast  as  to  raise  the  suspicion  that  they  may 
not  be  sound.  Although  the  premature  announcement  of  conclu- 
sions meets  with  quick  punishment,  the  procrastinator  often  receives 
undue  credit  among  his  colleagues  from  the  very  fact  that  he  has  failed 
to  make  the  evidence  of  his  attainments  public.  Indeed,  he  often 
hampers  the  advance  of  science  by  occupying  a  field  to  the  exclusion  of 
others  and  by  discouraging  financial  support  for  the  organization 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  93 

to  which  he  belongs.  If  he  is  in  the  Federal  service,  his  chief  bears 
the  moral  responsibility  for  the  expenditure  of  public  funds  on  in- 
vestigations that  have  come  to  naught.  Not  all  investigators  sense 
the  moral  responsibility  for  a  return  from  researches  supported  by 
trust  funds.  The  exceptions  do  not  appear  to  realize  that  the  final 
justification  of  any  project  is  measured  only  the  results  achieved. 

There  will  be  differences  of  opinion  as  to  whether  scientific  work  in 
this  or  that  field  is  yielding  results  commensurate  with  the  outlay 
made  for  it,  but  the  value  of  the  great  mass  product  of  Federal  science 
cannot  be  denied.  In  this  day,  when  all  Government  expenditures 
are  being  closely  scrutinized,  the  scientific  bureaus  can  calmly  welcome 
the  fiercest  Hght  of  publicity.  I  am  sure  that  the  unprejudiced  ex- 
aminer of  public  business  will  concede  that  the  product  of  Government 
science  is  worth  more  than  it  cost  and  that  no  private  corporation 
could  obtain  equal  returns  from  the  same  expenditure.  This  fact 
in  itself  is  proof  of  the  high  grade  of  the  personnel  in  the  scientific 
service.  The  thousand  men  engaged  in  this  work  include  men  of 
various  types,  and  if  it  becomes  necessary  to  record  the  faults  of  a 
few  of  them,  these  few  are  the  exceptions — their  faults  do  not  character- 
ize the  group  as  a  whole. 

The  delay  in  making  public  the  results  of  research  is  one  of  the 
evils  of  the  Federal  service,  but  for  this  the  scientist  and  the  bureau 
are  only  in  part  responsible.  Yet  a  considerable  part  of  the  blame 
rests  upon  the  scientist  himself,  and  his  delinquencies  may  be  due 
to  his  lack  of  certain  mental,  not  to  say  moral  qualities.  The  delin- 
quents are  of  several  types,  and  they  include  the  investigator  with  a 
brilliant  mind,  which,  however,  is  so  undisciplined  that  it  cannot  be 
made  to  formulate  conclusions.  A  very  small  percentage  of  the 
delays  are  chargeable  to  lack  of  a  sense  of  moral  obligation.  This 
lack  is  shown  by  the  dilettante  type  of  investigator,  who  flits  from 
one  problem  to  another  and  seems  to  think  that  he  fulfills  all  obligations 
if  he  simply  remains  on  the  Government  payroll.  Most  often,  how- 
ever, the  procrastinator  is  the  hardest  working  of  men,  and  his  un- 
willingness to  put  forth  conclusions  is  due  to  his  fear  of  omitting  some 
detail  or  failing  to  fully  test  some  theory.  We  must  respect  such  a 
seeker  of  truth,  yet  a  part  of  his  fault  may  lie  in  a  certain  conceit 
which  induces  him  to  believe  that  his  results  are  so  epoch-making 
that  he  trembles  for  the  consequences  to  the  Nation  if  they  should  be 
announced  prematurely.  It  sometimes  happens  that  before  he  has 
set  the  keystone  of  the  arch  that  forms  his  magnum  opus  its  founda- 


94        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

tions  have  been  undermined  by  some  colleague,  and  the  whole  structure 
tumbles,  becoming  little  more  than  a  vast  collection  of  misinterpreted 
facts.  There  is  indeed  always  the  danger  that  if  the  investigator 
withholds  the  results  of  an  inquiry  too  long  he  will  become  "stale" 
on  it  before  he  has  formulated  his  conclusions.  Then  the  elaborate 
report  may  be  only  a  jumble  of  facts  whose  interpretation  must  be 
left  to  others.  It  may  even  happen  that  the  results  of  years  of  scienti- 
fic research  are  entirely  lost  by  the  death  of  a  dilatory  scientist.  It 
is  a  matter  of  record  that  every  great  scientist  leaves  a  series  of  mile- 
stones that  mark  his  progress,  and  when  he  attains  the  goal  he  need 
do  little  more  than  prepare  a  final  summation  of  what  has  already 
been  fully  published  to  the  world.  Therefore,  if  no  results  from  an 
elaborate  research  are  announced  the  executive  has  a  right  to  the 
suspicion  that  there  will  be  none.  To  him  then  comes  the  important 
decision  whether  to  continue  expenditures  on  the  project  or  to  write 
it  off  in  the  profit  and  loss  account.  If  he  continues  the  work  and 
nothing  comes  of  it  he  has  been  unfaithful  to  his  trust ;  if  he  stops  the 
work  there  is  always  the  danger  that  science  and  the  people  may  be 
the  loser. 

Another  problem  in  personnel  is  presented  by  the  scientist  who  is 
as  quick  as  a  hair  trigger  in  publication.  He  boldly  rushes  into 
publicity  where  the  more  experienced  investigator  fears  to  tread  and, 
though  he  may  be  endowed  with  a  certain  superficial  brilliancy,  he  is 
too  impatient  to  carry  his  researches  through  to  the  end  of  establishing 
conclusions.  His  contributions  may  be  likened  to  skyrockets— they 
illuminate  the  scientific  landscape  for  a  moment  only  to  fall  to  earth 
and  leave  us  in  darkness.  Such  men  are  sometimes  the  pests  of  scienti- 
fic literature,  and  some  of  them  bury  the  results  of  their  unfinished 
researches  in  huge,  soon-forgotten  tombs.  If  they  gain  admission  to 
Government  publications  they  may  temporarily  win  undeserved 
reputations  by  the  very  size  and  elaborateness  of  their  memoirs,  though 
these  may  be  the  work  of  the  pen  rather  than  of  the  brain. 

The  secret  of  good  administration  in  science,  as  in  other  affairs, 
is  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  personnel  available.  Experience  shows 
that  it  is  possible  to  guide  the  able  investigator,  but  he  cannot  be 
forced  to  follow  set  paths.  He  has,  moreover,  the  tactical  advantage 
of  not  being  "enlisted  for  the  duration  of  the  war,"  and  he  can  probably 
obtain  a  letter  livelihood  in  commercial  work.  Some  of  the  most 
obstreperous  members  of  the  Federal  scientific  corps  possess  qualities 
that  are  most  valuable  to  science  and  to  the  public  service.     If  the 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  95 

great  majority  of  the  Federal  scientists  were  not  always  ready  to  do 
more  than  their  full  share  in  meeting  their  obligations  to  the  public, 
the  task  of  administering  Government  science  would  truly  be  hope- 
less. An  executive  who  is  taken  into  the  public  service  from  the 
business  world  and  who  has  adopted  the  modern  standards  of  effi- 
ciency would  see  no  difficulties  in  administering  research,  for  he  would 
meet  them  by  riding  rough-shod  over  all  scientists.  Research,  would 
be  so  organized  that  birds  who  can  sing  and  won't  sing  would  be  made 
to  sing.  Every  cog  in  the  administrative  machine  would  be  com- 
pelled to  do  its  proper  work  or  make  way  for  another.  This  plan  does 
not  make  any  allowance  for  the  individual,  nor  for  the  fact  that  the 
brain  cannot  be  forced  to  originate — that  it  cannot  be  thrown  into 
gear  by  moving  a  lever.  You  cannot  feed  brains  into  a  hopper  and, 
by  applying  a  sufficient  number  of  mental  impacts  to  your  machine, 
produce  a  smooth-running  new  thought  at  the  outlet. 

Though  organization  and  personnel  are  of  fundamental  importance 
to  every  research  institution,  yet  the  real  efficiency  of  any  such  insti- 
tution in  advancing  science  will  be  determined  largely  by  its  choice 
of  fields.  The  sternest  critics  of  Federal  bureaus  have  dwelt  on  errors 
in  the  selecJ:ion  of  problems.  Many  of  these  critics  hold  that  the  pref- 
erence for  economic  problems  indicates  both  a  lack  of  thoroughness 
in  research  and  an  abasement  of  scientific  ideals.  It  is  strange  that 
no  such  criticisms  have  been  made  of  the  institutes  of  medical  re- 
search, though  their  avowed  purpose,  like  that  of  the  Federal  scienti- 
fic bureaus,  is  to  better  the  welfare  of  mankind.  The  high  sources 
of  some  of  these  criticisms  justify  their  consideration. 

Every  constructive  criticism  of  the  service  should  be  welcomed, 
if  only  because  it  is  well  to  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us,  but  before 
its  true  value  can  be  gaged  it  must  receive  proper  correction  for  the 
personal  equation  of  the  critic.  Most  of  those  who  enumerate  the 
faults  of  scientific  bureaus  fail  to  distinguish  between  the  faults  due 
to  law  and  those  due  to  policy.  Every  Federal  scientist  recognizes 
the  need  for  certain  changes  in  law,  but  he  is  powerless  to  bring  them 
about. 

Meanwhile  Federal  scientists  should  not  ignore  the  ominous  signs 
that  the  skeleton  in  the  closet  of  Federal  research  may  at  any  time  be 
exposed  to  public  view — ^that  the  deceptive  Government  investigator 
may  be  unmasked.  Already  some  critics  have  intimated  that  Federal 
science,  though  it  may  delude  unthinking  people,  is  not  true  research 
but  something  else  not  yet  well  defined.     Classifications  of  research 


96        JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.    4 

institutions  have  also  been  made  in  which  all  Federal  investigations 
are  ignored.  To  the  slur  implied  by  this  omission  no  reply  is  possible 
and  the  thousand  or  more  Government  scientists  can  but  bow  their 
heads  in  shame  in  the  presence  of  those  to  whom  the  great  light  has 
come. 

Though  outwardly  the  Government  investigators  may  remain 
calm  in  the  face  of  the  occasional  storm  of  criticism  that  blows  about 
their  heads,  yet  often  they  find  some  note  that  harmonizes  with  their 
own  feelings.  Is  there  anyone  in  the  rank  and  file  of  Federal  scientists 
who  has  not  at  least  one  pet  grievance  and  is  not  convinced  that, 
if  he  were  in  charge  of  certain  work,  he  could  soon  abolish  some  crying 
evil?  Such  grievances,  though  various,  are  most  often,  for  lack  of 
better  definition,  charged  to  bureaucracy.  The  wrong  may  have 
been  committed  by  some  cold-blooded  auditor  who,  in  enforcing  the 
law,  has  blocked  the  progress  of  science  by  eliminating  an  item  from 
an  expense  account.  An  investigator  whose  work  is  far  in  arrears 
may  have  found  his  chief  very  unsympathetic.  It  may  be  that  the 
publication  of  some  monumental  treatise  has  been  postponed  for  lack 
of  funds.  Again,  official  indorsement  may  have  been  denied  for 
some  pet  hypothesis  that,  if  only  it  prove  true,  will  revolutionize 
science.  It  may  be  that  a  lack  of  funds  forces  an  investigator  out  of 
his  favorite  field.  The  fault  may  be  in  a  law  by  which  the  work  of  a 
bureau  is  made  to  include  some  activities  that  an  investigator  believes 
to  lie  outside  of  its  proper  scope. 

The  charge  frequently  made  that  the  scientific  service  is  employed 
chiefly  on  problems  whose  solution  will  directly  contribute  to  the 
welfare  of  the  Nation  may  not  be  denied.  If  this  were  not  true  the 
bureau  chief  would  be  a  derelict  in  his  duties  to  the  public  as  well  as 
a  violator  of  law.  The  command  that  research  be  directed  toward 
material  ends  is  incorporated  in  the  organic  or  appropriation  acts  of 
nearly  every  Federal  scientific  bureau.^  For  example,  both  the 
Coast  Survey  and  the  Naval  Observatory  owe  their  origin  to  the 
demands  of  the  merchant  marine  and  the  Navy.  The  Geological 
Survey  was  established  primarily  to  help  to  develop  the  country's 
mineral  wealth  and  to  evaluate  the  public  domain.  The  needs  of 
industry  were  met  by  the  establishment  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards 

2  The  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  appears  to  be  an  exception.  The  appropriation 
for  the  National  Museum,  made  originally  for  the  custodianship  of  Government  property, 
can  be  said  to  have  for  its  purpose  the  education  of  the  people.  The  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution is  supported  by  a  private  endowment  and  is  therefore  an  exception  among  Govern- 
ment institutions. 


JPEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  97 

and  the  Bureau  of  Mines.  Again,  the  demands  of  the  farmers  led  to 
the  setting  up  of  scientific  work  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 
The  value  of  a  better  knowledge  of  commercial  geography,  because  of 
our  expanding  foreign  trade,  has  recently  been  recognized  in  the  policy 
of  the  Government. 

There  is  a  tendency  to  give  the  entire  credit  for  the  establishment 
of  this  or  that  scientific  bureau  to  the  genius  and  persistency  of  one 
man.  Thus,  Hassler  is  rightly  associated  with  the  founding  of  both 
the  Coast  Survey  and  the  Naval  Observatory,  Ellsworth  with  the 
improvement  of  agriculture  by  Federal  agencies,  and  King  and  Powell 
with  the  organization  of  Federal  geologic  surveys.  Many  other  ex- 
amples of  the  influence  of  certain  men  on  the  founding  of  the  younger 
bureaus  could  be  cited.  Government  science  owes  much  to  the  broad 
concepts  of  these  pioneers,  but  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  they 
would  have  been  powerless  to  accomplish  their  work  if  the  conditions 
had  not  been  favorable.  Recognition  by  the  Federal  Government 
of  the  need  of  Government  scientific  investigation  in  any  particular 
field  is  based  on  certain  premises.  First,  the  science  must  have  made 
sufiicient  progress  to  give  assurance  that  the  results  of  the  work  to  be 
done  will  in  some  way  promote  the  general  welfare.  It  must  there- 
fore have  passed  beyond  the  realm  of  speculation,  and  its  results  must 
be  concrete  rather  than  abstract.  Second,  the  industry  it  is  expected 
to  benefit  must  be  of  enough  national  importance  to  create  a  wide 
demand  for  the  results  of  the  research. 

In  an  absolute  monarchy  this  or  that  investigation  may  be  ordered 
for  the  mere  sake  of  advancing  knowledge,  but  in  a  representative 
government  the  argument  for  research  must  include  very  definite 
evidence  that  the  people  will  be  directly  benefited  by  it.  Once  an 
investigation  is  established  and  concrete  and  practical  results  are 
obtained,  plans  for  extending  the  research  to  more  basal  problems 
often   receive   support. 

The  sharp  distinction  attempted  by  some  between  investigations 
of  purely  academic  problems,  on  the  one  hand,  and  investigations 
of  problems  of  industrial  and  public  welfare,  on  the  other,  needs  con- 
sideration. I  hold  that  this  arbitrary  division  of  scientific  investigation 
has  caused  much  confusion  of  thought.  It  is,  indeed,  unfortunate 
that  no  better  designations  have  been  found  for  these  fields  of  inquiry 
than  "pure"  and  "applied."  If  one  is  "pure"  it  would  seem  that  the 
other  must  be  "impure."  If,  again,  research  that  is  directed  toward 
aiding  industry  is  called  "practical,"  as  it  has  been,  it  would  seem  to 


98         JOURNAL  OF  THS  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

follow  that  all  other  science  is  impractical,  a  conclusion  that  will 
hardly  satisfy  its  devotees.  In  making  such  a  distinction  it  should 
be  remembered  that  there  is  often  a  quick  transfer  of  the  results  of 
pure  science  to  the  category  of  applied  science.  A  scientific  product 
so  "pure"  that  it  will  stand  the  most  searching  "tubercular  test" 
may  be  snatched  for  "applied  science"  before  it  has  been  fairly  de- 
livered at  the  doorstep  of  the  consumer.  If  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
words  is  retained,  applied  science,  or,  indeed,  we  should  say  science 
applied  to  industry,  must  be  restricted  to  the  work  of  the  technician 
and  inventor  who  uses  a  scientific  principle  for  some  practical  purpose. 
The  principle  may  be  the  result  of  an  inquiry  either  by  an  investigator 
whose  only  motive  was  to  determine  the  law  itself  or  by  one  who  fore- 
saw its  possible  practical  use.  The  condition  remains  the  same 
whether  it  is  the  application  of  the  simpler  laws  of  mechanics  in  the 
making  of  the  formerly  very  useful  device  called  a  beer  stopper  or  the 
application  of  the  laws  of  physics  in  the  building  of  a  tide-predicting 
machine. 

The  difficulty  of  accurately  defining  pure  science  as  distinct  from 
applied  science  leads  to  the  suspicion  that  there  is  really  no  basal 
difference  between  the  two.  No  one  can  doubt  the  "purity"  of  in- 
quiries into  the  laws  of  terrestrial  magnetism,  yet  their  practical  value 
to  the  surveyor  and  the  navigator  cannot  be  questioned.  A  geologic 
map  is  clearly  a  contribution  to  pure  science,  yet  who  can  foresee  to 
what  base  use  it  may  be  put  by  the  prospector?  The  results  of  any 
given  research  may  be  classified  as  to  the  validity  of  the  conclusions, 
as  to  the  value  of  the  results  to  science,  as  to  the  ability  of  the  in- 
vestigator, and  as  to  the  thoroughness  of  the  methods  employed; 
but  the  scientist's  motive  for  the  research  affords  no  logical  basis  for 
assigning  it  either  to  pure  or  to  applied  science. 

Illogical  as  these  terms  may  be,  however,  a  lack  of  originality  to 
invent  new  ones  forces  me  to  use  them.  In  the  commonly  accepted 
phraseology,  then,  the  term  pure  science  includes  nearly  all  university 
research  and  that  of  many  endowed  scientific  institutions,  and  the 
term  applied  science  includes  researches  that  are  avowedly  devoted  to 
industry  supported  by  private  funds,  and  also  those  of  the  great 
medical  research  institutions.  The  Federal  scientific  service  is,  how- 
ever, the  great  stronghold  of  applied  science,  though  it  includes  some 
researches,  like  those  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  that  must  be 
classed  as  pure  science. 

Kelvin  has  said  that  "no  great  law  in  natural  philosophy  has  been 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  99 

discovered  for  its  practical  application."  Yet  he  himself  was  one 
of  the  great  users  of  science  in  practical  affairs.  Notwithstanding 
opinions  to  the  contrary,  there  is  almost  overwhelming  evidence  that 
science  has  gained  by  its  very  marked  drift  toward  material  problems. 
It  is  certain  that  the  vast  sums  now  devoted  to  research  are  available 
because  of  the  demands  of  industry.  If  investigations  made  for 
material  ends  do  not  advance  science,  we  must  grant  that  its  progress 
is  due  to  less  than  10  per  cent  of  present-day  research. 

It  is  sometimes  intimated  that  the  investigator  working  in  economical 
fields  has  lower  ideals  than  one  who  is  employed  in  pure  science.  There 
is,  indeed,  no  definite  measure  of  man's  ideal,  but  perhaps  the  best 
measure  can  be  found  in  the  unselfishness  of  his  purpose.  The  scien- 
tist who  is  employed  on  a  self-chosen  problem  and  who  is  perhaps 
working  in  an  ideal  environment  and  with  adequate  financial  support 
does  not  necessarily  have  higher  ideals  than  one  whose  path  lies  in  a 
less  interesting  field  or  one  whose  ultimate  purpose  is  to  improve  the 
conditions  of  human  life.  The  average  investigator  of  the  Federal 
service  makes  little  parade  of  the  motive  of  science  for  science's  sake, 
yet  his  love  of  truth  is  no  less  than  that  of  his  colleague  from  the 
university  of   other  endowed  institution. 

Another  fallacy  is  the  contention  that  pure  science  as  contrasted 
with  applied  science  leads  to  more  thorough  investigations.  Yet 
the  master  mind  will  ultimately  reach  the  basal  principles  of  his 
problem,  whether  his  researches  are  made  in  pure  or  in  applied  science. 
Any  difference  between  the  work  of  the  investigations  in  these  two 
fields  is,  indeed,  solely  a  matter  of  mental  equipment  and  bears  no 
fixed  relation  to  the  line  of  approach.  Many  scientists  have  not  the 
brain  power  to  delve  far  below  the  surface  and  hence  must  remain 
cataloguers  of  facts  who  here  and  there  reach  a  valuable  general  de- 
duction. Some  of  this  class,  indeed,  find  a  temporary  abode  in  the 
realm  of  speculation,  and  the  more  academic  their  problem  the  longer 
they  remain  in  that  realm.  If,  however,  their  speculations  relate  to 
fields  that  touch  human  needs  their  sojourn  in  that  high  yet  misty  at- 
mosphere is  likely  to  be  quickly  terminated.  Some  materially  minded 
man,  mistaking  their  chaff  for  wheat,  may  make  a  practical  applica- 
tion of  some  high-spun  theory,  with  resulting  disaster.  No  surer  test 
of  the  validity  of  many  a  scientific  hypothesis  may  be  found  than  its 
practical  application.  Therefore,  the  scientist  who  is  working  with 
an  eye  to  practical  results  is  likely  to  weight  his  evidence  more  care- 
fully than  the  one  whose  pronouncements  are  of  purely  academic 


100      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

interest.  In  other  words,  if  an  investigator  has  the  necessary  brain 
power  the  fact  that  his  researches  are  directed  toward  the  solution  of  a 
practical  problem  will  not  prevent  his  reaching  the  very  fundamentals. 
Moreover,  the  large  majority  of  investigators  are  likely  to  be  more 
accurate  in  their  inquiries  if  the  results  are  to  be  subjected  to  the  acid 
test  of  industrial  use. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  industry  every  crumb  of  scientific  knowledge 
is  seized  with  avidity,  and  there  is  always  danger  of  premature  an- 
nouncement of  results.  An  investigator  more  anxious  to  obtain  the 
plaudits  of  the-  public  than  to  test  the  soundness  of  a  theory  may 
yield  to  this  temptation.  This  has  happened  in  the  Federal  service 
with  the  connivance  of  some  bureau  that  hoped  to  receive  support 
because  of  spectacular  announcements  rather  than  because  of  thorough 
work.  The  evil  cures  itself,  for  the  punishment  will  be  quick  and 
drastic. 

Some  critics  hold  that  the  ideals  of  the  investigator  will  be  lower 
if  his  research  is  directed  toward  the  solution  of  industrial  problems. 
These  critics  are  strangers  to  the  inspiration  that  comes  from  hope 
of  rendering  service  to  the  people.  Most  great  inventors  must  have 
felt  the  same  stimulus,  even  though  they  are  generally  credited  with 
only  the  motive  of  gain.  The  sympathy  of  the  people  gives  an  in- 
spiration to  the  investigator  which  is  not  exceeded  by  the  expectation 
of  advancing  scientific  knowledge  alone. 

"Science  for  science's  sake"  is  sometimes  used  to  express  the  highest 
ideal  of  the  investigator.  The  essence  of  this  borrowed  phrase  is 
simply  love  of  truth,  to  which  every  scientist  must  always  be  loyal. 
Scientific  ideals  are  not  in  danger  because  research  may  be  directed 
to  supplying  the  material  needs  of  the  Nation.  The  real  danger  lies 
in  the  investigator  who,  while  parading  his  love  of  science,  in  reality 
makes  this  only  secondary  to  his  desire  for  self-aggrandizement. 

It  is  a  measure  of  our  high  scientific  standards  that  some  of  the  best 
opportunities  for  research  come  to  those  by  whom  they  are  well 
deserved,  but  the  greater  number  of  scientists  must  "carry  on"  under 
conditions  as  they  find  them,  and  perhaps  even  greater  honor  than 
that  accorded  to  the  favored  ones  is  due  to  him  who  goes  forward  on 
a  path  strewn  with  difficulties.  Science  is  not  commercialized  when 
it  is  used  for  practical  ends ;  only  when  the  investigator  is  working  prin- 
cipally for  his  own  profit.  Yet  we  should  not  judge  harshly  those  who 
have  been  driven  by  threatened  bankruptcy  to  leave  their  laboratories 
and  their  professorial  chairs  for  commercial  life.     This  course  is  not 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  101 

the  fault  of  the  individual;  it  is  the  result  of  the  failure  of  the  people 
to  appreciate  the  true  value  of  the  work  of  the  investigator. 

The  attempt  is  sometimes  made  to  classify  scientists  not  by  their 
achievements  but  by  their  environment.  The  result  is  as  artificial 
as  to  classify  them  by  the  number  of  capital  letters  they  have  the 
right  to  print  after  their  names.  Though  scientific  leaders  have 
generally  received  recognition  by  well-earned  honors,  the  tuft  hunter 
is  not  unknown  even  among  scientists.  An  honor  conferred  on  such 
a  one  evidently  proves  nothing  but  success  achieved  in  a  very  special- 
ized field.  This  condition  is  unavoidable,  and  it  in  no  sense  detracts 
from  the  dignity  of  the  honor  rolls  of  learned  institutions.  It  gives, 
however,  an  indication  of  the  danger  of  any  measure  of  merit  except 
that  of  accomplishment. 

The  greatest  scientists  come  from  those  whose  love  of  truth  impels 
them  to  make  every  necessary  sacrifice  to  advance  knowledge,  and 
if  by  so  doing  they  also  better  the  condition  of  mankind  they  deserve 
all  the  more  honor.  Their  devotion  to  science  is  too  apparent  to  need 
shouting  from  the  housetops,  nor  does  its  purity  require  the  stamp 
of  any  registered  brand.  Such  investigators  evaluate  the  work  of 
their  colleagues  by  results  and  not  by  hair-splitting  distinctions  be- 
tween pure  and  applied  science.  They  know  nothing  about  that 
rarified  atmosphere  that  is  so  pure  that  it  might  be  deadly  to  the 
Federal  scientist  if  by  accident  he  should  be  permitted  to  breathe  it. 

The  Federal  bureau  chief  who  devotes  the  resources  over  which 
he  has  control  to  some  urgent  problem  of  public  welfare  is  sometimes 
charged  with  truckling  to  popularity.  This  charge  is  occasionally 
just,  but  there  are  enough  examples  of  the  unpopular  side  of  a  contro- 
versy being  taken  solely  from  motives  of  public  duty  to  prove  that 
it  is  not  a  general  rule.  Indeed,  many  an  executive  has  with  deep 
regret  turned  from  some  important  and  attractive  field  of  research 
solely  because  of  a  conscientious  interpretation  of  the  law. 

The  resources  of  the  Federal  bureaus,  though  considerable  in  the 
aggregate,  are  always  inadequate  to  cover  their  fields  of  science. 
A  choice  must  therefore  be  made  among  many  problems,  and  this 
choice  will  be  guided  by  the  wants  of  the  people.  The  selection  of 
the  field  of  inquiry  by  a  Federal  executive  may  be  likened  to  that 
made  by  the  explorer  of  a  new  land .  In  the  interest  of  broad  knowledge 
and  by  personal  preference  the  explorer  may  first  essay  the  precipitous 
and  difficult  slopes  of  its  highest  peak.  He  may  hold  that  the  wide 
view  obtained  from  the  summit  will  so  greatly  advance  knowledge  as 


102      JOURNAL  OF  TH:e  WASHINGTON  ACADEIMY  OP  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

to  fully  justify  the  time  and  money  necessary  for  the  project.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  may  reflect  that  the  attempt  to  scale  the  peak  has 
no  assurance  of  success  until  the  foothills  have  been  searched  out  and 
routes  of  approach  discovered.  Then,  again,  he  may  remember  that 
his  first  object  is  to  discover  regions  suitable  for  the  abode  of  men. 
Because  of  these  considerations  he  must  decide  to  begin  his  exploration 
in  areas  of  lesser  relief  and  thus  make  his  work  of  immediate  benefit 
to  the  people.  Just  so  the  Federal  investigator,  in  the  performance 
of  his  public  duty,  must  give  preference  to  those  fields  of  research 
that  directly  benefit  the  mass  of  the  people  he  serves. 

I  have  invited  your  attention  to  some  of  the  adverse  opinions  on 
the  policies  of  Federal  research.  Each  of  you  will  accept  or  reject 
them  according  to  his  own  lights,  yet  they  deserve  earnest  considera- 
tion by  every  American  scientist.  If  those  in  the  Federal  service  are 
not  doing  their  share  to  advance  science  they  are  not  living  up  to  their 
trust.  If  those  out  of  the  service  are  convinced  of  this  they  too  have 
a  public  duty  to  perform.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  is  another  and 
very  serious  aspect  of  the  matter.  The  whole  spirit  of  American  science 
today  is  one  of  cooperation.  To  promote  this  spirit  the  time  of  many 
eminent  men  and  considerable  funds  are  being  expended.  If  the 
large  body  of  investigators  in  the  Federal  service  are  unjustly  charged 
with  lower  ideals  than  those  in  private  employment  a  serious  schism 
will  develop  in  American  science  that  cannot  be  healed  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  committees. 

Though  we  may  agree  that  the  general  policy  of  the  scientific 
service  is  sound,  yet  we  must  admit  that  there  are  tendencies  that 
should  be  checked.  One  of  these  is  the  drift  toward  technology. 
Many  Federal  institutions  are  charged  by  law  with  both  scientific 
and  technologic  investigations,  and  the  two  fields  cannot  always  be 
definitely  separated.  Yet  there  is  danger  that  researches  into  the 
fundamental  laws  of  science  be  neglected,  though  these  laws  must 
obviously  be  learned  before  they  can  be  applied  to  industry.  Nearly 
all  Federal  investigators  are  pressed  for  results,  and  consequently 
they  have  a  natural  tendency  to  give  preference  to  the  smaller  problems 
— those  that  do  not  consume  too  much  time.  Some  of  the  problems 
thus  chosen  might  well  be  left  to  industry,  and  the  funds  devoted  to 
searching  out  the  more  fundamental  principles. 

Perhaps  the  most  crying  evil  in  the  service  is  the  endeavor  to  ac- 
complish too  much.  Our  vast  area  and  our  complex  industries  lead 
to  demands  that  cannot   be  met  with  the  resources  available.     The 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  103 

attempt  to  cover  too  wide  a  field  is  the  result  in  part  of  general  policy 
and  in  part  of  the  ambitions  of  the  investigator.  The  result  of  this 
attempt  is  that  most  of  the  conscientious  workers  in  the  Federal 
service  are  overburdened.  It  is  clear  that  nearly  every  bureau  is 
undermanned  for  the  tasks  it  undertakes.,  especially  now  that  so  many 
of  the  investigators  are  newcomers.  Much  of  the  work  is  carried  for- 
ward by  the  wheel-horse  investigator,  whose  progress  is  slow  and  steady 
and  whose  load  is  constantly  increasing,  sometimes  almost  to  the 
breaking  point.  The  more  brilliant  but  often  eccentric  scientist, 
riding  on  top  of  the  load,  may  be  employed  chiefly  in  pyrotechnic 
displays  which,  dazzling  as  they  may  be,  do  little  to  carry  forward  the 
burden.  It  is  the  wheel-horse  scientist  who  needs  relief  and  more 
opportunity   for   constructive   thought. 

It  is  often  forgotten  that  the  scientist  should  disseminate  as  well 
as  increase  human  knowledge,  and  if  his  work  to  this  end  is  measured 
by  results  the  American  man  of  science  has  much  neglected  his  duty. 
I  venture  the  opinion  that  there  is  today  relatively  less  popular  know- 
ledge of  science  and  less  interest  in  its  methods  and  achievements 
than  there  was  a  generation  ago.  The  Constitution  provided  that 
Congress  could  advance  science  by  enacting  laws  for  granting  patents. 
This  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  years  ago,  when  the  only  con- 
cept of  scientific  investigation  was  afforded  by  the  work  of  the  inventor. 
Yet  to  a  large  part  of  our  people  research  and  invention  are  still 
synonymous  terms,  and  even  among  those  who  are  well  educated 
there  are  many  who  conceive  of  research  as  a  kind  of  hocus-pocus 
that  results  in  brilliant  discovery.  A  scientific  genius,  they  believe, 
retires  to  his  laboratory  with  pad  and  pencil,  to  emerge  twenty-four 
hours  later  hungry  but  triumphant.  Much  periodical  literature  that 
is  ostensibly  devoted  to  disseminating  science  among  the  people  is 
given  over  to  descriptions  of  inventions,  chiefly  of  the  simplest  type, 
with  no  discussion  of  the  principles  involved. 

The  lack  of  popular  knowledge  of  science  is,  I  hold,  directly  due  to 
the  form  in  which  science  is  presented.  It  has  been  found  easier  to 
multiply  specialized  technical  vocabularies  than  to  express  results 
in  clear  and  precise  English.  We  have  followed  too  blindly  the  Ger- 
man scientists,  who  with  all  their  thoroughness  seldom  elucidate  prin- 
ciples either  clearly  or  forcibly.  They  have  invented  that  wonderful 
word  "allgemeinwissenschaftlichverstandlichkeit,"  though  few  of  them 
have  had  occasion  to  use  it.  The  German  has  the  advantage  of  a 
language  that  may  be  written  in  an  accepted  form  and  yet  be  com- 


104      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

paratively  incomprehensible,  and  this  without  even  recourse  to  a 
specially  invented  jargon.  Some  American  investigators  seem  to 
agree  with  one  school  of  German  thought,  holding  that  science  is  for 
the  chosen  few  and  that  the  mass  of  the  people  must  take  scientific 
orders  rather  than  explanations.  Indeed,  we  are  not  altogether  free 
from  scientific  snobbery,  by  which  the  results  of  research  are  held  to 
be  sacred  to  the  elect. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  need  of  the  average  American  scientist  of  the 
present  day  is  to  learn  to  write  clear  English.  How  can  we  hope  that 
the  people  will  respect  and  support  science  if  we  give  them  its  message 
in  words  that  they  cannot  understand?  The  seriousness  of  the 
situation  is  brought  home  by  the  fact  that  scientists  themselves  often 
cannot  understand  the  expositions  of  their  colleagues.  If  American 
investigators  are  to  abandon  the  use  of  our  common  tongue,  we  must 
needs  invent  a  scientific  Esperanto.  What  we  may  call  the  stenog- 
raphy of  science,  expressed  by  the  vocabulary  of  the  specialist,  the 
formula  of  the  chemist,  and  the  equations  of  the  mathematician,  is 
necessary,  yet  the  masters  of  scientific  exposition  have  been  able  to 
present  their  conclusions  without  too  great  use  of  these  mysterious 
symbols.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  progress  of  science  has  made 
it  necessary  to  coin  words  for  new  facts  and  new  theories.  The  in- 
vention of  new  words  has  not  ended  there,  however,  for  they  often 
express  only  old  facts  and  old  ideas.  Scientific  writings  are  also  made 
needlessly  obscure  by  refinements  in  the  use  of  technical  words  that 
are  in  no  way  essential  to  the  main  thesis.  Moreover,  long  and  un- 
usual words  are  often  preferred  to  shorter  words  that  are  in  more 
common  use.  Some  scientists  appear  to  believe  that  unless  their 
writings  are  ponderous  they  will  lose  standing  among  their  colleagues. 
As  a  consequence,  when  a  scientific  treatise  is  written  in  such  form  as 
to  be  understood  by  the  average  educated  man,  the  public  exclaims 
at  the  marvel. 

Someone  has  described  sociology  as  a  science  which  tells  us  what 
we  already  know  in  words  we  cannot  understand.  Even  though  this 
may  be  a  slander,  much  scientific  writing  is  open  to  the  same  criticism. 
Scientific  treatises  so  camouflaged  with  technical  phraseology  as  to 
obscure  their  paucity  of  ideas  are  not  unknown.  It  is  sometimes  for- 
gotten that  clear  writing  is  the  offspring  of  clear  thinking.  Those  who 
doubt  that  science  can  be  presented  in  both  elegant  and  clear  diction 
should  turn  to  the  treatises  by  the  French,  and  that  this  is  not  a  matter 
of  language  is  shown  by  some  scholarly  expositions  by  the  British. 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  105 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  relatively  few  popular  scientific  works  are 
now  being  written  in  this  country.  In  a  recent  list  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee of  this  Academy  a  large  percentage  of  the  books  were  written 
by  Englishmen.  In  scientific  textbooks  America  probably  leads — 
certainly  in  numbers.  Most  of  these  books,  however,  are  written 
for  the  pedant,  and  no  matter  how  valuable  they  may  be  for  his  use 
they  are  not  likely  to  awaken  popular  interest  in  the  subject  treated. 
Indeed,  some  of  them  appear  to  have  been  prepared  for  the  market 
rather  than  because  the  author  had   any  message  to  convey. 

The  Federal  scientist,  because  of  his  direct  responsibility  to  the 
people,  deserves  the  most  censure  for  the  faults  of  presentation.  Many 
bureaus  have,  indeed,  prepared  very  good  popular  treatises  on  some 
applications  of  science,  but  most  of  their  other  publications  are  couched 
in  technical  language  that  is  incomprehensible  to  all  but  the  specialists. 
Some  of  their  results,  with  the  aid  of  the  newspapers,  have  been  re- 
duced to  popular  form,  but  most  of  these  "translations,"  as  we  may  call 
them,  are  written  for  the  unthinking  man,  who  is  generally  willing  to 
take  his  science  on  faith  and  therefore  meeds  no  expositions.  To 
meet  his  supposed  needs  science  is  "melodramatized,"  and  startling 
discoveries  are  emphasized  at  the  expense  of  presenting  principles. 
The  form  of  the  "stories"  in  the  sensational  press  is  followed  more 
often  than  that  of  the  expositions  of  art,  history,  and  literature  found 
in  our  best  periodicals.  What  is  needed  is  the  presentation  of  science 
in  a  form  comprehensible  to  the  educated  and  thinking  man,  and  this 
work  must  needs  be  done  by  the  investigator  himself.  The  other  im- 
portant work  of  interpreting  science  for  the  mass  of  the  people  can  best 
be  left  to  those  who  have  special  talent  for  the  task.  It  should  be  said 
for  the  Federal  investigator  that  for  most  of  his  work  he  is  not  always 
given  the  time  necessary  for  clear  writing.  He  therefore  has  recourse 
to  scientific  jargon  and  sometimes,  indeed,  leaves  to  the  devoted  bureau 
editor  the  correction  of  his  faults  of  diction. 

Research  may  be  popularized  not  only  by  properly  presenting  its 
results,  but  by  informing  the  public  of  its  purpose  and  methods; 
and  in  this  too  there  is  room  for  much  improvement.  The  investiga- 
tor who  runs  true  to  type  avoids  rather  than  courts  publicity ;  he  asks 
nothing  more  than  to  be  left  to  solve  his  own  problems.  This  desire 
has  become  almost  a  mania  in  many  scientists,  both  to  their  own 
detriment  and  to  that  of  the  public.  Publicity  has  therefore  been 
left  to  the  occasional  worker  who  is  far  from  willing  to  hide  his  light 
under  a  bushel.     The  public,  almost  entirely  ignored  by  the  average 


106      JOURNAL,  OF  THK  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

scientist,  finds  this  exceptional  type,  usually  not  a  difficult  task,  and 
takes  him  at  his  own  valuation.  In  so  doing  it  may  forget  that  the 
efficiency  of  a  steam  engine  cannot  be  gaged  by  the  volume  of  sound 
produced  by  its  whistle.  If  science  is  permitted  to  reach  the  average 
man  principally  through  the  agency  of  a  few  self -selected  mouthpieces, 
investigators  have  only  themselves  to  blame.  There  is  no  higher  mis- 
sion than  the  dissemination  of  science  among  the  people,  and  those 
who  undertake  it  with  no  thought  of  self-glorification  and  often  at  the 
expense  of  their  own  researches  certainly  deserve  the  highest  praise. 

A  more  amusing  and  perhaps  less  valuable  type  is  the  restless 
scientist.  He  usually  devotes  far  more  time  to  exposition  than  to 
origination.  If  the  activities  of  the  restless  scientist  take  the  form  of 
publication,  they  may  appear  with  the  noise  and  regularity  of  the 
projectiles  from  a  machine  gun.  We  should  remember,  however, 
that  the  destructive  effect  of  an  automatic  weapon  is  due  to  volume  of 
fire  rather  than  to  accuracy  of  aim ;  also  that  its  projectiles  are  machine 
made  and  of  light  weight.  At  other  times  the  restless  scientist  mani- 
fests himself  by  close  attention  to  public  meetings.  No  convention, 
society,  or  committee  is  complete  without  him,  and  if  not  on  the  plat- 
form he  is  at  least  on  a  front  seat.  His  voice  is  heard  in  favor  of  the 
most  popular  reform  of  the  day,  and  he  is  critical  of  his  colleagues  who 
do  not  join  the  chorus. 

We  marvel  at  the  publicity  scientist,  who  often  seems  to  be  bearing 
the  weight  of  the  Nation  on  his  shoulders,  but  we  must  acknowledge 
that  he  may  be  a  valuable  member  of  the  body  politic.  Though  he 
has  usually  abandoned  research,  yet  he  stirs  up  his  less  progressive 
colleagues,  and,  above  all,  he  keeps  science  in  the  public  eye.  Some 
of  these  men  are  doing  most  valuable  work,  and  it  is  not  for  those  who 
hold  themselves  aloof  from  the  public  to  take  them  to  task.  He  who 
sacrifices  his  own  scientific  career  with  the  purpose  of  bringing  to 
the  people  better  knowledge  of  the  results,  needs,  and  methods  of 
science  merits  the  highest  praise  and  should  have  the  full  support  of 
every  scientist.  Adverse  criticism  must  be  reserved  for  him  whose 
publicity  work  is  largely  devoted  to  self-advertising. 

The  working  corps  of  publicity  scientists  is  recruited  in  part  from 
the  Federal  service,  but  I  believe  the  Federal  recruits  are  outnumbered 
by  those  from  other  sources.  Recent  legislative  restrictions  have 
rather  discouraged  the  activities  of  the  familiar  type  of  traveling 
scientist  of  the  Federal  service,  who  was  most  often  found  elsewhere 
than  in  his  own  laboratory. 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  feder^m.  science  107 

There  is  an  old  Washington  story  worth  recording,  though  probably 
it  is  familiar  to  you  all.  A  visitor,  much  impressed  with  the  large 
number  of  specialists  included  in  the  membership  of  a  local  club,  ex- 
pressed his  enthusiasm  by  exclaiming,  "You  can  ask  no  question  in 
the  Cosmos  Club  but  you  will  find  the  man  who  will  give  the  answer." 
One  of  his  auditors,  long  resident  in  the  city,  remarked  "Yes,  and  I 
know  the  man."  He  had  reference  to  one  of  a  type  that  may  be 
designated  as  the  "professional  prominent  scientist."  This  type, 
though  not  unknown  elsewhere,  was  at  one  time  conspicuous  in 
Washington  and  was  the  popular  authority  on  all  scientific  questions. 
A  new  problem  was  the  signal  for  at  least  a  half-column  interview,  in 
which  a  final  dictum  was  pronounced.  Though  he  sometimes  failed 
to  impress  his  colleagues  with  the  profundity  of  his  knowledge,  the 
public  was  ever  ready  to  worship  at  his  shrine.  His  evolution,  a 
perfectly  natural  one,  was  due  to  the  craving  of  the  man  on  the  street 
for  an  understanding  of  something  of  science,  a  craving  satisfied  by  but 
few  investigators.  He  served  a  valuable  purpose,  and  the  popularizing 
of  science  has  certainly  lost  ground  since  the  position  of  scientist  laur- 
eate has  become  vacant. 

The  first  gun  at  Liege,  inaugurating  the  upheaval  that  was  destined 
to  shake  the  foundations  of  civilization,  opened  a  new  field  for  science, 
which  the  coming  of  peace  greatly  expanded.  The  call  for  help  from  a 
distressed  world  was  responded  to  by  every  scientist,  whose  one  thought 
was  to  discover  how  be  might  be  of  service,  and  every  branch  of  science 
took  an  account  of  stock  to  learn  what  it  might  offer.  In  the  first 
years  of  war  the  titles  of  presidential  addresses  to  scientific  societies 
were  almost  stereotyped;  they  were  all  expositions  showing  how  this 
or  that  science  could  be  made  useful. 

Federal  science  both  gained  and  lost  by  the  tumult  of  war— gained 
because  its  results  found  a  seller's  market  and  finally  received  recog- 
nition; lost  because  after  the  war  the  investigator  learned  that  his 
services  were  valued  much  higher  by  industry  than  by  the  Govern- 
ment. In  that  brilliant  coterie  of  leaders  in  thought  and  action  gath- 
ered at  Washington  by  the  war,  the  Federal  scientist  shone,  if  only  by 
reflected  light.  If  in  that,  as  in  all  other  wars,  the  volunteer  received 
more  glory  than  the  regular,  the  regular  at  least  gained  more  than  ever 
before. 

It  detracts  in  no  way  from  the  splendid  war  service  rendered  by 
every  scientific  institution  in  the  country  to  assert  that  the  Federal 
bureaus  were  the  backbone  of  war  science.     They  were  the  vast  store- 


108      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

houses  of  scientific  facts  that  could  at  once  be  drawn  upon,  and  the 
energies  of  their  great  corps  of  investigators  were  quickly  turned  to- 
ward the  problems  of  war.  As  hardly  a  field  of  science  was  not  utilized, 
so  hardly  one  was  unrepresented  at  Washington  among  its  thousand 
investigators.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  this  great  army  was  fully 
mobilized,  and  its  staffs  were  organized.  Though  not  so  well  dis- 
ciplined as  some  wished,  it  was  necessarily  better  prepared  to  go  over 
the  top  at  the  zero  hour  than  the  new  recruits,  seasoned  veterans 
though  many  of  them  were. 

At  no  other  time  in  our  history  were  there  gathered  together  so 
large  a  number  of  leaders  of  business  affairs,  and  many  of  these  were 
for  the  first  time  awakened  to  the  high  commercial  value  of  science. 
With  the  signing  of  the  armistice  the  doUar-a-year  man  returned  to 
his  more  lucrative  occupation,  while  the  Federal  scientist  was  left 
to  divide  his  attention  between  high  scientific  ideals  and  high  cost  of 
living.  The  dollar-a-year  man  lost  no  time  in  garnering  into  his 
affairs  some  of  the  Federal  scientists  whom  he  had  learned  to  value 
during  the  war.  He  went  further  than  that,  for  he  robbed  the  uni- 
versities of  some  of  their  most  earnest  advocates  of  pure  science. 

It  seems  remarkable  that  the  end  of  a  period  when  devotion  to  pub- 
lic duty  was  the  very  keynote  of  the  Nation  should  be  marked  by  a 
widespread  desertion  of  the  Federal  service.  Men  who  had  long 
sacrificed  their  own  and  their  families'  comfort  found  the  task  no 
longer  to  their  liking.  Veteran  Government  scientists  who  had  for 
years  continued  in  the  service  because  of  devotion  to  their  ideals 
realized  that  their  war  colleagues  from  private  life  were  willing,  the 
emergency  past,  to  abandon  public  service  for  more  lucrative  employ- 
ment. Many  investigators  no  doubt  held  that  they  too  had  done  their 
share  of  public  work  and  were  not  called  upon  for  further  sacrifice. 
The  loss  to  the  Federal  service  of  experienced  investigators  is  well 
known  though  this  audience  will  hardly  be  willing  to  accept  the 
statement  that  "all  the  able  scientists  have  left  the  Government 
service."  The  egress  from  the  service  after  the  war  was  so  large  that 
the  crowded  condition  of  the  trains  leaving  Washington  must  have 
been  due  in  part  to  ex-Government  scientists  who  were  being  trans- 
ported to  more  lucrative  positions.  Quite  as  alarming  as  this  loss, 
though  less  well  advertized,  is  the  difficulty  of  filling  vacancies  by  the 
best  men  from  the  universities,  for  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  Federal 
service  now  often  has  only  second  choice.  Many  of  the  best-trained 
men,  who  formerly  chose  the  career  of  Government  investigator,  now 
pass  directly  from  the  university  into  commercial  life. 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  109 

This  turnover  of  scientific  personnel  in  the  Federal  service  is  to  be 
deplored,  for  the  newcomers  are  at  best  but  ill  trained  compared  with 
those  that  have  gone,  and  they  are  strangers  to  the  traditions  of  the 
service.  No  doubt  some  of  our  critics  will  regard  this  as  a  not  un- 
mixed evil,  because  they  hold  that  bureau  chiefs  exercise  the  same 
functions  as  the  beadles  of  the  University  of  Gottingen,  whose  prin- 
cipal duty,  according  to  Heine,  was  to  prevent  any  enterprising 
Privat-docent  from  smuggling  new  ideas  into  the  institution. 

The  present  trend  of  the  best  university  graduates  away  from 
research  and  toward  industry  is  a  most  serious  threat  to  the  future  of 
science.  Its  causes  are  many  and  include  financial  and  other  post- 
war conditions.  May  it  not,  however,  also  be  in  part  due  to  a  certain 
lowering  of  the  ideals  of  the  university  student?  Because  of  the 
high  cost  of  living  the  teaching  staffs  of  universities,  like  those  of  other 
research  institution,  have  been  depleted.  Strenuous  efforts  have  been 
made  to  increase  the  salary  of  the  professor,  but  some  of  the  univer- 
sities have  been  forced  to  temporize  by  allowing  him  to  devote  a  part 
of  his  time  to  commercial  work.  In  others  the  professor,  though  not 
actually  employed  in  the  business  world,  has  been  forced  to  eke  out 
his  small  income  by  preparing  textbooks  instead  of  by  advancing  re- 
search. Are  we  then  not  justified  in  asking  whether  a  student's 
ideal  to  advance  knowledge  will  be  greatly  developed  by  a  "revered 
master"  whose  academic  work  is  frequently  interrupted  by  industrial 
demands,  or  whose  contributions  to  science  are  textbooks,  some  of 
them  only  too  evidently  prepared  with  a  view  to  profit? 

Another  by-product  of  the  war  which  may  do  evil  to  science  is  the 
widespread  and  more  or  less  blind  worship  of  so-called  efficiency. 
The  post-war  restlessness  has  developed  a  popular  fervor  for  every- 
thing that  is  new  or  different  from  what  has  gone  before.  No  one  can 
find  fault  with  the  plan  of  bringing  all  scientific  activities  to  the 
highest  degree  of  efficiency,  but  there  are  differences  of  opinion  as 
to  how  this  can  best  be  accomplished.  The  American  people  are 
sometimes  carried  away  by  sentiment  rather  than  by  cold  reasoning, 
and  any  new  cause,  after  receiving  the  proper  label,  is  pressed  forward 
without  thoughtful  analysis.  Sweeping  generalizations  are  made  by 
unthinking  men,  and  if  they  make  a  popular  appeal  they  may  receive 
the  assent  of  the  majority.  The  economies  forced  by  the  post-war 
conditions  have  made  efficiency  a  national  fetish.  Unfortunately, 
the  word  efficiency  has  to  many  lost  its  true  meaning,  and  because  of 
the  success  of  a  certain  definite  system  of  improved  administration 


110      JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

or  Operation  in  industrial  plants,  it  is  assumed  that  a  like  system  should 
be  adopted  for  all  other  activities.  It  is  therefore  quite  possible  that 
the  methods  of  efficiency  employed  in  industry  may  soon  be  applied 
to  research.  Though  no  one  has  yet  claimed  that  these  methods  would 
improve  our  output  in  literature,  this  use  of  them  would  not  be  very 
different  from  their  use  in  scientific  investigation. 

Another  present  popular  fetish  whose  worship  is  closely  related 
to  that  of  efficiency  is  the  fallacy  that  all  advance  has  been  made  by 
the  work  of  the  executive.  Our  rapid  material  success  has  been  due 
largely  to  the  executive,  yet  the  most  effective  worker  in  advancing 
civilization  has  been  the  thinker.  During  the  war  the  organizer  and 
leader  was  the  prime  necessity,  but  our  success  in  the  war  was  largely 
the  result  of  peace-time  thinking.  War  conditions  are  not  favorable 
to  close  thought  and  careful  analysis,  and  though  under  the  stress 
of  national  necessity  we  made  many  new  applications  of  our  knowledge, 
it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  stress  led  to  any  new  thought. 

The  successful  administrator  has  long  been  our  national  hero,  and 
the  greatest  material  rewards  have  come  to  him;  the  thinkers  and 
investigators  have  always  taken  the  second  place.  This  popular  wor- 
ship of  the  executive  has  already  affected  American  science,  and 
even  the  scientist  has  been  drawn  into  the  maelstrom  of  administra- 
tive duties.  Good  executive  heads  of  scientific  institutions  are  neces- 
sary and  should  by  all  means  come  from  those  who  have  themselves 
carried  on  research.  There  is  now,  however,  such  a  furore  for  organi- 
zation that  many  important  researches  have  been  interrupted,  because 
the  scientist  was  dragged  into  all  manner  of  affairs  foreign  to  his  train- 
ing and  experience.  If  this  movement  continues,  a  large  part  of  the 
best  investigators  will  soon  be  devoting  their  time  to  activities  of 
societies,  institutions,  or  committees  the  avowed  purpose  of  many 
which  is  to  advance  science.  It  is  then  a  fair  question.  If  most  of 
the  energy  of  American  scientists  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  advocacy 
of  research,  who  is  to  do  the  actual  investigating?  We  may  be  coming 
to  a  situation  in  which  drastic  action  must  be  taken  to  send  the  in- 
vestigator back  to  his  laboratory.  Therefore,  any  plan  of  advancing 
pure  or  applied  science,  whose  execution  involves  delay  in  important 
researches,  may  better  be  abandoned. 

There  is  a  widespread  belief  that  all  faults  of  the  Federal  executive 
departments  can  be  cured  by  reorganization.  Some  discordant  group- 
ings of  Federal  bureaus  and  of  their  subdivisions,  which  lead  to  in- 
efficiency, are  evident.     These  are  so  conspicuous  that  they  are  some- 


FEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  111 

times  taken  as  proof  that  the  whole  plan  is  faulty.  This  is  not  the 
time  nor  place  to  discuss  the  broad  problem  of  Federal  reorganiza- 
tion, but  as  any  basal  changes  in  the  scientific  service  will  affect  the 
individual  investigator  it  must  be  touched  upon. 

There  is  now  a  great  hue  and  cry  about  duplication  of  work  in  the 
bureaus  and  departments.  Nevertheless,  I  venture  the  opinion  that 
there  is  but  little  real  duplication  in  the  scientific  service.  There  is 
a  twilight  zone  between  all  fields  of  research  that  may  at  will  be  thrown 
into  this  or  that  one,  and  therefore  it  has  happened  that  two  bureaus 
approaching  a  subject  from  different  direction  have  found  themselves 
in  the  same  field.  The  old  time  bitter  interbureau  controversies 
over  jurisdiction  are  disappearing,  however,  as  the  result  of  a  spirit 
of  cooperation  and  the  application  of  common  sense,  rather  than  by 
order  of  higher  authority.  Though  the  branches  of  some  scientific 
bureaus  have  found  among  their  number  certain  strange  bedfellows, 
most  of  these  misplacements  have  been  the  results  of  only  temporary 
expedients. 

The  errors  of  some  plans  of  reorganization  are  due  to  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  purpose  and  methods  of  science  and  its  terminology. 
Not  many  years  ago  a  law  was  proposed  providing  that  all  chemical 
laboratories  should  be  consolidated  in  a  single  bureau.  The  advocates 
of  this  measure,  having  no  comprehension  of  what  was  included  in 
the  science  of  chemistry,  honestly  believed  that  it  was  a  reform  which 
would  result  in  economy  and  efficiency.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was 
as  intelligent  as  if  all  work  requiring  the  use  of  the  slide  rule  should 
be  centralized  in  the  Naval  Observatory. 

It  is  to  be  hoped,  therefore,  that  any  plan  of  reorganization  will 
not  be  based  on  confusion  between  the  sounds  of  words  and  their  true 
meaning.  To  me  it  appears  that  one  question  to  be  asked  is  whether 
the  organization  now  charged  with  any  given  investigation  is  doing 
its  work  well.  If  the  answer  is  affirmative,  it  denotes  that  the  organi- 
zation has  an  efficient  personnel  and  a  strong  esprit  de  corps.  The 
integrity  of  such  an  organization  should  not  be  sacrificed  for  the  sake 
of  a  too  rigid  system  of  classification. 

I  venture  the  opinion  that  a  sound  reorganization  will  provide  for  a 
complete  divorce  between  scientific  research,  on  one  hand,  and  the 
administration  of  law  and  the  carrying  on  of  miscellaneous  Govern- 
ment business,  on  the  other.  In  the  past  these  latter  duties  have 
sometimes  come  to  bureaus  established  for  scientific  investigations, 
and  as  a  result  research  has  suft'ered.     The  investigator  is  by  tempera- 


112      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

ment  not  fitted  for  the  duty  of  administering  the  law  or  carrying  on 
other  business,  and  those  who  are  qualified  for  these  tasks  are  usually 
equally  lacking  in  the  abiUty  to  direct  research.  Therefore,  the 
natural  division  between  Federal  functions  should  be  recognized  by 
placing  the  investigator  and  the  administrator  in  distinct  organiza- 
tions. Where  the  facts  and  their  interpretation  are  needed  for  the 
proper  enforcement  of  law  the  investigator  should  be  called  upon, 
but  he  enters  a  foreign  field  when  he  undertakes  to  execute  laws. 

Kipling  has  said  that  "There  are  nine  and  sixty  ways  of  constructing 
tribal  lays,  and  every  single  one  of  them  is  right."  The  intricate 
dovetailing  of  scientific  research  and  its  manifold  applications  to  in- 
dustry gives  a  choice  between  a  large  number  of  perfectly  logical 
classifications.  Therefore,  reorganization  can  well  seek  to  maintain 
the  traditions  of  the  scientific  service  that  have  been  developed  during 
the  century  of  its  growth.  Mere  antiquity  cannot,  of  course  be 
considered  an  argument  in  favor  of  this  or  that  classification;  yet  in 
these  days  of  unrest  the  preservation  of  an  esprit  de  corps  that  is  the 
outgrowth  of  long  and  effective  service  should  not  be  lightly  cast  aside, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  may  contravene  the  principles  of  the  effi- 
ciency expert  devoted  to  cultivating  mass  effort  as  against  individual 
effort. 

In  this  all  too  long  address  I  have  attempted  to  set  forth  the  more 
significant  conditions  under  which  Government  scientific  work  goes 
forward.  By  way  of  summary,  I  may  attempt  to  answer  the  question, 
What  has  a  newly  appointed  scientist  to  reckon  with  on  entering  the 
Federal  service?  It  would  be  easiest  to  follow  the  example  of  many 
others  and  dwell  long  on  the  darker  side  of  the  picture,  but  we  must 
also  see  the  brighter  side. 

The  financial  aspect  of  his  situation  deserves  first  attention,  for 
the  new-born  scientist  probably  has  not  yet  learned  to  put  behind  him 
all  material  things.  His  first  important  discovery  after,  say,  six 
years  of  expensive  education  will  be  that  his  services  are  valued  at 
less  than  those  of  a  journeyman  plumber  with  a  professional  training 
of  six  months,  during  which  his  earnings  have  at  least  covered  his  keep. 
If  the  scientist  remains  in  the  service  he  can  look  forward  with  some 
hope  that  his  income  will  eventually  overtake  his  expenses,  but  this 
only  if  he  lives  humbly,  as  befits  one  of  his  lowly  station.  While 
dedicating  his  life  to  the  public  weal  he  may  be  cheered  by  the  assurance 
that  at  the  age  of  seventy,  when  he  will  be  unfit  for  private  employ- 
ment except  as  doorkeeper,  he  may  be  retired  on  an  allowance  of  $6CIb 


ifEB.  19,  1922    brooks:  the  scientist  in  the  federal  service  113 

a  month.  This  and  the  interest  on  the  debts  he  has  been  forced  to 
contract  while  he  has  been  in  the  service  should  suffice  to  provide  the 
plain  living  and  high  thinking  to  which  he  has  so  long  been  schooled. 
If  he  is  truly  democratic,  he  will  find  comfort  in  the  fact  that  some 
aged  colleague,  whose  professional  duty  in  the  Federal  serv'ice  was  to 
shovel  coal,  enjoys  the  same  monthly  allowance  as  his  own. 

The  newcomer  will  find  in  the  Federal  service  an  atmosphere  of 
activity  and  high  pressure  that  is  not  always  conducive  to  construc- 
tive thought.  If  he  is  favored  by  fortune  he  may  find  that  his  work- 
shop is  a  modern  laboratory,  but  he  is  quite  as  likely  to  find  that  the 
law  has  relegated  him  to  the  dark  corner  of  a  crowded  room.  In  such 
a  corner  the  distraction  caused  by  the  inevitable  noise  and  confusion 
around  him  may  not  infrequently  prevent  the  mental  concentration 
essential  to  good  scientific  work. 

The  new  assistant  will  soon  discover  that  his  official  actions  are 
more  or  less  controlled  by  very  definite  regulations,  which  may  prove 
irksome  to  one  who  has  recently  emerged  from  the  academic  freedom 
of  a  graduate  school.  As  he  gains  more  experience,  however,  he  will 
probably  come  to  realize  that  good  administration  of  a  large  organiza- 
tion necessitates  some  rules  and  restrictions.  Or,  like  some  of  his 
colleagues,  he  may  always  hold  all  restrictions  imposed  by  law  to  be 
merely    symptoms    of    bureaucracy. 

If  the  young  investigator  has  had  a  vision  of  following  a  path  of 
self-selected  research  he  will  meet  with  bitter  disappointment.  He 
must  win  his  spurs  before  he  can  ride  to  combat.  He  will  find  his 
task  definitely  assigned  to  him,  probably  some  small,  closely  super- 
vised investigation.  But  if  he  proves  his  ability,  a  larger  field  will 
surely  open  out  to  him.  His  excellent  training  will  shorten  his  ap- 
prenticeship as  compared  with  that  of  his  predecessor  of  generations 
past.  This  apprenticeship,  short  though  it  may  be,  will  form  the 
necessary  introduction  to  independent  investigation.  In  after  life 
he  will  probably  come  to  see  that  his  best  professional  training  was 
gained  while  he  was  working  under  the  close  control  of  an  experienced 
colleague. 

If  the  scientist  has  come  to  Washington  with  the  purpose  of  dedi- 
cating his  life  to  problems  that  are  unsullied  by  the  sordid  needs  of 
man,  he  has  committed  a  blunder.  He  will  soon  learn  that  grants  of 
public  funds  are  seldom  made  for  research  that  is  not  directed  toward 
some  ultimate  goal  of  material  results.  To  reach  the  fixed  goal, 
however,    investigations   in    the   fundamental    principles    of    science 


114      JOURNAL  OF  THS  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  4 

must  be  undertaken.  The  investigator  will  soon  discover  that  the 
Federal  service  is  not  favorable  for  him  who  holds  that  if  he  himself 
is  pleasantly  occupied,  a  demand  for  results  is  unreasonable.  The 
bureau  chief  is  not  sympathetic  with  the  scientist  who  believes  that, 
if  his  own  life  is  not  long  enough  to  enable  him  to  arrive  at  a  con- 
clusion, posterity  can  glean  sufficient  wisdom  from  his  unfinished 
epoch-making  treatise  to  justify  the  expenditure  of  public  funds 
made  on  his  research. 

Sooner  or  later  fiscal  responsibilities  will  come  to  the  new  scientist, 
and  if  he  seeks  counsel  from  his  older  colleagues,  some  will  tell  him 
that  the  case  is  hopeless — that  the  duty  of  auditors  is  to  interfere 
with  the  progress  of  science  by  throwing  every  available  obstacle  in 
its  path.  If,  however,  he  is  of  an  inquiring  mind  (as  even  a  Federal 
scientist  may  be) ,  he  may  make  the  startling  discovery,  new  to  many 
of  his  seniors,  that  the  Federal  fiscal  system  is  comparatively  simple, 
so  far  as  it  affects  the  individual  investigator;  and  also  that  most  of 
its  difficulties  arise  from  laws  and  not  from  arbitrary  regulations. 
It  will,  however,  be  brought  home  to  him  that  although  scientific 
bureaus  may  encourage  originality,  the  Treasury  officials  find  no' 
merit  in  it  when  it  is  displayed  in  expense  vouchers. 

The  young  scientist  may  meet  with  some  surprises  at  Washington.. 
He  may  have  pictured  the  Federal  scientific  service  as  a  close  cor- 
poration that  attempts  to  impose  its  conclusions  on  the  scientific- 
world.  In  fact,  however,  he  will  find  that  members  of  the  service 
hold  the  most  diverse  opinions,  that  they  are  themselves  the  keenest 
critics  of  both  results  and  policies,  and  that  by  this  characteristic 
the  scientist  finds  himself  in  an  open  forum,  where  new  ideas  and  new 
interpretations    are   most   heartily    welcomed. 

He  is  not  unlikely  to  find  his  preconception  of  his  bureau  chief  to- 
be  false.  Possibly  he  has  pictured  him  as  a  cross  between  a  political 
lobbyist  and  an  advance  theatrical  agent — one  whose  decisions  are 
based  on  expediency  rather  than  on  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  a  situa- 
tion one  whose  interest  in  science  is  prompted  solely  by  the  hope  of 
obtaining  popular  applause.  At  close  range  he  will  probably  find  his 
chief  a  man  deeply  interested  in  the  progress  of  science,  who,  after  de- 
voting years  of  his  life  to  research,  has  given  it  up  out  of  a  sense  of  public 
duty,  for  the  thankless  task  of  administration.  Most  certainly  he  wilt 
find  him  a  very  much  overworked  man,  bearing  a  heavy  responsibility 
for  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums  of  public  money  and  yet  constantly 
harried  by  just  calls  for  investigations  that  are  far  beyond  his  resources. 


FEB.  19,   1922      brooks:   THE  SCIENTIST  IN  THR  FEDERAI^  SERVICE  115 

It  will  soon  be  disclosed  to  the  young  scientist  that  he  has  joined 
a  corps  of  well- trained  professional  men,  keenly  alive  to  the  scientific 
and  industrial  progress  of  the  Nation.  Though  he  will  probably 
never  hear  the  phrases  "public  duty"  and  "self-sacrifice,"  he  will 
find  that  what  these  terms  mean  is  earnestly  expressed  by  actions. 
Nowhere  in  the  world  may  he  find  so  many  scientists,  and  whatever 
his  specialty  he  will  meet  some  whose  interests  are  identical  with  his 
own — among  them  probably  a  recognized  international  authority  in 
his  particular  field  of  inquiry.  Again,  he  will  find  his  own  particular 
field  represented  in  one  of  the  many  local  societies.  Above  all,  the 
young  scientist  will  in  time  come  to  realize  that  the  mere  mass  of 
such  an  army  of  investigators,  whose  scientific  ideals  are  no  less  be- 
cause they  include  the  welfare  of  mankind,  gives  an  inspiration  not 
excelled  elsewhere. 


116      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES.        VOL.   12,  NO.  4 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTEsS  AND  NEWvS 

By  a  proclamation  of  President  Harding,  signed  January  24,  a  593-acre 
tract  in  the  Nevada  National  Forest  has  been  set  aside  as  the  Lehman  Caves 
National  Monument.  The  area  remains  a  part  of  the  National  Forest,  but 
can  be  used  for  no  purposes  which  interfere  with  its  preservation  as  a  national 
monument.  The  caves  are  in  a  limestone  formation  at  the  base  of  Mt. 
Wheeler,  at  an  altitude  of  7200  feet,  and  contain  a  remarkable  series  of 
stalactites  and  stalagmites. 

The  Pick  and  Hammer  Club  met  at  the  Geological  Survey  on  Saturday, 
February  4.  Professor  H.  A.  Brouwer  and  the  members  of  the  Club  dis- 
cussed informally  the  tectonic  theory  presented  by  Dr.  BrouwER  before  the 
Academy  and  the  Geological  Society  on  February  2. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Petrologists'  Club  on  January  17,  E.  T.  Allen 
discussed  Chemical  sources  of  volcanic  energy,  and  L.  H.  Adams,  Physical 
sources  of  volcanic  energy.  C.  S.  Ross  presented  a  brief  note  on  A  peculiar 
type  of  igneous  rock  in  Montana. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Physics  Club  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  on  January 
27,  Professor  Leonard  T.  Troland,  of  Harvard  University,  spoke  on  The 
interrelation  of  physics  and  psychology.  This  is  to  be  the  first  of  a  series  of 
lectures  on  the  borderline  between  physics,  psychology,  and  physiology. 

At  the  25th  annual  meeting  of  the  local  Audubon  Society  on  January  25, 
Dr.  A.  A.  Allen,  of  Cornell  University,  discussed  Birds  and  their  relation  to 
man. 

Professor  H.  A.  BrouwER,  of  the  Geological  Institute,  University  of  Delft, 
Holland,  visited  Washington  in  February.  Dr.  BrouwER  will  give  a  series 
of  lectures  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  in  exchange  with  Professor  William 
H.  HoBBS,  who  is  now  lecturing  at  Delft. 

Mr.  Edwin  F.  Wendt,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Engineering  Board, 
Department  of  Valuation,  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  has  opened  an 
office  in  Washington  for  the  general  practice  of  engineering  in  connection  with 
the  valuation  and  regulation  of  railroads,  telegraphs,  and  other  common 
carrier  properties. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  March  4,  1922  No.  5 


OCEANOGRAPHY. — Some  problems  of  the  sea.^     R.  L.  Faris,  U.  S. 
Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 

INTRODUCTION 

It  has  been  well  said,  I  think,  that  "a  presidential  address,  if  there 
is  to  be  any  at  all,  should  be  elaborately  short  and  elaborately  simple. 
It  should  deal with  general  principles,  such  as  can  be  imme- 
diately grasped  by  every  member  of  an  audience."'  This  is  good  ad- 
vice, and  I  hope  you  will  find  that  I  have  followed  it. 

Noah  was  probably  the  first  person  of  record  to  study  the  sea. 
He  had  a  sea  problem  of  navigation,  of  ascertaining  his  whereabouts 
and  that  is  probably  all  the  attention  that  he  gave  to  the  matter. 

The  first  problems  of  the  sea  were  probably  those  of  navigation  or 
perhaps  such  as  concerned  the  local  food  supply  which  through- 
out all  historic  time  has  been  drawn  partly  from  the  sea. 

The  seas  which  man  found  here  upon  his  advent  on  earth  he  seems, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  to  have  long  considered  as  a  part  of  his  natural 
surroundings,  and  generally  ceased  to  trouble  himself  about  them — 
their  size,  their  depths,  their  contents,  or  even  their  effect  upon  his 
life.  Yet  the  area  of  the  seas  is  much  larger  than  that  of  all  land 
areas  of  the  earth,  and  their  influence  upon  his  daily  life,  and  even 
upon  his  very  nature,  is  profound  and  persistent.  The  very  ratio  of 
sea  to  land  surface  is  essential  to  the  existence  and  development  of 
the  present  humankind. 

It  is  impossible  to  predict  or  even  definitely  to  speculate  upon  the 
effect  on  human  life  that  a  different  distribution  or  a  different  ratio  of 
land  and  water  would  bring  about,  for  we  have  no  specific  knowledge 
of  any  other  world  arrangement  with  which  to  make  comparison.  I 
think  it  quite  possible  that  not  many  of  us  have  taken  thought  of 
how  really  our  lives  are  dependent  upon  the  existence  and  the  pres- 

1  Address  of  retiring  President  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington,  Jan.   14, 
1922.     Received  Jan.   19,   1922. 

2  L.  Fletcher.     Brit.  Assoc.  Report  for  1894,  p.  631. 

117 


118      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

ent  distribution  of  the  waters  of  the  oceans,  and  even  from  a  prac- 
tical standpoint  the  great  majority  of  mankind  has  not  bothered  it- 
self much  about  the  matter.  But  when  we  deal  thoroughly  with  the 
problems  of  the  sea  we  must  touch  upon  many  fundamental  branches 
of  science. 

The  science  of  the  sea  concerns  with  like  interest  the  biologist, 
the  chemist,  the  meteorologist,  the  magnetician,  the  geologist,  the 
physiographer,  the  volcanologist,  and  others,  with  special  subdivisions 
of  their  lines  of  investigations.  Also  the  navigator  and  the  civil 
engineer  have  their  important  practical  problems  dealing  with  the 
sea.  Many  branches  of  science  meet  in  and  upon  the  sea,  and  their 
boundaries  merge  into  each  other. 

The  sea  has  made  for  us  a  clue  to  much  of  the  past  surface  history 
of  the  world,  for  in  its  depths  the  remains  of  the  past  life  of  the  sea 
have  been  filed  away  as  in  the  archives  of  nature,  and  the  sedimentary 
rocks  which  have  been  formed  tell  us  something  of  the  physical  history 
of  the  earth. 

A  study  of  the  life  in  the  sea  is  no  longer  one  of  scientific  interest 
only,  but  one  of  pressing  economic  importance,  as  an  added  source 
of  supply  of  human  food  for  the  ever-growing  populations  of  the 
earth. 

From  a  biological  standpoint,  are  there  any  deserts  in  the  sea? 
Is  it  possible  to  cultivate  the  sea  as  we  do  the  land,  or  as  we  do  our 
oyster  resources,  or  our  streams  and  lakes  by  stocking  with  fish? 

To  utilize  our  land  areas  economically,  topographic,  mineral, 
forest  and  other  special  surveys  are  essential.  Just  so,  it  is  important 
to  have  a  scientific  survey  of  our  ocean  areas  to  enable  us  to  take 
stock  of  its  natural  resources,  and,  having  this,  thereby  to  be  in  a 
position  intelligently  to  develop  and  to  utilize  its  resources  in  an  eco- 
nomical and  efficient  manner. 

Aside  from  being  the  highway  of  the  commerce  of  the  world,  do  we 
also  need  to  use  the  food  resources  of  the  sea  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  human  race?  Or,  in  other  words,  must  we  depend  upon  the  sea 
to  provide  a  portion  of  the  food  necessary  for  the  existence  of  the 
coming  populations?  Does  the  human  body  now  require  for  its 
best  development  any  essential  elements  of  food  that  can  be  sup- 
plied by  the  sea  only? 

If  these  questions  are  answered  in  the  affirmative,  then,  among 
others,  the  sea  food  problem  requires  our  most  intelligent  attention, 
especially  as  the  people  are  even  now  taking  thought  of  their  food 


MAR.  4,  1922  PARIS :  some  problems  of  the  sea  119 

supply,  which  the  tillable  land  areas  of  the  earth  are  daily  growing 
less  and  less  able  to  meet,  as  evidenced  by  the  rising  basic  costs  of 
food.  Sea  foods  have  been  looked  upon  as  desirable,  but  not  abso- 
lutely essential,  parts  of  human  diet.  They  may  soon  become  nec- 
essary to  supplement  an  inadequate  food  supply  from  the  lands. 

It  was  the  belief  of  Sir  John  Murray  that  the  sea  is  capable  of  a 
productivity  equal  to  that  of  the  land.  It  is  generally  estimated 
that  less  than  five  per  cent  of  man's  food  now  comes  from  the  sea. 
If  so,  then  the  sea  has  unrealized  possibilities  of  utilization  that  are 
vast  from  the  economic  standpoint,  and  a  comprehensive  study  of 
these  possibilities  should  not  be  overlooked  or  neglected,  especially 
by  maritime  nations. 

As  the  land  areas  are  made  subservient  to  the  practical  needs  of 
man  just  so  must  the  sea  be  made  more  useful  in  supplying  the  needs 
of  the  human  race,  both  physical  and  cultural.  But  the  utilization 
of  the  resources  of  the  ocean  must  and  will  follow  its  scientific  investi- 
gation and  study.  Let  us  find  out  what  is  in  the  sea,  and  then  learn 
how  to  apply  it  to  our  needs. 

As  our  frontiers  are  pushed  farther  and  farther  toward  the  limits 
of  our  country  we  hear  more  and  more  about  the  conservation  of 
our  natural  resources,  while  here  on  the  borders  of  the  continent  lie 
untold  resources  awaiting  our  investigation  and  industrial  development. 
So  whatever  science  can  do  in  its  investigation  of  the  sea  and  all 
that  therein  is,  cannot  fail  to  have  its  important  interest  for  us  in  the 
practical  bearings  it  must  eventually  have  upon  our  daily  lives. 

In  the  sea,  as  in  no  other  place,  do  we  observe  the  tireless  energy 
of  the  universe  depicted  at  all  times.  The  hydrosphere,  like  the  atmos- 
phere, is  never  still  in  all  its  parts.  It  epitomizes  and  visualizes  the 
energies  of  creation.  And  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea,  by  long  processes 
of  adaptation,  are  no  doubt  dependent  upon,  and  aided  by,  these 
ceaseless  motions  which  assist  their  distribution  and  prevent  over- 
crowding, and  aid  in  the  provision  of  food  which  is  a  necessary  con- 
dition of  their  life.  The  circulation  of  the  waters  of  the  sea  is  a  vital 
benefit  to  the  life  of  the  ocean  creatures,  just  as  air  circulation  is  vital 
to  the  living  organisms  of  the  land.  The  circulation  of  the  waters 
in  the  great  ocean  streams  has  also  a  climatic  influence  upon  the 
life  on  the  land  areas  of  the  world  as  well  as  upon  the  life  in  the  sea.. 
It  is  the  climatic  balance  wheel  for  many  regions,  ever  striving  to- 
ward an  equilibrium  which  fortunately  is  never  quite  attained.  The 
sea  has  its  seasons  no  less  than  the  land. 


120      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

In  fact,  as  we  learn  more  and  more  of  the  physical  facts  of  the  sea, 
we  also  learn  of  their  important  influence  upon  our  lives. 

I  suppose  that  nearly  all  the  problems  of  the  sea  that  are  really 
worth  while  have  already  been  suggested  and  more  or  less  studied  by 
some  one,  and  many  of  them  are  at  least  partly  solved,  but  my  wish 
is  to  emphasize  strongly  the  necessity  for  an  intensive  pursuit  of  those 
that  have  scientific  or  economic  value,  and  for  concerted  effort  and 
standardized  action,  that  an  awakened  and  sustained  interest  may  be 
had  in  those  problems,  especially  by  all  those  nations  whose  borders 
touch  the  oceans  and  who  thereby  must  the  more  readily  realize  the 
importance  of,  and  be  much  interested  in,  such  matters. 

Much  more  of  actual  observations  at  sea  and  in  the  sea  is  needed  to 
verify  existing  theories  or  to  modify  them  to  conform  to  the  further 
facts  of  observation. 

The  mechanical  problems  of  the  sea  are  more  nearly  solved  than 
its  physical  ones.  The  helps  to  the  navigator  are  far  advanced, 
and  the  life-saving  and  property-saving  appliances  are  well  up  to 
date,  so  that  the  mariner  sails  on  a  more  familiar  sea  than  the  ocean- 
ographer  or  the  geophysicist.  But  this  is  only  because  his  problems 
were  the  more  immediate,  and  the  aid  of  the  scientific  method  and  of 
science  was  first  applied  in  his  direction  for  very  obvious  reasons; 
he  has  been  here  with  his  practical  problems  since  the  birth  of  modern 
science  and  has  stood  ready  to  apply  its  findings  to  the  betterment  of 
his  art.  The  applications  of  radio  communication  have  become  the 
genius  of  ocean  navigation,  and  of  longer  distance  weather  predic- 
tions. 

Yet  it  is  not  possible  clearly  to  separate  the  pure  science  from  ap- 
plied science  in  oceanography,  as  the  needs  of  the  one  stimulate 
the  other,  and  the  discoveries  of  science  soon  become  the  necessities 
of  the  practical  navigation  and  other  economic  uses  of  the  sea. 

OCEANOGRAPHY 

Oceanography,  the  general  term  by  which  the  science  of  the  sea 
is  now  come  to  be  designated,  is  a  comprehensive  term  which  em- 
braces a  number  of  rather  distinct  branches  of  investigation  and  study, 
but  many  of  which,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  problems,  are  generally 
carried  on  simultaneously.  It  certainly  would  be  most  economical 
and  efficient  that  as  many  as  possible  of  the  physical  investigations  of 
the  sea  be  carried  on  simultaneously  by  the  same  exploring  expedition. 
The  equipment  for  sea  exploration  is  expensive  at  best,  so  that  the 


MAR.  4,   1922  PARIS:    SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  SEA  121 

more  comprehensive  the  investigations  can  be  made,  the  more  eco- 
nomically will  the  results  be  obtained. 

Oceanography  as  this  term  is  now  applied  is  not  an  old  science. 
Some  twenty  years  ago  Sir  John  Murray  -  said  of  it : 

The  recognition  of  oceanography  as  a  distinct  branch  of  science  may  be 
said  to  date  from  the  commencement  of  the  Challenger  investigations.  The 
fuller  knowledge  we  now  possess  about  all  oceanic  phenomena  has  had  a 
great  modifying  influence  on  many  general  conceptions  as  to  the  nature  and 
extent  of  those  changes  which  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  now  undergoing  and 
has  undergone  in  past  geologic  times.  Our  knowledge  of  the  ocean  is  still 
very  incomplete.  So  much  has,  however,  been  acquired  already,  that  the 
historian  will,  in  all  probability,  point  to  the  oceanographical  discoveries 
during  the  past  forty  years  as  the  most  important  addition  to  the  knowledge 
of  our  planet  since  the  great  geographical  voyages  associated  with  the  names 
of  Columbus,  DaGama,  and  Magellan  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  centuries. 

There  are  probably  no  longer  any  frontiers  on  land  or  sea  to  ex- 
plore, except  perhaps  some  parts  of  the  polar  areas,  yet  upon  the 
sea  there  is  one  region  of  two  million  square  miles  that  has  never  felt 
a  cast  of  the  sounding  line,  nor  much  of  other  investigation. 

The  extreme  depth  of  the  ocean  has  probably  been  approximately 
approached,  and  now  turns  out  to  be  somewhat  in  excess  of  5300 
fathoms  (31,800  feet),  somewhat  more  below  sea  level  than  the  high- 
est elevation  of  the  land  above  the  sea ;  thus  making  the  summit  of  the 
highest  mountain  about  ten  geographic  miles  above  the  deepest 
known  "deep"  of  the  ocean. 

While  we  now  have  much  information  about  the  physical  geog- 
raphy of  the  oceans  and  detailed  surveys  have  been  made  of  their 
borders  in  the  more  advanced  countries  of  the  world,  there  yet  re- 
mains the  larger  part  of  the  sea  coasts  to  be  surveyed  and  mapped  by 
such  modern  methods  and  equipment  as  will  meet  present  and  future 
requirements  of  science,  engineering,  and  commerce;  especially  is 
this  true  of  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  of  the  polar  regions. 

A  knowledge  of  the  physical  form  of  the  ocean  basins  is  fundamental 
to  almost  all  of  the  branches  that  go  to  make  up  the  whole  science  of 
the  sea,  and,  together  with  other  physical  facts,  is  a  guide  to  many 
industrial  possibilities  existing  therein. 

I  think  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  lack  of  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  form' of  the  ocean  basins  has  already  retarded  industrial 
progress,  commercial  development,  and  scientific  and  cultural  ad- 
vancement of  the  world. 

^  President's  address,  Section  E  (Geography),  Brit.  Assoc.  Report  for  1899. 


122      JOURNAL  OP  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

In  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  beyond  the  1000-fathom  depth,  there  is 
now  one  sounding  for  about  each  12,000  square  miles;  in  the  Pacific, 
one  sounding  for  each  25,000  square  miles ;  and  in  the  Indian  Ocean 
one  sounding  for  each  26,000  square  miles.  The  depths  of  the  polar 
seas  have  been  explored  only  to  a  most  limited  extent  or  virtually  not 
at  all.  Owing  to  the  methods  of  navigation  and  of  deep  sea  sounding, 
when  the  earlier  of  these  soundings  were  recorded,  it  is  quite  possible 
that  their  positions  and  depths  now  ought  to  be  verified  by  modern 
methods. 

The  major  part  of  the  sea  coasts  of  the  world  is  not  yet  surveyed 
and  charted  with  the  accuracy  now  needed,  and  many  thousands 
of  miles  of  the  coast  lines  are  not  surveyed  at  all,  and  still  other  parts 
not  even  approximately  sketched. 

In  our  own  country  nine-tenths  of  the  coast  of  Alaska  is  not  yet 
surveyed,  and  the  Pacific  Coast  of  Continental  United  States  is  for 
the  large  part  yet  undone,  while  the  need  for  surveys  is  urgent  and 
commercial  development  is  retarded  and  delayed. 

Only  about  one-seventh  of  the  land  area  of  the  world  is  in  any  wise 
adequately  mapped,  and  the  form  of  the  sea  bottom  is  proportion- 
ately not  so  well  known  as  the  topography  of  the  land.  The  surface 
of  the  sea  holds  less  of  interest  to  mankind  than  the  surface  of  the 
land;  however,  to  the  man  of  science,  the  bottom  of  the  oceans,  if  it 
could  be  exposed  to  view,  would  no  doubt  reveal  equally  as  much  of 
scientific  and  popular  interest  as  the  land  surfaces. 

We  have  been  mapping  the  land  by  various  means  and  methods 
for  many  centuries,  while  the  mapping  of  the  coasts  and  ocean  basins 
has  been  undertaken  seriously  for  a  bare  century  and  a  third,  and 
with  only  a  comparatively  small  number  of  vessels  and  by  only  a  few 
nations.  So  it  is  readily  understood  why  the  undersea  form  of  the 
earth  is  not  yet  known  to  any  very  conclusive  extent.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  charting  the  sea  coasts  and  depths  of  the  oceans,  it  is  well  known 
that  all  nations  are  lagging  far  behind  the  practical  needs  of  ocean 
commerce. 

At  the  time  of  Columbus'  voyage  of  discovery  to  the  new  world 
there  were  no  charts  showing  the  depths  of  the  sea,  nor  the  exact 
boundaries  of  any  ocean.  In  the  year  1504  Juan  de  la  Cosa  made  a 
map  showing  soundings  in  shallow  waters.  Magellan,  in  the  year 
1521,  was  probably  the  first  to  attempt  to  sound  the  ocean  depths. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  total  number  of  soundings  that  have 
been  charted  in  the  three  larger  oceans  beyond  the    1000-fathom 


MAR.  4,  1922  FARIS:   SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  SEA  123 

depth  probably  does  not  much  exceed  seven  thousand,*  including 
many  of  the  earlier  ones  that  ought  now  to  be  verified,  both  as  to  po- 
sition and  depth  of  water;  or  an  average  of  one  sounding  for  each 
17,000  square  miles.  To  compare  this  with  what  ought  to  be  done  in 
order  to  have  a  complete  general  deep  sea  survey  it  should  be  stated 
that  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  soundings  are  needed, 
spaced  at  intervals  of  about  thirty  miles,  with  necessary  local  develop- 
ment. This  would  require  ten  ocean-going  ships  in  continuous  ser- 
vice for  ten  years.  And  this  means  that  each  vessel  must  take  four 
or  five  deep  sea  soundings  every  day  of  the  year  throughout  these 
ten  years.  If,  however,  these  vessels  should  carry  on  other  ocean- 
ographical  investigations,  as  they  most  certainly  should  not  fail  to 
do,  the  time  would  be  much  longer. 

From  physiographic  and  biologic  standpoints  the  borderland  of 
sea  and  shore,  the  so-called  continental  shelf,  holds  a  closer  claim 
upon  our  attention  than  any  other  part  of  the  sea.  This  is  the  most 
populous  part  of  the  ocean  as  regards  the  different  forms  of  sea  life; 
and  here  also  the  physical  forces  of  the  sea  are  most  manifest  and 
effective  in  producing  the  physiographic  transformation  that  the  face 
of  the  earth  is  experiencing  without  cessation. 

The  force  of  the  ocean  waves  is  spent  upon  the  sea  shores  in  an  end- 
less and  tireless  evolution.  The  study  of  the  processes  of  erosion  and 
accretion  of  sea  shores  is  one  of  importance  to  the  scientist  and  the 
engineer  alike.  A  study  of  these  involves  a  knowledge  of  tides,  cur- 
rents, and  wind-produced  ocean  waves.  The  causes  must  be  studied 
and  the  effects  observed  from  time  to  time. 

The  larger  part  of  the  coast  lines  of  the  oceans,  like  the  interior  of 
the  continents,  yet  remains  to  be  charted  in  accordance  with  the 
present-day  requirements.  The  sea  bottom  from  the  shores  to  the 
edge  of  the  continental  shelf  should  be  surveyed  and  mapped  to  meet 
the  needs  of  commerce,  industry  and  science,  all  of  these  being  vi- 
tally concerned  in  the  undersea  physiography  of  this  transition  belt 
between  the  land  areas  and  the  deep  sea. 

A  survey  and  study  of  the  ocean  depths  surrounding  the  islands 
of  the  seas  will  doubtless  do  much  towards  giving  us  a  clearer  con- 
ception of  coral  formation  and  growth,  and  add  to  our  knowledge  of 
subsidence  or  emergence  of  land  areas. 

The  charting  of  the  ocean  basins  from  their  shores  to  their  pro- 
foundest  depths  is  one  of  the  outstanding  problems  of  the  sea.     The 

*  Murray  and  Hjort.     Depths  of  the  Ocean,  p.  131. 


124       JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES       VOL.   12,  NO.  5 

importance  of  it  is  especially  known  to  all  who  have  anything  to  do 
with  oceanography.  The  problem  is  also  so  large  that  nations  are 
thinking  more  seriously  than  ever  before  of  how  its  solution  can  be 
expedited  by  cooperative  means.  It  is  now  fully  realized  that  it  is 
a  problem  for  all  nations;  it  is  no  longer  considered  national  but  is 
admittedly  international. 

The  most  recent  evidence  of  the  crystallization  of  authoritative 
opinion  concerning  the  international  character  of  the  hydrographic 
survey  of  the  oceans,  is  the  formation  during  the  past  year  of  the 
International  Hydrographic  Bureau,  which  has  in  its  membership 
representatives  of  most  of  the  maritime  countries  of  the  world.  The 
object  and  powers  of  this  Bureau  are  stated  essentially  to  be : 

The  establishment  of  a  close  and  permanent  association  between  the  Hy- 
drographic Services  of  the  Associated  States,  to  coordinate  their  eflforts  with  a 
view  to  rendering  navigation  easier  and  safer  in  all  of  the  seas  of  the  world, 
to  cause  the  national  officers  to  adopt  the  Resolutions  taken  by  the  various 
International  Hydrographic  Conferences,  to  try  to  obtain  uniformity  as  far 
as  is  possible  in  hydrographic  documents,  and  finally,  to  advance  the  theory 
and  practice  of  the  science  of  hydrography. 

Among  the  subjects  which  the  Bureau  suggests  for  study  is  "Re- 
searches on  the  subject  of  the  constitution  of  the  earth,  in  so  far 
as  it  affects  hydrography." 

In  reference  to  many  other  subjects  that  make  up  the  science  of  the 
sea,  the  present-day  attitude  of  men  of  science  in  regard  both  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  problems  confronting  them  and  to  the  essential  need 
for  unified  action  of  all  nations  in  attacking  the  problems  now  pressing 
for  solution,  is  well  reflected  in  the  meeting  of  the  First  Pan-Pacific 
Scientific  Conference  fittingly  held  in  Honolulu  in  August,  1920. 

The  papers  presented  and  the  subjects  discussed  at  those  meet- 
ings are  quite  sufficient  to  convince  us  that  much  the  greater  part  of 
oceanographic  work  lies  ahead  of  us,  and  that  adequate  progress 
requires  the  efforts  of  all  nations,  and  also  that  the  work  of  the  sur- 
veys and  investigations  should  be  henceforth  speeded  up  materially. 

Oceanic  circulation. — Now  briefly  to  touch  upon  some  other  of 
the  larger  problems  of  the  sea ;  the  courses  of  the  currents  that  make 
up  the  system  of  oceanic  circulation  have  been  mapped  in  a  general 
way  but  our  knowledge  of  these  streams  is  far  from  satisfactory. 
Our  information  concerning  the  strength  and  direction  of  ocean  cur- 
rents is  largely  dependent  upon  the  set  experienced  by  vessels  traversing 
the  oceans.  And  this  is  based  on  the  difference  between  the  truej^and 
the  dead-reckoning  positions,  which  does  not  permit  of  great  accuracy 


MAR.  4,  1922        FARIS:  SOMe  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  SEA  125 

ill  determination.  Supplementing  the  information  from  this  source 
there  are  a  large  number  of  records  of  drift  bottles,  wrecks  and  other 
floating  objects.  But  at  best  these  permit  conclusions  of  a  qualita- 
tive nature,  only.  We  still  lack  observations  that  will  permit  of  quan- 
titative conclusions,  and  these  can  come  only  as  the  result  of  system- 
atic observations. 

Results  of  a  divergent  character  are  found  in  the  records  of  drift- 
ing objects.  It  is  only  by  the  use  of  great  numbers  of  records  of  this 
character,  that  conclusions,  even  approximately  correct,  may  be 
reached.  Thus  the  whole  subject  of  oceanic  circulation  is  still  rel- 
atively a  virgin  field.  For  each  of  the  currents  investigations  are 
needed  to  determine  its  extent,  its  width,  vertical  and  horizontal 
^'elocity  distribution,  and  its  wind  and  seasonal  variations. 

Even  in  the  case  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  upon  which  considerable 
good  work  has  been  done,  there  is  still  needed  much  work  of  a  quan- 
titative kind.  For  instance,  it  is  known  that  the  position  of  the  ve- 
locity and  temperature  axes  of  the  stream  are  not  necessarily  coinci- 
dent. But  the  exact  relation  between  the  two  yet  remains  to  be  dis- 
covered. Likewise  the  seasonal  changes  in  the  positions  of  these 
two  axes,  and  the  variations  in  velocity  and  temperature  due  to 
changes  in  the  velocity  and  direction  of  the  winds,  yet  remain  to  be 
investigated.  Considerable  additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  Gulf 
Stream  can  yet  be  made  regarding  the  horizontal  and  vertical  distri- 
butions of  velocit}^  of  currents,  temperature,  density,  salinity,  and  their 
variations  with  the  winds  and  seasons.  This  involves,  also,  elaborate 
tidal  and  current  observ^ations  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico and  the  adjacent  waters  of  the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  possibly  across 
to  the  European  Coast. 

Tidal  currents. — Intimately  connected  with  the  tides  and  forming 
a  part  of  the  same  phenomenon  are  the  tidal  currents.  Out  of  sight 
of  land,  tidal  currents  are  generally  very  weak.  But  there  they  offer 
an  interesting  field  for  study,  since  off-shore  they  are  most  frequently 
of  the  rotary  type.  Close  inshore  considerable  work  remains  yet  to 
be  done  to  bring  out  the  characteristics  of  local  currents,  especially 
in  the  less  frequented  places  of  the  world.  There  is  also  need  for 
investigations  of  a  local  character  to  determine  the  changes  in  the  cur- 
rent velocities  due  to  winds  and  changes  in  atmospheric  pressure. 

Such  investigations  are  of  the  greatest  importance,  aside  from  their 
scientific  value,  in  safeguarding  navigation,  in  harbor  works,  and  in 
coast  protection. 


126      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

Tides. — Of  all  the  phenomena  of  the  sea,  the  tides  seem  to  have  been 
among  the  first  to  attract  man's  attention,  although  there  is  an  in- 
terval of  at  least  two  thousand  years  between  the  earliest  mention 
of  the  tides  that  has  come  down  to  us,  and  the  time  when  Jeremiah 
Harrox  first  undertook  a  series  of  three  months'  continuous  tidal 
observations  in  the  year  1640. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  tides  is  based  almost  entirely  on  observa- 
tions confined  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  coast.  Observations 
have  not  yet  been  made  in  the  wide  stretches  of  the  open  ocean; 
and  even  close  inshore  where  the  difficulties  of  measuring  the  rise  and 
fall  of  the  tide  are  much  less,  little  has  been  done,  and  there  are  nu- 
merous localities  along  the  coasts  where  accurate  information  is  still 
wanting.  There  is  need  of  investigations  to  determine  for  each  lo- 
cality the  changes  from  the  normal  heights  of  the  tide,  due  to  wind 
and  changes  in  atmospheric  pressure. 

The  tide-producing  forces  are  definitely  known,  but  the  problem  of 
correlating  these  forces  with  the  time  and  height  of  the  tide  at  all 
places  on  the  earth  by  means  of  a  general  formula  is  yet  to  be  solved 
and  much  more  of  observation  is  needed  where  none  as  yet  exists, 
especially  in  the  open  sea,  for  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  the 
general  tidal  theory. 

Mean  sea  level. — Closely  related  to  the  subject  of  tides  is  the  ques- 
tion of  mean  sea  level  and  its  relation  to  elevation  of  the  land  of  the 
sea  coasts.  By  mean  sea  level,  I  mean  that  resulting  from  continu- 
ous tidal  observations  over  a  period  of  at  least  one  complete  lunar 
cycle  of  approximately  nineteen  years'  duration. 

I  do  not  see  just  how  we  can  know  anything  definite  about  the 
variations  of  mean  sea  level.  The  sea  areas  are  so  much  greater 
than  the  land  areas  of  the  globe  that  I  think  we  must  assume  for  all 
practical  purposes  that  mean  sea  level  remains  practically  constant 
and  that  any  changes  in  vertical  distance  between  reference  points  on  . 
the  sea  coast  and  the  mean  ocean  surface  are  due  to  the  movements  of 
the  land,  and  not  to  variations  of  mean  sea  level.  The  problem  there- 
fore becomes  one  of  determining  the  elevations  of  the  coasts  with  ref- 
erence to  the  mean  level  of  the  sea.  This  problem  is  of  much  impor- 
tance to  the  engineer  and  the  scientist,  especially  the  geologist  and 
geophysicist.  Measurements  on  land  and  sea  are  all  referred  to 
sea  level  wherever  a  vertical  reference  point  is  required.  Many  of 
our  industrial  works  are  based  on  this  reference  plane,  and  on  account  of 
its  invariability  and  readiness  of  reproduction,  it  is  a  natural  standard. 


MAR.  4,  1922  PARIS :  some  problems  of  the  sea  127 

It  is  therefore  important  that  the  relation  of  the  land  elevations  to  sea 
level  be  studied  and  accurately  known.  A  knowledge  of  this  relation 
is  vital  to  the  study  of  the  subsidence  or  emergence  of  land  areas. 

That  there  have  been  great  uplifts  and  subsidences  in  the  surface 
materials  of  the  earth  in  past  ages  is  well  known.  How  long  these 
were  in  being  accomplished,  especially  the  uplifts,  is  not  so  well  known. 
Adjustments  of  the  material  of  the  lithosphere  have  not  ceased,  and 
these  adjustments  generahy  result  in  some  changes  in  reference  to 
sea  level. 

Of  course  the  duration  of  one  generation  is  a  short  time  in  which 
to  study  by  physical  observations  any  facts  of  subsidence  now  in 
operation,  but  the  observations  should  be  arranged  by  this  generation 
and  carried  out  systematically  and  handed  on  to  the  next,  so  that 
cumulative  evidence  may  later  establish  what  the  facts  are  relative 
to  changes  in  land  elevations. 

These  observed  facts  must  be  closely  related  to  tidal  observations 
of  one  or  two  years'  duration  all  along  the  coasts,  connected  by  lines 
of  precise  levels.  These  tidal  observations  must  be  simultaneous 
with  tidal  observations  at  standard  base  tidal  stations  where  a  long 
series  of  observations  have  already  been  or  are  being  secured. 

No  systematic  work  for  accurate  subsidence  determinations  has 
been  carried  out  anywhere,  as  far  as  I  know,  though  there  are  a  few 
cases  where  precise  levels  were  run  between  bench  marks  after  inter- 
vals of  from  25  to  78  years.  ^  Our  present  knowledge  of  the  changes  in 
the  relation  of  sea  and  land  elevations  (except  those  due  to  sudden 
changes)  depends  almost  entirely  upon  deductions  from  geologic 
evidence  found  in  the  fossil  remains  of  sedimentary  rocks,  studies  of 
coastal  erosion,  and  perhaps  in  the  study  of  coral  reef  formation 
about  the  coasts  and  around  the  islands  of  tropical  seas. 

In  this  connection  it  seems  proper  to  emphasize  the  importance  of 
having  hydrographic  surveys  about  the  islands  of  the  tropical  seas 
especially,  not  only  for  geographical  reasons  and  for  purposes  of  safer 
navigation  but  also  for  the  use  in  the  study  of  coral  formation  and  also 
to  afford  us  information  of  shore  line  changes  effected  through  sub- 
sidence, uplift,  and  erosion. 

Terrestrial  magnetism. — The  problem  of  the  earth's  magnetism 
is  about  the  most  difficult  of  all  the  unsolved  problems  of  geophysics. 
The  data  requisite  for  the  study  of  this  problem  include  magnetic 
observations  over  the  ocean  areas,  not  only  to  measure  the  magnetic 

^Geograph.  Rev.  3:  136-137.  1917. 


128      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

elements  but  to  ascertain  the  secular  change  of  these  elements,  to 
outline  the  disturbed  areas,  and  to  discover  the  effect  of  ocean  depths. 

As  far  as  I  am  aware  only  two  specifically  organized  magnetic 
surveys  of  the  oceans  have  ever  been  established,  that  of  Edmund 
Halley  in  1698,  and  that  at  the  present  time  of  the  Department  of 
Terrestrial  Magnetism  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington; 
the  latter  being  by  far  the  most  comprehensive  and  extensive,  covering 
the  seas  from  latitude  60  °  south  to  60  °  north,  this  sea  work  being  supple- 
mented by  many  hundreds  of  stations  on  land  in  countries  where  such 
work  is  not  being  actively  carried  out  by  the  nations  themselves. 

Most  excellent  work  is  being  done,  and  the  first  magnetic  survey 
of  the  oceans  may  be  said  now  to  be  nearing  completion,  but  obser- 
vations for  the  secular  change  data  must  be  kept  up.  To  keep  the 
secular  change  data  up  to  date,  and  to  fill  in  as  yet  unsurveyed  areas, 
will  probably  require  the  time  of  one  expedition  continuously. 

Additional  magnetic  stations  are  especially  needed  in  the  polar 
regions,  especially  in  the  north  polar  area.  No  opportunity  should 
be  neglected  by  any  surveying  or  exploring  expedition  to  obtain 
magnetic  and  allied  observations  wherever  needed.  Such  electrical 
observations  as  may,  be  found  necessary  and  practicable  should  also 
be  carried  out  in  connection  with  the  magnetic  observations  at  sea. 

Gravity  observations. — A  problem  of  much  importance  in  the  study 
of  the  physics  of  the  earth  is  the  determination  of  the  intensity  of 
gravity  at  sea  first,  to  furnish  further  information  that  wiir  enable 
us  to  ascertain  more  accurately  the  shape  of  the  earth,  and  second,  to 
determine  the  distribution  of  the  densities  in  the  so-called  "isostatic 
shell"  of  the  lithosphere. 

Researches  in  this  and  other  countries  have  made  it  certain  that 
the  outer  seventy  miles  of  the  earth's  material  is  in  a  state  of  approxi- 
mate isostatic  equilibrium.  If  we  assume  a  surface  seventy  miles 
below  sea  level  under  the  continent  and  on  this  surface  lay  out  squares 
approximately  one  hundred  miles  on  a  side  and  extend  vertical  planes 
from  these  sides  to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  we  should  have  the  same 
mass  in  each  of  the  columns,  though  some  of  the  columns  would  be 
a  mile  or  more  longer  than  others.  In  other  words,  each  column  of 
equal  cross  section  is  found  to  have  about  the  same  pressure  on  the 
nucleus  at  a  depth  of  seventy  miles  below  sea  level  as  any  other  column. 

Do  these  conditions  exist  under  the  ocean?  The  answer  to  this 
question  requires  the  obtaining  of  observations  for  the  intensity  of 
gravity  over  ocean  areas. 


MAR.  4,  1922  PARIS :  some  problems  of  the  sea  129 

Obsen^ations  for  the  determination  of  intensity  of  gravity  have  been 
made  at  sea  by  several  types  of  apparatus,  but  the  accuracy  of  these 
observations  has  only  been  sufficient  to  show  that  the  intensity  of 
gravity  under  ocean  areas  followed  closely  the  laws  of  change  of  gravity 
with  latitudes  that  are  found  to  obtain  over  land  areas,  but  the  ob- 
ser\''ations  are  not  accurate  enough  to  test  the  isostatic  condition  of 
the  ocean  basins. 

Some  modification  of  the  present  instruments  and  correspond- 
ing change  of  method  of  observation  are  needed,  or  possibly  some  in- 
strument devised  along  entirely  new  lines  from  those  heretofore 
employed  finally  may  be  found  necessary  to  get  the  accuracy  required. 

The  solution  of  this  problem  is  a  matter  of  prime  importance  to 
geologists  and  geophysicists  in  many  of  their  studies. 

Meteorological  observations. — To  know  the  state  of  the  weather  in 
advance  of  its  occurrence  is  an  important  matter  to  us  whether  we 
be  on  land  or  sea,  and  the  economic  value  of  such  information  is  well 
known.  In  fact  a  foreknowledge  of  the  weather  has  had  such  an  im- 
mediate economic  value  that  the  practical  side  of  meteorology  has  de- 
veloped to  a  greater  degree  than  the  theoretical  side  of  the  problem.*^ 

We  have  much  less  meteorological  observational  data  over  ocean 
areas  than  for  the  land  areas,  though  the  ocean  areas  are  of  much 
greater  extent.  The  gathering  of  meteorological  data  more  completely 
over  the  regions  of  the  oceans  is  an  important  problem  of  the  sea, 
and  for  us  especially  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.  In  this 
all  ships  that  traverse  the  oceans  can  also  continue  to  render  valuable 
service,  by  making  meteorological  observations,  reporting  them  by 
radio,  and  following  with  full  reports  by  mail. 

The  need  for  much  more  ocean  meteorological  data  is  plain,  and 
their  scientific  and  practical  value  so  evident  that  no  opportunity 
for  obtaining  them  should  be  disregarded. 

Another  problem  said  to  be  of  promising  importance  is  the  obser- 
vation of  the  tides  and  their  correlation  with  the  paths  of  approaching 
hurricanes.'^ 

Ocean  temperatures. — One  of  the  most  striking  deficiencies  in  our 
knowledge  of  the  physical  facts  of  the  sea  is  that  of  ocean  temperatures. 
In  the  whole  of  the  vast  Pacific  Ocean,  for  example,  there  are  only 
something  like  seven  hundred  lines  of  temperature  observations,^  by 

6  Proc.  Nat.  Acad.  Sci.  6:  561. 

'  Science  52:  638-639.  Dec.  31,  1920. 

*  Annalen  der  Hydrographie,  38:  5.  1910. 


130      JOURNAI.  OF    THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES         VOIv.  12,  NO.  5 

far  too  meager  a  number  with  which  to  delineate  an  isothermal  chart 
of  such  an  ocean.  Lines  of  temperature  observations  are  much  too 
few  in  all  of  the  oceans,  to  say  nothing  of  temperature  data  sufficient 
for  ascertaining  the  facts  of  variations  of  temperature,  seasonal  or 
other  at  any  place,  except  in  the  regions  about  the  North  vSea,  the  Bal- 
tic and  in  the  Mediterranean. 

A  knowledge  of  ocean  temperatures  at  all  depths,  and  for  different 
seasons  of  the  year,  is  one  of  great  significance  to  the  science  of  phys- 
ical oceanography,  and  is  one  of  its  outstanding  needs  at  this  time. 
It  is  fundamental  to  the  study  of  ocean  circulation  and  to  the  prob- 
lems of  the  marine  biologist,  and  is  believed  to  be  a  fair  index,  as  well, 
to  certain  configurations  of  the  sea  bottom. 

Closely  related  to  the  problem  of  ocean  circulation  and  to  some  of 
the  problems  of  marine  biology  is  the  salinity  of  the  ocean  waters. 
The  salinity  varies  throughout  all  of  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and  a  better 
knowledge  of  its  variations,  especially  the  vertical  distribution,  is 
most  important,  and  is  as  yet  not  even  so  well  known  as  the  vertical 
distribution  of  temperature.^ 

Sedimentation. — In  oceanographic  surveys  bottom  specimens  should 
be  secured  when  sounding  the  depths  of  the  sea,  in  order  to  secure 
samples  of  the  materials  of  the  ocean  floor  for  the  study,  among 
other  purposes,  of  sedimentation,  which  is  fundamental  to  the  geol- 
ogist in  considering  sedimentary  rocks.  The  character  and  chemical 
constitution  of  the  deposits  on  the  ocean  floor  is  of  prime  importance 
to  the  marine  biologist  and  the  volcanologist.  The  bottom  speci- 
mens should  be  secured  in  such  a  way  that  it  can  be  ascertained  how  the 
deposits  are  serially  laid  down,  and  this  requires  as  deep  a  penetra- 
tion as  possible  for  the  specimen-gathering  device. 

In  contemplating  the  many  problems  connected  with  a  study  of 
the  sea  it  is  at  once  realized  that  it  is  not  possible  even  to  mention 
many  of  them  within  the  time  at  my  disposal  and  one  at  once  comes 
to  the  thought  how  great  is  the  task  of  finding  out  what  is  in  the  sea, 
and  it  is  the  magnitude  of  this  task  that  should  urge  the  maritime 
nations  of  the  world  to  a  more  serious  and  active  consideration  of  those 
problems  as  to  how  they  may  be  more  expeditiously  carried  out. 
To  this  end  international  cooperation  is  essential,  for  it  is  a  world  prob- 
lem, and  of  equal  importance  to  all. 

The  units  for  the  oceanographical  investigations  should  be  as 
comprehensive  as  can  efficiently  work  together.     For  the  most  effi- 

9  Ency.  Brit.  ed.  11.  p.  983. 


MAR.  4,  1922  FARIS:  SOME  PROBLKMS  OF  THE  SEA  131 

cient  service  the  vessels  employed  on  oceanographic  work  should  be 
designed  and  constructed  for  that  specific  purpose;  the  design  to 
be  based  on  a  careful  consideration  and  study  of  the  purpose  and  re- 
quirements involved  in  the  investigations  that  are  to  be  carried  out. 
A  laboratory  should  be  provided  on  board  the  vessel  so  that  chemical, 
physical  and  biological  investigations  can  to  some  extent  be  carried 
on  while  the  vessel  is  on  the  working  grounds.  The  instruments 
and  equipment,  and  the  methods  of  their  use,  should  be  standard- 
ized and  up-to-date.  And  in  order  to  secure  standard  instruments 
and  methods  these  matters  should  be  considered  and  passed  upon 
by  a  body  composed  of  competent  representatives  of  all  cooperating 
nations.  This  body  should  also  draw  up  a  manual  of  instructions 
for  the  oceanographic  work.  Then  all  investigations  carried  out  at 
sea  by  the  different  expeditions  would  be  of  a  readily  comparable 
character. 

After  the  sea  investigations  have  been  made  the  most  important 
thing  is  the  earliest  possible  publication  of  the  results  in  such  form, 
at  least,  as  will  make  them  accessible  to  all  students  of  the  subjects 
concerned.  There  are  a  number  of  institutions  already  in  existence, 
and  others  could  be  established  if  necessary,  where  this  could  be 
done.  In  other  words,  these  institutions  would  be  the  clearing  houses 
where  the  results  of  the  oceanographic  investigations  would  be  studied, 
correlated,  and  published. 

CONCLUSION 

My  thought  and  purpose  throughout  this  paper  has  been  to  put 
before  you  in  a  most  general  way,  the  fact  that  although  much  has 
been  done  in  the  investigation  and  study  of  the  sea,  and  that  also 
there  may  be  but  few,  if  any,  new  regions  to  explore  or  new  prob- 
lems arising,  yet  as  regards  the  details  of  existing  problems  yet  to 
be  searched  out  and  correlated,  a  good  beginning  only  has  been  made, 
and  that  the  work  yet  needed  to  be  done  is  so  large  as  to  require  the 
combined  effort  of  all  maritime  nations,  also  that  the  need  for  the 
work  is  really  more  pressing  than  its  present  rate  of  accomplishment 
indicates. 

Let  us  do  what  we  can  to  popularize  this  subject;  to  show  its  scien- 
tific and  cultural  as  well  as  its  economic  aspects.  Let  us  interest  the 
public  in  the  value  of  knowing  and  cultivating  these  great  ocean 
fields,  to  learn  more  of  Nature,  as  well  as  to  make  the  lives  of  coming 
generations  more  certain  and  secure. 


132      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF   SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  5 

Science  applied  to  our  national  resources,  has  made  the  great  in- 
dustrial development  of  America,  but  with  this  development  the  needs 
of  the  rapidly  growing  nation  have  correspondingly  increased,  so  that 
today  we  are  forced  to  take  thought  of  the  remaining  natural  re- 
sources of  the  land.  A  study  of  the  sea  will  widen  the  field  of  our 
natural  resources  as  well  as  extend  the  limits  of  human  knowledge  and 
culture. 
ENTOMOLOGY.— A^^w  species  of  the  coleopterous  genus  Trox.     H.  F. 

LooMis,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry.     (Communicated  by  O.  F.  Cook.) 

Preparatory  to  describing  a  very  extraordinary  species  of  Trox 
recently  collected  in  Arizona,  an  examination  of  the  closely  related 
forms  was  made  which  led  to  interesting  findings  regarding  the  clas- 
sification of  these  species.  The  identification,  on  external  characters, 
of  the  species  of  this  genus  has  been  considered  an  easy  matter  and 
the  genus  has  received  little  attention  from  systematists  for  many 
years.  As  in  many  other  insects,  very  reliable  specific  differences  are 
exhibited  by  the  male  genitalia  in  this  genus.  This  structure  shows 
that  in  the  material  hitherto  identified  as  scutellaris  Say,  in  the  National 
Museum,  three  very  distinct  species  of  great  superficial  resemblance 
are  included.  That  this  resemblance  has  caused  these  species  to  be 
confused  in  most  collections  is  probable  and  other  cases  of  a  like 
nature  may  occur,  an  examination  of  the  male  copulatory  organs  being 
necessary  to  separate  the  species 

In  the  specimens  of  platycyphus  and  scutellaris  the  wings  were  found 
to  be  greatly  atrophied  and  represented  by  only  a  short  and  very  nar- 
row vestige  while  in  oligonus  they  show  much  better  development 
and  bear  far  more  resemblance  to  normal  wings. 

Only  the  larger  species,  those  having  the  thorax  strongly  con- 
stricted behind,  are  dealt  with  in  this  paper.  The  male  genital 
organs  of  all  the  species  belonging  to  this  group  in  the  United  States 
have  been  figured  to  facilitate  recognition  of  the  species.  The  fig- 
ures were  made  with  the  aid  of  a  camera  lucida  and  all  are  drawn  to 
the  same  scale.  The  copulatory  organs  of  the  female  probably  will 
also  exhibit  good  specific  characters  but  they  are  not  considered  here. 

Six  species  described  by  LeConte  in  1854  have  been  reduced  to 
varietal  rank  under  scutellaris  and  punctatus  but  the  writer  has  been 
unable  to  identify  any  of  these  from  the  external  characters  men- 
tioned in  the  original  descriptions.  Their  validity  can  be  decided 
only  after  study  of  the  genitalia  of  the  LeConte  types.  In  this 
paper  specimens  collected  at  Pueblo,  Colorado  are  assumed  to  be  scu- 


MAR.  4,  1922     LOOMIS :   NEW  SPECIES  COLEOPTEROUS  GE;nUS  TROX  133 

tcllaris  Say  (type  locality,  "Upper  Platte"),  and  a  specimen  of  this 
typical  form  is  before  the  writer  from  southwestern  Texas  (between 
Pecos  River  and  the  Guadeloupe  Mountains). 

Trox  platycyphus  Loomis,  sp.  nov.  Shape  oblong-oval,  the  color  black 
and  shining  when  clean.     Length  14  to  19  mm.     Habitat,  southern  Texas. 

Thorax  strongly  constricted  at  basal  third;  posterior  angles  obtusely 
rounded,  a  slight  emargination  immediately  in  front  of  them;  tubercles 
strongly  shining,  much  more  sparsely  and  coarsely  punctured  than  the  rest 
of  the  surface ;  tubercles  of  the  posterior  series  oval,  the  median  pair  larger ; 
in  front  of  each  outer  one  and  belonging  to  the  anterior  series  is  a  smaller  tu- 
bercle; the  usual  ridges  of  the  median  pair  of  tubercles  of  the  anterior  series 
coalesce  causing  the  tubercles  to  appear  broad  and  flat;  from  each  of  these, 
on  the  inner  side,  a  narrow,  usually  unpolished  ridge  extends  backward  between 
and  nearly  opposite  the  middle  of  the  inner  pair  of  tubercles  of  the  posterior 
series.  Elytra  with  the  tubercles  transversely  confluent,  much  flattened, 
smooth  and  shining;  rows  of  large  and  small  tubercles  alternating,  four 
rows  of  the  large,  six  of  the  smaller,  two  of  these  smaller  rows  between  the 
suture  and  the  first  large  row;  series  of  punctures  much  confused  by  trans- 
verse coalescence  of  tubercles;  entire  surface  of  the  elytra  glabrous. 

The  male  genitalia  large  and  with  very  pronounced  constriction  near 
the  apical  third ;  median  lobe  not  attaining  apex  of  the  lateral  lobes ;  outer 
sides  of  lateral  lobes  almost  parallel  with  a  very  abrupt  constriction  on  the 
apical  third  which  reduces  the  width  of  the  lobe  nearly  one  half,  the  lobe  then 
continuing  to  a  rather  broadly  rounded  extremity;  dorsal  surface  of  lateral 
lobes  at  the  constriction  abruptly  declining  giving  the  narrowed  apex  a  lower 
level;  basal  pieces  long  and  rather  broad.     Fig.  1,  A. 

Type  and  paratypes  No.  25198,  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Described  from  nineteen  specimens  from  Cotulla,  Texas,  collected  April 
17,  1906,  by  F.  C.  Pratt.  Other  paratype  localities  in  Texas  are  Knippa  and 
Sabinal,  one  specimen  from  each  (F.  C.  Pratt),  and  San  Diego,  two  specimens 
(E.  A.  Schwarz). 

The  pair  of  complanate  median  tubercles  of  the  thorax,  the  confluent 
elytral  elevations  and  the  form  of  the  genitalia  are  the  salient  features  of  this 
species  and  separate  it  from  scutellaris  and  the  species  which  follow  it. 

Trox  oligonus  lyoomis,  sp.  nov.  Large  and  broadly  oval,  robust  species; 
shining  black  when  clean.     Length  16  to  18  mm.     Habitat,  Texas. 

Constriction  of  thorax  moderate  and  resembling  scutellaris  although  not  as 
long;  margin  in  front  of  hind  angles  faintly  emarginate;  tuberculation  as  in 
scutellaris.  Elytra  with  rounded  and  moderately  distinct  tubercles  in  ten 
rows,  none  of  which  predominates;  usually  a  few  spicules  in  a  small  patch 
behind  each  tubercle;  intervals  between  the  rows  of  tubercles  with  a  series 
of  punctures  which  are  finer  than  in  scutellaris.  Vestigial  wings  short,  rather 
broad. 

Male  genitalia  comparatively  small ;  sides  of  lateral  lobes  not  constricted 
at  apical  third  as  in  scutellaris  and  the  preceding  species;  tip  of  median 
lobe  more  acute,  reaching  nearly  to  tips  of  the  lateral  lobes;  basal  pieces 
broad  and  long.     Fig.  1,  C. 

Type  and  paratypes  No.  25199,  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Described  from  a  series  of  nine  specimens  from  Texas;  five  from  the  type 
locality,  San  Diego,  collected  by  E.  A.  Schwarz,  April  30  to  June  12, 1895,  and 


134     JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  5 


Fig.  1.  Male  genitalia  of  TROX. — A,  T.  platycyphus,  n.  sp;  B,  T.  scutellaris  Say;  C, 
T.  oligonus,  n.  sp.;  D,  T.  inflatus,  n.  sp.;  E,  T.  scabrosus  Beauv. ;  F,  T.  monackus  Hbst.; 
G.  T.  asper  Lee.;    H,  T.  suberosus  Fab.;    I,  T.  punctattis    Germ.;   J,  T.  carinatus,  n.  sp. 


MAR.  4,  1922    LOOMIS :   NEW  SPECIKS  COLEOPTEROUS  GENUS  TROX  135 

one  specimen  from  each  of  the  following  localities, — Kncinal  ( /.  D.  Mitchell), 
Santa  Rosa  {H.  S.  Barber),  El  Paso  (F.  C.  Pratt),  and  Lamesa  {E.  G.  Holt). 

Distinguished  by  the  rounded  tubercles  of  the  elytra  which  are  seldom 
confluent  and  in  rows  of  equal  size,  and  also  by  the  size  and  shape  of  the 
male  genitalia. 

Trox  inflatus  Loomis,  sp.  nov.  Body  smaller  and  more  slender  than 
scittellaris,  elongate-oval;  color  black  and  shining  when  clean.  Length  14 
to  15  mm.     Habitat,  Arizona. 

Thorax  strongly  constricted,  in  this  respect  resembling  suherosus;  hind 
angles  broadly  rounded  and  with  only  a  slight  emargination  of  the  margin 
in  front  of  them;  disc  moderately  elevated,  tubercles  distinct,  the  outer 
ones  of  the  basal  series  the  larger;  in  front  of  each  are  two  smaller  ones  be- 
longing to  the  anterior  series  which,  with  the  large  median  pair,  is  composed 
of  six  tubercles.  The  four  rows  of  elongate  and  flattened  tubercles  of  the 
elytra  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  the  intervals  between  them;  these 
intervals  are  raised  at  short  distances  into  slightly  less  distinct  elevations 
which  lack  the  small  tomentose  areas  following  the  tubercles  of  the  major 
series;  usually  a  few  small  spicules  in  the  depressions  of  the  intervals,  a 
single  spicule  located  above  each  of  the  deep  punctures  on  either  side  of  the 
intervals;  elevations  of  the  intervals  often  confluent  with  the  tubercles  of 
the  adjacent  rows;  second  series  of  tubercles  ending  on  apical  fourth  in  a 
faint  umbone.     Fig.  1,  D, 

Type  and  allotype  No.  25200,  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Described  from  two  specimens;  a  male  collected  in  a  moist  recess  among 
rocks  on  the  top  of  a  desert  peak  near  Sacaton,  Arizona,  November  23,  1921, 
by  H.  F.  Loomis,  and  a  female  collected  on  Ash  Creek  in  the  Graham  Moun- 
tains of  Arizona,  July  2,  1914,  by  E.  G.  Holt. 

From  the  size  and  general  shape  of  the  copulatory  organs  of  the  male  this 
species  is  related  to  scutellaris,  but  it  differs  in  having  the  median  lobe  greatly 
inflated  and  visible  above  the  lateral  lobes  when  viewed  from  the  side;  the 
tip  of  the  median  lobe  is  less  slender  and  the  lateral  lobes  are  not  abruptly 
constricted  on  the  outer  side  near  the  apical  third  above  which  the  lobes  are 
not  as  greatly  expanded. 

Trox  carinatus  Loomis,  sp.  nov.  Form  oboval,  less  compact ;  color  black, 
surface  feebly  shining  when  clean.  Length  12  to  13  mm.  Habitat,  south 
central  Arizona. 

Constriction  of  thorax  longer  than  in  any  other  species  dealt  with,  emargi- 
nate  throughout  its  length;  margin  sharply  incised  in  front  of  hind  angles 
which  are  acute  and  remote  from  the  humeri ;  disc  strongly  elevated ;  tuber- 
culation  resembling  that  of  asper  though  hardly  as  coarse.  Elytra  each 
with  four  prominent  carinae  replacing  the  rows  of  large  tubercles,  the  two 
inner  carinae  more  pronounced;  second  carina  ending  on  the  apical  fourth 
in  a  tomentose  and  dentiform  umbone;  all  carinae  with  small  tomen- 
tose patches  on  the  outer  side;  intervals  between  the  suture  and  the 
first  carina,  between  the  carinae  themselves  and  between  the  last  carina 
and  the  elytral  margin  each  with  two  rather  widely  separated  rows  of  large 
and  deep  punctures ;  surface  between  the  rows  and  between  the  punctures  in 
the  rows  smooth  and  evenly  rounded.  Front  tibia  with  a  well  developed 
tooth  at  apical  third;    upper  face  with  two  rows  of  rather  large  punctures. 

Copulatory  organs  of  the  male  relatively  short  and  broad;    median  lobe 


136      JOURNAL,  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

stout,  not  attaining  tips  of  the  lateral  lobes;  inner  margin  of  lateral  lobes 
strongly  arcuate;  basal  pieces  broad  and  enfolding  much  of  the  lateral 
lobes.     Fig.  1,  J. 

Type  and  allotype  No.  25201,  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Described  from  two  specimens ;  a  male  collected  with  the  male  specimen  of 
inflatus  near  Sacaton,  Arizona,  November  23,  1921,  by  H.  F.  Loomis,  and  a 
female  collected  in  the  "nest  of  a  rat  among  rocks"  (probably  A^eo^owa)  near 
Tucson,  Arizona,  January  2,  1897,  by  H.  G.  Hubbard. 

This  species  should  probably  be  placed  after  punctatus;  the  carinate  elytra, 

the  form  of  the  thorax  and  the  genitalia  distinguishing  it  from  that  species 

and  all  others.     Tibial  punctures  are  found  in  most  of  the  species  of  Trox, 

but  their  size  and  disposition  have  some  specific  importance.     In  scabrosus, 

monachus  and  asper  these  punctures  are  small  or  entirely  lacking,  in  the 

other  species  here  treated  the  rows  are  much  more  irregular  than  in  carinatus. 


ABSTRACTS 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences  on  January  16, 
1922,  it  was  decided  to  discontinue  the  section  of  formal  abstracts  in  the  Journal.  It 
will  be  replaced  by  a  section  devoted  to  brief  notes  of  recent  publications. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BOTANICAL  vSOCIETY 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  Washington  was  held  at 
the  Cosmos  Club  on  Monday,  June  26,  1921,  to  hear  Prof.  J.  F.  Rock  of  the 
Office  of  Foreign  vSeed  and  Plant  Introduction,  who  had  just  returned  from  an 
extended  trip  in  the  Orient,  where  he  traveled  up  the  rivers  of  Siam  and 
Burma  and  through  the  forests  to  find  the  chaulmoogra  oil  trees.  This  oil 
has  lately  been  used  in  Hawaii  for  the  treatment  of  leprosy  with  such  success 
that  already  two  hundred  patients  have  been  declared  free  from  all  sumptoms 
of  the  disease.  According  to  Hindoo  legend  and  literature,  moreover,  this 
oil  has  been  used  for  a  thousand  years  by  the  natives  of  the  Far  East. 

The  trip  was  made  by  Prof.  Rock  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the 
various  species  of  Taraktogenos  and  Hydnocarpus  and  to  collect  viable  seeds 
for  germination  purposes,  especially  those  of  Taraktogenos  kurzii  which  seeds 
are  known  to  produce  the  true  chatilmoogra  oil. 

Hydnocarpus  anthelmintica  was  obtained  by  Prof.  Rock  in  Bangkok  and 
Eastern  Siam.  Camp  was  established  in  the  northern  Lao  States  on  Mt. 
Dai  Chom  Cheng  and  this  mountain  was  explored  for  economic  plants,  among 
which  species  of  Castanea  or  chestnuts,  and  a  number  of  Qtiercus  or  oaks  were 
secured.  He  followed  the  Meh  Ping  River  by  Lao  houseboat  to  Rahong,  a 
journey  of  ten  days,  making  collections  on  the  way.  From  Raheng  he  crossed 
overland  with  coolies  to  Moulmein,  Burma,  thence  to  Martaban,  where 
Hydnocarpus   castanea    was  obtained.     The  first  specimen  of  Taraktogenos 


MAR.  4,  1922  proceedings:  botanical  society  137 

kurzii  encountered  was  at  Thynganyinon,  one  day's  journey  from  the  Siamese 
Boundary  in  Burma.  From  Martaban  he  proceeded  to  Rangoon,  thence  to 
Monywa  on  the  Upper  Chindurin.  From  there  he  went  by  boat  (stern- 
wheeler)  to  Mawlaik  in  northwestern  Burma.  At  Mawlaik  he  was  informed 
that  Taraktagenos  kurzii  could  be  obtained  near  some  jungle  villages  on  the 
Khodaun  stream.  The  best  locality  and  where  he  found  pure  stands  of 
Taraktogenos  kurzii  was  near  Kyokta,  a  small  village  of  about  thirty  houses. 
Seeds  were  collected  in  large  quantities  and  forwarded  directly  to  Hawaii 
and  Washington  after  the  party  again  reached  civilization.  In  northeastern 
Assam,  in  India  proper,  seed  was  secured  of  Gynocardia  odorata,  and  of 
Taraktogenos  kurzii,  which  is  also  found  there. 

Besides  finding  Taraktogenos  kurzii  and  photographing  it  for  the  first  time. 
Prof.  Rock  found  a  number  of  hitherto  imknown  species  belonging  either  to 
Taraktogenos  or  Hydnocarpus. 

Gathering  of  the  seeds  of  the  chaulmoogra  oil  tree  has  been  a  regular 
occupation  of  the  natives  for  generations.  This  seed  collecting,  however, 
has  been  carried  on  very  uneconomically  because  of  the  fact  that  the  animals 
of  the  forest  feed  upon  the  fruit,  and  destroy  a  high  percentage  of  seed,  the 
natives  getting  only  what  the  animals  leave.  The  supply  of  seeds  in  the 
world's  market  is  therefore  very  inadequate.  Prof.  Rock's  work,  therefore, 
was  to  find  the  trees  that  produced  the  seed  and  make  collections  of  seed  of 
Taraktogenos  kurzii  and  other  chaulmoogra  oil-producing  species  so  that  the 
trees  could  be  introduced  in  cultivation.  This  he  succeeded  in  doing,  tra- 
versing the  forests  of  Siam  and  Burma  where  few  white  men  had  ever  gone. 

The  Government  of  Hawaii  has  set  aside  one  hundred  acres  of  suitable 
mountain  slopes  for  the  planting  of  these  species.  The  seeds  brought  back 
have  all  germinated  and  are  growing  well  both  in  Hawaii  and  in  this  country. 

Following  Prof.  Rock's  address  Dr.  F.  B.  Power,  authority  on  the  chemistry 
of  the  chaulmoogra  oil,  was  called  upon  for  remarks. 

After  expressing  his  appreciation  of  the  interesting  and  instructive  dis- 
course by  Professor  Rock,  Dr.  Power  spoke  as  follows: 

"My  attention  was  first  particularly  drawn  to  the  subject  of  chaulmoogra 
oil  while  in  London  by  an  inquiry  from  the  Leper  Hospital  at  Robben  Island, 
South  Africa,  respecting  its  active  constituents.  At  about  the  same  time 
it  was  recorded  by  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes  {Pharm.  J.  1900,  64,  522;  1901,  66, 
596)  on  the  authority  of  vSir  David  Prain,  then  Director  of  the  Botanic  Survey 
of  India  and  now  Director  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Kew,  that  chaul- 
moogra oil  is  not  obtained  from  the  seeds  of  Gynocardia  odorata  R.  Br.,  as  had 
previously  been  assumed,  but  from  the  seeds  of  Taraktogenos  kurzii  King. 
Shortly  after  these  observations  a  large  quantity  of  true  chaulmoogra  seeds 
was  brought  into  the  London  market,  and  this  afforded  an  opportunity  for  the 
investigation  of  the  fatty  oil  expressed  from  them,  which  was  conducted  by 
me  and  my  co-workers  in  the  Wellcome  Chemical  Research  Laboratories. 

"A  survey  of  the  hterature  pertaining  to  chaulmoogra  oil  rendered  it  evident 
that  very  little  of  a  definite  nature  was  known  regarding  its  constituents,  and 
it  was  subsequently  shown  that  the  so-called  "gynocardic  acid,"  which  had 
been  stated  to  melt  at  29.5°  C.  and  was  employed  to  some  extent  medicinally, 
consisted  of  a  mixture  of  fatty  acids.  One  of  the  first  results  of  the  investiga- 
tion undertaken  by  us  was  the  isolation  of  a  beautifully  crystalline  acid, 
melting  at  68°  C,  which  was  optically  active,  [a]^  -f  56°,  andfound  to  possess 
the  formula  C18H32O2.  This  was  designated  chaulmoogric  acid,  with  reference 
to  the  vernacular  name  of  the  oil.     It  exists  in  the  oil  as  a  glyceryl  ester  or 


138      JOURNAL  OF  TH:e  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIEINCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

glyceride,  and  represents  one  of  its  chief  constituents.  Although  chaul- 
moogric  acid  is  isomeric  with  HnoHc  acid,  it  is  capable  of  absorbing  but  two 
atomic  proportions  of  iodine  or  bromine,  and  therefore  must  contain  in  its 
structure  a  closed  carbon  ring,  as  has  indeed  been  shown  to  be  the  case. 
A  lower  homologue  of  this  acid  was  subsequently  found  in  the  oil,  and  on 
account  of  having  first  been  isolated  from  the  oils  expressed  from  seeds  of  two 
species  of  Hydnocarpus,  viz.  H.  Wightiana,  Blume  and  H.  anthelmintica, 
Pierre,  it  was  designated  hydnocarpic  acid.  This  acid  possesses  the  formula 
C16H28O2,  melts  at  60°  C,  and,  like  chaulmoogric  acid,  is  optically  active, 
having  [a]D  +  68°.  Many  derivatives  were  made  of  these  acids,  including 
their  methyl  and  eth}^  esters,  and  their  constitution  was  completely  eluci- 
dated. 

"In  order  to  ascertain  the  character  of  the  oil  obtained  from  the  seeds  of 
Gynocardia  odorata,  a  quantity  of  fresh  material  was  specially  collected  for 
us  in  India.  The  examination  of  this  oil  showed  it  to  possess  none  of  the 
characters  of  true  chaulmoogra  oil,  thus  completely  confirming  the  observa- 
tions of  vSir  David  Prain  respecting  the  botanical  source  of  chaulmoogra 
seeds.  The  gynocardia  oil  at  ordinary  temperatures  is  a  liquid,  whereas 
chaulmoogra  oil  is  a  soft  solid.  It  is,  furthermore,  optically  inactive,  and 
contains  none  of  the  members  of  the  chaulmoogric  acid  series,  but  more  closely 
resembles  linseed  oil  in  its  composition.  Both  the  true  chaulmoogra  seeds 
and  gynocardia  seeds  develop  hydrogen  cyanide  in  contact  with  water,  show- 
ing the  presence  of  a  cyanogenetic  glucoside.  This  substance  has  been  iso- 
lated from  the  gynocardia  seeds,  and  is  a  handsomely  crystalline  compound, 
possessing  the  formula  C1.3H19O9N,  which  has  been  designated  gynocardin. 
It  is  accompanied  in  the  seed  by  an  enzyme  termed  gynocardase. 

"The  literature  pertaining  to  all  the  above-mentioned  investigations,  to 
which  several  years  were  devoted,  may  be  found  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Chemical  Society  of  London,  1904,  85,  838;  1905,  87,  349,  884,  896;  1907,  91, 
557. 

"Inasmuch  as  several  articles  have  recently  been  published  in  this  country 
and  abroad,  chiefly  in  the  medical  press,  indicating  that  some  new  derivatives 
of  chaulmoogra  oil  have  been  used  in  the  modern  treatment  of  leprosy,  it 
seems  desirable  to  note  that  such  statements  are  evidently  incorrect.  The 
preparations  employed  have  been  the  ethyl  esters  of  chaulmoogric  and 
hydrocarpic  acids,  which  were  first  made  and  fully  described  nearly  twenty 
years  ago  in  connection  with  the  investigations  above  cited.  It  is  the  use 
of  these  compounds  by  intramuscular  injection,  instead  of  the  administration 
and  external  application  of  crude  chaulmoogra  oil,  that  has  recently  led  to 
such  successful  results  in  the  treatment  of  leprosy." 

Fruit  and  seeds  of  the  chaulmoogra  oil  tree  were  exhibited.  One  hundred 
and  ten  persons  were  present. 

Following  the  meeting  was  a  social  hour  with  refreshments. 

Roy  G.  Pierce,  Recording  Secretary. 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

The  158th  meeting  of  the  Academy,  held  at  the  Public  Library  the  even- 
ing of  Thursday,  October  20,  1921,  was  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  Readable 
Books  in  Science,  in  connection  with  the  list  of  "One  Hundred  Popular  Books 
in  Science,"  prepared  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Georgk  F.  Bowerman  by  a 
committee  of  the  Academy  and  published  in  the  Journal.     (11:   353-366. 


MAR.  4,  1922   proceedings:  Washington  academy  of  sciences  139 

September  19,  1921.)  The  purpose  of  the  Hst  was  discussed  briefly  by  Doctor 
Bowerman,  the  methods  of  compilation  and  editing  of  the  list  by  Dr.  Rob- 
ert B.  SoSMAN,  the  mathematical,  astronomical,  and  meteorological  books  by 
Dr.  W.  J.  Humphreys,  the  mineralogical  and  petrological  books  by  Dr.  E.  T. 
Wherry,  and  the  botanical  books  by  Dr.  H.  L.  ShanTz,  following  which 
there  was  a  general  discussion  of  the  project  by  several  of  the  previous 
speakers  and  by  Alfred  H.  Brooks,  W.  L.  Schmitt,  W.  D.  Coi^lins,  W.  H. 
BixBY,  and  others. 

Adjournment  was  then  taken  to  inspect  the  following  three  exhibits: 
(1)  The  one  hundred  popular  books;  (2)  books  suggested  for  the  popular 
list,  but  not  used;  (3)  books  suggested  for  a  proposed  list  of  readable  man- 
uals or  information  books,  such  as  a  specialist  in  one  field  would  recommend 
to  another  investigator  who  was  quite  unfamiliar  with  that  field. 

The  159th  meeting  of  the  Academy  was  held  jointly  with  the  Biological 
Society  of  Washington  and  the  Botanical  Society  of  Washington  at  the 
Cosmos  Club  the  evening  of  Saturday,  November  12,  1921.  Professor 
Arthur  de  Jaczewski  delivered  an  address  on  The  Development  of  Mycology 
and  Pathology  in  Russia.  He  was  followed  by  Prof.  Nicholas  I.  Vavilov,  who 
spoke  upon  Russian  work  in  Genetics  and  Plant  Breeding.  Following  the  pre- 
sentation of  these  addresses  Dr.  Vernon  L.  Kellogg,  Permanent  Secretary 
of  the  National  Research  Council,  Dr.  Erwin  F.  Smith,  and  others,  spoke 
briefly  of  conditions  in  Russia  and  of  the  pleasant  and  mutually  beneficial 
interrelations  of  Russian  and  American  scientists. 

The  160th  meeting  of  the  Academy  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  the 
evening  of  Thursday,  November  17,   1921,  at  8:15.     Dr.  H.  D.  Curtis, 
Director  of  the  Allegheny  Observatory,  Pittsburgh,  delivered  a  popular  ad- 
dress on  The  Sun,  our  nearest  star. 

In  introducing  the  subject,  the  speaker  stated  two  simple  equations: 
(1)  Our  sun  =  a  star;  (2)  any  star  =  a  sun;  which,  though  simple,  are  apt  to 
be  forgotten  when  one  contemplates  the  Milky  Way.  Our  own  sun  is  but 
a  unit  in  a  collection  of  perhaps  a  thousand  million  closely  similar  suns  form- 
ing our  own  stellar  universe.  There  are,  perhaps,  a  million  other  stellar  uni- 
verses, as  large  as  our  own  and  each  with  a  billion  suns,  within  the  ken  of 
our  great  telescopes.  Out  own  sun,  though  866,000  miles  in  diameter, 
and  1,300,000  times  the  volume  of  our  earth,  is  a  relatively  insignificant 
star,  which,  if  moved  to  the  distance  of  the  star  clouds  of  the  Milky  Way, 
would  appear  merely  as  another  faint  point  of  light  added  to  the  rich  com- 
plex. The  mightiest  stars,  at  their  magnificent  distances  of  hundreds  or 
thousands  of  light-years,  appear  no  larger  in  our  greatest  telescopes;  for 
example,  Betelgeuse,  which  in  volume  would  probably  contain  27,000,000 
globes  the  size  of  our  own. 

The  speaker  discussed  recent  studies  of  the  Sun — advances  in  photography 
and  spectroscopic  analysis,  and  their  bearing  on  unexplained  or  little  under- 
stood phenomena;  theories  designed  to  account  for  the  peculiar  law  of  ro- 
tation of  the  sun ;  sun-spots  as  high-temperature  solar  storms ;  their  periodic- 
ity; the  Sun  as  an  almost  infinitely  old  and  wonderfully  perfect  heat-engine 
radiating  heat  at  a  temperature  of  between  5,000°  and  8,000°  C,  with  an 
energy  of  about  75,000  horsepower  per  square  yard  of  sun  surface;  the  age 
of  the  Sun,  and  hypotheses  bearing  upon  the  source  of  the  Sun's  heat;  the 
wonderful  balance  of  forces  existing  within  the  Sun ;  the  correlation  between 
changes  in  heat  emission  and  terrestrial  climatology,  and  its  supremely  im- 
portant bearing  upon  the  origin  and  maintenance  of  terrestrial  life. 


140      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  5 

"As  we  contemplate  the  complexity  of  the  details  of  the  solar  surface,  the 
constant  change  of  form  in  faculae,  spots,  and  prominences,  the  balance 
of  forces  which  has  maintained  the  average  energy  of  the  Sun  so  constant  for 
hundreds  of  millions  of  years  is  certainly  a  remarkable  fact  of  nature,  and  lends 
indirect  support  to  the  postulation  of  an  enormous  duration  of  life  for  the 
average  star. 

"In  our  nearest  star,  then,  we  see  a  star  which  appears  to  be  about  an  aver- 
age star  in  surface  characteristics,  light  emission,  and  size.  It  is  a  fair  rep- 
resentative of  the  stars  in  general ;  there  are  literally  tens  of  millions  of  copies 
of  it  out  in  space.  This  great  heat-engine  is  pretty  certainly  a  billion,  and 
more  probably  a  hundred  billion  years  old.  Certainly  for  200,000,000  years, 
perhaps  for  a  billion  or  more  years,  it  has  not  varied  permanently  as  much  as 
200°  C.  from  its  effective  temperature  of  perhaps  5,600°  C." 

William  R.  Maxon,  Recording  Secretary. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol..  12  March  19,  1922  No.  6 


GENERAL  SCIENCE. — Psychophysics  as  the  key  to  the  mysteries  of 
physics  and  of  metaphysics.^  Leonard  Thompson  Troland, 
Harvard  University. 

I.   THE  PRESENT  PHILOSOPHICAL  STATUS  OE  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE 

Physical  science  begins  with  the  naive  man's  division  of  his  every- 
day experience  into  external  and  internal  portions.  One  of  these 
portions  comprises  for  the  primitive  intellect  an  external  world  while 
the  other  part  makes  up  the  man's  own  personal  feelings.  The  line 
of  demarcation  between  these  two  segments  of  experience  seems  at 
first  sight  to  be  quite  distinct.  There  are,  however,  obvious  affilia- 
tions between  components  of  the  two  subdivisions  of  experience. 
One's  own  body,  as  visually  or  tactually  perceived,  is  a  portion  of 
his  external  experience,  but  its  posture  and  its  movements  are  normally 
correlated  with  internal  feelings,  this  correlation  giving  rise  to  the  idea 
of  will,  or  the  control  of  one's  own  externally  perceived  body  and  its 
relations  to  the  external  world,  by  changes  in  the  internal  feelings. 
The  notion  of  consciousness  in  other  men  is  at  first  simply  a  belief 
in  the  existence  of  further  systems  of  internal  feelings  which  are  corre- 
lated with  the  behavior  of  other  externally  perceived  organisms  which 
resemble  in  general  form,  if  not  in  central  position,  the  organism  of 
the  given  individual. 

For  the  primitive  intellect,  standing  at  the  threshold  of  scientific 
inquiry,  physics  would  undoubtedly  be  the  science  of  the  external 
world  thus  defined,  while  psychology  would  be  the  science  of  the  in- 
ternal system  of  feelings  or  of  any  other  similar  system  of  feelings  which 
might  be  inferred  to  exist  beyond  the  experience  of  the  given  observer. 
However,  as  science  advances  on  its  quest  for  knowledge  the  province 
of  physics  in  relation  to  experience  constantly  narrows,  while  that 
of  psychology  undergoes  a  compensatory  expansion.  The  naive 
physicist  looks  upon  his  external  experience  as  being  independent 
of  himself  because,  with  the  single  exception  of  his  own  externally 

1  Received  Jan.  28,  1922. 

141 


142      JOURNAL  OF  THB  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

perceived  organism,  it  does  not  immediately  follow  the  dictates  of 
his  feelings.  This  demand,  that  physics  should  conceive  a  universe 
which  is  independent  for  its  properties  of  any  particular  observer,  has 
been  implicitly  observed  by  all  physical  thinkers  down  to  very  recent 
times.  Its  actual  consequences  have  been  precisely  that  narrowing 
of  the  domain  of  physics  within  experience  to  which  I  have  adverted. 
The  end  result,  as  it  appears  in  the  Einstein  theory  of  relativity, 
seems  to  have  been  the  complete  elimination  of  the  direct  data  of 
experience  from  the  domain  of  physics  and  consequently  a  reduction 
to  an  irreconcilable  contradiction,  of  the  respective  demands  that 
physics  should  be  strictly  empirical  and  yet  at  the  same  time  should 
describe  a  universe  which  is  independent  of  any  given  experience. 

The  first  step  in  the  gradual  reduction  of  the  physicist's  domain 
within  experience  involved  the  accumulation  of  a  long  list  of  so-called 
secondary  qualities  which  constitute  what  the  psychologists  now  re- 
gard  as  external  sensations.     The   qualities  which  headed  this  list 
were  naturally  those  which  bore  the  greatest  similarity  to  the  internal 
feelings  which  were  the  initial  subject  matter  of  mental  science.     Under 
critical  examination  we  find  that  the  external  and  internal  qualities 
are  not  so  very  different  after  all  so  that  they  can  be  arranged  into 
a  nearly  continuous  series  in  order  of  their  projicient  character.     Chem- 
istry at  an  early  date  eliminated  qualities  of  taste  and  smell  from  its 
catalog  of  supposedly  actual  properties  of  specific  material  substances, 
regarding  the  gustatory  and  olfactory  characteristics  as  being  merely 
psychological  tests  indicative  of  certain  molecular  forms  of  consti- 
tution.    The  theory  of  heat  soon  became  inconsistent  with  the  exis- 
tence of  two  qualitatively  opposed  thermal  elements  corresponding 
with  our  experiences  of  cold  and  of  heat,  respectively,  so  that  these 
two  distinctive  constituents  of  immediate  experience  had  also  to  be 
banished  from  the  domain  of  physics.     The  earlier  physicists  regarded 
color  as  an  objective  property  of  light  or  of  bodies,  but  with  Newton 
we  find  color  being  treated  as  a  sensation,  or  as  something  produced 
by  the  organism  under  the  influence  of  light,  which  latter  in  itself 
is  not  colored,  being  not  even  white  or  black.     With  the  introduction 
of  the  wave  theory  of  radiation,  color  necessarily  and  permanently 
lost  its  position  as  a  subject  matter  of  physical  science,   and  was 
relegated  to  psychology.     The  wave  theory  of  sound  did  a  similar 
thing   for   auditory    qualities   of   pitch    and   noise.     In   Helmholtz's 
two  great  works  dealing,  respectively,  with  physiological  optics  and 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  143 

physiological  acoustics  we  find  the  most  eminent  physicist  of  the 
nineteenth  century  explicitly  treating  both  color  and  tone  as  physiolog- 
ical or  psychological  entities. 

Up  to  the  advent  of  the  theory  of  relativity  (in  the  twentieth 
century)  it  appeared  that  this  process  of  eliminating  the  qualitative 
constituents  of  external  experience  from  the  domain  of  physics  still 
left  within  this  latter  domain  three  distinctive  factors:  those  of  space, 
mass,  and  time.  The  physicist  of  this  period  was  painstakingly 
construing  all  of  his  data  and  theories  in  terms  of  the  centimeter, 
the  gram  and  the  second.  These  were  regarded  as  being  the  ultimate 
physical  dimensions,  out  of  which  all  other  physical  conceptions 
m.ust  be  synthesized.  It  is  true  that  the  developing  theory  of  elec- 
tricity apparently  demanded  two  other  dimensions:  those  of  di- 
electric capacity  and  of  magnetic  permeability,  respectively,  but 
these  latter  conceptions  attached  more  to  the  hypotheses  of  physics 
than  to  its  actual  measurements.  Now  from  the  point  of  view  of 
psychology  or  the  analysis  of  immediate  experience,  space,  mass,  and 
time  are  radically  different  categories.  Only  mass  can  properly  be 
regarded  as  being  interpretable  as  a  quality  of  experience.  As  such 
it  is  clearly  identifiable  with  sensations  or  experiences  derived  from 
the  so-called  proprioceptors,  or  the  sense  organs  of  the  motor  mechan- 
isms of  the  body,  including  not  only  the  muscles  but  the  tendons  and 
the  joints.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  this  feeling  of  bodily  effort 
is  more  immediately  associated  with  the  conception  of  force  than  of 
mass,  so  that  it  may  be  necessary  to  regard  mass  as  being  derived 
from  it  by  combination  with  the  concept  of  acceleration,  which  is  a 
special  relationship  between  spatial  and  temporal  magnitudes.  It 
is  of  interest  that  the  kinaesthetic  quality,  which  is  one  of  the  cardinal 
constituents  of  internal  experience,  should  turn  out  to  be  about  the 
last  directly  qualitative  experimental  factor  to  remain  in  the  system 
of  physical  thinking. 

Space,  from  the  psychological  point  of  view,  may  in  some  cases 
be  regarded  as  forming  a  distinctive  qualitative  constituent  of  con- 
sciousness. There  are  sensations  for  example  which  possess  a  spatial 
or  extensive  quality  while  others  are  lacking  in  this  attribute.  In 
the  majority  of  instances  however'  we  are  forced  to  regard  space  in 
experience  as  representing  a  form  of  combination  of  elementary  qualities 
rather  than  as  comprising  such  a  quality  in  itself.  In  this  sense  space 
is  a  category  of  structure  rather  than  of  substance.     Visually  perceived 


144      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

surfaces  for  instance  are  to  be  regarded  as  concatenations  of  color 
elements,  which  latter  in  themselves  cannot  constitute  any  surface, 
however  small.  On  the  other  hand,  the  impression  of  empty  space 
separating  the  eye  from  the  color  surface  must  be  regarded  as 
involving  a  distinctive  visual  element  of  depth,  which  cannot  be 
identified  with  color;  these  depth  elements,  however,  are  in  them- 
selves non-structural  and  must  be  arranged  into  a  structure  in 
order  to  present  an  experience  of  distance  or  of  volume.  Now,  it 
is  clearly  the  structural  rather  than  the  substantial  aspect  of  spacial 
experience  which  physics  considers.  The  physicist  arranges  his  units 
of  mass  in  imagination  into  a  three-dimensional  pattern  which  is  struc- 
turally similar  to  the  arrangements  of  qualities,  such  as  color  or  touch 
sensations  which  he  finds  in  immediate  experience.  The  similarity 
however,  is  not  complete,  since  none  of  the  spaces,  visual,  tactual 
or  auditory,  of  our  consciousness  are  strictly  Euclidean  in  character. 
They  are  all  more  or  less  anisotropic  or  possessed  of  different  properties 
in  different  directions,  and  they  are  obviously  very  imperfect  and 
incomplete  in  relation  to  the  totality  of  the  universe. 

The  category  of  time,  again,  is  psychologically  quite  distinct  in 
nature  from  those  of  mass  or  of  space.  Time  is  not  qualitative, 
neither  is  it  structural,  for  it  concerns  quite  another  aspect  of  exper- 
ience, namely  its  liability  to  change.  The  idea  of  time  is  inflexibly 
bound  up  with  the  fact  that  experience  is  a  process  or  a  flux.  This 
flux  consists  in  the  replacement  of  one  form  of  consciousness  by  a 
different  one.  Within  consciousness  or  experience  in  concrete  form 
such  processes  involve  transmutations  not  only  of  structures  but 
of  qualities.  Physics,  however,  having  eliminated  the  latter,  must 
confine  itself  to  changes  in  spacial  structure,  or  to  motion.  Time, 
for  physics,  thus  becomes  a  conception  of  the  relation  between  motion 
and  the  thing  which  moves ;  in  any  single  instance  it  is  measured  by 
the  ratio  of  a  distance  to  a  velocity,  a  definition  which  must  be  supple- 
mented in  situations  involving  a  multiplicity  of  concurrent  motions, 
by  a  definition  of  simultaneity.  Time,  both  from  a  psychological 
and  from  a  physical  or  mathematical  point  of  view,  is  a  complex 
conception  based  upon  two  ultimate  facts:  those  of  change  and  of 
the  interdependency  of  concurrent  changes. 

Although  the  relations  between  the  space,  mass  and  time  concepts 
of  physics  and  the  corresponding  conceptions  relating  to  immediate 
experience  are  clearly  somewhat  involved,  it  was  nevertheless  possible 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  145 

for  a  philosophically  uncritical  physicist  prior  to  the  advent  of  rela- 
tivity theory  to  regard  his  subject  matter  as  an  actual  abstraction 
from  immediate  experience.  I  say  "philosophically  uncritical"  be- 
cause even  before  the  advent  of  the  Einsteinian  theory  a  very  close 
scrutiny  of  the  relations  obtaining  between  physical  ideas  and  the 
actual  data  of  consciousness  would  have  revealed  serious  difficulties 
in  their  identification  at  any  point.  These  difficulties  were  manifest 
to  Bishop  Berkeley,  several  centuries  ago,  when  he  wrote  his  essay 
on  A  New  Theory  of  Vision  and  maintained  that  the  primary  as  well 
as  the  secondary  qualities  of  external  experience  could  not  be  regarded, 
as  required  by  the  physicist's  formula,  as  being  independent  of  the 
observing  individual.  If  the  structures  and  the  changes  of  physics 
differ  ever  so  minutely  from  those  which  occur  in  the  experience  of 
the  observer  they  cannot  be  identical  with  the  latter,  and  must  there- 
fore be  conceived  as  comprising  a  separate  though  possibly  a  very 
similar  system  of  things.  It  is  doubtful  whether  even  with  the  assis- 
tance of  the  notion  of  universals,  or  of  platonic  ideas,  we  can  legiti- 
mately conceive  even  absolutely  similar  structures  as  being  numerically 
identical,  if  the  substances  which  enter  into  these  structures  are  differ- 
ent in  kind.  The  fact  that  our  perceptions  of  spacial,  massive,  and 
temporal  relationships  are  conditioned,  as  was  emphasized  in  Berke- 
ley's classical  monograph,  upon  physiological  processes  is  not  in  itself 
proof  that  these  perceptions  do  not  actually  include  portions  of  the 
physical  universe.  However,  the  neo-realistic  philosophies  which 
explicitly  assume  this  possibility  have  not  as  yet  succeeded  in  develop- 
ing an  explanation  of  the  universe  which  is  either  simple  or  plausible. 
The  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  relativity  settles  this  dispute 
within  the  domain  of  physical  methods  alone  by  admitting  that 
measurements  within  all  three  of  the  fundamental  dimensions  of 
physics  are  conditional  for  their  objective  significance  upon  the  con- 
ditions of  observation.  In  accordance  with  the  Einsteinian  scheme, 
two  observers  can  make  measurements  upon  what  purports  to  be  a 
single  object  or  system  and  these  measurements  may  be  quite  dis- 
crepant without  either  set  of  evaluations  constituting  evidence  su- 
perior to  the  other;  in  other  words,  what  any  individual  observer 
empirically  finds,  using  the  most  refined  methods  of  physical  analysis 
and  restricting  himself  to  the  domain  of  space,  mass  and  time,  is  still 
dependent  upon  his  own  standpoint  and  does  not  comprise  the  only 
true    description    of    external   realities.     Whether  an  object  is   long 


146      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  6 

or  short,  or  a  period  of  time  protracted  or  brief,  depends  upon  the 
rate  of  motion  of  the  observer  with  respect  to  the  system  which  con- 
tains them,  and  since  there  is  no  criterion  of  absolute  motion,  one 
observer's  results  are  as  good  as  those  of  any  other.  The  ultimate 
units  of  physical  science  are  shown  to  be  purely  relative  to  the  con- 
ditions of  their  establishment.  Such  are  the  assumptions  which  are 
necessary  to  the  simplest  and  apparently  the  only  plausible  solution 
of  the  conflicts  between  the  systems  of  physical  data  which  have 
developed  from  astronomical,  optical  and  electro-magnetic  observa- 
tions. In  this  situation  we  see  the  purposes  and  the  facts  of  physics 
itself  driving  the  physicist  into  a  repudiation  of  the  last  scrap  of  em- 
pirical meaning  which  it  would  be  possible  otherwise  by  the  greatest 
effort  of  imagination  to  read  into  his  system.  Thus,  in  spite  of  the 
realism  of  the  naive  and  materialistic  mind,  does  psychology  at  last 
fall  heir  to  the  whole  of  its  natural  estate:  the  totality  of  immediate 
experience. 

What  under  these  circumstances  may  we  consider  to  be  the  estate 
of  physics?  Physical  formulae,  although  robbed  of  their  empirical 
meaning,  nevertheless  purport  to  describe  a  permanent  external 
system  of  things.  How  shall  we  conceive  the  intrinsic  nature  of  this 
external  system  and  what  exactly  are  its  relations  with  the  system 
of  immediate  experience?  If  space,  mass  and  time,  as  we  ordinarily 
conceive  them,  cannot  be  supposed  to  exist  in  this  objective  physical 
system,  it  is  still  possible  that  fundamental  dimensions  of  a  different 
character  may  exist  and  be  such  as  to  resolve  the  conflict  between  the 
results  of  separate  observers  formulated  in  ordinary  C.  G.  S.  termi- 
nology. Minkowski's  symbolic  scheme  in  which  time  is  made  a  fourth 
dimension — coordinate  with  the  three  dimensions  of  space — suggests 
a  system  of  this  sort  but  is  not  the  only  alternative  nor  is  it  a  very 
intelligible  one. 

This  is  the  mystery  into  which  modern  physics  has  led  us.  The  prob- 
lem of  the  nature  of  the  external  universe  which  physics  set  out  to 
solve  has  virtually  been  abandoned  by  the  physicist,  for  his  present- 
day  description  of  the  universe  is  couched  in  terms  and  in  a  form  to 
which  we  can  assign  no  direct  empirical  meaning.  He  provides  us 
with  the  logical  skeleton  of  a  system  which  has  no  living  tissue.  What 
can  we  do  to  bring  this  skeleton  to  life?  In  this  situation  it  seems  that 
physics  itself  can  provide  us  with  no  further  assistance  and  it  is  there- 
fore necessary  to  turn  back  to  the  sister  science,  psychology, whose 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  147 

domain  has  expanded  within  experience  as  that  of  physics  has  per- 
force contracted.  The  data  of  psychology  and  the  facts  which  relates 
these  data  with  the  physical  system,  in  psychophysiology,  may  pro- 
vide us  with  a  clew  to  the  mystery. 

II.    THE  interrelation  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS  AND  RESPONSE 

When  the  physicist  rejects  from  the  domain  of  his  science  a  quality 
of  immediate  experience,  he  ordinarily  substitutes  for  it  in  his  system 
some  physical  conception  expressible  in  C.  G.  S.  terms.  For  example, 
pitch  is  replaced  by  a  certain  frequency  of  vibration  of  material  par- 
ticles, while  color  finds  its  substitute  in  very  much  higher  frequencies 
of  electro-magnetic  oscillation;  hotness  and  coldness  are  replaced 
by  certain  ranges  of  kinetic  energy  of  molecular  vibration.  These 
surrogate  physical  conceptions  turn  out  for  the  psychologist  to  be  the 
stimuli  of  the  respective  qualities,  when  the  latter  are  regarded  as 
sensations.  However,  these  stimuli  do  not  operate  directly  upon 
consciousness,  or  immediate  experience,  but  rather  upon  the  physio- 
logical organism,  taking  effect  at  certain  sense  organs  or  receptors 
which  are  differentially  tuned  to  respond  to  various  forms  of  physical 
activity.  Pure  introspective  psychology  is  compelled  to  restrict 
itself  to  the  analytic  description  of  immediate  experience,  but  psy- 
chology in  general  or  at  large  inevitably  becomes  involved  in  a  study 
of  the  relationships  existing  between  immediate  experience  and  the 
living  organism.  This  organism  is  throughout  essentially  a  concep- 
tion of  physical  science,  it  being  the  creed  of  mechanism  or  of  anti- 
vitalism  in  biology  that  all  organic  structures  and  processes  can  ulti- 
mately be  reduced  to  physico-chemical  constituents.  Biology,  like 
chemistry,  is  in  other  words,  simply  a  special  department  of  physics 
dealing  with  the  properties  of  particular  complex  physical  structures. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the  modern  physicist  con- 
ceives the  ultimate  substance  of  all  physical  things  and  processes  to 
be  what  he  pleases  to  call  electrical.  Electricity,  positive  and  negative, 
is  the  fundamental  mass-carrying  entity  of  the  physical  universe, 
and  all  actions  or  interactions  are  ultimately  the  expression  of  elec- 
trical, or  of  the  correlated  magnetic,  forces.  If  living  organisms  are 
simply  aggregates  of  chemical  molecules  and  if  such  molecules  are 
simply  definite  congeries  of  atoms,  and  if  atoms  furthermore  are 
nothing  but  constellations  of  protons  and  electrons ;  then  fundamentally 
organisms  are  simply  vastly  intricate  structures  of  these  ultimate 
electrical  units  and  organic  functions  are  wholly  reducible  to  the  com- 


148      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

plex  interplay  of  the  electromagnetic  forces  which  are  associated  with 
these  physical  particles.  The  fact  that  the  intrinsic  nature  of  elec- 
tricity is  not  specified  by  physics,  which  rests  content  with  its  defini- 
tion in  terms  of  its  external  dynamic  relationships,  is  merely  a  further 
aspect  of  the  general  inability  of  physics  to  describe  its  universe  in 
imaginable  terms.  However,  our  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  electrons 
and  protons  in  and  for  themselves  does  not  prevent  us  from  ascer- 
taining and  describing  the  structures  or  processes  into  which  they 
enter. 

The  psychologist,  as  a  psychophysiologist,  discovers  that  conscious- 
ness is  at  least  in  part  representable  as  a  mathematical  function  of 
certain  aspects  of  organic  structure  and  activity.  Each  individual 
consciousness  appears  to  be  determined  by  the  nature  and  reactions 
of  a  particular  corresponding  physiological  mechanism.  There  are 
as  many  fields  of  consciousness,  or  streams  of  experience,  as  there 
exist  living  organisms,  in  particular  human  organisms.  It  seems  to 
naive  observation  and  thought  as  if  consciousness  were  a  product  of 
the  organic  mechanism,  as  well  as  if  it  were  capable  in  turn  of  in- 
fluencing that  mechanism.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  "interactionism" 
in  psychophysiology.  However,  the  difficulty  of  conceiving  a  transfer 
of  energy  from  the  physical  organic  system  to  consciousness  or  the 
reverse  is  so  great  that  the  majority  of  psychologists  prefer  the  doc- 
trine of  psychophysical  parallelism  according  to  which  a  functional 
or  determinative  relationship  obtains  between  the  two  systems  with- 
out either  being  regarded  as  causally  dependent  upon  the  other. 
That  this  is  an  unsatisfactory  doctrine  may  be  freely  admitted,  but 
upon  a  level  of  philosophical  argument  which  (erroneously)  regards 
the  psychical  and  the  physical  systems  as  of  coordinate  reality  it 
cannot  be  avoided. 

The  first  aspect  of  the  functional  relationship  between  conscious- 
ness and  physiological  factors  which  becomes  available  to  the  psycho- 
physiologist  is  that  which  obtains  between  sense  qualities  and  stimuli. 
We  have  noted  previously  that  when  the  physicist  ousted  color  from 
the  domain  of  his  science  he  substituted  for  it,  electro-magnetic  waves 
of  certain  specified  length,  and  since  the  latter  are  conceived  to  be 
portions  of  the  physical  world  while  the  former  are  now  considered 
as  psychological  entities  merely,  this  act  of  the  physicist  at  once 
establishes  a  definite  psychophysical  relationship.  From  the  point 
of  view  of  the  physicist,  color  and  wave-length  are  simply  associated 


MAR.  19,  1022    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  149 

factors  in  the  external  environment  of  the  organism,  but  the  psycho- 
physiologist  soon  finds  that  the  association  is  brought  about  purely 
through  the  medium  of  factors  lying  within  the  organism.  He  finds 
that  electro-magnetic  wave-lengths  entail  the  existence  of  color  only 
if  they  are  acting,  or  are  capable  of  acting,  upon  the  retina  of  the 
eye,  and  moreover  only  if  the  resulting  stimulation  of  the  optic  re- 
ceptors is  followed  by  a  nerve  current  set  up  in  the  optic  fibers  and 
even  then  only  if  this  current  is  permitted  to  flow  into  the  higher 
nerve  centers  of  the  cerebral  cortex.  A  still  closer  study  of  the  facts 
shows  that  the  intraorganic  factors  in  this  process  are  apparently 
more  essential  than  are  the  stimuli  which  constitute  the  physicist's 
substitute  for  color.  The  actual  colors  which  are  aroused  by  given 
stimuli  depend  radically  upon  the  condition  and  the  biological  type 
of  the  stimulated  nervous  system,  and  conditions  are  readily  found 
under  which  colors  appear  in  the  entire  absence  of  a  sensory  stimulus, 
and  indeed  even  without  the  assistance  of  any  current  within  the 
optic  nerves.  What  is  true  of  color  in  these  respects  holds  equally 
for  all  other  sensory  qualities.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  same  con- 
siderations appear  to  apply  also  to  the  primary  qualities  of  space, 
mass  and  time  in  so  far  as  they  are  given  in  the  immediate  experience 
of  any  individual.  In  a  word,  immediate  experience  in  its  totality  is 
determined  by  the  operations  of  the  nervous  system. 

The  typical  plan  of  a  nervous  process  is  that  of  what  we  may  call 
the  response  arc.  Physically  considered,  neuro-muscular  response 
is  merely  a  special,  very  intricate,  example  of  the  propagation  of  physical 
disturbances  along  a  restricted  conduction  path.  The  process  con- 
sists of  a  series  of  stages  following  each  other  in  space  and  in  time, 
each  depending  for  its  exact  character  in  part  upon  the  nature  of  its 
predecessor  and  in  part  upon  the  particular  elements  in  the  nervous 
mechanism  which  are  carrying  it.  The  characteristic  successive 
stages  of  a  response  process  may  be  listed  as  follows:  (1)  the  physical 
object,  (2)  the  stimulus,  (3)  the  sense  organ  process,  (4)  the  receptor 
process,  (5)  the  afferent  nerve  stimulation,  (6)  the  afferent  nerve 
conduction,  (7)  the  central  synaptic  process,  (8)  the  efferent  nerve 
conduction,  (9)  the  end  plate  process,  (10)  the  effector  process,  (11) 
the  effect.  This  chain  of  events,  starting  with  the  environment  and 
leading  back  to  it  again,  is  conceived  to  be  physically  complete,  at 
no  point  involving  the  intervention  of  any  psychical  activity. 

Now  it  happens  that  at  the  present  time  there  is  a  slight  disagree- 


150      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

ment  among  psychologists  as  to  exactly  what  selection  of  these  various 
stages  of  the  response  process  will  show  the  closest  correlation  with 
the  facts  of  immediate  experience.  However,  these  differences  of 
opinion  appear  to  rest  more  upon  a  quest  for  novel  viewpoints,  than 
upon  any  new  data  which  actually  contradict  the  classical  teaching 
that  consciousness  in  its  entirety  is  correlated  directly  with  the  central 
or  synaptic  process  alone ;  for  the  simplest  explanation  of  all  of  the 
relations  which  are  discovered  by  the  psychophysiologist  appears 
to  lie  in  the  idea  that  the  whole  of  experience,  both  external  and  in- 
ternal, is  a  function  of  certain  restricted  nerve  processes  occurring 
probably  in  one  of  the  association  areas  of  the  cerebral  cortex.  The 
correlations  existing  between  experience  and  other  stages  in  the  re- 
sponse are,  according  to  this  view,  indirect  in  nature,  resting  upon  the 
purely  physiological  interdependencies  of  all  of  the  stages  in  question. 
If  we  accept  this  truly  astounding  principle  of  the  "monophasic 
cerebro-cortical  determination  of  consciousness"  the  problem  of 
psychophysiology  reduces  itself  in  essence  to  a  study  of  the  laws 
which  relate  the  component  variables  of  consciousness  with  those  of 
the  cortical  mechanism.  So  far  very  little  which  is  definite  has  been 
established  along  this  line,  but  the  simplest  working  hypothesis  would 
appear  to  be  that  there  exists  a  point-to-point  correspondence  be- 
tween the  constitution  of  immediate  experience  and  that  of  the  cortical 
activity  so  that  for  each  distinctive  characteristic  of  experience  or 
consciousness  there  is  a  corresponding  attribute  of  the  brain  activity. 
This  is  the  specific  form  which  the  general  doctrine  of  psychophysical 
parallelism  assumes  under  the  influence  of  the  monophasic  cerebro- 
cortical  theory.  The  structures  of  consciousness,  in  harmony  with 
this  view,  would  probably  depend  upon  the  structural  interconnections 
of  various  active  brain  elements ;  the  unity  or  coherence  of  conscious- 
ness would  be  correlated  with  the  electrical  continuity  of  the  fields 
of  excitation  which  make  up  the  cortical  synergy  while  the  various 
qualities  which  form  the  substance  of  consciousness  would  presumably 
be  determined  by  the  varieties  of  atomic  or  molecular  structure  to  be 
found  in  the  various  cortical  synapses. 

III.     THE  METAPHYSICS  OF  THE  PSYCHOPHYSICAL  RELATION 

Having  considered  the  outcome  of  sophisticated  reasoning  in  the 
domains  of  physics  and  of  psychology,  let  us  return  once  more  to  the 
point  of  view  of  the  primitive  intelligence  with  which  we  began. 
Let  each  one  of  us,  for  the  moment,  identify  himself  with  this  in- 


I 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  151 

telligence.  I  will  speak  in  the  second  person  to  enforce  the  realism  of 
the  argument  which  is  to  follow.  At  the  start  you,  the  naive  thinker, 
divided  your  total  experience  into  internal  and  external  sections, 
assigning  the  study  of  the  former  to  psychology  and  of  the  latter  to 
physics.  At  first  you  regarded  the  whole  of  your  external  experience 
as  forming  part  of  a  world  which  existed  independently  of  your  ex- 
perience, but  as  you  progressed  in  your  physical  thinking  you  found 
that  more  and  more  factors  in  your  external  experience  failed  to  meas- 
ure up  to  the  demands  of  this  belief  and  hence  had  to  be  rejected  from 
the  subject  matter  of  your  physical  science.  Eventually  you  retained 
only  space,  mass,  and  time,  substituting  complications  of  these  for 
all  other  empirical  factors,  but  then  Einstein  appeared  upon  the  scene 
and  proved  to  you  that  these  also  could  not  be  conceived  to  exist 
unmodified  apart  from  your  own  experience.  You  then  found  your- 
self in  the  predicament  of  having  built  up  a  highly  specific  and  intricate 
logical  system,  to  the  component  terms  of  which  you  eould  no  longer 
attach  any  imaginable  meaning.  This  logical  system,  written  in 
symbols  in  your  books,  still  purported  to  refer  to  a  real  external  uni- 
verse, but  what  that  universe  could  be  like  in  itself  was  a  question 
which  you  now  found  yourself  quite  unable  to  answer.  To  say  that 
its  ultimate  substance  is  electricity  would  merely  be  to  confess  im- 
plicitly that,  although  you  knew  something  about  it,  you  knew  nothing 
at  all  of  it. 

In  this  situation  you  seem  about  to  admit  your  complete  ignorance 
of  the  nature  of  any  reality  apart  from  your  own  immediate  experience. 
But  if  you  will  ponder  a  moment  you  will  find  already  resident  in 
your  thought  a  very  potent  belief  in  the  existence  of  certain  realities 
apart  from  your  experience,  but  realities  which  are,  in  general,  quite 
different  from  any  part  of  the  physical  world.  The  realities  in  ques- 
tion are  the  consciousnesses,  or  experiences,  of  other  men.  These 
you  suppose  to  be  similar  in  character  to  your  own  consciousness 
but  nevertheless  to  be  quite  separable  from  the  latter  and  to  be  en- 
tirely independent  of  it  for  their  continued  existence.  In  order  again 
to  lend  realism  to  the  argument  I  will  take  as  an  example  of  other 
consciousness  my  own  experience  contrasted  with  yours.  Suppose 
now  that,  having  become  interested  in  consciousness,  you  become  a 
psychophysiologist  and  work  out  the  relationship  which  must  be 
conceived  to  exist  between  my  consciousness,  or  experience,  and  your 
symbolic  physical  world.     You  will  find,  as  we  have  seen,  that  my 


152      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  G 

consciousness  is  correlated  point  for  point  with  certain  physical  struc- 
tures and  processes  occurring  within  a  very  restricted  portion  of  your 
physical  system  which  you  call  my  brain  process.  This  physical 
brain  process  of  course  you  cannot  for  a  moment  conceive  to  exist 
apart  from  your  own  consciousness  and  even  here  it  will  ordinarily 
have  only  symbolic  or  logical  existence ;  you  think,  talk  and  write 
about  it  a  great  deal  but,  except  in  the  rare  instances  where  you  happen 
to  be  a  brain  surgeon  and  I  happen  unfortunately  to  be  your  patient, 
you  never  come  anywhere  near  seeing  it.  But  even  if  you  were  actually 
to  perceive  my  brain  process  in  all  of  its  molecular  detail  you  would 
not  dare  to  affirm  its  external  reality  any  more  as  a  system  of  C.  G.  S. 
quantities  than  as  an  arrangement  of  color  surfaces  in  space.  Yet 
you  do  believe  firmly  that  your  conception  of  the  structures  and  proc- 
esses of  my  brain  does,  like  the  remainder  of  your  conceived  physical 
universe,  correspond  with  some  reality  external  to  your  experience 
the  logical  constitution  of  which  is  closely  similar  to  that  of  your 
physical  scheme. 

Under  these  circumstances  can  you  not  most  assuredly  be  convicted 
of  intellectual  incapacity  if  you  do  not  recognize  in  my  consciousness 
itself  a  perfectly  good  reality  which  may  constitute  the  actual  meaning 
of  your  physical  symbol  called  a  brain  process?  In  your  ultimate 
philosophy  of  physical  science  you  affirm  that  all  of  your  physical 
equations  stand  in  point  to  point  correspondence  with  an  unknown 
reality.  In  your  interpretation  of  the  data  of  psychophysiology  you 
affirm  in  the  doctrine  of  the  parallelism  between  consciousness  and 
the  brain  process  that  my  individual  experience  stands  in  exactly 
this  relation  to  a  certain  part  of  your  physical  system.  Why,  then, 
should  you  not  admit  that  my  experience  is  the  reality  towards  which 
this  particular  section  of  your  physical  system  has  always  been  point- 
ing? 

This  is  a  doctrine  which  is  easily  heard  but  which  is  very  difficult 
to  see.  It  rhymes  with  the  evidence,  but  yet  it  seems  to  conflict  too 
much  with  common  sense;  with  common  sense  physics  and  with 
common  sense  psychology.  We  have  too  long  considered  mind  and 
matter  to  be  two  irreconcilably  disparate  but  nevertheless  interacting 
entities;  matter  a  substance  and  mind  an  intangible  activity.  Now 
we  are  required  to  treat  mind  as  if  it  were  a  substance  and  to  identify 
it  with  the  reality  of  matter.  The  doctrine  is  apt  to  cause  much  con- 
fusion in  our  thoughts  because  it  turns  all  of  our  old  mental  furniture 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  153 

topsy  turvy.  Nevertheless,  if  it  is  accepted  and  its  implications 
followed  it  will  be  found  to  clarify  and  to  simplify  our  entire  concep- 
tion of  the  universe.  It  can  solve,  firstly  certain  profound  mysteries 
into  which  we  are  led  by  modern  physics,  the  mystery  of  electricity, 
the  riddle  of  relativity,  and — I  am  inclined  to  believe — the  enigma 
of  the  quantum  theory;  secondly,  it  will  obliterate  the  dualism  of 
mind  and  matter  by  actually  explaining  the  relation  of  psychophysical 
parallelism  upon  a  monistic  basis;  and  thirdly  it  will  provide  us  with 
an  organon  for  the  systematic  and  rational  study  of  the  real  universe 
which  lies  beyond  our  own  individual  experiences. 

A  theory  possessing  powers  such  as  we  have  just  alleged  should  be 
expected,  once  it  was  clearly  formulated,  to  take  the  philosophical 
world  by  storm.  Sad  to  relate,  this  expectation  seems  doomed  to 
disappointment.  The  father  of  psychophysics,  G.  T.  Fechner,  stated 
the  doctrine  in  principle  in  1863.  W.  K.  Clifford  rediscovered  it 
in  1878.  Alfred  Barrat  evolved  practically  the  same  doctrine  in  1883 
but  his  book  seems  quite  unknown  to  any  other  writers  on  the  subject. 
Independently  in  1885  it  was  evolved  by  Dr.  Morton  Prince.  But  in 
1903  and  1905  it  was  elaborately  expounded  practically  without  reference 
to  previous  expositions,  by  C.  A.  Strong  and  G.  Heymans,  respectively. 
Only  two  English  speaking  psychologists,  Stout  and  McDougall, 
have  taken  any  cognizance  of  the  doctrine,  although  it  eliminates 
difficulties  concerning  the  discussion  of  which  psychologists  have 
wasted  thousands  of  pages  of  manuscript.  I  worked  out  the  theory 
myself  in  great  elaboration,  probably  from  suggestions  contained  in 
Paulsen's  Introduction  to  Philosophy  in  my  undergraduate  days. 
Heymans'  book,  which  appeals  to  me  as  being  the  keenest  discussion 
of  metaphysical  problems  which  I  have  ever  read,  appears  to  be  en- 
tirely unknown  in  the  department  of  philosophy  at  Harvard  and  at 
no  time  during  my  own  study  in  that  department  do  I  remember 
having  heard  the  theory  of  psychical  monism  mentioned  even  cas- 
ually. 

The  failure  of  the  doctrine  to  take  root  in  the  minds  of  philosophers 
and  psychologists  is  due  I  believe  to  their  habitually  fuzzy  methods 
of  thinking.  It  is  a  doctrine  much  better  adapted  in  form  to  the 
mathematical  mind  of  the  physical  scientist.  But  although  the 
form  will  suit  the  physicist  the  substance  unfortunately  probably 
will  not  do  this.  Here,  again,  it  may  fall  upon  barren  soil,  but  I  am 
trying  the  experiment  of  sowing  it  there  now. 


154      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  6 
IV.    THE  PSYCHICAL  MONIST's  UNIVERSE 

In  order  to  show  how  our  hypothesis  may  possibly  accomplish 
some  of  the  great  things  claimed  for  it,  we  must  elaborate  its  implica- 
tions in  further  detail.  Let  us  adhere  to  the  use  of  the  second  and 
first  persons  as  before  to  make  vivid  the  situations  which  are  involved. 

You  must  begin  your  thought  with  the  assumption  that  the  reality 
lying  behind  your  idea  or  perception  of  my  cerebral  process  is  simply 
my  total  introspective  consciousness.  The  various  material  or  dy- 
namic components  which  you  perceive  or  conceive  within  this  brain 
mechanism  are  merely  the  individual  representations  within  your  own 
consciousness  of  these  components  of  my  consciousness.  Each  element 
in  your  picture  of  my  brain  process  is  in  reality  simply  an  element  of 
your  own  consciousness,  but  it  may  be  considered  as  an  efect  or  product, 
however  remote,  of  the  action  of  a  corresponding,  but  ordinarily  quite 
different,  element  in  my  consciousness.  The  structure  of  the  brain 
process  is  but  the  reflection  in  a  psychophysical  mirror  of  the  structure 
of  consciousness;  although  it  is  a  product  not  so  much  of  optical 
as  of  philosophical  reflection. 

It  should  be  clear  to  you  at  once  that  this  hypothesis  quite  resolves 
the  dualism  of  mind  and  matter  and  provides  a  real  explanation  of 
the  psychophysical  relation.  It  destroys  the  dualism  by  dethroning 
matter  from  its  exalted  seat  as  a  peer  among  substances  with  mind. 
Matter,  or  electricity,  is  denied  existence  except  in  so  far  as  it  is 
actually  presented  within  any  given  concrete  field  of  experience,  but 
within  such  a  field  it  cannot  be  the  matter  concerning  which  physics 
speaks  and  can  only  constitute  psychological  matter  or  specific  per- 
ceptual complexes  of  sensory  qualities.  Hence  in  so  far  as  our  doc- 
trine of  psychic  monism  admits  the  existence  of  matter,  it  classes  it 
as  a  subdivision  of  consciousness.  The  physical  systems  which 
we  are  considering  in  our  discussion  of  the  brain  process,  however, 
do  not  even  have  this  degree  of  reality,  since  all  that  is  presented  in 
consciousness  at  the  moment  of  discussion  are  complexes  of  visual 
or  auditory  sensations  or  images  which  are  commonly  called  words. 
These  words,  it  is  true,  are  supposed  to  have  meanings,  but  the  mean- 
ings are  by  hypothesis  not  regarded  as  being  within  consciousness, 
and  hence  we  are  quite  at  liberty — so  far  as  the  evidence  of  immediate 
experience  is  concerned — to  deny  their  existence  altogether. 

When  we  see  thus  clearly  what  is  actual  and  what  is  possibly  only 
fictitious  in  the  psychophysical  relationship  we  recognize  that  this 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  155 

relationship  as  ordinarily  conceived  holds  between  any  individual 
consciousness  and  the  non-existent  meaning  of  a  physical  scientific 
description.  The  only  parallelism  of  reality  is  between  the  conscious 
svstem  and  the  descriptive  system,  but  the  descriptive  system  em- 
ploys, in  general,  terms  which  are  not  suitable  to  the  nature  of  con- 
sciousness. The  psychical  monist  suggests  that  this  is  an  error,  the 
description  having  actually  been  determined  in  its  logical  form  by 
unrecognized  influences  emanating  actually  from  the  given  conscious- 
ness, so  that  the  tangled  threads  may  be  straightened  out  simply  by 
substituting  in  the  description,  terms  and  elementary  relations  which 
are  appropriate  to  psychical  manifolds  in  general.  The  explanation 
of  psychophysical  parallelism  which  is  afforded  by  psychical  monism 
is  therefore  analogous  to  one  which  would  show  why  the  shadow  of 
a  man  should  follow  him  about  and  be  roughly  similar  to  him  in 
contour  and  gesture.  Both  the  shadow  and  the  man  are  integral 
parts  of  a  homogeneous  system,  but  they  happen  to  enter  into  a  peculiar 
relationship — ^not  at  all  characteristic  of  the  structure  of  the  universe 
as  a  whole — in  which  there  is  an  apparent  parallelism  of  parts  and  of 
activities.  The  psychical  monist' s  explanation  of  the  functional 
relationship  which  psychophysiology  finds  to  hold  between  conscious- 
ness and  the  brain  process  is  every  whit  as  good  as  is  the  physicist's 
explanation,  within  the  domain  of  optics,  of  the  relationship  which 
obtains  between  object  points  and  image  points  in  reflecting  or  re- 
fracting systems.  The  exact  physical  counterpart  of  the  explanation, 
however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  relation  existing  between  the  object  and 
the  brain  process  in  the  mechanism  of  response ;  for  the  exact  physical 
picture  of  what  is  happening  when  my  consciousness  is  acting  upon 
yours  is  given  by  my  brain  process  becoming  the  object  in  the  re- 
sponse propagation  which  culminates  in  your  brain  process. 

The  psychical  monist.  however,  has  not  finished  when  he  has  dissi- 
pated the  mystery  of  psychophysical  dualism.  He  must  go  on  to 
consider  the  larger  psychical  universe  which  lies  beyond  your  par- 
ticular consciousness  or  mine.  Since  the  facts  of  psychophysiology 
indicate  that  my  introspective  consciousness  correlates  with  only  a 
small  portion  of  what  you  perceive  or  conceive  as  my  physiological 
organism,  the  question  obviously  arises  as  to  what  significance  can 
be  assigned,  in  the  universe  external  to  your  consciousness,  to  the 
remainder  of  my  organic  structure  and  processes  as  conceived  by  you. 
In  the  first  place,  you  may  consider  the  fact  that  not  my  total  nervous 


156      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  6 

system  nor  even  the  whole  of  my  cerebral  activities  are  apparently 
associated  with  the  immediate  production  of  my  introspective  con- 
sciousness, but  only  a  restricted  area  of  the  cerebral  processes.  How 
shall  you  interpret  the  immediately  outlying  cortical  activities?  I 
might  answer  that  these  are  probably  the  results  of  your  attempt  to 
conceive  physically  a  reality  which  I  call  my  subconscious  mind. 
vSome  psychologists  have  experienced  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving the  subconscious  mind  actually  to  be  conscious.  But  from 
the  point  of  view  of  psychical  monism  this  is  a  very  easy  thing  to 
do.  Consciousness  is  treated  as  a  qualitatively  differentiated  sub- 
stance which  is  capable  of  forming  systems  of  greater  or  less  complexity 
and  of  varying  degrees  of  coherence.  Just  as  your  consciousness 
and  mine  are  both  conscious  yet  not  mutually  inclusive  nor  even,  it 
would  seem,  connected  in  any  conscious  way,  so  my  introspective 
field  of  awareness  and  various  depths  of  the  subconscious  may  all  be 
conscious  without  being  co-conscious  or  uniting  to  form  one  integral 
coherent  system. 

If  you  follow  this  line  of  thought  with  regard  to  what  may  be  called 
the  psychical  environs  of  my  introspective  consciousness  you  will 
be  led  to  believe  that  my  consciousness  is  psychically  surrounded  by 
a  system  of  psychical  entities  or  processes  bearing  the  same  relation- 
ship to  it  that  the  brain  processes  which  envelop  the  central  cortical 
activities  bear  to  the  latter.  For  every  neurone  in  the  nervous  system 
and  for  every  atom  in  each  neurone  there  must  be  a  real  psychical 
fact  which  is  related  to  my  consciousness  just  as  my  neurones  and 
their  atoms  are  related  to  my  central  brain  process.  My  field  of 
introspective  consciousness  must,  in  other  words,  be  considered  the 
focus  of  a  vast  psychical  nervous  system,  a  nervous  system  made 
not  of  protons  and  electrons  but  of  atoms  of  sentiency.  Within  this 
system  there  transpire  propagations  of  influence  converging  upon 
and  diverging  from  my  introspective  field  which  correspond  exactly 
with  the  neuro-muscular  response  processes  which  you  picture  to 
yourself  when  you  are  thinking  of  the  operations  of  my  nervous  system 
physically.  Your  physical  conception  of  this  response  is  indeed  clearly 
nothing  but  a  symbolic  representation  of  the  real  psychical  response 
system,  which  is  of  a  sort  which  was  functioning  in  connection  with 
the  consciousness  of  primitive  man  before  any  of  the  conceptions  of 
modern  physiology  were  even  dreamt  of. 

You  cannot  stop  here,  however,  you  must  go  on  to  consider  the 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  1,57 

meaning  of  the  non-nervous  portion  of  my  organism  as  you  conceive 
it,  and,  furthermore,  the  significance  of  the  world  of  physical  stimuli 
and  objects  which  surround  it.  The  intra-organic  stages  of  response 
are  merely  certain  links  in  a  continuous  chain  of  influences  which 
flow  into  the  organism  at  the  sense  organs  and  out  of  it  at  the  effectors, 
and  the  nerv^ous  mechanisms  of  the  organism  differ  only  quantitatively 
from  those  of  other  tissues.  The  continuity  of  physical  nature  com- 
mands that  you  expand  your  conception  of  the  psychical  universe 
into  a  structure  which  corresponds  point  for  point  not  only  with  the 
parts  of  my  nervous  system  but  with  all  the  constituents  of  my  organ- 
ism and  of  my  environment ;  indeed,  with  the  totality  of  the  physical 
universe  as  conceived  by  the  most  comprehensive  physical  mind. 
You  are  thus  led  to  the  conception  of  a  complete  universe  of  objective 
consciousness,  the  formal  structure  of  which  is  substantially  identical 
with  that  described  by  the  physical  sciences  of  biology,  geology 
and  astronomy,  but  the  substance  of  which  is  similar  to  what  the 
psychologist  finds  in  immediate  experience.  The  processes  of  this 
great  psychical  world,  being — like  those  of  the  physical  system — 
mainly  a  succession  of  different  structures,  must  also  be  formally  iden- 
tical with  those  which  the  physical  scientist  describes.  This  inference 
from  the  general  homogeneity  and  continuity  of  the  physical  system 
which  embraces  my  brain  mechanism,  therefore  leads  you  to  a  rational 
and  meaningful  interpretation  of  your  entire  physical  hypothesis. 
It  is  this  psychical  universe  at  large,  in  which  my  consciousness  and 
also  your  own  are  small  but  integral  parts,  which  constitutes  the  real 
objective  meaning  of  the  relativity  C.  G.  S.  electro-magnetic  schema 
in  general  physics. 

Certain  apparent  difficulties  which  arise  in  connection  with  this 
doctrine  can  readily  be  shown  to  be  specious.  In  the  first  place  there 
is  the  difficulty  of  conceiving  consciousness  or  the  psychical  as  a  self- 
existent  substance  which  is  capable  of  forming  definite  structures. 
This  difficulty  arises  from  an  adherence  to  the  idea  of  consciousness 
as  a  relation  between  a  self  or  ego  and  an  object,  whereas  modern 
introspective  psychology  quite  rejects  this  conception,  along  with  that 
of  the  ego,  and  identifies  consciousness  with  the  mosaic  of  sensory 
and  other  qualities  which  were  regarded  as  contents  or  objects  of 
consciousness  in  the  older,  relational  theory.  Consciousness,  for  the 
modern  psychologist,  is  essentially  a  mosaic  which  must  be  analyzed 
into  elementary  qualities  and  their  interrelations,  so  that  pure  intro- 


158      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

spective  psychology  is  often  designated  as  structural  psychology. 
That  the  qualities  and  the  structural  coherences  of  consciousness  are 
capable  of  existing  in  their  own  right  is  certainly  a  reasonable  supposi- 
tion, since  the  very  idea  of  existence  must  inevitably  rest  upon  the 
demonstrable  reality  of  these  data  of  experience .  Another  similarly  spe- 
cious difficulty  appears  in  the  persuasion  that  the  panpsychic  extension 
of  consciousness  to  correspond  not  only  with  brain  processes  but  with 
all  material  systems  makes  the  universe  unduly  complex ;  so  that  the 
doctrine  seems  liable  to  succumb  to  the  onslaughts  of  Occam's  razor. 
This  objection  is  specious  because  psychical  monism,  unlike  dualistic 
panpsychisms,  does  not  add  consciousness  to  the  equation  of  matter 
but  substitutes  it  within  this  equation.  The  resulting  system  is 
therefore  of  exactly  the  same  degree  of  complexity  as  that  of  physical 
science  and  the  latter  has  vanished  from  the  metaphysical  arena 
completely,  appearing  now  merely  as  stage  of  reasoning — like  those 
of  pure  mathematics  within  physics  alone — leading  up  to  the  final 
account  of  things.  The  psychical  monist's  system  is,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  much  simpler  than  any  materialistic  scheme  which  acknowledges 
all  of  the  data  of  experience,  for  all  such  schemes  inevitably  demand 
dualism  and  reduplication  of  factors  wherever  the  existence  of  con- 
sciousness can  be  demonstrated.  For  psychical  monism,  on  the 
other  hand,  all  demonstrable  fields  of  consciousness  are  merely  inter- 
locking parts  of  a  system  which  in  its  totality  is  no  more  intricate 
than  a  materialistic  system  which  excludes  all  considerations  of  con- 
sciousness. 

In  reality,  the  complete  psychical  system  is  probably  even  simpler 
than  this.  The  physicist  thinks  of  each  component  electron  or  proton 
in  his  system  as  retaining  its  discreteness  or  individuality  regardless 
of  the  relations  of  combination  into  which  it  enters  with  others.  Syn- 
thesis, for  the  physicist,  is  not  of  the  elements  themselves  but  only 
of  the  structures,  which  are  condensed  in  space  and  increased  in  stabil- 
ity. There  is  convincing  evidence,  however,  that  atoms  of  mind- 
stuff  do  not  behave  in  this  way,  and  that  when  they  combine  they 
actually  fuse — in  varying  degrees  according  to  circumstances  and 
partially — or,  in  the  limit,  wholly — -lose  their  identity.  Such  fusion 
results  in  the  generation  of  a  new  over-all  "form  quality"  of  the  re- 
sulting integral  which  is  the  conservation  index  of  or  compensation 
for  the  sacrificed  discreteness  of  the  combined  elements.  This  is 
real  synthesis,  and  while  it  increases  the  qualitative  diversity  of  the 


MAR.  19,  1922    troland:  psychophysics  the  key  of  physics,  etc.  159 

components  of  the  universe,  it  greatly  simplifies  its  structure.  The 
necessity  for  a  principle  of  this  sort  operating  in  the  psychical  universe 
first  appears  in  a  consideration  of  the  relations  between  so-called 
elementary  components  of  experience — such  as  any  point  sensation 
of  color — and  the  corresponding  brain  components.  Although  the 
former  seem  simple  the  latter  must  almost  certainly  be  complex. 
There  are  only  two  kinds  of  ultimate  physical  elements,  positive  and 
negative  electricity,  while  there  are  thousands  and  probably  millions 
of  qualitatively  distinct,  irreducible,  elements  of  consciousness.  Clearly 
these  psychic  units  cannot  correspond  to  protons  and  electrons  or 
even  to  specific  chemical  elements,  but  must  be  correlated  with  molec- 
ular, colloidal,  or  crystal  species. 

Here  the  parallelism  of  structure  between  the  physical  and  the 
psychical  systems  appears  to  break  down ;  only  in  the  grosser  and  more 
disperse  organizations  of  matter  can  it  be  conceived  to  hold  at  all 
rigidly.  Possibly  there  is  some  slight  degree  of  structure  in  so-called 
elementary  qualities,  but  not  enough  to  arouse  an  analytic  judgment. 
At  any  rate  we  may  suppose  that  when  such  qualities  decompose, 
as  in  the  analysis  of  a  musical  chord  or  clang,  they  always  yield  definite 
end  products  in  a  definite  structural  relation,  so  that  they  may  always 
be  said  to  have  potential  structure.  Physics  derives  its  physical 
diagrams  of  the  constitution  of  these  finer  parts  of  its  universe  almost 
entirely  from  a  study  of  the  ways  in  which  they  can  be  formed  or  the 
manner  in  which  they  break  down,  and  hence  may  be  accused  of  read- 
ing into  them  an  exaggerated  structurality.  In  terms  of  given  exis- 
tence rather  than  of  history  or  prophecy,  however,  the  translation  of 
physical  space  structures  into  psychical  realities  will  involve  the  trans- 
mutation of  an  increasing  fraction  of  structurality  into  specific  quality, 
as  the  physical  mosaics  become  more  cohesive  and  in  general  more 
microscopic. 

These  considerations  indicate  that  although  the  technique  of  physi- 
cal thinking — according  to  our  interpretation — is  implicitly  aimed 
at  a  determination  of  the  abstract  structure  of  the  psychical  universe, 
this  technique  is  not  as  yet  perfectly  adapted  to  that  purpose.  In 
regard  to  structure,  it  overshoots  the  mark.  In  other  ways,  it  may 
introduce  into  the  physical  scheme  of  concepts,  artif actual  terms  and 
relationships,  which  have  the  same  irrelevancy  to  the  real  universe 
which  the  surds  and  irrational  numbers  of  mathematical  technique 
have  to  the  physical  scheme  by  itself.     Considerations  of  this  sort 


160      JOURNAL  OF   THE   WASHINGTON  ACADE;mY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  G 

may  throw  light  upon  certain  mysteries  of  modern  physics,  such  as 
the  quantum  theory  of  energy  transfer.  This  conception  of  atoms  of 
activity  which  seems  absolutely  essential  to  the  explanation  of  known 
laws  of  the  emission  and  absorption  of  radiant  energy  appears  to  be 
squarely  in  conflict  with  phenomena  of  the  interference  type  upon 
which  the  continuous  wave  hypothesis  was  founded.^  Is  it  not  possible 
that  this  quantum  conception — like  the  irrationality  of  t — is  attrib- 
utable to  an  artificial  incommensurability  of  the  present  concepts 
of  physics  and  the  properties  of  the  real  universe?  An  inkling  as 
to  the  nature  of  this  incommensurability  is  given  by  our  considera- 
tions regarding  the  reality  of  psychical  synthesis.  If  the  physicist 
overestimates  the  discreteness  of  the  various  parts  of  the  universe, 
he  may  find  it  necessary  to  compensate  for  this  by  overestimating 
the  discreteness  of  the  changes  which  occur  within  or  between  them. 
His  changes  are  fundamentally  expressed  as  ratios  of  spaces  to  times 
and  an  erroneous  factor  in  the  structural  numerator  of  this  ratio  could 
therefore  be  canceled  in  its  influence  upon  conclusions  by  an  equivalent, 
erroneous  factor  in  the  temporal  denominator.  We  might  explain 
the  introduction  of  this  latter  factor  by  the  hypothesis  that  the  local 
time  of  any  single  radiator  is  atomic  or  possessed  of  a  cell  structure 
so  that  successively  emitted  quanta,  although  distributed  at  random 
within  these  cells  would  be  held  in  constant  phase  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  receiver,  by  always  beginning  at  the  front  end  of  a  given 
time  cell,  and  on  the  average  filling  large  blocks  of  such  cells  homo- 
geneously. But  this  would  merely  be  another  outrage  to  our  common 
sense  ideas  and  a  further  indication  of  the  unreality  of  the  physicist's 
schema. 

It  is  along  similar  lines,  that  the  psychical  monist  rationalizes  the 
principle  of  relativity.  This  principle  immolates  the  stability  of 
empty  space  and  time  to  the  constancy  of  the  velocity  of  light  under 
all  conditions.  But  the  psychical  monist  sees  at  once  that  empty 
space  and  empty  time  have  no  objective  meaning  whatsoever.  In 
the  psychical  universe,  space  has  significance  only  for  the  form  of 
combination  of  concrete  psychical  units.  Where  such  concrete  units 
are  absent  there  can  be  no  form  of  combination  and  hence  only  non- 

1  This  paragraph  was  written  from  the  point  of  view  of  J.  J.  Thomson's  "pulse  theory" 
which  renders  understandable  the  mechanism  of  emission  and  absorption  of  quanta.  The 
more  current  idea  of  a  quantum  as  a  short  train  of  continuous  waves  fits  in  better  with 
interference  phenomena,  but  in  doing  so  simply  places  the  parado.x  in  a  different  place,  in 
the  processes  of  emission  and  absorption. 


MAR.  19,  1922      TROI^AND:   PSYCHOPHYSICS  THS  KBY  Olf  PHYSICS,  ETC.  161 

existence.  The  same  is  true  of  time,  which  is  merely  an  aspect  of 
concrete  changes  and  their  functional  interrelations.  Such  inter- 
relations are  symbolized  physically  by  the  transfer  of  radiation,  and 
the  velocity  of  this  transfer  is  thus  the  natural  reference  constant 
for  the  establishment  of  standard  temporal  and  structural  systems. 
Although  we  may  not  be  able  from  these  considerations  immediately 
to  deduce  the  Einsteinian  equations,  we  can  at  least  recognize  that 
the  psychical  monist's  universe  is  sufficiently  different  from  that  of 
non-relativity  C.  G.  S.  physics  to  make  it  possible  for  the  equations 
in  question  to  fit  its  properties  without  inconsistency. 

In  conclusion  a  word  must  be  said  concerning  the  relation  of  the 
psychical  monistic  hypothesis  to  the  philosophical  discipline  known 
as  metaphysics.  This  discipline  has  several  subdivisions,  such  as 
epistemology  and  ontology,  but  one  of  its  main  efforts  has  always 
been  to  determine  the  inherent  nature  of  reality,  and  in  particular 
reality  independent  of  individual  experience  or  merely  "phenomenal" 
representations.  For  every  phenomenon  it  has  tended  to  postulate 
a  "noumenon"  or  a  thing-in-itself.  Physics,  as  I  have  interpreted 
it,  clearly  has  a  strong  metaphysical  inclination  in  this  respect,  but 
only  materialistic  metaphysics  has  accepted  physics  as  actually  answer- 
ing the  metaphysical,  or  the  "metempirical"  question.  Metaphysi- 
cians other  than  the  materialistic  ones  have  in  general  worked  entirely 
by  arm-chair  guesses  or  have  employed  idiosyncratic  methods,  such 
as  Hegel's  principle  of  thesis,  antithesis,  and  synthesis.  Now,  psy- 
chical monism  very  evidently  steps  into  the  metaphysical  arena  with 
a  definite  theory  of  the  general  nature  of  things  in  themselves;  but 
it  does  more  than  this,  it  brings  with  it  a  sword  with  which  to  engage 
in  the  metaphysical  fray  of  words:  a  definite  method  of  research. 

This  new  method  or  "novum  organon"  for  metaphysics  consists 
simply  in  determining  carefully  the  laws  which  link  the  factors  of 
human  consciousness  with  those  of  brain  function  and  then  general- 
izing these  laws  so  that  they  can  be  applied  not  merely  to  brains  but 
to  any  physical  structure  or  process  whatsoever.  The  possibility  of 
doing  this  rests  upon  the  continuity  of  nature  and  upon  the  belief 
that  human  consciousness  is  sufficiently  complex  to  exemplify  all  of 
the  elementary  psycho-physical  relationships.  It  is  the  principle 
of  the  "flower  in  the  crannied  wall"  from  a  careful  study  of  which  we 
can  infer  the  constitution  of  the  entire  universe. 

If  time  permitted  we  might  go  on  to  apply  this  method  at  least 


162      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

in  a  preliminary  way  to  see  to  what  specific  depictions  of  the  general 
psychical  universe  it  may  lead  us.  However,  I  can  here  only  express 
my  belief — justified  by  theoretical  results  already  achieved — that 
the  doctrine  of  psychical  monism  will  not  only  throw  light  upon  the 
mysteries  of  physics  and  of  metaphysics  but  also  upon  those  of  religion 
and  of  ethics.  When  we  know  exactly  what  manner  of  universe  we 
live  in  we  shall  know  whither  that  universe  is  going  and  what  our  own 
part  must  be  in  its  evolution. 

PARTIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 
BarraTT,  M.  a.     Physical  metempiric.     London,  ]883. 
Clifford,  W.  K.     On  the  nature  of  things  in  themselves.     In  lectures  and  essays.     London, 

1878,  2:   52-73. 
Heymans,  G.     Einfuhrung  in  die  Metaphysik  auf  Grundlage  der  Erfahrung.     Leipzig,  1905, 

pp.  218-321. 
Prince,  M.     The  nature  of  mind  and  human  automatism.     Philadelphia,  1885. 
Prince,  M.     Hughlings- Jackson  on  the  connection  between  the  mind  and  the  brain.     Brain, 

1891,  14:   250-270. 
Stout,  G.  F.     Manual  of  psychology.     London,  1907,  pp.  34-56. 
Strong,  C.  A.     Why  the  mtnd  has  a  body.     New  York,  1903. 
Troland,  L.  T.     Paraphysical  monism.     Philosophical  Review,  1918,  27:  37-62. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

.  SOCIETIES 
WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

161ST  MEETING 

The  161st  meeting  of  the  Academy  was  held  jointly  with  the  Botanical 
Society  of  Washington  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  the  evening  of  Thursday,  Decem- 
ber 15,  1921.  Dr.  WiivLiAM  E.  Safford,  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry, 
IJ.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  delivered  an  illustrated  address  upon  The 
food  plants  of  Ancient  America. 

Every  food  staple  encountered  by  the  early  explorers  and  colonists  of 
America  was  new  to  them.  Not  a  single  Old  World  cereal,  vegetable,  fruit 
or  root-crop,  had  found  its  way  to  this  continent  before  the  discovery.  Amer- 
ican agriculture,  as  practiced  in  various  regions  both  north  and  south  of  the 
equator,  was  endemic.  The  cultivated  food  staples  had  been  won  by  the 
Indians  from  wild  shrubs  and  herbs:  maize  from  a  wild  grass;  squashes  and 
pumpkins  from  wild  gourds;  common  beans  and  lima  beans  from  legumi- 
nous vines  scrambling  in  thickets ;  potatoes  from  a  tuberous  weed  of  the  Andes ; 
sweet  potatoes  from  one  of  the  many  wild  morning-glories;  peanuts  {Arachis 
hypogea)  from  a  wild  vine  that  ripened  its  seeds  under  ground;  tomatoes 
and  capsicum  peppers  from  solanaceous  plants  of  the  hill-sides  and  plains; 
pineapples  from  coarse  prickly-leaved  plants  of  certain  semi-arid  regions  of 
Central  America;  chocolate  from  the  seeds  of  a  tropical  American  shrub; 
and  tobacco  from  several  species  of  clammy  ill-smelling  weeds  allied  to  the 
narcotic  henbane  of  the  Old  World. 


MAR.  19,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :   ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  163 

The  very  early  dissemination  of  some  of  these  plants  led  to  conflicting 
theories  as  to  their  origin.     A  recent  writer,  unhampered  by  botanical  knowl- 
edge, declares  that  tobacco  and  several  other  well  known  American  eco- 
nomic plants  were  brought  to  America  from  the  Old  World.     He  stigmatizes 
Columbus  and  his  companions  as  liars,  and  modern  ethnologists  as  fools. 
Even   botanists  have  advanced  erroneous  theories  regarding  the  origin  of 
well-known  food  plants,  one  of  the  authorities  on  the  gourd  family,  for  in- 
stance, declaring  the  squashes  and  pumpkins  of  America  to  be  of  Asiatic 
origin.     De  Candolle  himself  was  governed  too  much  by  acounts  of  early 
travellers,  which  were  often  vague  and  unsatisfactory.     Owing  to  such  ac- 
counts,   the   South  American   potato    {Solanum   tuberosum)   has   been   con- 
fused with  the  openauk,  or  ground-nut,   of  the  Virginia  Indians   (Glycine 
apios),  w^hich  the  early  French  colonists  called  "racine  a  chanelet;"  and  the 
peanut  (Arachis  hypogea)  has  been  confused  with  the  North  American  ground 
bean  {Falcata  comosa)  and  the  African  Voandzeia  suhterranea,  both  of  which 
have  subterranean  fruits.     Other  examples  are  the  confusion  of  the  American 
Cucurhita  maxima  and  C.  pepo  with  Old  World  gourds.     Fortunately  we  have 
an  abundance  of  material  from  prehistoric  graves,  including  remarkably  well 
preserved  fruits,  seeds,  and  tubers  of  food  plants,  as  well  as  beautiful  repro- 
ductions of  the  same  in  the  form  of  funeral  vases  of  terracotta. 

Among  the  food  products  shown  on  the  screen  were  specimens  of  maize 
from  ancient  graves  and  burial  mounds  of  South  and  North  America ;  seeds, 
shells,  and  stems  of  squashes  and  pumpkins,  and  beautiful  reproductions  of 
Cucurbita  pepo  and  C.  maxima  in  terracotta ;  many  distinct  varieties  of  Pha- 
seolus  vulgaris  and  P.  lunatus;  actual  specimens  of  Arachis  hypogea  in  a  re- 
markably perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  terracotta  vases  incrusted  with 
peanuts  modeled  from  the  fruits  themselves;  specimens  and  models  of  pota- 
toes {Solanum,  tuberosum),  sweet  potatoes  (Ipomoea  batatas),  mandioca  (Man- 
ihot  utilissima),  and  dichotomous  roots  of  Canna  edulis.  Some  of  the  models 
were  in  the  form  of  idols,  one  of  the  squashes  having  the  figure  of  a  god  mounted 
upon  it,  and  a  canna  root  having  also  a  human  head  depicted  on  the  prin- 
cipal root.  A  corn  god  surrounded  by  ears  of  maize  was  in  the  form  of  a 
monster  with  great  tusks  protuding  from  the  mouth;  a  terracotta  figure, 
evidently  the  god  of  agriculture,  held  in  one  hand  a  stalk  of  maize  bearing 
ears  and  tassel  and  in  the  other  a  stalk  of  mandioca  bearing  a  fascicle  of  fusi- 
form roots.  Many  of  the  specimens  shown  were  from  collections  made  by 
the  lecturer  while  exploring  in  South  America. 

Lantern  slides  of  wild  fruits,  tubers,  and  edible  roots  were  also  exhibited 
including  the  principal  species  used  by  the  Virginia  and  New  England  Indians, 
and  wild  grapes  from  which  the  Concord,  Catawba,  Niagara,  and  other  well- 
known  varieties  of  cultivated  grapes  have  been  developed  in  modern  times. 

William  R.  Maxon,  Recording  Secretary. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCI  ETY 
337  meeting 
The  337th  regular  meeting  was  held  on  February  3,  1921  in  Room  43  of 
the  new  building  of  the  National  Museum,  with  President  Walton  in  the 
chair  and  32  members  and  6  visitors  present.  The  following  were  elected 
to  membership  in  the  society;  E.  H.  Blackmore  of  Victoria,  B.  C.  ;  R.  J. 
TiLYARD  of  New  Zealand;  B.  A.  Porter  of  the  Bureau  of  Entomology; 
and  Melville  H.  Hatch  of  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan. 


164      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  6 

Program 

R.  C.  Shannon  :  Notes  on  the  classification  of  the  Syrphidae. 

This  classification  is  based  on  external  characters  of  the  adults.  Ten 
subfamilies  are  recognized  and  practically  all  the  characters  used  to  define 
them  are  here  used  for  the  first  time.  The  most  notable  feature  in  the  paper 
is  the  definite  separation  of  the  Syrphinae,  containing  the  aphidophagus 
forms,  from  the  other  subfamilies. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Aldrich  expressed  himself  as  much  gratified  with  Mr.  Shan- 
non's work  on  the  Syrphidae.  He  stated  that  previous  classifications  of  the 
family  have  been  based  on  what  might  be  called  traditional  characters  which 
give  an  unnatural  grouping  of  the  genera. 

L.  O.  Howard  :     Extracts  from  Ferton's  review  of  Fabre's  work. 

Doctor  Howard  stated  that  he  had  recently  carefully  translated  two  arti- 
cles from  the  French  relating  to  J.  H.  Fabre.  The  first,  which  was  an  en- 
thusiastic eulogy,  was  published  by  BouviER  in  the  Revue  generale  des  Sci- 
ences pure  et  appliquees,  26^  Annee,  22:  634-639.  Paris:  30  Nov.,  1915;  and  the 
second  was  a  critical  estimate  of  the  character  and  work  of  Fabre  by  Ch. 
Ferton  published  in  Revue  Scientifique,  16-23,  September.  1916 — leading 
article.  Doctor  Howard  read  abstracts  from  the  latter  article  in  order  to 
show  the  members  of  the  society  the  true  estimate  of  Fabre  that  is  held  among 
the  best  scientific  men  of  France,  especially  those  best  fitted  by  their  work  to  ap- 
preciate at  their  true  worth  the  reported  observations  of  the  Hermit  Naturalist. 

The  translations  will  be  bound  and  placed  in  the  library  of  the  Bureau  of 
Entomology  at  the  end  of  the  series  of  the  published  works  of  FabrE. 

Mr.  S.  A.  RohwER  expressed  the  opinion  that  from  the  point  of  actual  ob- 
servations Fabre's  work  does  not  equal  that  of  the  Peckhams  or  the  Raus. 
He  questioned  if  the  good  that  Fabre  did  as  a  popularizer  of  entomology 
would  outweigh  the  harm  that  he  did  to  the  science  by  his  bitter  antagonism 
to  the  evolutionary  theory.  The  erroneous  determinations  of  species  made 
by  Fabre  have  made  his  work  much  less  valuable  than  it  would  have 
been  had  he  secured  correct  determinations  from  competent  authorities.  Mr. 
Rohwer  stated  that  the  same  criticism  applies  to  some  extent  to  some 
American  works  on  the  habits  of  wasps,  notably  that  of  Hartman  in  Texas. 

Mr.  Snodgrass  was  inclined  to  overlook  the  inaccuracies  of  Fabre's  work 
stating  that  in  American  entomological  literature  there  are  many  errors  as 
bad  as  those  of  Fabre's.  He  cited  as  an  example  the  statement  that  the 
tussock  moth  removed  the  hairs  from  its  back  by  means  of  its  mandibles  and 
weaves  them  into  its  cocoon.  He  had  observed  the  method  by  which  these 
hairs  are  removed  and  found  it  to  be  accomplished  by  a  revolving  motion  of  the 
larva  in  its  cocoon,  by  which  the  hairs  are  rubbed  off  and  becoming  tangled 
in  the  silk  of  cocoon  form  a  part  of  the  cocoon. 

E.  D.  Ball:     Food  plants  and  adaptations  of  leaf  hoppers. 

Treehoppers  exhibit  many  lines  of  adaptation  to  their  surroundings.  They 
have  been  chiefly  famous  in  the  past  for  their  remarkable  and  bizarre  shapes. 
These  curious  and  intricate  modifications  are  all  the  result  of  an  extraordinary 
enlargement  of  the  chitonous  covering  of  the  pronotum.  These  horns, 
spines,  balls,  warts,  or  foliaceous  prolongations  may  be  clipped  off  as  one 
trims  the  finger  nails  without  in  any  way  injuring  the  insect  whose  body  is  of 
normal  shape  and  proportion  down  at  the  base  of  this  hood.  One  South 
American  species  at  least  appears  to  be  able  to  shed  without  difficulty  a  folia- 
ceous bulb  that  covers  its  back.     This  is  probably  a  protection  against  insec- 


TVIAR.   19,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :  ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  165 

tivorous  birds.  Most  of  the  other  strange  developments  seem  to  be  protected 
by  simulating  some  part  of  the  plant  on  which  they  live  or  else  so  arranged  as  to 
blend  into  the  lights  and  shadows  of  their  favorite  situation  as  to  render  them 
inconspicuous.  For  example,  a  species  that  lives  on  the  oak  has  a  white 
stripe  down  the  middle  of  the  back  which  is  very  striking  when  seen  in  a 
collection.  This  insect,  however,  in  life  rests  on  the  underside  of  a  twig  in 
the  shadows  and  this  white  stripe  then  functions  like  the  light  under  part  of 
the  deer  or  of  many  birds  and  helps  it  to  blend  with  its  surroundings. 

The  adaptation  of  these  insects  to  their  surroundings  in  color  and  mark- 
ings is  if  anything  even  more  striking  than  their  grotesque  shapes.  A  study 
-of  the  North  American  species  of  Telamonini  shows  that  nearly  every  one 
of  them  has  a  single  food  plant  to  which  it  is  almost  perfectly  adapted  in  color 
and  form,  these  adaptations  being  combined  to  produce  invisibility  in  the 
favorite  situation  of  the  individual  treehopper.  The  one  occurring  on  wild 
plum,  for  example,  has  the  color  of  the  plum  bark  and  a  long  projection  like 
a  plum  thorn.  The  one  on  sycamore  has  the  powdery  yellow  appearance  of 
the  fresh  bark  of  that  tree.  The  one  on  hackberry  rests  in  crevices  in  the 
bark  and  mimics  the  rough  outline  of  the  black  and  gray  flecking  of  the 
rough  bark. 

Collecting  these  insects  is  as  fascinating  as  trout  fishing.  It  is  only  the 
trained  eye  that  can  detect  them  and  when  detected  it  is  only  by  the  use  of 
the  greatest  skill  that  they  can  be  captured,  as  once  disturbed  they  snap  into 
the  air  with  eye-defying  speed  and  are  lost  in  the  foliage.  If  one  uses  a  long 
glass  tube  and  brings  it  down  from  directly  above  the  insect  without  allowing 
the  slightest  lateral  movement  they  may  be  readily  captured.  They  are 
lovers  of  the  open  and  of  warm  and  sunshiny  places  and  will  be  found  on 
isolated  trees  or  small  clumps  or  on  the  margins  of  woods  but  not  inside  the 
wooded  area  or  in  the  deep  shade.  Fortunately  for  the  collector  most  of 
them  occur  on  the  low  spreading  branches  of  the  large  trees. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

Mr.  B.  A.  Porter  reported  the  rearing  at  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  of 
Anaphoidea  conotracheli  Girault,  a  common  parasite  of  the  plum  curculio,  from 
the  eggs  of  the  apple  maggot.  As  high  as  25  and  30  per  cent  of  the  apple 
maggot  eggs  collected  in  the  field  have  been  found  to  be  parasitized  by  this 
insect.  The  egg  turns  dark  just  before  the  emergence  of  the  parasite,  which 
instead  of  using  the  oviposition  puncture  made  in  the  fruit  by  the  fly  makes 
a  hole  of  its  own  through  the  skin  of  the  apple.  The  life  cycle  of  the  parasite 
was  not  definitely  determined  but  data  available  show  it  to  be  less  than  three 
weeks.  In  the  plum  curculio  it  is  10-11  daj^s.  The  oviposition  season  of 
the  apple  maggot  following  that  of  the  plum  curculio  gives  a  favorable  host 
rotation  from  June  to  September.  The  only  other  recorded  host  of  this  para- 
site is  the  grape  curculio. 

Dr.  Howard  was  much  interested  in  the  observation  and  expressed  the 
opinion  that  any  delicate  egg  deposited  in  the  same  position  as  those  of  the 
curculio  and  the  maggot  would  serve  as  host  for  the  Anaphoidea. 

Mr.  Gahan  mentioned  Trichogramma  mimita  Riley  as  another  example  of 
a  parasite  attacking  eggs  of  insects  of  different  orders. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Aldrich,  editor  of  the  Thomas  Say  Foundation,  stated  that  the 
Foundation  would  shortly  be  able  to  publish  another  memoir  and  asked  for 
the  opportunity  to  examine  any  manuscripts  that  might  be  available. 

R.  A.  CusHMAN,  Recording  Secretary. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  April  4,  1922  No.  7 


PHYSICS. — Note  on  a  general  method  for  determining  properties  of 
matter.^  Mayo  D.  Hersey,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology. 
Physical  properties  of  substances,  for  example,  thermal  and  elec- 
trical conductivity,  density,  viscosity,  and  surface  tension,  are  usually 
determined  by  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  following  methods.  (1) 
Absolute  measurement,  involving  comparatively  expensive  apparatus 
and  detailed  mathematical  analysis.  (2)  Relative  measurement 
in  terms  of  the  properties  of  a  standard  sample.  This  method  is 
comparatively  simple  and  economical,  but  has  almost  always  been 
restricted  in  the  past  to  those  few  phenomena  where  the  desired  prop- 
erty is  directly  proportional  to  the  observed  action,  or  to  some  definite 
function  of  the  observed  action  which  can  be  written  down  in  advance 
of  the  experiment.  It  is  the  object  of  the  present  paper  to  indicate 
a  third  category  of  experiments  which  should  be  available  for  deter- 
mining properties  of  matter,  much  less  restricted  in  character  than 
those  mentioned  above;  and  to  formulate  a  general  method  for  in- 
terpreting the  obser\'ations. 

This  third  group  of  phenomena  are  characterized  by  the  fact  that 
the  observed  action  will  not  be  directly  proportional  to  the  property 
in  question,  nor  even  uniquely  determined  by  it,  and  it  is  quite  imma- 
terial if  the  details  of  the  phenomenon  are  too  irregular  to  be  analyzed 
mathematically.  The  proposed  method  for  interpreting  such  ob- 
serv^ations  consists  merely  in  applying  the  principle  of  dynamical 
similarity  (or  physical  similarity)  backwards.  Instead  of  employing 
this  principle  to  predict  the  course  of  a  phenomenon,  when  the  proper- 
ties of  matter  involved  are  altered  in  a  known  manner,  it  is  now  pro- 
posed to  turn  it  around,  and  deduce  the  relative  magnitudes  of  the 
properties  of  matter  involved  in  two  successive  experiments,  by  ob- 
serving the  phenomena  in  both  cases. 

This  possibility  must  immediately  suggest  itself  to  anyone  familiar 
with  the  principle  of  similarity  or  the  theory  of  dimensions,  and  it 

'  Received  January  24,  1922. 

167 


168         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

was  in  fact  first  brought  to  the  writer's  attention  through  a  specific 
instance  discussed  by  Dr.  E.  Buckingham'-  at  the  Philosophical  Society 
of  Washington  in  1916  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  efflux  vis- 
cosimeters. 

When  attempting  to  reverse  the  principle  of  dynamical  similarity, 
it  is  in  general  impossible  to  predetermine  the  necessary  conditions 
because  the  resulting  forces  or  motions  cannot  be  experimentally 
controlled  or  foreseen.  It  is  an  essential  feature  of  the  proposed  dem- 
onstration to  show  that  this  can  be  done  by  securing  fictitious  similarity 
by  graphical  interpolation  among  two  or  more  experimental  trials 
which  approximate,  but  do  not  exactly  realize,  the  conditions  for 
similarity.  Before  treating  the  problem  symbolically,  this  feature 
will  be  illustrated  by  concrete  examples. 

Viscosity  measurement. — The  familiar  equation  for  fluid  resistance 
due  to  Lord  Rayleigh  may  be  written 

i?=p/)%=  ^(^^) '  (1) 

in  which  R  denotes  the  resistant  force,  D  some  linear  dimension  of 
the  body,  and  v  its  relative  speed  through  the  medium  of  density  p 
and  viscosity  m-  The  function  /  is  the  same  for  all  geometrically 
similar  bodies.  This  equation  can  be  solved  for  the  unknown  vis- 
cosity /x  and  written 

n  =  DvpJ^~]  (2) 

\pDhy 

or,  when  D  and  p  are  constant, 

/7?\ 

(3) 


Now,  if  the  functions  \p  or  (i>  were  known,  either  of  these  equations 
could  be  used  as  it  stands  for  the  determination  of  absolute  viscosity 
from  observations  on  the  resistance  and  speed.  But  for  the  purpose 
of  relative  determinations,  the  form  of  the  function  need  not  be  known, 
as  will  presently  appear.  For  suppose  that  the  apparatus,  when  sup- 
plied with  a  standard  sample  of  viscosity  ^o,  gives  an  observed  re- 
sistance Ro  at  the  speed  Vo,  while  the  sample  under  test  gives  some 
different  resistance  i?  at  a  speed  v;  then  if 

.  R        Ro 


(4) 


2  This  Journal  6:  154-155.     1916. 


APR.  4,  1922        HERSEY :  PROPERTIES  OF  MATTER  1G9 

the  unknown  function  0  will  be  numerically  the  same  in  the  two 
experiments,  so  that  Equation  3  gives 

-   =    -  (5) 

Mo  "-"o 

If  the  condition  for  dynamical  similarity  expressed  by  Equation  4 
above  could  be  realized  at  the  first  trial,  then  a  single  experiment  on 
the  test  sample  would  be  sufficient.  In  practice  two  or  more  experi- 
ments should  be  made  and  the  observed  values  of  R  plotted  as  ordinate 
against  v-  as  abscissa.  Draw  a  straight  line  from  the  origin  through 
the  point  whose  coordinates  are  Ro  and  Vo  -.  Suppose  this  line  inter- 
sects the  empirical  curv^e  for  the  test  sample  in  some  point  P.  Then 
the  condition  for  dynamical  similarity  (Eq.  4)  is  exactly  realized  at 
the  point  P,  although  this  is  a  fictitious  point  and  not  a  real  observa- 
tion. Therefore,  the  abscissa  i',  of  the  point  P  satisfies  Equation  5 
and  is  to  be  substituted  for  v  in  that  equation  when  using  it  as  a  work- 
ing formula. 

If  the  size  of  the  body  which  is  towed  through  a  fluid,  or  the  density 
of  the  fluid,  are  not  constant.  Equation  2  can  be  employed  instead  of 
Equation  3,  and  for  this  purpose  Equation  2  may  be  rewritten 

ti  =  x  \p{y)  (6) 

in  which  x  denotes  Dvp  while  y  stands  for  the  dimensionless  variable 
R/p  D-v~.  Using  subscript  zero  hereafter  to  refer  to  the  standard 
substance,    Equation   G  gives  for  the   standard  viscosity 

Mo  =Xo\p(yo)  (7) 

Now  plot  experimental  values  of  .1'  j'o  as  ordinate,  against  x/Xo  as 
abscissa,  and  call  rci/r^o  the  abscissa  of  the  point  where  the  empirical 
curve  crosses  the  horizontal  straight  line  j/j'o  =  1.  Dividing  (6)  by 
(7)  the  final  formula  becomes 

^  =  2^  (8) 

Mo  Xo 

of  which  (5)  above  may  be  considered  a  special  case. 

Thermal  conductivity. — Let  it  be  required  to  determine  relative 
thermal  conductivity  X/Xo  by  successive  observations  of  the  tempera- 
ture rise  A  on  the  sample  under  test  and  on  a  standard  sample  which 
is  geometrically  similar  to  it.  When  the  steady  state  has  been  reached, 
the  heat  input  H  will  be  just  equal  to  the  heat  carried  off  from  the 
exterior  of  the  sample  by  the  convective  action  of  some  cooling  agent 
such  as  a  vigorously  stirred  water  bath.     If  the  specific  heat  of  this 


170         JOURNAL  OP  THS  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIKNCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

medium  is  denoted  by  5  and  its  rate  of  flow  in  mass  units  per  unit  of 
time  by  M,  then  the  temperature  elevation  will  be  given  by  an  equa- 
tion of  the  type 

A  =  F{\,H,D,M,S)  (9) 

in  which  D  denotes  some  linear  dimension  of  the  sample.  (This 
equation  is  only  approximately  complete;  while  serving  well  enough 
as  it  stands  for  the  purpose  of  illustration,  it  can  in  practice  be  made 
more  exact  by  introducing  the  additional  variables  p,  fx  and  X'  to 
denote,  respectively,  the  density,  viscosity,  and  thermal  conductivity 
of  the  cooling  agent,  which  will  have  some  influence  on  the  rate  of 
heat  transfer,  though  not  so  much  as  the  quantities  M  and  5.)  Equa- 
tion 9  can  be  further  developed  by  dimensional  theory,  and  then  solved 
for  the  conductivity  X,  whereupon  it  goes  over  into  the  form 

In  the  second  part  of  this  equation  x  has  been  written  for  H/D  A  and 
y  for  MS  A/H.  Plot  observed  values  of  y/yo  as  ordinate  against  x/xo 
as  abscissa,  and  denote  by  Xi/xo  the  abscissa  of  the  point  where  simi- 
larity occurs ;  that  is,  the  point  where  the  empirical  curve  crosses 
the  line  y/yo  =  l.  Referring  therefore  to  Equation  10,  the  relative 
conductivity  will  evidently  be  given  by  the  formula 

X       .^1  ,     , 

-  =-  (11) 

Ao         Xq 

In  the  more  exact  solution  suggested  above,  the  consideration  of 
p  will  introduce  an  additional  argument  p^-HD^M^  into  Equation 
10,  while  the  recognition  of  ^  will  add  an  argument  of  the  form  ixD/M, 
and  so  on  if  additional  correction  terms  are  included.  In  order  to 
apply  the  routine  reasoning  above,  which  was  based  on  Equation 
10,  these  new  arguments  must  now  be  held  constant,  which  may  or 
may  not  be  experimentally  practicable,  although  possible  in  principle 
if  suitable  facihties  are  provided.  For  example,  to  keep  the  argument 
p'^HD'^/M^  constant,  it  is  sufficient  to  increase  the  mass  flow  in  pro- 
portion to  the  cube  root  of  the  heat  input,  whenever  the  latter  is 
changed. 

General  formulation. — The  procedure  illustrated  above  may  be 
outlined  in  more  general  terms  as  follows: 

1.  Develop  the  appropriate  dimensionless  equation  for  some  chosen 


APR.  4,  1922         HERSEY ;  PROPERTIES  OF  MATTER  171 

phenomenon  which  exhibits  the  desired  property  of  matter  Q.  This 
can  be  done  by  the  Il-theorem  method^  and  requires  first  of  all  a 
complete  list  of  the  physical  quantities  which  would  influence  the 
phenomenon  if  they  were  to  vary.  Solve  this  equation  for  Q  and  let 
the  result  be  written 

Q^X-^{Y,Z,..)  (12) 

in  which  Q/X,  Y ,  Z,  ....  are  dimensionless  variables,  ^  being  an 
unknown  function. 

2.  The  experimental  facilities  must  now  be  so  arranged  that  all 
dimensionless  variables  other  than  QIX  and  F,  for  example  Z  (if 
any  such  appear),  shall  be  kept  constant.  Under  these  conditions 
(12)  reduces  to 

Q=AXr).  (13) 

3.  If  any  of  the  individual  physical  quantities  entering  the  di- 
mensional factor  X  or  the  dimensionless  argument  Y  are  known  to 
be  constant  during  the  experiment,  they  can  be  left  out,  so  that  X 
and  Y  degenerate  respectively  into  the  dimensional  factors  %  and  y, 
and  (13)  takes  on  the  more  simple  form 

Q=^</>(>0.  (14) 

Equation  14  could  have  been  deduced  at  the  start  in  place  of  (12)  by 
utilizing  Buckingham's  recent  method  of  suppressed  dimensions.^ 

4.  Take  observations  of  the  phenomenon  in  question  when  the 
apparatus  is  supplied  with  a  standard  sample,  for  which  Q  (whether 
numerically  known  or  not)  may  be  written  Qo .  Denote  the  values 
of  X  and  y  which  prevail  during  this  experiment  by  Xo  and  jo,  respec- 
tively. 

5.  Proceed  next  to  observe  the  same  phenomenon  with  the  new 
sample,  for  which  Q  is  constant  but  unknown.  It  will  be  sufficient 
to  confine  the  experimental  variation  of  x  to  that  vicinity  for  which 
the  resulting  value  of  y  is  found  by  trial  to  be  of  the  same  order  of 
magnitude  as  To . 

6.  Plot  the  observed  data  on  coordinate  paper  with  y lyo  as  ordinate 
against  xjxo  as  abscissa.  Let  the  abscissa  of  point  P  where  the  experi- 
mental curve  crosses  the  line  y lyo  =  1 ,  be  denoted  by  X\lxo .  This 
point  represents  a  fictitious  case  of  dynamical  (or  physical)  similarity, 

3  E.  Buckingham,  This  Journal  4:  347-353.  1914.  Phys.  Rev.  4:  345-376.  1914. 
Trans.  Am.  Soc.  Mech.  Eng.  37:  263-296.     1915. 

*  E.  Buckingham.  Notes  on  the  method  of  dimensions.  Phil.  Mag.  42:  696-719,  §  11. 
1921. 


172         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

obtained  by  interpolation^  between  adjacent  points  at  which  the 
conditions  for  similarity  were  not  exactly  fulfilled.  All  of  the  infer- 
ences appropriate  to  physically  similar  systems  are  immediately 
applicable  to  the  coordinates  of  the  point  P. 

7.  In  particular,  when  v/3'o  =  l,  Equation  14  leads  at  once  to  the 
final  working  formula 

for  determining  the  relative  value  of  any  property  of  matter  Q.  This 
formula  is  theoretically  exact  under  the  conditions  stated,  regardless 
of  the  complexity  of  the  fluid  motions,  heat  transfer,  or  electrical 
distributions  involved  in  any  given  experiment. 

GEOLOGY. — The  major   tectonic  features  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies} 
H.  A.  BrouwER,  Delft,  Holland. 

CONTENTS 

Introduction. 

The  older  trend  lines  studied  in  plan. 

The  older  overthrusts  studied  in  profile. 

Regions  with  simpler  structure. 

The  main  trend  lines  of  the  younger  stage  of  mountain-building. 

Tertiary  strikes  cut  obliquely  by  the  present  geanticlinal  axis. 

The  fractures  during  the  youngest  stage  of  mountain-building. 

Literature  and  maps. 

INTRODUCTION 

Although  the  geology  of  parts  of  the  East  Indian  Archipelago 
was  studied  in  detail  during  the  past  century  by  several  geologists, 
a  great  many  of  the  islands,  particularly  those  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  Archipelago  remained  almost  unknown  geologically.  But  within 
the  last  twenty  years  so  much  new  information  has  been  obtained  by 
expeditions  to  the  more  eastern  islands  that  it  is  now  possible  to  sum- 
marize the  tectonic  features  of  the  entire  region — one  of  unusual  inter- 
est to  geologists  and  geophysicists.  Here  two  great  lines  of  crustal 
weakness,  the  Alpine  and  the  circum- Pacific  orogenic  systems,  meet  or 
are  interlaced.  Although  it  is  convenient  to  speak  of  two  stages 
of  deformation  in  the  East  Indies,  it  is  our  opinion  that  the  latest 

5  Instead  of  interpolating  graphically,  cases  might  arise  where  it  would  be  of  advantage 
to  employ  the  relation  connecting  derivatives;  cf.  This  Journal,  6:  620-629.  1916;  or 
Bur.  Stds.  Sci.  Paper  331.     1920. 

^  Address  delivered  before  Geological  Society  of  Washington.     Feb.  2,  1922. 


APR.  4,  1922      brouwer:  tectonic  features  dutch  east  indies  173 

crustal  movements  in  the  East  Indian  region  are  only  a  younger  stage 
and  a  direct  continuation  of  the  Tertiary  crustal  movements.  The 
Tertiary  folds  and  overthrusts  which  were  formed  at  relatively  great 
depth  are  now  visible  at  the  surface,  but  the  fissured  and  faulted 
crust  that  once  lay  above  them  has  been  removed  by  erosion.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  tectonic  features  due  to  late  deformation  near  the 
earth's  surface  during  the  younger  stage  of  mountain-building  have  re- 
mained visible  and  are  manifested  in  the  fissured  and  faulted  crust, 
while  the  accompanying  folds  and  overthrusts  remain  invisible  at 
greater  depths.  Thus,  we  believe  that  the  displacements,  evidence  of 
which  is  now  seen  at  the  surface,  are  in  part  the  result  of  the  continua- 
tion of  movement  at  greater  depths  and  that  the  visible  traces  of  the 
different  stages  of  crustal  movement  since  Tertiary  time  are  mutually 
complementary.  A  comparison  of  these  stages  affords  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  mountain-building  process. 

The  evolution  of  the  region  during  Paleozoic  and  Mesozoic  time  is 
not  well  known,  but  the  widespread  occurrence  of  Mesozoic  deposits, 
which  resemble  in  nearly  every  lithologic  respect  the  recent  deep-sea 
oozes,  proves  that  already  in  Mesozoic  time  deep-sea  basins  were 
present  in  the  region.  Thus  certain  red  clay  shales  with  radiolaria  and 
radiolarian  hornstones  are  the  lithologic  equivalents  of  the  Recent 
red  clay  and  radiolarian  ooze  formed  in  deep  seas  of  the  present  day. 
The  hornstones  in  places  contain  nodules  of  manganese,  some  of  which 
have  a  concentric  structure,  and  teeth  of  sharks  have  been  discovered 
in  places.  These  deposits  prove  that  very  important  movements  of  the 
earth's  crust  must  have  taken  place  since  Mesozoic  time;  movements 
sufficiently  great  to  bring  deposits  formed  at  depths  of  5,000  meters  or 
more  to  heights  of  more  than  1,000  meters  above  the  surface  of  the  sea. 
It  is  permissible  to  conclude  that  the  process  of  mountain-building 
in  the  East  Indian  Archipelago  bears  much  resemblance  to  that  of 
other  Alpine  mountain  ranges,  such  as  the  Himalayas  and  the  Alps. 
In  the  Mediterranean  region  of  Europe  it  has  been  possible  to  recon- 
struct theoretically  different  Mesozoic  geanticlines  and  geosynclines, 
with  the  aid  of  stratigraphic  data,  when  it  was  once  realized  that  great 
over-thrust  sheets  had  been  pushed  forward  long  distances  from  their 
original  sites.  The  study  of  the  Recent  crustal  movements  in  the 
rows  of  islands  of  eastern  Asia  and  Oceania  suggests  what  may  have 
been  the  embryonic  stage  of  Alpine  mountain  ranges  when  (in  earlier 
periods)  a  somewhat  similar  distribution  of  land  and  water  prevailed.^ 
2  E.  Argand.     Sur  I'arc  des  Alpes  occidentales .     Eclog.  Geol.  Helv.  14:145.     1916. 


174        JOURNAI.  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

In  the  Western  Alps  we  find  that  the  formation  of  the  geosyncHnes 
and  geanticlines  was  accentuated  in  the  Lower  Jura ;  in  Middle  Jurassic 
time  these  folds  disappear  below  sea  level ;  and  in  the  Upper  Jura  there 
followed  a  further  moderate  submergence.  In  Cretaceous  time,  strong 
horizontal  movements  began  and  reached  their  maximum  in  the  Ter- 
tiary period.  As  the  overthrust  sheets  moved  at  greater  depth,  the 
sea-basins  became  narrower  and  the  masses  of  the  geanticlines  were 
pushed  forward  in  a  nearly  horizontal  direction. 

Oscillations,  such  as  these  in  the  Alps  during  the  Mesozoic  period 
are  also  known  to  characterize  the  younger  movements  in  the  East 
Indian  Archipelago,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  region  adjoining  the 
present  Australian  continent  will  in  the  future  reach  the  same  stage 
as  that  reached  long  ago  in  the  Alps.  Horizontal  movements  of  the 
curving  rows  of  islands  are  proved  by  several  features  now  observable 
on  those  islands  and  as  these  movements  proceed  the  sea-basins  will 
be  narrowed  and  eventually  the  masses  of  the  present  geanticlines  may 
be  pushed  over  the  Sahul  shelf  of  the  Australian  continent.  Viewed 
thus  the  Archipelago  may  be  conceived  as  representing  an  embryonic 
stage  of  an  Alpine  mountain  range.  In  zoology  many  of  the  results 
obtained  through  a  study  of  comparative  anatomy  were  later  confirmed 
by  the  results  derived  from  studies  of  embryology.  The  development 
of  geology,  however,  naturally  followed  lines  other  than  those  of  zoology 
because  the  embryonic  mountain  ranges  lay  outside  the  regions  studied 
by  early  geologists,  but  it  was  possible  deductively  to  reach  conclusions 
regarding  the  embryonic  conditions  of  a  mountain  range  by  studying 
the  anatomy  of  a  mountain  range  and  by  applying  the  ontological 
method,  a  method  which  much  more  than  the  comparative  one,  has 
controlled  geological  work. 

It  is  probable  that  the  embryonic  stages  of  different  mountain 
ranges  bear  much  resemblance  to  each  other,  as  do  the  early  stages 
of  animal  ontogeny.  Such  a  conception  leads  to  the  recognition  of  un- 
expected relationships  between  types,  which  because  of  mature  age 
show  important  differences.  The  question  arises,  whether  persistent 
embryonic  types  occur  among  the  mountain  ranges.  In  the  Timor 
row  of  islands  deep  sea-basins  occurred  in  Triassic  time,  while  they 
appear  in  the  embryonic  Alps  in  the  Upper  Jura.  It  is  possible  that 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  Malay  Archipelago  a  more  or  less 
embryonic  stage  has  persisted  since  Mesozoic  times,  while  the  Alps 
reached  the  mature  stage  in  Tertiary  time.  In  my  opinion  the  solution 
of  many  tectonic  problems  will  be  found  by  a  careful  study  of  compara- 


APR.  4,  1922      brouwer:  tectonic  features  dutch  east  indies  175 

tive  tectonics,  embryotectonics,  and  comparative  embryotectonics,  as 
in  zoology  comparative  anatomy  and  ontogeny  are  essential  parts  of 
morphology. 

The  tectonic  features  of  the  East  Indian  Archipelago  as  they  now 
exist  are  the  result  of  orogenic  forces  which  have  been  acting  during 
long  periods  of  time  and  which  have  caused  movements  in  a  horizontal 
direction  at  many  places.  Where  the  lands  were  high  above  the 
strand-lines  of  the  surrounding  seas,  the  ranges  were  cut  down  and  the 
deeper  parts  were  uncovered  by  erosion;  where  at  the  same  time  the 
crust  was  moving  below  sea-level  no  denudation  took  place  and  no  un- 
conformities or  disconformities  in  the  succession  of  strata  are  found. 
In  the  parts  of  the  earth's  crust,  which  are  now  visible  on  the  different 
islands  the  erosion  intervals  are  not  found  at  the  same  place  in  the 
geological  time-table.  In  Sumatra  a  striking  unconformity  is  found 
between  the  late  Mesozoic  and  the  early  Tertiary,  in  Timor  between 
the  middle  Tertiary  and  the  Plio- Pleistocene.  In  order  to  give  a 
detailed  account  of  the  tectonic  features  it  would  be  necessary  to  de- 
scribe the  many  islands  separately  but  for  the  major  tectonic  features 
it  is  sufficient  to  describe  the  visible  traces  of  two  stages  of  crustal 
movements,  the  late  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary  stage  and  the  youngest 
stage,  which  still  continues.  The  youngest  stage  is  definitely  known 
to  he  limited  to  certain  parts  of  the  present  Archipelago,  while  the  dis- 
tribution in  time  and  place  of  the  older  stage  is  not  exactly  known. 

THE  OLDER  TREND  LINES  STUDIED  IN  PLAN 

Digitate  forms,  such  as  those  represented  by  the  islands  Celebes  and 
Halmaheira  have  been  considered  as  produced  by  a  broad  side-  and  end- 
on  conflict  of  Tertiary  folded  ranges.  See  Fig.  1 .  Yet  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  present  morphology  is  the  result  of  the  youngest  stage  of 
crustal  movements,  since  the  known  strike  of  the  Tertiary  folds  is  in 
places  very  different  from  the  direction  of  the  present  geanticlines. 
In  the  eastern  peninsula  of  Celebes  a  northwest-southeast  or  north 
northwest-south-southeast  strike  is  found  in  strongly  folded  marls  and 
limestones  with  associated  layers  and  nodules  of  hornstone.  In  the 
eastern  part  of  this  peninsula  the  central  range  consists  of  nearly 
horizontal  limestones  of  Eocene  and  Oligocene  age.  On  the  northern 
and  southern  slopes  more  or  less  pronounced  dips  to  the  northwest  have 
been  found.  In  the  central  part  of  the  island  the  main  Tertiary  strike 
seems  to  be  northwest-southeast.  The  tectonic  features  of  the  south- 
eastern peninsula  of  Celebes  are  but  little  known,  its  northern  part 


176         JOURN/>L  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  7 


APR.  4,  1922        BROUWER:   tectonic  features  dutch  east  liNDlES  177 

consists  principally  of  basic  eruptive  rocks  and  in  the  southern  part 
crystalline  schists,  whose  main  strike  is  insufficiently  known,  are  of 
widespread  occurrence.  In  the  narrow  portion  of  the  island,  which 
connects  the  northern  peninsula  with  the  central  part,  some  authors 
have  presumed  that  there  exists  a  main  strike  from  south  to  north, 
which  would  bend  to  an  east-westerly  direction  in  the  northern  penin- 
sula. But  the  region  consists  principally  of  crystalline  schists  and 
eruptive  rocks  and  no  folded  Tertiary  rocks  are  known,  while  a  north- 
west-southeast strike  seems  to  prevail.  It  is  possible  that  the  pro- 
longation of  the  parallel  ranges  in  the  adjacent  projecting  part  of 
Borneo  crosses  this  part  of  Celebes  obliquely  and  that  the  supposed 
bending  of  the  Tertiary  strike  does  not  exist.  Thus  viewed,  the 
Tertiary  mountain-plan  of  the  island  may  be  thought  of  as  comprising 
two  strongly  diverging  trend  lines  of  which  the  northern  recurves  to  the 
north  in  the  direction  of  one  of  the  trend  lines  of  the  Philippine  islands. 
To  repeat,  particularly  in  that  part  of  the  Archipelago  which  is  occupied 
bv  the  Island  of  Celebes  there  are  important  differences  between  the 
Tertiary  strike  and  the  direction  of  the  present  geanticlinal  axes. 

The  geologic  plan  of  Borneo  in  many  respects  resembles  that  of 
Celebes  in  that  it  is  not  well  explained  by  a  "side  and  end-on"  conflict 
of  folded  ranges,  but  on  the  contrary  suggests  the  existence  of  a  system 
of  branching  trend  lines  similar  to  that  of  the  present  Philippine  islands. 
From  the  northeastern  part,  where  the  highest  elevations  of  the  island 
occur  and  where  the  folded  ranges  with  a  main  trend  north-northeast 
to  south-southwest  are  closely  crowded  together,  the  main  strikes 
diverge  to  the  southwest.  The  eastern  trend  lines  bend  to  the  south- 
west in  the  direction  of  Celebes,  those  more  to  the  west  first  have  a 
direction  from  north  to  south,  but  bend  to  the  southwest,  while  the 
central  and  western  ranges  recurve  to  the  northwest,  almost  at  right 
angles  to  their  general  course  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  island. 

The  plan  of  vSumatra  is  similar  to  that  of  Borneo,  although  the 
branching  of  the  trend  lines  is  not  so  distinctly  pronounced.  The  high- 
est altitudes  of  the  older  rocks  occur  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
island  and  the  main  trend  lines  diverge  to  the  southeast. 

The  reconstruction  of  the  main  older  trend  lines  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  Archipelago  cannot  be  made  complete,  because  that  part  of 
the  region  is  mostly  covered  by  the  sea  and  older  folds  in  many  places 
are  cut  off  by  the  present  coast  lines.  There  are,  however,  some 
indications  that  virgations  also  occur  here.     In  the  islands  of  the  Kei 


178        JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES     VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

group  a  NNE-SSW  strike  is  found  on  Great  Kei,  while  farther  west 
a  NNW-SSE  strike  in  the  direction  of  Ceram  has  been  observed.  The 
strike  on  Great  Kei  is  in  the  direction  of  western  New  Guinea,  where 
the  strike  is  parallel  to  the  coast  line  (NNW  and  NW). 

As  far  as  known  the  main  strike  in  different  parts  of  Halmaheira 
Island  does  not  greatly  differ  from  the  longer  axes  of  the  present  penin- 
sulas. But  as  the  island  has  been  crossed  at  only  a  few  places  and  as 
eruptive  rocks  are  of  widespread  occurrence,  positive  opinions  on  the 
tectonic  relations  are  not  warranted. 

THE   OLDER   OVERTHRUSTS   STUDIED   IN   PROFILE 

The  great  deformation  that  took  place  during  late  Mesozoic  and 
Tertiary  time,  and  now  so  well  exhibited  on  many  of  the  islands  was 
caused  by  strong  pressure  exerted  from  several  different  directions  and 
the  structures  that  were  developed  show  the  imbrication  and  the  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  overthrusting  characteristic  of  Alpine  mountain  ranges. 
This  structural  type  is  probably  of  widespread  occurrence,  since  it  has 
already  been  proved  or  rendered  highly  probable  that  it  is  present  on 
Sumatra  and  on  many  islands  of  the  Timor-Ceram  range.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  the  highest  and  the  lower  eastern  parts  of  the  Barissan 
mountains  in  Djambi  (Sumatra)  are  parts  of  an  overthrust  sheet, 
between  which  the  autochthonous  phyllitic  slates  have  been  uncovered 
by  erosion.     An  erosion  relict  has  been  found  in  the  Bukit  Raja. 

In  the  Highlands  of  Padang  the  walls  of  Carboniferous  or  Permian 
limestone  in  places  continue  uninterruptedly  without  any  trans- 
gression-conglomerates and  without  veins  of  granite  or  contact  phe- 
nomena over  the  contact  between  granites  and  surrounding  sediments, 
whereas  part  of  the  granites  is  post-Carboniferous  in  age.  These 
limestones  give  to  the  landscape  a  peculiar  character  similar  to  that 
of  the  "Klippen"  of  the  Alps  and  the  Carpathian  mountains  and  the 
"fatus"=^  of  Timor. 

On  Timor  the  majority  of  the  isolated  rock  peaks  consist  of  coral  reefs 
of  Upper  Triassic  age,  but  Permian  crinoidal  and  fusulina  lime  stones 
are  common.  Groups  of  deposits  of  the  same  age,  but  of  different 
paleontological,  and  petrographical  character,  occur  one  on  top  of 
the  other  and  "fatus"  of  older  rocks  are  found  resting  on  younger 
oceanic  deposits,  as  is  clearly  visible  along  the  deep  ravines  cut  in  the 
recently  elevated  island.  The  structure  is  as  a  rule  chaotic  and  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  higher  overthrust  sheets  of  eastern  Switzerland, 

^  Isolated  rocks  or  groups  of  rocks  in  Timor  are  called  "fatu"  by  the  natives. 


APR.  4,  1922        BROUWER :   TECTONIC  FEATURES  DUTCH  EAST  INDIES  179 

which  were  moved  in  the  near-surface  zone  where  the  rocks  yielded  to 
pressure  not  by  flow  but  mostly  by  fracture.  The  comparative  method 
of  study  leads  to  the  supposition  that  on  Timor  the  deeper  complicated, 
but  less  chaotic  overthrust  structures,  such  as  are  found  in  the  Western 
Alps,  have  not  here  been  uncovered  by  erosion,  and  the  absence  of 
rocks  older  than  those  of  Permian  age  points  to  the  same  conclusion. 
Simpler  structures  are  found  only  in  the  southern  coast-range  of  the 
island,  where  an  imbricated  structure  with  a  fairly  uniform  dip  to  the 
north-northwest  prevails.  On  Babber,  an  island  to  the  east  of  Timor, 
crinoidal  Hmestone  has  been  found  as  isolated  "fatus,"  which  rest  on 
folded  Jurassic  sediments.  In  the  eastern  part  of  Ceram  Triassic 
sediments  are  thrust  over  limestones  and  marls,  which  are  partly  of  late 
Mesozoic  age  and  which  show  a  rather  regular  dip  to  the  southwest. 
In  the  central  and  western  part  of  the  island  several  remarkable  suc- 
cessions of  crystalline  schists,  phyllitic  slates,  and  Mesozoic  rocks  point 
to  the  existence  of  important  overthrusts  between  these  three  forma- 
tions. In  the  western  part  of  the  island  the  horizontal  movement  of 
the  overthrust  seems  to  be  less  than  that  on  the  southern  islands  of  the 
Timor-Ceram  row,  because  groups  of  deposits  of  the  same  age,  but  of 
different  paleontological  and  petrographical  character,  are  not  found 
one  on  top  of  the  other  and  in  close  proximity  in  the  same  degrees  as  on 
Timor. 

The  expeditions  from  the  south  coast  to  the  Snow  Mountains  of 
the  central  range  of  New  Guinea  found  strata  with  a  fairly  uniform  dip 
to  the  north  over  long  distances  and  it  does  not  seem  improbable,  that 
recumbent  folds,  imbricated  structures,  or  overthrusts,  with  a  move- 
ment in  the  direction  of  the  Australian  continent  may  occur  in  these 
mountains.  This  chain  bears  towards  the  lowland  to  the  south  and  to 
Australia  beyond  a  relation  somewhat  similar  to  that  borne  by  the 
Himalayas  towards  India. 

REGIONS  WITH  SIMPLER  STRUCTURES 

In  Sumatra  the  overthrusts  are  older  than  Tertiary,  in  Timor 
they  were  formed  in  Miocene  time.  The  Tertiary  rocks  of  Sumatra  up 
to  the  Pliocene  generally  have  been  folded,  often  in  more  or  less  regular 
broad  anticlines  and  synclines,  such  as  those  of  the  oil-bearing  strata 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  island.  Similar  relations  prevail  in  other 
regions  where  in  Neogene  time  there  were"  geosynclinal  belts  per- 
sistently and  fairly  well  filled  with  an  accumulation  of  sediments,  as  in 
parts  of  Java  and  Borneo  and  also  on  some  islands  in  the  eastern  part  of 


ISO         JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  7 

the  Archipelago.  In  some  parts  of  the  Archipelago  the  Mesozoic  and 
Tertiary  rocks  both  show  simpler  structures.  In  western  New  Guinea  to 
the  south  of  the  Gulf  of  the  Mac  Cluer  normally  folded  Tertiary  rocks 
occur,  and  farther  west,  in  the  Misol-Obi-Sula  row  of  islands  in  places 
the  Jurassic  strata  are  but  slightly  folded  or  are  nearly  horizontal. 
On  Borneo  crustal  deformation  of  the  late  Mesozoic  stage  is  clearly 
visible,  but  at  many  places  the  dip  of  the  Cretaceous  strata  is  not  very 
pronounced.  The  tectonic  structure  may  be  more  complicated  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  island,  where  the  folded  ranges  are  closely 
crowded  together.  Sumba,  is  usually  considered  as  the  western 
prolongation  of  the  Timor  row  of  islands,  but  the  Tertiary  is  not  dis- 
tinctly folded. 

On  Celebes  the  ages  of  the  dififerent  strata  are  not  yet  exactly 
known.  It  has  been  supposed  that  even  Tertiary  sediments  occur 
amongst  the  metamorphic  sediments,  which  are  of  widespread  occur- 
rence on  the  island,  but  as  yet  there  is  no  proof  of  this  supposition. 
In  the  central  part  of  the  island  large  anticlines  and  synclines  with  an 
approximately  northwest-southeast  strike  were  formed  in  post  Eocene 
time.  In  the  eastern  peninsula  nearly  horizontal  Eocene  limestones 
occur,  but  at  other  places,  as  in  the  western  part  of  the  eastern 
peninsula,  rocks  of  the  same  age  are  intensely  folded.  Although  sim- 
pler structures  with  large  anticlines  and  synclines  certainly  prevail  in  a 
large  part  of  the  island,  we  cannot  gain  an  adequate  picture  of  the  late 
Mesozoic  and  Tertiary  tectonic  features  of  the  whole  island  until  the 
stratigraphy  is  more  completely  known. 

THE  MAIN  TREND  LINES  OF  THE  YOUNGEST  STAGE  OF  MOUNTAIN-BUILDING 

The  main  trend  lines  of  the  latest  stage  of  mountain-making  are 
accurately  known,  because  uplifts  of  the  land  relatively  to  the  sea 
level  are  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  presence  of  elevated  fringing  reefs 
and  because  the  positions  of  the  deep-sea  basins  are  given  on  the  deep- 
sea  chart  of  the  "Siboga"  expedition.  The  deep-sea  basins  have 
proved  to  be  elongated  more  or  less  precisely  parallel  to  the  adjoining 
rows  of  islands  and  the  main  trend  lines  of  the  youngest  stage  of  moun- 
tain-building nearly  coincide  with  the  longer  axes  of  the  islands.  The 
deep  sea  basins  and  the  strongly  elevated  islands  are  confined  to  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Archipelago,  whereas  within  the  western  area  there 
prevails  a  slight  and  uniform  depth  of  the  sea  with  smooth  outlines  of  a 
land  that  rises  with  a  gentle  slope  from  the  coast.  Only  the  southern 
part  of  the  Archipelago  which  is  bounded  by  the  Indian  Ocean,  shows 


APR.  4,  1922       brouwBr:  tectonic  features  dutch  east  indies  181 

proof  of  recent  upheaval  of  the  land,  while  the  deep-sea  chart  shows  a 
complicated  topography  to  the  south  of  Java  and  Sumatra.  That 
these  movements  still  continue  is  proved  by  the  distribution  of  earth- 
quakes in  the  Archipelago.  In  the  region  including  eastern  Sumatra, 
the  southern  China  Sea,  northern  Java,  and  Borneo,  heavy  tectonic 
earthquakes  are  practically  absent.  The  shocks  felt  in  this  area  have 
their  origin  in  the  mobile  areas,  which  are  as  a  rule  submarine,  as  shown 
by  the  seismic  epicenters. 

The  large  bendings  in  the  mountain  chains  of  recent  age  in  the 
southern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  Archipelago  are  clearly  visible  on  the 
deep  sea  chart  of  the  region.  But  if  considered  in  detail  it  is  obvious 
that  important  bendings  of  smaller  amount  are  numerous.  They  are  not 
always  clearly  visible  in  the  present  topography,  because  many  of  the 
bending-points,  which  are  the  loci  of  considerable  transverse  fractures, 
are  covered  by  the  sea.  Examples  of  this  kind  are  the  narrow  Manipa 
Strait  between  Ceram  and  Buru,  nearly  5,000  M.  deep,  the  strait  be- 
tween Timor  and  Rotti,  the  strait  between  Timor  and  the  Sermata 
islands,  and  Sunda  Strait  between  Java  and  Sumatra.  In  the  row  of 
islands  from  Nias  to  Enggano,  to  the  west  of  Sumatra,  several  examples 
of  this  kind  also  occur. 

tertiary  strikes  are  cut  obliquely  by  the  present  geanticeinal 

AXES 

The  establishment  of  the  fact  that  Tertiary  strikes  are  cut  obliquely 
by  the  present  geanticlinal  axes  is  of  great  importance  for  a  precise 
understanding  of  the  mountain-building  process.  Several  exam-ples 
are  known  in  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  On  the  south  coast  of  Timor 
the  strike  of  the  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous  strata  of  the  Amanuban 
mountain  chain  differs  about  12°  from  the  general  trend  of  the  coast 
line.  The  high  mountain  range  of  central  Ceram,  in  which  the  Meso- 
zoic  and  Tertiary  strata  strike  about  NW-SE,  is  cut  off  abruptly  at  the 
coast  with  a  general  E-W  trend.  The  abnormal  strike  in  the  eastern 
peninsula  of  Celebes  and  in  the  narrow  portion  which  connects  the 
central  part  of  the  island  with  the  northeastern  peninsula  have  been 
already  mentioned.  Another  noteworthy  example  is  on  the  island 
Babber  to  the  east  of  Timor,  where  the  strike  is  NNE-SSW,  nearly 
perpendicular  to  the  main  trend  of  the  present  row  of  islands. 

Similar  facts  are  well  known  from  Japan.  Von  Richthofen  believed 
the  formation  of  the  arcs  to  be  due  to  a  rupture  (Zerrung)  caused 
by    the    subsidence    of    the  oceanic    side,   and    denied  the  existence 


182         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

of  the  zonal  structure  that  characterizes  folded  mountains  of  the  Alpine 
type.  Japanese  geologists  have  already  pointed  out  that  many  of  the 
dislocations  are  only  recurrent  movements  on  the  arcs  of  folding,  which 
are  of  essentially  the  same  type  as  the  Himalayas  and  the  Alps  in  their 
fundamental  structure. 

The  abnormal  strike  can  be  explained  in  a  simple  manner  by  the 
action  of  compressional  stress,  if  we  suppose  that  the  rows  of  uplifted 
and  fragmented  island  blocks  indicate  the  places  where  at  greater 
depths  folding  continues  and  that  there  is  motion  in  a  vertical  direction 
as  well  as  considerable  motion  in  a  horizontal  direction.     The  vertical 
movement  will  cause  gradual  erosion  and  the  exposed  surface  of  the 
geanticline  will  in  time  consist  of  rocks  which  were  in  the  zone  of  flow 
during  an  earlier  stage  of  mountain-building.     The  rate  and  direction 
of  the  movement  of  the  deeper-lying  rocks  as  they  approach  the 
earth's  surface  may  differ  more  and  more  from  the  rate  and  direction  of 
the  motion  of  the  rocks  that  lie  at  still  greater  depths  on  the  same 
vertical  line.     The  forces  that  cause  movement  near  the  surface  will 
generally  differ  in  intensity  and  direction  from  the  forces  that  cause 
movement  at  greater  depths.     Furthermore,  the  rate  of  transmission  of 
the  forces  will  decrease  from  the  surface  to  the  zones  of  greater  plas- 
ticity at  greater  depth.     If  during  the  elevation  the  rate  of  horizontal 
movement  is  different  for  neighboring  parts  of  the  geanticline,  the 
differences  between  the  directions  of  the  geanticlinal  axes  and  of  the 
older  strike  may  be  considerable,  as  in  the  central  part  of  Ceram.     The 
strong  bending  of  the  geanticlinal  axis  between  Ceram  and  Buru  points 
to  important  differences  in  the  rate  of  horizontal  movement  for  neigh- 
boring parts  of  the  geanticlines.     A  bending-point  existed  in  this 
region  already  in  Tertiary  time  and  near  strong  bendings,  as  near 
Babber  Island,  the  Tertiary  strike  may  locally  even  be  at  right  angles 
to  the  present  geanticlinal  axis.     It  is  particularly  in  such  places  that 
the  movement  at  or  near  the  surface  may  differ  considerably  in  rate  and 
direction  from  the  movement  of  greater  depths. 

THE  FRACTURES  DURING  THE  YOUNGEST  STAGE  OF  MOUNTAIN-BUILDING 

The  tension  hypothesis  of  von  Richthofen  has  been  applied  by 
some  authors  to  the  East  Indian  Archipelago,  but  the  numerous 
fractures,  which  are  known  to  exist,  are  in  our  opinion  the  surface 
expression  of  vertical  and  horizontal  movements  which  are  the  result 
of  compressional  stress.  Important  fractures  occur  near  the  surface 
at  those  places  where  there  are  important  differences  in  rate  of  move- 


APR.  4,  1922      brouwer:  tectonic  features  dutch  east  indies  18-3 

ment.  If  the  forces  which  cause  the  movement  are  deep-seated  and  if 
the  crust  near  the  surface  does  not  respond  to  the  direct  influence  of  the 
compressional  stress,  displacements  near  the  surface  will  result  from 
the  more  plastic  deformation  at  greater  depth.  While  important 
horizontal  movements  are  taking  place  in  the  zone  of  plastic  deforma- 
tion, the  superficial  parts  may  move  with  much  less  velocity. 

If  the  superficial  parts  are  bent,  whether  in  a  vertical  or  horizontal 
plane,  there  is  a  tendency  to  produce  gaping  fissures  upon  the  convex 
side  of  the  bend,  while  there  is  compression  upon  the  concave  side. 
Some  of  the  fissures  in  the  Archipelago  may  be  of  this  origin,  and  many 
have  been  explained  in  this  way,  such  as  the  basins  of  central  Celebes, 
which  are  arranged  in  straight  lines,  more  or  less  parallel  to  the  geanti- 
clinal  axes.  If  studied  in  plan,  the  same  principles  are  applicable 
and  perhaps  some  of  the  straits  between  the  islands  of  an  arc  have  been 
formed  in  this  way.  Considerable  transverse  fractures,  however, 
which  occur  at  many  places  near  the  bending-points  of  the  geanticlinal 
axis,  can  be  explained  by  difference  in  velocity  of  horizontal  movement 
for  neighboring  parts  of  the  fold  along  the  axis.  In  the  same  way 
important  longitudinal  fissures  can  be  explained  by  the  difference  in 
velocity  of  neighboring  parts  of  the  geanticline  considered  in  a  vertical 
plane  at  right  angles  to  the  geanticlinal  axis.  The  morphological 
aspect  of  the  surface  will  be  controlled  chiefly  by  the  more  or  less 
horizontal  movements  on  transverse  fault  planes,  the  gaping  transverse 
fissures  on  these  planes  the  more  or  less  vertical  movement  on  longi- 
tudinal faults,  and  the  gaping  longitudinal  fissures  on  these  faults. 
The  movements  along  more  or  less  horizontal  fault-planes  will  not  be  of 
much  importance  for  the  major  morphological  structure  and  will 
receive  no  further  consideration. 

Typical  examples  of  transverse  fractures  near  the  bending-points 
of  a  geanticlinal  axis  where  it  has  moved  forward  horizontally  are 
Sunda  Strait  between  Java  and  Sumatra,  the  strait  between  Timor  and 
Rotti,  and  the  narrow  strait  between  the  main  island  of  Rotti  and  the 
peninsula  of  Landu.  To  the  east  of  Timor  the  small  Island  of  Kisser 
which  is  surrounded  by  deep  seas  and  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  bend- 
ing point  between  east  Timor  and  the  Sermata  Islands  occupies  a 
northern,  non-harmonic  position.  Farther  to  the  east  the  Babber 
group,  which  consists  of  small  islands  with  high  reefs,  is  separated  by  a 
considerable  gap  from  the  islands  of  the  Tenimber  group.  The 
narrow  strait  between  Muna  and  Buton  and  the  straits  between  other 


184         JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  7 

islands  of  the  same  group  are  near  the  bending-point  of  the  geanticlinal 
axis  of  the  Tukang  Besi  Islands  and  southeastern  Celebes.  The 
narrow  Manipa  Strait,  nearly  5,000  meters  deep  between  Ceram  and 
Buru  is  another  example  of  an  important  gap  where  there  is  strong 
bending  of  the  geanticlinal  axis  in  a  horizontal  plane,  while  the  strait 
between  Halmaheira  and  Morotai  and  the  important  gap  between 
Halmaheira  and  the  islands  to  the  southwest  of  the  Pelew  group  may 
in  part  be  the  result  of  fractures  near  a  bending-point,  which  possibly 
exist  between  Halmaheira  and  those  islands.  Of  course  in  large  bend- 
ings  of  the  geanticlinal  axis  the  submarine  parts  of  the  axis  may  be 
due  to  a  pitch  of  the  axis,  but  for  relatively  short  bendings  this  ex- 
planation of  submarine  portions  alone  is  not  applicable.  The  fracture- 
movement  may  be  more  or  less  parallel  to  a  fault-plane  or  the  move- 
ment may  have  an  important  component  normal  to  the  fracture-plane 
The  bending-points  of  the  surface  of  the  geanticline,  considered  in  a 
vertical  cross  section  of  the  geanticline  at  right  angles  to  the  geanti- 
clinal axis,  are  between  the  deep  sea-basins  and  the  elevated  islands, 
where  longitudinal  faults  may  cut  away  the  land  at  the  coast  as  has 
been  mentioned  for  many  islands  of  the  Archipelago.  If  two  more  or 
less  parallel  rows  of  islands  are  developing  as  two  secondary  geanticlines 
with  an  intermediate  secondary  geosyncline,  longitudinal  faults  may 
exist  on  both  sides  of  the  secondary  geosyncline  and  on  the  outer  sides  of 
the  secondary  geanticlines.  The  duration,  speed,  and  place  of  the 
fracture-movements  will  in  large  measure  depend  upon  the  evolution  of 
the  mountain-building.  If  the  plane  of  movement  is  not  constant  and 
the  traces  of  older  fracture-movements  are  elevated  "above  the  sea,  they 
will  usually  disappear  rapidly  through  erosion  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
geanticline.  If  the  secondary  geosyncline  during  its  slow  subsidence 
constantly  remained  fairly  well  filled  with  an  accumulation  of  sedi- 
ments and  if  in  a  later  stage  of  evolution  a  general  elevation  of  the 
secondary  geosyncline  and  geanticlines  takes  place,  the  filling  of  the 
central  basin  w411  serve  as  evidence  of  older  fracture-movements  on 
both  sides  of  the  original  secondary  geosyncline.  Different  stages  in 
this  evolution  are  represented  in  the  Timor-Ceram  row  of  islands.^ 
The  islands  of  the  Tenimber  group  consist  of  two  rows  with  elevated 
reefs,  which  are  separated  by  a  zone  in  which  during  the  latest  stage 
of  the  mountain-building  process  positive  movements  have  prevailed. 
At  Timor  the  geanticline  may  have  already  passed  through  the  stage  of 

*  H.  A.  Brouwer.     The  horizontal  movement  of  geanticlines  and  the  fractures  near  their 
surface.     Journ.  of  Geol.  29:  566.     1921. 


APR.  4,  1922         brouwer;  tectonic  features  dutch  east  indies        1S5 

development  represented  by  Tenimber  Islands.  Flexures  and  faults 
of  considerable  horizontal  magnitude  occur  at  the  walls  of  a  central 
basin  which  has  been  formed  and  filled  with  sediments  in  Plio-Pleisto- 
cene  time.  Later  a  general  elevation  of  the  island  has  produced  the 
large  anticline  of  the  present  island,  with  the  highest  reefs  in  the 
central  part.  We  suppose  that  in  this  later  stage  of  evolution  the  rate 
of  horizontal  forward  progression  of  the  deeper  parts  was  greater  than 
that  of  the  superficial  parts  and  that  the  parts  which  were  near  the 
surface  and  originally  were  above  the  downward  moving  secondary 
geosyncline  were  in  a  following  stage  of  evolution  above  rising  parts 
at  greater  depth  and  were,  therefore,  elevated  above  the  sea. 

A  fine  example  of  parallel  rows  of  islands  which  are  developing 
as  geanticlines  with  intermediate  geosynclines  are  the  Tukang  Besi 
Islands  southeast  of  Celebes.  They  consist  of  four  rows — two  of  which 
bear  elevated  reefs  and  mark  the  geanticlinal  axes;  while  the  other 
two  are  characterized  by  reefs  and  atolls,  and  mark  the  geosynclinal 
axes. 

Only  a  limited  number  of  the  general  t^^pes  of  fracture-movements 
have  been  described.  The  position  of  the  fissures  and  faults  is  con- 
trolled by  a  great  many  factors,  the  discussion  of  which  would  exceed 
the  scope  of  this  paper.  But  the  types  mentioned  sufficiently  illustrate 
the  thesis,  that  the  majority  of  the  fractures  in  the  East-Indian  Archi- 
pelago are  the  surface  expression  of  differences  in  velocity  of  horizontal 
and  vertical  movements,  which  are  the  result  of  compressional  stress. 
That  these  movements  still  continue  is  proved  by  the  position  of  the 
epicenters  of  modern  earthquakes,  of  which  we  will  mention  those 
along  the  southwestern  prolongation  of  the  transverse  dislocation  in 
Sunda  Strait  between  Java  and  Sumatra. 

LITERATURE    AND    MAPS 

A  bibliography  of  the  more  important  publications  on  this  subject 
to  1917  is  given  in  the  Jaarboek  van  het  Mijnwezen  in  Ned.  Indie, 
Verhand.  1917,  II,  with  Atlas.  Our  map  is  compiled  from  the  maps 
in  this  atlas  with  additional  information. 

Since  1917  there  have  appeared  other  publications  for  which  see 
the  annual  bibliography  of  geological  publications  on  the  Dutch 
East  Indies  by  R.  D.  M.  Verbeek  in  Verhand.  Geolog. — Mijnbouwk. 
Genootschap  voor  Nederland  en  Kolonien. 


186         JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE     ACADEMY     AND     AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 
858th  MEETING 

The  858th  meeting  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Washington  was  held  in 
the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium,  December  17,  1921  and  was  called  to  order  at 
8.15  p.m.  by  President  Crittenden,  with  thirty-nine  persons  present.  The 
program  was  as  follows: 

W.  W.  CoBLENTz:  The  effective  temperature  of  stars  as  estimated  from  the 
energy  distribution  in  the  complete  spectrum  (illustrated).  The  paper  was 
discussed  by  Messrs.  Priest,  Hawksworth,  Foote,  Humphreys  and 
Crittenden. 

The  object  of  the  present  investigation  was:  (1)  to  test  new  stellar  ther- 
mocouples; (2)  to  verify  previous  measurements  of  stellar  radiation;  (3)  to 
measure  the  radiation  intensities  of  bright  stars  in  the  region  of  0  hours  to 
12  hours  of  right  ascension,  not  previously  measured;  and  (4)  to  determine  the 
feasibility  of  the  method  of  obtaining  the  spectral  energy  distribution  of  stars 
by  means  of  transmission  screens  which,  either  singly  or  in  combination,  are 
placed  in  front  of  the  vacuum  thermocouple. 

By  means  of  vacuum  thermocouples,  measurements  were  made  on  the  total 
radiation  intensities  of  13  bright  stars  not  observed  in  1914,  thus  completing 
the  survey  of  the  whole  sky.  A  total  of  30  celestial  objects  were  measured, 
including  Venus  and  Mars. 

By  means  of  a  series  of  transmission  screens  (of  yellow  and  red  glass,  of  water, 
and  of  a  thick  plate  of  quartz),  wide  spectral  regions  were  isolated  and  the 
radiation  intensities  in  the  spectrum  from  0.3/x  to  0.43ai;  0.43/^  to  O.Gai;  0.6/x 
to  1.4/x;  lAyi  to  4.1yu;  and  4.1/i  to  lO/x  were  determined.  In  this  manner  the 
distribution  in  energy  in  the  spectra  of  16  stars  was  determined,  thus  obtaining 
for  the  first  time  an  insight  into  the  radiation  intensities  in  the  complete 
spectrum  of  a  star. 

By  means  of  these  transmission  screens  it  was  found  that  in  the  B  and  A- 
class  stars,  the  maximum  radiation  intensity  lies  in  the  ultra-violet  (0.3^i  to 
0.4/i)  while  in  the  cooler,  K  and  M-class  stars,  the  maximum  emission  lies 
at  0.7ai  to  0.9/i,  in  the  infra-red. 

A  calculation  is  made  of  the  spectral  component  radiations  of  a  black  body 
at  various  temperatures,  using  the  spectral  transmission  data  on  these  screens. 
From  a  comparison  of  the  observed  and  the  calculated  spectral  rediation 
components,  it  appears  that  the  black-body  temperature  {i.  e.,  the  temperature 
which  a  black  body  would  have  to  attain  in  order  to  emit  a  similar  relative 
spectral  energy  distribution)  varies  from  3,000°  C.  for  red,  class  M  stars 
(6,000°  for  the  yellow,  solar  type)  to  10,000°  or  perhaps  even  higher  for  blue, 
class  B  stars. 

The  observing  station  being  much  higher  than  that  previously  used  (7,300 
feet  as  compared  with  4,000  feet),  the  atmospheric  scattering  of  light  was 
greatly  reduced ;  consequently,  when  the  water  cell  was  interposed  the  trans- 
missions in  the  violet  were  somewhat  higher  than  previously  observed.  How- 
ever, all  the  data  verify  previous  measurements  showing  that  red  stars  emit 
3  to  4  times  as  much  infra-red  radiation  as  blue  stars  of  the  same  visual  mag- 
nitude. Moreover,  observations  made  on  the  same  night  (same  weather 
conditions)  are  consistent  in  showing  small  gradations  in  the  infra-red  radia- 


APR.  4,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :    PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  187 

tion  component  that  correspond  with  the  small  gradations  (say  B2  and  B8)  in 
spectral  classes. 

For  binary  stars  having  companions  of  low  luminosity  the  water-cell 
transmissions  are  low,  indicating  that  the  companion  stars  emit  considerable 
infra-red  radiation. 

Among  the  subsidiary  investigations  made  with  a  view  to  the  improvement 
of  stellar  radiometers,  the  complete  paper  gives  data  on  the  radiation  sensitiv- 
ity of  thermocouples  of  alloys  of  gold-palladium,  platinum-rhodium,  bismuth- 
tin,  bismuth-antimon}^,  and  also  of  pure  bismuth. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  relevant  to  note  that  in  comparison  with  the  photo- 
electric cell  the  thermocouple  is  far  less  sensitive,  and  hence  the  number  of 
stars  that  can  be  measured  by  it  is  more  limited.  Neither  instrument  can 
tell  us  the  size  or  distance  of  stars.  The  thermocouple  enables  one  to  obtain 
information  not  obtainable  by  other  instruments.  Combined  with  an  ab- 
sorption cell  (of  water)  one  can  detect  the  presence  of  dark  companions  of 
binary  stars.  This  device  also  gives  us  a  new  means  for  studying  planetary 
radiation  and  temperature  conditions.  If  the  surface  of  a  planet  becomes 
warmed  by  the  sun's  rays,  and  in  turn  emits  radiation  (which  will  be  entirely  of 
long  wave-lengths)  the  amount  of  radiation  transmitted  through  the  water 
cell  will  be  less  than  when  the  reflecting  surface  remains  cool.  Data  of  this 
type  were  previously  obtained  on  the  moon.  Applied  to  the  planet  Mars,  if 
the  polar  cap  is  snow,  then  the  transmission  of  reflected  sunlight  should  be 
higher  than  that  observed  from  the  dark  areas,  if  the  latter  are  bare  ground. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  dark  areas  contain  green  vegetation  (similar  to  that 
of  our  earth)  the  temperature  rise  will  be  small,  the  water-cell  transmission 
will  be  high,  and  the  results  may  be  difficult  of  interpretation. 

Paltl  D.  Foote,  F.  L.  Mohler  and  W.  F.  Meggers:  "A  significant  ex- 
ception to  the  principle  of  selection"  (presented  by  Mr.  Foote  and  illustrated). 
The  paper  was  discussed  by  Mr.  Hawksworth. 

The  pair  Is  — 3d  of  sodium  and  potassium,  in  Sommerfeld's  theory  necessi- 
tates an  interorbital  transition  where  the  change  in  azimuthal  quantum  num- 
ber is  two  units.  The  presence  of  this  pair  has  always  been  attributed  to 
the  incipient  Stark  effect  of  the  exciting  field.  In  the  present  paper  an  ex- 
perimental arrangement  is  described  wherein  the  radiation  is  completely 
shielded  from  the  applied  field,  itself  only  7  volts.  The  pair  may  then  be 
produced  at  will  by  increasing  the  exciting  current  until  it  is  one  of  the  strong- 
est lines  of  the  spectrum.  It  therefore  is  an  exception  to  the  selection  prin- 
ciple which  cannot  be  explained  away  by  a  Stark  effect.  Its  explanation  is  of 
deeper  origin,  possibly  requiring  a  reconsideration  of  the  method  whereby 
single  azimuthal  quantum  numbers  have  been  assigned  to  each  of  the  s,  p,  d 
and  b  terms. 

Walter  P.  White:  Some  precision  pendulums  (illustrated).  The  paper 
was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Pawling,  Press,  Tuckerman  and  Silsbee. 

Pendulums  are  practically  always  driven  by  a  push  in  the  direction  of 
motion.  This  may  take  two  forms :  (1)  A  direct  push  is  given  symmetrically 
about  the  middle  of  the  stroke.  This  is  usually  done  by  force  applied  at 
right  angles  to  the  direction  of  motion,  acting  on  an  inclined  surface  (pallet). 
This  method  involves  considerable  friction  and  consequent  possibility  of 
irregularity.  (2)  The  pendulum  meets  and  pushes  against  a  pallet  which 
acts  on  an  opposing  weight  or  spring,  and  which  follows  the  pendulum  in  the 
return  to  a  point  beyond  that  at  which  it  was  picked  up.     The  opposing  pallet 


188         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  7 

is  then  brought  back  to  the  original  position  by  the  driving  train  of  wheels. 
This  arrangement  is  equivalent  to  a  push  over  the  distance  between  the  two 
points,  those  of  meeting  and  leaving  the  pallet.  Here  friction  is  less,  but  is 
not  completely  absent,  since  there  is  friction  in  unlocking  the  train  each  time 
it  moves. 

If  electric  working  is  introduced  friction  can  be  entirely  avoided.  An 
impulse  can  be  given  magnetically  at  the  middle  point  of  the  swing,  but  the 
difticulty  of  keeping  this  impulse  constant  and  applying  it  at  exactly  the  right 
time  seems  to  make  this  method  less  satisfactory  than  an  electrically-operated 
form  of  the  second  type  of  drive,  which  is  now  exceedingly  simple.  The 
pendulum  merely  lifts  a  small  pallet,  contact  with  which  causes  a  current  to 
flow,  which  by  means  of  a  magnet  shifts  the  stop  of  the  pallet.  Contrary 
to  some  rather  positive  statements,  it  has  been  found  by  several  experimenters 
that  the  contact  in  this  form  of  drive  can  be  operated  without  any  friction  and 
with  pressures  less  than  1  gram. 

Some  very  simple  equations  were  developed  for  determining  the  magnitude 
of  the  errors  with  this  arrangement,  and  hence  the  best  practical  dimensions  to 
give  it  in  any  particular  case.  These  equations  are  applicable  to  the  other 
forms  of  drive,  and  show:  (1)  A  light  and  long  pallet  is  preferable  as  long  as 
the  pressure  is  sufficient  for  proper  contact.  This  is  because  the  errors  due  to 
friction,  or  to  displacement,  or  wear  of  the  stops,  become  less  as  the  length 
increases.  (2)  The  error  from  displacement  of  the  stops,  that  is,  from  im- 
proper timing  of  the  driving  pressure,  is  a  minimum  when  this  pressure  ex- 
tends over  half  the  swing.  Contrary  to  much  received  opinion,  therefore,  an 
instantaneous  impulse  at  the  middle  of  the  swing  may  be  a  relatively  disad- 
vantageous method  of  driving.  (3)  It  is  possible,  and  sometimes  probably 
advantageous,  with  the  second  form  of  drive,  to  arrange  to  compensate  for  the 
circular  error  of  the  pendulum,  that  is,  the  error  caused  by  variation  in  arc 
of  swing.  (4)  In  the  Riefler  mechanism,  which  belongs  to  the  second  type  of 
drive,  the  driving  pressure  acts  over  an  arc  which  is  dependent  on  the  speed 
with  which  the  escapement  wheel  revolves  when  unlocked.  This  is  really  a 
disadvantageous  element  in  the  design,  against  which,  however,  are  to  be 
set  the  efficiency  of  the  unlocking  arrangement  and  the  general  good  workman- 
ship of  this  make  of  pendulum. 

Adjournment  at  10  p.m.  was  followed  by  a  social  hour. 

H.  H.  Kimball,  Recordin'g  Secretary. 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

627th  meeting 

The  627th  meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  of  Washington  was  held  in  the 
lecture  hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  May  14,  1921,  at  8.00  o'clock.  President 
HoLLisTER  was  in  the  chair,  and  28  persons  were  present.  The  minutes  for 
the  62()th  meeting  of  April  80  were  read  and  approved,  and  the  following  were 
elected  to  membership:  Dr.  Rudolph  Kuraz,  Mr.  E.  C.  Leonard  and 
Robert  F.  Griggs.  It  was  announced  that  the  present  meeting  was  the 
last  before  the  summer  recess. 

Informal  Communications:  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  stated  that  doubt  rests  upon 
the  native  origin  of  oppossums  in  California.  There  is  a  record  ninety  years 
old  of  oppossums  on  the  California-Mexico  border.  Dr.  Grinnell  shows, 
however,  that  oppossums  were  introduced  in  the  San  Jose  neighborhood  in 


APR.  4,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :    BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  189 

1910,  and  these  have  flourished.  200  skins  have  been  marketed  in  the  last 
two  years.  Dr.  R.  W.  Shufeldt  exhibited  two  new  books,  (1)  Early  Annals  of 
Ornitholog}^  by  John  H.  Gurney,  containing  quotations  from  early  literature. 
(2)  Life  of  Samuel  White,  by  his  son,  Capt.  S.  A.  White.  Mr.  F.  C.  Lincoln 
stated  that  one  of  a  hundred  common  tern  which  were  banded  in  Eastern 
Rock,  Maine,  on  July  3,  1913,  was  found  floating  upon  the  Nile  River,  Africa, 
in  August,  1917.  This  record  points  to  the  possible  identity,  which  has  been 
•questioned,  of  the  European  and  American  Common  Tern.  Dr.  R.  E.  Coker 
announced  a  3  day  conference  to  be  held  in  June  at  Fairport,  Iowa,  on  con- 
servation of  life  in  inland  waters,  under  the  chairmanship  of  Dr.  S.  A.  Forbes. 
Great  interest  and  appreciation  of  the  problems  involved  is  already  apparent. 
Mr.  Libbey  stated  that  during  the  da}^  Bicknell's  Thrash  had  been  seen,  and 
Rose-breasted  Grosbeaks  were  feeding  upon  oak  galls.  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer 
stated  that  while  Bicknell's  Thrush  undoubtedly  passes  through  the  District 
of  Columbia,  it  had  never  before  been  seen.  It  was  described  from  Colombia 
many  years  before  Bicknell  was  born.  Dr.  Palmer  made  a  minute  upon  the 
death  of  Mr.  William  Palmer,  born  in  England  in  August  1S56,  died  in  New 
York  City,  April  8,  1921.  He  was  appointed  taxidermist  in  the  National 
Museum  at  the  age  of  18,  where  much  of  his  work  exists.  He  was  on  many 
extended  tours,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Society  at  the  time  of 
his  decease. 

Formal  Comnninicatiofis:  F.  G.  Ashbrook,  Recent  notes  on  the Jur  trade  in 
the  United  States.  He  said  in  part:  Prior  to  the  World  W^ar  the  world's 
fur  market  was  in  London.  St.  Louis  and  New  York  now  are  the  fur  centers. 
The  value  of  the  raw  skins  ranges  from  1-7  millions  annuallv.  In  1920  the 
finished  value  was  $84,000,000;  exports  were  $34,000,000'.  The  turnout 
during  the  1920  fur  sale  in  1921  will  be  $352,000,000  in  which  the  taxes  will 
be  $1.5,000,000.  Thus  the  growth  of  a  once  neglected  industry:  Fur  bearing 
animals  are  little  protected  by  general  agitation  among  the  public.  It  re- 
quires legislation  which  preser^^es  the  game  without  destroying  the  trade. 
vSince  25%  of  the  skins  are  unprime,  the  seasons  should  be  properly  limited  and 
trappers  licensed.  Reports  should  be  made  under  oath,  and  licenses  should 
be  denied  or  cancelled  upon  occasion.  Certain  regions  should  at  times 
be  closed,  with  proper  protection  to  farmers  against  enemies.  The  laxity 
of  enforcement  of  laws  in  some  states  is  to  be  deplored.  Rearing  and  stocking 
is  to  be  encouraged;  it  is  successful  when  intelligently  done.  There  are  500 
persons  in  the  LTnited  States  breeding  animals  for  their  skins. 

Mr.  Ashbrook's  paper  was  discussed  by  Mr.  Doolittle  and  Dr.  Palmer. 

Mr.  S.  a.  Rohwer:  Injurious  and  beneficial  insect  galls.  He  said:  A  gall 
is  a  malformation  in  plant  tissue  made  in  course  of  the  development  of  insect 
larvae.  Galls  may  be  due  to  the  irritation  of  oviposition  or  to  some  enzyme 
or  both.  In  either  case  the  insect  has  abundant  nourishment.  The  galls  made 
by  different  insects  are  characteristic.  Galls  have  furnished  topics  for  poems 
and  other  literature.  Their  use  in  medicine  is  based  largely  upon  supersti- 
tion, but  they  are  a  source  of  astringents. 

As  related  to  man  some  galls  are  slightly  or  not  at  all  injurious  to  plants 
in  which  he  is  interested.  vSuch  are  the  Cynipid  galls  on  oak  leaves,  and 
many  others  on  roots  and  twigs.  The  beneficial  aspect  of  galls  is  recent. 
They  are  the  basis  of  some  dyes,  and  all  permanent  black  inks  of  United  States 
and  Europe.  The  superiority  of  London  seal  skins  over  Paris  skins  was  due 
to  the  Aleppo  gall  from  Turkey.     A  Chinese  gall  produced  by  aphids  on  Rhus 


190         JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

is  a  fair  substitute  for  the  Turkey  product.  One  firm  uses  $150,000  worth 
in  one  year.  The  Cahfornia  Oak  Apple  is  large,  contains  30%  tannic  acid, 
and  makes  satisfactory  ink.     The  Texas  Ball  also  has  high  content. 

There  are  two  types  of  tannin,  the  iron-green  and  the  iron-green-blue. 
The  chemistry  of  galls  still  requires  investigation,  as  not  all  galls  produce 
tannin  of  equal  value. 

Some  galls  are  injurious.  In  1917  galls  destroyed  in  a  large  area  all  the 
acorn  catkins,  destroying  the  acorns  and  the  hog  forage  in  that  region.  Other 
galls  kill  growing  tissues,  causing  a  second  growth.  An  internal  gall  occurs 
in  California.  No  damage  is  observable  until  the  insect  emerges  and  no 
defensive  measures  are  possible. 

The  paper  was  illustrated  by  lantern  slides  of  various  galls  and  gall  insects, 
and  tables  showing  the  tannin  content  of  many  fresh  and  cured  galls.  Mr.  E. 
A.  Goldman  discussed  the  paper. 

The  Society  adjourned  at  9.55. 

A.  A.  DooLiTTLE,  Recording  Secretary. 

628th  meeting 

The  628th  meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  of  Washington  was  held  in  the 
Lecture  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  October  29th,  1921,  with  Vice  President 
GiDLEY  presiding,  and  36  persons  present.  The  minutes  of  the  627th  meeting 
of  May  14th  were  read  and  approved,  and  Messrs.  Frank  E.  Ashbrook  and 
J.  Wade  were  elected  to  membership,  and  Mrs.  Julius  ParmaleE  and  Miss 
Erma  Brown. 

Informal  Commtinications:  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  announced  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  American  Ornithological  Union  at  Philadelphia  on  the  8th,  9th  and 
10th  of  November.  Dr.  H.  M.  Smith  gave  some  records  of  the  Kamchatka 
Sea  Eagle.  The  bird  had  been  seen  at  Urangel  in  1905,  at  Unalaska  in  1906 
by  Austin  Clark  and  by  Professor  J.  V.  vSnyder,  seen  also  in  Juneau  in  1909. 
Specimens  have  been  taken  by  Dr.  Hansen  at  the  Priblofif  Islands,  and  again 
a  specimen  was  taken  at  Kodiak  Lake  August  10  of  this  year.  This  is  not  a 
marine  bird,  but  rather  of  forests  and  rivers. 

Formal  Communications:  Dr.  R.  S.  BasslER:  Sex  characters  in  fossils. 
The  speaker  said  that  sex  is  recorded  plainly  in  vertebrate  skeletons,  and  thus 
easily  recognized  in  fossils,  but  a  similar  condition  does  not  occur  generally 
among  invertebrates.  However  among  Bryozoa  and  Ostracoda  found  as 
fossils  sex  organs  are  present. 

Recent  Ostracods  are  without  external  sex  structures,  but  paleo-species 
have  little  swellings  which  careful  study  proves  to  be  brood  pouches,  thus 
distinguishing  the  sexes.  The  form,  size  and  arrangement  of  these  pouches 
assist  in  their  classification.  Silurian  and  Paleozoic  species  are  found  with 
these  pouches,  earlier  and  later  species  are  without  them. 

The  general  structure  of  Bryozoa  was  described  and  the  relation  of  the  brood 
pouch  or  ovisac  to  the  rest  of  the  anatomy  was  shown.  The  transition  from  a 
very  simple  type  to  a  more  complicated  type  was  traced,  and  the  taxonomic 
value  of  this  character  was  shown.  It  is  only  in  the  form  or  position  of  the 
brood  pouches  or  ovisacs  that  distinction  between  many  species  is  found. 
Many  species  formerly  regarded  as  identical  are  now  differentiated.  All 
previous  classification  has  thus  been  rendered  obsolete;  only  those  species 
are  classified  in  which  the  distinctive  character  appears  as  shown  in  the  ovicell. 


APR.  4,    1922  SCIENTIFIC   NOTES   AND   NEWS  191 

The  paper  was  illustrated  by  numerous  lantern  slides  and  was  discussed  by- 
Messrs.  Gidley,  Rohwer,  Oberholser  and  Doolittle. 

Dr.  W.  E.  Safford:  TJie  Dahlia,  its  origin  and  development.  Dr.  Safford 
stated  that  the  botanical  relationships  of  the  cultivated  Dahlia  are  difficult 
to  trace,  having  been  crossed  and  recrossed  under  cultivation  before  they  were 
known  to  Europeans.  They  were  first  described  and  figured  in  1791,  from 
specimens  of  Mexican  origin  by  Cavanilles.  Descriptions  of  some  Dahlias 
antedate  the  technical  descriptions  some  200  years  in  a  study  of  the  resources 
of  New  Spain.  At  that  time  Hernandez  describes  varieties  in  form  and  color 
showing  that  types  thought  to  be  modern  were  already  developed.  Many 
of  the  interesting  and  remarkable  modern  forms  have  been  developed  by 
crossing  with  a  distinct  type.  Dahlia  juarezii.  Wild  species  have  been  found 
in  the  mountains  of  Mexico  and  Central  America  by  Maxon  and  Popenoe 
which  bear  their  discoverers'  names. 

The  roots  of  the  Dahlia  are  clustered  and  fleshy,  containing  not  starch  but 
inulin,  from  which  levulose  or  fructose  is  obtained.  Owing  to  a  bitter  flavor 
the  roots  are  rejected  by  cattle  and  pigs.  The  levulose,  however,  is  60% 
sweeter  than  sugar,  and,  since  it  crystallizes  with  difficulty,  has  great  possi- 
bilities as  a  syrup  in  sweetening  drinks  and  desserts  and  preserves. 

Dr.  Safford's  paper  was  illustrated  with  many  beautiful  colored  slides  of  the 
various  types  of  Dahlias,  including  reproductions  of  the  earliest  drawings. 
The  paper  will  appear  in  another  connection  in  the  Journal  of  the  Washington 
Academy  of  vSciences.  The  paper  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Rohwer,  Ober- 
holser and  others. 

The  Society   adjourned   at   10.00. 

A.  A.  DooLiTTi^E,  Recording  Secretary. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Institute  for  Research  in  Tropical 
America  held  its  first  meeting  Saturday,  January  14,  at  the  rooms  of  the 
National  Research  Council,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing.  A.  S.  Hitchcock, 
representing  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  was  elected  Chairman;  H.  E. 
Crampton,  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Vice-Chairman; 
and  A.  G.  Ruthven,  University  of  Michigan,  Secretary-Treasurer.  The 
Institute  now  includes  19  members. 

Arrangements  have  been  completed  for  enlarging  the  scope  of  the  Journal 
of  the  Optical  Society  of  America.  Beginning  Januar}^,  1922,  the  publication 
will  be  known  as  the  Jotirnal  of  the  Optical  Society  of  America  and  Review  of 
Scientific  Instruments.  In  addition  to  the  papers  on  all  branches  of  optics 
heretofore  carried,  about  three  eighths  of  the  total  space  will  be  devoted  to 
instruments  other  than  optical.  Beginning  with  May,  1922,  the  Journal 
will  be  issued  monthly  instead  of  bi-monthly.  The  new  Journal  has  been 
placed  on  a  strong  financial  basis  and  has  the  support  of  the  Optical  vSociety, 
of  the  Association  of  Scientific  Apparatus  Makers  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  of  the  National  Research  Council,  and  of  several  philanthropic 
individuals  interested  in  making  the  plan  a  success.  Authors  will  welcome 
this  new  feature  as  it  affords  almost  the  only  source  for  the  publication  in 
this  country  of  papers  describing  instruments.  Dr.  Paul  D.  Foote  of  the 
Bureau  of  Standards  is  editor-in-chief  and  Dr.  F.  K.  RichTmyer,  Cornell 
University,  is  assistant  editor-in-chief  and  business  manager. 

Among  recent  accessions  by  the   Division  of  Plants  are  the  following: 


192         JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  7 

692  specimens  of  West  Indian  plants,  chiefly  from  Trinidad,  received  as  an 
exchange  from  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden;  8-36  specimens  from  Brazil, 
collected  many  years  ago  by  Gardner  and  containing  a  large  number  of 
duplicates  of  types,  received  as  an  exchange  from  the  British  Museum;  .593 
Panama  ferns  presented  by  Mrs.  1,-  R.  Cornman,  San  Diego,  California; 
400  specimens  from  the  French  Congo,  received  as  an  exchange  from  the 
Jardin  Botanique  de  I'Etat,  Brussels;  277  African  grasses  collected  by  Dr. 
H.  ly.  ShanTz,  received  as  a  transfer  from  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture;  300  Panama  plants  presented  by  Brother  Her- 
IBERTO,  Panama  City;  167  Cuban  ferns,  received  as  an  exchange  from  the 
New  York  Botanical  Garden,  and  126  Philippine  orchids,  largely  cotypes, 
received  as  an  exchange  from  Mr.  OakES   Ames,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

A  series  of  specimens  showing  the  complete  working  of  the  "Manul" 
process  of  reprinting  sent  by  the  Polygraphic  Company  of  Laupen-Berne, 
Switzerland,  is  on  exhibition  in  the  Division  of  Graphic  Arts,  vSmithsonian 
Institution.  This  process  eliminates  all  resetting  of  type  or  the  use  of  a 
camera.  The  page  is  placed  in  contact  with  a  sensitized  transparent  film 
and  exposed  to  the  light.  The  light  reflecting  from  the  white  parts  of  the 
original  affects  the  sensitized  film  while  no  reflection  of  light  from  the  blacks 
leaves  the  film  unaltered.  This  film  is  used  as  a  negative  after  being  treated 
with  coloring  matter  and  transfers  the  image  to  the  zinc  or  aluminum  plate 
which  is  printed  on  a  lithographic  press  in  the  customary  manner. 

In  this  process  any  work,  written,  drawn  or  printed,  can  be  reproduced  at 
an  obvious  saving  over  older  methods  involving  resetting  all  type  matter  or 
making  photographic  negatives  by  the  use  of  a  lens  and  camera.  The  ex- 
hibit includes  the  original  pamphlet,  the  "Manul"  film,  the  zinc  lithographic 
plate  and  a  finished  print. 

Dr.  C.  G.  Abbot,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  re- 
turned to  Washington  January  4  from  a  trip  of  inspection  to  the  Institution's 
solar  radiation  station  at  Montezuma,  near  Calama,  Chile. 

Captain  Roald  Amundsen,  the  well-known  polar  explorer,  visited  the 
Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Wash- 
ington on  January  16,  in  order  to  complete  arrangements  with  regard  to 
cooperative  work  in  terrestrial  magnetism  and  atmospheric  electricity  be- 
tween the  Department  and  his  forthcoming  expedition  to  the  Arctic  Regions. 
During  the  Northeast  Passage,  1918-1921,  the  Amundsen  Expedition  made 
a  series  of  highly  valuable  magnetic  observations  at  somewhat  over  50  differ- 
ent points.  Captain  Amundsen's  chief  scientific  assistant.  Dr.  H.  U.  Sverd- 
RUP,  has  been  associated  with  the  Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  since 
last  October  in  order  to  complete  the  reduction  and  publication  of  the  mag- 
netic observations  thus  far  obtained  by  the  Expedition.  He  will  rejoin  the 
Maud,  Captain  Amundsen's  vessel,  early  in  March  at  Seattle.  It  is  expected 
that  Captain  Amundsen  will  resume  his  arctic  expedition  about  June  1. 
During  his  brief  stay  in  Washington,  Captain  Amundsen  also  paid  a  visit 
to  the  non-magnetic  ship  Carnegie.  In  the  evening  he  met  at  the  Cosmos 
Club  a  number  of  the  scientific  men  of  Washington  with  whom  he  discussed 
the  plans  of  his  arctic  expedition,  the  chief  object  of  which  is  to  obtain  scien- 
tific data  relating  to  geography,  oceanography,  meteorology,  gravity,  terres- 
trial magnetism  and  atmospheric  electricity. 

August  Busck  has  recently  returned  from  an  extended  trip  in  the  West 


APR.  4,   1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  193 

Indies,  where  he  was  investigating  the  pink  boel  worm  of  cotton  for  the  Bureau 
of  Entomolog^^ 

IMr.  Fuller  Clarkson  resigned  from  the  Fixed  Nitrogen  Research  Lab- 
oratory December  1,  1921,  to  accept  a  position  in  the  research  laboratories 
of  the  Procter  and  Gamble  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Dr.  A.  S.  Hitchcock,  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  returned  on  Decem- 
ber 23  from  a  trip  to  the  Orient  where  he  went  to  study  the  grasses,  especially 
the  bamboos.  He  visited  the  Philippines,  Japan,  central  and  south  China, 
including  the  island  of  Hainan,  and  Indo-China. 

Representative  Albert  Johnson  of  Washington  was  appointed  a  regent 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  on  January  4  by  Speaker  Gillett  of  the  House, 
and  Representatives  Lemmel  Padgett  and  Frank  L.  GrEENe  were  re- 
appointed as  regents. 

Adolf  Tonduz,  the  well-known  botanical  collector  in  Central  America, 
died  at  Guatemala  City,  Guatemala,  in  the  latter  part  of  1921.  Mr.  Tonduz 
was  a  native  of  Switzerland,  who  received  his  early  botanical  training  under 
Alphonse  De  Candolle,  and  emigrated  to  Costa  Rica  in  early  manhood.  He 
was  for  many  years  connected  with  the  Instituto  Fisico-Geografico  of  San 
Jose,  of  which  H.  Pittier  was  director,  and  was  associated  with  Mr.  Pittier 
in  a  natural  history  survey  of  Costa  Rica.  His  specimens  are  well  represented 
in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium  and  in  the  other  large  botanical  establish- 
ments of  the  world. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  April  19,  1922  No.  8 


MINERALOGY. — Sincosite,  a  new  mineral.  (Preliminary  note.)^ 
Waldemar  T.  SchallEk,  Geological  Survey. 
The  name  sincosite  is  given  to  a  green  hydrous  calcium  vanadyl 
phosphate,  CaO.V2O4.P2O5.5H2O,  occurring  in  a  black  carbonaceous 
shale  near  Sincos,  Peru.  The  mineral  forms  rectangular  plates  and  is 
uniaxial  negative.  Some  of  the  crystals  are  biaxial.  Sincosite  be- 
longs to  the  uranite  group  of  minerals  (autunite,  torbernite,  carnotite, 
etc.)  and  illustrates  the  unexpected  "equivalent  valency"  of  quadri- 
valent vanadyl -vanadium  with  sexivalent  uranic-uranium.  Analysis 
of  sincosite:  CaO,  12.1  (calc.  12.33);  V2O4,  36.3  (calc.  36.57);  P2O5, 
31.7  (calc.  31.28);  HoO,  19.9  (calc.  19.82);  Insoluble,  0.3;  total,  100.3. 
The  full  description  of  the  mineral  and  a  discussion  of  the  relationships 
of  all  the  minerals  of  the  uranite  group,  will  be  published  soon. 

MINERALOGY. — Cristobalite  from  the  Columbia  River  Basalt  of 
Spokane,  Wash.-  Earl  V.  Shannon,  United  States  National 
Museum. 

Recently  while  engaged  in  studying  the  minerals  contained  in 
gas  cavities  in  the  Columbia  River  Basalt  from  Spokane,  Washington, 
the  writer  has  identified  the  rare  mineral  cristobalite  in  a  number  of 
specimens.  Although  all  of  the  minerals  of  these  specimens  will  be 
described  in  detail  in  the  final  paper,  to  be  published  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  it  is  desired  here  to  call  attention  to  this 
new  occurrence  of  this  rare  mineral  and  to  outline,  briefly,  the 
mineralogic  features  of  the  locality  as  indicated  by  the  work  thus 
far  completed.  The  specimens  were  donated  as  a  carefully  selected 
series  to  the  Museum  by  Mr.  Henry  Fair  of  Spokane,  to  whom 
grateful  acknowledgment  is  here  tendered. 

The  rock  containing  the  minerals  is  the  ordinary  monotonous  basalt 
of  the  vast  Columbia  River  lava  plateau  and  came  from  various 
street  and  railway  excavations  in  the  City  of  Spokane.     The  rock 

1  Received  January  20,  1922. 

2  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

195 


196      JOURNAIv  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO,  8 

contains  scattered  cavities  varying  up  to  several  inches  in  diameter, 
the  first  lining  of  which  consists  of  small  blade-like  crystals  of  a  plagio- 
clase  identified  by  its  optical  properties  as  oligoclase-andesine.  Upon 
this  crust  rest  the  disseminated  white  crystals  of  cristobalite  and  mi- 
nute octahedrons  of  magnetite  following  which  was  deposited  siderite 
("sphaerosiderite")  in  small  spherical  masses.  Later  successive 
deposits  include,  in  the  order  named,  pyrite,  iron  opal,  second  genera- 
tion sphaerosiderite,  calcite,  white  opal,  and  hyalite.  Weathering  has 
converted  some  of  the  nodules  of  siderite  to  secondary  pseudomorphs 
of  limonite  and  goethite. 

The  cristobalite  forms  sub-translucent  white  crystals  0.5  mm.  or  less 
in  diameter  irregularly  scattered  over  the  interior  of  the  cavities. 
These  have  a  feeble  luster  and  a  white  porcelain-like  appearance. 
It  was  possible  to  detach  several  of  the  cristobalites  from  the  matrix 
and  to  measure  them  on  the  2-circle  goniometer  with  sufficient  accuracy 
to  identify  the  forms  and  to  indicate  isometric  symmetry.  Most  of 
the  crystals  are  cuboctahedrons  with  the  faces  of  the  cube  and  octahe- 
dron equally  developed.  The  faces  are  commonly  concave  or  divided 
by  sutures  so  as  to  give  several  signals  while  the  cube  faces  often 
show  a  confusion  of  slightly  re-entrant  angles  suggesting  complex 
twinning  and  grading  toward  the  spherulitic  forms  characteristic  of  the 
mineral.  Rarely  a  crystal  is  observed  which  shows  no  indication  of 
this  twinning  and  which  has  the  exterior  form  of  a  simple  isometric 
crystal.  The  best  of  these  measured  was  a  cuboctahedron  with  its 
edges  beveled  by  narrow  faces  of  the  trapezohedron.  The  latter  form 
has  not  previously  been  observed  on  crystals  of  this  mineral. 

Under  the  microscope  the  material  has  a  feeble  birefringence  and 
has  a  refractive  index  of  1.485=*=  .003.  The  crystals  are  unchanged 
by  boiling  in  hydrochloric  acid  and  are  volatilized  without  leaving 
any  residue  by  evaporation  with  hydrofluoric  and  sulphuric  acids. 
Although  cristobalite  has  recently  been  described  from  several  locali- 
ties in  the  United  States  this  is  the  first  locality  in  this  country  to 
furnish  measurable  crystals  of  this  mineral. 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. — Review  of  the  optical-crystallographic  prop- 
erties   of    calcium   oxalate    monohydrate}     Edgar    T.    Wherry, 
Bureau  of  Chemistry. 
The  mineral  whewellite,   calcium  oxalate  monohydrate,   was  dis- 
covered in  1840,  and  has  subsequently  been  the  subject  of  considerable 
*  Received  Dec.  3,  1921. 


APR.  19,  1922        wherry:  calcium  oxalate  monohydrate  197 

crystallographic  and  optical  investigation.  The  literature  contains, 
however,  contradictory  statements  as  to  its  optical  properties. 
Definite  data  upon  these  properties  being  desired  for  use  in  the  study  of 
this  compound  as  it  occurs  in  plant  tissues,  the  various  papers  have 
been  critically  reviewed.  Crystalline  fragments  have  also  been  studied 
by  the  immersion  method,  and  the  final  conclusions  as  to  the  optical- 
crystallographic  properties  of  the  substance  are  here  presented. 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY 

Calcium  oxalate  monohydrate  crystallizes  in  the  holohedral  class 
of  the  monoclinic  system;  its  axial  ratio  a:b:c  and  axial  angle  /3have 
been  determined  as  follows. 

Authority  Date  a  b  c  ff 

Miller^ 1840  0 .8696  1  1 .3695  72°  42' 

Becke^ 1907  0 .8628  1  1 .3677  73  00 

Ungemach^ 1909  0 .8620  1  1 .3666  73  02 

Kolbeck,    Goldschmidt   & 

Schroder^ 1918  0 .8696  1  1 .3695  72  42 

The  elaborate  study  of  the  mineral  made  by  the  last  three  authors 
appears  to  have  definitely  established  the  correctness  of  the  Miller 
axial  values. 

The  crystals  are  usually  highly  modified,  but  on  the  whole  the 
base,  the  clinopinacoid  and  the  unit  prism  are  the  dominant  forms. 
A  wide  variety  of  habits  has  been  noted.  See  figure  1 .  The  most  frequent 
appears  to  be  prismatic,  elongated  on  axis  c,  but  elongation  in  the  direc- 
tions of  axis  a,  axis  6,  and  the  zones  of  the  pyramids  (112)  and  (121) 
have  also  been  observed.  Tabular  habits  on  the  base,  the  clinopinacoid, 
and  the  dome  (101)  occur  as  well.  Twinning  is  frequent  on  the  nega- 
tive unit  orthodome  (101).  At  all  of  its  seven  known  localities  the 
mineral  is  stated  to  be  associated  with  some  carbonate  mineral,  calcite, 
siderite,  dolomite  or  ankerite,  so  that  these  habits  represent  the  result 
of  crystallization  in  an  alkaline  environment. 

OPTICAL  PROPERTIES 

The  values  of  the  refractive  indices  for  D  light,  a,  (3,  y,  and  optic 
axial  angle  2  E  given  by  different  authors  are  tabulated  here. 

2  Phil.  Mag.  (3)  16:  450.     1840. 

3  Min.  petr.  Mitth.  26:  391.     1907. 
*  Bull.  soc.  franc,  min.  32:  20.     1909. 
sBeitr.  Krvst.  Min.  1:  199.     1918. 


198      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  8 


y 


—  e >  — a 


a 


a 


d 
I 

A 


I 
I 


a 


-    h \-(3 


/3 


3  e 


T 


-  '73         -  J 


/    \ 

Fig.  1.     Outlines  of  crystals  of  calcium  oxalate  monohydrate. 


l 


|C 


-^ 


I 

APR.  li),  1922        wherry:  calcium  oxalate  monohydrate  199 

Authority                      Date                  a                       ff                     y  y  —  a  2E 

Schubert^ 1899           ...           1 .549           ...  ...  89° 

Becke" 1907         1.490         1.555         1.650  0.160  84°  40' 

Jezek* 1908         1 .490         1 .555         1 .649  0 .  159  83°  42' 

Jezek9 1911          1.491         1.555         1.650  0.159  83°  55' 


Average 1  490         1 .555         1 .650        0 .  160        84 


o 


The  values  given  by  Becke  and  by  Jezek  agree  within  the  limits  of 
error  of  measurement,  and  the  rounded  average  in  the  last  line  may  be 
accepted  as  characteristic  of  the  substance.  Examination  by  the 
immersion  method  confirmed  them  completely.  The  material  breaks 
into  angular  fragments  without  definite  crystallographic  orientation, 
so  that  values  intermediate  between  the  several  indices  are  usually 
obtained,  but  the  indices  as  given  appear  with  sufficient  frequency  to 
show  their  correctness.  The  value  of  2  E,  as  calculated  from  2  V,  is  so 
high  as  not  to  be  measurable  under  the  microscope,  but  partial  figures 
are  often  seen  in  the  fragments  studied  by  the  immersion  method,  and 
on  them  the  optical  sign  can  be  determined  as  positive,  by  the  use  of 
the  selenite  plate. 

The  greatest  discrepancies  in  the  literature  upon  whewellite  concern 
the  optical  orientation,  the  following  different  descriptions  of  which 
are  given: 

Authority  Date         Position   of  axial   plane  Position  of  acute  bisectrix 

Becke^"  1907  Perpendicular  to  (010)  In  obtuse  angle  /329  °  from  axis  c. 

Jezekio  1908 

Winchell"  1909  "  - 1 1 1/2 °  from  axis  c. 

Groth'2  1910  Parallel  to  (010)  In  acute  angle /364  °  from  axis  c. 

Jazek'o  1911  Perpendicular  to  (010)  In  obtuse  angle  i330 °  from  axis  c. 

Study,  by  the  immersion  method,  of  a  number  of  samples,  represent- 
ing fragments  of  the  mineral  whewellite,  crystals  in  the  tissues  of  vari- 
ous plants,  and  crystalline  precipitates  prepared  by  boiling  together 
dilute  solutions  of  the  constituent  ions,  has  indicated  that  the  data  of 
Becke  and  Jezek  are  correct.  In  accordance  with  this  interpretation 
of  the  orientation,  the  following  features  correspond  to  the  more 
frequent  habits: 

«  Min.  petr.  Mitth.  18:  251.     1899. 

'  Loc.  cit. 

8  Bull.  int.  Acad.  vSci.  Bohemia  13:  1;  22:  1.  1908;  through  Z.  Kryst.  Min.    46:  610.    1909. 

«  Rozpr.  Ceske  Akad.  TI,  20:  1.     1911;  through  Z.  Kryst.  Min.  54:  191.     1914. 

'°  Loc.  cit. 

'1  Elements  of  optical  mineralogy,  .  391,  1919. 

'-  Chemische  Krystallographie  3:  152.     1910. 


200      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  8 

Sign  of      Extinc-  Twinning  Inferred 

Refractive  indices  elonga-  tion  plane  habit — 

Lengthwise  Crosswise  tion  angles  may  show  elongated  on 

«     1.490         /3     1.555         7     1-650         ..  0°  Lengthwise  axis  6 

0  1.555         «     1.490         7     1.650         ±         o-13°  Cmsswise  or 

lengthwise  axis  a 

7     1.650.      a     1.490         /3     1.555         +         0-30°  Diagonally  axis  c 

7     1.650         a     1.490         /3     1.555         +         0-6 1/2°         Lengthwise  zone  of  e :  6 

These  data  are  being  applied  to  the  study  of  the  crystals  of  calcium 
oxalate  occurring  in  official  crude  drugs  and  other  plants,  a  report  on 
which  will  appear  elsewhere. 

BOTANY. —  Twc  new  species  of  Acanthospermum  from  the  Galapagos 
Islands}     S.  F.  Blake,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry. 

Several  months  ago  I  published-  a  revision  of  the  genus  Acantho- 
spermum, a  small  group  of  Asteraceae  closely  related  to  Melampodium, 
from  which  it  is  distinguished  technically  by  the  presence  of  spines 
or  hooked  prickles  on  the  indurated  phyllaries  which  envelop  the  ray 
achenes.  Of  the  eight  species  there  described  the  most  aberrant  is 
Acanthospermum  lecocarpoides  Robins.  &  Greenm.,  the  sole  member  of 
the  Section  Lecocarpopsis,  which  is  distinguished  from  the  two  other 
sections  of  the  genus  by  its  pinnatifid  leaves,  plump  trigonous-turbin- 
ate  fruit  bearing  spines  only  around  the  broadly  rounded  apex,  and 
comparatively  large  rays.^  The  species,  seen  by  me  only  in  two 
collections  from  Hood  Island,  Galapagos  Archipelago,  is  remarkable 
for  its  rather  close  resemblance  in  every  feature  but  the  fruit  to  the 
monotypic  genus  Lecocarpus  Decaisne,  which  is  confined  to  Chatham 
and  Charles  Islands  of  the  same  group. 

After  the  paper  above  referred  to  had  been  turned  in  for  publication, 

1  found  at  the  Gray  Herbarium  two  sheets  of  Acanthospermumy 
collected  by  Alban  Stewart  on  Chatham  and  Gardner-near-Hood 
Islands,  which  appeared  to  represent  two  new  species  of  the  Section 
Lecocarpopsis.  Through  the  kindness  of  Miss  Alice  Eastwood,  I 
was  able  to  supplement  these  two  sheets  by  the  extensive  series  of 
mounted  and  unmounted  duplicates  of  the  same  two  numbers  in  the 
herbarium  of  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences.  vStudy  of  this 
material,  amounting  in  all  to  42  sheets,  shows  that  it  unquestionably 
represents  two  new  forms  of  the  Section  Lecocarpopsis.     Since  these 

1  Received  March  5,  1922. 

2  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  383-392,  pi.  23.     1921. 

'  The  extreme  corky-woody  thickening  of  the  fruiting  phvllaries  at  maturity  is  also 
characteristic  of  this  section  of  the  genus. 


APR.  19,  1922    BLAKE:  acanthospermum  i^rom  gai^apagos  islands  201 

forms,  although  closely  related,  are  not  connected  by  intermediates, 
they  are  here  treated  as  species. 

Since  the  days  of  Darwin's  voyage  on  the  Beagle,  the  Galapagos 
Archipelago  has  been  a  classical  region  for  the  study  of  the  evolution 
of  closely  allied  forms  of  both  plants  and  animals.  The  three  species  of 
Acanthospermum  here  discussed  make  an  interesting  addition  to  the 
list  of  plant  groups  represented  on  different  islands  by  distinguishable 
forms  so  closely  related  that  their  origin  from  a  common  ancestor, 
and  presumably  at  no  great  distance  in  the  past,  is  incontestable. 
The  abundant  material  representing  two  of  these  forms,  moreover, 
affords  a  basis  for  a  greater  degree  of  assurance  as  regards  their  prob- 
able distinctness  than  has  often  been  the  case  previously. 

As  already  mentioned,  Acanthospermum  is  closely  allied  to  Melampo- 
dium.  Melampodium  is  an  American  genus  of  about  43  species  ranging 
from  Kansas  to  Brazil,  and  represented  by  one  introduced  species  in 
the  Philippine  Islands,  but  not  known  from  the  Galapagos  Islands. 
Acanthospermum  includes,  with  the  two  species  here  described,  ten 
species,  native  in  the  West  Indies,  South  America,  and  the  Galapagos 
Islands,  and  introduced  in  North  and  Central  America  and  in  the  Old 
World.  In  both  genera  only  the  ray  flowers  are  fertile,  and  each  achene 
is  closely  enveloped  and  hidden  by  the  corresponding  subtending 
phyllary.  The  compound  structures,  called  "fruits"  for  the  sake  of 
brevity,  are  armed  in  Acanthospermum  with  several  or  many  spines  or 
hooked  prickles.  In  Melampodium  the  achene-enclosing,  phyllaries 
are  smooth  or  merely  tuberculate,  and  are  in  one  section  developed 
at  apex  into  a  cup  or  hood  which  may  be  prolonged  into  a  single  short 
or  long  often  recurved  horn  on  the  apical  outer  margin. 

The  most  remarkable  character  of  the  three  species  of  Acantho- 
spermum here  considered  is  the  variability  in  the  armament  of  the 
fruits,  a  feature  quite  without  parallel  in  the  other  species  of  the  genus. 
In  this  respect  A.  leptolobum  is  by  far  the  most  variable.  Although 
this  species  happens  to  be  represented  by  far  more  material  than  the 
others  (34  sheets,  as  opposed  to  8  of  A.  brachyceratum  and  2  of  A. 
lecocarpoides) ,  this  cannot  be  considered  the  explanation  of  the  varia- 
bility, since  the  extremes  represented  in  figure  1,  d-],  are  sometimes 
found  in  a  single  head.  Especially  noteworthy  is  the  type  of  fruit 
represented  in  figure  1,  /.  Technically  this  fruit  by  itself  would  be 
referred  to  Melampodium.  The  absence  of  spines  in  this  type  of  fruit 
seems  to  be  due  to  a  loss  of  vigor  or  nourishment,  as  indicated  by  the 
comparatively  small  size,  and  not  to  infertility,  for  the  seed  is  quite 


202      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  8 


Fig.  1.  hea-ves  and  iruits  oi  Acanthospermum. — a,d-j,  A.  leptolobum;  b,  k-m,  A.  brachy- 
ceratiim;  c,  n-p,  A.  lecocarpoides.  a-c,  X  1;  d-p,  X  about  2.  All  drawn  from  the 
types  or  specimens  of  the  type  collections.  The  ventral  side  of  the  fruits  faces 
left  in  each  case. 


APR.  19,  1922      BLAKE :   ACANTHOSPERMUM  FROM  GALAPAGOS  ISLANDS  203  ' 

as  well  developed  in  such  fruits  as  in  normal  ones.  One  is  tempted  to 
explain  the  variability  of  these  three  forms  of  Acanthospermum  by 
the  supposition  of  a  very  recent  origin.  The  suggestion  may  also  be 
made  that  the  absence  in  the  Archipelago  of  native  mammals  whose 
fur  would  provide  a  means  of  transport  for  the  spiny  fruits  may  be  in 
some  way  correlated  with  the  tendency  to  loss  of  spines.  This  tendency 
toward  abortion  of  spines  in  the  fruits  of  various  unrelated  genera  of 
plants  of  the  Galapagos  Islands  has  already  been  mentioned  by  Robin- 
son,^ and  considered  explicable  by  the  paucity  of  indigenous  mammals. 
The  three  species  of  the  Section  Lecocarpopsis  may  be  separated  by 

the  following  key. 

Leaves  usually  divided  about  half  way  to  midrib,  the  rachis  4  to  20  mm.  wide; 

body  of  fruit  4  to  5  mm.  deep;  horns  usually  subequal,  or  the  outer  longer 

or  rarely  obsolete. 

Leaf  blades  4.5  to  9  cm.  long,  2.2  to  4.-5  cm.  wide;  peduncles  2.3  to  4.5  cm. 

long;  horns  of  fruit  3  to  7  mm.  long,  usually  subequal;  Hood  Island. 

A.  lecocarpoides. 
Leaf  blades  1.5  to  2.5  cm.  long,  1.7  to  2  cm.  wide;  peduncles  about  1  cm. 
long;  horns  of  fruit  1  to  3  mm.  long,  the  outermost  the  longest ;  Gardner- 
near-Hood    Island.  A.  hrachyceratum. 

Leaves  divided  nearly  to  the  midrib,  the  rachis  only  1  to  2  mm.  wide;  body 
of  fruit  2.2  to  3.5  mm.  deep ;  inner  horns  of  fruit  usually  much  longer  than 
the  outer;   Chatham   Island.  A.  leptolobum. 

Acanthospermum  hrachyceratum  Blake,  sp.  nov.  Figure  1,  b,  k-m. 

Base  not  seen;  stem  indurated,  60  cm.  high,  dichotomous,  densely  spreading- 
hispidulous;  leaves  opposite,  hispidulous  and  gland-dotted  above  and  chiefly 
on  the  nerves  beneath;  petioles  8  to  12  mm.  long,  connate  at  base,  narrowly 
margined;  blades  oval-ovate,  1.5  to,2.5  cm.  long,  1.7  to  2  cm.  wide,  obtuse, 
cuneate  at  base,  lobed  about  to  middle,  the  lobes  5  to  7  pairs,  cuneate  or  oblong, 
revolute-margined,  and  toward  apex  2  to  5-lobed  with  short  obtuse  densely 
hispidulous  lobes;  peduncles  solitary,  terminal,  densely  sordid-hispidulous, 
about  1  cm.  long;  heads  1.5  cm.  wide;  phyllaries  4,  deltoid-ovate,  obtuse, 
entire,  hispidulous,  6  mm.  long,  5  mm.  wide;  rays  about  8,  yellow,  oval, 
tridenticulate,  the  lamina  joined  in  a  ring  at  base  without  proper  tube,  hispid- 
ulous and  stipitate-glandular  dorsally,  5.5  mm.  long,  2.8  mm.  wide;  disk 
corollas  numerous,  yellow,  the  slender  tube  1  mm.  long,  glandular,  the  cam- 
panulate  throat  0.8  mm.  long,  the  triangular  acute  recurved  teeth  1  mm.  long; 
pales  acuminate,  lanceolate,  dentate  at  apex,  stipitate-glandular  above,  about 
3  mm.  long;  fruit  turbinate,  slightly  compressed  laterally,  densely  stipitate- 
glandular  throughout  and  somewhat  hispidulous,  the  body  4.5  to  5.5  mm. 
high,  4  to  4.5  mm.  deep,  bearing  around  the  rounded  apex  5  to  7  subulate 
horns  usually  grooved  on  the  inner  side,  the  2  to  4  inner  ones  shorter,  spread- 
ing or  slightly  ascending,  1  to  2  mm.  long,  the  outermost  one  erect,  with 
broadened  base,  2  to  3  mm.  high,  the  one  or  two  lateral  ones  similar  to  the 
shorter  inner  ones. 

Type  in  the  Gray  Herbarium,   collected  on  Gardner-near-Hood  Island, 
Galapagos  Islands,  September  28,  1905,  by  Alban  Stewart  (no.  701).     Dupli- 
es. L.  Robinson.     Flora  of  the  Galapagos  Islands.     Proc.  Amer.  Acad.  38:  238.     1902. 


204      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  8 

cates  in  the  herbarium  of  the  CaHfornia  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  U.  S. 
National  Herbarium. 

Gardner-near-Hood  Island,  on  which  this  species  is  found,  is  a  tiny  islet 
only  2  km.  or  less  from  Hood  Island,  the  locality  of  A.  lecocarpoides  Robins. 
&  Greenm.  The  two  forms  are  very  closely  related,  but  A.  brachyceratum 
may  be  distinguished  by  its  much  smaller,  more  finely  lobed  leaves,  its  shorter 
peduncles,  and  its  shorter-spined  fruit.  It  is  described  by  the  collector^  as  a 
common  bush  two  feet  high. 

Acanthospermum  leptolobum  Blake,  sp.  nov.  Figure  1,  a,  d-j. 

Annual,  dichotomous,  about  1  m.  high,  the  stem  and  branches  slender, 
woody,  grayish,  densely  tuberculate-hispidulous ;  leaves  opposite,  rather 
densely  hispidulous  on  both  sides;  petioles  about  8  mm.  long,  connate  at  base, 
narrowly  margined,  about  1  mm.  wide;  blades  ovate,  2.5  to  4  cm.  long,  1.3 
to  4  cm.  wide,  pinnatifid  nearly  to  midrib,  the  leaf  rachis  1  to  2  mm. 
wide,  the  lobes  about  5  pairs,  mostly  opposite,  irregularly  2  to  8-lobed  with 
linear  obtuse  segments  or  the  uppermost  entire,  the  segments  again  sometimes 
toothed;  peduncles  terminal,  solitary,  densely  spreading-hispidulous  with 
subglandular  hairs,  1.3  to  2.5  cm.  long;  heads  about  3  cm.  wide;  phyllaries  4, 
ovate,  obtuse  or  acute,  usually  serrulate,  hispidulous  chiefly  beneath,  8  to 
10  mm.  long,  4.5  to  6  mm.  wide;  rays  10,  yellow,  oval,  tridenticulate,  merely 
closed  in  a  ring  at  base  without  proper  tube,  about  9-nerved,  stipitate-glandu- 
lar  dorsally,  10  mm.  long,  4.5  mm.  wide;  disk  corollas  numerous,  yellow,  the 
slender  tube  sparsely  glandular,  1.5  mm.  long,  the  campanulate  throat  1  mm. 
long,  the  five  recurved  triangular  teeth  1  mm.  long;  stamens  cordate-sagittate 
at  base;  pales  acuminate,  lacerate-dentate  above,  stipitate-glandular,  about 
3  mm.  long;  fruit  compressed-turbinate,  densely  stipitate-glandular  and  more 
or  less  hispidulous,  whitish  at  maturity,  the  body  2.8  to  3.5  mm.  high,  2.2 
to  3.5  mm.  deep  at  apex,  bearing  at  apex  1  to  5  horns,  the  1  to  3  inner  subulate 
or  lance-subulate,  1  to  4  mm.  long,  divergent-spreading,  when  large  excavated 
at  the  base,  or  sometimes  wanting,  the  1  to  3  outer  triangular  to  subulate,  erect 
or  curved-ascending,  1  to  4  mm.  high,  at  least  the  central  one  excavated  at 
base,  the  latter  sometimes  represented  only  by  its  deeply  excavated  base  and 
without  free  portion,  or  all  the  horns  entirely  wanting. 

Type  in  the  Gray  Herbarium,  collected  in  woodland  at  Sappho  Cove, 
Chatham  Island,  Galapagos  Islands,  altitude  240  meters,  February  10,  1906, 
by  Alban  Stewart  (no.  700).  Duplicates  in  the  herbarium  of  the  California 
Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium. 

Chatham  Island,  on  which  this  species  occurs,  is  about  50  km.  from  Hood 
Island.  Its  representative  of  Acanthospermum,  A.  leptolobum,  is  so  different 
from  that  of  Hood  Island  that  its  specific  distinctness  is  likely  to  be  confirmed 
by  future  collecting,  while  the  form  found  on  Gardner-near-Hood  Island, 
A.  brachyceratum,  is  so  much  closer  to  A.  lecocarpoides  that  it  may  prove  to  be 
only  a  variety.  Stewart*^  describes  his  no.  700  as  a  common  bush,  3  to  4  ft. 
high,  in  woodland  at  800  ft.,  and  says:  "Except  for  the  presence  of  spines  on 
the  achenes  [fruits]  the  specimens  from  this  island  are  more  like  Lecocarpus 

5  A.  Stewart.  Botanical  survey  of  the  Galapagos  Islands.  Proc.  Calif.  Acad.  IV.  1:  148. 
1911. 

^  Loc.  cit. 


APR.  19,  1922     HITCHCOCK:   PERENNIAL  SPECIES  OF  TEOSINTE  205 

foHosus  than  an  Acanthospermum."  T  have  not  been  able  to  verify  his  state- 
ment that  some  of  the  material  from  Gardner-near-Hood  Island  (A.  hrachy- 
ceratum)  has  "some  of  the  leaves  deeply  cut,  as  do  the  specimens  from  Chat- 
ham Island." 

In  this  species  the  slender  stem  is  so  woody  that  I  was  inclined  to  consider 
it  frutescent,  until  a  specimen  was  found  among  the  unmounted  material 
collected  by  Stewart  which  showed  clearly  that  the  plant  was  an  annual. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  well  to  mention  that  the  data  for  the  specimens 
collected  by  Mr.  Stewart  on  the  1905-06  Galapagos  Expedition  of  the  Cali- 
fornia Academy  are  in  an  unfortunate  state  of  confusion.  The  33  unmounted 
sheets  of  A.  lepiolobum,  for  example,  are  not  accompanied  by  data,  but  they 
are  so  clearly  identical  in  every  feature  with  his  no.  700  as  represented  in  the 
Gray  Herbarium  and  the  herbarium  of  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences 
that  I  have  no  hesitation  in  considering  them  a  portion  of  the  same  collection. 

BOTANY. — A    perennial    species    of   teosinte^    A.    S.    Hitchcock, 
Bureau  of  Plant  Industry. 

In  a  recent  article^  entitled  Teosinte  in  Mexico,  Mr.  G.  N.  Collins 
reviews  our  knowledge  concerning  teosinte  in  Mexico.  Up  to  the 
present  all  the  forms  of  teosinte  have  been  referred  to  one  species, 
Etichlaena  mexicana  Scbrad.  There  are  two  forms  of  this,  both  annual, 
one  from  Durango,  where  it  was  collected  by  Dr.  Edward  Palmer,  and 
one  grown  in  Florida,  the  origin  of  which  is  uncertain.  The  latter  form 
hasbeen  grown  in  France  and  mayhavecome  originally  from  Guatemala. 
At  present  the  only  known  localities  for  the  annual  teosinte  in  the  wild 
state  are  Durango  and  the  State  of  Mexico  near  Chalco,  where  it  was 
recently  collected  by  Collins.  The  origin  of  the  specimens  described 
by  European  botanists  is  unkown. 

The  botanical  history  of  the  annual  species  is  as  follows: 

Euchlaena  mexicana  vSchrad.  Ind.  Sem.  Hort.  Goettingen.  1832 ;  reprinted  in 
Linnaea  8 :  Litt.  25.  1833.  I  have  not  seen  the  original  publication,  an  ephem- 
eral seed  list,  but  fortunately  the  reprint  is  accessible.  Schrader  describes  the 
genus  and  species  together,  "Euchlaena  mexicana  Schrad.  Nov.  Gen.  e  Gra- 
minearum  Olyrearum  tribu,"  and  so  on.  He  describes  the  staminate  spike- 
lets  as  1 -flowered  instead  of  2-flowered  and  the  genus  is  placed  with  the  Olyra 
group.  As  to  locality  he  says,  "Mexico,  Dr.  Miihlenfordt."  Nothing 
further  concerning  the  history  of  this  is  known. 

Reana  giovanninii  Brign.  Ind.  Sem.  Hort.  Mutin.  1849.  The  publication 
cited  is  also  an  ephemeral  seed  list  which  I  saw  at  the  Botanical  Garden  of 

1  Received  March  20,  1922. 
-  Journ.  Hered.  12:  3.39.      1922. 


206      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  8 

Padua,  Italy.     Because  of  the  rarity  of  the  original  pubhcation  the  description 
is  here  reproduced. 

Reana 

Genus  Novum 

(Gramineae) 

(Zeinae) 

Flores  monoici.  Mascidi  terminales  paniculati:  spica  biflora,  flora  altero  sessili,  altero 
pedicellato:  staminibus  sex.  Feminei  axillares,  spicati,  erecli,  sessiles  in  axi  flexuoso: 
bracteis  imbricatis  ad  medium  usque  involuti:  stylis  longissimis,  exertis,  pendulis:  parte 
spicae  superiore,  abortiva,  exserta,  erecta.     Cariopsis  curvo-trigona  axe  arete  adhaerens. 

Reana  Giovanninii  foliis  amplexicaulibus,  canaliculatis,  angustis,  integerrimis,  longissimis. 

Habitat  in  Mexico-Annua-Attulit  ex  loco  natali  D.  Doct.  Melchior  Giovannini,  Regiensis. 

The  description  is  quoted  soon  after  in  two  botanical  periodicals  (Ann. 
Sci.  Nat.  III.  Bot.  12:  365.     1849;  Flora  n.  ser.  8:  400.     1850). 

Reana  luxurians  Dureiu,  Bull.  Soc.  Acclim.  II,  9:  581.  1872.  The  author 
in  speaking  before  the  society  mentions  a  grass  called  Teosinte  which  he  thinks 
is  probably  the  name  of  a  country.  The  seed  probably  came  from  Guatemala. 
He  speaks  well  of  it  as  a  forage  plant  and  ventures  to  call  it  Reana  luxurians. 
The  name  is  not  technically  published  here  as  there  is  no  description. 

Euchlaena  bourgaei  Fourn.  Bull.  Soc.  Bot.  Belg.  15:  468.  1876.  In  this 
article  Fournier  reviews  the  synonymy  and  describes  the  genus  more  fully 
than  his  predecessors.  He  describes  three  species,  E.  mexicana,  E.  hoiirgaei, 
and  E.  giovanninii,  the  second  being  new.  He  distinguishes  the  last  species 
on  description  only,  saying  that  he  has  seen  no  specimen  with  leaves  as  de- 
scribed. His  new  species  is  described  as  being  2  feet  tall,  annual,  and  the 
staminate  inflorescence  as  consisting  of  a  single  terminal  spike.  The  locality 
is  given  as  "In  collibus  prope  Chiquihuite  (Bourg.  absque  numerp),  octobri." 
He  gives  the  locality  for  his  specimen  of  E.  mexicana  as  "In  arena  fluvii 
€xsiccati  prope  mare  Pacificum,  vSan  Agostin,  octobri  (Liebm.  n.  548)." 

Euchlaena  luxurians  Dur.  &  Aschers.  Sitz.-Ber.  Ges.  Nat.  Freunde  Berlin 
(session  of  Dec.  19,  1876) ;  Bull.  Soc.  Linn.  Paris  1 :  107  (session  of  Jan.  8, 
1877).  These  two  articles  appeared  about  the  same  time  and  covered  about 
the  same  ground.  In  a  preceding  article  {Ueber  Euchlaena  mexicana  Schrad. 
Verh.  Bot.  Ver.  Brandenburg  17:  76.  March  3,  1876)  Ascherson  discusses 
the  relation  of  Euchlaena  to  Tripsaciim.  He  states  here  that  the  plants  of 
E.  mexicana  were  cultivated  in  the  Berlin  garden  a  few  years  and  then  dis- 
appeared. In  the  herbarium  was  a  specimen  from  the  garden  and  one  de- 
posited by  Nees.  Ascherson  states  further  that  there  is  no  specimen  in  the 
herbarium  at  Gottingen  to  interpret  Schrader's  description.  In  the  Trinius 
Herbarium  at  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Petrograd,  the  present  writer  saw  a 
fragment  of  "Euchlaena  mexicana  Schrad.  e  Hort.  Goett." 

In  the  first  two  articles  mentioned  Ascherson  discusses  at  some  length 
the  history  of  the  genus  Etichlaena.  He  is  familiar  with  E.  mexicana  as 
grown  at  the  Berlin  botanic  garden.     Previously  the  genus  had  been  placed 


APR.  19,  1922     HITCHCOCK :   PERENNIAL  SPECIES  OF  TEOSINTE;  207 

near  Olyra  but  he  thinks  it  stands  near  Zea  (Indian  corn),  in  fact,  that  it 
resembles  closely  a  stunted  plant  of  maize.  He  points  out  that  the  staminate 
spikelets  are  2-flowered  instead  of  1 -flowered  as  described  by  Schrader; 
describes  fullv  the  female  or  pistillate  spikelets  and  discusses  the  relation  to 
Tripsacum  and  Zea,  stating  that  Euchlaena  is  a  Zea  in  which  the  female 
inflorescence  is  nearly  as  in  Tripsacum;  and  quotes  Grisbach  (Veg.  Erde  1: 
542)  as  doubting  the  American  origin  of  corn  because  of  its  affinity  with  certain 
Asiatic  genera  such  as  Coix,  but  Ascherson  himself  thinks  Zea  is  much  more 
closely  related  to  Tripsacum,  an  American  genus.  Ascherson  discusses 
Reana  luxurians  and  takes  occasion  to  transfer  it  to  Euchlaena,  of  which  genus 
he  considers  it  a  second  species  differing  in  its  greater  size.  There  are  as 
manv  as  150  culms  to  one  plant,  these  being  as  much  as  2V2  meters  tall. 
In  the  only  staminate  spikelet  of  E.  mexicana  he  has  seen  the  lemmas  are 
shorter  than  the  glumes  while  in  E.  luxurians  they  are  as  long  as  the 
glumes.  The  joints  of  the  pistillate  inflorescence  are  cylindrical  and  ob- 
liquely truncated  at  the  ends  instead  of  being  triangular  as  in  E.  mexicana. 
This  is  the  same  difference  distinguishing  the  Florida  form  of  the  cultivated 
teosinte  from  the  Dmrango  form  as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Collins. 

In  1910  I  collected  in  Mexico,  near  Zapotlan,  now  called  Ciudad 
Guzman,  a  perennial  species  of  Euchlaena,  and  Mr.  G.  N.  Collins 
collected  it  at  the  same  place  in  October,  1921,  while  searching  for 
teosintes  in  their  native  habitat.  This  species  differs  distinctly  from 
all  previously  known  forms  of  teosinte  in  the  possession  of  rhizomes  and 
is  described  below  as  new. 

Euchlaena  perennis  Hitchc,  sp.  nov. 

Plants  perennial,  producing  strong  scaly  rhizomes;  culms  erect  or  somewhat 
geniculate  at  base,  firm,  glabrous,  1  to  2  meters  tall;  sheaths  striate,  the  striae 
joined  by  numerous  cross-veins,  glabrous  or  some  of  them,  especially  the  upper 
or  those  of  the  branches,  somewhat  hispid  in  the  region  of  the  collar  and 
throat,  the  lower  longer  than  the  internodes,  the  upper  shorter;  ligule  a  short 
somewhat  lacerate  membrane,  1  to  2  mm.  long;  blades  linear  or  linear- 
lanceolate,  as  much  as  40  cm.  long  and  3  cm.  wide,  the  upper  shorter,  some- 
what cordate-clasping  at  base,  acuminate,  flat  and  rather  thin,  the  white 
midnerve  prominent  beneath,  glabrous,  strongly  scabrous  or  scabrous-ciliate 
on  the  margin,  ciliate  near  the  base;  terminal  inflorescence  staminate,  con- 
sisting of  2  to  5  approximate,  ascending  or  spreading  racemes  6  to  12  cm.  long, 
the  internodes  between  the  lower  ones  about  1  cm. ;  spikelets  in  pairs,  the  pairs 
alternately  to  right  and  left  on  one  side  of  a  flat-triangular  rachis,  the  rachis 
internodes  5  to  8  mm.  long,  scaberulous  or  ciliate  on  the  angles;  spikelets  2- 
flowered,  8  to  9  mm.  long,  elliptic  or  somewhat  broader  above,  the  middle  one 
of  the  pair  nearly  sessile,  the  other  on  an  angular  scaberulous  pedicel  3  to  4  mm. 
long,  enlarged  toward  apex;  first  glume  flat  on  the  back,  strongly  inflexed  at 
the  margins,  smooth  except  the  scaberulous-ciliate  keels,  these  somewhat 
winged  above,  slightly  notched  at  apex,  the  midnerve  rather  faint,  the  strong 
lateral  nerves  at  the  inflexed  margins,   a  second  faint  pair  intermediate; 


208      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  8 

second  glume  a  little  shorter  than  the  first,  glabrous,  convex  on  the  back, 
loosely  inflexed  at  the  margins,  thinner  than  the  first,  5-nerved;  lemmas  and 
paleas  all  hyaline,  the  first  lemma  faintly  5-nerved,  this  and  the  2-nerved 
palea  about  as  long  as  the  first  glume ;  second  lemma  faintly  3-nerved,  narrower 
and  shorter  than  the  palea,  the  latter  nearly  as  long  as  the  second  lemma; 
pistillate  inflorescences  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  partly  protruding  from  the 
sheaths,  each  wrapped  in  one  or  more  sheathing  bracts,  consisting  of  a  series 
of  pistillate  spikelets  on  an  articulate  axis,  the  spike  being  3  to  6  cm.  long  and 
4  to  5  mm.  thick,  in  some  cases  bearing  above  a  raceme  of  staminate  spikelets 
as  much  as  10  cm.  long;  pistillate  spikelets  single,  on  opposite  sides,  sunken  in 
cavities  in  the  hardened  joints  of  an  obliquely  articulate  rachis;  joints  of  the 
fruiting  rachis  trapezoidal,  6  to  8  mm.  long,  about  4  mm.  thick  the  short  side 
2  to  3  mm.  long;  first  glume  indurate  like  the  rachis  joint,  closing  the  cavity 
containing  the  remainder  of  the  spikelet,  apiculate,  about  as  long  as  the  joint, 
pilose  in  the  sinus  at  base. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  727077,  collected  in  prairie  along 
the  railroad,  about  one  mile  south  of  the  station,  Zapotlan  (Ciudad  Guzman), 
Jalisco,  Mexico,  September  22,  1910,  bv  A.  S.  Hitchcock  (no.  7146).  Also 
collected  at  the  type  locality  October  28,  1921,  by  G.  N.  Collins  and  J.  H. 
Kempton. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  rhizomes  and  scattered  stems,  the 
plants  growing  in  colonies.  The  pistillate  spikes  appear  to  be  usually  single 
in  the  axils  of  the  leaves. 

ETHNOLOGY. — Customs  of  the  Chukchi  natives  of  northeastern 
Siberia.'^  H.  U.  Sverdrup.  (Communicated  by  Francis  B. 
Silsbee.) 

Captain  Amundsen's  Expedition  left  Norway  in  1918  with  the  in- 
tention to  follow  the  coast  of  Siberia  eastward  to  the  vicinity  of  Bering 
Strait,  proceed  thence  towards  the  north,  let  the  vessel,  the  "Maud," 
freeze  in,  and  drift  with  the  ice  fields  across  the  Polar  Sea  back  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  The  vessel  was,  however,  forced  by  the  ice  conditions 
to  winter  three  times  in  different  places  on  the  northern  coast  of 
Siberia,  and  was  in  1921  compelled  to  go  to  Seattle  for  repairs. 

In  September,  1919,  the  Expedition  was  stopped  by  the  ice  at  Ayon 
Island,  about  700  miles  west  of  Bering  Strait.  Natives  of  the  Chukchi 
tribe,  with  herds  of  domesticated  reindeer,  were  then  living  on  the 
island,  but  they  would  leave  the  coast  in  a  few  weeks  and  move  inland 
to  the  forests,  where  they  are  accustomed  to  spend  the  winters.  This 
group  of  the  Chukchi  was  apparently  very  primitive,  and  had  very 

1  Abstract  of  an  address  delivered  at  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Washington  Academy  of 
Science  and  the  Anthropological  Society,  February  16,  1922;  received  for  publication 
March  16,  1922.  An  extensive  account,  entitled  "Blandt  rentsjuktsjere  og  lamuter," 
has  been  published  in  Roald  Amundsen's  Nordostpassagen.  Gyldendalske  boghandel. 
Christiania,  1921. 


APR.  19,  1922        sverdrup:  chukchi  natives  of  Siberia  209 

little  communication  with  the  civilized  world.  Captain  Amundsen 
realized  that  a  unique  opportunity  was  here  afforded  of  gathering 
information  about  this  little  known  tribe,  and  he  therefore  suggested 
that  I  join  the  natives,  accompany  them  to  the  interior,  and  return  to 
the  ship  in  the  spring.  Thus  it  came  about  that  I  spent  seven  and 
one-half  months  alone  among  the  Chukchi.  The  existence  of  the 
natives  among  whom  I  stayed  depends  absolutely  upon  the  domesti- 
cated reindeer,  which  in  winter  live  in  the  sheltered  forests,  where 
reindeer  moss  is  abundant  under  the  soft  snow,  and  in  summer  seek 
the  grass-covered  tundra,  where  mosquitoes  and  hornets  are  less 
troublesome.  Hunting  is  unnecessary  for  the  natives,  because 
the  reindeer  give  them  practically  all  they  need — tents,  clothes  and 
food.  In  addition,  they  need  seal  blubber  for  their  lamps,  and  seal- 
skin for  strings  and  soles.  These  articles  they  obtain  from  the  natives 
at  the  coast  in  exchange  for  deerskin  and  deer  meat.  Furthermore, 
they  go  CA'ery  spring  to  the  Russian  settlements  at  the  Kolyma  River 
to  the  yearly  fur  market,  where  they  exchange  their  furs,  mostly  foxes 
and  squirrels,  for  tea,  tobacco,  matches,  knives,  cartridges,  and  so  on. 

The  tents  in  which  they  live,  summer  and  winter,  are  very  well 
adapted  both  to  their  nomadic  life  and  to  the  climatic  conditions. 
Their  most  striking  feature  is  that  they  are  double,  one  being  inside 
another.  The  outer  tent  is  large  and  almost  conical,  with  a  cover  of 
reindeer  skin.  But  if  such  a  tent  in  cold  weather  were  to  be  heated 
to  a  comfortable  temperature,  it  would  require  a  great  quantity  of  wood. 
The  Chukchi  spend,  however,  only  three  or  four  months  of  the  cold 
season  in  the  forests,  where  wood  is  abundant;  the  rest  of  the  year  they 
live  on  the  barren  tundra,  where  they  find  willows  to  furnish  sufficient 
fuel  for  cooking,  but  not  for  heating.  Inside  the  large  tent,  therefore, 
they  place  a  smaller  one,  used  for  living  and  sleeping.  This  inner 
tent  is  made  of  heavy  deerskin,  and  has  the  form  of  a  square  case 
hanging  down  to  the  ground.  It  is  lighted  and  heated  by  a  flat  lamp  of 
the  Eskimo  type,  but  most  of  the  heat  is  produced  by  the  many  people 
who  gather  in  the  small  space.  The  temperature  may  rise  to  80°  F., 
even  on  a  day  when  a  blizzard  is  raging  and  the  temperature  outdoors  is 
—  20  °  F. ,  because  the  inner  tent  is  protected  from  the  wind  by  the  outer 
one,  and  because  the  reindeer-skins  of  which  it  is  made  are  highly  insu- 
lating. But  at  night,  when  the  natives  are  sleeping  on  the  ground, 
covered  with  deerskins,  the  temperature  is  liable  to  fall.  Accord- 
ingly, before  going  to  sleep,  the  natives  adjust  all  the  sides  of  the 
inner  tent  so  that  no  holes  are  left  through  which  cold  air  might 


210      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  8 

enter.  The  natural  consequence  is,  that  in  the  morning  the  air  inside 
is  frightful  beyond  description. 

The  Chukchi  dress  in  deerskin  only ;  they  use  one  suit  with  the  hairy 
side  in  and  one  with  the  hairy  side  out.  The  clothing  of  the  men  does 
not  differ  essentially  from  the  clothing  of  the  Eskimos,  but  the  women's 
dress  is  entirely  different.  The  Chukchi  women  wear  high  and  very 
wide  deerskin  boots,  and  what  may  be  called  a  union  dress  reaching 
to  the  knees.  Ornaments  on  the  dress  are  almost  unknown ;  the  only 
way  in  which  the  deer  Chukchi  try  to  give  their  dresses  a  more  attrac- 
tive appearance  is  by  using  white-spotted  deerskins  and  matching  them 
so  that  the  white  spots  appear  symmetrical. 

The  reindeer  supply  practically  all  the  natives'  food.  A  few  roots 
are  dug  up  in  the  spring  and  eaten,  and  the  boiled  contents  of  the 
reindeer's  paunch  is  regarded  as  delicious,  but  with  these  exceptions, 
the  diet  is  a  pure  meat  diet.  The  Chukchi  obtain  the  necessary  variety 
in  their  food  by  eating  almost  every  part  of  deer,  from  the  meat  to 
the  marrow. 

Furthermore,  the  reindeer  are  the  beasts  of  burden;  they  have  to 
pull  the  clumsy  sledges  on  which  all  the  belongings  of  the  natives  are 
packed,  when  they  move  from  one  place  to  another.  When  they  are 
moving  or  living  in  the  same  place,  the  task  of  the  men  is  to  attend  to 
the  sledges,  to  keep  the  reindeer  herd  together,  and  the  wolves  away. 
The  latter  is  the  task  of  the  young  men,  who  sometimes  lead  a  strenu- 
ous life.  Occasionally  it  happens  that  for  weeks  at  a  time  they  do 
not  sleep  under  shelter,  while  in  the  same  time  the  elder  men  do  not 
leave  the  tents.  As  soon  as  a  man  has  a  son,  who  is  old  enough  to 
take  care  of  the  reindeer,  he  himself  quits.  The  highest  ambition  of  a 
man  is,  therefore,  to  have  a  son,  or  at  least  a  son-in-law. 

The  young  men  handle  the  lassos  with  wonderful  skill,  and  have  an 
astonishing  knowledge  of  the  deer.  The  average  number  of  reindeer 
belonging  to  one  household  is  about  400  or  500,  and  a  young  boy 
knows  by  sight  not  only  his  and  his  father's  reindeer,  but  also  all 
belonging  to  the  neighbors,  which  may  mean  several  thousands. 
Curiously  enough,  he  is  not  able  to  tell  how  many  he  knows,  because 
the  highest  figure  a  Chukchi  is  able  to  handle  seems  to  be  200 — 20 
times  10.  The  task  of  the  women  is  to  tan  the  deerskins,  make  new 
clothes,  mend  old  ones,  to  cook,  and  to  do  do  what  may  be  called  general 
housework.  The  same  rule  applies  to  the  women  as  to  the  men, 
namely,  that  the  younger  have  to  do  the  work,  the  older  may  do  what 
they  like. 


APR.  19,  1922  SVERDRUP :   CHUKCHI  NATIVES  Ol?  SIBERIA  211 

The  language  has  one  peculiarity  worth  mentioning ;  it  is  pronounced 
in  a  different  way  by  men  and  women.  If  a  man  uses  a  hard  sound 
like  r,  i,  or  k,  the  woman  often,  but  not  always,  replaces  this  with  a 
soft  z.  To  take  one  example.  The  word  for  sinew  is  pronounced 
by  the  men  rat-tet,  by  the  women  ze-zet. 

The  chronology  of  the  Chukchi  is  ver\^  simple;  it  does  not  exist. 
They  do  not  count  the  years,  so  nobody  knows  his  own  age.  They 
have,  however,  a  word  for  "a  year"  and  names  for  the  different  seasons 
and  for  the  full-moons,  of  which  usually  13  occur  in  one  year.  To 
enumerate  the  13  months,  the  Chukchi  count  them  on  the  12  joints 
on  both  arms  from  the  finger-tips  to  the  shoulders,  including  the 
head  for  the  thirteenth  month. 

Their  social  organization  is  almost  as  simple  as  their  chronology. 
The  Russian  officials  used  to  appoint  one  or  two  chiefs,  whose  main 
duty  seemed  to  be  to  reconcile  parties  who  were  at  odds.  These 
chiefs  had,  however,  very  little  to  do,  because  the  Chukchi  really 
are  governed  by  the  unwritten  laws  of  public  opinion.  These  laws 
require  in  the  first  place,  respect  for  old  age,  and  forbearance  towards 
the  weak  and  poor.  But  they  also  open  full  opportunity  for  the  young 
and  hot-tempered  to  fight  out  their  controversies.  To  fight  an  old 
man  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  worst  crimes.  It  is  also  regarded  as 
unworthy  of  a  man  to  beat  a  woman,  unless  she  happens  to  be  his  wife. 

The  women  are,  however,  generally  well  treated.  The  marriages 
are  usually  settled  by  the  parents  when  the  children  are  five  or  six 
years  old,  and  a  small  number  of  reindeer  is  paid  for  the  girl.  She 
moves  over  to  the  tent  of  her  future  husband  at  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve, 
but  may  have  to  return  to  her  home  if  she  is  not  able  to  get  along  with 
her  mother-in-law.  Single  marriages  are  most  common,  but  a  few 
men  have  two  or  even  three  wives. 

The  Chukchi  are  accustomed  to  kill  the  old  people.  This  is,  how- 
ever, no  act  of  cruelty,  but  an  act  of  mercy.  When  an  old  man  be- 
comes ill  and  is  unable  to  leave  the  tent  any  more,  than  life  becomes 
a  burden  to  him  and  he  a  burden  to  his  surroundings.  He  asks  to  be 
killed,  and  his  son  renders  him  the  last  service  by  stabbing  him  in  the 
heart.  The  custom  is  barbaric,  but  the  way  in  which  the  Chukchi 
treat  their  dead  is  still  more  barbaric. 

The  body  is  taken  out  to  a  lonely  place  where  the  ground  is  un- 
covered, and  an  oblong  of  large  stones,  with  its  axis  in  a  southeast  to 
northwest  direction  is  made  on  the  ground.  The  body  is  placed  in  this 
oblong  with  the  head  toward  the  northwest — towards  the  darkness, 


212      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  8 

and  then  the  limbs  are  cut  over  at  all  joints  up  to  the  knee  and  elbow 
joint,  the  head  separated,  and  several  deep  cuts  made  in  the  body. 
This  is  then  covered  with  fresh  deer  meat.  The  dead  has  to  have  his 
sledge,  ax,  knife,  tobacco  pipe,  and  tea-cup  with  him.  On  the  next 
day,  the  reindeer  herd  is  taken  to  the  burial  place,  a  number  of  deer 
are  killed,  and  their  antlers  gathered  into  a  large  heap  northwest  of  the 
burial  place.  This  ceremony  is  repeated  usually  three  times  at  intervals 
of  one  year.  Later,  the  relatives  of  the  dead  one  will  sacrifice  a  piece 
of  meat  or  what  they  may  have  at  hand,  if  they  pass  the  burial  place. 
If  the  dead  one  has  expressed  a  particular  wish  for  it,  his  body  may  be 
burned. 

The  religion  of  the  Chukchi  seems  to  be  two  fold .  They  have  them- 
selves no  idols,  but  they  keep  a  number  of  idols  for  the  reindeer.  Thus, 
the  fire  drills  used  in  former  times  for  starting  a  fire  are  regarded  as 
some  of  the  reindeer's  idols.  All  ceremonies  in  which  these  idols  play 
a  part  seem  intended  only  to  guard  the  reindeer  from  the  dangers 
which  surround  them.  Other  ceremonies  aim  to  guard  the  Chukchi 
themselves.  They  aim  to  keep  away  the  evil  spirits  living  in  the  Earth, 
or  to  reconcile  them,  and  to  seek  help  from  the  Sun,  which  seems  to 
represent  the  good  powers.  In  addition,  the  Chukchi  pay  attention 
to  an  endless  series  of  small  matters;  their  superstition  is  unlimited. 

Their  conception  of  the  soul  or  mind  is  animistic.  The  soul  develops 
with  the  body;  an  old  man  is  highly  estimated  because  his  soul  is 
great.  At  death,  the  soul  separates  from  the  body  and  goes  to  the 
northwest,  where  it  lives  a  kind  of  shadow  life.  It  can,  however, 
communicate  with  the  living,  and  the  Chukchi  believe  that  dogs  act 
as  links  between  the  living  and  the  dead. 

Generally,  the  Chukchi  are  perfectly  content  with  their  existence; 
they  have  no  desire  to  leave  their  country  or  change  their  habits. 
They  do  not  care  for  the  outside  world,  as  long  as  this  outside  world 
is  willing  to  bring  tea  and  tobacco  in  exchange  for  fox-skins.  Civiliza- 
tion would  not  bring  them  any  good,  so  it  would  be  well  if  they  might 
remain  as  primitive  as  they  are. 


APR.  19,  1922  proceedings:  entomological  society  213 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

338th  meeting 

The  338th  regular  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  March  3,  1921,  in  Room 
43  of  the  new  building  of  the  National  Museum  with  President  Walton 
presiding  and  28  members  and  5  visitors  present.  New  Members:  Wm.  C. 
Richardson,  Richmond,  Virginia;  Chas.  C.  Hill,  Bureau  of  Entomology 
Laboratory,  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania. 

Program 

R.  E.  Snodgrass:  Life-history  of  the  resplendent  shield-bearer  of  apple 
and  of  ribbed  cocoon  maker. 

Altogether  popular  in  form  this  paper  contained  much  of  interest,  being 
based  on  studies  of  the  insect  made  in  connection  with  the  beautiful  drawings 
with  which  the  paper  was  illustrated.  It  was  prepared  for  publication  in 
the  Annual  Report  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

Dr.  DiMiTRi  Borodin,  the  noted  Russian  Entomologist,  was  introduced 
to  the  society  by  Dr.  Howard.  Dr.  Borodin  addressed  the  Society  briefly 
in  English  and  in  Russian. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Gibson  called  attention  to  a  posthumous  paper  by  the  late  Otto 
Heideman,  which  was  omitted  from  the  bibliography  of  Mr.  Heidemann 
published  in  the  Proceedings  of  this  Society.  This  paper,  The  Rhynchota 
of  the  Isle  of  Pines,  was  published  in  1917  in  the  Annals  of  the  Carnegie 
Museum 

Mr.  Wm.  Middleton  announced  the  discovery  by  himself  that  the  males 
of  the  sayfly  genus  Xyela  belong  to  the  group  Stropandria,  that  is  the  gen- 
italia  are  inverted.     In  this  respect  it  differs  from  its  nearest  relatives. 

Messrs.  H.  S.  Barber  and  H.  E.  Ewing  discussed  the  past  histor}^  and  re- 
cent finding  of  insects  of  the  primitive  order  protura,  the  latter  recounting 
in  some  detail  the  characteristics  and  affinities  of  the  group. 

Mr.  E.  R.  Sasscer  referred  to  the  condition  of  French  fruit  and  rose  stocks 
which  have  arrived  in  the  United  States  since  January  1,  1921.  He  stated 
that  in  that  period  eighty-five  nests  of  the  Brown-Tail  Moth  had  been  taken 
in  thirty-two  shipments,  in  contrast  with  sixty-three  infested  French  ship- 
ments which  have  arrived  in  this  country  during  the  last  nine  years.  The 
finding  of  so  many  nests  in  such  a  brief  period  indicates  that  the  French  in- 
spection service  is  much  below  the  standard  of  previous  years,  and  to  meet 
this  situation,  all  French  shipments  of  rose  and  fruit  stocks  are  now  being 
fumigated  at  the  port  of  entry  under  the  direction  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  as  well  as  inspected  at  destination  by  state  inspectors.  He  fur- 
ther stated  that  a  warning  had  been  sent  to  the  French  nurserymen  and  French 
inspection  service  to  the  effect  that  if  shipments  continue  to  arrive  infested 
with  nests  of  this  injurious  insect,  it  may  be  necessary  to  cancel  all  exist- 
ing permits  to  import  French  stocks. 

Interceptions  have  been  made  by  the  state  inspectors  of  Connecticut 
New   York,    Indiana,    Iowa,    New   Jersey,    North    CaroHna,    Pennsylvania, 


214      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  8 

Maryland,  and  Federal  Inspectors  in  New  York  City,  Philadelphia,  and  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

He  also  stated  that  these  French  shipments  were  found  to  carry  a  number 
of  nests  of  the  so-called  White  Tree  Pierid,  Aporia  crataegi  L. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Gahan  stated  that  owing  to  misdeterminations  the  insects 
hiterto  known  as  Thyreodon  morio  (Fab.)  and  Exochilum  mundum  (Say)  will 
have  to  be  called  Thyreodon  atricolor  (Oliver)  and  Therion  morio  (Fab.), 
respectively. 

Dr.  A.  G.  Boving  discussed  the  larval  structures  of  the  rice  water  weevil, 
Lissorhoptrus  simplex.  In  some  respects,  especially  in  the  form  of  the  spira- 
cles which  are  forced  into  the  air  chamber  of  the  rice  stem,  this  larva  is  similar  to 
that  of  Donacia.     In  most  resects,  however,  it  is  like  the  other  curculionids. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Hyslop  called  attention  to  the  recent  death  of  Dr.  Charles  H. 
Fernald,  for  many  years  head  of  the  department  of  entomology  at  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College. 

339th  meeting 

The  339th  regular  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  April  7,  1921,  in 
Room  43  of  the  new  building  of  the  National  Museum,  with  President  Wal- 
ton in  the  chair  and  23  members  and  5  visitors  present.  New  Members: 
C.  D.  B.  Garrett,  Cranbrook,  British  Columbia;  Dr.  W.  R.  Thompson, 
Villa  Pina  Flor,  Auch,  Gers,  France. 

Corresponding  Secretary  Rohwer  announced  that  by  action  of  the  Exec- 
utive Committee  the  Society  is  furnishing  the  Proceedings  to  foreign  insti- 
tutions already  subscribing,  which  cannot  afford  to  subscribe  at  the  present 
rate  of  exchange,  at  the  rate  of  exchange  of  1914.  Dr.  Walther  Horn  of 
the  Berlin  Entomological  Museum  had  taken  advantage  of  this  offer  and  in 
accepting  it  had  also  sent  as  a  gift  to  the  vSociety  a  set  of  photographs,  many 
in  duplicate,  of  European  Entomologists.  These  were  exhibited  by  Mr. 
RoHWER.  Such  of  these  as  are  not  already  in  the  voluminous  collection  of 
Dr.  Howard  are  to  be  added  to  that  collection  and  the  others  oflfered  for 
sale. 

Program 

August  Busck  and  Carl  Heinrich:  On  the  Male  Genitalia  of  the  Micro- 
lepidoptera  and  their  systematic  Importance. 

This  paper  showed  how  the  different  forms  assumed  by  the  various  elements 
of  the  genitalia  furnish  the  best  characters  for  the  classification  and  recogni- 
tion of  insects  of  this  group.  It  was  illustrated  by  many  photographic  lan- 
tern slides  taken  from  the  slide  mounts  of  genitalia. 

Mr.  Busck  also  spoke  of  the  finding  in  swarms  by  Mr.  Schwarz  at  Plum- 
mer's  Island,  Maryland  of  the  hitherto  rare  moth,  Ethmia  macelhosiella 
Busck,  and  the  subsequent  discovery  of  its  host  relations  and  life-history. 
These  swarms  were  first  observed  by  Mr.  Schwarz  on  November  8,  1916, 
and  in  the  following  spring  larvae  found  feeding  on  Phacelia  developed  into 
adults  of  this  species.  The  larvae  reach  full  growth  early  in  May,  pupate  in 
bark,  and  emerge  as  adult  moths  late  in  the  fall.  The  time  and  place  of  ovi- 
position  is  not  known. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  last  Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz  spoke  of  the  somewhat 


APR.  19,  1922  proceedings:  entomological  society  215 

similar  seasonal  history  of  the  weevil,  Dorytomus  inaequalis,  the  larvae  of 
which  feed  in  the  catkins  of  cottonwood. 

S.  A.  Rohwer:     Injurious  and  Beneficial  Cynipid  Galls. 

Mr.  Rohwer  discussed  the  various  types  of  galls  with  especial  reference 
to  their  relation  to  human  welfare,  and  told  of  their  use  in  the  arts  and  of  the 
investigations  conducted  during  the  war  into  the  possible  substitution  of 
American  galls  for  the  ordinary  galls  of  commerce.  Lantern  slides  of  many 
galls  were  shown. 

Dr.  A.  D.  Hopkins  spoke  of  a  gall  with  deciduous  grain-like  cells  which 
are  much  eaten  by  poultry  and  which  analysis  shows  are  much  more  nutri- 
tious than  wheat.     It  is  known  as  "black  oak  wheat." 

340th  meeting 

The  340th  regular  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  May  5,  1921,  in  Room 
43  of  the  new  building  of  the  National  Museum,  with  President  Walton  pre- 
;siding   and   20   members   and    1    visitor   present.     New   members:     PerEz 
Simmons,  Bureau  of  Entomology,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Program 

A.  B.  Gahan:     Phytophagous  Chalcids. 

This  was  a  list  compiled  from  literature,  of  the  phytophagous  Chalci- 
doidea,  not  including  the  fig  insects,  and  discussion  of  the  probable  evolution 
of  the  phytophagic  habit. 

The  speaker  showed  that  phytophagy  was  now  said  to  occur  in  six  differ- 
ent families  of  chalcid-flies,  viz.,  Agaonidae,  Callimomidae,  Eurytomidae, 
Encyrtidae,  and  Eulophidae.  Seed  Chalcids  and  joint-worm  flies  are  not 
the  only  phytophagic  forms.  Certain  species  are  definitely  stated  to  be 
gall-makers  and  others  are  said  to  bore  in  plant  tissue  much  as  do  certain 
Coleoptera,  Diptera,  and  Lepidoptera.  The  list  of  food  plants  is  a  varied 
one  embracing  such  widely  separated  botanical  groups  as  Leguminoceae, 
Pomaceae,  and  coniferous  trees.     Many  species  are  distinctly  economic. 

Not  only  are  the  phytophagous  forms  distributed  through  several  families 
but  in  many  cases  they  apparently  do  not  offer  even  minor  group  charac- 
ters by  which  they  may  be  separated  from  parasitic  forms.  Phytophagous 
species  of  the  genus  Eurytoma  can  be  separated  specifically  only  with  great 
difficulty  from  those  known  to  be  parasitic.  Several  other  genera  contain 
both  plant  feeding  and  parasitic  forms.  The  phytophagous  species  belong 
almost  exclusively  to  groups  in  which  a  large  percentage  of  the  related  para- 
sitic forms  breed  in  host  larvae  which  are  concealed  in  plant  tissue,  as  for 
example,  gall-makers. 

The  speaker  stated  that  the  ancestors  of  the  Chalcidoids  were  undoubtedly 
plant  feeders  and  that  parasitism  was  a  subsequent  development.  Unless 
one  believed  that  they  arose  from  a  source  entirely  separate  from  that  of 
other  insects  and  at  a  later  date  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  their  always 
having  been  parasitic.  Phytophagy  as  found  in  the  group  today,  however,  is 
believed  to  be  a  comparatively  recent  specialization.  That  this  is  probably 
true  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  although  the  Chalcidoids  are  apparently 
a  plastic  group  exhibiting  very  numerous  and  slightly  specialized  forms, 
phytophagy  is  not  confined  to  any  particular  group  or  groups  but  occurs 
sporadically  throughout  the  whole  superfamily.  If  phytophagy  had  long 
existed  it  is  to  be  expected  that  it  would  have  resulted  in  structural  differen- 


216      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  vSCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  8 

tiations  between  the  forms  so  living  and  those  which  are  parasitic.  The  most 
important  indication  of  the  probable  recent  development  of  the  phyto- 
phagic  habit,  however,  is  found  in  the  assertion  by  three  different  authors 
that  certain  species  of  Eurytomidae  are  parasitic  in  their  earlier  stages  but 
finish  their  development  as  plant  feeders.  Such  a  mode  of  development  would 
seem  to  leave  little  room  for  doubt  that  phytophagy  as  found  at  present  is 
a  recent  specialization. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

Mr.  L.  H.  Weld  told  in  some  detail  of  the  collection  of  Cynipidae  in  the 
National  Museum,  its  content  and  present  arrangement.  He  stated  that 
there  are  probably  more  Cynipidae  in  this  museum  than  in  any  other  insti- 
tution. 

Mr.  S.  A.  RoHWER  discussed  the  collection  for  the  other  groups  of  the 
Hymenoptera.  He  announced  that  the  collection  of  bees  had  recently  been 
completely  rearranged,  that  the  Serphoids  were  now  being  assembled  and 
arranged;  that  the  rearrangement  of  the  sawflies  -was  completed  in  1911  but* 
that  since  then  much  new  material  had  been  received ;  that  the  Chalcidoids 
were  gradually  being  put  in  good  order;  and  that  in  general  the  arrangement 
of  the  collection  had  been  greatly  improved  in  the  last  few  years.  He  added 
there  is  still  a  very  great  deal  to  be  done  but  that  he  believed  the  National 
Collection  of  Hymenoptera  was  probably  more  extensive  than  that  of  any 
other  institution  in  the  groups  usually  considered  to  be  of  economic  impor- 
tance. He  pointed  out  that  the  material  in  the  collection  was  in  a  large 
measure  secured  by  the  cooperation  of  the  economic  entomologists  of  the  world 
and  that  because  of  this  it  represented  much  biological  material  and  notes 
and  that  in  this  feature  it  was  probably  more  complete  than  any  of  the  large 
collections  of  other  countries. 

Mr.  E.  A.  ScHWARZ  spoke  of  four  European  species  of  Carabus  that  had 
been  introduced  into  New  England  along  with  the  Calosoma  beetles.  One 
of  these,  nemoralis,  has  now  spread  as  far  as  New  Jersey,  while  auratus  has 
bred  and  spread  more  sparingly.  The  other  two  have  apparently  failed  to 
establish  themselves. 

Dr.  A.  G.  BoviNG  stated  that  the  National  Museum  collection  of  Coleop- 
terous larvae  is  by  far  the  largest  in  the  world. 

R.  A.  CusHMAN,  Recording  Secretary. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

For  the  purpose  of  encouraging  research  work  on  glass  the  Research  Com- 
mittee of  the  Glass  Division  of  the  American  Ceramic  Society  has  made 
arrangements  for  providing  glass  of  desired  composition  and  desired  form  for 
investigators  in  this  field.  The  material  will  be  supplied  free  of  charge  and 
no  limitations  as  to  the  nature  of  the  research  will  be  imposed.  The  recipients 
of  the  material  will  be  under  no  obligations  except  that  of  publication  of  the 
results  of  their  investigations.  The  committee,  however,  requests  that  where- 
ever  possible  the  Journal  of  the  American  Ceramic  Society  be  given  preference 
in  reporting  the  results.  Persons  who  are  interested  are  requested  to  address 
their  inquiries  to  one  of  the  following  members  of  the  Committee  on  Research : 
E.  C.  Sullivan,  Corning  Glass  Works,  Corning,  New  York ;  E.  W.  Washburn, 
University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  Illinois;  R.  B.  Sosman,  Geophysical  Labora- 
tory, Washington,  D.  C. 


APR.  19,  1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  217 

The  Academy  of  Science  and  Arts  of  Trieste,  Italy  proposes  to  issue  an 
encyclopedia  of  science  and  arts,  under  the  editorship  of  Prof.  Giorgio 
Giuseppe  Ravasini  da  Buie,  of  Istria,  An  advance  notice  states  that  the 
publication,  which  will  appear  in  16-page  fascicles,  will  contain  twice  as  many 
articles  as  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

The  Petrologists'  Club  met  on  March  14,  with  the  following  program: 
L.  La  Forge,  Magmatic  differentiation  as  illustrated  by  the  Dedhani  granitic 
group  in  eastern  Massachusetts;  M.  N.  Bramlette:  Review  of  Gordon's 
Desilicated  granitic  pegmatites;  E.  S.  Larsen,  informal  communication  on 
Crystallization  and  resorption  in  magmas. 

Two  small  lots  of  bird  skins  presented  to  the  National  Museum  by  B.  H. 
Swales,  Honorary  Assistant  Curator,  Division  of  Birds,  contain  8  genera  and 
many  species  previously  unrepresented  in  the  collection. 

The  Section  of  Vertebrate  Paleontology  of  the  National  Museum  has  re- 
cently acquired  portions  of  the  skin,  hair,  muscular  tissue,  dried  fat  and  blood 
of  the  Siberian  Mammoth,  which,  with  other  specimens,  now  form  an  exhibit 
illustrative  of  this  animal.  The  specimens  are  from  a  carcass  that  was  found 
frozen  in  a  cliff  along  the  Beresovka  River  in  northeastern  Siberia  in  1901, 
and  was  exhumed  for  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Science  in  Petrograd  by  a 
Russian  naturalist,  now  a  refugee  in  Germany.  The  patch  of  skin  measuring 
one  by  two  feet  is  from  the  knee  of  the  right  hind  leg.  It  is  thickly  covered 
with  a  short  wooly  hair  and  with  bunches  of  long  reddish  hair  that  varies  in 
length  from  4  to  6  inches.  A  bunch  of  hair  taken  from  the  right  shoulder  has 
a  length  of  more  than  30  inches. 

The  Division  of  Mollusks  of  the  National  Museum  has  recently  received 
from  Dr.  E.  M.  BluESTone,  Assistant  Director  of  the  Mount  Sinai  Hospital, 
New  York  City,  a  series  of  187  slides  showing  the  different  species  of  malarial 
parasites.  In  some  instances  specimens  were  taken  at  stated  intervals 
between  chills,  to  show  the  different  stages  in  the  development  of  the  Tro- 
phozoite in  the  blood  of  man. 

The  grass  herbarium  has  received  a  package  of  Brazilian  grasses  from  the 
Berlin  Herbarium  containing  a  number  of  duplicate  types  collected  by  Sello 
and  described  by  Nees  von  Esenbeck  in  his  account  of  the  grasses  of  Brazil 
published  in  1829.  A  fine  set  of  Argentine  grasses  has  also  been  received 
from  Dr.  Lorenzo  Parodi,  of  Buenos  Aires. 

The  Section  of  Photography  of  the  National  Museum  has  recently  pur- 
chased a  set  of  75  representative  photographs  of  snow  crystals  made  byW.  A. 
Bently,  of  Jericho,  Vermont,  who  has  been  studying  snow  crystals  for  more 
than  thirty  years. 

Dr.  John  Casper  Branner,  ex-president  of  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  Uni- 
versity, California,  and  a  non-resident  member  of  the  Academy,  died  on 
March  1,  1922. 

E.  F.  BuRCHARD  has  taken  leave  for  one  year  from  the  Geological  Survey 
and  has  gone  to  Argentina  for  private  interests. 

Mrs.  Agnes  Chase  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  sailed  March  11  for 
Europe  to  study  the  types  of  grasses  in  the  larger  herbaria.  She  goes  first  to 
Vienna  to  select  a  series  of  duplicates  from  the  herbarium  of  the  well-known 
agrostologist,  Professor  Hackel,  and  later  will  visit  Florence,  Berlin,  Geneva, 
Paris,  Brussels,  Leyden,  and  London.  Mrs.  Chase  expects  to  return  about 
the  first  of  July. 

Prof.  Arnold  van  Jennep,  eminent  French  anthropologist,  was  a  recent 
visitor   in   the   Division   of   American   Archeology'.     Professor   van   Jennep 


218      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  8 

visited  several  sites  of  current  investigation  during  his  extensive  journeys 
throughout  the  United  States  and  is  now  on  his  way  back  to  France. 

F.  J.  Katz,  who  has  been  with  the  Census  Bureau  for  several  years,  has 
returned  to  the  Geological  vSurvey  and  will  be  assistant  chief  of  the  Mineral 
Resources  Section. 

Mr.  A.  S.  Le  vSouef,  director  of  the  Zoological  Gardens  at  vSydney,  Australia, 
was  a  recent  visitor  at  the  Zoological  Park.  Mr.  Le  Souef  took  to  Europe 
from  Australia  the  first  shipment  of  live  animals  sent  abroad  by  the  new 
Zoological  Control  Board  of  Australia,  which  now  has  complete  charge  of  the 
exportation  of  Australian  animals. 

Dr.  WiLiJAM  M.  Mann,  of  the  Division  of  Insects,  who  has  been  since 
last  June  with  the  Mulford  Biological  Exploration  in  eastern  Bolivia  and 
western  Brazil,  writes  from  Riberalta,  Bolivia,  under  date  of  January  12,  that 
the  expedition  will  return  to  the  United  States  early  in  April.  Dr.  Rusby, 
the  director,  has  recently  been  compelled  to  return  on  account  of  ill  health. 
Dr.  Mann  is  now  in  charge  of  the  party. 

Dr.  Morton  P.  Porsild,  of  the  Danish  Arctic  Station,  Disko,  Greenland, 
recently  spent  a  day  or  two  in  study  of  the  Alaskan  collections  of  the  National 
Herbarium. 

T.  W.  Vaughan  has  at  his  request  been  relieved  of  administrative  duties  as 
Chief  of  the  Coastal  Plain  Section  in  the  Geological  vSurvey,  and  h.  W. 
Stephenson  has  been  assigned  these  duties.  W.  P.  Woodring  has  been 
appointed  Chief  of  the  Section  of  West  Indian  geologic  surveys  in  the  Coastal 
Plain  Section. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Waidner,  chief  physicist  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards, 
died  on  March  10,  1922  at  his  home,  1748  Lanier  Place,  after  a  long  illness. 
Dr.  Waidner  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  on  March  6,  1873.  After 
graduating  at  Johns  Hopkins  University  he  acted  as  instructor  both  there  and 
at  Williams  College.  He  was  appointed  to  the  Bureau  of  Standards  in  1901 
and  made  chief  physicist  in  1921  after  the  death  of  Dr.  E.  B.  Rosa.  Dr. 
Waidner' s  name  is  generally  identified  with  his  work  on  the  high  temperature 
scale,  on  radiation  and  on  the  resistance  thermometer.  More  recently  the 
other  end  of  the  temperature  scale  had  also  engaged  his  attention,  to  the 
advantage  of  our  knowledge  of  refrigerating  processes.  During  the  war  he 
had  charge  of  the  Bureau's  work  on  aviation  engines.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Academy  and  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  as  well  as  of  many  national 
and  international  scientific  bodies. 

Dr.  T.  T.  Waterman,  lately  appointed  ethnologist  of  the  Bureau  of  Ameri- 
can Ethnology,  has  left  for  field-work  in  Alaska,  Oregon,  and  Washington. 
He  will  first  proceed  to  the  Kasaan  National  Monument,  Alaska,  to  study  the 
architecture,  totem  poles  and  other  objects  at  this  village  and  will  be  ac- 
companied by  a  half-breed  Haida,  related  by  marriage  to  Chief  Skoul.  It  is 
expected  that  considerable  legendary  data  bearing  on  history  and  sociology 
of  the  former  inhabitants  of  Kasaan  will  also  be  collected.  Should  the  results 
justify  further  work  it  is  planned  to  continue  field-work  on  place  names  and 
aboriginal  village  sites  of  Alaska  to  be  followed  later  by  work  on  stratigraphic 
archeology  in  more  northern  latitudes  in  order  to  discover  if  possible  traces 
of  the  oldest  Indians  in  this  supposed  prehistoric  gateway  of  the  migration  of 
man  into  North  America. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  May  4,  1922  No.  9 


PETROLOGY, — The  development  of  pressure  in  magmas  as  a  result 
of  crystallization  ?     George  W.  Morey,  Geophysical  Laboratory. 

The  explanation  of  the  phenomena  which  take  place  in  the  cooling 
of  molten  magmas,  whether  forming  intrusive  masses  or  extrusive 
flows,  is  one  of  the  principal  functions  of  petrology.  To  such  magmas 
all  of  the  laws  of  the  physical  chemistry  of  mixtures  apply,  and  the 
phenomena  met  with  as  these  mixtures  cool  and  solidify  under  the 
conditions  found  in  nature  are  the  result  of  the  action  of  these  physico- 
chemical  laws.  The  elucidation  of  these  phenomena  in  terms  of  the 
known  laws  of  physical  chemistry  is  made  difficult  both  by  the  extreme 
complexity  of  the  natural  mixtures  and  by  the  general  lack  of  knowl- 
edge as  to  the  theoretical  relationships  of  mixtures  containing  not  only 
non-volatile  components  such  as  the  silicate  minerals  but  also  vola-' 
tile  components  far  above  their  critical  temperatures,  such  as  carbon 
dioxide  and  water. 

In  this  note  attention  will  be  directed  to  certain  relationships  be- 
tween the  temperature  and  composition  and  the  vapor  pressure  of  the 
volatile  component,  and  especially  to  the  relations  between  these 
quantities  at  temperatures  approximating  to  the  temperature  of  an- 
hydrous fusion  of  the  mineral  components,  and  at  very  considerable 
pressure.  At  temperatures  near  that  at  which  crystallization  begins 
a  liquid  silicate  mixture  containing  but  a  small  amount  of  volatile 
component  may  exert  but  a  comparatively  small  vapor  pressure,  but 
as  crystallization  proceeds  with  falling  temperature  the  pressure  of  the 
volatile  components  will  increase  at  a  rapid  rate :  so  rapid  that  a  pres- 
sure many  times  the  original  pressure  may  result  from  the  crystalliza- 
tion of  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  non-volatile  material.  This  re- 
lation holds  true  whether  the  original  liquid  mixture  consists  of  water 
and  a  low  melting  salt  such  as  KNO3,  or  of  water  and  other  volatile 
substances  with  the  usual  non-volatile  magmatic  constituents;    the 

•  Received  March  27,  1922. 

219 


220      JOURNAI.  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  9 

circumstance  that  the  magmatic  liquid  is  at  a  temperature  far  above  the 
critical  temperature  of  the  volatile  ingredients  is  without  significance 
as  long  as  any  of  the  liquid  phase  remains  in  the  system.  The  system 
H2O-KNO3  has  accordingly  been  chosen  to  illustrate  the  relations  be- 
tween the  variables,  pressure,  temperature  and  composition  in  a  sys- 
tem containing  both  volatile  and  non-volatile  components. 

In  a  system  such  as  H2O-KNO3  it  is  well  known  that  the  solubility 
or  fusion  curve  is  continuous  from  the  eutectic  or  cryohydrate  to  the 
melting  point  of  each  component.  This  is  illustrated  in  figure  1,  C,- 
in  which  E  is  the  eutectic,  or  cryohydrate,  AmE  the  freezing-point 
curve  of  water  in  equilibrium  with  solutions  of  increasing  KNO3  con- 
tent, B^jE  the  freezing-point  curve  of  KNO3  in  equilibrium  with  solu- 
tions of  increasing  H2O  content.  While  with  mixtures  rich  in  KNO3 
it  is  necessary  to  carry  out  solubility  experiments  inclosed  vessels  to 
prevent  the  escape  of  the  water,  KNO3  and  water  are  both  compon- 
ents of  all  liquids  in  the  binary  system.  This  still  holds  true  when 
component  B  has  a  melting  point  above  the  critical  temperature  of 
water,  as  is  the  case  in  magmatic  solutions.  The  curves  showing  the 
vapor  pressure  of  the  saturated  solutions  given  in  figure  1 ,  C  are  like- 
wise continuous  from  the  eutectic  to  the  melting  point  of  components 
A  and  B,  respectively,  and  in  the  case  of  the  solutions  in  equilibrium 
with  the  component  of  higher  melting  point,  KNO3,  the  curve  must 
rise  to  a  maximum  pressure  with  increase  in  temperature,  then  on 
further  increase  in  temperature  the  pressure  must  fall  to  the  vapor  pres- 
sure of  the  higher  melting  component  at  its  melting  point,  or,  more 
exactly,  its  triple  point.  This  is  shown  in  figure  1,  B,  in  which  the  curve 
EBn,  is  the  vapor-pressure  curve  of  the  solutions  saturated  with  com- 
ponent B.  As  the  temperature  is  increased,  the  vapor  pressure  of  the 
saturated  solution  is  determined  by  the  balance  between  two  opposing 
tendencies.  One  of  these  is  the  increase  in  vapor  pressure  of  the  water 
with  increasing  temperature;  this  is  opposed  by  the  decreasing  water 
content  of  the  solutions,  and  at  the  point  of  maximum  pressure  the 
two  effects  become  equal.  At  higher  temperatures,  the  second  effect 
preponderates,  and  the  pressure  of  the  saturated  solution  decreases  with 
increasing  temperature.  The  actual  ratio  of  the  non-volatile  to  the 
volatile  component  at  the  point  of  maximum  pressure  is  equal  to  the 

-  Fig.  1  is  drawn  to  scale  for  the  system  H2O-KNO3,  but  the  components  H2O  and  KNO3 
are  represented  by  A  and  B,  respectively,  for  the  purpose  of  clearer  discussion  of  similar 
relations  in  systems  containing  other  components.  Experimental  details  of  the  study  of 
this  system  will  be  published  soon. 


MAY  4,  1922  morey:  crystallization  pressure  in  magmas 


221 


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Fig.  1.     Diagrams  showing  the  change  of  the  pressure,  temperature,  and  composition  of  the  univariant 
equilibria  between  solid,  liquid,  and  vapor'phases  in  the  binary  system  H2O-KNO3. 


222      JOURNAL  OF  Tne  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO,  9 

ratio  of  the  differential  heat  of  vaporization  to  the  differential  heat  of 
solution,  and  inasmuch  as  the  former  is  always  several  times  greater 
than  the  latter,  the  solution  at  this  point  will  always  contain  but 
a  small  percentage  of  water;  this  is  especially  noticeable  when  com- 
position is  expressed  as  weight  percentage,  because  of  the  low  molecu- 
lar weight  of  water.  It  follows  from  this  fact  that  the  pressure- tem- 
perature curve,  BBni  in  figure  1,  B,  will  fall  steeply  from  the  point  of 
maximum  pressure  to  the  melting  point  of  the  non-volatile  component, 
in  this  case  KNO3. 

In  a  binary  system  there  are  three  variables  to  be  considered,  pres- 
sure, temperature,  and  composition  of  the  liquid  phase  in  equilibrium 
with  crystals  and  vapor.  In  figure  1,  C  and  B,  are  shown  the  relations 
between  temperature  and  composition  and  between  temperature  and 
pressure;  the  relation  between  pressure  and  composition  is  shown  in 
figure  1,  A.  The  curve  BB^  gives  the  vapor  pressure  of  solutions  of 
different  composition  in  equilibrium  with  KNO3  and  vapor;  the  tem- 
perature to  which  a  mixture  of  any  composition  must  be  heated  to 
melt  all  but  an  infinitesimal  portion  of  the  crystals  can  be  obtained 
from  either  B  or  C,  figure  1.  This  cur\^e  shows  in  a  striking  manner 
the  rapid  increase  in  pressure  consequent  on  but  a  small  increase  in 
the  water  content  of  the  KNO3  rich  solutions. 

If  a  mixture  of  composition  y  (figure  1,  C)  be  considered  at  a  tem- 
perature above  that  of  the  corresponding  point  on  the  saturation 
curve  EBnj,  its  pressure  will  be  represented  by  a  point  on  the  curve 
ay  (figure  1,  B).  This  curve  ay  gives  the  change  in  vapor  pressure 
with  temperature  of  the  unsaturated  solution  of  the  composition  y, 
and  its  slope  will  be  large  and  positive,  as  shown  in  the  figure.  As 
the  temperature  is  lowered  the  presssure  will  fall  along  the  curve  ay 
until  the  latter  curve  intersects  the  curve  of  saturated  solutions  EBm. 
At  this  point  crystallization  will  begin,  and  with  further  decrease  of 
temperature  the  pressure  will  increase  along  curve  BmB  in  the  di- 
rection of  y".  The  rapidity  of  increase  in  pressure,  and  the  magni- 
tude of  the  pressure  ultimately  developed,  will  in  general  depend  on 
the  solubility  of  water  in  the  liquid.  This  effect  may  be  made  clearer 
by  considering  the  matter  from  another  point  of  view. 

If  liquid  KNO3  be  cooled  in  an  apparatus  such  that  the  liquid  is 
kept  in  contact  with  steam  at  a  pressure  of  one  atmosphere,  some  H2O 
will  be  dissolved,  and  this  dissolved  water  will  lower  the  freezing 
point  of  the  KNO3.  If  the  pressure  is  kept  at  one  atmosphere  about 
1  per  cent  of  water  will  be  dissolved,  and  it  will  lower  the  freezing  point 


MAY  4,  1922     morEy:  crystallization  pressure  in  magmas  223 

of  the  KNO3  about  3°  C.  With  the  liquid  saturated  at  this  tempera- 
ture, suppose  the  apparatus  to  be  closed  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
vapor  space  is  very  small,  and  the  cooling  to  be  continued,  then 
crystallization  of  KNO3  will  begin  at  about  3  °  below  its  own  freezing 
point.  As  the  mixture  cools,  crystallization  proceeds,  the  water  con- 
tent of  the  mixture  increases,  and  its  vapor  pressure  rises.  Reference 
to  figure  1,  A  or  B,  shows  that  at  the  time  crystallization  begins,  the 
liquid  composition  is  99  per  cent  KNO3,  1  per  cent  H2O.  When  the 
water  content  has  doubled,  the  pressure  has  increased  from  1  atmos- 
phere to  over  6  atmospheres,  a  six-fold  increase.  When  the  water 
content  has  again  doubled,  reaching  4  per  cent,  the  pressure  has  risen 
to  almost  11  atmospheres.  If  the  mixture  be  contained  in  a  flask 
which  can  withstand  a  pressure  of  only  10  atmospheres,  the  flask  will 
burst,  as  the  result  of  the  pressure  developed  by  cooling  the  mixture. 

Similar  relations  hold  in  silicate  systems.  It  is  now  a  demonstrated 
fact  that  water  vapor  under  a  pressure  of  one  atmosphere  is  appreciably 
soluble  in  liquid  silicates  at  their  melting  points,  and  that  the  amount 
of  water  dissolved  at  this  pressure  will  produce  an  appreciable  lowering 
of  the  melting  point.  In  other  words,  the  melting  point  as  determined 
in  steam  at  one  atmosphere  pressure  is  appreciably  lower  than  that 
determined  in  air  in  the  usual  manner,  just  as  was  the  case  with  KNO3. 
In  the  case  of  anorthite,  about  0.1  per  cent  of  H2O  is  dissolved,  and  the 
freezing  point  is  lowered  about  5°.  If  the  initial  pressure  of  water 
vapor  is  increased,  more  water  will  be  dissolved  and  freezing  will  begin 
at  a  correspondingly  lower  temperature.  In  the  case  of  KNO3, 
increase  in  the  water  content  from  1  to  4  per  cent  corresponded  to  an 
increase  of  pressure  from  about  1  to  over  11  atmospheres.  In  the 
case  of  a  system  such  as  H20-Si02  the  maximum  pressure  would  prob- 
ably be  reached  at  a  smaller  H2O  content,  and  its  magnitude  would 
probably  be  enormous.  Likewise,  the  pressure  which  would  be  de- 
veloped by  a  magma  containing  but  a  small  amount  of  H2O,  cooled  in 
such  a  manner  that  this  water  could  not  escape,  as  is  doubtless  often- 
times the  case,  would  be  very  great  indeed. 

Before  considering  this  phase  of  the  subject  further,  some  known 
examples  showing  the  reality  of  the  phenomenon  will  be  given.  When 
liquid  KNO3  is  saturated  with  water  at  one  atmosphere  pressure,  and 
the  mixture  cooled,  at  a  certain  temperature  solid  KNO3  will  begin  to 
separate  from  the  liquid.  If  the  vessel  be  open  to  the  air,  the  pres- 
sure cannot  rise  above  one  atmosphere,  so  the  water  will  pass  off  as 
steam ;   the  liquid  will  evaporate  to  dryness,  giving  rise  to  solid  and 


224      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

vapor.  Roozeboom  gave  the  name  "second  boiling  point"  to  this  higher 
boiling  point,  which  is  obtained  on  cooling  as  above  described.  The 
second  boiling  point  of  a  number  of  salt  solutions  has  been  observed 
by  Smits,  and  others  have  been  observed  by  the  author.  The"  spit- 
ting" observed  when  molten  silver  is  cooled  in  air  is  another  example 
of  the  second  boiling  point,  in  this  case  in  the  system  silver-oxygen, 
and  a  similar  "spitting"  was  observed  by  Prandtl  and  Murschauser^ 
with  alkali  vanadates.  Jackson^  gives  an  interesting  description  of  a 
gas  evolution  on  cooling  on  a  much  larger  scale,  which  will  be  quoted : 
"******  For  a  special  optical  glass,  rich  in  phosphoric  anhydride, 
an  experiment  was  tried  with  ammonium  phosphate  to  find  if  this 
substance  could  be  used  in  the  batch  mixture  for  the  glass.  A  nice, 
clear  fluid  melt  was  obtained,  which  was  kept  fluid  for  several  hours 
after  all  traces  of  gas  bubbles  had  gone.  The  melt  was  well  stirred 
and  cooled  till  it  was  quite  viscous,  when  it  was  left  to  get  cold  slowly. 
The  next  morning  the  furnace  top  was  found  forced  off,  and  resting 
on  a  spongy  mass  of  about  thirty  times  the  volume  of  the  original 
glass  melt.  The  changes  occurring  when  solidification  was  approach- 
ing had  evidently  been  accompanied  by  the  evolution  of  a  large  volume 
of  gas,  no  doubt  most  of  it  ammonia,  since  this  substance  was  smelt 
on  grinding  the  spongy  mass  up.  The  ground  material  was  then  fused 
and  gave  a  stable  glass."  This  is  probably  to  be  explained  by  partial 
crystallization  of  the  glass  in  the  pot. 

Experimental  data  exist  for  but  one  system  which  can  fairly  be  taken 
as  analogous  to  mineral  systems,  the  system  H20-K2Si03-Si02.^  The 
cooling  of  certain  mixtures  in  this  system  will  next  be  considered. 
With  some  compositions  the  second  boiling  point  at  atmospheric 
pressure  can  be  demonstrated  in  a  striking  manner.  If  potassium  meta- 
silicate  at  its  melting  point  be  saturated  with  water  at  one  atmosphere 
pressure,  it  takes  up  about  1  per  cent,  enough  to  lower  its  melting  point 
about  35°.  If  the  saturated  liquid  be  cooled  quickly  it  becomes 
supersaturated;  the  molten  aqueous  glass  remains  liquid  until  cooled 
several  degrees  below  its  melting  point.  First  a  few  bubbles  begin  to 
form  within  the  glass;  then  suddenly  the  bubble  formation  becomes 
rapid,  the  viscous  melt  swells  into  a  pumiceous  mass,  increasing  in 
volume  many  times,  and  overflowing  the  crucible.  This  is  an  exam- 
ple of  the  second  boiling  point  at  atmospheric  pressure;    of  a  boiling, 

3  Zeit  anorg.  Chem.  56:    173-208.     1908. 

*  Sir  Herbert  Jackson,  Smithsonian  Report  for  1919,  p.  245. 

s  MoREY  AND  Fenner.     Journ.  Am.  Chem.  Soc.  39:  1173-1229.     1917. 


MAY  4,  1922      MOREY :    CRYSTALIvIZATlON  PRESSURE  IN  MAGMAS  225 

attended  by  sudden  liberation  of  vapor,  taking  place  as  a  result  of 
cooling. 

A  further  example,  illustrating,  from  the  experimental  results, 
the  development  of  a  fairly  high  pressure  in  a  silicate  system  as  the 
result  of  cooling,  may  be  found  in  the  same  system.  The  eutectic 
between  K2Si205  and  vSiOs  lies  at  the  remarkably  low  temperature  of 
520°.  If  a  mixture  of  KoO,  SiOo  and  HoO,  containing  9.1  per  cent  of 
HoO,  with  the  other  ingredients  in  the  molecular  ratio  Si02/K20  = 
4.26,  be  cooled  from  a  high  temperature,  the  vapor  pressure  of  the  mix- 
ture ■v\'ill  fall  as  the  temperature  falls.  The  mixture  will  not  begin 
to  freeze  until  it  has  cooled  to  500°,  when  crystals  of  quartz  and  the 
ternary  compound  KHSi205  will  separate.  The  vapor  pressure  of  the 
solution  at  this  temperature  is  160  atmospheres.  On  further  cooling, 
the  substances  continue  to  crystallize  and  the  pressure  increases  rap- 
idly. When  the  temperature  has  fallen  20  °,  to  480  °,  the  water  content 
has  increased  to  10.2  per  cent,  and  the  pressure  to  180  atmospheres. 
When  the  temperature  has  fallen  to  420°,  the  water  content  has  in- 
creased to  12.5  per  cent,  and  the  pressure  to  340  atmospheres,  more 
than  double  the  pressure  at  500°. 

In  discussing  the  crystallization  of  this  mixture,  it  was  assumed  that 
crystallization  started  at  500°,  the  saturation  temperature  of  the  mix- 
ture, and  the  pressure  rose  from  160  atmospheres  to  340  atmospheres 
continuously  as  the  mixture  crystallized  on  cooling.  It  is  of  interest  to 
consider  what  would  happen  if  the  mixture  were  to  cool  without  crystal  - 
lizing,  say  to  420°,  and  then  begin  to  crystallize.  In  figure  1,  B,  the 
curve  ay,  giving  the  change  in  pressure  with  temperature  of  the  mixture 
of  composition  y  in  figure  1,  C,  is  shown  cutting  the  curve  KBm  at  a 
sharp  angle;  its  metas table  prolongation,  shown  broken  in  the 
figure,  gives  the  change  in  vapor  pressure  that  would  take  place  if  the 
mixture  failed  to  crystallize.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  this  curve  has  a 
steep  slope.  Similarly,  if  the  mixture  in  the  ternary  system  were  to 
supercool,  its  pressure  would  diminish  rapidly,  and  the  amount  of 
the  diminution  can  be  estimated.  The  vapor  phase  consists  of  water 
only  at  a  pressure  of  160  atmospheres.  Pure  water  has  a  vapor  pres- 
sure of  160  atmospheres  at  348°,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  two  vapor- 
pressure  curves  will  be  roughly  parallel,  with  the  curve  of  the  saturated 
solution  possibly  falling  more  rapidly  than  that  of  pure  water.  On  the 
assumption  that  the  drop  in  pressure  for  the  80  °  drop  in  temperature 
from  500  to  420  °  in  the  solution  is  the  same  as  the  drop  in  pressure  of 
water  from  348°  to  a  temperature  80°  lower,  the  vapor  pressure  of 


226      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

the  supercooled  liquid  at  420°  will  be  59  atmospheres.  If  the  mix- 
ture containing  9.1  per  cent  water  were  to  cool,  without  crystallizing, 
from  500°,  its  saturation  temperature,  to  420°,  its  pressure  would  fall 
from  160  atmospheres  to  about  50  atmospheres.  If  at  this  lower  tem- 
perature it  should  begin  to  crystallize  the  pressure  would  suddenly 
rise  to  that  of  the  solution  in  equilibrium  with  quartz  and  HKSi205  at 
420°,  or  340  atmospheres. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  as  a  magma  containing  water  and  other 
volatile  components  cools,  with  consequent  crystallization,  the  pres- 
sure will  rapidly  rise  from  its  initial  value,  and  as  the  cooling  con- 
tinues the  pressure  will  increase  until  the  temperature  of  maximum 
pressure  has  been  reached,  or  until  the  pressure  is  relieved  by  escape 
of  the  volatile  material.  In  the  first  case,  which  is  that  in  which  the 
liquid  cools  under  a  crust  of  sufficient  weight  and  strength  to  withstand 
the  internal  pressure,  the  liquid  will  solidify  as  an  intrusive  mass.  In 
the  case  of  an  actual  magma  the  fact  that  water  has  a  critical 
temperature  at  374°  C.  has  no  significance,  because  of  the  probability 
that  enough  material  will  remain  in  solution  to  raise  the  critical 
temperature  of  the  mixture  the  requisite  amount.  The  water, 
containing  in  solution  residual  material  such  as  dissolved  gases, 
boric  acid,  sulfur,  and  probably  some  alkalies,  will  be  available  for 
metamorphic  processes. 

In  the  second  case,  that  in  which  the  liquid  cools  under  an  incom- 
petent crust,  when  the  pressure  has  reached  a  certain  limiting  value  it 
will  force  open  a  vent  for  itself,  possibly  giving  rise  to  a  volcanic 
eruption.  The  phenomenon  observed  in  any  particular  eruption  will 
depend,  in  large  part  at  least,  on  the  magnitude  of  the  pressure  and  on 
the  composition  of  the  non-volatile  portions  of  the  magma,  though  these 
factors  may  not  be  independent.  If  the  vent  is  a  fairly  open  one, 
enormous  pressures  probably  will  not  be  developed  and  the  escape  of 
the  water  as  steam  may  be  comparatively  quiet ;  this  will  presumably 
be  the  more  probable  in  the  case  of  a  very  fluid  lava.  The  mild 
explosive  activity  of  Stromboli  and  the  yet  milder  bubbling  of  Kilauea 
may  be  examples  of  this  type.  It  may  well  be  that  in  both  these  cases 
the  activity  is  the  result  of  the  release  of  volatile  material  consequent 
on  crystallization,  and  the  rate  of  release  of  the  volatile  material  may  be 
regarded  as  a  measure  of  the  rate  of  crystallization  in  the  parent  body. 
The  difference  in  violence  in  the  two  cases  may  be  determined  solely 
by  the  depth  at  which  crystallization  is  taking  place,  and  by  the  size 
or  tortuosity  of  the  channel  through  which  the  material  must  pass. 


MAY  4,  1922      MOREY :   CRYSTALLIZATION  PRESSURE  IN  MAGMAS  227 

On  the  other  hand,  conditions  may  be  such  that  a  much  greater 
pressure  must  be  developed  before  the  gases  are  able  to  force  their  way 
to  the  surface.  It  may  be  assumed  that  eruptions  will  then  take 
place  at  less  frequent  intervals,  since  more  time  must  elapse  for  the 
cooling  process  which  occasions  the  crystallization,  and  that,  on  ac- 
count of  the  greater  pressure,  the  resulting  eruptions  will  tend  to  be 
catastrophic.  In  a  previous  paragraph  it  was  stated  that  in  the  case 
of  an  incompetent  crust  the  building  up  of  pressure  as  the  result  of 
cooHng  and  crystallization  would  continue  until  the  pressure  was 
relieved  by  the  escape  of  the  volatile  material.  It  might  be  that,  if 
the  crust  were  of  sufhcient  strength,  a  fairly  large  proportion  of  the 
liquid  magma  would  crystallize  before  a  pressure  had  been  built  up 
of  sufficient  magnitude  to  cause  an  eruption.  These  conditions  may 
determine  the  formation  of  a  new  volcano,  such  as  Monte  Nuovo, 
Jorullo,  or  Chinyero,  and  may  also  explain  the  renewed  activity  of  a 
volcano  whose  vent  has  been  plugged  by  solidified  lava.  In  such  a 
case,  in  which  a  considerable  amount  of  crystallization  has  taken  place, 
the  non-crystallized  material  ejected  will  represent  the  "mother 
liquor' '  remaining  after  the  segregation  of  those  minerals  which  are  the 
first  to  crystallize  under  the  conditions  prevailing.  These  may  be 
the  femic  minerals;  in  which  case  the  mother  liquor  will  be  enriched 
in  the  more  salic  minerals,  quartz  and  the  feldspars,  and  the  water 
content  will  be  correspondingly  increased.^  The  tendency  for  the 
heavier  femic  minerals  to  differentiate  by  settling  will  be  great,  es- 
pecially since  the  density  difference  between  the  femic  and  salic 
minerals  will  be  increased  by  the  presence  in  the  salic  melt  of  the  ac- 
cumulated water.  We  should  therefore  expect,  irrespective  of  the 
original  composition  of  the  magma,  that  paroxysmal  eruptions  would 
be  characterized  by  the  ejection  of  salic  lava.  The  presence  or  absence 
of  traces  of  the  differentiated  materials  will  be  erratic,  depending  on  the 
completeness  of  the  differentiation  in  relation  to  the  original  situation 
of  the  material  examined.  Moreover,  since  the  salic  lavas  are  in 
themselves,  when  freed  from  water,  viscous  even  at  their  melting 
points,  and  since  the  temperature  at  this  stage  will  have  been  greatly 
lowered,  on  the  sudden  expansion  following  the  disruption  of  the  re- 
straining crust,  the  ejected  material  will  be  shattered  into  small 
fragments.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  above  conclusions  are  in  accord 
with  the  well-known  characteristics  of  catastrophic  eruptions;    salic 

^  N.  L.  BowEN.  The  later  stages  of  the  evolution  of  the  igneous  rocks.  Journ.  Geol., 
Suppl.  to  Vol.  23,  No.  8.     1915. 


228      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

ejecta,  highly  vesiculated,  containing  large  amounts  of  glassy  material, 
ejected  by  violent  explosions  following  long  periods  of  quiescence. 
The  well-known  cases  of  Bandai-San,  Krakatoa,  and  Martinique  may 
be  cited  as  illustrations.  Material  ejected  from  Krakatoa  "was 
so  vesicular  that  it  floated  in  the  water,  accumulating  here  and  there 
in  great  banks  which  covered  the  sea  for  miles,  rising  sometimes  to  a 
height  of  four  or  five  feet  above  it,"^  and  the  ejecta  still  contained 
considerable  water,  as  well  as  much  glassy  material. 

In  the  above  discussion  the  question  of  the  source  of  the  water  has 
not  been  considered.  Doubtless  the  original  magmas  contain  water, 
but  whether  or  not  this  is  augmented  by  accession  of  meteoric  water 
is  an  open  question.  The  often  cited  proximity  of  active  vol- 
canoes to  large  bodies  of  water  may  be  regarded  as  evidence  of 
the  probability  of  such  accession,  and  in  some  instances  the  case  for 
the  absorption  of  meteoric  water  is  strong,  but  it  may  not  be  true  in 
the  majority  of  cases.  It  has  been  demonstrated  by  Johnston  and 
Adams^  that  the  phenomenon  of  capillarity  does  not  furnish  a  mechan- 
ism for  the  introduction  of  water  into  magmas,  and  they  have  shown 
that  the  often  cited  Daubree  experiment  has  no  bearing  on  the  ques- 
tion at  issue.  As  previously  stated,  crystallization  and  differentia- 
tion will  result  in  the  accumulation  of  water  in  the  residual  magma, 
and  such  accumulation  probably  is  competent  to  explain  the  produc- 
tion of  those  pitchstones  which  contain  water  sometimes  up  to  10 
per  cent.  Irrespective  of  the  relative  importance  of  original  and  me- 
teoric water,  it  is  believed  that  the  relations  which  have  been  outlined 
furnish  a  mechanism  by  which  water  can  enter  a  magma.  Not  only 
is  it  possible  for  a  magma  to  take  up  water,  but  the  water  ma}'  be  taken 
up  by  the  magma  under  a  small  pressure  head  and  later  liberated  with 
the  development  of  high  pressure. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  in  a  crystallizing  magma  the  water 
accumulates  in  the  liquid  phase.  If  a  magma,  either  deficient  in  water 
or  containing  but  a  small  amount  of  water,  and  above  its  crystallizing 
temperature,  be  in  contact  with  porous  water-containing  strata,  it  will 
absorb  water  vapor  until  its  water  content  corresponds  to  the  pre- 
vailing temperature  of  the  magma  and  to  the  pressure  of  water  vapor. 
The  portion  of  such  a  stratum  near  the  volcanic  neck  will  be  at  a  high 
temperature,  and  the  water  in  this  portion  will  be  in  the  form  of  steam; 
the  cooler  portions  farther  removed  will  contain  liquid  water,  and  be- 

^  T.  G.  BONNEY,     Volcanoes,  p.  24.     The  Science  Series.     G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1899. 
*  J.  Johnston  and  L.  H.  Adams.     Journ.  Geol.  22:    1-15.     1914. 


MAY  4,  1922      MOREY:   CRYSTALLIZATION  PRESSURE  IN  MAGMAS  229 

tween  will  be  a  surface  at  which  the  water  is  boiling.  The  location 
of  this  zone  of  boiling  will  be  determined  by  the  hydrostatic  head  of 
the  water;  if  the  head  is  about  3000  feet,  the  hydrostatic  head  will  be 
about  100  atmospheres,  and  the  zone  of  boiling  will  be  removed  to 
a  region  in  which  the  temperature  is  about  310°. 

When  the  magma  crystallizes,  the  water  dissolved  in  it  at  a  pressure  of 

100  atmospheres  will  be  concentrated,  and  the  pressure  may  increase 

to  a  high  value,  as  previously  explained.     If  eruption,  with  release  of 

pressure,  takes  place,  we  have  the  water,  absorbed  under  a  pressure  of 

100  atmospheres,  being  released  under  a  pressure  many  times  100 

atmospheres.     The  crystallization  may  take  place  at  some  distance 

from  the  point  of  entry  of  the  water,  under  conditions  such  that  the 

back  pressure  developed  by  the  crystallizing  liquid  does  not  reach  the 

porous  strata  which  were  the  source  of  the  water,  or  the  suddenness 

with  which  the  pressure  is  developed  may  be  such  that  the  tortuous 

channels  in  the  porous  strata  offer  a  greater  resistance  to  its  release 

than  does  the  overlying  crust  or  lava  column.     It  is  highly  probable 

that  if  such  lava  were  to  be  forced  into  the  water-saturated  porous 

•strata  it  would  effectually  seal  itself  by  rapid  cooling  in  the  pore  spaces. 

The  solubility  of  water  in  a  silicate  melt  at  a  given  pressure  of  water 
vapor  will  depend  largely  on  the  temperature,  and  it  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  solubility  will  increase  with  decreasing  temperature, 
for  the  same  reasons  that  gases  are  more  soluble  in  cold  water  than 
in  hot  water.  If  an  undercooled  silicate  mixture,  that  is,  a  mixture 
which  had  remained  liquid  altho  it  had  cooled  below  the  temperature 
at  which  crystallization  should  have  taken  place,  were  to  come  into 
contact  with  water  vapor,  say  at  a  pressure  of  water  vapor  of  100 
atmospheres  as  before,  it  would  probably  take  up  a  much  larger 
quantity  of  water  than  at  a  high  temperature.  Reference  to  the  curve 
■ay  in  figure  1,  C  will  illustrate  this  point. 

When  the  mixture  of  composition  y  is  cooled,  at  Ty  its  vapor  pres- 
sure is  5.1  atmospheres;  if  it  be  undercooled  to  Ty',  its  vapor  pressure 
will  fall  to  4  atmospheres.  If  a  mixture  richer  in  water  is  under- 
cooled, its  pressure  will  fall  to  4  atmospheres  at  a  lower  temperature, 
Ty".  vSimilarly,  the  pressure  of  4  atmospheres  will  correspond  to 
progressively  lower  temperature  for  mixtures  of  increasingly  greater 
water  content.  If,  now,  liquid  KNO3  be  undercooled  to  Ty",  under 
a  water- vapor  pressure  of  4  atmospheres  it  will  dissolve  not  the  amount 
of  water  it  would  have  dissolved  at  its  saturation  temperature  Ty,  but 
the  larger  amount  corresponding  to  the  mixture  whose  melting  point 


230      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES         VOL.   12,  NO.  5 

is  Ty".  If  crystallization  be  now  induced,  there  will  be  a  sudden  de- 
velopment of  a  pressure,  corresponding  to  the  saturation  pressure  at 
Ty";  the  water  introduced  into  the  melt  at  a  pressure  head  of  4  at- 
mospheres will  be  released  at  a  much  higher  pressure,  in  this  case 
about  11  atmospheres.  If  an  undercooled  magma  were  to  come  into 
contact  with  percolating  waters,  or  the  vapor  generated  therefrom,  as 
previously  explained,  a  similar  introduction  of  water  at  a  low  pres- 
sure might  take  place.  Introduction  of  this  water  might  of  itself 
induce  crystallization  in  virtue  of  the  lowered  viscosity  of  the  resulting 
magmatic  solution,  and  it  is  conceivable  that  the  result  would  be  a  sud- 
den and  violent  outburst  of  steam  and  ash,  at  a  comparatively  low 
temperature. 

SUMMARY 

It  has  been  shown  that  when  a  system  composed  of  volatile  and 
non-volatile  components  such  as  water  and  KNO3  is  cooled,  crystal- 
lization will  take  place  at  a  temperature  lower  than  the  freezing  point 
of  the  pure  non-volatile  salt  by  an  amount  corresponding  to  the  amount 
of  volatile  material  present,  and  that  the  corresponding  three-phase 
pressure  increases  rapidly  as  the  temperature  is  lowered  from  the 
melting  point  of  the  salt.  This  increase  is  rapid  whether  measured 
in  terms  of  the  decrease  in  temperature  of  the  three-phase  equilibrium 
or  in  terms  of  the  content  of  volatile  material  in  the  solution.  From 
the  latter  fact  it  follows  that  in  systems  of  the  type  of  magmas,  in 
which  the  non-volatile  material  is  composed  of  such  substances  as  the 
silicates,  and  in  which  the  pressure  required  to  retain  any  considerable 
proportion  of  water  in  solution  must  be  large,  a  comparatively  small 
amount  of  crystallization  will  result  in  a  large  increase  in  pressure. 
When  a  magma  containing  water  cools,  with  consequent  crystalliza- 
tion and  development  of  high  pressure,  under  an  incompetent  crust, 
a  release  of  pressure  will  take  place,  which  may  be  catastrophic  in 
violence  or  take  the  form  of  a  succession  of  mildly  explosive  outbursts. 
In  case  the  magma  cools  under  a  competent  crust  the  pressure  will 
rise  to  a  maximum,  and  then  decrease,  probably  without  at  any  time 
showing  critical  phenomena. 


MAY  4,  1922  proceedings:   BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  231 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY! 

622nd  meeting 
The  622nd  meeting  was  held  in  the  lecture  hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,   on 
March  5,   1921  at  8  p.m.     Vice  President  A.  S.  Hitchcock  presided,  and  32" 
persons  were   present.     Upon   recommendation  of  [the  Council  Mr.  M.  A. 
Murray  was  elected  to  membership. 

Brief  notes 

Mr.  IvAR  TiDESTROM  exhibited  two  books.  One  was  202  years  old,  had 
seen  constant  usage,  and  was  still  in  excellent  condition;  the  second  book, 
somewhat  more  than  a  year  old,  was  in  poor  condition,  both  as  to  binding  and 
the  printed  pages.  The  first  book  illustrated  the  durability  of  rag  paper  as 
compared  with  the  pulp  paper  now  commonly  used  even  in  reference  works. 
Dr.  Paul  Bartsch  cited  the  deterioration  of  a  book  lying  exposed  from  Sat- 
urday to  Monday. 

Dr.  H.  C.  Oberholser  stated  that  the  whistling  swan,  which  had  returned 
to  nearby  waters  for  four  or  five  years  past,  after  an  absence  of  twenty  years, 
were  seen  this  last  winter  in  increasing  numbers.  Dr.  Paul  Bartsch  stated 
that  Holboell's  Grebe  had  been  observed  recently  in  the  Tidal  Basin;  also 
that  nineteen  species  of  spring  flowers  had  been  reported  at  a  recent  meeting 
of  the  Wild  Flower  Preservation  Society. 

Formal  program 

H.  M.  Hall:   The  synthetic  method  of  botanical  taxonomy. 

Botanical  taxonomy  has  not  much  to  its  credit  in  the  way  of  past  achieve- 
ments. At  present  it  is  at  a  nearh^  static  or  stationary  stage  in  its  evolution. 
In  order  to  make  it  dynamic  and  progressive  more  attention  should  be  paid  to 
three  phases  of  the  subject. 

(1)  The  development  of  a  philosophic  aspect.  Relationships  of  phylogeny 
should  be  taken  as  the  guiding  principle  in  all  taxonomic  work.  Analytical 
methods  now  employed  should  be  combined  with  synthetic  methods  having 
as  their  aim  the  organization  of  these  small  units  into  larger  natural  assem- 
blages, the  data  for  such  work  to  be  obtained  from  comparative  morphology, 
paleontology,  ontogeny,  and  geographic  distribution. 

(2)  The  development  of  new  methods.  The  present  observational  de- 
scriptive, and  qualitative  methods  may  well  be  replaced  by  methods  that 
are  experimental,  quantitative  and  exact,  thus  elevating  systematic  botany 
to  the  stage  of  a  true  science. 

(3)  The  development  of  a  new  method  for  the  expression  of  results  in  a 
concise  and  readily  intelligible  manner.  The  use  of  diagrams  to  illustrate 
phylogeny  is  advised.  More  important  is  the  development  of  a  system  of 
nomenclature  that  will  express  both  the  names  of  plants  and  their  relation- 
ships. It  is  therefore  recommended  that  the  term  "species"  be  used  in  the 
original  comprehensive  sense,  that  onl)^  these  inclusive  units  or  true  species, 

'  Reports  for  the  627th  and  628th  meetings  were  pubUshedinthis  Journai<12:  188-191.. 
1922. 


"232      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

be  given  binomials,  that  the  principal  subdivisions  be  treated  as  subspecies 
or  varieties,  and  that  still  smaller  units,  such  as  those  of  the  geneticist  or  other 
specialist,  be  treated  in  any  other  manner  that  meets  the  special  requirements. 
In  this  way  the  number  of  species  will  be  kept  within  reasonable  bounds, 
the  varietal  category  will  provide  for  those  who  desire  to  go  one  step  farther, 
and  the  recognition  of  even  the  smallest  possible  unit  will  not  be  excluded. 
The  paper  was  illustrated  by  lantern  slides  of  plants,  and  tables  showing 
the  application  of  the  suggestions  which  were  made.  The  paper  was  discussed 
by  Major  K.  A.  Goldman  and  Drs.  P.  Bartsch,  T.  vS.  Palmer,  F.  W. 
CoviLLE,  and  W.  E.  S afford. 

623rd  meeting 

The  623rd  meeting  was  held  March  19,  1921  at  8:10  p.m.,  in  the  lecture 
hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club.  President  Hollister  was  in  the  chair  and  50 
persons  were  present. 

Informal  communication 

Dr.  F.  H.  KnowlTON  stated  that  during  the  last  ten  years,  for  three  of  the 
spring  months,  continuously  during  the  daylight  hours  a  cardinal  would 
fight  his  reflection  in  the  windows  of  the  speaker's  house.  The  bird  has  been 
known  to  launch  himself  at  the  windows  26  times  in  five  minutes.  It  is  not 
known  that  it  is  the  same  bird  which  has  been  under  observation  during  these 
years. 

Formal  program 

F.  H.  Knowlton:  The  flora  of  some  newly  discovered  beds  in  southern 
Colorado. 

For  fifty  years  highly  fossiliferous  deposits  have  been  known  in  the  Tertiary 
lake  beds  of  Florissant,  Colorado.  Insects,  plants,  and  birds,  fish  and  shells 
are  preserved  with  remarkable  fidelity  in  the  volcanic  ashes  and  mud  filling 
the  lake.  Other  similar  deposits  have  been  found  in  Colorado,  the  largest 
near  Creede.  Among  the  plants  found  are  pines,  firs,  grape,  currant,  poplars, 
flowers  and  fruit  believed  to  be  a  raspberry,  etc.  Specimens  were  shown 
in  the  thin  papery  shales  into  which  the  rock  breaks  up.  The  paper  was 
discussed  by  Messrs.  Rohwer,  Hopkins,  and  Hitchcock. 

H.  C.  Oberholser:    The  breeding  water  fowl  of  the  Great  Plains  region. 

For  several  j^ears  the  breeding  grounds  of  water  fowl  in  the  United  vStates 
were  studied  by  the  Biological  Survey  to  secure  data  for  the  administration 
of  game  protection  laws.  The  greatest  breeding  ground  in  the  United  vStates 
is  in  the  State  of  Nebraska  and  the  States  northerly  from  it.  Still  greater 
areas  exist  in  Canada.  For  many  years  the  water  fowl  suffered  from  the 
draining  of  their  feeding  and  breeding  grounds,  and  by  killing  for  sport  and 
the  market.  Tens  of  millions  of  birds  were  sacrificed  annually.  Dr. 
Oberholser  described  and  illustrated  with  lantern  slides  many  of  the  lakes  of 
the  region  used  as  breeding  grounds  of  water  fowl,  and  nests  and  birds  were 
shown  of  several  of  the  species.     The  paper  was  discussed  by  Dr.  vShufeldt. 

624:TH  meeting 

The  624th  meeting  was  held  jointly  with  the  Washington  Academy  op 
Sciences  on  April  2,  1921,  in  the  lecture  hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8:15  p.m. 
Alfred  H.  Brooks,  President  of  the  Academy  presided,  and  75  persons 
ivere  present. 


MAY  4,  1922  proceedings:  bioi^ogicai^  society  233 

Dr.  A.  D.  Hopkins,  Retiring  President  of  the  Biological  Society,  delivered 
an  address  on  Intercontinental  problems  in  natural  and  artificial  distribution  of 
plants.  An  extended  abstract  of  Dr.  Hopkin's  paper  has  been  published  in 
the  Journal  of  the  Academy.^ 

A.  A.  D001.1TTLE,  Recording  Secretary. 

625th  meeting 
The  625th  meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  of  Washington  was  held  on 
April  16,  1921  in  the  lecture  hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8:15  p.m.     President 
HoLLiSTER  was  in  the  chair  and  66  persons  were  present. 

Informal  communications 
H.  C.  Oberholser:  a  note  on  Miss  M.  T.  Cooke's  Birds  of  the  Washington 
Region,  published  by  the  Society. 

Formal  program 

F.  C.  Lincoln:    The  Fall  migration  of  ducks  from  Lake  Scugog,  Ontario. 

Interesting  results  have  been  obtained  from  the  work  on  the  Bureau  of 
Biological  Survey  in  banding  wild  ducks  trapped  at  Lake  Scugog,  Ontario. 
Last  summer  about  225  ducks  were  banded,  mostly  mallards  and  black  ducks, 
with  a  few  blue-winged  teal  and  ringnecks.  The  Biological  Survey  has  already 
received  reports  of  the  killing  of  over  35  of  these  ducks  or  about  16  per  cent. 

Some  were  killed  close  to  Lake  Scugog,  but  others  were  from  such  distances 
as  to  clearly  indicate  the  route  these  birds  travel  on  their  pilgrimage  to  the 
Gulf  Coast.  In  the  Mississippi  Valley  bands  were  returned  from  points  in 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and 
Texas.  On  the  Atlantic  coast  no  birds  were  reported  from  regions  north  of 
Chesapeake  Bay,  but  south  of  this  point  the  route  is  well  connected,  showing 
that  these  birds  migrate  in  a  southeasterly  direction  across  the  Alleghanies 
to  the  Atlantic  coast. 

Bands  have  been  returned  from  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
Florida.  The  most  interesting  note  was  received  through  the  State  Depart- 
ment from  the  American  consul  on  the  island  of  Trinidad.  The  band  had 
been  placed  on  a  blue-winged  teal  at  Lake  Scugog  on  September  24,  1920,  and 
was  recovered  through  a  local  hunter  near  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  on 
December  9.     (Author's  abstract.) 

The  paper  was  discussed  by  Dr.  A.  S.  Hitchcock. 

E.  W.  Nelson:  Alaska  and  the  reindeer  industry. 

Thos.  E.  Snyder,  Recording  Secretary  pro  tem. 

626th  meeting 
The  626th  regular  meeting  was  held  April  30,  1921,  in  the  lecture  hall  of  the 
Cosmos  Club,  at  8:15  p.m.      President  HoLLiSTER  was  in  the  chair  and  51 
persons  were  present. 

Informal  communications 

M.  W.  Lyon:  Note  on  buffalo  or  bison  raising.  This  note  was  illustrated 
with  a  lantern  slide  of  a  carcass  of  a  pure  bison  calf  exhibited  in  front  of  a 
restaurant  in  South  Bend,  Indiana. 

T.  S.  Palmer  :  Note  on  the  status  of  bison  in  the  United  States.  One  large 
herd  which  was  becoming  unprofitable  was  disposed  of  by  letting  sportsmen 
shoot  the  animals  at  $250  per  head.     There  are  a  thousand  head  on  the  market 

1  This  Journal  11:   223-227,  227-229.     May  19,  1921. 


234      JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

in  South  Dakota.  In  New  Hampshire  they  are  occasionally  on  sale.  There 
are  two  herds  in  Oklahoma  with  occasional  sales.  There  were  8000  bison  in 
the  United  States  last  year. 

Dr.  R.  E.  CoKER  exhibited  copies  of  the  new  Journal  of  Ecology,  which  is 
a  continuation  of  Plant  World,  but  whose  scope  is  to  include  both  plants  and 
animals. 

Dr.  Paul  Bartsch  referred  to  the  column  in  the  Washington  Herald  en- 
titled Scientific  Notes  and  Comments.  A  motion  approving  the  column  was 
carried. 

Dr.  C.  C.  Adams,  Director  of  the  Roosevelt  Wild  lyife  Experiment  Station, 
spoke  of  the  inception  of  the  movement  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt.     The  station  established  is  a  research  station. 

Formal  program 

J.  N.  Rose:  Rediscovery  of  a  remarkable  cactus  from  Haiti.  For  more  than 
3.  century  a  cactus  growing  in  Haiti  has  been  known  only  from  a  drawing  in  the 
British  Museum  over  the  title  Cactus  caniculatus.  No  additional  information 
was  obtained  until  1917  when  a  specimen  was  brought  to  this  country  by  Dr. 
Paul  Bartsch.  Later  Dr.  C.  G.  Abbot  visited  the  region,  and  made  com- 
plete field  observations  and  collections,  so  that  the  plant  is  now  pretty  well 
known.  A  monograph  of  the  species  had  been  prepared  in  which  the  species 
is  redescribed  as  Neoabbotia  caniculatus.  Some  remarkable  features  are  that 
it  is  the  largest  known  cactus  and  its  blossoms  are  in  clusters.  Photographs 
of  the  plant  were  exhibited.  The  paper  was  discussed  by  Dr.  Lyon  and  Dr. 
Bartsch. 

Joseph  Grinnell:  The  principle  of  rapid  peering  birds.  Some  birds 
wait  for  their  prey  to  come  within  striking  distance,  others  are  on  the  con- 
stant search.  The  movement  of  an  object  quickly  catches  the  attention  of 
an  observer.  Similarly  an  observer  changing  his  position  brings  out  rela- 
tive position,  perspective,  and  recognition  of  objects.  Thus  some  birds, 
pressed  by  necessity,  have  developed  in  the  extreme  the  habit  of  rapidly 
changing  position,  peering  in  many  directions,  to  secure  food  required  for 
■existence. 

The  paper  was  discussed  by  Drs.  Lyon  and  Bartsch. 

T.  S.  Palmer:  Notes  on  some  parrots  imported  into  the  United  States.  Of 
the  500  or  more  species  of  parrots  now  known,  only  2  are  natives  of  the  United 
States  and  none  of  Europe.  Thus  they  were  practically  unknown  to  the 
ancients.  The  knowledge  of  parrots  is,  therefore,  an  index  to  exploring  ac- 
tivity. Columbus  took  the  first  American  parrot  to  Spain  in  1493.  The 
first  importation  was  at  an  early,  though  unknown  date.  Since  then  the 
United  States  has  become  one  of  the  best  parrot  markets.  The  zoological 
parks  contain  the  best  collections;  and  have  rare  and  some  now  extinct  par- 
rots on  exhibition.  The  national  Zoological  Park  has  about  35  species.  At 
times  75  or  80  species  have  been  on  exhibit  at  one  time  in  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.     The  London  Zoological  Gardens  have  about  125  species. 

The  parrots  imported  in  largest  numbers  are:  the  Amazons;  certain  spe- 
cies from  Mexico  and  from  Cuba;  the  Grass  Parrakeet  from  Australia; 
and  the  Gray  Parrot  from  Africa.  The  Amazons  and  the  Gray  Parrots  are 
popular  on  account  of  their  ability  to  talk.  In  1904  more  than  17,000  parrots 
were  imported.  This  year  more  than  4,000  have  already  (April)  reached 
San  Francisco. 


MAY  4,  1922  proceedings:  BOTANICAL  SOCIETY  235 

Few  parrots  are  raised  in  this  country  though  in  Europe  they  are  quite 
freely  raised  in  captivity.  The  habits  of  parrots,  and  even  their  anatomy,  are 
still  not  well  known.  Probably  a  dozen  West  Indian  parrots  have  become 
extinct,  and  our  Carolinian  Parrakeet  is  confined  to  Florida  and  is  almost 
•extinct.     The  desirability  of  immediate  further  study  is  obvious. 

E.  A.  Goldman:  Rats  in  the  War  Zone.  Rats  infested  the  whole  war 
area,  and  their  relation  to  epidemic  diseases  was  early  recognized.  The 
speaker  was  commissioned  as  an  officer  to  study  and  solve  the  problems  pre- 
sented by  rats.  Their  holes,  burrows,  and  paths  were  everywhere.  German 
trenches  were  infested  and  many  rat-catching  devices  were  found  in  them. 
Rats  were  troublesome  in  disturbing  sleeping  soldiers,  destroying  suppHes, 
eating  and  spoiling  food,  and  as  potential  carriers  and  disseminators  of  dis- 
ease. 

Food  was  arriving  in  greater  quantities  that  it  could  be  cared  for.  Under 
the  boards  or  litter  upon  which  the  cases  of  food  were  stacked,  rats  found 
shelter  and  opportunity  to  breed.  Trapping  was  the  chief  means  for  con- 
trol, but  poisoning  with  squills  was  also  effective.  In  food  warehouses  and 
trenches  the  control  was  reasonably  adequate. 

Rats  bred  rapidly.  Females  averaged  7.3  embryos.  The  number  was  as 
few  as  3  and  as  great  as  17.  The  principal  species  was  the  brown  rat.  Black 
rats  were  sometimes  found  where  there  were  few  brown  rats  to  contend  with. 
After  the  trenches  were  evacuated,  foxes,  weasels,  cats  and  other  predatory 
animals  did  much  to  eliminate  rats,  but  many  followed  the  men. 

Many  lantern  slides  were  shown  depicting  the  conditions  which  favored 
rats,  their  work,  the  methods  of  trapping,  and  some  of  the  means  of  insulating 
.against  rats,  both  in  the  Allied  and  German  lines. 

A.  A.  DooLiTTLE,  Recording  Secretary. 

BOTANICAL  SOCIETY 

153rd  meeting 

The  1 53rd  meeting  was  held  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club  at 
8  p.m.,  October  4,  1921,  with  President  Chambliss  in  the  chair  and  106 
persons  present. 

A.  T.  Bruman  and  Frank  G.  O'Donnell  of  the  Federal  Horticultural 
Board  and  Robert  C.  Wright  of  the  Office  of  Horticulture  and  Pomology 
were  elected  members  of  the  Society. 

An  exhibit  of  dahlias  was  furnished  by  Mrs.  WoLF,  Dr.  W.  A.  Orton, 
Prof.  J.  B.  S.  Norton,  Dr.  Wm.  E.  Safford  and  Miss  Florence  Thompson. 
The  regular  program  of  the  evening,  consisting  of  a  symposium  on  the  dahlia, 
followed. 

W.  A.  Orton  :  Group  classification,  climatic  requirements  and  aims  of  dahlia 
breeders. 

The  dahlia  has  been  wonderfully  improved  by  plant  breeders  until  its 
range  of  form  suggests  the  anemone,  the  water  lily,  the  peony,  the  rose,  and 
the  chrysanthemum,  as  well  as  the  types  familiar  to  the  public  as  dahlias. 

Of  the  distinct  groups  of  dahlias,  the  oldest  is  the  Show.  Then  there  are 
the]Hybrid  Show,  Pompon,  Fancy,  Cactus,  Hybrid  Cactus,  Decorative,  Peony 
Duplex,  Single,  Collarette,  Anemone,  Star  and  Miniature  Cactus. 

The  dahlia,  a  native  of  the  tropics,  can  not  withstand  our  northern  winters. 
The  roots  must  therefore  be  lifted  and  stored  in  sand  in  a  cool  cellar. 


236      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

Those  who  are  working  for  the  further  improvement  of  the  Dahlia  have 
still  a  large  field  of  effort.  In  all  cases,  and  particularly  in  the  Cactus  types, 
there  is  need  for  stronger,  more  upright  stems,  for  greater  freedom  of  flowering, 
and  quality  of  producing  strong,  hardy  roots.  Some  of  the  best  varieties  are 
such  poor  propagators  that  they  always  remain  scarce  and  expensive. 

J.  B,  S.  Norton:  History  of  the  dahlia  varieties. 

A  tabulation  of  over  100  dahlia  catalogues  of  1921  shows  about  5000  va- 
rieties now  on  the  market.  Nearly  5000  other  named  varieties  grown  in 
years  past  have  now  disappeared  from  cultivation.  All  these  have  developed 
in  the  gardens  of  Europe  and  America  since  the  wild  single  dahlia  was  in- 
troduced from  Mexico  into  European  gardens  a  little  over  a  hundred  years  ago. 

The  old-fashioned  ball-shaped,  regular  forms,  or  show  dahlias,  were  the 
first  double  kinds  developed  and  had  their  day  in  the  great  dahlia  shows  of  the 
second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  minature  ball  forms,  or 
pompons  came  in  in  the  fifties.  Some  of  them  are  probably  the  oldest  va- 
rieties now  in  our  gardens.  The  advent  of  the  cactus  dahlia  type  in  1873 
led,  through  hybridization  with  the  earlier  kinds,  to  the  many  kinds  of  cactus, 
decorative  and  peony  flowered  dahlias  which  grace  our  gardens  at  the  present 
time.  The  show  dahlias,  so  desirable  in  the  formal  days  of  1830  to  1850, 
have  now  almost  disappeared  from  prize  collections.  Even  the  graceful 
cactus  varieties  which  were  the  fashion  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century  are  now  far  out-numbered  by  the  great  gloriously  colored  decora- 
tives  and  hybrid  cactus  kinds  which  are  now  being  produced  more  than  any 
other  types,  especially  in  America. 

W.  E.  Safford:  Botany  and  chemistry  of  the  dahlia  (illustrated). 

In  tracing  the  origin  of  the  cultivated  plants,  it  has  been  the  custom  to 
go  back  to  the  very  earliest  descriptions,  noting  the  dates  when  they  were  writ- 
ten as  well  as  those  of  their  publication.  Among  early  writers  the  rules  of 
nomenclature  now  followed  by  botanists  were  not  always  observed.  It 
was  not  uncommon  for  a  botanist  to  ignore  a  well-established  generic  or  spe- 
cific name  and  substitute  another  more  in  accord  with  his  own  taste.  Thus 
in  1809  Willdenow  attempted  to  substitute  Georgina  for  the  generic  name 
Dahlia  established  by  the  Spanish  botanist  Cavanilles  in  1791  in  honor  of 
Andreas  Dahl,  a  distinguished  Swedish  horticulturist,  and  finding  the  seed- 
lings of  the  type  of  the  genus  to  be  exceeding^  variable,  he  also  changed 
its  specific  name,  pinnata  to  variabilis.  The  variability  points  to  a  mixed 
ancestry,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  Cavanilles'  type  plant  was  a  hybrid 
between  two  species  or  two  distinct  varieties  or  subspecies. 

About  the  year  1576,  more  than  two  hundred  years  before  the  genus  Dahlia 
was  established  by  Cavanilles,  Francisco  Hernandez,  a  Spanish  physician, 
sent  by  Philip  II  to  New  Spain  to  study  its  resources,  observed  many  forms  of 
Dahlias  then  cultivated  in  Mexico.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  that  early 
date  types  which  are  usually  held  to  be  modern  creations,  had  already  been 
developed.  Dahlias  were  known  to  the  Aztecs  under  the  Nahuatl  name 
Acocoxochitl,  which  may  be  translated  "Cane-flower."  This  name  was 
applied  to  them  on  account  of  their  hollow,  jointed  stems,  which  bear  a 
certain  resemblance  to  the  canes  used  as  water  pipes  or  tubes.  Hernandez 
in  calling  attention  to  their  beautiful  and  varied  flowers,  described  certain 
forms  with  purple  rays  and  yellow  disks,  and  many  others  differing  from  one 
another  in  size  and  color;  some  white,  others  yellow,  others  red  or  purple, 
or  white  tinged  with  purple,  or  perhaps  yellow  tinged  with  red,  and  a  great 


MAY  4,  1922  proceedings:  botanical  society  237 

many  other  kinds;  in  some  cases  with  double  or  multiple  whorls  of  ray- 
flowers  about  the  disk,  or  with  the  florets  closely  crowded  into  compact 
pompons  or  bunches  (Manipuli).  The  roots  he  described  as  fleshy  and 
succulent,  and  clustered  like  those  of  the  classic  asphodel.  This  description, 
although  written  about  1576,  was  first  published  in  the  Madrid  edition  of 
his  works  in  1750.  In  the  Roman  edition  of  1790,  however,  are  figured  three 
forms  of  Dahlia,  all  of  them  with  multiple  florets  suggesting  forms  now  called 
the  peony  type,  but  differing  in  their  foliage,  the  first  two  having  leaves 
like  those  commonlv  called  Dahlia  variabilis,  the  last  with  divided  leaves 
like  those  of  Dahlia  glahraia,  or  D.  gracilis. 

Four  years  later  in  addition  to  Dahlia  pinnata,  Cavanilles  described  and 
figured  two  other  species.  Dahlia  coccinea  and  Dahlia  rosea,  "single  flowered" 
forms  differing  from  each  other  not  only  in  color  but  also  in  the  form  and 
texture  of  the  leaves.  Some  writers  declare  that  these  were  merely  two  va- 
rieties of  the  same  species,  while  others  deny  the  possibility  of  this,  declaring 
that  D.  coccinea  and  D.  rosea  cannot  even  be  cross-pollinated  to  form  hybrids. 

The  great  revolution  in  Dahlia  culture  which  led  to  the  creation  of  the 
beautiful  forms  of  today  was  brought  about  by  the  importation  of  Dahlia 
juarezii  into  Europe  about  the  year  1864,  a  type  of  which  is  here  presented, 
accompanied  by  a  photograph  of  the  well-known  "Kalif"  of  our  gardens, 
which  seems  to  be  a  facsimile  of  it.  Dahlia  juarezii  is  the  ancestor  of  all  our 
cactus  dahlias.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  type  of  this  species  like 
that  of  Dahlia  pinnata,  was  a  "double  form"  and  in  all  probability  a  hybrid. 
Recently,  Mr.  Wilson  Popenoe,  an  explorer  for  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  came  upon  a  single  red  Dahlia  in  the  mountains  of 
Guatemala  with  narrow  rays  reflexed  or  folded  backward  as  in  Dahlia  juarezii 
and  its  descendents.  This  species,  which  I  named  Dahlia  popenovii  in  honor 
of  its  collector,  is  in  all  probability  the  ancestor  which  gave  to  Dahlia  juarezii 
and  to  all  the  cactus  dahlias  their  tendency  to  fold  back  the  margins  of  their 
florets. 

On  the  same  slide  is  shown  Dahlia  maxonii,  another  species  from  Guatemala, 
collected  by  Mr.  William  R.  Maxon  in  the  Department  of  Alta  Verapaz  in 
1905.  The  latter  species  was  for  a  time  confused  with  Dahlia  imperialis, 
from  which  it  differs  radically  in  its  upright  instead  of  pendent  flowers,  as 
well  as  in  the  form  of  its  leaves.  It  is  in  all  probability  an  ancestor  of  the  hy- 
brid Dahlia  excelsa,  the  type  of  which  was  a  cultivated  plant  with  abnormally 
elongated  disk-flowers  resembling  the  so-called  anemone-flowered  types  of 
our  gardens. 

Concerning  the  roots  of  the  Dahlia,  these  were  compared  by  early  writers 
with  those  of  the  asphodel,  which  were  also  fleshy  and  grew  in  clusters.  At- 
tempts have  been  made  to  use  the  roots  for  food  for  cattle  and  pigs,  but  on 
account  of  the  unpleasant  taste  they  have  been  rejected.  Instead  of  starch 
the  roots  contain  a  substance  known  chemically  as  inulin.  From  this  a 
sugar  known  as  levulose  or  fructose  is  obtained.  This  sugar  is  sixty  per  cent 
sweeter  than  cane  sugar,  but  it  has  hitherto  commanded  such  very  high  prices 
that  it  has  not  been  of  commerical  importance.  It  crystallizes  with  great 
difficulty,  and  the  expense  has  been  chiefly  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  use  much  alcohol  in  eliminating  the  water.  Although  this  sugar 
crystallizes  with  difficulty,  yet  it  can  be  utilized  even  in  the  form  of  syrup, 
especially  at  soda  fountains,  and  as  an  ingredient  for  various  drinks  and  des- 
serts. 


238      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES         VOL.  12,  NO.  9 

The  Regular  Meeting  then  adjourned  and  the  Annual  Meeting  was  held. 
Dr.  W.  E.  Safford  was  elected  President,  Dr.  Homer  D.  Shantz  was  elected 
Vice-President,  Mr'.  Roy  G.  Pierce  was  re-elected  Recording  Secretary, 
Mr.  R.  K.  Beattie  was  re-elected  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  Dr.  h.  L. 
HarTER  was  re-elected  Treasurer. 

154th  meeting 

The  154th  meeting  was  held  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club  at 
8  p.m.,  November  1,  1921,  with  President  Safford  in  the  chair,  and  68  mem- 
bers and  guests  present.  Among  the  distinguished  guests  were  Professor 
Arthur  A.  Jaczewski,  Director  of  the  Institute  of  Mycology  and  Plant 
Pathology  of  Petrograd,  and  Prof.  Nicholas  I.  Vavilov,  Director  of  the 
Institute  of  Bureau  of  Applied  Botany  and  Plant  Breeding  at  Petrograd. 
Mr.  James  R.  Weir,  whose  name  was  presented  at  the  October  meeting, 
was  voted  into  the  Society. 

Under  Brief  notes  and  review  of  literature,  Mr.  C.  P.  Hartley  presented 
an  exhibit  of  several  interesting  ears  of  corn,  two  with  long  silks  retained  and 
one  a  nubbin.  One  was  peculiar  in  that  the  fine  silk  retained  was  attached  to 
the  kernels ;  the  second  showed  that  the  first  silks  that  protrude  do  not  come 
from  the  extreme  butt  kernels,  but  from  those  slightly  above  the  base  of  the 
stalk,  differing  from  the  popular  conception ;  the  third  showed  that  the  seed 
coat  can  develop  without  any  starch  or  germ. 

O.  M.  Freeman,  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  exhibited  two  potted 
hepaticas,  one  in  blossom,  and  the  other  without  blossoms.  The  plant  in 
blossom  has  been  subjected  to  an  artificial  winter.  In  the  experiment  6 
pots  had  been  used — 3  had  been  chilled  for  2  months,  while  the  others  had 
been  kept  at  ordinary  room  temperature.  Two  weeks  after  being  chilled 
they  came  into  blossom.  Prof.  Arthur  A.  Jaczewski  of  Petrograd  remarked 
that  this  chilling  of  plants  to  induce  flowering  was  formerly  a  regular  practice  in 
Russia  and  that  lilacs  were  brought  out  in  blossom  at  Easter  time. 

The  regular  program  of  the  evening  consisted  of  an  illustrated  lecture  by 
Mr.  Robert  S.  Yard,  Executive  Secretary  of  the  National  Parks  Associa- 
tion. A  wonderful  collection  of  colored  views  of  some  of  our  National  Parks 
was  shown,  including  some  from  the  Yellowstone  Glacier,  Mount  Rainier, 
Crater  I^ake,  Yosemite,  Sequoia  and  Rock  Mountain  National  Parks.  Of  the 
19  national  parks  all  but  2  are  in  the  United  States.  These  include  Mt. 
M  cKinley  in  Alaska  and  a  volcano  in  H  awaii .  Water  power  and  irrigation  inter- 
ests were  trying  to  encroach  upon  the  public  domain  and  to  secure  special 
privileges  in  the  National  Parks.  The  National  Park  Association  was  trying 
to  crystallize  public  sentiment  against  the  exploitation  of  these  Parks. 

Roy  G.  Pierce,  Recording  Secretary- 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  May  19,  1922  No.  10 


MINERALOGY. — Notes  op.  white  chlorites^     Earl  V.  Shannon  and 
Edgar  T.  Wherry,  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Although  the  name  chlorite  comes  from  the  Greek  word  for  green, 
various  other  colors  are  represented  among  this  group  of  minerals,  in- 
cluding violet-red  in  kaemmererite,  and  white  in  leuchtenbergite  and 
other  sub-species  or  varieties.  The  mineral  colerainite,  described  in 
1918  by  Poitevin  and  Graham,-  is  in  our  opinion  a  white  chlorite, 
since  its  composition,  crystal  form,  optical  properties,  and  physical 
properties  are  all  similar  in  many  respects  to  those  of  typical  members 
of  the  clinochlore  group.  It  seemed  of  interest  to  ascertain  whether 
the  material  reported  as  colerainite  from  Brinton's  Quarry,  Chester 
County,  Pennsylvania,  by  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Gordon'^  could  also  be  so 
classified,  and  Mr.  Gordon  kindly  sent  the  Museum  samples  for  exami- 
nation and  analysis.  Sample  1  is  composed  of  3  to  5  mm.  barrel 
shaped  crystals,  bounded  by  greatl}^  rounded  first  and  second  order 
pyramids  and  prisms,  with  large  basal  planes.  These  are  not  solid, 
but  have  a  dull  white  crust  with  loosely  packed  flaky  material  with 
pearly  luster  within.  Under  the  microscope  the  material  is  fairly 
homogeneous,  although  some  dull,  opaque  patches  are  present  min- 
gled with  the  transparent  flakes.  Specimen  2  is  from  a  new  locality 
discovered  by  Mr.  Gordon,  namely  a  small  abandoned  feldspar  quarry 
about  2  miles  southwest  of  Nottingham,  Chester  County,  Pa.  This 
is  in  more  micaceous-looking  and  apparently  less  altered  crystals  of 
similar  shape  and  size.  Under  the  microscope  its  homogeneity  is  satis- 
factory. Similar  material  occurs  also  in  feldspar  quarries  near  S3dmar, 
Pa.,  but  it  is  too  altered  for  analysis;  its  crystallography  is  described 
below. 

'  Presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  Mineralogical  Society  of  America,  Dec.  29,  1921. 
Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Received 
December  31,  1921. 

2  Canada  Dept.  Mines,  Museum  Bull.  27:    66-73.     1918. 

3Amer.  Min.  5:     195.     1920. 

239 


240      JOURNAL  OF  TH]e  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  10 


Another  white  chlorite  of  related  composition  is  sheridanite,  de- 
scribed from  northern  Wyoming  by  J.  B.  Wolff  in  1912.^  This  differs- 
considerably  in  properties,  however,  being  a  translucent  greenish 
gray  schistose  rock.  A  specimen  of  schistose  rock  from  Miles  City, 
Montana,  has  recently  been  sent  in  to  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  for 
identification,  and  Dr.  E.  S.  Larsen  has  found  it  to  agree  optically 
with  sheridanite.  This  has  also  been  analyzed,  and  found  to  have 
the  same  composition  as  the  original  sheridanite,  so  is  here  reported  as  a 
new  occurrence  of  this  mineral.  In  the  analyses  extreme  care  was 
taken  to  separate  the  aluminium  from  the  magnesium,  the  aluminium 
hydroxide  being  reprecipitated  several  times.  The  results  of  the  new 
analyses,  with  older  ones  for  comparison,  are  presented  in    table  1. 

TABLE  1. — Analyses  of  White  Chlorites.     The  Asterisks  Indicate  New  Analyses 

AND  Optical  Data.     The  Numbers  in  Parentheses  after 

Analytical  Data  Are  Ratios 

1*  2*  3  4*  5  6 

SiOo 28.10(2)  36.70(6)  28.81(2)  27.78(2)  26.98(3)  24.40(2) 

AI2O3 26.20(1)  10.38(1)  26.43(1)  24.30(1)  16.10(1)  22.77(1) 

FezOs 1.66               1.22  0.24               1.43              0.22  0.45 

FeO none               trace  0 .  40               0.35  none  none 

CaO trace              0 .  86  none               trace  0.12  0 .  10 

MnO trace              trace  none               none               0 .  20  0 .  09 

MGO 30.36(3)  36.44(9)  31.21(3)  32.71(3)  36.56(6)  32.70(4) 

^■O^ If,  ■■■        \       0.28  0.30 

NaoO ...  ...  0.14  ...  I 

HoO-  0.56               1.06  0.09              0.06       | 

\     19.91(7)  19.63(5) 

H2O+ 14.00(3)        13.80(7)  12.62(3)  13.01(3)  J 

Totals 100.88           100.46  100.29  99.64           100.37  100.44 

Opt.  data *                    *  ...                    *                      * 

a  1 .  562             1 .  555  1 .  580             1 .  ,576             1 .  570 

|8  1.562             1.560  1.581              1.576             1.570  1.570 

7  1 . 576             1 . 560  1 . 589             1 . 589             1 . 575  . . .     ■ 

Sign  +_  +                   +                   +  + 

2E  0°  30°  35°  small  0°  0° 

1.  White  chlorite  from  Brinton's  Quarry,  Pa.     Analysis  by  Shannon;    optical  data  de- 
termined on  an  exceptionally  clean  cut  crystal  and  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  Gordon. 

2.  White  chlorite  from  Nottingham,  Pa.     Analysis  by  Shannon ;  optical  data  by  Wherry. 

3.  Sheridanite,  northern  Wyoming.     Analysis  by  Wolff,  optical  data  by  H.  E-  Merwin. 

4.  New  occurrence  of  sheridanite  (Wyoming?).     Analysis  by  Shannon;  optical  data  by 
Larsen. 

5.  Colerainite  matrix,  Quebec.     Analysis  by  Connor  quoted  by  Poitevin  and  Graham, 
loc.  cit.     Optical  data  by  Wherry  on  specimen  kindly  furnished  by  Prof.  T.  L.  Walker. 

6.  Colerainite  crystals,  Quebec.     Analysis  by  Connor;    optical  data  by  Poitevin  and 
Graham. 

^  Amer.  Jour.  vSci.  IV.  34:   475-476.     1912. 


MAY  19,  1922  SHANNON  AND  WHERRY:   WHITE  CHLORlTES  241 

As  to  occurrence  and  origin,  the  Pennsylvania  specimens  are  reported 
by  Mr.  Gordon  to  have  been  formed  by  the  action  on  albite-pegma- 
tite  of  magnesium-bearing  waters  derived  from  the  weathering  of 
serpentine  and  jefferisite.^  The  original  colerainite  had  a  similar  ori- 
gin/' The  sheridanite  occurs  in  granitic  rocks,  and  may  have  also  arisen 
through  alteration  of  feldspar,  but  details  of  its  occurrence  are  not 
known. 

Both  Pennsylvania  minerals  are  rather  different  from  colerainite  in 
composition,  but  the  first  one  agrees  closely  with  sheridanite  in  this 
respect,  although  entirely  different  from  it  in  physical  properties.  It 
is  not  possible  at  present  to  interpret  the  analyses  of  any  of  these  in 
terms  of  end-minerals,  so  it  seems  best  to  class  them  all  simply  as 
white  chlorites. 

A  crystallographic  confirmation  of  the  identity  of  these  minerals 
seemed  desirable,  but  the  Brinton's  Quarry  and  Nottingham  material 
proved  to  be  too  dull  on  the  surface  to  give  definite  results.  Optical 
examination  of  the  so-called  secondary  albite  from  Sylmar,  Pa.'^ 
showed,  however,  that  it  is  of  similar  character  although  too  exten- 
sively altered  to  kaolinite  to  be  suitable  for  analysis.  It  occurs  in 
rosettes  of  subparallel  crystal  plates  on  compact  albite  rock,  averaging 
5  b}^  1  mm.  in  size,  with  perfect  basal  cleavage  on  which  the  luster  is 
bronzy.  These  were  found  to  give  hazy  light  nodes  as  a  number  of 
places  in  each  zone  of  faces,  yielding  the  results  shown   in  table  2. 

TABLE  2.— Angles  of  White  Chlorite  from  Sylmar,  Pa. 
Crystallization  perihexagonal ;   c  =  3.3890  ±  .0050 


No. 

Let- 

Syi 

nbols 

ter 

Gdt.Brav. 

Mono 

1 

C 

0 

0001 

_ 

001 
010 

2 

b 

ooO 

1010    < 

- 

no 

112 

3 

m 

10 

1011    < 

[Oil 

4 

t 

VsO 

4043 

043 

5 

0 

20 

2021 
-       1 

111 
132 

6 

V 

1 

1121    < 

loi 

7 

s 

H 

1122 

134 

Description 

Observed 

Calculated 

<P 

p 

<P 

p 

Dominant  form 

0° 

0°00' 

Narrow  to  fairly  broad 

0° 

89-90° 

0°00' 

90°00' 

Narrow  but  distinct 

0° 

66-67° 

0°00' 

66°07' 

Narrow  but  distinct 

0° 

70-71° 

0°00' 

71 "38' 

Narrow  to  fairly  broad 

0° 

77-78° 

0°00' 

77°32' 

Rather  large 

30° 

75-76° 

30°00' 

75°40' 

Narrow  and  poor 

30° 

63-64° 

30°00' 

62°56' 

The  identification  of  the  material  as  a  white  chlorite  is  thus  complete. 


5  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.  1921 ':    169-192.     1921. 
«  Trans.  Royal  Soc.  Canada  III,  12:    37-39.     1918. 
'  Amer.  Min.  3:    47.     1918. 


242      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   10 

MINERALOGY. — Crocidolite  from  eastern  Pennsylvania}  Edgar 
T.  Wherry  and  Earl  V.  Shannon,  U.  S.  National  Museum. 
The  occurrence  of  a  glaucamphibole  in  the  Highland  belt  of  pre- 
Cambrian  rocks  of  eastern  Pennsylvania  was  noted  by  D'Invilliers 
in  1883.-  He  classed  the  mineral  as  an  amphibole  on  the  basis  of  a 
"rough  analysis"  by  State  Chemist  McCreath  made  on  "a  portion  of 
the  mass  more  or  less  mixed  with  feldspar"  which  yielded,  when  the 
meaningless  decimals  are  omitted:  Si02  51.7,  AI2O3  17.5,  "FeO" 
(probably  at  least  half  FcaOs)  9.2,  MgO  8.8,  CaO  5.1,  and  "undeter- 
mined" (no  doubt  NaoO  +  HoO)  7.7%.  This  corresponds  more  or 
less  to  a  mixture  of  labradorite  with  a  high  magnesium  glaucamphibole. 
In  the  absence  of  optical  data,  however,  the  exact  identity  of  the  latter 
could  not  be  established. 

Another  occurrence  of  the  mineral  in  the  pre-Cambrian  was  studied 
by  Mrs.  Eleonora  Bliss  Knopf  in  1913.^  She  classed  the  mineral 
as  glaucophane  on  the  basis  of  an  analysis  by  Dr.  Edwin  DeBarr,  but 
judging  from  the  silica  percentage  of  83.3,  this  was  made  on  a  sample 
containing  a  large  amount  of  quartz  in  addition  to  feldspar,  and  is 
accordingly  unsuitable  for  establishing  the  exact  nature  of  the  min- 
eral. Mrs.  Knopf  obtained  in  addition  some  optical  measurements 
agreeing  with  those  recorded  for  the  glaucamphibole  group,  but  not 
characteristic  of  any  individual  member:  extinction  angle  X/c  =  3° 
to  15°,  and  pleochroism  Z  blue  to  violet,  Y  pale  green,  and  X  colorless 
to  pale  yellow. 

While  the  senior  writer  was  connected  with  Lehigh  University, 
Bethlehem,  Pa.,  he  observed  glaucamphiboles  at  many  localities  in  the 
region,  in  both  pre-Cambrian  and  Triassic  rocks.  On  removal  to 
Washington,  he  presented  a  number  of  specimens  to  the  National 
Museum,  and  made  a  study  of  their  optical  properties,  by  the  immer- 
sion method.  Much  of  the  material  proved  to  be  cryptocrystalline, 
with  n  =  about  1.66  and  intense  blue  color.  At  some  localities, 
however,  microscopically  fibrous  to  bladed  material  occurs,  and  this 
gave  alpha  =  1.64  to  1.65,  beta  =  1.65,  gamma  =  1.66.  The 
pleochroism  is  X  yellow,  Y  green,  Z  blue.  The  double  refraction 
varies  from  one  specimen  to  another,  but  is  sometimes  so  low  that 

1  Presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  Mineralogical  Society  of  America,  December  29,  192 L 
PubHshed  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  vSmithsonian  Institution.  Received 
Dec.  .31,  1921. 

2  Second  Geol.  Survey  Penna.  Rept.  D  3,  II,  1:   93-94.     1883. 

3  Bull.  Amer.  Muj;.  Nat.  Hist.  32:    517-526.     1913. 


MAY   19,   1922  WHERRY  AND  SHANNON :    CROCIDOLITE  243 

anomalous  interference  colors  due  to  high  dispersion  in  some  inde- 
terminate direction  are  shown.  One  of  the  best  samples  for  optical 
study  came  from  a  road  metal  quarry  southwest  of  the  town  of  Mohn- 
ton,  Berks  County,  the  rock  being  a  highly  metamorphosed  Triassic 
sandstone.  Other  noteworthy  localities  in  similar  rock,  as  well  as  in 
the  Triassic  diabase  causing  the  alteration,  lie  three  miles — 5  kilometers 
— south  of  the  city  of  Reading,  and  just  east  of  Little  Oley,  south  of 
Boyertown,  Berks  County.  In  addition  to  the  pre-Cambrian  gneiss 
occurrences  listed  by  Mrs.  Knopf,  it  is  abundant  in  these  rocks  north 
of  Oley  Line,  Berks  County,  and  northeast  of  Dillingerville,  Lehigh 
County.  It  also  occurs  for  some  miles  northeastward  from  Riegels- 
ville,  Pa.,  in  the  state  of  New  Jersey.  In  all  perhaps  fifty  localities 
are  known. ^ 

TABLE  1. — Analysis  and  Ratios  of  Crocidolite  from  Oley  Line,  Pa. 


Analysis 

Ratios 

Theory 

SiOo 

51.62 

0.86  or  6 

50.7  (6) 

AI2OS 

0.92 

0.01 

Fe203 

18.36 

0.12  or  1 

22.4  (1) 

TiiOs 

2.27 

0.02 

FeO 

10.93 

0.15  or  1 

10.1  (1) 

MgO 

5.92 

0.15 

5.6(1) 

CaO 

0.48 

0.01  or  1 

Na20 
K2O 

5.62 
0.66 

0.09       ,, 

0.01  ^'^/^ 

8.7(1) 

H2O  + 
H2O- 

2.57 
1.04 

100.39 

0.06 '^'■/^ 

2.5(1) 

Snm 

100.0 

Becoming  interested  in  the  identity  of  the  mineral,  the  junior  author 
analyzed  a  sample  from  the  locality  north  of  Oley  Line,  which  was 
kindly  selected  and  purified  by  Mr.  C.  S.  Ross  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey,  and  proved  to  be  cryptocrystalline  and  homogeneous  on  micro- 
scopic examination.  The  analysis,  the  first  made  on  pure  material, 
showed  the  mineral  to  be  a  semimagnesium  crocidolite,  with  the 
formula  H2O .  NaoO .  MgO .  FeO .  FcsOg .  GSiOs. 

The  high  percentage  of  titanium  present  suggests  that  this  element, 
in  its  lower  state  of  oxidation,  may  partially  account  for  the  extremely 
intense  color  of  the  mineral,  although  admittedly  part  of  the  color  is 
due  to  iron.  Titanium  has  therefore  been  regarded  as  replacing 
aluminium  and  iron,  rather  than  silicon.     The  low  content  of  alkalies 

*  Professor  A.  H.  Phillips  reports  it  also  in  the  highlands  of  New  York  State.  It  is  rep- 
resented in  some  mineral  collections  under  the  name  vivianite. 


244      JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  10 

is  evidently  connected  with  partial  replacement  of  sodium  bv  hydro- 
gen, total  alkalies  plus  total  water  amounting  to  the  theoretical  ratio 
of  2.  The  role  of  water  in  the  glaucamphiboles  appears  never  to  have 
been  studied,  but  as  most  of  the  analyses  show  on  the  average  2%  of 
this  constituent,  it  is  probably  at  least  in  large  part  essential. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  the  material : 
it  is  found  as  impregnations  and  coatings  in  gneissoid  rocks  of  pre- 
Cambrian  age,  in  diabase  of  Triassic  age,  and  in  sediments  of  the  latter 
age  intruded  by  the  diabase.  The  gneisses  thus  impregnated  are  usu- 
ally greatly  shattered ;  the  crocidolite  not  only  fills  the  resulting  crev- 
ices, but  also  replaces  the  original  minerals  of  the  gneiss.  Replace- 
ment of  hornblende  was  described  by  Mrs.  Knopf,  and  it  may  be  added 
that  the  rocks,  which  usually  contain  considerable  primary  quartz 
where  unaltered,  are  practically  free  from  this  mineral  in  extensively 
crocidolitized  zones.  Some  of  the  silica  has  been  redeposited,  with  the 
crocidolite,  in  the  form  of  secondary  quartz.  The  same  phenomenon 
is  noticeable  in  the  replacement  of  these  gneisses  by  sericite''  which 
is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  region,  namely  that  the  primary  quartz 
is  replaced  more  rapidly  than  the  feldspar.  This  points  to  the  depo- 
sition of  the  crocidolite,  like  the  sericite,  from  hydrothermal  solutions. 
The  shattering  of  the  crocidolitized  gneisses  is,  in  the  experience  of  the 
senior  writer,  almost  always  connected  with  faulting  of  late  Triassic 
date,  and  since  the  same  mineral  occurs  in  the  late  Triassic  diabase 
and  the  sediments  it  has  metamorphosed,  the  suggestion  is  here  made 
that  the  hydrothermal  solutions  which  deposited  the  crocidolite  in 
the  various  occurrences  came  alike  from  the  Triassic  diabase  magma. 

PALEONTOLOGY. — Middle  Eocene  Foraminifera  of  the  genus  Dictyo- 
conus  from  the  Republic  of  Haiti.''-  Wendell  P.  Woodring,  U.  S. 
Geological  Survey. 

In  1900,  Chapman  (1,  pp.  11-12,  pi.  2,  figs.  1-3)  described  as  Patel- 
lina  egyptiensis  a  curious  conical  species  of  Foraminifera  that  was  col- 
lected in  northern  Egypt  between  Cairo  and  Suez  from  rocks  that  were 
then  supposed  to  be  of  lower  Miocene  age.  The  generic  name  Patel- 
lina  was  used  by  Chapman  as  the  equivalent  of  Orbitolina.  Blancken- 
horn  (2,  pp.  419,  432-435)  showed  that  the  rocks  from  which  Chapman's 
specimens  were  collected  are  part  of  the  lower  Mokattam  group  of  mid- 

5  Wherry.     Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  Amer.  29:   383.     1918. 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Engineer  in  Chief,  Republic  of  Haiti,  and  of  the  Direc- 
tor, U.  S.  Geological  Survey.     Received  April  24,  1922. 


MAY  19,  1922  woodring:  dictyoconus  from  haiti  245 

die  Eocene  (Lutetian)  age.  As  Patellina  egyptiensis  is  different  from  the 
Recent  species  of  Patellina  and  the  Cretaceous  species  of  Orhitolina, 
Blanckenhorn  proposed  for  it  the  new  generic  name  Dictyoconus.^ 
Blanckenhorn  considered  Dictyoconus  a  guide  genus  of  the  lower 
"Mokattamstufe."  Dictyoconus  egyptiensis  was  fully  described  by 
Schlumberger  and  H.  Douville,  1905  (3,  pp.  298-304,  pi.  9). 

During  a  geological  reconnaissance  of  the  Republic  of  Haiti  in  the 
winter  of  1920-1921  by  J.  S.  Brown,  W.  S.  Burbank,  and  myself, 
numerous  specimens  of  two  new  species  of  Dictyoconus  were  collected 
from  a  limestone  that  crops  out  in  the  central  and  southern  parts  of 
the  western  half  of  the  Departement  du  Nord.  The  limestone  was 
named  by  Vaughan  (4,  pp.  58,  94)  the  Plaisance  limestone.  The  most 
abundant  species  is  remarkably  similar  to  Dictyoconus  egyptiensis; 
but  the  other  species  is  even  more  depressed  than  the  microscope  form 
of  Dictyoconus  egyptiensis  figured  by  Schlumberger  and  H.  Douville, 
and  it  has  an  undulate  base.  These  Haitian  species  will  be  described 
in  a  report  on  the  geology  of  the  Republic  of  Haiti  now  being  prepared 
for  publication.  Thin  sections  show  that  they  have  the  same  internal 
structure  as  the  Egyptian  specimens. 

The  structural  relations  of  the  Plaisance  limestone  indicate  that  it  is 
of  middle  Eocene  (Lutetian)  age,  and  not  of  upper  Eocene  (Priabonian) 
age,  as  was  supposed  when  it  was  named.  The  evidence  furnished  by 
the  Foraminifera  seems  to  be  a  striking  confirmation  of  its  middle 
Eocene  age.  The  Plaisance  limestone  is  the  first  formation  of  middle 
Eocene  age  recognized  in  the  West  Indies  proper,  as  the  upper  Eocene 
is  the  only  one  of  the  commonly  accepted  subdivisions  of  the  Eocene 
heretofore  recognized  (5,  p.  607). 

A  third  species  of  Dictyoconus  was  collected  at  many  localities  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  Republic  from  rocks  that  are  clearly  of  upper 
Eocene  (Priabonian)  age.  This  species  is  found  with  Orthophragmina 
crassa  Cushman,  Orthophragmina  cubensis  Cushman,.  and  other  upper 
Eocene  orbitoidal  Foraminifera,  and  it  seems  to  be  similar  to  Dictyoconus 
americana  (Cushman),  which  was  described  from  the  upper  Eocene 
(Priabonian)  St.  Bartholomew  limestone  of  the  island  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew (6,  p.  43,  text  fig.  3).  The  species  described  from  St.  Barthol- 
omew is  the  only  American  species  that  has  heretofore  been  described. 
Cushman  (4,  pp.  105,  106)  has  recorded  the  same  or  a  similar  species 
from  the  upper  Eocene  of  the  Dominican  Republic. 

^  On  p.  419  where  the  genus  is  first  mentioned  by  Blanckenhorn  the  spelling  is  Dictyoco- 
nus, but  on  the  following  pages  the  less  desirable  spelling  Dictyoconos  is  used. 


246      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   10 

Similar  conical  Foraminifera  of  Eocene  age  have  commonly  been 
called  by  the  generic  name  Conulites,  and  Chapman  in  1902  (7,  pp.  156- 
157,  276,  pi.  8,  figs.  K,  k,  text  fig.  36)  called  the  Egyptian  species 
Conulites  aegyptiensis .  The  genus  Conulites  was  described  by  Carter 
in  1861  (8,  pp.  331-332,  457-458,  pi.  15,  figs.  7,  7a-g;  9,  pp.  53-54, 
83-84)  for  a  species  of  Foraminifera,  apparently  of  middle  Eocene 
(Kirthar)  age,  from  western  India.  According  to  Carter's  descrip- 
tion and  figures  the  Indian  specimens  have  a  different  structure  from 
the  Egyptian  and  West  Indian  specimens.  Blanckenhorn  (2,  p.  433) 
suggested  that  some  of  the  Foraminifera  described  by  Carter  in  the 
same  papers  as  Orbitolina  are  similar  to  the  Egyptian  Dictyoconus. 

In  1904  Prever  and  Silvestri  (10,  pp.  470,  477-486,  figs.  1-5)  pro- 
posed the  new  generic  name  Chapmania  for  Patellina  egyptiensis  on  the 
invalid  grounds  that  Dictyoconus  was  a  synonym  of  Orbitolina,  and 
was  briefly  described  and  not  figured.  They  described  and  figured 
under  the  name  of  Chapmania  aegyptiensis  (Chapman)  a  middle  Eocene 
species  of  Foraminifera  from  Italy  that  has  a  different  structure  from 
the  Egyptian  and  West  Indian  specimens.  Silvestri  (ll)  and  Airaghi 
(12,  p.  160;  13,  pp.  182-185,  pi.  5,  figs.  1-4)  recorded  this  ItaHan  spe- 
cies from  several  localities.  In  view  of  the  differences  between  the 
Egyptian  and  Italian  species  Silvestri  later  (14,  15)  redescribed  the 
Italian  species,  as  Chapmania  gassiensis} 

In  1912  Schubert  (16)  described  and  figured  Coscinolina  liburnica 
Stache,  a  genus  and  species  from  basal  middle  Eocene  rocks  of  the 
Istrian-Dalmatian  coast  that  had  been  imperfectly  described  by 
Stache  in  1875  (17).  Coscinolina  has  a  more  pronounced  early  spiral 
stage  than  Dictyoconus  or  "Chapmania,"  and  was  considered  by  Schu- 
bert as  a  more  primitive  type.  Coscinolina  liburnica  has  been  recorded 
by  H.  Douville  (18, 19)  from  northern  Egypt  in  beds  below  the  horizon 
of  Dictyoconus. 

The  available  records  show  that  these  conical  Eocene  Foraminifera, 
Conulites,  Dictyoconus,  Coscinolina,  and  the  Italian  genus  called 
Chapmania,  are  strictly  tropical.  Their  range  in  latitude  is  even  more 
limited  than  the  range  in  latitude  of  the  orbitoidal  genera  Orthophrag- 
mina  and  Leipdocyclina,  which  migrated  northward  to  southwestern 
France  and  to  the  southern  Coastal  Plain  of  the  United  States.  The 
remarkable  similarity  of  the  Egyptian  and  West  Indian  species  of 
Dictyoconus  is  another  example  of  the  striking  resemblance  of  the 

'  As  Chapmania  is  a  synonym  of  Dictyoconus,  the  Italian  species  should  receive  a  new 
generic  name. 


MAY  19,   1922  WOODRING :    DICTYOCONUS  FROM  HAITI  247 

West  Indian  Tertiary  faunas  to  those  of  the  same  age  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean   region . 

LIST  OP  PAPERS  CITED 

1.  Chapman,  F.  On  a  Patellina-lime stone  and  another  Foraminiferal  limestone  from 
Egypt.     Geol.  Mag.,  new  ser.,  Dec.  -i,  7:   3-17,  pi.  2.  1900. 

2.  Blanckenhorn,  Max.  Neues  zur  Geologie  und  Paldontologie  Aegyptens.  Deutsche 
geol.  Gesell.  Zeitschr.  52:   403-479.     1900. 

3.  ScHLUMBERGER,  Ch.,  and  Henri  Douville-  Stir  deux  Foraminiferes  Eocenes.  Soc. 
geol.  France  Bull.  IV,  5:   291-304,  pi.  Q,  7  text  figs.     1905. 

4.  Vaughan,  T.  W.,  Wythe  Cooke,  D.  D.  Condit,  C.  P.  Ross,  W.  P.  Woodring,  and 
F.  C.  Calkins.  A  geological  reconnaissance  of  the  Dominican  Republic.  Dominican  Rep. 
Geol.  Surv.  Mem.  1.   Pp.  268,  pi.  23.     Washington,  1921. 

5.  Vaughan,  T.  W.  The  biologic  character  and  geologic  correlation  of  the  sedimentary 
formations  of  Panama  in  their  relation  to  the  geologic  history  of  Central  America  and  the  West 
Indies.     U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  Bull.  103:    546-612.     1919. 

6.  CusHMAN,  Joseph  Augustine.  Fosil  Foraminifera  from  the  West  Indies.  Carnegie 
Inst.  Washington  Pub.  291:  23-71, 13  pis.,  8  text  figs.     1919. 

7.  Chapman,  Frederick.  The  Foraminifera,  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  the  Protozoa. 
Pp.  XV,  354,  pis.  14,  figs.  42.     London,  1902. 

8.  Carter,  H.  J.  Further  observations  on  the  structure  of  Foraminifera,  and  on  the  larger 
fossilized  forms  of  Sinde,  etc.,  including  a  new  genus  and  species.  Annals  and  Mag.  Nat. 
Hist.  Ill,  8:   309-333,  366-382,  446-470.     Pis.  15-17.     1861. 

9.  Carter,  H.  J.  Further  observations  on  the  structure  of  Foraminifera  and  on  the  larger 
fossilized  forms  of  Sinde,  etc.,  including  a  new  genus  and  species.  Bombay  Branch  Roy. 
Asiatic  Soc.  Journ.  6^1:    31-96.     1862. 

10.  Prever,  p.  L.,  and  A.  vSilvestri.  Contributio  alio  studio  della  Orbito-linae.  Soc. 
geol.  Italiana  Boll.  32:    467-486,^^5.7-5.     1904. 

11.  Silvestri,  a.  Localitd  Toscana  del  genre  Chapmania  Silv.  et  Prev.  Boll,  del  Nat- 
uralista24:    117-119,  ^g5.  j-j.     1904. 

12.  Airaghi,  Zina  Leardi  in,  Foraminifera  Eocenici  di  S.  Genesio  (Collina  di  Torino). 
Soc.  Ital.  Sci.  Nat.  Atti  43:   159-171.     1905. 

13.  Airaghi,  Zina  Leardi  in,  II  Conulites  aegyptiensis  Chapman  e  la  Baculogypsina 
sphaerulata  {Parker  e  Jones)  di  S.  Genesio ,  For aminiferi  Eocenici  del  Colli  Toriensi.  Soc. 
Ital.  Sci.  Nat.  Atti  43:    182-188,  pi.  5.     1905. 

14.  Silvestri,  A.  Sul  Dictyoconus  aegyptiensis  {Chapman).  Accad.  pontif.  nuovi 
Lincei  Atti  58:    129-131,  ^g.  2.     1905. 

15.  Silvestri,  A.  La  Chapmania  gassinensis  Silv.  Riv.  ital.  paleontologia  11:  113- 
120,  pi.  2,  2  text  figs.     1905. 

16.  Schubert,  Richard,  tjber  Lituonella  und  Coskinolina  liburnica  Stache  sowie 
deren  Beziehtmgen  zu  den  anderen  Dictyconinen.  K.-k.  geol.  Reichsanstalt  Jahrbuch. 
62:    195-208,  pi.  10.     1912. 

17.  Stache,  G.  Neue  Beobachtungen  in  den  Schichten  der  liburnischen  Stufe.  K.-k. 
geol.  Reichsanstalt  Verh.     1875:    334-338.     1875. 

18.  D0UVILL6,  H.  Les  Foraminiferes  de  I' Eocene  dans  la  region  de  Suez.  Soc.  geol. 
France  Compt.  rend.  som.  1920:    106-107.     1920. 

19.  DotrviLL^,  H.  Le  gebel  Geneffe,  d'apres  les  explorations  de  M.  J.  Barthoux.  Soc. 
geol.  France  Compt.  rend.  som.  1921:    133-135.     1921. 


248      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   10 

INORGANIC  CHEMISTRY.— 7/^£?  crystal  structures  of  the  alkali 
halides}  II.  Eugen  Posnjak  and  Ralph  W.  G.  Wyckoff, 
Geophysical   Laboratory,    Carnegie    Institution   of   Washington. 

These  determinations  of  the  crystal  structures  of  the  halides  of 
lithium  and  the  fluorides  of  the  alkali  metals  have  been  carried  out  by 
the  same  procedure  and  with  the  same  apparatus  used  for  part  I  of 
this  paper. ^  Except  for  RbF  and  CsF,  determinations  of  density 
were  at  hand  for  use  in  finding  the  number  of  molecules  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  the  unit  cube.  In  all  cases  data  will  be  given  for  only 
enough  lines  to  assure  the  correctness  of  the  chosen  structure.  In 
every  instance  the  other  lines  that  appeared  gave  satisfactory  agree- 
ment. 

LITHIUM  FLUORIDE 

This  salt  has  already  been  determined^  to  have  the  "sodium  chlor- 
ide' '  structure  (fig.  1 ,  part  I) .  According  to  this  previous  measurement 
thelengthof  thesideof  theunitcubeis4.14  A.  U.  (or  4.14  X10~^cm.). 

LITHIUM    CHLORIDE 

Bstimated  Calculated     intensity 

hkl  intensity  NaCl  grouping  ZnS  grouping 

111  (1)  10  6,900  10,500 

100  (2)  10  7,530  3,700 

110  (2)  6  6,640  6,640 

113  (1)  4  4,480  6,800 

Calculated  density  =  2.02. 
Spacing:   dioo  =  5.17  ±  0.02A.  U. 
Structure:   NaCl  grouping  (fig.  1,  part  I). 


LITHIUM    BROMIDE 


hkl 

Estimated 
intensity 

Calcul 
NaCl  grouping 

lated  intensity 

ZnS  group] 

111  (1) 

10 

36,100 

43,400 

100  (2) 

9 

27,200 

19,300 

110  (2) 

6 

24,000 

24,000 

113  (1) 

4 

23,400 

28,200 

Calculated  density  =  3.46. 
Spacing:    dioo  =  5.48  =t  0.02  A.  U. 
Structure;    NaCl  grouping. 

1  Received  April  20,  1922. 

2  Ralph  W.  G.  Wyckoff.     This  Journal  11:   429.     1921. 

3  P.  Debye  and  P.  vScherrer.     Phys.  Z.  17:   277.     1916. 


MAY  19,   1922  POSNJAK  AND  WYCKOFF:    AL,KALI  HALIDES 


249 


I^ITHIUM  IODIDE 

Considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  in  preparing  anhydrous 
Lil.  The  salt  which  was  finally  used  was  fused  in  an  atmosphere  of 
hydrogen  and,  immediately  upon  solidification,  was  powdered  and 
enclosed  in  a  capillary  glass  tube.  A  couple  of  faint  lines  which 
were  found  upon  the  photographs,  but  which  could  not  be  associated 
with  Lil  are  undoubtedly  due  to  hydration  or  decomposition  prod- 
ucts of  this  salt.  The  agreement  between  the  estimated  intensities 
and  those  calculated  from  the  commonly  employed  assumptions  is 
not  so  good  as  usual. 


hkl 

Estimated 
intensity 

Calculated  intensity 

NaCl  grouping                      ZnS  grouping 

111  (1) 

10 

88,000 

99,200 

100  (2) 

10 

59,100 

47,200 

110  (2) 

6 

52,200 

52,200 

113  (1) 

6 

57,100 

64,500 

Calculated  density 

= 

3.94. 

Spacing:   dioo  =  6. 

06 

±  0.02  A.  U. 

Structure:   Probably  the  NaCl  grouping. 

SODIUM 

FLUORIDE 

hkl 

Estimated 
intensity 

Calculated  inten.<'ity 
NaCl  grouping                    ZnS  grouping 

111(1) 

Absent 

141 

7,100 

100  (2) 

10 

7,500 

75 

110  (2) 

8 

6,650 

6,650 

111  (2) 

3 

2,750 

27 

100  (4) 

2 

1.480 

1,480 

120  (2) 

4 

4,520 

45 

Calculated  density 

= 

2.78. 

Spacing:   dioo  =  4. 

61, 

5  =fc  0.01  A.  U. 

Structure:   NaCl  grouping. 

POTASSIUM 

:   FLUORIDE 

hid 

Estimated 
intensity 

Calculated  intensity 
NaCl  grouping                         ZnvS  grouping 

100  (2) 

10 

15,100 

1,890 

110  (2) 

9 

13,300 

13,300 

111  (2) 

2 

5,500 

676 

120  (2) 

4 

9,030 

1,160 

112  (2) 

3 

7,340 

7,340 

Calculated  density 

= 

2.48. 

Spacing:    dioo  =  5. 

36 

=fc  0.01  A.U. 

Structure:   NaCl  grouping. 

RUBIDIUM  FLUORIDE 

The  diffraction  effects  observed  upon  photographs  from  four  dif- 
ferent preparations  of   RbF  were   essentially   the   same.     They  are, 


250      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  10 

however,  so  difficult  to  reconcile  with  any  simple  structure  for  this 
salt  that  further  work  will  be  necessary  to  establish  its  structure  with 
certainty. 

CAESIUM  FLUORIDE 

The  density  of  this  salt,  as  approximately  determined  from  a  mea- 
surement of  its  refractive  index"*  indicates  that  four  molecules  are  to 
be  associated  with  the  unit  cube.  The  diffraction  data  are  in  such 
good  agreement  with  a  structure  containing  this  number  of  molecules 
in  the  unit  that  there  is  little  reason  for  doubting  the  correctness  of  the 
structure  here  assigned  (which  is  different  from  that  of  all  of  the  other 
caesium  halides). 


Estimated 

Calculated  intensity 

hkl 

intensity 

NaCl  grouping 

ZnS  grouping 

111  d) 

10 

74,600 

109,200 

100  (2) 

10 

77,200 

40,000 

110  (2) 

7 

68,200 

68,200 

113  (1) 

6 

48,500 

70,800 

100  (4) 

1 

15,200 

15,200 

120  (2) 

3 

46,300 

24,000 

112  (2) 

2 

37,600 

37,600 

Calculated  density  =  4.52. 
Spacing:   dioo  =  6.03  ±  0.02  A.  U. 
Structure:   NaCl  grouping. 

Discussion  of  these  structures. — The  data  concerning  (1)  the  struc- 
tures, (2)  the  dimensions  of  the  unit  cells,  and  (3)  the  distance  of  near- 
est approach  of  unlike  atoms  in  each  crystal  of  this  series  are  collected 
in  table  1.^ 

On  the  basis  of  the  available  crystal  structure  data,  volumes  of 
"spheres  of  influence"  have  been  assigned^  to  various  atoms  and 
crystals  imagined  as  resulting  from  a  close  packing  of  these  atomic 
spheres.  The  extent  to  which  these  measurements  are  in  agreement 
with  such  an  hypothesis  may  be  tested  by  assigning  to  some  one 
atom  an  indefinite  radius  a  and  obtaining  the  radii  of  the  other  atoms 
in  terms  of  a.     If  this  is  done  the  calculated  distances  R-X  of  table 

*  We  wish  to  thank  Dr.  H.  E.  Merwin  of  this  Laboratory  for  determining  the  refrac- 
tive index  of  caesium  fluoride,  and  suggesting  the  estimation  of  its  density  therefrom. 
The  index  is  1.478  =•=  0.005.  Applying  Gladstone's  law  and  using  the  specific  refractive 
energies  given  by  E.  S.  Larsen  (U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  679:  31),  the  density  of  caesium 
fluoride  is  found  to  be  approximately  4.38. 

^  After  completing  our  determinations  of  the  structures  of  the  alkali  halides  we  have 
become  aware  of  previous  work  upon  some  of  them  through  a  paper  by  A.  W.  HuLi<.  Journ. 
Frankl.  Inst.,  193,  217.     1922. 

«  W.  L.  Bragg.     Phil.  Mag.  VI,  40:   169.     1920. 


MAY  19,  1922 


PROCeeDINGS :   BIOLOGICAL   SOCIETY 


251 


1,  which  are  in  excellent  agreement  with  the  observed  distances, 
are  the  result.  An  hypothesis  of  constant  atomic  dimensions  in  crys- 
tals which  is  based  on  the  most  reliable  data  meets,  however,  with 
such  serious  difficulties  when  passing  from  compounds  of  one  type  to 
those  of  another  that  it  can  scarcely  now  be  said  what  significance 
attaches  to  such  numerical  agreements  as  this  one. 


Crystal 

LiF 
LiCl 

LiBr 
Lil 

NaF 

NaCl 

NaBr 

Nal 

KF 
KCl 
KBr 
KI 

RbF 
RbCl 
RbBr 
Rbl 

CsF 
CsCl 
CsBr 
Csl 


TABLE  1. — Summarized  Data  on  the  Alkali  Halides 


structure 


NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCI 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCI 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

fFig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl 

(Fig.  1) 

NaCl  (Fig.  1) 
Body-centered  (Fig.  2) 
Body-centered  (Fig.  2) 
Body-centered  (Fig.  2) 


A.  U. 

Distance  R-X 
Observed              Calculated 
A.  U.                       A.  U. 

4.14 

2.07 

2.08 

5.17 

2.585 

(2.585) 

5.48 

2.74 

2.745 

6.06 

3.03 

3.01    . 

4.62 

2.31 

(2.31) 

5.628 

2.81^ 

(2.81^) 

5.95 

2.975 

(2.975) 

6.47 

3.236 

(3.235) 

5.36 

2.68 

2.63 

6.26 

3.13 

(3.13) 

6.59 

3.295 

3.29 

7.11 

3.555 

3.55 

6.60 

3.30 

(3.30) 

6.93 

3.465 

3.46 

7.36 

3.68 

3.72 

6.03 

3.015 

3.06 

4.12 

3.56 

(3.56) 

4.30 

3.73 

3.72 

4.55 

3.94 

3.98 

Note:  The  distances  in  parentheses  are  used  to  calculate  the  values  in  the  last  column. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BIOLOGICAIv  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON 

629th  meeting 

The  629th  meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  of  Washington,  was  held 
jointly  with  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  Botanical  Society  of 
Washington  on  November  12,  1921  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club 
at  8: 00  o'clock  under  the  Presidency  of  the  Academy. 

Prof.  Arthur  de  Jaczewski,  Director  of  the  Institute  of  Mycology  and 
Pathology  at  Petrograd,  delivered  an  address  on  The  development  of  mycol- 
ogy and  pathology  in  Russia. 

Prof.  Nicolas  I.  Vavilov,  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Applied  Botany  and 


252      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  10 

Plant  Breeding  at  Petrograd  delivered  an  address  on  Russian  work  in  genetics 
and  plant  breeding. 

Dr.  Vernon  L.  Kellogg,  Permanent  Secretary  of  the  National  Research 
Council,  lead  a  discussion  on  The  interrelations  of  Russia  and  American  scien- 
tists. 

630th  meeting 

The  630th  meeting  was  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club  No\  em- 
ber 26,  1921.  President  Hollister  presided  and  44  members  were  present. 
Upon  recommendation  of  the  Council  Mr.  Thos.  E.  Penard  and  Dr.  T. 
Van  Hyning  were  elected  to  membership.     The  program  was  as  follows: 

R.  W.  vShufeldt:  Changes  in  the  skull  of  an  American  badger  (Taxidea 
americana)  due  to  extreme  old  age  (illustrated).  A  reading  of  Dr.  Coues' 
descriptions  of  badger  skulls,  evidently  based  upon  small  and  imperfect 
ones,  led  to  an  examination  of  the  series  in  the  National  Museum.  It  was 
found  that  as  distinguished  from  skulls  of  young  animals,  the  skulls  in  older 
specimens  showed  a  large  median  crest,  with  other  cranial  developments 
such  as  greatly  developed  and  outwardly  curved  zygomas,  and  a  great  con- 
traction or  pinching  of  the  cranium.  These  changes  in  the  skull  are  correlated 
with  the  development  of  the  masseter  muscles  as  the  specimen  grows  older. 

J.  W.  GidlEy:  The  Primates  of  the  Paleocene.  Information  regarding 
the  origin  of  the  Primates  is  of  special  interest  to  man  because  it  is  the  order 
to  which  he  belongs,  as  well  as  the  living  lemurs,  apes,  and  monkeys.  Fossil 
primate  material  is  rare  and  generally  fragmentary,  and  the  discussions  and 
conclusions  upon  the  early  life  history  and  development  of  the  Primates  are 
necessarily  incomplete. 

Primates  have  long  been  known  from  the  Eocene,  but  older  forms  have 
been  found  in  the  Fort  Union  formation  which  is  Paleocene.  In  the  Eocene 
of  America,  two  distinct  groups  of  Primates  have  been  recognized,  each  with 
several  genera  and  species.  One  of  these,  as  shown  by  Matthew,  is  a  sub- 
family of  Tarsiidae,  and  includes  at  least  five  groups  of  supergeneric  rank. 
The  other  Eocene  group,  as  shown  by  Gregory,  is  a  subfamily  of  the  Euro- 
pean Eocene  family  Adapidae  (Notharctidae). 

Regarding  the  relationships  of  the  Eocene  Primates  and  especially  the 
Adapidae  to  the  living  groups  of  Primates,  there  exists  among  authorities 
considerable  difference  of  opinion.  But  there  has  been  a  rather  generally 
accepted  view  that  these  early  Primates  were,  at  least,  representative  of,  if 
not  ancestral  to  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  living  lemurs,  apes  and  monkeys. 
Gregory  attempts  to  show  from  the  lemur-like  characters  in  the  Notharctid 
group,  that  they  are  true  primitive  lemurs,  comprising  a  group  of  Primates 
"which  is  at  once  the  oldest  and  most  primitive  which  is  known  from  adequate 
material,"  establishing  an  early  skeletal  type  "relatively  near  to  the  base  of 
the  order,  and  representing  in  many  respects  the  earliest  ancestors  of  the 
higher  Primates."  Also  Gregory  describes  a  hypothetical  Paleocene  group 
ancestral  to  both  the  Tarsiidae  and  Adapidae  (Notharchidae)  of  the  Eocene. 

Mr.  Gidley  stated  that  his  researches  in  the  Paleocene  faunas  from  the 
Fort  Union  collection  in  the  National  Museum  reveals  four  groups  of  super- 
generic  importance ;  two  of  them  represent  new  subgroups  of  the  Tarsiidae 
as  defined  by  Matthew,  one  is  referable  to  one  of  Matthew's  Eocene  subgroups, 
and  the  fourth  represents  the  genus  Nothodectus,  described  by  Matthew  and 
referred  by  him  to  a  new  family,  the  Nothodectidae.  No  species  was  found 
fulfilling  the  requirements  of  a  near  relative  of  the  Notharctidae,  or  the  hy- 


MAY  19,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :   BIOI^OGICAIy  SOCIETY  253 

pothetical  Paleocene  group.  Hence  Dr.  Gregory's  contention  regarding  the 
evolutionary  status  of  the  Notharctid  group  is  not  well  founded.  This 
conclusion  Gidley  has  substantiated  by  a  restudy  of  the  Eocene  Primates, 
and  finds  that  the  Notharctids  could  not  have  given  rise  to  any  modern  le- 
murs, and  because  of  their  advanced  stage  of  development  cannot  be  con- 
sidered a  close  connecting  link  between  the  Primates  and  the  Insectivores  as 
advanced  by  Gregory.  Mr.  Gidley,  on  the  other  hand,  concludes  that  since  the 
subfamily  groups  of  the  Eocene,  which  were  represented  in  the  Paleocene,  are 
found  to  be  almost  as  clearly  marked  in  their  special  lines  of  development, 
the  origin  of  these  groups  is  still  more  remote  and  the  order  of  Primates  and 
its  families  have  been  established  longer  than  has  generally  been  conceded. 

Mr.  Gidley's  paper  was  discussed  by  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer. 

J.  M.  Aldrich:  An  entomologist  in  Alaska  (illustrated).  The  speaker 
visited  Alaska  last  summer  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  collection  of  insects 
of  the  interior  for  the  National  Museum.  He  went  by  steamer  to  Seward,  then 
up  the  new  government  railroad  to  Fairbanks,  and  returned  the  same  way. 
At  the  time  of  his  visit  there  was  an  unfinished  portion  of  the  railroad  of  some 
SO  miles;  he  rode  a  horse  across  this,  but  it  has  since  been  practically  com- 
pleted. Economic  conditions  in  the  interior  of  the  territory  he  described  as 
very  bad  on  account  of  the  abandonment  of  gold  mining  in  the  last  few  years. 
It  was  hoped  that  the  completion  of  the  railroad  would  reduce  operating 
costs  enough  to  warrant  a  resumption  of  mining,  upon  which  all  other  ac- 
tivities of  the  interior  depend. 

Alaska  as  far  as  seen  by  the  speaker  is  almost  wholly  forested  but  the  tim- 
ber aw^ay  from  the  coast  is  thin  and  small.  The  rainfall  is  very  heavy  along 
the  extreme  coast,  but  behind  the  first  ranges  it  is  much  less,  and  over  the 
main  expanse  of  territory  it  is  about  ten  or  eleven  inches;  even  at  the  coast 
north  of  the  Aleutian  peninsula  it  is  very  light.  Agriculture  however  has  been 
begun  in  some  sections.  Crops  grow  best  in  the  interior,  on  account  of  the 
hotter  summers ;  the  region  of  Fairbanks  has  considerable  possibilities  if  a  pop- 
ulation were  there  to  consume  the  farm  products.  Lack  of  market  at  pres- 
ent makes  the  business  impracticable. 

Entomologically  the  abundance  of  mosquitoes  is  one  of  the  chief  features. 
These  insects  make  life  a  burden  during  their  season,  June  and  July,  neces- 
sitating various  adaptations  for  protection  on  the  part  of  the  human  species. 
Horseflies  and  several  other  kinds  of  blood-sucking  flies  are  abundant  at 
times  or  in  particular  regions.  The  relations  of  the  fauna  are  with  the 
Canadian  zone  of  the  northern  part  of  the  United  States  and  the  higher 
Rocky  Mountains  in  the  States;  another  element  follows  the  Pacific  ocean 
southward  along  Puget  Sound  and  the  coast  of  Washington  and  Oregon ;  no 
doubt  other  elements  extend  to  Greenland  and  westward  across  Siberia, 
but  these  are  almost  wholly  unknown. 

Lantern  slides  were  shown  illustrating  the  vegetation,  islands,  mountains 
and  glaciers,  as  well  as  the  new  railroad  to  the  interior. 

Dr.  Hadwinn,  of  the  Biological  vSurvey,  was  introduced  by  Dr.  L.  O.  How- 
ard. Dr.  Hadwinn  campared  the  region  discussed  with  the  tundra  region 
in  which  his  collecting  was  done. 

63  1st  meeting  (42nd  annual  meeting) 

The  631st  regular  meeting  and  the  42nd  annual  meeting  of  the  Biological 
Society  of  Washington  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  December  10,  1921. 


254      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  10 

President  HoLLiSTER  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  8:15  o'clock,  with  21 
persons  present. 

Reports  were  received  from  the  Recording  Secretary,  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  Committee  on  Publications.  The  report  of  the  Treasurer  was 
read,  and  upon  the  hearing  of  the  Auditing  Committee,  consisting  of  Messrs. 
Oberholser,  Howell,  and  Goldman,  was  accepted.  A  Committee  of 
the  Council,  appointed  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  late  William  Palmer, 
presented  the  memorial,  which  was  ordered  inserted  in  the  minutes.  The 
Committee  consisted  of  Drs.  J.  N.  Rose,  Chas.  W.  Richmond,  Paul  Bartsch, 
and  Harry  C.  Oberholser.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  announced  the 
death  of  Mr.  S.  S.  Voorhees. 

The  balloting  for  officers  of  the  Society  and  Members  of  the  Council  re- 
sulted as  follows:  President,  Vernon  Bailey;  Vice  Presidents,  A.  S.  Hitch- 
cock, J.  W.  Gidley,  S.  a.  Rohwer,  Harry  C.  Oberholser;  Recording 
Secretary,  J.  M.  Aldrich;  Corresponding  Secretary,  T.  E.  Snyder;  Treas- 
urer, Frederick  C.  Lincoln.  Members  of  the  Council,  E.  A.  Goldman, 
H.  H.  T.  Jackson,  R.  E.  Coker,  R.  W.  Williams,  W.  R.  Maxon. 

Dr.  Hopkins  moved  the  nomination  of  Vernon  Bailey  as  one  of  the 
Vice  Presidents  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences. 

Dr.  Palmer  moved  that  the  joint  meeting  of  the  Society  of  Nov.  12,  1921, 
be  included  in  the  series  of  regular  meetings,  and  that  the  proper  consecu- 
tive number  be  resumed  in  January;   carried. 

During  the  intervals  of  the  balloting  the  following  brief  notes  were  given: 
Prof.  C.  V.  Piper:  Note  upon  Panicmn  kuntzii.  This  grass,  otherwise  rare, 
is  abundant  in  a  wide  region  in  Florida.  It  seems  not  to  have  been  recog- 
nized because  it  rarely  blooms.  It  is  locally  known  as  "cut-throat  grass" 
because  it  occurs  in  channels  called  "cut-throats."  Cattle  eating  the  grass 
become  salt  sick. 

Dr.  L.  O.  Howard  suggested  that  since  the  Society  is  one  of  the  few  re- 
maining strongholds  of  the  old  fashioned  natural  history,  that  a  program  be 
arranged  in  which  the  old  and  new  view-points  can  be  discussed.  Prof. 
Piper  stated  that  the  broader  point  of  view  is  emphasized  in  ShuU,  Larue, 
B.n6.^nt\w&n's  Principles  of  animal  biology.  Dr.  Howard  added  Needham's 
General  biology,  and  Cockerell's  Zoology.  Mr.  DoolittlE  said  that  the 
death  of  John  Burroughs  has  given  impetus  to  the  organizing  of  nature 
clubs  in  the  public  schools. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Lincoln  mentioned  the  peculiar  feeding  habits  in  North  Dakota 
of  the  sharp-tailed  grouse,  eating  service  berries,  and  buds  and  flowers  of  the 
rosinweed.  Prof.  Piper  and  Mr.  Goldman  commented  upon  the  great 
increase  of  the  Hungarian  partridge  in  the  Palouse  country  and  elsewhere  in 
Washington.     Dr.  Palmer  added  that  the  birds  were  introduced  in  1914. 

A.  A.  DooLiTTLE,  Recording  Secretary. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.12  June  4,  1922  No.  11 


BOTANY. — New  Passifloras  from  Mexico  and  Central  America.'^  E. 
P.  KiLLiP,  National  Museum.  (Communicated  by  William  R. 
Maxon.) 

For  some  time  past  the  writer  has  been  engaged  in  a  study  of  the 
tropical  North  American  species  of  Passiflora,  with  particular  reference 
to  Mexico  and  Central  America,  a  region  from  which  few  species  have 
been  described  since  Master's  comprehensive  revision  of  the  American 
species  in  1872.  Since  the  publication  of  final  results  is  unavoidably 
delayed,  it  seems  advisable  to  publish  in  advance  descriptions  of  cer- 
tain of  the  new  species,  in  order  that  the  names  may  be  available. 

Passiflora  {Cieca)  apetala  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Glabrous  throughout;  stem  angulate,  grooved;  tendrils  solitary;  stipules 
setaceous,  2  to  4  mm.  long;  petioles  1.5  to  3  cm.  long,  glandless;  leaves 
broadly  cuneate  in  outline,  3  to  7  cm.  long,  2  to  6  cm.  broad,  bilobate  (lobes 
subapproximate,  one-half  to  quite  as  long  as  the  undivided  portion  of  blade, 
obtuse,  mucronate),  at  base  subrotund  or  cuneate,  membranaceous,  strongly 
3-nerved;  peduncles  in  pairs,  slender,  2  cm.  long;  bracts  setaceous,  deciduous, 
2  to  3  mm.  long;  flowers  small,  1.2  to  l.<8  cm.  wide;  sepals  oblanceolate,  6  mm. 
long,  2.5  mm.  broad,  yellowish  green,  inconspicuously  nerved;  petals  none; 
filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  a  single  series,  filiform,  2.5  mm.  long;  middle 
corona  membranaceous,  plicate,  strongly  incurved  about  base  of  gynophore; 
basal  corona  annular;  gynophore  slender,  glabrous,  3  mm.  high;  filaments 
capillary,  2  mm.  long,  the  anthers  ovate,  1.5  mm.  long;  ovary  depressed- 
globose,  1  mm.  in  diameter,  glabrous;  styles  2.5  mm.  long,  filiform,  the 
stigmas  semiorbicular ;  fruit  black,  globose,  8  to  10  mm.  in  diameter;  seeds 
broadly  ovate,  2.5  mm.  long,  2  mm.  broad,  transversely  rugose  with  6  or  7 
nearly  parallel  ridges. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  358,766,  collected  on  Mount 
Irazii,  Costa  Rica,  altitude  1,000  meters,  December  11,  1898,  by  H.  Pittier 
(no.  13,043) ;  distributed  as  P.  dtcthophylla. 

The  foliage  of  this  plant  resembles  that  of  certain  species  of  the  section 
Decaloha  with  bilobate  leaves,  notable  Passiflora  ornithoura,  and  is  unlike 
that  of  most  of  its  apetalous  allies.     From  Passiflora  ornithoura  it  is  dis- 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Received 
May  3,  1922. 

255 


256       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  1 1 

tinguished  not  only  by  the  absence  of  petals  but  by  its  longer  and  narrower 
sepals  and  the  longer,  filiform  threads  of  its  faucial  corona. 

Passiflora  arida  (Mast.  &  Rose)  Killip. 

Passiflorafoetida  arida  Mast.  &  Rose,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  5:  182.  1899. 

Recent  collections  from  Lower  California  and  northwestern  Mexico  indi- 
cate that  this  plant  is  sufficiently  distinct  from  Passiflora  foetida  to  deserve 
specific  rank. 

Passiflora  {Dysosmia)  fruticosa  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Low  shrub  with  an  erect  caudex,  20  to  40  cm.  high,  and  a  few  short,  sprawl- 
ing branches ;  branches  and  tendrils  densely  white-lanate ;  stipules  semiannu- 
lar  about  the  stem,  deeply  cleft  into  filiform,  gland-tipped  divisions ;  petioles 
5  to  15  mm.  long,  densely  lanate,  destitute  of  true  petiolar  glands  but  bearing 
numerous  gland-tipped  hairs;  leaves  orbicular  in  outline,  usually  1.5  to  2 
cm.  long  and  broad,  rarely  up  to  3.5  cm.,  3-lobed  (lobes  subequal,  rounded), 
at  base  cordate,  3  to  5-nerved,  densely  glandular-ciliate,  lanate  with  soft, 
white  to  dark  brown  wool,  glutinous ;  peduncles  1  to  2.5  cm.  long;  bracts  2- 
or  3-pinnatisect,  hirsute,  copiously  covered  with  gland-tipped  hairs;  flowers 
2.5  to  3  cm.  in  diameter;  sepals  ovate-lanceolate,  1  to  1..3  cm  long,  0.6  cm. 
broad  at  base,  densely  velvety-pubescent  without,  glabrous  within;  petals 
5  to  7  mm.  long,  4  mm.  broad,  obovate,  glabrous;  filaments  of  faucial  corona 
in  several  series,  the  outer  two  or  three  about  1  cm.  long,  filamentous,  the 
succeeding  series  minute,  capillary,  1.5  to  2  ram.  long;  middle  corona  membra- 
nous, not  folded,  the  apex  minutely  denticulate;  basal  corona  membranous, 
1.5  mm.  high,  the  margin  entire,  recurved;  ovary  subglobose,  silky-pubescent; 
fruit  globose,  2.5  cm.  in  diameter,  densely  pubescent  with  long,  silky  hairs; 
seeds  oblong,  minutely  3-toothed  at  the  apex,  truncate  at  the  base,  flattened, 
5  mm.  long,  2.5  mm.  broad,  reticulate  with  about  25  meshes  to  each  face. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  638,347,  collected  at  Santa 
Maria  Bay,  Lower  California,  March  19,  1911,  by  J.  N.  Rose  (no.  16,285). 

In  addition  to  the  type,  specimens  from  Espiritu  Santo,  Magdalena  Island, 
and  San  Francisco  Island  have  been  examined.  Its  shrubby  aspect  and  ex- 
treme oiliness,  resulting  from  numerous  gland-tipped  hairs,  distinguish  this 
species  from  Passiflora  arida,  while  its  smaller  flowers,  its  proportionately 
broader  petals,  and  longer  faucial  corona  threads  differentiate  it  from  P.  pal- 
nieri. 

Passiflora  (Plectostemma)  cookii  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Glabrous  throughout;  stem  terete,  striate,  glaucous;  stipules  reniforra, 
1.5  cm.  long,  3  cm.  broad,  glaucous,  crenate;  petioles  3  to  4  cm.  long,  gland- 
less;  leaves  broadly  ovate,  8  cm.  long,  6  to  7  cm.  broad,  very  obscurely  3- 
lobed  (middle  lobe  deltoid,  obtuse,  mucronulate),  at  base  truncate,  dark 
green  above,  glaucous  beneath,  peltate  about  1.2  cm.  from  base,  quintupli- 
nerved;  peduncles  about  8  cm.  long;  bracts  not  seen;  flowers  white,  3.5  to 
4.5  cm.  wide;  sepals  ovate-lanceolate,  1.5  cm.  long,  1  to  1.2 cm.  broad,  obtuse; 
petals  ovate-lanceolate,  abruptly  narrowed  at  the  base,  obtuse,  1.5  cm.  long, 
0.8  cm.  broad,  white,  spotted  with  red;  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  2  series, 
those    of    the    outer    series    1    cm.    long,    dilated   at    the    apex,   those  of 


JUNE  4,  1922  killip:  new  passifloras  257 

the  inner  barely  3  mm.  in  length,  capitate;  middle  corona  mem- 
branous, plicate,  the  apex  incurved,  fimbrillate;  basal  corona  annular; 
g}mophore  1  cm.  high;  filaments  linear,  6  mm.  long,  1.6  mm.  wide,  white, 
spotted  with  red;  anthers  oblong,  5  mm.  long,  2.5  mm.  broad;  ovary  sub- 
globose;  styles  filiform,  4  mm.  long;  stigmas  reniform,  1  mm.  in  diameter. 
Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  408,302,  collected  near  Finca 
Sepacuite,  Alta  Verapaz,  Guatemala,  April  13,  1902,  by  O.  F.  Cook  and  R.  F. 
Griggs  (no.  593). 

But  one  specimen  of  this  species  has  been  examined  and  upon  this  no 
bracts  were  present.  In  other  respects  it  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  P. 
hahnii  and  it  is  to  be  suspected  that  it  has  foliaceous  deciduous  bracts.  It 
ma}^  be  distinguished  from  P.  hahnii  by  its  larger,  crenate  stipules,  the  glau- 
cous under  surface  of  the  leaves,  and  its  smaller  flowers.  From  P.  meni- 
hranacea,  another  species  of  this  group,  it  differs  in  its  spreading  sepals  and 
petals,  its  shorter  peduncles,  and  in  the  elongate  middle  lobe  of  its  leaves. 

Passiflora  {Plectostemma)  costaricensis  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  angulate,  hirsute  with  long,  spreading,  light-brown  hairs,  glabrescent 
below;  stipules  subulate,  6  to  8  mm.  long;  petioles  1.5  to  2  cm.  long,  densely 
hirsute,  glandless;  leaves  oval  or  suborbicular-oval  in  outline,  9  to  13  cm. 
long,  7  to  11  cm.  broad,  2-lobed  (lobes  deltoid,  acute  or  acuminate,  mucro- 
nate,  extending  about  one-third  the  length  of  blade,  subapproximate,  the 
terminal  sinus  nearly  semicircular),  at  base  rounded,  3-nerved,  membranous, 
hirsute,  especially  beneath;  peduncles  solitary,  1.5  cm.  long,  articulate  at 
the  middle,  sparingly  pilose;  bracts  none;  flowers  4.5  to  5  cm.  wide;  sepals 
linear -lanceolate,  2  cm.  long,  0.4  cm.  broad,  obtuse,  hirsute  without,  glabrous 
within,  the  central  portion  dark  green,  the  margin  hyaline,  white:  petals 
linear-oblong,  8  mm.  long,  2  mm.  broad,  obtuse,  hyaline;  filaments  of  faucial 
corona  in  a  single  series,  narrowly  ligulate,  as  long  as  the  petals;  middle 
corona  closely  plicate,  the  margin  incurved;  basal  corona  annular;  ovary 
minutely  puberulent;  fruit  ellipsoidal,  7  to  8  cm.  long,  1  to  1.5  cm.  in  diam- 
eter at  the  middle,  long- tapering  at  both  ends ;  seeds  slightly  flattened,  narrowly 
oblong,  3  mm.  long,  1.5  mm.  broad,  black,  shining,  transversely  rugose  with 
6  or  7  ridges,  the  ridges  smooth,  parallel,  the  axis  curved,  the  beak  0.9  mm. 
long,  recurved. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  941,592,  collected  in  the  forests 
of  Xirores,  Talamanca,  Costa  Rica,  February,  1895,  by  A.  Tonduz  (no. 
9327). 

Additional  Specimens  Examined: 

Guatemala:  Cubilquitz,  Alta  Verapaz,  alt.  350  meters,  September, 
1901,  von  Tuerckheim  (J.  D.  Smith,  no.  7877). 

Costa  Rica:  Las  Vueltas,  Tucurrique,  January,  1899,  Tonduz  13,146. 
Between  La  Junta  and  Florida,  July  11,  1920,  Rowlee  &  Stork  619.  Livings- 
ton, on  Rio  Reventazon,  July  11,  1920,  Rowlee  &  Stork  723. 

This  species  is  to  be  distinguished  from  Passiflora  capsularis  by  the  shape 
of  the  leaves  and  the  character  of  the  faucial  corona.  In  P.  costaricensis 
the  leaves  are  longer  than  broad  and  are  rounded  at  the  base;  they  have  a 
semicircular  sinus,  formed  by  relatively  approximate  lobes.     In  P.  capsu- 


258       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  11 

laris  the  leaves  are  broader  than  long  and  are  cordate  at  the  base ;  they  have 
an  irregular  sinus,  formed  by  widely  divergent  lobes  and  a  more  or  less  prom- 
inent intermediate  lobe.  The  faucial  corona  filaments  are  2-ranked  in  P. 
CQstaricensis  and  1 -ranked  in  P.  capsularis. 

Passiflora  {Plectostemma)  heydei  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  obscurely  4-angled,  grooved,  glabrate  below,  sparingly  hispidulous 
above;  tendrils  solitary,  glabrate  or  hispidulous;  stipules  in  pairs,  oblong- 
falcate,  6  mm.  long,  3  mm.  broad,  long-cuspidate,  minutely  hispidulous, 
sparsely  ciliate;  petioles  2  to  5  cm.  long,  flattened,  hispidulous,  biglandular, 
the  glands  borne  within  1  cm.  of  the  apex,  clavate,  1..5  mm.  long,  0.8  to  1  mm. 
in  diameter;  leaves  suborbicular-ovate  or  deltoid  in  outline,  5  to  8  cm.  long, 
6  to  10  cm.  broad,  3-lobed  to  slightly  below  the  middle  (lobes  acute,  the 
central  one  ovate  or  ovate-lanceolate,  narrowed  or  frequently  broadest  at 
the  base,  the  lateral  divergent  at  an  angle  of  about  70°  from  the  midrib), 
deeply  cordate  at  base,  3-nerved,  repandly  dentate  or  denticulate  with  mu- 
cronulate  teeth,  membranous,  dark  green  and  hispidulous  with  minute 
hooked  hairs  above,  paler  and  densely  soft-pubescent  beneath;  penduncles 
in  pairs,  densely  hispidulous,  1.5  to  2  cm.  long,  spreading  at  right  angles; 
bracts  3,  setaceous,  2.5  to  3  mm.  long,  borne  about  1  cm.  below  the  base  of 
the  flower,  approximate  or  the  uppermost  slightly  remote;  flowers  about  2 
cm.  wide;  sepals  linear-oblong,  1  to  1.3  cm.  long,  3  mm.  broad,  obtuse, 
densely  hispid  and  green  outside,  inside  glabrous,  white,  mottled  with  red,  the 
apex  terminating  in  a  horn  about  3.5  mm.  long;  petals  linear-lanceolate,  7 
mm.  long,  2  mm.  broad,  obtuse,  white  (?);  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  a 
single  series,  capillary,  5  to  6  mm.  long ;  middle  corona  membranous,  plicate, 
the  margin  slightly  incurved,  crenulate;  secondary  middle  corona  annular, 
midway  between  the  preceding  and  the  base  of  the  gynophore;  basal  corona 
arising  at  the  base  of  the  gynophore,  membranous,  adnate  to  the  floor  of  the 
tube,  at  length  free,  2  mm.  long;    gynophore  glabrous,  4  or  5-angled,  about 

1  mm.  in  diameter,  swollen  at  the  base  to  a  diameter  of  2  mm. ;  anthers  ovate, 

2  mm.  long,  1.5  mm.  broad;  ovary  subglobose,  densely  hispidulous,  glaucous; 
fruit  globose,  2  cm.  in  diameter,  hispidulous,  glaucous;  seeds  somewhat  com- 
pressed, obovoid,  4  mm.  long,  abruptly  tapering  at  the  base,  mucronate  at 
the  apex,  reticulate,  the  central  mesh  or  the  2  central  meshes  1  mm.  in  diam- 
eter, the  surrounding  8  or  9  meshes  averaging  0.8  mm.  in  diameter. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  207,154,  collected  at  Casillas, 
Department  of  Santa  Rosa,  Guatemala,  September,  1892,  by  Heyde  and  Lux 
(J.  D.  Smith,  no.  3772) ;  distributed  as  "Passiflora  sicyoides  Cham.  ?  aut  n.  sp.  ?" 
Duplicates  in  the  Gray  and  John  Donnell  Smith  herbaria. 

In  the  shape  of  its  leaves  and  the  size  of  its  seeds  this  species  resembles  P. 
exsvidans  Zucc.  It  is  readily  distinguished  .by  the  location  of  the  petiolar 
glands  at  the  apex  of  the  petioles  and  by  its  densely  hispidulous,  glaucous 
fruit. 

Passiflora  {Plectostemma)  panamensis  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Glabrous  throughout;  stem  angulate,  grooved,  flexuous;  tendrils  filiform, 
very  slender;  stipules  linear-falcate,  4  to  5  mm.  long;  petioles  1.5  to  2.5  cm. 
long,  glandless;  leaves  suborbicular  in  outline,  5  to  8  cm.  long,  5  to  7  cm. 
broad,    3-lobed    (the   lobes   approximate,    subequal   or   the   middle   slightly 


JUNE  4,  1922  KILLIP:  NEW  PASSIFLORAS  259 

longer,  about  one-third  the  length  of  blade,  triangular,  acute  or  somewhat 
obtuse,  mucronate),  rounded  or  subpeltate  at  base,  subpergamentaceous, 
3-nerved,  ocellate  beneath  ;  peduncles  2.5  to  4  cm.  long,  articulate  about  6 
mm.  below  the  flower;  bracts  setaceous,  deciduous,  two  borne  at  the  point  of 
articulation,  the  third  near  the  middle  of  the  peduncle;  flower  about  3  cm. 
wide;  sepals  oblong-lanceolate,  1.2  to  1.4  cm.  long,  6  to 7 mm.  broad,  obtuse, 
yellowish  green;  petals  rose-colored,  spatulate,  8  mm.  long,  3  to  4  mm. 
broad;  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  2  series,  the  outer  7  mm.  long,  dilated 
and  3-angled  toward  the  apex,  the  inner  3  mm.  long,  capillary  and  minutely 
capitellate;  middle  corona  membranous,  pink,  plicate,  erect,  crenulate; 
basal  corona  annular;  anthers  linear-oblong  2.5  to  3  mm.  long;  ovary  globose 
sparingly  strigillose;  styles  subangulate,  3.5  mm.  long;  fruit  globose,  2  cm. 
in  diameter,  glabrate;  seeds  straw-colored,  obovate,  apiculate,  strongly 
flattened,  transversely  rugose  with  about  6  sharp  somewhat  rugulose 
ridges. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  715,818,  collected  along  the 
Sambii  River,  southern  Darien,  Panama,  above  the  tide  limit,  February, 
1912,  by  H.  Pittier  (no.  5556). 

The  lobation  of  the  leaves  of  this  species  differs  materially  from  that  of 
its  nearest  allies.  The  arrangement  and  appearance  of  the  coronae  suggest 
P.  hiflora,  but  the  flower  is  larger,  the  petals  are  rose-colored,  and  the  leaves 
are  distinctly  3-lobed,  the  middle  lobe  generally  being  slightly  the  largest. 

Passiflora  (Plectostemma)  rovirosae  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  4-angled,  striate,  glabrate  below,  pubescent  or  pilosulous  above; 
stipules  narrowly  falcate-subulate,  8  to  10  mm.  long;  petioles  densely  pubes- 
cent, 1.5  to  2  cm.  long,  glandless;  leaves  subtruncate-ovate  in  outline, 
8  to  10  cm.  long,  6  to  7  cm.  broad,  bilobate  (lobes  one-eighth  to  one-quarter 
the  length  of  blade,  somewhat  divergent,  acute,  mucronulate) ,  deeply  cordate 
at  base,  slightly  narrowed  toward  apex,  membranous,  above  dark  green, 
glabrate,  or  puberulent  on  the  nerves,  beneath  pale,  densely  pubescent  or 
tomentulous;  peduncles  1  to  1.5  cm.  long,  1-flowered,  in  pairs  on  short, 
axillary,  often  leafy,  puberulent  branches  1  to  2  cm.  long,  the  inflorescence 
thus  appearing  racemose ;  bracts  none ;  flowers  3  to  4  cm.  wide ;  sepals  oblong, 
1.3  to  1.5  cm.  long,  0.4  cm.  broad,  obtuse;  petals  oblong,  obtuse,  0.9  to  1.1 
cm.  long,  0.3  cm.  broad;  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  two  series,  the  outer 
filiform,  about  1  cm.  long,  the  inner  capillary,  barely  4  mm.  long;  middle 
corona  membranous,  erect,  4  to  5  mm.  high,  closely  plicate;  basal  corona 
annular;  gynophore  angled,  7  mm.  high,  glabrous;  ovary  narrowly  ovoid, 
6-angled,  canescent;  anthers  oblong,  4  mm.  long,  1.5  mm.  broad;  styles 
capillary,  6  mm.  long;  stigmas  reniform,  2  mm.  broad;  fruit  ellipsoid  or 
fusiform,  tapering  at  both  ends,  4  to  5  cm.  long,  1.2  to  1.5  cm.  in  diameter 
at  the  middle. 

Type  in  the  herbarium  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia, 
collected  at  Atasta,  Tabasco,  Mexico,  June  15,  1890,  by  J.  N.  Rovirosa 
(no.  813).     Photograph  in  U.  S.  National  Herbarium. 

Additional  specimen  examined: 
Veracruz:   Misantla,  Pur  pus  5881. 

The  fruit  of  this  species  indicates  relationship  with  Passiflora  capsularis, 


260       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  11 

from  which  it  can  be  distinguished  by  its  longer  leaves  and  by  the  inflorescence. 
Its  peduncles  are  borne  in  pairs  on  short,  axillary  branches,  rather  than 
singly  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves  of  the  main  stem. 

Passiflora  (Plectostemma)  talamancensis  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  angulate,  striate,  minutely  puberulent;  stipules  linear-subulate, 
3  to  8  mm.  long;  petioles  1  to  2  cm.  long,  puberulent  or  tomentellous,  glandless; 
leaves  cuneate-obovate  or  cuneate-oval  in  outline,  6  to  12  cm.  long,  3  to  7  cm. 
broad,  very  shortly  3-lobed  or  3-toothed  at  apex  (middle  lobe  normally  long- 
est, 5  to  10  mm.  long,  usually  deltoid),  cuneate  or  rounded  at  base,  narrowed 
above  the  middle,  subcoriaceous,  glabrous  and  lustrous  above,  dull  and 
puberulent  beneath,  strongly  3-nerved,  ocellate  beneath;  peduncles  slender, 
2  to  4  cm.  long;  bracts  setaceous,  2  mm.  long,  deciduous;  flowers  2.5  to 
3.5  cm.  wide;  sepals  oblong,  obtuse,  about  1.5  cm.  long,  0.5  cm.  broad, 
green  without,  white  within;  petals  two-thirds  as  long  as  the  sepals,  white; 
filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  two  series,  those  of  the  outer  series  falcate- 
spatulate,  5  to  7  mm.  long,  white  (?),  those  of  the  inner  series  capillary,  1.5 
mm.  long,  white,  purple  at  the  tips;  middle  corona  close  to  the  faucial,  mem- 
branous, plicate,  2  mm.  long,  erect,  the  margin  minutely  crenulate,  slightly 
recurved;  basal  corona  annular;  gynophore  glabrous,  purple-striate ;  ovary 
globose,  densely  tomentellous;  styles  filiform,  4  mm.  long;  stigmas  reniform; 
seeds  ovate,  4  mm.  long,  2  mm.  broad,  transversely  rugose  with  6  or  7  mi- 
nutely rugulose  ridges,  asymmetrical,  the  margin  bearing  a  single  knob  on  one 
side  just  below  the  apex. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  941,000,  collected  in  forests  at 
Xirores,  Talamanca,  Costa  Rica,  at  an  altitude  of  100  meters,  February, 
1895,  by  A.  Tonduz  (no.  9329). 

In  texture  the  foliage  of  this  species  resembles  that  of  Passiflora  trisetosa. 
The  leaves,  however,  are  larger  and  more  elongate,  and  the  central  lobe  is 
much  more  prominent.  The  flowers  of  the  two  species  present  certain  im- 
portant differences.  P.  talamancensis  has  a  2-ranked  faucial  corona,  an 
erect  middle  corona,  and  a  globose,  softly  tomentellous  ovary.  Passi- 
flora trisetosa  has  a  single-ranked  faucial  corona,  an  incurved  middle  corona, 
and  an  ovoid,  strigillose  ovary. 

Passiflora  (Granadilla)  platyloba  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  stout,  terete,  striate,  glabrous;  stipules  coriaceous,  narrowly  linear, 
1  to  1.2  cm.  long,  strongly  3-nerved,  orange-yellow,  deciduous;  petioles  6  to 
7  cm.  long,  glabrous,  bearing  about  2  cm.  above  the  base  two  sessile,  flattened 
glands  2  mm.  in  diameter;  leaves  suborbicular-ovate  in  outline,  10  to  14 
cm.  long,  12  to  18  cm.  broad,  3-lobed  to  the  middle  (the  central  lobe  broadly 
ovate,  abruptly  acuminate,  mucronate,  8  to  9  cm.  long,  7  to  8  cm.  broad, 
the  lateral  lobes  divergent  from  the  midrib  at  an  angle  of  about  45°),  at  base 
deeply  cordate,  crenulate  or  subentire,  biglandular  in  the  sinuses,  3  to  5-nerved 
membranous,  glabrous;  peduncles  solitary,  6  to  7  cm.  long;  bracts  ovate, 
entire,  5  to  6  cm.  long,  3  to  4  cm.  broad,  membranous,  attached  1  cm.  below 
the  apex  of  the  petiole,  completely  enveloping  the  flower,  united  for  about  2 
cm.,  acute,  densely  puberulent  on  both  surf  aces ;  flower  purple,  4  to  5  cm.  in  di- 
ameter, the  tube  1  cm.  long;  sepals  oblong-lanceolate,  1.8  to  2  cm.  long,  0.8 
cm.  broad,  slightly  fleshy,  obtuse,  strongly  keeled,  the  keel  terminating  in  a 


JUNE  4,  1922  KILLIP:  NEW  PASSIFLORAS  261 

setaceous  awn  5  to  6  mm.  long;  petals  linear-lanceolate,  1.5  to  1.7  cm.  long, 
0.5  cm.  broad,  thin,  obtuse;  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  several  series,  the 
outermost  slender,  filiform,  7  mm.  long,  the  second  series  stout,  liguliform, 
attenuate  at  apex,  1.5  cm.  long,  white,  banded  transversely  with  purple, 
the  succeeding  series  of  about  6  irregular  rows  of  minute  tubercles  less  than 

1  mm.  long;  middle  corona  arising  at  base  of  the  innermost  of  the  latter 
rows,  0.75  mm.  long,  the  margin  erect,  denticulate;  secondary  middle  corona 
annular,  midway  between  the  preceding  and  base  of  gynophore,  the  margin 
entire ;  basal  corona  fleshy,  closely  surrounding  and  adnate  to  the  lower  part 
of  g\^nophore,  3  mm.  high,  the  margin  free,  erect;  gynophore  stout,  grooved, 
glabrous,  bearing  1  mm.  above  the  margin  of  the  basal  corona  a  single  annular 
process  0.4  mm.  wide;  filaments  flattened,  7  mm.  long,  1.2  mm.  wide;  anthers 
linear,  10  mm.  long,  2  mm.  broad;   ovary  elipsoidal,  glabrate. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no  678,715,  collected  at  La  Blasa 
de  Rio  Grande,  Province  of  Alajuela,  Costa  Rica,  June  2,  1911,  by  H.  Pit- 
tier  (no.  3653). 

This  species  resembles  3-lobed  forms  of  Passiflora  seemanni.  Its  bracts 
are  much  longer  and  completely  envelop  the  flower;  they  are  of  a  thicker 
texture,  are  acute  rather  than  rounded  at  the  apex,  and  are  densely  puberu- 
lent  on  both  surfaces.  The  sinuses  between  the  central  and  the  lateral  leaf- 
lobes  are  biglandular.  In  Passiflora  platyloha  the  lower  portion  of  the  fau- 
cial corona  consists  of  4  or  5  definite  rows  of  tubercles;  in  P.  seemanni  the 
tubercles  are  densely  massed,  apparently  not  being  arranged  in  any  definite 
order. 

Passiflora  (Granadilla)  purpusii  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  terete,  striate,  glabrate;  stipules  in  pairs,  foliaceous,  semiovate, 
rounded  at  the  base,  cuspidate,  2.2  to  2.5  cm.  long,  1  cm.  broad,  glabrous, 
dark  green  above,  glaucous  beneath;  petioles  4  to  4.5  cm.  long,  glabrous, 
bearing  in  the  upper  half  4  to  6  stipitate  glands  1.2  mm.  long;  leaves  ovate,  10 
to  13  cm.  long,  5  to  9  cm.  wide,  long-acuminate,  entire,  shallowly  cordate, 
membranous,  above  dark  green  and  glabrous  or  minutely  scabrous  on  the 
nerves,  beneath  glaucescent,  pilosulous  or  occasionally  glabrous,  quintu- 
plinerved  from  base;  peduncles  3  to  3.5  cm.  long,  glabrous;  bracts  free  to 
the  base,  ovate-oblong,  about  1.5  cm.  long,  7  mm.  wide,  glabrate,  dark 
green  above,  glaucous  beneath;  flowers  4  to  5  cm.  wide;  sepals  lanceolate 
or  narrowly  ovate-lanceolate,  2  cm.  long,  united  at  base  for  a  distance  of 
about  6  mm.,  cucullate  at  apex,  keeled  on  the  outer  surface,  the  keel  termi- 
nating in  an  incurved  awn  5  mm.  long;  petals  linear,  1  to  1.2  cm.  long, 
3  to  4  mm.  broad;  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  about  four  series,  those  of 
the  outermost  series  narrowly  linear,  filiform  at  the  tips,  1.2  to  1.5  cm.  long, 
those  of  the  succeeding  series  narrowly  linear,  slightly  capitellate,  nearly 
equal  in  length,  3  mm.  long;  middle  corona  membranous,  erect  or  slightly  in- 
curved, the  upper  half  cleft  into  linear  threads;  secondary  middle  corona 
a  minute  fleshy  ring  on  the  floor  of  the  flower  tube,  halfway  between  middle 
corona  and  basal  corona ;  basal  corona  membranous,  erect,  closely  surrounding 
base  of  gynophore,  5  mm.  high,  the  margin  flaring  outward,  crenulate;  gyno- 
phore glabrous,  1.3  to  1.5  cm.  long  (at  anthesis) ;   anthers  linear,  8  mm.  long, 

2  mm.  broad;  ovary  ovoid,  glabrous;  styles  8  mm.  long;  stigmas  reniform; 
fruit  not  seen. 


262       JOURNAI,  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.   11 

Type  in  the  U  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  877,596,  collected  at  Zacuapan, 
Veracruz,  Mexico,  June,  1916,  by  C.  A.  Purpus  (no.  7664).  Duplicate  in 
the  herbarium  of  the  University  of  California.  Purpus  3689,  from  the  same 
locality,  is  also  this  species. 

Passiflora  (Granadilla)  williamsii  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  stout,  terete,  minutely  puberulent;    stipules  filiform,  6  to  7  mm. 
long;  petioles  4.5  cm.  long,  densely  puberulent,  biglandular  about  1  cm.  from 
the  base,  the  glands  orbicular,  appressed,  2  mm.  in  diameter;   leaves  broadly 
ovate  in  outline,  10  cm.  long,  9  to  10  cm.  broad,  3-lobed  to  middle  (lobes  acute, 
the  middle  one  narrowed  at  base),  serrulate,  biglandular  in  the  sinuses,  at 
base   truncate   or   slightly   subcordate,    3-nerved,    membranous,    the    upper 
surface  glabrate,  puberulent  on  the  nerves,  the  lower  surface  minutely  puberu- 
lent; peduncles  3  cm.  long,  densely  pubescent;  bracts  united  at  the  base,  the 
free  part  2  cm.  long,  1.5  cm.  broad,  tomentulose  on  both  surfaces;  flowers  about 
6  cm.  wide,  the  tube  1.2  cm.  long;   sepals  oblong,  2.5  to  3.5  cm.  long,  1.2  to  1.5 
cm.  broad,  obtuse,  puberulent  without,  glabrate  within,  inconspicuously  keeled, 
slender-awned  about  2  mm.  from  the  apex,  the  awn  3  mm.  long;  petals  oblong- 
spatulate,  2  cm.  long,  5  mm.  broad,  greenish  without,  within  white,  spotted 
with  dark  pink;    filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  several  series,  the  outermost 
terete,   6  to  7  mm.  long,  white,  transversely  banded  with  blue,  the  next 
series  dilated  at  the  middle,  2  to  2.5  cm.  long,  the  succeeding  series  minute, 
tuberculate,  1.5  mm.  high;    middle  corona  arising  close  to  the  faucial,  mem- 
branous,  horizontally   spreading   inward,    2   mm.   long,   the   margin  entire, 
curved  downward;    secondary  middle  corona  annular,  midway  between  the 
preceding  and  the  base  of  the  gynophore;    basal  corona  fleshy,  closely  sur- 
rounded and  adnate  to  the  lower  part  of  the  gynophore,  5  mm.  high,  the 
margin  free,  erect;   g)mophore  1.5  to  2  cm.  high,  2  mm.  in  diameter,  bearing 
about  7  mm.  above  its  base  a  fleshy  annular  process  0.5  mm.  wide,  its  margin 
recurved;    filaments  linear-spatulate,  flattened,  1.5  mm.  broad;    anthers  ob- 
long, obtuse  at  both  ends,  8  mm.  long,  3  mm.  wide;    ovary  narrowly  ovoid, 
densely  white-tomentulose ;    styles  terete,  glabrous;    stigmas  globose,  3  mm. 
in  diameter. 

Type  in  the  herbarium  of  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden,  collected  at 
Bismarck,  above  Penonome,  Panama,  altitude  600  to  925  meters,  March 
5  to  19,  1908,  by  R.  S.  WilHams  (no.  585).  Photograph  in  the  U.  S.  National 
Herbarium. 

Passiflora  williamsii  belongs  to  the  group  of  the  subgenus  Granadilla  which 
is  characterized  by  partially  united  bracts.  From  P.  seemanni,  P.  platyloha, 
and  P.  ligularis,  the  other  representatives  of  this  group,  it  is  readily  distin- 
guished by  its  leaves,  which  are  truncate  or  very  shallowly  cordate  at  base 
and  densely  puberulent  beneath.  In  the  three  other  species  the  leaves  are 
deeply  cordate  and  entirely  glabrous. 

ZOOLOGY. — New  species  and  subspecies  of  Sorex  from  western  Amer- 
ica^     Hartley  H.  T.  Jackson,  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey. 

Investigations  upon  American  Soricidae  for  the  United  States  Bio- 

1  Received  April  27,  1922. 


JUNE  4,  1922  JACKSON:  SOREX  263 

logical  Survey  show  that  in  order  to  indicate  properly  the  relationships 
of  the  various  forms  of  the  genus  Sorex  it  is  necessary  to  describe  four 
new  species  and  subspecies.  Inasmuch  as  completion  of  my  studies 
of  this  genus  is  now  within  sight,  the  descriptions  and  remarks  on  these 
new  forms  are  here  much  abbreviated.  More  detailed  descriptions 
and  discussion  of  relationships  will  be  presented  in  the  monograph. 

Sorex  preblei,2  sp.  nov. 

Type  specimen. — No.  208,032,  U.  S.  National  Museum,  Biological  Survey 
collection;  male  adult  (teeth  moderately  worn),  skin  and  skull;  collected 
July  3,  1915,  by  Edward  A.  Preble.     Original  number  5972. 

Type  locality. — Jordan  Valley,  altitude  4,200  feet,  Malheur  County, 
Oregon. 

Geographic  range. — Known  only  from  eastern  Oregon. 

Diagnostic  characters. — Smallest  of  the  western  forms  of  the  personatus 
group;  color  paler  and  more  grayish  than  in  Sorex  personatus  personatus; 
hind  foot  small.  Skull  relatively  flattened,  small,  with  relatively  short 
rostrum. 

Color. — ^Summer  pelage:  Upperparts  between  hair-brown^  and  olive-drab, 
paling  on  the  sides;  underparts  pale  smoke  gray  very  faintly  tinged  with 
cartridge  buff.  Tail  above  olive-buff  basally,  darkening  to  clove-brown 
toward  tip ;   avellaneous  below,  darkening  apically. 

Measurements  of  type  specimen. — -Total  length,  95 ;  tail  vertebrae,  36 ;  hind 
foot,  11.  Skull:  Condylobasal  length,  14.6;  palatal  length,  5.4;  breadth 
of  cranium,  7.1;  interorbital  breadth,  3.1;  maxillary  breadth,  4.2;  maxil- 
lary tooth  row,  5.1. 

Sorex  obscurus  isolatus,  subsp.  nov. 

Type  specimen. — No.  177,719,  U.  S.  National  Museum,  Biological  Survey 
collection;  male  adult  (teeth  moderately  worn),  skin  and  skull;  collected 
May  21,  1911  by  F.  Alexander  Wetmore.     Original  number  517. 

Type  locality. — Mouth  of  Millstone  Creek,  Nanaimo,  Vancouver  island, 
British  Columbia. 

Geographic  range. — Known  only  from  Vancouver  Island,  British  Columbia. 

Diagnostic  characters. — About  the  size  of  Sorex  obsctirus  obscurus  or  5.  o. 
parvidens,  but  darker  than  either,  particularly  on  the  ventral  parts  which 
are  also  decidedly  more  brownish.  Unicuspidate  teeth  smaller  than  in  obscurus, 
and  the  posterior  borders  of  molariform  teeth  tending  to  be  more  deeply 
emarginate. 

Color. — Winter  pelage :  Upperparts  nearest  chaetura  drab  mixed  with  gray- 
ish, gradually  blending  into  color  of  underparts,  which  are  smoke  gray  tinged 
with  drab;  tail  indistinctly  bicolor,  olive-brown  above,  buffy  brown  to  almost 
tawny-olive  below. 

Measurements  of  type  specimen. — Total  length,  113;  tail  vertebrae.  49; 
hind  foot,  14.  Skull:  Condylobasal  length,  17.4;  palatal  length,  6.6;  breadth 
of  cranium,  8.5;  interorbital  breadth,  3.5;  maxillary  breadth,  4.9;  maxillary 
tooth  row,  6.3. 

-  Named  for  the  collector  Mr.  Edward  A.  Preble,  friend  and  coworker,  in  recognition  of 
his  services  and  contributions  to  American  mammalogy. 

'  Colors  here  used  are  those  of  Ridgway,  Color  standards  and  color  nomenclature,  1912. 


264       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOI..   12,  NO.   11 

Sorex  trigonirostris,  sp.  nov. 

Type  specimen. — No.  203,608,  U.  S.  National  Museum,  Biological  Survey 
collection ;  female  adult  (teeth  slightly  worn) ,  skin  and  skull ;  collected  May 
5,  1914,  by  Luther  J.  Goldman.     Original  number  1308. 

Type  locality. — Ashland,   altitude   1,975  feet,   Jackson   County,   Oregon. 

Geographic  range. — Known  only  from  near  Ashland,  Oregon. 

Diagnostic  characters. — Similar  in  size  and  color  to  Sorex  ornatus  cali- 
fornicus;  mastoid  region  of  skull  more  angular  and  prominent  than  in  any 
other  form  of  the  ornatus  group ;  rostrum  shorter  and  more  angular,  the  sides 
less  outwardly  curved  than  in  calif  amicus . 

Color. — Summer  pelage:  Upperparts  grayish  hair-brown,  becoming  drab 
on  the  sides;  underparts  between  pale  smoke  gray  and  pale  olive-gray,  very 
faintly  tinged  with  pale  olive-buff;  tail  olive-brown  above,  avellaneous 
below  nearly  to  tip. 

Measurements  of  type  specimen. — Total  length,  95;  tail  vertebrae,  34; 
hind  foot,  12.  Skull:  Condylobasal  length,  15.6;  palatal  length,  5.8;  breadth 
of  cranium,  7.9;  interorbital  breadth,  3.4;  maxillary  breadth,  4.5;  maxil- 
lary tooth  row,  5.5. 

Sorex  trowbridgii  humboldtensis,  subsp.  nov. 

Type  specimen. — No.  97,271,  U.  S.  National  Museum,  Biological  Survey 
collection;  male  adult  (teeth  slightly  worn),  skin  and  skull;  collected  June 
11,  1899,  by  Walter  K.  Fisher.     Original  number  914. 

Type  locality. — Carson's  Camp,  Mad  River,  Humboldt  Bay,  Humboldt 
County,  California. 

Geographic  range. — Coast  region  of  Humboldt  and  northern  Mendocino 
Counties,  California. 

Diagnostic  characters.- — Intermediate  in  general  between  Sorex  trowbridgii 
trowbridgii  and  5.  t.  montereyensis .  About  the  color  of  Sorex  t.  trowbridgii,  but 
tending  to  be  larger,  with  larger  and  broader  skull  and  heavier  dentition. 
Averaging  a  trifle  darker  and  less  brownish  than  Sorex  t.  montereyensis,  with 
relatively  longer  tail;    skull  with  narrower  rostrum  and  weaker  dentition. 

Color. — Summer  pelage:  Upperparts  between  deep  mouse  gray  and  chae- 
tura  drab  or  slightly  paler;  underparts  similar  in  color  to  dorsal  parts, 
scarcely  if  at  all  paler;  tail  sharply  bicolor,  fuscous  to  chaetura  black  above, 
whitish  below. 

Measurements  of  type-specimen. — Total  length,  132;  tail  vertebrae,  62; 
hind  foot,  14.  Skull:  Condylobasal  length,  17.8;  palatal  length,  7.2;  breadth 
of  cranium,  8.9;  interorbital  breadth,  4.1;  maxillary  breadth,  5.4;  maxillary 
tooth  row,  6.7. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 

857th  MEETING^ 

The  857th  meeting  (the  51st  annual  meeting)  of  the  Philosophical  Society 
was  held  in  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium,  December  3,  1921.     It  was  called 

1  A  report  of  the  858th  meeting  was  published  in  this  Journal  12:    186-188.     1922. 


JUNE  4,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  265 

to  order  at  8:15  p.m.  by  Vice-President  White.  Thirty-nine  persons  were 
present. 

The  report  of  the  Secretaries  showed  the  present  active  membership  of  the 
Society  to  be  228,  a  gain  of  15  during  the  year.  The  following  officers  were 
elected  for  the  j^ear  1922:  President,  E.  C.  Crittenden;  Vice-Presidents, 
J.  A.  Fleming  and  D.  L.  Hazard;  Treasurer,  W.  R.  Gregg;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  C.  A.  Briggs;  M ember s-at-large  of  the  General  Committee,  H.  A. 
Marmer  and  Irwin  G.  Priest. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  business  of  the  Annual  Meeting  ,  Mr.  W.  J.  Hum- 
phreys addressed  the  Society  on  the  subject  of  Fogs  and  clouds.  The  ad- 
dress was  illustrated  by  means  of  numerous  lantern  slides,  and  dealt  partic- 
ularly with  the  different  kinds  of  clouds  and  their  methods  of  formation. 

859th  meeting 

The  859th  meeting  of  the  Philosophical  Society  was  held  in  the  Cosmos 
Club  auditorium,  January  14,  1922,  with  President  Crittenden  in  the  chair, 
and  65  persons  in  attendance. 

The  address  of  the  evening  was  given  by  the  retiring  president,  R.  L. 
Paris,  on  So'tne  problems  of  the  sea.  It  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Abbott,  Mar- 
mer, SosMAN,  William  Bowie,  Burgess,  Crittenden,  and  White.  It 
has  been  published  in  full  in  the  Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of 
Sciences  (12  :  117-132.     1922). 

H.  H.  Kimball,  Recording  Secretary. 

860th  meeting 

The  860th  meeting  was  held  jointly  with  the  Washington  Academy  op 
Sciences  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  January  28,  1922,  President  Humphreys  of 
the  Academy  presiding.  In  opening  the  meeting  Dr.  Humphreys  stated 
that  the  snowfall  during  the  preceding  24  hours  had  been  more  than  double 
that  recorded  in  Washington  for  any  previous  24-hour  period.  The  atten- 
dance at  the  meeting  was  21. 

Professor  L.  T.  Troland  of  Harvard  University  read  a  paper  on  Psycho- 
physics  as  the  key  to  the  mysteries  of  physics  and  metaphysics.  This  paper  has 
been  printed  in  full  in  the  Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy.^ 

The  paper  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Hawksworth,  Willl\mson,  Sosman, 
Priest,  Crittenden,  Heyl,  Foote,  H.  E.  Ives,  Tuckerman,  and  Hum- 
phreys. E.  C.  Crittenden,  Recording  Secretary,  Pro  tem. 

861st  meeting 

The  861st  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium,  February  11, 
1922,  with  President  Crittenden  in  the  chair  and  40  persons  present.  The 
following  program  was  given: 

Edward  Wichers:  The  purification  of  certain  elements  in  the  platinum 
group. 

(Author's  abstract.)  The  need  for  public  information  on  the  elements  of 
the  platinum  group  led  the  Bureau  of  Standards  to  conduct  an  investigation 
of  the  properties  of  these  elements  and  their  alloys.  The  precision  required 
in  the  determination  of  physical  properties  made  it  necessary  to  prepare  each 
of  the  elements  in  a  state  of  highest  possible  purity.  These  very  pure  metals 
will  also  be  used  as  material  for  the  study  of  analytical  methods  for  the  plati- 
num group. 

2  This  Journal  12:   141-162.     1922. 


266       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  11 

Two  methods  for  the  isolation  of  a  chemical  individual  were  discussed. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  treatment  of  a  solution  containing  two  elements  in 
such  a  way  as  to  obtain  a  compound  of  one  element  with  properties  char- 
acteristically different  from  the  analogous  compound  of  the  other  element. 
An  example  was  drawn  from  the  treatment  of  a  solution  containing  copper  and 
silver  with  hydrochloric  acid,  forming  a  very  slightly  soluble  chloride  of  silver 
and  a  very  soluble  chloride  of  copper,  thereby  permitting  the  isolation  of 
silver. 

The  other  method  is  required  when  the  elements  are  so  nearly  alike  in 
their  properties  that  they  react  identically  with  all  reagents.  This  condition 
is  exemplified  by  the  group  of  sixteen  elements  known  as  the  "rare  earths." 
This  group  forms  complete  series  of  isomorphous  salts,  and  separations  be- 
tween two  (or  more)  members  are  usually  accomplished  by  fractional  crys- 
tallization. In  the  platinum  group  either  method  may  be  used,  although 
the  former  is  used  more  frequently  because  it  is  more  rapid.  However,  in 
one  large  platinum  refinery,  platinum  is  separated  from  iridium  by  the  frac- 
tional crystallization  of  the  isomorphous  salts  Na2PtCl6  and  Na2lrCl6. 

It  is  also  possible  by  appropriate  means  to  treat  solutions  of  iridium  and 
platinum  in  such  a  way  as  to  reduce  iridium  from  the  tetravalent  to  the 
trivalent  condition,  without  appreciably  affecting  the  platinum.  Iridium 
now  behaves  as  a  different  chemical  individual  and  its  double  chloride  with 
ammonium  chloride  is  quite  soluble  and  not  isomorphous  with  (NH4)2PtCl6. 

Such  treatment  would  then  effect  a  very  rapid  purification  of  platinum, 
except  for  the  phenomena  of  "co-precipitation,"  which  is  very  marked  in 
this  whole  group  of  elements.  Because  of  this  the  precipitate  of  (NH4)2- 
PtCle  is  contaminated  with  iridium,  and  the  preparation  of  platinum  in  a 
high  degree  of  purity  is  made  possible  only  by  several  re-precipitates  of  the 
compound  named. 

In  the  purification  of  palladium  use  is  made  of  the  characteristic  compound  di- 
chlorodiammine-palladium-Pd(NH3)2Cl2.  For  rhodium  two  salts  are  used, 
the  first  refining  being  accomplished  by  the  use  of  the  insoluble  salt  KsRh- 
(N02)6,  and  the  subsequent  preparation  of  chloro-pentamine,  rhodium 
chloride  (Rh(NH3)5Cl)Cl2.  For  iridium  no  similar  characteristic  compound 
is  known  and  iridium  must  be  purified  by  the  opposite  procedure  of  remov- 
ing other  elements  from  the  solution  first. 

Ruthenium  and  osmium  may  be  separated  from  the  other  platinum  ele- 
ments through  the  volatile  tetroxides  RUO4  and  OSO4. 

In  the  case  of  platinum,  palladium  and  rhodium,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in 
each  case  a  salt  is  chosen  which  may  be  ignited  directly  to  metal,  leaving 
no  other  nonvolatile  constituents. 

Brief  mention  was  made  of  the  work  done  on  the  precautions  necessary 
to  avoid  contamination  in  the  melting  of  the  purified  platinum  sponge. 

C.  O.  Fairchild:  Thermo-electric  tests  for  the  purity  of  some  metals  (illus- 
trated) . 

(Author's  abstract.)  The  thermo-electric  test  is  performed  by  making  a 
thermocouple  of  two  metals  and  measuring  its  e.  m.  f .  at  a  known  temperature ; 
for  example  two  pieces  of  gold  from  different  sources  may  be  compared  at 
the  melting  point  of  gold.  If  the  thermal  e.  m.  f .  is  large,  one  or  both  of  the  sam- 
ples are  quite  impure.  If  the  e.  m.  f .  is  small  then  time  is  well  spent  in  further 
study  of  the  samples.  The  test  is  particularly  suited  to  comparing  metals  of 
the  highest  purity,  containing  only  spectroscopic  traces  of  one  or  a  very  few 
metals. 


JUNE  4,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  267 

Knowledge  of  the  thermoelectric  effect  of  small  traces  of  impurities  is 
limited.  A  thermoelectric  difference  is  irrefutable  evidence  of  difference  of 
the  two  metals.  (These  should  be  carefully  annealed  so  that  the  physical 
condition  is  constant.)  No  difference,  that  is  a  negative  result,  raises  doubt. 
Perhaps  more  than  one  impurity  gives  opposite  effects. 

Special  study  has  been  made  of  pure  platinum,  pure  gold  and  pure  palladium, 
the  purity  being  of  the  highest  order.  In  the  three  cases  the  purest  samples 
as  selected  by  other  tests  have  been  the  most  negative  thermoelectrically. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  magnitude  of  the  e.  m.  f 's.  afforded  by  traces  of  impurity, 
two  pieces  of  platinum  one  spectroscopically  free  of  any  detectable  impurity 
and  one  indicating  the  faintest  trace  of  calcium  (or  lime)  as  an  impurity, 
gave  a  thermal  e.  m.  f.  of  about  twenty  micro-volts  at  1200°  C.  Probably 
there  is  a  very  wide  variation  in  the  effect  of  constant  amount  of  different 
impurities. 

As  a  beginning,  a  series  of  platinum  rhodium  alloys,  containing  respec- 
tively 0.001%,  0.01%,  0.1%,  0.5%,  and  1.0%  of  rhodium  were  made.  Spec- 
troscopic examination  gave  no  evidence  of  impurity.  The  e.  m.  f .  of  each  alloy 
against  platinum  at  1083°  C.  was  measured.  It  was  found  that  the  e.  m.  f.  was 
proportional  to  the  rhodium  content  up  to  about  1.0%.  The  accuracy  of 
the  whole  procedure,  including  the  synthesis  and  electrical  measurement, 
was  =i=  4  microvolts  from  strict  proportionality.  All  these  alloys  are  pos- 
itive to  platinum.  This  is  not  the  case  with  gold-palladium  alloys  which 
will  be  tried  next  to  show  whether  or  not  the  thermoelectric  effect  of  a  trace 
of  an  impurity  is  the  same  in  sign  as  the  two  metals  of  the  alloy.  Is  99.999% 
Pd-.001%  Au  positive  to  palladium? 

W.  F.  Meggers  :  Spectrographic  tests  for  the  purity  of  some  metals  (illus- 
trated) . 

(Author's  abstract.)  In  connection  with  the  purification  of  certain 
elements  in  the  platinum  group  carried  out  by  Dr.  Wichers  at  the  Bureau  of 
Standards,  spectrographic  analysis  was  employed  to  indicate  the  progress  of 
purification  and  to  detect  the  traces  of  impurities  present  in  the  final  product. 
The  metals  were  vaporized  and  ionized  in  a  high  potential  electrical  spark 
with  capacity  and  self -inductance  in  the  circuit.  Alloys  or  mixtures  of  ele- 
ments made  luminous  in  this  source  give,  simultaneously,  the  spectra  of  all 
the  elements  present  and  these  spectra  are  recorded  photographically  with 
the  aid  of  a  quartz  or  a  concave  grating  spectrograph.  If  one  observes  the 
spectra  of  a  series  of  mixtures  in  which  one  element  is  progressively  diluted 
it  is  seen  that  the  spectrum  of  this  element  becomes  simplified,  more  and  more 
lines  disappear,  as  the  dilution  increases,  until  a  single  line  remains  faintly 
visible  when  a  mere  trace  of  the  element  is  present.  These  most  sensitive 
lines  were  called  "raies  ultimes"  by  de  Gramont^  to  whom  much  credit  is 
due  for  developing  the  principles  of  this  method  of  analysis. 

The  raies  ultimes  are  exceptionally  sensitive  for  all  metals  and  remain  visi- 
ble when  the  concentration  of  an  element  in  an  alloy  or  mixture  is  even  less 
than  0.0001  per  cent.  A  trained  observer  after  studying  the  partial  spectra 
of  carefully  prepared  standard  samples  can  apply  this  information  to  making 
rapid  and  fairly  accurate  quantitative  analyses  of  similar  alloys  of  unknown 
percentage  composition.  The  empirical  basis  for  such  spectrographic  tests  has 
been  developed  at  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  especially  for  the  analysis  of 
mint  gold  and  of  platinum  metals.     Some  of  the  physical  constants  of  metals, 

3  DE  Gramont.     Ann.  Chim.  et  Phys.  VIII,  17:  437.  1909. 


268       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  11 

particularly  the  thermal  electro-motive  force  and  thermal  coefficient  of  elec- 
trical resistance,  are  sensitive  even  to  spectroscopic  traces  of  impurities.  The 
spectograph  showed  that  when  the  purest  platinum  sponge  was  fused  on 
lime  or  magnesia  it  was  usually  contaminated  with  traces  of  calcium  and  mag- 
nesium but  when  fused  on  thoria  no  impurities  could  be  detected.  With  the 
aid  of  this  method  of  spectrographic  analysis  platinum  metal  has  been  pre- 
pared which  is  positively  99.9999  per  cent  pure. 

Discussion  of  the  three  papers  was  participated  in  by  Messrs.  Burgess, 
White,  Foote,  L.  H.  Adams,  Harper,  and  Humphreys. 

862d  meeting 

The  862d  meeting  of  the  Philosophical  Society  was  held  in  the  Cosmos 
Club  auditorium,  February  25,  1922,  with  President  Crittenden  in  the 
chair  and  54  persons  present.     The  program  was  as  follows : 

R.  S.  Woodward:  The  calculus  of  harmonics  and  preharmonics  and  their 
application  in  hydromechanics.     It  was  discussed  by  Mr.  L.  A.  Bauer. 

(Author's  abstract.)  A  harmonic  function,  H,  is  defined  to  be  any  homo- 
geneous function  of  x,  y,  z,  which  satisfies  Laplace's  equation.  That  is, 
H  is  a  harmonic  if 

dW       dW       dW  ^ 
'dx^        by"^         bz^ 
This  equation  is  now,  for  brevity,  commonly  written 

^m  =  0,  or  ^H  =  o. 

and  the  operation  thus  symbolized  is  called  the  Laplacian  of  H. 

Conformable  to  these  definitions,  a  preharmonic  function,  P,  is  defined  to 
be  any  homogeneous  function  of  x,  y,  z  which  satisfies  the  equations 

A^P  =  H,  AWP  =  AW  =  0. 

Corresponding  to  every  harmonic  function,  therefore,  there  is  a  prehar- 
monic function  determined  by  the  integral  of  the  first  of  the  last  two  equa- 
tions; and  since  there  is  an  extensive  range  of  harmonic  functions,  of  which 
the  degrees  may  be  positive  or  negative  integers,  or  fractional  or  imaginary 
numbers,  there  is  a  coextensive  range  of  preharmonic  functions. 

While  harmonic  functions  have  been  investigated  in  elaborate  detail,  it 
does  not  appear  that  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  intimately  re- 
lated functions  here  called  preharmonics.  It  was  the  object  of  the  paper  to 
outline  the  characteristics  of  these  functions  and  the  calculus  to  which  they 
lead,  as  well  as  to  indicate  some  of  their  more  important  applications.  Gen- 
eral formulas  for  all  of  the  preharmonics  corresponding  to  all  the  harmonics 
of  positive  and  negative  integral  degrees  were  given. 

L.  A.  Bauer:  Some  results  of  recent  earth-current  observations  (illus- 
trated) . 

(Author's  abstract.)  Renewed  interest  was  aroused  by  the  remarkable 
earth-current  disturbances  of  May  14  to  May  ,30,  1921,  which,  as  will  be  re- 
called, occurred  simultaneously  with  brilliant  displays  of  polar  lights  and 
severe  magnetic  storms,  the  sun  at  the  time  showing  remarkable  spot  ac- 
tivity. These  disturbances  and  accompanying  phenomena  occurred  over 
the  entire  earth.  Northern  lights  were  observed  in  lower  northerly  lati- 
tudes than  usual  and  southern  lights  were  observed  as  far  north  in  the  South- 
ern hemisphere  as  Apia,  Samoa — a  very  unusual  occurence.  In  many  re- 
spects the  disturbances  during  the  period.  May  14  to  20,  1921  were  similar  to 


JUNE  4,  1922  proceedings:  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  269 

those  which  occurred  during  the  period,  x-Vugust  29  to  Sept.  4,  1859;  in 
this  latter  case,  northern  Hghts  were  visible  as  low  as  18°  north.  The  mag- 
netic disturbances  for  the  latter  period  were  of  almost  unexampled  size 
and  rapidity,  the  accompanying  aurora  being  extraordinarily  brilliant  and 
e.  m.  f 's.  of  700  to  800  volts  are  said  to  have  been  reached  on  telegraph  lines 
500  to  600  km. 

Since  Oersted's  discovery  somewhat  over  a  century  ago  of  the  deflection  of 
a  compass  needle  by  an  electric  current,  hypotheses  have  been  repeatedly 
advanced  respecting  the  earth's  magnetic  field  as  caused  by  electric  currents 
in  the  earth's  crust.  However,  most  of  the  earth-current  observations  made 
up  to  the  present  date  indicate  that  the  constant  part  of  the  observed  current 
along  a  parallel  of  latitude  is  chiefly  towards  the  east,  instead  of  towards  the 
west,  as  would  be  necessary  to  account  for  the  observed  phenomena  of  the 
magnetic  needle. 

At  the  International  Electric  Congress,  held  in  Paris  in  1881,  such  in- 
terest was  aroused  that  systematic  investigation  of  earth  currents,  es- 
pecially as  observed  in  telegraph  lines,  was  undertaken  in  various  countries. 
This  material  was  furnished  for  Weinstein's  well-known  publication  in  which 
data  obtained  on  two  telegraph  lines  (Berlin  to  Thorn  and  Berlin  to  Dresden) 
from  1884  to  1887,  were  successfully  utilized. 

Unfortunately,  the  interest  then  aroused  has  waned  and,  as  far  as  known, 
there  is  at  present  only  one  observatory  where  systematic  earth  current  ob- 
servations are  being  made,  namely,  at  the  Observatorio  del  Ebro,  Tortosa, 
Spain,  where  the  series  of  observations  began  in  1910.  The  speaker  proposes 
to  arouse  renewed  interest  in  this  important  subject  at  the  forthcoming 
Rome  meeting  of  the  International  Geodetic  and  Geophysical  Union. 

The  Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  is  planning  to  install  earth- 
current  lines  for  systematic  observations  at  its  magnetic  observatories. 
This  year,  it  is  hoped  that  such  lines  may  be  installed  at  the  Department's 
Observatory  at  Watheroo,  Western  Australia.  Various  initial  investigations 
have  been  in  progress  at  the  Department's  Laboratory  and  Dr.  Mauchly  made 
a  report  to  our  Society  some  years  ago.  To  Mr.  O.  H.  Gish,  appointed  re- 
cently as  Associate  Physicist  of  the  Department,  has  been  assigned  the 
continuation  of  these  investigations.  Furthermore,  in  order  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  experience  in  such  work  gained  at  the  observatory  in  Spain 
and  to  ascertain  the  direction  in  which  further  study  is  desirable,  a  discus- 
sion of  the  eleven-year  series  at  the  observatory  mentioned  was  undertaken 
under  the  direction  of  the  speaker. 

Slides  were  shown  exhibiting  the  relations  between  variations  of  earth- 
currents,  especially  of  the  diurnal  variations,  and  solar  activity  during  the 
eleven  years  cycle.  The  relations  between  the  diurnal  variations  of  earth- 
currents  and  those  of  the  earth's  magnetic  elements  were  also  briefly  discussed. 
It  would  appear  that  the  relations  are  of  a  rather  complicated  character. 

863d  meeting 

The  863d  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  March  11,  1922,  with 
President  Crittenden  in  the  chair  and  70  persons  present. 

William  Bowie:  The  yielding  of  the  earth' s  crust  (iDustrated) .  It  was  dis- 
cussed by  Messrs.  Washington  and  Hayford. 

(Author's  abstract.)  The  theory  of  isostasy  postulates  that  blocks  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth  are  in  equilibrium.  The  investigations  carried  on  by  the 
U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  and  the  Trigonometrical  Survey  of  India 


270       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.   11 

lead  us  to  believe  that  the  theory  of  isostasy  is  substantially  true  and  that  the 
amount  of  matter  in  blocks  of  the  crust  of  equal  cross  section  at  the  depth 
of  compensation  is  very  nearly  equal  in  various  parts  of  the  earth. 

Since  the  earth's  crust  is  in  hydrostatic  or  isostatic  equilibrium  now  it  is 
a  logical  conclusion  that  it  has  been  so  during  the  earlier  geological  periods 
and  therefore  we  must  conclude  that  movements  within  the  earth's  crust  which 
are  recorded  in  geological  strata  and  structures  did  not  materially  increase 
the  amount  of  matter  in  any  block  of  the  crust. 

There  are  four  rather  distinct  movements  of  material  within  the  earth's 
crust  or  at  its  surface.  First  the  transportation  of  material  by  wind  and  water 
from  one  place  to  another  over  the  surface.  Second,  a  downward  movement 
of  the  material  of  the  earth's  crust  under  the  area  of  sedimentation,  some  of 
this  movement  being  due  to  a  yielding  under  the  load  of  the  sediment  and  the 
remainder  to  thermal  contraction  and  a  contraction  due  to  physical  or  chem- 
ical action.  Third,  a  movement  below  the  earth's  crust,  in  a  more  or  less 
horizontal  direction,  of  material  which  is  yielding  to  long  continued  horizon- 
tal stress.  This  material  flows  from  the  block  of  the  earth's  crust  on  which 
sediments  are  placed  toward  the  block  from  whose  surface  material  was 
eroded.  The  fourth  is  the  upward  movement  of  the  material  in  a  block  of 
the  earth's  crust  under  the  area  of  erosion.  As  the  material  is  eroded  from 
the  surface,  the  isostatic  balance  is  restored  by  the  entering  of  material  at  the 
bottom  of  the  block,  thus  causing  the  block  to  rise. 

It  seems  to  be  reasonably  certain  that  mountain  systems  are  caused  by 
a  vertical  uplift  due  to  local  causes  rather  than  to  horizontal  thrusts  result- 
ing from  forces  acting  from  great  distances.  The  distortions  of  sedimentary 
rocks  which  are  visible  in  most  elevated  regions  appear  to  be  incidents  to  the 
sinking  of  an  area  under  sedimentation  and  to  subsequent  uplifting  of  the 
area.  As  an  area  once  subject  to  sedimentation  is  uplifted,  and  since  this 
uplift  must  be  a  result  of  a  change  in  density  within  the  block,  the  upward 
movement  would  follow  lines  of  least  resistance.  The  direction  of  such  lines 
would  frequently  be  inclined  to  the  vertical  and  at  times  be  almost  or  quite 
horizontal. 

The  change  in  density  in  a  block  of  the  earth's  crust  which  has  undergone 
heavy  sedimentation  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  material  of  the  block  has 
been  pushed  down  into  regions  hotter  than  that  originally  occupied.  The  shrink- 
ing and  increase  of  density  of  a  block  under  an  area  of  erosion  may  be  due  to 
the  fact  that  many  thousands  of  feet  of  material  had  been  eroded,  thus  re- 
sulting in  the  raising  of  the  material  of  the  block  below  the  area  into  regions 
that  were  much  cooler  than  that  which  the  material  had  originally  occupied. 
This  change  in  temperature,  which  may  be  as  much  as  200  or  300  degrees 
Centigrade,  may  cause  a  thermal  contraction  as  well  as  an  increase  in  density 
due  to  physical  or  chemical  changes  other  than  the  thermal  expansion. 

It  is  certain  that  the  theory  of  isostasy  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
in  geological  investigations,  especially  those  having  to  do  with  dynamic  and 
structural  geology. 

H.  V.  Sverdrup:  The  scientific  work  of  the  present  Amundsen  Arctic  Expe- 
dition (illustrated).     It  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Marmer  and  Beall. 

(Author's  abstract.)  Captain  Amundsen's  Expedition  left  Norway 
in  July,  1918,  with  the  intention  to  follow  the  coast  of  Siberia  eastward  to  the 
vicinity  of  Bering  Strait,  proceed  thence  towards  the  north,  let  the  vessel, 
the  "Maud,"  freeze  in  and  drift  with  the  ice  fields  across  the  Polar  Seas  back 


JUNE  4,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  271 

to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  main  object  of  the  Expedition  was  to  study  the 
physical  conditions  of  the  Polar  Sea,  but  along  with  the  oceanographical  work, 
a  number  of  other  observations,  mostly  of  geophysical  interest,  were  to  be 
carried  out.  However,  the  Expedition  was  forced  by  the  ice  conditions  to 
winter  three  times  in  different  places  on  the  coast  of  Siberia. 

The  first  wintering  took  place  close  to  Cape  Chelyuskin,  the  north  point 
of  the  Asiatic  continent.  During  this  winter,  registrations  of  the  meteoro- 
logical elements,  the  magnetic  declination  and  the  tides  were  secured.  A 
tidal  gage,  adapted  to  the  special  conditions  met  with,  was  made  on  board. 
Numerous  direct  observations  were  also  made.  The  difficulties  in  observ- 
ing at  low  temperatures  did  not  arise  so  much  from  the  effect  of  the  cold  upon 
the  observer,  who  could  dress  conveniently,  as  from  the  effects  upon  the  in- 
struments, particularly  the  inevitable  formation  of  frost  upon  eye-pieces  and 
verniers.  In  the  spring  the  Chelyuskin  Peninsula  was  explored  on  sledge 
trips  covering  over  1000  miles. 

When  leaving  Cape  Chelyuskin,  Captain  Amundsen  decided  to  send  all 
observations  home  with  two  men,  who  were  to  bring  them  to  the  nearest 
settlement,  a  Russian  wireless  station  at  Dickson  Island.  These  men  lost 
their  lives.  All  records  from  the  self -registering  instruments  are  lost  with 
them,  but  copies  of  all  absolute  observations  exist. 

The  second  wintering  took  place  at  Ayon  Island,  700  miles  west  of  Bering 
Strait.  The  speaker  spent  the  winter  among  the  natives,  a  group  of  the 
Chukchi  tribe,  gathering  information  of  ethnological  interest.  Magnetic 
observations  were  taken  at  a  series  of  stations  from  Kolyma  River  to  Bering 
Strait,  and  meteorological  and  tidal  registrations  and  observations  were 
kept  up  on  board  the  "Maud." 

After  a  call  at  Nome  in  July,  1920,  the  "Maud"  was  frozen  in  for  the  third 
time,  only  80  miles  west  of  Bering  Strait.  During  the  winter,  additional 
information  about  the  natives  was  secured  on  a  two  and  one-half  month's 
sledge  trip  along  the  coast;  the  series  of  magnetic  stations  was  extended  to 
Holy  Cross  Bay,  and  registrations  were  kept  up  on  board. 

In  the  summer  of  1921,  the  vessel  of  the  Expedition  had  to  be  sailed  to 
Seattle  for  repairs.  Capt.  Amundsen  intends  to  start  out  from  Seattle 
in  June,  1922,  and  will  once  more  try  to  penetrate  to  the  drifting  ice  fields  in 
order  to  accomplish  the  drift  across  the  Polar  Sea. 

864th  meeting 

The  864th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  March  25,  1922,  with 
President  Crittenden  in  the  chair,  and  35  persons  in  attendance. 

The  President  announced  that  the  Recording  Secretary  expected  to  be 
absent  from  Washington  until  July,  1922,  and  that  Mr.  H.  A.  Marmer  had 
been  designated  to  act  as  Secretary  pro  tern  during  this  period.     Program: 

C.  O.  Fairchii.d  and  W.  H.  Hoover:  A  disappearing  filament  optical  py- 
rometer free  from  diffraction  effects  at  the  filament  (illustrated,  presented  by 
Mr.  Fairchild).     It  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Crittenden  and  Humphreys. 

(Author's  abstract.)  This  pyrometer  consists  of  a  telescope  or  microscope 
in  the  focal  plane  of  which  is  a  small  electric  lamp.  To  estimate  tempera- 
ture of  an  object,  its  brightness  is  matched  with  that  of  the  lamp  filament  by 
adjusting  the  current  through  the  lamp.  An  equation  such  as  I  =  a  +  bt 
-f-  ct^  may  be  used  to  interpret  current  values. 

For  measuring  high  temperatures  this  pyrometer  is  particularly  suited,  but 
one  of  its  supposed  faults,  and  a  source  of  uncertainty  in  its  accuracy,  has 


272       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  11 

been  the  effect  of  diffraction  of  the  light  f ocussed  in  the  plane  of  the  filament, 
by  the  filament. 

A  rigorous  solution  of  the  problem  of  diffraction  by  an  obstacle  in  the  focal 
plane  has  not  been  attempted.  It  can  be  shown  by  deduction  that  only  the 
light  diffracted  by  the  objective  aperture  is  again  diffracted  by  the  filament; 
while  the  undiflfracted  portion  of  the  converging  beam  passes  the  filament  un- 
disturbed. To  avoid  a  visible  effect  of  diffraction  the  filament  and  image 
are  viewed  through  an  aperture  smaller  than  the  objective  in  angular  meas- 
ure. The  actual  values  of  the  entrance  and  exit  apertures  of  the  telescope 
depend  on  various  factors.     Large  entrance  apertures  must  be  used. 

As  a  result  of  improvements  in  the  design  of  this  optical  pyrometer,  the 
precision  attainable  has  been  markedly  increased,  now  surpassing,  probably, 
that  of  the  contrast  photometer.  High  temperatures  are  easily  estimated 
to  fractions  of  a  degree,  far  within  the  limits  of  certainty  of  the  so-called 
high  temperature  scale.  The  disadvantage  lying  in  the  use  of  the  optical 
scale  founded  on  the  Wien-Planck  laws,  instead  of  the  radiation  scale  of 
Stefan-Boltzman  laws,  is  balanced  by  the  extreme  ease  of  manipulation 
and  high  precision  attainable.  However,  the  lack  of  agreement  between 
the  different  scales  of  temperature  is  at  present  not  great,  nor  serious,  and  has 
been  found  negligible  for  most  purposes. 

A  form  of  micropyrometer  has  been  devised  for  measuring  the  temperature 
of  a  microscopic  or  very  small  object  with  the  same  precision  as  with  large 
objects.  For  example  a  small  lamp  filament  or  a  minute  black-body  fur- 
nace can  be  examined. 

The  writers  believe  that  significant  progress  has  been  made  toward  placing 
this  form  of  optical  pyrometer  in  sound  relation  with  the  laws  of  geometrical 
and  physical  optics,  and  in  developing  an  instrument  of  precision. 

S.  P.  Fergusson  :  Equipment  for  aerological  kite-Hying  at  the  greatest  possible 
heights  (illustrated).  It  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  L.  H.  Adams,  Crittenden, 
Humphreys  and  Tuckerman. 

(Author's  abstract.)  With  kites  and  accessories  in  use  at  the  present  time 
the  average  heights  attained  are  about  3500  meters  and  the  maximum  about 
7000.  From  an  experimental  study  of  materials,  forms  of  kites,  methods  of 
construction,  lines,  etc.,  the  author  has  found  that  these  heights  can  be  in- 
creased considerably  if  the  largest  kites  and  the  largest  sizes  of  wire  for  lines 
are  used.  Large  kites  are  more  economical  and  are  so  much  stronger  than 
smaller  ones  of  nearly  the  same  specific  weight  that  there  is  no  danger  of 
wrecking  a  kite  in  the  strongest  wind  likely  to  be  encountered  aloft;  also 
they  are  steadier  and  more  stable  and  since  their  specific  weight  when  car- 
rying the  usual  recording  instruments  is  smaller,  ascensions  are  possible 
through  a  wider  range  of  conditions.  By  the  use  of  curved  lifting-surfaces 
the  average  altitudes  can  be  increased  to  about  64°,  or  nearly  S°  higher  than 
that  attained  by  kites  with  flat  surfaces,  and  curved-surfaced  kites  will  main- 
tain a  higher  altitude  in  strong  winds. 

A  new  method  of  building  kites  was  described  whereby  the  time  and  cost  of 
constructing  aerological  kites  is  less  than  one  half  that  required  to  produce 
kites  of  the  usual  patterns  and  the  processes  of  adjustment  and  repairing 
greatly  simplified. 

With  kites  and  accessories  described  in  which  harmful  resistances  have  been 
reduced  to  the  lowest  point  easily  attainable,  ascensions  may  be  extended  to 
a  greater  average  height  than  has  been  possible  heretofore  with  less  labor  and 


JUNE  4,  1922  proceedings:  entomological  society  273 

smaller  risk  to  valuable  apparatus;  also,  by  taking  advantage  of  favorable 
conditions,  it  appears  possible  to  reach  the  level  of  the  cirrus  clouds,  and  the 
base  of  the  stratosphere,  or  a  maximum  height  of  approximately  10,000 
metres.  H.  H.  Kimball,  Recording  Secretary. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
34  1st  meeting 

The  341st  regular  meeting  was  held  June  2,  1921,  in  Room  43  of  the 
National  Museum  with  First  Vice-president  Gahan  in  the  chair,  and  16  mem- 
bers and  6  visitors  present. 

The  program  consisted  entirely  of  Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens. 

Dr.  L.  O.  Howard  spoke  of  the  Hessian  fly  parasite  Entedon  epigontis. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  introduce  this  species  into  the  United  States  thirty 
or  more  years  ago.  It  was  recovered  by  Forbes  the  second  year  later  and  by 
AsHMEAD  seven  years  later,  but  had  apparently  disappeared  thereafter.  It 
is  now  breeding  abundantly  in  three  localities. 

Dr.  Howard  also  told  of  having  attended  a  recent  meeting  of  the  American 
Entomological  Society  in  Philadelphia  and  spoke  in  high  praise  of  a  talk 
given  at  the  meeting  by  Morgan  Hebard  on  a  trip  to  Colombia. 

A.  B.  Gahan  expressed  doubt  if  the  presence  of  Etendon  epigonus  is  due  to 
the  artificial  introduction,  pointing  out  that  it  has  ample  opportunities  to 
be  introduced  accidentally. 

A.  N.  Caudell  recorded  the  finding  in  Washington  of  two  masses  of  eggs 
of  the  praying  mantis,  Ptenodera  chinensis.  Mr.  Rohwer  stated  that  he 
had  liberated  some  in  Falls  Church,  Virginia,  and  that  they  had  disappeared 
after  a  few  days  and  none  had  been  found  since. 

H.  S.  Barber  discussed  a  new  strawberry  pest  discovered  at  Miami, 
Florida,  by  Mr.  MoznETTE.  This  is  a  bluish  green  weevil  of  the  genus 
Atypus.  E.  A.  ScHWARZ  discussed  the  confusion  of  names  in  this  genus, 
which  is  common  to  the  West  Indies  and  the  southeastern  part  of  the  United 
States  as  far  north  as  New  Jersey.  S.  A.  Rohwer  spoke  of  Hymenoptera 
common  to  both  regions,  and  stated  that  variation  is  greater  in  Porto  Rico 
than  in  Cuba  or  the  United  States.  A.  B.  Gahan  mentioned  the  bracoinid 
Apanieles  grenadensis  Ashm.  (synonym,  A.  harnedi  Vier.),  a  parasite  of 
Laphygma  frugiperda.  This  species  occurs  in  the  West  Indies,  Brazil,  and 
in  the  United  States  as  far  north  as  Tennessee.  Mr.  Caudell  stated  that 
certain  Orthoptera  known  to  occur  in  Florida  and  Costa  Rica  do  not  occur  in 
the  West  Indies.  Mr.  Schwarz  stated  that  there  was  formerly  a  land 
connection  between  the  West  Indies  and  Yucatan. 

R.  A.  Cushman  spoke  of  the  synonymy  of  certain  species  of  Amblyteles, 
which  synonymy  was  proved  by  the  introduction  of  the  species  into  Hawaii 
and  their  subsequent  recovery. 

C.  T.  Greene  announced  the  return  by  Dr.  Felt  of  the  National  Museum 
material  of  Itonididae.  This  consists  of  775  slides  embracing  71  genera  and 
267  species,  174  being  type  material.  There  is  also  determined  the  work  of 
40  species. 

A.  N.  Caudell  exhibited  a  copy  of  the  very  rare  paper  by  Kelch,  Grund- 
lage  zur  Kenntniss  der  Orthoptera  Oberschlesiens,  in  which  appeared  for  the  first 
time  some  of  Fibber's  genera.  He  also  spoke  of  the  value  to  the  working 
entomologist  of  a  well  catalogued  library  of  separates. 


274       JOURNAI,  Olf  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  11 

W.  B.  Wood  told  of  the  finding  at  the  inspection  house  of  a  living  larva  of 
the  pink  boll  worm  in  wild  cotton  from  India.  This  cotton  has  small  seeds 
and  the  larva  was  working  from  the  outside.  Mr.  Barber  stated  that  the 
insect  feeds  in  the  same  way  on  okra  seed. 

Dr.  Howard  told  of  the  death  by  suicide  of  the  Russian  Entomologist 

KjURDUMOV. 

S.  A.  RoHWER  spoke  of  a  paper  by  Prof.  CockerEll  on  the  Bees  of  Ma- 
deira. Madeira  originally  had  no  bee  fauna  and  all  the  present  species  are 
related  to  the  Palearctic  forms. 

342nd  meeting 

The  342nd  meeting  was  held  October  6,  1921,  at  the  National  Museum, 
with  First  Vice-president  Gahan  in  the  chair  and  28  members  and  10  vis- 
itors present. 

J.  M.  Aldrich:   Collecting  in  Alaska. 

Dr.  Aldrich  gave  an  account,  illustrated  by  lantern  slides,  of  his  summer's 
collecting  in  Alaska,  during  which  he  traversed  the  entire  length  of  the  gov- 
ernment railway.  He  also  described  the  differences  in  climate,  topography 
and  flora  of  the  various  parts  of  the  road,  and  mentioned  some  of  the  more  in- 
teresting insects,  especially  Diptera,  that  he  captured.  He  commented  es- 
pecially upon  the  great  abundance  of  mosquitoes  and  the  apparent  absence 
of  the  house  fly. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

Dr.  J.  M.  Aldrich  exhibited  photographs  of  two  series  of  exuvia  of  larvae 
of  the  museum  pest,  Trogoderma  iarsale,  one  showing  the  decrease  in  size  from 
instar  to  instar  in  starved  larvae,  and  the  other  showing  the  successive  in- 
stars  of  a  single  larva  that  had  been  alternately  starved  and  fed  for  nine  years 
During  this  period  it  had  three  times  attained  maximum  size  and  twice  de- 
creased practically  to  first  instar  size. 

A.  N.  Caudell  read  a  note  from  his  entomological  journal  recording  his 
observations  on  a  specimen  of  the  psammocharid  wasp,  Anoplius  illinoiensis 
Robertson.  This  wasp  was  apparently  bathing,  during  the  operation  de- 
scending into  the  water  to  the  depth  of  three  inches  and  walking  on  the  bottom. 

R.  A.  St.  George  gave  some  phenological  records  on  cerambycids  in  com- 
parison with  plant  events  in  1921.  The  season  in  this  respect  was  as  a  whole 
abnormal,  but  especially  in  two  species,  Neoclytus  erythrocephalus  and  Xylo- 
trechus  colonus,  each  of  which  passed  through  two  generations  instead  of  the 
normal  one  generation. 

Dr.  A.  L.  Quaintance  exhibited  apples  from  Wenatchee,  Washington, 
injured  by  the  pear  leaf  blister  mite. 

A.  B.  Gahan  spoke  of  having  recently  received  a  specimen  of  Pac/z^^cr^- 
poideus  dubius  Ashm.,  a  chalcid  parasite  of  diptera,  reared  from  the  cheese 
skipper,  Piophila  casei.  This  is  the  first  record  of  a  parasite  of  this  species 
of  which  he  had  heard. 

J.  C.  Bridwell  exhibited  living  specimens  of  the  Bethylid,  Sclerodermus 
macrogastcr,  and  briefly  outlined  the  habits  of  members  of  the  genus,  which 
live  gregariously  on  insect  larvae,  feeding  both  as  larva  and  as  adult  on  the 
juices  of  the  host. 

R.  A.  CusHMAN,  Recording  Secretary. 


JUNE  4,  1922  proceedings:  botanical  society  275 

BOTANICAL  SOCIETY 
155th  meeting 

The  Botanical  Society  held  its  155th  regular  meeting  at  the  Cosmos  Club, 
on  December  6,  1921,  with  President  Safford  in  the  chair. 

Prof.  David  Lumsden  and  Mr.  Fred  C.  Meier  were  elected  members 
of  the  Society. 

A  communication  was  received  from  Mr.  C.  R.  Ball  in  reference  to  an 
autograph  letter  from  Henry  MuhlEnburg,  the  noted  botanist,  written 
September  25,  1809  to  Dr.  John  Ott  at  Georgetown,  D.  C,  enclosing  a  list 
of  195  species  of  plants  apparently  collected  by  Dr.  Ott  in  the  vicinity  of 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Secretary  then  read  a  letter  from  Mr.  Shapovalov  and  one  from  Dr. 
L.  R.  Jones  of  the  National  Research  Council,  to  the  effect  that  the  movement 
fostered  by  the  Botanical  Society  to  secure  American  scientific  literature  for 
Russian  scientists  had  met  with  success,  and  the  National  Research  Council 
approved  this  project  and  had  appropriated  $1,000  to  carry  out  the  plan. 
Mr.  Shapovalov's  efforts  as  a  committee  of  one  from  the  Botanical  Society 
to  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences  to  consider  sending  literature  to 
Russian  scientists  have  come  to  a  successful  end  and  he  desires  to  terminate 
his  appointment. 

Under  Brief  notes  and  reviews  of  literature  Dr.  Sh.\ntz  presented  the  second 
volume  of  Burgerstein's  work  on  transpiration.  This  brings  the  review  of 
literature  down  to  1920. 

Mr.  M.  B.  Waite  told  of  seeing  specimens  of  Myrica  carolinensis  collected 
near  Camp  Meade.  Dr.  Fairchild  stated  that  a  specimen  of  Myrica  rubra 
from  China  collected  by  Mr.  Frank  Meyer  fruited  at  Chico,  California  and  at 
Brooksville,  Florida.     This  species  represents  a  large  fruit  industry  in  China. 

The  regular  program  was  as  follows: 

F.  Wilson  Popenoe:  Hunting  new  plants  for  American  horticulture  in 
the  highlands  of  Central  and  South  America  (illustrated). 

For  some  years  the  Ofhce  of  Foreign  Seed  and  Plant  Introduction  of  the 
Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  has  been  engaged  in  studying  the  wild  and  cultivated 
avocados  of  tropical  America,  and  in  introducing  the  most  promising  ones 
for  trial  in  California  and  Florida.  In  both  these  States  avocado  culture 
is  now  established  on  a  commercial  basis,  and  the  demand  for  new  varieties 
of  this  fruit,  to  fill  certain  needs  such  as  different  seasons  of  ripening,  is  keen. 

The  two  years'  exploration  reviewed  in  this  talk  covered  the  most  impor 
tant  avocado-growing  regions  between  Guatemala  and  Chile.  In  the  former 
country,  where  16  months'  work  had  already  been  done  in  1916-1917,  a  large 
quantity  of  avocado  seeds  of  known  parentage  was  obtained  for  use  in  pro- 
ducing stock-plants  on  which  to  graft  superior  varieties  of  this  fruit.  In 
Costa  Rica  several  promising  kinds  were  obtained  and  sent  to  Washington, 
also  seeds  of  the  aguacate  de  anis,  a  wild  avocado  of  considerable  interest. 
In  Colombia  a  study  was  made  of  the  numerous  avocados  found  in  the  Santa 
Marta  regions,  as  well  as  those  of  Cundinamarca  and  the  Cauca  Valley;  and 
one  variety  was  sent  to  the  United  States  for  trial.  In  Ecuador  a  number  of 
very  choice  forms  were  found  in  a  region  hitherto  unknown  as  a  producer  of 
good  avocados.  A  brief  study  was  made  of  the  various  sorts  which  grow  in 
Peru  and  Chile,  but  none  was  found  worthy  of  introduction  into  the  United 
States. 


276       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.   11 

In  addition  to  avocados,  numerous  other  economic  plants  were  investigated, 
and  propagating  material  of  the  most  promising  was  sent  to  Washington. 
In  Guatemala  a  thousand  plants  were  obtained  of  the  pacayito,  a  handsome 
dwarf  Chamaedorea  suitable  for  house  culture;  seeds  and  plants  of  several 
wild  blackberries  were  collected,  as  well  as  seeds  of  the  handsome  Dahlia 
maxonii  and  other  plants. 

In  Costa  Rica  a  particular  study  was  made  of  the  pejihaye  palm  {Guilielma 
utilis) ,  and  a  quantity  of  seeds  was  secured ;  seeds  of  several  interesting  species 
of  Rubus,  and  other  plants,  were  likewise  sent  to  Washington. 

In  Colombia  many  interesting  and  little-known  plants  were  studied.  Per- 
haps the  most  striking  is  Rubus  macrocarpus,  the  giant  Colombian  Berry, 
of  which  plants  were  sent  to  Washington. 

From  Ecuador  were  sent  many  varieties  of  the  potato,  including  the  wild 
form;  a  cultivated  variety  of  Fragaria  chiloensis;  a  large-fruited  form  of 
Prunus  salicifolia;  several  varieties  of  Ruh^is  glaucus,  R.  adenotrichos,  and 
other  species  of  Rubus;   several  hardy  Caricas,  and  other  plants. 

From  Chile  were  sent  numerous  aphis-resistant  varieties  of  the  apple; 
several  peaches,  plums  and  cherries  of  Chilean  origin ;  three  cultivated  forms 
of  Fragaria  chiloensis;  and  the  Capuchine  orange,  a  dwarf  variety  of  Citrus 
sinensis. 

Louis  C.  C.  Krieger:  A  sketch  of  the  history  of  mycological  illustration 
{Higher  Fungi). 

The  development  of  the  methods  employed  in  mycological  illustrating  was 
traced  from  the  time  of  Clusius  (1601)  to  Boudier  (1910).  It  was  pointed  out 
that  truthful  illustrations  add  much  to  the  completeness  of  the  record  of  so 
perishable  a  plant  as  a  fleshy  fungus. 

Clusius  was  taken  as  the  starting-point  of  the  historical  sketch  for  the  reason 
that  his  illustrations  (especially  the  original  water-colors  from  which  the 
wood-cuts  in  Clusius'  work  were  made,  which  have  recently  been  published 
by  Istvanffi)  are  the  first  truthful  figures  available  to  the  mycological  sys- 
tematist,  those  of  the  herbalists,  prior  to  Clusius,  often  showing  fanciful 
embellishments. 

The  gradual  development  of  the  technical  processes,  from  wood-engraving 
through  copper-engraving,  lithography,  half-tone,  heliogravure,  and  tri- 
color printing,  was  described  by  the  speaker,  illustrations  from  the  classic 
works  of  Schaeffer,  Bulliard,  Letellier,  Sowerby,  Greville,  Fries,  Tulasne, 
and  Boudier,  serving  as  examples  of  the  progress  in  technique. 

In  concluding  his  remarks,  Mr.  Krieger  spoke  of  the  dearth  of  published 
colored  illustrations  of  American  origin,  and  the  hope  was  expressed  that 
Dr.  Howard  A.  Kelly,  of  Baltimore  (with  whom  Mr.  Krieger  is  associated  in 
mycological  work)  might  succeed  in  publishing  an  illustrated  revision  of  the 
late  Prof.  Peck's  monographs. 

This  paper,  with  suitable  illustrations,  is  to  be  published  elsewhere  in  full 
The  address  was  illustrated  by  lantern  slides  as  well  as  by  copies  of  several 
rare  mycological  books,  and  by  a  score  or  more  of  Mr.  Krieger' s  own  artistic 
studies  of  some  of  the  higher  fungi. 

Roy  G.  Pierce,  Recording  Secretary. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

The  National  Academy  of  Sciences  held  its  annual  meeting  in  Washington 
on  April  24,  25,  and  26.     The  scientific  sessions  open  to  the  public  were  held 


JUNE  4,  1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  277 

in  the  Museum  auditorium  on  the  first  two  days  of  the  meeting.  Among  the 
members  of  the  Smithsonian  staff  who  read  papers  were  Secretary  CD.  Wal- 
coTT,  The  new  building  of  the  National  Academy  and  National  Research 
Council;  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  A  side  effect  from  the  importation  of  parasites  of 
injurious  insects;  Dr.  AlES  Hrdlicka,  Stature  amd  head  form  in  Americans 
of  old  families ;  Austin  H.  Clark,  Animal  evolution;  Dr.  Abbot,  Mr.  Fowle, 
and  Mr.  Aldrich,  The  larger  results  of  20  years  of  solar  radiation  observations. 
The  third  International  Conference  on  Chemistry  will  be  held  at  Lyon, 
France,  June  27- July  2,  1922,  under  the  direction  of  the  Federation  Nationale 
des  Associations  de  Chimie  de  France.  It  will  be  followed  by  the  second  con- 
gress of  industrial  chemistry,  organized  by  the  Societe  de  Chimie  Tndus- 
trielle,  at  Marseilles  from  July  2  to  7. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution  has  recently  made  arrangements  for  the  resump- 
tion of  exchange  relations  with  Roumania,  the  Institutal  Meteorologic  Cen- 
tral, Ministerul  Agriculturei,  Bukharest,  having  offered  to  act  ar  the  Rouman- 
ian Agency.  The  Institution  is  now  sending  exchange  consignments  to  all 
foreign  countries  except  Jugoslavia,  Russia,  and  Turkey.  The  following 
newly  established  governments  are  included  among  these  to  which  shipments 
are  being  forwarded:  Czechoslovakia,  Esthonia.  Finland,  Latvia,  Lithuania, 
Poland. 

The  United  States  National  Museum  has  recently  secured  by  purchase, 
through  the  cooperation  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
the  large  private  herbarium  of  Dr.  Otto  Buchtien,  formerly  Director  of  the 
Museo  Nacional,  La  Paz,  Bolivia,  built  up  by  him  through  many  years  of 
botanical  exploration  in  South  America  and  through  exchanges  with  insti- 
tutions in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  herbarium  consists  of  approxi- 
mately 45,000  specimens,  and  is  notable  for  its  large  proportion  of  tropical 
American  species,  particularly  of  the  floras  of  Bolivia,  Chile,  Argentina,  and 
Paraguay. 

Among  the  delegates  to  the  meeting  of  the  International  Geophysical  Union 
at  Rome  are  Drs.  L.  A.  Bauer,  Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism, 
Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington;  Henry  S.  Washington,  Geophysical 
Laboratory,  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington;  William  Bowie,  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey;  G.  W.  LittlEhalES,  Hydrographic  Observatory; 
and  H.  H.  Kimball,  Weather  Bureau. 

The  Alaskan  Mineral  Resources  Division  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey 
has  been  raised  to  a  Branch,  and  Mr.  A.  H.  Brooks  is  now  designated  the 
Chief  Alaskan  Geologist. 

A  shipment  of  material  collected  in  the  Province  of  Fukien,  southeastern 
China,  has  recently  been  received  from  Arthur  deC.  Sowerby.  It  contains 
many  birds  and  animals  not  previously  represented  in  the  National  Museum. 
This  is  the  first  shipment  received  from  Mr.  Sowerby  from  southeastern 
China,  a  section  of  the  country  from  which  the  Museum  has  very  little  ma- 
terial. Through  Mr.  Sowerby' s  previous  work  the  mammal  fauna  from 
northern  China  is  now  very  well  represented  in  the  Museum,  making  this 
South  China  material  of  special  interest. 

Eighteen  of  the  ornithologists  of  Washington  met  at  the  home  of  B.  H. 
Swales  on  March  14,  1922,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  ornithological 
club.  As  it  was  the  intention  at  the  start  to  meet  at  members'  homes  for 
informal  social  intercourse,  the  number  had  necessarily  to  be  restricted,  and 
twenty-five  was  fixed  as  the  limit  and  only  men  primarily  interested  in  birds 
considered.     Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  was  named  temporary  chairman  and  upon 


278       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO,   11 

vote  it  was  decided  to  call  the  society  the  "Baird  Club."  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher 
was  elected  president,  Ned  Hollister,  vice-president,  and  B.  H.  Swales, 
secretary. 

The  Archives  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  have  been  enriched 
through  a  gift  from  W.  B.  Cabot,  of  Boston,  of  a  collection  of  about  3,700 
Algonquian  names  with  their  variations  in  spelling.  These  names  for  the 
most  part  are  not  found  in  Lithgow's  Algonquian  dictionary. 

The  meeting  of  the  Petrologists'  Club  at  the  home  of  H.  G.  Ferguson  on 
February  14  was  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  West  Indian  petrology.  W.  S. 
BuRBANK  and  H.  S.  Washington  discussed  the  rocks  of  Haiti :  F.  H.  Moffit, 
those  of  Cuba;  and  C.  P.  Ross,  those  of  Santo  Domingo.  H.  S.  Washing- 
ton described  the  chemical  and  physical  properties  of  some  Central  American 
jades  which  are  of  archeological  as  well  as  petrological  interest. 

A  meeting  of  the  Pick  and  Hammer  Club  was  held  on  Saturday,  March  25, 
at  the  Geological  Survey,  with  the  following  program:  J.  S.  Brown:  Unusual 
springs  in  the  Republic  of  Haiti;  F.  W.  Clark  :  The  composition  of  surface 
waters  of  the  United  States  with  respect  to _areal  geology  and  climate,  and  the 
interpretation  of  the  latter  factors  from  water  analyses. 

S.  R.  Capper,  geologist  in  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  has  been  fur- 
loughed  for  a  year  to  do  commercial  work  abroad  for  an  American  company. 

William  T.  Carrigan,  one  of  the  senior  assistants  in  the  Nautical  Almanac 
Office,  U.  S.  Naval  Observatory,  died  at  Washington,  D.  C,  on  January  20, 
1922.  He  assisted  in  the  research  work  carried  on  by  the  late  Prof.  Simon 
Newcomb,  and  published  a  number  of  papers  on  astronomy. 

Charles  Henry  Davis,  2nd,  Rear  Admiral,  retired,  U.  S.  Navy,  twice 
Superintendent  of  the  Naval  Observatory,  died  at  Washington,  D.  C,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1921.  He  graduated  from  the  Naval  Academy  in  1S64,  and  from  1875 
till  1885  was  engaged  principally  in  astronomical  work,  at  first  in  the  Naval 
Observatory  at  Washington,  in  the  Department  of  Chronometers,  and  then 
in  expeditions  for  the  determination  of  longitudes  by  means  of  the  sub- 
marine cables.  His  publications  refer  chiefly  to  the  results  of  such  work  in 
various  parts  of  the  world. 

George  R.  Davis,  Topographic  Engineer  in  charge  of  the  Pacific  Division 
of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  died  on  March  31,  and  Mr.  T.  G.  Gerdine  has 
been  put  in  charge  of  that  division,  including  Hawaii. 

Miss  Frances  Densore,  collaborator  of  the  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology  in  Indian  music,  has  collected  during  the  past  winter  101  Yuma, 
40  Cocopa,  and  10  Mohave  songs  in  addition  to  other  important  musical 
material.  Among  the  most  important  novelties  are  remarkable  observations 
on  a  "Memorial,"  or  cremation  ceremony  held  annually  by  the  Mohaves 
over  those  who  have  died  during  the  year. 

Neil  M.  Judd,  Curator  of  American  Archeology,  left  for  New  Mexico 
on  May  1  to  resume  direction  of  the  National  Geographic  vSociety's  Pueblo 
Bonito  Expedition.  During  Mr.  Judd's  absence  John  L.  Baer  will  again 
serve  as  Acting  Curator  of  American  Archeology. 

Dr.  William  M.  Mann  has  returned  from  his  South  American  trip,  in 
which  he  was  Director  of  the  Mulford  Biological  Exploration  on  the  upper 
Amazon  for  several  months.  He  brought  back  over  a  hundred  live  animals 
and  extensive  collections  of  many  kinds,  especially  of  insects. 

Mr.  Glenn  S.  Smith  has  been  assigned  charge  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Division  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.  He  will  also  retain  supervision  of 
the  Division  of  West  Indian  Surveys. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  June  19,  1922  No.  12 


OCEANOGRAPHY. — The  applications  of  science  and  engineering 
in  the  work  of  the  United  States  Lighthouse  Service.'^  George  R. 
Putnam,  Lighthouse  Service,  Department  of  Commerce. 

The  Lighthouse  Service  has  a  definite  function  to  perform,  the  pro- 
viding of  marks  or  signals  to  guide  vessels  in  their  proper  course  and 
to  keep  them  away  from  danger.  In  performing  this  duty  it  makes 
extensive  use  of  apparatus  and  appliances  developed  through  scien- 
tific research,  and  of  structures,  both  on  land  and  afloat,  in  many  cases 
involving  difficult  engineering  problems.  The  aids,  over  16,000  in 
number,  are  either  on  unfixed  or  floating  structures,  slightly  more  than 
half  being  floating.  As  to  character,  they  fall  into  three  general  groups, 
lights,  fog  signals,  and  daymarks,  though  many  aids  combine  these 
three  functions  or  two  of  them. 

Lighthouses  and  other  lighted  aids. — Though  in  many  respects  the 
fog  signals  are  the  aids  most  needed  by  the  mariner,  yet  the  lights 
are  the  more  numerous  and  more  widely  known  marks,  and  their  de- 
velopment will  be  first  described. 

The  outermost  lights  are  those  of  the  outside  lightships,  which  are 
in  effect  floating  lighthouses  anchored  off  the  coast  and  in  the  ap- 
proaches to  the  great  seaports.  These  are  few  in  number,  only  22 
for  the  Atlantic,  Gulf  and  Pacific  coasts,  but  they  are  the  guides  most 
used  by  the  larger  class  of  vessels,  as  they  can  run  directly  for  these 
lightships  without  risk  of  stranding  if  somewhat  off  in  reckoning.  An 
example  is  the  Nantucket  light  vessel,  anchored  41  miles  off  the  land; 
this  is  the  mark  for  which  most  of  the  vessels  crossing  the  north  At- 
lantic direct  their  course  westward  bound.  There  are  now  also  a  num- 
ber of  large  sea  gas  buoys  anchored  off  the  coast  and  entrances. 

The  primary  coast  lights  are  the  principal  lighthouses  marking  prom- 
inent headlands,  offlying  islands  and  rocks,  important  entrances,  and 
some  intermediate  points.     On  a  well  lighted  coast  these  primary 

1  Address  delivered  at  the  Bureau  of  vStandards,  May  5,  1922.     Received  May  15,  1922. 

279 


280      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   12 

lights  are  so  spaced  that  a  vessel  skirting  the  coast  will  always  be  in 
sight  of  one  of  these  lights. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  smaller  lights,  such  as  gas  buoys  mark- 
ing channels  and  immediate  entrances,  and  lighthouses  and  post 
lights  marking  minor  entrances,  inside  channels,  dangers,  and  river 
channels. 

The  problems  to  be  solved  in  providing  an  effective  light  for  the 
mariner  are:  most  useful  location,  suitable  illuminant,  lamp  and  op- 
tical arrangement  to  give  the  required  luminous  range,  height  of  the 
light  for  the  proper  geographic  range,  and  distinctive  characteristic 
to  avoid  confusion  with  other  lighted  aids  as  well  as  lights  for  other 
purposes. 

Because  of  expense  involved,  the  number  of  lights  must  of  course  be 
restricted  to  the  most  essential  locations.  They  are  placed  as  near 
as  practicable  to  the  track  of  vessels,  or  to  the  outer  limit  of  the  danger 
to  be  marked ;  large  expenditures  have  sometimes  been  made  so  as  to 
place  a  lighthouse  in  the  position  most  protective  to  shipping.  The 
geographic  range,  depending  on  the  height  of  the  focal  plane  above  sea 
level,  is  for  the  primary  lights  on  low  coasts  about  20  nautical  miles, 
this  distance  being  sufficient  for  general  navigational  purposes.  This 
requires  a  tower  of  from  150  to  200  feet,  depending  on  the  elevation  of 
the  observer  on  the  ship.  Adding  another  100  feet  to  the  height  of  a 
tower  of  200  feet  increases  the  distance  of  visibility  only  3V2  nautical 
miles. 

Illuminants  and  lighting  apparatus. — For  illuminant,  the  primary 
coast  lights  of  this  country  now  use  kerosene  burned  in  incandescent 
oil  vapor  lamps.  In  this  lamp  the  kerosene,  forced  into  the  vapor- 
izer by  air  pressure,  is  heated  and  vaporized,  and  is  burned  mixed  with 
air  under  a  mantle,  which  is  thus  brought  to  a  brilliant  incandescence. 
This  lamp  gives  one  candlepower  of  the  bare  light  for  about  ^/i  gallon 
of  kerosene  a  year,  as  against  6  gallons  a  year  per  candlepower  for  the 
Argand  wick  lamp,  thus  increasing  the  illuminating  efficiency  of  the 
oil  about  8  times.  As  an  example,  when  the  oil  vapor  lamp  was  installed 
at  Cape  Hatteras  lighthouse  the  power  of  the  light  was  increased  from 
27,000  to  80,000  candles,  and  the  consumption  of  oil  was  reduced 
from  2,300  to  1,000  gallons  a  year.  Next  to  kerosene,  acetylene  gas 
is  the  most  widely  used  illuminant,  supplying  nearly  1,000  lights  in 
this  service,  for  the  most  part  unattended  beacons  on  shore,  and  gas 
buoys.  These  are  nearly  all  supplied  with  compressed  gas  dissolved 
in  acetone,  in  tanks  filled  with  a  porous  substance;   the  acetone  has  the 


JUNE  19,  1922  PUTNAM:  lighthouse;  service  281 

remarkable  power  of  absorbing  many  times  its  own  volume  of  gas. 
This  makes  a  safe  and  economical  system  for  unattended  lights  and 
buoys.  Electricity  is  not  generally  used  at  primary  lights  because 
of  expense,  sufficient  illuminating  power  being  obtained  at  much  less 
cost  with  the  oil  vapor  lamp ;  electricity  is,  however,  used  with  great 
advantage  at  some  stations  where  supply  of  current  is  available,  par- 
ticularly at  harbor  stations  where  distant  control  is  desirable,  as  a 
station  at  the  end  of  a  breakwater  where  the  light  may  be  controlled 
from  the  shore  end.  An  automatic  arrangement  for  exchanging  lamps 
in  case  of  burnout  is  used. 

The  early  lighthouses  were  lighted  with  open  fires,  and  tallow  can- 
dles were  used  at  the  Eddy  stone  light  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
Although  lighthouses  have  aided  the  mariner  for  more  than  2,000 
years,  most  of  the  progress  in  illuminating  apparatus  and  fog  signals 
has  been  made  during  the  last  century.  A  hundred  years  ago  coal 
fires  and  tallow  candles  had  only  recently  been  abandoned  at  impor- 
tant lighthouses  in  England,  guns  were  still  used  as  fog  signals,  and  no 
outside  lightship  had  yet  been  moored  off  the  coast  of  this  country. 
The  French  physicist,  Fresnel,  in  1822,  a  hundred  years  ago  this  year 
made  the  greatest  single  step  in  the  improvement  of  illuminating  ap- 
paratus by  developing  a  built-up  annular  lens  surrounded  by  rings  of 
glass  prisms,  the  central  portions  of  which  refract  and  the  outer  por- 
tions both  reflect  and  refract  the  light  from  a  single  source  lamp 
placed  at  the  focus.  This  lens  was  for  a  fixed  light,  and  its  effect  was 
to  concentrate  the  light  in  a  plane  useful  to  the  mariner,  but  distributed 
around  the  horizon.  Great  progress  has  since  been  made  by  the  use 
of  lenses  constructed  in  panels,  and  rotated,  thus  concentrating 
the  light  in  beams  sweeping  around  the  horizon,  and  showing  to  the 
mariner  a  flash  or  group  of  flashes  with  definite  characteristic.  Great 
illuminating  efficiency  and  much  reduced  cost  have  been  obtained  with 
such  apparatus,  by  using  smaller  lenses,  concentrating  the  light  through 
a  small  number  of  panels,  and  revolving  at  high  speed.  The  latter  is 
made  possible  by  carrying  the  weight  of  the  rotating  lens  in  mercury 
in  an  annular  trough .  The  following  comparison  shows  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  the  modern  lens  arrangement :  At  Seguin,  Maine,  with  first 
order  lens  72  inches  in  diameter,  the  light,  which  is  fixed,  has  22,000 
candlepower.  At  Molokai,  Hawaii,  there  is  a  second  order  two  panel 
lens,  55  inches  in  diameter,  revolving  once  in  20  seconds,  and  giving 
each  10  seconds  a  flash  of  620,000  candlepower.  At  the  latter  the  cost 
of  oil  per  candlepower  per  year  is  only  about  Vso  of  a  cent.     With  the 


284      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  12 

powerful  sound  in  air  signals  may  be  heard  varies  greatly,  and  under 
unfavorable  weather  conditions  such  signals  can  be  heard  only  at  a 
moderate  distance,  affording  scant  protection;  there  are  many  cases 
of  aberration  of  the  sound,  the  signal  being  lost  and  again  picked 
up  at  a  greater  distance,  and  no  means  are  available  to  the  ordinary 
navigator  of  taking  a  definite  bearing  on  a  sound  fog  signal. 

The  steam  whistle  is  a  fog  signal  formerly  extensively  used;  an 
important  objection  to  it  is  the  time  required  to  get  it  in  operation,  as 
fog  may  come  with  but  brief  warning  and  the  signal  should  be  in  oper- 
ation at  once.  The  most  effective  sound-producing  fog  signals  are 
the  siren  and  the  diaphone  using  compressed  air  supplied  by  air  com- 
pressors, driven  by  internal  combustion  engines.  These  signals  have 
distinctive  notes,  and  can  be  started  very  quickly  on  the  approach  of 
fog.  In  the  standard  form  of  siren  now  used  in  the  Lighthouse  Ser- 
vice, a  hollow  cylinder  or  rotor,  6  inches  in  diameter  with  peripheral 
slots  is  revolved  in  a  casing  with  similar  slots,  leading  to  a  horn  or 
trumpet.  The  blasts  are  controlled  by  clockwork,  giving  a  charac- 
teristic signal  at  each  station.  The  diaphone  is  an  instrument  similar 
to  the  siren,  but  having  a  reciprocating  motion  instead  of  a  rotary 
one. 

Sounding  buoys,  operated  automatically  by  the  sea,  are  much  used 
aids,  and  serve  a  very  valuable  purpose  within  moderate  distances. 
The  greater  number  are  the  familiar  bell  buoys;  a  modification  of 
this  has  recently  been  made,  obtaining  a  chime  effect  by  means  of 
several  sizes  of  gongs,  with  clappers  striking  alternately.  Bell  buoys 
are  so  balanced  as  to  operate  with  every  slight  motion  of  the  waves. 
The  whistling  buoy  is  an  American  invention,  and  is  a  valuable  aid 
where  there  is  sufficient  sea  to  operate  it  effectively.  Submarine 
bells  have  been  installed  on  buoys,  the  movement  of  the  buoy  operating 
a  large  vane,  which  winds  a  spring  actuating  the  striking  mechanism. 
The  most  valuable  recent  improvement  is  the  installation  on  a  buoy  of 
a  bell  operated  by  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  gas  tanks  are  placed  in 
receptacles  in  the  buoy,  and  the  bell  is  struck  at  uniform  intervals  by 
a  piston  actuated  by  the  gas  pressure. 

About  half  a  century  ago  considerable  research  work  in  sound  as  af- 
fecting fog  signals  was  done  by  Joseph  Henry,  then  chairman  of  the 
Lighthouse  Board,  as  well  as  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion, and  the  results  were  collected  in  the  latter's  report  for  1878. 
About  20  years  ago  elaborate  comparative  tests  of  fog  signal  apparatus 
were  conducted  by  the  Trinity  House  of  London,  at  St.  Catherines  Point, 


JUNE  19,  1922  PUTNAM:   LIGHTHOUSE  SERVICE  285 

Isle  of  Wight,  with  the  advice  of  Lord  Rayleigh.  In  recent  years  com- 
parative tests  of  apparatus  have  been  made  by  the  Lighthouse  Ser- 
vice from  time  to  time,  and  the  fog  signal  station  at  Execution  Rocks 
in  Long  Island  Sound  has  recently  been  fitted  up  for  systematic  tests. 

Lighthouse  construction  and  engineering. — Unusual  engineering  prob- 
lems are  involved  in  the  lighthouse  work  both  in  the  fixed  and  floating 
structures.  Most  of  the  important  lighthouses  have  been  built  on 
exposed  sites,  and  many  on  submarine  sites,  or  partially  submerged 
reefs,  involving  difficult  engineering  design  and  construction.  The 
problems  will  be  illustrated  by  a  few  examples.  Minots  Ledge  light- 
house, south  of  Boston,  was  built  on  a  reef  bare  only  at  low  water  and 
for  a  small  area,  and  exposed  to  the  Atlantic.  The  reef  had  to  be  cut 
to  receive  the  foundation  of  the  tower;  during  the  first  year  only  130 
working  hours  were  obtained  on  the  rock,  and  the  work  was  prosecuted 
for  more  than  3  years  before  a  single  stone  was  laid.  After  5  years' 
work  a  massive  stone  tower  was  erected,  which  has  now  stood  for  over 
60  years;  on  occasions  the  waves  go  over  the  top  of  the  tower,  97 
feet  above  the  water. 

On  the  Pacific  coast,  a  notable  lighthouse  is  that  at  Tillamook 
Rock,  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River.  Here  the  top  of  the 
rock  had  to  be  blasted  off  to  give  a  site  for  the  structure,  and  special 
protection  had  to  be  provided  for  workmen  and  materials,  as  in  storms 
the  waves  go  over  the  entire  rock.  The  lantern  of  the  completed  struc- 
ture is  133  feet  above  the  sea,  but  in  severe  storms  rocks  have  been 
thrown  through  the  lantern  glass. 

A  number  of  lighthouses  have  been  erected  in  open  water  on  sand 
bottom,  with  caissons  sunk  by  the  pneumatic  process.  The  first  so 
built  in  this  country  was  the  Fourteen  Foot  Bank  lighthouse  in  Del- 
aware Bay,  standing  in  20  feet  of  water.  The  caisson  was  sunk  to  a 
depth  of  33  feet  into  the  sand,  using  a  timber  working  chamber  40 
feet  square. 

Marking  the  edge  of  the  Florida  reefs  are  six  tall  iron  lighthouses, 
five  of  which  stand  in  shallow  water.  As  the  material  of  the  coral 
reefs  was  not  solid  enough  to  sustain  on  piles  alone  the  weight  of  these 
towers,  from  115  to  160  feet  in  height,  sufficient  support  was  obtained 
by  driving  wrought  iron  piles  into  the  coral,  to  a  shoulder  resting  against 
iron  discs  8  feet  in  diameter,  giving  a  large  bearing  on  the  surface  of 
the  coral. 

Vessels  and  floating  aids. — More  than  half  of  the  aids  maintained 
are  floating,  and  these  are  of  great  value  to  mariners,  as  they  can  be 


286      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  12 

placed  directly  at  the  point  most  useful  in  marking  a  danger,  or  in  de- 
fining a  safe  course;  they  have  the  disadvantage  of  being  liable  to 
be  displaced  or  sunk,  but  this  is  to  some  extent  overcome  by  improved 
design,  heavier  moorings,  and  constant  watchfulness  by  the  Lighthouse 
Service  vessels  and  people. 

The  Service  has  about  120  vessels  in  commission,  light  vessels  or 
floating  lighthouses,  and  tenders,  or  supply  steamers.  Both  of  these 
classes  require  vessels  of  special  design.  Important  problems  of  naval 
architecture  have  to  be  solved,  particularly  in  the  plans  for  the  light 
vessels.  This  country  maintains  these  on  49  stations,  of  which  22 
are  exposed  stations  in  the  open  sea.  To  remain  anchored  on  a  sta- 
tion off  the  coast,  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  storms,  is  a  service 
not  expected  of  any  other  ship,  and  for  a  long  time  difficulty  was  had 
in  designing  vessels  that  would  meet  the  requirements.  It  was  73 
years  from  the  first  attempt  before  a  lightship  was  successfully  main- 
tained on  Diamond  Shoal  off  Cape  Hatteras,  and  because  of  this  diffi- 
culty elaborate  attempts  involving  possible  large  expenditures,  were 
made  to  build  a  lighthouse  on  the  Outer  Diamond  Shoal.  In  the 
design  of  lightships,  the  lines  are  shaped  to  control  the  rolling  and  the 
easy  riding  of  the  vessel  in  a  seaway.  The  framing  is  heavy,  and 
ample  water-tight  bulkheads  are  provided.  Flush  deck  construction 
is  used  with  a  minimum  of  upper  works,  so  as  to  allow  seas  to  sweep 
over  the  vessel.  The  bow  is  high  to  ride  the  seas.  The  largest  light 
vessels  in  this  Service  are  only  about  135  feet  in  length.  They  are 
moored  with  mushroom  anchors  up  to  7500  pounds  in  weight  on  the 
exposed  stations,  with  heavy  mooring  chains,  180  fathoms  or  1,080 
feet  in  length,  weighing  approximately  28,000  pounds.  The  chain 
passes  through  a  hawse  pipe  in  the  stem,  near  the  water  line,  so  that 
the  vessel  may  ride  as  easily  as  possible.  Lightships  anchored  in  the 
more  exposed  positions  are  subjected  to  most  severe  treatment  by 
the  combination  of  gales  and  cross  currents,  and  every  precaution  is 
taken  to  secure  their  safety,  and  their  remaining  on  station.  The 
modern  vessels  are  self-propelled,  and  the  strain  on  the  mooring  chains 
during  storms  is  relieved  by  judicious  use  of  the  propelling  machinery. 
At  a  few  stations  a  spherical  mooring  buoy  is  shackled  to  a  submerged 
portion  of  the  chain  to  carry  a  part  of  the  weight  and  ease  the  strains 
due  to  the  vessel  surging. 

The  lighthouse  tenders  are  the  supply  and  construction  vessels, 
and  care  for  the  buoys  and  lightships.  They  are  equipped  with 
powerful  hoisting  gear  for  handling  the  heavy  buoys  and  moorings, 


JUNE  19,  1922  PUTNAM:  lighthouse  service  287 

and  have  large  open  deck  space  forward  for  the  stowage  of  buoys. 
They  must  be  of  moderate  draft  so  as  to  go  into  close  waters  to  place 
the  buoys,  and  at  the  same  time  must  be  good  sea  boats,  for  their  work 
takes  them  out  to  sea,  some  times  under  severe  weather  conditions. 

The  Service  maintains  many  types  of  buoys,  of  which  the  most  im- 
portant are  the  lighted  buoys,  and  the  sounding  buoys,  already  men- 
tioned. The  other  buoys  are  of  iron  or  wood,  and  indicate  by  their 
color  and  number  their  position  with  respect  to  the  channel. 

Problems  in  Alaska. — ^There  are  special  problems  to  be  met  in  some 
regions,  as  for  instance  Alaska.  Here  water  navigation  is  very  im- 
portant, as  the  territory  is  largely  dependent  on  it  for  transportation, 
and  the  conditions  as  to  fog,  reefs  and  rock-bound  coasts,  and  water 
depths  render  navigation  difficult.  The  remoteness  makes  light- 
house maintenance  expensive,  particularly  for  attended  stations, 
and  because  of  the  very  extensive  coast  line  as  complete  a  system  of 
aids  as  on  the  North  Atlantic  coast  would  be  beyond  the  financial 
resources  of  the  government.  In  the  past  12  years  the  number  of 
aids  in  Alaska  has  been  increased  more  than  threefold,  and  many  lights, 
suitable  for  the  inside  passages,  have  been  added  at  moderate  main- 
tenance expense  by  the  installation  of  acetylene  gas  apparatus.  Im- 
portant additions  are  still  needed,  particularly  in  the  way  of  fog  sig- 
nals. 

The  U.  S.  Lighthouse  Service. — In  closing  I  will  briefly  refer  to  the 
Lighthouse  Service  in  general.  It  lights  and  marks  all  the  coasts  and 
interior  navigable  waters  of  the  United  States  and  its  possessions  ex- 
cepting the  Philippine  Islands  and  Panama.  It  maintains  16,000  aids 
to  navigation  and  is  the  most  extensive  service  of  its  kind  in  the  world 
under  one  organization.  It  is  conducted  through  19  lighthouse  dis- 
tricts, each  under  a  Superintendent,  who  is  charged  with  a  wide  local  re- 
sponsibilty  for  the  proper  upkeep  of  the  district.  The  responsible 
officers  of  the  Service  are  engineers  or  other  technical  men,  with  long 
experience  in  the  work.  There  is  on  Staten  Island,  New  York  Harbor, 
a  general  supply  station,  and  shops  where  considerable  special  equip- 
ment is  manufactured  for  the  Service,  and  where  some  tests  and 
experimental  work  are  carried  on.  The  Service  makes  very  extensive 
application  of  the  results  of  scientific  research,  but  it  has,  however, 
not  attempted  to  establish  any  large  research  division,  because  of 
the  existence  in  the  Department  of  Commerce  of  the  Bureau  of 
Standards,  and  the  excellent  assistance  and  cooperation  given  by  that 
organization. 


288      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  12 

The  first  lighthouse  in  this  country  was  built  by  Massachusetts  at 
Boston,  in  1716,  and  this  station  is  still  in  operation.  Several  other 
lighthouses  were  built  by  the  colonies.  The  maintenance  of  the 
lighthouse  system  was  the  first  public  work,  or  work  of  a  technical 
character,  undertaken  by  the  United  States  Government,  being  pro- 
vided for  at  the  first  session  of  Congress  in  1789. 

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. — Crystallographic-optical  properties  of  cal- 
cium Jumar  ate  and  maleate}  Edgar  T.  Wherry  and  Raymond 
M.  Hann,  Bureau  of  Chemistry. 

Crystals  of  these  salts  do  not  appear  to  have  been  measured  here- 
tofore. They  are,  however,  of  interest  in  that  the  acids  represent  a 
simple  case  of  stereoisomerism,  so  we  have  prepared  them  and  studied 
them  in  detail. 

CALCIUM  FUMARATE,  Ca(C4H204)  .  2H2O 

Preparation. — The  fumaric  acid  was  obtained  from  a  commercial 
firm  now  making  it  in  a  high  state  of  purity  by  a  catalytic  process. 
After  several  trials  the  following  plan  was  found  to  yield  the  best 
crystals  of  the  calcium  salt:  Dissolve  2V2  grams  of  fumaric  acid  in 
50  cc.  of  water,  heat  to  boiling,  neutralize  with  30%  KOH  solution, 
and  then  acidify  slightly  by  the  addition  of  a  small  amount  of  the  acid. 
To  the  boiling  solution  add  an  equal  volume  of  5%  CaCl2  solution  and 
continue  boiling  until  a  slight  turbidity  appears.  Filter  the  solution, 
cover  loosely  and  allow  to  stand  for  several  weeks.  Groups  of  blade- 
like crystals  as  much  as  2  mm.  in  length  then  separate  out.  Before 
removing  them  for  study  the  solution  is  best  placed  in  a  cold  place  for 
a  time  to  cause  the  crystals  to  take  up  material  and  repair  any  corro- 
sion which  their  faces  may  have  suffered. 

Composition. — -On  ignition  the  salt  was  found  to  yield  a  residue  of 
CaO  equivalent  to  28.47%,  indicating  the  presence  of  2  molecules  of 
water  of  crystallization  (theory,  29.5%). 

Crystallography . — -It  was  found  that  where  crystals  lay  close  to- 
gether in  groups  their  angles  were  somewhat  distorted,  but  it  was  pos- 
sible to  pick  out  several  fairly  free  from  such  disturbances,  and  five 
of  these  were  submitted  to  crystallographic  measurement.  They  are 
orthorhombic  and  tabular  on  a  pinacoid,  with  marginal  dome-prism 
forms. 

In  an  orthorhombic  crystal  a  choice  of  six  orientations  is  open  to  the 

^  Contribution  from  the  Analytical  Reagents  Investigation  Laboratory  and  Laboratory 
of  Crystallographer.     Received  May  20,  1922. 


JUNE  19,  1922  WHERRY  AND  hann:  calcium  fumarate  and  maleate      289 

describer;  and  in  the  present  substance  the  single  pinacoid  present 
might  be  made  either  a,  h,  or  c,  while  in  each  of  these  cases  the  dome- 
prism  forms  might  be  placed  in  either  of  two  positions.  The  conven- 
tional rule  about  such  matters  is  to  place  the  direction  of  greatest  elonga- 
tion vertical,  and  make  a  dominant  pinacoid  face  h.  When  this  is 
done  for  calcium  fumarate,  its  angle  data  come  out  as  shown  in  Table  1. 

TABLE  1. — Angles  of  calcium  fumarate  in  conventional  orientation. 
Orthorhombic;    a  :  b  :  c  =  0.3970  :  1  :  0.3772  (po  =  0.9503;    qo  =  0.3772). 

Number       Symbols  Angles         Observed 

Letter     Gdt.         Mill.  Description  >p  p 

lb         Ox     010       Dominant  form  0°00'  90°00' 

2  m      00  110       Longer  marginal  form  68°21'  90°00' 

3  q       01         Oil       Shorter  marginal  form  0°00'         20°40' 

It  may  be  noted  that  this  substance  lies  very  near  to  the  mineral 
columbite,  FeCb206,  which,  in  corresponding  orientation,  has  a  :  5  -.c  = 
0.4023  : 1  : 0.3580. 

There  is,  however,  another  method  of  orientation  which  in  many 
respects  seem  preferable,  namely,  that  worked  out  by  the  late  Professor 
E.  S.  Fedorov.-  Unfortunately  his  rules  have  not  yet  been  made 
available  to  non-Russian  readers  in  complete  form.  The  first  step 
seems  to  be  to  bring  the  crystal  into  that  orientation  which  shall 
show  most  clearly  its  relationship  to  a  system  of  higher  symmetry. 
In  the  present  case,  it  takes  but  brief  inspection  of  the  habit  to  realize 
that  this  substance  approaches  the  tetragonal  system  if  the  large  pin- 
acoid is  made  the  base,  and  this  is  the  orientation  adopted  for  the 
second  angle  table.  The  substance  is,  in  fact,  as  far  as  the  angles  go, 
markedly  peri  tetragonal.  According  to  Fedorov,^  the  tabular  habit 
perpendicular  to  axis  c  indicates  that  the  axial  ratio  should  be  strongly 
positive — ^that  is,  axis  c  should  be  much  greater  than  the  others.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  whichever  axis  is  taken  as  b,  the  value  of  c  is  greater 
than  2V2,  so  that  thus  far  the  relations  are  normal. 

Next  there  is  a  choice  between  making  the  dome  with  the  smaller 
rho  angle  the  side  dome  or  the  front  dome;  in  the  former  position, 
axis  a  would  be  less  than  axis  b,  in  the  latter,  greater  than  b.  Since  b 
is  by  convention  taken  as  the  unit  axis,  it  seems  preferable  to  make  a 
greater  than  b,  and  as  this  also  agrees  with  Fedorov' s  rule,  the  greater 
elongation  of  the  crystal  being  toward  the  greater  rho,  the  dome  with 
the  smaller  rho  angle  has  been  turned  to  the  front,  that  is,  made  form 
(101).     The  dome  with  the  larger  rho  angle  then  becomes  (Oil),  and 

2  Z.  Kryst.  Min.  50:   513.  1912. 
^  Loc.  cit. 


Number 
letter 

Symbols 
Gdt.       Mill. 

Ic 

1           001 

2e 

01           Oil 

3d 

10           101 

1           111 

Angles 

Observe 

>P 

p 

.  -  .  . 

0°00' 

0°00' 

69°20' 

90°00' 

68^21' 

43°32' 

74°43' 

290      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  12 

the  axial  ratio  given  at  the  head  of  the  angle  table  is  the  result.  Fe- 
dorov  termed  the  orientations  worked  out  on  the  basis  of  his  rules  the 
"correct  setting,"  but  any  one  of  the  six  orientations  of  an  orthorhom- 
bic  crystal  is  just  as  correct  as  any  other,  so  the  term  "significant"  is 
preferred,  since  what  is  meant  is  that  orientation  which  best  brings 
out  the  relations  of  the  crystal  to  other  systems. 

TABLE  2. — Angles  of  calcium  fumarate  in  significant  orientation 
Orthorhombic;  a:b  -.c  =  1.0523  :  1  : 2.6510  (po  =  2.5193;  qo  =  2.6510).     Peritetrag- 
onal,  with  deviation  of  prism  angle  <p  from  the  tetragonal  value  =  1  °28'. 

Description 
Dominant  form 
Narrow  but  brilliant 
Like  e,  but  longer 
(Calculated) 

The  crystals  are  usually  distorted  in  such  a  manner  that  one  dome 
face  of  each  pair  is  decidedly  larger  than  the  other,  the  symmetry  be- 
ing thus  ecto-hemimorphic.     Their  average  habit  is  shown  in  Figure  1. 

Space  relations. — The  topic  axes  of  the  substance  were  next  cal- 
culated. As  the  usual  plan  for  doing  this  obscures  the  relations  some- 
what, it  becomes  preferable  to  first  calculate  unit-volume  axes,  which 
differ  from  the  usual  crystal  axes  in  that  axis  b  is  no  longer  taken  as 
unity,  but  is  reduced  to  such  a  value  that  the  product  of  all  their  axes 
equals  one.  The  unit  volume  axes  may  be  distinguished  from  the 
ordinary  axes  by  the  use  of  capital  letters.  The  formulas  used  are: 
A  =  '^a'^/c;  B  =  A/a;  C  =  c  X  B.  Using  the  values  obtained  from 
the  significant  orientation  of  Table  2,  the  results  are:  A  :  B  :  C  = 
0.7475  :  0.7104  :  1.8832. 

The  molecular  weight  of  calcium  fumarate,  Ca(C4H204)  .2H2O,  is 
190.1.  Its  specific  gravity  was  determined  by  suspending  a  few 
crystals  in  a  mixture  of  carbon  tetrachloride  and  bromoform,  the 
amounts  of  the  constituents  being  varied  until  the  crystals  remained 
suspended,  when  the  specific  gravity  of  the  liquid  was  obtained  with 
a  Westphal  balance.  As  variation  from  one  crystal  to  another  was 
shown,  some  floating  in  the  same  liquid  in  which  others  sank,  it  would 
be  meaningless  to  state  the  result  beyond  the  second  place;  it  was 
1.71  =<=  0.01.  The  molecular  volume  is  accordingly  111.2  and  the 
cube  root  of  it  4.81.  Multiplying  the  unit-volume  axes  by  this  fac- 
tor, the  topic  axes  are :  x  '•  '4^  '■  ^  =  3.60  :  3.42  :  9.06. 

Optical  properties. — Study  by  the  immersion  method  under  the 
polarizing  microscope  shows  calcium  fumarate  to  be  biaxial  negative 


JUNE  19,  1922    WHERRY  AND  HANN:    CALCIUM  FUMARATE  AND  MALEATE         291 

with  a  small  axial  angle,  but  extreme  double  refraction.  It  has  the  form 
of  rectangular  plates  and  irregular  angular  fragments,  with  refractive 
indices  of  a  =  1.413,  0  =  1.602  and  y  =  1.611,  all  ±0.003. 
The  double  refraction  is  thus  0.198,  and  2V  calcd.  =  22°24',  2E 
calcd.  =  36°16',  2E  obs.  =  37°  ±  1°.  The  optical  orientation, 
however,  is  not  what  might  have  been  expected  from  the  peritetragonal 
crystal  form ;  for  X  =  a,  Y  =  b  and  Z  =  c,  so  that  perpendicular  to 
the  pinacoid  it  is  not  the  acute  but  the  obtuse  bisectrix  which  is  visible. 
The  mean  refractive  index  n  =  1.539,  from  which  the  refractivity 
may  be  derived,  using  the  formula  M  =  VX  {n-  —  l)/(w-  +  2)  {V 
being  molecular  volume,  already  determined).  This  gives M  =  34.8, 
the  significance  of  which  value  is  discussed  after  the  data  for  calcium 
maleate  are  given, 

CAI.CIUM  MALEATE,  Ca(C4H204)  .  H2O 

Preparation. — A  number  of  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to 
prepare  this  salt  in  a  form  suitable  for  crystallographic  measurement, 
but  the  crystals  were  in  general  too  minute  to  handle.  After  experi- 
menting to  determine  the  best  strengths  of  the  solution  to  employ,  the 
following  plan  was  adopted,  the  acid  used  coming  from  the  same 
source  as  the  fumarate:  Dissolve  5  grams  of  maleic  acid  in  50  cc.  of 
H2O,  heat  to  boiling,  neutralize  with  30%  KOH  solution,  and  slightly 
acidify  with  additional  acid.  To  the  boiling  solution  add  an  equal 
volume  of  boiling  10%  CaCl2  solution,  and  continue  boiling  until  the 
slight  bumping  which  often  precedes  precipitation  is  noticed.  Filter 
rapidly  into  a  vessel  kept  at  about  80°,  by  immersion  in  a  large  water 
bath,  cover  closely  and  allow  the  bath  to  cool.  When  cooling  is  rapid, 
rosette  groups  of  needle-like  crystals  form;  when  it  is  gradual,  a  con- 
tinuous crust,  which  ultimately  develops  into  interlacing  needles,  de- 
posits. After  some  days  the  vessel  is  placed  on  ice  for  a  time  and  the 
crystals  are  removed  and  dried. 

Composition  .■ — ^On  ignition  the  salt  was  found  to  yield  a  residue  of  CaO 
equivalent  to  32.38%,  showing  the  presence  of  one  molecule  of  water 
of  crystallization  (theory  32.6%). 

Crystallography . — The  crystals  obtained  are  not  altogether  satis- 
factory, for  although  the  prism  faces  are  fairly  well  developed  and  do 
not  give  excessive  variation  in  angles,  the  terminations  seem  always  to 
be  dull  or  rounded.  However,  by  measuring  ten  crystals  and  taking 
the  average  values  of  the  angles  a  fairly  close  approximation  to  the 
probable  values  could  be  obtained.     It  is  noteworthy  that  the  more 


292      JOURNAL  OF  the;   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   12 

rapidly  cooling  crystals  had  a  series  of  steep  domes  forming  a  more  or 
less  continuous  curve,  while  those  that  cooled  more  slowly  had  but  a 
single  flat  dome.  The  system,  as  with  the  fumarate,  is  orthorhombic. 
-.  In  standard  orientation,  placing  the  direction  of  elongation  vertical 
and  the  pinacoid  at  the  side,  the  angles  of  Table  3  are  obtained. 

TABLE  3. — Angles  of  calcium  maleate  in  standard  orientation 

Orthorhombic;   a  :  h  :  c  =  0.779  :    1  :  0.643  (po  =  0.825;    qo  =  0.643). 

Angles  Observed 

Description  ^  p 

Narrow  and  sometimes  lacking  0°00'  90°00' 

Dominant  form  52  °05 '  90  °00 ' 

Principal  termination  0  °00 '  32  °45 ' 

Part  of  long  curved  form  0°00'  76°  ± 

Part  of  long  curved  form  0°00'  79°="= 

This  is  close  to  the  mineral  chalcostibite  (wolfsbergite),  CuSbS2, 
which  has  a  :  b  :  c  =  0.8026  :  1  :  0.6275. 

In  this  case  as  before  the  standard  orientation  is  not  the  significant 
one,  for  the  prism  angle  is  over  7°  away  from  the  theory  for  the  tet- 
ragonal, while  the  principal  dome  has  a  phi  angle  less  than  3°  away 
from  the  theory  for  a  more  symmetrical  system,  in  this  case  the  hexag- 
onal. Turning  the  pinacoid  to  the  front,  in  order  to  make  axis  h 
the  shortest  one,  this  gives  the  angles  and  axial  values  of  Table  4  and 
Figure  1. 

TABLE  4. — Angles  of  calcium  malEate  in  significant  orientation 
Orthorhombic;    a   :  b   :  c  =  1.555   :   1    :  1.211     (pn  =  0.779;    qo   =   1.211).     Peri- 
hexagonal,  with  deviation  of  prism  angle  tp  from  theory  for  hexagonal  2  °45'. 


>Jumber 
letter 

Symbols 
Gdt.      Mill. 

1  b 

0=0       010 

2  m 

00       no 

3q 

01       on 

4r 

.06         061 

5s 

08        081 

Number 

Symbols 

Angles 

Observed            Calculated 

letter 

Gdt.    Mill. 

Description 

V 

P                    P                  P 

1  a    OC 

i    0        100 

Narrow  and  sometimes  lacking 

90°00' 

90°00'     90°00'     90°00' 

2k 

800   810 

Part  of  long  curve 

79  o± 

90°00'     79°00'     90°00' 

31 

6  a)  610 

Brightest  part  of  long  curve 

76  °± 

90°00'     75°28'     90°00' 

4  m 

00      no 

Principal  terminal  form 

32°45' 

90°00'    (32°45')    90°00' 

5d 

10       101 

Dominant  form 

90°00' 

37°55'     90°00'    (37°55') 

.  • . 

1       111 

(Calculated) 

.... 

....        32°45'      55°13' 

Space  relations. — Calculating  the  unit-volume  axes  as  before,  the 
results  are:  A  :  5  :  C  =  1 .259  :  0.810  :  0.981.  The  specific  gravity 
determined  by  the  same  method  as  in  the  preceding  case,  was  de- 
cidedly greater,  1 .  84  =i=  0.01.  The  molecular  weight  being  172 . 1,  this 
gives  the  molecular  volume  93 . 5  and  its  cube  root  4 .  54,  making  the 
topic  axes  x  :  'A  :  <^  =  5.72  :  3.68  :  4.45.  No  relation  can  be  traced 
with  the  corresponding  values  for  the  fumarate. 

Optical  properties. — Calcium  maleate  is  like  the  fumarate  biaxial 
and  negative,  but  its  refractive  indices  are  much  higher  and  the  double 


JUNE  19,   1922    WHERRY  AND  HANN:    CALCIUM  FUMARATE  AND  MALEATE         293 


> 


■^ 


Fig.  1.     Lower  figures,  calcium  fumarate;     upper  figures,  calcium 
maleate. 


294      JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   12 


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JUNE  19,  1922  WHERRY  AND  hann:  calcium  fumarate  and  maleate       295 

refraction  weaker.  It  appears  under  the  microscope  in  rods  or  frag- 
ments, with  the  indices:  a  =  1.495,  /3  =  1.580,  y  =  1.640,  all 
±0.003,  making  the  double  refraction  0.145.  The  axial  angle  2V  is 
calculated  to  be  77°36',  and  2E  164°;  this  is  too  great  an  angle  to 
be  determined  by  the  immersion  method.  The  orientation  is  A'=  c, 
Y  =  a,  and  Z  =  b,  so,  as  in  the  case  of  the  fumarate,  the  longer  crystal 
axes  do  not  correspond  to  the  lesser  refractive  indices.  The  mean 
n  =  1.571  gives,  on  the  same  basis  as  before,  the  refractivity  30.8. 

DISCUSSION    OF   THE   REFRACTIVITY   DATA 

The  refractivities  of  the  elements  other  than  calcium  used  are  those 
of  Eisenlohr:^  C  =  2.4,  0=  =  2.2,  —0—  =  1.5,  and  H  =  1.1. 
In  calcium  formate  two  entirely  separate  acid  radicles  are  present, 
so  the  difference  between  the  total  refractivity  and  that  calculated 
for  the  elements  of  the  radicle  may  be  regarded  as  the  normal  value  for 
calcium.     It  is  4.9. 

In  calcium  oxide  X-ray  study  has  shown  the  atoms  to  be  arranged 
as  shown,  with  directions  of  attraction  (electrostatic)  also  perpendicu- 
lar to  the  paper.  This  represents  but  little  strain,  and  the  additional 
refractivity  due  to  the  structure  is  slight.  In  the  oxalate  the  calcium 
unites  the  two  ends  of  the  radicle  into  a  ring,  and  as  would  be  expected 
this  produces  a  slightly  higher  extra  refractivity. 

In  calcium  maleate  a  double  bond  is  present,  which  according  to 
Eisenlohr  produces  in  any  case  an  extra  refractivity  of  1.0;  but  in 
addition  the  calcium  unites  two  ends  of  the  radicle.  The  ring  pro- 
duced in  this  case  is  much  larger  than  that  of  the  oxalate,  and  the 
double  bond  forms  part  of  the  ring,  so  that  an  additional  strain  must 
be  represented ;  and  this  is  seen  to  produce  an  excess  of  refractivity 
of  2.0. 

The  most  complex  of  all  of  the  compounds  considered  is  calcium 
fumarate,  which  not  only  has  the  calcium  uniting  the  ends  of  the  radi- 
cle into  a  ring,  but  also,  because  the  position  of  the  substituting 
groups  with  respect  to  the  double  bond,  has  an  irregular  ring.  Still 
more  excess  refractivity  than  in  the  maleate  would  be  expected,  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  calculation  gives  2.3. 

SUMMARY 

The  preparation  and  crystallographic-optical  properties  of  calcium 
fumarate  and  maleate  are  described.  Both  are  orthorhombic,  but 
they  show  no  definite  space  relationships.     From  a  calculation  of  the 

^  Spektrochemie  Organischer  Verbindungen,  p.  48.     1912. 


296      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOIv.  12,  NO.  12 

refractivities  it  appears  that  their  peculiar  structures  lead  to  a  definite 
extra  refractivity,  greater  in  the  case  of  the  less  symmetrical  fumarate. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
632d  MEETING 

The  632d  meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  was  held  in  the  auditorium  of 
the  National  Museum,  at  8  p.m.,  on  Jan.  4,  1922,  in  cooperation  with  the 
Audubon  Society  and  the  Wild  Flower  Preservation  Society,  with  Presi- 
dent Bailey  in  the  chair.  Mr.  Stephen  T.  Mather,  of  the  National  Park 
Service,  introduced  the  speaker  of  the  evening,  Mr.  Arthur  C.  Pillsbury, 
official  photographer  of  the  Yosemite  National  Park. 

Mr.  Pillsbury's  subject  was  Wild  flowers  and  birds  of  Yosemite  National 
Park.  It  was  illustrated  with  moving  pictures  showing  birds,  flowers,  and 
scenery  of  Yosemite  Park.  A  striking  feature  was  the  exhibition  of  some 
twenty  or  more  series  of  pictures  showing  the  opening  of  the  buds  of  as 
many  different  kinds  of  flowers;  the  exposures  were  taken  at  fifteen  min- 
ute intervals,  so  that  as  projected  on  the  screen  the  opening  was  accelerated 
several  thousand  times. 

633d  meeting 

The  633d  meeting  of  the  Biological  Society  was  held  in  the  lecture  hall  of 
the  Cosmos  Club  on  Jan.  21,  1922,  with  President  BailEy  in  the  chair. 

The  following  persons  were  elected  members:  Miss  Lucy  Howard,  Har- 
old M.  Vars,  Herbert  F.  Prytherch,  and  Arthur  H.  Fisher.  The 
President  appointed  Messrs.  Rohwer,  Jackson,  Chambliss,  and  Coker 
as  a  Committee  on  communications. 

Under  general  notes.  Dr.  R.  W.  ShuFELDT  exhibited  a  new  biography  of 
the  well  known  British  ornithologist  Alfred  NewTON,  by  Wollaston. 
Dr.  ShufeldT  showed  lantern  slides  of  Professor  Newton  from  several  pictures, 
also  some  other  slides  illustrating  the  biography. 

Mr.  Hoffman  showed  a  specimen  of  Attacus  edwardsii,  one  of  the  largest 
known  moths,  from  India. 

Major  Goldman  reported  having  attended  an  organization  meeting  of 
the  Boston  Bird-Banding  Society,  which  recently  occurred. 

Mr.  Williams  reported  hundreds  of  starlings  congregating  and  roosting  on 
the  Hughes  Building  near  the  Cosmos  Club,  as  many  as  400  or  500,  he  esti- 
mated.    They  seem  to  chirp  all  night. 

The  following  program  was  given: 

S.  F.  HiLDEBRAND :  Fish  in  relation  to  mosquito  control. 

The  speaker  had  been  employed  in  the  summer  of  1921  to  introduce  fish 
into  mosquito-breeding  waters  about  Savannah,  Ga. 

The  top  minnow,  Gamhusia  affinis,  is  altogether  the  best  fish  for  introduc- 
tion, although  all  small  fish  will  feed  on  mosquito  larvae  under  favorable  con- 
ditions. The  top  minnow  is  viviparous,  hence  does  not  have  complicated 
nesting  habits  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  It  is  a,  prolific  and  hardy  fish 
and  never  outgrows  the  mosquito-eating  size.  With  the  aid  of  a  large  number 
of  lantern  slides  the  speaker  discussed  the  effect  of  various  kinds  of  vegeta- 


JUNE  19,  1922  proceedings:  biologicaIv  society  297 

tion  in  the  water  in  protecting  or  screening  the  larvae  from  the  fish,  as  well  as 
other  factors  having  an  influence  upon  the  matter. 

Major  Goldman  asked  if  the  top  minnow  could  be  introduced  outside  its 
normal  range.  The  speaker  said  it  has  winter-killed  in  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley to  a  considerable  extent. 

President  BailEy  remarked  that  lily  pads  are  eaten  by  beavers,  and  silver 
grass  by  muskrats,  which  would  reduce  the  mosquito  protection  where  these 
animals  occur. 

H.  L.  Shantz  :  Notes  on  the  white  ants  of  Africa. 

The  speaker  in  his  extensive  explorations  of  Central  and  South  Africa  had 
continually  come  into  contact  with  termite  nests,  as  they  are  generally 
conspicuous  objects.  They  tell  the  color  of  the  soil  at  a  glance.  There  are 
many  types,  which  were  illustrated  with  lantern  slides,  some  colored.  Where 
large  hills  stand  a  long  time  and  disintegrate,  the  earth  is  richer  than  else- 
where, and  natives  select  such  places  for  cultivation. 

Discussed  by  Mr.  Rohwer  and  Mr.  White,  who  compared  the  local  spe- 
cies about  Washington,  in  their  aversion  to  light,  etc.  Mr.  White  said  the 
local  species  are  very  beneficial  on  his  farm  by  eating  out  stumps,  which  thus 
decay  much  more  rapidly ;  a  4-inch  stump  is  often  eaten  almost  wholly  out 
in  a  3'^ear.  They  damage  apple  trees  where  wounds  occur,  making  a  mud 
tunnel  up  the  bark. 

Major  Goldman  recalled  the  statement  in  Drummond's  Tropical  Africa, 
that  termites  there  perform  for  the  soil  a  service  like  that  of  earthworms  in 
temperate  countries,  passing  the  soil  through  their  bodies  and  enriching  it. 

Dr.  Shufeldt  described  the  orientation  of  a  true  ant  at  Savannah,  with 
reference  to  its  path. 

C.  D WIGHT  Marsh:     Live  stock  poisoning  by  death  camas. 

Stockmen  on  the  western  stock  ranges  suffer  very  heavy  losses  of  sheep 
from  poisonous  plants.  Probably  of  all  the  plants  those  which  cause  the  great- 
est destruction  are  those  commonly  known  as  death  camas,  which  are  species 
of  the  botanical  genus  Zygadenus.  Losses  of  hundreds  of  sheep  within  24 
or  4S  hours  are  not  at  all  unusual.  These  plants  have  been  known  to  be 
poisonous  for  nearly  a  century,  but  definite  knowledge  in  regard  to  their 
properties  has  only  been  acquired  within  the  last  20  or  25  years.  The  plants 
poison  horses  and  cattle  as  well  as  sheep,  but  the  principal  losses  have  been  of 
sheep. 

Death  camas  grows  widely  distributed  over  the  ranges  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains  westward. 

The  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  has  made  detailed  studies  of  death 
camas  poisoning,  and  it  was  assumed  that  all  forms  of  the  plant  were  about 
equally  poisonous.  Recent  studies,  however,  have  brought  out  important 
facts  in  regard  to  their  relative  toxicity. 

There  are  four  common  species  of  death  camas  on  the  western  ranges,  and 
it  has  been  found  that  two  are  much  more  poisonous  than  the  others,  while 
one  species  that  has  always  been  considered  dangerous  has  so  little  toxicity 
that  probably  under  range  conditions  it  never  causes  any  losses.  The  most 
poisonous  species  is  without  doubt  that  growing  in  Montana  and  Wyoming. 
A  California  species  is  equally  injurious  as  far  as  causing  sickness  is  con- 
cerned, but  produces  fewer  deaths.  The  results  of  the  studies  made  have 
indicated  clearly  the  comparative  danger  from  these  species  and  have  also 
shown  what  measures  can  be  taken  to  avoid  losses. 


298    journaiv  of  the  washington  academy  of  sciences    voi^.  12,  no.  12 

634th  meeting 

The  634th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  Feb.  4,  1922,  with  Pres- 
ident Bailey  in  the  chair  and  55  persons  present. 

Under  Brief  notes,  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard  said  that  he  had  noticed  in  the  Annals 
of  Tropical  Medicine  and  Parasitology  for  September  30  last  an  illustration 
showing  a  botfly  larva  attached  to  a  tapeworm,  but  there  was  no  reference  to 
it  in  the  text.  He  wrote  to  Professor  Robert  Newstead  of  the  Liverpool 
School  of  Tropical  Medicine,  inquiring  about  the  specimen  figured ;  Professor 
Newstead  consulted  with  one  of  the  authors  of  the  paper,  Professor  YorkE, 
who  stated  that  the  larvae  were  found  by  him  attached  to  tapeworms  in  the 
stomach  of  the  zebra.  Professor  Yorke  gave  specimens  to  Professor  News- 
tead, who  with  great  generosity  forwarded  them  to  Dr.  Howard,  who  ex- 
hibited them  to  the  Society.  He  said  the  case,  so  far  as  he  could  ascertain, 
is  unique.  Dr.  B.  H.  Ransom  had  told  him  that  once,  when  collecting  in 
Canada,  he  had  put  some  tapeworms  and  some  Oestrid  larvae  in  the  same  vial 
and  had  later  found  that  the  Oestrids  had  destroyed  the  tapeworms  as  speci- 
mens. In  the  present  case,  however,  the  larvae  became  attached  to  the 
tapeworms  in  the  zebra's  stomach  and  presumably  while  both  were  alive. 
The  tapeworm  was  identified  as  Anoplocephala  rhodesiensis  and  the  bot  larva 
as  Gastrophilus  pecorum  variety  zebra  Rod.  and  Beq. 

Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  reported  the  recent  census  of  the  quail  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  made  by  the  police,  who  had  fed  the  birds  during  the  period  of 
deep  snow,  the  food  being  furnished  by  the  Audubon  Society.  The  census 
showed  over  100  covies  in  the  District,  with  a  total  of  approximately  2095 
birds. 

President  BailEy  reported  that  bulTalo  bones  had  been  received  recently 
from  a  cave  in  Malheur  Co.,  Oregon,  east  of  Malheur  Lake,  the  locality  being 
about  100  miles  further  west  than  any  other  authentic  evidence  of  the  oc- 
currence of  buffalo  heretofore.  Indian  tradition,  however,  indicates  that 
they  once  occurred  about  50  miles  further  west  than  this  cave. 

The  first  paper  of  the  regular  program  was  by  Smith  Riley,  on  The  Nation's 
game  supply,  and  was  illustrated. 

Dr.  vShufeldt  mentioned  the  antelope  as  the  most  difficult  animal  to  pro- 
tect, as  it  persists  in  remaining  on  the  plains.  He  once  killed  a  mountain 
buffalo,  considerably  different  from  the  plains  form. 

Dr.  Marsh  said  elk  are  impopular  with  stockmen,  especially  when  it  hap- 
pens that  they  destroy  haystacks  and  the  owner  is  prevented  by  law  from  kill- 
ing them.  Major  Goldman  thought  the  stockmen  could  be  pacified  by  feed- 
ing the  elk  in  winter  so  as  to  protect  the  cattle  range. 

The  second  paper  of  the  evening  was  by  A.  H.  HowELL,  on  The  relationship 
and  distribution  of  American  chipmunks.  The  paper  was  illustrated  by  skins 
of  the  animals,  and  by  lantern  slides  in  the  form  of  maps  with  shading  to 
show  the  areas  covered  by  the  different  forms.  There  are  in  the  east  one 
species  with  four  subspecies ,  while  in  the  west  there  are  five  species  with 
57  recognizable  subspecies.  The  western  forms  climb  trees  more  than  the 
eastern  but  are  not  actually  arboreal. 

Dr.  Palmer  said  the  group  was  universally  called  ground-squirrels  in  the 
early  days,  the  word  chipmunk  dating  only  from  1842.  The  origin  of  the 
term  he  could  not  explain.  He  also  mentioned  that  most  of  the  species  have 
been  described  by  members  of  the  Biological  Society. 

J.  M.  Aldrich,  Recording  Secretary. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  July  19,  1922  No.  13 


ZOOLOGY.— Greeffiella  (Trichoderma  Greeff,  1869 ;  not  Trichoderma 
Steph.  1835).  Contributions  to  a  Science  of  Nematology,  XII. 
N.  A.   Cobb,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

In  1869,  Greeff  described  an  externally  peculiar  and  very  interesting 
small  animal  form  under  the  name  Trichoderma.  Though  it  proves 
in  the  end  to  be  internally  a  typical  nema,  it  is  only  after  many  years 
that  the  fact  becomes  fully  established.  The  very  small  size  of  the 
species  and  the  fact  that  the  setose  cuticle  makes  it  difficult  to  examine 
the  internal  organs,  taken  together,  have  delayed  a  fuller  understand- 
ing of  the  internal  anatomy. 

Opportunity  has  occurred  to  reexamine  a  species  of  this  genus  in  a 
living  condition,  and  the  results  are  presented  herewith.  They  serve 
to  establish  the  view  that  the  genus  comprises  typical  nemas,  in  no 
sense  transition  forms;  the  genus  presents  striking  relationships  to  the 
genus  Desmoscolex,  another  typical  nema  genus  whose  affmities  also 
have  been  long  obscured  in  much  the  same  way,  but  finally  cleared  up. 

The  name  Trichoderma  being  preempted,  it  is  proposed  to  commem- 
orate Greeff's  original  discovery  by  renaming  the  genus  after  him, — 
Greeffiella.     G.  oxycaudata  (Greeff)  is  retained  as  the  type  species. 

Greeffiella,  nom.  nov. 

Trichoderma  Greeff,  Arch.  f.  Naturg.,  Berlin,  v.  3.5,  bd.  1.  1S69.  Not 
Trichoderma  Steph.,  1835,  or  Swains.,  1839. 

1:1.  _J2:4 13^ 56.  J Z2^  .  „  oi 

Greeffiella  dasyura  n.sp.  3.4       9.6/    13.  15.  9.8  "•^^•"  The  thin  lay- 

ers of  the  transparent,  colorless,  hairy  cuticle  are  traversed  by  about  fifty- 
six  plain  transverse  annules,  easy  of  resolution,  which  are  not  materially 
altered  on  the  lateral  fields.  The  number  of  annules  corresponds  with  the 
number  of  encircling  rows  of  somatic  setae.  While  there  are  no  wings  opposite 
the  lateral  fields,  wing  spaces  are  faintly  indicated  by  a  slight  spareness,  or 
absence,  of  setae  near  the  lateral  lines ;  this  however  is  a  faint  feature  extending 
only  from  the  neck  to  the  anus,  and  is  perhaps  more  pronounced  on  the  fe- 
male than  on  the  male.  The  contour  of  the  body  is  crenate,  especially  to- 
ward the  head.  There  appear  to  be  toward  thirty  small  unequal  cephalic 
setae  on  the  front  of  the  head,  disposed,  apparently,  in  two  closely  approxi- 
mated circlets.     These  setae  average  to  be  about  as  long  as  the  head  is  wide 


300      JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 


amph 


lum  oe 


set  cpfi 


and  are  apparently  too  numerous  and  crowded  to  permit  of  any  exact  order ; 

however,  about  twelve  of  the  anterior  ones  are  spread  outward  and  forward 

while  all  the  others  spread  out 
more  or  less  backward.  These 
som.ewhat  curved,  rather  slender, 
tapering,  acute,  somewhat  stiff 
cephalic  setae  are  of  the  same 
character  as  the  great  bulk  of  the 
somatic  setae.  Among  the  somatic 
setae  however  are  a  few  relatively 
large,  hollow,  open  bristles  of  an- 
other character,  resembling  the 
locomotor  bristles  found  on  Dra- 
conenia,  Desm-oscolex,  etc.  For  in- 
stance, on  the  third  and  eighth 
annule  of  the  female,  and  on  the 
second  and  seventh  annule  of  the 
male,  that  is  to  say  in  the  rows  of 
setae  on  these  annules,  there  occur 
subdorsal  (on  the  second  and  third 
annules)  and  dorsally  submedian 
(on  the  seventh  and  eighth  annules) 
pairs  of  spreading  tubular  open- 
mouthed  setae,  or  bristles,  a  little 
longer  than  the  regular  somatic 
setae.  These  special  setae  have 
extra  large  bases  and  are  probably 
connected  with  glands.  The  rows 
of  ordinary  cervical  setae  have  a 
fringe  of  shorter  setae  in  their 
midst.  As  before  remarked,  the 
somatic  setae  are  in  fifty-six  or 
fifty-seven  transversa  rows, — ex- 
cluding   those    on   the   head,    but 


set  soin  mm 


set  som  mqj        x  1000 


Fig.  1. — Head  end  oi  Greeffiella  dasyura.  The 
setae  on  several  annules  immediately  behind  the 
head  have  been  omitted  so  as  to  show  internal 
details  more  clearly,  amph,  amphid ;  an,  annule ; 
int,  location  of  the  beginning  of  the  intestine 
(see  also  Fig.  2.) ;  him  oe,  lumen  of  the  oesopha- 
gus; oe,  oesophagus;  or,  mouth  opening;  ph, 
pharynx;  set  cph,  cephalic  setae, — a  number  of 
which  are  omitted ;  set  som  maj,  one  of  the  larger 
somatic  setae;  set  som  min,  one  of  the  smaller 
somatic  setae;  set  tb,  tubular  seta. 


counting  the  finely  pilose  region 
in  front  of  the  spinneret  as  two 
annules.  See  Fig.  3.  Passing  back- 
ward, the  setae  grow  steadily  longer  from  the  head  to  the  tail;  the  posterior 
ones  are  about  one  and  one-half  times  as  long  as  the  spinneret,  while  the 
anterior  ones  are  somewhat  shorter  than  the  spinneret.  Back  as  far  as  the 
beginning  of  the  intestine,  the  rows  of  setae  present  minute  toothed  fringes, 
accentuating  the  annules.  The  conoid  neck  ends  in  a  rounded,  somewhat 
flattish  hemispheroidal  head,  set  off  by  a  narrow,  deep  and  distinct  constric- 
tion. The  lips  are  amalgamated  and  fixed.  Nothing  is  known  concerning 
the  labial  papillae.  The  pharynx  is  exceedingly  minute  and  easily  overlooked, 
but  is,  in  fact,  a  minute,  simple,  obscure,  straight,  regular,  tubular,  closed, 
unarmed  region  about  one-sixth  as  wide  as  the  head  and  twice  as  long  as  wide ; 
these  measurements  include  its  enclosing  pharyngeal  tissue.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  there  is  to  be  seen  here  only  a  closed  lumen.  Passing  back- 
ward from  the  pharynx,  the  oesophagus  for  a  distance  two  and  one-half  times 
as  great  as  the  width  of  the  head,  is  cylindroid;  however,  it  widens  slightly, 


JULY  19,  1922 


COBB:    GREEFFIELLA 


301 


so  that  it  becomes  as  wide  as  the  head,  or  one-half  as  wide  as  the  corresponding 
portion  of  the  neck,  that  is  to  say  that  portion  of  the  neck  marked  by  the  fifth 
circlet  of  cervical  setae.  At  this  point  there  is  a  rather  faint  diminution  of 
the  oesophagus,  which  continues  thence  a  little  narrower,  afterward  widening 
out,  and  then  soon  coming  to  contain  granules  like  those  found  in  the  cells  of 
the  intestine.  This  latter  appears  to  begin  about  opposite  the  tenth  row  of 
setae.  There  are  two  narrow  ducts,  one  emptying  into  the  posterior  part  of 
each  amphid;  these  ducts  can  be  followed  backward  to  near  the  pigmented 
bodies  soon  to  be  mentioned,  and  possibl}'-  may  be  connected  with  them.  The 
external  expressions  of  the  amphids,  each  of  which  is  symmetrical  to  two 
lines,  are  of  unequal  diameter,  without  central  markings,  and  are  located 
toward  the  front  of  the  head;  they  are  about  as  wide  as  the  corresponding 
portion  of  the  head,  each  being  about  twice  as  wide  as  long.  The  two 
greenish  pigmented  bodies  mentioned  above  (org?.  Fig.  2),  are  olive  green  in 
color  and  present  a  nucleus  in  the  midst 
of  a  colorless  spherical  cell  (?)  as  wide  nor (Jfup/l- . 
as  one  of  the  cuticular  annules  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.  These  bodies  are 
naturally  rather  difficult  to  observe 
on  account  of  the  hairy  nature  of  the 
cuticle  tlirough  which  they  are  viewed ; 
they  are  located  well  outside  the  in- 
testine, one  on  each  side  of  the  bod}^ 
somewhat  behind  the  base  of  the  neck. 
The  broad  cardiac  constriction  Hes 
opposite  the  eighth  to  tenth  rows  of 
setae,  and  is  about  as  wide  as  the 
distance  between  these  roAvs.  The 
thick-walled  intestine  presents  a  faint 
lumen  and  is  composed  of  cells  of 
such  a  size  that  about  twelve  occur 
in  each  cross  section.  In  the  male,  at 
least,  the  intestine  gradually  becomes 
one-half  as  wide  as  the  body.  There 
is  no  pre-rectum.  From  the  minute 
anus,  whose  anterior  lip  is  somewhat 
elevated,  the  inconspicuous  rectum 
extends  inward  at  right  angles  to  the 
ventral  surface  half  way  across  the 
body ;  the  intestine  itself  extends  past 
the  anus.  No  anal  muscles  are  to  be 
seen.  There  are  two  kinds  of  colorless 
granules  of  variable  size  to  be  seen  in 
the  cells  of  the  intestine;  the  largest 
of  these  have  a  diameter  equal  to  the 
distance  between  the  rows  of  somatic 
setae;  the  finest  of  the  granules  are 
exceedingly  fine .    The  granules  are  not 


XIOOO 


y^l 

grn  mj  ml •'■O^ 

Fig.  2. — Internal  anatomy  of  the*  head 
end  of  Greeffiella  dasyura.  Lettering  as  in 
Fig.  1.  cl  int,  one  of  the  cells  of  the 
intestine;  crd  col,  cardiac  coUum;  dct  amph, 
duct  connecting  with  the  amphidial  pore; 
gni  maj  int,  one  of  the  larger  intestinal 
granules;  grn  min  int,  smaller  intestinal 
granules;  int,  intestine;  luni  int,  lumen 
of  the  intestine;  nr,  nerve  ring;  org  ?, 
organ  of  doubtful  significance;  set  tb, 
tubular  seta. 


SO  arranged  as  to  give  rise  to  a  tessel- 
lated effect.     The  more  or  less  convex-conoid  tail  tapers  from  in  front  of  the 
anus  to  the  tubular  spinneret,  which  comprises  two-sevenths  of  the  whole 


302      JOURNAL   OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF   SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   lo 


set  som 


setmin 


setm 


XIOOO 


tail.  This  tubular  spinneret  is  about  as  wide  as  one  of  the  spicules  of  the 
male;  it  is  a  simple  truncate  affair  which  tapers  but  very  little.  A  marked 
peculiarity  of  the  posterior  extremity  of  the  nema  is  the  existence  of  numerous 
minute  setae ;  for  a  distance  equal  to  the  length  of  the  spinneret  the  setae  on 
the  portion  of  the  tail  immediately  in  front  of  the  spinneret  are  very  much 
reduced  and  more  numerous.  The  spherical  caudal  glands  are  located  behind 
the  anus  in  the  anterior  fourth  of  the  tail  and  empty  through  separate  ducts; 
each  is  about  one-fifth  as  wide  as  the  corresponding  portion  of  the  tail,  or  as 
wide  as  one  of  the  somatic  annules  opposite.  Only  two  nuclei  were  seen  in 
connection  with  these  glands,  and  these  were  located  in  the  vicinity  of  the  anus, 
their  number  indicating  that  the  number  of  caudal  glands  may  be  less  than 
the  usual  three.  The  excretory  pore  lies  near  the  nerve-ring  opposite  the  sixth 
annule  in  the  male  and  opposite  the  seventh  in  the  female ;  its  spherical  ampulla 
is  one-fourth  as  wide  as  the  corresponding  portion  of  the  neck.  The  nerve- 
ring  surrounds  the  oesophagus  somewhat  obliquely  where  it  first  diminishes 
in  diameter  somewhat  behind  the  middle.  In  the  dorsal  side  of  the  neck, 
opposite  the  9-14  rows  of  setae  there  are  some  relatively  large  organs, — 
probably  two  or  more  finely  granular  cells.  From  the  somewhat  inconspicu- 
ous, small,  elevated  vulva,  which  is  surrounded  by  minute  setae,  the  small, 
weak,  non-cutinized,  tubular  vagina  leads  inward  at  right  angles  to  the 
ventral  surface  about  one-third  the  distance  across  the  body.  Little  is  known 
concerning  the  double  symmetrically  refiexed  female  sexual  organs. 

1.5    6.6        10.6      |_M 76. 

.setm    3.2     7.7/    11.        18.— -^n7>°-^"* 

The  slightly  arcuate,  irregularly 
conoid,  faintly  sigmoid  tail  of  the 
male,  on  the  whole,  rather  re- 
..ampnlt  sembles  that  of  his  mate.  The 
two  equal,  straight,  very  slender, 
uniform,  acute,  colorless  spicula, 
which  are  slightly  cephalated  by 
expansion,  are  about  one  and  one- 
fourth  times  as  long  as  the  anal 
body  diameter.  If  swung  around 
behind  the  anus,  they  would  just 
about  reach  to  the  base  of  the 
spinneret;  they  are  about  twice  as 
wide  as  the  bases  of  the  somatic 
setae,  are  a  little  larger  distally 
than  elsewhere,  and  are  perhaps 
winged.  No  gubernaculum  has  been  seen.  On  the  fifth  and  eleventh 
annules  in  front  of  the  anus  occur  ventrally  submedian  papilla-like  organs, 
indicated  by  the  presence  of  minute  setae  arranged  in  a  cluster  about  a 
nerve  ending  (?), — about  ten  setae  on  the  fifth  annule  and  a  much  smaller 
number  on  the  eleventh.  There  are  also  similar  ventrally  sublateral  bunches 
of  setae  on  the  annules  preceding  the  large  (duplex?)  conical  one  bearing  the 
spinneret.  On  the  lateral  field  near  the  middle  of  the  male,  a  bunch  of  minute 
setae  was  observed  like  those  on  the  fifth  annule  in  front  of  the  anus.  The 
nature  of  these  special  organs,  for  such  they  must  be,  remains  in  doubt. 
It  seems  quite  possible  that  some  of  them  are  male  supplementary  organs. 
The  wide  cylindrical  testis  is  one-half  as  wide  as  the  body  and  is  refiexed  to 
near  the  proximal  ends  of  the  spicula. 


set  tb 


\y.mult 
spn 


Fig.  3. — Tail  end  of  Greeffiella  dasyura.  Let- 
tering as  in  Figs.  1  and  2.  mm  pnlt,  penultimate 
annfile;  ami  tilt,  ultimate  annule;  spn,  spinneret. 


JULY  19,  1922     bushnell:  ethnologic  data  from  Louisiana  303 

Habitat:  Found  in  sponges,  Biscayne  Bay,  Florida,  U.  S.  A.,  March,  1916. 
Male  examined  and  measured  in  a  living  condition;  female  fixed  in  Flemming's 
solution  and  soon  after  examined  and  measured  in  water.  The  form  of  the 
pharynx  and  oesophagus;  the  presence  of  special  tubular  setae;  the  structure 
of  the  spinneret,  and  the  relatively  small  number  of  annules,  seem  to  indicate 
a  closer  relationship  of  Greeffiella  with  Desmoscolex  than  has  been  hitherto 
imagined.  Perhaps  Greeffiella  should  be  placed  in  the  same  family  with 
Desmoscolex,  Tricoma,  etc. 

ETHNOLOGY. — Some  new  ethnologic  data  from  Louisiana.'^  David 
I.  BusHNELL,  Jr. 

The  following  brief  notes  were  secured  by  the  writer  during  January 
and  February,  1922,  from  a  woman  named  Rose  Demise,  who  was 
born  near  New  Orleans  January  6,  1834.  She  claims  to  be,  and  prob- 
ably is,  three-fourths  Indian,  her  mother  having  been  a  full  blood  and 
her  father  a  half  blood.  The  early  years  of  her  life  were  spent  at  an 
Indian  village  a  few  miles  west  of  New  Orleans,  situated  between  the 
left  bank  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Pontchartrain, 
in  the  northern  part  of  Jefferson  Parish,  Louisiana.  During  the  Civil 
War  the  site  of  the  native  settlement  was  occupied  by  a  Federal  camp, 
known  as  Parapet  camp,  and  it  appears  that  after  the  war  the  settle- 
ment no  longer  existed  as  it  had  in  earlier  years.  The  following 
notes  record  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people  of  the  native  village 
during  the  years  preceding  the  war. 

It  is  now  difficult  to  identify  the  tribe  to  which  my  informant  be- 
longed. She  says  that  her  people  often  visited  the  Choctaw  who 
then  lived  across  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  that  all  spoke  the  same 
language,  although  in  some  instances  the  names  of  certain  objects 
and  of  plants  and  animals  differed.  This  may  have  been  a  small 
detached  settlement  of  the  Choctaw  and  may  have  occupied  the  site 
of  a  more  ancient  village  of  the  old  Washa  tribe  after  the  latter  had 
become  scattered.  According  to  Bienville  the  Washa  spoke  Chiti- 
macha,  but  it  is  possible  that  remnants  of  the  tribe  later  adopted  the 
language  of  the  Choctaw.  Possibly  my  informant  was  descended  from 
some  of  these,  and  many  of  the  peculiar  customs  and  ways  of  life 
related  by  her  may  have  been,  those  of  the  ancient  Washa. 

Habitations. — Some  structures  were  circular  and  others  rectangular, 
and  in  addition  to  these  a  sloping  single  roof  was  supported  by  posts — 
a  lean-to  which  served  as  shelter  from  sun  and  rain.     All  were  thatched 

1  Received  June  6,  1922. 


304      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

on  top  and  sides  with  palmetto  leaves.     Mats  made  of  rushes  were 
often  used  on  the  inner  walls  of  the  more  elaborate  structures. 

In  addition  to  the  village  which  stood  a  short  distance  west  of  New 
Orleans,  the  old  woman  recalled  a  camp  site  on  the  southeast  shore  of 
Lake  Pontchartrain,  about  12  miles  northeast  of  New  Orleans,  at 
Petit  Bois,  or  Little  Wqods.  It  was  here  that  the  Indians  stopped 
when  preparing  to  cross  the  lake  in  their  canoes,  and  it  was  likewise  the 
landing  place  when  they  arrived  from  the  opposite  shore.  Frag- 
mentary pottery,  bits  of  animal  bones,  etc.,  discovered  in  1916  and 
1917,  indicated  the  position  of  this  old  camp  ground. 

Food. — ^Strips  of  venison,  ducks,  etc.,  were  dried  or  smoked  and  so 
preserved  for  future  use.  All  were  first  thoroughly  cleaned  and  salted, 
then  strung  on  cords  and  suspended  between  two  trees  or  posts,  and  a 
fire  kindled  on  the  ground  beneath.  The  warmth  and  smoke  would 
soon  dry  the  meat.  vShrimp  were  dried  in  the  sun  after  first  being 
placed  in  scalding  water  to  harden  the  meat.  Fish  were  prepared  by 
first  being  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  after  a  quantity  of  salt  was  rubbed 
on  the  flesh  they  were  piled  one  upon  another  in  a  large  wooden  tray 
and  held  down  by  a  heavy  weight.  In  this  position  they  were  allowed 
to  remain  for  ten  days  or  two  weeks,  during  which  time  they  would 
become  quite  dry,  the  moisture  being  pressed  from  them.  Next  they 
were  strung  on  cords  that  passed  through  the  tails,  the  ends  of  the 
cords  were  fastened  to  trees  or  posts,  and  the  fish  thus  suspended  were 
more  completely  dried  and  cured  by  the  smoke  and  heat  of  small 
fires  kindled  on  the  ground  under  them. 

All  vegetables  obtainable,  such  as  potatoes  and  pieces  of  pumpkins, 
were  boiled  in  a  large  pot  with  rabbits  or  squirrels,  or  pieces  of  meat  of 
any  sort. 

File  was  prepared  by  pounding  in  a  wooden  mortar  the  dried  leaves 
oi  Sassafras  variifolium. 

Leaves  of  the  yaupon  {Ilex  vomitoria)  were  boiled  in  water  and  the 
liquid  was  used  as  a  beverage  like  ordinary  tea.  The  leaves  were  used 
either  green  or  dried.  Milk  was  added  to  the  drink  when  it  could  be 
obtained. 

The  favorite  method  of  preparing  corn  was  to  allow  the  whole  grains 
to  remain  in  water  overnight,  or  until  they  would  swell  and  the  husks 
become  softened  and  loosened.  The  husks  were  then  removed  and  the 
grains  crushed  in  a  wooden  mortar  to  form  a  thick  paste.  The  paste 
or  crushed  grain  was  later  boiled  in  water  and  so  eaten. 


I 


JULY  19,   1922  BUSHNELL:   ethnologic  data  from  LOUISIANA  305 

Caches. — Caches  were  used  extensively  and  every  family  had  one 
or  more.  Quantities  of  dried  fish  and  venison,  supplies  of  various 
sorts,  dressed  skins,  etc.,  were  deposited  in  caches,  and  when  so  hidden 
would  seldom  be  found  except  by  their  owners.  Caches  were  prepared 
by  making  an  excavation  in  dry  ground  and  lining  it  with  a  large  num- 
ber of  palmetto  leaves.  The  material  to  be  protected  was  placed  in 
a  crude  box  or  wrapped  in  bark  and  placed  in  the  pit.  More  palmetto 
leaves  were  then  placed  on  top  and  they  in  turn  were  usually  covered 
with  an  old  blanket  or  one  or  more  skins.  All  was  then  covered  with 
earth  or  sand  and  made  to  resemble  the  surrounding  surface.  When 
the  house  was  occupied  similar  pits  were  used  to  hold  the  potatoes, 
hides,  and  other  possessions  of  the  family,  but  they  were  not  so  care- 
fully closed  and  protected. 

Dress  and  personal  decoration. — Tattooing  was  practiced  extensively 
by  the  people  of  two  or  more  generations  ago.  The  skin  was  pricked 
with  a  needle,  or  with  several  needles  tied  together,  and  the  surface 
thus  punctured  rubbed  with  soot  which  had  been  mixed  with  oil  or 
some  kind  of  grease.  The  women,  after  marriage,  often  had  a  dot 
tattooed  near  the  corner  of  the  mouth.  The  hands,  arms,  and  neck 
were  likewise  decorated. 

Pins,  brooches,  earrings,  and  other  ornaments  were  made  of  silver 
coins  hammered  thin,  then  cut  and  trimmed  to  the  desired  shape  and 
size. 

Skin  dressing. — Some  skins  were  prepared  for  various  uses  without 
removing  the  hair  or  wool.  They  were  stretched  in  a  frame  or  over 
some  firm  surface  as  soon  after  being  removed  from  the  animal  as 
possible,  otherwise  they  would  become  hard  and  dry.  When  properly 
stretched,  a  quantity  of  dry  corn  meal  was  rubbed  on  the  flesh  side 
to  absorb  all  the  oil  and  grease,  the  surface  was  scraped  with  a  sharp 
implement  to  remove  the  particles  of  flesh,  more  corn  meal  was  rubbed 
in,  and  the  surface  again  scraped.  Soon  the  entire  skin  would  become 
soft  and  pliable.  If  it  was  desired  to  tan  the  skin  with  the  hair  re- 
moved, the  latter  was  first  singed  with  a  hot  coal  or  moved  quickly 
over  a  small  flame  until  it  could  be  rubbed  off,  then  both  sides  of  the 
skin  were  treated  with  corn  meal  and  scraped,  as  described  above. 
The  implement  used  in  scraping  the  skins  resembled  a  long  chisel, 
made  of  hard  wood  and  beveled  at  one  end. 

Pottery. — Earthenware  vessels  were  made  and  used  for  many  pur- 
poses.    Three  sorts  of  clay  were  known,  black  or  gray,  white,  and  red, 


306      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

but  red  was  considered  the  best,  as  it  could  be  burned  hardest.  The 
clay  was  first  mixed  with  water,  only  enough  being  used  to  make  a 
heavy  pasty  mass.  A  quantity  of  the  clay  was  then  pressed  over 
some  smooth  round  object,  a  gourd  of  the  proper  size  being  preferred. 
The  mold  was  then  removed  and  the  clay  carefully  worked  into  shape, 
being  pressed,  expanded  and  thinned,  more  clay  being  added  as  neces- 
sary, and  the  whole  mass  gradually  assumed  the  desired  form.  The 
vessel  was  allowed  to  dry  slowly  in  the  air.  The  surfaces  were  then 
smoothed  by  scraping  with  a  shell  and  incised  decorations  were  added 
if  desired.  Neither  crushed  shell  nor  sand  was  mixed  with  the  clay. 
Tobacco  pipes  were  often  made  of  white  clay.  The  pipes  were  usually 
covered  with  oil  or  grease  before  burning,  which  caused  them  to  turn 
black.  After  burning,  they  were  polished.  Vessels  were  likewise 
made  black,  and  with  use  acquired  a  high  polish. 

The  method  of  burning  pottery  vessels  was  this:  a  hole  was  made 
in  the  ground,  the  bottom  and  sides  of  which  were  covered  with  dry 
grass  and  bits  of  bark  and  wood.  The  vessels,  thoroughly  dried,  were 
then  placed  in  the  hole  and  covered  with  similar  grass  and  bits  of  bark 
and  wood.  This  was  ignited  and  lightly  covered  to  cause  it  to  burn 
slowly.  When  the  fire  subsided  the  earthenware  was  sufficiently 
burned. 

Mortars  and  pestles. — Wooden  mortars  and  pestles  were  made  and 
used  for  various  purposes,  especially  for  crushing  corn  and  preparing 
file.  The  mortars  were  from  2  to  3  feet  high.  The  cavity  was  made 
by  burning  the  wood  and  chopping  away  the  charred  particles.  When 
of  the  desired  size  the  inner  surface  was  scraped  and  smoothed  and  all 
the  burnt  wood  removed. 

Baskets.— Baskets  of  several  forms  were  made  of  split  cane.  Dyes 
were  prepared  from  roots  and  barks,  but  my  informant  could  not 
remember  the  names  of  the  roots. 

Spoons.- — Spoons  were  made  of  cow  horns  and  were  used  extensively. 
They  were  called  Moocond. 

Needles.- — Needles  4  inches  or  more  in  length  were  made  of  dogwood, 
or  other  woods  if  dogwood  could  not  be  obtained.  The  needles  were 
very  sharp  pointed  and  perforated  to  receive  the  thread,  and  very  good 
work  could  be  done  with  them. 

Threads. — ^Threads  of  sinew  were  used  in  sewing  skins  and  for  other 
purposes.  They  were  made  of  the  intestines  of  various  animals,  that 
of  the  deer  being  preferred.     The  threads  and  larger  strands  were  often 


JULY  19,  1922  METCALF:   AQUATIC  PLANTS  01^  MISSOURI  307 

made  very  long  by  splicing  several  pieces  and  twisting  them  before  they 
became  dry.  One  end  would  be  fastened  to  a  tree  and  the  line  pulled 
and  stretched. 

Cords. — ^Spanish  moss,  after  being  properly  prepared,  was  used  in 
making  ropes  and  lighter  cords.  Some  were  made  by  twisting,  others 
by  braiding. 

Saddles. — Saddles,  or  pads  used  as  saddles,  were  made  by  weaving 
the  soft  cords  of  moss. 

Weapons. — Blowguns  and  bows  and  arrows  were  made  and  used. 
Blowguns  were  made  of  pieces  of  cane,  the  perforation  being  formed  by 
first  preparing  a  long,  slender  piece  of  hard  wood  and  forcing  it  down 
one  end  of  the  cane  and  then  down  the  other  until  the  entire  length  was 
open  and  clear.  Darts  were  made  of  pieces  of  hard  pine,  worked  and 
smoothed,  then  tufted  with  some  soft  material. 

Transportation.- — Canoes  were  made  of  a  single  log,  cypress  being 
the  favorite  wood.  Canoes,  or  dugouts,  20  feet  in  length  and  3  feet 
in  width  were  not  uncommon,  although  much  smaller  ones  were  used 
on  the  shallow,  narrow  bayous.  The  larger  canoes  were  used  in 
crossing  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  when  the  weather  was  favorable 
sails  made  of  one  or  more  deerskins  would  be  raised. 

Burials. — The  bodies  were  wrapped  in  blankets  or  skins  and  care- 
fully placed,  in  an  extended  position,  in  graves  which  had  been  thickly 
lined  with  palmetto  leaves.  A  quantity  of  similar  leaves  were  placed 
over  the  bodies  and  all  was  covered  with  earth  or  sand. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  more  could  not  have  been  learned  of  the 
manners  and  ways  of  life  of  the  people  of  this  native  settlement,  which 
evidently  existed  until  some  sixty  years  ago.  Nor  is  it  now  possible 
to  give  the  name  of  the  tribe  or  tribes  to  which  the  people  belonged, 
but  it  is  more  than  probable  they  were  Muskhogean  closely  allied 
with  the  Choctaw  whose  villages  stood  on  the  northern  shore  of  Lake 
Pontchartrain. 

BOTANY. — Notes  on  marsh  and  aquatic  plants  of  Missouri.^     F.  P. 
Metcalf,  Biological  Survey.     (Communicated  by  A.  Wetmore.) 

During  the  summer  of  1920  the  writer  was  engaged  in  an  extensive 
survey  of  the  marsh  and  aquatic  plants  of  Missouri  for  the  Biological 
Surv^ey,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  results  of  this  work 
were  so  interesting  from  the  standpoint  of  plant  distribution  that  it 

1  Received  June  5,  1922. 


308      JOURNAL  O-P  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

is  thought  advisable  to  make  known  the  most  salient  features  in  a 
preliminary  paper. 

Ten  species  of  plants  collected  by  the  writer  had  not  previously  been 
reported  in  the  State.  These  are  as  follows:  Alisma  brevipes  Greene; 
Hemicarpha  aristulata  (Coville)  Smyth;  Naias  guadalupensis  (Spreng.) 
Morong;  Nymphoides  peltatum  (S.  P.  Gmel.)  Britten  &  Rendle;  Paspa- 
lum  plenipilum  Nash ;  Potamogeton  crispus  L. ;  P.  Jriesii  Rupr. ;  P. 
heterophyllus  Schreb.;  Ruppia  maritima  I,.;  Rynchospora  corniculata 
(Lam.)  A.  Gray. 

The  majority  of  these  plants  are  from  stations  that  fall  well  within 
the  range  of  manuals  covering  the  region,  from  which  they  have  been 
omitted,  in  most  cases,  from  lack  of  intensive  work  on  the  marsh  and 
aquatic  flora  of  the  state.  Naias  guadalupensis  and  Potamogeton 
heterophyllus  are  good  examples  of  this,  as  they  were  found  in  a  number 
of  lakes.  Most  interesting  of  all,  however,  were  the  plants  whose 
known  range  did  not  previously  extend  into  Missouri.  Of  these  there 
may  be  mentioned  first  Nymphoides  peltatum,  formerly  known  to  be 
naturalized  only  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington,  D.  C. ;  an  unpublished 
report  for  this  plant  from  Louisiana,-  as  well  as  that  of  the  writer  from 
Missouri,  extend  its  range  to  the  southwest  for  a  considerable  distance. 
Another  species,  Potamogeton  Jriesii,  was  previously  unknown  south 
of  Minnesota,  Wisconsin  and  Michigan.  The  known  range  of  Alisma 
brevipes  is  extended  southeastward,  as  formerly  it  was  not  recorded 
east  of  North  Dakota,  Nebraska  and  New  Mexico,  while  Hemicarpha 
aristulata  was  found  at  the  extreme  eastern  border  of  its  range. 

Besides  those  that  have  been  mentioned,  new  locality  records 
are  given  for  a  few  other  plants  that  for  the  most  part  are  decidedly 
rare  throughout  Missouri,  where  their  distribution  is  inadequately 
known.  In  these  two  categories  are :  Eleocharis  qitadrangulata  (Michx.) 
Roem.  &  Schult. ;  Panicum  bicknellii  Nash. ;  Potamogeton  ampli- 
f alius  Tuckerm. ;  P.foliosus  Raf. ;  P.  pectinatus  L. ;  Sagittaria  brevirostra 
Mackenzie  &  Bush;  Utricularia  minor  L. 

Complete  data  for  all  plants  mentioned,  with  actual  citations  of 
specimens  collected,  will  be  found  in  the  subjoined  list.  It  may  be 
well  to  add  that  in  all  cases  where  the  collector  is  not  cited,  the  plant 
was  collected  by  the  writer.  All  specimens  have  been  placed  in  the 
U.  S.  National  Herbarium  at  Washington. 

A  list  of  the  more  important  local  and  state  floras  for  Missouri  has 

^  See  annotated  list  below. 


JULY  19,  1922  METCALF :  AQUATIC  PLANTS  OF  MISSOURI  309 

also  been  appended  among  which  the  Flora  of  Missouri  by  Tracy 
(24),  the  only  general  catalogue  for  the  state,  is  now  somewhat  in- 
complete and  out  of  date,  as  it  was  published  in  1885.  Among  local 
and  county  floras  those  of  greatest  value  are  that  for  Columbia  and 
vicinity  by  Daniels  (8) ;  for  Jackson  county  by  Mackenzie  and  Bush 
(14);  St.  Louis  and  vicinity  by  Eggert  (9),  Engelmann  (10),  Hus  (13), 
and  the  Engelmann  Botanical  Club  (28).  The  southeastern  counties 
have  been  discussed  by  Bush  (4)  and  Uphof  (25) .  The  trees  and  shrubs 
are  treated  by  Broadhead  (2),  Bush  (6)  and  anonymously  (29).  A 
few  miscellaneous  papers  of  interest  have  been  included  in  addition 
to  those  mentioned. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  number  of  new  plants  here  added  to  the 
flora  of  Missouri  is  small  in  comparison  with  those  that  will  be  found 
when  extensive  general  collections  are  made.  The  Ozark  region  of  the 
southwest  and  the  swampy  region  of  the  southeast  are  incompletely 
known.  The  latter  region  may  be  worked  profitably  by  anyone  as  it 
will  yield  important  data  bearing  on  many  interesting  problems  in 
southern  and  northern  distribution. 

LIST  OF  PLANTS 

Alisma  brevipes  Greene.  Not  previously  recorded  from  the  state.  Range 
here  extended  southeastward;  formerly  unknown  east  of  North  Dakota, 
Nebraska  and  New  Mexico.  Fairly  common  in  lake  near  Lake  City,  Jackson 
County  (No.  1030,  September  25,  1920). 

Eleocharis  quadrangulata  (Michx.)  Roem.  &  Schult.  This  plant  was  re- 
ported (28)  from  AUenton  and  Pinks  Lake  near  St.  Louis  but  a  recent  publica- 
tion (27)  states  that  these  stations  as  well  as  that  of  Dozier  (which  is  repre- 
sented in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium  by  a  sheet  collected  by  George  W. 
Letterman)  have  been  destroyed  by  drainage  and  cultivation.  The  National 
Herbarium  has  three  other  sheets  of  this  rare  plant,  one  from  Paddy's  Lake, 
Oswego  County,  N.  Y.,  July,  1882,  by  C.  S.  Sheldon,  and  two  others  from 
Goose  Pond,  August  20,  1912,  and  Pond  at  the  Frisco  Shops,  September  2, 
1912,  both  near  Springfield,  Mo.,  collected  by  P.  C.  Standley  (Nos.  9042,  9777). 
The  writer  found  this  plant  exceedingly  abundant  in  Iron  Mountain  Lake, 
Iron  County  (830,  August  9,  1920),  where  in  shallow  water  it  formed  a  complete 
band  around  the  whole  lake. 

Hemicarpha  aristulata  (Coville)  Smyth.  Not  previously  recorded  from  the 
state.  Rare  along  the  sandy  border  of  Lower  Contrary  Lake,  Buchanan 
County  (1006,  vSeptember  20,  1920).  This  represents  almost  the  eastern 
limit  of  the  range  of  this  plant. 

Naias  guadalupensis  (Spreng.)  Morong.  Not  previously  reported  from 
the  state  which,  however,  comes  within  the  commonly  given  general  range. 
Common  in  Kilarney  Lake,  Iron  County  (No.  844,  August  8, 1920),  Little  Bean 
and  Bean  Lakes,  Platte  County  (No.  1019,  September  22,  1920),  and  rare  in 
Katy  Allen  Reservoir,  Nevada,  Vernon  County  (No.  969,  September  9,  1920), 
and  Loch  Lin  Lake,  St.  Louis,  St.  Louis  County  (No.  821,  August  5,  1920). 


310      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  13 

Nyniphoides  peltahtm  (S.  P.  Gmel.)  Britten  &  Rendle.  Not  previously 
recorded  from  the  state.  The  U.  S.  National  Herbarium  has  only  four  sheets 
of  this  rare  plant.  Two  of  these  from  near  Washington,  D.  C,  from  a  station 
where  the  plant  is  now  extirpated,  are  from  the  only  locality  mentioned  for 
this  plant  in  the  7th  edition  of  Gra^^'s  Manual,  and  in  Britton  and  Brown's 
Illustrated  Flora.  One  of  these  specimens  was  secured  August  7,  1894,  bv  A. 
Fredholm  (No.  637),  the  other  on  September  27,  1895,  by  C.  L.  Pollard  (No. 
710).  The  other  two  sheets  come  from  Gretna,  Louisiana,  collected  May  12, 
1899,  by  C.  R.  Ball  (No.  378),  and  a  pond  near  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  collected 
August  21,  1904,  by  M.  W.  Lyon,  Jr.  The  writer  found  this  plant  abundant 
in  a  small  pond  in  Ironton,  Iron  County  (No.  826,  August  9,  1920). 

Panicmn  bicknellii  Nash  (P.  bushii  Nash).  Fairlv  common  near  Prairie 
Lake,  Papenville,  Bates  Countv  (No.  980,  September  10,  1920).  Collected 
by  B.  F.  Bush,  McDonald  County,  July  24,  1893  (No.  413)  and  described  as  a 
new  species,  P.  bushii  by  Nash  (26) ;  possibly  the  only  other  record,  for  the 
state  for  this  rare  plant  is  that  of  a  specimen  from  Eagle  Rock,  in  the  National 
Herbarium,  also  collected  by  B.  F.  Bush  (No.  3246)  on  August  14,  190-5. 

Paspalimi  plenipilum  Nash  (P.  praelongtmi  Nash).  Fairly  common  along 
border  of  lake  near  Cedar  Gap,  Wright  County  (No.  915,  August  26,  1920) ; 
not  -previously  recorded  although  Missouri  comes  within  the  range  commonly 
given.  The  species  is  also  represented  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium  by  a 
single  sheet  from  Missouri  taken  at  Paw  Paw  Junction,  September  4,  1877, 
by  B.  F.  Bush  (No.  213). 

Potamogeton  amplifolius  Tuckerm.  Not  definitely  recorded^  before  from 
the  state,  although  Missouri  comes  within  the  general  range  commonly  given. 
Common  in  Gravais  Mills  Lake,  Morgan  County  (No.  888,  August  23,  1920), 
and  rare  in  Hahatonka  Lake,  Camden  County  (No.  929,  August  27,  1920) ; 
in  both  cases  the  lakes  were  fed  by  cold  springs. 

Potamogeton  crispus  L.  Not  previously  recorded  from  the  state ;  represented 
in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium  by  two  sheets  from  Hatchers^  Ponds,  Neosho, 
Newton  County,  May  28,  1903  (deposited  by  Fish  Commission).  This  plant 
was  also  collected  by  the  writer  (No.  948,  September  6,  1920)  from  the  same  lo- 
cality where  it  has  long  been  established. 

Potamogeton  J  olio  siis  Raf.  Apparently  common  throughout  the  state,  being 
recorded  or  collected  from  Bell  Lake,  Boone  Countv  (No.  869,  August  21, 
1920);  Gravais  Mills  Lake,  Morgan  County  (No.  885,  August  23,  1920); 
Seequeeota  Lake,  Springfield,  Green  County  (No.  935,  August  29,  1920) ; 
Logan  Pond,  Billings,  Christian  Countv  (No.  940,  September  4,  1920) ;  Lake 
near  Rich  Hill,  Bates  County  (No.  993,  September  10,  1920) ;  Bean  Lake, 
Platte  County  (No.  1020,  September  22,  1920) ;  Crescent  Lake,  Excelsior 
Springs,  Clay  County  (No.  1057,  October  2,  1920)  and  Cemetery  Lake, 
Macon,  Macon  County  (No.  1080,  October  9,  1920) .  Apparently  only  known* 
previously  from  Hiffner's  Lake,  near  Alberton,  Jackson  County  (3),  a  record 
undoubtedly  based  on  a  sheet  in  the  National  Herbarium  collected  by  B.  F. 
Bush  (No.  618,  July  9,  1896).  The  National  Herbarium  also  has  specimens 
from  Poplar  Bluff,  July  27,  1892,  H.  Eggert;  Turner,  Green  County,  September 

^  Reported  by  Eggert  (9),  but  it  is  not  definitely  stated  whether  the  locality  was  in 
Missouri  or  Illinois. 

*  Reported  by  Eggert  (9)  and  also  anonymously  (28)  in  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  but  it  is 
not  definitely  stated  whether  the  locality  was  in  Missouri  or  Illinois. 


JULY  19,   1922  METCALF:   AQUATIC  PLANTS  OF  MISSOURI  311 

5,  1912,  p.  C.  Standley  (No.  9845),  and  Springfield,  August  20,  1912,  P.  C. 
Standley  (No.  9061). 

Potamogeton  friesii  Rupr.  Fairly  common  at  Hahatonka  Lake,  Camden 
County  (No.  92.3,  August  27,  1920).  This  and  a  specimen  collected  by  J.  W. 
Blankinship  in  Howells  County  in  1888  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium 
are  the  only  two  recorded  from  the  state ;  both  extend  the  range  of  this  plant 
southward. 

Potamogeton  heterophyllus  Schreb.  Fairly  common  in  Normandy  Golf 
Club  Ponds,  St.  Louis  County  (Nos.  787-788,  July  29,  1920) ;  Loch  Lin  Lake, 
St.  Louis  County  (No.  819,  August  3,  1920) ;  Kilamey  Lake,  Iron  County 
(No.  84.5,  August  8,  1920);  Iron  Mountain  Lake,  Iron  County  (No.  842', 
August  9,  1920) ;  pond  near  Rolla,  Phelps  County  (No.  853,  August  12,  1920), 
and  Bean  Lake,  Platte  County  (No.  1018,  September  12,  1920).  Not  pre- 
viously reported  from  the  state;  represejited  in  the  National  Herbarhim  by 
a  single  sheet,  from  Goose  Pond,  Springfield,  September  2,  1912,  collected  by 
P.   C.  Standley   (No.  9780). 

Potamogeton  pectinattis  L.  Fairly  common  throughout  the  state,  being 
recorded  or  collected  from  Big  Creve  Coeur  Lake,  St.  Louis  County  (No. 
782,  July  27,  1920);  Upper  Contrarv^  Lake,  Buchanan  County;  Mud  Lake, 
Buchanan  County  (No.  1011,  September  21,  1920);  New  Made  Lake,  Bu- 
chanan County;  Sugar  Lake,  Platte  County;  Bean  Lake  (No.  1017,  September 
22,  1920),  Little  Bean  and  Duck  Lakes,  Platte  County.  Previously  recorded 
(28)  from  Arloe,  Meramac  Highlands,  and  Creve  Coeur  Lake,  St.  Louis 
County,  and  possibly  by  Eggert  (9).  There  is  also  one  additional  specimen 
in  the  National  Herbarium  from  Gascondv,  July  21,  1914,  W.  H.  Emig 
(No.  223). 

Ruppia  maritima  L.  Not  previously  recorded  from  the  state.  Common 
in  Clinton  Club  Lake,  Clinton,  Henry' County  (No.  905,  August  24,  1920). 
Possibly  introduced  but  growing  vigorously;  establishment  of  the  plant  here 
undoubtedly  due  to  the  salinity  of  the  spring  flowing  into  the  lake. 

Rynchospora  corniciilata  (Lam.)  A.  Gray.  Fairly  common  along  Black 
River,  Fagus,  Butler  County  (No.  691,  July  10,  1920).  Previously  reported 
only  from  Butler  County  by  Letterman  (24).  However,  there  are  in  the  U.  S. 
National  Herbarium  specimens  from  Paw  Paw  Junction,  September  4,  1897, 
B.  F.  Bush  (No.  219);  St.  Louis,  July  27,  1892,  H.  Eggert;  and  Campbell, 
September  9,  1910,  B.  F.  Bush  (No.  6302). 

Sagittaria  hrevirostra  Mackenzie  &  Bush.  Common  in  Coolev  Lake, 
Clay  County  (Nos.  1043-4,  October  1,  1920);  this  lake  is  only  about  20  miles 
from  the  type  locality  for  this  rare  and  interesting  plant,  at  Courtney  (17), 
Jackson  County,  where  it  was  collected  by  B.  F.  Bush  (No.  2175)  August  14, 
1904,  and  October  10,  1903.  A  specimen  {Bush  1917)  collected  on  the 
latter  date  is  the  only  sheet  in  the  National  Herbarium. 

Utricularia  minor  L.  Previously  reported  from  St.  Louis  by  Riehl  (24) 
and  East  St.  Louis,  Illinois  (28).  Rare,  only  found  in  Duck  Lake,  Platte 
County  (No.  1025,  September  23,  1920).  The  National  Herbarium  has  no 
other  specimens  from  this  or  adjacent  states. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1.  Beck,  Lewis  C.  Contributions  towards  the  Botany  of  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri.    Amer.    Joum.    Sci.    10:  257-264.     1826. 

2.  Broadhead,  G.  C.  Geographical  Description  of  Certain  Trees  and  Plants  in  Missouri 
and  Kansas.     Kansas  City  Review  3:  608-611.     1879-80. 


312      JOURNAI.  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   13 

3.  Bush,  Frank.    Flora  of  Jackson  County.    1st  Edition,  Dec,  1882,  Independence,  Mo. 

4.  Bush,  B.  F.     Notes  on  a  List  of  Plants  collected  in  Southeastern  Missouri  in  i8gj. 
Ann.  Rep.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.  5:  139-153.     1894. 

5.  Bush,  B.  F.     Notes  on  the  Mound  Flora  of  Atchison  County,  Missouri.     Ann.  Rep. 
Mo.    Bot.    Gard.    6:  121-134.     1895. 

6.  Bush,  B.  F.     The  Trees,  Shrubs  and  Vines  of  Missouri.     Mo.  State  Hort.  Soc.  Rep. 
37:  353-393.     1895. 

7.  Bush,  B.  F.     Missouri  Saxifrages.     Ann.  Rep.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.  20:  138-140.     1909. 

8.  Daniels,  F.  P.     Preliminary  oecological  study  of  the  native  and  introduced  plants  of 
the  vicinity  of  Columbia,  Boone  County,  Missouri.    Mo.  Agric.  Exp.  Stat.  Rep.  1898:  124-156. 

9.  Eggert,  Henry.     Catalogue  of  the  Phaenogamus  and  Vascular  Cryptogamous  Plants 
in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri.     1891,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

10.  Engelmann,  George.     Catalogue  of  a  collection  of  plants  in  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
by  Charles  A.  Geyer,  with  critical  remarks,  etc.     Amer.  Journ.  Sci.  46:  94-104.     1844. 

11.  Engelmann,  George.     Notes  on  the  Grapevines  of  Missouri.     Trans.  St.   Louis 
Acad.  Sci.  1:  660-662.     1856-60. 

12.  Galloway,  B.  T.     Grasses  of  Missouri.     18th  Rep.  State  Board  Agric.  Mo.     1885. 

13.  Hus,  Henri.     An  ecological  cross  section  of  the  Mississippi  river  in  the  region  of 
St.  Louis,  Missouri.     Ann.  Rep.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.  19:  127-258.     1908. 

14.  Mackenzie,  K.  K.,  assisted  by  Bush,  B.  F.,  and  others.     Manual  of  the  Flora  of 
Jackson  County,  Mo.     1902. 

15.  Mackenzie,  K.  K.,  and  Bush,  B.  F.     New  Plants  from  Missouri.     Trans.  Acad. 
Sci.  St.  Louis  12:  79-89.     1902. 

16.  Mackenzie,  K.  K.,  and  Bush,  B.  F.     The  Lespedezas  of  Missouri.     Trans.  Acad. 
Sci,  St.  Louis  12:  11-20.     1902. 

17.  Mackenzie,  K.  K.,  and  Bush,  B.  F.     New  Plants  from  Missouri.     Ann.  Rep.  Mo. 
Bot.    Gard.    16:  102-108.     1905. 

18.  Palmer,  E.  J.     Flora  of  the  Grand  Falls  Chert  Barrens.     Trans.  Acad.  Sci.  St.  Louis 
19:  97-112.     1910. 

19.  Price,  S.  F.     Some  Ferns  of  the  cave  region  of  Stone  County,  Mo.     Fern  Bull.  12: 
72-77.     1904. 

20.  Sargent,  C.  S.     Crataegus  in  Missouri.     Ann.  Rep.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.  19:  35-126. 
1908. 

21.  Sargent,  C.  S.     Crataegus  in  Missouri  IL     Ann.  Rep.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.  22:  67-84. 
1911. 

22.  Smith,  Jared  G.     A  Revision  of  the  North  American  Species  of  Sagittaria  and  Lopho- 
tocarpus.     Ann.  Rep.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.  6:  26-74,  pis.  29.     1895. 

23.  StandlEy,  p.  C.     Ferns  of  Greene  County,  Missouri.     Amer.  Fern  Journ.  6:  44-51. 
1916. 

24.  Tracy,  S.  M.     Flora  of  Missouri.     18th  Rep.  State  Board  Agric.  Mo.,  1885,  and 
Mo.  vState  Hort.  Soc,  Rep.  for  1885,  appendix. 

25.  Uphof,  J.  C.  Th.     Ecological  relations  of  plants  in  Southeastern  Missouri.     Amer. 
Journ.  Bot.  9:  1-17.     1922. 

26.  Nash,  George  V.     The  dichotomous  Panicums.     Bull.  Torrey  Club  26:  568-581. 
1899. 

27.  Engelmann  Botanical  Club  (Check  List  Committee  of).     A  Preliminary  Check 
List  of  the  Cryptogams  and  Phanerogams  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri.     1911. 

28.  (Anonymous.)     Vanished  plants  of  our  Local  Flora.     Bull.  Mo.  Bot.  Gard.   10: 
28-33.     1922. 

29.  (Anonymous.)     Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Vines  of  Missouri.    2nd  Ann.  Rep.,  Mo.  State 
Board  of  Agric,  1866. 


JULY  19,   1922  proceedings:   BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  313 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
635th  meeting 

The  635th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  Feb.  18,  1922,  with 
Vice  President  OberholsER  in  the  chair  and  101  persons  present.  The 
program  was  as  follows: 

Robert  M.  Yerkes:   The  behavior  of  monkeys  and  apes. 

The  speaker  had  spent  much  of  a  sabbatical  year  in  CaHfornia  where  he 
had  opportunities  to  study  several  species  of  monkeys  and  one  young  orang 
about  five  years  old.  He  devoted  much  time  to  testing  the  intelligence  of  the 
latter  and  two  individuals  of  different  species  of  monkeys,  also  making  ob- 
servations of  other  individuals  and  species.  Apparatus  was  constructed  in 
such  a  way  that  the  animal  entering  a  room  was  confronted  with  a  series  of 
doors,  on  entering  one  of  which  he  would  obtain  food.  Part  of  the  doors 
being  open  and  part  closed,  it  was  possible  to  establish  a  certain  relation  be- 
tween the  open  doors  and  the  right  one,  or  the  one  leading  to  the  food.  The 
problem  was  to  see  if  the  animal  in  a  large  number  of  trials  would  come  to 
perceive  the  relation,  so  as  to  go  at  once  to  the  right  door.  Although  the  mon- 
keys solved  some  of  these  problems  in  less  time  than  the  orang,  the  speaker 
thought  that  the  latter  showed  more  of  the  human  manner  of  investigation. 
A  large  number  of  lantern  slides  made  the  method  clear  and  furnished  many 
illuminating  and  some  very  amusing  glimpses  of  the  animals  involved. 

Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  in  discussing  the  paper  pointed  out  the  prime  importance 
of  a  knowledge  of  the  previous  history  of  the  monkey  under  study,  as  by  cruel 
treatment  they  may  become  totally  changed  in  disposition.  The  whole 
bringing  up  of  the  animal  is  involved,  if  any  normal  plane  of  intelligence  is  to 
be  demonstrated. 

Under  Short  notes,  Dr.  BarTSCH  mentioned  that  for  five  weeks  he  has  had 
as  a  visitor  to  his  feeding  pan  a  Brazilian  cardinal.  Where  it  came  from  is 
unknown.  Among  other  birds  that  he  is  feeding  he  mentioned  about  350 
starlings. 

Dr.  Palmer  showed  a  check  list  of  the  birds  of  Africa,  lately  completed, 
and  spoke  of  a  cooperative  plan  by  which  similar  lists  for  other  world  regions 
are  being  completed. 

636th  meeting 

The  636th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  March  4,  1922,  with 
President  Vernon  Bailey  in  the  chair  and  64  persons  present.  Laurence 
M.  HuEY,  of  San  Diego,  Cal.,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Society. 

Under  the  head  of  Short  notes,  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  announced  that  the  Na- 
tional Audubon  Society  has  lately  received  a  gift  of  $200,000  for  endowment, 
making  the  total  endowment  $600,000  at  the  present  time.  He  also  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  governor  of  New  Jersey  has  lately  declared  the 
bobolink  a  non-insectivorous  bird ;  this  reminded  the  speaker  that  in  earlier 
times  the  quail  was  officially  classified  in  Ohio  as  a  song-bird  and  in  South 
Carolina  the  bat  was  determined  to  be  a  migratory  bird. 

He  also  read  a  letter  from  W.  B.  Alexander,  an  Australian  ornithologist. 

Dr.  Howard  told  of  the  9th  annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Mosquito 


314      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

Extermination  Association.  The  organization  is  thriving  and  enthusiastic, 
and  has  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  removing  from  New  Jersey  the  stigma 
of  being  the  home  of  the  mosquito. 

Mr.  Aldrich  spoke  of  recent  additions  to  the  knowledge  of  the  pecuHar 
Austrahan  parasitic  flies  of  the  genus  Palpostoma,  several  specimens  of  which 
have  lately  been  received  at  the  National  Museum.  They  attack  beetles 
which  are  injurious  to  sugarcane,  and  have  considerable  economic  importance. 

Dr.  Oberholser  reported  that  during  the  recent  deep  snow  many  species 
of  birds  came  about  his  home  near  Zoological  Park,  evidently  forced  by  the 
snow  to  search  for  food  in  unaccustomed  places ;  they  disappeared  in  two  days 
as  the  snow  went  away. 

Pres.  Bailey  said  that  while  in  Southern  Arizona  last  winter  he  had  ob- 
served that  a  certain  kind  of  tuber  was  eaten  by  rodents  to  a  notable  extent. 
He  brought  home  samples  for  identification;  they  grew  while  lying  on  his 
table  in  a  box,  perfectly  dry.     The  plant  is  Talinwn  angustissimum. 

Vice  President  Oberholser  taking  the  chair,  President  BailEy  presented  a 
paper  on  Raising  baby  beavers. 

The  speaker  told  of  experiments  in  raising  young  beavers  while  studying  for 
the  Biological  Survey  the  problems  relating  to  beaver  farming.  He  showed 
lantern  slides  of  the  young  taken  in  Northern  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin  and 
raised  from  the  time  when  their  e5^es  had  just  opened  until  well  grown,  about 
three  months  old, — or  until  he  left  there  in  September.  The  home  habits  of 
the  young  were  described,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  took  to  human  ways 
of  life,  even  to  the  regulation  baby  bottle  of  milk,  which  they  were  shown  ab- 
sorbing with  great  relish.  They  were  most  affectionate  and  lovable  pets, 
adopting  their  foster  parents  as  fully  as  they  were  themselves  adopted; 
crying  in  real  baby  fashion  when  hungry  or  cold,  and  sure  of  having  all  their 
wants  supplied,  night  or  day.  They  soon  learned  to  come  when  called, 
and  though  reluctantly  would  return  to  their  little  beaver  house  on  the  hill 
near  the  cabin.  Their  great  delight  was  to  be  rocked  to  sleep  in  a  soft  warm 
lap,  or  on  a  cold  night  to  be  wrapped  in  a  blanket  and  taken  into  a  warm  bed, 
where  they  would  cuddle  up  close  and  go  to  sleep  as  soon  as  they  had  finished 
their  bottle  of  milk. 

Although  well  covered  with  deep  soft  fur,  they  were  sensitive  to  cold,  es- 
pecially if  exposed  to  cold  wind.  Slides  were  shown  of  some  beaver  houses 
with  thick  walls  and  warm  inner  chambers,  also  of  beaver  dams  and  ponds, 
and  some  of  the  mature  beavers  taken  alive  for  study  of  habits. 

In  conclusion  Mr.  Bailey  considered  beavers  easily  raised  in  captivity, 
gentle  and  intelligent,  promising  well  as  domestic  animals. 

Mr.  Bailey  resumed  the  chair  and  Mr.  A.  S.  Hitchcock  gave  the  second 
paper  of  the  evening.  Botanical  notes  from  the  Orient. 

The  speaker  had  made  a  trip  to  the  Philippines,  China  and  Japan,  leaving 
Washington  on  April  25,  1921,  and  returned  to  the  city  on  Dec.  24.  About 
one-third  of  the  intervening  time  had  been  consumed  in  travel.  A  month  was 
spent  in  the  vicinity  of  Manila.  In  this  region  Mt.  Makiling  near  lyos  Bancs 
is  the  best  accessible  collecting  ground  for  a  botanist.  The  worst  drawback 
here  was  the  abundance  of  leeches.  Baguio  was  a  good  place  for  grass  col- 
lecting. Omitting  China  to  save  time,  the  speaker  described  his  experiences 
in  Japan,  where  he  traveled  on  foot  with  a  native  botanist  as  guide  and  in- 
terpreter, thus  having  an  opportunity  to  live  among  the  Japanese  as  foreign- 
ers rarely  do.     lyantern  slides  were  shown  to  illustrate  various  places  visited 


JULY  19,  1922  proceedings:  biological  society  315 

and  interesting  vegetation.  Japan  is  poor  in  grasses  except  bamboos;  these 
however  occur  in  wide  variety.  The  speaker  showed  various  articles  made 
of  wood,  cocoanut  shells,  etc. 


637th  meeting 

The  637th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  March  IS,  1922,  with 
Pres.  Bailey  in  the  chair  and  62  persons  present. 

Under  Short  notes,  Dr.  H.  M.  Smith  showed  a  photograph  of  an  extraordi- 
nary crustacean,  the  rock  lobster  or  salt  water  cra^^sh;  the  specimen  at 
the  National  Museum  was  lately  received  from  Sarasova,  Fla.  It  is  36 
inches  long,  including  the  antennae,  and  weighed  12  pounds. 

He  also  showed  a  map  of  Iceland  from  the  Theatnim  Orbis  Tenarum,  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1606,  the  work  of  Abraham  Ortelius.  All  around  the 
island  were  drawn  sea  monsters,  which  were  described  in  the  text,  which 
the  speaker  read. 

Dr.  HoLLiSTER  announced  the  arrival  at  the  Zoological  Park  of  a  giant 
anteater  from  South  America,  and  described  its  habits. 

Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  spoke  of  several  birds  lately  introduced  into  the  United 
States:  a  Chinese  dove  at  Los  Angeles,  and  at  Tacoma  the  oriental  Bamboo 
Partridge,  of  which  300  were  brought  in  at  one  shipment. 

Dr.  OberholsER  reported  that  at  Polksville,  in  southeastern  Iowa,  several 
thousand  wild  ducks,  mostly  mallards,  have  remained  all  winter,  the  induce- 
ment being  regular  feeding  with  corn.  They  have  become  quite  tame.  The 
starling,  he  added,  has  been  imported  from  Asia  into  Vancouver  Island,  and 
is  spreading. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  spoke  on  the  membership  campaign  now  in  progress. 

The  first  paper  of  the  evening  was  read  by  Dr.  Paul  Bartsch,  on  American 
shipworms. 

The  shipworm  is  not  a  worm  at  all,  but  a  mollusk,  related  to  the  oyster  and 
clam.  The  speaker  gave  an  account  of  the  structure  and  life  history  of  these 
animals,  using  as  his  example  Gould's  Ship-worm,  the  life  history  of  which  was 
almost  completely  worked  out  by  Sigerfoos  in  1908  at  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Fisheries  Station  at  Beaufort,  N.  C. 

There  are  two  types  of  shipworms  in  America:  one  which  produces  living 
young,  and  the  other  which  produces  eggs.  Gould's  shipworm  is  of  the  lat- 
ter type.  When  the  eggs  hatch,  a  free-swimming  larva  is  produced;  this 
leads  a  pelagic  existence  for  a  time,  the  length  of  which  had  not  been  deter- 
mined, and  then  settles  down  on  some  piece  of  wood  and  begins  digging  a 
home  for  itself.  The  first  tiny  puncture  is  just  large  enough  to  admit  the 
minute  organism,  but  is  widened  and  deepened  as  the  animal  grows. 
Some  shipworms  grow  to  be  four  feet  or  more  in  length,  and  as  thick  as  a 
man's  thumb.  After  the  burrow  is  complete,  the  end  is  sealed  up  with  a 
calcareous  lining.  In  fact  the  whole  burrow  has  been  beautifully  glazed 
after  its  excavation.  The  mollusk  has  now  stopped  growing,  and  turns  its 
attention  to  feeding  and  reproducing.  A  single  specimen  can  produce  from 
half  a  million  to  three  million  offspring. 

The  food  of  these  animals  consists,  not  of  wood  as  generally  supposed,  but 
of  plankton,  which  is  strained  from  the  water  by  the  gills,  and  carried  by 
ciliary  action  to  the  mouth. 

Shipworms  are  very  destructive.     The  most  conspicuous  loss  suffered  in 


316      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF   SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

any  American  harbor  was  at  San  Francisco  Bay,  or  San  Pablo  and  Suisun  Bay, 
its  branches,  where  damage  of  no  less  than  twenty  million  dollars  was  done  by 
Beach's  Teredo  in  1919-1920.  An  equal  loss  is  probably  sustained  annually 
along  our  various  coasts.  At  Smith  island  in  Chesapeake  Bay  a  wharf  col- 
lapsed within  a  period  of  three  months  after  it  was  constructed.  Recently 
attention  has  been  called  to  the  ravages  of  shipworms  in  the  Panama  Canal 
region,  where  on  the  Atlantic  is  the  huge  borer  known  as  Reyne's  Shipworm 
which  freely  attacks  greenheart  timber,  a  supposedly  immune  wood;  while 
a  closely  related  species  affects  the  fresh  waters  of  Mirafiores  Lake  on  the 
opposite  side.  This  is  the  first  fresh-water  shipworm  known  from  American 
waters.     Zetek's  Shipworm  is  another  destructive  Panama  kind. 

Twenty-eight  species  were  listed  by  Dr.  Bartsch  from  American  waters, 
with  data  on  distribution  and  other  notes;  there  are  also  at  least  five  other 
species  known  only  from  fragmentary  specimens. 

The  speaker  showed  specimens  of  various  kinds,  and  wood  bored  by  them. 
He  stated  that  there  are  four  distinct  problems  presented : 

A.  A  systematic  study  which  must  form  the  foundation  for  all  other 
inquiries.  This  has  been  attempted  in  a  monograph  which  Dr.  Bartsch  now 
has  in  press. 

B.  A  study  of  the  range  of  distribution  of  the  various  species  and  their 
relative  abundance. 

C.  An  examination  of  the  physical  oceanographic  conditions  that  deter- 
mine their  distribution. 

D.  A  study  of  the  life  histories  of  the  various  forms. 

The  second  paper  of  the  evening  was  The  floral  alphabet  of  the  Celts,  by 

IVAR  TiDESTROM. 

The  speaker  sketched  the  distribution  of  the  Celts  from  Spain  to  Ireland, 
Wales  and  Western  Scotland.  He  proceeded  to  show  how  the  names  of  the 
letters  of  their  alphabet  were  taken  from  the  names  of  trees  and  shrubs  be- 
ginning with  the  same  sound,  the  species  selected  being  those  of  wide  occur- 
rence in  the  Celtic  territory.  The  letter  corresponding  to  our  b,  for  instance, 
was  called  beith,  the  Celtic  word  for  birch ;  g  was  called  gort,  the  name  of 
ivy;  and  so  on.  The  speaker  referred  to  some  of  the  folklore  of  the  Celts. 
At  the  conclusion  Miss  E-  A.  Celander  sang  a  Swedish  folk-song  based  upon 
an  old  Celtic  tradition. 

638th  meeting 

The  638th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  April  1,  1922  with 
President  Vernon  Bailey  in  the  chair  and  69  persons  present.  Henry 
HoYT  Barrow,  Lynn  C.  Drake,  Frank  G.  Grimes,  Smith  Rieey,  and 
J.  R.  Schramm  were  elected  to  membership. 

The  first  paper  of  the  evening  was  Wild  flowers  that  need  protection,  by 

P.  L.  RiCKER. 

The  speaker  first  told  of  the  organization,  history  and  aims  of  the  Wild 
Flower  Preservation  Society  of  America.  He  then  discussed  the  need  of  pro- 
tection for  many  kinds  of  wild  flowers  that  are  approaching  extinction  in  areas 
near  towns,  and  showed  a  large  number  of  colored  lantern  slides  of  wild  flowers 
of  the  region  about  Washington,  with  some  comments  on  rarity,  danger  of 
pulling  up  the  roots  in  picking,  etc.  At  the  conclusion  he  distributed  some 
leaflets  of  the  Society. 

The  second  paper  of  the  evening.  Hunting  fossil  vertebrates  in  southeastern 
Arizona  was  called  for  but  the  speaker,  J.  W.  Gidley,  was  not  present. 


JULY  19,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :   BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  317 

Reverting  to  the  order  of  Short  notes,  Dr.  Shufeldt  said  he  had  found  a 
method  of  blocking  out  undesirable  backgrounds  by  the  use  of  small  wedges 
of  rubber,  illustrating  by  lantern  slides  taken  in  the  National  Museum,  but 
provided  with  new  backgrounds  of  outdoor  scenes.  He  also  devised  the  use 
of  an  umbrella  in  taking  pictures  of  wild  flowers  in  the  sun,  to  get  better  de- 
tail by  shading  the  object  during  exposure.  He  showed  a  copy  of  a  new  nature 
magazine,  just  started  in  England,  called  Nature  Land,  edited  by  Graham 
Renshaw,  and  published  in  Manchester. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  asked  information  on  some  points  in  photographing 
flowers  in  nature,  which  was  supplied  by  Mr.  Shoemaker.  The  main  diffi- 
culty, he  said,  is  wind.     A  lens  of  rather  long  focus  is  best. 

The  president  called  upon  Dr.  W.  J.  Holland,  director  of  the  Carnegie 
Museum  in  Pittsburgh,  for  remarks.  Dr.  Holland  responded  with  a  very 
entertaining  account  of  the  circumstances  leading  up  to  the  discovery  of 
Diplodociis  carnegiei,  an  immense  fossil  reptile,  and  how  he  came,  with  the 
financial  support  of  Mr.  Carnegie,  to  present  plaster  casts  of  the  famous  skele- 
ton now  in  Carnegie  Museum  to  several  of  the  largest  museums  in  foreign 
countries.  He  also  told  of  the  Dinosaur  quarry  opened  on  Green  River  in 
Utah  by  his  Museum,  and  how  on  the  opening  of  the  region  to  settlement  it 
was  found  necessary  to  designate  as  "Dinosaur  Monument,"  and  to  withhold 
from  entry,  eighty  acres  of  land  including  the  quarry. 

639th  meeting 

The  639th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  April  15,  1922,  with 
President  Bailey  in  the  chair.  Roberto  Dabbene,  Wm.  A.  Dayton,  Geo. 
C.  Hedgcock,  Ernest  Knaebel,  J.  Parker  Norris,  Jr.,  Wilson  Popenoe, 
Paul  G.  Russell,  Alden  Sampson,  and  Joseph  H.  Walton,  were  elected 
to  membership 

R.  P.  CowLES:    A  hydrographic  and  biological  survey  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 

The  bay  is  comparatively  shallow,  with  some  deep  holes  along  the  east 
shore.  The  bottom  is  composed  of  various  materials, — mud,  gravel,  sand, 
peat,  fuller's  earth,  clay,  and  oyster  shells.  The  temperature  is  warmest  at 
the  surface  and  decreases  downward  during  the  warm  part  of  the  year,  April, 
June  and  July  and  August ;  in  March  and  September  it  is  about  the  same  at 
all  depths ;  while  in  the  colder  months  it  is  colder  at  the  surface  and  becomes 
warmer  at  greater  depths. 

The  large  amount  of  fresh  water  meets  the  salt  water  of  the  ocean  and  mixes 
only  imperfectly,  the  more  saline  water  being  heavier  and  lying  somewhat  un- 
derneath the  fresh  water.  By  means  of  the  current  meter  it  has  been  found 
that  the  surface  water  may  be  moving  down  the  Bay  while  the  deeper  is  moving 
up  in  the  opposite  direction;  at  other  times  the  surface  may  be  almost  stag- 
nant while  the  deeper  portion  may  be  in  motion  either  up  or  down  the  Bay. 
The  water  has  usually  a  slightly  alkaline  reaction,  but  in  a  few  regions  it  is 
slightly  acid,  indicating  pollution. 

An}'  or  all  these  physical  data  may  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  dis- 
tribution and  activities  of  the  animals  and  plants  in  the  Bay. 

After  describing  the  various  instruments  used  in  making  observations,  and 
the  man}^  cruises  taken  by  the  small  government  vessel  used  for  several  years 
past,  Professor  Cowles  summarized  the  practical  bearing  of  the  work  as  follows : 

First,  an  effort  has  been  made  to  determine  the  normal  biological  and  phys- 
ical conditions  throughout  the  year,  so  that  when  great  mortality  of  fishes, 


318      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

oysters,  clams,  crabs,  etc.,  occurs  there  will  be  normal  data  at  hand  from  which 
to  determine  the  abnormal  conditions  that  bring  about  the  trouble. 

Second,  to  learn  all  that  is  possible  concerning  the  movement  of  layers  of 
water  of  different  density,  different  temperatures  and  different  plankton 
content  (fish  food  value)  in  the  hope  that  the  information  may  throw  light  on 
the  migration  of  fishes  and  crabs  at  certain  times  of  the  year. 

Third,  to  study  especially  the  fauna  of  the  deep  holes  which  occur  in  many 
places. 

Fourth,  to  study  the  so-called  "barren  bottoms,"  at  the  mouths  of  rivers. 

Fifth,  to  gather  as  much  information  as  possible  which  will  bear  on  the  con- 
servation of  the  fisheries  resources  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 

In  discussion  Mr.  Hitchcock  said  that  in  British  Guiana  there  is  a  tide 
of  several  feet  for  60  miles  up  certain  rivers,  and  the  mangrove  grows  up 
that  far,  showing  that  salt  water  comes  up  underneath  the  fresh. 

R.  W.  Shufeldt:  Observations  on  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  In  the  paper,  which  was  illustrated  with  a  large  number  of  excel- 
lent lantern  slides  made  by  the  speaker,  a  general  review  of  the  more  common 
or  noted  animals  and  plants  was  given. 

640th  meeting 

The  640th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  April  29,  1922,  with 
President  BailEY  in  the  chair  and  67  persons  present.  LeE  M.  Hutchins, 
H.  B.  Humphrey,  F.  E.  Kempton,  Miss  Grace  Holmes,  Miss  Mary  Brad- 
ley, and  Mrs.  Theodore  Knappen  were  elected  to  membership. 

The  speaker  of  the  evening,  Dr.  Wm.  E.  Ritter,  of  the  Scripps  Institution 
for  Biological  Research,  was  then  introduced  by  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard.  Dr. 
Ritter  then  addressed  the  Society  on  The  usefulness  and  the  peril  of  the  lab- 
oratory method  in  biology. 

The  speaker  himself  had  had  an  extended  training  some  years  ago  in  the 
best  laboratories  in  existence,  and  as  a  university  professor  he  carried  on  the 
method  in  educating  a  large  number  of  college  students,  so  that  he  was  well 
prepared  to  discuss  the  good  points  of  this  educational  method.  Neverthe- 
less he  had  come  to  appreciate  very  keenly  the  gulf  too  often  existing  between 
academic  science,  or  more  particularly  academic  biolog}^,  and  any  phase  of 
actual  human  life.  He  quoted  from  Wm.  Bateson  and  L.  O.  Howard  on  the 
same  line. 

The  usefulness  of  the  laboratory  he  found  to  be  unquestioned  in  the  fol- 
lowing matters:  (a)  Phenomena  concerning  which  no  positive  knowledge 
whatever  can  be  gained  without  laboratory  studies.  (6)  Phenomena  concern- 
ing which  very  little  positive  knowledge  can  be  gained  without  a  combination 
of  "field"  and  laboratory  studies,  (c)  Phenomena  concerning  which  no 
positive  knowledge  whatever  can  be  gained  in  the  laboratory  (negative 
utility  of  laboratory). 

The  perils  of  the  laboratory  are:  (a)  Laboratory  necessarily  limited  to 
samples  of  nature;  hence  {b)  Laboratory  procedure  necessarily  restricted 
mostly  to  analysis;  and  to  deductive  reasoning  so  far  as  the  interpretation  of 
actual  nature  is  concerned.  And  (c)  Necessarily  tends  to  beget  laboratory- 
mindedness,  and  mental  and  social  isolation,  {d)  There  is  a  similarity  between 
monasticism  in  religion  and  laboratorism  in  science. 

He  proposed  the  following  steps  to  remedy  the  situation:  (a)  Preliminary 
instruction  of  all  would-be    scientists  with    three-fold  end  in  view:   (1)  to 


July  19,  1922        proceedings:  entomological  society  319 

help  them  see  that  all  science  is  adaptive;  (2)  to  secure  and  strengthen  them 
in  natural-mindedness ;  (3)  to  help  them  acquire  the  mental  techniqvie  common 
to  all  natural  knowledge. 

(6)  Coordination  in  research  and  teaching  of  the  analytic  and  deductive 
procedure  of  the  laboratory  with  the  synthetic  and  inductive  procedure  of 
the  field,  by  (1)  carrying  the  laboratory  method  into  the  field  as  far  as  pos- 
sible; and  (2)  wider  and  more  fully  developed  application  of  the  statistical 
method. 

(c)  Preserve  in  the  investigator  consciousness  of  interdependence  and 
human  meaning  of  all  special  sciences. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  which  was  received  with  close  attention 
and  high  appreciation,  Dr.  Howard  called  on  Professor  D.  H.  Campbell,  of 
Stanford  University,  to  lead  the  discussion. 

Professor  Campbell  said  he  agreed  with  much,  but  not  quite  with  all,  that 
had  been  said.  Research  he  thought  a  legitimate  and  necessary  function  of 
universities ;  and  this  would  generally  involve  complex  highly  specialized  lab- 
oratory processes,  often  without  any  immediate  practical  aim  in  view.  Re- 
search cannot  be  limited  to  lines  in  which  the  application  to  human  life  can  be 
seen  at  the  start.  Brief  remarks  were  contributed  by  Messrs.  Hitch- 
cock, DooLiTTLE,  Mann,  Slosson,  Howard,  Schmid,  Lyon,  and  Aldrich. 

J.  M.  Aldrich,  Recording  Secretary: 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
343rd  meeting 

The  343rd  meeting  was  held  November  3,  1921,  at  the  National  Museum, 
with  President  Walton  in  the  chair  and  35  members  and  4  visitors.  New 
member:   Carlo  Zeimet,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 

L.  L.  Buchanan:   Coleoptera  in  bird  stomachs. 

In  determining  the  coleopterous  food  of  wild  birds  it  is  frequently  necessary 
to  identify  fragments.  In  this  work  the  form  of  the  sclerites  and  the  sculptur- 
ing of  the  surface  are  the  best  guides,  and  their  determination  requires  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  many  groups.  Apparently  the  action  of  the  di- 
gestive juice  causes  marked  changes  in  color  so  that  this  is  misleading.  Very 
rare  species  are  sometimes  found  in  good  condition  in  the  stomachs. 

In  discussing  Mr.  Buchanan's  paper  Mr.  Rohwer  said  that  the  birds  often 
collect  something  rare  in  Hymenoptera  but  that  many  of  the  fragments  from 
the  stomach  were  not  in  condition  to  permit  positive  identification.  The 
determination  of  these  fragments  was  a  good  test  of  one's  knowledge  of  the 
group  and  might  be  treated  as  a  game  of  skill. 

N.  E.  McIndoo:  Glandtdar  structure  of  the  abdominal  appendages  of  a 
termite  guest  (Spirachtha) . 

The  staphylinid  beetles  discussed,  about  the  size  of  a  common  pin  head, 
were  collected  by  Emerson  in  termite  nests  in  British  Guiana  and  were 
identified  by  Mann  as  two  new  species.  They  are  most  remarkable  in  that 
the  fat  abdomen  bends  forward  and  lies  directly  over  the  thorax  and  head, 
and  that  the  abdomen  bears  three  pairs  of  large  fleshy  appendages,  whose 
only  function  seems  to  be  to  furnish  a  supposedly  nutritive  food  for  the  ter- 
mites, which  have  a  habit  of  licking  these  appendages.  The  internal  anatomy 
of  the  appendages  is  the  most  peculiar  of  any  yet  described.  Each  appendage 
is  a  thick- walled  tube  or  slender  sac,  completely  filled  with  blood.  Lying  in 
the  thick  walls  are  countless  gland  cells  whose  inner  ends  are  bathed  by  the 


320      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

blood,  and  whose  outer  ends  are  attached  to  the  spongy,  inner  layer  of  the 
integument  which  serves  as  a  reservoir.  The  gland  cells  extract  a  substance 
from  the  blood  and  store  it  in  the  reservoir,  from  which  it  passes  to  the 
exterior  through  many  tiny  pores  lying  in  the  outer  layer  of  the  integument. 
Once  on  the  integument,  the  secretion  evidently  spreads  out  in  a  film  over 
the  entire  surface  of  the  appendages  and  abdomen. 

This  paper  was  illustrated  by  two  anatomical  charts  which  were  explained 
in  detail. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

A.  N.  CaudelIv  exhibited  a  specimen  of  a  remarkable  katydid,  the  re- 
cently described  Insctidderia  taxodii  Caudell,  which  feeds  only  on  cypress  in 
the  southeastern  United  States. 

Prof.  Carl  J.  Drake  spoke  of  collecting  on  cypress  in  Mississippi  and 
Louisiana,  stating  that  certain  jassids  and  tingids  confine  their  attack  to 
this  tree. 

Mr.  RoHWER  stated  that  one  of  two  species  of  horntails  seem  to  breed 
only  on  cypress,  and  that  certain  parasites  of  wood-boring  Coleoptera  also 
seem  to  confine  themselves  to  this  tree  but  are  not  particular  as  to  the  sys- 
tematic position  of  their  insect  hosts. 

Wm.  Middleton  stated  that  he  had  on  October  6,  1921,  liberated  20,000 
adults  of  Schedius  kuvanae  Howard  in  Washington,  D.  C.  This  insect  is  a 
chalcid  egg  parasite  of  the  gypsy  moth.  The  liberation  was  made  on  some 
trees  along  B  St.,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Museum,  which  had  a  large  number 
of  egg  masses  of  the  white-marked  tussock  moth.  The  parasite  has  been 
found  to  attack  the  egg  of  this  moth  under  laboratory  conditions  and  it  is 
hoped  that  it  will  be  useful  in  aiding  in  controlling  it  here.  This  experiment  is 
a  part  of  Dr.  Howard's  plan  for  getting  the  utmost  possible  good  from  such 
parasitic  insects  as  are  introduced  into  this  country. 

S.  A.  RoHWER  said  he  was  glad  this  liberation  of  parasites  was  recorded 
and  hoped  that  all  such  liberations  would  be  made  matters  of  record  and  placed 
available  to  all  specialists.  Unless  this  is  done,  the  specialist  is  often  puzzled 
when  dealing  with  distribution  of  species  and  often  has  trouble  in  making 
identifications. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  phenomenon  of  predaceous  and  parasitic  insects 
confining  their  attacks  to  those  insects  which  infest  a  given  plant  rather 
than  to  a  given  host  species  or  genus,  J.  A.  Hyslop  discussed  the  two  common 
species  of  the  genus  Alatis,  A.  oculaius  and  A.  myops.  The  larvae  of  both 
of  these  beetles  are  exclusively  predaceous,  feeding  on  several  species  of 
wood-boring  larvae,  but,  despite  the  fact  that  they  are  not  wood  feeders, 
A.  octdatiis  is  always  found  in  deciduous  trees  and  A.  myops  invariably  in 
conifers. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Baker  reported  the  results  of  some  rearing  experiments  with 
the  apple-grain  aphis  (the  Aphis  avenae  of  some  American  authors).  He 
pointed  out  that  the  theory  of  evolution  based  on  natural  selection  as  pro- 
pounded by  Darwin  has  been  discarded  by  most  of  the  experimental  workers 
in  zoology.  Darwin  based  his  theory  on  small  continuous  variations  while 
most  of  these  recent  workers  pin  their  faith  to  discontinuous  variations. 
In  the  mean  time  Johannsen  established  his  pure  line  theory  which  claims 
that  self-fertilized  forms  or  forms  reproducing  as  in  parthenogenesis  will 
remain  true  showing  only  fluctuations.  Finally  Lotsy  has  recently  dispensed 
altogether  with  variations.     "The  cause  of  evolution  lies  in  the  interaction 


July  19,  1922  proceedings:  entomological  society  321 

of  two  gametes  of  different  constitution."  If  this  were  so  there  could  nat- 
urally be  no  true  variation  in  a  parthenogenetic  line. 

EwiNG  had  reared  the  species  under  discussion  for  S7  parthenogenetic 
generations  and  secured  no  modifications.  His  conclusions  therefore  agree 
with  the  usual  pure  line  conception  and  would  tend  to  support  Lotsy's  theory. 
The  results  obtained  here,  however,  are  quite  different.  There  appeared  in 
the  parthenogenetic  rearings  a  form  which  had  dropped  one  entire  segment 
from  the  antennae.  This  reproduced  true  until  the  winter's  frost  closed  the 
line.  Apterous  and  winged  forms  were  obtained  and  even  intermediates 
between  these  two  forms,  all  lacking  the  one  segment. 

We  have  here  then  a  case  where  a  new  form  has  arisen  in  a  parthenogenetic 

line — a  mutation  if  you  wish.     There  seems  only  one  way  to  interpret  it. 

Mutations  may  arise  in  pure  line  parthenogenetic  reproduction  as  well  as 

through   the   interaction   of  two  different  gametes.     This  granted,  Lotsy's 

theorv  collapses  and  the  pure  line  theory  as  often  expressed  needs  modification. 

Micrographs  of  these  forms  have  been  prepared  and  will  in  due  course  be 
published. 

H.  S.  Barber  reported  on  the  injury  to  the  putting  greens  of  the  Columbia 
Country  Club  near  Chevy  Chase,  Maryland,  by  the  larvae  of  the  carabid 
beetle  Agonoderus  lineola.  The  investigation  was  made  in  late  August 
by  P.  L.  RiCKER  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry.  The  injury  was  very  se- 
vere in  spots  and  examination  of  the  contents  of  the  alimentary  tract  of  larvae 
disclosed  chiefl}^  grass  roots.  Poison  baits  and  sprays  apparently  were  of 
little  value  in  preventing  the  damage,  and  it  was  recommended  that  surface 
fumigation  with  paradichlorobenzine  under  tarpaulins  be  tested. 

J.  C.  Bridwell  told  of  the  various  insects  that  he  had  found  using  as 
nesting  places  the  galleries  of  a  borer  in  a  rotten  stump.  Osmia  lignaria  Say 
was  in  the  fully  developed  adult  stage.  Some  individuals  had  been  para- 
sitized by  Chrysis  (Holochrysis)  hilaris  Dahlb.,  which  had  attacked  the  bee 
larva  after  it  had  spun  its  cocoon,  as  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  Chrysis 
cocoon  was  always  enclosed  by  the  Osmia  cocoon.  Nymphs  of  the  mite 
genus  Trichotarsus  were  associated  with  these  bees.  Dead  and  molded 
adults  of  Typoxylon  albopilosum  Fox  were  found  in  nests  in  the  pupal  cham- 
bers, and  other  cells  filled  with  spiders  certainly  stored  by  this  species. 
The  nesting  habits  of  this  Trypoxylon  heretofore  have  been  unknown. 
Other  pupal  chambers  contained  the  remains  of  the  cockroach  Parcoblatta 
pennsylvanica  DeGeer,  associated  with  thin  silken  cocoons  thought  to  be 
possibly  those  of  one  of  our  two  species  of  Rhinopsis,  members  of  a  group 
known  to  use  cockroaches  as  prey.  In  branch  galleries  were  cells  stored 
with  a  large  aphid  (possibly  Longistigma  according  to  Dr.  Baker),  together  with 
cocoons  suggested  by  Mr.  Rohwer  as  possibly  those  of  some  Nyssonid.  The 
mite,  Pedicidoides  ventricosus,  interfered  with  the  rearing  of  some  of  the 
species. 

E.  R.  Sasscer  exhibited  a  base  ball,  intercepted  at  quarantine,  filled  with 
whole  cotton  seed. 

.344th  meeting 
The  344th  meeting  was  held  December  1,  1921,  at  the  National  Museum, 
with  President  Walton  presiding  and  33  members  and  6  visitors  present. 
Officers  for  1922  were  elected  as  follows:  President,  A.  B.  Gahan;  First 
Vice-President,  Dr.  Adam  G.  Boving;  Second  Vice-President,  R.  A.  Cushman; 
Recording  Secretary,  C.  T.  Greene;  Editor,  Dr.  A.  C,  Baker;   Corresponding 


322      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   13 

Secretary-Treasurer,  S.  A.  Rohwer.  Additional  members  of  Executive  Com  - 
mittee,  Dr.  A.  L.  Ouaintance,  A.  N.  Caudell,  Dr.  J.  M.  Aldrich.  Vice 
President  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  S.  A.  Rohwer.  The  pro- 
gram was  as  follows: 

S.   Hadwen:    Oestridae. 

This  talk  consisted  of  an  account,  illustrated  by  specimens  and  photographs, 
of  the  speaker's  investigation  into  the  habits  and  control  of  the  reindeer  nose 
bot  fly,  Cephenomyia  trompe  L.,  and  the  reindeer  warble,  Oedemagena  tarandi  L. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

Dr.  Howard,  Mr.  Schwarz,  and  Mr.  Caudell  gave  brief  reminiscences  of 
the  late  Dr.  W.  H.  Fox. 

Mr.  Rohwer  exhibited  some  letters  from  the  late  H.  F.  Bassett  to  Dr. 
IjNTNER  and  read  one  relating  to  one  of  Dr.  Lintner's  reports. 

C.  J.  Bridwell  exhibited  the  elytra  of  an  Elodes  on  which  he  has  found 
two  eggs  of  a  Tachinid  parasite  and  from  which  he  had  removed  two  larvae 
of  the  fly.  He  commented  on  the  similarity  in  the  method  of  attachment  of 
the  egg  to  that  of  the  Bruchidae,  by  a  firm  cement  which  gives  the  larva  a 
good  purchase  for  penetrating  the  hard  elytron,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
bruchid  larva  penetrates  the  hard  shell  of  the  seed. 

Dr.  Aldrich  was  reminded  by  Mr.  Bridwell's  remarks  of  the  Tachinid  eggs 
that  are  sometimes  found  on  the  adults  of  the  potato  beetle,  stating  that 
nothing  has  ever  been  reared  from  these  eggs  and  that  they  cannot  be  those  of 
Doryphorophaga  since  this  has  a  piercer  and  probably  deposits  its  eggs  within 
the   host. 

Dr.  EwiNG  had  found  these  eggs  and  had  succeeded  in  getting  them  to 
hatch,  but  had  never  reared  the  adult  fly. 

Mr.  Caudell  told  of  having  received  specimens  of  Zorotypus  from  Hawaii 
and  thought  it  probably  a  species  introduced  from  the  East  Indies.  He 
also  exhibited  specimens  of  a  rare  walkingstick-like  mantid  that  Dr.  .C.  J. 
Drake  had  found  in  considerable  numbers  in  Mississippi. 

Mr.  CuSHMAN  spoke  of  the  confusion  resulting  from  an  old  misdetermi- 
nation  of  Habrocracon  brevicornis  (Wesmael),  whereby  the  name  has  long 
been  associated  with  the  common  parasite  of  stored  grain  insects.  The  re- 
cent rearing  of  the  true  brevicornis  from  the  European  Corn  Borer  in  imported 
material  has  been  the  means  of  correcting  the  error. 

Mr.  Gahan  discussed  the  habits  of  a  recently  discovered  parasite  of  Di- 
abrotica  vittata  adults,  Syrrhizus  n.  sp.,  as  given  him  by  the  discoverer,  Mr. 
W.  V.  Balduff,  of  the  Ohio  State  Agricultural  Experiment  Station.  Mr. 
Gahan  outlined  the  similarities  and  differences  between  the  habits  of  this  in- 
sect and  of  the  common  parasite  of  lad>  -bird  beetles,  Dinocampus  terminatus 
Nees.  R,  A.  Cushman,  Recording  Secretary. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  August  19,  1922  No.  14 


ZOOLOGY. — -New  forms   of  Neotropical   birds. ^     Alexander  Wet- 
MORE,  Biological  Survey. 

The  four  subspecies  described  in  the  present  paper  have  been  noted 
in  the  collections  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  during  studies  of 
birds  secured  by  the  writer  in  1920  and  1921  in  southern  South  America. 
In  the  case  of  the  new  form  of  pygmy  owl  thanks  are  due  Dr.  F.  M. 
Chapman  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  for  the  loan 
of  an  excellent  series  of  these  birds  for  comparison.  The  types  of 
the  forms  here  described  are  all  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

Glaucidium  nanum  vafrum,  subsp.  nov. 

Characters. — Similar  to  Glaucidium  nanum  nanum  (King)^  but  with  dark 
bars  on  tail  broader  (breadth  two  times  or  more  that  of  the  Hght  bands) ; 
sHghtly  larger. 

Description. — Type,  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  Cat.  No.  284,856,  female  (in  rufes- 
cent  phase),  from  Concon,  Intendencia  of  Valparaiso,  Chile,  collected  April 
27,  1921,  by  Alex.  Wetmore  (orig.  No.  6603).  Crown,  nape  and  upper  back 
between  verona  brown  and  warm  sepia;  lores,  superciliary  stripe  and  streak 
behind  eye  white  streaked  more  or  less  with  black;  crown  and  nape  faintly 
streaked  and  spotted  with  rather  dull  cinnamon-buff,  the  anterior  streaks 
faintly  bordered  with  black ;  nape  with  concealed  markings  of  black,  white 
and  cinnamon-buff  that  appear  as  a  broken  half  collar  but  that  may  be  ar- 
ranged to  form  two  distinct  eyespots  on  the  back  of  the  neck;  streak  below 
eye,  including  auricular  region,  blackish  slate  spotted  with  white  and  cinna- 
mon-buff; sides  of  neck  duller  than  snuff  brown,  barred  and  spotted  obscurely 
with  cinnamon-buff  and,  more  faintly,  with  blackish  slate;  back  (save  as 
indicated  above)  and  scapulars,  slightly  browner  than  hair  brown,  the  scapu- 
lars spotted  more  or  less  obscurely  with  cinnamon-buff,  and  white  bordered 
by  cinnamon-buff;  rump  and  upper  tail-coverts  verona  brown,  rump  with 
hidden  spots  of  cinnamon-buff;  primaries  and  secondaries  fuscous-black, 
barred  on  under  surface  with  white,  that  becomes  marguerite  yellow  proxi- 
mally  on  inner  feathers ;  outer  webs  of  primaries  spotted  with  white,  margined 
with  cinnamon-buff;  outer  webs  of  secondaries  spotted  with  cinnamon-buff; 
wing  coverts  fuscous  washed  with  verona  brown;  external  ones  spotted  with 
white,  all  obscurely  spotted  with  cinnamon-buff;  tail  fuscous-black,  crossed 
by  narrow  bars  of  sayal  brown,  the  dark  bars  twice  the  width  of  the  light 
ones;  malar  stripe  white;  chin  white  with  the  antrorse  hairlike  feather  tips 

1  Received  July  7,   1922. 

2  Strix  nana  King,  Zool.  Journ.  3:  427.     1827.     (Port  Famine,  Straits  of  Magellan.) 

323 


324      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  14 

black;  broad  band  across  throat  darker  than  bister,  marked  irregularly 
with  dull  cream-buff;  lower  fore-neck  and  upper  breast  broadly  white  in 
center ;  sides  of  fore-neck  and  breast  duller  than  snuff -brown  spotted  obscurely 
with  cinnamon-buff  and  white ;  remainder  of  underparts  dull  white  streaked 
somewhat  irregularly  with  bister;  sides  and  flanks  wood  brown,  somewhat 
mixed  with  white;  tibiae  verona  brown  mixed  with  cinnamon-buff;  tarsi 
grizzled  with  white,  bister,  and  cinnamon-buff;  under  wing  coverts  fuscous- 
black  mixed  with  white.  Tip  of  bill  deep  olive-buff;  base  puritan  gray, 
shading  to  deep  olive-buff  at  base,  gray  clearer  on  mandible,  indistinct  on 
maxilla;  iris  pale  greenish  yellow  (from  fresh  specimen). 

Measurements. — Males  (2  specimens),  wing  104.1-106.0,  tail  70.0-76.2, 
culmen  from  cere  (one  specimen  only)  12.0  mm.  Females  (2  specimens), 
wing  110.0-114.0,^  tail  (one  specimen)  74.6,^  culmen  from  cere  (one  specimen) 
12.5  mm.3 

Range. — Central  Chile  (known  from  Santiago,  Valparaiso,  Rio  Blanco 
(altitude  1470  metres),  and  Tofo,  sixty  miles  north  of  Coquimbo). 

Remarks  .—The  present  form,  a  northern  race  of  Glaucidium  nanum,  may 
be  expected  to  range  northward  through  the  Andes  into  Bolivia,  and  perhaps 
farther.  Specimens  from  Temuco,  Chile,  near  the  border  of  the  forest  belt, 
and  from  the  Andes  in  Chubut,  are  intermediate  between  nanum  and  vafrum 
but  seem  nearer  the  former.  True  nanum,  from  the  material  at  hand  there- 
fore may  be  said  to  extend  northward  through  the  humid  forest  belt  of  south 
Chile  and  the  southern  Andes,  and  to  be  replaced  beyond  that  point  by  vafrum. 

Six  skins  representing  vafrum  have  been  examined,  a  male,  and  one  marked 
female,  doubtfully  so  since  the  wing  measures  only  103.7  mm.  (not  included 
in  the  measurements  given  above)  from  Santiago,  a  female  from  Concon, 
one  with  sex  not  marked  from  Valparaiso,  a  questionable  male  from  an  altitude 
of  1470  metres  on  the  Rio  Blanco,  and  a  female  from  Tofo,  sixty  miles  north 
of  Coquimbo.  Five  specimens  of  nanum,  from  near  the  type  locality  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Straits  of  Magellan  (Punta  Arenas,  Laredo  Bay  and  Tierra 
del  Fuego),  all  agree  in  having  the  light  and  dark  bands  on  the  tail  of  about 
equal  width.  The  dark  tail  bands  in  specimens  from  farther  north  become 
slightly  broader,  but  even  those  from  as  far  north  as  Temuco  in  Chile  and 
northern  Chubut  in  Argentina  agree  best  with  nanum.  It  may  be  noted 
that  Scott  and  Sharpe  (Princeton  Univ.  Exp.  Patagonia,  2*:  70S.  /.  j6o. 
1915)  figure  nanum  from  Punta  Arenas  with  a  narrow  tail  band,  as  does 
Crawshay  (Birds  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  pi.  35.  1907)  in  the  case  of  a  bird  from 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  Koslowsky  (El  Hornero  1:  pi.  III.  Sept.  1919)  in  one 
from  north  of  Lago  Buenos  Aires,  Santa  Cruz.  In  all  I  have  examined  10 
specimens  that  may  be  referred  to  nanum  and  6  that  represent  vafrum. 

There  is  considerable  uncertainty  as  to  whether  nanum  should  be  main- 
tained as  a  distinct  species  or  whether  both  nanum  and  vafrum  should  be 
placed  as  subspecies  of  hrasilianum.  The  distinctions  between  the  sub- 
species that  compose  brasilianum  and  the  two  into  which  nanum  is  divided 

'  Type. 


AUGUST  19,  1922  WETMORE :   NEW  NEOTROPICAL  BIRDS  325 

are  purel}-  those  of  depth  of  coloration.  Collectively  the  nanum  group  is 
darker  and  somewhat  more  heavily  marked  than  the  hrasilianum  group, 
while  the  two  are  complementary  in  range.  Examination  of  specimens  from 
intermediate  localities  may  easily  demonstrate  intergradation. 

So  far  as  I  can  determine  none  of  the  names  that  have  been  proposed  for 
pigmy  owls  can  be  referred  to  the  subspecies  here  described  as  new.  Athene 
leiicolaima  Bonaparte,^  said  to  have  come  from  "Oceania,"  is  based  on  figures 
2  and  3  on  plate  4  of  the  atlas  of  Zoology  of  D'Urville's  Voyage  au  Pole  Sud. 
In  Volume  3,  page  7)o,  of  this  work,  Hombron  and  Jacquinot  state  that  their 
specimens  came  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  as  is  indicated  by  the  narrow- 
ness of  the  dark  bars  on  the  tail.  Bonaparte's  name  therefore  is  a  synonym 
of  nanum.  The  status  of  other  names  involved  is  so  clear  that  discussion 
of  them  is  unnecessary. 

Chloroceryle  americana  croteta,  subsp.  nov. 

Characters. — Similar  to  Chloroceryle  americana  americana  (Gmelin),^  but 
bill  broader  and  heavier. 

Description. — Type,  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  Cat.  No.  75019,  adult  male,  from 
the  Island  of  Tobago,  collected  by  F.  A.  Ober.  Hind  neck,  sides  of  head  and 
back,  rump,  upper  tail-coverts,  wing  coverts  and  outer  webs  of  primaries  and 
secondaries  dusky  yellowish  green  w^ith  a  distinct  sheen,  becoming  dusky 
olive-green  on  the  crown  and  forehead;  a  half  collar  of  white  around  hind 
neck ;  a  few  white  feathers  on  anterior  portion  of  lower  eyelid,  and  a  few  minute 
white  markings  above  the  anterior  end  of  eye ;  secondaries  barred  with  white, 
and  primaries  spotted  with  white  on  inner  webs;  scapulars  white  at  base; 
rectrices  dusky  bluish  green  above,  black  below;  three  outer  rectrices  ex- 
tensively white  at  base,  the  white  extending  farther  out  on  inner  webs  than 
on  outer,  and  continued  as  spots  to  tip ;  fourth  rectrix  spotted  with  white ; 
throat,  submalar  region,  anterior  part  of  sides  of  neck,  extreme  lower  breast, 
abdomen,  under  tail-coverts  and  under  wing  coverts  white ;  lower  throat, 
and  breast,  save  lower  portion,  between  Sanford's  brown  and  auburn;  a 
line  from  mandibular  ramus  down  side  of  throat  dusky  yellowish  green; 
sides,  flanks  and  sides  of  abdomen  spotted  heavily  with  dusky  yellowish  green ; 
a  few  spots  of  the  same  color  on  the  under  tail-coverts;  under  wing  coverts 
marked  with  blackish  green.     Bill,  tarsus  and  toes  black  (from  dried  skin). 

Measurements. — Males  (3  specimens)  wing  76.2-78.0  (76.8),  tail  51.0- 
54.5  (53.0),  exposed  culmen  35.5-38.5  (37.1),  tarsus  8.0-8.5  (8.2)  mm.  Fe- 
males (2  specimens)  wing  76.7-77.5  (77.1),  tail  53.0-54.6  (53.8),  exposed 
culmen  36.0-40.0  (38.0),  tarsus  8.5-9.0  (8.7)mm.  Type  (adult  male),  wing 
76.2,  tail  53.5,  exposed  culmen  37.2,  tarsus  8.0  mm. 

Range. — Islands  of  Tobago  and  Trinidad,  West  Indies;  mouth  of  Orinoco 
River,  Venezuela  (?). 

Remarks. — The  form  recognized  above  is  similar  in  size  and  coloration 

to  the  typical  subspecies  C.  a.  americana  as  represented  by  material  from 

British  Guiana,  Diamantina  (near  Santarem)  and  Ceara,  Brazil,  save  for 

the  markedly  stronger  and  broader  bill.     C.  a.  cabanisi  is  larger  than  croteta, 

*  Consp.   Gen.  Av.   1:  40.     1850. 

^  Alcedo  americana  Gmelin.  Syst.  Nat.  1:  451.     1788.     (Cayenne.) 


326      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  14 

is  paler  above  and  has  the  white  markings  on  the  rectrices  more  extensive. 
From  isthmica  the  new  form  is  distinguished  by  smaller  size  and  more  exten- 
sive rufous  brown  on  the  throat. 

One  specimen  in  the  series  of  croteta  examined  is  marked  "Orenoco  River, 
Venezuela,"  without  other  designation.  The  bird  in  question  has  the  heavy 
bill  characteristic  of  this  form,  but  as  it  is  a  trade  skin,  secured  from  the 
Museum  Boucard,  the  locality  is  open  to  doubt. 

Dyctiopicus  mixtus  malleator,  subsp.  nov. 

Characters. — ^Similar  to  Dyctiopicus  mixtus  mixtus  (Boddaert)^  but  more 
heavily  streaked  on  entire  under  surface,  with  less  extensive  white  markings 
above,  and  auricular  patch  slightly  darker. 

Description.— Type,  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  Cat.  No.  284,616,  adult  male,  from 
Las  Palmas,  Chaco,  Argentina,  collected  July  23,  1920,  by  Alex.  Wetmore 
(orig.  No.  4549).  Forehead  dark  drab;  crown,  nape  and  upper  hind-neck 
black,  feathers  of  the  crown  streaked  lightly  with  white,  those  of  nape  some- 
what elongated,  tipped  with  coral  red,  forming  a  patch  on  either  side,  more 
or  less  confluent  at  back ;  antrorse  nasal  plumes  dull  white,  mixed  with  black 
filoplumes;  lower  hind-neck,  back  and  rump  black,  barred  broadly  with  white 
to  pale  olive-buff,  the  light  areas  slightly  less  in  extent  than  the  black ;  upper 
tail-coverts  black  bordered  and  tipped  with  large  spots  of  white;  primaries 
and  secondaries  between  hair  brown  and  chaetura  drab  spotted  regularly 
and  extensively  with  white  forming  regular  bands;  secondaries  tipped  with 
white;  wing  coverts  black,  each  feather  with  a  large  irregular,  sometimes 
heart-shaped,  spot;  rectrices  black,  barred  narrowly  with  pale  olive-buff, 
the  bars,  passing  diagonally  across  the  web  toward  the  shaft;  a  streak  from 
in  front  of  eye  behind  rictus  to  below  auricular  region,  and  a  superciliary 
stripe,  beginning  at  front  of  eye,  dull  white,  the  superciliary  stripe  expanded 
at  sides  of  nape  into  a  white  patch;  auricular  region  forward  to  eye  darker 
than  hair  brown,  bordered  above  and  behind  with  black ;  under  surface  dull 
white  to  pale  olive-buff  (more  or  less  stained) ;  throat  and  fore-neck  with  elon- 
gate spots  of  black;  sides  of  neck  and  breast  with  prominent  black  streaks; 
sides,  abdomen  and  under  tail-coverts  spotted  and  cross-barred  heavily 
and  irregularly  with  black;  under  wing  coverts  dull  white,  spotted  with  black. 
Maxilla  dark  neutral  gray;  mandible  deep  mouse  gray  with  mandibular 
rami  slate-gray;  tarsus  and  toes  blackish  slate  (from  dried  skin). 

Measurements. — Male,  one  specimen  (type),  wing  87.4,  tail  48.5,  exposed 
culmen  19.6,  tarsus  18.5  mm.  Females,  three  specimens,  wing  82.3-86.6 
(84.9),  tail  45-55  (49.3),  exposed  culmen  16.6-18.0  (17.3), ^  tarsus  17.5-19.0 
(18.2)  mm. 

Range. — Northern  Argentina  from  the  Territory  of  Chaco  (Las  Palmas) 
and  Tucuman  (Tapia),  north  in  the  Chaco  to  northern  Paraguay  (Puerto 
Pinasco) 

Reinarks. — The  subspecies  described  above  is  represented  by  a  male  and 
a  female  from  Las  Palmas,  Chaco,  a  female  from  Tapia,  Tucuman,  and 
a  female  from  Kilometre  80,  west  of  Puerto  Pinasco,  Paraguay.  It  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  typical  form  from  Buenos  Aires  (represented  by  four 

*  Picus  mixtus  Boddaert,  Tabl.  Plan.  Enl.  47.     1783.     (Buenos  Aires.) 
^  From   two  specimens. 


AUGUST  19,  1922      WETMORE :   NEW  NEOTROPICAL  BIRDS  327 

skins  from  Conchitas  and  Ouilmes),  the  type  locality  according  to  Hellmayr,^ 
by  the  heavier,  more  decided  streaking  of  the  ventral  surface  and  the  reduction 
of  the  white  markings  on  the  back.  Smaller  bill  and  darker  coloration  dis- 
tinguish malleator  from  D.  m.  berlepschi  Hellmayr. 

Picus  maculatus  Viellot,^  based  on  the  Carpintero  chorreado  of  Azara  refers 
to  the  subspecies  described  here  but  is  antedated  by  Piciis  maculatus  Scopoli^*^ 
applied  to  another  species  of  woodpecker.  Other  names  in  the  synonymy 
of  mixtus  species  refer  to  other  forms. 

Myrmorchilus  strigilatus  suspicax,  subsp.  nov. 

Characters. — Similar  to  Myrmorchilus  strigilatus  strigilatus  (Wied)^^  but 
male  with  sides,  flanks  and  under  tail-coverts  between  cinnamon-buff  and 
clay  color ;  superciliary  stripe  duller,  not  terminating  in  a  distinct  white  spot 
posteriorly;  post  ocular  space  slightly  darker  than  bister.  Female  with  under 
tail-coverts  more  buffy;  superciliary  stripe  and  auricular  region  duller,  less 
whitish. 

Description.— Type,  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  Cat.  No.  283,862,  male  adult,  from 
the  Riacho  Pilaga,  near  Kilometre  182  (Ferrocarril  del  Estado),  Gobernacion 
de  Formosa,  Argentina,  collected  August  11,  1920,  by  Alex.  Wetmore  (orig. 
No.  4712) .  Crown  and  nape  streaked  narrowly  with  dull  black  and  cinnamon- 
brown,  the  feathers  dark  centrally  and  paler  laterally,  those  on  nape  with 
a  faint  buff  margin ;  superciliary  stripe  dull  white,  becoming  buify  above  eye 
and  merging  behind  eye  with  buff  on  sides  of  nape ;  a  line  from  the  nasal  fossa 
to  eye,  continued  in  a  narrow  line  around  eye,  black,  mixed  slightly  with  white 
behind  nostrils  and  interrupted  by  a  small  white  spot  near  center  of  upper 
and  lower  eyelids ;  malar  stripe  white ;  band  behind  eye  slightly  darker  than 
bister;  auricular  region  snuff"  brown;  upper  back  mikado  brown  streaked 
broadly  with  black ;  scapulars  black  centrally  with  inner  margin  russet  and 
outer  margin  white,  washed  with  cinnamon-buff,  the  latter  forming  a  promi- 
nent light  line  above  wing;  sides  of  breast  tawny-olive  streaked  with  black, 
blending  gradually  with  white  of  breast;  lower  back,  rump  and  upper  tail- 
coverts  hazel,  the  lower  back  streaked  broadly  with  black ;  primaries  and 
secondaries  fuscous,  the  outer  webs  washed  with  cinnamon  near  middle, 
and  black  proximally;  tertials  black  margined  broadly  with  cinnamon  to 
mikado  brown ;  wing  coverts  black ;  lesser  coverts  spotted  slightly  with  white, 
middle  coverts  tipped  with  white,  and  greater  coverts  tipped  with  white 
shading  internally  to  pinkish  buff;  primary  coverts  tipped  narrowly  with 
dull  white  and  cinnamon-buff;  central  pair  of  rectrices  russet;  others  black, 
the  outer  pair  with  distal  half  of  outer  web  and  tip  white,  and  the  others 
(save  the  median  pair)  tipped  with  the  same  color;  chin,  throat,  fore-neck 
and  center  of  upper  breast  black;  sides  of  upper  breast,  lower  breast  and 
abdomen  white;  sides,  flanks  and  under  tail-coverts  between  cinnamon-buff 
and  clay  color;  bend  of  wing  black;  under  wing  coverts  white.  Bill  black, 
becoming  neutral  gray  at  base  of  mandible;  tarsus  mouse  gray;  iris  dull 
brown   (from  recently  killed  specimen). 

^Verhandl.  Ornith.  Ges.  Bayern  12:  212.     1915. 

9  Nouv.  Diet.  Hist.  Nat.  26:  19.     1818.     (Paraguay.) 

10  Del.  Flor.  Faun.  Insubr.  2:  89.     1786.         (Antigua,  Panay.) 

"  Myiothera   strigilata   Wied,   Beitr.   Naturg.   Brasilien   3:   1064.     1831.     (Bahia.) 


328      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  14 

Measurements. — Males  (4  specimens),  wing  65.6-66.6  (66.0),  tail  56.1- 
60.6  (58.6),  exposed  culmen  16.7-17.7  (17.1), ^^  tarsus  31.9-33.6  (32.6)  mm. 
Females  (3  specimens),  wing  61.3-67.4  (63.9),  tail  57.5-60.4  (59.2),  exposed 
culmen  16.4-17.2  (16.7),  tarsus  31.5-32.0  (31.7)  mm.  Type  (adult  male) 
wing  66.6,   tail  60.0,   exposed  culmen   17.7,  tarsus  31.9  mm. 

Range. — Formosa  (Riacho  Pilaga),  Rio  Vermejo,  and  eastern  Salta  (?) 
Argentina. 

Remarks. — The  material  on  which  the  form  described  above  is  based  has 
been  compared  with  two  specimens  (male  and  female)  from  Bahia,  the  type 
locality  of  Myiothera  strigilata  of  Wied.  The  male  of  M.  s.  strigilatus  has 
the  white  superciliary  prolonged  to  terminate  in  a  prominent  white  spot 
on  the  side  of  the  head,  and  the  feathers  behind  the  eye  (above  the  auricular 
region)  almost  black.  In  addition  the  sides,  flanks  and  under  tail-coverts 
are  white  with  very  little  buffy  tinge.  The  female  of  typical  strigilatus 
is  whiter  on  the  sides,  flanks  and  under  tail-coverts,  has  the  superciliary  stripe 
whiter  and  more  prominent,  and  the  side  of  the  head  paler.  Measurements 
(in  millimeters)  of  the  two  skins  from  Bahia  are  as  follows:  male,  wing  64.5, 
tail  57.0,  exposed  culmen  15.5,  tarsus  30.5;  female,  wing  61.0,  tail  52.2,  ex- 
posed culmen  14.0,  tarsus  29.3.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  suspicax  the  bill 
and  tarsus  seem  to  average  slightly  longer  than  in  typical  strigilatus. 

In  addition  to  seven  specimens  taken  by  the  writer  at  the  type  locality, 
there  is  a  skin  in  the  National  Museum  secured  by  Page  on  the  Rio  Vermejo, 
apparently  the  most  southern  point  from  which  the  bird  is  recorded,  since 
in  Argentina  published  records  indicate  it  as  known  only  from  eastern  Salta. 
No  specimens  have  been  seen  from  the  latter  locality. 

BOTANY. — The   two   species   of  deerhorn   cactus.'^     N.    L.    Britton 

and  J.  N.  Rose. 

In  our  southwestern  deserts,  ranging  from  western  Texas  to  south- 
eastern Arizona  and  extending  into  northern  Mexico,  just  how  far 
we  do  not  know,  the  well-known  deerhorn  cactus  is  to  be  found.  It 
is  never  abundant,  usually  growing  up  through  other  bushes  with 
its  branches  often  looking  like  dead  sticks.  It  has  an  enormous 
turnip-like  root,  sometimes  weighing  60  pounds.  When  in  flower  it  is 
greatly  sought  after  by  plant-lovers.  It  is  a  night-bloomer  and  in 
the  southwest  is  known  as  the  Queen  of  the  Night.  When  barren, 
the  plant  is  difficult  to  find,  but  when  in  flower  it  can  easily  be  located 
in  the  dark  by  its  strong  but  delightful  odor,  and  people  often  go  into 
the  desert  seeking  it,  carrying  lanterns  not  to  aid  in  finding  the  flowers 
but  only  to  guide  them  away  from  the  thorny  vegetation.  The 
plant  was  long  known  as  Cereus  greggii,  having  been  so-named  by 

'2  Average  of  three  specimens. 
1  Received  July   18,   1922. 


AUGUST  19,  1922  BRITTON  AND  ROSE:    DEERHORN  CACTUS 


329 


Dr.  George  Engelmann  for  Joseph  Gregg,  a  well-known  collector  of 
plants,  but  on  account  of  its  peculiar  habit,  flowers,  fruit  and  seeds, 
it  was  made  the  type  of  a  new  genus,  Peniocereus,  by  Britton  and 
Rose  in  1909.2 


Fig.  1.     Peniocereus  greggii. —  Upper  figure,  ^ow^r;  lower 

figure,  fruit. 

In  1921,  through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  B.  W.  Evermann,  a  scientific 
expedition  was  sent  out  by  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences  to 
explore  the  islands  in  the  Gulf  of  California.  While  engaged  in  the 
botanical  work  of  this  expedition  Mr.  Ivan  M.  Johnston  collected  a 
second  species  of  this  genus  which  is  described  as  follows: 

Peniocereus  johnstonii  Britton  and  Rose,  sp.  nov. 

A  climbing  or  clambering  plant,  up  to  3  meters  long,  with  a  very  large 
fleshy  root,  sometimes  weighing  14  pounds ;  stems  and  branches  3  to  5-angled, 
the  young  growth  not  pubescent;  spines  9  to  12,  brown  to  black,  glabrous; 
upper  radial  spines  short,  stubby,  swollen  at  base,  nearly  black,  the  two 
lower  light  brown,  elongated,  bristle-like,  reflexed;  central  spines  1  to  3, 
subulate,  4  to  8  mm.  long;  flower  (only  an  old  flower  seen)  about  15  cm. 
long;  perianth-segments  about  3  cm.  long;  lower  and  outer  perianth-seg- 
ments bearing  tawny  hairs  and  long  bristles ;  flower- tube  slender,  with  promi- 
nent areoles  on  knobby  projections  and  bearing  tawny  wool  and  bristly 
spines;  fruit  ovoid  to  oblong,  about  6  cm.  long,  bearing  prominent  clusters 
of  black  spines,  dry  (?),  many-seeded;  seeds  oblong,  3  mm.  long  or  more,  black, 
shining;  seedling  dark  purple;  cotyledons  ven-  thick,  triangular. 

Collected  by  Ivan  M.  Johnston  on  San  Josef  Island,  off  the  west  coast  of 
southern  Lower  California,  May  28,  1921  (no.  3940,  type)  and  June  10, 
1921  (no.  4085) ;  also  on  the  mainland  at  San  Nicholas  Bay,  Lower  California, 
May  16,  1921  (no.  3737). 

This  species  was  always  found  growing    up    through   bushes    of   Olneya. 

2  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  12:  423.     1909;  Britton  and  Rose,  Cactaceae  2:  112.     1920. 


330      JOURNAI^  OF  the:  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES       VOL.   12,  NO.  14 

KEY  TO  THE  SPECIES  OP  PENIOCEREUS 
Young    growth    pubescent;   areoles    on   flower- tube   not   borne   on   knobs; 
fruit  bearing     small     inconspicuous    spine-clusters;    seeds    dull    black 

1-  ^-  Sreggii. 

Young  growth  glabrous ;  areoles  on  flower-tube  borne  on  knobs ;  fruit  bearing 
large  clusters  of  spines  at  the  areoles ;  seeds  larger  than  in  the  last,  shining 
black 2.  P.  johnstonii. 


Fig.  2.     Peniocereus  johnstonii. —  Upper  figure,  branch:  lower  figures,  old  flower  and  seeds. 

BOTANY. —  Three  new  species  of  Passiflora /rom  Venezuela  and  Ecua- 
dor}  E.  P.  KiLUP,  U.  S.  National  Museum.  (Communicated 
by  William  R.  Maxon.) 

Recent  botanical  exploration  in  Venezuela  and  Ecuador  has  brought 
to  light  three  new  species  of  Passiflora,  which  are  described  herewith. 
One  of  them,  P.  popenovii,  is  cultivated  for  its  edible  fruit. 

Passiflora  (Granadilla)  dispar  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  terete,  striate,  glabrous;  stipules  ovate,  2  cm.  long,  0.6  to  0.8  cm. 
broad,  foliaceous,  serrulate,  aristulate;  petioles  3  to  3.5  cm.  long,  bearing 
4  to  6  stipitate  glands  l.S  mm.  in  length;  leaves  ovate,  11  to  13  cm.  long, 
6  to  7  cm.  broad,  unlobed  or  occasionally  with  one  lateral  lobe,  narrowed 
to  an  obtuse  apex,  subpeltate  about  2  mm.  above  base,  glabrate  above, 
densely  grayish-tomentulose  beneath,  palmately  5  or  7-nerved  with  promin- 
ulous  secondary  veins,  reticulate,  the  margin  entire  or  remotely  and  minutely 
serrulate  toward  the  base;  peduncles  2  to  2.5  cm.  long;  bracts  ovate-lance- 
olate, 1  to  1.5  cm.  long,  0.5  to  0.6  cm.  broad,  foliaceous,  acute,  closely  callous- 
serrulate,  the  base  cordate  with  unequal  lobes;  flowers  4.5  to  5.5  cm.  wide; 
sepals  ovate-lanceolate,  obtuse,  2  to  2.2  cm.  long,  1  cm.  broad,  short-horned 
just  below  apex;  filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  several  series,  the  outer  fili- 
form, equaling  the  petals,  the  succeeding  series  capillary,  barely  3  mm.  high; 
middle  corona  membranous,  erect,  irregularly  lacerate;  basal  corona  closely 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Received! 
July  19,  1922. 


AUGUST  19,  1922  kilup:  three  new  passiflora  331 

surrounding  base  of  g^^nophore,  slightly  folded,  crenulate;  gynophore  1  cm. 
long,  glabrous;  anthers  linear-oblong,  7  mm.  long,  2  mm.  broad;  ovarv'  ellip- 
soidal, glabrous,  glaucous;  st^des  filiform,  6  to  7  mm.  long;  stigmas  orbicular. 
Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,065,083,  collected  in  forest 
at  Guaremales,  along  road  from  Puerto  Cabello  to  San  Felipe,  Carabobo, 
Venezuela,  altitude  10  to  IjOO  meters.  May  20  to  June  10,  1920,  by  H.  Pittier 
(no.   8854). 

This  species  is  allied  to  Passiflora  gritensis  Karst.  of  the  highlands  of  Vene- 
zuela, which  is  known  to  the  writer  only  from  description.  In  P.  gritensis 
the  leaves  are  deeply  3-parted,  the  divisions  being  acute  and  mucronate,  and 
the  peduncles  are  twice  as  long  as  the  leaves.  The  unusual  character  of  the 
bracts  seems  to  be  common  to  both  species.  Detailed  description  of  the 
structure  of  the  coronae  of  P.  gritensis  is  lacking. 

Passiflora  (Granadilla)  perlobata  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Stem  terete,  striate,  glabrous;  tendrils  stout,  glabrous,  up  to  10  cm.  long 
(in  contraction) ;  stipules  narrowly  linear-subulate,  falcate,  8  to  9  mm.  long, 
1  mm.  broad  at  base,  glabrous;  petioles  flattened,  sulcate,  glabrous,  3  to 
3.5  cm.  long,  biglandular  about  8  mm.  from  base,  the  glands  sessile,  saucer- 
shaped,  1.5  mm.  in  diameter;  leaves  suborbicular  in  outline,  6.5  to  7  cm, 
long,  9  to  10  cm.  broad,  palmately  5  (or  7?)-lobed  to  within  1  cm.  of  base 
(lobes  oblong,  obtuse,  mucronate,  the  apical  one  6.5  cm.  long,  2.5  to  3  cm. 
wide,  abruptly  narrowed  at  base  to  a  width  of  4  mm.,  the  two  middle  lobes 
4  to  4.5  cm.  long,  2.5  cm.  wide,  narrowed  at  base  to  a  width  of  7  mm.,  the 
two  lower  lobes  2  to  2.2  cm.  long,  1  to  1.3  cm.  broad),  cordate  at  base,  mem- 
branous, glabrous,  dark  green  above,  paler  beneath ;  peduncles  stout,  terete, 
5.5  to  6  cm.  long,  2  mm.  in  diameter;  bracts  free  to  the  base,  ovate,  3.5  cm. 
long,  2  to  2.5  cm.  broad,  obtuse,  minutely  tomentulose  on  both  surfaces, 
the  margin  entire,  becoming  involute  in  drying,  biglandular  on  each  side  near 
the  base,  the  glands  orbicular,  1  mm.  in  diameter,  black,  shining;  flowers  8 
to  10  cm.  wide;  sepals  oblong-lanceolate,  obtuse,  4  cm.  long,  1.5  cm.  broad, 
subcoriaceous,  apparently  green  without,  white  within,  keeled  on  the  outer 
surface,  the  keel  terminating  in  an  awn  2.5  mm.  long;  petals  linear-lanceolate 
or  spatulate,  3  cm.  long,  0.8  to  1  cm.  broad,  obtuse,  membranous,  rose-colored ; 
filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  several  series,  those  of  the  outer  ligulate,  long- 
tapering,  2  to  2.5  cm.  long,  dark  blue,  banded  with  white,  those  of  the  next 
series  linear,  3  mm.  long,  white  at  base,  those  of  the  succeeding  3  or  4  series 
capillary,  1.5  to  2  mm.  long,  pale  blue  and  white;  middle  corona  membran- 
ous at  base,  filamentose  above,  the  filaments  very  numerous,  8  to  9  mm. 
long,  spatulate,  white  below,  blue  at  apex;  basal  corona  annular,  1.5  mm. 
from  base  of  gynophore;  gynophore  9  mm.  long,  glabrous,  sulcate,  2  to  3 
mm.  in  diameter,  swollen  near  base  to  a  diameter  of  4.5  mm. ;  ovary  globose, 
glabrous. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,067,545,  collected  at  San 
Antonio,  San  Cristobal,  Venezuela,  July,  1920,  by  Eleazar  Vivas  (no.  6). 

This  species  has  no  very  close  affinities.  Its  deeply  lobed  leaves  resemble 
those  of  Passiflora  coerulea,  but  its  linear  stipules  and  more  slender,  rose- 
colored  petals  and  the  longer  filaments  of  the  middle  corona  readily  dis- 
tinguish it  from  that  species.     In  the  notes  which  accompany  the  type  speci- 


332      JOURNAL  O^  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES       VOL.  12,  NO.  14 

men  the  collector  states  that  the  leaves  are  7-lobed.  The  two  leaves  which 
the  specimen  bears  are  but  5-lobed.  Doubtless  the  lower  leaves  have  an 
additional  pair  of  lobes. 

Passiflora  {Granadilla)  popenovii  Killip,  sp.  nov. 

Vine,  up  to  8  meters  in  length,  glabrous  throughout,  except  the  ovary  and 
outer  surface  of  the  flower  tube;  stem  terete  below,  4  or  5-angled  above, 
striate;  tendrils  wirv,  up  to  0.8  mm.  in  diameter;  stipules  narrowly  linear- 
subulate,  1  cm.  long,  0.5  mm.  broad,  deciduous;  petioles  slender,  averaging 
2  cm.  in  length,  slightly  tortuose  toward  the  base,  glandless;  leaves  oblong- 
ovate  or  elliptic-ovate,  8.5  to  14.5  cm.  long,  4  to  7  cm.  wide,  acuminate, 
rounded  at  base,  entire,  papery  or  pergamentaceous,  lustrous  on  both  sur- 
faces, featherveined  (lateral  veins  4  or  5  pairs)  and  prominulous-reticulate, 
without  ocellae;  peduncles  slender,  elongate,  8  to  10  cm.  long;  bracts  distinct 
to  base,  concave,  2  to  2.5  cm.  long,  1.2  to  1.5  cm.  broad,  rounded  and  often 
cleft  at  apex,  narrowed  at  base,  entire,  minutely  puberulent  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  outer  surface;  flowers  showy,  fragrant,  up  to  10  cm.  wide;  the  tube 
1.2  cm.  long;  sepals  deep  rose-colored,  oblong,  3  to  3.5  cm.  long,  1.5  to  2  cm. 
broad,  slightly  concave,  wide-spreading  when  developed,  obtuse,  keeled  on 
the  outer  surface,  the  keel  terminating  in  a  cusp  3  mm.  long;  petals  white, 
linear-oblong,  3  to  3.5  cm.  long,  averaging  1  cm.  wide,  flat,  slightly  reflexed; 
filaments  of  faucial  corona  in  4  series,  the  2  outer  at  throat  of  tube,  white, 
banded  with  purplish-blue,  the  2  inner  3  mm.  and  2  mm.  from  the  throat, 
the  filaments  of  the  outermost  series  filiform,  1.5  cm.  long,  1  mm.  thick  at 
base,  slightly  divaricate,  those  of  second  series  ligulate,  fleshy,  3  to  3.5  cm. 
long,  2  to  2.5  mm.  wide,  those  of  third  series  capillary,  1  mm.  long,  those 
of  the  fourth  series  capillary,  2  mm.  long;  middle  corona  membranous,  5 
mm.  long,  the  lower  half  adnate  to  the  floor  of  the  flower  tube,  the  upper  half 
free,  slightly  recurved ;  basal  corona  none;  gynophore  stout,  grooved,  con- 
spicuously swollen  about  1  cm.  above  base ;  ovary  globose,  narrowed  at  base, 
densely  tomentellous ;  styles  clavate,  6  mm.  long;  stigmas  3  mm.  in  diameter. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,060,000,  cultivated  in  vol- 
canic loam  at  Banos,  Tungurahua,  Ecuador,  at  an  altitude  of  1,850  meters, 
collected  March  6,  1921,  by  Wilson  Popenoe  (no.  1271). 

The  nearest  relative  of  P.  popenovii  is  P.  laurifolia,  widely  cultivated  in 
the  West  Indies  under  the  name  water-lemon.  The  flowers  of  the  two  species 
are  very  much  alike,  the  coronal  structure  being  practically  identical.  Passi- 
flora popenovii  is  to  be  separated,  however,  by  its  thinner,  more  acuminate 
leaves,  by  the  absence  of  petiolar  glands,  and  by  its  more  slender  and  more 
elongate  peduncles. 

This  species  is  one  of  several  cultivated  in  Ecuador  under  the  name  of 
"Granadilla  de  Quijos"  and  the  edible  fruit  is  commonly  on  sale  in  the  markets 
of  Banos  and  Riobamba.  It  is  said  to  be  indigenous  on  the  eastern  slopes 
of  the  Andes. 


AUGUST  19,  1922  proceedings:   BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  333 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

641ST  MEETING 

The  641st  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club  on  May  13,  1922,  with 
President  Bailey  in  the  chair  and  74  persons  present.  The  minutes  of  the 
last  meeting  were  read  and  approved.  M.  N.  Pope  and  Dr.  J.  W.  Roberts 
were  elected  members  of  the  Society. 

Short  Notes 

Dr.  White  exhibited  a  fossil  frog  or  toad  in  a  remarkable  state  of  preser- 
vation. It  was  taken  from  some  oil  shale  at  Elko,  Nevado,  and  is  the  prop- 
erty of  W.  K.  SheELER  of  that  place.  The  stratum  is  of  Middle  Miocene 
age,  overlying  beds  of  lignite.  It  seems  that  the  development  of  vegetable 
growth  in  the  water  of  that  early  period  gradually  resulted  in  ulmohumic  acid 
accumulation,  which  apparently  stopped  bacterial  growth  and  thus  the  frog 
was  preserved  in  a  medium  virtually  aseptic. 

Mr.  Aldrich  said  in  this  connection  that  the  shales  of  the  Green  River 
at  the  Dinosaur  Monument  in  Utah  contain  many  dipterous  larvae  which  seem 
certainly  to  be  those  of  botflies,  though  no  reason  can  be  thought  of  to  account 
for  such  large  numbers  of  these  flies,  now  very  scarce. 

Dr.  Howard  asked  if  Dr.  White  could  conjecture  what  animal  could 
have  been  the  host  of  such  a  quantity  of  bots.  He  could  not  offer  a  sug- 
gestion on  the  matter,  however.  But  he  added  the  remark  that  the  open 
quarrvdng  of  oil  shales  on  a  large  scale  in  the  West,  which  is  sure  to  come  be- 
fore many  years,  will  be  a  veritable  gold  mine  for  the  paleontologists. 

Miss  Boone  reported  that  she  had  recently  visited  Mr.  Chas.  T.  Simpson, 
formerly  of  the  National  Museum  staff,  at  his  home  in  Florida.  He  has  for 
a  long  time  been  engaged  in  gathering  and  cultivating  on  a  Florida  ham- 
mock a  large  number  of  Florida  and  other  tropical  plants;  and  lately  the 
city  of  Miami  has  adopted  his  place  as  a  public  park,  to  remain  in  his  care. 

Dr.  WetmorE  stated  that  bird  notes  are  sometimes  very  unusual.  Near 
Mt.  Vernon  a  few  days  ago  he  heard  a  small  bird  singing  an  unfamiliar  song 
from  a  position  on  a  telephone  wire.  On  inspection,  it  proved  to  be  an  oven- 
bird.  He  said  that  Mr.  McAtee  had  noted  the  same  case  a  year  earlier  at 
almost  the  same  place. 

The  first  paper  of  the  evening  was  by  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer,  on  the  subject 
Twenty  years  of  Federal  protection  of  the  buffalo. 

The  first  and  only  appropriation  for  the  purchase  of  buffalo  ever  passed  by 
Congress  was  approved  by  President  Roosevelt  July  1,  1902.  It  was  a  pro- 
vision in  the  general  deficiency  bill  carrying  $15,000  for  the  purchase  of  buffalo 
for  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  providing  fencing,  and  maintenance  for  one 
year.     Under  this  act  21  buffalo  were  purchased  and  established  at  the  park. 

In  1902  the  total  number  of  buffalo  in  existence  was  only  about  1750,  of 
which  600  were  wood  bison  in  Canada ;  200  were  in  a  single  herd,  the  prop- 
erty of  Michael  Pablo  in  Montana ;  52  belonged  to  the  government,  and  others 
in  small  scattered  herds.  The  only  wild  buffalo  were  22  in  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park  and  5  in  Lost  Park,  Colorado.  The  government  herds  in- 
cluded 9  head  in  the  Zoological  Park  here  in  Washington. 


334      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES       VOL.  12,  NO.  14 

In  1922  the  total  number  of  buffalo  in  existence  is  over  10,000  of  which 
6,000  are  in  Canada  and  approximately  4,000  in  the  United  States.  The 
Government  now  has  nine  widely  separated  herds  with  a  total  of  1,250  buffalo, 
as  follows : 

Two  in  the  east — one  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  sight  of  the  place  where 
buffalo  were  first  seen  by  white  men  in  1612;  the  other  at  Pisgah,  N.  C,  not 
far  from  where  buffalo  were  first  reported  in  that  State  about  1730. 

Two  in  the  Southwest  on  the  former  range  of  the  southern  herd — one  on 
the  Wichita  Game  Preserve,  the  other  in  Platte  National  Park,  in  Oklahoma. 

Three  in  the  northern  Plains  Region,  the  former  range  of  the  northern  herd — 
one  at  Niobrara  Reservation,  Nebraska;  one  on  the  Wind  Cave  National 
Park,  South  Dakota;   and  one  at  vSully  Hill,  North  Dakota. 

Two  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region — one  near  Ravalli  on  the  former  Flat- 
head Reservation,  the  former  home  of  the  Canadian  herd;  and  the  other  in 
the  Yellowstone  National  Park. 

Five  of  these  herds  are  on  National  Parks — Zoological  Park,  Platte,  Wind 
Cave,  Sully  Hill,  and  Yellowstone;  four  on  National  Game  Preserves- 
Wichita,  Oklahoma;  Pisgah,  North  Carolina;  Niobrara,  Nebraska;  and 
the  Montana  Bison  Range. 

The  number  of  buffalo  now  in  the  government  herds  (1250)  represents  about 
two- thirds  of  the  total  number  of  buffalo  living  twenty  years  ago.  All  but 
about  130  were  born  on  the  reservations.  The  number  of  calves  born  last  year 
was  approximately  165. 

The  biological  problems  of  chief  importance  are  those  relating  to  diseases, 
life  history  of  the  animals,  and  breeding.  Four  serious  diseases  are  known  to 
occur — Texas  fever,  gastro-enteritis,  haemorrhagic  septicemia,  and  con- 
tagious abortion. 

The  wide  dispersal  of  the  various  government  herds  makes  it  impossible 
for  any  epidemic  to  entirely  exterminate  the  species  in  the  United  States. 

The  length  of  life  of  a  buffalo,  the  normal  number  of  calves,  and  the  normal 
ratio  of  the  sexes,  are  still  unknown.  It  is  generally  known  that  buffalo  be- 
gin to  breed  the  third  year,  and  the  cows  have  calves  every  other  year  or  two 
years  out  of  three,  but  how  long  they  continue  to  breed  is  still  to  be  de- 
termined. There  is  a  record  of  a  cow  breeding  in  her  twenty-sixth  year,  and 
one  on  Wichita  preserve  had  a  calf  at  the  age  of  22.  The  oldest  buffalo  on 
record  is  in  Paris,  said  to  be  31  years  old.  The  oldest  members  of  the  gov- 
ernment herds  are  a  cow  24  years  old  on  the  Wichita  Preserve  and  Kalispel 
Chief,  the  leader  of  the  Montana  herd,  now  20  years  old.  The  "ten-dollar 
buffalo,"  which  lived  in  the  Zoological  Park,  was  upwards  of  20  when  he  died 
a  few  years  ago. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  paper  Major  ShufeldT  gave  reminiscences  of 
hunting  buffalo  in  Montana  while  in  army  service ;  the  army  expedition  of 
which  he  was  a  member  used  several  for  meat,  which  he  and  others  shot. 

Mr.  RoHWER  asked  whether  the  government  is  doing  any  experimental 
work  in  crossing  the  buffalo  with  domestic  cattle.  Dr.  Palmer  said  it  is 
not,  but  the  Canadian  government  has  taken  over  some  private  work  and 
expects  to  extend  it. 

Dr.  White  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  Dr.  Palmer  had  himself 
played  a  leading  part  in  securing  the  establishment  of  the  government  herds. 

Dr  Oberholser  took  the  chair,  and  President  Vernon  BailEy  exhibited 
some  wild  animals,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  an  informal  talk  on  Wild 


AUGUST  19,  1922      proceedings:   ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  335 

animals  as  pets.  The  animals  shown  were  all  rodents; — the  common  field 
mouse  in  a  cage  with  two  types  of  wheel,  both  in  active  use ;  the  small  kan- 
garoo rat  of  Arizona,  and  others.  All  these  animals  the  speaker  said  were 
verv  readily  tamed  and  made  interesting  pets.  His  primary  object  in  keep- 
ing them  in  cages  was  to  obtain  information  about  their  habits  in  the  course  of 
his  professional  duties,  but  incidentally  he  found  them  very  enjoyable. 

At  the  conclusion  Mr.  Smith  Riley  urged  the  enlargement  of  this  line  of 
work,  in  order  that  the  economic  status  of  these  obscure  little  animals  may  be 
fully  developed. 

Dr.  Howard  spoke  of  a  mouse  plague  in  Italy  since  the  war,  and  Major 
Goldman  mentioned  one  in  France.     J.  M.  Aldrich,  Recording  Secretary. 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
345th  meeting 

The  345th  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  January  5,  1922  at  the  National 
Museum,  with  President  Gahan  in  the  chair  and  38  persons  present.  C.  J. 
Hartley  and  L.  B.  Smith  elected  to  the  Society. 

The  paper  of  the  evening  was  the  Presidential  Address  by  W.  R.  Walton: 
The  entomology  of  English  poetry.  It  was  discussed  by  Mr.  Schwarz  and 
Dr.  Howard. 

346th  meeting 

The  346th  meeting  was  held  February  2,  1922,  at  the  National  Museum, 
with  President  Gahan  in  the  chair  and  29  persons  present.  Mr.  Rohwer 
spoke  briefly  of  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  at  which  it  was  agreed 
to  cut  the  edition  of  the  present  volume  of  the  Society  from  500  to  400  copies. 
William  T.  Owrey  and  M.  D.  Leonard  were  elected  to  the  Society.  The 
program  was  as  follows : 

R.  E.  Snodgrass:  The  fall  web  worm  (Hyphantria  cunea  Drury).  The  pa- 
per was  in  a  popular  form  and  was  illustrated  by  drawings  in  pen  and  ink  and 
in  water  colors. 

Mr.  BuscK  made  some  remarks  on  the  popular  form  of  the  paper.  He  also 
spoke  of  some  of  the  characteristic  protective  movements  of  the  larvae. 

J.  S.  Wade:  On  the  entomological  publications  of  the  U.  S.  Government. 
The  speaker  gave  a  list  of  the  various  Government  publications  relating  to 
entomology,  with  the  number  of  parts  and  the  dates  of  each  series.  He  gave 
a  brief  outline  of  the  development  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  which 
started  in  1S36  with  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  as  its  head.  The  Di- 
vision of  Entomology  started  in   1863,  with  TownEnd  Glover  as  its  head. 

Dr.  Wm.  Barnes  of  Decatur,  Illinois,  spoke  briefly,  giving  some  recollec- 
tions of  the  Society  in  its  early  years,  and  reminiscences  of  J.  B.  Smith,  Henry 
Edwards  and  various  other  old  time  collectors. 

347th  meeting 

The  347th  meeting  was  held  March  2,  1922,  in  Room  43  of  the  National 
Museum,  with  President  Gahan  in  the  chair  and  31  persons  present.  The 
program  of  the  evening  was  Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens. 

Dr.  Ewing  gave  an  illustrated  talk  on  the  Seasonal  history  of  Proturans. 
The  females  are  found  in  every  month  of  the  year  and  the  males  from  Jan- 
uary 1st  to  the  end  of  February.  The  best  time  for  collecting  is  from  late 
September  through  October.  Mr.  Caudell  spoke  of  finding  the  Proturans 
between  dead  leaves. 


336      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OE  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   14 

Mr.  BuscK  gave  an  outline  of  his  recent  five  months'  trip  in  the  tropics,  on  a 
survey  of  the  pink  boll  worm. 

Dr.  Hooker  of  the  Experiment  Station  Record  spoke  on  the  subject 
How  can  abstracts  in  the  Record  he  made  more  useful?  There  was  a  discussion 
by  Messrs.  Hyslop,  Cushman,  Schwarz,  Rohwer  and  others. 

Mr.  Caudell  exhibited  a  specimen  of  the  imported  Japanese  preying  man- 
tid  Tenodera  sinensis  Sauss.,  taken  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Schwarz  exhibited  a  specimen  of  a  male  and  female  of  the  curious 
Calandriid  beetle  Cyrtotrachelus  longimanus  Fabr.  from  Mt.  Omei,  Province 
Tseschauan,  northeast  China. 

Mr.  Sasscer  reported  the  interception  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  by  Mr.  C.  E. 
Prince,  an  Inspector  of  the  Federal  Horticultural  Board,  of  a  box  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  passenger  from  Brazil  containing  miscellaneous  tree  and  garden 
seeds  and  fifty  odd  packages  of  cotton  and  cotton  lint.  The  cotton  seed 
contained  living  adults,  pupae  and  larvae  of  the  Pink  Boll  worm.  He  also 
exhibited  a  string  of  so-called  "Italian  Beads"  found  in  mail  at  San  Francisco. 
The  so-called  beads  were  filberts  infested  with  larvae  of  Plodia  inter punctella 
Hbn. 

C.  T.  Greene  exhibited  three  photographs  showing  the  adult  spider 
parasite  fly  Oncodes  costatus  Loew,  and  its  eggs. 

348th  meeting 

The  348th  meeting  was  held  April  6,  1922,  at  the  New  National  Museum. 
Vice-President  R.  A.  Cushman  presided  and  34  persons  were  present. 

Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens 

Dr.  Howard  spoke  of  a  note  recently  published  by  Dr.  Feysand  regarding 
the  Hymenopterous  parasite  Habrobracon  johannseni  Viereck  stinging  the 
larva  of  the  potato  tuber  moth  Phthorimaea  opercullella  Zeller  after  it  had 
spun  the  cocoon.     The  parasite  afterwards  feeds  through  the  oviposition  hole. 

Mr.  Cushman  spoke  of  the  feeding  of  Calliephialtes,  parasite  of  the  codling 
moth.  They  feed  at  the  punctures  made  by  the  ovipositor.  He  described 
the  pumping  motion  employed  by  the  parasite  to  bring  the  juice  of  the  host 
within  its  reach. 

Dr.  Aldrich  said  that  several  species  of  Agromyza  puncture  the  leaf  with 
the  ovipositor  and  suck  the  juice  for  nutriment. 

Dr.  Howard  brought  up  the  matter  of  the  estimates  that  have  been  made 
of  the  total  number  of  described  species  of  insects  and  of  the  total  number 
of  species  that  exist  in  the  world.     A  general  discussion  followed. 

Hymenoptera. — Mr.  RohwER  had  counted  sample  pages  of  Dalla  Torre's 
catalogue  and  considered  it  would  be  conservative  to  consider  ten  valid  names 
per  page  for  Dalla  Torre's  catalogue.  For  the  species  described  since  Dalla 
Torre,  Mr.  RohwER  used  the  card  catalogue  in  the  National  Museum,  and 
after  carefully  estimating  the  number  of  cards  he  subtracted  one-third  for 
generic  transfers,  synonomy,  reference  to  biology,  etc.  After  completing 
these  estimates  he  had  talked  to  some  of  his  colleagues  and  Mr.  Gahan  had 
pointed  out  that  for  the  Chalcids  the  estimate  was,  in  his  opinion,  about  two 
thousand  too  few.  To  prove  this  Mr.  Gahan  had  estimated  the  index  of 
the  volume  of  the  Genera  Insectorum  and  found  it  contained  about  6500  spe- 
cies. It  must  be  remembered  that  this  volume  of  the  Genera  Insectorum 
contains  but  very  little  synonomy  and  but  few  species  other  than  those  which 
occur  in  Dalla  Torre's  catalogue.     Mr.  Gahan's  estimate  for  the  Chalcidoids 


AUGUST  19,  1922      PROCEEDINGS :   ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  337 

would  be  14,633  and  would  average  about  six  species  to  a  genus.  Using  the 
Genera  Insectorum  for  the  cuckoo  wasps  in  the  same  way,  Mr.  Rohwer 
thought  that  his  estimate  for  this  group  was  unnecessarily  conservative  as 
judged  from  the  basis  of  the  index,  and  that  there  must  be  at  least  1,800  valid 
names  of  this  group.  He  pointed  out  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  determine 
what  was  a  valid  species,  but  from  the  standpoint  of  taxonomic  study  syn- 
onomy  made  but  little  difference  as  for  all  revisionary  work  it  is  important  to 
take  all  synonyms  into  account.  He  noted  that  according  to  his  estimate 
the  number  of  described  Hymenoptera  has  practically  doubled  since  Dalla 
Torre's  catalogue  and  that  in  addition  to  this  the  classification  of  the  Hymen- 
optera has  undergone  changes  which  make  it  difficult  if  not  impossible,  for 
students  to  find  the  names  given  them  in  the  catalogue.  He  presented  these 
facts  to  show  the  great  need  for  a  new  catalogue  of  the  Hymenoptera. 

Mr.  Rohwer  closed  his  remarks  by  stating  that  he  believed  90,000  would  be 
a  conservative  estimate  for  the  number  of  described  species  of  Hymenoptera, 
and  to  be  conservative  he  would  multiply  this  by  three  so  as  to  get  a  good 
estimate  of  the  total  number  of  species  in  the  world.  This  would  give  a 
total  of  270,000.  A  table  was  presented  showing  the  number  of  species  in 
the  various  groups. 

Diptera.  Dr.  Aldrich  stated  that  he  based  his  estimates  on  the  catalogue 
of  the  Diptera  of  the  world  dated  1902-1910,  which  represents  about  nine- 
sixteenths  of  the  species  at  this  time,  or  about  44,000  species  described. 
After  comparing  several  genera  as  to  species  old  and  new  he  estimated  that 
about  five  times  this  number  would  be  a  fair  estimate,  or  220,000  species  de- 
scribed and  undescribed  for  the  world. 

Coleoptera. — Mr.  Barber  said  that  comparative  figures  indicating  the  number 
of  species  of  beetles  had  been  hastily  gotten  together  but  might  offer  a  basis 
for  an  estimate.  In  regard  to  the  fauna  of  the  United  States  the  very  con- 
servative Henshaw  list  of  thirty-seven  years  ago  numbered  9238  species, 
which  was  raised  to  11,256  by  the  still  very  conservative  third  supplement, 
appearing  ten  ^'-ears  later.  This  number  has  grown  steadily,  reaching  18,644 
(including  the  Stylopidae)  by  the  close  of  1918,  according  to  the  Leng  list 
which  reflects  a  slightly  more  liberal  standard  of  specific  differentiation. 

In  regard  to  the  world  fauna  we  can  at  present  only  compare  the  number  of 
species  listed  in  certain  families  in  the  Gemminger  and  Harold  (Munich) 
catalogue  of  about  fifty  years  ago  with  corresponding  families  that  have  been 
listed  in  the  Junk  catalogue  within  the  last  twelve  years.  A  table  of  fifteen 
families  out  of  more  than  a  hundred  usually  recognized  families  of  beetles 
showed  an  average  increase  of  151%  in  about  forty-five  years.  If  this  is 
representative  of  the  entire  order,  the  77,008  species  of  Coleoptera  enumerated 
in  the  Munich  catalogue  should  now  be  increased  to  about  200,000. 

To  base  an  estimate  of  the  existing  unknown  species  upon  this  estimated 
figure  of  the  known  forms  would  be  mere  guesswork  and  if  one's  field  exper- 
ience is  limited  to  our  own  fauna  is  apt  to  fall  far  below  the  reality.  For 
comparison,  the  speaker  was  one  of  a  group  of  half  a  dozen  active  collectors 
paying  special  attention  to  the  fauna  of  Plummer's  Island  and  vicinity 
(near  Washington,  D.  C),  but  their  combined  efforts  covering  about  ten 
years  recorded  only  about  1300  species  of  beetles,  while  six  weeks  of  collecting 
by  Mr.  Schwarz  and  the  speaker  in  the  humid  forests  of  Guatemala  in  1906 
produced  about  an  equal  number  of  species,  a  large  percentage  (probably 
quite  25%)  of  which  were  represented  only  by  unique  examples,  and  although 


338      JOURNAI^  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOI..  12,  NO.  14 

groups  were  sent  for  inclusion  in  the  then  unpubHshed  parts  of  the  Biologia 
Centrah-Americana,  probably  20%  of  the  species  still  remain  undescribed 
to  this  date.  He  believes  that  we  know  less  than  a  tenth  of  the  existing  spe- 
cies of  beetles. 

Mr.  Fisher  added  that  the  small  species  of  Buprestidae  from  Malaysia  con- 
tained about  90%  new  species.  This  will  also  apply  to  the  species  of  the  sub- 
family Lamiinae  of  the  Cerambycidae.  In  the  material  collected  in  Canal 
Zone  about  75%  of  the  species  of  the  tribe  Agrilini,  family  Buprestidae  were 
new. 

Orthoptera. — Mr.  RohwER  read  a  note  prepared  by  Mr.  CaudelIv  in  which 
he  stated  that  Guenther  in  1896  states  that  in  1830  there  were  800  described 
species  in  Orthoptera,  and  in  1881  there  were  6,500  species,  an  annual  average 
increase  of  about  15%.  In  1904  Caudell  published  an  exact  account  of  the 
Blattidae  as  1,684.  In  Kirby's  Synonymic  Catalogue,  1904-1910,  there 
were  17,896  species  of  Orthoptera.  With  increases  since  then  at  1  %  a 
year,  a  minimum  number  would  total  about  20,500  species. 

Drs.  Ball  and  Quaintance  discussed  the  Hemiptera  but  did  not  give  any 
estimate  in  figures. 

Mr.  BridwELL  made  the  following  statement: 

"I  have  been  very  much  impressed  with  the  fact  that  those  who  have 
spoken  after  tropical  collecting  experience  have  been  much  more  liberal  in 
their  estimates  than  those  who  have  collected  only  in  the  United  States. 
My  own  experience  in  Tropical  West  Africa  leads  me  to  think  of  the  tropics 
as  exceedingly  rich  in  species.  In  Nigeria  I  paid  particular  attention  to  the 
large  conspicuous  Braconids  easily  seen  in  flight  and  perhaps  thirty  species 
were  taken  of  which  only  one  or  two  species  were  represented  by  more  than 
one  or  two  individuals.  It  is  only  rarely  the  case  that  a  species  is  abundant 
in  any  one  place.  As  yet  only  the  larger  insects  of  the  tropics  have  been  taken, 
those  smaller  than  a  medium  sized  Coccinellid  being  largely  unknown. 

"Two  remarks  about  beetles  made  to  me  by  careful  men  have  stuck  in  my 
mind.  Dr.  Peringuey,  Director  of  the  vSouth  African  Museum,  told  me  that 
he  knew  six  hundred  named  South  African  Tenebrionidae  and  eight  hundred 
still  undescribed.  An  Australian  Coleopterist  said  that  while  they  had 
40,000  Australian  beetles  in  their  lists  they  knew  that  they  had  40,000  more 
undescribed. 

"But  80,000  must  be  far  too  small  a  number  for  Australian  beetles  since 
two-thirds  of  the  continent  is  still  unexplored.  A  hundred  thousand  would 
seem  nearer  the  facts.  Malaysia  and  India  together  must  have  as  many 
and  the  same  is  probably  true  of  Eurasia  and  the  Mediterranean,  Ethiopian 
Africa,  North  America  and  South  America. 

"It  has  been  borne  in  on  me  increasingly  that  the  apparent  great  discrep- 
ancy in  numbers  between  the  Coleoptera  and  each  of  the  major  orders  of 
insects  is  not  real  and  that  in  time  they  will  each  reach  much  more  nearly  the 
numbers  of  the  Coleoptera. 

"Mr.  RohwEr's  estimate  of  the  numbers  of  the  Hymenoptera  seems  to  me 
far  too  conservative." 

Dr.  Snyder  stated  that  in  the  Termites  there  were  about  1,000  known  spe- 
cies, and  this  number  may  double  or  possibly  run  to  about  5,000  species. 

Mr.  Cushman  stated  that  in  a  collection  of  Oriental  Ichneumonidae  re- 
ceived from  C.  F.  Baker  of  the  University  of  the  Philippines,  together  with 
a  few  from  other  sources,  he  had  found  about  75  apparently  undescribed 


AUGUST  19,  1922      proceedings:   ENTOMOIvOGICAIv  SOCIETY  339 

species  of  Xanihopimpla,  a  genus  distributed  through  the  Oriental,  Austral- 
ian and  Ethiopian  regions.  The  Baker  collections  were  made  largely  on  Luzon 
and  Mindanao,  Borneo  and  Singapore  with  some  from  the  islands  of  Basilau 
and  Penang;  while  from  other  sources  there  are  several  from  Formosa  and 
a  few  from  China  and  Java.  There  are  already  slightly  in  excess  of  100  spe- 
cies described.  He  believed  that  as  careful  collecting  throughout  the  range  of 
this  genus  would  at  least  treble  the  number  of  species. 

Dr.  Howard,  in  closing  the  discussion,  ventured  the  opinion  that,  con- 
sidering the  character  of  the  men  who  had  spoken,  this  discussion  was  the 
most  important  which  had  been  held  concerning  this  greatly  mooted  matter  of 
the  number  of  species  of  insects.  He  believed  that  the  number  of  species  of 
insects  in  the  world  must  probably  exceed  three  millions. 

Mr.  BuscK  announced  that  the  name  of  the  spruce  bud  moth  had  been 
changed.  This  new  name  will  be  published  in  a  forthcoming  paper  which 
will  also  contain  a  key  to  the  species  based  on  genital  characters. 

Mr.  BridwELL  reported  rearing  two  individuals  of  an  apparently  undescribed 
species  of  the  Chalcidoid  genus  Perilampus  from  the  nests  of  the  genus  Cra- 
hro,  one  of  them  from  Crabro  chrysarginus.  This  is  particularly  interesting  on 
account  of  its  bearing  upon  the  biology  of  this  genus,  since  the  manner  of  their 
oviposition  is  unknown.  They  are  known  to  have  a  migratory  Planidium  first 
stage  larvae  and  have  been  generally  bred  as  parasites  of  hymenopterous  or  dip- 
terous parasites  of  lepidoptera.  This  is  apparently  the  first  American  record 
of  a  species  as  parasites  on  aculeate  hymenoptera.  In  Europe  Gaulle 
records  Peralampus  auratus  Panzer  as  bred  from  Solenius  rubicola  and  S. 
vagus  by  Lichtenstein.  These  are  Crabronid  wasps  closely  related  to  Crabro 
chrysargimis.  These  Crabronids  store  their  nests  with  diptera  (often  flower- 
inhabiting)  and  they  themselves  frequent  the  flowers  as  do  the  insects  of 
Perilampus.  The  utilization  of  Crabro  as  a  host  adds  probability  to  Harry 
S.  Smith's  suggestions  that  Perilampus  may  oviposit  upon  flowers  and  the 
planidium  be  carried  by  insects  to  their  food. 

The  planidia  had  evidently  made  this  entrance  into  the  nests  of  the  Crabro 
in  the  fall  or  summer,  but  their  development  was  retarded  until  the  host  ma- 
terial had  been  brought  into  the  laboratory.  The  larvae  were  first  apparent 
as  external  parasites  upon  the  prepupal  larva  in  the  cocoon. 

Mr.  Barber  exhibited  specimens  and  photos  of  males  of  Dynastes  display- 
ing intergradient  forms  between  the  giant  "hercules  beetles,"  6V2  inches  long, 
through  the  middle-sized  form  named  perseus  by  Olivier  (1789)  to  the  dwarf 
form  two  inches  long,  known  under  the  name  alcides  Fabr.  (1787).  Mr. 
ScHWARZ  has  previously  discussed  these  forms  and  published  a  plate  in  our 
Proceedings  (Proc.  Ent.  Soc.  Wash.  10:  70).  Recently  the  speaker  examined 
a  series  of  about  20  specimens  from  Merida,  Venezuela  (Solomon  Bricino  & 
Sons)  which  supplies  an  almost  continuously  intergrading  series  between  the 
two  extremes.  In  this  series  the  pair  of  lateral  tubercles  on  the  pronotal  horn 
gradually  comes  closer  to  the  base  as  the  size  diminishes  until,  in  the  small- 
est specimens,  they  occupy  about  the  same  position  as  in  the  common  North 
American  species  tityus.  A  photo  of  17  of  these  beetles  arranged  according 
to  size  was  exhibited  with  a  sketch  map  illustrating  the  habitats  of  the  various 
species  of  Dynastes  and  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  Mexican  species,  hylltts 
Cher.  1843,  may  connect  with  our  rather  abundant  and  slightly  variable 
tityus  Linn,  of  the  Southern  States,  and  also  through  the  plateau  of  Mexico, 
with  the  rather  distinct  Arizona  species  known  as  granti  Horn. 


340      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   14 

Two  varietal  names  have  been  proposed  by  Prof.  F.  Campos  R.  1920 
(Revista  del  Colegio  Nacional  Vincente  Rocafuerte  No.  2,  p.  30,  figs,  llb-c 
1920),  based  on  the  denticles  of  the  cephalic  horn,  but  the  differences  he  in- 
dicates by  his  varietal  names  unidentatus  and  bidentatus  appear  irregularly 
among  the  larger  individuals  of  the  species  and  the  varieties  seem  to  be  without 
biological  significance.  Of  the  three  species  described  by  A.  H.  Verrill  in 
1905  and  1906  (Amer.  Journ.  Sci.  IV.  21:  317)  from  Dominica,  W.  I.  the  first 
(D.  tricornis)  belongs  to  the  genus  Strategus,  the  second  {D.  lagaii)  seems  to 
be  the  extreme  depauperate  form  alcides  and  the  third  {D.  vulcan  Verrill 
1905)  appears  nearly  equivalent  to  perseus  Oliv.  The  description  of  the  fourth 
species,  argentata  Verrill  1907  (op.  cit.  24:  305-308),  appears  to  be  based  upon 
a  large  and  unusually  brightly  colored  specimen  of  hercules. 

Mr.  RoHWER  read  a  note  from  C.  A.  MosiER  of  Miami  Beach,  Fla.,  who 
sent  in  the  head  of  an  Orthopteron  (Belocephalus  subapterus)  found  attached 
by  its  powerful  jaws  to  the  lip  of  a  cat. 

C.  T.  Greene  exhibited  specimens  of  the  immature  stages  of  Hydrophorus 
agalma  Wheeler  (Dolichopodidae). 

Mr.  Schwarz  spoke  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  John  Sherman  Jr.,  calling  his. 
attention  to  a  rare  book,  "The  Coleoptera  of  Georgia,"  by  Le  Conte.  It  con- 
tains lists  of  Lepidoptera,  Birds  and  Plants,  but  the  lists  are  not  signed. 

Chas.  T.  Greene,  Recording  Secretary. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

At  the  call  of  Secretary  Walcott,  a  meeting  of  the  scientific  staff  of  the 
Institution  and  its  branches  was  held  in  the  Smithsonian  Chapel,  Tuesday, 
May  23,  to  discuss  the  promotion  of  research  in  connection  with  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution.  Several  interesting  research  problems  which  could  be 
advantageously  taken  up  were  suggested,  together  with  means  for  carrying 
them  out.  A  committee  on  research  was  then  appointed  by  the  Secretary, 
consisting  of  Dr.  Merrill,  Chairman;  Dr.  CovillE,  Dr.  Fewkes,  Mr. 
FowLE,  Dr.  Hough,  Mr.  Nelson,  and  Dr.  Stejneger. 

The  committee  will  hear  reports  by  individuals  on  proposed  research  pro- 
jects and  consider  means  for  taking  them  up,  and  it  is  hoped  that  by  fall  a 
definite  plan  of  action  will  be  formulated. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Institute  for  Research 
in  Tropical  America  held  June  3  in  the  Smithsonian  Building  it  was  decided 
to  concentrate  the  efforts  of  the  Institute  on  the  establishment  of  a  research 
station  in  Panama  near  the  Gorgas  Memorial  Institute  which  is  to  be  erected 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  city  of  Panama.  The  members  present  were  Thomas 
Barbour,  Harvard  University;  H.  E.  Crampton,  Barnard  College  (repre- 
senting the  New  York  Academy  of  Sciences) ;  A.  S.  Hitchcock,  Smithsonian 
Institution;  and  A.  G.  Ruthven,  University  of  Michigan.  Dr.  Witmer 
Stone,  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Sciences,  was  absent  on  account  of  sickness. 

About  sixty  members  and  guests  of  the  Chemical  Society  took  part  in  an 
excursion  to  the  Endless  Caverns  near  New  Market,  Virginia,  on  June  11. 
The  caves  are  situated  in  the  Shenandoah  limestone,  in  the  western  branch 
of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  on  the  opposite  side  of  Massanutten  Mountain 
from   the   well-known   Luray   Caverns. 

At  the  annual  dinner  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  held  at  the  Hotel 
Powhatan  on  Tuesday  evening,  April  25,  the  J.  Lawrence  Smith  medal  was 
bestowed  upon  Dr.  George  P.  Merrill,  Head  Curator  of  Geology,  in  recog- 


AUGUST  19,   1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  341 

nition  of  his  work  on  meteorites.  This  is  a  gold  medal  of  the  value  of  $200, 
from  a  fund  established  in  1884  as  a  reward  for  "original  investigation  of 
meteoric  bodies."  Because  of  the  rarity  of  investigators  in  this  field,  this 
medal  has  not  been  given  since  1888. 

The  American  Meteorological  Society  held  its  seventh  meeting  in  Wash- 
ington on  April  26.  In  addition  to  members  of  the  Weather  Bureau,  the 
meeting  was  attended  by  representatives  of  the  Canadian  Meteorological 
Service  and  the  Argentine  Weather  Service. 

The  bird  collection  of  the  late  William  Palmer,  consisting  of  about  3,000 
specimens,  bequeathed  to  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  in  his  will,  has  now  been 
turned  over  and  catalogued  in  the  Division  of  Birds.  This  collection  is  very 
important  on  account  of  the  large  number  of  District  of  Columbia  records 
and  for  the  number  of  immature  and  molting  specimens  it  contains,  Mr. 
Palmer  having  paid  especial  attention  to  the  study  of  molt  for  many  years. 

The  annual  field  meeting  of  the  Petrologists'  Club  of  Washington  was 
held  on  May  13,  1922,  under  the  guidance  of  S.  G.  Gordon  of  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia  and  E.  T.  Wherry  of  Washington.  The 
party  assembled  at  Perry ville,  Maryland,  on  the  preceding  evening  and 
began  the  excursion  the  following  morning  by  a  visit  to  the  granite  quarry 
at  Rock  Run  near  Port  Deposit,  on  the  Susquehanna  River.  The  party  then 
visited  the  pegmatite  dikes  in  the  serpentine  area  of  northern  Cecil  County, 
and  studied  the  cross-section  of  the  mica  gneiss  and  phyllite  along  the  Sus- 
quehanna from  Bald  Friar,  Maryland,  to  Peach  Bottom,  Pennsylvania. 
Problems  of  special  interest  on  this  part  of  the  trip  were  the  manner  of  in- 
trusion of  the  narrow  vertical  diabase  dike  in  the  gneiss  near  Haines,  and 
the  question  as  to  whether  the  gneiss  is  the  metamorphosed  equivalent  of 
the  Martinsburg  shale  or  represents  a  formation  of  much  earlier  age. 

This  was  the  third  annual  field  meeting  of  the  Club.  The  first  excursion 
was  held  on  May  18,  1920,  when  the  Club  examined  the  weathering  of  granite 
at  the  Tilden  Street  quarries.  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  structure  of  the 
gneisses  in  the  vicinity  of  Great  Falls,  Maryland,  under  the  guidance  of 
G.  P.  Merrill  and  C.  N.  Fenner.  The  second  excursion  was  on  May  17, 
1921,  and  included  visits  to  the  Cambrian  and  pre-Cambrian  rocks  near  Point 
of  Rocks,  and  the  Triassic  sandstones  and  diabase  at  Dickerson,  Maryland. 

The  following  persons  have  become  members  of  the  Academy  since  the 
last  report  in  the  Journal  (November  4,  1921,  p.  443).  Except  where  other- 
wise noted,  the  address  is  Washington,  D.  C. 

Dr.  Elmer  Darwin  Ball,  Dept.  of  Agriculture ;  Prof.  Alan  Mara  Bateman  , 
Dept.  of  Geology,  Yale  University;  Dr.  A.  F.  Beal,  Bureau  of  Standards; 
Dr.  A.  W.  Boswell;  C.  E.  Chambliss,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry;  Dr.  George 
Whitley  Coggeshall,  Institute  of  Industrial  Research;  J.  S.  Conway, 
Bureau  of  Lighthouses;  Dr.  Howard  Austin  Edson,  Bureau  of  Plant  In- 
dustry; Dr.  Maurice  Crowther  Hall,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry;  Dr. 
Leonard  Lee  Harter,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry;  Dr.  Clyde  Evert 
Leighty,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry;  S.  K.  Lothrop,  Peabody  Museum, 
Cambridge,  Mass. ;  RussELL  A.  OaklEy,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry;  R.  P. 
Parrott,  General  Electric  Company;  E.  L.  PeffER,  Bureau  of  Standards; 
Dr.  A.  G.  PiETERS,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry;  Prof.  Charles  V.  Piper, 
Bureau  of  Plant  Industry;  R.  L.  Sanford,  Bureau  of  Standards;  Prof. 
Benjamin  Schwartz,  Univ.  of  the  Philippines,  Los  Banos,  P.  I.;C.  M. 
Smith,   Bureau   of  Chemistry;  Dr.   W.   T.   Thom,   Jr.,   Geological  Survey; 


342      JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES       VOL.   12,  NO.   14 

G.  W.  ViNAL,  Bureau  of  Standards;   Dr.    W.    P.    Woodring,    Geological 
Survey. 

A.  E.  Fath  has  taken  furlough  from  the  Geological  Survey  to  do  private 
geologic    work    in    foreign    countries. 

Prof.  W.  H.  Holmes  and  Dr.  Ales  Hrdlicka  have  been  elected  Honorary 
Associates  of  the  Sociedad  Cubana  de  Historia  Natural  "Felipe  Poey"  of 
Habana,   Cuba. 

Charles  M.  Hoy,  who  for  the  past  three  years  has  been  collecting  natural 
history  specimens  in  Australia  and  Tasmania  for  Dr.  W.  L.  Abbott,  has 
returned  to  Washington.  Mr.  Hoy  secured  a  very  fine  collection  of  both 
birds  and  mammals,  a  large  number  of  them  being  new  to  the  collection. 

Drs.  Walter  Hough  and  Ales  Hrdlicka  have  been  appointed  delegates 
from  the  Institution  to  the  International  Congress  of  Americanists,  to  be 
held  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  latter  part  of  August.  They  will  also  represent 
the  Institution  at  the  International  Congress  on  America's  History,  which 
meets  at  the  same  place  on  September  7. 

Neil  M.  Judd,  curator  of  American  Archeology,  who  is  conducting  archeo- 
logical  excavations  at  Pueblo  Bonito,  New  Mexico,  for  the  National  Geo- 
graphic Society,  arrived  in  the  field  May  3  and  assembled  his  men  and  equip- 
ment. The  work  of  excavation  began  May  15,  and  Mr.  Judd  holds  great 
expectations  of  valuable  results  from  this  season's  work. 

Dr.  Dorse Y  A.  Lyon,  chief  metallurgist  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  has 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Science  from  the  University  of  Utah  in 
recognition  of  his  contributions  to  metallurgical  research. 

G.  R.  Mansfield  has  been  appointed  chief  of  the  section  of  non-metallif- 
erous deposits  in  the  Geologic  Branch  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

Dr.  Charles  L.  Parsons  sailed  from  New  York  on  June  13  to  attend  the 
meeting  of  the  International  Union  of  Pure  and  Applied  Chemistry  at  Lyons, 
France,  June  27- July  7.  Dr.  Parsons  represents  the  United  States  as 
vice-president  of  the  Union.  Other  delegates  were  Edward  Bartow,  E.  S. 
Chapin,  R.  B.  Moore  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  E.  W.  Washburn  of  the 
National  Research  Council,  and  H.  S.  Washington  of  the  Geophysical 
Laboratory. 

Word  just  received  from  the  Canal  Zone  announces  the  safe  arrival  there 
of  Dr.  F.  W.  PennELL,  Curator  of  Botany  in  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
Philadelphia,  who,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  PennELL  and  by  Mr.  E.  P.  Killip 
of  the  National  Museum,  is  en  route  to  Colombia,  where  about  six  months 
will  be  spent  in  botanical  exploration  in  the  central  and  western  cordillera. 
From  headquarters  at  Cali  work  will  extend  northward  to  Medellin  and  south- 
ward toward  the  Ecuadorean  border.  The  exploration  should  be  successful 
not  only  in  assembling  a  large  amount  of  topotypic  material  but  also  as  afford- 
ing an  opportunity  of  collecting  in  new  and  interesting  territory,  western 
Colombia  being  as  a  whole  little  known  botanically.  In  this  exploration  the 
New  York  Botanical  Garden  and  the  Gray  Herbarium  are  cooperating  with 
the  two  institutions  mentioned. 

William  vSchaus  was  elected,  on  April  5,  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Sociedade  Entomologica  do  Brazil  in  recognition  of  his  extensive  work  on 
the  butterflies  and  moths  of  Brazil. 

Atherton  Seidell  of  the  Hygienic  Laboratory,  U.  S.  Public  Health  Ser- 
vice, is  spending  several  months  in  Europe  with  the  special  purpose  of  compar- 
ing American  and  European  methods  and  progress  in  the  study  of  vitamines. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12       .  September  19,  1922  No.  15 


GEOPHYSICS. — A  plea  for  geophysical  and  geochemical  observatories.^ 
T.  A.  Jaggar,  Hawaiian  Volcano  Observatory. 

A  volcanic  system,  is  known  to  the  volcanologist  as  a  place,  not 
merely  of  kinds  of  processes,  but  of  measurable  events.  In  the  course 
of  events  processes  change.  Nowhere  is  this  so  true  as  in  a  physico- 
chemical  system  dependent  on  pressure,  temperature  and  saturation. 
The  volcano  edifice  is  a  furnace  changing  these  things  in  accordance 
with  fixed  laws  of  accumulation,  of  movement  of  the  crust  of  the  Earth, 
and  of  reaction  with  the  watery  and  atmospheric  envelopes  that  en- 
case the  crust.  The  relation  of  the  volcano  and  its  processes  to  these 
changing  features  of  the  globe  through  the  seasons  and  the  years, 
incessantly  measured,  is  the  most  fundamental  control  for  all  the 
processes.  Therefore  the  sending  of  geological  expeditions  concerned 
only  with  a  process  here,  and  a  process  there,  will  no  more  solve  the 
volcano  mystery  than  the  sending  of  an  expedition  to  Mauritius  to 
observe  an  eclipse  will  resolve  the  orbits  of  the  solar  system.  Let 
the  astronomers  say  which  is  the  more  important,  an  expedition  or 
an  observatory.  The  expedition  may  furnish  vitally  important 
methods  and  data.  Only  the  cooperation  of  fixed  stations  can  collect 
these  into  a  constructive  science. 

The  comparison  of  geology  with  astronomy  may  be  profitable  to 
geology  from  another  angle ;  namely,  the  application  to  the  science 
of  special  invention  and  expensive  apparatus.  Astronomy  and  geology 
both  deal  with  enormous  bulks,  gradual  migrations,  physical  processes, 
chemical  reactions,  hidden  masses  revealable  only  by  the  aid  of  in- 
struments of  precision.  From  the  time  of  Lyell  geology  has  been 
increasingly  dependent  on  the  study  of  the  living  Earth  to  interpret 
the  past.  The  life  of  the  Earth's  interior  and  of  its  outer  shells, 
through  the  time  of  the  present  generations  of  men,  is  just  beginning 
to  be  studied.  With  due  allowance  for  the  contributions  of  terres- 
trial gravity,  geodesy,  magnetism,  and  seismology,  all  of  recent  date, 

1  Received  November  21,  1921. 

343 


344       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL-   12,  NO.  15 

produced  rather  by  engineers  than  by  geologists,  the  science  of  the 
Earth  has  yielded  no  Herschel,  Huggins,  or  Hale,  intent  on  improving 
the  tools  of  the  workman.  Sorby's  work  on  the  petrographic  micro- 
scope was  good,  but  that  was  mineralogy,  not  measurement  of  the 
Earth.  The  hammer  and  compass  still  suffice  for  the  geologist,  and 
he  borrows  an  aneroid  or  a  transit  from  the  engineer.  No  elaborate 
fluviometer  costing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  stands  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi  or  the  Ganges,  comparable  to  the  improved 
speculum  of  the  star  gazer.  No  mighty  oceanometer  has  been  in- 
vented for  penetrating  the  deeps  of  the  sea — unless  it  is  the  submarine, 
not  yet  available  for  the  geologist.  And  no  great  Alpine  observatory 
exists,  with  a  staff  of  forty  trained  physicists  and  computers,  and 
instruments  which  look  inward  at  the  core  of  the  Himalaya  and  in- 
terpret every  movement  of  uplift  and  erosion  in  terms  of  physical 
process  and  progress.  Is  this  because  the  living  Earth  is  less  impor- 
tant to  mankind  than  the  number  of  units  in  a  star-cluster  or  the  diame- 
ter of  a  heavenly  body?  And  yet  nowhere  on  Earth,  so  far  as  known 
to  the  writer,  is  there  a  skilled  geophysicist  and  inventor  giving  his 
whole  life  to  an  observatory  devoted  to  measurement  of  change  in 
a  river  system  or  a  mountain  range. 

The  perpetual  measurement  and  record  of  these  changes  and  their 
minutiae  will  not  be  done  "somehow"  or  "anyway,"  and  the  results 
be  stored  in  the  libraries.  It  will  not  be  done  by  travellers.  It  will 
not  be  done  by  teachers  of  school  geography.  It  is  not  being  done 
by  engineers  and  governments  and  geological  surveys.  Little  quali- 
tative dabs  are  being  done  here  and  there  but  not  quantitative  records 
that  will  show  cycles  and  crises,  that  may  be  platted  as  curves  of 
change,  that  will  create  formulas  useful  in  the  discovery  of  the  indices 
or  coefficients  of  process  for  different  places  and  climates. 

The  writer,  from  his  experience  of  a  decade  of  recording  on  an  active 
volcano,  is  convinced  that  all  that  he  learned  in  seven  volcano  expedi- 
tions to  distant  lands  was  as  nothing  compared  with  a  few  years  in 
a  fixed  experiment  station.  He  never  had  the  slightest  suspicion, 
from  the  travellers'  accounts,  of  the  number  of  changes  which  occur 
in  a  short  time.  Processes  of  which  he  never  dreamed  are  dominant. 
Physical  statements  by  reputable  persons  are  proved  wholly  erro- 
neous. Dimensions,  even  when  estimated  by  engineers,  are  exag- 
gerated. Interest  never  flags.  Measurement  of  change  becomes 
increasingly  precise  and  the  charts  become  increasingly  illuminating. 
New  problems  open  out  endlessly  and  new  experiments  are  suggested. 


SEPT.  19,  1922  jaggar:  geophysical  observatories  345 

The  old  experiments  get  new  meanings  and  need  repetition  with 
more  precise  method.  Every  day  of  observation  opens  up  a  new 
query. 

The  psychology  of  casual  scientific  visitors  at  Kilauea  throws  hght 
on  the  statements  which  were  made  and  recorded  by  similar  travellers 
of  a  half-century  ago,  citing  white  heat,  lava  liquid  as  water,  absence 
of  flames,  clouds  of  steam,  floating  islands,  melting  by  lava,  excessive 
heights  and  depths,  and  loudness  of  noises.  The  misstatements 
are  due  to  failure  to  observe  gases  and  their  effects,  and  to  precon- 
ceived notions,  inexperience,  hasty  generalization,  and  the  tendency 
to  exaggeration  which  is  never  so  dominant  as  on  an  active  volcano. 
The  will  to  explain  is  so  much  more  active  than  the  will  to  doubt  and 
ascertain,  that  a  bag-full  of  erroneous  notes  is  carried  off  in  triumph. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  doubting  and  waiting  is  necessary  in  presence  of 
the  unsolved  and  difficult  problems  of  volcanism,  the  most  enigmatical 
field  in  geology. 

I  recently  asked  the  Research  Information  Service  of  the  National 
Research  Council  about  funds  for  fixed  experiment  stations  dealing 
with  eruption,  erosion,  sedimentation,  and  deformation  as  objects 
of  measurement.  Numerous  inquiries  by  that  Service  failed  to  dis- 
cover any  specific  provision  for  the  kinds  of  research  designated. 
Volcanology  and  seismology  are  meagerly  supplied  with  fixed  stations 
recording  secular  changes.  Uplift  and  tilt  in  mountains  and  shore- 
lines, erosion,  and  sedimentation,  are  not  subjects  of  even  experi- 
mental measurement  having  in  view  pure  geology. 

The  sedimentation  symposium  directed  by  T.  W.  Vaughan  is  an 
admirable  compilation  revealing  recognition  of  the  need  for  a  new 
method,  but  nowhere  suggesting  the  observatory  method.  The 
phrasing  refers  to  "problems"  and  the  "need  for  critical  studies" 
and  correlation  and  classification,  always  with  a  mapping  or  a  series 
of  specimens  in  mind.  Almost  none  of  the  experts  has  in  view  per- 
manent secular  measurement  of  rate  of  change  and  of  kinds  of  change. 

This  idea  suggests  to  the  geologist  an  impossibility.  He  instantly 
says,  "It  would  take  too  long."  I  reply,  "Not  only  are  you  wrong, 
but  your  clocks  must  be  set  to  Greenwich  time  and  must  split  seconds 
to  measure  some  of  the  accelerations  of  your  sedimentation  process. 
These  sediments  are  filling  intramontane  basins,  burying  cattle  bones 
on  the  plains,  and  shallowing  the  Gulf  of  Mexico."  "Who  has  done 
any  such  work?"  he  asks.  I  answer,  "George  Ellery  Hale  at  Mount 
Wilson."     "But  surely,"   says  my  friend,   "you  can't  expect  to  do 


346      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  15 

that  in  geology,  for  the  Earth  is  so  much  more  complicated ^  Whereat 
I  laugh.  He  has  asserted  that  the  Earth  is  more  complicated  than 
the  universe.  His  difficulty  is  due  to  confusion  of  ages  of  strata  with 
the  physical  conception  of  rate  of  change.  The  hour,  minute,  and 
second  are  just  as  important  to  geology  as  era,  period,  and  epoch. 
The  first  half  of  the  textbooks  of  geology  is  misnamed  "dynamical," 
for  it  contains  no  measurements  of  dynamical  facts.  The  measure- 
ments needed  will  be  rough  at  first,  but  they  will  gradually  grow  pre- 
cise. This  has  been  the  history  of  meteorology  and  seismology,  and 
geonomy  is  the  same  kind  of  science. 

Dr.  Daly  has  said  that  science  is  drowning  in  facts.  Geological 
science  is  utterly  lacking  in  measured  facts  of  change  within  human 
time.  Astronomical  science  is  wholly  made  up  of  precision  measure- 
ments of  change  within  human  time.  Has  this  discouraged  the  as- 
tronomer? Dr.  Hale  says  the  supreme  problems  are  the  constitution 
of  matter,  the  evolution  of  celestial  bodies  and  the  structure  of  the 
universe.  The  supreme  problem  of  the  Earth  is  the  application  of 
atomic  theory  to  the  evolution  of  the  globe  as  a  celestial  body.  Erup- 
tion, erosion,  sedimentation,  and  deformation  are  surface  manifes- 
tations of  terrestrial  evolution,  just  as  comets,  orbital  motion,  novae, 
and  sunspots  manifest  celestial  evolution. 

When  an  astrophysical  problem  is  to  be  solved,  a  certain  star  or 
nebula  is  selected  as  a  type.  The  same  thing  may  be  done  for  sedi- 
mentation. Geographically  delimit  a  certain  strategic  area  and 
measure  the  changes  there  in  relation  to  gravitation,  crustal  motion, 
atmosphere,  water,  and  topographic  form.  Select  an  area  where 
processes  are  rapid,  and  work  thence  to  areas  where  they  are  slow. 
Do  the  work  with  trained  physical  experimenters  and  engineers. 
Do  it  with  a  view  to  pure  geology,  for  purposes  of  discovery,  and  with- 
out economic  bias.  And  finally,  do  it  with  the  expectation  that  the 
institution  will  live  after  the  individual  has  withered.  The  floods 
of  a  decade  will  yield  unexpected  results,  the  rates  of  accumulation 
will  show  seasonal  and  other  rhythms  undreamed  of  before,  and,  best 
of  all,  the  problems  which  will  open  out  for  experimental  treatment 
will  themselves  be  surprises.  If  properly  financed  and  manned, 
such  a  station  will  be  more  quoted  than  the  Challenger  expedition, 
and  will  take  rank  with  Mount  Wilson. 

TENDENCIES  IN  THE   GROWTH   OF   GEOLOGY 

It  is  of  interest  to  review  the  growth  of  geology  for  seeing  whither 


SEPT.  19,  1922      JAGGAR :  GEOPHYSICAL  OBSERVATORIES      •        347 

it  tends.  Like  other  sciences  it  originated  in  the  needs  of  commerce. 
Just  as  botany  grew  out  of  "physic  gardens"  adjunct  to  medicine, 
so  geology  sprouted  from  the  necessity  of  knowing  coal  and  iron. 
Explained  at  first  as  abortive  efforts  at  creation,  the  fossil  shells  and 
leaf  imprints  of  the  coal  measures  later  became  the  hobby  of  doctors 
and  curates  inspired  by  William  Smith  and  Lyell.  In  America  vast 
mappings  bred  a  hardy  band  of  geologists,  supplemented  by  topog- 
raphers and  railway  men,  exploring  a  wilderness  of  plains,  deserts, 
mining  districts,  and  mountains.  These  workers  were  partly  army 
engineers,  and  for  Britain  such  men  also  explored  India  and  the  Hi- 
malaya, and  the  problems  of  mass  and  magnetism,  river  erosion, 
climatal  change  and  volcanic  heat  gained  increasing  prominence, 
when  physically  trained  minds  brought  experimental  method  to  bear 
on  what  had  hitherto  been  merely  descriptive.  Next  came  formal 
organization  under  Government  for  studying  rivers,  harbors,  the 
weather,  sea  bottoms  for  laying  cable,  the  tides,  terrestrial  gravity 
and  magnetism  as  affecting  the  instruments  of  astronomy,  and  the 
necessities  of  construction  against  fire,  hurricane,  flood,  and  earth- 
quake. Agriculture,  navigation,  inland  transport  and  mining,  urban 
life,  post  and  telegraph  service,  public  time-keeping — all  of  these 
utilities  are  what  have  demanded  expenditure  of  the  public  money 
to  train  experts  in  Earth  process,  just  as  coal  and  iron  first  produced 
experts  in  Earth  history. 

Earth  history  is  dependent  on  Earth  process,  just  as  life  is  dependent 
on  food,  air,  blood  and  brain.  The  physician  of  the  one  as  of  the  other 
must  have  clinical  experience.  No  geologist  can  doctor  a  coal  mine 
who  has  never  seen  coal  in  the  making.  This  is  a  startling  assertion, 
but  is  it  not  true?  Can  any  physician,  not  a  quack,  doctor  blood  and 
brain,  restore  life  to  morbid  tissues,  or  even  localize  a  bone,  if  he  has 
made  no  experiments  in  hospital  and  dissecting  room? 

The  whole  of  geology  is  increasingly  leaning  upon  present  history. 
Earth  energy,  geophysics.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  historical 
science  and  the  physical  have  independently  sprouted  from  utilitarian 
needs.  They  have  never  been  blended  to  aid  each  other  as  pure 
sciences.  The  toilers  of  the  copper  and  iron  mines,  economic  geol- 
ogists, pick  up  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  laboratory  tables  of  the 
students  of  terrestrial  gravity  and  magnetism,  and  vice  versa,  but 
neither  understands  the  other's  problem.  I  think  it  is  true  that 
neither  geologist  nor  geodesist  is  making  the  slightest  effort  to  find 
a  place  in  the  world  today  where  copper  and  iron  ores  are  being  natu- 


348      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  15 

rally  segregated,  and  there  to  study  their  electrical  and  gravitative 
effects.  And  yet  at  the  Hawaiian  volcanoes  copper  and  iron  sulfates 
and  iron  oxides  are  visibly  concentrating,  the  magnetic  declination 
values  are  various  in  an  absurdly  aberrant  fashion,  and  the  gravity 
phenomena  of  the  heavy  basaltic  mountains  are  known  to  be  extraor- 
dinary. All  of  this  may  be  the  key  to  Mesabi  iron  and  Keweenawan 
copper,  in  ancient  volcanic  lands,  but  never  an  expert  from  those 
mines  has  come  to  Hawaii  to  find  out. 

OBSERVATORIES  VERSUS  EXPEDITIONS 

The  economic  motive  is  apt  to  come  to  the  front.  Direct  service 
to  mankind  is  the  measure  of  success.  If  this  test  is  applied  in  the 
case  of  geology  vs.  geophysics,  the  customary  alignment  which  places 
geology  first  (as  explaining  coal,  petroleum  and  iron)  may  be  defective. 
The  Mississippi  river  syvStem  means  more  to  more  people  than  the 
succession  of  strata  in  the  Illinois  coal  fields.  Yet  we  know  the  Illi- 
nois coal  fields,  and  no  man  living  knows  the  Mississippi  river  system. 
The  bogs  may  be  making  coal.  No  man  knows  the  bogs.  So  we 
could  run  through  the  category  of  shore-lines,  sea-bottoms,  mountain 
streams,  glaciers,  springs,  deserts,  sand  dunes,  deltas,  tide  flats,  vol- 
canoes, and  snowy  peaks  and  show  that  no  one  knows  the  processes 
now  going  on,  now  changing  and  moving  these  things,  in  the  sense 
of  having  measured  them  in  relation  to  the  passage  of  time.  Just 
as  a  volcano  occasionally  reaches  a  crisis,  so  it  is  with  a  peak,  a  glacier 
or  a  delta;  except  by  hearsay,  no  one  knows  these  critical  points  or 
their  controls.  The  peak  may  be  breaking  down,  the  glacier  reaching 
a  pressure  limit,  and  the  delta  a  limit  of  weight  or  height.  An  engi- 
neer with  a  ten  million  dollar  contract  dependent  on  knowing  such 
rate  of  change  would  spend  ten  years,  if  need  be,  to  measure  it. 

One  of  the  most  striking  developments  of  continuous  measurement 
at  the  Hawaiian  volcanoes  is  the  revelation  of  rhythmic  recurrences. 
There  are  tides  in  the  lava  with  maxima  near  midnight,  a  systematic 
upheaval  of  the  solid  crater  floor  by  two  or  three  feet  every  night. 
There  are  weekly,  monthly  and  semi-annual  culminations.  There 
are  cycles  of  about  9  years'  duration,  and  there  are  possible  cycles 
of  65  and  130  years.  There  may  be  longer  cycles  measured  in  tens 
of  centuries.  Rhythmic  control  appears  in  the  tremors,  earthquakes, 
and  tilts  with  periods  ranging  from  a  half -second  to  a  half-year.  Any- 
one who  has  ever  seen  a  loose  monkey-wrench  creep  along  the  foot- 
board of  a  vibrating  motor-car  is  led  to  wonder  whether  this  tremulous 
creaking  earth-crust  is  not  shaking  down  its  mountains  and  its  sedi- 


SEPT.  19,  1922  jaggar:  geophysical  observatories  349 

ments  by  a  similar  mechanism.  The  determination  of  these  period- 
icities has  depended  on  the  founding  of  an  observatory,  and  only  a 
decade  of  work  has  already  laid  the  foundations  for  much  useful  dis- 
covery. Many  phenomena  before  deemed  exceptional  are  found  to 
be  commonplaces  (Pelee  spine).  Others  neglected  before  are  found 
to  be  fundamentally  important  (aa  lava).  Chemical  processes  which 
were  taken  for  granted,  like  oxidation,  begin  to  loom  large.  Elements 
difficult  to  detect  because  of  unperceived  combustion  and  rapid  diffu- 
sion, like  hydrogen  and  helium,  may  prove  more  important  in  explain- 
ing volcanism  than  any  of  the  obvious  things.  Chaotic-looking  results 
are  achieved  by  surprisingly  gradual  processes,  even  in  volcanism, 
and  immense  bulks  are  moved  rapidly  with  astonishingly  little  dis- 
turbance. 

A  temporary  expedition  cannot  be  expected  to  discover  such  things. 
An  expedition  expert  is  not  expert  in  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the 
place  he  is  visiting.  So-called  intensive  studies  by  expeditions  cannot 
reckon  with  past,  present,  and  future  critical  events.  The  time  element 
in  physical  control  entirely  breaks  down.  Agassiz  in  Galapagos 
found  green  slopes ;  he  was  amazed  that  Darwin  had  reported  barren- 
ness. They  were  there  at  different  seasons.  Often  the  evidence  of 
a  local  consul  or  physician  is  more  valuable  than  the  opinion  of  experts. 
The  solution  of  the  coral  reef  problem  is  a  Fiji  observatory;  the  solu- 
tion of  the  continental  glacier  problem  is  a  Greenland  observatory; 
the  solution  of  the  ore-deposit  problem  is  a  series  of  volcano  and  hot- 
spring  observatories;  and  the  solution  of  the  erosion  problem  is  a 
Mississippi  observatory.  Piecemeal  notes  patched  together  from 
library  reading  never  yet  made  a  discovery  in  natural  history  and 
never  will.  Human  observation  is  such  that  often  it  must  dwell 
with  an  obvious  fact  which  it  never  sees  for  many  years,  until  suddenly 
there  comes  an  awakening.  This  is  a  commonplace  of  scientific 
progress,  as  biography  shows.  The  specimen  and  the  descriptive 
note  are  makeshifts,  intolerable  in  the  experimental  sciences  such  as 
physiology,  astrophysics,  or  meteorology' ;  how  large  a  part  does  a 
mummy,  a  meteorite,  or  a  hailstone  play  in  those  sciences?  So  it 
is  with  geonomy,  the  science  of  Earth  law.  Men  dwell  on  the  Earth 
and  live  by  its  forces.  No  statement  can  be  too  strong  in  enforcing 
the  importance  of  Earth  processes  for  man. 

In  America  the  names  of  Button,  Dana,  Gilbert,  Russell,  Becker, 
Powell,  McGee,  Shaler,  and  Clarence  King  recall  personalities  of 
men   who   saw   erosion,    gravity,    desiccation,    accumulation,    uplift. 


350      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  15 

unweighting  of  the  Karth-crust,  lifting  of  loads,  and  all  such  motions 
as  more  important,  for  their  generalizations  concerning  past  history, 
than  anything  contained  in  the  dead  rocks.  They  also  studied  these 
processes  in  action  within  the  limits  of  their  broad  reconnaissance  of 
a  mighty  continent.  That  reconnaissance  expected  a  measurement 
of  these  movements  by  the  next  generation.  The  literature  of  geology 
is  overburdened  with  expressions  such  as  "possibly,"  "probably," 
"it  may  be  assumed,"  "perhaps,"  and  "according  to  current  con- 
ceptions," all  of  which  tend  to  hold  it  back  from  becoming  a  quanti- 
tative science. 

The  expedition  method  of  intensive  study  of  field  problems  is  never 
free  from  the  reconnaissance  element,  because  of  the  unexpected 
phenomena  which  demand  the  manufacture  of  special  instruments. 
Again  and  again  in  the  writer's  experience  he  has  found  himself  in 
strange  lands  without  the  proper  tools.  However  carefully  prepared 
the  equipment,  pyrometers,  gas-collecting  devices,  thermometers, 
sounding  apparatus,  transits,  alidades,  cameras,  cableways,  dredges, 
signals  or  what  not,  the  explorer  with  limited  time  at  his  disposal 
finds  that  "here  is  the  supreme  opportunity"  for  so  and  so,  and  he 
has  neither  the  man  nor  the  equipment  to  test  it.  Perhaps  it  is  merely 
one  little  piece  of  some  peculiar  metal  or  glass  that  he  needs,  perhaps 
it  is  a  whole  man,  learned  in  atmospheric  electricity,  or  a  gun  for  throw- 
ing a  rope,  or  a  glass-blowing  equipment  and  someone  who  can  do  the 
work.  No  matter  how  large  and  complete  a  shop  and  laboratory  on 
the  ship,  there  is  needed  a  casting,  a  lens,  or  an  implement  made  of 
fused  quartz,  and  the  vessel  cannot  produce  it.  Every  recent  expedi- 
tion reports  such  happenings,  owing  to  the  great  complexity  and 
variety  of  requirements  of  modern  science.  Here  is  where  the  fixed 
observatory,  if  properly  equipped  and  strategically  placed,  with 
machine-shops  available  and  time  to  get  men  and  apparatus  as  needed, 
and  a  whole  life-time  of  deliberate  work  before  the  staff,  can  do  what 
the  expedition  is  not  fitted  for.  Cooperative  experts  may  be  called 
in  as  occasion  demands.  The  great  endowed  research  establishments 
of  the  world  attest  the  advantage  of  fixed  stations,  and  the  time  has 
come  for  applying  the  method  to  geonomical  processes. 

A    RIVER    OBSERVATORY 

Imagine  a  Fluviometric  Observatory  for  the  permanent  increase 
and  diffusion  of  knowledge  about  everything  pertaining  to  the  geo- 
physics of  the  Mississippi  river  from  the  Yellowstone  to  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  from  New  Orleans  to  Minnesota.     Its  staff  of  physicists, 


SEPT.  19,  1922  jaggar:  geophysical  observatories  351 

chemists,  engineers,  and  assistants  would  be  charged  with  the  task 
of  experimenting  upon  and  measuring  everjrthing  that  can  be  learned 
concerning  the  changes  in  progress  in  the  Mississippi,  its  basin,  its 
sources,  its  waters  and  its  sediment.  Ultimately  this  institution  would 
learn  the  natural  history  (literally)  of  that  great  organism,  and  the 
meaning  of  its  presence  and  its  probable  future.  This  would  yield 
new  knowledge  of  other  rivers,  the  Nile,  the  Congo,  the  Amazon, 
and  of  the  philosophy  of  river  basins  in  the  economy  of  the  continents. 
On  no  account  would  the  observatory  start  with  any  preconcepts  of 
physical  geography.  Its  work  would  be  purely  quantitative  and 
wholly  devoted  to  water  chemistry  and  the  physics  of  gravitation 
and  hydraulics  acting  on  a  complex  surface  to  drain  that  surface  and 
lower  it  by  erosion  acting  under  isostatic  compensation.  Isostasy, 
tilt,  rainfall,  temperature,  wind,  earth  pressures,  analyses,  springs, 
rock  decomposition  and  creep,  silting,  laking,  floods,  erosion  pattern, 
earthquakes,  uphft  at  fixed  bench  marks,  biological  controls,  and 
delta  sedimentation  would  be  among  the  chapters  in  the  record  book. 
Mappings  and  repeated  levellings  would  be  among  the  station's 
achievements.  New  constants,  new  units  and  a  new  terminology 
would  develop.  No  existing  doctrine  of  orogeny,  erosion,  or  sedi- 
mentation would  be  taken  on  faith — all  would  be  tested  in  the  crucible 
of  relentless  measurement  through  seconds,  days,  years,  decades, 
and  centuries.  I  would  like  to  see  such  an  institution  liberally  en- 
dowed, and  as  rigorous  as  the  Bureau  of  Standards.  Is  there  not  a 
wealthy  Mark  Twain  somewhere  who  loves  the  great  "Father  of 
Waters"  enough  to  catch  the  vision  of  this  institution,  and  what  it 
would  do  for  the  world  of  men  and  the  world  of  science? 

A  mountain  observatory 
It  is  worthy  of  comment  that  very  few  naturalists  possess  names 
immediately  associated  in  the  pubhc  mind  with  the  places  they  have 
illumined  by  dwelling  there.  Heim  for  the  Alps  and  John  Muir  for 
the  Sierra  are  types  by  way  of  illustration.  There  are  those  who  have 
made  many  trips  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  have  brought  home 
specimens.  But  have  they  hstened  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  breath- 
ing in  winter  and  summer,  have  they  measured  the  change  in  cliffs 
and  creeks  and  sage-brush  flats,  do  they  know  the  trembHngs  and  the 
tiltings  measurable  in  rock  chambers  in  the  face  of  a  towering  peak, 
have  they  for  decades  long  surveyed  lines  from  peak  to  plain,  checked 
with  levels?  Have  they  studied  the  swayings  of  a  mountain  lake, 
the  rise  and  fall  of  the  brooks  in  springtime,  the  boilings  of  the  geyser 


352      JOURNAIy  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL,.  12,  NO.  15 

basins,  and  timed  the  avalanches  in  the  uppermost  cirques?  One 
can  imagine  a  philosophical  old  prospector  resident  there,  who  knows 
more  of  the  living  forces  that  build  the  Rocky  Mountains  than  any 
visitor.  Not  only  must  he  who  would  be  Master  of  the  Mountain 
dwell  there,  like  Seraphita  amid  her  fjords,  but  he  must  work  there 
and  make  lifelong  measurements  of  change,  until  his  faith  has  truly 
made  the  mountain  move. 

Anyone  who  has  spent  summers  with  pack-train  in  a  place  like  the 
Yellowstone  comes  to  know  the  land  to  be  leaping.  All  night  in  camp 
9000  feet  above  sea-level  one  hears  the  rocks  from  the  precipice  tin- 
kling, sliding,  crashing.  A  glacier  booms  through  a  deep  crevasse. 
The  milky  stream  carries  off  powdered  rock  by  tons.  A  geyser  terrace 
is  hot,  expanded;  a  neighboring  summit  is  snow-clad,  contracted. 
A  herd  of  elk  bounds  up  the  slope  with  a  clatter  of  rocks  disturbed; 
every  stone  has  been  impelled  nearer  to  sea-level.  We  hear  much 
talk  of  water  erosion ;  this  is  a  land  where  tumbling  and  sliding  do  just 
as  much  as  water.  The  mountains  are  falling  all  the  time  and  by 
millions  of  tons.  Something  underground  is  shoving  them  up.  Occa- 
sionally there  is  the  whirlwind  crash  of  a  whole  mountain-side,  like 
the  disaster  at  the  mining  village  of  Frank,  Alberta.  How  many 
scores  of  similar  slides  occur  in  lonely  places  where  no  one  even  hears 
the  noise?  And  how  often?  How  much  is  the  ground  tilting?  The 
genius  who  finances  and  mans  the  first  mountain  observatory  will 
found  a  new  science.  Similarly  we  may  imagine  shore-line,  glacier, 
desert,  and  sea-bottom  observatories,  ever  inventing  new  instruments 
and  revealing  an  unknown  world. 

Physical  chemistry  has  worked  wonders  by  synthesis  in  the  labora- 
tory, exploring  rigorously  a  wide  range  of  saturations,  temperatures 
and  pressures.  There  is  needed  direct  comparison  of  these  results 
with  the  complex  analyses  and  syntheses  which  nature  is  always 
achieving.  The  comparison  with  mineral  specimens  studied  in  the 
polarizing  microscope  has  been  useful,  but  it  is  not  enough.  The 
astrophysicist  never  contents  himself  with  a  meteorite.  Invention 
of  field  methods  in  geophysics  is  not  keeping  pace  with  laboratory 
skill.  In  contrast  to  the  ultimates  of  modern  physical  research,  the 
processes  of  the  middle  ground  such  as  the  motion  of  Tyndall's  glaciers 
and  the  submarine  subsidence  postulated  by  Darwin  are  worthy  of 
permanent  stations,  large  staffs  of  specialists,  big  instruments,  and 
endless  refinement  of  measurement.  The  workers  should  live  and  die 
in    their    chosen  field,   they  should  create  their  own  social  group,. 


SEPT.  19,  1922      baker:  new  aphids  from  Baltic  amber  353 

with  students  to  act  as  assistants  and  computers,  and  welcome 
visiting  travellers  as  co-workers. 

Geological  experiment  stations  on  the  mountains  of  Antarctica, 
the  volcanoes  of  Chile,  the  sands  of  Sahara,  the  tide  flats  of  Fundy, 
the  foothills  of  Himalaya,  the  forks  of  the  Amazon,  eternally  measur- 
ing creep,  tilt,  temperature  and  flood,  will  become  famous  not  only 
as  harnessing  the  globe  with  a  web  of  pure  reasoning,  but  will  be  fertile 
ground  for  sowing  the  seeds  of  peace  and  international  cooperation. 
Science  has  been  well  described  by  Soddy  as  man's  most  eclectic 
religion,  and  no  nation  can  object  to  an  invasion  by  scientific  mis- 
sionaries. 

The  basis  of  physical  geology  resides  in  hydrogen  and  the  evolution 
of  the  elements  just  as  in  the  case  of  astronomy.  But  astronomy  is 
basing  all  its  newer  work  on  astrophysics  and  astrochemistry.  It 
is  frankly  pure  and  does  not  worry  about  getting  itself  applied.  Earth 
science  needs  a  new  stimulus  in  the  same  direction.  The  observatory 
method  furnishes  a  worthy  and  adventurous  outlet  for  the  pent-up 
energies  of  inventive  young  men  trained  in  geophysics  and  geochem- 
istry. 

PALEONTOLOGY. — Two  new  aphids  from  Baltic  amber}    A.    C. 
Baker,  Bureau  of  Entomology. 

In  several  blocks  of  Baltic  amber  recently  purchased  by  the  writer, 
there  are  preserved  two  interesting  species  of  aphids,  and  a  study  of 
these  specimens  throws  considerable  light  on  the  family  as  a  whole.  In 
the  writer's  generic  classification-  the  genus  Mindarus  Koch  was  used 
as  the  basis  of  the  subfamily  Mindarinae,  a  group  supposedly  dominant 
in  earlier  times  and  quite  distinct  from  the  Eriosomatinae  in  which 
it  had  formerly  been  placed.  Only  one  living  form  is  known,  Mindarus 
abietinus  Koch,  a  cosmopolitan  aphid  living  on  conifers. 

The  blocks  obtained  show  two  alate  specimens  of  a  Mindarus  very 
similar  indeed  to  abietinus  and  a  young  nymph  which  we  believe 
represents  one  of  the  earlier  instars  of  the  same  thing.  The  remarkable 
similarity  between  this  amber  form  and  our  common  species  can  be 
seen  by  glancing  at  the  figures  in  which  the  parts  have  been  drawn 
to  approximately  the  same  size. 

That  the  genus  Mindarus  was  formerly  well  represented  seems  to 
be  fairly  assured.     Aphis  transparens  Germ.  &  Ber.,^  also  from  amber, 

1  Received  July  26,  1922. 

2  Bull.  826,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.    1920. 

3  Org.  Reste  2^'.  pi.  2.  1856. 


354      JOURNAIy  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  15 

undoubtedly  belongs  here.  In  fact  it  may  even  be  the  same  species 
as  that  herein  described.  Unfortunately  the  description  is  very  in- 
adequate and  it  is  only  from  the  drawing  of  the  wings  that  the  species 
can  with  certainty  be  placed  in  the  genus.  Lachnus  dryoides  described 
by  the  same  authors  at  the  same  time  seems  so  similar  to  our  immature 
form  that  there  may  be  good  reason  to  conclude  that  it  represents 
young  nymphs  of  transparens.  This  is  also  born  out  by  the  reports 
of  other  workers.  Out  of  fourteen  alate  specimens  found  by  Menge"* 
in  amber  he  referred  thirteen  to  transparens,  and  along  with  these 
he  found  abundant  a  form  which  he  referred  to  dryoides.  In  the  same 
way  Mochulskii^  lists  dryoides  as  the  most  abundant  species  repre- 
sented in  his  material.  Scudder^  has  erected  many  new  genera  from 
Florissant,  basing  them  on  the  angle  of  the  wing  veins,  a  procedure 
which  would  seem  dangerous  in  view  of  the  fact  that  living  forms  show 
variation  in  this  regard.  He  believed  that  the  American  forms  are 
mostly  quite  distinct  from  the  European  ones.  "American  fossil 
plant  lice,"  he  says,  "appear  as  a  rule  to  differ  from  the  winged 
forms  so  far  described  from  the  European  Tertiaries  with  the  single 
exception    of    the   species   figured   by   Berendt   from   amber   under 

the  name  Aphis  transparens The  species  is  indeed  an  Ancon- 

atus." 

Through  the  kindness  of  Nathan  Banks  I  have  been  able  to  examine 
the  Scudder  material  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  at 
Harvard.  Anconatuf  dorsuosus  Buckton,  type  of  the  genus,  is  repre- 
sented by  Numbers  3228  and  1 1 175.  Number  4827,  from  which  Scud- 
der's  figure  was  made,  is  not  present.  The  specimens  on  the  other 
two  blocks  are  not  adequate  to  determine  definitely  the  placing  of 
the  species.  Neither  can  this  be  done  from  the  drawing  but  Scudder's 
description,  which  seems  not  to  agree  with  his  figure,  indicates  that 
the  species  is  probably  a  Mindarus.  The  ground  is  much  more  secure 
in  the  consideration  of  Schizoneuroides  scudderi  Buckton.  From 
the  very  typical  figure  given  by  Scudder  one  would  believe  this  species 
to  be  a  Mindarus  and  an  examination  of  the  specimen  shows  this  to 
be  the  case.  Scudder's  figure  of  Pterostigma  recurvum  Buckton  suggests 
that  this  species  also  is  a  Mindarus.  The  drawing,  however,  does 
not  seem  to  agree  with  the  specimen.  While  the  cubitus  and  anal 
are  about  as  indicated,  the  media  seems  to  arise  much  nearer  the 

*  Progr.  Petrischule.  1856. 
6  Etudes  Ent.  5:  29.   1856. 
6  Tert.  Ins.  1890. 


sept/ 19,  1922      baker:  new  aphids  from  Baltic  amber  355 

radial  sector.  The  general  character,  however,  seems  to  be  that  of 
Mindarus. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  place  definitely  with  their  allies  many 
of  the  species  described  by  Scudder.  One  thing,  however,  seems 
certain.  None  fall  in  the  subfamily  Eriosomatinae  (Schizoneurinae) 
in  which  he  placed  them.  While  details  of  structure  cannot  be  seen, 
this  fact  is  evident  from  the  general  nature  of  the  specimens. 

With  the  exception  of  those  forms  falling  in  the  Mindarinae,  all 
of  Scudder 's  specimens,  with  one  exception,  are  different  from  forms 
in  recent  genera.  This  species  is  Oryctaphis  lesueurii.  I  am  unable 
to  make  this  form  agree  with  the.  description  and  figure  unless  what 
shows  as  the  stigma  and  radial  sector  are  something  quite  different. 
The  stigma  appears  to  be  truncate  and  the  radial  sector  short  and 
heavy  like  certain  recent  forms  in  the  Lachnina.  If  this  is  actually 
the  case,  it  indicates  a  remarkable  difference  from  the  other  Florissant 
forms,  all  of  which  possess  an  extended  stigma  and  a  long  radial 
sector  arising  far  back  on  it.  0.  recondita,  the  second  species  of  this 
genus,  is  quite  different.  It  is  very  large  and  is  not  improbably  a 
Mindarus.  Scudder' s  figure  hardly  gives  an  accurate  representation 
of  it.  The  radial  sector  arises  near  the  base  of  the  stigma.  The 
media  can  be  traced  almost  to  its  base,  and  a  branch  is  indicated 
very  near  its  tip,  much  nearer  than  indicated  in  Scudder's  figure. 
Scudder  believed  that  this  vein  was  twice  branched  but  I  believe 
the  branch  visible  in  the  specimen  to  be  the  Only  one  and  that  the 
insect  might  with  good  reason  be  grouped  with  Mindarus. 

Many  of  the  fossil  aphids  in  the  Scudder  collection  are  not  well 
preserved  and  it  is  perhaps  as  well  to  let  them  rest  in  the  genera  he 
described  for  them.  Certain  general  characters  are,  however,  worthy 
of  mention.  The  most  striking  is  the  extension  of  the  stigma  and  the 
insertion  of  the  long  radial  sector.  In  many  specimens  the  antennae 
are  very  long,  suggesting  some  of  the  slender  antennae  in  the  Callip- 
terina.  Cornicles  appear  not  to  be  present,  and  there  seems  little 
doubt  that  if  the  aphids  possessed  these  heavily  chitinized  structures 
in  any  prominence  traces  of  them  would  be  preserved  with  the  less 
delicate  ones.  Prominent  cornicles  are  present  in  some  of  the  species 
in  amber,  but  these  species  have  quite  a  recent  aspect.  We  are  forced 
to  conclude  that  the  cornicles  were  not  prominently  developed  when 
the  Florissant  deposits  were  laid  down.  In  only  one  specimen  can 
I  find  traces  of  what  may  have  been  cornicles.  This  is  a  form  which 
Scudder  described  as  Aphidopsis  sp.  (No.  1044).     In  his  description 


356      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  15 


6 


I^-!ii!^^ia2iniI12?2afc- 


.c?3r2J=^==^ 


nrsnzirsiOisr^:^ 


11 


Fig.  1. — 1,  Mindarus  magnus,  wings;  2,  Af.  abietinus,  wings;  3,  M.  magnus,  antenna;  4, 
M.  abietinus,  antenna;  5,  M.  abietinus,  cauda  and  anal  plate;  6,  M.  magnus,  cauda 
and  anal  plate ;  7,  Calaphis  scudderi,  cornicle ;  8,  C.  scudderi,  cauda  and  anal  plate ;  9, 
C.  scudderi,  antenna;  10,  C.  scudderi,  fore  wing;  11,  C.  scudderi,  head. 


SEPT.  19,  1922      baker:  new  aphids  from  baIvTic  amber  357 

he  mentioned  these  structures  and  described  the  insect  as  immature. 
It  is,  however,  an  alate  specimen  which  has  lost  the  wings,  or  possibly 
an  intermediate,  for  the  structure  of  the  thorax  is  well  preserved  and 
the  ocelli  are  visible.  The  cornicles,  if  they  are  cornicles,  are  broad 
at  the  base,  short  and  somewhat  tapering.  The  cauda  seems  to  be 
knobbed  and  the  anal  plate  bilobed.  The  entire  insect  suggests  the 
genus  Euceraphis. 

A  detailed  reference  to  the  other  specimens  in  the  collection  could 
add  little  to  the  knowledge  already  available,  but  I  believe  that  the 
remarks  here  given,  together  with  the  detailed  description  of  the 
amber  species,  are  sufficient  to  support  the  view  that  Mindarus  is 
a  genus  formerly  dominant  but  now  represented  by  the  solitary,  cos- 
mopolitan, conifer-feeding  species  abietinus. 

The  descriptions  of  the  amber  species  given  herein  are  the  first  in 
which  any  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  the  more  minute  details 
of  structure  as  is  done  in  the  description  of  living  forms.  This  has 
been  possible  by  use  of  the  same  high  magnification  adopted  in  study- 
ing recent  aphids  and  the  employment  of  powerful  illumination.  Even 
with  the  best  Hght  available,  however,  certain  desirable  characters 
remain  obscured. 

Mindarus  magnus  Baker,  n.  sp. 

Alate  viviparous  female. — Head,  thorax,  and  appendages  appearing  as 
dark  brown.  Abdomen  yellowish,  possibly  greenish  in  life,  with  a  large 
dark  central  dorsal  marking  irregular  in  outline.  Wings  transparent,  the 
veins  and  stigma  brown. 

Length  from  vertex  to  tip  of  cauda  2  mm.,  width  of  head  across  the  eyes 
0.48  mm.  Fore  wing  (Fig.  1)  2.88  mm.  X  1.2  mm.  at  its  greatest  diameter. 
Hind  wing  1.28  X  0.56  mm.  Antenna  (fig.  3)  extending  about  to  the  wind 
insertions,  segment  III  0.24  mm.  with  9  or  10  transverse  sensoria,  IV  0.08 
mm.,  V  0.096  mm.,  VI  (0.112  -|-  0.048  mm.),  these  segments  distinctly  im- 
bricated and  bearing  the  usual  fringed  sensoria.  The  measurements  given 
for  the  antennal  segments  cannot  be  considered  absolutely  exact  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  perfectly  horizontal  in  the  amber.  In  the  second 
specimen,  segment  III  of  one  antenna  is  0.304  mm.  long  and  segment  IV 
appears  to  have  2  or  3  sensoria.  Cauda  and  anal  plate  not  distinctly  \isible 
but  apparently  as  in  Fig.  6,  cauda  possibly  more  extended  in  life.  Cor- 
nicles obscured.     Beak  long,  extending  to  about  the  middle  of  the  abdomen. 

Nymph. — What  is  possibly  the  2nd  instar  of  this  species  is  herewith  de- 
scribed. 

Length  from  vertex  to  tip  of  cauda  0.896  mm.  Length  from  vertex  to 
tip  of  beak  1.36  mm.  Antennal  segments  with  the  following  measurements: 
I  0.032  mm.,  II  0.048  mm..  Ill  0.032  mm.,  IV  0.032  mm.,  V  0.048  mm.,  IV 
(0.048  -f  0-048  mm.).  Form  elongate,  rather  slender,  segmentation  distinct, 
color  appearing  brownish. 

Mindarus  magnus  differs  from  M.  abietinus  in  being  much  larger,  in  having 
a  longer  beak  and  in  having  somewhat  stouter  and  relatively  shorter  antennae. 


358      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   15 

Described  from  three  specimens  in  as  many  blocks,  two  alate  specimens 
of  which  the  type  has  the  wings  spread  and  one  young  nym.ph.  The  type 
and  paratypes  are  temporarily  retained  in  the  author's  collection. 

Calaphis  scudderi  Baker,  n.  sp. 

Alate  viviparous  female. — Head,  thorax,  and  appendages  appearing  dark 
brown.  Wings  transparent  with  rather  heavy  veins.  Abdomen  brownish 
with  dark  markings  above. 

Length  from  vertex  to  tip  of  cauda  1.28  mm.  to  tip  of  wings  1.92  mm. 
Head  (fig.  11)  with  the  eyes  very  prominent  and  the  antennal  insertions  dis- 
tinctly transverse,  median  ocellus  outstanding.  Antenna  (fig.  9)  as  follows: 
III  0.352  mm.  with  a  row  of  sensoria  which  stand  out  distinctly,  IV  0.256 
mm.,  V  0.32  mm.,  VI  (0.08  +  0.864  mm.).  vSegments  distinctly  imbricated, 
the  distal  one  with  the  base  not  prominently  marked  off  from  the  unguis, 
in  this  respect  resembling  Monaphis  antennata  (Koch).  Cornicles  (fig.  7) 
faintly  visible  but  apparently  short,  somewhat  tapering,  with  a  slight  con- 
striction, and  a  large  opening.  Wings  not  unusual,  the  fore  wing  (fig.  10) 
showing  a  truncate  stigma  with  a  short  distally  set  radial  sector  which  is 
little  curved 

Cauda  and  anal  plate  (fig.  8)  not  clearly  visible,  but  the  anal  plate  some- 
what bilobed  and  the  cauda  from  the  visible  portion  in  all  probability  knobbed. 

Described  from  one  specimen  with  the  wings  folded  over  the  back.  Type 
temporarily  retained  in  the  author's  collection. 

I  have  placed  this  species  in  the  genus  Calaphis  because  it  seems  nearer 
this  than  to  any  described  and  I  am  loath  to  erect  a  new  one  for  its  reception. 
It  represents  a  type  of  insect  not  present  in  the  Florissant  material  but  which 
is  the  usual  type  of  living  forms.  This  is  especially  evident  in  the  wing,  in 
the  shape  of  the  stigma  and  the  radial  sector.  It  indicates  that  while  the 
more  primitive  forms  represented  by  Mindarus  are  present  in  the  Florissant 
beds  and  abundant  in  amber,  the  more  recent  type,  dominant  today,  appears 
only  in  the  amber. 

G'EOhOGY  .—The  Lower  Paleozoic  section  of  southeastern  Pennsylvania.'^ 
George  W.  Stose  and  Anna  I.  Jonas,  Geological  Survey. 

The  facts  here  presented  are  the  results  of  comprehensive  geologic 
studies  in  connection  with  detailed  surveys  in  southeastern  Pennsyl- 
vania by  the  writers  and  Eleanora  Bliss  Knopf  for  the  Federal  Geo- 
logical Survey  and  the  Pennsylvania  State  Geological  Survey.  A 
brief  preliminary  statement  of  the  Paleozoic  section  that  has  been 
worked  out  and  the  formation  names  that  have  been  applied  are  given 
in  this  paper. 

Twelve  miles  east  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  the  Cambrian  quartzites  of 
Welsh  Mountain  plunge  southwestward  beneath  the  limestones  of 
the  Lancaster  Valley  and  rise  again  a  few  miles  west  of  Lancaster  in 
the  Hellam-Chickies   Hills. 

1  Published  with  the  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  and  the 
State  Geologist  of  Pennsylvania.     Received  August  5,  1922. 


SEPT.   19,   1922      STOSE  AND  JONAS :   LOWER  PALEOZOIC  OF  PENNSYLVANIA        359 


The  divisions  recognized  in  the  quartzites  and  limestones  of  this 
area  and  described  below,  are  as  follows: 

Generalized  Columnar  Table 


Age 

Name 

Thickness  (ft.)                            Character  of  Rocks 

<-< 

M 

Conestoga  lime- 
stone (probably 
older  than, 
or  in  part 
equivalent  to, 
Cocalico 
shale) 

500  ± 

Dark  slaty  limestone,  coarse  limestone 
and  marble  conglomerate,  thin-bedded 
granular  blue  limestone,  and  thin 
graphitic  slate.  Contains  brachio- 
pods  and  crinoid  plates  and  stems  of 
probably  Chazy  age.  Overlaps  south- 
eastward on  all  formations  from  the 
Ledger  dolomite  to  the  Harpers 
schist. 

> 
o 

O 

Cocalico  shale 

1000  ± 

Dark  gray  shale  containing  grap- 
tolites  of  Normanskill  type  and 
thin  crinoidal  limestone  at  base ;  gray, 
green,  and  purple  slates  and  green 
impure  sandstone  above. 

B  eekmantown 
limestone 

2000  ± 

Light  blue  limestone  and  some  light 
gray  magnesian  limestone  and  dolo- 
mite, containing  a  little  chert.  Car- 
ries Beekmantown  fossils. 

c 

Conococheague 
limestone 

900  ± 

Massive  blue  limestone  containing 
Cryptozoon  reefs,  thin-bedded  wavy 
laminated  limestones,  sandstones  and 
sandy  conglomerates,  and   dolomite. 

c 

dJ    TO 

Elbrook 
dolomite 

500  ± 

1000  ± 

Cream-colored  to  white,  fine-grained 
impure  marble,  mostly  thinly  lami- 
nated ;  weathers  to  shaly  yellow  tripoli 
and  yellow  earthy  soil. 

6 

o 

o 

•o 

c 
o 

i- 

o 

+J 

c 

1—1 

'3 
cr 

W 

Ledger 
dolomite 

Granular,  gray  to  white  dolomite, 
mostly  thick-bedded,  some  beds  of 
which  are  siliceous  and  weather  to 
rust-stained    granular   cherty   layers. 

c 

a 

a! 
U 
u 

1 

Kinzers 
formation 

150 

Siliceous  banded  dark  blue  limestone, 
impure  dolomite  weathering  to  dense 
buff  tripoli,  spotted  white  marble 
with  wavy  impure  partings,  and  shale 
which  contains  an  Olenellus  fauna. 

h-I 

Vintage 
dolomite 

• 

500-650 

Massive,    glistening,    coarse-grained, 
dark  gray  dolomite,  weathering  whit- 
ish  with   scattered   crystalline  blebs, 
and   dark  blue    dolomite    with   argil- 
laceous  partings,    weathering  knotty 
or  lenticular. 

360      JOURNAI,  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   15 


- 

en 

3 

o  1 

u 
cc 
C 
u 

< 

Antietam 
quartzite 

Hellam- 
Chickies 
Hills 

200  ± 

Welsh 
Mtn. 

150  ± 

Vitreous  and  granular  impure  quartz- 
ite, the  upper  part  of  which  contains 
Oholella  and  trilobite  fragments. 

Harpers 
phyllite 

Chickies 
quartzite 

1000  ± 

1500± 

Greenish  gray  phyllite  or  biotite 
schist. 

J2 

B 
o 

(I 

1 

1000 

550 

Massive-bedded,  Scolit}ius-h&Q,r\ng, 
light-colored  vitreous  quartzite, 
grainy  quartzite  with  clear  quartz 
grains,  and  some  white  clay  beds  in 
upper  part. 

Hellam 

conglomerate 

member 

:  Unconformity 

(600) 

(150) 

Quartz  conglomerate,  grainy  quartz- 
ite with  rounded  clear  and  blue 
quartz  grains,  and  slate  chlorite 
schist  at  base  in  Hellam  Hills. 

Pre-Cambrian 

Greenstone  and  aporhyolite  in  Hellam 
Hills;  gneiss  and  granitic  rocks  in 
Welsh   Mountain  and  Barren  Hills. 

Most  of  the  Lower  Cambrian  arenaceous  series  is  well  exposed  in 
the  gorge  of  the  Susquehanna  River  through  the  Hellam-Chickies 
Hills.  The  quartzite  at  Chickies  Rock  has  been  called  Chickies  quartz- 
ite since  1878,  when  the  name  was  first  used  by  Lesley  and  Frazer; 
they  also  used  Hellam  quartzite  for  the  same  rocks  in  Hellam  Hills. 
Lesley  and  Frazer  applied  the  name  Chickies  (Chickis)  to  the  quartz- 
ite and  associated  "quartz  slate"  but  not  to  the  overlying  phyllite, 
and  later  Walcott  followed  the  same  usage,  applying  the  name  Chickies 
to  the  quartzite.  Conglomerate  at  the  base  of  the  arenaceous  series 
was  not  mentioned  by  these  early  writers  and  apparently  was  not  seen 
by  them,  as  it  is  not  exposed  at  Chickies  Rock.  It  is  brought  to  the 
surface  three  miles  to  the  west  in  the  midst  of  the  Hellam  Hills,  where 
the  anticline  rises  higher,  and  is  there  included  in  what  was  later 
called  by  Lesley  Chickies  quartzite.  These  basal  conglomeratic 
beds,  to  which  the  name  Hellam  conglomerate  member  is  here  applied, 
correspond  in  general  with  the  Weverton  and  Loudoun  formations 
of  South  Mountain.  The  Hellam  conglomerate  member  lies  on 
epidotic  amphibolite  schist  or  greenstone  and  aporhyolite,  which 
are  altered  volcanic  rocks  related  to  the  pre-Cambrian  metabasalt 
or  Catoctin  schist  and  aporhyolite  of  South  Mountain.  The  basal 
beds  of  the  conglomerate  here  are  chlorite  schist  which  contains  glassy 
quartz  grains  and  flat  fragments  of  chloritic  and  rhyolitic  schists, 


SEPT.   19,   1922      STOSE  AND  JONAS :    LOWER  PALEOZOIC  OF  PENNSYLVANIA        361 

apparently  pebbles  derived  from  the  disintegration  of  the  underlying 
greenstone  and  aporhyolite.  The  higher  beds  are  dark  slate  and 
pebbly  vitreous  quartzite  with  interbedded  coarse  conglomerate 
which  is  made  up  of  crowded  round  white  quartz  pebbles,  2  to  4  inches 
in  diameter,  in  a  sericitic  siliceous  matrix.  The  thickness  of  the 
Hellam  conglomerate  is  estimated  to  be  600  feet. 

The  Chickies  quartzite  as  exposed  in  Chickies  Rock  is  a  heavy- 
bedded  light-colored  vitreous  quartzite  and  grainy  quartzite  with 
slate  interbedded  near  the  top,  400  feet  thick.  The  quartzite  carries 
Scolithus  tubes  throughout.  It  is  similar  to  the  Montalto  quartzite 
member  of  the  Harpers  schist  of  South  Mountain  but  as  it  lies  at  the 
base  of  the  Harpers  and  not  in  its  midst,  it  is  probably  not  the  exact 
equivalent  of  the  Montalto.  The  Chickies  quartzite,  including  the 
Hellam  conglomerate  member,  is  about  1000  feet  thick. 

The  Harpers  formation  of  the  Hellam- Chickies  Hills  is  a  greenish 
gray  phylHte  with  some  biotite.^  The  bedding  of  the  phyllite  cannot 
be  determined  in  most  places,  but  the  interbedded  quartzite  layers 
show  several  close  folds.  Although  the  thickness  cannot  be  accurately 
determined  it  is  estimated  to  be  1000  feet.  The  phyllite  is  overlain  by 
light  gray,  somewhat  calcareous,  vitreous  and  granular  impure  quartz- 
ites,  about  200  feet  thick,  some  of  the  upper  beds  of  which  weather 
to  a  laminated,  porous,  highly  ferruginous  rock.  These  upper  beds 
have  the  characteristics  of  certain  fossiliferous  beds  of  the  Antietam 
sandstone  of  South  Mountain,  and  their  bedding  surfaces  show  nu- 
merous rusty  molds  of  Ohelella  and  trilobite  fragments.  This  quartzite 
is  therefore  equivalent  to  the  Antietam  sandstone  (quartzite)  of 
South  Mountain. 

The  senior  author  has  recognized  in  Welsh  Mountain  and  vicinity 
the  same  divisions  of  the  Lower  Cambrian  arenaceous  series  as  are 
found  in  the  Hellam-Chickies  Hills.  The  Hellam  conglomerate 
member  in  Welsh  Mountain  is  made  up  of  a  grainy  to  finely  conglom- 
eratic quartzite  and  coarse  quartzose  conglomerate  at  the  base, 
some  of  the  pebbles  of  which  are  of  clear  blue  quartz.  The  chloritic 
schist  which  occurs  at  the  base  of  the  section  in  the  Hellam  anticline 
is  here  absent  because  the  pre-Cambrian  rocks  of  the  Welsh  Mountain 
region  from  which  the  arenaceous  Cambrian  rocks  were  derived  is 

'  The  rock  of  the  Harpers  formation  in  the  Hellam-Chickies  and  Welsh  Motmtain  anti- 
clines is  referred  to  here  as  a  phyllite  to  distinguish  it  from  the  more  metamorphosed  rock 
on  the  flanks  of  Mine  Ridge,  which  is  a  schist.  The  senior  author  would  prefer  to  use  the 
term  Harpers  schist  in  both  areas,  which  name  he  has  used  in  previous  publications  on  the 
South  Mountain. 


362      JOURNAL  OF  THK  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  15 

composed  of  an  igneous  complex  of  plutonic  rocks  and  old  sediments 
among  which  there  are  no  greenstone  schists.  The  pre-Cambrian, 
however  contains  conspicuous  veins  of  glassy  blue  quartz,  pebbles  of 
which  are  inclosed  in  the  basal  Cambrian  sediments.  The  conglom- 
erate is  well  exposed  near  the  sand  mines  northwest  of  Honeybrook, 
where  it  is  only  150  feet  thick. 

In  Welsh  Mountain  the  lower  part  of  the  quartzite  above  the  con- 
glomerate is  vitreous  and  the  upper  part  is  granular,  both  carrying 
Scolithus  tubes.  The  granular  quartzite  is  generally  disintegrated 
at  the  surface  and  is  quarried  for  sand.  It  passes  upward  into  a  fine- 
grained, white,  siliceous,  laminated  clay,  which  is  also  mined.  Four 
hundred  feet  of  the  formation  has  been  measured  in  quarries  and  other 
good  exposures.  The  Harpers  phyllite,  estimated  to  be  about  1,500 
feet  thick,  is  composed  of  gray  sandy  phyllite.  At  the  top  the  phyllite 
is  interbedded  with  light  gray,  granular  quartzite  which  weathers 
to  a  porous  rusty  rock  containing  molds  of  Obolella  and  trilobite  frag- 
ments. About  150  feet  of  the  upper  quartzose  beds  are  probably 
equivalent   to   the   Antietam   sandstone   of   South   Mountain. 

The  arenaceous  series  of  the  Hellam-Chickies  and  the  Welsh  Mountain 
anticlines  is  overlain  by  the  limestones  of  Lancaster  Valley.  The 
Vintage  dolomite,  the  oldest  of  these  limestones,  is  in  part  a  gray, 
heavy-bedded  dolomite,  which  weathers  to  a  whitish  chalky  surface, 
and  in  part  a  knotty,  dark  blue  dolomite  with  argillaceous  partings. 
Some  of  the  beds  are  sparkling,  gray  to  blue  mottled,  with  siliceous 
and  calcareous  blebs  that  stand  in  relief  on  the  weathered  surfaces. 
At  the  base  is  a  whitish,  schistose,  thin-bedded  impure  dolomite  con- 
taining muscovite  flakes.  This  formation  closely  resembles  the  Toms- 
town  dolomite  on  the  northwest  flanks  of  South  Mountain.  It, 
however,  is  known  to  represent  only  a  part  of  the  Tomstown  dolomite 
and  is  therefore  named  Vintage  dolomite  from  the  small  village  15 
miles  east  of  Lancaster,  where  most  of  it  the  section  excellently  ex- 
posed in  a  cut  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

The  Kinzers  formation  which  overlies  the  Vintage  is  best  exposed 
in  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  cut  at  Kinzers  just  east  of  Vintage. 
At  the  base  there  are  a  few  thin  beds  of  impure  dolomite  that  weather 
to  an  earthy  tripoli,  containing  at  many  places  remains  of  Salterella, 
brachiopods,  and  trilobites.  These  beds  are  followed  by  a  variable 
thickness  of  blue  hackly  shale  as  much  as  50  feet  thick  in  places. 
Northwest  of  Lancaster  this  shale  carries  abundant  trilobites  chiefly 
Olenellus,  described  by  Walcott  and  extensively  collected  by  Professor 


SEPT.  19,  1922      STOSE  AND  JONAS :    LOWER  PALEOZOIC  OF  PENNSYLVANIA      363 

Roddy  of  Millersville,  Pa.  Above  the  shale  is  a  variable  series  of 
dark  banded  argillaceous  dolomite  that  weathers  to  a  tough,  buff, 
ribbed,  argillaceous  rock,  sparingly  fossiliferous.  Some  beds  are  an 
intimate  mixture  of  nodular  white  granular  dolomite  marble  and 
dark  impure  dolomite  that  weathers  to  a  knotty  pseudo-conglomerate 
of  white  marble.  South  of  Welsh  Mountain  the  Kinzers  formation 
is  much  thinner,  in  places  not  more  than  25  feet  thick,  and  the  shale 
horizon  there  is  not  a  prominent  feature  of  the  formation.  Although 
no  one  section  clearly  exposes  all  the  different  beds  of  the  formation, 
the  section  at  the  Kinzers  cut  is  so  nearly  complete  that  it  is  here 
given  in  detail. 

Partial  Section  of  Kinzers  Formation  in  Railroad  Cut,  Kinzers,  Pa. 

Feet 

Dark  blue  limestone  with  wavy  impure  partings 10 

Thick-bedded  light  gray  dolomite 12 

Dark -blue  limestone  with  wavy  impure  partings 6 

White  spotted  marble  with  wavy  buff  dolomite  partings 8 

Blue  limestone  banded  with  slightly  wavy  siliceous  layers 10 

Highly  siliceous  banded  dark  limestone,  weathering  to  skeleton 

of  buff  siliceous  network 8 

Impure  thick-bedded  dolomite,  weathering  to  dense  buff  tripoli       3 

White  spotted  marble  with  even  buff  dolomite  banding 8 

Wavy  banded  blue  limestone,  numerous  argillaceous  partings. .  10 

Crumbly,  fissile,  dark  shale,  weathering  spheroidal 50  =•= 

Impure  dolomite,  weathering  to   buff   tripoli    and    containing 

few  trilobite  fragments  and  Salter ella 7 

Massive  light  blue  dolomite  (Vintage)  — 

132± 

The  Ledger  dolomite,  which  overlies  the  Kinzers  formation,  is  a 
granular  gray  to  white  dolomite,  generally  thick-bedded  with  few 
bedding  planes.  Because  the  bedding  cannot  be  determined  in  many 
of  its  exposures  and  because  outcrops  are  few  owing  to  the  readiness 
with  which  the  dolomite  weathers  to  a  granular  red  clay  soil,  its  thick- 
ness cannot  be  exactly  determined.  It  is  apparently  about  1,000 
feet  thick.  Although  fossils  have  not  been  found  in  the  Ledger  dolo- 
mite, it  together  with  the  underlying  Kinzers  formation  and  Vintage 
dolomite  are  believed  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the  Tomstown  dolomite 
of  Cumberland  County.  It  is  named  from  Ledger,  3  miles  northeast 
of  Kinzers. 

The  Elbrook  dolomite,  which  overlies  the  Ledger  dolomite  north 
and  northeast  of  Lancaster,  is  an  impure,  white  to  cream-colored, 
fine-grained  dolomite  marble  which  splits  to  fine  plates  and  leaves 
on  weathering  and  eventually  breaks  down  to  fragments  of  soft  buff 


364      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   15 

tripoli  and  earthy  yellow  soil.  It  closely  resembles  the  Elbrook 
limestone  of  Cumberland  County  and  is  correlated  with  it.  The 
Waynesboro  formation,  a  purplish  sandy  shale  which  lies  between 
the  Tomstown  and  Elbrook  formations  in  Cumberland  County  but 
which  dies  out  northeastward  near  the  Susquehanna  River,  is  evi- 
dently not  present  in  this  area.  Because  of  poor  exposures,  the  thick- 
ness of  the  Elbrook  formation  cannot  be  determined  but  it  is  estimated 
to  be  about  500  feet. 

The  Elbrook  is  succeeded  by  a  series  of  limestones  comprising 
thick  pure  light  gray  limestones  which  are  apparently  largely  Cryp- 
tozoon  reefs,  thin-bedded  finely  laminated  wavy  limestones  of  related 
organic  origin,  sandy  conglomerate  beds  which  weather  to  pitted 
porous  sandstone,  and  dark  blue  impure  dolomite.  This  formation 
corresponds  to  the  Conococheague  limestone  of  Cumberland  County. 
As  many  of  its  beds  weather  to  earthy  yellow  soil  similar  to  that  of 
the  Elbrook  dolomite  it  cannot  readily  be  distinguished  from  that 
formation  on  upland  surfaces.     It  is  estimated  to  be  900  feet  thick. 

Overlying  the  Conococheague  are  well-bedded  pure  blue  limestones 
and  magnesian  limestones  containing  gasteropods.  The  fossils  and 
the  lithologic  characters  determine  the  formation  to  be  Beekmantown. 
The  Beekmantown  limestone  is  estimated  to  be  about  2,000  feet  thick. 

The  Beekmantown  limestone  is  overlain  by  a  dark  gray  shale, 
gray,  green,  and  purple  slates,  and  soft  greenish  impure  sandstone. 
The  dark  shales  contain  graptolites  of  Normanskill  type  and  have 
at  their  base  thin  crinoidal  limestones  which  are  also  fossiliferous. 
It  is  probably  at  least  1,000  feet  thick.  It  is  named  Cocalico  shale 
from  the  creek  which  exposes  the  shale  where  its  relation  to  the  under- 
lying Beekmantown  limestone  is  well  shown. 

South  of  the  Hellam-Chickies  Hills  and  Welsh  Mountain  there  is 
a  dark  slaty  and  conglomeratic  limestone  formation  that  develops 
to  great  thickness  south  of  Lancaster  and  eventually  supplants  all 
other  limestones.  Eleanora  Bliss  Knopf  and  Anna  I.  Jonas  have 
called  it  in  manuscript  the  Conestoga  limestone.  It  has  been  traced 
and  studied  by  them  from  Lancaster  southward  to  Quarr}'ville  and 
into  Chester  Valley,  but  its  relations  are  not  there  revealed.  It  was 
named  Conestoga  limestone  because  of  excellent  outcrops  along 
Conestoga  Creek,  south  of  Lancaster.  The  Conestoga  limestone  is 
made  up  of  thin-bedded  dark  slaty  limestone,  coarse  conglomerate 
or  breccia  of  limestone  and  marble  pebbles  and  fragments,  thin-bedded 
blue  crystalline  limestone,  and  thin,  dark,  graphitic  slate.     Its  total 


SEPT.  19,  1922      STOSE  AND  JONAS:   LOWER  PALEOZOIC  OF  PENNSYLVANIA      365 

thickness  is  not  known,  but  it  is  probably  several  hundred  feet.  The 
marble  conglomerates  that  occur  at  or  near  the  base  were  described 
by  Walcott'^  as  intraformational  conglomerates  in  the  Lower  Cambrian 
sediments.  At  the  Bellemont  quarries,  12  miles  southeast  of  Lan- 
caster, one  of  the  many  excellent  exposures,  the  conglomerates  occur 
at  about  the  horizon  of  the  banded  dark  blue  argillaceous  limestone 
and  knotty  white-marble  pseudo-conglomerate  beds  of  the  Kinzers 
formation,  and  at  first  were  regarded  by  the  writers  as  an  expansion 
of  this  formation.  Later  work  in  other  parts  of  the  region  has  shown 
that  the  Conestoga  limestone  is  an  overlapping  and  much  younger 
formation.  In  the  northeastern  outskirts  of  Lancaster,  the  coarse 
basal  limestone  conglomerate  clearly  fills  depressions  in  the  upper 
surface  of  the  Ledger  dolomite.  North  of  Vintage,  it  overlaps  on 
the  Kinzers  formation.  At  the  Bellemont  quarries  it  lies  on  the  Vin- 
tage dolomite.  Five  miles  south  of  Vintage  it  overlaps  on  the  Harpers 
schist.  The  basal  beds  of  the  Conestoga  are  so  variable  that  no 
consecutive  section  has  been  recognized  for  any  distance,  a  fact  that 
made  it  very  difficult  to  distinguish  the  formation  from  the  limestone 
on  which  it  rests  and  to  draw  its  boundary  with  certainty  at  many 
places.  The  characters  of  the  basal  beds  of  the  Conestoga  vary 
with  the  formation  on  which  they  overlap  and  from  which  they  were 
largely  derived. 

West  and  north  of  Welsh  Mountain  the  section  is  continuous  from 
the  Vintage  dolomite  up  to  the  Beekmantown  limestone  with  no  indi- 
<:ation  of  Conestoga  type  of  sedimentation,  and  as  the  Conestoga  is 
known  to  unconformably  overlie  the  Ledger,  it  is  believed  to  be  younger 
than  the  Beekmantown.  A  few  brachiopods  and  crinoid  plates  and 
stems  recently  found  by  the  writers  in  the  lower  beds  of  the  Cone- 
stoga limestone  east  of  York,  Pa. ,  have  been  identified  by  Ulrich  as  forms 
found  in  the  Frederick  limestone  of  Frederick  Valley  which  is  probably 
of  Chazy  age.  The  Frederick  limestone  also  somewhat  resembles 
the  Conestoga  limestone  in  appearance  and  they  are  probably  in  part 
equivalent,  but  the  greater  thickness  and  extent  of  the  lime-stones 
to  which  the  name  Conestoga  is  applied  are  believed  to  warrant  a  sep- 
arate formation  name.  The  Frederick  limestone  rests  on  Beekman- 
town limestone  in  Frederick  Valley  and  the  Cocalico  shale  rests  on 
the  Beekmantown  northeast  of  Lancaster.  The  Conestoga  limestone, 
which  is  an  argillaceous  limestone  with  many  shaly  beds,  may  therefore 
be  in  part  the  southeastward  representative  of  part  of  the  Cocalico  shale. 

3  C.  D.  Walcott.     U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Bull.  134:   17-19.     1896. 


366      JOURNAI^  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOIv.  12,  NO.  15 

It  is  concluded,  therefore,  that  in  post-Beekmantown  time,  pre- 
ceding Conestoga  deposition,  the  southern  part  of  the  area  was  up- 
lifted and  the  older  formations  were  successively  exposed  by  erosion 
from  the  Ledger  dolomite  near  Lancaster  to  the  Harpers  schist  at 
Mine  Ridge,  and  that  the  Conestoga  formation  was  then  laid  down 
across  the  eroded  edges  of  these  formations,  the  waste  from  the  re- 
spective underlying  formations  being  incorporated  in  its  basal  beds. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

Dr.  Lewis  M.  Hull,  who  for  several  years  has  been  engaged  in  studies  of 
electron  tubes  in  the  radio  laboratory  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  has  re- 
signed to  accept  a  position  as  Director  of  Research  of  the  Radio  Frequency 
Laboratories,  Inc.,  of  Boonton,  N.  J. 

E.  A.  ScHWARZ  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  at 
the  commencement  exercises  of  the  University  of  Maryland  on  June   10. 

Norman  Snyder,  a  member  of  the  scientific  staff  of  the  Radio  Laboratory 
of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  left  the  Bureau  June  1st  for  a  leave  of  absence 
of  several  months.  During  this  time  Mr.  Snyder  will  be  with  the  Research 
Laboratory  of  the  General  Electric  Co.  at  Schenectady,  where  he  will  work 
on  electron  tube  problems. 

Paul  C.  StandlEy,  of  the  National  Museum,  returned  to  Washington 
in  June  from  several  months'  botanical  collecting  in  El  Salvador  and  Guate- 
mala. 

Dr.  Knud  Stephensen  of  the  Zoological  Museum  at  Copenhagen,  well 
known  for  his  biological  survey  of  the  Brede  Fjord  in  southwestern  Green- 
land and  for  his  studies  on  the  Crustacea,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Taaning 
and  Olsen,  recently  visited  the  National  Museum. 

Dr.  Richard  C.  Tolman  has  resigned  as  director  of  the  Fixed  Nitrogen 
Research  Laboratory  to  take  a  position  in  the  California  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology.    He  is  succeeded  by  Dr.  F.  G.  Cottrell. 

E.  D.  Williamson,  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory,  left  Washington  in 
July  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association,  where  he  will  present 
a  paper  on  the  high  pressure  work  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory. 


JOURNAL  ^J'Tv. 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  October  4,  1922  No.  16 


ZOOLOGY. — The  possibility  of  control  of  Heterodera  radicicola  and 
other  plant-injurious  nemas  by  means  of  predatory  nemas,  especially 
by  Mononchus  papillatus  Bastian.'^  G.  Steiner  and  HELEN 
Heinly.     (Communicated  by  N.  A.  Cobb.) 

I.  INTRODUCTION 

The  investigations,  the  results  of  which  are  described  in  this  paper, 
were  carried  on  from  December,  1921  to  the  end  of  May,  1922,  in  the 
Osborn  Zoological  Laboratory  of  Yale  University,  in  collaboration  with 
the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  work  was  outlined  by  Dr. 
N.  A.  Cobb  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry.  As  the  investigations 
were  of  a  novel  nature,  numerous  methods  for  the  rearing  of  nemas  had 
to  be  worked  out.  A  large  quantity  of  soil-material  was  collected  and 
washed  by  a  combination  of  the  sieve  method  described  in  an  earlier 
paper  by  Cobb  (7)  and  the  well  known  gravity-method.  The  daily 
control  of  the  cultures,  transferring  the  predatory  nemas  to  fresh 
conditions,  keeping  records  of  the  victims  and  adding  a  fresh  supply 
of  food  requires  much  time  and  patience.  Heterodera  radicicola 
material  was  kindly  sent  to  us  by  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Station 
and  from  the  Plant  Introduction  Garden  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Brooksville,  Florida.  We  wish  here  to  express  our  appreciation 
for  this  assistance.  We  feel  indebted  to  the  authorities  of  Yale 
University,  particularly  the  Osborn  Zoological  Department,  for  their 
permission  to  carry  on  our  work  and  for  their  cordial  cooperation. 

II.  THE  PROBLEM 

Numerous  methods  of  control  of  plant  injurious  nemas  have  been 
described  in  the  past.  Although  some  of  these  methods  are  very  useful, 
yet  the  fact  remains  that  today  the  damage  done  by  nema-pests  is 
enormous  and  is  still  increasing. 

In  recent  years  the  study  of  free-living  nemas  has  been  greatly 
increased,  and  as  a  result  the  problems  connected  with  nema-pests 

*  From  the  Osborn  Zoological  Laboratory,  Yale  University,    New  Haven,   Conn.,  in 
collaboration  with  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.     Received  September  9,  1922. 

367 


368      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   16 

have  acquired  a  new  aspect.  It  was  shown  by  Cobb  (4,5,6),  Menzel 
(13)  and  other  investigators  that  there  are  in  the  soil  certain  species, 
and  even  whole  genera,  of  nemas,  which  in  some  cases  are,  and  in  others 
may  be,  predatory  and  doubtless  at  least  occasionally,  are  feeding  on 
other  kinds  of  nemas,  and  even  species  known  as  nema-pests.  Cobb 
recorded  a  series  of  such  observations  (4)  and  suggested  first  the  possi- 
bility of  using  these  predatory  nemas  as  a  means  of  decreasing  the 
number  of  plant  injurious  nemas  in  the  soil. 

In  a  more  recent  paper  Dr.  Menzel  (13)  compiled  all  the  recorded 
facts  and  observations  on  food  and  feeding  habits  from  the  literature  on 
free-living  nemas.  He  performed  also  some  experiments  with  a  species 
of  Mononchus,  corroborating  the  observations  of  Cobb.  He  observed 
that  Mononchus  papillatus,  brought  together  with  Tylenchus  sp., 
Plectus  auriculatus,  Tripyla  media  and  Anguillula  aceti,  attacked  these 
forms,  and  killed  them  either  by  sucking  out  their  vitals,  or  by  swallow- 
ing  them   whole. 

Cobb  therefore  advocated  an  investigation  of  the  relationship  be- 
tween predatory  Mononchus  species  and  other  soil-inhabiting  and 
plant-infesting  nemas,  especially  Heterodera.  If  possible  the  investiga- 
tions should  show  to  what  extent  the  above  mentioned  facts  regarding 
the  feeding  habits  of  some  mononchs  are  a  true  expression  of  the  life 
habits  of  these  animals.  If  they  prove  to  be  a  true  expression,  methods 
for  the  propagating  and  rearing  of  Mononchus  should  be  studied  with 
the  view  to  applying  the  results  for  practical  purposes  in  agriculture, 
especially  for  fighting  the  root-knot  nema,  Heterodera  radicicola. 

The  first  thing  for  us  to  find  out  was  the  life  history,  food,  and  feeding 
habits  of  the  predatory  mononchs.  We  chose  for  our  investigations 
Mononchus  papillatus  Bastian,  a  species  which  appeared  to  be  best 
fitted,  first  because  it  seemed  one  of  the  easiest  to  obtain,  being  among 
the  commonest  of  mononchs,  and  second  because  many  observations 
have  been  made  on  the  voracity  of  this  form. 

Recent  investigators  (1-3,  8-12  and  14-18)  have  reared  free-living 
nemas,  but  as  far  as  we  know,  mostly  forms  which  feed  on  decaying 
matter,  and  therefore  in  most  cases  easily  reared  in  a  small  amount  of 
suitable  medium  on  slides  or  in  watchglasses.  Berliner  and  Busch 
and  also  Byars  were  the  first  who  used  agar  as  a  culture  medium  for 
true  soil  nemas,  although  the  nemas  they  experimented  on  were  plant- 
parasites,  namely:  Heterodera  schachtii  and  Heterodera  radicicola. 
They  planted  seeds  of  oats,  etc.  on  agar  and  then  nematized  it  with 
eggs  and  larvae  of  Heterodera. 


OCT.  4,   1922         STEINER  AND  HElNIvY :    CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NEMAS  369 

There  have  been  seen  no  published  statements  made  concerning  the 
culture  of  predatory  soil  nemas.  Menzel  seems  to  have  kept  Monon- 
chus  papillatus  specimens  for  only  a  short  time  in  a  small  amount  of 
water,  simply  in  order  to  perform  his  experiments  on  their  feeding 
habits.  Therefore,  it  was  first  necessary  to  invent  simple  and  practical 
methods  for  rearing  mononchs. 

III.      METHODS     OF     CULTURE     OF     MONONCHUS     PAPILLATUS     BASTIAN 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  rearing  minute  soil  organisms,  especially 
soil  nemas,  is  to  devise  a  culture  medium  permitting  at  any  time  the 
study  and  inspection  of  the  reared  animals  and  offering  as  far  as  possible 
natural  conditions.  Soil,  however,  even  in  small  quantities,  is  not 
transparent.  If  then,  the  organism  to  be  cultured  is  to  be  continuously 
observed,  ordinary  soil  cannot  be  used  as  a  culture  medium.' 

A.  Culture  in  a  drop  of  water  on  a  concave  slide. — The  first  attempt 
to  rear  the  mononchs  was  in  a  small  drop  of  water  on  a  concave  slide. 
Mononchus  papillatus  specimens  at  different  stages  of  growth  were 
isolated  in  water-drop  cultures,  and  Heterodera  larvae,  different  species 
of  Rhabditis  or  Anguillula  aceti,  added  as  food.  By  this  method  it  was 
possible  to  keep  mononchs  alive  for  from  one  to  three  weeks,  if  the 
water  was  changed  daily.  In  cultures  of  this  sort  the  mononchs  seemed 
to  remain  in  very  good  condition  for  several  days;  they  were  easy  to 
observe  and  study,  and  it  was  not  difficult  to  get  a  record  of  the 
number  of  nemas  eaten  or  destroyed  by  them.  However,  after  a  short 
time  had  elapsed,  all  animals  reared  in  pure  water  cultures  became 
sluggish  and  finally  died. 

B.  Culture  on  concave  slides  with  soil  and  water. — After  a  number  of 
failures  with  the  foregoing  method,  we  tried  to  get  more  natural 
conditions  by  adding  small  quantities  of  soil  to  the  drop  of  water  on  the 
concave  slide.  It  was  seen  immediately  that  the  nemas  under  such 
conditions  grew  better,  and  could  be  kept  alive  for  a  much  longer  time . 
After  some  experience,  we  were  able  to  rear  the  mononchs  by  this 
method  from  the  first  larval  stage  up  to  the  adult  stage  and  even  to  the 
point  of  producing  eggs.     The  following  points  should  be  kept  in  view. 

1.  In  order  to  render  the  observations  comparatively  eas}^  only  a 
small  quantity  of  soil  should  be  used.  A  larger  amount  of  soil  furnishes 
a  much  better  medium  for  the  nemas,  but  the  investigator  will  have 
difficulty  in  finding  and  controlling  them.  By  trials,  any  investigator 
can  find  the  best  amount  of  soil. 

2.  The  nature  of  the  soil  is  not  of  great  importance.     Our  experi- 


370      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  16 

ments  showed  that  sandy  soil  as  well  as  other  kinds  may  be  used. 

3.  It  should  be  seen  to  that  the  soil  be  free  from  decaying  matter. 

4.  If  possible  the  water,  and  even  the  soil,  should  be  changed 
daily.  Mononchus  papillatus  seems  to  be  very  susceptible  to  any 
pollution,  especially  bacterial  {B.  subtilis  typ.). 

It  seems  very  astonishing  at  first  that  the  simple  addition  of  a  small 
amount  of  soil  should  be  of  such  great  importance  to  the  growth  and 
life  of  these  nemas.  It  was  found  that  soil  was  absolutely  essential 
for  the  keeping  alive  of  newly  hatched  larvae  and  for  rearing  them. 

C.  The  agar-cuUure  method. — In  1914  Berliner  and  Busch  described 
a  method  for  rearing  Heterodera  schachiii  Schmidt  on  agar  plates. 
Agar  was  carefully  washed,  sterilized  and  poured  into  petri  dishes. 
Sterilized  seeds  of  oats,  turnips,  beets  and  different  varieties  of  vetch 
and  clover  were  planted  on  the  agar  and  eggs  or  larvae  of  Heterodera 
schachtii  added.  This  seemed  to  be  a  very  simple  and  useful  method 
also  for  our  purpose,  it  being  only  necessary  to  add  the  mononchs  to 
get  a  complete  food  cycle, — Heterodera  feeding  on  the  roots  of  the 
growing  plant  and  Mononchus  feeding  on  Heterodera.  Byars  in  1914 
also  described  a  similar  method  for  rearing  Heterodera  radicicola. 
Had  good  results  been  obtained,  it  would  have  shown  very  beautifully 
the  relationship  between  these  two  forms  of  soil  nemas ;  but  difficulties 
soon  arose.  In  the  first  place  Heterodera  radicicola,  the  form  used  for 
infecting  the  roots,  did  not  attack  them  (oats,  cucumbers)  and  up  to 
the  present  time  our  experiments  along  this  line  have  not  been  satis- 
f actor)/.  The  mononchs  were  already  feeding  on  the  Heterodera 
and  seemed  to  thrive  in  the  agar,  moving  constantly  around, 
even  laying  a  number  of  eggs.  So  we  added  more  food  for 
them,  consisting  of  Rhabditis  pellio,  Rh.  elegans,  Anguillula  aceti,  and 
Heterodera  radicicola.  By  this  time  the  bacterial  infection  of  the  plate 
grew  so  heavy  that  the  mononchs  died.  Young  larvae  already 
hatched  from  the  eggs  also  died,  even  in  freshly  prepared  and  non- 
infected  agar.  Thus  it  seems  to  us  that  the  agar  method  may  be  used 
only  for  larvae  a  week  or  more  old,  and  adults,  and  then  the  agar 
should  be  changed  every  eight  to  fourteen  days. 

A  further  inconvenience  consisted  in  the  size  of  the  plate,  since  on 
even  the  smallest  plates  it  was  quite  difficult  to  find  the  nemas  and 
eggs  again,  because  of  the  rapid  wandering  of  the  former  through  the 
agar  and  the  minuteness  of  the  latter. 

The  second  method,  that  of  using  concave  slides  with  a  small 
quantity  of  soil  in  a  drop  of  water,  seemed  best  fitted  for  our  purpose, 


OCT.  4,  1922         STEINER  AND  HEINLY :    CONTROIv  OF  INJURIOUS  NEMAS 


371 


especially  in  the  matter  of  keeping  records  of  the  rate  of  growth  and  the 
number  of  animals  destroyed. 

D.  The  tube-culture  method. — Desiring  to  control  the  results  of  our 
slide  cultures,  we  started,  after  several  other  experiments,  with  cultures 
in  a  larger  amount  of  soil  in  small  glass  tubes,  which  were  placed  in 
holes  bored  in  a  small  block  of  wood,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1.     A  small 


wrrrr 

^P^«H^9n^PK||||^| 

Fig. 


1.     Wooden  block  and  glass-tubes  with  soil  contents  illustrat- 
ing the  tube-culture  method  of  rearing  mononchs. 


amount  of  sterilized  soil  was  placed  in  each  of  these  tubes,  moisture 
added,  as  well  as  the  mononch  to  be  reared,  and  a  daily  supply  of 
Rhabditis,  Anguilhda  or  Heterodera  as  food.  The  tubes  were  kept  in  a 
moist  chamber.  If  a  large  amount  of  soil  was  used  it  was  not  necessary 
to  renovate  the  tubes  for  several  weeks,  but  if  a  smaller  amount 
was  used,  a  weekly  change  was  required.  The  chief  aim  was  to  secure 
conditions  for  the  mononchs  as  near  as  possible  to  those  found  in  the 
soil  of  fields. 

Under  these  conditions  it  was  possible  to  rear  Mononchus  papillatus 
in  a  shorter  time  than  on  concave  slides.  A  larger  number  of  eggs  was 
also  produced.  If  a  sufficient  amount  of  food  was  added,  numerous 
mononchs  could  be  reared  together  in  the  same  tube,  without  their 
attacking  each  other. 

The  best  method  for  inspecting  a  tube  was  to  pour  the  contents  into 
one  or  more  large  watchglasses  and  then  dilute  with  a  large  quantity  of 
water.  If  this  was  not  done,  eggs  and  larval  forms  easily  escaped 
notice. 

E.  Remarks  on  flower-pot  and  field  experiments. — Finally  a  series  of 
host-plant  experiments  were  also  performed.  Flower  pots  and  soil  were 
sterilized  in  an  autoclave,  and  sterilized  seeds  of  oatS,  tomato  and 
cucumber,  planted.  The  seeds  were  sterilized  according  to  the  pre- 
soak  method,  a  one -tenth  per  cent  solution  of  commercial  formalin 
being  used.  After  the  first  roots  were  formed  and  the  growth  began, 
the  plants  were  infected  with  a  certain  number  of  Heterodera  radicicola 
and  also  Mononchus  papillatus  added  at  the  same  time.     Unfortunately 


372      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   16 

we  worked  with  too  small  a  supply  of  animals,  and  could  not  get 
noticeable  results  within  the  short  time  available.  The  roots  were 
attacked  by  Heterodera  but  the  effect  of  the  Mononchus  was  not  deter- 
mined. With  further  experiments  along  this  line,  it  should  be  quite 
possible  to  observe  results  from  the  external  appearance  of  the  host 
plants. 

IV.      THE  LIFE-HISTORY  OF  MONONCHUS  PAPILLATUS  BASTIAN 

Comparatively  little  is  accurately  known  about  the  life-history  of 
free-living  nematodes.  About  the  only  forms  that  have  been  studied 
are  those  living  on  decaying  matter,  such  as  species  of  Rhabditis, 
Cephalobus,  Plectus  and  Diplogaster.  Most  of  these  genera  have  a  very 
rapid  development  and  are  in  this  way  somewhat  adapted  to  the 
ephemeras  of  dead  and  decaying  bodies  that  serve  as  food.  From  a 
study  of  these  forms  it  would  be  impossible  to  generalize  and  state  that 
all  soil  or  free-living  nematodes  have  a  rapid  development  and  short 
life.  The  results  we  obtained  in  rearing  Mononchus  papillatus  showed 
that  the  life  of  this  form  may  be  of  considerable  length,  and  the  same 
thing  may  be  true  of  many  of  the  other  soil  nematodes. 

In  order  to  judge  the  value  of  M.  papillaius  for  fighting  other 
nematodes  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  complete  knowledge  of  its  life 
history,  the  time  required  to  reach  the  adult  stage,  the  number  of  eggs 
produced  and  the  length  of  life  after  the  cessation  of  egg  production. 

Nematodes  live  in  the  soil  as  members  of  an  association  of  living 
forms,  among  which  there  exist  interrelationships.  It  is  important 
to  know  what  effect  Mononchus  as  a  predatory  form  may  have  on  the 
associated  nematode  population  of  the  soil,  and  especially  its  influence 
on  the  diminution  of  forms  causing  root-knot  and  similar  diseases; 
if  the  monoch  has  a  high  rate  of  propagation,  and  lives  for  a  long  time, 
it  has  naturally  a  more  rapid  and  beneficial  effect. 

A.  The  hermaphroditism  of  Mononchus  papillatus. — Hermaphrodit- 
ism in  numerous  species  of  the  genus  Mononchus  was  first  observed 
by  Cobb.  Males  have  been  described  in  very  few  species,  and  seem 
to  be  extremely  rare  in  most  of  them.  A  gradation  exists  in  this 
genus  similar  to  that  found  in  the  genera  Rhabditis  and  Diplogaster, 
where  we  find  some  species  in  which  there  is  an  equal  number  of  males 
and  females,  some  in  which  from  ten  per  cent  to  forty  per  cent  or  more 
are  males,  some  species  in  which  not  even  one  per  cent  are  to  be  found 
and  still  others  in  which  males  seem  never  to  occur. 

Conditions  similar  to  these  are  found  in  the  genus  Mononchus: 
the  Antarctic  M.  gerlachei  seems  to  produce  an  equal  number  of  males 


OCT.  4,   1922         STEINER  AND  HEINLY:    CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NEMAS  373 

and  females, — males  are  rare  in  M.  ohtusus  and  in  most  of  the  species 
they  have  not  yet  been  found. 

Hermaphroditism  in  Mononchus  papillatus  is  of  some  importance 
in  our  problem,  as  every  individual  is  able  to  reproduce,  not  being 
dependent  upon  the  presence  of  the  other  sex  for  propagation.  This 
may  prove  of  great  value  in  using  this  species  as  a  means  of  fighting 
injurious  nemas. 

B.  The  egg  and  the  embryonic  evolution. — -The  spermatozoa  in 
M.  papillatus  are  very  minute,  the  ovary  producing  them  early, 
and  later  on  the  eggs.  Fertilization  then  takes  place.  The  ovary 
of  the  nema  is  syngonic,  and  the  animal  a  protandric  syngone.  (See 
Cobb  5.)  We  could  not  determine  the  number  of  sperms  produced 
but  it  is  probably  rather  restricted,  as  we  observed  several  cases  of 
old  females  that  formed  eggs  (at  times  depositing  them  also) ,  that  were 
probably  not  fertilized,  as  they  never  developed. 

There  were  never  more  than  two  eggs  in  one  uterus 
at  a  time,  and  usually  two  or  three  to  the  individual 
were  observed.  It  was  rather  a  rare  occurrence  for  the 
animal  to  have  four  eggs,  two  in  each  uterus.  The  eggs 
were  elongated,  and  appeared  smooth  shelled  in  the 
uterus,  but  when  deposited  the  surface  seemed  covered  ^*^-  ^-  ^^^  °^  ^'!' 
with  protuberances,  having  the  appearance  of  short  ^^^^^^  showing 
ridges,  the  whole  surface  having  a  somewhat  lace-like         the    protuber- 

effect.       (See  Fig.   2.)  ances    on    the 

If  the  mononchs  lived  in  an  approximately  normal         ess  s  e 
condition,  an  average  of  two  or  three  eggs  was  deposited  daily.     Our 
slide  cultures  showed  a  production  of  two  or  less,  but  the  tube  cultures 
gave  higher  results,  and  it  may  be  that  under  natural  conditions  in  the 
soil  the  egg  production  is  still  higher. 

In  the  slide  cultures,  the  maximum  number  of  eggs  deposited  by  one 
female  was  twenty-eight  in  twelve  days,  the  animal  then  ceasing  to 
produce;  but  in  tubes  our  records  showed  eighteen  eggs  produced  in 
six  days,  and  forty-one  larvae  hatched  from  eggs  produced  by  one  fe- 
male in  twenty  days  were  also  found.  The  exact  number  of  eggs  pro- 
duced may  have  exceeded  this,  as  even  with  the  most  careful  inspec- 
tion, eggs  and  larvae  may  escape  notice.  Experiments  along  this 
line  are  still  being  carried  on  and  higher  figures  may  be  obtained. 

The  number  of  eggs  laid  by  one  M.  papillatus  seems  very  small  when 
compared  with  that  of  some  other  free-living  species,  as,  for  instance, 
species  of  Rhabditis,  in  which  within  a  few  days  eight  hundred  or  more 


374      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.   16 

eggs    are    produced.     The    maximum    number    obtained    from    one 
Mononchus  was  forty-one,  the  minimum  number,  twenty  eggs. 

The  eggs  required  from  six  to  seven  days  before  hatching.  This  also 
is  rather  a  long  period  compared  with  Rhabditis,  Diplogaster  and  some 
other  known  forms.  The  mononch  eggs  are  unicellular  when  de- 
posited ;    the  first  division  takes  place  about  twenty-four  hours  later. 

C.  The  development,  of  the  larva  of  Mononchus  papillatus. — The 
newly  hatched  larva  is  very  active  but  not  hardy,  and  the  presence  of 
soil  seems  very  essential  to  its  life.  The  body  is  quite  transparent. 
As  far  as  our  experiments  show,  during  the  first  two  or  three  days 
the  larvae  attacked  no  nemas ;  but  on  the  fourth  day,  and  even  on  the 
third  day,  the  predatory  instinct  was  developed  and  they  began  to 
feed  on  other  nemas.  As  soon  as  this  occurred  the  intestine  began 
to  darken  and  in  a  short  time  became  opaque. 

The  time  of  larval  development  up  to  the  period  of  sexual  maturity 
was  somewhat  varied.  Slide  cultures  showed  the  average  time  for 
larval  development  (from  the  end  of  embryonic  life  in  the  egg  shell  to 
sexual  maturity)  to  be  from  six  to  seven  weeks.  But  tube  cultures 
showed  the  minimum  time  to  be  only  four  and  one-half  weeks.  The 
temperature  of  these  cultures  was  the  same,  and  the  difference  in  re- 
sults must  be  due  to  the  more  natural  environment  found  in  the  tubes. 
Therefore  we  are  inclined  to  adopt  the  minimum  time  as  the  time  re- 
quired for  development,  and  to  judge  from  this  the  influence  of  this 
species  upon  the  nematode  population  of  the  soil. 

Unfortunately,  up  to  the  present,  we  have  not  been  able  to  get  exact 
data  as  to  the  time  and  number  of  the  moultings.  We  observed  three 
moults,  two  in  the  earlier  stages  of  growth  and  one  just  before  arrival 
at  sexual  maturity.  In  a  study  of  the  life  history  of  one  specimen  we 
observed  a  moult  at  eighteen  days  and  another  at  forty-four  days  after 
hatching,  the  latter  being  the  moult  just  before  sexual  maturity. 
Judging  from  the  size  of  the  nema  at  which  other  moultings  were 
observed,  there  must  be  a  moult  between  eighteen  and  forty-four  days. 
There  may  be  a  moult  soon  after  hatching,  but  we  never  observed  it. 
The  skin  is  shed  as  a  whole.  There  were  no  observations  of  the  act 
of  moulting,  but,  judging  from  the  cast,  the  animal  leaves  the  skin 
through  an  opening  in  the  ventral  side  near  the  cardia.  The  mouth- 
capsule  and  wall  of  the  rectum  were  found  attached  to  the  cast;  the 
lining  of  the  oesophagus  was  not  observed  and  may  be  cast  off  sepa- 
rately. The  animal  became  rather  sluggish  and  inactive  just  before 
each  moult. 


OCT.  4,  1922        STEINER  AND  HEINLY :   CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NEMAS  375 

D.  The  adult  and  senile  Mononchus  papillatus. — Soon  after  moulting 
the  last  time,  the  mononch  began  to  produce  eggs.  At  this  age,  the 
nema  was  extremely  voracious.  The  number  of  eggs  produced 
seemed  to  be  in  direct  proportion  to  the  number  of  destroyed  and 
devoured   nemas. 

The  maximum  duration  of  &gg  production  observed  was  twenty  days, 
but  further  experiments  may  probably  show  a  longer  period. 

The  period  after  the  cessation  of  &gg  production  was  called  the  senile 
stage.  It  seemed  very  remarkable  that  this  senile  stage  was  of  such 
long  duration  as  compared  with  the  length  of  the  other  periods.  In 
one  case  the  senile  period  lasted  ten  weeks,  while  the  combined  length 
of  the  other  periods  was  only  eight  weeks.  In  many  hermaphroditic 
nematodes  there  are  long  senile  stages.  The  senior  author  observed 
in  cultures  of  the  hermaphroditic  Rhabditis  elegans  Maupas,  the  length 
of  the  different  life  periods  to  be  as  follows : 

April  20 — newly  hatched  larva, — (larval  stage  lasted  two  days  or 
less) . 

April  24 — first  production  of  eggs, — (egg  production  stage  lasted 
two  to  three  days) . 

April  26 — production  of  eggs  stopped, — (senile  stage  lasted  thirteen 
days) . 

May  9 — death. 

Of  a  life  period  of  eighteen  to  nineteen  days,  thirteen  were  of  the 
senile  stage,  that  is,  the  period  after  the  last  fertilized  egg  was  laid. 
The  senile  stage  was  therefore  two  or  three  times  longer  than  the  other 
Hfe  periods  taken  together.  The  protandric  syngonism  (Cobb  5) 
of  these  forms  is  probably  the  cause  of  this.  If  spermatozoa  are  es- 
sential and  only  a  certain  number  of  spermatozoa  are  produced,  then 
when  this  supply  is  exhausted,  if  the  gonads  are  unable  to  produce  more 
sperms,  all  subsequent  ova  will  fail  of  further  development,  and 
senility  begins. 

The  same  thing  seems  to  happen  in  Mononchus  papillatus.  The 
comparatively  enormous  length  of  the  senile  stage  may  be  the  result 
of  the  inability  of  the  syngone  to  produce  sperm  cells  a  second  time. 
The  senile  period  of  ten  weeks  was  observed  on  a  slide  culture,  and  un- 
der more  favorable  conditions  it  may  last  very  much  longer. 

In  judging  the  relationship  between  Mononchus  papillatus  and  other 
soil  nematodes  the  above  facts  are  of  some  importance,  as  the  amount 
of  food  required  during  the  senile  stage  was  very  small  compared  with 
that  devoured  during  the  egg-producing  period.     Consequently  all 


376    jouRNAiy  OF  the;  Washington  acadkmy  of  sciences    vol.  12,  no.  16 

senile  M.  papillatus  have  a  decreased  efficiency  in  combating  nematode 
pests. 

V.      I.BNGTH  OF  IvlFE  OF  M.  PAPILLATUS 

Eighteen  weeks  was  the  maximum  length  of  life  observed  for  M. 
papillatus  in  a  slide  culture;  the  tube  culture  method  showed  the  life 
period  under  more  normal  conditions  to  be  very  much  longer.  Com- 
pared with  the  length  of  life  of  other  nemas,  even  excluding  forms  of 
Rhabditis,  Diplogaster,  Plectus  spec,  etc.  that  live  on  decaying  matter, 
this  period  seems  very  long,  but  it  may  not  be  exceptional  for  soil 
nematodes.  At  the  Zoological  Station  of  Cette  (France)  the  senior 
author  kept  adult  marine  nematodes  alive  for  a  comparatively  long 
time,  as  for  example  an  adult  species  of  Thoracostoma  for  over  thirty 
days.  We  may  therefore  conclude  that  free  living  nematodes  have  a 
much  longer  life  period  than  is  usually  supposed. 

To  a  certain  degree,  this  fact  may  compensate  for  the  restricted 
number  of  eggs  of  M.  papillatus  when  considering  the  effect  of  this 
species  on  the  nema  population  of  the  soil  and  the  whole  community 
of  life  therein,  as,  it  means  an  increase  of  the  efficiency  of  this  species  as 
a  destructive  factor. 

VI.      FOOD  AND  FEEDING-HABITS  OF  M.  PAPILLATUS 

In  working  out  our  problem,  a  study  of  the  food  and  feeding  habits 
was  of  the  greatest  interest.  From  statements  made  by  the  investiga- 
tors already  mentioned,  it  was  known  that  M.  papillatus  fed  on  other 
nematodes.  It  was  necessary  to  discover  whether  the  carnivorous 
habit  lasted  throughout  its  life  or  for  only  a  certain  period.  To  obtain 
these  facts  was  of  great  importance  as  they  determined  largely  whether 
M.  papillatus  can  become  a  really  efficient  agent  in  combating  nema- 
tode pests.  Our  experiments  along  this  line  confirmed  fully  what  Cobb 
in  several  papers  stated  to  be  true.  In  our  cultures,  M.  papillatus 
lived  exclusively  on  other  nemas,  also  appearing  at  times  to  devour 
small  soil  particles.  The  consumption  of  soil  grains  seemed  to  be  of 
chief  importance  in  the  first  larval  stage  of  the  animal,  and  we  observed 
likewise  in  the  intestine  of  adults  soil  particles  of  unknown  origin.  The 
important  influence  of  the  presence  of  soil  on  our  cultures  seemed  also 
to  confirm  these  observations. 

The  larval  M.  papillatus,  just  hatched  from  the  egg,  was  very  active. 
Its  intestine  at  first  was  transparent ;  the  cells  of  the  thin  wall  at  this 
stage  were  easily  seen,  and  their  nuclei  as  well.  But  in  a  suitable 
medium,  a  few  days  were  sufficient  to  transform  this  colorless  intestine 


OCT.  4,  1922      STEINER  andheinly:  control  of  injurious  nemas 


377 


into  a  brownish,  or  even  apparently  black  organ.  To  this  end  the 
presence  of  soil  was  absolutely  necessary.  In  water,  but  with  plenty 
of  food  (other  small  larv^al  nematodes)  the  mononch  larv'ae  remained 
transparent  and  died  in  a  short  time.  We  were  not  able  to  determine 
exactly  what  kind  of  food  the  newly  hatched  and  very  young  larvae 
ate.  They  moved  through  the  soil,  sucking  here  and  there  on  soil 
fragments,  and  particles  of  an  organic  nature  were  probably  consumed. 
But  the  mononch  larvae  soon  began  to  feed  on  other  nematodes. 
We  observed  three-day  old  larvae  feeding  on  Rhabditis  larvae,  and  their 
voracity  increased  with  their  age. 

Our  records  showed  that  the  number  of  nematodes  killed  daily  in- 


Fig.  3.  Photograph  of  the  dead  bodies  of  Rhabditis  elegans  Maupas  as 
they  appeared  after  their  slaughter  by  mononchs.  The  picture 
shows  well  the  common  method  of  destruction,  that  of  piercing  the 
cuticle  and  sucking  the  contents  of  the  body  in  the  manner  of  a 
weasel. 

creased  as  the  mononch  developed,  beginning  with  one  or  two  destroyed 
during  the  third  or  fourth  day  of  larval  life,  and  attaining  a  maximal 
number  of  sixty -five.  In  one  case  as  many  as  eighty- three  Heterodera 
radicicola  were  killed  (either  swallowed  wholly  or  partly  sucked  out) 
by  one  mononch  in  one  day.  The  largest  amount  of  food  was  con- 
sumed at  the  time  the  maximal  number  of  eggs  was  produced,  and 
then  it  decreased  during  the  senile  stage  of  life.  During  a  life  time  of 
about  twelve  weeks  one  animal  killed  1332  nematodes.     We  are  certain 


378      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  16 

that  this  number  may  be  very  much  larger  under  natural  conditions. 
It  was  also  observed  that  during  the  moulting  periods  fewer  nematodes 
were  killed  and  for  a  period  of  one  or  two  days  none  at  all,  with  a  de- 
cided increase  after  the  moult. 

When  in  a  resting  position,  the  mononch  lay  on  its  side,  and  never 
oh  either  its  back  or  "stomach."  The  body  was  more  or  less  curved 
ventrally, — the  tail  end  often  bent  in  the  form  of  a  spiral.  At  times 
the  whole  body  was  spirally  curved.  Agar  was  the  best  medium  for 
the  study  of  the  movements.  It  was  seen  that  locomotion  was  ac- 
complished by  bending  in  the  dorso-ventral  plane  of  the  body,  this 
plane  being  placed  mostly  in  a  horizontal  position  so  that  the  dorsal 
and  ventral  sides  were  seen  in  profile.  Mononchus  papillatus  changed 
continually  from  a  moving  to  a  resting  state,  moving  backward  as 
well  as  forward. 

In  the  water-drop  cultures  with  a  small  amount  of  soil,  the  mononchs 
were  found  only  very  exceptionally  outside  the  soil  area.  There  was 
a  striking  difference  in  the  behavior  of  Mononchus  papillatus  and  the 
Rhabdites  added  as  food.  The  mononchs  seemed  to  have  a  more  highly 
developed  stereotropism,  as  they  remained  well  hidden  in  the  soil, 
while  the  Rhabdites  were  more  or  less  concentrated  on  the  edge  of  the 
water  drop  outside  the  area  occupied  by  the  particles  of  soil. 

The  sense  of  touch  seemed  to  be  the  only  sense  M.  papillatus  used 
in  hunting  about  for  food.  It  is  known  that  in  nematodes  three  differ- 
ent kinds  of  sense-organs  may  be  developed. 

1  Organs  for  the  sense  of  touch. — -These  are  no  doubt  among  the 
chief  sense  organs  of  the  group  and  show  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in 
stereotropic  reactions  and  reflex  movements. 

2  Chemical  or  chemico-physical  sense  organs, — those  known  as  lateral 
organs  or  "amphids."  In  M.  ^a^i//a/M5  the  amphids  are  rather  small 
and  inconspicuous. 

3  Organs  for  the  perception  of  light. — These  are  found  in  many  free- 
living  nematodes,  but  are  absent  in  mononchs  as  well  as  in  most  soil 
inhabiting  forms. 

Judging  from  the  behavior  of  M.  papillatus,  the  organs  of  touch  were 
probably  the  only  ones  used  while  hunting  for  food.  The  nema 
moved  through  the  medium,  continually  searching  its  surroundings 
by  moving  the  head  end  in  all  possible  directions.  The  head  end 
contains  the  chief  organs  of  touch,  as  well  as  those  for  chemical  per- 
ception. After  long  observations,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
M.  papillatus  was  not  able  to  find  its  prey  at  long  distance,  and  the  use 


OCT.  4,  1922         STEINER  AND  HEINLY :    CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NEMAS 


379 


of  the  sense  organs  of  touch  seemed  to  be  its  chief  method  of  locating 
food.  We  could  therefore  confirm  statements  made  by  Menzel  about 
this  matter. 

As  soon  as  the  head  end  of  a  mononch  came  into  contact  with  its 
prey,  it  grasped  it  tightly.  By  a  sucking  movement,  probably  of  the 
oesophageal  muscles,  the  head  was  fixed  to  the  prey.  The  nematode 
caught  by  the  mononch  naturally  made  most  violent  efforts  to  get 
free,  and  often  the  mononch  was  shaken  and  dragged  along.  But  it 
held  on  tightly  and  soon  its  tooth  and  other  mouth  parts  began  to  work. 
By  a  sucking  movement  of  the  oesophagus  and  mouth  cavity,  the  mo- 
nonch became  more  firmly  fixed  to  its  prey,  when  the  tooth  located  on 
the  dorsal  wall  was  protruded  and  produced  an  opening  in  the  skin  of  the 
victim.  Then  a  stronger 
(or  further)  sucking  ac- 
tion was  exerted  by  the 
mononch  and  the  tooth 
came  back  to  its  normal 
position.  The  whole 
oesophagus  came  often 
into  action  and  moved 
forward  and  backward 
with  the  intestine,  the 
whole  body  going 
through  the  same  move- 
ments; first  the  body 
fluid  of  the  prey  was 
sucked  out,  and  as  this 
happened  its  body  be- 
came shrunken.  Very 
often  the  mononch  was 
satisfied  with  this,  and 
set  free  its  prey,  which 
died  shortly  afterwards. 
Specimens  of  Rhabditis 
elegans  killed  in  this  way 
are  pictured  in  Fig.  3. 

M.  papillatus  rarely  devoured  an  entire  animal  when  feeding  on  large 
forms,  except  when  exceedingly  hungry.  No  one  part  of  the  victim's 
body  seemed  to  be  preferable  for  attack,  the  prey  being  seized  at  ran- 
dom.    Fig.  4  shows  an  Anguillula  aceti  attacked  near  the  cardia,  and 


Fig.  4.  Photograph  of  a  mononch  attacking  an  Anguillula 
aceti  near  the  cardia.  Photograph  taken  from  an  agar- 
plate. 


Fig.  5.  Sketch  of  the  head-end  of  a  mononch  attacking 
a  larval  Rhabditis.  Notice  the  wide  opened  lips  and 
the  protruded  tooth. 


380      JOURNAL  OF  THU   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOI..   12,  NO.  16 


Fig.  5-9  in  other  situations.     Larval  mononchs ,  were  only  able  to 
attack  and  destroy  the  prey  in  the  way  described,  but  even  a  small 

mononch  will  attack  prey  of  much  larger  size. 
Large  mononchs  often  swallow  smaller  nemas 
whole ;  this  will  happen,  if  the  prey  is  seized 
at  one  end  of  the  body,  the  animal  being 
then  sometimes  swallowed  without  being 
killed  or  even  injured  by  the  mouth  organs  of 
the  mononch.  In  our  slide  cultures  this  phe- 
nomenon was  twice  observed.  A  large  adult 
mononch  swallowed  a  rather  large  larva  of 
Rhabditis  elegans.  In  this  species  of  Rhab- 
ditis  the  larvae  are  very  slender  and  more 
resistant  than  other  species.  The  larva 
seemed  to  have  passed  through  the  mouth 
and  oesophagus  of  the  mononch  without 
harm,  probably  in  the  way  sketched  in 
Fig.  10.  We  first  noticed  that  the  mononch, 
very  active  the  day  before,  appeared  nearly 
motionless.  To  our  great  astonishment  we 
noticed  the  larva  of  the  Rhabditis  moving 
throughout  the  intestine  as  if  searching 
every-where  for  an  exit.  The  larva  moved  in 
every  possible  direction,  the  mononch  be- 
coming less  active  all  the  time.  We  were 
very  interested  in  knowing  the  outcome  of 
this  case.  The  digestive  fluid  in  the  intestine 
of  the  mononch  did  not  seem  to  harm  the 
larva.  The  same  evening,  the 
mononch  did  not  react  to  outside 
stimuli  and  appeared  quite  motion- 
less .  During  the  night  the  Rhabditis 
found  a  way  to  freedom  through 
the  vulva  opening,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing the  mononch  was  dead.  The 
same  thing  happened  shortly  after- 
ward with  another  very  active 
mononch. 

From  a  scientific  point  of  view  these  incidents  are  of  interest,  as 
they  show  that  this  species  of  Rhabditis  is  very  resistant  to  mononch 


Fig.  6.  Sketch  of  the  head- 
end of  a  mononch  seizing 
an  adult  Rhabditis  by 
the  neck.  The  skin  of 
the  prey  is  already 
opened,  and  the  mo- 
nonch is  sucking  the 
contents ;  notice  that  the 
dorsal  tooth  during  this 
sucking  action  is  in  its 
normal  position  and  not 
protruded.  The  prey 
was  afterwards  sucked 
out  as  shown  in  Fig.  9. 


Fig.  7.  Sketch  of  a  Rhabditis  seized  near 
the  middle  of  the  body  and  partly 
sucked.     See  Fig.  8  for  later  stage. 


OCT.  4,  1922        STEINER  AND  HEINLY :   CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NBMAS 


381 


Fig.  8.  The  Rhahditis  refered  to  in  Fig.  7  as  it  was 
released  after  having  been  partly  sucked. 
Notice  that  the  skin  of  the  emptied  part  re- 
mained. 


digestive  fluids,  and  they  also  throw  light  on  the  way  the  mononch 

swallows,  and  the  action  of  the  dorsal  tooth  of  the  mouth  cavity. 

Incidents  of  the  kind  just  described  seem  only  possible  if  the  tooth, 

during  the  act  of  swallowing,  is  protruded  to  such  a  degree  that  its 

point  cannot  harm  the  prey.     Very  probably,  the  latter  was  caught  by 

the  tail-end,  and  in  the  act  of  seizing,  the  tooth  was  protruded  and  the 

tail  glided  into  the  mouth 

cavity.     In  most  cases  the 

prey  is  seized  at  some  other 

part  of  the  body  as  Figs.  7-8 

show.     In  this  case  not  onl}^ 

the  body  fluid  is  sucked  out, 

but  also  a  large  part  of  the 

intestine.     Fig.  8  shows  the 

prey  after  release,  the  skin 

remaining. 

The    chief   organ  of  the 
mononch   functioning   dur- 
ing the  act  of  swallowing  was  undoubtedly   the   oesophagus.     The 
contractions  of  its  radial  muscles  were  vigorous;  they  began  at  the 
mouth  cavity  and  ran  down  the  oesophagus  so  quickly 
that  at  first  they  seemed  instantaneous.     But  more 
careful  observations   showed   that   each   contraction 
first  began  around  and  behind  the  mouth  and  then 
ran  back  to  the  intestine.     This  contraction  of  the 
oesophageal  radial  muscles  was    accompanied  by    a 
shortening  of  the  entire  organ,  and  the  whole  intestine 
during  the  act  of  swallowing  moved  back  and  forth. 
As  soon  as  the  radial  muscles  contracted,  the  oesopha- 
gus apparently  shortened  and  the  forward  movement 
of  the  cardiac  region  was  easily  seen.     When  contrac- 
tion ceased,  the  oesophagus  assumed  its  normal  shape 
and  the  cardiac  region  and  intestine  moved  backwards. 
The  mouth   cavity  did   not  serve  as   a   place   for 
out     completely  macerating  food,  biit  more  or  less  as  a  suction  capsule, 
the  remaining  Together  with  the  lips  and  the  attached  muscles,  it 
skin.  may  seize  and  retain  the  prey,  but  our  knowledge  of 

the  whole  apparatus  was  not  sufficient  to  completely 
understand  its  function.  The  dorsal  tooth  was  certainly  protruded 
as  long  as  the  whole  cavity  was  used  in  retaining  the  prey. 


Fig.  9.    Sketch  of  a 
Rhabditis  sucked 


382      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  16 


Some  of  the  digestive  fluids  are  probably  formed  and  secreted  by  small 
glandular  cells  among  the  radial  muscles  of  the  oesophagus.  These 
glands  were  first  described  by  Cobb.  Their  secretions 
may  not  act  in  the  oesophagus  itself,  as  the  food  did 
not  stay  there.  Digestion  began  and  ended  in  the 
intestine.  The  oesophageal  glands  were  probably 
compressed  every  time  the  animal  swallowed  by  the 
shortening  and  pressure  of  the  radial  muscles,  and 
the  digestive  fluid  thus  entered  the  intestine  with  the 
food. 

VII.      MONONCHUS  PAPILLATUS  AS  A  FACTOR   IN   FIGHT- 
ING  NEMATODE   PESTS 

The  foregoing  experimental  results  show  conclusively 
the  predatory  nature  of  Mononchus  papillatus.  From 
our  experiments,  and  from  observations  made  by  other 
investigators,  all  kinds  of  nematode  species,  and 
Rotifers,  Naididae  (small  Oligochaetes) ,  etc.  are  taken 
as  food.  Heterodera  radicicola  is  acceptable  in  large 
numbers,  and  we  were  able  to  rear  M.  papillatus  by 
feeding  this  form  of  plant-injurious  nema  exclusively. 
The  same  thing  happens  in  the  soil  and  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  mononchs  live  there  in  about  the 
same  way  as  in  our  cultures.  Undoubtedly  this  pred- 
atory nema  when  present  kills  Heterodera  and  other 
injurious  forms  in  soil  planted  with  crops.  It  is 
therefore  extremely  useful  and  its  propagation  should 
be  encouraged.  Under  some  conditions  this  form 
perhaps  completely  controls  Heterodera  and  similar 
plant-injurious  species.  Why  should  this  not  be- 
come the  case  in  our  infested  fields  ?  Further  investi- 
gations should  be  started  along  these  lines. 

Once  in  the  roots,  Heterodera  and  other  such  root- 
parasites  are  probably  protected  against  the  predatory  mononchs,  but 
when  moving  freely  in  the  soil  during  larval  Hfe,  they  may  be  destroyed 
in  large  numbers  and  we  are  convinced  that  under  favorable  conditions 
Mononchus  is  able  partially,  perhaps  completely  to  control  some  of 
these  destructive  forms.  In  order  to  advance  any  further  along  this 
line,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  nematode 
population  of  different  kinds  of  soil,  of  the  relationships  that  exist 


Fig.  10.  Sketch 
of  the  supposed 
manner  of  swal- 
lowing  the 
Rhabditis  larva 
which  was 
found  living 
and  moving  in 
the  intestine  of 
a  mononch, 
killing  it  after- 
wards by  break- 
ing through  the 
intestine  and 
body  wall.  dnt. 
— tooth  as  it  is 
supposed  to 
have  acted  dur- 
ing the  attack 
on  the  larva. 


OCT.  4,  1922        STEINER  AND  HEINLY :   CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NEMAS  383 

between  these  forms  and  other  members  of  the  community  of  living 
forms  that  exist  there,  and  of  their  relationships  to  other  nematode 
species. 

VIII.      THE  soil.,  ITS  LIFE  AND  THE  NUMBER  OF  NEMATODES,  ESPECIALLY 

OF  PREDATORY  FORMS  THEREIN 

Our  knowledge  of  life  in  the  soil,  especially  of  microscopic  life  there,  is 
still  very  restricted.  We  know  very  little  about  the  relationships  that 
exist  between  the  living  components  of  the  soil,  and  often  we  do  not 
even  know  these  components.  Certainly  soil  fertility  does  not  de- 
pend entirely  upon  its  chemical,  colloidal  and  physical  nature,  but  also 
and  probably  largely,  upon  the  animal  and  plant  life  therein.  The 
importance  of  soil  bacteria  is  already  known  and  there  exists  a  close 
relationship  between  these  bacteria  and  the  nematode  population,  as 
a  large  number  of  nemas  are  bacteria  consumers.  Investigations 
carried  on  throughout  more  recent  years  have  definitely  proved  that  the 
soil  contains  an  enormous  number  of  nematodes,  and  that,  next  to 
bacteria,  they  form  probably  the  largest  constituent  element  in  sub- 
terranean life.  Numerous  new  species  have  been  described  and  all 
investigators  agree  that  there  is  an  enormous  number  still  undescribed. 
It  will  require  the  collaboration  of  many  research  workers  to  describe 
all  these  forms.  A  nema  species  may  furnish  millions  of  individuals  to 
ever}^'  acre  of  our  fields.  No  exact  records  regarding  the  number 
have  been  published  so  far.  Dr.  Cobb  kindly  placed  at  our  disposal 
some  of  his  tables  from  field  surveys.  The  results  of  the  surveys 
shown  below  are  of  great  interest. 

Minimum  number  of  nematodes  per 
acre,  top  six  inches  (15.2  cm.) 

From  Missouri  corn  field 648,000,000 

From  North  Carolina  field 242,400,000 

From  New  Jersey  field 129,600,000 

From  Rhode  Island  field 610,800,000 

From  New  Hampshire  field 99,600,000 

From  Minnesota  field 121,200,000 

From  Vermont  field 580,000,000 

From  Kansas  field 278,400,000 

These  tables  give  only  the  minimum  numbers  arid  are  figures  taken 
from  a  study  of  only  the  top  six  inches  (15  cm.) .  A  maximum  penetra- 
tion of  some  nema  species  has  been  observed  to  be  as  much  as  (7-8  m.) 
25  feet.  These  unpublished  observations  were  made  by  Dr.  Cobb  on 
citrus  trees  in  California  and  on  alfalfa  roots  in  New  South  Wales. 


384      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  16 

Usually  soil  nematodes  go  as  deep  as  the  roots  of  plants  can  penetrate 
and  therefore  the  depth  figures  recorded  in  publications  are  too  small. 

Until  recently  nemas  have  been  almost  completely  disregarded  by 
investigators  of  soil  economics,  and  especially  by  research  workers  in 
soil  fertility. 

If  we  wish  to  know  what  part  nematodes  play  in  the  economics  of  the 
soil,  one  of  the  first  questions  to  be  answered  is  what  is  the  nature  of 
their  food.  There  have  been  no  very  comprehensive  studies  made  of 
this  question  up  to  the  present,  and  our  knowledge  is  based  mostly  on 
only  occasional  observations.  The  results  of  these  show  that  some 
forms  such  as  Rhabditis,  Cephalohus,  etc.  feed  on  decaying  matter, 
that  is  on  the  contained  bacteria  or  bacterial  products ;  others,  such  as 
Tylenchus,  Heterodera,  Aphelenchits,  etc.  feed  on  plant  tissues  or  fluids; 
others  such  as  Dorylaimus,  etc.  feed  probably  on  both  plants  and  ani- 
mals; and  still  others  such  as  Monoiichus  papillatits,  described  in  this 
paper,  are  apparently  exclusively  predatory.  So  that  not  only  the 
problem  of  combating  nematode  pests  in  soil  by  the  use  of  their  natural 
enemies  will  be  attacked  by  investigations  along  this  line,  but  also  the 
problem  of  soil  fertility  itself. 

Today  we  know  that  soil  nematodes  play  a  very  important  role, 

1.  As  consumers  and  destroyers  of  our  crops; — often  destroying 
whole  fields,  but  much  oftener  decreasing  their  yield  in  a  less  per- 
ceptible degree. 

2.  As  consumers  of,  and  as  important  workers  in  the  distribution  of 
the  bacterial  flora  of  the  soil.  Their  activity  is  certainly  not  restricted 
to  denitrifying  bacteria,  but  extends  to  nitrifying  forms  as  well.  A 
closer  study  may  show  relations  of  very  great  importance.  They  carry 
bacteria  and  fungus  spores  everywhere.  Wounds  on  roots  or  other 
parts  of  plants  may  very  often  be  infected  by  bacterial  and  fungus 
diseases  carried  by  these  nematodes.     (See  Metcalf  15.) 

3.  As  having  relationships  with  fungi  upon  which  some  species  are 
known  to  feed.  According  to  Zopf  fungi  on  the  other  hand  may  use 
nematodes  as  prey. 

4.  As  consumers  of  protozoa.  It  is  known  that  certain  fresh- water 
nemas  feed  specially  on  protozoa,  sometimes  apparently  on  a  single 
species.  There  is  a  probability  that  some  soil  species  may  feed  in  a 
similar  way,  and  further  investigations  may  enable  us  to  combat  plant 
injurious  protozoa  by  the  use  of  these  nemas. 

5.  As  furnishing  a  control  for  plant-injurious  nemas.  This  refers  to 
the  work  of  predatory  nemas,  such  as  Mononchus  papillatus,  whose 


OCT.  4,  1922        STEINER  AND  HEINLY :   CONTROL  OF  INJURIOUS  NRMAS  385 

feeding  habits  have  been  described  in  this  paper.  There  are  other 
species  of  nemas  with  a  similar  significance.  Here  is  a  great  field  for 
study.  Investigations  should  also  be  carried  on  to  show  more  defi- 
nitely the  relations  of  these  predatory  forms  to  rotifers,  oligochaetes 
and  other  soil  animals. 

6.  As  a  factor  in  the  humification  of  the  soil,  in  transformation  and 
removal  of  all  kinds  of  organic  matter,  decaying  bodies,  etc. 

'  7.  As  assisting  in  the  aeration  of  the  soil.  We  know  how  very  im- 
portant aeration  of  soil  is  for  the  growth  of  bacteria  and  all  kinds  of 
plants.  Quite  possibly  these  millions  of  nematodes  living  in  the  soil 
are  highly  useful  aerators. 

In  order  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  soil  nemas  to  soil 
fertility,  we  require  a  knowledge  of  the  nema  population  in  the  soil 
itself  and  we  also  need  to  know : 

1.  The  composition  of  the  nema  population,  the  species  found  and 
their  numeric  representation  in  all  kinds  of  soil, — ;sandy,  humus, 
swampy,  dry-soil,  hard  clay,  etc. 

2.  The  horizontal  and  vertical  distribution  of  nemas  in  all  kinds  of 
soil  and  the  reasons  for  this. 

3.  The  seasonal  changes  of  the  different  species,  the  number  of  spe- 
cies and  the  number  of  individuals  of  each  species. 

4.  The  influence  of  habitat  on  the  nematode  population  including 
physical,  chemical  and  biological  factors  found  in  the  habitat.  The 
biological  factors  include  kinds  of  crops  and  other  forms  of  vegetation 
that  may  be  present.  , 

The  working  out  of  these  problems  will  surely  enable  us  to  conclude 
why  nema  pests  are  absent  in  some  cases,  and  why  in  apparently  similar 
conditions  they  exist  in  such  enormous  numbers.  A  large  field  is  thus 
opened  up  for  investigations,  the  results  of  which  will  be  of  great  im- 
portance to  agricultural  science. 

REFERENCES 

1.  Berliner,  Ernst  and  Busch,  Kurt,  "tjber  die  Ziichtung  des  Riibennematoden 
{Heterodera  schachtli  Schmidt)  auf  Agar."     Biol.  Centralblatt  34:  349.     1914. 

2.  Byars,  L.  p.  "Preliminary  notes  on  the  cultivation  of  the  plant  parasitic  nematode, 
Heterodera  radicicola."     Phytopathology  4:  323-326.    pi.  21.    1914. 

3.  Byars,  L.  P.  "The  nematode  disease  of  wheat  caused  by  Tylenchus  tritici." 
U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Bull.  842.     1920. 

4.  Cobb,  N.  A.  "The  Mononchs.  A  genus  of  free-living  predatory  nematodes. 
Contributions  to  a  science  of  Hematology  VI."     Soil  Science  3.   1917. 

5.  Cobb,  N.  A.  "Notes  on  Nemas.  Contributions  to  a  Science  of  Nematology  V." 
Waverly  Press,  Baltimore,  1917. 

6.  Cobb,  N.  A.  "Nematodes  of  the  slow  sand  filter  beds  of  American  cities.  Con- 
tributions to  a  vScience  of  Nematology  VII."     1918. 


386       JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES     VOL.   12,  NO.   Ifi 

7.  Cobb,  N.  A.  "Estimating  the  nema  population  of  the  soil."  Agric.  Technology 
Circ.  I,  Bur.  PI.  Ind.,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.     1918. 

8.  CoNTE,  M.  A.  "De  I'influence  du  milieu  nutritif  sur  le  developpement  des  Nema- 
todes libres."     Compt.  Rend.  Soc.  Biol.  52:  374-375.     1900. 

9.  HiivGERMANN  and  Weissenberg.  "Nematodenziichtung  auf  Agarplatten." 
Central,  fiir  Bakteriologie,  Parasitenkunde  und  Infektionskrankheiten,  Originalia,  Bd. 
80.     1918. 

10.  Johnson,  G.  E.  "On  the  Nematodes  of  the  Common  Earthworm."  Quart. 
Journ.  Micr.  Sci.  58:  605-652.     1913. 

11.  Maupas,  E.  "La  mue  et  I'enkystement  chez  les  Nematodes."  Arch.  Zool.  Expt. 
III.  7:  563-628.     1899. 

12.  Maupas,  E.  "Modes  et  formes  de  reproduction  des  Nematodes."  Arch.  Zool. 
Exp.  Ill  8:  463-628.     1900. 

13.  Menzel,  R.  "tjber  die  Nahrung  der  freilebenden  Nematoden  imd  die  Art  ihrer 
Aufnahme."  Ein  Beitrag  zur  Kenntnis  der  Ernahrung  der  Wiirmer."  Verhandl.  Naturf. 
Ges.  Basel  36:  153-188.     1920. 

14.  Merrill,  T.  H.  and  Ford,  A.  L.  "Life  History  and  Habits  of  Two  New  Nematodes 
Parasitic  on  Insects."     Journ.  Agr.  Research.  6:  115-127.     1916. 

15.  Metcalf,  H.  "Cultural  Studies  of  a  Nematode  Associated  with  Plant  Decay." 
Trans.  Am.  Micr.  Soc.  24:  89-102.     1903. 

16.  Oliver,  W.W.  "The  Cultivation  of  an  Ectoparasitic  Nematode  of  a  Guinea  Pig 
on  Bacteriologic  Media."     Science  (n.  s.)  36:  800-801.     1912. 

17.  Potts,  F.  A.  "Notes  on  the  Free-living  Nematodes."  Quart.  Journ.  Micr.  Sci. 
55:  433-484.     1910. 

18.  Welch,  Paul  S.  and  WehrlE,  L.  P.  "Observations  on  Reproduction  in  Certain 
Parthenogenetic  and  Bisexual  Nematodes  Reared  in  Artificial  Media."  Trans.  Am. 
Micr.  Soc.  37:  141-176.      1918. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  October  19,  1922  No.  17 


MINERALOGY. — A  worked  jade  pebble  from  Copan.^  H.  vS.  Wash- 
ington, Geophysical  Laboratory,  Carnegie  Institution  of  Wash- 
ington. 

During  his  excavations  at  the  ancient  Maya  city  of  Copan,  Hon- 
duras, in  1919,  Dr.  Sylvanus  G.  Morley  found  a  fiat  pebble  of  jade> 
(sawn  in  two  and  perforated),  on  the  platform  of  Stela  7.'-  (Fig.  1.) 
The  material  of  this  pebble  seemed  to  be  of  such  interest,  and  its 
pebble  form  argued  so  strongly  for  an  American  provenance,  that 
I  expressed  a  desire  to  study  it.  I  am  deeply  indebted  to  Dr.  Morley 
for  the  privilege  of  examining  the  object,  and  especially  for  his  liber- 
ality in  permitting  me  to  remove  a  few  grams  for  the  chemical  and 
microscopical  study.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  mutilation 
has  yielded  some  results  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  study  of 
American  jades. 

The  pebble  has  had  a  wide  cylindrical  perforation  bored  into  it 
from  each  flat  side,  penetrating  almost  to  the  center  and  tapering 
slightly  inward ;  it  was  then  sawn  in  two  equatorially  down  the  center 
about  half  way  between  the  two  flat  sides,  thus  freeing  the  cylindrical 
cores  of  the  perforations,  which  (as  Morley  states)  were  probably 
used  for  making  ear  ornaments,  either  disks  or  plugs.  ^  The  width 
of  the  equatorial  cut  was  about  5  mm. 

With  this  pebble  was  found  a  finely  worked  and  highly  polished 
deep  green  pendant,  7.5  cm.  high,  representing  a  human  figure,  with 
the  arms  crossed  over  the  breast;  this  figure  was  intended  to  hang 
with  the  side  outward.  The  weight  of  this  is  87.8300  grams,  and  I 
found  its  specific  gravity  to  be  3 .307  at  22°,  indicating  that  it  is  com- 
posed largely  of  jadeite,  with  but  little  of  the  diopside  and  albite 

'  Received  October  3,   1922. 

-  S.  G.  Morley.      The  inscriptions  at  Copan.     Carnegie  Publ.  219:    105.     1920. 

'  Dr.  Morley  thinks  that  the  perforation  was  carried  through  from  side  to  side;  but  that 
it  extended  only  partly  through  from  each  side  is  indicated  by  the  slight  traces  of  a  ridge 
at  the  bottom  edge  of  each  perforation  extending  a  milUmeter  or  so  inward  around  the  edge. 
The  saw  marks  show  that  the  sawing  was  done  in  various  directions  and  extended  down  to 
the  ])erforation,  the  marks  being  tangent  to  this  circle. 

387 


388       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.   17 

molecules  present.^  I  have  not  yet  had  the  opportunity  to  study 
the  material  chemically  or  with  the  microscope.  It  is  what  appears 
to  be  the  jade  most  valued  among  the  Maya. 

Dr.  Morley  informs  me  that  "the  nearest  monument  to  these 
objects  is  Stela  7,  recording  the  date  9. 9. ().().().  of  the  Maya  Era, 
or  354  A.  D.  These  jades,  however,  probably  date  from  a  century 
to  a  century  and  a  half  later." 


Fig.    1.     Worked  jade  pebble;    Copan,  Honduras.     A  on  the  right,  B  on  left. 

The  two  pieces  are  not  quite  the  same  size  or  weight,  but  they  are 
unquestionably  parts  of  the  same  pebble.  Their  general  form  is 
shown  in  fig.  1.  The  greatest  length  is  about  7.6  cm.,  the  greatest 
width  (B)  5.2  and  (A)  5.5  cm.,  while  the  smaller  (A)  is  about  5  cm. 
in  greatest  thickness  and  the  larger  (B)  about  1.2.  The  perforation 
is  circular  and  of  the  same  diameter  in  each,  3.3  cm.  The  smaller 
(A)  weighed  37 .  3062  grams  (before  the  piece,  weighing  about  3  grams, 
was  removed  by  me),  and  the  larger  (B)  weighs  55.8190  grams. 

The  curved  surfaces  are  those  of  the  original  pebble;  they  are 
water-smoothed,  but  not  polished.     In  color  the  smaller  piece  (that 

''  See  a  forthcoming  paper  on  The  jades  of  Middle  America,  to  be  published  in  Proc. 
Nat.  Acad,  for  1922. 


OCT.   19,   1922  WASHINGTON  :  JADE  PEBBUE  FROM  COP  AN  389 

which  was  analysed)  is  of  a  nearly  uniform,  pale  gray  green,  between 
Ridgway's  pea-  and  sage-green.  The  larger  is  decidedly  whitish  on 
the  natural  surface,  which  shows  slight  pitting;  and  this  has  evidently 
been  somewhat  weathered,  as  is  also  shown  by  its  lower  density. 
On  the  sawn  face  it  is  of  about  the  same  color  as  the  other.  The  tex- 
ture of  both  pieces  is  very  fine-grained,  indeed  quite  aphanitic.  The 
material  shows  the  lack  of  toughness  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
Middle  American  jades. 

The  specific  gravity  of  the  smaller  piece  was  determined  by  me  as 
2.934  at  19.4°,  giving  a  density  of  2.929;  while  Dr.  L.  H.  Adams 
obtained  the  density  value  2.932  for  the  same  piece.  The  true  den- 
sity may  be  taken  as  2.930.  Adams  found  that  the  density  of  the 
larger,  whitish  piece  is  2.756. 

In  thin  section  the  jade  (of  piece  A)  is  seen  to  be  composed  largely 
of  clear  albite  in  irregular  poikilitic  patches,  not  as  the  sharp  anhedral 
grains  or  angular  interstitial  areas  which  are  most  commonly  seen 
in  other  Middle  American  jades.  Through  this  albite  matrix  is  in- 
terspersed, not  uniformly,  considerable  pyroxene,  of  an  extremely 
faint  brownish  color,  not  pleochroic.  Some  of  the  pyroxene  forms 
rather  large  (0.5  mm.  long),  roughly  prismatic  grains;  much  of  it 
is  in  small  (up  to  0.3  mm.  long),  sharp  prisms;  but  most  of  it  is  in 
small  irregular  grains,  which  appear  to  be  due  to  crushing.  There  is 
no  definite  general  orientation  of  the  pyroxene  crystals,  and  they  tend 
to  be  felted  where  they  are  most  thickly  crowded.  No  other  minerals 
were  seen  in  the  section. 

Dr.  H.  E.  Merwin  kindly  determined  the  refractive  indices  of  the 
pyroxene  and  found  the  values :  a  =  1 .  665,  7  =  1-  693,  y  —  a  =  0 .  028 
These  values  are  close  to  those  of  artificial  diopside  (CaMgSi^Oe): 
a  =  1 .664,  7  =  1 .694,  7  —  a  =  0.030.  As  will  be  shown  presently 
this  Copan  pyroxene  is  composed  of  about  71.5  per  cent  of  diopside 
and  28.5  of  jadeite,  leaving  out  of  account  the  probable  presence  of 
some  albite  in  solid  solution.  This  is  more  fully  discussed  in  the  forth- 
coming paper  mentioned  above. 

A  chemical  analysis  was  made  of  a  portion  of  a  small  wedge  (weigh- 
ing about  3  grams)  which  was  sawn  out  of  the  end  of  (A)  the  smaller 
and  fresher  piece.  The  analysis,  made  on  material  dried  at  110°, 
gave  the  results  in  table  I. 

The  analysis  of  the  Copan  jade  differs  widely  from  those  of  other 
jades,  from  Chichen  Itza,  and  other  localities  in  Mexico,  and  Central 


390       JOURNAIv  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  17 

America,  made  by  me  and  others,  especially  in  its  high  silica,  rather 
high  magnesia  and  lime,  and  low  soda.  In  most  respects  it  is  inter- 
mediate between  the  jade  of  the  Tuxtla  statuette  and  that  from 
Chichen  Itza  shown  above.  The  former  is  composed  entirely  of 
diopside-jadeite  (the  two  being  present  in  about  equal  amounts), 
while  the  latter  is  about  two-thirds  albite  and  one-third  diopside- 
jadeite. 

The  relations  are  perhaps  better  shown  when  the  analyses  are 
recalculated  into  terms  of  their  mineral  molecules. 

TABLE  I. — Analyses  of  Jades  from  Central  America 


Si02 

AI2O3 

Fe203 

FeO 

MgO 

CaO 

NazO 

K2O 

H2O 

Ti02 

Cr203 

MnO 


1 
62.64 
14.92 
0.60 
1.25 
4.31 
5.92 
8.78 
0.23 
1.27 
none 
none 
none 

99.92 


2 

55.50 

12.33 

1.41 

1.33 

8.72 

12.76 

6.94 

0.25 

0.30 

none 

none 

0.05 

99.59 


3 

64.64 

18.83 

0.46 

0.49 

1.87 

2.62 

11.25 

0.23 

0.16 

none 

0.07 

none 

100.62 


1.  Jade  Copan  pebble.     Washington  analyst. 

2.  Diopside-jadeite,  Tuxtla  statuette,  Washington  analyst.     H.  S.  Washington,  Proc. 
U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  60:  Art.  14.     1922. 

3.  Jade  bead,  gray-green.     Chichen  Itza,  Yucatan.     Washington  analyst. 


Table  2. — Analyses  of  Central  American  Jades  in  Terms  of  Mineral  Molecules 


1 

2 

3 

Orthoclase 

1.12 

1.67 

1.11 

Albite 

61.31 

none 

62.61 

Anorthite 

0.56 

1.67 

0.28 

Jadeite 

10.10 

45.25 

25.25 

Diopside 

22.60 

49.40 

9.85 

Hypersthene 

1.86 

0,50 

0.60 

Magnetite 

0.93 

1.74 

0.70 

Here  we  note  the  extremely  pyroxenic  character  of  the  Tuxtla 
jade  (2),  while  the  Copan  (1)  and  Chichen  Itza  (3)  jades  contain 
about  the  same  proportions  of  albite  and  pyroxene.  In  the  Copan 
jade,  however,  there  is  about  two  and  a  half  times  as  much  diopside 
as  jadeite,  while  in  that  from  Chichen  Itza  the  relation  is  almost 


OCT.  19,  1922  BLAKE:  NEW  SPECIES  OF  LETTERWOOD  391 

exactly  reversed.  It  may  be  said  here,  anticipating  another  pub- 
lication, that  the  pyroxene  in  the  great  majority  of  Mexican  and  Cen- 
tral American  jades  shows  a  great  preponderance  of  jadeite  over  di- 
opside.  The  pyroxene  always  contains  considerable  diopside,  but 
only  two  cases  are  known  in  which  the  diopside  and  jadeite  are  present 
in  about  equal  amount  (one  being  the  Tuxtla  statuette),  while  the 
pyroxene  in  the  Copan  pebble  is  the  only  one  known  so  far  in  which 
diopside  dominates  greatly  over  jadeite.  This  difference  is  so  marked 
that  it  gives  rise  to  the  thought  that,  possibly,  the  Copan  jade  belongs 
to  a  petrographical  series  of  jades  which  is  distinct  from  the  others, 
and  thus  possibly  comes  from  a  different  locality. 

BOTANY. — Two  new  species  of  letterwood  (Piratinera) .     S.  F.  Blake, 
Bureau  of  Plant  Industry.  ^ 

The  letterwood,  snakewood,  bois  des  lettres,  or  letterhout^  of  com- 
merce is  the  heartwood  of  the  species  of  the  Moraceous  genus  Pira- 
tinera Aubl.,  all  of  which  are  native  in  the  Guianas,  the  Amazon 
region  of  Brazil,  and  Panama.  Aublet,  describing  the  original  species, 
Piratinera  guianensis,  says^  that  it  is  called  "bois  des  lettres"  by  the 
Creoles  of  French  Guiana,  and  "boutous"  by  the  Galibis,  who  used 
the  inner  wood  in  making  bows  and  clubs.  Canes  and  pestles  were 
also  made  from  it.  A  variety  with  white  heartwood,  called  "bois 
des  lettres  blanc,"  and  supposed  by  Aublet  to  be  only  a  young  state 
of  the  same  species,  was  used  by  the  negroes  in  the  manufacture  of 
walking  sticks.  For  this  purpose  the  straightest  branches  were  selected 
and  the  bark  removed.  They  were  then  stained  a  permanent  black 
with  a  dye  made  by  mixing  soot  with  the  sap  of  a  species  of  Inga 
known  as  "bourgoni"  {Mimosa  bourgoni  Aubl.,  now  known  as  Inga 
bourgoni  (Aubl.)  DC),  and  when  polished  had  the  appearance  of  ebony. 

Letterwood  has  been  an  article  of  commerce  from  the  earliest 
settlement  of  British  Guiana.  The  timber  was  originally  procured 
from  fallen  trunks  from  which  the  sapwood  had  long  since  rotted  away. 
Although  such  material  is  still  occasionally  dug  up  from  the  forest 
floor,  the  prevailing  practice  is  to  fell  the  timber  and  split  and  hew 

1  Received  September  26,  1922. 

-  It  should  be  noted  that  the  name  "letterhout"  is  not  restricted  to  species  of  Piratinera, 
but  is  used  also,  as  proved  by  other  material  received  from  Professor  Record,  for  Heli- 
costylis  tomentosa  (Poepp.  &  Endl.)  Rusby  and  a  species  of  Sahagimia  (?),  and  the  same  is 
true  of  many  others  of  the  vernacular  names  recorded  in  this  paper. 

3  PI.  Guian.  2:  890.     1775. 


392       JOURNAL  O'P  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.   17 

off  the  sapwood  in  the  forest,  sending  to  market  the  heart  portions 
which  are  3  to  8  inches  in  diameter  and  7  or  8  feet  long.  Its  principal 
use  in  this  country  is  for  the  manufacture  of  walking  sticks  and  um- 
brella handles.  Minor  uses  include  drum  sticks,  butts  of  fishing 
rods,  violin  and  archery  bows,  and  miscellaneous  fancy  articles. 
It  is  also  employed  to  a  limited  extent  in  cabinet  work,  but  only  in 
the  form  of  sawn  veneers.  The  native  Indians  have  long  used  it 
for  making  their  bows  and  various  other  articles  requiring  great 
strength  and  elasticity."* 

The  letterwood  trees  inhabit  the  lowlands  and  not  infrequently 
attain  a  diameter  of  two  and  rarely  of  three  feet.  The  trunks  are 
long  and  slender,  covered  with  a  smooth  bark  rich  in  milky  latex, 
and  have  a  very  thick  layer  of  light-colored  sapwood  surrounding 
a  small,  often  irregular  core  of  red  or  reddish-brown  heartwood  that 
is  as  heavy  as  lignum-vitae.  Commercial  wood  is  spotted  all  over 
with  peculiar  black  markings  which  bear  some  semblance  to  hiero- 
glyphics and  often  give  to  the  surface  the  appearance  of  snake  skin. 
Not  all  of  the  heartwood  is  figured  in  this  way,  and  the  native  cutters 
cannot  tell  until  they  have  cut  through  the  sapwood  whether  the 
heart  will  be  speckled  or  only  striped  with  black.  It  has  been  sup- 
posed that  the  speckled  wood  was  indicative  of  a  certain  species, 
but  studies  of  sections  of  tree  trunks  which  accompanied  the  herbarium 
material  described  in  this  paper  prove  that  this  feature  is  not  a  spe- 
cific character. 

Prof.  Samuel  J.  Record,  of  the  School  of  Forestry  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity, who  is  making  a  thorough  investigation  of  many  tropical 
American  woods,  has  recently  sent  me  for  study  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  specimens  of  Moraceae  which  he  secured  from  British  and  Dutch 
Guiana,  including  no  less  than  12  sheets  of  Piratinera,  as  well  as  some 
detached  leaves  representing  other  collections.  Full  credit  for  the 
collection  of  these  important  specimens  should  be  given  to  Mr.  J. 
W.  Gonggrijp,  Conservator  of  Forests  of  Surinam,  Mr.  L.  S.  Hohen- 
kerk.  Forest  Officer  of  British  Guiana,  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Anderson, 
formerly  Forest  Officer,  whose  efforts  have  provided  material  for  the 
settlement  of  one  of  the  many  problems  connected  with  the  identi- 
fication of  tropical  American  trees  of  commercial  importance.  As 
preliminary  examination  of  this  material  showed  that  it  represented 
three  species  with  distinctive  foliar  characters,   leaves  of  all  three 

^  This  paragraph  and  the  following  one  have  been  contributed  by  Professor  S.  J.  Record. 


OCT.  19,  1922  BLAKE :  NEW  SPECIES  OP  LETTERWOOD  393 

were  sent  to  Dr.  A.  B.  Rendle  of  the  British  Museum,  who  has  kindly 
compared  them  with  Aublet's  type  of  P.  guianensis  and  thus  estab- 
lished the  identity  of  that  species. 

It  has  been  customary  to  refer  the  name  Piratinera  Aubl.  (1775) 
to  Brosimum  Sw.  (1788),  and  the  latter  name  was  made  a  nomen 
conservandum  by  the  International  Botanical  Congress  at  Vienna  in 
1905.  A  few  years  ago,  however,  Mr.  Henry  Pittier^  brought  for- 
ward evidence  to  show  that  the  genera  were  distinct,  being  separable 
by  the  number  of  pistillate  flowers  (1  in  Brosimum,  2  or  more  in  Pira- 
tinera), and  the  presence  of  a  perianth  in  the  staminate  flowers  of 
Piratinera,  as  well  as  by  differences  in  the  shape  of  the  receptacle. 
The  last  feature  seems  to  be  of  minor  significance,  but  the  floral  char- 
acters brought  forward  by  Pittier  are  sufficient  to  justify  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  two  genera.  Another  point  of  interest  in  the  separation 
of  the  two  genera  is  brought  out  in  Professor  Record's  study  of  the 
wood  of  various  species.  He  finds  that  the  heartwood  of  Piratinera 
is  never  white,  while  that  of  Brosimum  is  always  white,  except  in  B. 
paraense,  a  species  of  somewhat  doubtful  generic  position. 

Five  species  of  Piratinera  were  listed  by  Pittier, — P.  guianensis 
Aubl.,  P.  discolor  (Schott)  Pittier,  P.  ruhescens  (Taub.)  Pittier,  P. 
acutifolia  (Huber)  Pittier,  and  P.  panamensis  Pittier, — of  which  only 
the  last  two  have  hitherto  been  represented  in  the  National  Herbarium. 
In  the  light  of  the  material  now  at  hand,  the  separation  of  the  first 
two  species  seems  to  be  unjustified.  Brosimum  discolor  Schott, 
briefly  described''  in  1827,  was  fully  described  in  1853  by  Miquel,'' 
who  had  examined  an  authentic  specimen.  Miquel  described  the 
under  surface  of  the  leaves  as  glaucescent  and  subsericeous-pubescent 
with  short,  appressed  hairs.  This  is  the  diagnostic  feature  of  the  spe- 
cies, well  represented  in  Prof.  Record's  material,  which  has  been  identi- 
fied by  Dr.  Rendle  with  the  type  of  P.  guianensis  Aubl.,  and  as  no 
distinguishing  characters  are  apparent  in  Miquel' s  long  description, 
it  is  evident  that  P.  discolor  (Schott)  Pittier  should  be  referred  to  the 
synonymy  of  P.  guianensis  Aubl. 

With  this  reduction,  and  the  addition  of  the  two  new  species  rep- 
resented in  the  material  sent  by  Prof.  Record,  the  known  species 
of  Piratinera  are  increased  to  6.     All  except  P.  ruhescens  are  now  rep- 

=  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  96-100.     1918. 
6  In    Spreng.  Syst.  Veg.  4:  403.     1827. 
"  In  Mart.  Fl.  Bras.  4:  110.     1853. 


394       JOURNAIv  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  17 


Fig.  1.  Leaves  of  Piratinera,  natural  size. — a,  P.  guianensis  Aubl.  (Anderson  598A);  b, 
P.  panamensis  Pittier  (type  collection);  c,  P.  aciiiifolia  (Huber)  Pittier  {Diicke  12155); 
d,  P.  velutina  Blake  (type) ;  e,  P.  scahridula  Blake  (type). 


OCT.  19,  1922  Bi^AKE:  new  species  of  letterwood  395 

resented  in  the  National  Herbarium.     The  following  key  based  chiefly 

on  the  leaves  will  serve  to  separate  the  species. 

Leaves  finely  appressed-puberulous  beneath. 

Leaves  rather  densely  appressed-puberulous  beneath;  peduncles  solitary, 
erect. 
Petioles  2  to  5  mm.  long;    peduncles  (in  flower  and  fruit)  3  to  8  mm. 
long;   receptacle  in  flower  3.5  to  7  mm.  wide. 

1.     P.  guianensis. 
Petioles  5  to  7  mm.  long;    peduncles  (in  flower  and  fruit)  10  to  15  mm. 
long;    receptacle  in  flower  1  cm.  wide  or  more. 

2.     P.  panamensis . 
Leaves   very    sparsely    appressed-puberulous   beneath   chiefly    along   the 
costa;    peduncles  usually  paired,  refracted.  3.     P.  rubescens. 

Leaves  densely  puberulous  to  pilosulous  beneath  with    spreading    or    in- 
curved but  not  appressed  hairs. 
Leaves    gradually    long-acuminate,    puberulous    beneath    with    incurved 
hairs;    chief  lateral  veins  14  to  22  pairs.  4.     P.  acutifolta. 

Leaves  emarginate  or  rounded  to  abruptly  short-acuminate,  hispidulous 
or  pilosulous  beneath  with  straight    spreading    hairs;    chief    lateral 
veins  8  to  12  pairs. 
Leaf  blades  mostly  4 . 5  to  7 . 5  cm.  long,  2  to  4  cm.  wide,  hispidulous 
along   costa  above,  very  densely  scabridulous-hispidulous   on  sur- 
face beneath  with  minute  hairs  much  shorter  than  the  thickness  of 
the  leaf  tissue.  5.     P.  scabridtda. 

Leaf  blades  mostly  7  to  12  cm.  long,  3  to  5.5  cm.  wide,  glabrous  above, 
rather  densely    velvety-pilosulous    on    surface  beneath,   the  hairs 
about  as  long  as  the  thickness  of  the  leaf  tissue.       6.     P.  velutina. 
1.     Piratinera  guianensis  Aubl.  PI.  Guian.  2:  888.     pi.  340.     1775.     Pale- 

LEAE  LETTERWOOD.  Fig.   1,  a. 

Brosimum  discolor  Schott  in  Spreng.  Syst.  Veg.  4^:  403.     1827. 

Brosimum  guyanense  Huber,  Bol.  Mus.  Goeldi  5:  337.     1909. 

Piratinera  discolor  Pittier,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  100.     1918. 
Type  locality  :  Caux,  French  Guiana. 
Illustrations:    Aubl.  PI.  Guian.     pi.  J40.    Miq.  in  Mart.  Fl.  Bras.  4': 

pi.  J  J  (as  B.  discolor). 
Specimens  examined  : 

British  Guiana:  Komentyne  (Komantin)  Creek,  Wiruni  River,  and 
Berbice  River  (near  savanna  of  Karaka),  February  18,  1910,  C.  W.  An- 
derson 467/C.  T.  45  (N,  Yale).*  Essequibo-Rupumuni  region,  Ander- 
son 598 A  (N,  Yale).  On  hills  up  to  15  or  20  meters  above  sea  level, 
Kamuni  Creek,  Demerara  River,  Anderson  137  (Yale).  Issororo  Creek, 
Pomeroon  River,  June  8,  1909,  Anderson  308  (Yale). 

Surinam:  Zandery  I.,  a  station  at  Km.  45  of  railway,  November  25, 
1915,  Forestry  Service  (Surinam)  1371  (Yale).  Moderzorg,  Surinam 
River,  August  8,  1921,  Forestry  Service  5429  (Yale).  Sarwa  Creek, 
Mapane,  Commewyne  River,  November  22,  1921,  Forestry  Service 
5497  (Yale,  fragm.  N).  Berlyn,  Km.  50  of  railway,  December  13, 
1921,  Forestry  Service  5501  (Yale,  fragm.  N). 

Brazil:   Obidos,  Amazonia,  December  22,  1907,  Ducke  9189  (N). 

*  In  the  citation  of  specimens,  N  =  U.  S.  National  Herbarium;    Yale    =  herbarium  of 
Yale  University. 


396       JOURNAIv  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADKMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  17 

■"  "  The  vernacular  names  accompanying  the  British  Guiana  material  are 
"letterwood"  (no.  598A)  and  "tibikushi"  {i.e.,  bastard  letterwood;  nos. 
137,  308,  467).  No.  308,  which  consists  only  of  comparatively  large  leaves 
(about  11  cm.  long,  5.5  to  6  cm.  wide)  and  of  a  wood  specimen  (the  latter 
not  examined  by  the  writer),  is  labeled  "not  true  tibikushi."  Although 
considerably  larger  than  those  of  the  other  specimens  examined,  these  leaves 
agree  in  pubescence,  and  seem  to  be  clearly  referable  to  P.  guianensis.  No. 
137  is  said  to  grow  to  be  a  large  tree  on  sandy  soil,  the  bark  emitting  a  sticky 
substance  when  cut,  and  the  heartwood  being  red  mottled  with  black. 

The  material  from  Surinam  is  labeled  with  the  following  names:  "letter- 
hout,"  "letterhout  (gespikkeld),"  "man  letterhout"  (Dutch);  "manletri," 
"kappewerie  letri"  (Negro  English);  "moeje-paulettoe"  (Saramacca  Bush 
Negro);  "koereroe,"  "kolero,"  "koelero"  (Arowak  Indian);  "paida," 
"toekoesipaida,"  "wekerepaida"  (Carab  Indian)." 

In  his  list  of  the  described  species  of  Brosimum,  Pittier^  recognizes  B. 
guianense  Huber  as  a  valid  species  distinct  from  Piratinera  guianensis  Aubl. 
This  course  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  nomenclature,  since  Huber 
published  the  name,  in  the  form  Brosimum  guyanense,  without  description, 
and  cited  Piratinera  guyanensis  Aubl.  and  B.  aubletii  Poepp.  as  synonyms. 
Three  collections  were  listed,  nos.  4871,  9189,  and  9072.  The  two  latter  are 
in  the  National  Herbarium,  as  mentioned  by  Mr.  Pittier.  Investigation 
of  these,  in  the  light  of  the  information  recently  obtained  as  to  the  identity 
of  Aublet's  type,  shows  that  no.  9189  is  referable  to  P.  guianensis  Aubl. 
No.  9072,  however,  is  referable  to  the  new  species  described  beyond  as  Pira- 
tinera velutina.  In  a  later  note  by  Huber, ^'^  cited  by  Pittier  as  the  place  of 
publication  of  B.  guianense,  where  the  wood  is  described  (with  the  vernacular 
name  given  as  "muirapinima"),  reference  is  again  made  to  P.  guianensis 
Aubl. 

2.  Piratinera  panamensis  Pittier,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  100.     pi.  7. 

1918.     Panama  LETTERWOOD.  Fig.  1,  6. 

Type  locality  :  Near  Puerto  Obaldia,  Panama. 
Specimens  examined  : 

Panama:    Hills  back  of  Puerto  Obaldia,  San  Bias  Coast,  September  2, 

1911,  Pittier  4336  (type  collection,  N). 
The  vernacular  name  of  this  species  is  given  as  "guaimaro."     Prof.  Record, 
who  has  studied  wood  material  collected  by  Mr.  Pittier,  informs  me  that  the 
sapwood  is  white,  and  the  heartwood  dark  red  with  black  markings. 

3.  Piratinera  rubescens  (Taub.)  Pittier,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  100. 

1918.      REDLEAF  LETTERWOOD. 
Brosimum  rubescens  Taub.  Bot.  Jahrb.  Engler  12:    Beibl.  27:  4.     1890. 
Type  locality:    Brazil.     Type  collected  by  Glaziou  (no.  12169). 
The  vernacular  name  of  this  plant  is  .given  as  "pao  vermelho." 

"  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  101.     1918. 
'0  Bol.  Mus.  Goeldi  6:  168.     1910. 


OCT.  19,  1922  BLAKE:  NEW  SPECIES  OF  LETTERWOOD  397 

4.  Piratinera  acutifolia  (Ruber)  Pittier,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  100. 

1918.      ShARPLEAF  LETTERWOOD.  Fig.  1,  c. 

Brosimum  acutifolium  Huber,  Bol.  Mus.  Goeldi  6:  66.     1910. 

Type  locality:    Primeval  woods  along  the  railroad  between  Belem  and 
Braganga,  Para,  Brazil.     Type  collected  by  A.  Goeldi  (no.  8231). 

Specimen  examined: 

Brazil:  Rio  Branco  de  Obidos,  Para,  4.8. 1912,  Ducke  12155  (N). 

This  species  is  readily  recognized  by  its  long-acuminate  leaves.     The  ver- 
nacular name  is  "murure." 

5.  Piratinera  scabridula  Blake,   sp.   nov.     Roughleae  lETTERwood. 

Fig.  1,  e. 

Tree  with  sticky  latex;  young  branches  slender,  brown  or  purplish  brown, 
minutely  and  rather  sparsely  spreading-hispidulous,  glabrescent,  the  older 
flaky-barked,  becoming  gray;  buds  ovoid,  acute,  about  2.5  mm.  long,  finely 
erect-hispidulous;  internodes  2  to  20  mm.  long;  stipules  not  seen;  petioles 
2  to  5  mm.  long,  sulcate  above,  finely  hispidulous  with  spreading  or  erectish 
hairs;  leaf  blades  elHptic  to  oval  or  sometimes  obovate-oval,  (2.7)  4.5  to 
7.5  cm.  long,  (1.3)  2  to  4  cm.  wide,  obtuse  or  obtusely  short-pointed  to 
rounded,  often  emarginate,  at  base  cuneate  or  rounded-cuneate  and  unequal, 
entire,  subcoriaceous,  above  usually  light  green,  shining  in  age,  glabrous 
except  along  the  hispidulous  costa,  beneath  pale,  along  costa  and  chief  veins 
spreading-hispidulous,  on  surface  scabridulous  to  the  touch  with  very  dense 
and  very  minute,  conical,  spreading,  whitish  hairs,  featherveined,  the  chief 
veins  8  to  12  pairs,  diverging  at  an  angle  of  60°  to  nearly  90°,  united  inside 
the  margin,  flattish  or  barely  prominulous  above,  prominulous  beneath, 
the  costa  prominulous  above,  prominent  beneath,  the  secondaries  prominu- 
lous-reticulate  beneath;  peduncles  axillary,  solitary,  erectish,  about  7  mm. 
long,  minutely  antrorse-hispidulous;  young  receptacle  depressed-hemi- 
spheric, about  4  mm.  thick,  covered  with  orbicular,  peltate,  minutely  puberu- 
lous  and  ciliolate  bracts;  9  flowers  about  5;  d"  flowers  numerous,  1-androus, 
the  perianth  monophyllous,  apparently  split  on  one  side;   fruit  not  seen. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.   1,120,360,  collected  below 
Manakobi,   on  the  Corentyn  River,   British  Guiana,   December   13,    1909, 
by  C.  W.  Anderson  (no.  406/C8).     Duplicate  in  the  herbarium  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity. 
Additional  specimens  examined  : 

Surinam:  Casipora  Creek,  Surinam  River,  November  24,  1921,  Forestry 
Service  5495  (Yale,  fragm.  N).  Irakoeka  Creek,  Surinam  River,  January 
11,  1922,  Forestry  Service  5499  (Yale),  5500  (Yale,  fragm.  N). 

The  vernacular  name  associated  with  the  type  is  "letterwood."  The 
Dutch  names  of  the  other  specimens  are  given  as  follows:  "manletterhout" 
(5495),  "kapiteinhout"  (5499),  "roode  letterhout"  (5500).  The  Arowak 
Indian  name  of  5495  is  "koelero  boelekolle."  The  label  of  the  type  collection 
states  that  the  flowers  were  greenish  yellow  with  brown  anthers.  Unfor- 
tunately only  a  single  receptacle  has  been  available  for  examination,  and  that 
is  too  young  and  in  too  poor  condition  to  afford  much  information,  beyond 
establishing  the  fact  that  the  plant  is  certainly  a  Piratinera. 


398       JOURNAI,  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOIy.  12,  NO.   17 

The  hairs  of  the  under  leaf  surface  in  this  species  are  so  small  that  under  a 

12x  lens  they  appear  merely  as  densely  crowded  papillae.     Viewed  on  a  cross 

section  of  the  leaf  under  a  49x  binocular,  they  are  seen  to  be  conical  hairs, 

standing  off  stiffly  at  a  right  angle  from  the  leaf  surface,  and  about  one-half 

to  one-fifth  as  long  as  the  thickness  of  the  leaf. 

6.     Piratinera  velutina  Blake,  sp.  nov.     Velvetleaf  letterwood. 

Fig.  1,  d. 

Young  branchlets  brown,  finely,  densely,  and  rather  softly  spreading- 
puberulous,  the  older  glabrate,  gray-barked;  internodes  mostly  1  to  2.5 
cm.  long;  stipules  lance-subulate,  4.5  mm.  long,  appressed-puberulous  on 
both  sides,  deciduous;  petioles  3  to  5  mm.  long,  scarcely  sulcate  above, 
puberulous  like  the  branchlets;  leaf  blades  oblong  to  oblong-oval,  rarely 
slightly  obovate-oval,  (5)  7  to  12  cm.  long,  3  to  5.5  cm.  wide,  abruptly  short- 
pointed  with  obtuse  apex,  at  base  very  unequal,  broadly  rounded  on  one 
side,  obliquely  rounded  on  the  other,  entire,  subcoriaceous,  above  deep  green, 
shining,  glabrous,  beneath  paler  (brownish  or  griseous-green  when  dry), 
on  the  chief  veins  hispidulous-pilosulous  with  rather  soft  spreading  or  an- 
trorse  hairs,  on  surface  very  densely  papillose  and  rather  densely  and  softly 
velvety-pilosulous  with  spreading  hairs,  featherveined,  the  chief  lateral 
veins  8  to  1 1  pairs,  diverging  at  an  angle  of  GO  °  to  SO  °,  united  inside  the  mar- 
gin, with  the  secondaries  flattish  or  delicately  prominulous-reticulate  above, 
prominulous-reticulate  beneath,  the  costa  prominent  beneath;  peduncles 
(very  young)  solitary,  axillary,  erect,  puberulous,  5  mm.  long  or  less;  young 
receptacles  depressed-subglobose,  about  4 . 5  mm.  thick,  densely  covered  with 
orbicular,  peltate,  puberulous  and  ciliolate  bracts;  9  flowers  2  or  3;  6 
flowers  numerous,  1-androus,  the  perianth  monophyllous,  split  on  one  side; 
fruit  not  seen. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,120,361,  collected  at  Sectie 
O,  a  forest  station  at  Km.  65  of  railway,  Surinam,  February  15,  1916,  by 
the  Forestry  Service  of  Surinam  (no.   1647).     Duplicate  in  herbarium  of 
Yale  University. 
Additional  specimens  examined: 

Surinam:  Sectie  O,  November  3,  1915,  Forestry  Service  1158  (Yale), 
November  22,  1915,  Forestry  Service  1378  (Yale).  Irakoeka  Creek, 
Surinam  River,  January  11,  1922,  Forestry  Service  5498  (Yale). 

Brazil:  AlluWal  forest,  Rio  Mapuera,  Amazonia,  December  8,  1907, 
Ducke  9072  (N). 

The  hairs  on  the  under  leaf  surface  of  this  species  are  much  longer  than  those 
of  P.  scabridula,  being  readily  distinguishable  with  a  12x  lens,  and  about 
equaling  the  thickness  of  the  leaf  tissue  when  seen  under  the  binocular. 

The  species  bears  the  following  names:  "letterhout,"  "roode  lelterhout" 
(Dutch);  "letri,"  "basra  letri"  (Negro  English);  "poevinga,"  "pauletoe" 
(Saramacca  Bush  Negro);  "sokone-biberoe,"  "belekoro,"  "koereroe"  (Aro- 
wak  Indian);  "paida,"  "wekere  paida,"  "tianalin  weive,"  "tokoro  apoUi 
merie"  (Carab  Indian). 

DOUBTFUL   SPECIES 

Brosimum  aubletii  Poepp.  &  Endl.     Nov.  Gen.  &  Sp.  2:  34.  pi.  148,  J.  a-d. 
1838. 


OCT.  19,  1922  standley:  persimmon  from  mexico  399 

This  species,  from  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Huallaga  near  Yurimaguas,  Peru, 
was  stated  by  its  authors  to  be  without  doubt  identical  with  Piratinera 
guianensis  Aubl.  Pittier,^^  however,  considers  it  "probable  that  it  belongs 
neither  to  Brosimum  nor  to  Piratinera,  but  perhaps  to  Helicostylis."  The 
description  and  figures  of  the  receptacle  and  floral  parts,  however,  particularly 
of  the  peltate  bracteoles,  seem  to  me  to  indicate  that  the  plant  is  a  Piratinera, 
and  that  the  staminate  flowers  were  overlooked.  The  diff"erence  in  range 
makes  it  improbable  that  the  plant  is  identical  with  Aublet's  species.  Until 
more  information  is  secured,  it  is  impossible  to  dispose  of  the  name  definitely. 

BOTANY. — Diospyros  conzattii,   a  new  species  of  persimmon  from 
Mexico.     Paul  C.  Standley,  U.  S.  National  Museum.^ 

The  National  Museum  has  received  recently  from  Prof.  C.  Con- 
zatti  of  Oaxaca,  Mexico,  specimens  of  a  native  persimmon  which  can 
not  be  referred  satisfactorily  to  any  of  the  ten  species  previously 
listed  from  the  country.  The  Mexican  species  of  the  genus  are  en- 
demic, with  two  exceptions — Diospyros  ebenaster  Retz.,  an  East 
Indian  species  with  large  fruit  (4  to  7  cm.  in  diameter  or  larger), 
which  is  widely  cultivated,  being  known  commonly  as  "zapote  prieto;" 
and  D.  texana  Scheele,  the  "chapote"  or  "chapote  prieto,"  which 
extends  into  western  Texas.  All  the  Mexican  persimmons  have 
edible  fruit,  whose  pulp  is  usually  black  at  maturity.  The  species 
here  described  is  an  interesting  addition  to  the  known  trees  of  Mexico, 
especially  since  the  collector  has  furnished  such  complete  information 
concerning  it. 

Diospyros  conzattii  Standi.,  sp.  nov. 

Tree,  10  meters  high,  the  branchlets  minutely  and  sparsely  fulvous-puberu- 
lent;  petioles  4  to  6  mm.  long,  minutely  puberulent  or  glabrous;  leaf  blades 
ovate-oblong  or  lance-oblong,  5  to  9 . 5  cm.  long,  2 . 5  to  3 . 5  cm.  wide,  acumi- 
nate, acute  or  subobtuse  at  base,  subcoriaceous,  glabrous,  somewhat  lustrous 
above,  the  costa  depressed,  the  lateral  nerves  nearly  obsolete,  the  costa 
prominent  beneath,  the  lateral  nerves  also  prominent,  slender,  irregular, 
5  or  6  on  each  side;  fruits  borne  on  short  stout  pedicels;  calyx  5-parted, 
the  lobes  narrowly  lance-oblong  or  linear-lanceolate,  15  to  18  mm.  long, 
long-attenuate,  glabrous  or  sparsely  strigillose  outside  near  the  base;  fruit 
depressed-globose,  about  4  cm.  broad  and  2  cm.  high,  glabrous,  green,  the 
pulp  black;  seeds  5  to  10,  strongly  compressed,  about  13  mm.  long  and  10 
mm.  broad,  brown,  finely  rugulose. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,014,759,  collected  in  the 
Cafetal  San  Rafael,  Cerro  Espino,  Distrito  de  Pochutla,  Oaxaca,  Mexico, 
April  24,  1917,  by  C.  Conzatti  (no.  3167). 

"  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  20:  98.     1918. 

'  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Received 
September  26,  1922. 


400     JOURNAL  OF  The;  Washington  acadbmy  of  sciences      vol.  12,  no.  17 

Diospyros  conzattii  is  not  closely  related  to  any  of  the  species  previously 
reported  from  Mexico,  with  the  possible  exception  of  D.  blepharophylla 
Standi. (D.  ciliala  A.  DC),  a  little-known  plant,  the  type  of  which  is  said 
to  have  come  from  southern  Mexico.  That  is  described  as  having  ovate- 
elliptic  ciliate  leaves,  on  longer  petioles. 

From  a  manuscript  work  upon  the  edible  fruits  of  Mexico,  Professor 
Conzatti  has  furnished  the  following  notes  concerning  the  new  species  here 
described : 

"On  the  twenty-fourth  of  April,  1917,  while  making  an  excursion  in  the 
company  of  Senor  E.  Makrinius,  manager  of  the  Cafetal  Concordia  and 
its  subsidiaries.  District  of  Pochutla,  Oaxaca,  on  the  so-called  Cerro  Espino, 
upon  which  lies  the  Cafetal  San  Rafael,  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  among 
other  things  a  medium-sized  (10  meters)  tree,  known  there  as  zapote  negro 
monies.  At  that  time  of  the  year  the  tree  bore  leaves  and  ripe  fruits.  Samp- 
ling the  fruits,  with  some  suspicion  at  first,  I  found  them  quite  to  my  taste 
and  ate  as  many  as  I  could.  But  I  prefer  to  quote  what  I  have  already 
published  in  the  Boleiin  de  la  Direccion  de  EsHidios  Biologicos  :^ 

"  'The  zapote  negro  monies  is  especially  interesting  because  of  its  edible 
fruit,  of  exquisite  flavor.  With  the  exception  of  the  chicozapote,  I  know  of 
no  other  fruit  which  compares  in  quality  with  the  zapote  negro,  and  all  the 
persons  who  have  tried  it  are  agreed  in  considering  it  superior  to  that.  The 
fruits,  which  are  perfectly  round,  and  green  outside,  are  much  smaller  than 
those  of  the  common  zapote  negro  {Diospyros  ebenaster),  being  only  4  cm. 
in  diameter  and  2  cm.  or  slightly  more  in  height,  since  they  are  somewhat 
depressed. 

"  'It  seems  to  me  that  propagation  of  the  tree  should  be  relatively  simple, 
taking  into  account  the  elevation  (1,000  meters)  at  which  it  grows  and  the 
fact  that  it  is  native.'  " 

BOTANY. — A  new  Salvinia  from  Trinidad.'^     William  R.  Maxon, 
National  Museum. 

In  Christensen's  Index  Filicum  13  species  of  water  fernworts  of  the 
genus  Salvinia  are  recognized,  these  mainly  inhabitants  of  tropical 
regions.  Of  the  few  American  species,  5.  sprucei,  known  from  a  single 
collection  in  the  Amazon  region,  has  been  unique  in  having  ascending, 
somewhat  cup-shaped  leaves,  in  distinction  from  the  plane  blades  of 
the  small  floating  leaves  of  other  species.  Recently  a  new  species 
closely  allied  to  5.  sprucei  has  been  collected  in  Trinidad.  This  is 
described  below. 

=  II.     3:  316.     1918. 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.     Received 
September  6,  1922. 


OCT.   19,   1922      proceedings:  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  401 

Salvinia  cyathifcrmis  Maxon,  sp.  nov 

Plants  small,  1  to  1.5  cm.  long,  1  cm.  broad,  or  less;  stem  filiform  (about 
0.3  mm.  thick),  bearing  a  few  deciduous  short  few-celled  hairs.  Submerged 
radiciform  leaves  imperfect,  conceptacles  wanting.  Floating  leaves  few,  2  or  3 
pairs  (the  nodes  3  or  4  mm.  apart),  petiolulate  (about  0.5  mm.),  olivaceous 
above,  darker  beneath,  5  to  6  mm.  long,  subflabelliform,  cyathiform,  truncate- 
subcordate  at  base,  broadly  rounded  in  the  apical  portion,  not  emarginate, 
conduplicate  in  drying,  the  folded  blade  4  to  5  mm.  broad,  appearing  cunei- 
form, with  an  acutish  or  narrowly  roundish-cuneate  base;  midvein  slight, 
subflexuous,  hardly  thicker  than  the  lateral  veins;  main  lateral  veins  6  or  7 
pairs,  connected  in  oblong  areoles  oblique  from  the  midvein,  each  areole 
subtending  two  narrowly  oblong  or  linear  areoles  toward  the  margins,  the 
excurrent  veinlets  mostly  free,  occasionally  producing  a  minute  areole; 
papillae  numerous  on  the  upper  side  in  a  wide  marginal  zone  1.5  to  2  mm. 
broad,  linear,  about  1  mm.  long,  borne  mostly  upon  the  ultimate  cross-veins 
and  between  the  excurrent  veinlets,  greenish-hyaline,  cleft  at  the  tip. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,058,520,  collected  from  a  pond 
at  Cedros,  Trinidad,  December  20,  1914,  by  W.  E.  Broadway;  received  from 
the  New  York  Botanical  Garden. 

In  habit  and  in  form  and  venation  of  the  floating  leaves  5.  cyathiformis 
resembles  5.  sprucei  Kuhn,  of  Brazil,  founded  on  Spruce  1G36.  That  species 
as  described  and  figured  in  the  Flora  Brasiliensis,  and  as  known  to  the  writer 
from  a  portion  of  the  type  collection  courteously  lent  from  Kew,  has  the  leaves 
much  less  deeply  cup-shaped,  broadly  cuneate,  and  devoid  of  papillae  upon 
the  upper  surface,  except  for  a  few  at  the  extreme  margin  that  are  so  minute 
as  to  have  escaped  Kuhn's  attention.  The  leaf  substance  of  5.  sprucei  is  much 
thinner  than  that  of  5.  cyathiformis,  and  the  venation  is  in  consequence  much 
more  sharply  defined. 

PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND   AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 
162nd  meeting 

The  162nd  meeting  of  the  Academy,  the  24th  annual  meeting,  was  held 
at  the  Administration  Building  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington, 
on  Tuesday,  January  10,  1922.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Vice- 
President  Humphreys.  Dr.  Alfred  H.  Brooks,  retiring  President  of  the 
Academy,  delivered  an  address,  entitled.  The  scientist  in  the  Federal  service. 
This  has  since  been  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Academy  (12:  73-115. 
Feb.  19,  1922). 

Following  the  address  the  annual  business  meeting  was  held.  The  minutes 
of  the  21st  annual  meeting  were  read  and  approved.  The  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Robert  B.  Sosman,  reported  briefly  on  the  activities  of  the  Acad- 
emy during  the  year.  On  January  1,  1922,  the  membership  consisted  of  6 
honorarj^  members,  3  patrons,  and  534  members,  the  total  being  543,  of  whom 
325  reside  in  or  near  the  District  of  Columbia.  Nine  resignations  were 
accepted  diu-ing  the  year,  and  the  Academy  lost  by  death  the  following 


402       JOURNAL  OP  The  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.   17 

members:  Edward  Chester  Barnard,  Frederic  Perkins  Dewey,  Louis 
Albert  Fischer,  Franz  A.  R.  Jung,  Edward  Bennett  Rosa,  Samuel 
Stockton  Voorhees.  Other  matters  dealt  with  included  the  movement 
initiated  by  the  Botanical  vSociety  of  sending  scientific  literature  to  the  scien- 
tists of  Russia,  the  wider  distribution  of  the  Journal  to  Continental  Euro- 
pean countries,  and  the  compilation  by  the  committee  of  the  Academy  of 
a  list  of  100  popular  books  in  science.  The  list,  prepared  at  the  suggestion 
of  Dr.  George  F.  Bowerman,  Librarian  of  the  Public  Library  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  has  been  widely  circulated  and  commented  upon.  The  ac- 
tivities of  the  Academy  in  advocating  the  establishment  of  a  national  arbore- 
tum and  botanical  garden  on  Moimt  Hamilton  were  also  discussed. 

The  Recording  Secretary,  William  R.  Maxon,  reported  also  on  the  nine 
public  meetings  held  during  1921,  in  addition  to  the  annual  meeting,  at  which 
illustrated  lectures  were  delivered.  Several  of  these  were  held  jointly  with 
one  or  more  of  the  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy.  The  titles  and 
dates,  and  the  place  of  publication  of  the  lectures,  were  stated. 

The  report  of  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Faris,  showed  total  receipts  of  $6,382.79 
and  total  disbursements  of  $6,196.89;  the  cash  balance  on  hand  December 
31,  1921,  was  $1,978.52.  Investments  of  the  Academy  have  a  total  par 
value  of  $15,036.37.  The  cost  of  printing  the  Journal  in  1921  was  $3,701.23, 
as  against  $2,550.00  for  1919  and  $2,873.74  for  1920. 

The  report  of  the  Auditing  Committee,  consisting  of  W.  R.  Gregg,  S.  H. 
Ayres,  and  E.  G.  Fischer,  was  read  and  the  reports  of  the  Treasurer  and 
the  Auditing  Committee  were  accepted. 

The  report  of  the  Editors  of  the  Journal  was  read  by  Robert  B.  Sosman, 
the  senior  Editor.  Various  economies,  including  change  in  make-up  and 
in  size  of  page,  had  made  possible  the  publication  of  537  pages  in  Volume  11, 
equivalent  to  about  620  pages  of  former  volumes.  Original  articles,  53  in 
number,  took  up  61  per  cent  of  the  pagination.  Proceedings  of  the  Academy 
and  the  Affiliated  Societies  18  per  cent.  Abstracts  11  per  cent,  and  News, 
Notes  and  Index  the  remaining  10  per  cent. 

The  Committee  of  Tellers,  consisting  of  H.  W.  Bearce,  Robert  H.  Lom- 
bard, and  Robert  B.  Sosman,  reported  that  the  following  officers  had  been 
elected  for  1922:  President,  W.  J.  Humphreys;  Corresponding  Secretary, 
F.  B.  Silsbee ; -Recording  Secretary,  William  R.  Maxon;  Treasurer,  R.  L. 
Faris;  Non-resident  Vice-Presidents,  G.  E.  Hale,  D.  C.  Miller;  Managers 
Class  of  1925,  L.  J.  Briggs,  Robert  B.  Sosman. 

The  following  vice-presidents,  nominated  by  the  affiliated  societies,  were 
then  elected:  Archaeological  Society,  Austin  H.  Clark;  Biological  Society, 
Vernon  Bailey;  Botanical  Society,  Charles  E.  Chambliss;  Chemical 
Society,  R.  C.  WELLS ;  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  R.  P.  Parrott;  Society 
of  Engineers,  J.  S.  Conway;  Entomological  Society,  S.  A.  Rohwer;  Society  of 
Foresters,  Raphael  Zon;  National  Geographic  Society,  Frederick  V.  CovillE; 
Geological  Society,  G.  W.  Stose;  Historical  Society,  AllEn  C.  Clark;  Medical 
Society,  A.  W.  Boswell;  Philosophical  Society,  E.  C.  Crittenden. 

163d  meeting 

The  163d  meeting  was  held  jointly  with  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Wash- 
ington in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  the  evening  of  Saturday, 
January  28,  1922.  Dr.  L.  T.  Troland,  Professor  of  Psychology  at  Harvard 
University,  delivered  an  address  on  Psycho-physics  as  the  key  to  metaphysics. 


OCT.   19,   1922  PROCEEDINGS :  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  403 

This  has  been  published  in  the   Journal  of  the  Academy  (12:  141-162. 
March  19,  1922). 

164th  meeting 

The  164th  meeting  of  the  Academy  was  held  jointly  with  the  Geological 
Society  of  Washington  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club,  the  evening 
of  Thursday,  February  2,  1922.  Prof.  H.  A.  BrouwER  of  the  Geological 
Institute,  University  of  Delft,  Holland,  delivered  an  illustrated  address, 
entitled  The  major  tectonic  features  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  This  has  been 
pubhshed  in  the  Journal  (12:  172-185.     April  4,  1922). 

165th  meeting 
The  165th  meeting  of  the  Academy  was  held  jointly  with  the  Anthro- 
pological Society  of  Washington  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  Cosmos  Club, 
the  evening  of  Thursday,  February  16,  1922.  Dr.  H.  U.  Sverdrup,  of 
Amundsen's  Arctic  Expedition,  delivered  an  address,  entitled.  Customs  of 
the  Chukchi  natives  of  northeastern  Siberia.  A  full  abstract  of  this  lecture 
has  been  pubhshed  in  the  Journal  (12:  208-212.     April  19,  1922). 

William  R.  Maxon,  Recording  Secretary. 

PHILOSOPHICAI.  SOCIETY 
865th  meeting 

The  865th  meeting  was  held  in  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium  April  8,  1922, 
with  President  Crittenden  in  the  chair,  and  28  persons  present.  The 
President  announced  that  a  custom  formerly  prevailing — that  of  affording 
opportunity  for  the  presentation  of  informal  communications — would  oe  a 
regular  feature  of  programs  in  the  future. 

The  following  papers  were  presented: 

F.  H.  Smyth:  Experimentation  at  high  pressures  and  temperatures,  with 
special  reference  to  the  fusion  of  calcium  carbonate  (illustrated). 

The  essential  apparatus  necessary  for  work  at  high  pressures  and  tempera- 
tures are  (1)  a  strong-walled  gas-proof  container  or  bomb,  and  (2)  an  electric 
furnace  within  the  bomb  with  which  temperatures  up  to  1500  degrees  may 
be  obtained.  Electrical  leads  for  the  furnace  and  for  the  thermo-elements 
used  in  measuring  furnace  temperatures,  may  be  brought  out  through  small 
holes  in  the  bomb  wall,  insulated  and  made  gas-tight  by  soapstone  plugs 
rammed  in  under  pressure  around  the  wires. 

For  pressures  up  to  1000  atm.  a  bomb  of  nickel  steel  of  10  cm.  internal 
diameter,  and  20  cm.  depth,  with  a  wall  7  cm.  thick  has  been  found  satis- 
factory. The  bomb  wall  is  made  with  two  shells,  between  which  are  grooves 
through  which  cooling  water  may  be  circulated.  A  small  platinum  wound 
resistance  furnace  of  14  mm.  internal  diameter  is  used  as  a  heating  element. 
Owing  to  the  great  heat  losses  due  to  convection  in  a  gas  atmosphere  at  high 
pressure,  the  furnace  tube  must  be  well  baffled  with  small  discs  of  refractory 
material,  and  the  platinum  crucible  containing  the  heated  charge  must  be 
in  practically  solid  contact  with  the  inside  furnace  wall. 

The  system  studied  to  date  is  the  two  component  system  CaO-CaCOa. 

The  best  previous  work  on  this  system  has  been  done  by  Boeke  (N.  Jb. 
Min.  1912,  1,  91-121)  under  conditions  which  permitted  pressures  up  to 
300  atm.  Boeke  reports  a  reversible  change  from  one  form  of  solid  CaCOa 
to  another  at  970  deg.  The  eutectic  between  CaO  and  CaCOs  is  given  as 
1218  deg.,  and  the  melting  point  of  pure  CaCOa  as  1289  deg.  at  110  atm. 


404       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.   17 

The  results  of  the  present  investigation  show  that  there  is  no  change  in 
solid  CaCOs  below  the  eutectic  point.  The  eutectic  hes  between  1230  and 
1240  deg.,  the  corresponding  gas  pressures  being  34  to  39  atm.  The  melting 
point  of  nearly  pure  CaCOg  is  1335  deg.,  at  a  pressure  of  1050  atm.  Even 
under  these  conditions  the  fused  carbonate  contains  a  fraction  of  a  per  cent 
of  lime.  To  get  rid  of  the  last  traces  of  lime  would  probably  require  much 
higher  pressures,  but  the  melting  point  of  the  carbonate  probably  would  not 
be  greatly  raised. 

E.  D.  Williamson:  The  prediction  of  solubility  relations  tender  high  pressure 
from  compressibility  measurements  (illustrated) .     Discussed  by  Mr.  Hawkes- 

WORTH. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  make  direct  solubility  measurements  under 
high  pressure  and  it  is  therefore  important  to  observe  that  such  solubility 
relations  can  be  accurately  and  unequivocally  determined  by  indirect  methods. 
The  following  data  must  be  first  obtained :  (a)  a  set  of  equilibrium  measure- 
ments covering  the  derived  concentration  at  atmospheric  pressure — say, 
vapor  pressure  or  electro-motive  force  determinations;  (b)  accurate  density 
determinations  at  atmospheric  pressure;  (c)  compressibility  measurements 
on  both  solutions  and  pure  substances.  The  lack  of  trustworthy  compressi- 
bility results  for  solutions  has  so  far  made  calculations  worthless,  but  this 
gap  is  now  being  bridged. 

G.  W.  MorEy:  77-2^  production  of  pressure  in  magmas  by  crystallization 
(illustrated).  Discussed  by  Messrs.  Humphreys  and  White.  It  has  been 
published  in  full  in  the  Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences, 
12:  219-230,  1922. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  regular  program  informal  communications  were 
presented  by  L.  H.  Adams  on  The  stability  of  graphite  and  diamond,  and  by 
W.  P.  White  on  The  existence  of  amorphous  material  in  metals. 

866th  meeting 

The  866th  meeting  was  held  in  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium  Saturday, 
May  6,  1922,  with  President  Crittenden  in  the  chair,  and  36  persons  present. 
Program : 

E.  H.  Bowie:  The  formation  and  movement  of  West  Indian  hurricanes. 
Discussed  by  Messrs.  ly.  H.  Adams,  Hawkesworth,  Heyl,  Kadel  and 
Pawling. 

The  formation  and  the  manner  of  progression  of  the  cyclones  of  all  lati- 
tudes and  especially  those  of  the  tropics  have  been  perhaps  more  extensively 
referred  to  in  the  literature  of  meteorology  than  any  other  phenomena  of 
the  air.  The  old  hypothesis  accounted  for  their  formation  by  the  "clashing" 
of  two  or  more  major  air  currents,  such  as  those  that  surge  back  and  forth 
between  the  tropics  and  far  northern  latitudes.  Ferrel  took  exception  to 
this  hypothesis  and  wrote  extensively  and  rather  convincingly  on  the  part 
that  local  superheating  of  the  lower  air  strata  had  to  do  with  the  formation 
of  cyclones.  The  basis  of  Ferrel's  hypothesis  had  back  of  it  local  heating 
and  the  deflective  influence  of  the  earth's  rotation  which  gave  rise  to  the 
counterclockwise  circulation  of  the  winds  around  a  central  region  of  warm 
or  relatively  warm  air.  Now,  the  hypothesis  of  local  thermal  convection 
as  applied  to  the  formation  of  cyclones  rests  exclusively  on  the  supposition 
that  cyclones  are  warm  up  to  a  considerable  altitude.  Free-air  observations 
wherever  made  fail  to  prove  this  to  be  a  fact,  for  in  Europe  the  cyclone  is 
found  to  be  cold  or  relatively  cold,  while  in  the  United  States,  at  least  east  of 


OCT.    1',),    1022  proceedings:  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  405 

the  100th  Meridian,  the  free-air  observations  disclose  the  fact  that  the  eastern 
half  of  the  cyclone  is  warm  and  the  west  half  cold.     No  doubt  if  similar  free-air 
observations  were  made  in  the  far  northwest  in  the  winter  months  it  would 
be  found  that,  in  cyclones  in  British  Columbia,  Alberta,  Washington,  Oregon 
and  Montana,  the  western  half  of  the  cyclone  is  warm  and  the  eastern  half 
cold,  for  certainly  the  surface  distribution  of  temperature  implies  just  this 
temperature  distribution  in   the  free-air  in   that  region.     The  inference   is 
that  the  distribution  of  temperature  in  the  cyclone  is  but  a  question  of  whence 
came  the  air  that  passes  into  and  out  of  the  cyclone,  and  that  the  temperature 
distribution  therein  is  purely  incidental  and  not  fundamental  to  the  origin 
of  the  cyclone  itself.     The  other  important  hypothesis  assigned  the  formation 
of  the  cyclone  to  the  more  general  movements  in  the  air  and  asks  one  to  look 
beyond  the  immediate  place  of  the  origin  of  the  cyclone  for  its  cause.     The 
hypothesis  is  referred  to  as  the  "counter-current  theory"  and  its  most  ardent 
advocate  in  recent  years  has  been  Bigelow.     The  more  recent  presentation 
by  Bjerknes  seems  but  a  modified  and  dilTerently  presented  account  of  the 
part  counter-currents  have  in  the  formation  of  cyclones.     It  is  assumed  that 
these  counter-currents  on  passing  one  another  will  cause  a  diminution  of  the 
air  pressure  above  the  intervening  region,  a  welling  up  of  the  surface  air 
strata,  and  thus  bring  about  instability  which  will  result  in  the  formation  of 
cyclones.     It  is  also  assumed  that  similar  air  currents  passing  one  another 
in  the  reverse  direction  will  bank  together  and  produce  ridges  of  high  pressure 
or  an ticy clonic  areas.     The  existence  of  such  counter-currents  in  the  tropical 
and  extra-tropical  regions  is  well  supported  by  observations.     The  deflective 
force  of  the  earth's  rotation  is  an  important  adjunct  to  the  counter-current 
hypothesis  and  it  follows  that  counter-currents  passing  one  another  on  the 
right  will  maintain  a  belt  of  low  barometeric  pressure  and  those  passing  one 
another  on  the  left  will  maintain  a  ridge  of  high  barometric  pressure  between 
them.     The  energy  arising  from  the  condensation  of  water  vapor  after  the 
cyclone  has  formed  no  doubt  contributes  to  its  length  of  life.     Attempt  is 
made  to  account  for  the  progression  of  cyclones  as  moving  along  the  region 
bounded  by  counter-currents,  such  as  the  "Polar  Front"  named  by  Bjerknes, 
although  above  the  cyclone  proper  the  air  stream  over  and  on  both  sides  of 
the  cyclone  may  and  no  doubt  frequently  does  flow  in   the  same  general 
direction. 

E.  B.  Calvert:  Radiating  the  weather  (illustrated).  Discussed  by  C.  A. 
Briggs. 

Radio  is  an  indispensable  factor  in  the  work  of  the  Weather  Bureau  and 
since  1902,  when  the  first  storm  warning  was  sent  out  by  this  means,  it  has 
become  of  constantly  increasing  importance  in  the  collection  of  weather 
reports  and  in  the  dissemination  of  forecasts  and  warnings.  The  Weather 
Bureau  early  recognized  the  potentiality  of  radio  telegraphy  as  an  aid  to 
its  projects  and  was  a  pioneer  among  Government  agencies  in  engaging  in 
experiments  and  investigations  looking  toward  developing  and  improving 
it.  These  experiments  were  begun  in  1900  and  continued  for  several  years. 
During  this  period  a  transmitter  and  receiver  were  developed,  the  principles 
of  which  were  in  general  use  for  a  long  time. 

Weather  observations  are  collected  daily  from  210  places  in  the  United 
vStates;  '.iO  in  Canada;  36  in  the  West  Indies,  Cuba  and  South  American 
countries;  12  in  the  Pacific  and  the  Far  East,  including  Honolulu,  Guam, 
Midway  Island,  Philippines,  China  and  Japan;  22  in  Europe;    17  in  Mexico 


4()()       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  VOI^.  12,  NO.   17 

and  9  in  Alaska,  from  which  a  current  daily  meteorological  chart  of  the  northern 
hemisphere  is  prepared.  These  reports  are  obtained  by  telegraph,  cable, 
telephone  and  radio,  but  the  latter  is  used  wholly  or  in  part  in  connection 
with  the  collection  and  transmission  of  the  observations  from  Europe,  West 
Indies  and  South  America,  the  Far  East  and  Alaska.  Radio  is  also  used  in 
providing  the  meteorological  services  of  Europe,  the  Philippines  and  Japan 
with  reports  from  the  United  States,  Canada  and  Alaska  in  exchange. 

The  vessel  weather  service  is  an  important  and  exceedingly  valuable  feature 
of  the  work  of  the  Weather  Bureau.  Radio  communications  are  utilized 
almost  exclusively  in  cormection  therewith.  Observations  are  taken  regularly 
on  vessels  plying  the  south  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  the  Caribbean  Sea 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  observations  are  radioed  twice  daily  to  the 
forecast  centers  at  Washington  and  San  Francisco  and  are  charted  in  con- 
junction with  land  reports.  Cyclone  and  anti-cyclone  centers  are  located 
over  these  water  areas,  their  intensity,  direction  of  movement  and  rate  of 
progress  are  determined,  and  forecasts  and  warnings  are  broadcast  for  the 
benefit  of  ships  of  all  nations.  During  the  year  1921  about  10,000  observa- 
tions were  received  by  radio  from  ships  at  sea.  The  value  of  this  service, 
especially  during  the  hurricane  season,  in  the  saving  of  ships,  lives  and  cargoes 
is  enormous.  The  dissemination  of  the  forecasts  and  warnings  to  ships  is 
accomplished  entirely  by  U.  S.  Naval  radio  stations.  Comprehensive  weather 
bulletins  containing  observations  from  land  and  sea  areas,  synopses  of  barom- 
eter distributions  over  land  and  sea,  wind  and  weather  forecasts  for  designated 
ocean  zones  and  storm  and  hurricane  Avarnings  are  broadcast  twice  daily 
from  5  high-power  stations;  and  local  bulletins  and  forecasts  from  31  naval 
radio  stations  on  the  Atlantic,  Gulf  and  Pacific  coasts,  and  on  the  Great 
Lakes.  This  service  for  the  benefit  of  navigation  is  the  most  complete, 
extensive  and  effective  in  the  world. 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  extend  the  benefits  of  the  weather  forecasts, 
cold  wave,  heavy  snow,  frost  and  other  warnings  to  the  agricultural  interests 
of  the  country  as  efi"ectively  as  to  commercial  and  navigation  interests, 
Ijecause  of  the  inaccessibility  of  a  large  portion  of  farmers  to  the  telegraph 
and  telephone  lines,  and  to  newspapers  by  which  they  are  distributed  for 
the  most  part.  The  marvellous  advance  made  in  radio  telephony  offers  a 
solution  of  this  difficult  and  important  problem.  Farmers  in  increasing 
numbers  are  supplying  themselves  with  receiving  sets.  The  Weather  Bureau 
has  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  and  a  system  of  broadcasting  weather 
reports  and  warnings  has  been  inaugurated  in  the  different  states.  This 
system  now  embraces  80  stations  in  34  states. 

P.  R.  Heyl:  On  a  superior  limit  of  n  in  Fermat's  equation.  Discussed  by 
Messrs.  Heal  and  Humphreys. 

If  in  Fermat's  Equation  x"  -{-  y"  =  z"  we  assign  any  arbitrary  value  to 
z  we  can  find  a  critical  value  of  n  above  which  no  integral  solution  of  the 
equation  is  possible.  This  value  of  w  is  a  slowly  increasing  function  of  z; 
hence  by  its  means  no  general  proof  of  Fermat's  Last  Theorem  can  be  arrived 
ut. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol.  12  November  4,  1922  No.  18 


PHYSICS. — Temperature  changes  accompanying  isentropic,  isen- 
ergic,  and  isenkaumic  expansion.'^  Leason  H.  Adams,  Geo- 
physical Laboratory,   Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington. 

The  pressure  on  a  fluid  may  be  changed  from  its  initial  value  to 
some  final  value  in  several  well-recognized  ways.  The  temperature 
changes  accompanying  the  release  of  pressure  depend  on  the  method 
by  which  the  pressure  is  released,  and  may  be  calculated  from  the 
conventional  equations  of  thermodynamics.  It  is  the  object  of  this 
communication  to  note,  largely  because  of  the  connection  with  geo- 
physical problems,  the  changes  in  temperature  of  typical  fluids  when 
pressure  is  released  according  to  three  principal  methods. 

These  methods  are  as  follows : 

(A)  Reversible  release  of  pressure.  Isentropic  expansion. — This, 
the  most  familiar  of  the  three  kinds  of  expansion,  takes  place  when 
a  fluid  {i.e.,  a  gas  or  a  liquid)  is  expanded,  for  example  in  a  cylinder 
with  movable  piston,  without  exchange  of  heat  with  the  surroundings 
under  such  conditions  that  frictional  effects  are  (sensibly)  absent 
and  slowly  enough  so  that  equilibrium  is  maintained,  i.  e.,  that  the 
external  force  acting  on  the  piston  is  (sensibly)  equal  to  the  opposing 
force  exerted  by  the  fluid. 

Under  such  conditions  the  entropy  (5)  of  the  fluid  remains  constant, 
the  process  is  called  isentropic,  and  the  relation  between  temperature 
and  pressure  is  given  by  the  equatoin : 

-(f)r-f 


in  which  T  is  the  absolute  thermodynamic  temperature,  Cp  is  the 
specific  heat  at  constant  pressure,  a  is  the  coefficient  of  expansion 

—  j  ,   V  being   the   volume  of   unit   mass.     The    first  member  of 

1  Received  October  13,  1922. 

407 


( 


408      JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOIv.   12,  NO.  18 

.  .  bT 

the  equation    is    written  —  —    for  convenience  in  representing  the 

op 

rise  in  temperature  due  to  decrease  of  pressure. 

(B)  Explosive  release  of  pressure.  Isenergic  expansion.—When 
pressure  on  a  given  amount  of  material  is  released  in  such  a  way  that 
no  heat  is  added  to  or  taken  away  from  the  material  and  no  work  is 
done  on  or  by  the  surroundings,  the  intrinsic  energy  (E)  of  the  material 
remains  constant,  and  the  expansion  may  be  termed  isenergic.  This 
type  of  expansion  may  be  realized  by  allowing  a  gas  to  expand  from 
one  part  of  a  container  to  another  (evacuated)  part,  or — of  more 
practical  interest — ^by  the  sudden  release  of  pressure  on  a  liquid 
contained  under  high  pressure  in  a  bomb,  e.  g.,  by  a  breaking  of  the 
walls  or  by  a  blowing  off  of  the  lid. 

The  relation  between  temperature  and  pressure  in  isenergic  expan- 
sion is : 

^p  —  aT 


\dp/E 


\dp  J  E  Cp    —    ap 


(2) 


/bv\ 
jS  being  the  compressibility,  namely,  —  ( :r-  ) 

(C)  Porous  plug  release  of  pressure.  Isenkaumic  expansion. — 
The  third  variety  of  expansion  occurs  when  a  fluid — as  before,  insu- 
lated thermally  from  the  surroundings — reduces  its  pressure  by  stream- 
ing through  a  porous  plug  or  through  a  throttle  of  some  sort.  In 
this  case  a  certain  thermodynamic  quantity,  represented  by  the 
letter  H  and  commonly  called  heat  content,  remains  constant.  The 
expression,  heat  content,  is  sometimes  confused  with  heat  capacity 
and,  moreover,  the  two-word  name  does  not  lend  itself  well  to  the 
formation  of  derivatives.  Thus,  "isoheatcontentic"  would  be  an 
awkward  term.  For  these  reasons  a  single-word  equivalent  of  heat 
content  would  be  desirable,  and  the  word  enkaumy^  is  here  proposed. 

In  the  process  just  considered  the  enkaumy  remains  constant,  and 
for  this  isenkaumic  expansion  the  relation  between  temperature  and 
pressure  is : 

'^^^      ="-^^  (3) 


_/bT 


bp/H 


Cp 


2  Greek,  Kavfia  from  Kautv  to  burn.  Cf.  obsolete  English  word,  cauma,  heat.  For 
the  suggestion  of  this  root  I  wish  to  thank  my  colleague,  Dr.  Henry  S.  Washington. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  —  AH,  the  difference  in  enkaumy  of  two  states,  is  the  exact 
equivalent  of  the  heat  of  combustion,  or  the  heat  of  reaction,  at  constant  pressure. 


NOV.  4,  1922  ADAMS:  temperature  changes  409 

The  equations  given  for  the  three  types  of  adiabatic  expansion  apply 
strictly  only  when  the  pressure  on  the  substance  is  purely  hydro- 
static, i.  e.,  equal  in  all  directions.  This  limits  the  rigorous  application 
of  such  formulas,  particularly  (2)  and  (3),  to  liquids  and  gases;  but  if 
the  pressure  on  a  solid  be  many  times  the  strength  of  the  material, 
the  pressure  may  be  nearly  equal  in  all  directions,  and  the  equations 
may  then  be  used  for  calculating  the  piezo-thermal  effects  in  solids. 
The  error  involved  will  naturally  be  smaller,  the  larger  the  pressure. 
For  example,  when  a  metal  is  extruded  through  a  die  by  a  pressure 
of  many  thousands  of  atmospheres,  the  rise  in  temperature  can  be 
estimated  from  equation  (3)  and  the  known  properties  of  the  metal. 

The  temperature  effects  for  the  three  kinds  of  expansion  and 
for  a  number  of  typical  substances  are  shown  in  the  following 
table. 

Numerical  Value  of  Temperature  Rise  for  the  Three  Kinds  of  Expansion.  —dT/dp 
IS  THE  Rise,  in  Degree  Centigrade  per  Megabar  Fall  in  Pressure 

dT/i>p 


Material 

Temp. 
Deg.  C. 

Pressure 
megabars 

At.  const. 

5 

(Isentropic) 

At.  const. 
E 
(Isenergic) 

At.  const. 
H 
(Isenkaumic) 

Nitrogen 

0 

1 

-83.4 

-0.38 

-0.26 

Hydrogen 

0 

1 

-79.3 

-0.02 

+0.03 

Water 

20 

1 

-0.0013 

-0.0013 

+0.023 

Water 

20 

4000 

-0.0028 

-0.0010 

+0.021 

Kerosene 

20 

1 

-0.017 

-0.017 

+0.043 

Lead 

25 

4000 

-0.0020 

-0.0013 

+0.068 

In  making  calculations  with  equations  (1),  (2)  and  (3)  it  is  con- 
venient to  take  V  in  cubic  centimeters  per  gram,  p  in  megabars  (1 
megabar  =  0.9869  atmosphere  at  latitude  40°),  and  Cp  in  deci- joules 
per  gram  per  degree  (1  calorie  =  41.84  deci- joules).  An  alternative 
way  is  to  take  p  in  kilograms  per  square  centimeter,  and  Cp  in  kilo- 
gram-centimeters per  gram  per  degree. 

The  values  of  ( :r-  )      for   nitrogen   and   hydrogen   in    the   above 
\op/H 

table  were  not  calculated  from  equation  (3),  but  are  the  results  of 

direct  measurements  of  this,  the  Joule-Thomson  effect.     Likewise  it 

/dT\ 
was  more  convenient  to  calculate  (t~  )      for   these   gases   from   the 

relation : 

\PpJe  C, 

which  holds  with  sufficient  accuracy  for  gases.     In  this  equation  n 


410      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  18 


C-Pl      and  a  form 


is  written  for  ( ;—  )      and  a  for  (  — —  )    .     Values  of   both   m  and  a 


for  the  more  common  gases  are  to  be  found  in  the  literature. 

The  kerosene  referred  to  is  the  ordinary  commercial  product  having 
a  density  of  about  0.8. 

Probably  the  temperature  always  falls  in  isenergic  expansion — 
at  least  over  the  range  of  temperatures  and  pressures  which  have 
hitherto  been  investigated.  This  is  equivalent  to  the  statement  that 
the  internal  energy  of  a  substance  steadily  decreases  as  the  pressure 
is  increased.^  Isentropic  expansion  causes  a  fall  in  temperature, 
except  in  those  rare  cases  wkere  the  expansion  coefficient  is  negative, 
e.  g.,  water  below  4°  C.  For  isenkaumic  expansion,  however,  there 
is  no  such  regularity.  At  temperatures  sufficiently  high  the  temper- 
ature of  a  fluid  rises  during  isenkaumic  expansion;  at  intermediate 
temperatures  it  falls;  while  at  still  lower  temperatures  it  again  rises, 
except  at  pressures  above  a  certain  limit,  under  which  conditions  the 
change  is  always  a  rise.^     At  moderate  pressures  there  are  thus  two 

inversion  points  where   (— — I      changes  sign.     One   is   somewhere 

near  the  ordinary  boiling-point,  while  the  other  is  at  a  temperature 
several  times  the  critical  temperature. 

Since  the  (3p  and  ap  terms  in  equation  (2)  are  small  for  liquids 

except  at  high  pressures  (  — —  1     and  I  — —  )      for    ordinary    liquids 

are  practically  identical  at  low  or  moderate  pressures.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  point  out  that  for  an  ideal  gas  aT  =  0p  =  v,  and  hence 
for  an  ideal  gas  the  right-hand  members  of  equations  (2)  and  (3) 
reduce  to  zero.     For  ordinary  solids  and  liquids  v  is  much  greater 

than  a T;   therefore  —I J      is    practically    equal    to    — .      Thus, 

\  dp  JH  Cp 

the  heating  effect  when  such  materials  are  expanded  isenkaumically 
is  nearly  equal  to  the  thermal  equivalent  of  the  work  done  {v6.p)  in 
forcing  the  material  through  the  porous  plug  or  throttle — more  ap- 
proximately the  total  heating  effect  is  the  algebraic  sum  of  this  thermal 
equivalent  of  the  net  work  done  on  the  substance,  and  of  the  cooling 
effect  accompanying  isentropic  expansion,  the  latter  being  com- 
paratively  small   for   all   solids   and   liquids.     For   these   materials, 

'  Cf.  P.  W.  Bridgman.     Proc.  Am.  Acad.  Sci.  48:  348.     1912. 

^  Cf.  W.  McC.  Lewis.     System  of  Physical  Chemistry,  Vol.  II,  p.  71.     London,  1920. 


NOV.  4,  1922  COBLENTZ:   THERMAL  RADIANT  ENERGY  411 

therefore,  we  may,  if  we  like,  regard  the  rise  in  temperature  during 
extrusion  as  being  (nearly)  that  due  to  the  conversion  of  the  work 
expended  on  them  into  heat,  this  conversion  being  effected  by  friction 
along  the  walls  or  by  internal  friction  (viscosity) ;  but  for  gases,  of 
course,  this  is  not  even  approximately  true. 

It  is  of  interest  in  this  connection  to  note  the  behavior  of  antimony 
when  extruded  through  a  small  opening.  According  to  Bridgman 
the  extrusion  at  certain  pressures  proceeds  slowly  and  ;-egularly,  but 
if  the  pressure  is  raised  to  a  certain  critical  value,  the  antimony  comes 
out  with  almost  explosive  violence  and  in  the  form  of  a  long,  con- 
tinuous wire.  Now  the  temperature  rise  for  isenkaumic  expansion 
of  antimony  is  about  the  same  as  for  lead,  namely  about  70°  per 
1000  megabars.  Since  the  pressure  was  10,000  megabars  or  more,  the 
question  may  well  be  raised  as  to  whether  the  antimony,  in  spite  of 
heat  losses,  may  not  have  been  raised  to  its  melting  point  at  ordinary 
pressure,  namely,  630°  C. 

PHYSICS. — Some  observations  on  the  transformation  of  thermal  radiant 
energy  into  electric  current  in  molybdenite ^  W.  W.  CoblEntz, 
Bureau  of  Standards. 

As  announced  in  the  Bureau  of  Standards  Tech.  News  Bulletin, 
No.  61  of  May  11,  1922,  during  the  past  year  the  writer  has  been 
searching  for  a  possible  relation  between  (1)  an  e.m.f .  which  is  observed 
in  isolated  spots  in  certain  samples  of  molybdenite  when  exposed  to 
thermal  radiation  but  without  an  impressed  e.m.f.,  and  (2)  the  photo- 
electrical reaction  (which  is  usually  considered  a  change  in  resistance) 
exhibited  in  these  same  spots  when  subjected  to  an  impressed  e.m.f.  and 
exposed  to  thermal  radiation. 

The  materials  examined  are  narrow  strips  of  molybdenite  1  to  6 
cm.  in  length,  soldered  to  copper  wires  which  are  connected  with  a 
Thomson  galvanometer. 

Touching  the  copper-molybdenite  junctures  with  a  thin  hot  wire 
produces  the  well  known  thermal  e.m.f.  of  a  heterogeneous  circuit. 
Touching  the  intervening  parts  of  the  crystal  with  the  hot  wire  pro- 
duces no  e.m.fs. 

On  the  other  hand,  focusing  the  short  wave-length  radiations  from 
a  Nernst  glower  or  tungsten-ribbon  lamp  upon  different  parts  of  the 

»  Received  September  16,  1922. 


412      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   18 

crystal,    remote   from   the   electrodes,    produces,    in   some   samples, 
local  e.m.fs.  which  differ  in  magnitude  and  in  polarity. 

Exposing  a  spot,  exhibiting  a  high  local  e.m.f.,  to  an  equal  energy 
spectrum,  an  electric  current  is  generated  which  is  a  function  of  the 
intensity  and  the  wave-length  of  the  light  stimulus,  and  of  the  thick- 
ness of  the  crystal.  The  maximum  effect  was  produced  by  wave- 
lengths extending  from  0.6  to  0.8  micron,  and  no  e.m.f.  was  found  for 
wave-lengths  greater  than  1  micron. 

The  spots  exhibiting  local  e.m.fs.,  caused  by  thermal  radiation 
do  not  seem  to  coincide  always  with  the  spots  exhibiting  the  photo- 
electrical reactions  (change  in  resistance)  when  there  is  an  impressed 
e.m.f. ;  though  further  investigation  may  show  that  this  is  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  thermal  e.m.f.  effect  is  found  to  be  extremely  small 
in   comparison   with   photoelectrical   reaction. 

The  polarity  of  this  newly  observed  thermal  e.m.f.  may  be  photo- 
negative  or  photopositive,  depending  upon  the  wave-length  of  the 
thermal  radiation  stimulus  just  as  was  previously  observed  for  the 
photoelectrical  reaction  (resistance  change)  when  there  is  an  external 
e.m.f.  It  is  therefore  an  interesting  question  whether  the  so-called 
photoelectrical  reactions  in  solids,  when  subjected  to  an  impressed 
e.m.f.,  are  an  amplification  of  the  e.m.fs.  produced  by  the  thermal  radia- 
tion but  without  an  impressed  e.m.f. 

PHYSICS. — A  device  for  recording  electric  contact  using  an  electron 
tube  generator  and  a  radio-frequency  spark. '^  Charles  T.  Zahn, 
Princeton  University,     (Communicated  by  S.  W.  Stratton.) 

It  is  sometimes  desirable  to  have  a  convenient  means  of  recording 
an  electric  contact  of  relatively  short  duration,  of  the  order  of  one 
thousandth  of  a  second.  For  a  particular  use  it  was  found  that  various 
devices  which  have  been  used  heretofore  were  either  not  satisfactory 
or  not  convenient.  It  was  suggested  that  the  use  of  the  three-electrode 
electron  tube  generator  might  be  successful.  The  following  is  a  de- 
scription of  some  experiments  performed  at  the  radio  laboratory  of 
the  Bureau  of  Standards  with  this  end  in  view,  and  is  given  here  simply 
to  illustrate  a  new  experimental  method. 

The  three-electrode  electron  tube  generator  was  used  as  a  source 
of  radio-frequency  alternating  current  to  produce  a  radio-frequency 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  of  the  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Commerce.     Received  September  19,  1922. 


NOV.  4,  1922 


ZAHN :   RECORDING  ELECTRIC  CONTACT 


413 


Spark,  by  means  of  the  high  voltage  induced  in  a  coil  whose  natural 
frequency  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  applied  field.  (This  radio  fre- 
quency was  about  300,000  cycles  per  second.)  The  duration  of  this 
spark  was  controlled  by  an  electric  contact  within  the  generator  cir- 
cuit, and  registered  by  letting  the  spark  puncture  a  moving  piece  of 
carbon  paper.  It  was  a  matter  of  experiment  to  see  how  nearly  the 
spark,  with  the  particular  arrangement  used,  followed  the  electric 
contact  made  and  broken  in  the  generator  circuit. 
The  exact  arrangement  of  apparatus  which  was  first  used  is  shown  in 
Fig.  1.  It  consists  of  a  simple  electron  tube  generator  and  a  rotating 
chopper  K  used  to  make  and  to  break  the  contact  at  the  filament 
terminal  of  the  tube  and  thus  to  start  and  to  stop  the  generation  of 
radio-frequency  current,  respectively.     The  coil  Ls  is  a  large  coil  of 


Fig.   1.     Generating  circuit,  commutation  at  filament  terminal. 

the  type  known  as  "stagger  wound"  or  sometimes  as  "spider  web," 
and  has  a  natural  frequency  of  such  a  value  that  the  generator  can  be 
tuned  to  it  by  means  of  the  condenser  C.  By  means  of  coupling  the 
coil  Ls  with  coils  Li  and  L2,  which  are  coupled  to.  each  other,  and 
tuning,  a  radio -frequency  voltage  is  induced  in  the  coil  L3  sufficient  to 
maintain  a  series  of  sparks  between  the  coil  terminals  when  they  are 
brought  close  together  as  shown  in  Fig.  1 .  The  duration  of  this  series 
of  sparks  is  registered  in  the  following  manner.  The  chopper  K  is 
divided  into  alternate  equal  segments  of  insulating  and  conducting 
material  so  that  the  spark  exists  for  equal  time  intervals  separated  by 
time  inter\^als  equal  to  those  of  the  spark  duration .  A  piece  of  carbon 
paper  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder  is  made  to  rotate  about  its  axis  in 
synchronism  with  the  chopper  by  having  it  wrapped  around  a  brass 
drum  which  is  mechanically  coupled  to  the  shaft  which  rotates  the 


414      JOURNAI,  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  18 


chopper.  One  terminal  of  the  coil  L3  is  connected  to  this  brass 
drum  and  the  other  terminal  in  the  form  of  a  needle  point  is  fastened 
within  a  millimeter's  distance  from  the  carbon  paper.  During  the 
time  when  the  chopper  makes  contact  a  spark  passes  between  the 
needle  point  and  the  brass  drum  through  the  carbon  paper,  and  while 
the  contact  is  interrupted  no  spark  passes.  Thus  the  carbon  paper 
is  punctured  at  equal  intervals  around  the  cylinder. 

The  arrangement  of  apparatus  for  another  method  of  controlling 
the  radio-frequency  current  is  shown  in  Fig.  2.  Here  a  resistance  R 
of  about  10  ohms,  sufficient  to  prevent  the  generation  of  radio-fre- 
quency current,  is  inserted  in  the  oscillating  circuit  of  the  tube.  The 
chopper  is  connected  across  this  resistance.  When  this  resistance  is 
short  circuited  by  the  chopper,  radio-frequency  current  is  generated. 


Fig.  2.     Generating  circuit,  commutation  by  inserting  resistance. 

This  latter  method  is  better  for  cases  where  sparking  at  the  contact  is 
objectionable,  for  in  the  former  method  the  chopper  interrupts  the 
plate  current. 

The  following  experimental  details  may  be  of  interest.  Several 
types  of  coil  for  .L3  and  several  types  of  electron  tubes  were  tried. 
The  stagger-wound  coil  gave  the  best  results  as  regards  power  con- 
siderations. At  first  a  General  Electric  Type  P  pliotron  tube  rated 
at  250  watts  was  used  at  rated  plate  voltages.  This  gave  much  more 
power  than  was  necessary,  so  several  other  combinations  were  tried, 
to  see  whether  enough  power  could  be  generated  using  220  volts  on 
the  plate  of  the  tube.  With  this  latter  plate  voltage  neither  a  General 
Electric  Type  P  250-watt  tube,  nor  two  General  Electric  Type  U  50- 
watt  tubes,  nor  four  Western  Electric  Type  E  5-watt  tubes  gave  suffi- 
cient power :  therefore,  it  was  decided  to  use  a  single  Type  U  tube  with 
500  volts  on  the  plate. 


NOV.  4,  1922  zahn:  recording  electric  contact  415 

The  following  is  an  application  of  this  electron  tube  recorder.  In 
the  Automotive  Power  Plant  Section  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  a 
method  has  been  devised  to  record  automatically  the  pressure-volume 
curve  for  a  gas  engine  c>cle.-  A  mechanical  arrangement  was  worked 
out  which  for  any  given  pressure  makes  an  electric  contact  con- 
tinuously during  the  time  of  the  cycle  when  the  pressure  in  the  engine 
cylinder  is  greater  than  or  equal  to  this  given  pressure.  Thus  the 
pressure  in  the  engine  cylinder  is  equal  to  this  given  pressure  at  times 
corresponding  to  the  makes  and  the  breaks  of  electric  contact,  and  these 
times  correspond  to  points  on  the  curve  whose  ordinates  are  equal  to 
the  given  pressure.  It  was  attempted  to  register  this  time  of  contact 
by  low-frequency  sparks.  A  drum  covered  with  carbon  paper  was  to 
be  rotated  in  synchronism  with  the  engine,  and  for  any  given  pressure 
the  time  of  sparking  would  be  registered  on  the  paper.  For  the  differ- 
ent pressures  parallel  lines  would  be  registered,  all  of  which  together 
would  give  the  pressure  diagram  in  the  form  of  an  area  of  sparks.     The 


Fig.  3.     Carbon  paper  record  of  spark  passing  when  chopper  contact  is  closed. 

difficulties  found  in  trying  to  use  low-frequency  methods  should  be 
obviated  by  applying  the  device  described  in  this  paper. 

The  time  of  duration  of  the  radio-frequency  spark  in  the  experi- 
ments described  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper  is  actually  registered 
as  a  series  of  dots  about  a  millimeter  apart  and  the  equality  of  time 
interval  of  contact  and  open  circuit  is  registered  on  the  carbon  paper  to 
an  accuracy  corresponding  approximately  to  the  distance  between  the 
dots  just  mentioned.  It  is  believed  that  if  the  length  of  spark  gap  is 
reduced,  the  accuracy  of  the  production  of  equal  intervals  can  be  con- 
siderably increased.  The  fact  that  a  series  of  dots  is  obtained  in- 
stead of  a  continuous  cut  in  the  paper  is  probably  due  to  differences  in 
conductivity  of  the  paper  at  different  points  or  to  an  effect  on  the  tube 
generator  due  to  the  passing  of  the  spark  from  the  coil  L3.  The  fre- 
quency of  these  dots  is  about  one  fiftieth  that  of  the  radio-frequency. 

2  H.  C.  Dickinson  and  F.  B.  Newell,  "A  High-Speed  Engine  Pressure  Indicator  of  the 
Balanced  Diaphragm  Type,"  Report  No.  107  of  the  National  Advisory  Committee  for 
Aeronautics,  Washington,  1921.     Government  Printing  Office. 


416      JOURNAI^  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  18 

The  accompanying  Fig.  3  is  a  reproduction  of  five  series  of  these  dots, 
each  series  corresponding  to  a  different  position  of  the  needle.  The 
first  four  series  were  taken  with  different  speeds  of  rotation  of  the  drum 
the  maximum  linear  speed  of  the  carbon  paper  being  about  500  cm. 
per  second ;  the  last  series  was  registered  with  the  direction  of  rotation 
reversed.  This  diagram  shows  that  there  could  not  have  been  a  time 
lag  in  starting  or  stopping  the  generator  corresponding  to  more  than 
2  millimeters  on  the  carbon  paper,  i.e.,  there  could  not  have  been  a 
lag  of  more  than   1/2500   second. 

The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  F.  B.  Newell  for  the  loan  of  special 
apparatus  used  in  performing  these  experiments  and  to  Mr.  L.  E. 
Whittemore  for  valuable  suggestions  in  the  work. 

ZOOLOGY. — A  new  species  of  Nygolaimus,  an  outstanding  genus 
of  the  Dorylaimidae}  N.  A.  Cobb,  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture. 

The  Dorylaimidae  constitute  one  of  the  largest  famiHes  of  nemas, 
its  type  genus  Dorylaimus  alone  doubtless  containing  many  hundreds 
of  species.  For  a  time  it  appeared  that  the  individuals  comprising  the 
family  constituted  an  unusually  homogenous  group.  Later  discover- 
ies are  dispelling  this  idea  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  form  de- 
scribed herein  belongs  to  one  of  the  more  outstanding  genera,  Nygo- 
laimus. It  is  too  early  to  speculate  very  profitably  as  to  the  relation- 
ships of  the  Dorylaimidae  to  other  nemic  families,  but  the  structure 
of  Nygolaimus  stimulates  hypotheses. 

Recently  the  Dorylaimidae  have  come  into  consideration  as  an 
economic  factor  in  the  soil;  additional  information  with  regard  to 
their  structure  and  habits  is  therefore  much  to  be  desired,  and  this  is 
one  of  the  main  reasons  for  the  publication  of  the  following  note. 

1.8        5.4        22.  Y.  98.8 

Nygolaimus  denticulatus  n.  sp.     i'.i'i'.'s i.6 i.'e iii' ^       •    The 

thick  layers  of  the  transparent,  colorless,  naked  cuticle,  measuring 
five  microns  through  near  the  head  and  fifteen  microns  on  the  tail, 
are  traversed  by  very  fine  transverse  striae,  difficult  of  resolution, 
which  are  not  altered  on  the  lateral  fields.  It  is  barely  possible  with 
the  highest  powers  to  resolve  these  striae  into  rows  of  excessively  faint 
dots.  The  striae  are  near  the  surface  of  the  cuticle,  probably  in  the 
thin  outer  layer,  which  measures  about  three-fourths  of  a  micron  in 
thickness.     The  contour  of  the  body  is  plain.     There  are  no  dermal 

»  Received  October  19,  1922. 


NOV.  4,  1922 


COBB :   A  New  SPECIES  OF  NYGOL,AIMUS 


417 


appendages.  On  each  lateral  field,  extending  from  near  the  head  to 
the  tail,  there  is  a  double  series  of  sublateral  pores  not  forming  exact 
lines  but  arranged  slightly  irregularly,  the  distance  between  them  aver- 
aging somewhat  less  than  the  diameter  of  the  body.  This  distance, 
however,  varies  somewhat  and  is  perhaps  a  little  greater  anteriorly 
than  posteriorly,  so  that  there  are  toward  one  hundred  fifty  pores  on 
each  lateral  field.  Each  of  these  organs  at  its  surface  presents  a 
slight  but  relatively  broad  depression  in  the  cuticle.  From  the  center 
of  this  depression  there  extends  inward  at  right  angles  to  the  surface  of 
the  body  a  narrow  tube,  three-fourths  of  a  micron  in  diameter,  which 
extends  to  the  lateral  chord,  where  it  rather  suddenly  expands  and 
connects  with  a  broadly  saccate  unicellular  gland  located  in  the  tissue 
of  the  chord.  These  glands  and  ducts  are  a  prominent  feature  of  the 
anatomy  of  the  living  nema  and  strike  the  observer  at  first  glance, 

jj^    especially  if  the  nema  be 
viewed   dorso-ventrally. 

'VU„ 

pl/'c  vstbl 


The  neck,  which  is  cylin- 
droid  posteriorly  and  more 
or  less  conoid  anteriorly, 
becomes  convex-conoid  at 
the  continuous,  subtrun- 
cate  to  truncate,  head. 
The  mouth  opening  is  cen- 
tral, depressed,  and  rela- 
tively conspicuous.  It  is 
surrounded  by  six  conflu- 
ent, subspherical,  well- 
developed  lips,  each  sup- 
plied with  two  minute 
papillae  which  do  not  in- 
terfere with  the  rounded 
contour  of  the  lip ;   one  of 


Somewhat    oblique    ventral 
head  end  of  Nygclaimus  denticulatus  n.sp. 
and   posterior   labial    papillae;    amph, 


X    800 

view    of    the 
ppl,  anterior 
amphid;    dnt, 


denticles  Uning  the  wall  of  the  pharynx;  cav  anl  ph, 

cav  md  ph,  cav  post  ph,  anterior,  median  and  posterior  ■(■J^gjjj  jg  outward  pointing 
segments  of  the  pharynx;  wn^r  ^/t,  wall  of  the  pharynx;  j    +t,        +t,  1        V>        1 

SM5-c«/,subcuticle;o^,  oesophagus ;/6,  lip  region;  on  M.  ^^^  ^^^  °^^^^  ^^^°   Dareiy 

onchium;   has  ph,  hasQ  oi  fh^  vhaxynx;  phc  vsth,   folds  OUtward     pointing.        This 

in  the  vestibule.  latter,   the    anterior    one, 

is  located  near  the  border  of  the  lip  region ;  the  posterior  one,  somewhat 
farther  back  and  on  the  outer  surface  of  the  lip  region.  It  seems  possi- 
ble that  the  lips,  or  some  of  them,  present  additional  very  faint  papillae. 
The  somewhat  hexagonal  lip  region,  which  is  nine  microns  high  and 


418      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  18 

eighteen  microns  wide,  is  distinctly  set  off  by  constriction;  and  espe- 
cially laterally,  on  account  of  the  large  and  conspicuous  amphids,  lo- 
cated just  at  the  base  of  the  lip  region.  The  pharynx  is  entered 
through  a  vestibule,  more  or  less  hexagonal  when  closed,  about  nine 
microns  long  and  at  its  narrowest  part,  when  the  lips  are  at  rest, 
normally  not  over  one  micron  wide.  The  pharynx,  like  other  parts 
of  the  anatomy,  is  distinctly  dorylaimoid,  but  the  very  small  left 
ventrally  submedian  tooth-like  onchium,  only  six  microns  long  and  one 
and  one-half  microns  wide  at  the  base,  instead  of  being  tubular,  as 
in  Dorylaimus,  is  closed.  The  food  does  not  pass  through  it,  but  to  one 
side.  Speaking  broadly  the  pharynx  is  of  double  structure, — ^the 
anterior  portion  being  somewhat  napiform  or  fusiform,  and  the  pos- 
terior more  or  less  tubular  or  prismoid.  To  go  into  particulars,  the 
pharynx  may  be  said  to  be  divided  into  four  parts,  arranged  tandem, 
reached  through  a  narrow  vestibule  from  the  somewhat  flaring  mouth 
opening.  Part  one,  the  shortest  part,  about  five  microns  long,  extends 
from  the  vestibule  to  the  region  opposite  the  apex  of  the  solid  onchium, 
and  might  be  regarded  as  a  portion  of  the  vestibule.  This  portion 
of  the  pharynx  is  characterized  by  the  presence  in  its  wall  of  several 
short  longitudinal  ribs  or  refractive  folds,  no  doubt  six  in  number. 
The  second  portion  of  the  pharynx,  a  little 

longer  than  the  preceding  and  with  it  form-     ^«^    .        -  '  ^^'^'^'* 
ing  a  broadly  fusiform  cavity,  is  the  portion     fflpost^  vw^ 

of  the  pharynx  containing  the  onchium,  and     /**      \^^'~  W 

is  lined  throughout  the  greater  portion  of  its     om/i    V  ^  .^    ^> 

length  with  a  multitude  of  excessively  fine     lobMsuM^^- i./ 

denticles,  apparently  similar  to  those  found  Fig.  2.  Front  view  of  the  lip 
in  the  pharynx  of  some  mononchs,  and,   as  ^^g^onoi NygoMmus ienticulatus 

^         ■>  n.sp.     ppl  ant,  ppl  post,  anterior 

there,  shghtly  larger  and  more  regular  ante-  ^^^  posterior  labial  papillae ;  ph, 
riorly.  The  third  portion,  eleven  microns  pharynx;  amph,  amphid;  loh 
long,  is   the  anterior  third  of  the  tubular  ^"^  ^"^'"'  '^*  '^'^  ^"*"?'  ventrally 

.     ,  ,  1  M      J 1        r         .  1  1    and  dorsally  submedian  lobes  of 

part  of  the  pharynx,  while  the  fourth  and  ^^^^^^  ^^^.^^.  ^„  „^,hium. 
longest   portion,    twenty   microns   long,   is 

the  posterior  two-thirds  of  that  tube.  Thus  the  entire  pharynx  is 
nearly  sixty  microns  long.  The  distinction  between  parts  three  and 
four  is  not  very  marked ;  it  manifests  itself  in  the  varying  refractivity 
of  the  lining  of  the  two  parts,  and  also  in  the  tendency  of  the  posterior 
part  to  be  more  prismoid  or  cylindroid,  while  the  anterior  third  tapers 
slightly  from  front  to  back.  The  thickness  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
highly  refractive  walls  of  the  pharynx  is  somewhat  variable, — from  a 


NOV.  4,  1922  COBB :  a  new  species  of  nygolaimus  419 

half  to  one  micron  thick.    The  width  of  the  main,  that  is,  posterior,  por- 
tion of  the  cavity  of  the  pharynx  is  about  four  microns.     The  slender 
slightly  arcuate  onchium  is  one-third  as  long  as  the  lip  region  is  wide 
and  when  at  rest  reaches  one-third  the  distance  from  its  base  to  the 
anterior  border  of  the  head.     It  is  a  left  ventrally  submedian  organ, 
and  may  almost  be  said  to  be  set  in  a  pharyngeal  niche  of  its  own.     Not 
only  is  it  slightly  arcuate  but  the  tendency  is  for  its  apex  to  be  swung 
outward  a  little  when  at  rest.     It  tapers  from  its  base  to  its  acute 
anterior  extremity  and  at  its  widest  part  is  about  one-fourth  as  wide 
as  the  adjacent  cuticle  is  thick.     That  portion  of  the  compound 
pharnyx  behind  the  base  of  the  onchium  is  about  one  and  one-half 
times  as  long  as  the  part  in  front  of  it,  vestibule  included.     It  is  the 
posterior  two-thirds  of  the  fusiform  widest  portion  of  the  pharynx  which 
is  lined  with  the  above-mentioned  denticles.     The  large  amphids,  like 
the  onchium,  are  very  much  like  those  of  N.  pachydermatus ,  and  are 
very  conspicuous,  and  externally  somewhat  escutcheon  shaped;    they 
have  their  front  borders  removed  from  the  anterior  extremity  of  the 
nema  a  distance  about  one-third  as  great  as  the  corresponding  diam- 
eter of  the  head.     They  are  about  three-fifths  as  wide  as  the  corre- 
sponding part  of  the  head  and  nearly  as  long  as  wide.     There  are  no 
eyespots.    The  oesophagus,  which  is  dorylaimoid,  enlarges  somewhat 
gradually  near  the  middle;    the  two  parts  of  the  oesophagus  are 
not  very  clearly  set  off  from  each  other.     Behind  the  pharynx  the 
oesophagus  is  about  one-third,  at  the  nerve  ring  about  one-fourth,  and 
finally  about  one-half  as  wide  as  the  corresponding  portion  of  the  neck. 
The  lining  of  the  oesophagus  is  a  very  distinct  feature  throughout  its 
length ;  anteriorly  it  is  tubular  and  highly  refractive  and  about    one- 
fourth  as  wide  as  the  oesophagus ;  posteriorly  it  is  more  distinctly  triquet- 
rous and  somewhat  wider — again  about  one-fourth  as  wide  as  the  corre- 
sponding portion  of  the  oesophagus.     The  musculature  of  the  oesoph- 
agus is  rather  coarse  and  colorless.     It  is  not  yet  known  positively 
whether  there  are  any  glands  in  the  tissue  of  the  oesophagus — ^but  it 
is  almost  certain  that  they  are  present.     The  conoid  cardia  is  about 
one-third  as  wide  as  the  base  of  the  neck.     There  are  no  valves  in 
the  oesophagus.     The  rather  opaque   thick-walled  intestine,   which 
presents  a  faint,  very  slightly  zigzag  lumen,  becomes  at  once  one- 
half  'as  wide  as  the  body,  and  is  separated  from  the  oesophagus  by  a 
coUum  about  one-third  as  wide  as  the  base  of  the  neck.     It  is  com- 
posed of  cells  of  such  a  size  that  about  six  are  presented  in  each  cross 
section.     There  is  a  distinct  pre-rectum  about  five  times  as  long  as 


420      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  18 

the  corresponding  width  of  the  body.  It  is  set  off  from  the  intestine 
not  only  by  being  slightly  less  in  diameter  but  by  being  more  nearly 
colorless;  the  intestine  itself  is  yellowish  on  account  of  the  pres- 
ence in  its  cells  of  certain  exceedingly  fine  yellowish  granules.  The 
rectum  is  readily  seen  to  lead  inward  and  forward  from  the  depressed 
anus  a  distance  about  equal  to  the  anal  body  diameter.  The  anus  is 
a  transverse  slit  two-fifths  as  wide  as  the  corresponding  portion  of  the 
body.  The  fine  granules  of  rather  variable  size  which  are  numerous 
in  the  cells  of  the  intestine  are  some  of  them  yellowish  in  color  and  taken 
altogether  so  arranged  as  to  give  rise  to  a  faint  tessellated  effect.  The 
largest  of  them  are  not  much  over  one  micron  across.  The  tail  is  nearly 
hemispherical.  There  is  no  spinneret  and  there  are  no  caudal  setae. 
Extending  backward  and  outward  from  the  conoid  protoplasmic 
"core"  of  the  tail  there  are  ten  to  twelve  innervations,  which  are 
much  less  clearly  visible  than  are  the  two  tubes  leading  outward  and 
backward  from  the  two  lateral  glands  located  in  the  tail, — ^the  final 
members  of  the  lateral  series  already  mentioned.  Similar  innerva- 
tions occur  toward  the  head  end  of  the  nema  and  probably  to  a  less 
extent  throughout  the  body.  The  cuticle  on  the  tail  is  very  much 
thicker  than  elsewhere  (15  microns)  and  is  characterized  by  the  pres- 
ence in  it  of  longitudinal  markings  which  indicate  that  it  is  probably 
finely  laminated.  The  lateral  chords,  about  one-sixth  as  wide  as  the 
body,  are  deep,  about  as  thick  as  the  body  wall — and  are  coarsely 
granular.  Their  cells  are  made  up  largely  of  subspherical  granules 
closely  packed  together  and  of  such  a  size  that  the  largest,  some 
four  microns  across,  are  about  one-twentieth  as  wide  as  the  body. 
Among  these  granules  are  scattered  others,  ellipsoidal,  measuring 
up  to  one  micron,  and  characterized  by  blackening  in  Flemming's 
solution.  The  nerve  ring,  which  surrounds  the  oesophagus  somewhat 
squarely,  is  accompanied  by  numerous  rather  obscure  nerve  cells. 
Nothing  is  known  concerning  the  renette.  Nothing  is  known  con- 
cerning the  sexual  organs. 

Habitat:  Found  in  soil  collected  by  Prof.  J.  R.  Christie  at  Falls 
Church,  Va.,  August  29,  1922.  Only  one  young  specimen  seen. 
Examined  and  measured  alive  in  water,  and  afterwards  fixed  in 
Flemming's  solution  and  examined  in  glycerine. 

Nygolaimus  is  manifestly  related  to  Dorylaimus.  It  undoubtedly 
belongs  to  the  Dorylaimidae,  although  it  may  possibly  be  regarded  as  a 
"transition  form."  Some  features  of  the  pharynx  remind  one  strongly 
of  Mononchus.     The  new  onchia  are  sometimes  prepared  some  dis- 


NOV.  4,  1922  PROCEEDINGS :    BOTANICAL  SOCIETY  421 

tance  behind  the  pharynx,  as  in  Dorylaimus.  N.  denticulatus  appears 
to  be  closely  related  to  N.  pachydermatus ,  in  which  quite  possibly 
dermal  pores  may  have  been  overlooked. 

The  mouth  structures  of  Nygolaimi  appear  to  harmonize  with  the 
supposition  that  the  lip  region  can  be  expanded  and  the  lips  everted. 
Otherwise  it  is  rather  difficult  to  understand  how  the  onchium  can  be 
efficiently  used.  The  denticles  are  in  relatively  about  the  same  posi- 
tion as  in  Mononchus,  subgenus  Mylonchulus,  but  not  in  two  distinct 
patches.  It  seems  quite  apparent  that  the  vestibule,  when  closed, 
is  disposed  in  folds  which  would  admit  of  its  opening  out  in  accordance 
with  the  above  supposition.     The  Nygolairas  are  carnivorous. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND   AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BOTANICAL  SOCIETY 

156th  meeting 

The  156th  meeting  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  Washington  was  held  at 
the  Cosmos  Club,  on  January  3,  1922,  with  about  75  members  and  guests 
present,  and  President  Safford  in  the  chair.  Messrs.  Ernst  F.  Artsch- 
WAGER,  Arthur  C.  Dillman,  Dr.  Chas.  Drechsler,  Dr.  Arthur  S.  Rhoads, 
Ernst  S.  Schultz,  Victor  F.  Tapke,  and  W.  H.  Tisdale,  all  of  the  Bureau 
of  Plant  Industry,  were  elected  members  of  the  Society. 

Brief  notes  and  reviews  of  literature. — P.  L.  Ricker  stated  that  the  letter 
from  Dr.  Henry  Muhlenberg,  written  in  1809,  and  containing  a  list  of 
the  flora  of  the  District  of  Columbia  had  already  been  purchased  by  Mr. 
W.  L.  McAtee.  W.  W.  Diehl  spoke  of  the  desirability  of  making  of  a  list 
of  the  fungus  flora  of  the  District.  Mr.  Ricker  added  that  a  tentative  list 
of  the  mycological  flora  of  the  District  was  now  being  prepared. 

Regular  program: 

L.  R.  Jones:  Predisposition  and  resistance  to  disease  in  plants. 

Plant  pathology  is  now  in  a  transition  period.  For  some  time  we  have  been 
talking  of  disease  resistance  without  getting  much  nearer  to  the  fundamentals 
underlying  this  resistance.  Such  questions  must  be  answered  as  the  par- 
ticular relation  of  a  particular  parasite  to  a  plant,  the  relation  of  environment 
to  resistance,  etc. 

Much  of  the  work  of  pathologists  has  been  and  still  is  the  search  for  re- 
sistant strains  or  varieties  of  plants  to  certain  diseases.  This  is  a  work  which 
the  geneticist  and  horticulturist  can  do  far  better  than  the  plant  pathol- 
ogist. The  latter' s  particular  field  is  not  to  search  for  resistant  strains, 
much  as  this  is  worth  while,  but  to  search  for  causes  of  resistance.  This 
involves  a  study  of  cell  pathology,  the  study  of  a  single  parasite  and  of  single 
cells  of  the  host  plant.  Only  a  beginning  has  been  made  on  this  fundamental 
work. 


422      JOURNAL  OF  THE   WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   18 

Symposium  on  plant  breeding  for  disease  resistance. 

W.  J.  HuMPHREv,  Cereal  crops. — In  the  cereal  crops  some  diseases  were 
transmitted  with  the  seed  as  in  the  case  of  the  smuts.  Some  measure  of  suc- 
cess had  been  achieved  with  seed  treatment,  both  with  the  use  of  chemicals 
and  the  hot  water  treatment.  It  is  not  enough  to  develop  a  disease-resis- 
tant grain,  for  some  of  the  grains  developed  by  cross  breeding,  while  highly- 
resistant  to  certain  diseases,  lacked  in  milling  qualities  or  in  yield.  The  aim 
of  the  plant  pathologist  and  the  plant  breeder  was  to  secure  not  only  disease- 
resistant  varieties  of  grain,  but  to  secure  grain  of  good  yield  and  quality. 

W.  W.  Gilbert,  Cotton,  truck  and  forage  plants. — A  double  gain  was  ob- 
tained by  securing  disease  resistant  plants;  a  gain  in  the  product  itself  and 
a  gain  in  the  greater  utilization  of  the  land.  There  are  certain  requisites  for 
selection  and  hybridization,  to  get  disease  resistant  varieties  or  species.  1. 
The  land  must  be  naturally  or  artificially  infected.  2.  Work  must  be  carried 
on  in  an  environment  suitable  for  the  disease.  3.  The  use  of  a  large  number 
of  varieties  or  strains. 

The  question  arises.  Is  disease  resistance  in  plants  permanent?  The 
failure  of  the  cotton  farmer  to  continue  selection  in  the  case  of  wilt-resistant 
cotton,  shows  how  this  resistance  to  disease  becomes  lessened.  Resistance 
to  disease  is  specific.  One  variety  or  one  plant  may  be  resistant  to  one  dis- 
ease, but  that  does  not  signify  a  resistance  to  all  other  diseases. 

MerTon  B.  Waite,  Fruits. — Much  of  the  early  work  in  breeding  for  dis- 
ease resistance  in  plants  was  carried  on  by  natural  selection,  the  survival  of 
the  fittest,  as  well  as  consciously  by  orchardists.  The  gardener  and  orchard- 
ist  have  done  as  much  as  the  plant  breeder  or  plant  pathologist  along  this 
line.  A  number  of  projects  were  being  worked  in  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Indus- 
try, including  Dr.  Swingle's  work  of  breeding  for  resistance  to  citrus  canker. 
The  breeding  of  resistant  stocks  was  emphasized  as  being  important. 

P.  L.  RiCKER,  Grasses.— 'New  grasses  are  being  introduced  into  this  country 
from  various  foreign  countries.  Some  of  these  are  found  to  be  subject  to 
variou  diseases  in  their  native  country,  as  well  as  in  this  country.  One  of  the 
biggest  problems  is  in  connection  with  lawn  grasses  on  golf  links,  which 
suffered  from  so-called  sun  scald,  which  was  found  to  be  a  Rhizoctonia. 
Strains  of  grasses  which  were  resistant  to  this  disease  in  one  year,  were  propa- 
gated vegetatively  and  were  fairly  immune  for  a  couple  of  years,  but  in  the 
third  year  were  wiped  out  completely. 

Roy  G.  Pierce,  Recording  Secretary. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol..  12  November  19,  1922  No.  19 


MATHEMATICS. — Values  of  sine  6  and  cosine  d  to  jj  places  of  decimals 
for  various  values  of  9  expressed  in  sexagesimal  seconds.^  C.  B. 
Van  Orstrand  and  Marvin  A.  Shoultes,  Geological  Survey. 

One  hundred  preliminary  values  of  both  the  sine  and  cosine  were 
computed  several  years  ago  in  collaboration  with  the  late  Dr.  George 
F.  Becker  with  the  object  in  view  of  constructing  complete  tables  of 
the  natural  values  of  the  six  trigonometric  functions.  In  the  mean- 
time Professor  J.  Peters-  published  870  values  of  the  sine,  and  cosine, 
to  21  places  of  decimals,  the  interval  of  the  argument  for  the  first 
10'  being  1",  and  for  the  remainder  of  the  semiquadrant,  10'.  During 
the  interval  1911-18,  the  elaborate  tables  to  15  places  of  decimals  by 
Professor  H.  Andoyer^  of  the  University  of  Paris  were  published. 
An  unnumbered  volume  contains  values  of  the  logarithmic  sines, 
cosines,  tangents,  and  cotangents;  and  in  volumes  1  to  3,  respectively, 
are  tabulated  natural  sines  and  cosines;  tangents  and  cotangents; 
secants  and  cosecants.  The  interval  of  the  argument  in  all  of  the 
tables  is  10".  Volume  1  contains  also  natural  values  of  each  of  the 
six  trigonometric  functions  to  20  decimals  for  arguments  expressed  in 
hundredths  of  a  quadrant.  Andoyer's  tables  are  the  first  to  replace 
the  great  work  of  George  Joachim  Rheticus  consisting  of  the  Opus 
Palatinum,  published  in  1596  and  containing  10  place  values  at  in- 
tervals of  10"  for  all  of  the  trigonometric  functions ;  and  the  Thesaurus 
Mathematicus  which  was  published  in  1613  and  contains  15  place 
values  of  the  natural  sine  at  intervals  of  10"  throughout  the  entire 
quadrant,  and  in  addition,  values  of  the  same  function  to  the  same 

1  Published  with  the  permission  of  the  Director  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.  Received 
June  30,  1922. 

-  Peters.  J.  Einundzwanzigstellige  Werte  der  Funktionen  Sinus  und  Cosinus  zur  gen- 
auen  Berechnung  von  zwanzigstelligen  Werten  sdmtlicher  trigonometrischen  Funktionen  eines 
beliebigen  Arguments  sowie  ihrer  Logarithmen.  Abh.  Konigl.  Preuss.  Akad.  Wiss.  1-54. 
1911. 

3  Andoyer,  H.  Nouvelles  tables  trigonometriques  fondamentales  (logarithmes) ;  same 
(valeurs  naturelles).  •■■ 

423 


424      JOURNAIv  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 

number  of  decimals  at  intervals  of  1"  for  the  first  and  last  degree  of 
the  quadrant.  Detailed  information  in  regard  to  these  and  other 
tables  is  given  by  Andoyer,  Glaisher/  and  Horsburgh.^ 

The  fundamental  values  required  for  the  evaluation  of  the  func- 
tions tabulated  in  the  accompanying  tables  were  obtained  by  the 
substitution  of 

X  =  0.04848  13681  10953  59935  89914  10235  79479  760 
in  the  series,  thus  obtaining  values  of  sin  d  and  cos  6  for  10,000". 
The  values  for  1",  10",  100",  and  1000"  were  then  easily  obtained 
from  the  preceding  computations  of  x'/n!  by  making  the  appropriate 
displacements  in  the  decimal  point.  With  these  values  as  a  basis, 
new  values  were  computed  at  equal  intervals  of  the  argument  by 
means  of  repeated  applications  of  the  formulae  for  sin  {x  +  y)  and 
cos  {x  -\-  y).  Both  functions  were  computed  at  the  same  time  with  a 
"Millionaire"  computing  machine.  Each  computation  was  verified 
independently.     We  have  for  example. 

Sin  {x  ^  y)  =  sin  x  cos  y  ='=  cos  x  sin  y. 

By  addition  of  the  last  to  the  preceding  term  of  this  equation  we 
obtain  sin  {x  -\-  y),  a  new  quantity;  similarly  by  subtraction,  we 
obtain  sin  {x  —  y),  2i  quantity  previously  computed.  Apart  from 
checks  provided  by  each  subsequent  interpolation  at  equal  intervals, 
comparisons  were  of  course  made  at  15°,  30°,  and  45°  by  means  of 
the  known  values^  of  ■\/2,  V3,  and  \/6.  All  of  the  computations 
were  carried  to  35  places  of  decimals. 

Andoyer's  table  1,  volume  1,  contains  expansions  in  series  for  each 
of  the  six  trigonometric  functions,  the  variable  angle  being  written, 
X  ir/2-  The  coefficients  in  these  series  are  tabulated  to  24  places  of 
decimals.  In  table  3,  volume  1,  each  function  is  tabulated  to  17 
places  of  decimals  at  intervals  of  9'.  Tables  I  and  II  may  be  useful 
in  connection  with  these  tables  and  the  tables  of  Peters  previously 
mentioned.  A  careful  comparison  of  our  values  with  the  correspond- 
ing values  given  by  Peters  and  Andoyer  revealed  no  errors  in  any  of 
the  computations.  The  plus  signs  following  Andoyer's  tabulations 
were  also  found  to  be  given  correctly. 

*  See  article.  Table,  mathematical,  in  Encyclopedia  Brilannica. 

*  HoRSBURGH,  E.  M.     Modern  instruments  and  methods  of  calculation,  a  handbook  of  the 
Napier  tercentenary  exhibition. 

'  «  Bookman,  J.  M.  Square-root  notes.  Math.  Mag.  1:  207-8.  1882^.  Martin,  A. 
Extraction  of  the  square  roots  by  series.     Math.  Mag.  1:  164-5.     1882-4. 


NOV.  19,  1922  VAN  ORSTRAND  AND  SHOULTES :   TABLES                                       425 

TABLE  I.— Values  of  Sine  0 

e'  Sine  e 

1  0.00000  48481  36811  07636  78200  79090  941 

2  .00000  96962  73622  03878  29452  38417  064 

3  .00001  45444  10432  77329  26805  60891  947 

4  .00001  93925  47243  16594  43311  34785  949 

•  5  0.00002  42406  84053  10278  52020  56404  615 

6  .00002  90888  20862  46986  25984  32767  058 

7  .00003  39369  57671  15322  38253  84284  359 

8  .00003  87850  94479  03891  61880  47437  958 

9  .00004  36332  31286  01298  69915  77458  047 

10  0.00004  84813  68091  96148  35411  51001  965 

11  .00005  33295  04896  77045  31419  68832  588 

12  .00005  81776  41700  32594  30992  58496  724 

13  .00006  30257  78502  51400  07182  77003  508 

14  .00006  78739  15303  22067  33043  13502  792 

15  0.00007  27220  52102  33200  81626  91963  541 

16  .00007  75701  88899  73405  25987  73852  222 

17  .00008  24183  25695  31285  39179  60811  203 

18  .00008  72664  62488  95445  94256  97337  142 

19  .00009  21145  99280  54491  64274  73459  381 

20  0.00009  69627  36069  97027  22288  27418  340 

21  .00010  18108  72857  11657  41353  48343  911 

22  .00010  66590  09641  86986  94526  78933  846 

23  .00011  15071  46424  11620  54865  18132  160 

24  .00011  63552  83203  74162  95426  23807  513 

25  0.00012  12034  19980  63218  89268  15431  611 

26  .00012  60515  56754  67393  09449  76757  598 

27  .00013  08996  93525  75290  29030  58498  445 

28  .00013  57478  30293  75515  21070  81005  348 

29  .00014  05959  67058  56672  58631  36946  118 

30  0.00014  54441  03820  07367  14773  93983  577 

31  .00015  02922  40578  16203  62560  97453  948 

32  .00015  51403  77332  71786  75055  73045  251 

33  .00015  99885  14083  62721  25322  29475  695 

34  .00016  48366  60830  77611  86425  61172  069 

35  0.00016  96847  87574  05063  31431  50948  141 

36  .00017  45329  24313  33680  33406  72683  045 

37  .00017  93810  61048  52067  65418  93999  675  , 

38  .00018  42291  97779  48830  00536  78943  085 

39  .00018  90773  34506  12572  11829  90658  871 

40  0.00019  39254  71228  31898  72368  94071  575 

41  .00019  87736  07945  95414  55225  58563  071 

42  .00020  36217  44658  91724  33472  60650  959 

43  .00020  84698  81367  09432  80183  86666  963 

44  .00021  33180  18070  37144  68434  35435  318 

45  0.00021  81661  54768  63464  71300  20951  167 

46  .00022  30142  91461  76997  61858  75058  953 

47  .00022  78624  28149  66348  13188  50130  812 

48  .00023  27105  64832  20120  98369  21744  966 

49  .00023  75587  01509  26920  90481  91364  117  • 

50  0.00024  24068  38180  75352  62608  89013  840  ' 


426      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 

TABLE  1. — Values  of  Sine  d  {Continued) 

$'  Sine  e 

50  0.00024  24068  38180  75352  62608  89013  840 

51  .00024  72549  74846  54020  87833  75960  974 

52  .00025  21031  11506  51530  39241  47392  018 

53  .00025  69512  48160  56485  89918  35091  522 

54  .00026  17993  84808  57492  12952  10120  483 

55  0.00026  66475  21450  43153  81431  85494  734 

56  .00027  14956  58086  02075  68448  18863  341 

57  .00027  63437  94715  22862  47093  15186  994 

58  .00028  11919  31337  94118  90460  29416  399 

59  .00028  60400  67954  04449  71644  69170  673 

60  0.00029  08882  04563  42459  63742  97415  740 

61  .00029  57363  41165  96753  39853  35142  716 

62  .00030  05844  77761  55935  73075  64046  310 

63  .00030  54326  14350  08611  36511  29203  213 

64  .00031  02807  50931  43385  03263  41750  491 

65  0.00031  51288  87505  48861  46436  81563  982 

66  .00031  99770  24072  13645  39137  99936  684 

67  .00032  48251  60631  26341  54475  22257  150 

68  .00032  96732  97182  75554  65558  50687  882 

69  .00033  45214  33726  49889  45499  66843  724 

70  0.00033  93695  70262  37950  67412  34470  254 

71  .00034  42177  06790  28343  04412  02122  178 

72  .00034  90658  43310  09671  29616  05841  721 

73  .00035  39139  79821  70540  16143  71837  023 

74  .00035  87621  16324  99554  37116  19160  531 

75  0,00036  36102  52819  85318  65656  62387  390 

76  .00036  84583  89306  16437  74890  14293  839 

77  .00037  33065  25783  81516  37943  88535  603 

78  .00037  81546  62252  69159  27947  02326  285 

79  .00038  30027  98712  67971  18030  79115  761 

80  0.00038  78509  35163  66556  81328  51268  570 

81  .00039  26990  71605  53520  90975  62742  310 

82  .00039  75472  08038  17468  20109  71766  029 

83  .00040  23953  44461  47003  41870  53518  620 

84  .00040  72434  80875  30731  29400  02807  212 

85  0.00041  20916  17279  57256  55842  36745  565 

86  .00041  69397  53674  15183  94343  97432  460 

87  .00042  17878  90058  93118  18053  54630  094 

88  .00042  66360  26433  79664  00122  08442  474 

89  .00043  14841  62798  63426  13702  91993  809 

90  0.00043  63322  99153  33009  31951  74106  900 

91  .00044  11804  35497  77018  28026  61981  538 

92  .00044  60285  71831  84057  75088  03872  894 

93  .00045  08767  08155  42732  46298  91769  913 

94  .00045  57248  44468  41647  14824  64073  705 

95  0.00046  05729  80770  69406  53833  08275  940 

96  •   .00046  54211  17062  14615  36494  63637  242 

97  .00047  02692  53342  65878  35982  23865  578 

98  .00047  51173  89612  11800  25471  39794  654 

99  .00047  99655  25870  40985  78140  22062  307 

100  0.00048  48136  62117  42039  67169  43788  898 


NOV.  19,  1922  VAN  ORSTRAND  AND  SHOULTES:   TABLES 


427 


TABLE  1. — Values  of  Sine  e     {Continued) 


e" 
100 

0.00048 

48136 

62117 

Since 

42039 

67169 

43788 

898 

0 

0 

01 

n 

40 

200 

.00096 

96272 

10282 

15256 

89823 

20807 

032 

0 

03 

20 

300 

.00145 

44405 

30541 

53507 

62744 

90817 

111 

0 

05 

00 

400 

.00193 

92535 

08942 

96004 

59253 

71238 

703 

0 

06 

40 

500 

0.00242 

40660 

31533 

89995 

70314 

77452 

941 

0 

08 

20 

600 

.00290 

88779 

84361 

93442 

43460 

76882 

902 

0 

10 

00 

700 

.00339 

36892 

53474 

77698 

21461 

61448 

455 

0 

11 

40 

800 

.00387 

84997 

24920 

30186 

80679 

43000 

289 

0 

13 

20 

900 

.00436 

33092 

84746 

57080 

69045 

76345 

248 

0 

15 

00 

1000 

0.00484 

81178 

19001 

85979 

43598 

14483 

948 

0 

16 

40 

2000 

.00969 

61216 

85978 

39588 

10784 

88351 

447 

0 

33 

20 

3000 

.01454 

38976 

51582 

65677 

03848 

45733 

109 

0 

50 

00 

4000 

.01939 

13317 

71824 

37245 

47571 

94786 

397 

1 

06 

40 

5000 

0.02423 

83101 

10748 

13776 

78016 

39085 

971 

1 

23 

20 

6000 

.02908 

47187 

43111 

40688 

85777 

50013 

596 

1 

40 

00 

7000 

.03393 

04437 

57062 

23604 

67590 

79056 

606 

1 

56 

40 

8000 

.03877 

53712 

56816 

71148 

99343 

73318 

846 

2 

13 

20 

9000 

.04361 

93873 

65335 

99978 

17530 

77209 

944 

2 

30 

00 

10000 

0.04846 

23782 

27002 

95750 

84955 

84328 

790 

2 

46 

40 

11000 

.05330 

42300 

10298 

23748 

20045 

37349 

674 

3 

03 

20 

12000 

.05814 

48289 

10475 

82853 

87480 

16847 

071 

3 

20 

00 

13000 

.06298 

40611 

52237 

96604 

80984 

34293 

964 

3 

36 

40 

14000 

.06782 

18129 

92409 

35025 

77020 

37025 

599 

3 

53 

20 

15000 

0.07265 

79707 

22610 

60962 

00827 

96120 

115 

4 

10 

00 

16000 

.07749 

24206 

71930 

94626 

23706 

99519 

970 

4 

26 

40 

17000 

.08232 

50492 

09599 

90078 

02676 

95188 

826 

4 

43 

20 

18000 

.08715 

57427 

47658 

17355 

80642 

70837 

473 

5 

00 

00 

19000 

.09198 

43877 

43627 

43983 

86954 

31224 

866 

5 

16 

40 

20000 

0.09681 

08707 

03179 

09579 

14761 

20018 

367 

5 

33 

20 

21000 

.10163 

50781 

82801 

87285 

02823 

74772 

066 

5 

50 

00 

22000 

. 10645 

68967 

92468 

25762 

15451 

10176 

599 

6 

06 

40 

23000 

.11127 

62131 

98299 

65468 

94977 

71117 

421 

6 

23 

20 

24000 

.11609 

29141 

25230 

22967 

56665 

23380 

711 

6 

40 

00 

25000 

0.12090 

68863 

59669 

36994 

06114 

61572 

998 

6 

56 

40 

26000 

. 12571 

80167 

52162 

70034 

84187 

81870 

530 

7 

13 

20 

27000 

. 13052 

61922 

20051 

59154 

84062 

27895 

489 

7 

30 

00 

28000 

. 13533 

12997 

50131 

09826 

39365 

73063 

912 

7 

46 

40 

29000 

. 14013 

32264 

01306 

26511 

51356 

19346 

678 

8 

03 

20 

30000 

0.14493 

18593 

07246 

73754 

06813 

03177 

897 

8 

20 

00 

31000 

. 14972 

70856 

79039 

61542 

36681 

02368 

752 

8 

36 

40 

32000 

.15451 

87928 

07840 

48706 

78550 

96980 

932 

8 

53 

20 

33000 

. 15930 

68680 

67522 

58121 

33757 

81353 

360 

9 

10 

00 

34000 

. 16409 

11989 

17323 

97482 

52220 

48582 

552 

9 

26 

40 

35000 

0.16887 

16729 

04492 

79443 

35126 

33030 

004 

9 

43 

20 

428      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 


TABLE  1. — VAI.UES  OF  Sine  B     {Continued) 

e"  Sine  e 

35000  0.16887  16729     04492     79443  35126  33030  004 

36000  .17364  81776     66930     34885  17166  26769  314 

37000  .17842  06009     35832     13114  76243  73816  845 

38000  .18318  88305    38326     62779  19399  48689  692 

39000  .18795  27544     00111     87296  09103  66159  291 


e 

O  /  ff 

9  43  20 

10  00  00 

10  16  40 

10  33  20 

10  50  00 


40000 
41000 
42000 
43000 
44000 


0.19271 
.  19746 
.20221 
.20696 
.21170 


22605 
72371 
75723 
31545 
38722 


48089 
12997 
32037 
51505 
29410 


68602 
53028 
93118 
39198 
74548 


24054 
93175 
00611 
33167 
29811 


35580 
20166 
09131 
44529 
16675 


049 
624 
373 
770 
828 


11  06  40 

11  23  20 

11  40  00 

11  56  40 

12  13  20 


45000 
46000 
47000 
48000 
49000 


0.21643 
.22117 
.22589 
.23061 
.23533 


96139 
02683 
57243 
58707 
05966 


38102 
66887 
24644 
42440 
76137 


87975 
77654 
80057 
17845 
60553 


95536 
59084 
85664 
01983 
51441 


69617 
24833 
86355 
49292 
77436 


940 
467 
610 
939 
051 


12  30  00 

12  46  40 

13  03  20 
13  20  00 
13  36  40 


50000 
51000 
52000 
53000 
54000 


0.24003 
.24474 
.24944 
.25413 
.25881 


97913 
33439 
11440 
30812 
90451 


09005 
54323 
57981 
01078 
02520 


91962 
77999 
29065 
50664 
76234 


72430 
82076 
51653 
78138 
88988 


91690 
32813 
08864 
55503 
37624 


162 
311 
737 
119 
048 


13  53  20 

14  10  00 
14  26  40 

14  43  20 

15  00  00 


55000 
56000 
57000 
58000 
59000 


0.26349 
.26817 
.27283 
.27750 
.28215 


89256 
26127 
99966 
09676 
54161 


21610 
60637 
67461 
38095 
19287 


76070 
36254 
01504 
75871 
75199 


64197 
21023 
82378 
39833 
26412 


81812 
94984 
06002 
40833 
51393 


046 
500 
119 
418 
960 


15  16  40 

15  33  20 

15  50  00 

16  06  40 
16  23  20 


60000 
61000 
62000 
63000 
64000 


0.28680 
.29144 
.29607 
.30070 
.30532 


32327 
43081 
85334 
57995 
59976 


11090 
69434 
08699 
04273 
95113 


25310 
99844 
91717 
12162 
11324 


32801 
33369 
35320 
25471 
64497 


73167 
63357 
12347 
35931 
20020 


158 
123 
692 
073 
700 


16  40  00 

16  56  40 

17  13  20 
17  30  00 
17  46  40 


65000 
66000 
67000 
68000 
69000 


0.30993 
.31454 
.31914 
.32373 
.32831 


90193 
47561 
30997 
39420 
71752 


86305 
51613 
36030 
58321 
13561 


14396 
67280 
85779 
02334 
04313 


67978 
17265 
60933 
99482 
91905 


45929 
82039 
62815 
31479 
07868 


734 
423 
731 
140 
057 


18  03  20 

18  20  00 

18  36  40 

18  53  20 

19  10  00 


70000 
71000 
72000 
73000 
74000 


0.33289 
.33746 
.34202 
.34657 
.35111 


26914 
03832 
01433 
18643 
54394 


75676 
99974 
25668 
78407 
72788 


57891 
11559 
73304 
55530 
81774 


82749 
22352 
40996 
39759 
76892 


34745 
97522 
14682 
36664 
14440 


209 
744 
259 
117 
613 


19  26  40 

19  43  20 

20  00  00 
20  16  40 
20  33  20 


75000 
76000 
77000 
78000 
79000 


0.35565 
.36017 
.36469 
.36920 
.37370 


07618 
77248 
62220 
61473 
73946 


14876 
04710 
38811 
12684 
23310 


49311 
41724 
85553 
45119 
49660 


58452 
85846 
70672 
98878 
11760 


17291 
71617 
05417 
30071 
53564 


041 
039 
247 
688 

587 


20  50  00 

21  06  40 
21  23  20 
21  40  00 
21  56  40 


80000 


0.37819  98581  71642  46893  70567  45860  696    22  13  20 


NOV.  19,  1922 


VAN  ORSTRAND  AND  SHOULTES :   TABLES 


429 


TABLE  1.- 

—Values  of  Sine  0     ( 

Continue 

d) 

9 

B" 

Sine  d 

o 

n 

80000 

0.37819 

98581 

71642 

46893 

70567 

45860 

696 

22 

13 

20 

81000 

.38268 

34323 

65089 

77172 

84599 

84030 

399 

22 

30 

00 

82000 

.38715 

80118 

20000 

62367 

09516 

7.5664 

442 

22 

46 

40 

83000 

.39162 

34913 

64139 

03650 

63151 

45548 

608 

23 

03 

20 

84000 

.39607 

97660 

39156 

82369 

60433 

91609 

744 

23 

20 

00 

85000 

0.40052 

67311 

03060 

58179 

36996 

58697 

610 

23 

36 

40 

86000 

.40496 

42820 

32673 

58653 

12675 

97568 

048 

23 

53 

20 

87000 

.40939 

23145 

26092 

54.575 

41387 

•94119 

105 

24 

10 

00 

88000 

.41381 

07245 

05139 

15146 

02720 

61105 

513 

24 

26 

40 

89000 

.41821 

94081 

17806 

37332 

13027 

39853 

214 

24 

43 

20 

90000 

0.42261 

82617 

40699 

4.3618 

69784 

89647 

730 

25 

00 

00 

91000 

.42700 

71819 

81471 

42419 

92477 

42377 

872 

25 

16 

40 

92000 

.43138 

60656 

81253 

4.5426 

86252 

32813 

699 

25 

33 

20 

93000 

.43575 

48099 

17079 

36179 

31028 

12022 

586 

25 

50 

00 

94000 

.44011 

33120 

04304 

84162 

88601 

12690 

874 

26 

06 

40 

95000 

0.44446 

14694 

99020 

98745 

23555 

28775 

780 

26 

23 

20 

96000 

.44879 

91802 

00462 

17278 

50403 

34733 

143 

26 

40 

00 

97000 

.45312 

6.3421 

53408 

21708 

49345 

06908 

387 

26 

56 

40 

98000 

.45744 

28536 

50580 

78044 

36287 

95557 

841 

27 

13 

20 

99000 

.46174 

86132 

35033 

930.56 

29306 

73135 

623 

27 

30 

00 

100000 

0.46604 

35197 

02.538 

82.582 

23487 

64495 

630 

27 

46 

40 

101000 

.47032 

74721 

03962 

4.5838 

69080 

27959 

114 

28 

03 

20 

102000 

.47460 

03697 

47640 

40144 

44030 

52184 

505 

28 

20 

00 

103000 

.47886 

21122 

01743 

50480 

21260 

80880 

521 

28 

36 

40 

104000 

.48311 

25992 

96638 

48321 

53464 

63171 

169 

28 

53 

20 

105000 

0.48735 

17311 

27242 

34196 

33658 

08586 

089 

29 

10 

00 

106000 

.49157 

94080 

5.5370 

58433 

38248 

28214 

527 

29 

26 

40 

107000 

.49579 

55307 

12079 

14582 

20902 

62875 

705 

29 

43 

20 

108000 

.50000 

00000 

00000 

00000 

00000 

00000 

000 

30 

00 

00 

109000 

.50419 

27170 

95670 

38115 

69879 

97569 

601 

30 

16 

40 

110000 

0.50837 

35834 

51855 

56896 

66444 

69809 

366 

30 

33 

20 

111000 

.51254 

25007 

99865 

18058 

30874 

18895 

538 

30 

50 

00 

112000 

.51669 

93711 

51862 

91572 

41254 

63063 

465 

31 

06 

40 

113000 

.52084 

40968 

03169 

70045 

20754 

27285 

637 

31 

23 

20 

114000 

. 52497 

65803 

34560 

17551 

82577 

11220 

776 

31 

40 

00 

115000 

0.52909 

67246 

14552 

47529 

36243 

83473 

826 

31 

56 

40 

116000 

.53320 

44328 

01691 

24346 

56755 

94519 

073 

32 

13 

20 

117000 

.53729 

96083 

46823 

83184 

07855 

46267 

707 

32 

30 

00 

118000 

.54138 

21549 

95369 

62875 

12861 

67817 

392 

32 

46 

40 

119000 

.54545 

19767 

89582 

46372 

81410 

58369 

706 

33 

03 

20 

120000 

0.54950 

89780 

70806 

03526 

27803 

74050 

134 

33 

20 

00 

121000 

.55355 

30634 

81722 

30864 

56553 

30355 

275 

33 

36 

40 

122000 

.55758 

41379 

68592 

83103 

43050 

11746 

238 

33 

53 

20 

123000 

.56160 

21067 

83492 

91107 

02043 

40781 

882 

34 

10 

00 

124000 

.56560 

68754 

86538 

61053 

13764 

48220 

929 

34 

26 

40 

125000 

0.56959 

83499 

48106 

49567 

67013 

60694 

550 

34 

43 

20 

430      JOURNAI.  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 


TABLE  1.- 

—Values  of  Sine  0     {Continued) 

B' 

Sine  e 

O 

6 
/ 

n 

125000 

0.56959 

83499 

48106 

49567 

67013 

60694 

550 

34 

43 

20 

126000 

.57357 

64363 

51046 

09610 

80319 

12826 

158 

35 

00 

00 

127000 

.57754 

10411 

92885 

01914 

76330 

96100 

449 

35 

16 

40 

128000 

.58149 

20712 

88026 

66790 

10886 

48582 

988 

35 

33 

20 

129000 

.58542 

94337 

69940 

51134 

96645 

10259 

519 

35 

50 

00 

130000 

0.58935 

30360 

93344 

85499 

11787 

32161 

758 

36 

06 

40 

131000 

.59326 

27860 

36382 

06072 

46974 

18896 

909 

36 

23 

20 

132000 

.59715 

85917 

02786 

16485 

18521 

60583 

960 

36 

40 

00 

133000 

.60104 

03615 

24042 

84324 

62520 

00059 

672 

36 

56 

40 

134000 

.60490 

80042 

61541 

67292 

23380 

84844 

332 

37 

13 

20 

135000 

0.60876 

14290 

08720 

63941 

60975 

42898 

164 

37 

30 

00 

136000 

.61260 

05451 

93202 

83957 

23105 

40752 

806 

37 

46 

40 

137000 

.61642 

52625 

78925 

32951 

64466 

48319 

867 

38 

03 

20 

138000 

.62023 

54912 

68260 

06777 

39492 

34865 

251 

38 

20 

00 

139000 

.62403 

11417 

04126 

90368 

54453 

15852 

926 

38 

36 

40 

140000 

0.62781 

21246 

72098 

56145 

33886 

93521 

289 

38 

53 

20 

141000 

.63157 

83513 

02497 

57034 

37819 

90534 

395 

39 

10 

00 

142000 

.63532 

97330 

72485 

09175 

59238 

43787 

042 

39 

26 

40 

143000 

.63906 

61818 

08141 

59406 

35866 

55041 

224 

39 

43 

20 

144000 

.64278 

76096 

86539 

32632 

26434 

09907 

263 

40 

00 

00 

145000 

0.64649 

39292 

37806 

54213 

29246 

73007 

645 

40 

16 

40 

146000 

.65018 

50533 

47183 

42513 

59944 

14209 

006 

40 

33 

20 

147000 

.65386 

08952 

57069 

66782 

55812 

60900 

376 

40 

50 

00 

148000 

.65752 

13685 

69063 

65554 

35855 

19951 

813 

41 

06 

40 

149000 

.66116 

63872 

45993 

20773 

18972 

59028 

767 

41 

23 

20 

150000 

0.66479 

58656 

13937 

82870 

87022 

42597 

499 

41 

40 

00 

151000 

.66840 

97183 

64242 

42043 

75159 

18990 

214 

41 

56 

40 

152000 

.67200 

78605 

55522 

40995 

78662 

60690 

329 

42 

13 

20 

153000 

.67559 

02076 

15660 

24434 

83393 

53674 

354 

42 

30 

00 

154000 

.67915 

66753 

43793 

20629 

56024 

70184 

810 

42 

46 

40 

155000 

0.68270 

71799 

12292 

50354 

70231 

73649 

024 

43 

03 

20 

156000 

.68624 

16378 

68733 

58572 

96049 

99617 

538 

43 

20 

00 

157000 

.68975 

99661 

37857 

64222 

41556 

11776 

983 

43 

36 

40 

158000 

.69326 

20820 

23524 

23499 

08872 

00800 

829 

43 

53 

20 

159000 

.69674 

79032 

10655 

02045 

10164 

03957 

504 

44 

10 

00 

160000 

0.70021 

73477 

67168 

51473 

83772 

77449 

050 

44 

26 

40 

161000 

.70367 

03341 

45905 

85684 

55809 

28499 

420 

44 

43 

20 

162000 

.70710 

67811 

86547 

52440 

08443 

62104 

849 

45 

00 

00 

NOV.  19,  1922  VAN  ORSTRAND  AND  SHOULTES:  TABLES                                     431 

TABLE  2.— Values  of  Cosine  6 

$'  Cosine  6 

1  0.99999  99999  88247  78473  04740  76217  925 

2  .99999  99999  52991  13892  21725  33999  183 

3  .99999  99998  94230  06257  59240  60726  215 

4  .99999  99998  11964  55569  31098  02036  402 

5  0.99999  99997  06194  61827  56633  61822  030 

6  .99999  99995  76920  25032  60708  02230  248 

7  .99999  99994  24141  45184  73706  43663  006 

8  .99999  99992  47858  22284  31538  64776  987 

9  .99999  99990  48070  56331  75639  02483  521 

10  0.99999  99988  24778  47327  52966  51948  487 

11  .99999  99985  77981  95272  16004  66592  202 

12  .99999  99983  07681  00166  22761  58089  300 

13  .99999  99980  13875  62010  36769  96368  596 

14  .99999  99976  96565  80805  27087  09612  932 

15  0.99999  99973  55751  56551  68294  84259  022 

16  .99999  99969  91432  89250  40499  64997  267 

17  .99999  99966  03609  78902  29332  54771  578 

18  .99999  99961  92282  25508  25949  14779  165 

19  .99999  99957  57450  29069  27029  64470  329 

20  0.99999  99952  99113  89586  34778  81548  232 

21  .99999  99948  17273  07060  56926  01968  655 

22  .99999  99943  11927  81493  06725  19939  751 

23  .99999  99937  83078  12885  02954  87921  772 

24  .99999  99932  30724  01237  69918  16626  794 

25  0.99999  99926  54865  46552  37442  75018  423 

26  .99999  99920  55502  48830  40880  90311  490 

27  .99999  99914  32635  08073  21109  47971  735 

28  .99999  99907  86263  24282  24529  91715  471 

29  .99999  99901  16386  97459  03068  23509  247 

30  0.99999  99894  23006  27605  14175  03569  483 

31  .99999  99887  06121  14722  20825  50362  106 

32  .99999  99879  65731  58811  91519  40602  164 

33  .99999  99872  01837  59876  00281  09253  432 

34  .99999  99864  14439  17916  26659  49528  000 

35  0.99999  99856  03536  32934  55728  12885  854 

36  .99999  99847  69129  04932  78085  09034  439 

37  .99999  99839  11217  33912  89853  05928  211 

38  .99999  99830  29801  19876  92679  29768  179 

39  .99999  99821  24880  62826  93735  65001  425 

40  0.99999  99811  96455  62765  05718  54320  624 

41  .99999  99802  44526  19693  46848  98663  540 

42  .99999  99792  69092  33614  40872  57212  513 

43  .99999  99782  70154  04530  17059  47393  936 

44  .99999  99772  47711  32443  10204  44877  711 

45  0.99999  99762  01764  17355  60626  83576  705 

46  .99999  99751  32312  59270  14170  55646  175 

47  .99999  99740  39356  58189  22204  11483  199 

48  .99999  99729  22896  14115  41620  59726  082 

49  .99999  99717  82931  27051  34837  67253  750 

50  0.99999  99706  19461  96999  69797  59185  136 


432      JOURNAL  Olf  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 

TABLE  2. — Values  of  Cosine  6     {Continued) 

B"  Cosine 

50  0.99999  99706  19461  96999  69797  59185  136 

51  .99999  99694  32488  23963  19967  18878  549 

52  .99999  99682  22010  07944  64337  87931  033 

53  .99999  99669  88027  48946  87425  66177  709 

54  .99999  99657  30540  46972  79271  11691  105 

55  0.99999  99644  49549  02025  35439  40780  481 

56  .99999  99631  45053  14107  57020  27991  125 

57  .99999  99618  17052  83222  50628  06103  652 

58  .99999  99604  65548  09373  28401  66133  283 

59  .99999  99590  90538  92563  08004  57329  106 

60  0.99999  99576  92025  32795  12624  87173  336 

61  .99999  99562  70007  30072  70975  21380  550 

62  .99999  99548  24484  84399  17292  83896  920 

63  .99999  99533  55457  95777  91339  56899  420 

64  .99999  99518  62926  64212  38401-  80795  034 

65  0.99999  99503  46890  89706  09290  54219  942 

66  .99999  99488  07350  72262  60341  34038  695 

67  .99999  99472  44306  11885  53414  35343  377 

68  .99999  99456  57757  08578  55894  31452  757 

69  .99999  99440  47703  62345  40690  53911  423 

70  0.99999  99424  14145  73189  86236  92488  905 

71  .99999  99407  57083  41115  76491  95178  788 

72  .99999  99390  76516  66127  00938  68197  809 

73  .99999  99373  72445  48227  54584  75984  941 

74  .99999  99356  44869  87421  37962  41200  462 

75  0.99999  99338  93789  83712  57128  44725  018 

76  .99999  99321  19205  37105  23664  25658  666 

77  .99999  99303  21116  47603  54675  81319  908 

78  .99999  99284  99523  15211  72793  67244  709 

79  .99999  99266  54425  39934  06172  97185  505 

80  0.99999  99247  85823  21774  88493  43110  195 

81  .99999  99228  93716  60738  58959  35201  123 

82  .99999  99209  78105  56829  62299  61854  047 

83  .99999  99190  38990  10052  48767  69677  091 

84  .99999  99170  76370  20411  74141  63489  687 

85  0.99999  99150  90245  87911  99724  06321  506 

86  .99999  99130  80617  12557  92342  19411  372 

87  .99999  99110  47483  94354  24347  82206  163 

88  .99999  99089  90846  33305  73617  32359  705 

89  .99999  99069  10704  29417  23551  65731  647 

90  0.99999  99048  07057  82693  63076  36386  323 

91  .99999  99026  79906  93139  86641  56591  604 

92  .99999  99005  29251  60760  94221  96817  736 

93  .99999  98983  55091  85561  91316  85736  167 

94  .99999  98961  57427  67547  88950  10218  353 

95  0.99999  98939  36259  06724  03670  15334  564 

96  .99999  98916  91586  03095  57550  04352  664 

97  .99999  98894  23408  56667  78187  38736  887 

98  .99999  98871  31726  67445  98704  38146  598 

99  .99999  98848  16540  35435  57747  80435  036 

100  0.99999  98824  77849  60641  99489  01648  050 


NOV.  19,   1922  VAN  ORSTRAND  AND  SHOULTES:   TABLES 


433 


TABLE  2.- 

-Values  of  Cosine  6 

{Continued) 

A 

e' 

Cosi 

ne  d 

O 

d 

ft 

100 

0.99999 

98824 

77849 

60641 

99489 

01648 

050 

0 

01 

40 

200 

.99999 

95299 

11426 

04859 

14618 

69087 

718 

0 

03 

20 

300 

.99999 

89423 

00812 

19524 

30450 

81847 

258 

0 

05 

00 

400 

.99999 

81196 

46146 

16090 

05668 

14138 

802 

0 

06 

40 

500 

0.99999 

70619 

47621 

30585 

47944 

02697 

103 

0 

08 

20 

600 

.99999 

57692 

05486 

23611 

59460 

12436 

124 

0 

10 

00 

700 

.99999 

42414 

20044 

80335 

52572 

10605 

823 

0 

11 

40 

800 

.99999 

24785 

91656 

10483 

35623 

63183 

580 

0 

13 

20 

900 

.99999 

04807 

20734 

48331 

68908 

70286 

798 

0 

15 

00 

1000 

0.99998 

82478 

07749 

52697 

90782 

60445 

306 

0 

16 

40 

2000 

.99995 

29915 

07226 

15330 

04692 

98023 

894 

0 

33 

20 

3000 

.99989 

42319 

27107 

52254 

64532 

27481 

627 

0 

50 

00 

4000 

.99981 

19704 

48501 

39893 

94719 

26234 

634 

1 

06 

40 

5000 

0.99970 

62090 

04913 

20525 

42015 

08166 

159 

1 

23 

20 

6000 

.99957 

69500 

82200 

57696 

26607 

63405 

281 

1 

40 

00 

7000 

.99942 

41967 

18514 

93368 

05324 

11432 

941 

1 

56 

40 

8000 

.99924 

79525 

04230 

06928 

80243 

59014 

703 

2 

13 

20 

9000 

.99904 

82215 

81857 

76240 

37162 

19403 

330 

2 

30 

00 

10000 

0.99882 

50086 

45950 

40919 

49149 

63375 

233 

2 

46 

40 

11000 

.99857 

83189 

42990 

68081 

30755 

65278 

093 

3 

03 

20 

12000 

.99830 

81582 

71268 

20804 

78207 

08783 

278 

3 

20 

00 

13000 

.99801 

45329 

80743 

29609 

80108 

59131 

055 

3 

36 

40 

14000 

.99769 

74499 

72897 

67266 

31651 

24437 

112 

3 

53 

20 

15000 

0.99735 

69167 

00572 

27286 

33071 

52804 

468 

4 

10 

00 

16000 

.99699 

29411 

67792 

06480 

00016 

81034 

629 

4 

26 

40 

17000 

.99660 

55319 

29577 

91987 

59491 

03072 

423 

4 

43 

20 

18000 

.99619 

46980 

91745 

53229 

50104 

02473 

888 

5 

00 

00 

19000 

.99576 

04493 

10691 

39246 

89358 

35953 

664 

5 

16 

40 

20000 

0.99530 

27957 

93165 

81936 

13607 

09688 

502 

5 

33 

20 

21000 

.99482 

17482 

96033 

05710 

38033 

04378 

624 

5 

50 

00 

22000 

.99431 

73181 

26018 

44152 

24463 

29729 

806 

6 

06 

40 

23000 

.99378 

95171 

39442 

64251 

83970 

77594 

519 

6 

23 

20 

24000 

.99323 

83577 

41942 

98854 

78955 

52193 

704 

6 

40 

00 

25000 

0.99266 

38528 

88181 

87975 

25671 

45608 

280 

6 

56 

40 

26000 

.99206 

60160 

81542 

29659 

32897 

60508 

774 

7 

13 

20 

27000 

.99144 

48613 

73810 

41114 

45575 

26928 

563 

7 

30 

00 

28000 

.99080 

04033 

64845 

30850 

93672 

86613 

503 

7 

46 

40 

29000 

.99013 

26572 

02235 

82611 

76227 

01884 

454 

8 

03 

20 

30000 

0.98944 

16385 

80944 

51897 

38370 

64936 

939 

8 

20 

00 

31000 

.98872 

73637 

42938 

75922 

25125 

21270 

174 

8 

36 

40 

32000 

.98798 

98494 

76808 

97870 

19733 

65138 

328 

8 

53 

20 

33000 

.98722 

91131 

17374 

06345 

96272 

07825 

437 

9 

10 

00 

34000 

.98644 

51725 

45273 

90950 

36130 

58227 

655 

9 

26 

40 

35000 


0.98563  80461  86549  14936  75625  91705  341 


9  43  20 


434      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 


TABLE  2.- 

-Values  of  Cosine  d 

{Continued) 

e 

e" 
35000 

0.98563 

80461 

Cosine  0 
86549  14936 

75625 

91705 

341 

O 

9 

43 

ft 

20 

36000 

.98480 

77530 

12208 

05936 

67430 

24589 

523 

10 

00 

00 

37000 

.98395 

43125 

37780 

65772 

51599 

70530 

389 

10 

16 

40 

38000 

.98307 

77448 

22860 

00405 

42693 

48954 

215 

10 

33 

20 

39000 

.98217 

80704 

70630 

71096 

47717 

68768 

433 

10 

50 

00 

40000 

0.98125 

53106 

27384 

67889 

35337 

51430 

954 

11 

06 

40 

41000 

.98030 

94869 

82024 

06552 

79906 

21844 

498 

11 

23 

20 

42000 

.97934 

06217 

65551 

50151 

04288 

24636 

922 

11 

40 

00 

43000 

.97834 

87377 

50547 

56440 

43137 

64919 

949 

11 

56 

40 

44000 

.97733 

38582 

50635 

52320 

43159 

80711 

030 

12 

13 

20 

45000 

0.97629 

60071 

19933 

36597 

08864 

89605 

428 

12 

30 

00 

46000 

.97523 

52087 

52493 

12346 

91344 

82532 

502 

12 

46 

40 

47000 

.97415 

14880 

81727 

50199 

03601 

37006 

148 

13 

03 

20 

48000 

.97304 

48705 

79823 

83883 

28851 

72784 

696 

13 

20 

00 

49000 

.97191 

53822 

57145 

39421 

67968 

63170 

943 

13 

36 

40 

50000 

0.97076 

30496 

61619 

99370 

48705 

41634 

248 

13 

53 

20 

51000 

.96958 

78998 

78116 

03549 

92542 

09959 

624 

14 

10 

00 

52000 

.96838 

99605 

27805 

87728 

04796 

72433 

550 

14 

26 

40 

53000 

.96716 

92597 

67516 

61755 

20007 

10311 

466 

14 

43 

20 

54000 

.96592 

58262 

89068 

28674 

97431 

99728 

897 

15 

00 

00 

55000 

0.96465 

96893 

18599 

46367 

20778 

00334 

742 

15 

16 

40 

56000 

.96337 

08786 

15880 

33308 

11859 

45689 

290 

15 

33 

20 

57000 

.96205 

94244 

73613 

20062 

19774 

02922 

903 

15 

50 

00 

58000 

.96072 

53577 

16720 

48149 

95257 

00092 

449 

16 

06 

40 

59000 

.95936 

87097 

01620 

17965 

04093 

15820 

317 

16 

23 

20 

60000 

0.95798 

95123 

15488 

87443 

73747 

66956 

755 

16 

40 

00 

61000 

.95658 

77979 

75512 

23219 

03657 

05217 

438 

16 

56 

40 

62000 

.95516 

35996 

28123 

06021 

01829 

41469 

934 

17 

13 

20 

63000 

.95371 

69507 

48226 

92114 

38470 

64600 

258 

17 

30 

00 

64000 

.95224 

78853 

38415 

32593 

31211 

28441 

795 

17 

46 

40 

65000 

0.95075 

64379 

28166 

52382 

96088 

72745 

030 

18 

03 

20 

66000 

.94924 

26435 

73033 

90826 

13672 

60314 

740 

18 

20 

00 

67000 

.94770 

65378 

53822 

05762 

70539 

00165 

703 

18 

36 

40 

68000 

.94614 

81568 

75750 

43038 

42633 

44150 

010 

18 

53 

20 

69000 

.94456 

75372 

67604 

73408 

88844 

60829 

404 

19 

10 

00 

70000 

0.94296 

47161 

80875 

98833 

20272 

84944 

114 

19 

26 

40 

71000 

.94133 

97312 

88887 

30181 

03151 

04064 

764 

19 

43 

20 

72000 

.93969 

26207 

85908 

38405 

41092 

77324 

732 

20 

00 

00 

73000 

.93802 

34233 

86257 

81262 

65235 

97115 

007 

20 

16 

40 

74000 

.93633 

21783 

23393 

07689 

38851 

27219 

288 

20 

33 

20 

75000 

0.93461 

89253 

48988 

41975 

56026 

15508 

867 

20 

50 

00 

76000 

.93288 

37047 

32000 

49900 

82050 

33097 

417 

21 

06 

40 

77000 

.93112 

65572 

57721 

89030 

46047 

93683 

301 

21 

23 

20 

78000 

.92934 

75242 

26822 

45395 

54160 

27564 

276 

21 

40 

00 

79000 

.92754 

66474 

54378 

58810 

44112 

07511 

693 

21 

56 

40 

80000 

0.92572 

39692 

68890 

39109 

49227 

43644 

059 

22 

13 

20 

NOV.  19,  1922  VAN  ORSTRAND  AND  SHOULTES:  TABLES 


435 


TABLE  2.- 

-Values  of  Cosine  B 

{Continued) 

e 

e" 

Cosine  8 

0 

It 

80000 

0.92572 

39692 

68890 

39109 

49227 

43644 

059 

22 

13 

20 

81000 

.92387 

95325 

11286 

75612 

81831 

89396 

788 

22 

30 

00 

82000 

.92201 

33805 

33918 

42159 

82417 

51005 

049 

22 

46 

40 

83000 

.92012 

55571 

99539 

00077 

11892 

01720 

896 

23 

03 

20 

84000 

.91821 

61068 

80274 

01475 

89614 

15314 

637 

23 

20 

00 

85000 

0.91628 

50744 

56577 

95301 

99669 

10379 

085 

23 

36 

40 

86000 

.91433 

25053 

16179 

38590 

01894 

09911 

083 

23 

53 

20 

87000 

.91235 

84453 

53014 

15400 

92458 

55321 

636 

24 

10 

00 

88000 

.91036 

29409 

66146 

65950 

61269 

69701 

259 

24 

26 

40 

89000 

.90834 

60390 

58679 

28464 

90047 

54815 

463 

24 

43 

20 

90000 

0.90630 

77870 

36649 

96324 

25526 

56754 

317 

25 

00 

00 

91000 

.90424 

82328 

07917 

93089 

46829 

87244 

356 

25 

16 

40 

92000 

.90216 

74247 

81037 

68027 

24559 

96346 

896 

25 

33 

20 

93000 

.90006 

54118 

64121 

14782 

41492 

26925 

298 

25 

50 

00 

94000 

.89794 

22434 

63688 

15871 

10879 

25644 

859 

26 

06 

40 

95000 

0.89579 

79694 

83505 

15696 

88208 

37774 

595 

26 

23 

20 

96000 

.89363 

26403 

23412 

24819 

25741 

86866 

655 

26 

40 

00 

97000 

.89144 

63068 

78138 

58231 

66235 

63600 

156 

26 

56 

40 

98000 

.88923 

90205 

36106 

10433 

12823 

63874 

580 

27 

13 

20 

99000 

.88701 

08331 

78221 

70105 

46098 

83037 

517 

27 

30 

00 

100000 

0.88476 

17971 

76657 

77234 

86857 

64728 

642 

27 

46 

40 

101000 

.88249 

19653 

93621 

25544 

23738 

08546 

285 

28 

03 

20 

102000 

.88020 

13911 

80111 

13129 

39007 

65608 

480 

28 

20 

00 

103000 

.87789 

01283 

74664 

44219 

72983 

15935 

547 

28 

36 

40 

104000 

.87555 

82313 

02090 

85010 

67925 

63258 

589 

28 

53 

20 

105000 

0.87320 

57547 

72195 

76542 

25687 

54324 

677 

29 

10 

00 

106000 

.87083 

27540 

78492 

07624 

99832 

00274 

584 

29 

26 

40 

107000 

.86843 

92849 

96900 

50841 

22332 

32894 

675 

29 

43 

20 

108000 

.86602 

54037 

84438 

64676 

37231 

70752 

936 

30 

00 

00 

109000 

.86359 

11671 

77898 

64861 

78734 

18410 

727 

30 

16 

40 

110000 

0.86113 

66323 

92513 

68036 

89047 

11923 

137 

30 

33 

20 

111000 

.85866 

18571 

20613 

10865 

21839 

08591 

569 

30 

50 

00 

112000 

.85616 

68995 

30266 

47765 

20353 

68472 

192 

31 

06 

40 

113000 

.85365 

18182 

63916 

30442 

94966 

76849 

576 

31 

23 

20 

114000 

.85111 

66724 

36999 

72440 

53230 

15594 

884 

31 

40 

00 

115000 

0.M856 

15216 

36559 

01939 

56147 

29489 

679 

31 

56 

40 

116000 

.84598 

64259 

19^1 

06085 

87513 

91409 

795 

32 

13 

20 

117000 

.84339 

14458 

12885 

70127 

28568 

05827 

572 

32 

30 

00 

118000 

.84077 

66423 

09103 

14682 

27867 

79545 

790 

32 

46 

40 

119000 

.83814 

20768 

67840 

34483 

46190 

26250 

481 

33 

03 

20 

120000 

0.83548 

78114 

12936 

41965 

38261 

70019 

584 

33 

20 

00 

121000 

.83281 

39083 

31267 

19092 

07224 

03480 

631 

33 

36 

40 

122000 

.83012 

04304 

71278 

80845 

33858 

88619 

260 

33 

53 

20 

123000 

.82740 

74411 

41510 

53820 

40664 

30805 

183 

34 

10 

00 

124000 

.82467 

50041 

09106 

73401 

00852 

96826 

926 

34 

26 

40 

125000 

0.82192 

31835 

98318 

03011 

44152 

92055 

530 

34 

43 

20 

t 


fj 


V 


436      JOURNAL  OF  THB  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   19 


TABLE  2.- 

-Values  of  Cosine  d 

{Continued) 

9" 

Cosine  6 

0 

/ 

// 

125000 

0.82192 

31835 

98318 

03011 

44152 

92055 

530 

34 

43 

20 

126000 

.81915 

20442 

88991 

78968 

44883 

85916 

843 

35 

00 

00 

127000 

.81636 

16513 

15051 

84481 

03093 

23590 

596 

35 

16 

40 

128000 

.81355 

20702 

62967 

56371 

46508 

49682 

892 

35 

33 

20 

129000 

.81072 

33671 

70212 

28115 

89634 

80549 

570 

35 

50 

00 

130000 

0.80787 

56085 

23711 

12827 

86442 

99734 

483 

36 

06 

40 

131000 

.80500 

88612 

58278 

29833 

04691 

39261 

663 

36 

23 

20 

132000 

.80212 

31927 

55043 

78508 

32948 

91933 

925 

36 

40 

00 

133000 

.79921 

86708 

39869 

63083 

05777 

40147 

899 

36 

56 

40 

134000 

.79629 

53637 

81755 

72124 

98229 

69134 

519 

37 

13 

20 

135000 

0.79335 

33402 

91235 

16457 

97769 

61501 

299 

37 

30 

00 

136000 

.79039 

26695 

18759 

29283 

09861 

70580 

147 

37 

46 

40 

137000 

.78741 

34210 

53072 

32298 

92755 

88165 

015 

38 

03 

20 

138000 

.78441 

56649 

19575 

71641 

47347 

24386 

379 

38 

20* 

00 

139000 

.78139 

94715 

78682 

27488 

09366 

91314 

549 

38 

36 

40 

140000 

0.77836 

49119 

24160 

01194 

03499 

36116 

485 

38 

53 

20 

141000 

.77531 

20572 

81465 

83854 

22268 

34155 

507 

39 

10 

00 

142000 

.77224 

09794 

06069 

10206 

86630 

78636 

736 

39 

26 

40 

143000 

.76915 

17504 

81765 

01819 

30109 

64085 

003 

39 

43 

20 

144000 

.76604 

44431 

18978 

03520 

23926 

50555 

417 

40 

00 

00 

145000 

0.76291 

91303 

53055 

17066 

26907 

30247 

919 

40 

16 

40 

146000 

.75977 

58856 

42549 

36054 

00873 

36254 

422 

40 

33 

20 

147000 

.75661 

47828 

67492 

86112 

79740 

94670 

113 

40 

50 

00 

148000 

.75343 

58963 

27660 

74436 

18579 

08569 

961 

41 

06 

40 

149000 

.75023 

93007 

40824 

52733 

77363 

79999 

078 

41 

23 

20 

150000 

0.74702 

50712 

40995 

97708 

13061 

51183 

367 

41 

40 

00 

151000 

.74379 

32833 

76661 

13184 

62921 

28215 

260 

41 

56 

40 

152000 

.74054 

40131 

09004 

58045 

01400 

11765 

967 

42 

13 

20 

153000 

.73727 

73368 

10124 

04138 

42933 

94982 

317 

42 

30 

00 

154000 

.73399 

33312 

61235 

28366 

42745 

16636 

468 

42 

46 

40 

155000 

0.73069 

20736 

50867 

43161 

17992 

18861 

828 

43 

03 

20 

156000 

.72737 

36415 

73048 

69598 

71764 

17663 

816 

43 

20 

00 

157000 

.72403 

81130 

25482 

57411 

52651 

38384 

266 

43 

36 

40 

158000 

.72068 

55664 

07714 

56187 

22826 

08402 

286 

43 

53 

20 

159000 

.71731 

60805 

19289 

42062 

37697 

70109 

592 

44 

10 

00 

160000 

0.71392 

97345 

57899 

04242 

60206 

36824 

553 

44 

26 

40 

161000 

.71052 

66081 

17520 

95702 

42639 

44831 

623 

44 

43 

20 

162000 

.70710 

67811 

86547 

52440 

08443 

62104 

849 

45 

00 

00 

NOV.  19,  1922  maxon:  ferns  new  to  cuba  437 

BOTANY. — Ferns  new  to  the  Cuban  Floral    William  R.  Maxon, 
National  Museum. 

In  the  course  of  continued  botanical  exploration  of  eastern  Cuba, 
Brother  Leon  collected  extensively  in  the  high  Sierra  Maestra,  Oriente 
Province,  during  July  of  the  present  year  and  ascended  Pico  Tur- 
quino,  the  culminating  point  of  the  range,  which  has  an  altitude  of 
approximately  2,300  meters.  His  collections  were  sent  to  the  New 
York  Botanical  Garden,  from  which  institution  a  set  of  the  ferns  has 
been  forwarded  to  the  National  Museum  for  identification  by  the 
writer.  Since  the  region  is  almost  untouched  botanically  this  material 
proves  of  exceptional  interest,  containing  several  new  species  as  well 
as  numerous  others  that  are  rare  in  Cuba  or  have  been  known  hereto- 
fore only  from  the  Blue  Mountains  of  Jamaica.  These  are  described 
and  listed  in  the  present  paper. 

The  discovery  of  a  pronounced  montane  Jamaican  element  at  simi- 
lar elevations  in  Cuba  is  not  altogether  unexpected,  and  the  definite 
records  of  extended  ranges  here  given  will  lead  to  a  certain  modifica- 
tion of  the  current  idea  of  Jamaica  as  a  highly  endemic  center,  at  least 
so  far  as  ferns  are  concerned.  With  increasing  collections  from  the 
high  Sierra  Maestra  an  analysis  of  this  relation  and  of  the  elements 
common  to  Cuba  and  Hispaniola  should  prove  of  the  highest  interest 
from  several  points  of  view. 

In  addition  to  records  afforded  by  Brother  Leon's  collection  of 
1922  there  are  included  a  few  based  upon  material  collected  by  Brother 
Leon  and  his  associates  a  year  or  two  earlier  in  other  parts  of  the 
Sierra  Maestra,  mainly  at  a  lower  altitude. 

CYATHEACEAE 

Culcita  coniifolia  (Hook.)  Maxon. 

Near  top  of  Pico  Turquino,  among  shrubs  (11155). 

This  is  the  only  Cuban  material  seen  by  the  writer.  Known  from  Hispan- 
iola and  Jamaica,  and  on  the  continent  from  Mexico  to  Brazil  and  Ecuador. 

Cyathea  araneosa  Maxon,  N.  Amer.  Fl.  16:  74.     1909. 

Sierra  Maestra  (11089). 

Described  from  the  Gran  Piedra,  Oriente,  Cuba,  on  specimens  collected 
by  the  writer  (no.  4035),  and  since  gathered  by  other  collectors.  The  present 
specimen  is  the  most  completely  fertile  one  seen,  the  segments  throughout 
the  pinnae  all  bearing  4  to  6  pairs  of  sori,  instead  of  1  to  3  basal  pairs. 
The  specific  name  was  unfortunately  chosen,  inasmuch  as  the  delicate, 
whitish-araneose  inner  border  of  the  indusium,  though  evident  enough  in  the 

1  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Received 
October  20,  1922. 


438      JOURNAIv  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 

type  specimens,  disappears  at  a  very  early  stage,  upon  the  ripening  of  the 
sporangia.     Only  the  merest  trace  is  discernible  in  the  other  specimens. 
Cyathea  producta  Maxon,  sp.  nov. 

Caudex  erect,  4  to  6  meters  high;  fronds  apparently  ample;  stipe  75  cm. 
long,  olivaceous  from  a  brown  densely  scurfy  base,  aculeate  throughout,  the 
spines  numerous,  1  to  2  mm.  long,  conical,  straight  or  antrorsely  curved; 
basal  part  of  stipe  persistently  paleaceous,  the  scales  densely  imbricate, 
2  to  3.5  cm.  long,  acicular-caudate  from  a  lanceolate  base,  atropurpureous, 
highly  lustrous,  with  narrow  yellowish  brown,  scarious,  subentire  borders; 
blade  at  least  1  meter  broad,  subtripinnate ;  rachis  and  middle  pinnae  want- 
ing; basal  pinnae  oblong,  43  cm.  long,  18  cm.  broad,  abruptly  short-acumi- 
nate, long-petiolate  (3  cm.) ,  the  secondary  rachis  dull  olivaceous,  closely  yellow- 
ish-strigose  above,  beneath  laxly  and  sparsely  yellowish-hirsutulous,  muri- 
cate  toward  the  base;  pinnules  about  17  pairs,  slightly  apart,  sessile  or  nearly 
so,  9  to  11  cm.  long,  14  to  18  mm.  broad,  linear-oblong,  in  the  apical  third 
abruptly  acuminate  and  conspicuously  attenuate-caudate  (the  attenuate 
tip  2.5  to  3.5  cm.  long),  pinnatifid  to  about  1  mm.  from  the  costa,  thecosta 
yellowish-strigose  above,  beneath  laxly  glandular-puberulous  and  deciduously 
paleaceous,  the  scales  membranous,  yellowish  brown,  broadly  ovate,  hair- 
pointed,  subbuUate,  caducous;  segments  14  to  16  pairs,  oblong,  rounded- 
obtuse,  broadly  connected  by  their  strongly  dilatate  bases,  7  to  10  mm. 
long,  3.5  mm.  broad  at  their  middle,  5  mm.  broad  at  base,  spreading,  falcate, 
membrano-herbaceous,  glabrous  above  except  for  1  to  3  stiff  spinous  hairs 
near  the  apex,  thinly  hirsute  beneath  along  and  between  the  veins  to  the 
freely  long-ciliate,  broadly  crenate,  slightly  recurved  margin;  costules  minutely 
paleaceous  beneath,  the  scales  like  those  of  the  costae;  veins  8  or  9  pairs, 
acutely  once  forked  near  the  base;  sori  5  to  7  pairs,  borne  against  the  costa; 
indusia  globose,  transparent,  membranous,  rupturing  irregularly;  receptacle 
large,  dark,  depressed;    paraphyses  numerous,  short,  griseous-hyaline. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,049,972,  collected  along 
a  small  stream  near  Palma  Mocha  Peak,  Sierra  Maestra,  Oriente,  Cuba, 
at  1,300  meters  altitude,  July,  1922,  by  Brother  Leon  (no.  11181). 

In  minute  characters,  such  as  the  structure  and  disposition  of  hairs  and 
scales  upon  the  under  surface  of  the  blade,  C.  producta  is  most  nearly  related 
to  C.  dissoluta  Baker,  a  rare  plant  of  the  Blue  Mountain  region  of  Jamaica, 
at  1,500  to  1,800  meters  altitude.  That  species  differs  notably  in  having 
the  pinnules  closer,  shorter  (5  to  8  cm.  long),  and  merely  acuminate,  the 
segments  close,  not  at  all  dilatate,  and  not  ciliate,  the  veins  very  oblique, 
partly  simple,  and  running  to  obliquely  crenate  marginal  teeth,  and  the 
scales  of  the  costae  and  costules  beneath  highly  colored  and  lustrous.  Among 
related  species  C.  producta  is  readily  distinguished  by  its  abruptly  caudate 
pinnules  alone. 

Cyathea  pubescens  Mett. 

Pico  Turquino;    trunk  4  to  6  meters  tall  (11151). 

New  to  Cuba.  Known  heretofore  from  the  mountains  of  Porto  Rico, 
Hispaniola  and  Jamaica  (the  original  region) .  Variable  and  perhaps  need- 
ing segregation. 

GLEICHENIACEAE 

Dicranopteris  furcata  (L.)  Underw. 
Pico  Turquino   (11106). 
The  specimens  are  referred  tentatively  to  this  species,  which  Underwood 


NOV.  19,  1922  maxon:  ferns  new  to  cuba  439 

reports  only  from  the  Lesser  Antilles  (Martinique,  Guadeloupe,  and  St. 
Kitts).  The  Cuban  plant  is  essentially  like  recent  Haitian  specimens 
{Leonard  4273,  4273a),  which  will  be  discussed  shortly  in  reporting  on  Mr. 
Leonard's  collections. 

Dicranopteris  jamaicensis  Underw.  Bull.  Torrey  Club  34:  258.     1907. 

Northwestern  spur  of  Pico  Turquino,  altitude  1,900  meters  (11112). 

Known  hitherto  only  from  Jamaica,  where  it  is  abundant  at  1,600  to  2,225 
meters,  forming  extensive  thickets  on  the  half-open  ridges,  along  with  D. 
palmata. 

Dicranopteris  leonis  Maxon,  sp.  nov. 

Plant  of  medium  size,  sparingly  branched;  rhizome  not  seen;  primary 
leaf -axis  (incomplete)  olivaceous,  mottled  with  brown,  about  3  mm.  thick, 
dull,  deciduously  scurfy-paleaceous.  Primary  branches  apparently  1  or 
2  pairs,  35  to  40  cm.  long,  twice  pseudodichotomous,  the  included  buds  all 
dormant,  the  scales  firm,  up  to  7  mm.  long,  narrowly  deltoid,  flexuous  at 
the  long-attenuate  apex,  bright  castaneous  and  lustrous  with  pale  borders, 
or  paler  and  concolorous,  the  friable  borders  obliquely  and  laxly  long-ciliate; 
first  internode  of  the  branches  2  to  3.5  cm.  long,  naked,  subtended  by  1  or 
2  small  segments;  second  internodes  2  to  8  cm.  long,  diverging  at  an  angle 
of  60  to  80°,  completely  pectinate  except  at  the  outer  side  near  the  base, 
the  lower  segments  gradually  shorter;  pinnae  diverging  at  an  angle  of  60°, 
linear-lanceolate,  25  to  32  cm.  long,  3.5  to  5  cm.  broad,  abruptly  narrowed 
at  the  base,  attenuate  at  the  apex,  pectinate  throughout,  cut  nearly  to  the 
rachis,  the  sinuses  linear,  acute;  rachises  of  pinnae  brownish  or  (in  the  outer 
part)  greenish,  persistently  paleaceous  beneath,  the  scales  spreading,  light 
castaneous,  firm,  freely  long-ciliate ;  segments  90  or  more  on  each  side,  close, 
Hnear,  1.8  to  2.8  cm.  long,  4  mm.  broad  at  the  base,  3  to  3.5  mm.  broad  at 
the  middle,  acutish  or  narrowly  obtuse,  herbaceous,  minutely  pale-papillate 
beneath;  margins  entire,  narrowly  revolute;  veins  30  to  35  pairs,  close, 
once  forked,  green,  elevated  both  above  and  beneath,  these  and  the  strongly 
elevated,  stramineous  costae  minutely  paleaceous  beneath,  the  scales  cas- 
taneous, reduced,  substellate,  with  firm  spreading  cilia,  minute  ones  extending 
sparingly  almost  to  the  margin,  4  or  5  larger  ones  invariably  borne  close  against 
the  leaf  surface  from  the  base  of  the  receptacle  of  the  son  in  a  close  radiating 
indusium-like  group,  the  scales  otherwise  all  distinct,  never  forming  a  tomen- 
tum  or  obscuring  the  leaf  surface;    sori  mostly  4-sporangiate,  inframedial. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbariima,  no.  1,049,896,  collected  in  the 
Turquino  region  of  the  high  Sierra  Maestra,  Oriente,  Cuba,  July,  1922,  by 
Brother  Leon  (no.  11092).  The  description  is  partly  drawn  from  another 
specimen  of  the  same  number  in  the  Underwood  Herbarium,  New  York 
Botanical  Garden. 

In  gross  structural  characters  D.  leonis  is  not  very  unlike  D.  palmata 
(Schaffn.)  Underw.,  D.  mellifera  (Christ)  Underw.,  and  D.  brittonu  Maxon, 
in  all  of  which  the  stellate  scales  of  the  under  surface  are  very  greatly  re- 
duced and  truly  capillary,  even  flaccid.  In  the  presence  and  distribution 
of  firm  true  scales  beneath  it  is  nearer  D.  longipinnata  (Hook.)  Maxon,  of 
Surinam,  but  the  scales  are  utterly  different  in  color  and  structure.  ^ 

2  Cfr.  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  24:   47-49.     1922. 


440      JOURNAL  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 

POLYPODIACEAE 

Elaphoglossum  inaequalifolium  (Jenman)  C.  Chr. 

Pico  Turquino,  on  trees  (11166). 

Described  from  Jamaica  and  known  heretofore  only  from  that  island, 
where  it  is  an  abundant  high-mountain  species. 

Polypodium  gramineum  Swartz. 

Palma  Mocha  Peak,  Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,400  meters  elevation  (11160). 

Apparently  not  heretofore  reported  from  Cuba.  Agreeing  closely  with  the 
present  specimens  are  small  plants  collected  on  or  near  Pico  Turquino  by 
S.  H.  Hamilton  in  1902.  Both  collections  differ  uniformly  from  the  typical 
Jamaican  plant  in  having  much  smaller  and  more  delicate  fronds,  the  stipes 
being  more  slender  and  the  blades  only  1  to  2  mm.  broad,  of  thinner  sub- 
stance, and  with  some  of  the  veins  simple  to  the  marginal  connecting- vein  ; 
but  in  minute  structural  characters,  such  as  those  afforded  by  the  rhizome 
scales  and  the  once-forked  glandular  hairs  of  the  leaf  margin,  the  agreement 
is  too  close  to  justify  the  segregation  of  the  Cuban  plants  as  a  distinct  species. 
The  extremes  in  width  of  blade  do  not,  however,  overlap.  In  Jamaica  P. 
gramineum  is  abundant  in  the  Blue  Mountain  region  at  750  to  1,700  meters 
altitude. 

Polypodium  jenmani  Underw. 

East  of  Palma  Mocha,  Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,300  meters  altitude,  on  tree 
trunks  along  a  small  stream  (11101).  Loma  del  Gato  and  vicinity,  Cobre 
Range,  Sierra  Maestra,  December,  1920,  Clement  370. 

New  to  Cuba,  being  known  otherwise  only  from  Jamaica,  where  it  is  very 
rare  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  island  at  500  to  900  meters  elevation  {Maxon 
961,  1535;  Underwood  2606;  Maxon  &  Killip  173).  The  relationship  is 
with  P.  flexuosum  Maxon,  of  Cuba,  which  it  resembles  in  scale  structure. 

Polypodium  calvum  Maxon,  sp.  nov. 

Plants  epiphytic,  the  fronds  numerous,  subfasciculate,  rigidly  ascending, 
10  to  20  cm.  long.  Rhizome  oblique  or  short-creeping,  1  cm.  long  or  more, 
3  or  4  mm.  thick,  coarsely  long-radicose  beneath,  conspicuously  paleaceous 
above,  the  scales  ascending,  loosely  imbricate,  2.5  to  3  mm.  long,  0.5  to 
0.8  mm.  broad,  narrowly  oblong-lanceolate,  long-attenuate,  attached  just 
above  the  rounded  subcordate  base,  entire,  conspicuously  clathrate,  the 
cells  with  strongly  sclerotic,  dark  reddish  brown  lateral  walls,  the  outer  walls 
pale  yellowish,  hyaline,  greatly  depressed;  stipes  short  (0.5  to  1.5  cm.  long), 
brown,  nonsetose,  bearing  a  few  short  branched  glandular  hairs,  narrowly 
greenish-alate  ventrally,  the  wings  brownish  with  age;  blades  pinnatisect, 
10  to  18  cm.  long,  1  to  1.5  cm.  broad  near  the  middle,  evenly  attenuate  in 
both  directions,  the  apex  not  produced,  the  rachis  nearly  concealed  above, 
beneath  very  prominent,  black,  lustrous,  nonsetose,  bearing  a  few  branched 
glandular  hairs,  these  evident  mainly  in  the  sinuses;  pinnae  35  to  50  pairs, 
contiguous  but  not  joined,  spreading,  the  middle  ones  oblong  or  slightly 
triangular-oblong,  broadest  at  base  (3  to  4  mm.),  rounded-obtuse  or  rarely 
acutish,  rigidly  coriaceous,  nearly  plane,  entire,  opaque,  pale  beneath,  the 
venation  wholly  concealed;  lower  pinnae  gradually  shorter,  triangular,  the 
lowermost  ones  broader  than  long,  short-decurrent ;  midveins  of  pinnae 
decurved  at  base,  subflexuous ;  veins  of  larger  pinnae  4  or  5  pairs,  all  but  the 
proximal  basal  one  diverging  at  about  45°,  simple,  ending  in  minute  de- 
pressed-punctiform  hydathodes  remote  from  the  margin;    sori  3  or  4  pairs. 


NOV.  19,  1922  maxon:  ferns  new  to  cuba  441 

large,  borne  half  way  to  the  margin;  sporangia  numerous,  glabrous,  sometimes 
conceahng  2  or  3  minute  reddish  setiform  hairs. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,049,931,  collected  in  the  high 
Sierra  Maestra,  Oriente,  Cuba,  in  July,  1922,  by  Brother  Leon  (no.  11131). 
Collected  also  in  the  vicinity  of  Loma  del  Gato,  Cobre  Range,  Sierra  Maestra, 
altitude  1,100  meters,  by  Leon,  Clement,  and  Roca  (no.  10504). 

A  member  of  the  group  of  P.  momliforme  Lag.,  differing  from  the  typical 
Jamaican  form  of  that  species  in  its  short  rhizome,  its  thick,  short,  rigid 
stipes,  its  numerous,  mostly  oblong  pinnae,  and  its  dark,  heavily  sclerotic 
rhizome  scales.  It  is  more  nearly  related  to  continental  forms  that  are  still 
erroneously  retained  in  P.  momliforme. 
Polypodium  senile  Fee. 

Pico  Turquino,  on  trees  (11127). 

New  to  the  West  Indian  flora.     Specimens  are  at  hand  from  Costa  Rica, 
Panama,  Columbia,  and  Venezuela.^ 
Polypodium  sherringii  Baker. 

Pico  Turquino  (11115). 

Known  hitherto  only  from  the  original  collection,  which  came  from  the 
Newton  District,  Port  Royal  Mountains,  Jamaica,  at  1,200  to  1,500  meters 
altitude.  This  has  recently  been  discussed  by  the  writer.^  The  present 
specimens,  which  agree  absolutely  with  a  photograph  of  the  type,  show  that 
the  relationship  with  P.  basiattenuatum  Jenman  is  much  more  remote  than 
previously  supposed,  Jenman' s  redescription^  being  accurate  in  every  respect. 
The  rigid,  spongiose,  dark  green  leaf-substance,  with  few,  rigid,  dark  brown 
setae,  the  distant,  oblique,  decurrent  lobes,  and  the  decurrent  foliaceous 
wing  arising  from  the  basal  lobes  at  once  distinguish  this  diminutive  plant. 
Cheilanthes  harrisii  Maxon,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  24:  51.     1922. 

High  Sierra  Maestra  (11184). 

Known  previously  only  from  the  vicinity  of  Cinchona,  Jamaica,  at  1,500 
meters  elevation.     Allied  to  C.  marginata  H.  B.  K. 

Paesia  viscosa  St.  Hil. 

Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,300  meters  elevation;    in  woods  (11159). 

New  to  Cuba.     An  andine  species  of  continental  America,  known  hitherto 
in  the  West  Indies  only  from  the  higher  peaks  of  the  Blue  Mountains  of 
Jamaica. 
Psilogramme  cubensis  Maxon,  sp.  nov. 

Rhizome  stout,  decumbent,  6  cm.  long,  1.5  to  2  cm.  thick  (including  the 
imbricate  stipe-bases  of  old  fronds),  with  numerous  coarse  wiry  roots;  rhizome 
hairs  concealed,  about  1.5  mm.  long,  dark  purplish  brown,  opaque,  rigid, 
simple,  turgid,  septate.  Fronds  several,  clustered,  arching,  40  to  60  cm. 
long;  stipes  nearly  straight  above  the  curved  base,  20  to  28  cm.  long,  dark 
purplish  brown,  subscabrous,  at  first  thinly  short- villous  with  flattish  septate 
hairs;  blades  oblong-lanceolate,  acuminate,  20  to  32  cm.  long,  8  to  13  cm. 
broad,  subtripinnate,  the  primary  rachis  similar  to  the  stipe,  more  freely 
villous,  lightly  flexuous  throughout;  larger  primary  pinnae  8  or  9  on  each 
side,  alternate,  slightly  oblique,  subfalcate,  inequilateral,  those  of  the  basal 
third  the  largest,  triangular,  acutish,  4  to  7  cm.  long,  3  to  4.5  cm.  broad, 

3  Cfr.  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  13:   43.     1909. 
«  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  17:   552.     1916. 
5  Bull.  Bot.  Dept.  Jamaica  II.  4:    113.     1897. 


442      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  19 

short-stalked  (2  to  3  mm.),  fully  pinnate  at  base,  the  flexuous  secondary 
rachis  greenish-alate  outward,  bearing  numerous  pale,  spreading,  gHstening, 
septate  hairs;  pinnules  of  larger  pinnae  7  or  8  pairs  below  the  pinnately 
lobed  apex,  pinnately  parted,  or  the  large  basal  ones  fully  pinnate  at  the 
base,  with  4  or  5  pairs  of  spreading  segments;  larger  segments  in  general 
broadly  cuneate  or  cuneate-rhombic,  5  to  8  mm.  long,  3  to  5  mm.  broad 
(the  base  as  broad  as  the  common  wing),  obliquely  cleft  into  2  or  3  lobes, 
these  simple  or  shallowly  bilobate  at  tip;  ultimate  lobes  1.7  to  2  mm.  broad; 
segments  bright  green,  delicately  membrano-herbaceous,  bearing  numerous 
stSf  oblique  tawny  hairs  above  (both  on  and  between  the  veins),  the  hairs 
of  the  lower  side  whitish,  spreading,  often  gland-tipped,  borne  mainly  on  the 
veins;  venation  evident,  the  branches  ending  in  the  minutely  emarginate 
tips  of  the  lobes ;  sporangia  relatively  few,  falling  far  short  of  the  tips  of  the 
lobes,  not  long-decurrent. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,049,913,  collected  on  Pico 
Turquino,  Sierra  Maestra,  Oriente,  Cuba,  in  July,  1922,  by  Brother  I^eon 
(no.  11111). 

A  close  ally  of  P  silo  gramme  chiapensis  Maxon,^  of  Mexico,  belonging  to 
the  group  of  P.  hirta  and  P.  glandulosa,  of  South  America.  That  species 
is  similar  to  P.  cuhensis  in  structure,  but  differs  in  its  much  smaller  pinnules 
and  narrower  segments  (the  ultimate  lobes  mostly  1  mm.  broad,  or  less), 
and  in  its  more  copious  hairy  covering,  this  largely  of  a  distinctly  glandular 
type. 
Asplenium  diplosceuum  Hieron.  Hedwigia  60:  232.     1918. 

Loma  del  Gato  and  vicinity,  Cobre  Range,  Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,000  meters 
altitude;    in  woods  {Leon,  Clement  &  Roca  10179). 

Founded  on  Wright's  no.  849,  collected  in  some  part  of  eastern  Cuba,  and 
known  heretofore  only  on  material  of  that  collection. 
Plagiogyria  semicordata  (Presl)  Christ. 

Near  Pico  Turquino  (11126). 

Apparently  new  to  Cuba.  It  occurs  on  the  summit  of  Blue  Mountain 
Peak,  Jamaica,  altitude  2,225  meters,  and  on  the  continent  from  Mexico  to 
the  Andes  of  vSouth  America. 

Struthiopteris  shaferi  Broadh.  Bull.  Torrey  Club  39:  374.     1912. 

Slopes  of  Pico  Turquino,  at  1,800  to  1,900  meters  altitude  (11148). 

Originally  described  from  much  smaller  specimens,  collected  at  Camp  La 
Gloria,  south  of  Sierra  Moa,  Oriente,  Cuba,  by  J.  A.  Shafer  (no.  8106).  The 
present  specimens  are  about  1  meter  high  and  apparently  represent  a  full 
development  of  the  species.  The  sterile  blade  tapers  gradually  in  the  lower 
third,  the  lowermost  pinnae  being  less  than  1  mm.  long.  In  other  respects 
the  plant  agrees  with  the  original  material,  the  form  of  the  sterile  pinnae 
being   especially    distinctive. 

Dryopteris  grisebachii  (Baker)  Kuntze. 

Near  Palma  Mocha,  Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,300  meters  altitude,  along  banks 
of  small  stream  (11137).  Vicinity  of  Loma  del  Gato,  Cobre  Range,  Sierra 
Maestra,  altitude  1,050  meters,  in  forest  (Leon,  Clement  &  Roca  10169). 

Known  from  Cuba  otherwise,  apparently,  only  on  Wright's  no.  1055,  the 
type  collection.  It  occurs  sparingly  in  the  Blue  Mountain  region  of  Jamaica 
at  elevations  of  750  to  1,500  meters. 

«  Bull.  Torrey  Club  42:    81.     1915. 


NOV.  19,  1922  maxon:  ferns  new  to  cub  a  443 

Dryopteris  hemiptera  Maxon,  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  24:  59.     1922. 

Ridge  of  the  Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,300  meters  elevation,  in  forest  (11133). 
Cobre  range  of  the  Sierra  Maestra  (Leon,  Clement  &  Roca  10311,  10409, 
10486). 

When  described  this  species  of  the  subgenus  Stigmatopteris  was  known 
only  from  the  original  collection  {Wright  1053),  from  some  part  of  eastern 
Cuba.  No.  10486  is  viviparous  in  the  axils  of  most  of  the  pinnae,  bearing 
young  plants  with  leaves  1  to  2.5  cm.  long. 

Dennstedtia  globulifera  (Poir.)  Hieron.  Bot.  Jahrb.  Engler  34:  455.     1904. 

Loma  del  Gato  and  vicinity,  Cobre  Range,  Sierra  Maestra,  at  1,000  to 
1,100  meters  elevation  {Leon,  Clement  &  Roca  10177). 

New  to  Cuba;  originally  described  from  Hispaniola.  The  history  and 
relationship  of  this  species  will  be  discussed  shortly  in  another  connection. 

HYMENOPHYLIvACEAE 

Hymenophyllum  lineare  Swartz. 

Pico  Turquino ;   on  tree  trunk  (11116). 

The  only  undoubted  Cuban  specimen  of  this  species  seen  by  the  writer, 
though  it  has  previously  been  ascribed  to  the  island.  Described  originally 
from  Jamaica,  where  it  grows  commonly  in  large  mats  on  tree  trunks  of  the 
upper  forested  slopes  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  at  1,600  to  2,225  meters  al- 
titude. On  the  continent  H.  lineare  is  reported  from  Mexico  to  Brazil  and 
Peru,  but  the  name  is  very  loosely  used  for  several  species  of  this  group, 
which  needs  critical  revision.     The  Cuban  and  Jamaican  plants  are  identical. 

LYCOPODIACEAE 

Lycopodium  montanum  Underw.  &  Lloyd,  Bull.  Torrey  Club  33:  107. 
1906. 

Turquino  region;    terrestrial  (11099). 

Known  previously  only  from  the  summit  of  Blue  Mountain  Peak,  Jamaica, 
altitude  2,225  meters. 

Lycopodium  serratum  Thunb. 

Pico  Turquino,  in  woods;  terrestrial  (11161). 

A  widely  distributed  Old  World  species  known  in  America,  hitherto,  only 
from  Mexico,  whence  it  was  described  as  L.  sargassifolium  Liebm. 


444      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.   19 

PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

BOTANICAL  SOCIETY 

157th  meeting 

The  157th  meeting  was  held  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  February  7,  1922.  Presi- 
dent Safford  was  in  the  chair  and  86  members  and  guests  were  present. 
Senor  Carlos  A.  VallEJO,  of  the  Argentine  Embassy,  was  elected  a  member. 

Dr.  D.  N.  Shoemaker  spoke  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Walter  Van  Fleet, 
formerly  a  member  of  the  Botanical  Society,  and  gave  a  r^sum^  of  his  life 
and  work.  Dr.  Van  Fleet  was  bom  at  Piermont,  N.  Y.,  June  18,  1857,  and 
died  at  Miami,  Florida,  January  26,  1922.  He  was  educated  in  medicine, 
and  kept  up  his  medical  practice  in  Pennsylvania  until  1893.  From  that 
time  on  his  interests  were  largely  in  horticulture,  particularly  in  the  develop- 
ment and  improvement  by  hybridization  of  hardy  roses  and  gladioli,  as  well 
as  of  cannas,  strawberries,  and  many  other  cultivated  plants. 

A.  S.  Hitchcock:  Botanical  and  agricultural  notes  from  the  Orient  (illus- 
trated) . 

Dr.  Hitchcock  left  San  Francisco  May  3  for  Manila,  stopping  6  days  in 
Honolulu  and  arriving  at  his  destination  June  2,  One  month  was  spent  on 
the  island  of  Luzon,  mostly  at  Manila,  but  a  trip  was  also  made  to  Los  Banos, 
the  seat  of  the  Agricultural  College,  and  Baguio  in  the  mountains  of  the  north- 
em  part  of  the  island.  The  month  of  July  was  spent  in  Japan  at  Yokohama, 
Tokyo,  Nikko,  Kyoto,  Lake  Hakone  and  Mt.  Fuji.  From  a  botanical 
standpoint  Mt.  Fuji  was  disappointing. 

During  August  Dr.  Hitchcock  visited  Nanking  in  China,  making  his  head- 
quarters at  the  University  of  Nanking,  and  Kuling,  a  mountain  resort  much 
frequented  by  the  missionaries  of  central  China.  About  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember he  went  to  Canton  staying  at  the  Canton  Christian  College.  He  made 
trips  from  here  to  Yingtak  and  Shiuchow  on  the  North  River,  to  Lohfau 
mountain  northeast  of  Canton,  to  Whampoa,  a  place  visited  by  the  Wilkes 
Expedition,  and  to  Macao,  a  Portuguese  possession  and  the  first  locality  occu- 
pied by  Europeans  in  southeast  Asia.  Collections  were  also  made  at  Hong 
Kong,  the  gateway  to  this  part  of  China. 

One  of  the  most  impressive  things  in  Chinese  agriculture  was  the  extent 
to  which  the  valleys  were  cultivated  in  the  most  intensive  manner,  while  the 
hills  or  lands  just  above  and  adjoining  the  valleys  which  grow  an  abundance 
of  grass,  had  no  stock  grazing  upon  them,  partly  on  account  of  fear  of  bandits. 
This  grass,  however,  did  serve  the  purpose  of  fuel  for  cooking. 

An  excursion  of  about  5  weeks  was  made  to  Indo-China  and  the  island  of 
Hainan.  French  Indo-China  was  entered  at  Haiphong  in  Tonkin.  Dr. 
Hitchcock  went  by  rail  to  Hanoi  and  Vinh  and  by  autobus  to  Hue,  the  capital 
of  Annam.  Here  he  made  collections  of  grasses  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
terpreting the  work  of  Loureiro,  a  Portuguese  botanist  who  lived  here  and  in 
1790  published  a  flora  of  Indo-China.  After  going  to  Tourane  on  the  coast 
he  returned  to  Haiphong  and  sailed  for  Hainan.  This  large  island  lies  in  the 
tropics  off  the  south  coast  of  China  and  is  seldom  visited  and  little  known. 
About  ten  days  were  spent  here  mostly  in  making  a  trip  to  Kachek  and  the 
foothills  of  the  central  mountains.     After  returning  to  Canton  he  went  to 


NOV.  19,  1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  445 

Manila  and  sailed  on  an  army  transport  November  15  for  home,  arriving  in 
Washington  the  day  before  Christmas.  Large  collections  of  grasses  were 
made  in  the  countries  visited  as  the  season  was  favorable  for  this  purpose. 

Mr.  G.  N.  Collins  spoke  on  the  Toronto  Meeting  of  the  American  Associ- 
ation for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  specially  dealing  with  the  papers  on 
Genetics.  These  were  about  evenly  divided  between  the  botanists  and  zo- 
ologists. The  leading  number  of  papers  concerned  Drosophila,  while  the 
papers  on  maize  ran  second  in  number. 

Dr.  G.  R.  Lyman  spoke  of  the  meeting  of  the  Pathologists  at  the  Toronto 
Meeting,  and  of  the  plan  to  coordinate  the  various  biological  scientists  into 
one  association  similar  to  that  of  the  Engineers  Society  and  the  Medical 
Society.  Roy  G.  Pierce,  Recording  Secretary. 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

The  educational  courses  at  the  Bureau  of  Standards  this  winter  include: 
Harmonic  Series  Applied  to  Physical  Problems,  D.  R.  Harper,  3d;  Advanced 
Organic  Chemistry,  L.  L.  vSteelE;   Physical  Metallurgy,  H.  S.  Rawdon. 

John  L.  Baer,  acting  curator  of  American  Archeology,  National 
Museum,  during  the  past  few  months,  is  in  Pennsylvania,  continuing  his 
study  of  aboriginal  quarry  sites  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

Dr.  Alexander  Graham  Bell,  a  resident  member  of  the  Academy,  died 
at  his  summer  home  in  Nova  Scotia  on  August  2,  1922,  in  his  seventy-sixth 
year.  Dr.  Bell  was  bom  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  on  March  3,  1847.  His 
invention  of  the  telephone  stands  as  his  most  notable  scientific  achievement, 
but  he  carried  on  research  in  various  subjects,  as  for  example,  animal  breeding, 
relief  of  deafness,  applications  of  electricity,  etc.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Academy,  the  Anthropological,  Historical,  and  Philosophical  Societies  of 
Washington,  and  the  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers. 

Henry  B.  Collins,  Jr.,  of  Louisiana,  a  member  of  the  1922  National 
Geographic  Society  expedition  to  Pueblo  Bonito,  will  spend  the  next  few 
months  in  Washington  studying  the  collections  of  the  expedition. 

Mayo  D.  Hersey,  formerly  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  and  until 
recently  associate  professor  of  properties  of  matter  in  the  department  of 
physics,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  has  resigned  to  take  a  po- 
sition as  physicist  in  charge  of  the  physical  laboratory  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Mines  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Neil  M.  Judd,  curator  of  American  Archeology  at  the  National 
Museum,  returned  to  Washington  September  28,  following  completion  of  the 
second  season's  explorations  at  Pueblo  Bonito,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Na- 
tional Geographic  Society.  About  forty  secular  rooms  and  five  kivas  were 
excavated  during  the  summer  and,  in  addition,  considerable  attention  was 
devoted  to  study  of  the  possible  geophysical  conditions  which  prevailed  in 
Chaco  Canyon  at  the  time  the  great  ruin  was  occupied. 

Dr.  Samuel  W.  Stratton,  director  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Standards 
since  its  foundation  in  1901,  has  resigned  to  become  president  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology. 

Dr.  F.  E.  Wright  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory,  Carnegie  Institution 
of  Washington,  has  returned  after  a  year's  absence  in  South  Africa,  where 
he  has  been  engaged  in  geological  and  petrological  investigations  in  company 
with  Messrs.  Daly,  Palache,  and  Molengraaf. 


i^  LIBRARY! 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol..  12  December  4,  1922  No.  20 


GEOLOGY. — Geology  of  a  vein  occurrence  of  rutile-ilmenite  in  a  new 
locality.^    Thomas  L.  Watson,  University  of  Virginia. 

INTRODUCTION 

In  each  of  the  several  known  world  areas  of  commercial  rutile,  the 
mineral  occurs  as  a  primary  constituent  of  some  type  of  igneous  rock, 
formed  either  as  a  product  of  crystallization  from  a  molten  magma  or  as 
the  result  of  pneumatolysis.  As  a  primary  mineral  formed  under 
igneous  conditions,  rutile  is  a  high  temperature  product,  but  prob- 
ably not  in  all  cases  necessarily  accompanied  by  high  pressure.  Ac- 
curate measurements  by  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  Washington,  D.  C, 
on  carefully  prepared  specimens  of  rutile  separated  from  the  igneous 
rocks,  syenite  and  nelsonite,  of  Nelson  County,  Virginia,  gave  1690°  C. 
(syenite)  and  1700°  C.  (nelsonite).- 

The  occurrence  of  primary  coarse  rutile  in  veins  and  pegmatites 
is  well  known  but  not  common.  The  two  occurrences  are  closely 
related  genetically,  and  in  each,  rutile  has  developed  as  a  primary 
mineral  under  conditions  of  high  temperature. 

Of  the  vein  occurrences  of  primary  rutile,  the  mineralogic  types, 
ru tile-bearing  apatite  veins,  with  or  without  scapolite,  and  rutile- 
bearing  quartz  veins,  with  or  without  ilmenite,  seem  well  established. 
Others  are  known,  especially  some  metalliferous  veins,  in  which 
rutile  occurs  as  a  minor  constituent. 

Representatives  of  the  apatite  vein  type  in  Norway  and  Sweden  have 
been  described  by  Vogt^  and  are  regarded  by  him  to  be  of  pneumatolytic 
character.  In  this  type  rutile  is  associated  with  the  titanium  minerals, 
ilmenite  and  titanite.  Important  rutile-bearing  apatite  bodies  with 
or  without  ilmenite  and  known  as  the  rutile  variety  of  the  igneous 
rock  nelsonite  occur  in  Nelson  County,  Virginia.     These  have  been 

1  Received  October   19,   1922. 

2  Watson,  Thomas  L.  and  Taber,  S.  Va.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  Ul-A:  154.  1913. 

3  VOGT,  J.  H.  L.  Genesis  of  Ore  Deposits.     Trans.  Amer.  Inst.  Min.  Engrs.,  646.  1901. 

447 


448     JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOI^.  12,  NO.  20 

described  by  Watson  and  Taber/  who  regard  them  as  igneous  dikes 
and  not  true  veins. 

The  rutile-bearing  quartz  vein  type,  with  or  without  ilmenite,  is 
represented  in  the  Piedmont  Plateau  province  of  the  southern  Ap- 
palachians, especially  Virginia,  where  several  occurrences  are  known. 
The  known  occurrences  of  this  type  of  vein  are  characterized  by  the 
absence  of  all  minerals  except  quartz  and  rutile  and,  in  some  instances, 
ilmenite.  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  describe  one  of  the  more  im- 
portant occurrences  of  this  type. 

The  older  gneisses  and  schists  of  the  Piedmont  province  of  the  south- 
eastern Atlantic  States  have  been  freely  injected  in  places  by  granite 
pegmatites  and  quartz  veins,  which  both  conform  with  and  cut  across 
the  structure  of  the  rocks.  All  gradations  between  typical  granite 
pegmatites,  with  or  without  rarer  minerals,  and  quartz  veins,  with 
or  without  other  minerals,  exist  and  can  be  traced.  Black  tourmaline 
is  a  frequent  mineral  in  many  of  the  quartz  veins  of  the  Virginia  Pied- 
mont province,  but  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware  it  does  not  occur  in 
the  rutile-bearing  type  of  quartz  vein. 

The  pegmatite  occurrence  of  rutile  is  likewise  represented  in  the 
old  gneiss-schist  complex  of  the  Virginia  Piedmont  Plateau  province. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  these  from  the  standpoint  of  probable 
commercial  rutile  is  an  area^  in  Goochland  and  Hanover  counties, 
Virginia,  near  but  within  the  eastern  border  of  the  Piedmont  province. 
Here  granite-gneisses  are  injected  by  granite  pegmatites  which  conform 
as  a  rule,  with  the  gneiss  structure.  Some  of  these  carry  rutile  as  a 
primary  constituent  in  grains  and  masses  of  many  pounds  in  weight. 
The  rutile  is  frequently  intergrown  with  ilmenite,  but  there  is  a  singu- 
lar absence  of  other  minerals  save  the  common  rock-making  silicates 
of  granite  pegmatites.  Unlike  the  rutile-ilmenite  intergrowths  of  the 
Franklin  County,  Virginia,  quartz  vein  described  below  there  is  gen- 
eral absence  of  crystal  form  in  the  titanium  minerals  occurring  in  the 
pegmatites  of  Goochland  and  Hanover  counties. 

Recently  rutile  has  been  noted  by  the  writer  in  one  of  the  ex- 
tensively worked  pegmatites  of  the  Amelia  County,  Virginia,  area, 
so  well  known  to  mineralogists  for  the  large  number  of  rarer  minerals 
found  in  them.     Part  of  a  prismatic  crystal  of  rutile  weighing  1  pound 

«  Watson,  Thomas  L.  and  Taber,  S.    Va.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  III-A:  100-155.  1913. 
6  Watson,  Thomas  L.  and  Taber,  S.  Va.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  III-A:  248-261.  1913. 
Hess,  Frank  L.    Mining  World  33:  305-307.  1910. 


DEC.  4,  1922  WATSON :   VEIN  OF  RUTlLE-IIvMENlTE  449 

was  obtained  by  the  writer  during  a  recent  visit  to  the  area.  No  pub- 
lished record  mentions  rutile  among  the  rarer  minerals  found  in  the 
pegmatites  of  this  area. 

Finally  the  pegmatite  body  described  by  Hess®  at  Baringer  Hill, 
Llano  County,  Texas,  carries  rutile  and  is  of  especial  interest  on 
account  of  the  association  of  minerals  of  the  rare  earth  metals. 

GEOLOGY  OP  THE  VEIN  AREA 

The  rutile-bearing  quartz  vein  described  in  this  paper  is  located 
in  Franklin  County,  Virginia,  15  miles  in  a  direct  line  southeast  of 
Roanoke  City  and  about  1  mile  west  of  Teels  Mill,  near  the  entrance 
of  Indian  Creek  into  Roanoke  River.  It  is  crossed  by  the  Roanoke- 
Franklin  highway  and  is  less  than  a  mile  southwest  of  Roanoke  River. 
(See  Roanoke,  Virginia,  topographic  sheet,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey.) 

The  vein  occurs  about  8  miles  east  of  the  main  Blue  Ridge  in  the 
pre-Cambrian  schists  of  the  western  part  of  the  Piedmont  Plateau 
province.  The  surface  of  the  area  is  one  of  moderately  strong  relief 
with  an  average  elevation  above  sea  level  of  between  900  and  1,000 
feet.  The  rocks  are  deeply  weathered,  yet  outcrops  of  fairly  fresh  and 
hard  rock  are  common.  Where  crossed  by  the  highway  the  vein  has 
an  elevation  of  1,000  feet  above  sea  level. 

The  vein  is  inclosed  in  dark  gray,  mica  schists,  composed  chiefly 
of  biotite,  but  variations  in  mineral  composition  are  frequent.  The 
structure  (schistosity)  of  the  schists  strikes  N.  50-60°  E.  and  dips 
80-85°  S.E.  Veins  and  thin  stringers  of  white  granular  quartz 
similar  to  that  of  the  rutile-bearing  vein,  but  characterized  by  the 
absence  of  all  minerals  save  quartz,  are  fairly  numerous.  They  usu- 
ally lie  in  the  foliation  planes  of  the  schists  and  hence  are  comformable 
with  the  structure.  Likewise  occasional  thinly  schistose  granite  peg- 
matites not  exceeding  3  feet  in  width,  also  occur  in  the  schists  conform- 
able with  the  structure,  but  no  indication  of  rutile  was  noted  in  them. 

The  schist  weathers  to  a  red  clay  soil  through  which  are  scattered 
leached  yellow  folia  of  biotite.  Also  loose  fragments  of  white  quartz 
derived  from  the  quartz  veins  by  weathering  are  thickly  strewn  over 
the  surface  in  many  places. 

The  vein  outcrops  on  the  north  side  of  the  road,  on  the  Maxey 
place,  as  a  low  reef -like  form  traced  for  a  distance  of  nearly  100  feet. 
Loose  fragments   (float)   of  the  vein  rock,  however,   can  be  traced 

«  Hess,  Frank  L.     U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  340:  287-294.  1908. 


450      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  20 

beyond  the  outcrop  for  some  distance  to  the  northeast.  Apparently 
the  vein  does  not  outcrop  on  the  southwest  side  of  the  road,  but  quartz - 
rutile-ilmenite  fragments  are  scattered  over  the  surface  for  a  short 
distance.  Like  the  numerous  quartz  veins  within  the  area  the  rutile- 
bearing  vein  apparently  conforms  with  the  structure  of  the  inclosing 
schists,  since  it  has  a  strike  of  N.  60°  E.  and  dips  80-85°  S.E.  It 
will  not  exceed  50  feet  in  width. 

The  vein  was  prospected  for  rutile  about  10  years  ago  with  the 
reported  result  that  considerable  rutile  was  obtained,  but  nothing 
could  be  learned  of  its  disposition.  Development  work  was  con- 
fined to  the  outcrop  portion  of  the  vein.  It  comprised  a  cut  60  feet 
long  by  an  average  of  5  feet  deep  opened  in  the  vein.  The  cut  ex- 
tended from  the  road  in  a  N.  60°  E.  direction  (strike  of  the  vein), 
and  southwestward  under  the  road  for  an  additional  distance  of  30 
feet.  On  the  north  edge  of  the  road  a  shaft  was  sunk  in  the  vein  from 
the  bottom  of  the  cut  for  a  depth  of  30  feet.  Most  of  the  vein,  so  far  as 
the  development  work  discloses,  is  entirely  barren,  neither  rutile  nor 
ilmenite  having  been  observed  by  the  writer  in  its  outcrop  portion. 
The  rutile  obtained  was  derived  chiefly  from  the  shaft  and  to  a  less  ex- 
tent from  that  part  of  the  open  cut  near  the  shaft. 

The  surface  in  the  vicinity  of  the  shaft,  especially  along  the  road 
side,  is  reported  to  have  been  thickly  covered  with  fragments  of  quartz 
containing  rutile  crystals  and  of  loose  crystals  of  rutile  free  from  quartz, 
but  most  of  them  have  been  taken  away. 

Small  crystals  of  rutile  and  fragments  of  vein  quartz  with  rutile 
were  found  on  the  J.  S.  Oyler  place  about  1  mile  northwest  of  the  ru tile- 
bearing  quartz  vein  on  the  Maxey  place.  Although  no  outcrop  of  a 
vein  was  noted  in  this  locality,  the  surface  indications  undoubtedly 
suggest  the  occurrence  of  a  rutile-bearing  quartz  vein  of  similar  char- 
acter to  the  one  on  the  Maxey  place. 

MINERALOGY  OF  THE  VEIN 

The  mineralogy  of  the  vein  is  very  simple.  It  is  composed  almost 
throughout  of  white  vitreous  quartz  with,  locally,  rutile  and  ilmenite, 
which  are  the  only  other  minerals  observed.  It  is  entirely  massive 
and  without  evidence  of  mashing. 

Quartz. — In  thin  sections  under  the  microscope  the  quartz  forms  a 
mosaic  of  interlocking  angular  grains  that  are  colorless  and  transparent, 
remarkably  free  from  inclusions,   and   of  exceptional  purity.     The 


DEC.  4,  1922  WATSON :   VEJIN  OF  RUTILE-ILMENITE  451 

grains  frequently  show  shadow  extinction,  but  less  often  is  there  evi- 
dence of  peripheral  shattering  or  granulation. 

Rutile. — The  rutile  is  developed  in  elongated  prismatic  crystals  of 
dark  red-brown  color  up  to  6V2  cm.  (2^/i6  inches)  long  and  1  cm. 
(^/i6  inch)  broad.  The  prism  faces  are  usually  vertically  striated  and 
in  case  of  the  larger  ones  are  deeply  furrowed.  Terminal  crystal  faces 
are  absent  and  twin  crystals  are  rare.  The  rutile  is  locally  distributed 
through  the  quartz  matrix  in  clusters  of  prismatic  crystals,  and  as 
scattered  single  crystals.  Thin  films  or  wedges  of  quartz  sometimes 
part  crystals  for  more  than  half  their  length.  When  the  rutile 
crystals  are  broken  from  the  matrix,  the  quartz  surfaces  are  smooth, 
almost  polished,  and  preserve  completely  the  angles  and  striations  of 
the  rutile  prism  faces.  The  crystals  are  usually  straight  but  curved 
ones  sometimes  occur. 

In  thin  sections  under  the  microscope  the  rutile  is  brownish  yellow 
and  without  noticeable  pleochroism.  Cleavage  is  usually  well  devel- 
oped but  twinning  is  rare.  Much  of  the  rutile  appears  to  be  fresh, 
but  some  of  it  shows  clouded  surfaces  indicating  slight  alteration.  The 
rutile  is  partly  intergrown  with  and  partly  altered  to  ilmenite,  rela- 
tionships which  are  discussed  below.  A  chemical  analysis  of  the  rutile 
is  given  in  column  I  of  Table  I. 

Ilmenite. — This  mineral  exhibits  no  unusual  microscopic  characters. 
Occasional  inclusions  of  quartz  occur,  but  those  of  rutile  are  more 
frequent.  Like  the  rutile  it  is  usually  fresh,  but  much  of  it  shows 
partial  alteration,  chiefly  about  the  boarders  and  along  cleavage  and 
fracture  directions,  probably  to  leucoxene.  The  most  interesting 
feature  of  the  ilmenite  is  its  intergowth  relation  to  rutile. 

Microscopic  study  of  thin  sections  shows  that  the  two  minerals 
rarely  occur  as  separate  individuals,  but  are  usually  intergrown 
with  the  characteristic  prismatic  habit  of  rutile.  This  relationship 
has  frequently  been  observed  by  the  writer  in  formless  grains  and 
masses  of  rutile,  but  rarely  to  such  a  degree  in  perfectly  formed  pris- 
matic crustals  of  rutile.  It  is  well  brought  out  chemically  in  the  analy- 
sis given  in  column  II  of  Table  I.  The  analysis  was  made  on  what  was 
assumed,  after  careful  examination  to  be  a  single  individual  of  ilmen- 
ite, but  on  recasting  the  analysis  in  the  usual  way,  it  is  clear  that  the 
specimen  was  composed  of  a  mechanical  mixture  of  rutile  and  ilmenite, 
with  the  former  predominating. 

Rutile-ilmenite  relationships. — Microscopic   study  of  thin  sections 


452      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  20 

shows  the  rutile-ilmenite  relations  referred  to  above  to  be  (1)  definite 
intergrowths  of  the  two  minerals,  and  (2)  alteration  of  rutile  to  ilmen- 
ite,  all  the  important  stages  in  the  process  being  traced  under  the  mi- 
croscope. That  the  individual  crystals  in  most  instances  are  composed 
of  a  mixture  of  the  two  minerals  is  also  evident  megascopically,  but 
without  the  microscope  it  is  not  possible  to  distinguish  between  ilmen- 
ite  that  is  primary  and  that  which  is  secondary. 

Much  of  the  ilmenite  is  undoubtedly  secondary,  the  early  stages  in 
the  alteration  of  the  rutile  being  particularly  well-marked  under  the 
microscope.  These  are  shown  principally  in  irregular  dark  gray 
nearly  black  patches  and  areas  of  variable  size,  composed  of  exceed- 
ingly fine  granules  of  ilmenite,  not  connected  apparently  with  lines  of 
fracture  or  parting;  and  in  similar  irregular  areas,  directly  connected 
with  both  fracture  and  parting  (cleavage)  planes,  which  gradually 
fade  into  the  unaltered  rutile.  In  each  case  the  boundaries  are  grada- 
tional  and  lack  sharpness  of  definition.  Some  ilmenite  is  developed 
in  the  rutile  in  reasonably  closely  spaced  parallel  line-like  bodies 
having  sharp  definition  and  strongly  suggestive  of  primary  origin,  but 
they  may  possibly  be  secondary. 

A  part  of  the  ilmenite  on  the  other  hand  is  definitely  primary,  the 
two  minerals,  rutile  and  ilmenite,  being  molded  against  each  other  in 
sharp  and  distinct  contacts,  and  each  is  inclosed  in  the  other  as  in  si- 
multaneous crystallization.  In  some  thin  sections,  the  boundaries  are 
more  angular  and  irregular  and  are  marked  by  reentrances  and  tiny 
stringers  of  ilmenite  penetrating  the  rutile.  In  such  cases  these  rela- 
tions may  cast  doubt  on  the  primary  character  of  the  ilmenite,  but 
the  irregular  angular  boundaries  of  the  rutile-ilmenite  are  no  more 
emphasized  than  are  the  boundaries  between  rutile  and  quartz  in  the 
same  thin  sections. 

Some  of  the  ilmenite  has  undergone  partial  alteration  about  the 
borders  and  along  fractures  to  a  fine-granular  grayish  substance 
probably  leucoxene.  Such  peripheral  alteration  of  the  ilmenite  is 
shown  whether  in  contact  with  rutile  or  not.  Distributed  through 
this  alteration  product  at  times  are  very  minute  black  granules  which 
may  represent  residual  ilmenite,  although  their  identity  is  uncertain. 
The  alteration  in  such  cases  makes  it  uncertain  as  to  whether  the  il- 
menite was  originally  primary  or  secondary,  but  the  writer  is  rather 
inclined  to  regard  much  of  it  as  having  been  originally  primary  and 
subsequently  altered. 


DEC.  4,  1922  WATSON :   VEIN  OF  RUTILE-ILMENITE  453 

Bearing  of  rutile-ilmenite  inter  growths  on  composition  of  r  utile. — This 
subject  is  discussed  elsewhere  by  the  writer'^  and  is  only  briefly  touched 
on  here.  The  intergrowth  relations  of  the  two  titanium  minerals  de- 
scribed above  have  their  analogy  in  the  titaniferous  magnetites  which 
have  been  shown  by  others  to  be  a  mechanical  mixture  of  ilmenite  in 
the  host  magnetite. 

All  modern  analyses  of  rutile  show  the  presence  of  ferrous  oxide  in 
variable  amounts.  The  writer  suggests  that  probably  the  source 
of  this  constituent  is  from  ilmenite  mechanically  mixed  with  rutile 
and  not  from  a  supposed  isomorphous  mixture  of  ferroustitanate 
(FeCTiOs))  and  titanyl  titanate  (TiO)(Ti03),  as  has  been  advanced 
by  some.^  This  explanation  certainly  seems  applicable  to  the  rutile 
of  the  Franklin  County,  Virginia,  vein.  Many  supposed  cases  of 
isomorphism  among  sulphide  minerals  have  been  shown  by  modern 
critical  study  to  represent  mechanical  mixtures.^  The  writer  is  con- 
vinced that  this  relationship  holds  among  opaque  oxides, 

CHEMICAI^  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  RUTlI^E-IIvMENlTE 

Chemical  analyses  of  the  rutile  and  rutile-ilmenite  from  the  Franklin 
County,  Virginia,  rutile-bearing  quartz  vein  are  given  in  Table  I 
below. 

TABLE  I. — 'Analyses  of  Rutile  and  Rutile-Ilmenite,  Franklin  County,  Virginia 


Ti02 

SiOo 

CroOs 

V2O3 : 

FeO 

MnO 

HoO    _ 

100.13         100.10 

I.  Rutile,  Franklin  County,  Virginia.     William  M.  Thornton,  Jr.,  analyst. 

II.  Rutile-ilmenite,  Franklin  County,  Virginia.     Dorothy  Getz,  analyst. 

The  possible  effect  of  the  presence  of  Cr203  and  V2O3  in  rutile,  as 
shown  in  all  recent  accurate  analyses,   has  been  discussed  by  the 

'  Watson,  Thomas  L.    Rutile-ilmenite  intergrowths.     Amer.  Mineralogist.    1922.      (In 
press.) 

8  ScHALLER,  W.  T.     U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Bull.  509:  9-39.   1912,  and  references. 

9  Wherry,  E.  T.  This  Journal  10:  488.  1920.     Foshag,  W.  F.     Am.  J.  Sci.  1921. 


I 

II 

97.30 

80.85 

.12 

.06 

.05 

.03 

.26 

.17 

2.21 

18.81 

.09 

.14 

.10 

.04 

454      JOURNAI,  OP  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  20 

writer  in  an  earlier  number  of  this  Journal.  ^°  Recasting  the  two  analy- 
ses above  by  allotting  FeO  to  TiOo  to  form  ilmenite  (FeO.Ti02)  the 
mineral  composition  in  terms  of  rutile  and  ilmenite  is : 

I  II 

Rutile • 94.80  59.92 

Ilmenite 4.71  39.67 

Rest .62  .44 


100.13         100.03 

The  analysis  in  column  II  clearly  shows  a  mixture  of  rutile  and  il- 
menite, in  which  rutile  is  in  largest  amount.  Although  a  thin  section 
of  this  particular  specimen  was  not  examined,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  some  of  the  ilmenite  may  have  been  secondary. 

BOTANY. — The   genus    Culcita.^     William    R.    Maxon,    National 
Museum. 

The  tribe  Dicksonieae,  one  of  the  three  groups  of  Cyatheaceae  or 
tree  ferns,  is  usually  regarded  as  consisting  of  three  genera:  Dick- 
sonia,  Cibotium,  and  Balantmm,  all  represented  in  both  hemispheres. 
The  distinctions  between  Dicksonia  and  Cibotium  are  fairly  pronounced, 
and  both  names  are  currently  applied  in  their  proper  sense.  Balantium, 
though  showing  indusium  characters  similar  to  those  of  Dicksonia,  is 
habitually  very  different  from  either,  and  its  recognition  as  a  valid  genus 
is  general.  The  name  Balantium,  however,  is  technically  a  synonym 
of  Dicksonia  and  must  be  supplanted  by  Culcita,  as  shown  below. 
The  distinctive  characters  of  the  genera  of  Dicksonieae  were  stated 
briefly  by  the  writer  a  few  years  ago  in  a  popular  article  on  the  tree 
ferns  of  North  America^  and  the  name  Culcita  was  there  employed  in 
the  present  sense,  without,  however,  a  statement  of  the  reasons  for 
substituting  it  for  Balantium. 

The  genus  Dicksonia  was  described  by  L'Heritier  in  1788  ^  with  two 
species:  D.  arborescens,  from  St.  Helena,  and  D.  culcita,  from  San 
Miguel,  one  of  the  Azores,  both  being  proposed  as  new.  The  form_er 
is  an  arborescent  plant  and,  except  for  its  temporary  reference  to 
Balantium  by  Hooker  in  1838,  has  been  consistently  retained  as  the 

>o  Watson,  Thomas  L.      This  Journal  2:  431^34.     1912. 

'  Published  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.     Received 
October  9,  1922. 

2  Report  Smiths.  Inst.  1911:   463-491.     pi.  1-15.     1912. 

3  Sert.  Angl.  30.     1788. 


DEC.  4,  1922  maxon:  The  genus  culcita  455 

typical  member  of  a  group  of  species  now  numbering  more  than  a 
score,  under  the  generic  name  Dicksonia.  The  second  species,  D. 
culcita,  became  later  the  type  of  Culcita  Presl. 

The  genus  Cibotium  of  Kaulfuss,  though  sometimes  credited  to  his 
EnumerattG  Filicum  (1824),  was  actually  published  four  years  earlier 
in  a  little  known  pharmaceutical  journal.^  The  type  and  only  species 
mentioned  at  the  original  place  of  publication  is  C.  chamissoi,  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  There  are  about  ten  recognized  species,  most  if 
not  all  of  them  treelike.  The  North  American  members  of  the  genus 
have  been  discussed  by  the  writer.^ 

The  genus  Balantium  Kaulf.,  was  proposed  in  1824,^  with  two 
species:  B.  auricomum  Kaulf.  (p.  228)  and  B.  culcita  (L'Herit.) 
Kaulf.  (p.  229).  Kaulfuss'  redescription  of  B.  culcita  is  only  two  lines 
long  and  omits  all  mention  of  the  sori;  but  of  B.  auricomum  there  is 
a  long  and  detailed  description  (agreeing  very  closely  with  the  generic 
diagnosis)  and  a  figure,  which  indicate  clearly  the  importance  of  this 
species  in  the  describer's  mind  and  seem  to  justify  the  acceptance  of 
this,  rather  than  B.  culcita,  as  the  generic  type.  There  is  every  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  material  of  B.  auricomum  supplied  the  major  data 
for  his  generic  description.  Balantium,  thus  typified  by  B.  aurico- 
mum (  =  arbor escens),  becomes  a  synonym  of  Dicksonia,  founded  on 
the  same  species.  Since  in  recent  years  Balantium  has  been  tacitly 
regarded  as  typified  by  B.  culcita,  the  genus  Balantium  of  authors  must 
receive  another  name.     Fortunately,  Culcita  is  available. 

The  genus  Culcita  Presl  dates  from  1836,'^  and  is  founded  on  a  single 
species,  Culcita  macrocarpa  Presl,  a  change  of  name  for  Dicksonia 
culcita  L'Herit.  and  Balantium  culcita  Kaulf.  It  is  thus  exactly  the 
equivalent  of  the  genus  Balantium  of  recent  writers.^ 

The  species  of  Culcita  are  as  follows: 

1.  Culcita  macrocarpa  Presl,  Tent.  Pter.  135.  pi.  5,/.  5.  1836. 

Dicksonia  culcita  L'Herit.  Sert.  Angl.    31.  1788. 
Balantium  culcita  Kaulf.  Enum.  Fil.    229.  1824. 

*Berl.  Jahrb.  Pharm.  21:    53.     1820. 

5  Contr.  U.  S.  Nat.  Herb.  16:   54-58.     pi.  30-32.     1912. 

«  Enum.  Fil.    228.     1824. 

'Tent.  Pter.    135.     pl-Sj-S-     1836. 

'  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Presl  applies  the  name  Balantium  in  the  sense  of  Dicksonia 
with  the  exception  of  a  single  species,  and  further  that  he  takes  up  the  name  Dicksonia  for 
the  genus  of  Polypodiaceae  that  we  now  call  Dennstedlia,  omitting  therefrom  both  of  the 
species  originally  described  under  Dicksonia  by  L'Heritier! 


456      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  20 

The  generic  type;    known  from  Madeira,  Teneriffe,   and  several  of  the 

Azores;    originally  described  from  San  Miguel.     The  very  large  sori  at  once 

distinguish  this  species,  of  which  the  following  specimens  are  at  hand : 

Madeira:  San  Vicente,  June  21,  1850,  Lowe  31.  Without  special  locality 
Mandon  300;   Mason  in  1857. 

Azores:  San  Miguel,  Trelease  1143.     Pico,  C.  S.  Brown  317. 

2.  Culcita  coniifolia  (Hook.)  Maxon,  Report  Smiths.  Inst.  1911:  488. 
pi  13,  f.  c.  1912. 

Dicksonia  coniifolia  Hook.  Sp.  Fil.  1:  70.  pi.  24.  A.  1844. 
Dicksonia  martiana  Klotzsch;  Hook.  Sp.  Fil.  1:  70.  pi.  24.  B.  1844. 
Balantium  martianuni  Fee,  Vase.  Crypt.  Bres.  1:   155.  1869. 
Culcita  schlimensis  Fee,  Mem.  Foug.  10:  47.  pi.  36,  f.  3.  1865. 
Balantium  coniifolium  J.  Sm.  Hist.  Fil.  258.  1875. 

Variable  in  several  characters,  but  perhaps  no  more  so  than  to  be  expected 
in  a  plant  occupying  so  wide  an  area.  Its  nearest  ally  is  C.  macrocarpa. 
Hooker's  type  was  from  Caracas  {Linden  538).  The  following  specimens  are 
in  the  National  Herbarium: 

Jamaica:  John  Crow  Peak,  alt.  1,650  to  1,800  meters,  Harris  7336;  Under- 
wood 3258;  Maxon  1333,  1333a;  Blue  Mountains,  alt.  1,800  meters,  Hart  132. 

Cuba:   Near  summit  of  Pico  Turquino,  Sierra  Maestra,  Leon  11155. 

Costa  Rica:  San  Cristobal,  Werckle.  San  Jeronimo,  alt.  1,500  meters, 
Werckle  (Jimenez,  no.  578).     Without  locality,  Brade  142. 

Panama  :  Humid  forest  between  Alto  de  las  Palmas  and  top  of  Cerro  de  la 
Horqueta,  Chiriqul,  alt.  2,100  to  2,268  meters,  Maxon  5459,  5459a.  Cordil- 
lera above  "Camp  I,"  Holcomb's  Trail,  10  miles  above  El  Boquete,  Chiriqui, 
alt.  2,100  to  2,150  meters,  Killip  5326,  5328. 

Colombia:  Medellin,  Bro.  Henri-Stanislas  1714.  Murillo,  Tolima,  alt. 
2,100  to  2,500  meters,  Pennell  3181.  Camino  de  Gacheta,  Bro.  Ariste- 
Joseph  A483.  Guasca,  Bro.  Ariste-Joseph  A217.  Without  locality,  Bro. 
Ariste- Joseph  198;    Triana  179. 

Brazil:  Serra  do  Itatiaya,  Dusen  170;  same  locality,  alt.  2,000  meters. 
Rose  &  Russell  20490. 

Reported  also  from  Hispaniola,  Mexico,  and  Ecuador. 

3.  Culcita  javanica  (Blume)  Maxon. 

Dicksonia  javanica  Blume,  Enum.  PI.  Jav.  240.  1828. 
Dennstedtia  javanica  Christ,  Bull.  Herb.  Boiss.  II.  4:   617.  1904. 
Balantium  javanicum  Copel.  Phil.  Journ.  Sci.  Bot.  4:   62.  1909. 

Described  from  Java  and  attributed  only  to  that  island.  Not  seen  by  the 
writer.     Listed  by  Christensen  as  valid,  and  so  regarded  by  recent  writers. 

4.  Culcita  formosae  (Christ)  Maxon. 

Dennstedtia  formosae  Christ,  Bull.  Herb.  Boiss.  II.  4:   617.     1904. 
Balantium  formosanum  Christ,  Geogr.  Fame  155.  1910. 

Founded  upon  specimens  collected  on  Formosa  by  Faurie   (no.   676). 
Said  to  be  a  close  ally  of  C.  javanica,  but  listed  by  Christensen  as  valid.     No 
material  has  been  seen. 


DEC.  4,  1922  maxon:  the  genus  culcita  457 

5.  Culcita  copelandi  (Christ)  Maxon. 

Dicksonia  copelandi  Christ,  Phil.  Journ.  Sci.  Bot.  2:   183.  1907. 
Balantimn  copelandi  Christ;    Copeland,    Phil.   Journ.   Sci.    Bot.    3:  301. 
1908;   4:   62.  pi.  19.  1909. 

A  very  distinct  species,  separated  by  Christ  from  C.  straminea;  apparently 
confined  to  the  Philippines.  The  true  indusium  is  somewhat  membranous, 
erose-dentate,  and  provided  with  occasional  cilia.  In  these  respects  and  in  its 
pronounced  hairy  covering  the  plant  shows  less  alliance  with  C.  straminea  than 
with  C.  diihia  and  the  new  species  here  described  as  C.  blepharodes.  The  follow- 
ing specimens  are  in  the  National  Herbarium: 

Luzon:  Vicinity  of  Baguio,  Province  of  Benguet,  Elmer  6025  (co-tvpe), 
9000;  Topping  196,  241;  Bartsch  241;  Loher  1304.  Province  of  Abra, 
Ramos  7158.     Mount  Tonglon,  Loher  965. 

Negros:  Dumaguete  (Cuernos  Mountains),  Province  of  Negros  Oriental, 
Elmer  9694,  9899,  10394. 

6.  Culcita  straminea  (Labill.)  Maxon. 

Dicksonia  straminea  Labill.  Sert.  Austr.  Cal.  7.  pi.  10.  1824. 

Dicksonia  torreyana  Brack,  in  Wilkes,  U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.  16:   278.  pi.  j8, 

f.  2.  1854. 
Dennstedtia  straminea  J.  Sm.  Hist.  Fil.  265.  1875. 
Balantium  siramineum  Diels  in  Engl.  &  Prantl,  Pflanzenfam.  1^:  119.  1899. 

Not  Sitolobium  stramineum  Brack.  1854. 

Described  and  figured  by  La  Billardiere  on  specimens  from  New  Caledonia; 
attributed  by  Christensen  to  Polynesia  generally.  The  following  specimens 
are  at  hand. : 

New  Caledonia:  Koghis,  alt.  250  meters.  Franc  477.  Yahoue,  alt.  250 
meters.  Franc  (Rosenstock,  no.  63). 

Fiji  Islands:  Sandalwood  Bay,  Wilkes  Exped.  {type oi Dicksonia  torreyana 
Brack.,  3  sheets).     Without  special  locality.  Prince  in  1898. 

Samoan  Islands:  Savaii,  Reinecke  143a  (2  sheets,  both  labeled  "Davallia 
moluccana  Bl.  var.  amboynensis  Hook.").  Upolu,  Betsche  119  (as  Dicksonia 
dubia  Gaud.) ;  Reinecke  97  (2  sheets,  both  labeled  "Davallia  moluccana  Bl., 
normale  Form.");  Reinecke  190  (labeled  "Davallia  dubia  R.  Br.").  Tutuila, 
just  below  top  of  Matefao,  Setchell  389.  Island  not  indicated,  Powell  117 
(as  Dicksonia  straminea). 

These  plants  agree  well  among  themselves  and  represent  a  single  species 
that  must  be  regarded  as  referable  to  Culcita,  notwithstanding  their  arbores- 
cent habit;  the  trunk  is  described  by  Brackenridge  as  "8  to  10  feet  high,  its 
surface  rough,  owing  to  the  base  of  the  old  stipes  remaining  attached  to  it," 
in  this  character  resembling  Dicksonia. 

The  sori,  though  very  small  in  comparison  with  those  of  C.  macrocarpa 
and  C.  coniifolia,  are  similar  in  structure;  the  receptacle  is  elongate  trans- 
versely; the  outer  valve  of  the  "indusium"  is  formed  of  a  slightly  modified, 
but  deeply  saccate,  recurved  lobule  of  the  leaf  margin,  with  pale  thin  borders; 
the  inner  lip,  or  true  indusium,  is  similar  in  form  to  the  outer,  being  vaulted, 


458      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  20 

ample,  subcoriaceous,  and  subentire,  and  closes  against  it,  as  if  hinged  on  the 
transverse  receptacle. 

In  these  particulars  the  resemblance  of  Culcita  straminea  to  the  Australian 
plant  described  as  DavalUa  duhia  R.  Br.  is  slight,  yet  the  two  have  been  greatly 
confused.  The  original  description  of  DavalUa  duhia  reads  as  follows :  "Fron- 
dibus  supradecompositis,  foliolis  2-3-pinnatis  pubescentibus,  pinnulis  lineari- 
lanceolatis  incisis,  involucris  subrotundis  fimbriatis  subaxillaribus  lobulo 
saepe  reflexo  semitectis.  (J.  D.)  v.  t;."  The  specimens  were  from  Port 
Jackson  (New  South  Wales)  and  Tasmania.  The  numerous  Australian 
specimens  at  hand  (cited  hereafter)  agree  perfectly  with  Brown's  description 
in  having  the  marginal  lobule  opposite  to  the  sorus  often  reflexed  and  some- 
times partially  protecting  the  sori ;  but  the  sorus  is  relatively  distant  from  the 
margin,  the  marginal  lobule  is  not  at  all  modified  and  is  never  saccate,  and 
the  true  indusium  is  membranous  and  conspicuously  dentate-ciliate,  is 
early  thrust  back  against  the  leaf  surface,  and  in  form,  structure,  texture,  and 
position  is  so  unlike  the  marginal  lobule  that  it  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
forming  any  part  of  a  "double"  indusium.  In  these  respects  C.  duhia  differs 
so  definitely  from  Culcita  proper  that  it  ought  at  least  to  be  regarded  as  the 
type  of  a  new  subgenus.  The  details  of  structure  are  shown  fairly  well  in 
Hooker's  plate  24,  figure  C.^ 

The  Fiji  plant  listed  by  Brackenridge  in  1854  as  Sitolohium  stramineum  is 
not  Culcita  straminea,  but  a  new  species  very  closely  allied  to  the  DavalUa 
duhia  of  Robert  Brown.     It  is  described  below. 

Not  all  of  the  Reinecke  plants  from  Samoa  distributed  as  DavalUa  moluc- 
cana  Blume  or  one  of  its  varieties  pertain  to  C.  straminea.  The  following 
numbers,  as  represented  in  the  National  Herbarium,  belong  to  Saccoloma 
moluccanum  (Blume)  Mett.,  regarding  that  species  in  its  usual  widely  col- 
lective sense:  Reinecke  71  and  97a,  4  sheets,  from  Upolu;  Reinecke  143, 
from  Savaii. 

7.  Culcita  dubia  (R.  Br.)  Maxon. 

DavalUa  duhia  R.  Br.  Prodr.  Fl.  Nov.  HoU.  157.  1810. 

Dicksonia  duhia  Gaud,  in  Freyc.  Voy.  Bot.  367.  1827. 

?  Balantium  hrownianum  Presl,  Tent.  Pter.  134.  pi.  5,/.  4.  1836. 

Sitolohium  duhium  Brack,  in  Wilkes,  U.  S.  Expl.  Exped.    16:  273.  1854. 

As  noted  under  the  last  preceding  species  DavalUa  duhia  was  founded  on 
material  from  New  South  Wales  and  Tasmania.  Luerssen^"  cites  four  col- 
lections from  the  Fiji  group  as  Dicksonia  duhia,  but  they  doubtless  pertain  to 
the  next  species,  C.  hlepharodes.  As  represented  in  the  National  Herbarium 
C.  duhia  is  confined  to  Australia,  the  specimens  being  as  follows : 

Australia:  Vicinity  of  Sidney,  New  South  Wales,  Wright;  Darnel  (ex 
herb.  Bot.  Mus.  Hamburg);  Wilkes  Exped.  (2  sheets,  as  Sitolohium  duhium). 

'  Sp.  Fil.,  vol.  1,  1844,  as  Dicksonia  dubia  (R.  Br.)  Gaud. 
10  Fil.  Graeff.  233.     1871. 


DEC.  4,  1922  MAXON :  the  genus  culcita  459 

"Eastern  coast,"  Verreaux  135  (as  Dicksonia  davallioides) .  Without  special 
locality,  Verreaux  290  (2  sheets,  as  Davallia  duhia).  Gippsland,  Victoria,  F. 
von  Mailer.     Without  special  locality,  Schomburgk. 

The  sorus  characters  of  this  species  and  of  C.  straminea  have  been  discussed 
under  the  latter  species.  Since  C.  blepharodes  is  somewhat  intermediate  in 
sorus  structure,  C.  duhia  may  best  be  regarded  as  the  type  merely  of  a  new 
subgenus,  Calochlaena,  the  name  being  chosen  in  allusion  to  the  distinctive 
character  of  the  delicate  true  indusium. 

A  good  deal  of  doubt  exists  as  to  the  proper  reference  of  Balantium  hrown- 
ianum.  This  name  was  proposed  in  1836  by  Presl,  who  cited  as  synonyms 
Davallia  duhia  R.  Br.  and  Dicksonia  fallax  Kaulf.,  and  published  an  illustra- 
tion (pi.  5,  /.  4  ).  The  name  Davallia  fallax  had  been  given  by  Kaulf uss  to 
an  Australian  plant  distributed  by  Sieber.  Luerssen,  who  has  examined  this, 
refers  it  to  Dicksonia  duhia;  but  the  highly  conventional  figure  shows  sori 
like  those  of  C.  straminea,  as  Hooker  has  remarked,  and  bearing  very  little 
likeness  to  those  of  C.  duhia,  whether  or  not  it  was  drawn  from  Australian 
material.  Brackenridge  has  pointed  out  the  same  discrepancy,  and  until 
the  Sieber  plant  has  been  re-examined  critically  the  correct  disposition  of 
Balantium  hrovunianum  must  remain  doubtful. 

8.  Culcita  blepharodes  Maxon,  sp.  nov. 

Frond  (incomplete)  1  meter  long  or  more,  the  stipe  about  one-third  as  long 
as  the  blade,  sulcate,  ochraceous  from  a  darker  base ;  blade  tripinnate,  the  pin- 
nae subopposite,  ascending,  about  30  cm.  long,  5  to  8  cm.  broad,  narrowly 
deltoid-oblong,  the  rachis  firm,  brownish-stramineous;  pinnules  distant, 
alternate  to  subopposite,  oblique,  deltoid-oblong,  acuminate;  segments 
10  to  15  pairs,  slightly  oblique,  linear  or  linear-oblong,  cuneate  at  the  inequi- 
lateral base,  abruptly  acuminate,  distant,  faintly  connected  along  the  ven- 
tral groove  of  the  tertiary  rachis,  deeply  lobed  throughout;  lobes  of  the 
larger  segments  5  to  7  pairs,  mostly  with  2  lobules  or  crenations  on  the  distal 
side,  the  apical  one  sterile  and  curved  upward,  the  other  broader  and  soriferous ; 
sorus  about  1  mm.  in  diameter;  fertile  lobule  invariably  concave,  but  not 
saccate;  true  indusium  ample,  delicately  membranous,  long-ciliate,  born 
upon  a  narrowly  oblong,  transverse  receptacle,  early  thrust  backward  against 
the  leaf  surface  and  exposing  the  numerous  sporangia;  paraphyses  many, 
slender,  brown;  under  surface  of  blade  freely  villous-hirsute,  the  hairs  ex- 
tending abundantly  to  the  veins;    upper  surface  slightly  hirsute,  glabrescent. 

Type  in  the  U.  S.  National  Herbarium,  no.  1,094,080,  collected  at  "Lomo- 
Lomo"  or  "Somu-Somu,"  Fiji  Islands,  by  the  Wilkes  Expedition  (1838-42). 
There  is  a  second,  smaller  specimen  of  the  same  collection. 

This  is  the  plant  which  Brackenridge,  having  mistakenly  redescribed  the 
Dicksonia  straminea  of  La  Billardiere  as  a  new  species  of  Dicksonia  (D. 
torreyana  Brack.),  listed  as  Sitolohium  stramineum.  He  properly  compares  it 
with  Sitolohium  duhium  Brack.  (Culcita  duhia)  and  notes  several  points  of 
distinction. 

Culcita  hlepharodes  belongs  to  the  subgenus  Calochlaena,  and  is  closely 


460      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  20 

allied  only  to  C.  duhia.  From  that  it  differs  in  having  the  receptacle  nearer 
the  margin,  the  marginal  lobule  regularly  though  not  deeply  concave  (not 
recurved  or  reflexed,  as  in  C.  dubia)  and  approaching  somewhat  the  "ac- 
cessory indusium"  form  of  typical  Culcita,  and  the  true  indusium  larger  and 
more  freely  long-ciliate.  The  specimen  selected  as  the  type  is  very  incom- 
plete, and  the  measurements  are  thus  not  dependable.  As  noted  previously 
this  is  doubtless  the  plant  listed  by  Luerssen  as  Dicksonia  dubia  on  Fiji 
specimens  collected  by  Graeffe  (nos.  151,  490)  and  Darnel  (nos.  31,  32). 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED 

SOCIETIES 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  WASHINGTON 

867th   MEETING 

The  867th  meeting  was  held  in  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium  Saturday, 
May  20,  1922,  with  President  Crittenden  in  the  chair  and  42  persons  present. 

R.  C.  Tolman:  Some  remarks  on  the  Quantum  Theory.  This  paper  was 
illustrated  by  charts  and  figures,  and  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Beal,  C.  A. 
Briggs,  Fairchild,  Foote,  Hawkesworth,  Mohler,  Pawling,  Sosman, 
Tuckerman,  Wells  and  White.  This  paper  has  been  published  in  full  in 
1922,  number  of  the  Journal  of  the  Optical  Society. 

The  speaker  first  reviewed  the  steps  by  which  the  Classical  Dynamics 
was  led  to  expect  that  there  would  be  an  equipartition  of  energy  between 
the  different  modes  of  vibration  in  the  hohlraum.  The  modifications  in 
the  Classical  Dynamics  which  are  proposed  by  Quantum  Theory  to  meet 
the  contradiction  between  this  prediction  of  the  Classical  D5aiamics  and 
the  experimental  facts  were  then  discussed. 

The  equations  given  by  Quantum  Theory  for  the  possible  steady  motions 
of  simple  oscillators  and  rotators  and  for  the  distribution  of  elements  at  thermo- 
dynamic equilibrium  were  then  developed.  It  was  shown  how  these  equa- 
tions account  for  the  photoelectric  effect,  the  inverse  photoelectric  effect, 
the  relation  between  the  frequenceis  of  absorbed  and  phosphorescent  light, 
the  energy  distribution  in  the  hohlraum,  the  Debye  theory  of  the  specific 
heat  of  solids,  the  theory  of  rotational  specific  heat  of  gases,  the  theory  of 
the  rotational  spectra  of  gases,  and  the  theory  of  the  emission  spectra  of 
the  elements. 

The  Quantum  Theory  was  then  criticised  from  the  point  of  view  of  its 
arbitrariness,  its  conflict  with  the  facts  concerning  the  undulatory  nature  of 
light,  its  apparently  unnecessary  abandonment  of  the  Classical  Dynamics 
in  solving  the  problem  of  the  distribution  of  energy  in  the  hohlraum  and  the 
unsatisfactoriness  of  its  atomic  model.  A  model  which  contains  some  fea- 
tures which  it  might  be  desirable  to  incorporate  in  the  final  model  of  the 
hydrogen  atom  was  then  exhibited. 

W.  R.  Gregg,  Recording  Secretary,  Pro  Tern. 

869th  meeting 

The  869th  meeting  was  held  in  the  Cosmos  Club  auditorium  Saturday, 
October  7,  1922. 


DEC.  4,   1922  PROCEEDINGS :    PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  461 

By  invitation  Mr.  Raymond  Davis  presented  a  paper  on  "deciphering  of 
charred  paper  records"  which  was  illustrated  by  lantern  slides.  After  the 
presentation  of  the  paper  the  author  answered  numerous  questions  by  Messrs. 
White,  Crittenden,  Heyl,  and  others. 

Author's  Abstract:  The  bureau  of  Standards  was  recently  called  upon  to 
find  a  method  for  deciphering  the  written  and  printed  matter  contained  on 
charred  paper. 

The  charred  papers  submitted  apparently  had  been  subjected  to  heat  in  a 
closed  vessel,  such  as  a  safe, — the  paper  having  been  converted  into  black 
sheets  of  carbon  and  not  to  ashes  as  would  have  been  the  case  had  they  been 
burned  in  an  open  container. 

With  casual  observation  no  traces  of  writing  are  visible,  but  under  certain 
critical  conditions  of  lighting  very  faint  traces  of  markings  can  be  seen.  These 
traces  are  not  sufficiently  clear  to  permit  deciphering. 

In  some  preliminary  trials  made  on  paper  charred  for  the  purpose,  con- 
version of  the  iron  salts  contained  in  the  ink  into  colored  salts  was  tried. 
These  were  unsuccessful. 

It  is  known  that  the  photographic  plate,  besides  being  sensitive  to  light, 
is  also  sensitive  to  certain  gases  and  vapors.  Some  of  these  have  the  property 
of  fogging  or  rendering  developable  such  portions  of  the  plate  as  are  exposed 
to  their  actions.  Certain  other  gases  or  vapors  have  the  contrary  property, 
that  is,  they  partially  or  completely  desensitize  the  plate. 

For  the  first  trial  a  sheet  of  the  carbonized  paper  was  placed  between  the 
two  "fast"  photographic  plates  and  kept  in  the  dark  for  two  weeks.  On 
development  in  the  usual  manner  a  very  perfect  copy  of  both  the  writing  and 
the  printing  was  obtained.  It  appears  that  the  carbonized  paper  contains 
gases  that  fog  the  photographic  plate.  Where  the  ink  is  present,  little  or  no 
effect  takes  place.  Apparently  the  ink  acts  as  a  screen,  hindering  the  escape 
of  the  gas. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  writing  on  both  sides  of  the  charred  paper 
appears,  that  from  the  back  being  fainter  than  that  from  the  face.  Appar- 
ently the  ink  penetrates  the  paper  sufficiently  so  that  its  residue  reduces  the 
amount  of  gas  escaping  from  beneath. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  active  material  con- 
tained in  the  charred  paper.  It  is  quite  likely  that  it  contains  products 
similar  to  those  obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation  of  wood. 

Further  tests  showed  that  photographic  plates  of  sensitiveness  usually  termed 
fast  or  medium  are  best  adapted  for  this  purpose.  However,  the  sensitiveness 
to  light  is  no  definite  indication  of  the  sensitiveness  to  the  charred  paper. 
For  example  Seed  30  and  Seed  26  X  are  of  equal  sensitiveness  to  the  charred 
paper,  the  former  is  considerably  faster  to  light  than  the  latter.  Very  good 
copies  can  be  obtained  with  either  of  these  plates  after  a  weeks  time  in  con- 
tact with  charred  paper.  Very  slow  plates  such  as  ''Process''  are  not  suitable 
as  exposure  of  32  days  shows  only  faint  action.  Photographic  printing  and 
enlarging  papers  are  very  insensitive  to  the  charred  paper. 

Results  obtained  by  the  use  of  photographic  films  were  very  surprising, 
as  shown  by  the  two  types  of  emulsions  selected  for  the  test,  namely :  East- 
man "Portrait  Film"  and  Eastman  "Super  Speed  Portrait  Film." 

The  Portrait  Film  showed  no  effect  in  32  days.  The  Super  Speed  Portrait 
showed  very  slight  but  interesting  effect  with  a  16  day  exposure  and  only  a 
little  better  at  32  days.     This  was  just  the  reverse  of  that  with  the  plates, 


462      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.   12,  NO.  20 

the  inked  areas  showing  black  on  the  films,  whereas  on  the  plates  they  showed 
clear.  That  is,  with  the  films  the  ink  is  the  active  portion,  the  charred 
paper  producing  no  fogging.  It  is  also  noted  that  the  chemical  fog  of  de- 
velopment is  much  lighter  over  the  portions  of  the  film  covered  by  the  charred 
paper  as  compared  with  the  uncovered  areas. 

The  results  suggest  that  there  are  perhaps  two  difi"erent  kinds  of  gases 
given  off,  one  kind  by  the  charred  paper  and  another  by  the  ink,  both  of  which 
fog  the  photographic  emulsion,  but  the  one  from  the  charred  paper  more 

rapidly. 

It  was  found  that  a  short  washing  of  these  films  in  distilled  water,  about 
five  minutes,  followed  by  thorough  drying,  gave  results  similar  to  those  ob- 
tained with  plates.  Very  good  copies  were  obtained  from  washed  film 
after  8  days  contact  with  the  charred  paper. 

Mr.  R.  W.  G.  Wyckoff  presented  a  paper  entitled  "Crystal  structure  of 
ammonium  chloride  and  hydrazine  hydrochloride,"  which  was  illustrated 
by  diagrams.  It  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Hawksworth,  Tuckerman, 
Crittenden,  and  Brown. 

Author's  Abstract:  The  crystal  structure  of  hydrazine  dihydrochloride. 
Using  Laue  photographic  and  spectrographic  data  and  making  use  of  the  re- 
sults of  theory  of  space  groups,  the  manner  of  arrangement  of  the  atoms 
within  the  unit  cube  of  a  crystal  of  hydrazine  hydrochloride,  which  contains 
four  chemical  molecules  and  is  7.89  A.tl.  on  a  side,  has  been  determined.  The 
corresponding  space-group  is  Th^.  The  parameter  v  defining  the  positions  of 
the  chlorine  atoms  is  found  as  0.27+  and  the  most  probable  value  of  the 
nitrogen  parameter  is  estimated  as  about  0.04.  The  distance  between  ad- 
jacent chlorine  atoms  thus  is  approximately  3.69  A.U.;  between  chlorine  and 
nitrogen  atoms  about  3.14A.U.  It  is  pointed  out  that  these  results  are 
markedly  at  variance  with  the  hypothesis  of  constant  atomic  radii. 

On  the  crystal  structure  of  ammonium  chloride. — It  is  shown  that  the  Laue 
photographic  data  obtained  from  crystals  of  the  low  temperature  form  of 
ammonium  chloride  are  in  agreement  with  the  powder  data  in  assigning  to  it 
a  structure  containing  one  chemical  molecule  within  the  unit  cube.  The 
disagreement  between  the  symmetry  of  the  arrangement  of  the  atoms  of 
ammonium  chloride  and  its  described  crystallographic  symmetry  is  thus  com- 
pletely established.  As  a  result  it  is  pointed  out  that  unless  these  crystallo- 
graphic data  are  shown  to  be  erroneous  it  will  not  be  permissible  to  accept 
etch  figure  data  and  face  development  as  definite  indications  of  the  sym- 
metry of  the  arrangement  of  the  atoms  within  a  crystal. 

Mr.  W.  W.  CoBLENTz  read  a  paper  on  ''Further  measurements  of  stellar 
temperatures  and  planetary  radiation,''  which  was  illustrated  by  lantern  slides. 
It  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  White,  Pawling,  and  Abbot. 

Author's  Abstract:  During  the  past  summer,  through  the  generosity  of 
the  Lowell  Observatory,  Flagstaff,  Arizona,  who  financed  this  research,  a 
further  opportunity  was  presented  to  continue  the  measurements  of  1921  re- 
lating stellar  temperatures  and  planetary  radiation.  Especial  acknowledge- 
ment is  due  Dr.  C.  O.  Lampland  for  kindly  operating  the  telescope. 

The  speaker  reported  a  verification  of  the  estimate  presented  before  this 
Society  (The  meeting  of  December  17,  1921)  of  the  temperatures  of  16  stars 
as  determined  from  their  spectral  energy  distribution  which  was  obtained  by 
means  of  a  new  spectral  radiometer,  consisting  of  a  series  of  transmission 
screens  and  a  vacuum  thermocouple. 


DEC.  4,  1922  proceedings:  philosophical  society  463 

By  means  of  these  screens,  which,  either  singly  or  in  combination,  had  a 
uniformly  high  transmission  over  a  fairly  narrow  region  of  the  spectrum  and 
terminating  abruptly  to  complete  opacity  in  the  rest  of  the  spectrum,  it  was 
possible  to  obtain  for  the  first  time  the  radiation  intensity  in  the  complete 
stellar  spectrum  as  transmitted  by  our  atmosphere. 

The  recent  measurements  of  the  spectrol  radiation  components,  made  prin- 
cipally on  the  sun,  the  temperature  of  which  was  used  as  a  standard  of  com- 
parison, verify  the  previous  measurements  of  stellar  temperatures,  which 
range  from  3000°  K  for  red,  class-M  stars,  to  12000°  K  for  blue,  class-B 
stars. 

Planetary  radiation. — The  thermal  radiation  emitted  from  a  planet  as  a 
result  of  warming  by  exposure  to  solar  radiation,  including  heat  which  may 
be  radiated  by  virtue  of  a  possible  high  internal  temperature  of  the  planet 
itself,  is  essentially  of  long  wave  lengths  7^i  to  12/x.  Hence,  by  means  of  a 
1  cm.  cell  of  water,  interposed  in  the  path  of  total  radiation  emanating  from 
the  planet,  this  long  wave-length  radiation  can  be  separated  from  the  reflected 
solar  radiation,  and  in  this  manner  a  measurement  obtained  of  the  energy 
reradiated.  If  there  is  planetary  radiation  then  the  water  cell  transmission 
will  be  less  than  that  of  direct  solar  radiation. 

It  was  observed  that  the  water  cell  transmission  of  the  total  radiation 
emanating  from  Jupiter  is  practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  direct  solar  radia- 
tion. From  this  it  appears  that  the  outer  atmosphere  of  Jupiter  does  not 
radiate  appreciable  long  wave  length  infra-red  energy  as  the  result  of  warming 
by  solar  rays,  and  that  the  atmosphere  is  sufficiently  thick  and  opaque  to 
trap  all  the  energy  reradiated  as  the  result  of  warming  of  its  interior  by  solar 
radiation,  or  by  internal  heating,  if  the  interior  of  Jupiter  is  still  highly 
heated. 

The  radiometric  measurements  of  Venus,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn  are  in  good 
agreement  with  similar  measurements  made  at  Mt.  Hamilton,  Calif.,  in  1914, 
showing  a  decidedly  lower  transmission  of  radiation  through  the  water  cell 
in  the  case  of  Venus  and  Saturn. 

The  intensity  of  the  planetary  radiation  increases  with  decrease  in  the 
density  of  the  surrounding  atmosphere  and  (as  interpreted  from  the  water 
cell  transmissions)  in  per  cent  of  the  total  radiation  emitted  is  as  follows: 
Jupiter  (0),  Venus  (5),  Saturn  (15),  Mars  (30),  and  the  Moon  (80). 

The  water  cell  transmission  of  the  radiations  from  the  Southern  (50.6%) 
and  northern  (53.1%)  hemispheres  of  Mars  should  be  and  are  higher  {i.e., 
the  planetary  radiation  is  lower)  than  that  of  the  radiations  emanating  from 
the  equatorial  (47.3%)  region,  owing  to  the  depletion  of  the  reradiated  energy 
by  the  greater  air  mass.  Moreover,  the  intensity  of  the  planetary  radiation 
from  the  northern  hemisphere  of  Mars  was  found  to  be  less  than  from  the 
southern  hemisphere.  This  is  to  be  expected  in  view  of  the  observed  cloudi- 
ness over  the  northern  hemisphere  which  is  approaching  the  winter  season  and 
hence  is  at  a  lower  superficial  temperature. 

The  radiometric  measurements  of  Mars  are  of  especial  interest  in  view  of 
the  question  of  the  temperature  of  this  planet. 

The  calculations  of  Lowell,  based  on  the  heat  retained,  give  a  mean  tem- 
perature of  9°  C.  for  the  surface;  while  another  calculation  gives  a  tempera- 
ture of  22°  C.  He  points  out  that  owing  to  cloudiness,  only  60  per  cent  of 
the  incident  solar  radiation  is  effective  in  warming  the  earth,  while  99  per 
cent  is  effective  in  warming  the  surface  of  Mars. 


464      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO.  20 

In  a  recent  discussion  of  climatic  conditions  on  Mars,  inferred  from  phe- 
nomena generally  observed  on  the  planet,  Pickering  estimates  the  mean  an- 
nual temperature  at  20°  F.  as  compared  with  the  mean  annual  temperature  of 
the  earth  at  59°  F.  (15°  C).  At  night  the  Martian  temperature  is  below 
32°  F.  (0°  C.)  and  at  noon  it  is  perhaps  60°  to  70°  F.  (15°  to  20°  C).  These 
estimates  are  arrived  at  from  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of  snow  and 
frost  during  the  course  of  the  Martian  day,  and  from  the  fact  that  snow  is 
never  seen  on  the  equator  at  Martian  noon. 

The  radiometric  measurements  are  in  agreement  with  the  calculation  of 
Lowell  and  with  the  arguments  recently  set  forth  by  Pickering,  showing  a 
considerable  rise  in  temperature  of  the  surface  of  Mars. 

Probably  the  most  convincing  experimental  observations  of  the  range  of 
temperature  of  the  moon  are  those  of  Langley  and  Very,  and  later,  those  of 
Very.  These  measurements  indicate  inferred  effective  lunar  temperatures 
ranging  from  45°  C.  to  over  100°  C.  The  calculated  value  using  recent  data 
on  the  solar  constant,  indicates  a  lunar  temperature  of  82°  C.  When  we 
consider  that  30  per  cent  of  the  total  radiation  emanating  from  Mars  is  of 
planetary  origin,  as  compared  with  80%  from  the  moon,  and  that  all  the  evi- 
dence shows  that  the  lunar  surface  becomes  appreciably  warmed,  it  appears 
that  there  is  also  a  considerable  temperature  rise  (10°  to  25°  C.)  on  the  sur- 
face of  Mars  as  calculated  by  Lowell.  So  whether  or  not  we  accept  the  view 
that  vegetation  can  exist  on  Mars,  the  radiometric  measurements  confirm 
other  meteorological  data,  showing  that  at  Martian  noon  the  snow  is  melted 
which  could  not  happen  if  the  temperature  were  — 39°  C,  as  some  have 
calculated. 

As  for  the  views  held  by  some  of  the  possibility  of  vegetation  growing  on 
Mars,  much  depends  upon  whether  we  think  of  palm  trees  growing  in  our 
tropics,  or  the  mosses  and  lichens  which  thrive  on  the  apparently  bare  piles 
of  volcanic  cinders  of  Arizona  and  under  our  Arctic  snows. 

H.  H.  Kimball,  Recording  Secretary 

ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 
349th  meeting 

The  349th  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  May  4,  1922  in  Room  43  of 
the  New  National  Museum,  with  President  Gahan  in  the  chair  and  36 
persons  present. 

Mr.  Gahan  spoke  briefly  about  the  new  Brazilian  Entomological  Society. 
The  first  paper  of  the  evening  was  The  operation  of  the  Federal  Insecticide 
Act,  by  Dr.  J.  K.  Haywood.     It  was  discussed  by  Dr.  McIndoo. 

Messrs.  Haywood  and  MiddlETon  spoke  of  tree  doctors  injecting  trees 
with  fluids  to  kill  insects. 

Notes. — Mr.  BridwELL  announced  the  discovery  of  a  Bruchophagus, 
indistinguishable  from  B.  funebris,  from  seeds  of  Oxytropis  lamherti  collected 
by  L.  Weld  in  Colorado.  This  is  apparently  the  first  record  of  this  species 
breeding  in  legumes  other  than  clover  and  alfalfa. 

Dr.  Aldrich  stated  that  Dr.  C.  H.  T.  TownsEnd  had  completed  his  book 
on  the  muscoid  flies.     It  has  been  sent  to  the  United  vStates  for  publication. 

J.  A.  Hyslop  spoke  as  follows:     "I  have  received  a  most  interesting  com- 
munication from  Air.  C.  W.  CrEEL,  State  Entomologist  of  Nevada,  accom- 
panying a  vial  containing  a  large  number  of  Chrysomelid  beetles.     Mr 
Creel  stated  that  the  County  Agent  of  Clark  County  sent  in  these  specimens, 


i 


DEC.  4,  1922  proceedings:  entomologicaIv  society  465 

which  were  unknown  to  him,  with  a  statement  that  they  were  doing  very  ser- 
ious damage  to  all  the  vineyards  in  the  Las  Vegas  Valley  in  southern  Nevada. 
This  is  a  desert  region  where  they  are  growing  Muscat  grapes  under  irriga- 
tion. The  beetles  prove  to  be  Glyptoscelis  squamulata  Crotch,  a  species  which 
has  been  collected  in  southern  California  and  Arizona  on  sage  brush  and  the 
small  desert  sunflower  Balsamorhiza  sagittata. 

"It  is  evidently  a  native  desert  insect  which  has  turned  its  attention  to 
the  cultivated  plant  which  has  usurped  its  territory.  The  County  Agent 
went  on  to  say  that  the  insects  do  their  work  at  night,  boring  small  holes  into 
the  buds  just  before  the  vines  started  to  leaf  out,  and  eating  out  the  center 
of  the  bud."  , 

350th  meeting 

The  350th  meeting  was  held  June  1,  1922,  in  Room  43  of  the  New  National 
Museum,  with  President  Gahan  in  the  chair  and  57  members  and  guests 
present. 

The  first  paper  of  the  evening  was  an  account  by  Dr.  Wm.  M.  Mann  of 
his  recent  trip  to  South  America  on  the  Mulford  Exploration,  illustrated 
with  lantern  slides. 

The  balance  of  the  evening  was  devoted  to  notes  and  exhibition  of  speci- 
mens. 

Dr.  McIndoo  asked  where  the  silk  was  obtained  which  was  used  in  the 
ants'  nests.     Dr.  Mann  said  it  was  obtained  from  the  larvae. 

Mr.  Hyslop  spoke  of  a  nitidulid  attacking  strawberries  in  New  York 
and  Connecticut.  He  stated  that  about  three  years  ago  specimens  of 
a  small  nitidulid  were  sent  to  the  National  Museum  from  Youngstown, 
N.  Y.,  for  determination.  These  proved  to  be  the  European  Heterostomus 
puUcarius  L.,  a  species  apparently  of  but  little  economic  importance  in 
Europe,  where  it  is  recorded  as  feeding  on  the  pollen  of  Linaria.  In  1920 
Mr.  H.  NoTMAN  described  what  Mr.  Schwarz  considers  as  this  species  under 
the  name  of  H.  mordelloides,  from  Schoharie,  New  York.  In  1921,  Mr.  H. 
Morrison  collected  specimens  of  this  same  beetle  in  Arnold  Arboretum 
at  Boston.  In  this  number  of  the  Bulletin  is  a  report  by  Dr.  E.  P.  Felt 
that  this  insect  is  seriously  damaging  strawberries  in  Columbia  County, 
and  is  distributed  over  Saratoga,  Albany,  Niagara,  and  Schoharie  Counties, 
New  York.  The  damage  is  done  by  the  adult  beetles  feeding  at  the  base 
of  young  blossoms  and  producing  "nubbins"  or  entirely  destroying  the 
fruit. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  developments  of  the  month  has  been  the  de- 
termination as  Anomala  orientalis  Water,  of  a  beetle  collected  in  Connecticut 
during  the  past  two  years.  This  is  the  Anomala  which  occasioned  so  much 
concern  in  Hawaii  about  ten  years  ago.  The  insect  is  a  native  of  Japan  and 
was  probably  introduced  into  Hawaii  before  1908  in  soil  on  the  roots  of 
imported  plants  from  Japan.  In  1908,  Dr.  Lyon,  then  working  with  the 
Hawaiian  Sugar  Planters  Association  observed  large  numbers  of  these  larvae 
at  the  base  of  cane  plants  but  mistook  them  for  the  Japanese  beetle  of  Hawaii 
(Adoretus  tenuimaculatus  Water.).  In  1912,  Dr.  A.  SpEar,  in  studying  the 
fungous  diseases  of  insects  affecting  sugar-cane  in  Hawaii  collected  a  number 
of  these  larvae  and  turned  them  over  to  Mr.  F.  Muir,  who  recognized  them 
as  a  species  new  to  the  Island.  In  June  of  that  year  Mr.  Muir  visited  the 
infested  fields  and  collected  adults;  the  pest  though  infecting  but  a  small 
area  was  extremely  destructive,  and  the  Hawaiian  Sugar  Planters  Association 


466      JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOL.  12,  NO,  20 

detailed  a  specialist  to  proceed  to  the  Orient  and  obtain  parasites  for  the 
control  of  this  pest.  This  work  was  so  successful  that  one  of  the  parasites 
{Scolia  manilae  Ashm.)  was  established  between  the  years  of  1914-16  and 
by  1919  had  so  thoroughly  controlled  this  pest  that  from  an  area  where  in 
1917,  3,500  Anomala  grubs  were  collected  in  1919  only  four  grubs  were  found 
by  most  diligent  searching.  The  parasite  has  extended  its  range  beyond  the 
area  infested  by  the  Anomala  and  is  now  infesting  the  Japanese  beetle  of 
Hawaii.  That  the  Anomala  is  established  in  Connecticut  seems  evident  as 
specimens  have  been  collected  in  the  same  nursery  two  successive  years. 

Dr.  Baker  discussed  a  species  of  aphid  in  Baltic  Amber. 

Dr.  Aldrich  made  some  remarks  on  Lucilia  species.  He  reported  Onesia 
agilis  Meigen,  a  European  genus  new  to  the  country.  It  is  a  scavenger  and 
has  been  reared  several  times  by  Mr.  Theodore  H.  Frison  at  the  Japanese 
Beetle  Laboratory. 

Mr.  RoHWER  exhibited  the  nest  of  Pseudomasaris  vespoides  (Cresson) 
which  had  recently  been  received  from  Mr.  L.  H.  Weld.  The  nest  was 
composed  of  five  cells,  four  of  which  produced  the  vespid  and  one  a  chrysidid 
parasite  belonging  to  the  section  Gonockrysis.  The  nest  of  this  wasp  was 
first  observed  by  Davidson  and  more  recently  by  Professor  CockerELL. 
This  is  the  first  complete  nest  in  the  National  collection  of  this  kind. 

Mr.  RoHWER  exhibited  the  resin  and  pebble  nest  of  one  of  the  bees  belong- 
ing to  the  genus  Dianthidmm.  This  nest  was  attached  to  an  oak  twig  and 
was  recently  collected  by  Mr.  L.  H.  Weld  in  California.  It  resembles  closely 
the  nest  of  D.  arizonicum  Rohwer,  recently  illustrated  by  Mr.  MiddlETon, 
but  was  so  heavily  parasitized  by  a  chalcid  of  the  genus  Monodontomerus 
that  none  of  the  bees  had  emerged. 

Mr.  BuscK  read  the  following  paragraph  from  the  report  of  the  Swedish 
botanist  Pehr  Kalm,  a  student  of  Linnaeus,  who  made  what  was  probably 
one  of  the  first  scientific  expeditions  to  North  America,  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

"I  came  unconsciously  near  bringing  a  great  misfortune  upon  Europe. 
At  my  departure  from  America  I  brought  with  me  a  small  package  of  sweet 
peas  that  looked  very  good  and  sound.  On  August  1,  1751,  some  time 
after  I  had  arrived  in  Stockholm,  I  opened  the  package  and  found  all  the 
peas  worm-eaten.  From  the  hole  in  each  pea  an  insect  was  peeking  out, 
and  some  crawled  into  the  open  intending  to  try  the  new  climate.  I  was 
glad  to  close  the  package  again  instantaneously  and  thus  prevent  the  escape 
of  these  destructive  creatures;  and  I  must  confess  that  when  I  first  opened 
the  package  and  saw  those  insects  I  was  more  frightened  than  if  I  had  found 
a  poisonous  snake  in  it,  for  I  knew  what  damage  might  have  been  wrought 
in  my  fatherland  if  but  two  or  three  of  them  had  escaped.  Many  coming 
generations  in  many  places  would  then  have  had  reason  to  pass  condemnation 
on  me  for  causing  so  much  misfortune." 

Mr.  Rohwer  in  discussing  Mr.  Busck's  remark  pointed  out  that  with  all 
the  precaution  of  the  early  naturalists  they  had  not  been  successful  in  keeping 
American  insects  out  of  Europe  and  gave  as  an  example  the  Douglas  fir  seed 
chalcid  Megastigmus  spermotrophus  Wachtl,  a  species  which  was  first  described 
from  the  material  secured  in  Denmark  from  American  seeds.  This  seed 
chalcid  is  a  much  greater  pest  in  Europe  than  it  is  in  America. 

Mr.  Gahan  gave  the  following  note  on  the  distribution  of  the  clover  chalcid, 
Bruchophagus  funebris  (How.):     America,  in  clover,  alfalfa  and  astragalus; 


DEC.  4,  1922  proceedings:  ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  467 

Chile,  in  wild  alfalfa;   Omsk,  Siberia,  in  alfalfa  seed;   Manchuria,  in  seeds  of 
Trifolium;    Cape  Town,  South  Africa,  from  seeds  of  lucerne  or  alfalfa. 

J.  C.  Bridwell  announced  the  recovery  of  Kytorhinus  karasini  Fischer  v. 
Waldheim  (1808),  type  of  the  genus  Kytorhinus  Fischer,  which  has  not  been 
recognized  since  its  description.  It  was  originally  described  from  the  seeds 
of  Robinia  (now  Caragana)  jubata  from  the  Altai  Mts.  in  Central  Asia.  The 
genus  Kytorhinus  has  been  represented  by  species  in  the  Mediterranean 
region,  the  Caucasus,  Central  Asia,  and  a  species  was  described  by  Dr. 
Sharp  as  the  type  of  his  genus  Pygobruchus.  The  material  in  question 
was  found  by  the  inspectors  of  the  Federal  Horticultural  Board  in  seeds  of 
a  species  of  Caragana  (possibly  jubata)  which  occurs  in  Szechuen  Province, 
China,  from  which  the  material  was  sent  to  the  Foreign  Seed  and  Plant 
Introduction  Office  of  the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  and  there  are  in  the 
U.  S.  National  Museum  a  new  species  of  the  genus  from  India  and  one  from 
China  received  in  this  manner.  A  Canadian  species  of  the  genus  has  been 
recently  discovered  in  material  collected  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Carr  at  Edmonton, 
Alberta.  This  is  the  first  authentic  instance  of  a  mylabrid  genus  (in  the 
narrower  sense)  common  to  the  old  and  new  worlds.  Descriptions  of  the 
new  species  have  been  prepared  for  publication. 

Dr.  ScHWARZ  said  that  species  collected  in  South  America  many  years  ago 
by  Darwin  are  now  only  partly  named.  Dr.  Schwarz  also  stated  that  the 
first  scientific  expedition  in  South  America  was  made  by  the  French  engineer 
CONDERMAINE  about  1770.  His  main  object  was  to  measure  the  equator. 
He  went  from  Ecuador  to  the  Rio  Napo  River.  The  second  scientific  expedi- 
tion was  by  Humboldt  and  Bonpland.  They  went  down  the  Orinoco  to 
Ecuador  mainly  to  investigate  the  high  volcanoes. 

Chas.  T.  Greene,  Recording  Secretary 


468       JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES      VOIv.  12,  NO.  20 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

Closer  cooperation  between  the  weather  observation  stations  in  the  Ba- 
hamas and  the  Weather  Bureau  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture is  being  estabHshed  in  connection  with  the  hurricane-warning  work. 
Mr.  Benjamin  C.  ICadel,  a  meteorologist  from  the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau, 
has  been  sent  to  Nassau  and  to  Inaugua,  in  the  Bahamas,  to  assist  in  this  work. 

Excavations  for  a  new  hotel  building  at  Connecticut  Avenue  and  De  Sales 
Street  in  Washington  have  uncovered  the  stumps  and  residues  of  a  Tertiary- 
forest  of  cypress  of  considerable  geological  interest. 

Ernst  G.  Fisher,  chief  mechanical  engineer  in  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geo- 
detic Survey,  retired  from  the  service  August  5,  1922,  after  over  thirty-five 
years  of  active  work  for  the  Government. 

Joseph  W.  Grieg,  recently  assistant  in  the  department  of  mineralogy  at 
Columbia  University,  has  been  added  to  the  staff  of  the  Geophysical  Labo- 
ratory, Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington,  as  a  petrologist. 

John  B.  Henderson,  a  Regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  has  pur- 
chased for  the  Division  of  Mollusks  the  General  Evezard  Collection  of  mol- 
lusks  estimated  at  from  7,000  to  10,000  specimens,  including  a  large  number  of 
types.  General  Evezard  lived  in  western  India  for  twenty-eight  years,  and 
being  interested  chiefly  in  mollusks  made  large  collections  of  those  animals. 

Professor  A.  S.  Hitchcock,  Custodian  of  Grasses  at  the  National  Museum, 
is  giving  a  course  on  taxonomic  botany  in  the  graduate  School  for  Depart- 
ment Workers,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

Ellsworth  P.  Killip,  Aid  in  the  Division  of  Plants,  U.  S.  National 
Museum,  returned  in  October  from  a  botanical  collecting  trip  of  six  months 
in  Colombia  organized  by  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden,  the  Gray  Her- 
barium, the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  the  National 
Museum. 

Dr.  August  Krogh,  oceanographer,  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  winner  of  the 
Nobel  Prize  in  medicine,  1920,  is  visiting  in  Washington,  and  lectured  before 
the  Entomological  So(^iety  November  8. 

C.  P.  LouNSBURY,  entomologist  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  who  has  been 
in  official  entomological  work  for  twenty-six  years  at  Cape  Town,  is  visiting 
the  United  States  and  has  recently  been  at  the  National  Museum  and  De- 
partment of  Agriculture.  Mr.  Lounsbury  is  a  New  Englander  by  birth  and 
a  graduate  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College. 

W.  W.  RuBEY,  assistant  geologist  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  has 
been  granted  leave  of  absence  to  accept  an  instructorship  at  Yale  University 
for  the  current  year. 

Dr.  George  Otis  Smith  has  resigned  as  director  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey  in  order  to  qualify  as  a  member  of  the  Coal  Commission  appointed 
by  the  President.  Dr.  Philip  S.  Smith  has  been  appointed  acting  director 
in  the  interim. 

David  White,  who  completes  ten  years'  service  as  chief  geologist  in  the 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey  on  November  16,  will  be  relieved  of  that  duty  at 
his  own  request  and  W.  C.  Mendenhall,  for  more  than  ten  years  the  ge- 
ologist in  charge  of  the  Land  Classification  Board,  will  be  made  chief  geol- 
ogist. Mr.  Mendenhall  will  be  succeeded  as  chief  of  the  Land  Classification 
Board  by  Herman  Stabler. 


(uj  LIBRA, 

JOURNAL  X>,.!^^^" 

OF  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Vol,.  12  December  19,  1922  No.  21 


GENERAL  SCIENCE. — A  first  revised  edition  of  the  Academy  s  list 
of  one  hundred  popular  hooks  in  science}  Robert  B.  Sosman, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Popular  Books  in  Science. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1920  Dr.  George  F.  Bowerman,  Librarian  of 
the  Public  Library  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  suggested  to  the 
Board  of  Managers  of  the  Academy  the  desirability  of  having  an 
authorized  list  of  popular  and  at  the  same  time  reliable  books  in 
science  which  he  could  recommend  to  his  readers.  The  Board  thought 
well  of  the  suggestion  and  appointed  the  President  and  resident 
Vice-Presidents,  representing  the  fourteen  affiliated  societies,  as 
a  committee  to  prepare  such  a  list.  The  writer,  at  that  time  Secre- 
tary of  the  Academy  and  one  of  the  editors  of  its  Journal,  was  ap- 
pointed editor  of  the  list. 

Part  of  the  work  was  assigned  to  the  members  of  the  Committee, 
and  the  assistance  of  a  number  of  other  resident  and  non-resident 
members  of  the  Academy  was  also  requested.  The  material  thus  com- 
piled was  prepared  in  the  form  of  a  preliminary  report  and  distributed 
in  July,  1921  for  criticism.  Between  fifty  and  sixty  persons  cooperated, 
through  correspondence  or  by  personal  interview,  in  revising  this 
preliminary  list. 

The  list,  which  then  numbered  somewhat  over  one  hundred,  was 
reduced  to  an  even  hundred  by  elimination  of  the  titles  which  were 
most  in  doubt,  and  the  books  were  grouped  with  accompanying  notes 
so  as  to  make  of  the  whole  a  continuous-reading  unit.  This  was 
published  in  the  Journal,-  and  the  books  themselves  were  placed  on 
view  at  a  meeting  of  the  Academy  at  the  Public  Library  on  October  20, 
1921,  at  which  additional  criticisms  and  suggestions  were  received. 

Offprints  of  this  preliminary  publication  were  distributed  to  many 
libraries  by  Dr.  Bowerman,  and  some  useful  comments  and  sug- 
gestions were  received.     It  was  also  reprinted  in  the  Public  Library's 

1  Received  November  23,  1922. 

2  This  Journal  11:     353-366.     September  19,  1921. 

469 


470       JOURNAI,  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOX,.  12,  NO.  21 

bulletin  and  has  subsequently  been  copied  elsewhere.  The  wide- 
spread interest  indicated  in  such  a  list  led  Dr.  Bowerman  to  suggest 
that  it  be  published  by  the  American  Library  Association  in  a  form 
available  for  libraries  in  general,  and  the  preliminary  edition  above 
referred  to  has  therefore  been  revised  with  that  end  in  view. 

REVISION  OF  THE  LIST 

A  new  committee,  consisting  of  the  President  and  resident  Vice- 
Presidents  for  the  current  year,  with  the  writer  as  chairman,  was 
appointed.  As  a  preliminary  to  this  revision  the  list,  condensed 
to  author  and  title  only,  was  sent  to  all  members  of  the  Academy  in 
the  form  of  a  ballot  in  December,  1921.  The  ballot  also  contained, 
in  addition  to  the  one  hundred,  forty-five  titles  which  had  been  favor- 
ably recommended  to  the  Committee.  The  request  heading  the  ballot 
was  as  follows: 

"The  committee  in  charge  of  the  selection  wishes  to  obtain  the  best  possible 
list,  and  will  welcome  your  opinion  on  the  books  already  selected,  and  your 
suggestions  as  to  changes  which  would  improve  the  list. 

Specifications:  (1)  The  book  must  be  readable;  if  the  average  visitor  to 
the  library  takes  the  book  home,  it  will  interest  him  so  much  that  he  will 
read  it  through,  and  will  come  back  to  ask  the  librarian  for  another  on  the 
same  subject.  (2)  It  must  be  accurate;  preferably  written  by  one  who 
knows  his  subject  at  first  hand.  Minor  points  are:  (3)  up-to-dateness; 
(4)  small  bulk;    (5)  attractive  binding,  type,  and  illustrations. 

The  relative  number  of  books  in  different  branches  of  science  is  not  fixed. 
For  example,  a  good  book  in  mathematics  may  be  substituted  for  a  poor 
book  in  anthropology,  provided  anthropology  is  not  thereby  left  wholly  un- 
represented." 

About  one-fourth  of  the  resident  members  responded  with  criticisms 
and  new  titles,  and  replies  were  also  received  from  many  non-resident 
members.^  These  ballots  were  made  the  basis  of  the  new  revision. 
The  total  number  of  books  nominated  and  considered  was  323. 

A  new  feature  of  the  revision  which  the  first  committee  had  not 
had  to  consider  was  the  question  whether  books  were  in  print.  The 
larger  libraries,  when  issuing  reading  lists,  sometimes  find  it  necessary 
to  have  many  copies  of  a  book  on  hand.  Furthermore,  copies  are 
continually  being  worn  out  and  replaced,  so  that  for  wide  circulation 
it  is  important  that  the  list  contain  only  books  which  are  readily 

'  It  may  be  of  interest  in  passing  to  note  that  the  member  of  the  Academy  who  made 
the  "highest  score"  as  to  the  number  of  books  read  was  the  president  of  a  large  research 
institution,  working  in  many  fields  of  science.  He  had  read,  and  gave  opinions  upon, 
fifty-two  books  out  of  the  hundred.  The  member  who  came  next  in  order  was  a  man  who 
had  devoted  most  of  his  life  to  research  in  a  relatively  narrow  specialty. 


DEC.  19,  1922  sosman:  popular  books  in  science  471 

available.  This  problem  has  caused  the  removal  of  about  twenty- 
five  books  from  the  preliminary  list,  and  has  required  several  minor 
revisions  as  further  information  was  obtained  regarding  the  possibility 
of  reprinting  or  otherwise  securing  a  supply  of  certain  books.  The 
Committee  is  indebted  to  Dr.  Bowerman  and  the  Library  staff,  as 
well  as  to  the  American  Library  Association,  for  handling  the  con- 
siderable volume  of  correspondence  necessary  in  obtaining  up-to-date 
information  on  availability,  editions,  paging,  and  prices. 

THE  IDEAL  POPULAR  SCIENCE  LIST 

The  Committee  recognizes  that  in  giving  opinions  on  the  readability 
of  scientific  books  it  is  going  outside  its  proper  province.  Its  true 
function  should  be  to  pass  judgment  on  the  reliability  of  the  books. 
Their  readability  can  be  determined  only  by  the  reader,  and  the 
ultimate  choice  of  such  a  list  lies  with  him.  The  logical  procedure 
would  seem  to  be  to  take  several  hundred  scientific  books  which  are 
known  to  be  popular  simply  because  they  are  good  reading,  and 
select  from  among  them  the  one  hundred  which  are  the  most  reliable 
scientifically.  Unfortunately,  the  data  for  such  a  preliminary  listing 
do  not  seem  to  exist.  Perhaps  the  data  are  practically  unobtainable, 
because  of  the  large  and  unknown  influence  of  the  many  ways,  in- 
tentional or  accidental,  by  which  books  are  advertised.  But  this 
whole  question  of  how  books  become  popular  is  a  problem  outside 
the  province  of  the  Committee. 

The  Committee  has  done  its  best  to  select  one  hundred  books 
which  it  feels  fairly  sure  are  scientifically  reliable,  and  which  it  believes 
to  be  readable.  The  list  is  subject  to  revision,  and  indeed  should  be 
revised  frequently  to  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  science  and  the 
publication  of  books  better  adapted  to  the  purpose.  The  Committee 
will  welcome  opinions  and  suggestions  looking  toward  a  revision  after 
a  year  or  two  of  trial  of  the  present  list. 

In  general,  it  need  hardly  be  said  that  even  a  tried  and  tested  list 
can  never  be  completely  satisfactory,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
there  is  no  such  person  as  the  "average  reader."  Every  individual 
has  his  own  foundation  of  natural  capacity  and  education,  and  his 
own  background  of  experience  and  interests.  We  therefore  need  one 
series  of  lists  covering  all  types  of  capacity,  another  series  differentiated 
according  to  kind  and  duration  of  education,  another  series  distributed 
according  to  age  and  to  variety  of  experience,  and  still  another  adapted 
to  the  varied  types  of  man's  interests.     Provided  with  such  a  set  of 


472       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOI..  12,  NO.  21 

lists  we  could  name  twenty-five  scientific  books  which  would  be  almost 
certain  to  interest  keenly  any  given  individual.  Lacking  such  pro- 
vision, we  can  only  hope,  on  behalf  of  the  very  general  list  herewith 
submitted,  that  every  reader  who  can  be  induced  to  read  anything 
at  all  serious  will  find  on  the  list  a  few  books  which  appeal  to  him 
strongly,  and  that  none  of  the  other  books  will  give  him  the  impression 
that  science  makes  reading-matter  which  is  difficult  or  forbidding. 

BOOKS  DROPPED  FROM  THE  PRELIMINARY  EDITION 

The  following  books,  which  were  in  the  preliminary  list  published 
in  September,  1921,  have  been  dropped  for  reasons  briefly  indicated: 

Abbott,  C.  C.     Upland  and  meadow.     Out  of  print. 

Abney,  W.  de  W.     Colour  measurement  and  mixture.     Out  of  print.     Not 
well  adapted  for  popular  reading.  • 

Adolfo  Stahl  lectures  in  astronomy.     Out  of  print. 

Ames,  J.  S.     The  constitution  of  matter.     Out  of  print. 

Ball,  R.  S.     Time  and  tide.     Out  of  print. 

Bennett,  L.  F.     Rocks  and  minerals.     A  manual,  not  a  book  adapted  for 
reading. 

Buckley,  A.  B.     Life  and  her  children.     Out  of  print. 

Cole,  G.  A.  J.     The  changeful  Earth.     Out  of  print. 

Cornish,  V.     Waves  of  the  sea  and  other  water  waves.     Out  of  print. 

Darwin,  C.  The  formation  of  vegetable  mould  through  the  action  of  worms. 
Out  of  print. 

Dickson,  H.  N.     Climate  and  weather.     Out  of  print. 

DwERRYHOUSE,  A.  R.     Geology.     Out  of  print. 

Gratacap,  L.  p.  a  popular  guide  to  minerals.  A  manual,  not  adapted 
for  reading. 

Haddon,  a.  C.     The  study  of  Man.     Out  of  print. 

Hale,  G.  E.  The  study  of  stellar  evolution.  Out  of  print  and  replaced  by 
a  later  book  by  the  same  author. 

Harrington,  M.  W.     About  the  weather.     Out  of  print. 

HeadlEy,  F.  W.     Problems  of  evolution.     Out  of  print. 

Herrick,  F.  H.     Home  life  of  wild  birds.     Out  of  print. 

KiDD,  D.     Savage  childhood.     A  study  of  Kafir  children.     Out  of  print. 

LoTSY,  J.  P.  Evolution  by  means  of  hybridization.  Considered  by  some 
to  be  too  specialized  for  popular  reading.  Also  difficult  of  importation, 
being  a  Continental  book. 

Lubbock,  J.     Flowers,  fruits  and  leaves.     Out  of  print. 

MiCHELSON,  A.  A.     Light  waves  and  their  uses.     Out  of  print. 

Peckham,  S.  W.,  and  Peckham,  E.  G.  Wasps,  social  and  solitary.  Out 
of  print. 


DEC.  19,  1922  sosman:  popular  books  in  science;  473 

Perry,  J.     Spinning  tops.     Out  of  print. 

Seely,  H.  G.  The  study  of  the  Earth  in  past  ages.  Written  for  British 
rather  than  American  readers. 

Talman,  C.  F.  Realm  of  the  air.  (Title  subsequently  changed  to  Meteor- 
ology, the  science  of  the  atmosphere.)  Part  of  a  series  which  the  publishers 
would  not  promise  would  be  available  singly. 

Thorpe,  E.  History  of  chemistry.  A  two-volume  work.  Also  thought 
by  some  to  be  not  well  adapted  for  popular  reading. 

Tyndall,  J.  Fragments  of  science.  Now  obtainable  only  as  two  volumes; 
some  of  the  essays  now  out  of  date  and  incorrect  in  certain  particulars. 

Whetham,  W.  C.  D  .     The  recent  development  of  physical  science.    Out  of  print. 

The  following  titles  were  put  on  the  revised  edition  for  1922,  but 
had  to  be  removed  subsequently  because  they  were  found  to  be  out 
of  print : 

HeadlEy,  F.  W.     Life  and  evolution. 

Le  Conte,  J.  Sight:  An  exposition  of  the  principles  of  monocular  and 
binocular  vision. 

Shaler,  N.  S.     Aspects  of  the  Earth.    . 
Sternberg,  C.  H.     The  life  of  a  fossil  hunter. 

It  may  be  that  some  of  the  books  contained  in  the  two  lists  above 
are  much  better  adapted  for  popular  reading  than  some  of  the  books 
on  the  revised  list.  The  Committee  would  be  grateful  to  any  reader 
of  this  report  for  having  its  attention  called  to  such  books,  because 
if  they  are  badly  needed  there  is  a  possibility  of  having  them  reprinted, 
either  by  the  original  publisher  or  through  agreement  with  some 
other  publisher  who  may  be  willing  to  assume  the  risk  for  the  sake 
of  aiding  in  making  available  first-class  popular  science. 

As  the  complete  "first  revised  edition"  of  1922  will  soon  be  obtain- 
able through  the  American  Library  Association  and  will  probably  be 
distributed  by  several  large  libraries,  it  hardly  seems  worth  while  to 
reprint  here  the  full  list  with  accompanying  notes  and  connecting 
paragraphs.  For  convenience  of  reference,  however,  the  authors  and 
titles  of  this  latest  edition  are  reprinted  below: 

General  science: 

1.  Thomson,  J.  Arthur,  Editor.     The  outline  of  science. 

2.  Huxley,  Thomas  Henry.     Selections  from  Huxley. 
Man: 

3.  Thorndike,  Edward  L.     The  Human  Nature  Club. 

4.  James,  William.     Psychology. 

5.  WooDwoRTH,  Robert  S.     Psychology ;   a  study  of  mental  life. 


474       JOURNAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.   12,  NO.  21 

6.  OsBORN,    Henry   Fairfield.     Men   of  the   Old  Stone  Age;     their 
environment,  life  and  art. 

7.  Mason,  O.  T.     The  origins  of  invention. 

8.  Mason,  O.  T.     Woman's  share  in  primitive  culture. 

9.  Hough,  Walter.     The  Hopi  Indians. 

10.  McCoLLUM,  E.  V.     The  nevoer  knowledge  of  nutrition. 

11.  Sherman,  H.  C.     Food  products. 

12.  Eddy,  Walter  H.     The  vitamine  manual;   a  presentation  of  essential 
data  about  the  new  food  factors. 

13.  Jordan,  E.  O.     Food  poisoning. 

14.  Keen,  William  Williams.     Medical  research  and  human  welfare. 

15.  Huntington,  Ellsworth,     Civilization  and  climate. 
Heredity : 

16.  Darwin,  Charles.     The  origin  of  species. 

17.  East,  E.  M.,  and  Jones,  D.  F.     Inbreeding  and  outbreeding. 

18.  Castle,  W.  D,,  Coulter,  J.  M.,  Davenport,  C,  B.,  East,  E.  M., 
and  Tower,  W.  L.     Heredity  and  eugenics. 

19.  Morgan,  T.  H.     A  critique  of  the  theory  of  evolution. 

20.  CoNKLiN,  E.  G.     Heredity  and  environment. 

21.  Galton,  Francis.     Hereditary  genius. 

22.  PoPENOE,  Paul,  and  Johnson,  R.  H.     Applied  eugenics. 
Biology: 

23.  Thomson,  J,  Arthur.     The  wonder  of  life. 

24.  Thomson,  J,  Arthur.     The  haunts  of  life. 

25.  BouviER,  E.  L.     The  psychic  life  of  insects. 

26.  Curtis,  Winterton  C.     Science  and  human  affairs. 

27.  LocY,  William  A,     Biology  and  its  makers. 
Zoology : 

28.  Buckley,  A.  B.     The  winners  in  life's  race. 

29.  Nelson,  E.  W.     Wild  animals  of  North  America. 

30.  Roosevelt,  Theodore.     African  game  trails. 

31.  Beebe,  C.  W,     Jungle  peace. 

32.  Stone,  Witmer,  and  Cram,  W,  E.     American  animals;    a  popular 
guide  to  the  mammals  of  North  America  north  of  Mexico. 

33.  Chapman,  Frank  M.     Camps  and  cruises  of  an  ornithologist. 

34.  Fabre,  J,  H,     Social  life  in  the  insect  world. 

35.  Maeterlinck,  Maurice.     The  life  of  the  bee. 

36.  Jenkins,  Oliver  P.     Interesting  neighbors. 

37.  Blatchley,  W.  S.  .  Gleanings  from  Nature. 

38.  Mayer,  Alfred  G.     Sea-shore  life. 
Botany: 

39.  Ganong,  W.  F,     The  living  plant;    a  description  and  interpretation 
of  its  functions  and  structure. 


DEC.  19,  1922  sosman:  popular  books  in  science  475 

40.  OsTERHOUT,  W.  J.  V.     Experiments  with  plants. 

41.  SoRAUER,  Paul.     A  popular  treatise  on  the  physiology  of  plants  for 
the  use  of  gardeners  or  for  students  of  horticulture  and  agriculture. 

42.  Hardy,  Marcel  E.     The  geography  of  plants. 

43.  Darwin,  Charles.     Insectivorous  plants. 

44.  TowNSEND,  C.  W.     Sand  dunes  and  salt  marshes. 
Microscopic  life: 

45.  ValERY-Radot,  Ren^.     Louis  Pasteur,  his  life  and  labours. 
Paleontology : 

46.  Lucas,  F.  A.     Animals  of  the  past. 

47.  Hutchinson,  H.  N.     Extinct  monsters  and  creatures  of  other  days; 
a  popular  account  of  some  of  the  larger  forms  of  ancient  animal  life. 

Geology  and  geography: 

48.  Gregory,  I .  W.     Geology  of  to-day. 

49.  HawkesworTh,  Hallam.     The  strange  adventures  of  a  pebble. 

50.  Lull,  R.  S.,  and  others.     The  evolution  of  the  Earth  and  its  inhabitants. 

51.  Chamberlin,  T.  C.     Origin  of  the  Earth. 

52.  Geikie,  Archibald.     The  founders  of  geology. 

52A.^     Merrill,  George  p.     The  first  one  hundred  years  of  American 
geology. 

53.  Semple,  Ellen  Churchill.     Influences  of  geographic  environment. 

54.  Spurr,    J.    E.,    Editor.     Political   and  commercial  geology  and   the 
world's  mineral  resources. 

55.  Brigham,  Albert  P.     Geographic  in''uences  in  American  history. 
Geologic  agents: 

56.  Tyndall,  John.    The  forms  of  water  in  clouds  and  rivers,  ice  and  glaciers.. 

57.  BoNNEY,  T.  G.     The  work  of  rains  and  rivers. 

58.  BoNNEY,  T.  G.     Volcanoes,  their  structure  and  significance. 

59.  Russell,  Israel  C.     Volcanoes  of  North  America. 

60.  Davison,  Charles.     The  origin  of  earthquakes. 
Meteorology : 

61.  LEMpfert,  R.  G.  K.     Weather  science. 

62.  Ward,  R.  de  C.     Climate,  considered  especially  in  relation  to  Man, 
The  ocean : 

63.  Murray,  John.     The  ocean. 
Rocks  and  minerals: 

64.  Cole,  GrenvillE  A..  J.     Rocks  and  their  origins. 
Astronomy : 

65.  Ball,  Robert  S.     The  story  of  the  heavens. 

66.  Dyson,  F.  W.     Astronomy. 

67.  Hale,  George  E.     The  new  heavens. 

68.  Abbot,  Charles  G.     The  Sun. 

*  Now  out  of  print,  but  will  be  reprinted  in  1923,  when  it  will  replace  no.  52. 


476       JOURNAL  OF  the;  WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES        VOL.  12,  NO.  21 

69.  Lewis,  Isabel  M.     Splendors  of  the  sky. 

70.  McKready,  Kelvin.     A  beginner's  star  book. 

71.  Turner,  H.  H.     A  voyage  through  space. 

72.  Berry,  Arthur.     A  short  history  of  astronomy. 
Chemistry : 

73.  Slosson,  E.  E.     Creative  chemistry. 

74.  Hendrick,  Ellwood.     Everyman' s  chemistry. 

75.  Fuller,  Henry  C.     The  story  of  drugs. 

76.  Eabre,  Jean  Henri.     The  wonder  book  of  chemistry. 

77.  Duncan,  Robert  Kennedy.     The  chemistry  of  commerce. 

78.  Martin,  Geoffrey.     Modern  chemistry  and  its  wonders. 

79.  SoDDY,  Frederick.     The  interpretation  of  radium. 

80.  Venable,  F.  p.     a  short  history  of  chemistry. 

81.  Smith,  Edgar  Fahs.     Chemistry  in  America. 
Physics : 

82.  SoDDY,  Frederick,     Matter  and  energy. 

83.  Mills,  John.     Within  the  atom. 

84.  Einstein,  Albert.     Relativity. 

85.  Fleming,  J.  A.     Waves  and  ripples  in  water,  air,  and  aether. 

86.  Miller,  Dayton  C.     The  science  of  musical  sounds. 

87.  Bragg,  William.     The  world  of  sound. 

88.  LucKiESH,  Marion.     Color  and  its  applications. 

89.  Boys,  C.  V.     Soap  bubbles:     their  colours  and  the  forces  which  mould 
them. 

90.  Mach,  Ernst.     Popular  scientific  lectures. 

91.  SoDDY,  Frederick.     Science  and  life. 
Mathematics: 

92.  Whitehead,  A.  N.     Introduction  to  mathematics. 

93.  Conant,  Levi  Leonard.     The  number  concept,  its  origin  and  develop- 
ment. 

94.  VouNG,  John  Wesley.     Lectures  on  the  fundamental  concepts  of 
algebra  and  geometry. 

95.  Shaw,  James  Byrnie.     Lectures  on  the  philosophy  of  mathematics. 

96.  De  Morgan,  Augustus.     On  the  study  and  difficulties  of  mathematics. 

97.  Smith,  David  Eugene.     Number  stories  of  long  ago. 
History  of  science: 

98.  Libby,  Walter.     An  introduction  to  the  history  of  science. 

99.  Sedgwick,  W.  T.,  and  Tyler,  H.  W.     A  short  history  of  science. 
100.     White,  Andrew  D.     A  history  of  the  warfare  of  science  with  theology 

in  Christendom. 


DEC.  19,  1922  SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS  477 

SCIENTIFIC  NOTES  AND  NEWS 

L.  B.  Aldrich  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  is  taking  charge  of  the  solar 
observing  station  at  Montezuma,  Chile,  probably  until  1925. 

Dr.  L.  M.  EsTABROOK  of  the  Bureau  of  Agricultural  Economics,  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  will  leave  in  January  for  the  Argentine,  the  government 
of  which  has  asked  him  to  reorganize  the  economic  and  statistical  work  of  the 
similar  department  in  that  country.  During  his  absence  his  work  will  be  in 
charge  of  W.  F.  Callander. 

Dr.  Ales  Hrdlicka  has  returned  from  a  trip  to  South  America  and  Europe. 
In  Europe  he  was  enabled  to  visit  a  number  of  important  sites,  some  of  them 
new,  of  finds  of  Early  Man,  and  to  personally  examine  all  the  skeletal  remains 
of  ancient  man  discovered  since  his  European  visit  in  1912.  Among 
them  were  the  remains  of  the  Piltdown  Man,  and  the  Rhodesian  skull  recently 
discovered  in  South  Africa. 

The  Petrologists'  Club  met  on  Tuesday,  November  28.  Dr.  F.  E.  Wright 
of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory,  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington,  gave 
an  informal  illustrated  talk  on  A  geologic  trip  to  South  Africa. 

The  National  Research  Council  has  appointed  the  following  committee 
to  examine  the  project  for  the  establishment  of  a  tropical  research  station 
in  Panama:  Nevin  M.  Fenneman  (Chairman),  Chairman  of  the  Division 
of  Geology  and  Geography;  Henry  S.  Graves,  Chairman  of  the  Division  of 
States  Relations;  Frederick  P.  Gay,  Chairman  of  the  Division  of  Medical 
Science:  Raymond  Dodge,  Chairman  of  Anthropology  and  Psychology;  and 
Vernon  L.  EIellogg,  Permanent  Secretary  of  the  Council. 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME  12 

An  *  denotes  an  abstract  of  a  published  paper.  A  f  denotes  an  abstract  of  a  paper  presented  before  the 
Academy  or  an  affiliated  Society.  A  §  indicates  an  item  published  under  the  head  Scientific  Notes  and 
News. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND  AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Biological  Society  of  Washington.     Proceedings:  188,  251,  296,  313,  333. 
Botanical  Society  of  Washington.     Proceedings:  45,  136,  275,  421,  444. 
Entomological  Society  of  Washington.     Proceedings:  163,  213,  273,  319,  335,  464. 
Philosophical  Society  of  Washington.     Proceedings:  21,  186,  264,  403,  460. 
Washington  Academy  of  Sciences.     Proceedings:  139,  162,  401. 

AUTHOR  INDEX 


Adams,    L.    H.     fGraphite    and    diamond, 

stability  of.     404. 
Temperature  changes  accompanying 

isentropic,    isenergic,    and    isenkaumic 

expansion.     407. 
Aldrich,  J.  M.     t Alaska,  an  entomologist 

in.     253,  274. 
jDiptera,       estimated    number       of 

species.     337. 
Altrup,    F.    W.     Electromotive    force    of 

cells  at  low  temperatures.     64. 
AsHBROOK,     F.     G.     fFur    trade    in    the 

United  States.     189. 
Bailey,  Vernon.     fBeavers,  raising  baby. 

314. 

fWild  animals  as  pets.     334. 

Baker,    A.    C.     Amber,    two   new    aphids 

from  Baltic.     353. 

t^/)/iw,  rearing  experiments.     320. 

Ball,   E.   D.     fLeaf  hoppers,   food  plants 

and  adaptations  of.     164. 
Barber,     H.     S.     \Coleoptera,     estimated 

number  of  species.     337. 
Bartsch,    Paul.     fShipworms,    American. 

315. 
BasslER,  R.  S.     fSex  characters  in  fossils. 

190. 
Bauer,    L.    A. 

tions.     268. 
BissET,  Peter. 

tion.     46. 
Blake,  S.  F.     Acanthospermum,  new  species 

from  Galapagos  Islands.     200. 


tEarth-current    observa- 
fRoses  for  garden  decora- 


Piratinera  (Letterwood),  new  species 

of.     391. 
Bowie,  E.  H.     fFormation  and  movement 

of  West  Indian  hurricanes.     404. 
Bowie,  William.     fEarth's  crust,  yielding 

of.     269. 
Bridwell,  J.  C.  fKytorhinus,  type  of  the 

genus.     467. 
Brooks,     Alfred     H.     Scientist     in     the 

Federal  Service,  the.     73. 
Brouwer,     H.     a.     Dutch     East    Indies, 

major  tectonic  features  of.     172. 
Buchanan,     L.     L.     iColeoptera    in    bird 

stomachs.     319. 
BuscK,    August.     \Microlepidoptera,    sys- 
tematic importance  of  male  genitalia 

of.     214. 
BuSHNELL,  David,  I.,  Jr.     Ethnologic  data 

from  Louisiana.     303. 
Calvert,  E.  B.     fRadiating  the  weather. 

405. 
Caudell,    a.    N.     -fOrtJioptera,    estimated 

number  of  species.     338. 
Chapman,    F.    M.     *Ostinops    decumbens, 

unusual  types  of  variation  in.     20. 
Clark,  Austin  H.     Evolution  of  the  animal 

body.     25. 
Cobb,   N.   A.     Greeffiella,  genus  of  nema- 
todes.    299. 
Nygolaimus,   genus   of  Dorylaimidae 

(nematodes).     416. 
CoBLENTz,    W.    W.     Molybdenite,    trans- 


478 


AUTHOR  INDEX 


479 


formation   of   thermal   radiant   energy 
into  electric  current  in.     411. 

tStellar  temperatures  and  planetary 

radiation.     462. 

fTemperature  of  stars.  186. 

CowLES,  R.  P.  fChesapeake  Bay,  hydro- 
graphic  and  biological  survey  of.     317. 

Crawtord,  Donald  R.  Argentina  siliis, 
Teleostan  fish,  spiral  valve  in.     8. 

Curtis,  H.  D.  fSun,  our  nearest  star. 
139. 

Davis,  Raymond.  fDeciphering  charred 
paper  records.     461. 

DiLLER,  J.  S.  *Chromite  in  California, 
Oregon,  Washington,  and  IMontana. 
72. 

Erickson,  E.  Theodore.  Tschermigite 
(ammonium  alum)  from  Wyoming. 
49. 

Ewing,  H.  E.  iProhcrans,  seasonal  history 
of.     335. 

Fairchild,  C.  O.  fPyrometer,  an  im- 
proved disappearing  filament.     271. 

fThermo-electric  tests  for  purity  of 

metals.     266. 

Faris,  R.  L.     Sea,  some  problems  of.     117. 

Ferguson,  S.  P.  fKite,  aerological,  im- 
proved.    272. 

FiSK,  H.  W.  fDip-needle  errors  from  pivot 
defects.     21. 

FooTE,  Paul  D.  fSelection  principle, 
exception  not  explainable  by  Stark 
effect.     187. 

Gahan,  a.  B.  fChalcids,  phytophagous. 
215. 

GiDLEY,  J.  W.  fPrimates  of  the  Paleocene. 
252. 

tVertebrates,  hunting  fossil,  in  Ari- 
zona.    316. 

Gilbert,  W.  W.  fCotton,  truck  and  for- 
age plants,  breeding  for  disease  re- 
sistance.    422. 

Goldman,  E.  A.  fRats  in  the  war  zone. 
235. 

Grinnell,  Joseph.  fRapid  peering  birds. 
234. 

Hadwen,  S.     fOestridae.     322. 

Hall,  H.  M.  fTaxonomy,  synthetic 
method   in.     231. 

Hancock,  Eugene  T.  *Lignite  field.  New 
Salem,  N.  Dak.     19. 


Hann,  Raymond  M.  Calcium  fumerate 
and  maleate,  crystallographic-optical 
properties   of.     288. 

Heinly,  Helen.  Monochus  papillatus,  con- 
trol of  Helerodera  radicola  by.     367. 

Nemas,     control     of    injurious,     by 

predatory  nemas.     367. 

Heinrich,  Carl.  ■\Microlepidoptera,  sys- 
tematic importance  of  male  genitalia 
of.     214. 

Hersey,  Mayo  D.  Properties  of  matter, 
general  method  for  determining.     167. 

Heyl,  p.  R.  fFermat's  equation,  superior 
limit  of  n  in.     406. 

Hildebrand,  vS.  F.  fFish  in  relation  to 
mosquito  control.     296. 

Hitchcock,  A.  S.  fBotanical  and  agri- 
cultural notes  from  the  Orient.     444. 

fBotanical   notes    from    the   Orient. 

314. 

Teosinte  (Euchlaena),  perennial  spe- 
cies of.     205. 

HoLLiSTER,  N.  *Wild  ducks,  relative 
abundance  of,   at  Delavan,   Wis.     44. 

Hooker,  W.  A.  f  Abstracts  in  the  Record. 
336. 

Hoover,  W.  H.  fPyrometer,  improved 
disappearing  filament.     271. 

Howard,  L.  O.  fFabre's  work,  Ferton's 
review  of.     164. 

flnsects,  estimates  on  number  de- 
scribed.    336,  339. 

Howell,  A.  H.  fChipmunks,  American. 
298. 

Humphrey,  W.  J.,  fCereal  crops,  breeding 
for  disease  resistance.     422. 

Hyslop,  J.  A.  ]Anomala  orient alis,  para- 
site of.  465. 

^Glyptoscelis  squamualta,  injurious  to 

Muscat  grapes  in  Nevada.     465. 

■     ]Heterostomiis  pulicarius  injurious  to 

strawberries.     465. 

Jackson,  Hartley,  H.  T.  Sorex,  new 
species  and  subspecies  from  western 
America.     262. 

Jagger,  T.  J.  Observatories,  plea  for 
geophysical   and   geochemical.     343. 

Jonas,  Anna  I.  Lower  Paleozoic  section 
of  southeastern  Pennsylvania.     358. 

Jones,  L.  R.  fDisease  in  plants,  predis- 
position and  resistance  to.     421. 


^y/^z. 


480 


AUTHOR  INDEX 


Kendai,!,,    William    C.     Argentina    situs, 

Teleostean  fish,  spiral  valve  in.     8. 
KiLWP,     E.     P.     Passiflora,     new     species 

from    Mexico    and    Central    America. 

255. 
Passiflora,   new  species  from  Vene- 
zuela and  Ecuador.     330. 
KnowlTON,  E.  H.     fFlora  (fossil)  of  Eloris- 

sant,   Colo.     232. 
Krieger,   Louis  C.   C.     fHistory  of  my- 

cological  illustration.     276. 
Lambert,  Walter  D.     tLatitude  of  Ukiah 

(variation  of)  and  motion  of  the  Pole. 

22. 
Lincoln,  F.  C.     *Birds  of  Clear  Creek,  Colo. 

44. 
fDucks,  fall  migration  of,  from  Lake 

Scugog,  Ontario.     233. 
LooMis,  H.  F.      Trox,  Coleopterous  genus, 

new  species  of.     132. 
Mabbott,  Douglass  C.     *Food  habits  of 

American  shoal-water  ducks.     2 1 . 
Marmer,   H.   a.     *Tidal   observations  off 

entrance  to  Delaware  Bay.     43. 
Marsh,  C.  Dwight.     fLive  stock  poisoning 

by  death  camus.     297. 
— —     fPoisonous  whorled  milkweeds.     46. 
Maxon,   William  R.     Culciia,  the  genus. 

454. 

Ferns  new  to  the  Cuban  flora.      437. 

Salmnia  from  Trinidad,  new  species 

of.     400. 
McIndoo,  N.  E.     fAbdominal  appendages 

of  Termite  guest  (SpiracJitha).     319. 
Meggers,  W.  F.     fSelection  principle  ex- 
ception not  explainable  by  Stark  effect. 

187. 
fSpectrographic  tests  for  purity  of 

metals.     267. 
Metcalf,  F.  p.     Marsh  and  aquatic  plants 

of  Missouri.     307. 
MiDDLETON,  William.     \Schedius  kuvanae, 

parasite  of  gipsy  moth,  introduced  in 

Washington.     320. 
MoFFiT,   Fred   H.     *Tuxedni   Bay,    Cook 

Inlet,  Alaska,  geology  of.     72. 
MoHLER,    F.    L.     fSelection    principle   ex- 
ception not  explainable  by  Stark  effect. 

187. 
MoREY,    George    W.     Magmas,    pressure 

crystallization  in.     219. 


Norton,  J.  B.  S.     \Dahlia  varieties,  history 

of.     236. 
Oberholser,    Harry    C.     *Mutanda    or- 

nithologica.     20. 
*Birds  of  Washington  region,  Feb.- 

March.     43. 
fBreeding  waterfowl  of  Great  Plains. 

232. 
Orton,   W.   a.     ^Dahlia,  classification  of, 

and  aims  of  breeders.     235. 
Palmer,    Harold    S.     *Ground    water   in 

Southington-Granby  area.   Conn.     19. 
Palmer,  T.  S.     fBison  in  the  U.  S.     233. 

fFederal  protection  of  buffalo.     188. 

fOrigin  of   opossums   in    California. 

188. 
— —     fParrots  imported  into  U.  S.     234. 
Pardee,   J.    T.     *Chromite   in   California, 

Oregon,    Washington,    and    Montana. 

72. 
*Manganese  ore  in  Montana,  Utah, 

Oregon,    and   Washington.     71. 
PiLLSBURY,  Arthur  C.     fYosemite  Park, 

wild  flowers  and  birds  of.     296. 
PiTTiER,  H.     Dalbergia  of  Mexico  and  Cen- 
tral America    (key   and   new   species). 

54. 
PoPENOE,  Wilson.     fHunting  new  plants 

in  Central  and  South  America.     275. 
Porter,   B.   A.     fAnaphoidea  conotracheli, 

parasite    reared    from    apple    maggot. 

165. 
PosNjAK,   EuGEN.     Alkali   halides,   crystal 

structures   of.     248. 
Power,  F.  B.     fChaulmoogra  oil,  source  of. 

137. 
Putnam,  George  R.     Lighthouse  service, 

applications  of  science  and  engineering 

to.     279. 
Reeside,  John  B.,  Jr.     *Oil  prospects  in 

Washington    Co.,    Utah.     44. 
RiCKER,    P.    L.     fBreeding   of   grasses   for 

disease  resistance.     422. 
fWild  flowers  that  need  protection. 

316. 
Riley,    J.    H.     *Birds,    new,    from  Philip- 
pines and  Greater  Sunda  Islands.     44 
Riley,  Smith,     f  Nation's  game  supply,  the. 

298. 
RiTTER,  William  E.     f  Use  fulness  and  peril 

of  laboratory  method  in  biology.     318. 


AUTHOR  INDEX 


481 


Rock,  J.  F.      fChaulmoogra  oil,  source  of 

136. 
ROHWER,  S.  A.     fGalls,  Cynipid,  injurious 

and  beneficial.     215. 
fGalls,   insect,   injurious   and   bene- 
ficial.    189. 
"fHemenoptera,  estimated  number  of 

species.     336. 
Rose,   J.   N.     fCactus,   rediscovery  of   a, 

from  Haiti.     234. 

fDeerhorn  cactus.     328. 

Safford,    W.    E.      ^Dahlia,    botany    and 

chemistry  of.     236. 
^Dahlia,  origin  and  development  of. 

191. 
fFood    plants    of   ancient   America. 

162. 
Sasscer,    K.    R.     fBrown    tail    moth    in 

shipments  of  French  fruit  stocks.     213. 
ScHALLER,   WaIvDEmar  T.     GiUespite,  new- 
mineral.     7 

Sincosite,  new  mineral.     195. 

Shannon,  Earl  V.     Chlorite,  white.     239. 
Cristobalite    from    Columbia    River 

basalt  of  Spokane,  Wash.     195. 
— —     Crocidolite  from  Pennsylvania.     242. 
Shannon,    R.    C.     fClassification   of   Syr- 

phidae.     164. 
Shantz,    H.    L.     fWhite    ants    of    Africa. 

296. 
Shoultes,  Marvin  A.     Sine  e  and  cosine 

0,   values   of,  to  33  places  of  decimals. 

423. 
Shufeldt,   R.   W.     fChanges   in   skull   of 

badger  due  to  old  age.     252. 
fFlora    and    fauna    of    District    of 

Columbia.     318. 
Smyth,  F.  H.     fCalcium  carbonate,  pres- 
sures and  temperatures  in  reference  to 

fusion  of.     403. 
Snodgrass,  R.  E.     fFall  web  worm.     335. 
fResplendent       shield-bearer       and 

ribbed   cocoon  maker,  life   histories  of. 

213. 
Snyder,    T.    E.         fTermites,     estimated 

number  of  species.     338. 
Sosman,    R.   B.     First   revised   edition   of 

Academy's  list  of  one  hundred  popular 

books  in  science.     469. 
Standley,    Paui.    C.     Diospyros   conzattii, 


new  species  of  persimmon  from  Mexico. 
399. 

Steiner,  G.  Monochus  papillatus,  control 
of  Heterodera  radicola  by.     367. 

Predatory  nemas,  control  of  in- 
jurious  nemas   by.     367. 

Stose,  George  W.  Lower  Paleozoic  sec- 
tion of  southeastern  Pennsylvania. 
358. 

SvERDRUP,  H.  U.  fScientific  work  of 
Amundsen   Arctic   expedition.     270. 

Siberia,  customs  of  Chukchi  natives. 

208. 

Swales,  B.  H.  *Rare  bird  records  for 
Washington,  D.  C.     21. 

Thompson,  David  G.  *Ground  water  for 
irrigation  near  Gage,  Okla.     20. 

TiDESTROM,  Ivar.  fFloral  alphabet  of  the 
Celts.     316. 

ToLMAN,  R.  C.    tQuantum  theory,  the.    460. 

Troland,  Leonard  Thompson.  Psycho- 
physics,  the  key  to  physics  and  meta- 
physics.    141. 

Van  Orstrand,  C.  E.  Sine  6  and  cosine 
6,  values  of,  to  33  places  of  decimals. 
423. 

ViEHOEVER,  Arno.  tEdible  and  poisonous 
beans  of  Lima  type.     47. 

ViNAL,  G.  W.  Electromotive  force  of 
cells  at  low  temperatures.     64. 

Wade,  J.  S.  tEntomological  publications 
of  the  United  States  government.     335. 

WaiTE,  MerTon  B.  fBreeding  of  fruits  for 
disease  resistance.     422. 

Washington,  H.  S.  Worked  jade  pebble 
from  Copan.     387. 

Watson,  Thomas  L.  Geology  of  a  vein  of 
rutile-ilmenite.     447. 

Westgate,  L.  G.  *Chromite  in  California, 
Oregon,  Washington,  and  Montana. 
72. 

WetmorE,  Alexander.     Neotropical  birds, 

new  forms  of.     323. 
Wherry,    Edgar    T.     Calcium    fumarate 

and    maleate,    crystallographic-optical 

properties  of.     288. 
Calcium   oxalate   monohydrate,    op- 

tical-crystallographic      properties      of. 

196. 
Chlorite,  white.     239. 


482 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


Crocidolite  from  eastern  Pennsyl- 
vania.    242. 

White,  Walter  P.  fAmorphous  material 
in  metals.         404. 

fPrecision  pendulums.     187. 

Wickers,  Edward.  fPurification  of  ele- 
ments in  platinum  group.     265. 

Williamson,  E.  D.  Annealing  of  glass, 
mathematical  note   on.     1. 

fPrediction    of    solubility    relations 

under  high  pressure  from  compressi- 
bility measurements.     404. 


WooDRiNG,  Wendell  P.  Middle  Eocene 
Eoraminifera  from  Haiti.     244. 

Woodward,  R.  S.  fCalculus  of  harmonics 
and  preharmonics.         268. 

Wyckoff,  R.  W.  G.  fCrystal  structure  of 
ammonium  chloride  and  hydrazine  hy- 
drochloride.    462. 

Yerkes,  Robert  M.  fMonkeys  and  apes, 
intelligence  tests  of.     313. 

Zahn,  Charles  T.  Recording  electric 
contact,  device  for.     412. 


SUBJECT   INDEX 


Apparatus.     fAerological    kite,    improved. 
S.  P.  Ferguson.     272. 
fDisappearing   filament   pyrometer,    im- 
proved.    C.  O.  Eairchild  and  W.  H. 
Hoover.    271. 
Astronomy.     fLatitude  of  Ukiah  (variation 
of)   and  motion  of  the  Pole.     W.   D. 
Lambert.    22. 
fSun,  our  nearest  star.     H.  D.  Curtis. 
139. 
Biology.     fChesapeake  Bay,   hydrographic 
and  biologic  survey  of.     R.  P.  CowLES. 
317. 
fFish   in   relation   to   mosquito   control. 

S.   F.   HiLDEBRAND.      296. 

fFlora  and  fauna  of  District  of  Columbia. 

R.    W.    ShufeldT.     318. 
fGame  supply,  nation's.     Smith  Riley. 

298. 
fLaboratory  method  in  biology,  usefulness 

and  peril  of.     W.  E.  RiTTER.     318. 
fYosemite  Park,  wild  flowers  and  birds  of. 

A.  C.  PiLLSBURY.      296. 
Botany.     Acanthospermum,  .new  species  of 

from  Galapagos  Islands.     S.  F.  Blake. 

200. 
fAsdepias,     poisonous     species     of.     C. 

D wight  Marsh.     46. 
fBeans  of  Lima  type,  edible  and  poison- 
ous.    Arno  ViEHOEVER.     47. 
tBreeding,   plant,   for  disease  resistance. 

422. 
fCactus,  deerhom.     J.  N.  Rose.     328. 
fCactus,    rediscovery   of   a,    from   Haiti. 

J.  N.  Rose.     234. 


fCelts,   floral   alphabet  of.     Ivar  TidE- 

STROM.      316. 
fCentral    and    South    America,    hunting 

new  plants  in  for  American  horticulture. 

Wilson  Popenoe.     275. 
fCereal   crops,    breeding   for   disease   re- 
sistance.    W.  J.  Humphrey.     422. 
fChaulmoogra    oil,     source     of.     F.     B. 

Power.     137. 
fChaulmoogra     oil,     source     of.     J.     F. 

Rock.     136. 
fCotton,  truck,  and  forage  plants,  breed- 
ing   for    disease    resistance.     W.     W. 

Gilbert.    422. 
Culcita,  the  genus.     W.  R.  Maxon.    454. 
f Dahlia,  botany  and  chemistry  of.  W.  E. 

Safford.     236. 
jDahlia,    classification    of    and    aims    of 

breeders.     W.  A.  Orton.     235. 
^Dahlia,     origin    and    development    of. 

W.  E.  Safford.     191. 
jDahlia  varieties,  history  of.     J.    B.    S. 

Norton.     236. 
Dalbergia  of  Mexico  and  Central  America 

(key  and  new  species).     H.   PiTTiER. 

54. 
fDeath  camus,  live  stock  poisoning  by. 

C.  DwiGHT  Marsh.     297. 
Diospyros  conzattii,   new  species  of  per- 
simmon from  Mexico.     P.   C.  Stand- 

LEY.     399. 
fDisease    in    plants,    predisposition  and 

resistance  to.     L.  R.  Jones.     421. 
Euchlaena  fteosinte),  perennial  species  of. 

A.  S.  Hitchcock.     205. 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


483 


Botany  (Continued) 

Ferns  new  to  the  Cuban  flora.  W.  R. 
Maxon.     437. 

fFood  plants  of  ancient  America.  W.  E. 
Safford.     162. 

fFruits,  breeding  of,  for  disease  resis- 
tance.    M.    B.   Waite.     422. 

tGrasses,  breeding  of,  for  disease  resis- 
tance.    P.  L.  RiCKER.     422. 

"fHydnocarpus  anthelmintica  and  the 
source  of  chaulmoogra  oil.  J.  F. 
Rock.     136. 

Letterwood  (Piratinera) ,  new  species  of. 
S.    F.    Blake.     391. 

Marsh  and  aquatic  plants  of  Missouri. 
F.  P.  Metcalf.     307. 

tMilkweeds,  whorled,  poisonous  species 
of.     C.  DwiGHT  Marsh.     46. 

tMycological  illustration,  history  of. 
L.  C.  C.  KriEger.     276. 

fOrient,  botanical  and  agricultural  notes 
from.     A.  S.  Hitchcock.     444. 

tOrient,  botanical  notes  from.  A.  S. 
Hitchcock.     314. 

Passiflora,  new  species  of  from  Mexico  and 
Central  America.     E.  P.  Killip.     255. 

Passiflora,  new  species  from  Venezuela 
and  Ecuador.     E-  P.  Killip.     330. 

Persimmon,  new  species  of,  from  Mexico. 
P.  C.  StandlEy.     399. 

fPhaseoIus  lunatus,  edible  and  poisonous 
forms  of.     Arno  ViEhoEvER.     47. 

Piratinera,  new  species  of.  S.  F.  BlakE. 
391. 

fRoses  for  garden  decoration.  PETER 
BissET.     46. 

Salvinia,  new  species  from  Trinidad. 
W.  R.  Maxon.     400. 

-\Taraktogenos  ktirzii,  source  of  chaul- 
moogra oil.     J.  F.  Rock.     136. 

tTaxonomy,  synthetic  method  in.  H. 
M.  Hall.    231. 

Teosinte,  perennial  species  of.  A.  S. 
Hitchcock.     205. 

fWild  flowers  that  need  protection. 
P.  L.  RicKER.  316. 
Ceramics.  §Glass  provided  by  American 
Ceramic  Society  for  investigation.  216. 
Crystallography .  fAmmonium  chloride  and 
hydrazine  hydrochloride,  crystal  struc- 
ture of.     R.  W.  G.  Wyckoff.     462. 


Calcium  fumarate  and  maleate,  crystal- 
lographic-optical  properties  of.  E.  T. 
Wherry  and  R.  M.  Hann.     288. 

Calcium  oxalate  monohydrate,  optical- 
crystallographic  properties  of.  E.  T. 
Wherry.  196. 
Electricity.  Electromotive  force  of  cells 
at  low  temperatures.  G.  W.  Vinal 
and  F.  W.  Altrup.  64. 
Entomology.  fAbstracts  in  the  Record. 
W.  A.  Hooker.     336. 

fAlaska,  an  entomologist  in.  J.  M. 
Aldrich.     253,  274. 

^Anaphoidea  conotracheli,  parasite  reared 
from  apple  maggot.    B.  A.  Porter.  165. 

'fAnomala  orientalis,  parasite  of.  J.  A. 
Hyslop.     465. 

\Aphis,  rearing  experiments  in.  A.  C. 
Baker.     320. 

fBrown  tail  moth  in  shipment  of  French 
fruit  stocks.     E.  R.  Sasscer.     213. 

fChalcids,  phytophagous.  A.  B.  Gahan. 
215. 

fColeoptera,  estimated  number  of  species. 
H.  vS.  Barber.     337. 

fColeoptera  in  bird  stomachs.  L.  L.  Bu- 
chanan.    319. 

"fDiptera,  estimated  number  of  species. 
J.  M.  Aldrich.     337. 

fFabre's  work,  Ferton's  review  of.  L.  O. 
Howard.     164. 

fFall  web  worm.    R.  E.  Snodgrass.    335. 

fGalls,  insect,  injurious  and  beneficial. 
S.  A.  RoHWER.     189,  215. 

]Glyptoscelis  squamulata  injurious  to  Mus- 
cat grapes  in  Nevada.  J.  A.  Hyslop. 
465. 

fGypsy  moth,  parasite  of,  introduced 
in  Washington.  William  Middle- 
ton.     320. 

\Heterostoinus  pulicarius  injurious  to 
strawberries.     J.  A.  Hyslop.     465. 

\Hymenoptera,  estimated  number  of  spe- 
cies.    S.  A.  RoHWER.     336. 

■\Kytorhtnus,  type  of  the  genus.  J.  C. 
Bridwell.     467. 

fLeaf  hoppers,  food  plants  and  adapta- 
tions of.     E.  D.  Ball.     164. 

^ Microlepidoptera,  systematic  importance 
of  male  genitalia  of.  August  Busck 
and  Carl  Heinrich.     214. 


484 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


Entomology  (Continued) 

fMosquito   control,    fish   in   relation   to. 

S.  F.  HiLDEBRAND.      296. 
fNumber  of  described  species  of  insects, 

estimates  on.     L.    O.   Howard.     336, 

339. 
^Oestridae.     S.  Hadwen.     322. 
]Orthoptera,  estimated  number  of  species. 

A.  N.  Caudeli..     338. 
■\Proturans,   seasonal   history   of.  H.    E. 

EwiNG.     335. 
fPublications,    entomological,    of  United 

States  government.     J.S.  WadE.     335. 
fResplendent    shield-bearer    and    ribbed 

cocoon  maker,  life  histroy  of.     R.  E. 

Snodgrass.     213. 
■\Schedius    kuvanae,    parasite    of    gypsy 

moth,      introduced      in      Washington. 

William  Middleton.     320. 
^Syrphidae,    classification    of.         R.    C. 

Shannon.     164. 
fTermite    guest  (Spirachtha) ,  abdominal 

appendages  of.     N.  E.  McIndoo.     319. 
fTermites,  estimated  number  of  species. 

T.  E.  Snyder.     338. 
fTermites  (white  ants)  of  Africa.     H.  I,.. 

Shantz.     296. 
Trox,  Coleopterous  genus,  new  species  of. 

H.  F.  LooMis.     132. 
tWhite  ants  of  Africa.  H.  L.  Shantz.  296. 
Ethnology.     Chukchi    natives     of    Siberia, 

customs  of.     H.  U.  SvERDRUp.     208. 
fCelts,   floral  alphabet  of.     Ivar   TidE- 

STROM.      316. 
fFood  plants  of  ancient  Americans.     W. 

E.  Safford.     162. 
Louisiana,    new    ethnologic    data    from. 

D.  I.  BusHNELL,  Jr.     303. 
Worked  jade  pebble  from  Copan.     H.  S. 

Washington.     387. 
Evolution,     i A  phis,  rearing  experiments  in. 

A.  C.  Baker.     320. 
Geography.     fScientific  work  of  Amundsen 

Arctic    expedition.     H.  U.  SvERDRUP. 

270. 
Geology.     *Chromite  in  California,  Oregon, 

Washington,     and     Montana.     J.     S. 

DiLLER,   L.   G.  Westgate  and  J.   T. 

Pardee.     72. 
tEarth's    crust,    yielding    of.     William 

Bowie.     269. 


*Ground  water  in  Southington-Granby 
area,  Conn.     H.  S.  Palmer.     19. 

§Lehman  Caves  National  Monument, 
reservation  of.     116. 

*Lignite  field.  New  Salem,  N.  Dak.  E. 
T.  Hancock.     19. 

*Manganese  ore  in  Montana,  Utah, 
Oregon,  and  Washington.  J.  T.  Par- 
dee.    71. 

*Oil  prospects  in  Washington  Co.,  Utah. 
J.   B.  Reeside,  Jr.     44. 

Paleozoic,  Lower,  section  of  southeastern 
Penn.  G.  W.  Stose  and  Anna  I. 
Jonas.     358. 

Rutile-ilmenite,  geology  of  a  vein  of. 
T.  L.  Watson.     447. 

Tectonic  features,  major,  of  Dutch  East 
Indies.     H.  A.  Brouwer.     172. 

*Tuxedni  Bay,  Cook  Inlet,  Alaska,  geol- 
ogy of.     F.  H.  MoFFiT.     72. 
Geophysics.     fLatitude    of    Ukiah     (varia- 
tion of)  and  motion  of  the  Pole.     W.  D. 
Lambert.     22. 

Observatories,  plea  for  geophysical  and 
geochemical.     T.  J.  Jaggar.     343. 
Horticulture.     fCentral  and  South  America, 
new  plants  from  for  American  horti- 
culture.    Wilson  Popenoe.     275. 

fDahlia,  classification  of  and  aims  of 
breeders.     W.  A.  Orton.     235. 

]Dahlia  varieties,  history  of.  J.  B.  S. 
Norton.     236. 

fRoses    for    garden    decoration.     PETER 
BissET.     46. 
Hydrography.     fChesapeake    Bay,    hydro- 
graphic  and  biologic  survey  of.     R.  P. 
CowELS.     317. 

*Ground  water  for  irrigation  near  Gage, 
Okla.     D.    G.    Thompson.     20. 
Ichthyology.     Argentina     silus,     Teleostean 
fish,  spiral  valve  in.     W.  C.  Kendall 
and  D.  R.  Crawford.     8. 
Inorganic  Chemistry.     Alkali  halides,  crystal 
structure    of.     EugEn    Posnjak    and 
R.  W.  G.  Wyckoff.     248. 
Mathetnatics.     fFermat's  equation,  a  supe- 
rior limit  of  n  in.     P.  R.  Heyl.     406. 

Glass,  mathematical  note  on  annealing  of. 
E.    D.    Williamson.     1. 

Sine  0  and   cosine    d,   values    of,   to    33 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


485 


Mathematics  (Continued) 

places   of   decimals.      C.    E.   Van   Or- 

STRAND  and  M.  A.  Shoultes.     423. 
Metallurgy.     fPlatinum  group,  purification 

of    elements    in.     Edward    Wickers. 

265. 
Meteorology.     fHurricanes,    formation    and 

movement    of    West    Indian.     E.    H. 

Bowie.     404. 
tRadiating  the  weather.     E.  B.  Calvert. 

405. 
Mineralogy.     Chlorite,  white.     E.  V.  Shan- 
non and  E.  T.  Wherry.     239. 
Cristobalite  from  Columbia  River  basalt 

of  Spokane,  Wash.     E.  V.  Shannon. 

195. 
Crocidolite    from    eastern    Pennsylvania. 

E.  V.  Shannon  and  E.  T.  Wherry. 

242. 
Gillespite,  new  mineral.    W.  T.  SckallER. 

7. 
Sincosite,  new  mineral.     W.  T.  SchallER. 

195. 
Tschermigite     (ammonium    alum)     from 

Wyoming.     E.  T.  Erickson.     49. 
Necrology.     §Bell,    Alexander   Graham, 

445.     Carrigan,    William    T.,    278. 

Davis,    Charles   Henry,   278.     Fer- 

nald,  Charles  H.,  214.     Jung,  Franz 

August  Richard,  48.    Tonduz,  Adolf, 

193.     Waidner,  Charles  W.,  218. 
Oceanography.     Lighthouse  service,  applica- 
tions of   science    and    engineering    to. 

G.  R.  Putnam.     279. 
Problems  of  the  sea.     R.  L.  Faris.     117. 
*Tidal     observations     of     entrance     to 

Delaware  Bay.     H.  A.  Marmer.     43. 

Ornithology.     §Baird     Club     formed.     277. 

*Clear    Creek,    Colo.,    birds    of.     F.    C. 

Lincoln.     44. 
]Coleopt£ra     in    bird    stomachs.     L.     L. 

Buchanan.     319. 
*Ducks,      American      shoal-water,     food 

habits  of.     D.  C.  Mabbott.     21. 
fDucks,    fall    migration    of,    from    Lake 

Scugog,     Ontario.     F.     C.     Lincoln. 

233. 
*Ducks,  wild,  relative  abundance  of,  at 

Delavan,  Wis.     N.  Hollister.     44. 
*Mutanda  oniithologica.     H.   N.   Ober- 

holser.     20. 


Neotropical  birds,  new  forms  of.     AlEX. 

WetmorE.     323. 
*Ostmops    deciifubens,    unusual    types    of 

variation  in.     F.  M.  Chapman.     20. 
fParrots    imported    into    United    States. 

T.  S.  Palmer.     234. 
*Philippines  and  Greater  vSunda  Islands, 

new  birds  from.     J.  H.  RilEy.     44. 
fRapid  peering  birds.     Joseph  Grinnell. 

234. 
*Washington,    D.    C,   rare   bird   records 

from.     B.  H.  Swales.     21. 
*Washington     region,     February-March. 

H.  C.  Oberholser.     43. 
fWaterfowl    of   Great    Plains,    breeding. 
H.   N.   Oberholser.     232. 
Paleontology.     Amber,     two     new      aphids 
from  Baltic.     A.  C.  Baker.     353. 
Dictyocomus  from  Haiti.     W.  P.  Wood- 
ring.     244. 
fFlora     of     Florissant,      Colo.     F.      H. 

Knowlton.     232. 
Foraminifera  from  middle  Eocene,   from 

Haiti.     W.  P.  Woodring.     244. 
fPrimates     of     the     Paleocene.     J.     W. 

GiDLEY.     252. 
fSex  characters  in  fossils.     R.  S.  BasslER. 

190. 
fVertebrates,  hunting  fossil,  in  Arizona. 
J.  W.  GiDLEY.     316. 
Petrology.     Crystallization  pressure  in  mag- 

mus.     G.  W.  Morey.     219. 
Physics.     fCalcium    carbonate,    fusion    of, 
pressures   and   temperatures   in   refer- 
ence to.     F.  H.  Smyth.     403. 
fDip-needle    errors    from    pivot   defects. 

H.  W.  FiSK.     21. 
fGraphite    and    diamond,    stability    of. 

L.  H.  Adams.     404. 
fHarmonics  and  preharmonics,   calculus 

of.     R.  S.  Woodward.     268. 
fMetals,  amorphous  material  in.  W.  P. 

White.     404. 
Molybdenite,  transformation  of  thermal 
radiant  energy  into  electric  current  in. 
W.  W.  Coblentz.     411. 
fPrecision    pendulums.     W.    P.    WhiTB. 

187. 
Properties  of  matter,  general  method  for 
determining.     M.  D.  Hersey.     167. 


486 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


Physics  (Continued) 

tQuantum  theory,  the.  R.  C.  Tolman. 
460. 

Recording  electric  contact,  device  for. 
C.    T.    Zahn.     412. 

fSelection      principle,       exception      not 
explainable   by   Stark    effect.     P.    D 
FooTE,   F.   L.   MoHi^ER,   and  W.    F. 
Meggers.     187. 

fSolubility  relations  under  high  pressure, 
prediction  of,  from  compressibility 
measurements.  E.  D.  Williamson. 
404. 

fSpectrographic  tests  for  purity  of  metals. 
W.  F.  Meggers.    267. 

Temperature  changes  accompanying  isen- 
tropic,  isenergic,  and  isenkaumic  ex- 
pansion.    L.    H.    Adams.     407. 

fTemperature  of  stars,  estimated  from 
energy  distribution  in  spectrum.  W. 
W.  COBLENTZ.      186. 

fTemperature,  stellar,  and  planetary  ra- 
diation.    W.  W.  CoBLENTz.     462. 

fThermo-electric    tests     for     purity     of 
metals.     C.    O.   Fairchild.     266. 
Science,  General.     Abstracts  in  the  Journal, 
discontinuance    of.     136. 

fArctic  expedition,  Amundsen,  scientific 
work  of.     H.  U.  SvERDRUP.     270. 

Books  in  science,  first  revised  edition 
of  Academy's  list  of  one  hundred  popu- 
lar.    R.  B.  SosMAN.     469. 

fBooks  of  science,  readable.     138. 

Federal  Service,  the  scientist  in  the. 
A.  H.  Brooks'.     73. 

§Institute  for  Tropical  Research.     340. 

§Lehman  Caves  National  Monument, 
reservation  of.     116. 

Psychophysics,     key     to     physics     and 
metaphysics.     L.    T.    Troland.     141. 
Scientific   Notes   and    News.     23,    47,    116, 
191,  216,  276,  340,  366,  445,  468.  477. 
Technology.     Annealing  of  glass,  mathemati- 
cal note  on.     E.  D.  Williamson.     1. 

fDeciphering  charred  paper  records. 
Raymond  Davis.    461. 

fFlatinum  group,  purification  of  elements 
in.     Edward  Wickers.     265. 


fPrecision    pendulums.     W.    P.    White. 

187. 
Terrestrial  Magnetism.    t-A-mundsen's  Arctic 

expedition,   cooperation   with.     190. 
tEarth-current       observations.     L.       A. 

Bauer.     268. 
Zoology.     fBadger,    changes    in    skull    of, 

due    to    old    age.     R.    W.    ShufeldT. 

252. 
fBeavers,  raising  baby.     Vernon  BailEY 

314. 
fBison    in    the    United    States.     T.    S. 

Palmer.     233. 
fBuffalo,   Federal  protection  of.     T.   S. 

Palmer.    333. 
fChipmunks,  American.     A.  H.  HowELL. 

298. 
Evolution  of  the  animal  body.     A.   H. 

Clark.     25. 
fFur    trade    in    United    States.     F.    G. 

ASHBROOK.      189. 
Greeffiella,   genus  of  nematodes.     N.   A. 

Cobb.    299. 
fMonkeys   and    apes,    intelligence  tests. 

R.  M.  Yerkes.     313. 
Monochus  papillatus,  control  of   Hetero- 

dera    radicola    by.     G.     SteinER    and 

Helen  Heinly.    367. 
Nemas,   control   of   injurious   nemas   by 

predatory.     G.    SteinER   and    Helen 

Heinly.     367. 
Nematodes,  Greeffiella,  genus  of.     N.  A. 

Cobb.    299. 
Nematodes,    Nygolaimus,   genus   of.     N. 

A.  Cobb.     416. 
fOpossum  in  California,  origin  of.     T.  S. 

Palmer.     188. 
fRats  in  the  war  zone.     E.  A.  Goldman. 

235. 
tShipworms,  American.     Paul  BarTsch. 

315. 
Sorex,    new    species   and    subspecies   of, 

from    western    America.     H.     H      T. 

Jackson.     262. 
tWild  animals  as  pets.     Vernon  BailEY. 

334. 


Vol.  12  January  4,  1922  No.  i 


JOURNAL 


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ANNOUNCEMENTS  OF  MEETINGS 


Tuesday,  January  10.     The  Academy,  at  the  Cosmos  Club.      Program: 

Address  of  the  Retiring  President,  Ai,fred  H.  Brooks:  The  scientist  in  the    Federal 
Service. 

Tuesday,  January  10.    The  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers. 

Wednesday,  January  11.    The  Geological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at 
8  p.m. 

Thursday,  January  12.     The  Chemical  Society. 

Saturday,  January  14.    The  Philosophical  Society. 

Tuesday,  January  17.     The  Anthropological  Society. 

Wednesday,  January  18.     The  Society  of  Engineers. 


CONTENTS 

Original  Papers 

Page 

Mathematics. — ^A  mathematical  note  on  the  annealing  of  glass.    E.  D.  Wiluamson.  .      1 

Mineralogy. — Gillespite,  a  new  mineraL    Waldemar  T.  SchaixEr 7 

Ichthology. — ^Notice  of  a  spiral  valve  in  the  Teleostean  fish  Argentina  silus,  with  a 
discussion  of  some  skeletal  and  other  characters.  Wiluam  C.  Kendall  and 
Donald  R.  Crawford 8 

Abstracts 

Geology 19 

Hydrology 20 

Ornithology 20 

Proceedings 

Philosophical  Society 21 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 23 


•?;; 


Vol.  12 


January  19,  1922 


No.  2 


JOURNAL 


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OF  SCIENCES 


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BOTANICAL  SOCISTY 


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BIOLpOICAI,  30aHTV 

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PHtLOaoPBICAL  ■OCIBTV 


S.  A.  ROHWBR 

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OSOLOOICAI.  SOCISTT 

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This  Journal,  the  ofiBdal  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy ,  of  Sciences, 
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end  it  publishes:  (1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  mem- 
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in  or  entonating  from  Washington ;  (3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of 
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scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued  semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth 
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nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt  publication  is  an 
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ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Saturday,  January  21.     The  Biological  Society. 
Wednesday,  January  25.    The  Geological  Society. 
Wednesday,  January  25.    The  Medical  Society. 
Saturday,  January  28.    The  Philosophical  Society. 
Wednesday,  February  1.     The  Society  of  Engineers. 
Wednesday,  February  1.    The  Medical  Society. 
Saturday,  February  4.     The  Biological  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL^ 

Wednesday,  January  4.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum  at  8.15  p.  m., 
in  cooperation  with  the  Audubon  Society  and  Wild  Flower  Preservation  Society. 
Program:  Arthur  C.  Pn,i<SBURY:  Wild  flowers  and  birds  of  Yosemite  National  Park. 

Thursday,  January  5.  The  Entomological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  8.00  p.  m. 
Program:  W.  R.  Walton,  presidential  address:  The  entomology  of  English  poetry. 

Tuesday,  January  10.  The  Academy,  at  the  Carnegie  Institution,  at  8.15  p.  m.  Pro- 
gram: AiPRED  H.  Brooks,  presidential  address:  The  scientist  in  the  Federal  Service. 

'  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 

\ 

Original  Papers 

Page 

Zoology. — The  evolution  of  the  animal  body.     Austin  H.  Clark 25 

Geophysics. — The  latitude  of  Ukiah  and  the  motion  of  the  pole.  Walter  D.  I^ambbrt  . .     28 

Abstracts 

Oceanography 43 

Ornithology 43 

Geology 44 

ProcBEdings 
Botanical  Society 45 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 47 


Vol.  12  February  4,  1922  No.  3 


JOURNAL 


OP  THB 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  F.  Blab:s  Sidnby  Paigb  E.  D.  Williamson 

BDBSAU  Oy  PlrANT  INDUSTXT  OSOLOQICAI,   SOSVST  OSOPaTSICAI.  I,AB08AT0RT 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Harlan  S.  A.  Rohwbs 

BOTAHICAI,  SOCIBTT  ■MTOlfOLOOICAl  BOCnT* 

N.  HOLUSTBR  G.  W.  STOSB 

BIOLOOICAI,  SOCIBTT  OBOLOOICAL  BOCISTT 

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This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences, 
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Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should 
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As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  re- 
prints should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers 25 

Monthly  numbers 50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences," 
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ington, D.  C. 

European  Agent:  William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made 
within  thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Volume  I,  however,  from  July  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911  wUI  be  aent  for  $3.00      Special 
rates  are  given  to  member*  of  scientific  •ocietiet  affiliated  with  the  Academy 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFII.IATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  February  7.     The  Botanical  Society. 

Wednesday,  February  8.     The  Geological  Society. 

Wednesday,  February  8.     The  Medical  Society. 

Thursday,  February  9.     The  Chemical  Society, 

Saturday,  February  11.   Joint  meeting  of  Academy  and  Philosophical  Society. 

Tuesday,  February  14.     The  Society  of  Electrical  Engineers. 

Wednesday,  February  15.     The  Society  of  Engineers. 

Wednesday,  February  15.     The  Medical  Society. 

Thtusday,  February  IG.    The  Academy. 

Saturday,  February  18.     The  Biological  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL' 

Tuesday,  January  10.  Joint  Meeting  of  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  and 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  at  the  Interior  Department,  at  8  p.m. 
Program:  Henry  Flood,  Jr.:  The  super-power  system.  ly.  E.  Imlay:  Hydro- 
electric developments.  N.  W.  Storer:  The  super-power  system  from  tlie  standpoint  of 
electrification. 

Thursday,  February  2.  Joint  meeting  of  the  Academy  and  the  Geological  Society,  at  the 
Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program:  H.  A.  Brouwer,  of  the  University  of  Delft: 
The  major  tectonic  features  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies. 

'  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 

Originai,  Papers 

Page 

Minerology. — Tschermigite    (Ammonium    Alum)    from    Wyoming.     E.    ThEODorb 
Erickson 49 

Botany. — On  the  species  of  Dalbergia  of  Mexico  and  Central  America.     H.  Pitti^r.  ...     54 

Electricity. — Electromotive  force  of  cells  at  low  temperatures.     G.  W.  Vinai.  and 
P.  W.  Altrup 64 

Abstracts 
Geology 71 


Vol.  12  February  19,  1922  No.  4 


JOURNAL 


OP  THS 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 

S.  F.  Blake  Sidney  Paige  E.  D.  Williamson 

BDRSAD  OP  PLANT  fNDUSTST  OSOLOOICAI,   SDRV8T  OBOPBT3ICAL  LABORATORY 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Hari^n  S.  a.  Rohwbr 

BOTANICAL  SOCIBTV  ■MTOIfOLOOICAL  SOCISTt 

N.  HOLUSTBR  G.  W.  Stoss 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIBTV  OlOLOOtCAL  lOCIBTV 

W.  F.  Meggers        „  J.  R.  Swanton 

PHiLOSopmcAL  socisry  anthropolooical  aociSTr 


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in  ScctioB   1103,  Act  of  October  3,   1917.        Aothoriaed  on   TnlT  3,    1918. 


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This  Journal,  the  official  orgsin  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences, 
aims  to  present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this 
end  it  publishes:  (1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Academy;  (2)  short  abstracts  of  current  scientific  literature  published 
in  or  emanating  from  Washington;  (3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of 
the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4)  notes  of  events  connected  with  the 
scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued  semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth 
and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer  when  it  appears  on  the 
nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt  publication  is  an 
essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should 
be  clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes. 
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References  should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text 
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200 

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250 

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6.06 

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12.12 

3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive 
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The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00*    - 

Semi-monthly  numbers 25 

Monthly  numbers 50 

i?em«tfa«c«5  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences," 
and  addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

European  Agent:  William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — ^The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made 
nithin  thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

*Velninc  I,  tiowever,  from  July  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911  wUl  be  tent  for  13.00.     Special 
rates  arc  giTeo  to  membera  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  February  21.     The  Anthropological  Society. 
Wednesday,  February  22.    The  Geological  Society. 
Satiyday,  February  25.     The  Philosophical  Society. 
Wednesday,  March  1.     The  Society  of  Engineers. 
Thursday,  March  2.     The  Entomological  Society. 
Saturday,  March  4.     The  Biological  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL.^ 

Thursday,  January  12.  The  Chemical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
Wm.  Bi,um  (Presidential  Address) :  Researches  on  the  elect rodeposition  of  metals,  7vith 
reference  to  the  electrotyping  and  electroplating  industries. 

Tuesday,  January  17.  The  Anthropological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  4.45  p.m. 
Program:    F.  Wilson  Popenoe:    Identifying  Guatemalan  Indians  by  their  costumes. 

Saturday,  January  21.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
S.  F.  HiIvDEbrand:  Fish  in  relation  to  mosquito  control.  H.  L.  Shantz:  Notes  on  the 
white  ants  of  Africa.     C.  D.  Marsh:    Livestock  poisoning  by  deathcamas. 

Satiu-day,  January  28.  Joint  meeting  of  the  Academy  and  the  Philosophical  Society,  at 
the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8.15  p.m.  Program:  L.  T.  Troland:  Psychophysics  as  the 
key  to  metaphysics. 

Thursday,  February  2.  The  Entomological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  8  p.m. 
Program:  R.  E.  Snodgrass:  The  fall  webworm.  J.  S.  Wade:  On  the  entomological 
publications  of  the  United  States  Government. 

Saturday,  February  4.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8. 15  p.m.  Program : 
Smith  Rii^ey:  The  Nation's  game-supply.  A.  H.  HowEiviv:  The  relationship  and 
distribution  of  American  chipmunks.     Vernon  Bailey:    Raising  baby  beavers. 

'  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


1 


CONTENTS 

Originai,  Papers 

Page 

General  Science.— The  Scientist  in  the  Federal  Service.     Alfred  H.  Brooks 73 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 116 


Vol.  12  March  4,  1922  No.  5 


JOURNAL 


OV  THB 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  F.  Blakb  Sidney  Paigb  E.  D.  Williamson 

BtTSBAU  OP  PLANT  INDUSTKV  OBOLOOICAL   9DRVKV  OSOPHTSICAL  LABOKATORY 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Harlan  S.  A.  Rohwhs 

BOTAMCAl  SOCXBTV  BNTOMOLOOICAL  BOCIBTI 

N.  HOLUSTBR  G.  W.  ST0S5 

BIOLOGICAL  SOCIBTT  OBOLOOICAL  ■OCIBTY 

W.  F.  MaCGBRS  J.  R.  SWANTON 

PHILOSOPHICAL  90CIBTV  ANTHBOPOLOOICAL  tOCtBTy 


PUBLISHED  SBMI-MONTHLT 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

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Act  of  Angust  24,   1912.     Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  proridsd   fat 

io  Section   1103,  Act  dl  October  3.   1917.        Authorised  on   Tnly  3,    1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences, 
aims  to  present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this 
end  it  publishes:  (1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Academy;  (2)  short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in 
or  emanating  .from  Washington;  (3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of 
the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4)  notes  of  events  connected  with  the 
scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued  semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth 
and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer  when  it  appears  on  the 
nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt  publication  is  an 
essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should 
be  clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes. 
The  editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors. 
References  should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text 
figures  or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations 
must  be  met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  «ent  to 
authors  unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form; 
the  editors  will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will 
receive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many 
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the  following  schedule  of  prices: 


Copie« 

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260 

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12.12 

3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive 
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The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers 25 

Monthly  numbers 50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences," 
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ington, D.  C. 

European  Agent:  William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made 
iiithin  thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Volume  I,  hoirever,  from  July  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911  wUl  be  tent  for  $3.00.     Special 
rates  are  given  to  membera  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  March  7.     The  Botanical  Society. 
Wednesday,  March  8.     The  Geological  Society. 

Thursday,  March  9.     The  Chemical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m. 
Program : 

P.  L.  GiLE:    Soil  colloids. 

C.  S.  Scofield:    The  effect  of  alum  on  silicate  colloids. 

Saturday,  March  11.     The  Philosophical  Society. 
Tuesday,  March  14.     The  Society  of  Electrical  Engineers. 
Wednesday,  March  15.     The  Entomological  Society. 
Thursday,  March  16.    The  Academy. 
Saturday,  March  IS.     The  Biological  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL' 

Thursday,  February  16.  Joint  meeting  of  the  Academy  and  the  Anthropological  Society, 
at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8.15  p.m.  Program:  H.  V.  Sverdrup:  Customs  of  the 
Chukchi  natives  of  northeastern  Siberia. 

vSaturday,  February  18.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Pro- 
gram:   R.  M.  Yerkes:    The  behavior  of  monkeys  and  apes. 

'  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting 


CONTENTS 

Original  Papers 

Page 

Oceanography. — Some  problems  of  the  sea.     R.  L.  Faris 117 

Entomology. — New  species  of  the  coleopterous  genus  Trox.    H.  F.  Loomis 132 

Abstracts 
'  (See  note,  136) 

Proceedings 

Botanical  Society 136 

Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 139 


Vol.  12  March  19,  1922  No.  6 


JOURNAL 


OF  THB 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  P.  Blakb  Sidnbt  Paigb  E.  D.  Wiuiahsok 

aOBBAD  0»  PLAMT  DtDUBntT  OSOUXIICAI,   SCBVav  OSOPHTSaCAI.  LABOSATOST 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Hau^m  S.  A.  RoHWBK 

BOTAincAi  •oGisrr  siiTOMOLoaicAL  •oenri 

N.  HOLUSTBR  G.  W.  Stosb 

BIOLOGICAL  aoCIBTT  OBOLOOICAL  ■OCnTT 

W.  P.  MBGG8RS  J.  R.  SWAMTON 

PRILOSOPBJCAL  •OCIBTT  AMTHKOPOLOOICAL  aocmrr 


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Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy   of  Sciences 

This  JocKNAL,  the  oflScial  organ  ot  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences, 
aims  to  present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this 
end  it  publishes:  (1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Academy;  (2)  short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in 
or  emanating  from  Washington;  (3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of 
the  Academy  and  aflfiliated  Societies;  (4)  notes  of  events  connected  with  the 
scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  JouRNAt  is  issued  semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth 
and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer  when  it  appears  on  the 
nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt  publication  is  an 
essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Jocrnal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should 
be  clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes. 
The  editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors. 
References  should  appear  culy  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text 
figures  or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  forillustrations 
must  be  met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to 
authors  unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form; 
the  editors  will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  artide  will 
receive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many 
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250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

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Semi-monthly  numbers 25 

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Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences," 
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Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made 
within  thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Volume  I,  kowever,  from  July  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911  will  be  sent  for  >3.00.     Special 
rates  are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy 


ANNOUNCEMENTS  OF  MEETINGS  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  March  21.     The  Anthropological  Society. 
Wednesday,  March  22.     The  Geological  Society. 
Saturday,  March  25.     The  Philosophical  Society. 
Saturday,  April  1.     The  Biological  Society. 
Tuesday,  April  4.     The  Botanical  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISvSUE  OP  THE  JOURNAL' 

Monday,  February  20.  The  Geological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club.  Program:  H.  D. 
Miser  and  C.  S.  Ross:  Diamond-bearing  peridotite  in  Arkansas. 

Tuesday,  February  21.  The  Anthropological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  4.45 
p.m.     Program:    J.  C.  Merriam:    The  ultimate  significance  of  the   Calaveras   skull. 

Thursday,  March  2.  The  Entomological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  8  p.m. 
Program:   Notes  and  exhibition  of  specimens. 

Saturday,  March  4.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program : 
Vernon  Bailey:  The  raising  of  baby  beavers.  Paul  BarTsch:  The  American  ship- 
tvorms  and  their  economic  importance. 

Tuesday,  March  7.  The  Botanical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
RuDOLP  KuRAz:  Fruit  growing  and  forestry  in  Czecho  Slovakia.  David  Lumsden: 
Raising  orchid  seedlings  by  the  use  of  a  symbiotic  my  cor  rhizal  fungus. 

1  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 

ORiGiNAt  Papers 

Page 

General  Science.— Psychophysics  as  the  key  to  the  mysteries  of  physics  and  of  meta- 
physics.      Leonard  Thompson  Troland 141 

Proceedings 

Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 162 

Entomological  Society 163 


Vol.  12  April  4,  1922  No.  7 


JOURNAL 


OF   THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  P.  Bi«AKB  SiDNBT  Paiob  B.  D.  Wiu,iauson 

BURBAO  or  K.ANT  IMOUSTKT  OSO(,OOICAI,    SDSTSV  OaOPBTaiCAI,  LABORATOST 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Harlam  S.  a.  Rohwsb 

BOTAinCAL  aOCIKTT  ■MTOMOLOOICAL  aOCmTT 

N.  HOLUSTBR  G.  W.  Stoss 

BIOLOGICAL  90CIBTT  OlOLOOICAb  ■OCIBTT 

W.  P.  MBG08KS  J.  R.  SWAMTOM 

PKU.OSOVRICAL  aoCtSTV  AHTaBOPOLOOICAl,  MMiaTT 


PUBUSHBD  SSMI-MONTHLT 
SXCSPT  IN  JXTLT,  A0O08T,  AND  SSPTBUBBK.  WHBN  UONTHLT 

BT  TBI 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

OPPICB  OF  PUBUCATION 

211  CHURCH  STRBET 

BASTON,    PA. 

Entered   as    Second    Class    Matter,    January   26,    1919,    at    the    post-office   at    Eastoa,  P«.,  under   the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postagre  provided  for 
in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorized  on  July  3,    1918. 


v^\ 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  JotTRNAL,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washingfton; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  t5T)ewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  tmdertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

A  uthors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices : 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

.50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

♦Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  afHliated  with  the  Academy. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY  AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Wednesday,  April  5.    The  Society  of  Engineers. 

Thursday,  April  6.    The  Entomological  Society. 

Saturday,  April  8.    The  Philosophical  Society. 

Tuesday,  April  11.     The  Society  of  Electrical  Engineers. 

Wednesday,  April  12.     The  Geological  Society. 

Thursday,  April  13.    The  Chemical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m. 
Program  : 

A.  M.  Houghton:  What  is  a  patent? 

W.  B.  Johnson:  The  chemist  and  the  Patent  Office. 
Saturday,  April  15.    The  Biological  Society. 
Tuesday,  April  18.     The  Anthropological  Society. 
Wednesday,  April  19.     The  Society  of  Engineers. . 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISvSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL^ 

Thursday,  March  16.  Joint  meeting  of  the  Academy  and  the  Chemical  Society,  at  th« 
Cosmos  Club,  at  8.15  p.m.  Program:  R.  B.  Moore:  The  rare  gases:  their  history, 
properties,  and  uses. 

Saturday,  March  18.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
Paui,  Bartsch:  The  American  shipworms  and  their  economic  importance.  Ivar 
Tidestrom:  The  floral  alphabet  oj  the  Celts. 

^  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 

Original  Papers 

Physics. — Note  on  a  general  method  for  determining  properties  of  matter.  Mayo  D. 

Hersey 167 

Geology. — The  major  tectonic  features  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies.     H.  A.  Brouwer.  .     172 

Proceedings 

Philosophical  Society 186 

Biological  Society 188 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 191 


Vol.  12  April  19,  1922  No.  8 


JOURNAL 


OF   THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  P.  Blaks  Sidn9t  Paigs  E.  D.  Wiixiamson 

BDRBAO  0»  FbAVT  UfDUSTKT  OaoUMICAL   SOSVST  aaOVBTSICAI,  LABOa4TOKT 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Hari^m  S.  a.  Rohwbr 

BOTAmCAl  aoCIBTT  ENTOMOI,OGICAL  SOCI8TY 

N.  HOIXISTBS  G.  W.  ST088 

BIOLOOICAt  SOaSTT  GSOLOGICAi;  SOCISTy 

W.  p.  Mbgobrs  J.  R.  Swamton 

nmOSOraiCAI,  lOCtaTT  ANTHROPOLOOrCAt  socibty 


PUBU8HBO  SBMI-HONTHLT 
SXCBPT  IN  JXTLY.  AUOUST,  AND  SBPTBICBSR,  WHKN  MONTHLY 

BT  TRB 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

OFFICB  OP  P0BUCATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 

BASTON,   PA. 

Entered   as   Second    Class    Matter,    January   25,    1919,   at    the    post-oflSce   at    Easton,  P».,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided   fof 
in  Section   1103,   Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorired  on  July  3,    1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  pubhshes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed.  • 

A  uthors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covera 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12,  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Serai-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers 50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  U.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 
,  Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

*Voluine  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Thursday,  AprU  20.    The  Academy,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m. 

Saturday,  April  22.     The  Philosophical  vSociety. 

Wednesday,  April  26.    The  Geological  Society. 

vSaturday,  April  29.    The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m. 

Program : 

W.  E.  RitTBr:     The  usefulness  and  the  peril- of  laboratory  methods  in 
biology. 

Tuesday,  May  2.     The  Botanical  Society. 
Thursday,  May  4.     The  Entomological  vSociety. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL* 

Wednesday,  March  29.  Joint  meeting  of  the  Academy,  the  Philosophical  Society,  and  the 
Chemical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program:  F.  W.  Aston:  Isotypes 
and  the  structure  of  the  atom. 

Saturday,  April  1.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
P.  Iv.  Ricker:  Wild  flowers  that  need  protection.  J.  W.  Gidley:  Hunting  fossil  verte- 
brates in  southeastern  Arizona. 

Thursday,  April  6.  The  Entomological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  8  p.m. 
Program :     Notes  and  exhibition  oj  specimens. 

'  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meetiii,';. 


CONTENTS 

Page 
Original  Papers 

Mineralogy. — Smcosite,  a  new  mineral.     Waldemar  T.  SchallER 195 

Mineralogy. — Cristobalite  from  the  Columbia  River  Basalt  of  Spokane,  Wash.     Earl 

V.  Shannon 195 

Crystallography. — Review    of   the    optical-crystallographic    properties    of    calcium 

oxalate  monohydrate.     Edgar  T.  Wherry 196 

Botany. — ^Two  new    species    of    Acanthospermum    from    the    Galapagos   Islands. 

S.  F.  Blake 200 

Bptany. — A  perennial  species  of  teosinte.     A.  S.  Hitchcock 205 

Ethnology. — Customs      of      the      Chukchi     natives      of     northeastern     Siberia. 

H.  U.  SvERDRUP 208 


Proceedings 

Entomological  Society 213 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 216 


Vol.  12  May  4,  1922  No.  9 


JOURNAL 


OF   THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  F.  Blakh  Sidnsy  Paiob  B.  D.  Whxiamson 

BUUAO  or  rLAMT  UrOOITKT  OSOUiOICAI.   SOBVST  OSOFRTSICAI,  LABOBATOST 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Haioam  S.  a.  Rohwbs 

BOTAWICAI.  aoCIBTT  BNTOMOI<OGICAU  SOCIBTV 

N.  HOLUSTBS  G.  W.  STOS8 

BIOLOOICAI,  SOCIBT*  GBOLOGICAL  SOCIBTV 

W.  p.  M4G0BR3  J.  R.  Swantoh 

raiLOSorBicAL  •ocibty  antbropolootcal  societv 


PTTBUSBBD  SSMI-MONTHLT 
8ZCBPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST.  AND  SEPTBMB8R,  WHEN  MONTHLT 

BY  THB 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

OFFICB  OP  PUBUCATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 
SASTOM,   PA. 

Entered   a*   Second   Class    Matter,   January   25,    1919,   at   the   post-office   at    Baston,  Pa.,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailin!;  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided   for 
in  Section   1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorized  on  July  3.    1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes; 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  foiulh  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  imdertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  fimiished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

♦Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy, 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF   THE    ACADEMY   AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Saturday,  May  6.     The  Philosophical  Society. 

Tuesday,  May  9.    The  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers. 

Wednesday,  May  10.     The  Geological  Society. 

Thursday,  May  11.     The  Chemical  Society. 
Program : 
H.  C.  Fuller:     The  chemist  and  the^ druggist. 

Saturday,  May  1.1.     The  Biological  Society. 
Thursday,  May  18.    The  Academy. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL' 

Tuesday,  April  11.  The  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  7.45  p.m. 
Program:  O.  C.  MERRILL :  Power  development  of  the  Colorado  River  and  its  relation 
to  irrigation  and  flood  control. 

Saturday,  April  15.  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
R.  W.  ShuFELDT:  Obsenations  on  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
R.  P.  CowLEs:     A  hydrographic  and  biological  survey  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Tuesday,  April  18.     The  Anthropological  Society,  at  the  National  Museum,  at  4.45  p.m. 
Program :     Annual  meeting  for  election  of  officers. 
'  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meetiTr:?. 


CONTENTS 

Original  Papers 

Page 

Petrology. — The  development  of  pressure  in  magmas  as  a  result  of  crystallization 

George  W.  Morey 219 

PROCEEDINGS 

Biological  Society 231 

Botanical  Society 235 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:    W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:    Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:    William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:     R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12  May  19,  1922  No.  10 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  P.  BuiKB  SiDNsr  Paigb  E.  D.  WnxiAMSON 

BOaSAO  09  PLANT  IKDOSTBT  OBOLOOICAI,   8UKWT  OaOPHTSICAI,  LABOKATOKT 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Hari^m  S.  a.  Rohwsb 

aOYAmCAL  •OCIBTT  SNTOMOUOGICAl,  SOCIBTV 

N.  HoiXISTBR  G.  W.  Stoss 

■lOLOOICAI,  SOCI8TT  GBOLOOICAl,  SOCIETY 

W.  p.  MSQOSKS  J.  R.  SWAJfTOM 

raiLOBOPBICAl,  aOCIBTV  ANTHROPOLOGICAI,  socibtv 


PUBUSHBD  SBMI-MONTHLT 
8XCBPT  IN  JULT,  AUOUST,  AND  SBPTBUBBK.  WHBN  MONTHLT 

■V  TBI 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

OPVICB  OP  PtTBUCATION 

21 1  CHURCH  STREET 

BASTON,   PA. 

Entered   as   Second    Class    Matter,   January   25,    1919,   at   the   post-ofiBce  at   Baston,  Pa.,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1012.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 
in  Seetion  1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorized  on  July  3,    1018. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  ofiflcial  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  9f  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journai,  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fomth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.~^  10  pp.  9<>vers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

♦Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


^y. 


ANNPUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Saturday,  May  20.     The  Philosophical  Society. 
Wednesday,  May  24.     The  Geological  Society. 
Saturday,  May  27.    The  Biological  Society. 
Thursday,  June  1.     The  Entomological  Society. 


SPECIAL  NOTICE 


Members  of  the  Chemical  Society  will  make  an  excursion  to  the  Endless 
Caverns  near  New  Market,  Virginia,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  leaving  Union 
Station,  Washington,  Sunday,  June  11,  at  8.00  a.m.,  returning  the  same  day. 
These  caverns  are  extensive  and  are  said  to  contain  many  remarkable  geologi- 
cal formations.  The  railway  rate  is  $2.50  round  trip,  motor  conveyance 
$1.00.  Dinner  at  the  Caverns,  if  desired,  $1.00.  Members  of  the  Academy 
and  affiliated  societies  and  their  friends  are  cordially  invited  to  join  in  the 
excursion.  The  train  arrives  at  12.15;  returning,  leaves  New  Market  6.00 
p.m.,  arriving  at  Washington  10.15  p.m. 


CONTENTS 

Original  Papers 

Page 

Mineralogy. — Notes  on  white  chlqrites.     Earl  V.  Shannon  and  Edgar  T.  Wherry.     239 

Mineralogy. — Crocidolite  from  eastern  Pennsylvania.     Edgar  T.  Wherry  and  Eari, 

V.  Shannon 242 

Paleontology. — Middle  Eocene  Foraminifera  of  the  genus  Dictyocomis  from  the  Repub- 
lic of  Haiti.     Wendell  P.  Woodring 244 

Inorganic  Chemistry. — The  crystal  structures  of  the  alkali  halides.     Eugen  Posnjak 

AND  Ralph  W.  G.  Wyckoff 248 

PROCEEDINGS 
Biological  Society 251 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:    W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:    Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:    William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:    R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12  June  4,  1922  No.  11 


JOURNAL 


OF   THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
S.  F.  Blakb  Sidnht  Paigb  E.  D.  Wuxiamson 

BDUAO  0»  9LAm  INDOaTST  OBOLOOICAL   BDB«VY  aaOFRTSICAI,  LABOKATOST 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Haxi^n  &  A.  ROHWSK 

SOTAHICAL  90CISTT  BNTOMOLOOICAL,  SOCIBTV 

N.  HOUUSTSB  G.  W.  STOS8 

BIOIOOICAL  SOCtSTI  GSOLOOICAI.  SOCIBTV 

W.  F.  MSGOSKS  J.  R.  SWANTOM 

rBK.OSOrRICAI,  SOCISTT  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 


PUBUSHBD  SSm-HONTHLT 
8XCBPT  IN  JtfLY,  AUOCST,  AND  SSPTBlfBSK,  WHSK  MONTHI.T 

BY  TBB 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OVPICB  OF  PtTBUCATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 

SASTON,    PA. 

Entered    as    Second    Class    Matter,    January    25,    1919,   at    the    post-ofiSce   at  'Easton,  Pa.,  under   the 
Act  of  August  24,   1912.      Acceptance  for  mailin?  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 
In  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorized  on  July  3,    1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes; 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

,  Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices : 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Fans,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Volnme  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19, 1911,  will  be  sent  for.^a.OO.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  memberi  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


■■I 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papsrs 

'  Pafre 

Botany. — New  Passifloras  from  Mexico  and  Central  America.     E.  P.  Killip 2.55 

Zoology. — New   species   and  subspecies  of  Sorex  from  western  America.     Hartley 
H.  T.  Jackson 2G2 

Proceedings 

Philosophical  Society 264 

Entomological  Society .  273 

Botanical  Society 275 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 270 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:    W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Btireau. 
Corresponding  Secretary;    Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:    William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:     R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12  June  19,  1922  No.  12 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 

» 

OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 

S.  P.  Bl,AKS  SiDNKT  PaIGS  E.  D.  WuXIAXaON 

BnBKAD  Oy  PLAMT  UrDOMKT  OBOLOOICAI.   aDKVST  OSOPHTaiCAI,  I.ABOKATOXT 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Harlam  S.  a.  Rohwbs 

BOTAmCAL  SOaSTT  SNTOUOLOOICAI,  SOCISTT 

N.  HoixisTss  G.  W.  Stosb 

BIOLOOICAL  lOCIITT  QSOLOGICAL  SOCI8TY 

W.  p.  MSG0BR3  J.  R.  Swantom 

PBtLOBOPBICAL  SOCISTT  ANTHROPOLOQICAI^  SOCIBTY 


PUBUSHBD  SSm-UONTHLT 
BXCBPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SSPTBUBSR,  WHBN  HOMTBLT 

BY  THl 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES 


0p9icb  op  pubucatiom 

211  Church  strbbt 

baston,  pa. 

Entered   m  5>econd    Class    Matter,   January  25,    1919,  at   the   post-oflBce  at   Baston,  Pa.,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 
in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorized  on  July  3,    1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

*  This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  caimot  undertake  to  do*more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices : 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50     ■ 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88           1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers -25 

Monthly  numbers -50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue, 

♦Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19, 1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


CONTENTS 
Originai,  Papers 

Page 

Oceanography . — The  applications  of  science  and  engineering  in  the  work  of  the  United 

States  Lighthouse  Service.     George  R.  Putnam 279 

Crystallography. — Crystallographic -optical    properties    of    calcium    fumarate    and 

maleate.     Edgar  T.  Wherry  and  Raymond  M.  Hann 288 

Proceedings 
Biological  Society 290 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:    W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:    Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  vStandards. 
Recording  Secretary:    William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:    R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


V>' 


Vol.  12  July  19,  1922  No.  13 


JOURNAL 


OP  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 

S.  F.  Bl,AKB  "^IDNBY  PaIOB  E.  D.  WnXIAUSON 

bursao  or  puiirr  ian>nmy  osobooicAi.  subwv  osopBysiCAL  labobatokt 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  Hakjuan  S.  a.  Robwbs 

BOTAVICAt,  SOCntTT  ENTOMOLOGICAL  SOCIBTV 

N.  HOLUSTBB  G.  W   Stosb 

UOIXtOICAl,  lOCIBTT  GBOLOGICAL  SOCISTy 

W.  F.  M90G8K3  J.  R.  SWAMTOM 

rrnXLOBOtBlCAM,  ■OCIVTT  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  SOCIBTV 


PUBLISBBD  SSMI-MONTHI.T 
KCCBPT  IN  JtrtY,  ACOUST,  AND  SSPTBMBBKl,  WHBN  MONTHLY 

BY  THI 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES 


OFnCB  OP  PUBUCATION 

311  CHURCH  STREET 
BA3TON,    PA 

Entered    us    Second    Class    Matter,    January    25,    1919,   at    the    post-office    at    Easton,  Pa.,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptani-e  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 
in  Section   1103,   Act  of  October  3,    1917.      Authorized  on   July  3,    1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volimies  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editor^;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figiu-es 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re 
ceive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.     Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.60 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  ftunished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript.  / 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers -25 

Monthly  numbers -50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washmgton.  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  Loudon. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

♦Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


^ 


CONTENTS 

Original  Papers 

Zoology.— Greeffiella  (Trichoderma  Greeff,  1869;  not  Trichoderma  Steph.  1835).  W.  A. 

^  Cobb 299 

Ethnology. — Some  new  ethnologic  data  from  Louisiana.     David  I.  Bushnell,  Jr.  .  . .  303 

Botany. — Notes  on  marsh  and  aquatic  plants  of  Missouri.     F.  P.  Metcalf 307 

Proceedings 

Biological  Society 313 

Entomological  Society 319 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 

President:'    W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:    Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:    Wii^liam  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:    R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12  August  19,  1922  No.  14 


JOURNAL 


OI^  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 

S.  P.  BI.AK8  SiDNBT  PaIOB  E.  D.  WoXIAlfSON 

BDUAU  0»  WLAMT  tmVVWnt  OSOLOOICAb   SURVaT  OaoraTSICAI.  bABOKATOKT 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 

H.  V.  HakmiK  S.  a.  Rohwb> 

BOTAKICAI.  aoaSTT  SNTOMOLOOICAL  SOCISTV 

N.  HOXJUSTSR  G.  W.  Stoss 

BIMOOICAI,  aOCIBTV  OSOLOOICAt  SOCIETY 

W.  p.  MsooORS  J.  R.  Swaktom 

nOLOSOVmeAL  tOCUYT  ANTaROPOI.OOICAI,  SOCIBTY 


PUBUSHBD  SSia-MONTHLT 
CXCBPT  IN  JUI,T,  AU0TT8T,  AND  aSPTSMBBR,  WHBN  MONTBIT 

B7  TBB 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

OWICS  or  PUBUCATIOM 

211  CHURCH  STRBBT 

BASTGN.   FA. 

Entered   m    Second    Class    Matter,    January   2S,    1919,   at   the   post-office   at   Baston,  Pa.,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  prorided  for 
h»  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917.     Authorised  on  July  3,    1818. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  cxurent  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  w|ll  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re 
ceive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.     Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6,66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .60 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

*Volnme  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19, 1911,  will  be  sent  Cor  S3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


CONTENTS 

.  Original  Papers 

I  Page 

Zoology. — New  forms  of  Neotropical  birds.     AlExande;r  Wetmore 323 

Botany. — The  two  species  of  deerhorn  cactus.     N.  I,.  Britton  and  J.  N.  Rose.  .  . .     328 
Botany. — Three  new  species  of  Passiflora  from  Venezuela  and  Ecuador.     E.  P.  Killip  .     330 


Proceedings 

Biological  Society 333 

Entomological  Society 335 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 340 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:    W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:    Francis  B.  SiiySBEE,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:    Wiluam  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:    R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12 


September  19,  1922 


No.  15 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blake 

nURRAtt  0»  Pl^ANT  INDOSTRV 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
Sidney  Paige 

GEOLOGICAI,  SURVEV 


E.    D.  WlLUAMSOX 
GBOPHYSICAJU  I,ABORATORV 


ASSOCIATE   EDITORS 


H.  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAL    SOCIETY 

N.  HoLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAI,   SOCIETV 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOPHICAI,    SOCIETY 


S.  A.  ROHWER 

ENTOMOLOGICAI,    SOCIETY 

G.  W.  Stose 

GEOLOGICAL   SOCIETY 
J.  R.  S WANTON 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL    SOCIETV 


PUBLISHED  SEMI-MONTHLY 
EXCEPT  m  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY    THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE,  OF  PUBLICATION 

211   CHURCH  STREET 

EASTON,  Pa. 


Entered  as  Second  Class  Matter,  January    25,    1919,    at    the    post-office   at    Easton,    Pa.,    under  the 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 

in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,  1917.       Authorized  ou  July  3,  1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  foiuth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editore;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  lu-ged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re 
ceive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.     Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12,12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers -25 

Monthly  numbers -50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Fans,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19.  1911,  to  December  19.1911,  will  be  sent  for  W.OO.     Special  rates 
•re  eiven  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papers 

Page 

Geophysics. — A  plea  for  geophysical  and  geochemical  observatories.     T.  A.  Jaggar.    "343 

Paleontology. — Two  new  aphids  from  Baltic  amber.     A.  C.  Baker " 353 

Geology. — The  Lower  Paleozoic  section  of  southeastern  Pennsylvania.     George  W. 

Stose  and  Anna  I.  Jonas 358 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 366 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J-  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:  Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  Wii^liam  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12 


October  4,  1922 


No.  16 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blake 

BURSAU  0»  PLAKT  INDUSTRY 


BOARD  OF  EDITORvS 
Sidney  Paige 

GROLOOICAL,  SURVBV 


E.  D.  Williamson 

GBOPHYSICAI.  LABORATORY 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 


H.  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAL    SOCIGTY 

N.  HOLLISTER 

BIOLOOICAL   SOCISTY 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PBILOSOPHICAI.   SOCIETY 


S.  A.  ROHWER 

SNTOMOLOOICAL    SOCIBTV 

G.  W.  Stosb 

OSOLOOICAL   SOCIBTY 

J.  R.  S WANTON 

ANTHROPOLOOICAL    SOCIETY 


PUBLISHED  SEMI-MONTHLY 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY   THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE  OF  PUBLICATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 

EASTON,  PA. 


Bnterfed  as  Second  Class  Matter,  January    25,    1919,    at    the    post-office    at    Easton,    Pa.,    under  the 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 

in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,  1917.      Authorized  on  July  3,  1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  oflBdal  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  dtu-ing  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints.-^On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re 
ceive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.     Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices : 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  ^1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasiu-er,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    "^illiam  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

*Voluni«  I,  however,  from  Jane  19,  1911,  to  December  19„  t91I,'will  be  sent  for  S3.00.     Special  rates 
are  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papers 

Page 

Zoology. — The  possibility  of  control  of  Heterodera  radicicola  and  other  plant-injurious 
nemas  by  means  of  predatory  nemas,  especially  by  Mononchus  papillatus  Bastian. 
G.  Steiner  and  Helen  Heinly 367 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J.  Humphrbys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:  Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12 


October  19,  1922 


No.  17 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blake 

BPRKAC  OF  PLANT  INDUSTRY 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
Sidney  Paige 

GBOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


E.  D.  Williamson 

GBOPHYSICAL  LABORATORY 


ASSOCIATE   EDITORS 


H.  V<  Harlan 

BOTANICAL    SOCIETY 

N,  HOLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAL   SOCIETY 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY 


S.   A.    ROHWER 

ENTOMOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 

G.  W.  STOSE 

GEOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 

J.  R.  S WANTON 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 


PUBLISHED  SEMI-MONTHLY 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY   THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE  OF  PUBLICATION 

211   CHURCH  STREET 

EASTON,  PA. 


Entered  as  Second  Class  Matter,  January    25,    1919,    at    the     post-office    at    Easton,    Pa.,    under  the 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  nrovided  for 

in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,  1917.       Authorized  on  July  3,  1918 

I 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  JotTRNAL,  the  offidal  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re 
ceive  gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.     Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

5U  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  .  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  ftunished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasm-er,  R.  L.  Fans,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19.  1911.  to  December  19,  1911.  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Specie!  rates 
are  ^veo  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  .\cademv 


ANNOUNCEMENTS   OF   MEETINGS   OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES     . 

Saturday,  October  21.     The  Philosophical  Society. 
Wednesday,  October  25.     The  Geological  Society. 
Saturday,  October  28.     The  Biological  Society. 
Thursday,  November  2.     The  Entomological  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOITRNAL' 

Saturday,  October  7.  The  Philosophical  Society  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8.15  p.m.  Pro- 
gram: Raymond  Davis:  Deciphering  of  cJiarred  paper  records.  R.  W.  G.  Wyckofp: 
Crystal  structure  of  ammonium  chloride  and  hydrazine  hydrochloride.  W.  W.  Cob- 
LENz :  Measurements  of  planetary  radiation. 

Thursday,  October  12.  The  Chemical  Society  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8.00  p.m.  Program : 
P.  E.  Palmbr:  Autamatic  control  of  industrial  processes  by  gas  analysis  methods. 


'  Notices  received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papers 

Page 

Mineralogy. — A  worked  jade  pebble  from  Copan.     H.  S.  Washington 387 

Botany. — Two  new  species  of  letterwood  (Piratinera) .     S.  F.  Blake 391 

Botany. — Diospyros  conzattii,  a  new  species  of  persimmon  from  Mexico.     Paul  C. 

Standley 399 

Botanv. — A  new  Salvinia  from  Trinidad.     William  R.  Maxon 400 


Proceedings 

Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 401 

Philosophical  Society 403 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:  Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  William  R.JVIaxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vou  12 


November  4,  1922 


No.  18 


JOURNAL 


OF   THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blake 

BtTRSAO  OI>  PLANT  INODSTRY 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
Sidney  Pakjb 

OBOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


E.  D.  Williamson 

OSOPHYSICAI.  LABORATORY 


ASSOCIATE   EDITORS 


H.  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAL    SOCIBTY 

N.  HOLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAL   SOCIETY 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOPHICAL   SOaSTY 


S.  A.  ROHWER 

BNTOHOLOGICAL    SOCIBTY 

G.  W.  Stose 

GBOLOGICAL   SOCIETy 

J.  R.  Swanton 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL    SOCIETY 


PUBLISHED  semi-monthly 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY    THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE  OF  PUBLICATION 

211  CHURCH  STBIEET 

EASTON,  Pa. 


Entered  as  Second  Class  Matter,  January    25,    1919,    at    the    post-ofiRce    at    Easton,    Pa.,    under  the 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 

in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3,  1917.       Authorized  on  July  3,  1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  JouRNAi,,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  commtmicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  ciurent  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  foiu-th  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  shotild  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Coyer* 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  '2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is : $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L'.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,.  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand.  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

*Volume  I,  however,  from  June  19.  1011.  to  December  19,  1911.  vrill  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rates 
are  idven  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Saturday,  November  4.,  The  Philosophical  Society. 
Tuesday,  November  7.     The  Botanical  Society. 
Wednesday,  November  8.     The  Geological  Society. 
Thursday,  November  9.     The  Chemical  Society. 
Saturday,  November  11.     The  Biological  Society. 
Thursday,  November  16.     The;  Academy. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  vSINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNALi 

Tuesday,  October  17.  The  Anthropological  Society  at  the  National  Museum  at  8.00  p.m. 
Program:  J.  Walter  Fewkes:  A  summer's  field  work  at  Mesa  Verde. 

Thursday,  October  19.  Joint  meeting  of^TnE  Academy,  the  Biological  Society  and  the 
Chemical  Society  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at    8.15  p.m.      Program:  H.  J.  Hamburger: 

The  increasing  significance  of  chemistry  in  medical  thought  and  practice. 

Saturday,  October  21.  The  Philosophical  Society  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8.15  p.m.  Pro- 
gram :  William  Bowie  :  The  meetings  of  the  International  Geodetic  and  Geophysical 
Union  and  of  the  International  Astronomical  Union.  Robert  S.  Woodward:  The 
compressibility  of  the  Earth. 

Wednesday,  October  25.  The  Geological  Society  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8.00  p.m.  Pro- 
gram: E.  S.  Larsen:  Origin  of  some  corundum-bearing  rocks.  Edward  Sampson: 
Ferruginous  cherts  of  Notre  Dame  Bay,  Newfoundland.  E.  G.  ZiEs:  Fttinarnle  minerals 
of  the  Katmai  region. 


Notices  received  too,  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papers 


Page 


Physics. — Temperature  changes  accompanying  isentropic,  isenergic,  and  isenkaumic 

expansion.     Leason  H.  Adams 407 

Physics. — Some  observations  on  the  transformation  of  thermal  radiant  energy  into 

electric  current  in  molybdenite.     W.  W.  Cobi^ENTZ 411 

Physics. — A  device  for  recording  electric  contact  using  an  electron  tube  generator  and 

a  radio- frequency  spark.     Charles  T.  Zahn 412 

Zoology. — A  new  species  of  Nygolaimus,  an  outstanding  genus  of  the  Dorylairaidae. 

N.  A.  Cobb 416 

Proceedings 

Botanical  Society 421 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau, 
Corresponding  Secretary:  Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol.  12 


November  19,  1922 


No.  19 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blake 

iURgAD  or  PLAKT  INDOBTItV 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
SiDNBY  Paige 

gSolooical  survey 


E-  D.  Williamson 

GKOPHYSICAL  LABORATOHT 


ASSOCIATE   EDITORS 


H,  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAi,   SOCIBTV 

N.  HOLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAL    SOCIBTV 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY 


S.  A.  ROHWKR 

SNTOMOLOaiCAL   SOCIBTV 

G. W.  Stose 

OBOLOOICAL    SOCIBTV 

J.  R.  Swanton 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL    SOCIBTV 


PtJBLISHED  SEMI-MONTHLY 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY   THB 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE  OP  PUBLICATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 

EASTON,  Pa. 


Entered  as  Second  Class  Matter,  J^f  uary    25,    1919,    at    the    post-office    at    Easton,    Pa.,    under  tbt 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      A<xeptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provid«d  for 

in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3.  1917.       Authorized  on  July  3,  1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  foiuth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  dining  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  shoidd  include  year  of  publication. 

lUustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  faciUtate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  lurged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Covers 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Siu^ey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges. — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

*Volame  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  rate* 
arc  given  Co  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF   THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  November  21.     The  Anthropological  Society. 
Wednesday,  November  22.     The  Geological  Society. 
Saturday,  November  25.     The  Biological  Society. 
Saturday,  December  2.     The  Philosophical  Society. 


PROGRAMvS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OP  THE  JOURNAL.  ^ 

Thursday,  November  2.  The  Entomological  Society,  at  the  New  National  Museum,  at 
8.  p.m.     Program:     C.  P.  Lounsbury:  Notes  from  South  Africa. 

Saturday,  November  4.  The  Philosophical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8.15  p.m. 
Program :  F.  Wenner  :  The  variation  of  metallic  conductivity  with  electrostatic  charge. 
R.  Gilchrist:  A  new  determination  of  tfie  atomic  weight  of  osmium.  R.  B.  Sosman: 
Theory  of  structure  and  polymorphism  in  silica. 

Tuesday,  November  7.  The  Botanical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program: 
W.  A.  Orton:  Physiatric  botany.  E.  E.  Kempton:  Barberry  eradication  in  the 
United  States. 

Wednesday,  November  8.  Special  meeting  of  the  Entomological  Society,  at  the  New 
National  Museum,  at  8  p.m.     Program:     August  Krogh:     The  respiration  of  insects. 

Wednesday,  November  8.  The  Geological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Pro- 
gram: C.  A.  MatlEy:  Notes  on  the  Lameta  formation  of  India  and  its  dinosaurian 
remains.  A.  C.  SpEncer:  The  geology  of  dam  sites.  G.  F.  Loughun:  The  ore  de- 
posits of  Leadville. 

Thur.sday,  November  9.  The  Chemical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8  p.m.  Program : 
W.  M.  Corse  :     The  mining  and  smelting  of  nickel  ores. 


^  Received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papers 

Page 
Mathematics. — Values  of  sine  6  and  cosine  6  to  33  places  of  decimals.     C.  E.  Van 

Orstrand  and  Marvin  A.  Shoitltes 423 

Botany. — Ferns  new  to  the  Cuban  flora.     Wilwam  R.  MAxon 437 

Proceedings 
Botanical  Society 444 

Scientific  Notes  and  News ' 445 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bureau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:  FrancIvS  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  Wilijam  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


Vol..  12 


December  4,  1922 


No.  20 


JOURNAL 


OP  THE 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blake 


BrRBAD  or  PLANT  INDUSTRY 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
Sidney  Paige 

OBOLOOICAL  SURVEY 


E.  D.  WlLUAMtON 

OaOPRYSICAI.  LABOKATOKT 


ASSOCIATE   EDITORS 


H.  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAL   SOCIETY 

N.  HOLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAL,   SOCIETY 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOPHICAL   SOCIETY 


S.  A.   ROHWER 

ENTOHOLOQICAL    SOCIETY 

G.  W.  ST09E 

OBOLOOICAL    SOCIETY 

J.  R.  Swanton 

ANTBSOPOLOOICAL    30CIETV 


PUBLISHED  SBMI-MONTHLY 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

BY  THE 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OFFICE  OF  PUBLICATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 

EASTON,  Pa. 


Entered   as  Secoud   Class   Matter,  January    25,    1919,    at    the     post-office    at    Eastoo,    Pa.,    under   thi 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  providad  for 

in  Section  1103.  .Act  of  October  3,  1917.       Authorized  on  July  3,  1918. 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  prbceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  afiiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  onlj'  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices: 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Cot  era 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

100  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88  1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96  2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04  2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12  3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .25 

Monthly  numbers .50 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasiu-er,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Washington,  D.  C.  , 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges  — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

•Votumc  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,.  1911.  will  be  sent  for  S3.00.     SpcciaJ  ratai 
■re  friven  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Acadamv 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  December  5.     The  Botanical  Society. 
Wednesday,  December  6.     The  Society  of  Engineers. 
Saturday,  December  9.     The  Biological  Society. 
Wednesday,  December  13.     The  Geological  vSociety. 

Thursday,  December  14.     The  Chemical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at 

8  p.  m.     Program:     W.  M.  CIvARk:     Oxidation-reduction  reactions. 
Saturday,  December  16.     The  Philosophical  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL^ 

Saturday,  November  1 1 .  The  Biological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8  p.  m.  Program : 
E.  D.  Ball:  Importance  of  adequate  training  for  biological  work  in  the  Government 
service.  G.  N.  Collins:  Maize  and  its  wild  relatives.  N.  A.  Cobb:  Nematodes 
inhabiting  trees. 

Saturday,  November  18.  The  Philosophical  .Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8.15  p.  m^. 
Program:  C.  E.  Van  Orstrand:  Deep-earth  temperatures  in  tlie  United  States.  K.  S. 
Gibson  and  E.  P.  T.  Tvndall  :     The  visibility  of  radiant  energy. 

Wednesday,  November  22.  The  Geological  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club  at  8  p.  m.  Pro- 
gram: G.  E.  P.  Smith:  The  effect  oj  transpiratipn  of  trees  on  the  ground-water  supply. 
A.  Locke:     Outcrops  and  ore-deposits.     A.  J.  Collier:     Some  features  of  the  geology 

of  the  Little  Rocky  Mountains,  Montana. 

Friday,  November  24.  Joint  meeting  of  the  Chemical  Society  with  the  Maryland  Section 
in  Baltimore.  Program:  A  visit  to  the  new  plant  of  the  American  Sugar  Refining 
Company.     Short  addresses  by  C.  L.  Huettinger  and  M.  B.  ScoTT  of  that  plant. 

'  Notices  received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papbrs 

PjtKe 

Geology. — Geology  of  a  vein  occurrence  of  rutile-ilmenite    in  a    new    locality. 

Thomas  L.  Watson 447 

Botany. — The  genus  Ctdcita.     William  R.  Maxon 454 


Procbbdings 

Philosophical  Society 460 

Entomological  Society 464 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 468 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Bttreau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:  Francis  B.  Sii^beb,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 


y-1 


Vol.  12 


December  19,  1922 


No.  21 


JOURNAL 


OF  THB 


WASHINGTON  ACADEMY 
OF  SCIENCES 


S.  F.  Blakb 

aOKSAI)  or  Pt,ANV  INOnSTRT 


BOARD  OF  EDITORS 
Sidney  Paigb 

OBOLOOICAI.  SDKVST 


B.  D.  Williamson 

OBOPBTSICAI.  LABOMATOBT 


ASSOCIATE  EDITORS 


H.  V.  Harlan 

BOTANICAL   SOCIBTT 

N.  HoLLISTER 

BIOLOGICAL   SOCISTV 

W.  F.  Meggers 

PHILOSOFBICAL   SOCIBTT 


S.  A.  ROHWER 

SNTOMOLOOICAL   SOOBTV 

G.  W.  Stosb 

080L00ICAL   SOaSTV 
J.  R.  SWANTON 

ANTHKOPOLOOICAL   SOCXBT* 


PUBLISHED  SEMI-MONTHLY 
EXCEPT  IN  JULY,  AUGUST,  AND  SEPTEMBER,  WHEN  MONTHLY 

■7  TBB 

WASHINGTON  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


OPPICB  OP  PUBLICATION 

211  CHURCH  STREET 

EASTON,  Pa. 

antcrcd  •«  Second  Class  Matter,  January    25,    1919.    at    the    post-ofSce    at    Easton,    Pa.,    under  the 

Act  of  August  24,  1912.      Acceptance  for  mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for 

in  Section  1103,  Act  of  October  3, 1917.      Authorized  on  July  3,  191S, 


Journal  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences 

This  Journal,  the  official  organ  of  the  Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,  aims  to 
present  a  brief  record  of  current  scientific  work  in  Washington.  To  this  end  it  publishes: 
(1)  short  original  papers,  written  or  communicated  by  members  of  the  Academy;  (2) 
short  notes  of  current  scientific  literature  published  in  or  emanating  from  Washington; 
(3)  proceedings  and  programs  of  meetings  of  the  Academy  and  affiliated  Societies;  (4) 
notes  of  events  connected  with  the  scientific  life  of  Washington.  The  Journal  is  issued 
semi-monthly,  on  the  fourth  and  nineteenth  of  each  month,  except  during  the  summer 
when  it  appears  on  the  nineteenth  only.  Volumes  correspond  to  calendar  years.  Prompt 
publication  is  an  essential  feature;  a  manuscript  reaching  the  editors  on  the  eighth  or 
the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  will  ordinarily  appear,  on  request  from  the  author,  in  the 
issue  of  the  Journal  for  the  following  fourth  or  nineteenth,  respectively. 

Manuscripts  may  be  sent  to  any  member  of  the  Board  of  Editors;  they  should  be 
clearly  typewritten  and  in  suitable  form  for  printing  without  essential  changes.  The 
editors  cannot  undertake  to  do  more  than  correct  obvious  minor  errors.  References 
should  appear  only  as  footnotes  and  should  include  year  of  publication. 

Illustrations  will  be  used  only  when  necessary  and  will  be  confined  to  text  figures 
or  diagrams  of  simple  character.  The  cost  of  producing  cuts  for  illustrations  must  be 
met  by  the  author. 

Proof. — In  order  to  facilitate  prompt  publication  no  proof  will  be  sent  to  authors 
unless  requested.  It  is  urged  that  manuscript  be  submitted  in  final  form;  the  editors 
will  exercise  due  care  in  seeing  that  copy  is  followed. 

Authors'  Copies  and  Reprints. — On  request  the  author  of  an  original  article  will  re- 
ceive gratis  ten  copies  of  the  number  containing  his  contribution  and  as  many  additional 
copies  as  he  may  desire  at  ten  cents  each.  Reprints  will  be  furnished  at  the  following 
schedule  of  prices : 

Copies  4  pp.  8  pp.  12  pp.  16  pp.  Coven  , 

50  $1.95  $3.90  $5.85  $7.80  $1.50 

nOO  2.22  4.44  6.66  8.88           1.89 

150  2.49  4.98  7.47  9.96           2.27 

200  2.76  5.52  8.28  11.04           2.66 

250  3.03  6.06  9.09  12.12           3.05 

Covers  bearing  the  name  of  the  author  and  title  of  the  article,  with  inclusive  pagina- 
tion and  date  of  issue,  will  be  furnished  when  ordered. 

As  an  author  will  not  ordinarily  see  proof,  his  request  for  extra  copies  or  reprints 
should  invariably  be  attached  to  the  first  page  of  his  manuscript. 

The  rate  of  Subscription  per  volume  is $6.00* 

Semi-monthly  numbers .26 

Monthly  numbers .60 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  "Washington  Academy  of  Sciences,"  and 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  R.  L.  Paris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Siu^ey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

European  Agent:    William  Wesley  &  Son,  28  Essex  St.,  Strand,  London. 

Exchanges  — The  Journal  does  not  exchange  with  other  publications. 

Missing  Numbers  will  be  replaced  without  charge,  provided  that  claim  is  made  within 
thirty  days  after  date  of  the  following  issue. 

«Volumc  I,  however,  from  June  19,  1911,  to  December  19,  1911,  will  be  sent  for  $3.00.     Special  r*t«» 
arc  given  to  members  of  scientific  societies  affiliated  with  the  Academy. 


ANNOUNCEMENTS    OF    MEETINGS    OF    THE    ACADEMY    AND 

AFFILIATED  SOCIETIES 

Tuesday,  December  19.     The  Anthropological  Society. 
Wednesday,  December  20.     The  Society  of  Engineers. 
Thursday,  December  21.     The  Academy. 
Saturday,  December  23.     The  Biological  Society. 
Tuesday,  January  2.     The  Botanical  Society. 
Wednesday,  January  3.     Society  of  Engineers. 
Thursday,  January  4.     The  Entomological  Society. 


PROGRAMS  ANNOUNCED  SINCE  THE  PRECEDING  ISSUE  OF  THE  JOURNAL^ 

Saturday,  December  2.  The  Philosophical  Society,  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  at  8.15  p.m. 
Program:  Paul  R.  Heyl:  A  remarkable  formula  for  prime  numbers  and  a  method  of 
determining  the  prime  or  composite  nature  of  large  numbers.  Reports  of  officers  and 
committees. 


*  Notices  received  too  late  for  publication  before  the  date  of  the  meeting. 


'^ 


CONTENTS 
Original  Papbrs 

Page 

General  Science. — ^A  first  revised  edition  of  the  Academy's  list  of  one  hundred  popular 

books  in  science.    Robert  B,  Sosman 469 

Scientific  Notes  and  News 477 


Index 

Proceedings 478 

Author  Index 478 

Subject  Index 482 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ACADEMY 
President:  W.  J.  Humphreys,  Weather  Btireau. 
Corresponding  Secretary:  Francis  B.  Silsbee,  Bureau  of  Standards. 
Recording  Secretary:  William  R.  Maxon,  National  Museum. 
Treasurer:  R.  L.  Faris,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Siu-vey. 


MBI.  WHOl    MBRARY 


'  '.'i'* 


•J!;; 


,..,';:;in';r,. 


I