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FIRST REPORT
OF THE
NEW YO*
MICHIGAN ACADEMY (IF SCIENCE
I
COVERING THE TIME FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF
THE ACADEMY IN 1894 TO JUNE 30, 1899
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COUNCIL
By WALTER B. BARROWS. Secretary
BY AUTHORITY
LANSING, MICHIGAN
ROBERT SMITH PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS
1900
R
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^•t.maoooucal.
FIRST REPORT
OF THE
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
To Honorable Hazen S. Pinoree, Governor of the State of Michigan:
Sir— I have the honor to submit herewith the First Annual Report of
the Michigan Academy of Science, for publication in accordance with
Section 14 of Act No. 44. of the Public Acts of the Legislature in 1899.
Respectfully,
WALTER B. BARROWS,
Secretary of the Michigan Academy of Science.
Agricultural College, Mich.,
December 1, 1899.
i
CO
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
Organization of the Academy of Science 5-10
First annual meeting, December, 1894, minutes ; 1 1-12
List of papers presented 12
Our Society and a State Survey, by Dr. W. J. Beal 12 14
Practical Benefits of Bacteriology, by F. G. Novy. M. D 14-18
The Great Seal and Coat of Arms of Michigan, with 7 illustrations, by Dr. W. J. Beal 19-23
The Flora of Michigan Lakes, by Charles A. Davis 24-31
The Lepidoptera of Michigan, by Robert H. Wolcott, M. D. (abstract) 32
Tendencies in Michigan Horticulture, by A. A. Crozier 32-36
Futile Experiments for the Improvement of Agriculture, by Manly Miles, M. D 36-38
The Uredineae of Michigan, by Harriet L. Merrow, (abstract) 39
Second annual meeting, December, 1895, minutes 40 41
List of papers presented 41-42
Origin and Distribution of the Land and Fresh Water Mollusca of North America, by
Bryant Walkter 43 61
The Sub-Carboniferous Limestone Exposure at Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Charles A.
Whittemore 62-65
Notes on the Seismic Disturbances in Missouri in 1895, by John M. Millar 65-66
Michigan Birds that Nest in Open Meadows, by L. Whitney Watkins 66-75
Notes on Teratological Forms Of Trillium grandijiorum, by Charles A. Davis 76
A New Science, that of Sanitation, by Henry B.' Baker, M. D 76-83
Second annual field meeting, June, 1896 84
Council meeting, February, 1897 85
Third annual meeting, March, 1897, minutes 86-88
List of papers presented 88 89
Notes and Observations regarding the Habits and' Characteristics of the Massasauga or
Ground Rattlesnake, Sistrunis catenatus, during Captivity, by Percy S. Selous 89 92
Newton's Third Law of Motion a Factor in Organic Evolution, by Manly Miles, M. I> 92-94
Suitable Topics for Discussion by Young Members of a Botanical Club, by Dr. W.J Beal 94-97
Remarks Concerning the Saprophytic Fungi grown in the Vicinity of the Agricultural
College, by Burton O. Long.vear 97-99
A Remarkable Forest in Michigan, Not Hitherto Known to Science, by S. Alexander,
(abstract) 99
Structure of the Olfactory Lobe of the Sturgeon, (summary) by J. B. Johnston 100
Poisonous Germs Found in Drinking Water, by J. T. McCly monds, M. D 100-102
Some Vital Statistics of Michigan, by C. L. Wilbur, M. D 102-106
The Evening Grosbeak in Central Michigan, by Charles A. Davis 106
Third annual field meeting 107
Fourth annual meeting, March, 1898, minutes 108-109
List of papers presented 109-100
A Word for Systematic Botany, by Dr. W. J. Beal 1 10
A Leaf-Miner, Uheironomus sp '?. in Water Lilies, by Rufus H. Pettit, with one illustration 110-111
Apparatus for Photographing Vertebrate Embryos, by Jacob Reighard, Ph. B., with two
illustrations 111-112
The Habits of Euclemensia bassettella, a True Parasite belonging to the Lepidoptera, by
Rufus H. Pettit 112-114
The Hind Brain and Cranial Nerves of Acipenser, (summary) by J. B. Johnston 114-115
The Flora of Tuscola County, by Chas. A. Davis (abstract) 1 16
Fifth annual meeting, March, 1899, minutes 1 17-1 18
List of papers presented 118-119
A plea for Greater Attention to the Sciences, by the Church, the School, by Legisla-
tures, and the People Generally, by Henry B. Baker, M. D 120-131
Notes on the Germination of Brasenia peltata, by Charles A. Davis (abstract) 131 132
Notes on Utricularia resupinata, bv Charles A. Davis (abstract) 132
Trees as Dwelling Places for Animals, by Dr. W. J. Beal 132-133
The Breeding Habits of the Dog-Fish, Amia calva, with two illustrations, by Jacob
Reighard (abstract) 133 137
The Origin and Development of the Adhesive Organ of Amia calva, by Jessie Phelps,
(abstract) 137-139
Comparative Statistics of Climate and Mortality in Michigan, by Cressy L.Wilbur, M.D 139-142
New Problems and New Phases of Old Ones, by Clinton D. Smith 143-145
Constitution and By-laws of the Michigan Academy of Science 147-154
List of members of the academy, from its organization in 1894 to June 30, 1899 155-159
Index 161
ORGANIZATION.
In March, 1892, after discussing with his co-workers in the University
the question of the desirability of a State society of naturalists, Professor
Jacob Reighard addressed to a score of well known men in the State the
following circular letter:
Ann Arbor, Mich., March 22, 1892.
Dear Sir — It is proposed to organize in Michigan a State Society of
Naturalists to comprise Zoologists, Botanists and Physiologists. As a
preliminary to a call for a meeting to organize such a society it is de-
sirable to get an expression of opinion from those most likely to be in-
terested upon the following points:
1. As to the scope of the work to be done by such a society. '
«(a) To what extent should papers embodying the results of original
work be presented at the meetings?
(b) What stress should be laid on the discussion of methods of teach-
ing and the demonstration of appliances for teaching?
(c) To what extent should general biological problems be discussed
(such for instance as heredity) with a purpose of stimulating an
interest in them and securing a better understanding of them?
id) Should an attempt be made to stimulate, systematize and co-
ordinate work on the fauna and flora of the State, and can any
means be devised of giving worth to such work and accumulat-
ing the results of it in such a way as to make it a permanent
acquisition of the science?
2. What should be the character of the membership?
(a) Should it be composed wholly of investigators, or
(b) Should it include also those engaged in teaching without in-
tention of ever engaging in investigation? or
(c) Should it include all persons sufficiently interested to discharge
the duties of membership?
The character of the membership is largely determined by the scope of
the work and it is of course necessary to have at least a tentative policy
with regard to membership before calling a meeting for organization.
The organization of such a society will be greatly facilitated if you will
give your opinion as fully as possible on each of the foregoing points, and
also on the following:
I. Will you become a member of a society of the character indicated by
your reply?
II. Give the names and addresses of such persons as in your opinion
would be likely to become desirable members of such a society.
6 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
III. At what time and place should the meeting for organization be
called?
IV. Could you contribute to the program of such a meeting if one
were called?
Replies should be addressed to J. E. Reighard, Ann Arbor.
(Signed.)
V. M. SPALDING,
Professor of Botany.
W. H. HOWELL,
Professor of Physiology.
J. E. REIGHARD,'
Asst. Professor of Zoology.
J. B. STEERE,
Professor of Zoology.
The answers received to this letter were various, but all agreed, or
nearly all, that an organization was desirable and that the membership
should not be closely restricted.
Owing to press of work on the men whose names are signed to the letter
the matter was carried no farther at that time.
In the^spring of 1894 the matter of a State society was again discussed
at the University, but three of those whose signatures stand at the close
in the preceding circular letter could take no active part in immediate
effort since Professor Spalding was absent in Europe, Professor Reighard
was about to leave for Europe, and Professor Howell was no longer con-
nected with the University.
At that time Professor F. C. Newcombe, finding that others were willing
to cooperate, prepared, with the help of Professors Steele and Lombard,
the following circular letter, which was sent to about fifty people in tin-
State, calling for a meeting for purposes of organization.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN,
BOTANICAL, LABORATORY.
Ann Arbor, June 21, 1804.
From inquiries made of various persons throughout the State, it has
been found that there is a general desire for the organization of a State
Natural History Society.
The replies to these inquiries have indicated a two-fold work for such a
society: (1) co-ordinated scientific research; (2) improvement of methods
of teaching. The active membership of the society should therefore con-
sist of investigators and teachers and others directly interested in natural
history.
The undersigned therefore unite in issuing a call for a meeting for the
organization of a State Natural History Society at Ann Arbor, Wednes-
daj-, June 27th, 4 o'clock p. m., in the University Main Building, Room 11,
to which you are invited.
The meeting will be addressed by Dr. Steere of the University, Pro-
fessors Beal and Wheeler of the Agricultural College. Professor Scherzer
of the State Normal,. Professor Ward of the Michigan Fish Commission
Survey and by others. At this meeting, besides the organization, it is
hoped to get some profitable work under way.
ORGANIZATION. 7
If you cannot attend, please address a reply, with your willingness or
unwillingness to become a member of the society, to Frederick G. New-
combe, Ann Arbor, Mich.
JOSEPH B. STEERE,
Professor of Zoology.
WARREN P. LOMBARD,
Professor of Physiology.
FREDERICK C. NEWCOMBE,
Asst. Prof, of Botany.
The following is a copy of the minutes of the meeting held in response
to this call :
MINUTES OF THE MEETING FOR ORGANIZATION OF A STATE NATURAL
HISTORY ASSOCIATION.
(Held at Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 27, 1894.)
Pursuant to a call issued in a circular letter signed by J. B. Steere.
Warren P. Lombard, and Frederick C. Newconibe, and sent to about fifty
people of the State, over twenty-five persons assembled in Room 11, Uni-
versity Hall, at 4 o'clock p. m., June 27, 1894.
The meeting was called to order by F. C. Newcombe, who proposed Dr.
W. J. Beal for chairman. Dr. Beal was elected unanimously. F. C.
Newcombe was then elected secretary.
The secretary then rehersed the inception of the movement for an
organization beginning with the circular letter of enquiry signed by Pro-
fessors Spalding, Howell, Steere and Reighard, and sent out two years
before.
There seeming to be unanimity of feeling as to the need and usefulness
of a State organization, the scope of such a society came up for discussion.
In the informal discussion part was taken by I. C. Russell, J. B. Steere.
W. B. Barrows, H. B. Ward, Bryant Walker, J. Montgomery, C. F.
Wheeler, W. J. Beal, and F. C. Newcombe. The general opinion ex-
pressed was that the society should hold stated meetings for the reading
and discussion of scientific papers and should also seek to forward the
scientific study of the resources of the State 'as well as the fauna, flora,
and so forth.
Bryant Walker moved that the officers of the association, with the ad-
dition of two members, be constituted an advisory board to report a con-
stitution and by-laws, to arrange a program, and to call the next meet-
ing. The motion was carried.
On motion of W. B. Barrows it was resolved to include the whole State
in the work of the society.
After some discussion on a suitable name for the society, the matter
was referred to the advisory board.
As officers of the temporary organization, W. J. Beal was chosen presi-
dent, J. B. Steere, vice-president; F. C. Newcombe, secretary and treas-
urer. As the two other members of the advisory board, W. B. Barrows
and I. C. Russell were elected.
The meeting then adjourned subject to the call of the advisorv hoard.
(Signed) F. C. NEWCOMBE,
Secretary.
8
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
List of persons who signed, or by letter gave permission to sign, their
names to a membership list of a State Scientific Society, June 27, 1894, at
Ann Arbor, Michigan:
W. J. Beal, Agricultural College.
Walter B. Barrows, " "
Charles F. Wheeler, " "
W. H. Sherzer, State Normal School.
E. A. Strong, " " "
Lucy A. Osband, " " "
W. H. Muuson, Hillsdale College.
Chas. A. Davis, Alma College.
Frances E. Stearns, Adrian College.
Bryant Walker, Detroit.
Oliver A. Farwell, Detroit.
Robert H. Wolcott, Grand Rapids.
J. W. Matthews, " "
Hattie M. Bailey,
Delia A. Bailey, " "
J. B. Shearer, Bay City.
H. B. Ward, Nebraska University, Lin-
coln, Nebraska.
J. Montgomery, Ann Arbor.
J. B. Steere, University of Michigan.
Warren P. Lombard,
I. C. Russell,
F. C. Newcombe,
D. C. Worcester,
L. N. Johnson,.
Charles A. Kofoid,
H. C. Markham,
A. J. Pieters,
J. H. Schaffner,
E. H. Edwards,
H. S. Jennings,
S. D. Magers,
Charles Carpenter,
Mrs. E.G. Willoughby,'
Margaret Weideman
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The organization having now a formal existence, the next step was
toward securing a good membership roll. To this end the following slip
and circular letter were prepared and sent out to about twenty news-
papers and to twTo hundred people of the State.
Address
Date
Frederick C. Newcombe, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Dear Sir — I hereby agree to become a member of the proposed State
Scientific Society.
On the reverse side of this slip I have given the names and addresses
of other persons whom it would be desirable to have join the society.
Name
Ann Arbor, Mich., September 15, 181)1.
Dear Sir — At a meeting of about twenty-five persons, held in Ann
Arbor, June 27, 1891, it was unanimously agreed that it was desirable to
form a society for the purpose of scientific research in the State of
Michigan.
At this meeting, the officers whose names were appended were elected to
serve until a permanent organization should be effected and were in-
structed to act as an advisory board with the duty of recommending a
constitution and by-laws for adoption by the society, and of preparing a
program for the next meeting.
At a meeting of the advisory board it was unanimously agreed to recom-
mend that the name of the society be the "Michigan Academy of Sci-
ences)," and that it have for its principal object the study of the agri-
culture, archeology, botany, geography, geology, mineral resources,
zoology, etc., etc., of the State of Michigan, and the diffusion of the knowl-
edge thus gained among men. It is not the opinion of the advisory board,
however, that the work of the society should be restricted to the subjects
named but should be enlarged from time to time as occasion may require.
ORGANIZATION. 0
A constitution and by-laws have been drafted and will be submitted
to the society for revision and adoption at the coming meeting. It was
also agreed to recommend that the dues of members of the organization
be $2.00 for the first year of membership, and $1.00 per year thereafter.
The first meeting of the society will be held during the coming winter,
date and place yet to be determined, when the organization will be com-
pleted and a plan of work attempted.
The members of the provisional organization were heartily in accord
in wishing that all persons in the State of Michigan who are interested in
scientific work should be urged to join the society and assist in contribut-
ing to its usefulness.
The undersigned, constituting the advisory board, respectfully request
you to join the society, and also to present the names of others who may
become desirable members.
If you are in sympathy with this movement, will you kindly fill out the
enclosed blank and mail it as addressed?
For further information regarding the character and object of the
association, inquiries may be addressed to the Secretary, at Ann Arbor,
Michigan.
W. J. BEAL, President, Agricultural College.
J. B. STEE.BE, Vice-President, Ann Arbor.
F. C. NEWCOMBE, Secretary, Ann Arbor.
W. B. BARROWS, Agricultural College.
I. C. RUSSELL, Ann Arbor.
Several of the State press published the substance of this circular and
by the first of December, 1894, there were members enrolled to the num-
ber of eighty-six.
Meantime the advisory board had been busy preparing a program for
a winter meeting and drafting a constitution.
In the early part of December Dr. W. J. Beal, of the Agricultural Col-
lege, prepared the following slip, which was enclosed by the State Teach-
ers' Association in the same envelope with their program, and sent to all
members of the said Association.
A STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
In June last about twenty-five persons met in Ann Arbor and effected
a temporary organization of a State Academy of Sciences. They ad-
journed to meet again at Lansing in December to perfect the organization^
present papers and lay out work for the future.
All persons interested in the work of such a society are cordially in-
vited to meet with us in the Pioneer Room of the State Capitol, on
Wednesdav, December 26, at 2 p. m. standard time.
W. J. BEAL, President.
J. B. STEERE, Vice-President.
[Signed.] F. C. NEWCOMBE, Secretary.
I. C. RUSSELL.
W. B. BARROWS.
Executive Committee.
10 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
In the middle of December there were sent out to all members of the
preliminary organization, to one hundred others who had been recom-
mended for membership, and to sixty of the State press, the following-
circular, together with the program of the first meeting of the Michigan
Academy of Sciences.
Ann Arbor, Mich., December 12, 1894.
The Michigan Academy of Science was organized last June for the
promotion of fellowship among scientific men, and for scientific research
in the State. It is hoped that all people directly or indirectly interested
in the objects of the society will become members.
At the Lansing meeting, December 26 and 27, organization will be com-
pleted. It is probable that the initiation fee will be placed at one dollar,
and the annual dues at one dollar. There are no other limitations to
membership. Fees do not become due till after the Lansing meeting.
Let everyone who will aid this society by becoming a member, send
his (or her) name and address immediately to the secretary.
FREDERICK C. NEWCOMBE,
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
By order of executive, committee.
Such were the steps leading up to the formal organization of the Michi-
gan Academy of Science, which took place in the Pioneer Room of the
Slate Capitol, December 26 and 27, 1894.
In pursuance of instructions given by the Academy at its first meeting
the council at once took proper steps to incorporate the Academy under
the laws of the State, and on February 6, 1895, articles of association
of the Michigan Academy of Science were filed with the Secretary of
State.
FIRST ANNUAL MEETING— DECEMBER, 1894.
The first annual meeting of the Academy was held at Lansing, in the
Pioneer Room of the Capitol, December 2G and 27, 1894, President W. J.
Beal in the chair. The following items of business were transacted.
Constitution and by-laws were adopted.*
Sections were organized in zoology, botany, and sanitary science, as
follows:
Section of Zoology — Vice President, Prof. J. E. Reighard, of Ann
Arbor; Prof. D. C. Worcester, of Ann Arbor, to act during the absence of
Prof. Eeighard in Europe. Three sub-sections were formed also.
Section of Botany — Vice President, Prof. F. C. Newcombe, Ann
Arbor.
Section of Sanitary Science — Vice President, Dr. Henry B. Baker,
Lansing.
A resolution calling on the Legislature for improvement in the manner
of registering births and deaths, was referred to a committee, which
subsequently framed such a request and submitted it to the Legislature.
A similar resolution recommending to the Legislature the preparation
of a good topographic map of the State, showing also the surface geology,
was referred to the council, and the matter afterward brought to the
attention of the proper legislative committees.
A resolution was adopted urging the prompt passage of Bill 119, House
of Representatives, of the 53d Congress, 2d session, relating to the
protection of Forest Reservations.
A resolution was adopted endorsing the scientific work of the Michigan
Fish Commission, and the council was instructed to prepare and present
to the Legislature a petition for an increased appropriation for the con-
tinuance of the biological examination of the waters of the State by the
commission.
Provision was made for the preparation of a charter for the Academy,
under the general laws of the State.
The treasurer's report showed the expenditure of $23.07 up to December
26, 1894.
Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows:
President — Bryant Walker, Detroit.
f Zoology— J. E. Reighard, Ann Arbor.
Vice Presidents. <j Botany — F. C. Newcombe. Ann Arbor.
[ Sanitary Science — Henry B. Baker, Lansing.
*For copy of these, as adopted, see page this report.
12 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Secretary — Chas. A. Davis, Alma.
Treasurer — E. A. Strong, Ypsilanti.
Papers presented at the First Annual Meeting of the Michigan
Academy of Science, Lansing. December 26 and 27, 1894.
1. The Mammals of Michigan. Dr. J. B. Steere. Not Published.
2. The Birds of Michigan. Prof. D. C. Worcester. Not published.
3. Additions to the Flora of Michigan. C. F. Wheeler. Published, with further
additions, in the report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture
for 1898, pp. 82-91.
4. The Cryptogamic Flora of Michigan. L. N. Johnson. Not published.
5. Work of the Michigan Fish Commission. Prof. H. B. Ward. A preliminary re-
port, never printed; for complete report see Bull. 6 of Mich. Fish Com-
mission.
6. The Dinobryons of Lake Michigan. Dr. C. A. Kofoid. Not published.
7. Our Society and a State Survey. Dr. W. J.. Beal. Printed in full in this re-
port. See index.
8. Practical Benefits of Bacteriology. Dr. F. G. Novy. Printed in full in this
report. See index.
9. Simian Characters of the Human Skeleton. Prof. W. H. Sherzer. Printed
under the title "Platycnemic Man in New York'' in Report of State Geologist
[N. Y.] Vol. Ill, Paleontology. 1893, pp. 659-683.
10. Data and Development of Michigan Archaeology. Harlan I. Smith. Part I.
Notes on the Data of Michigan Archaeology. American Antiquarian, May
1896. Part II. The Development of Michigan Archaeology.— The Inlander,
VI. No. 8, 1896.
11. Some Notes on the Michigan Coat of Arms. Prof. W. J. Beal. Printed in full
in this report.
12. Flora of Michigan Lakes. Prof. Chas. A. Davis. Printed in full in this
report.
13. Michigan Lepidoptera. Dr. L\ H. Wolcott. Net yet published. Outline in
this report.
14. Review of our Present Knowledge of the Molluscan Fauna of Michigan.
Bryant Walker. Published by the author. Detroit, 1895. (pp. 1-27.)
15. Distoma petalosum; a Parasite of the Crayfish. C. H. Lander. Not published.
16. Bacteria and the Dairy. Prof. C. D. Smith.
17. Tendencies in Michigan Horticulture. A. A. Crozier. Printed in full in this
report.
18. Futile Experiments for the Improvement of Agriculture. Dr. Manly Miles.
Printed in full in this report.
19. Vital Statistics. The Scientific Basis of Sanitation. Dr. C. L. Wilbur. Printed
in full in American Lancet (Detroit), February, 1895.
20. The Uredineae of Michigan. Harriet L. Merrow. Not yet published; ab-
stract in this report.
OUR SOCIETY AND A STATE SURVEY.
BY W. J. BEAL.
(Read before the Academy, December 26, 1894.)
Perhaps it may not be wise at present to say very much about our
young State Academy, as its reputation is yet to be made either for per-
forming long continued thorough work or for making desultory efforts.
The thought of forming such a society is not new, but has been more or
less discussed at different times for thirty years or more. The organiza-
tion has long been delayed, because the number of capable scientific
people willing to sacrifice time, money, and hard unremunerative labor
has been very small. And these live in parts of the State remote from
BEAL ON STATE SURVEY. 13
each other. Even at tlii^ time none of us anticipates a large membership
or any very striking results — at least, not for many years to come. Each
one of the members sees already any amount of interesting work in
natural science that ought to be done in our State. Let us from this time
forward, strive to interest others to join us and begin and carry to com-
pletion some of the investigations so much needed.
The importance of making a survey of the fauna, flora, and other natural
resources of the State was recognized as early as 1837, and a fair begin
ning was made, though for want of persons to press the subject; little
has been accomplished excepting to continue the geological survey; and
this has been maintained, merely because of the brilliant and prompt
financial results which were anticipated. Michigan is far behind many
other states east, west, and south in the study of fauna and flora. Primi-
tive conditions are fast disappearing. In hundreds of townships, there
are only fragments here and there which still contain the native wild
plants. These regions have been cleared up and now bear farm crops.
The swamps and marshes have been drained; the woods pastured; the
roadsides cultivated for* crops almost to the tracks made by passing
teams. Fires have repeatedly burned over some of the most interest-
ing portions of the State. Extensive tracts of timber have been cut anil
removed, and before the young timber could cover the ground and begin
to repair the waste, fires have licked up nearly every green thing.
A good force of competent persons should be continually employed to
look after the forests of the State — to investigate their needs and to (lis
cover and apply the remedies. I need not go into details. It would be in-
teresting to learn the location of the different regions of the State and
the special plants which characterize them. How is each of these regions
related to others in this State and in neighboring states.
As members of a scientific society, we ought to be able to render con-
siderable assistance in. seeing that these subjects are properly taught in
the public schools, and that young persons begin and maintain numerous
local museums where the natural history may be investigated.
These plants may be listed and grouped with reference to their many
uses; for roadside planting, for color of foliage, for ornamental flowers,
for climbing, for display in winter, for growing in ponds and bogs, or on
sand, in the sun or in the shade, for spring, summer, or autumn. Which
are most useful for furnishing hees with honey and where do they thrive?
What native wTeeds have we, and what is the list of exotic weeds? Active
efforts should be made and continued to discover and record the introduc-
tion of new plants, and the modes of introduction. The problem of
weeds on the farm and in the garden is one of imminent importance. The
parasitic fungi are awaiting investigation, as they ruin the hopes of many
of our industrious cultivators of the soil. Tons of valuable food, as good
as roast beef, are annually wasted because of the ignorance of the people
regarding their peculiarities. These mushrooms and toadstools should be
better known for many reasons.
Local societies for investigating this subject should be encouraged and
assisted.
Our mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, Crustacea, mollusks, and
even the lowest kinds of animal life need more attention; and we have not
14 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
the least doubt that their study would add to the wealth of the State
three dollars for every one judiciously expended in this work.
A number of committees, each headed by an enthusiastic and persistent
naturalist should begin to make plans for the future, and then we need
means from the State to print and illustrate these reports and papers.
We must remember that nothing of importance can be accomplished
without labor.
I congratulate you as members of an organization which has no lack of
interesting and useful work to perform.
PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF BACTERIOLOGY.
FREDERICK G. NOVY, ANN ARBOR.
(Read before the Academy December 26, 1894.)
Within a comparatively short period of time, perhaps 15 years, the field
of knowledge has been enlarged by a new science — bacteriology. The
study of bacteria, as such, may possess a great deal of interest to the
microscopist and botanist yet it is safe to say that without the recognition
of the extraordinary significance of these organisms this sudden and
remarkable evolution of the science would be impossible. Bacteria had
been known and studied, more or less, for a hundred years and more, yet
the impulse from the practical side was necessary to attract at once
scores and even hundreds of investigators into the field. We may not
inaptly compare, so far as development is concerned, bacteriology with
electricity. Electricity had been known for more than a century, but it
required an Edison and a Bell to develop its practical side just as
bacteriology required a Pasteur and a Koch. It is well known what
electricity has done, but is it known what has been accomplished by and
through bacteriology?
To obtain a correct impression of the results of bacteriology it is neces-
sary to begin with the pioneer work of Pasteur, nearly 40 years ago. At
that time fermentation was explained by the great German chemist
Liebig as a purely chemical phenomenon. Pasteur as a chemist was led
to question this explanation and in a series of elaborate experiments
effectually disproved this view and firmly established the relation of cer-
tain microscopic organisms to fermentation and putrefaction. The
chemical theory of fermentation of Liebig was forced to give way before
incontrovertible evidence and facts to the vitalistic theory of Pasteur.
Today we no longer speak of the vitalistic theory for it has ceased to be a
theory. No series of facts in chemistry or in physics can be said to be
more clearly proven than the relationship of bacteria, yeast, etc., to
fermentation and putrefaction. This indeed, has greater significance than
may at first appear. Fermentation and putrefaction, the decomposition
of vegetable and animal matter, is carried on constantly on the earth's
surface. Without this decomposition, the nitrogen of the proteid molecule
and the carbon of the carbohydrate and proteid molecule would be as
useless to new plant life as the C02 stored away in the vast deposits of
limestone within the earth's crust. Through the agency of the minute
NOVY ON BENEFITS OP BACTERIOLOGY. 15
single-celled organism, the chief representative of which are the bacteria,
these complex dead molecules are split up in CO., HN02, HNOs, and other
products which are then utilized by new life. The law of conservation
of energy and of matter finds its parallel in conservation of life.
Decay and putrefaction from this standpoint is not, as Pasteur has
pointed out, a phenomenon of death so much as a phenomenon of life.
The relation of bacteria to fermentation is of the greatest practical
importance. Many of the products to which they give rise are directly
utilized by man. In this sense bacteria are directty beneficial — a fact
which is too often lost sight of and indeed overshadowed by the in-
jurious action of some forms of bacteria on man and animals. To illus-
trate what great practical and industrial importance is attached to cer-
tain microorganisms we may mention the yeast plant. All the alcohol of
commerce is derived by fermentation induced by the yeast cell. Practi-
cally all the acetic acid, that is vinegar, is obtained through the fermen-
tative action of bacteria on alcohol. Other substances such as lactic acid,
butyric acid, etc., are obtained from the same source. The vast deposits
of soda saltpetre in South America and the saltpetre of India owe their
origin unquestionably to the industrious bacterial cell.
Bacterial decompositions or fermentations occur to a large extent
among certain foods. Indeed many articles of food, such as cheese,
butter, koumiss, etc., owe their special flavors and characteristics
largely to the fermentation changes which have taken place. The study
of bacteria has further shown that many foods, as meat, milk, cheese, etc..
may take on poisonous properties, the result of the formation of poisons
within the food by the special bacteria which have been introduced and
have developed therein. Some of these bacterial poisons, especially those
which are basic in character, and thus chemically closely allied to the
vegetable alkaloids, are of great practical importance in legal medicine.
In their chemical reactions they may easily be mistaken for poisonous
alkaloids and thus lead to the conviction of otherwise innocent persons.
That such fatal mistakes have been committed is perhaps only too true.
The lessons that have been gained by experience and through the labors
of Selmi are now so well recognized that it is no longer an easy matter
to secure conviction in such well known poisonings as strychine, mor-
phine, etc.
That which has brought bacteria most into • prominence is un-
questionably their relation to disease. Ever since the discovery of the
microscope there have been bold thinkers who did not hesitate to declare
that communicable diseases as syphilis, smallpox, etc.. were due to living
forms. The germ theory of disease, which may be said to have been born
in the mind of Kireher more than two hundred years ago. has after a ser-
ies of remarkable vicissitudes become firmly established. A theory ceases
to be a theory when facts have been accumulated and proofs furnished.
This has been done with a large number of infectious diseases, so that
today, to speak of the germ theory of disease is to confess a lack of famil-
iarity and a lack of knowledge of the growth of one of the most important
branches of medicine. The germ theory is a thing of the past. Bacteria
and other organisms are the causes of infectious disease. This has been
proven as clearly as any demonstration ran be made. We do not theorize
when we state that arsenic, strychine, morphine and similar chemical
16 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
compounds are poisonous. Neither do we theorize when we say that
the anthrax bacillus produces anthrax, the tetanus bacillus tetanus,'
the glanders bacillus glanders, the hog cholera bacillus hog cholera,
or the tubercle bacillus tuberculosis. These and others have been proven
to produce these diseases, not once, but hundreds and thousands of times.
Every student in a bacteriological laboratory becomes personally ac-
quainted with these disease producing organisms and with their action
in the animal body.
In order to prove that an organism is the cause of a given disease, it
is necessary to comply with certain requirements.
Briefly stated, these are as follows: First, the specific organism
must be present in every case. Merely to be present does not prove that
it is the cause as it may be an accompaniment or a consequent of the
disease — a. possibility, which, though extremely improbable, must never-
theless be conceded. Secondly, this specific organism must be
isolated in a perfectly pure form, free from all other organisms and
foreign substances. In other words a pure culture must be obtained, just
as the chemist before applying his final tests, isolates the substance in
a condition of chemical purity. Thirdly, the pure culture of the organism
when properly introduced into a susceptible animal must produce the
disease.
If these requirements are satisfied it is evident that there is no escape
from the conclusion that that special organism is the cause of that dis-
ease. Demonstrations of this kind have been furnished in a very large
number of diseases of man, of animals and even of plants. Anthrax in
cattle and in man was the first disease shown to be due to bacterial origin.
And it may be perhaps of interest to add that the last disease which has
been proven to be due to bacteria is the recent plague in China, which
is the same as the plague which devastated Europe in the pre-
ceding centuries under the name of black death. This interesting
demonstration has been simultaneously and independently achieved by
Yersin of Paris and Kitasato of Tokio.
The fact that bacteria produce disease is unquestionably an important
one. But of much greater significance to man are the results which
necessarily follow. As long as such diseases as cholera, typhoid fever,
tuberculosis, diphtheria were supposed to hSve some obscure ill defined
cause, it was well nigh impossible to successfully combat these diseases.
With the demonstration that bacteria are the cause is furnished some-
thing that is definite and tangible.
These organisms can now be isolated and artificially grown and their
weak points, so to speak, readily ascertained. In this way it becomes pos-
sible to establish a rational method of prevention of the communicable
diseases. The great advances which have taken place in sanitary sci-
ence during the last quarter of a century are directly the outcome of the
study of bacteria. Thousands of lives have been saved through the facts
disclosed by the investigation of these organisms. The scientific pre-
vention of disease can be seen nowhere as well as in brilliant achieve-
ments of surgery.
To Joseph Lister is due the credit of having utilized the facts gathered
by Pasteur on fermentations, and of having applied these facts to surgery,
long before a single germ was actually proven to be the cause of a disease.
NOVY ON BENEFITS OF BACTERIOLOGY. 17
Antiseptic and aseptic surgery is the pride of medicine, since the prin-
ciples laid down by Lister, extended and widened by more recent investi-
gations on bacteria have enabled the surgeon to accomplish results and
to save life to a degree which otherwise would be impossible.
Another name must not be forgotten in this connection. Indeed
it cannot be forgotten, for wherever there is a mother, consciously
or unconsciously she must render her grateful thanks to that
benefactor of womankind and of the entire human race, who devoted
the best years of his life to free woman from the unnecessary dangers
of childbirth. At the recent International Congress of Hygiene, held in
Budapest last September, a monument was erected to perpetuate the
memory and works of Ignatius Semmelweiss.
In the antiseptic methods of prevention of infectious diseases which
have been alluded to, the attempt is made to prevent the disease by
removing the causative organism through rigid cleanliness or by prevent-
ing the growth of the organism, or actually destroying it by means of
chemical substances or germicides. A knowledge of the means whereby
bacteria can be destroyed is of the greatest practical benefit to every
person. It is clear that if the organisms can be prevented from growing
in the body the disease cannot originate. Quarantine or isolation and dis-
infection have these objects in view. The results thus obtained in pre-
venting the spread of infectious diseases are only too well known.
Many of the communicable diseases may be prevented by other means
than those outlined. It is a matter of experience that frequently one
attack of a disease prevents against a second attack. This fact was
recognized 3,000 years ago by the Chinese and utilized to prevent the
spread of smallpox. Variolation as practiced in the far East was intro-
duced into western Europe not quite 200 years ago. This method of insur-
ing protection against the disease was replaced a hundred years ago by the
safer and equally efficacious method of vaccination of Jenner. We do not
even now at the close of the 19th century know what the cause of
smallpox is, yet we are in possession of a perfect means to prevent this
dreaded scourge. Vaccination prevents the disease from developing
within the body. It confers immunity or freedom from that disease.
The principle of vaccination was not extended until 14 years ago, when
Pasteur in his study of the germ of chicken cholera, observed that after
a time it lost its virulence, that it became weakened. The genius within
the man at once indicated the practical application of this fact.
Vaccination with cowpox protects against smallpox and this was as-
sumed to be due to the fact that cowpox was a modified or weakened
form of smallpox. Acting on this assumption, Pasteur attempted to
vaccinate animals against chicken cholera by first inoculating them
with the weakened culture of the chicken cholera bacillus. In this he
was successful and perfect immunity to the disease was obtained. Means
were discovered by Pasteur for weakening or attenuating other disease
organisms and in this way successful vaccinations were made in animals
against anthrax, symptomatic anthrax, malignant oedema, hog erysipelas
etc. Since then the chemical products of these organisms have been
employed with equally successful results in inducing immunity to
disease. The means which are now known for producing immunity in
animals against infectious diseases are almost too numerous to mention.
3
18 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
The fact however is established that artificial immunity to disease may
be produced in animals against a large number of infectious diseases.
Practical methods of vaccination against certain animal diseases have
been perfected by Pasteur and his pupils. This is notably true in chicken
cholera, hog erysipelas and in anthrax. This principle has not bc<m
extended to man unless we include under this head the last great work
of Pasteur on the prevention of hydrophobia. We have but to look over
the 30 years of constant work devoted by Pasteur to the study of bacteria
in order to appreciate the incalculable benefits which have been con-
ferred on science and on humanity by this master.
The prevention of hydrophobia in persons bitten by mad animals is
the crowning achievement of a long life's work. The names of Jenner
and of Pasteur will endure as long as science itself, as long as there are
men willing to search for truth.
The prevention of the spread of infectious diseases is without doubt
one of the greatest and most fruitful results of the age. But the
bacteriologist cannot and must not stop at this point. The rational
treatment of the disease itself claims his attention. A few years ago a
distinguished physician gave utterance to the statement that the study
of bacteria as causes of disease, though interesting in itself, could not
furnish any means to treat such diseases. Today, it is otherwise. The
bacteriologist has already entered upon the cure of infectious diseases
and even now two diseases have been robbed largely of their dreaded
character. These are tetanus and diphtheria. The blood serum therapy
which has been developed and perfected by Behring, Kitasato, Boux
Tizzoni and others marks the dawn of a newT era. The brilliant results
in curing tetanus and especially diphtheria in man will prove all the
more an incentive to the further study of these and other diseases.
Such are some of the practical results, accomplished by bacteriology.
To utilize those organisms which are useful to man and to destroy those
which are injurious, either before or after they secure an entrance into
the body of men and animals, constitutes in brief the line along which
incalculable benefits will accrue to man.
I cannot close this necessarily brief paper without a plea for the intro-
duction of the study of bacteria into our lower schools. Education must
extend from below upwards and it is time that such a beginning be made
in the study of bacteria. I would not ask, at least for the present, that
a special course be given to this subject, but I would ask that classes in
botany be instructed as to the nature of bacteria and their role in
nature and in disease; that the classes in hygiene or in physiology
become acquainted with the principal infectious diseases and their pre-
vention. As matters now stand only the favored few in universities
and in medical colleges become acquainted wTith the facts that are of
vital importance to all. The mass of the people can never be reached
in this way. It is well to teach children the antidotes for poisons, what
to do in case of accident, drowning, etc., the evils of tobacco and of
alcohol. Why should not the most deadly foe of man receive a like
attention?
Hygienic Laboratory, University of Michigan.
THE GREAT SEAL AND COAT OF ARMS OF MICHIGAN.
BY W. J. BEAL. i
, (Read before the Academy December 26, 1894.)
The design for the great seal of the state of Michigan was presented
by the Hon. Lewis Cass to the convention which framed the first constitu-
tion for the state, in session at the city of Detroit, on the second day of
June, 1835, and was afterwards adopted on June 22, 1835. In one of the
rooms of the secretary of state is now a design in lead pencil. The draw-
ing is rather dim, but most interesting. There is also in the same office a
description of the great seal, which reads as follows:
"A shield shall be represented on which shall be exhibited a peninsula,
extending into a lake, with the sun rising, and man standing on the penin-
sula with a gun in his hand. On the top of the shield will be the word
'Tuebor,' and underneath in a scroll will be the words. 'Si quaeris peninsu-
lam amoenam eircumspiee.' There will be a supporter on each side of
the shield, one of which will represent a moose and the other an elk.
Over the whole, on a crest, will be the eagle of the United States with the
motto, 'E pluribus unum.' Around will be the words, 'Great seal of the
state of Michigan, A. D. MDCCCXXXV.' "
There is also there preserved a letter from the president of the conven-
tion, which reads as follows:
" Detroit, June 24, 1835.
"To the secretary of the territory of Michigan:
"In conformity with the following clause in the constitution adopted
by the convention now in session, I transmit you the within description
and accompanying device for deposit in your office, hereby certifying that
they are the papers to which reference is made in the said clause, viz:
" 'A great seal for the state shall be provided by the governor, which
shall contain the device and inscription represented and described in the
papers relating thereto, signed by the president of the convention and
deposited in the office of the secretary of the territory."
JOHN RIDDLE,
"President of the Convention."
I have been interested in looking over various editions of the Legislative
Manual and numerous state reports, letter heads, encyclopedias, histories,
geographies, etc., which contain various caricatures of the design adopted.
In the original the eagle looks very well and life-like, with his wings
spread and the tips turned downward. #Lt the left, as we look at the
design, is the elk, with the neck- arched more than it should be to repre-
sent nature; at the right stands the moose, with arched neck, a very slight
crest along the middle of the neck and shoulders, but nothing like the
shaggy mane as shown in recent cuts that are used in various reports.
The horns are broad, much like those of a moose, the forehead is too much
curved or dished, the nose slants off somewhat abruptly, like a blunt
chisel sharpened on one edge, instead of the true round, blunt apex as the
20
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
There is a small goalee and
a very short, spike of a
animal wears it.
tail.
The first design of the coat of arms as used in the public laws of Michi-
gan appears in 1839, and continues to 1ST2, inclusive. In this (shown in
Fig. 1) the moose stands at the left instead of at the right, and under him
and beyond may be seen part of a train of short cars, and under the elk a
plain steamboat. The eagle is spreading his wings in a graceful position
as though just about to fly. The moose has a narrow nose much like that
Fig. 1.
of the elk, and a shaggy neck considerably resembling the neck of a long-
haired dog which had been closely sheared from the rear to the shoulders.
In 1870, in some state reports, there is a change (as shown in Fig. 2.)
The shield is shorter and broader, the eagle has risen above it, but still
clings to his arrows; and now it is difficult to distinguish the moose from
the elk, and both resemble bucks more nearly than an elk. On the left a
man seems to be picking into a mine, on the right the boat has arrived.
This boat is modified in style, when compared with the one above figured,
having a mast as well as a smoke stack. The design was for a long time
' used as a part of the heading of the Lansing Republican.
Fig. 2.
In 1879, while the Hon. C. *. Gower was superintendent of public in-
struction, another design was used in his'report — (Fig. 3). Great changes
appear. The elk and the moose with sharp noses and smooth shoulders
becoming tired of standing on their hind legs all these years, drop down
onto all fours, waltzing around or one chasing the other, till they finally
stop with the moose to the right of the shield. The eagle was evidently
frightened at this and raised, extending his wings considerable, perhaps
fearing the shield would tip over for lack of support. The railway train
is of a different type and is close onto the heels of the moose. Farther
BEAL ON MICHIGAN COAT OF ARMS.
21
back are a bouse and a bain, and in front a man plowing, and near the
railroad a telegraph line is seen. On the left appears to be a factory of
some kind, perhaps a sawmill.
In 1880 ias shown by Fig. 4) there is another change; the eagle has
alighted on the shield, but the tips of his wings point up in a strained
position against the strip which holds the motto, "E pluribus unum." The
cars and telegraph have left all traces of existence, the steam boat has de-
parted; the house and factory have been swept away; the ydowman has
Fig. d.
probably goue to dinner; the sun shines more brightly; the moose has
again found his own horns, which look as though they were stuck on the
head of a calf; the shaggy mane has been toned down, and here we have
the fourth form of the shield that has appeared. The moose and elk
having taken a rest for two or three years have again reared on their hind
feet and support the shield in a graceful manner.
In 1883-84 there are again signs of a great commotion. (See Fig. 5.)
Gov. Begole comes into office. The rays of an imaginary sun concealed by
Fig. 4.
the shield, flash far up into the sky beyond the shield, and a great cloud
of dust or smoke appears on each side back of the elk and moose. The
rays of the visible sun rising from the distant lake are not parallel with
the rays emanating from back of the shield. The moose has changed his
head and again has found his shaggy neck. The eagle is the same as
on the former design. In all these changes the latin mottoes are not
disturbed.
At the top of some of the paper now and for some years used by the
22
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
executive department is what is called a fac simile of the great seal of
Michigan. The eagle rests on the top of the shield, with wings raised in
a frightful and unnatural position, the tips apparently supporting the
motto above. The elk looks reasonably well, excepting the conspicuous
growth of long, shaggy hair all about the neck, quite in contrast with
the smooth head and body. The head of the moose is too much like the
head of the elk, the neck and shoulders are shaggy and unnatural. Back
Fig. 5.
of the last two animals named are clouds of smoke, dust, or mist. On
the shield is the man with a gun standing on a peninsula. The gun has
a bayonet attached. Neither on the shield nor outside of it are there any
other signs of animal or plant life, save those just mentioned, nor of art,
save the mottoes and the arrows in the possession of the eagle.
One of the letter heads now in use (Fig. G) contains another design here
exhibited. The eagle has dropped his wings; the strip containing the
motto takes a bend under his neck. The rays of a second sun flash up
Fig. 6.
back of the eagle, the other sun just rising above the water on the shield.
The shield is of a different design from any of the others. Excepting
the slight difference in the horns, the moose is essentially the same as the
elk. The train of cars and a steamboat reappear, with some changes.
The moose and the elk stand on piles of small stones, clouds appearing on
either side. Near the man on the peninsula stands a flag pole bearing the
stars and stripes and a tent of modern design. The great seal of Michi-
BBAL ON MICHIGAN COAT OF ARMS.
23
gan, as used iu 1870 or thereabouts was much more like the original de-
sign than the one used at present.
In the legislative manual for 1885 and for several years after there is
apparentlv a copy of the state seal as now used. Near the margin are
the letters, "Great seal of the state of Michigan, A. D. MDCOCXXXY."
The eagle is slightly changed from the one last described, this one hav-
ing on the head two slight horns pointing backward. Altogether, when
carefully viewed with a lens, it is a very clumsy bird. The man on the
peninsula has again changed his clothes, the bayonet has been removed
from the gun. The elk is very good, having very little indication of long
hair about the neck. The moose has a rather broader nose, the hair on
the neck and shoulders is quite long and wavy. Except the shield, the
eagle, moose and elk and the strips containing the mottoes, the ground
work is all plain, consisting of fine parallel lines.
I have by no means exhausted the deviations from the original drawing
at first described, but have shown that no two of them are alike in some
rather important particulars. It seems as though the engraver of each
new plate for a state coat of arms or state seal had tried to exhibit some
originality in his work as others have in making innumerable representa-
tions, of Uncle Sam.
Perhaps it makes little difference how many styles we have — we live in
an age of fashion — but some day, I doubt not, some careful person will
revise the figures of our state seal and we shall have an improvement on
any yet made. There could certainly be nothinng to criticise, were the
drawings good and true to life of a perfect eagle, a handsome elk, and a
will-proportioned moose. In case no one else undertake the job, it would
not be a bad scheme for this society in its printed transactions to have a
design made which should be a credit to its members by exhibiting the
eagle, the elk, and the moose as well-developed animals, all in graceful
positions.
THE FLORA OF MICHIGAN LAKES.
CHARLES A. DAVIS, ALMA.
(Read before the Academy, December 27, 1S94.)
With the three largest great lakes practically within her territory, with
a fourth lying on her border and more than 5,000 smaller lakes and ponds
scattered over her surface, Michigan offers exceptional opportunities for
the study of fresh water plants, and it is the purpose of the present paper
to put the facts already known relating to the flora of our lakes into such
shape that they will be available for future use. The lakes of the State
exclusive of the Great Lakes cover an area of 1,225 square miles, or more
than 784,000 acres, or about 1-50 of the total area of the State, and
they are so distributed that there is hardly a botanist in Michigan who
cannot readily reach one or more of them.
The small lakes, particularly those of the Lower Peninsula, are com-
monly depressions in the drift, shallow and not of large extent, frequently
partially filled in around the margin with the remains of former genera-
tions of. plants, so that many of the typical features of lakes of hilly or
mountainous regions are partly supressed or entirely wanting. These
lakes belong to a recent geological time which undoubtedly accounts for
some of their peculiarities. By far the larger number of them exhibit
the following features: A small sheet of water of roughly elliptical
shape bordered by a marshy area of varying width, which is limited on
two or more sides by low. abruptly sloping, sandy or gravelly hills. The
marshy tract is frequently wider on the south side than on the north, and
its character varies from a quaking bog at the inner margin through a
sphagnous zone into a swamp in which the prevailing trees may be tama-
rack, cedar, or spruce, or all of them. The plants of the sphagnum zone
are characteristically those of the boreal life zone and in such lake
margins we find northern plants reaching their southern limits. The
quaking bog is usually a lake ward extension of the shore plants and is a
closely woven turf of the roots and rootstocks of various species of Carex,
Cyperus, grasses and at its outer margins, sometimes of Typha latifolium
and Sparganium eurycarpum, partly resting, partly floating on a bed of
loosely coherent vegetable debris into which the unwary investigator
may find himself sinking, if he is not constantly on the lookout for his
footing. In the larger lakes the marshy border may not extend entirely
around the margin, but it is usually noticeable along the southern shore
where it may be of considerable extent, while the rest of the shore is
entirely without it. Such are the lakes.
The work which has been done in connection with the flora of these
bodies of water has been of a decidedly desultory and irregular sort, and
the published accounts of such work, meager and largely confined to
simple lists of the species of the Metaspermae found growing in the lakes
which have been visited by our collectors. Sometimes these lists are
accompanied by notes relating to the variations of some of the species, but
usually the accounts are very short. A notable exception is the work done
on Lake St. Clair in 1893, by the Michigan Fish Commission party under
DAVIS ON FLORA OF LAKES. . 25
Professor Reighard of the University of Michigan to which attention will
be called later.
Prof. Charles F. Wheeler of the Michigan Agricultural College and
Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, have made a careful examination
of the Metasperniae of Pine Lake, near Lansing, and with most satis-
factory results, adding to our knowledge of the geographical distribution
of certain rare plants, some of them new to our flora, and finding the lake
an exceptionally rich field, about fifty species of aquatics being recorded
from it. Rev. E. J. Hill, of Engelwood, 111., has made a careful and
systematic study of the plants along the shores of Lake Michigan and the
adjacent region, and of the Naidaceae in particular, and has added much
to our knowledge of the distribution and character of the Michigan
species of those polymorphous plants, by publishing his notes relating to
them from time to time in the botanical periodicals. Dr. Thomas Morong
made collecting trips into Michigan in search of aquatic plants, the re-
sults of which are embodied in his monumental work on the North Ameri-
can Xaidaceae. Dr. D. H. Campbell made a study of the plants of the
Detroit River in 1880. Mr. O. A. Farwell, now of Detroit, made an ex-
tensive study of the plants of Keweenaw county, including the aquatics,
bringing to our knowledge among other interesting species the Myriophyl-
lum which now bears his name. Mr. C. K. Dodge, of Port Huron, has
collected for a number of years along Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River
and neighboring waters and sends me a considerable list of species of
flowering plants which he has found in those bodies of water.
Supt. H. T. Blodgett, of Ludington, has made some study of the flora
of Hamlin Lake in Mason county, and the small lakes in that vicinity*
which prove themselves rich in aquatic plants by the species which he
lias found. Messrs. Beardslee and Kofoid have collected in various parts
of less settled portions of the Lower Peninsula, particularly in Cheboy-
gan county; and Mr. S. H. Camp, of Jackson, has made limited collections
of aquatics in the course of general collecting. Mr. G. H. Hicks, Dr. W.
J. Beal and doubtless nearly all other botanical collectors of the State
should be added to the list, as occasional collectors of the plants of our
lakes to a greater or less extent.
The result of this work is that we have a general and rather diffuse
knowledge of about a hundred species of the Metasperniae, more than
half of which it is safe to say that not a half dozen botanists in the State
would recognize at sight, if he found them. The main fact that we know
of them is that they are reported to occur within the boundaries of the
State, in some cases, augmented by the less perfect knowledge that they
occur at intervals over a considerable portion of it, but it may be truth-
fully said, I think, that there our knowledge ends in the case of the most
of these species. The work done has been largely finding and recording
species and there it has ended.
Such work has a decided scientific value undoubtedly, and should not
be underrated, and certainly is not by me, but with only our catalogue of
names we surely have a very meager and unsatisfactory knowledge of the
plants of our lakes. A careful study of the various lists of plants of the
State, however, brings to light a number of interesting facts. It shows
that comparatively few of our lakes have been even visited by botanists,
and still fewer have been thoroughly searched. It shows that several of
4
26 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
the aquatic plants are known but from a single station or from two or
three widely distant ones, while comparatively few are known from a
large number of stations. Lastly, we may look in vain, with one exception,
for contributions of any sort to the knowledge of the myriad forms of
Algae and other groups of flowerless plants with which the waters of our
lakes fairly teem.
It is evident from the foregoing considerations that the botanists of
this body have a duty to perform, and as we shall have to begin at the
foundation, let us look at the field from various standpoints. In a dis-
cussion of the flora of our lakes from any point of view, we shall have to
place the four great lakes in a group by themselves, because from their
great size and depth special conditions which do not obtain in the smaller-
lakes, have to be considered from their effect on plant life. It is also well,
at the beginning of any subject on which it is proposed to make extended
investigations, to establish a series of terms whose meaning shall be
exactly defined and strictly limited in application, so that there shall be
no confusion as the work progresses. Therefore, since American litera-
ture contains nothing of general application relating to the plant life of
fresh water, in this paper I propose to adopt the suggestions of Haeckel
and other German writers in regard to terminology, for the German
biologists have, with characteristic energy, already made a number of
studies of the life of fresh water lakes. Since the term ""pelagic" has
already been applied to those forms of plants and animals which are
found freely floating or swimming at various depths in the open ocean,
it is suggested by Haeckel that similar forms in our fresh water lakes be
called limnetic and that they be divided into auto-limnetic, zono-lim-
netic, and bathy-limnetic groups, according as their habitat is the surface,
intermediate zones, or the depths of the lakes. For the total swimming
and floating population of fresh water lakes the term limno-plankton, as
opposed to halo-plankton or simply plankton, for salt water forms. The
general adoption of these or equivalent terms will avoid whatever con-
fusion might arise from the use of older terms heretofore applied to salt
water life-forms. These terms are general, applying to all forms of
organisms. These living organisms are animal as well as plant and in
the lower orders the line of demarkation is faint and not sharply defined,
but it is not necessary to enter into a discussion of the distinction between
the two groups here, as we will consider those forms of life which are
ordinarily called plants by good authority, as such, leaving disputed
groups to be classified later. If botanists had adopted the use of the
word protophyta to apply wholly to unicellular plants, it would have been
jiossible to adopt Haeckel's classification dividing all plants into pro-
tophyta and metaphyta, the former applying wholly to one-celled the
latter to the tissue forming forms, but at present, usage is opposed to such
a scheme. For our- purpose it will be well to separate the visible and
larger from the invisible and smaller forms, into macroscopic and micro-
scopic. The macroscopic plants are of two types, the amphibious and the
truly aquatic. The amphibious plants may be farther subdivided into
those forms which grow habitually in the water on the edge of the marshy
border, the truly littoral forms, and those which grow in the marsh itself,
and are capable of living through a considerable period of submergence
during their growing season, the palustrine forms.
DAVIS ON FLORA OF LAKES. 27
The true aquatics or hydrophytes, are those plants which grow wholly
submerged or with but a small portion of the growing apex of the stem
together with the inflorescence, emersed. These plants are usually but
lightly rooted, their stems and leaves are filled with large air spaces and
in the exogens, the leaves are frequently much dissected into long filamen-
tous lobes. In the endogens, on the other hand, the submerged leaves are
commonly entire and frequently have broad blades. The line separating
these two divisions is not a very sharp one as many of the species which
are commonly pure aquatics will frequently survive for long periods grow-
ing on muddy or sandy banks from which the water has receded, and the
amount of adaptation to the changed conditions which some species will
show in these circumstances is remarkable and suggestive. The aquatic
plants also have the ability to survive for a considerable period floating
freely in the water and undoubtedly this power is of material aid to
them in assisting in their distribution in a given body of water.
In discussing the flora of Lake St. Clair in Bulletin No. 2 of the Michi-
gan Fish Commission, Mr. Pieters has adopted the terminology of Magnin,
whose work on the lakes of the Jura demonstrated the existence of a
series of zones in the littoral and aquatic plants of that region. These
zones, which Mr. Pieters found more or less well marked in Lake St. Clair,
are limited by the depth of the water in which they lie and there are
certain dominating genera of plants characterizing each zone. The
zones of Magnin are four in number; 1st. A littoral zone subdivided into
Phragmitetum and Scirpetum. the former extending to a depth of 2-2-|
meters, the latter to 3 meters. 2d. The Nupharetum, from 3 to 5 meters.
3d. The Potamogetonetum usually extending to 6 or 7 meters ; and below
8 meters, 4th., the Characetum. In Lake St. Clair, the prominent
plants of the first zone are Phragmites communis Trim, Typha latifolia,
L., Acorns Calamus L., and several others. Two species were character-
istic of the Scirpetum. Scirpus pungcns Yahl., and >S. Lacustris L., the
latter growing in the deeper water. The 2d. zone, the Nupharetum was
wanting, Nuphar adv&na belonging to the Phragmitetum, but the third,
the Potamogetonetum, characterized by the true aquatics, was well de-
fined, extending into water from 3 to 7 meters deep. The chief plants were
various species of Potamogeton, the most common being P. perfoliatus L.,
which, together with TaUisncria spiralis L. was abundant. Beyond this
zone and covering the whole bottom of the lakes, so far as studied, the
Characetum wras found in which various species of Characeae formed the
prevailing vegetation. These plants wrere found most abundant on clay
and alluvial bottoms, much less so on sands. Mr. Pieters also points out
that these zones were not well defined in shallow parts of the lake and
where the bottom sloped very- gradually.
Professor Beighard in Bulletin No. 4 of the Michigan Fish Commission
mentions three factors which may influence the abundance of plant life
in a lake: 1st. The amount of plant food which the water contains;
2. The amount of shallow water in the lake; 3d. The transparency of the
water. I would add a fourth, as decidedly influencing the number of
macroscopic plants, namely, the character of the bottom near the shore,
sand being very nearly if not quite barren, while alluvial and clay deposits
are usually richly inhabited. The plants of all of Magnin's zones are
more or less influenced by these conditions, especially, by the 2d and
28 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
4th. The latter fact is made quite clear by the statement of Mr. Pieters
in regard to the Characetum.
The microscopic plants of our lakes may be roughly divided into two
groups, those which attach themselves to plants and other objects in the
water and at the bottom, and those which freely move about. Many of the
larger Algae, such as Vaucheria, etc., and the fixed diatoms belong to the
first and desmids furnish examples of the second group. By microscopic
plant in this sense, those forms requiring the use of the compound micro-
scope for determining species are meant. Our knowledge of these plants
as found in Michigan waters is so limited that but little more can be said
in regard to them, but it is highly probable that they form both directly
and indirectly an important factor in the distribution and the supply of
fish in our lakes. With the facts above presented in regard to Lake St.
Clair in view, even though it is not a type of our smaller lakes, it will be
well to view the latter and see what bearing they may have in a general
way on the distribution of our lake plants. To any one who has visited any
number of the lakes which dot our Lower Peninsula, it will be easy to
recall the fact that in the deeper ones with abruptly sloping bottoms, the
amount of visible vegetation is small, being usually limited to a narrow
zone near the shore, and in the shallower ones, the amount is larger, the
plants extending farther out, and in very shallow ones covering the whole
surface. In most of these lakes, if not all, undoubtedly careful study would
reveal a certain correspondence in the essential features of the vertical
distribution of the macroscopic plants, mainly dependent on the width of
the various zones, which in turn would be found to depend on the slope of
the bottom. The species predominating in one lake would not necessarily
nor likely be the same, as it is frequently the case that one species will
secure the entire ground available to the type in a lake and monopolize the
field while in an adjacent lake some other species or a group of specie will
do the same. Mr. H. T. Blodgett writes me that in one small lake with which
he is acquainted the entire surface is covered with I tricularia intermedia
so much so that during the blooming season the air is fragrant with its
sweetness, while in another pond connected with it, the much rarer L tri-
cularia purpurea, is the exclusive plant. It is also true that certain species
colonize a portion of the shore of the lake and will not be found except in
that limited area. In the water which 1 have most carefully examined.,
a mill pond made by damming Pine River, and consequently a shallow and
irregular basin, the predominating plants of the macroscopic flora, are
Elodea Canadensis in the shallowed portions and Heteranthera graminea
in the deeper, but besides these there are at least nine species of Pota-
mogeton, all of which are fairly abundant, but more or less in colonies,
each species growing in limited areas by itself. Ranunculus circinatus is
very common also in large patches, as is Vallisneria spiralis. In such a
pond the zones in larger bodies of water and natural lakes could not be
expected to be well defined, as the bottom is very irregular and the
deepest part is in the old river channel. Still, it is a noteworthy fact
that certain species are restricted to the deeper water and that the littoral
zone is fairly well marked and some characteristic species are abundant.
In this zone is the third recorded station of the rare hybrid Carer
lupulinax retrorsa Dudley.
Let us now consider briefly what ought to be done to redeem the reputa-
DAVIS ON FLORA OP LAKES. 29
tion of the botanists of. Michigan in regard to this field. 1st.: Every
effort should be made to complete the filling out of the list of macroscopic
species and to work out the limits of the geographical and vertical
distribution of each form. 2nd.: A systematic study of the micro-
scopic forms, about which practically nothing is known, should be under-
taken and carried out. 3d.: The biological interrelations of plants and
animals should be fully worked out, for the problem is one of great com-
mercial as well as scientific interest, for Michigan is rapidly becoming the
banner summer resort of this whole section of the country, and her lakes
are attracting a large number of people to their banks, and in part, the
fish of the lakes form the attraction. We must know the conditions that
are most favorable to animal life in the lakes if the attraction is to re-
main a permanent one, for already the fish population of most of them is
perceptibly diminished. 4th.: The special problems of distribution and
propagation of the mascroscopic aquatic vegetation are well worthy of
solution and form an attractive field for investigation. 5th. : Still more in-
teresting, perhaps, is the series of questions suggested by the special forms
of leaf and stem developed by the submerged aquatics which have never
been looked into in connection with American species. 6th.: The study of
the modifications presented by the flowers of aquatics to bring about cross
fertilization, and to prevent blighting by wind and wave; the means for
encouraging the visits of insects have been neglected and even worse in
America and should be taken up. 7th.: The various physiological
and anatomical changes brought about by the peculiar environment of
this whole group of plants can be studied to advantage. These are some,
indeed but a few, of the problems in pressing need of solution in connec-
tion with the plants of our smaller lakes. Shall we undertake to solve
them? One question suggests itself as exceedingly interesting and I
would invite the attention of the systematic botanists to it. There is ft
variety of species of flowering plants that seem to prefer the cracks of
floating logs as a habitat. In it they invariably take a depauperate and
starved form which is quite characteristic and undoubtedly a number of
such forms could be made into variety minors, etc., that would stand
criticism quite as well as many we already have. The problem of the
flora of the Great Lakes is of such magnitude and importance that I
hesitate to approach it with my present lack of knowledge. A gentleman
entirely familiar with the subject, a botanist of more than national reputa-
tion called my attention to the fact that while the ocean, bays and inlets
and even the exposed coasts teemed with vegetation, the great lakes were
barren of it. My home was on the Atlantic coast and I would modify the
above statement in regard to the ocean by adding the words, ''except
where there is sand." The sand coast is entirely without vegetation and
is nearly without animals. My only experience along the Great Lakes
was a year spent in Chicago, where I noted the lack of visible vegetation
in the waters of Lake Michigan at that point, but had my attention repeat-
edly called to the fact that the artificial ponds in Jackson Park, which
were directlv connected with the lake bv a wide canal, were constantlv
being dredged out by the gardener to prevent their being overgrown, a
fact that indicated that the waters of the lake were not lacking in plant
food. Since I have given more thought to the matter I am inclined to
ascribe the lack of littoral vegetation in these lakes to three causes:
30 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
1st.: The prevalence of sand along the entire shore line, which prevents
the starting and growth of young plants, on account of its sterile and
movable nature; 2nd.: The rapid slope of the bottom in most places
into deep water, which would tend to make the littoral zone very narrow,
and brings it into the part of the shore line most acted on by waves; 3rd.:
The prevalence of swift currents and strong high waves, which keep the
sand in motion and prevent the formation of shoals of finer materials.
That there is a flora of considerable extent in Lake Michigan is shown by
the fact that Mr. L. X. Johnson reports finding bushels of Nostoc pruni-
forme along the southern shore of the lake and says that he has seen it
in ridges two to four feet wide and six to eight inches deep. In such
shallow estuaries as the mouth of the Saginaw River where silt is de-
posited in abundance, there is often an abundant and varied flora. The
determination and study of the plants of the Great Lakes can hardly be
undertaken by individuals, but must be done largely at the expense of
corporations or government on account of the large expense involved in
properly equipping for the study.
In closing, a few words of suggestion in regard to collecting aquatic-
plants may not be out of place. If a boat is accessible it is exceedingly
useful in getting about on the water to be investigated, but not essential
unless the lake has a shallow slowly sloping bottom. Many plants can be
reached from the shore in any case and such collecting as can be done in
this way is often satisfactory as to results. Some form of dredge is
essential and can be made by fastening a series of hooks into a lead disk
about three inches in diameter. Through this an iron rod 5-16 of an inch
in diameter and about a foot long, bent to form a small ring at one end,
is passed so that the disk is below the center. The hooks are 12 to 14 in
number and are all bent toward the same side, projecting about an inch
and curving inward about an inch. The rod should project about three
inches from the disk at the lower end, so that the end will strike the
bottom first. The disk should be made heavier on the side toward the
hooks which are best made of steel wire. Another form, the one used by
the Michigan Fish Commission is described by Mr. Pieters in his account
of the Flora of Lake St. Clair. The rope is attached to the ring, and
besides being used as a dredge, the instrument may be used for taking
soundings if nothing better is at hand and the water is not too deep. For
collecting the lacustrine forms of microscopic plants a small bolting cloth
towing net is essential.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The folio-wins list of publications bearing on the subject under consideration
may be divided into three classes:
1. Plant Catalogues, lists and notes relating to geographical distribution.
2. Manuals and Monographs.
3. General Treatises.
Catalogues and Notes.
(For this list the author is largely -indebted to Beal and Wheeler's Michigan
Flora:)
1839. Wright. J. Catalogue of the Phaenogams and Filicoid Plants, col-
lected on the Geological Survey of Michigan. Legislative Report. No: 23, pp. 17-44.
1849. Cooley. P." Catalogue of the Plants collected by W. A. Burt in the primi-
tive region south of Lake Superior in 184G. Jackson's Lake Superior, pp. 875-882.
DAVIS ON FLORA OF LAKES. 31
1850. Agassiz. Louis. Lake Superior, Its Physical Character, Vegetation, Animals,
etc. ,
1851. Whitney, W. D. List of the plants of the Upper Peninsula, Foster and
Whitney's Report of the Geology of the Lake Superior Land District. Part II, pp.
359-388.
1861. Winched. X. H. Catalogue of the Phaenogamous and Acrogenous plants
found growing wild in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the Islands at the
head of Lake Huron. First Biennial Report of the Progress of the Geological Sur-
vey of Michigan, pp. 245-330.
1873. Coleman. N. Catalogue of Flowering Plants of the Southern Peninsula of
Michigan with a feAV of the Cryptogamic. Miscellaneous Publications, No. 2, Kent
Scientific Institute, Grand Rapids.
1870. Almendinger, E. C. Flora of Ann Arbor and vicinity. Proceedings of the
Ann Arbor Scientific Association, pp. 85-116.
1876. Tuthill, F. H. Some notes on the Flora near Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bot.
Gaz. Vol. I, No. 4.
1S77. Palmer, E. Catalogue of Phaenogamous and Acrogenous Plants found
growing wild in the State of Michigan.
1881. Wheeler. C. F.. aud Smith, E. F. Catalogue of the Phaenogamous and
Vascular Cryptogamous Plants of Michigan, Indigenous, Naturalized aud Adventive.
1881. Hill, E. J. Botanical Notes, Bot. Gaz., Vol. 6, p. 259.
1882. Bailey, L. H., Jr. Limits of Michigan Plants. Bot. Gaz., Vol. 1, pp. 202-3.
1884. Hill, E. J. The Menominee Iron Region and its Flora, I and II. Bot.
Gaz., Vol. 9, pp. 20S-211, 225-229.
1886. Campbell, D. H. Plants of the Detroit River.
1890. Hill, E. J. Notes on the Flora of the Lake Superior Region, I and II.
Bot. Gaz., Vol. 15, pp. 140-149, 159-166.
1S90. Bailey. L. H., Jr. Carices of the Upper Half of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 17, pp. 61-04.
1891. Wheeler. C. F. Central Michigan Cyperaceae. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol.
18, p. 148.
1892. Beal, W. J. and Wheeler, C. F. Michigan Flora.
1S93. Blodgett, II. T. Plants of Mason County, Michigan. Asa Gray Bulletin,
No. 3.
1593. Hicks, Gilbert H. New and Rare Michigan Plants. Asa Grav Bulletin,
No. 3.
1894. Farwell. O. A. Contributions to the Botany of Michigan. Asa Gray Bul-
letin, Nos. 6, 7, et seq.
1894. Pieters, A. J. Plants of Lake St. Clair. Bull. Mich. Fish Commission,
No. 2.
1594. Reighard, J. E. Biological Examination of Lake St. Clair. Bull. Mich.
Fish Commission, No. 4.
Available Manuals and Monograph*.
Gray— Manual of Botany.
Morong. T.— North American Xaidaceae.
Bailey, L. H.— Studies of the Genus Carex,
Bailey, L. H. — Types of the Genus Carex.
Wolle— Desmids of the United States.
Wolle— Fresh Water Algae of the United States.
Wolle— Diatomaceae of the United States.
Lesquereux and James— Manual of the Mosses of North America.
Stokes, A.— Fresh Water Algae.
General Works.
These are mainly German and only indirectly applicable. A good bibliography
will be found in Professor Reighard's Biological Examination of Lake St. Clair.
32 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
THE LEPIDOPTERA OF MICHIGAN.
R. H. WOIX'OTT, M. D., GRAND RAPIDS.
(Read before the Academy, Dec. 27, 1894.)
[Abstract.]
I. Introduction:
1. Situation of state.
2. Divisions of state.
3. Configuration of surface— Lower Peninsula.
4. Configuration of surface— Upper Peninsula.
5. Geological strata.
6. Climate.
7. Flora.
II. Distribution of animal life in state:
1. Relation to great faunal provinces.
2. Division of the state into faunal regions.
3. Causes changing these divisions.
III. The Insect Fauna with especial reference to Lepidoptera:
1. General remarks on Insect Fauna.
2. Classification of Insecta.
3. Lepidoptera.
4. Classification of Lepidoptera.
5. List of families and superfamilies.
IV. Review of Lepidoptera of state:
1. Rhopalocera— 110 species.
2. Sphinges — 47 species.
3. Sesias — 12 known species, probably 50 altogether.
4. Bombyces — 150 species.
5. Noctuae— 550 species, estimated.
6. Geometrae— 200 species.
7. Microlepidoptera— Pyralites, 150 species, estimated.
S. Tortrices— 100 species, estimated.
9. Tineina — 250 species, estimated.
10. General Survey— 1600 species total.
V. Suggestions as to work:
1. Gathering of facts— Methods of collecting.
2. Collecting immature stages.
3. Labeling.
4. Identification.
5. Works of reference.
VI. Conclusion.
TENDENCIES IN MICHIGAN HORTICULTURE.
ARTHUR A. CROZIER.
("Read before the Academy, December 27, 1894.)
Recognition of the peculiar advantages of Michigan as a fruit growing
state may be said to date from the publication in 1866 by Alexander Win-
chell of his researches upon the climatology of the region of the Great
Lakes. He then demonstrated the previously unsuspected fact that
these inland bodies of water exert upon the climate of the surrounding
CROZIER ON TENDENCIES IN HORTICULTURE. 33
territory an equalizing influence "truly comparable to that exerted by the
great oceans." Dr. Winchell pointed out that for a period of eleven years
the coldest temperature reached at the Straits of Mackinac was only one
degree lower than at the city of Chicago during the same period. In
calling attention to this fact Dr. Winchell at the same time expressed his
belief that so far as winter-killing was concerned peach orchards and
vineyards would be perfectly secure along the whole eastern shore of Lake
Michigan.
At the time this prediction was made there was only one county in the
state extensively engaged in fruit growing, namely, Berrien, lying in the
extreme southwest corner of the State. We now have the well known
"Michigan fruit belt/' extending along the line suggested nearly thirty
years ago. and lacking but one county of completing the entire distance
from the head of Lake Michigan to the Straits of Mackinac.
One other physical fact bearing upon the successful cultivation of the
tender fruits was first popularly demonstrated at about the time this lake
influence became known. I refer to the influence of minor elevations
upon temperature. The fact that the summits and slopes of ordinary
hills, having an elevation of no more than fifty to one hundred feet, may
in extremely cold weather be enough warmer than the low lands adjoin-
ing to make all the difference between the success and failure of a fruit
crop, or in the case of peaches even the life and death of the trees, was
first pointed out so far as I know by Hon. J. G. Ramsdell of Traverse City.
These two facts, the ameliorating influence of the Great Lakes upon the
general climate and the modifying effect of air drainage upon the local
temperature, were taken up by the Michigan State Horticultural Society
upon its organization in 1870 and thoroughly impressed upon the people of
the state as of fundamental importance in the cultivation of fruit. And
it is chiefly because the fruit growers of the state have recognized these
facts and have acted in accordance therewith that Michigan occupies its
present advanced position among fruit growing states.
Meanwhile other natural features of our state are having their influence
upon the development of its horticulture. The extensive swamps and
marshes which retarded the early settlement of the state are now proving
as valuable for the production of vegetables as are the higher hills for the
production of fruit. Quietly, and probably unknown to the majority of
our citizens, many of these unsightly and unwholesome lands have been
reclaimed and are now producing the finest crops of onions, cabbages,
cauliflowers, celery, peppermint, as well as some of the ordinary farm
crops. It is said that more than one-half of the world's supply of the oils
of peppermint, spearmint and tansy is produced in this State; Michigan
celery is regularly shipped to all the leading markets in the United States
from Denver to the Atlantic seaboard.
The evident adaptation of these swamp lands to market gardening pur-
poses, and the large amount of such land in this state still unreclaimed,
render any facts connected with their further development of general
interest. The question of draining these swamp lands has been quite
thoroughly studied and is not generally a difficult one to solve. Several
other matters, however, need to be considered. Over drainage has often
to be guarded against. Where the water supply comes from the surface
only drainage sometimes leaves a muck swamp in a condition to suffer
34 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF1 SCIENCE.
from drouth more severely than the adjoining upland. Such lands, it is
well known, may even take fire in a dry time and lose much of their value
by burning away. Probably the chief advantage possessed by swamp or
marsh lands is their having generally a more abundant and more constant
water supply than the uplands. To conserve this supply of water is there-
fore important, and it is a point that needs to be considered at the time
of draining. Some swamps are so situated by the side of streams, or at
the foot of living springs, that moisture can at all times be maintained
within proper distance of the surface by means of ditches. I know also
of marshes in this state under a high state of cultivation which are
abundantly watered by means of artesian wells.
Concerning the fertility of lands composed chiefly of deep deposits of
muck, the early idea, based on their limitless supply of vegetable matter,
has had to be modified. It was at one time supposed that swamp muck
was in itself a fertilizer and desirable to use in large quantities on the
higher lands adjoining. But it is found that the benefit from the use of
muck in this manner is very slight, not repaying the trouble of applying
it, except when composted with barn yard or some other fermentable
manure.
Recently it is being noticed that the productiveness of these muck lands
is less permanent than was at first supposed, in fact, that after growing
a few excellent crops the yield often declines in an alarming manner,
more rapidly, in fact, than on surrounding lands composed of the ordinary
soil materials.
The question therefore of maintaining the fertility of these cultivated
swamps is a problem of immediate interest, the solution of which will
have an important bearing on the further development of such lands in
this state. So far, the only means employed to any considerable extent
for restoring the fertility of exhausted muck lands has been barn-yard
manure and, strange as it may perhaps appear considering its highly
vegetable and nitrogenous character, this has thus far given entirely
satisfactory results. But the application of this fertilizer is necessarily
limited and only practicable within reach of cities and villages. Careful
and extended trials of other fertilizers are needed. If the application of
lime, for example, to these lands shall prove as generally useful in our
climate as in the cooler and moister climate of Great Britain the presence
of the inexhaustible supply of this material within the state will prove
particularly fortunate.
Another class of soils in our state, much less promising than these
muck swamps, is found in the northern portion of the Lower Peninsula
and consists of extensive sandy plains, covering the larger part of several
counties and locally known as "pine barrens." These lands have never
been heavily timbered and in recent years have been frequently traversed
by forest fires, so that but little humus or vegetable matter remains in the
soil. For ordinary farm crops they are in their present condition worth-
less, as hundreds of abandoned farms in this region, some of them well
fenced and with good buildings, too clearly testify. On some of these
lands huckleberries, blackberries and other wild fruits grow spontane-
ously, so that the cultivation of certain of the small fruits thereon would
seem to be suggested as a field for experiment.
The tendency in the horticultural development of the state at the pres-
CROZIER ON TENDENCIES IN HORTICULTURE. 35
ent time is northward, and there are fortunately in northern Michigan, in
both Upper and Lower Peninsulas, abundant supplies of land suitable
for horticultural purposes.
It is probable that the culture of the peach and grape have nearly
reached their northern limit, but there is reason to believe that through-
out almost the entire Northern Peninsula many varieties of apple, plum,
cherry, and small fruits may be grown to great perfection, .to supply not
only the growing markets in that section of the country, but also to pro-
long the season of supply for more southern markets.
The limestone formation which prevails about the Straits of Mackinac
seems particularly well adapted to the cultivation of many of the finer
fruits. Remains of numerous Indian apple orchards, some of them still
in bearing condition, may be found throughout this region. Wild fruits
of various species grow here in great profusion. Huckleberries in large
quantities are annually shipped from Cheboygan and neighboring ports,
and other wild berries which grow there in equal abundance might also
find a market if they possessed equally good shipping qualities. I have
seen wild blackberries of the finest flavor brought into market at Petoskey
by the Indians as late as November, but too soft and too carelessly han-
dled to bear distant transportation.
The red raspberry (Rubus strigosus) grows and bears abundantly in all
this region but the fruit is shipped away only for the purpose of making-
brandy. The essential hardiness of this species is indicated by the fact
that upon the north shores of Lake Superior, where the timber has been
swept away by forest fires, there may be seen thousands of acres covered
with it. There would appear to be no reason therefore why cultivated
varieties of the red raspberry having suitable market qualities might not
be successfully grown throughout the whole of northern Michigan.
Plums also are being grown with success in some parts of the Upper
Peninsula, where wild plums of excellent quality are occasionally found.
Northern Michigan is particularly adapted to the growth of plums by
reason of the absence of the rot which is often disastrous to this fruit in
warmer climates. The curculio and black knot are also thus far less de-
structive there than farther south. For these reasons plum growing in
that region is likely to see greater development.
Of the peculiar advantages of Michigan for the pursuit of horticulture
we are doubtless well convinced, but success depends mainly on the
adaptation of the different crops to the required soil and location — and no
state has these conditions in greater variety than our own. The last
edition of the Michigan fruit catalogue shows that varieties which are
considered valuable in one locality are not always grown with success in
other localities, often but a short distance away. Thus, such thin-skinned
peaches as Mountain Rose and Old Mixon, which are favorites in the moist
climate of the Lake Shore, cannot be grown successfully in the peach
growing regions of the interior of the state which have a drier climate.
The vigorous Late Crawford, which often fails to bear well on the Lake
Shore is much more productive, and a favorite market variety inland
wherever it proves sufficiently hardy. The slow growing Hill's Chili, on
the other hand, which in the dry interior points fails to bring its heavy
load of fruit to perfection, gives entire satisfaction in western Michigan.
It is frequently the same with other fruits and with vegetables. The Tay-
36 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
lor raspberry, which cannot be grown to advantage in Washtenaw county
on account of the drouth, is a desirable sort along the lake shore. The
Gregg raspberry, which is almost the only market sort in the above
county, gives place in a measure to more productive but less vigorous
varieties in other parts of the state. Cauliflowers, which on suitable soil
may be grown on upland in western and northern Michigan, are a reliable
crop only on reclaimed swamps in the central and southern parts of the
state. Much remains to adopt the various horticultural crops to the local
conditions found in the state, and fruit and vegetable growers are fully
aware of the necessity of understanding the influence of their local condi
tions. But while these minor adjustments are still going on and are far
from complete, the broader lines are better understood; the hills are
being devoted to fruit, the reclaimed swamps to vegetables, and the fertile
plains are left for the purposes of general agriculture.
FUTILE EXPERIMENTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICUL-
TURE.
BY MANLY MILES, M. D.
(Read before the Academy, December 27, 1S94.)
[Abstract.]
In the popular demand for experiments to develop and establish cor-
rect principles in farm practice, the limits of experimental methods in
the advancement of science, and especially in the application of science
in agriculture, are entirely overlooked.
The established principles of science may be successfully applied to
explain the results of farm practice, while many of the problems pre-
sented cannot be solved by direct experiment.
In pointing out the futility of empirical experiments for the discovery
of the underlying principles of farm practice we do not belittle or under-
value the advantages of the legitimate applications of science to agricul-
ture. The farmer is constantly dealing with the forces of nature, and
a knowledge of the laws that determine and give direction to their vari-
ous manifestations cannot fail to be of practical value in his every day
work.
Investigations in pure science must then be looked upon as the most
direct and efficient means of progress in the improvement of agriculture,
and the short cuts or royal roads to exact knowledge that are marked
out ostensibly for the farmer's benefit must lead him astray out of sight
of the landmarks of real progress.
The same lines and methods of research cannot be followed in the
different departments of science from the marked difference in the condi-
tions and problems presented for investigation. Physics and chemistry
are emphatically experimental sciences, as their fundamental principles
and progress and development, from the very nature of the phenomena
with which they deal, must depend upon exact experiments in research
and for the purposes of verification. In astronomy and biology on the
other hand there are insuperable difficulties in the application of experi-
MILES ON FUTILE EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURE. 37
mental methods of research, and they must largely depend upon the
critical observation of phenomena as they occur for their progressive
development.
In nearly all of the problems requiring investigation in agriculture
biological activities are the dominant factors concerned in the reactions
of matter and transformations of energy, and the complexity of the con-
ditions presented is intensified by the involved interdependent relations
of the biological, physical and chemical factors that cannot be separately
investigated.
Our knowledge of the life history and habits of organisms, and the
development, morphological relations, and functions of mere organs of
nutrition and reproduction has been derived almost exclusively from
the observation of the various forms of life under normal conditions,
and there is an obvious limit to the application of exact experimental
methods from the interference of the required artificial conditions with
the normal activities of the organisms that are the subject of inquiry.
The heredity of acquired characters is generally accepted as a funda-
mental principle in the improvement of domestic animals, and culture
and heredity are looked upon as the essential factors in the improvement
of the pure breeds.
On theoretical grounds the followers of Weissman claim that acquired
characters are not inherited and it is proposed to test the truth of their
assumptions by an appeal to direct experiments. There are however
insuperable difficulties in the way of the application of this method.
There are many diverse characters inherited by each individual, and the
frequently observed facts of atavism indicate that no limit can be as-
signed to the inheritance of ancestral characters.
There is a decided preponderance of evidence in favor of the view that
all characters of all ancestors are inherited, and that the dominant or
obvious characters may obscure less pronounced characters that may
remain latent for many generations until favorable conditions of habit
or environment bring them to the surface as dominant characters.
In the inheritance of an acquired character it is obvious that modified
tunctional activities must precede morphological changes, and this ex-
plains why the results of accidents are not inherited.
The incipient indications of the inheritance of an acquired character
must be manifest in functional changes of the organism that are not
as readily observed as morphological changes. An acquired character
might be inherited and transmitted for several generations without be-
ing noticed, as it would at first in all probability be obscured by the
dominance of some well established ancestral characters. The history
of the improved breeds and the observation of breeders furnish better
evidence in regard to the laws of heredity than can be obtained by direct
experiment.
Similar difficulties arise in field and feeding experiments, so far as
the discovery of principles that can be profitably applied in practice are
concerned. The conditions presented are too complex to permit of the
isolation of the various factors involved to determine their real signifi-
cance as required in exact methods of research.
Experiments to determine the relative nutritive value of foods are
fallacious from the number of variable factors involved in the problem
38 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
that cannot be measured or brought under control, so that it is impos-
sible to determine their relative or combined influence on the results ob-
tained.
The appetite and previous habits of the animals consuming the food,
the amount eaten, and the efficiency of their organs of nutrition in per-
forming the work of digestion and assimilation must be recognized as
modifying factors that are quite as important in determining nutritive
values as the composition of the food itself, and it is evident that experi-
ments cannot be repeated under the same precise conditions for the
purpose of verification.
The chemical composition of foods cannot be made to represent their
nutritive value, as there are physical and biological factors that are quite
as significant. Liebig's false theory that the nitrogenous constituents
of foods (proteids) were exclusively used in the building of tissues, and
that the non-nitrogenous constituents were burned in the system to pro-
duce animal heat, has been a fruitful source of error in planning and
conducting feeding experiments. Carbon and oxygen and the ash constit-
uents of food are quite as important factors in tissue building as nitro-
gen to which attention is almost exclusively directed, and food constit-
uents are not burned in the system to produce animal heat.
The law of the conservation of energy is as strictly observed in organic
processes, as in the reactions of inorganic matter, and the transforma-
tions of energy in the economy of living organisms are now attracting
the attention of physiologists as the most significant results of the meta-
morphoses of matter. Work must be done in the building and repair of
tissues, and the energy so used, derived from the food consumed, is
stored up in the organic substances formed. In the destructive metabol-
ism that follows from the wear and tear of tissues in their functional
activities, this stored energy is liberated and what is not immediately
required in the constructive processes of the system appears as animal
heat.
No general statement in regard to the nutritive value of foods can be
formulated from the results of experiments in which the chemical factors
are alone considered and Liebig's classification of foods has not the phy-
siological significance claimed for it. The same animal may give quite
different results with the same food at different times, and different ani-
mals are not likely to agree in the returns given for the same food under
the same conditions.
From the complex processes of soil metabolism and the various con-
ditions that have an influence for good or ill on the well being of the
plants themselves, and the micro-organisms concerned in the elaboration
of plant food it may be readily shown that the sources of fallacy are quite
as evident in field experiments as in the feeding of animals. In both
cases the farmer is dealing with living organisms that thrive best when
fully satisfied with the conditions in which they are placed. In nearly
all problems that arise in these departments of his calling the farmer
will be best aided by researches in pure science for the increase of knowl-
edge relating to the facts and principles of biology.
THE UREDINE^E OF MICHIGAN. 39
THE UREDINE^E OF MICHIGAN.
BY HARRIET L. MERROW.
(Read before the Academy, December 27, 1894.)
[Abstract.]
One hundred and fifteen species of Uredineae are enumerated by the
writer, the specimens in each case being referred to the herbarium where
the specimen recorded is to be found. The date of collection, the parts
of the host attacked, and the effect on the host, when that could be
observed, are recorded. The writer calls attention to various observa-
tions of ecological interest, describes as forms that have escaped notice
in systematic works the uredo spores of Uromyces Howei, Pkv Uromyces
pisiformis, Cke., and Uromyces Sparganii, C. & P., records the collection
of the rare (in this latitude) Ravenelia epiphylla (S) Dietel in Jackson
county, Mich., and adds important notes on distribution.
SECOND ANNUAL MEETING, DECEMBER 1895.
The second annual meeting of the Academy was held in the pioneer
room of the Capitol at Lansing on Thursday and Friday, December 26
and 27, 1895, President Bryant Walker in the chair.
The first session, Thursday, 3 p. m., opened with about twenty members
present and the attendance increased during this and the subsequent
sessions to a maximum of about sixty, many of the members being absent
from the sessions of the Academy much of the time in necessary atten-
dance on the meetings of the State Teachers' Association, which also
was in session.
The treasurer's report showed the finances of the Academy to be in
a satisfactory condition, with a balance of about $86.00 on hand.
At the beginning of this meeting the membership roll bore the names
of 106 resident members and three corresponding members. Twelve
new resident members were elected on December 26, and one on December
27, thus increasing the number to a total of one hundred and twenty-
two. The new members were:
Arthur G. Baumgartel, Holland.
A. H. Boies, Hudson.
Geo. H. Cattermole. M. D., Lansing.
Myron T. Dodge, Saginaw, E. S.
Edgar G. Haymond, Flint.
John Hazelwood, Port Huron.
Frederick Chas. Irwin, Bay City.
William Jackman, Iron Mountain.
W. A. Oldfield, Port Sanilac.
Chase S. Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie.
*James B. Purdy, Plymouth.
Julius O. Schlotterbeck, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Norman A. Wood, 19 Church St., Ann Arbor.
The officers elected for the ensuing year were as follows:
President — William H. Sherzer, Ypsilanti.
Treasurer — Charles E. Barr, Albion.
Secretary — Walter B. Barrows, Agricultural College.
Vice Presidents — Botany, F. C. Newcombe, Ann Arbor; Zoology, J. E.
Keighard, Ann Arbor; Sanitary Science, Henry B. Baker, M. D., Lan-
sing.
'Declined membership.
SECOND ANNUAL MEETING, DECEMBER, 1895. 41
It was voted to recommend to the Council that the next winter meet-
ing be held at Ann Arbor during the spring vacation of the public schools
of the State, in 1897.
Notice was given by Prof. C. E. Barr of intention to ask at the next
regular meeting for changes in the constitution and by-laws, as follows:
Striking out of Article IX of the constitution the words "provided that
notice of the proposed amendment shall have been given at a previous
meeting;" and striking out of Chapter IX of the by-laws the words "pro-
vided that notice of the substance of the proposed amendment has been
given at a previous meeting."
The following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That the Section of Zoology be hereby directed to take such
means, by securing proper legislation or otherwise, as will more effectu-
ally preserve the useful and harmless birds of the State."
Notice was given of intention to organize a Section of Agriculture
under the rules prescribed by the constitution and by-laws. Eleven
members signified their intention of joining this section.
The following resolution, introduced by Dr. W. J. Beal, was referred
to the Council:
Resolved by the members of the Michigan Academy of Science,
That we are earnestly in favor of a law similar to one enacted in 1887.
providing for a State Forest Commission, and that we hereby pledge our-
selves to see that the next Legislature carry out our views on this im-
portant subject.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE SECOND ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MICHIGAN
ACADEMY OP SCIENCE, DECEMBER 26 AND 27, 1895:
1. The Origin and Distribution of the Non-Marine Mollusca of North America.
Mr. Bryant Walker. (Presidential Address.) Printed in full in this report.
2. The Evolution of Conventional Decorative Forms. Mr. Zach. Rice.
3. The Sub-carboniferous Limestone Exposure at Grand Rapids. Mr. Chas. A.
Whittemore. Printed in full in this report.
4. The Significance of Results in Dairy Stock-Feeding Experiments. C. D. Smith.
5. Some Plans for a Botanic Garden. Dr. W. J. Beal. Printed in Rep. Secy.
State Board of Agr., 1S95, pp. 51-7G.
6. Notes on the Seismic Disturbances in Missouri, Oct. 31st, 1895. Mr. John M.
Millar. Printed in full in this report.
7. Michigan Birds that Nest in Open Meadows. Mr. L. Whitney Watkins.
Printed in full in this report.
8. Sulfur and Celestite in Monroe County, Michigan. Prof. Wm. H. Sherzer.
Printed in Am. Jour. Science, New Series.
9. Recent Advances in Agricultural Botany. A. A. Crozier. Unpublished. Copy
never in hands of the Secretary.
10. Work which may be done by the Non-Professional Observer to assist the
Michigan Geological Survey. Dr. L. L. Hubbard. Unpublished.
11. The Needs of Michigan Forests. Dr. W. J. Beal. Printed in Rep. Secy.
State Board of Agr., 1895, pp. 51-76.
12. Food Habits of Michigan Birds. Prof. Walter B. Barrows. Published in
part, under the title "Birds and Horticulture," in Report of Secy. Mich. State Hort.
Soc, 1895, pp. 127-132.
13. New Species of Plants for Michigan, and New Localities for Old Species.
Mr. O. A. Farwell. Published under the title "Contributions to the Botany of Mich-
igan" in the Asa Gray Bulletin, Vols. II and III, 1894, 1895.
14. An Unpublished Paper on the Geology of Western Michigan. Dr. Alexandei
Winchell. Unpublished.
15. Preliminary Notes on Trillium grandiflorum. Prof. Chas. A. Davis. Ab-
stract in this report.
42 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
In addition to the fifteen papers listed on the printed program, two
others were presented, namely :
16. On the Smallest Parts of Stentor Capable of Regeneration. Dr. Frank R.
Lillie. Printed in Jonrn. of Morphology, Vol. 12, May, 1896, pp. 239-249.
17. The New Science of Sanitation. Dr. Henry B. Baker. Printed in this report.
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. 43
THE ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND AND FRESH-
WATER MOLLUSCA OF NORTH AMERICA.
BRYANT WALKER. DETROIT.
• Address of the Retiring President of the Academy, delivered Dec. 26, 1895.)
The origin of life has been a favorite topic for thought and discussion
among the philosophers from the earliest times, of which we have any
literary records. From the time when the mere struggle for existence
ceased to occupy the whole attention of primitive man, and the advance
of civilization afforded the leisure and opportunity for intellectual life,
the great problem of its own existence, and that of the world around it,
necessarily obtruded itself upon the thoughtful mind.
There is scarcely a race or tribe of mankind, except perhaps those in
the very lowest stages of barbarism, who have not, at least some legend
or tradition as to the creation of the world and its inhabitants, and with
every advance in civilization there has been a corresponding widening of
the intellectual horizon, which has enabled the successive genera-
tions of man to put aside the crude imaginings of the savage for
the adoption of a better and more rational system of natural philosophy.
The evolution of a world's philosophy must always be a subject of the
greatest interest, and when the complete history of human knowledge
comes to be written, there will be no chapters exceeding in interest those,
which shall elaborate the rise and development of those great laws of
science, art, politics and religion, which are today considered to be the
fundamental principals of our modern civilization.
In the centuries which lie between Thales of Ionia and Darwin of
England, much has been written and many theories have been advanced
upon the origin of life, only to be thrown aside again by each succeeding
school of philosophy. And today, after twenty-five hundred years of
speculation and research, the question of origin of the ultimate principle
of life — the vital essence — is, from a scientific point of view, still un-
solved and apparently insolvable. But while the speculative minds of
the nineteenth century are still groping 'and grasping unsuccessfully
for the same will-o'-the-wisp, which danced before the Ionian phil-
osophers half a millennium before the Christian Era, there are others and
more practical phases of the question, to which the science of today
believes it has the key, and which can be made to yield their mysteries
to the patient seeker after scientific truth.
The origin, not of life in the abstract, but of the manifold and varied
forms of animated nature, which now and in ages past have peopled
the world, is the fruitful field in which modern science has won her
choicest triumphs.
The speculation of the early Greek philosophers in this subject, while
they may seem crude and too often absurd to our modern eyes, are re-
markable in many instances for their keen insight into nature and their
foreshadowing of those great principals of evolution and design, which
todav mould the thoughts of the scientific world. Broadly speaking, how-
44 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ever, the natural philosophy of the Greeks was wiped out under the
mental glaciers of the dark ages and prior to the time of Linna?us, the
origin and distribution of animal life was a closed book sealed
by ecclesiastical anathema to any one, who might have desired to read
therein. The doctrine of special creation, which was almost universally
accepted in the eighteenth century, was the necessary and inevitable
result of a prevalent and powerful theological scholasticism, which
pervaded and controlled all the great centers of intellectual life.
To Linnreus and his school there were "as many species as issued
in pairs from the hands of the Creator." Specific creation was the
origin of all forms of life, and every species lived in the place appointed
for it by the wisdom of the Omnipotent. The termination of each of
the great geological epochs was signalized by a general massacre of all
existing forms of life, and the advent of the new era was signalized by the
creation of a new fauna specially adapted to the peculiar conditions of
the new world.
To such a philosophy, "the structural relations found to exist between
the fossil forms themselves, and between the fossil and living forms are
meaningless and unimportant," and all speculations as to the reason for
the many apparent anomalies and excentricities found in the distribu-
tion of life at the present time are not only useless, but even blasphemous.
The publication of the "Origin of Species" in 1859 marked an epoch in
the intellectual history of the world. Whether the evolutionary theory
and the means by which it has operated be true or not, there can be
no question, but that its general acceptation as a working hypothesis
has done more to stimulate scientific work, and to increase the sum of
human knowledge than any other factor in the history of science.
The adoption of the Darwinian postulates that "the several species of
the same genus, though now inhabiting the most distant quarters of
the world, must originally have preceded from the same source, as they
are descended from the same progenitor" and that "individuals of the
same species, though now inhabiting distant and isolated regions, must
have proceeded from one spot, where their parents were first produced."
necessarily involves the careful and systematic study of the distribution
of animal life from its earliest appearance to the present time. If the
theory of evolution be true, there must be an adequate explanation for
the present existence of every species where it is now found. In the
comparatively few years that have elapsed since this door of research
was opened, under the stimulating influences of the new doctrine, much
has been done in that direction. Indeed when it is considered that
successful investigation in this direction involves:
1st. A comparative knowledge of the existing faunas of all the
different countries of the world.
2d. A true and natural classification of the animal kingdom.
3d. A consideration of the methods of dispersal and of the barriers
which prevent it; the effects of changes in physical geography and
climate and the various modes in which such changes affect the struc-
ture, distribution or the very existence of faunal life, and
4th. As the existing distribution is the result and outcome of all
preceding changes of the earth and its inhabitants, a knowledge of the
animals of each country during past geological epochs, their migra-
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. 45
tions during the various ages and the changes of physical geography
that they imply — the wonder is that so much has been accomplished up
to the present time.
In no department of Zoology has better work been done than in the
nioilusca and it is to a review of what has been accomplished towards
the elucidation of the origin and development of the existing non-
marine molluscan fauna of our own country, that I ask your attention
this evening.
North America, north of Mexico, has usually been considered as a
distinct Zoological province, and forms the Nearctic Kegion of Wallace
and other earlier writers on the subject. It corresponds with the
Palsearctic Region of the old world, which embraces Europe, the Northern
part of Africa and Asia, north of the Himalayas. Later writers, on the
ground of "the absence of both positive and negative faunal characters
of sufficient importance to separate them from each other," have com-
bined these regions into one, extending around the entire northern
part of the globe under the name of the Holarctic Realm. Be this as
it may, when viewed from the standpoint of the zoogeographer, whose
generalizations are based upon the fauna of all classes taken as a whole,
it must be admitted that from the standpoint of the conchologist, the
fauna of North America has many features, which stamp it with all the
indices of a peculiar region. Indeed under either scheme, the sub-
provinces are substantially the same. The main difference being, that
the Northern Province, so called, of America, is combined with the corres-
ponding region of the old world, into a single circumpolar region, as
the remaining subprovinces or regions remaining the same. With
this distinction in mind, it will be convenient, for the purpose of
this paper, to follow substantially the arrangement of Binney who,
in studying the terrestrial mollusca, divided the continent into four
regions — The Northern, Interior, Californian, and Central.
The Northern or Boreal Region comprises the entire northern por-
tion of the continent. Its southern border is not clearly defined. It
has been stated to be approximately fixed by the northern limits
of the cultivation of tht cereals, and "may be indicated in general
terms as the same with the political division between the British posses-
sions and the United States, to the northeast corner of New York, where
it runs southeasterly along the Appalachian chain of mountains to
Chesapeake bay."
The Interior, or Appalachian Region, includes the entire eastern por-
tion of the continent, south of the Northern Region, and east of the
Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains. From this, however, on the
south, may be separated such portions of Florida, Texas, Arizona, New
Mexico, Nevada and California, as from the admixture of tropical forms
seem better included in the Transition Region, so called, lying between
the Holarctic and Neotropical Realms. This includes the Southern
Region of Binney. The Central or Rocky Mountain Region, lies be-
tween the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains on the west, and the
Rocky mountains on the east. While the California or Pacific Region,
comprises the entire coast lands of the Pacific, west of the Rocky
mountains, and extending from Lower California to Alaska.
The exact boundaries of these regions are often more or less indefinite,
except where natural barriers of ranges of mountains, deserts or great
46 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE.
bodies of water exist. And, in the absence of these, they seem often to
overlap along their borders, owing- to the eccentric distribution of many
species, resulting- from peculiar local conditions of climate, temperature,
etc. In the main they are well characterized by the peculiarities of their
respective faunas. Thus in regard to the land shells the Northern Region
is entirely deficient in the larger Helices, which seem unable to with
stand the extreme vigor of the climate, and is peopled by a multitude of
smaller forms such as the Zonitidw and Pupidw, whose greater tenacity of
life has enabled them to occupy an enormous territory to the exclusion of
their larger and more sensitive brethren. Not .only have these genera
possessed to themselves the entire Boreal Region proper, but they have
extended south in all directions. Many of them are now cosmopolitau
in the broadest sense of the word, having an almost world wide dis-
tribution, while others, following the lines of the great mountain chains,
have found congenial homes all along the extent of the eastern and
western highlands. That the extension of these forms into the southern
provinces has been from the north rather than from the east or west
is shown by the fact that in neither direction have they been accompanied
by the species peculiar to the eastern and western regions, as there is
little doubt they would have been had this latter hypothesis been true.
The Interior Region, which as above limited includes the greater part
of the United States, is characterized by a large and abundant fauna,
both in species and individuals, which is purely indigenous in its char-
acter. With the exception of a few species which have effected a lodg-
ment in some of the West Indian islands, or wandered southerly into
Mexico, and a stray colony located in the California!! and Central
Regions in the northwestern part of the United States, the great genus
known as "Polygyra" is peculiar to eastern North America. Its species
are essentially forest loving and consequently rapidly diminish as the
deciduous forests disappear toward the north, and with the exception of
a limited number of the more hardy forms it is not represented in the
dry arid regions of the western states.
The Californian Region is the home of a large and beautiful group of
species very different in appearance from the somber-colored denizens
of our eastern forests, and strikingly similar to the Helices character-
istic of the northern parts of Europe and Asia on one hand, and of
Central America and Western South America on the other.
The Central Region, which includes the dry and elevated region lying*
between the Rocky and Sierra Nevada ranges of mountains is, as might
be expected from its physical peculiarities, very destitute in the number
of its mollusca. But these, such as they are, barring the small forms,
which have crept in from the north and some of like genera, but speci-
fically peculiar to the Californian Region, which have been: able to
surmount the mountain barriers, are generically related to forms pecu-
liar to the Interior Region. They are not true ReMcidce, however, but
belong to a more primitive stock, of wide range through the entire
Boreal Region. Neither the peculiar Helices of the Californian Region,
nor the authocthonous species so widely distributed through the
Interior Region, seem to have been able to surmount the mountain ranges
which separate it on either side.
In regard to the existing fluviatile fauna of North America, while in
the main the regional limits above defined hold good, yet in many cases
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSC A. 47
the barriers, which seem to have been sufficient to determine the range
of the land species, have apparently been overcome or, at least, do not
apply.
Thus the fresh water pulmonate families, while they have their metrop-
olis in the north, like the land species peculiar to the Boreal Region,
probably from greater powers of endurance and greater adaptability
to environmental changes, and possibly also from the greater facilities
for migration afforded by the medium in which they live, have a wide
distribution. Thus while the region of the Great Lakes and the St.
Lawrence drainage system has the largest collection of species, yet there
is not a state in the Union that has not some representatives of nearly
every genus, and some species can be found in nearly every state. In-
deed these genera have spread over the whole world, and some species
are not only circumpolor. but almost cosmopolitan in their range.
These forms have been, almost everywhere in this country, also ac-
companied by certain genera of small operculate mollusks, such as
Yalvata and Amnicola, etc. As has already been stated in regard to the
distribution of the boreal land species and for similar reasons, the present
range of these forms was undoubtedly effected from the north to the
south.
In the operculate family of the Pleuroceridce, or American melanians
we have, as in the Polygrm among the land snails, a group of wholly
American origin and one surprisingly like that in its distribution. Of
enormous abundance (Tryon's monograph, 1874, containing 404 species)
in the prolific rivers draining the lower parts of the Appalachian chain,
where it exists in such an infinite variety of forms as to almost do away
with any attempt to define specific limitation, it has spread out in all
directions. The great majority of these species are confined to the rivers
flowing from the Cumberland mountains and in these they are generally
confined to the upper portions as they are particularly partial to rapidly
flowing streams with rocky bottoms. On the west the Mississippi river
seems to have been a barrier aud but few species are found in the states
lying west of it. Curiously enough a colony of detached species of peculiar
aspect is found in the Californian Region, a circumstance analogous to
the group of Californian Polygyrce. already mentioned. A remarkable
genus of this family, Schizostoma, embracing nearly thirty species, is
confined to the Coosa river in Alabama. To the north but few species
have extended beyond the Ohio; a very few reach into the rivers tributary
to the great lakes — thirteen species being found in Michigan. From Vir-
ginia to the north, the Appalachian range has proved an effective barrier
against immigration into the Atlantic states. New England has no
representative of the family. A single species of Gomobasis, which singu-
larly enough is not found west of these mountains, and a species or two
of Anculosa are the only representatives in eastern New York and
Pennsylvania.
The remaining family of operculate mollusks represented in our
fauna, the Tlviparidw, which includes the larger forms usually met
with, is also peculiar in its distribution. The typical Miipanc have a
widespread range in the Northern Hemisphere, being well represented
in Europe, and exceedingly abundant in Southern and Eastern Asia. A
curious example of local development may be mentioned in connection
with this genus. The species are many of them ornamental with trans-
48 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
verse bands of green or brown. In such case, all European species have
three bands, the American four bands and the Asian are multilineate.
There is no exception known to this rule. The American forms are
closely related to the European, and indeed in the case of the two more
common species in these countries, the difference in the number of
bands is almost the only distinguishable characteristic. Curiously
enough, although the European species are found in England, and, at
least, one American form extends as far north as Minnesota, the family
is wholly wanting in the Pacific states, whose fauna in many other
respects is more closely allied to that of the old world than that of any
other part of this continent. In addition to the true Viviparas we have
three genera peculiar to North America. One, Campeloma, is of almost
universal extent throughout the Interior Region. Another, Lioplax, has
only two species. One abundantly extended through the Mississippi
valley and the other confined in the Coosa river in Alabama. While
the third and most remarkable of all is its bizarre appearance, Tulotoma,
is confined wholly to the upper portion of that river.
Passing now to the bivalves, we find in the enormous development of
the Unionidw by far the most striking feature of our fauna. No less
than 645 species of this family are catalogued by Lea in his last
synopsis. While the increase of our knowledge of the great amount of
variation exhibited by this family under local influences has already re-
sulted in the diminution of recognized species and the future will un-
doubtedly increase the result, the enormous and peculiar development
of this family, particularly in the southeastern portion of the United
States, forms with the Polygyrw among the land shells, and the
Pleurocerida1 among the fluviatile univalves, the distinguishing features
of our fauna. The distribution of these forms over the continent is
general. That is, there is no portion affording a suitable habitat that
is without some representative of the family, yet the limitations upon
the distribution of many of the various groups of species, and even upon
individual forms are well marked and often very remarkable, and offer
to the inquiring mind many problems for investigation. In the main,
there are substantially what may be called four sub-faunas represented.
The great lines of archean rocks now known as the Sierra Nevada
range on the west and Appalachian on the east have proved to be almost
impassable barriers to the dispersion of this family, and the existence
of the distinct faunas separated by these ranges is conclusive proof that
they antedate the origin or the immigration of the forms peculiar to
them. The California Region so peculiar in its land species is equally
well characterized by its unione fauna. The great genus T^nio, which
is represented in the Eastern States by more than 200 species in Ala-
bama and 40 in Michigan, is wholly wanting west of the Rocky moun-
tains, this being the largest area destitute of unio life in the temper-
ate or tropical regions of the globe. The only Margaritina is a European
species of circumpolar range. While the Anodontas belong to a peculiar
group entirely distinct from those found in the eastern states, and
so closely allied to the prevalent palaearctic type, that by eminent
conchologist they have considered no more than a geographical race
of a well known European form.
In the same way east of the Appalachian Range, is a group of distinct
species extending aloug the entire Atlantic coast from the extreme north
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. 49
to Florida. In the Boreal Region some of these forms have a wide
range to west extending as far as Manitoba, if not further, and from
this region some of them have acquired a considerable range into the
states south of the great lakes. As a whole this fauna has closer rela-
tions with the Californian and Eurasian fauna than with the species
peculiar to the interior region of this continent. Thus the European
Margaritlna margaritifera is common to both the Pacific and Atlantic
states, but curiously enough is wholly wanting in the broad territory
lying between them. The Anodontas are also very similar to those of
California, but are sufficiently different to be generally accorded specific
distinction. The TInios while peculiar to the region have no relation to
the European forms, and as already stated, this genus does not occur in
the Californian Province at all. In the immense region comprising the
greater portion of the continent lying between these narrow coast
provinces is to be found an exuberance of Unione life, as is without
parallel in any other portion of the world. Here under the kindly in-
fluences of what must be a peculiarly favorable environment, are to be
found a multitude of species which in size, shape and manner of orna-
mentation exhibit almost infinite variety, and which nevertheless are
throughout stamped with such local peculiarities that to even the tyro
in conchology, no label is needed to indicate their fatherland.
But even in this great assembly of similar, yet dissimilar forms, there
can without difficulty be distinguished two great races, or faunal groups.
The one, and by far the larger one embracing the massive triangular,
plicate and nodulous forms, which are distinctly North American types,
has its headquarters in great valley of the Mississippi and from thence
has spread out northerly into the St. Lawrence valley and southerly into
the rivers of Texas and Alabama.
To the southeast, however, it is to a large extent replaced by a numer-
ous group of smaller and plainer species which, as though from a met-
ropolis in the mountains lying between Tennessee, Alabama, the Caro-
linas and George, has peopled the mountain streams on either side,
east toward the Atlantic and south and west to the Gulf with a multitude
of forms wdiose susceptibility to local influences has played almost as
much mischief with current standards of specific distinction as their
neighbors and associates, the Pleuroccridw from the same region.
Besides the Uniondce, there is but one other family of bivalve mollusks
represented in our existing fauna. The Cyrenidce represent a large
number of species of small size (the largest being one-half inch and the
smallest less than one-fifteenth of an inch in its greatest diameter) of
general distribution. Some of them indeed ranging over nearly the
whole continent. Like the Linmwidw among the univalves, it reaches
its maximum development in the north, and from thence has apparently
extended southward in all directions. As a necessary consequence the
great mountain ranges, which have so effectively limited the range of
the Unionidw have apparently had no influences in determining the range
of these little species.
Passing now from the consideration of the distribution of the various
orders and families represented in our fauna and collating the details
of their distribution in order to get a general idea of the leading features
of our fauna, as a whole we find that both among the land and fluviatile
species evidence, which is substantially the same in both classes, tending
7
50 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
to show the existence of three separate faunas, which though in their
present distribution more or less overlap each other, nevertheless are
essentially distinct.
Thus we find the Boreal Region, which is substantially coincident with
British North America, while lacking almost entirely the larger and
more highly organized Helices, the Viviparidce, the Plmroceridw and
the characteristic types of North American Unionidce, is the metrop-
olis of the Zcmitidce, Pupidce and Succineidce among the land shells,
the Limnceidw and Physidce comprising the fresh water pulmonates
the Rissoidce and Valvatidce in the operculates and the Cyrenidce in the
bivalves. These families comprise the greater 'majority of the smaller
species of mollusca represented in our fauna and, as already stated,
from this broadly extended home in the north, aided no doubt by their
hardy nature and greater vitality and consequent greater ability to
adapt themselves to vicissitudes incident to changes of environment,
many of them have succeeded in establishing themselves in nearly every
portion of the continent. Associated with these groups are certain of
the Unionidce, which ranging nearly across the continent in the north
do not occur south of the great lakes west of the Alleghaney mountains,
but east of that range occupy the entire Atlantic drainage to the almost
entire exclusion of other forms. This apparent extension of the Boreal
Eegion along the entire Atlantic coast, may at first sight seem anomalous.
But when it is considered that these mountains, while offering no ob-
stacle to immigration from the north, have formed an almost insurmount-
able barrier to the incursion of the species of the Interior Region from
the west and that thus the region has been left open to the exclusive
occupation of the northern forms, the explanation is so obvious as to be
almost self demonstrative. In the same way we find that west of the
Sierra Nevada along the entire Pacific coast, a peculiar fauna, which
apparently for the same reason has never extended itself toward the
east. Excluding the species which have crept in from the north, the Cali-
fornian fauna in many of its features is quite as different from that of
the eastern portion of the continent, as that is from the fauna of northern
Europe.
The fauna of the Central Region both land and fluviatile, is too sparse
almost to be considered. Its claims to regional distinction are based
almost wholly upon its negative rather than any positive characteristics.
It is wanting in the distinctive forms, both of the Californian and Interior
Regions. Its distinctive land shells belong to a group characteristic of
the Boreal Region. A few fresh water species are peculiar and are prob-
ably the last existing local remnant of the abundant fauna which existed
there in tertiary times.
The Interior Region, lying between the great eastern and western
mountain ranges, is the only one which, in its mollusca, exhibits any
of the peculiarities of a great continental fauna. Here are found the
exclusively North American genera of Polygyra among the land species
and Campeloma, Tulotoma and the several genera of the Pleuroceridce
among the fluviatile univalves and the extraordinary development of the
Unionidce already mentioned. The greater part of this enormous fauna
is found south and east of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. A few of
the hardier species of Polygyra have extended north to the limits of the
deciduous forest, while the more favorable conditions of temperature
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DLSTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. 5L
and moisture along the south Appalachians has enabled a number of
species to extend their range into the Southern Atlantic states.
In a similar manner some species of Gampeloma and Goniobasis among
the Univalves and Unio and Margaritina and Anondonta among the
bivalves, have spread out to the northern reaches of the Missouri and
Mississippi and even into the St. Lawrence drainage and from thence
into the waters of eastern New York and New England.
Toward the south a few of the species range into Mexico and Central
America where they mingle with the northern outposts of the tropical
fauna of South America. And in a similar manner, a few stragglers
from the West Indies and South America have obtained a foothold along
the gulf states and the Mexican boundary. To Binney, treating the
North America fauna as separate entirety, the occurrence of these
species along our southern borders justified the establishment of a
southern region or province. But a broader generalization based upon
the zoological relations of the two continents, requires its union with
the mixed fauna of Central America and Mexico, which is now con-
sidered a transition region between North and South America.
Taken as a whole, however, there is very little in common, so far as
the existing mollusca are concerned, between the two great divisions
of the New World. Indeed it would not be far from true to say, that
not only are there no common species, which would scarcely be ex-
pected, but that common genera as well, are almost wholly lacking. In
almost every class of molluscan life, the corresponding place in the
economy of nature, is filled by radically different groups. Thus the
northern indigenous Helices are replaced by the tropical Bulimuli, the
Viviparas by the Ampullarias, the Pleuroceridce by the Melaniadw and the
Vnionid(B (largely) by the Mutelidw and so on, almost indefinitely. In
short the differences are quite as great as between the fauna of North
America and Asia. There is one remarkable exception, however, which
must not be passed by unnoticed. The peculiar helicoid fauna of the
Pacific coast, which is so conspicuously absent from eastern North
America, is found not only through Mexico and Central America, but
all over South America as far south as Argentina. The importance of
this fact as bearing upon the evolutionary history of our fauna will be
referred to later.
In striking contrast with this radical separation between the existing
faunas of North and South America is the close relationship between
those of the great continental areas of the Northern Hemisphere. With
the exception of the American melanians and the peculiar polygyrine
Helices of the eastern states, not only the families, but the character-
istic genera, are in the main the same. The minor groups peculiar to
each are but differentiations of types common to both. Moreover, in
addition to their general generic resemblance, according to one recent
authority, there are no less than thirty-five species common to them all.
These are the great elemental facts of present distribution, and to ac-
* count not only for them, but for the many peculiarities of the provincial
faunas, which have been indicated, upon a basis of acceptable scientific
theory, is the problem which is now engaging the attention of all students
interested in the study of the origin and distribution of animal life.
Before attempting to present the leading facts and theories which bear
upon the origin and introduction of the existing fauna of North America,
52 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE.
a few words in regard to the geological history of the continent and its
relation to the subject may not be out of place.
By the general concurrence of scientific opinion, the sometime theories
of the existence of an Atlantis or other ancient land connection across
either the Atlantic or Pacific oceans between the old and new worlds have
been put aside as wholly untenable, and "the general permanence of
what are now the great continents and deep oceans" is now generally
accepted as an established fact. The great changes which from time to
time in the world's history have occurred from the constantly recurring
submergence of the land beneath the sea and it's subsequent unheavals,
are believed to have only changed the configuration of the surface of
these ancient continents, and from time to time altered their area and
extent. There is no reason to believe that, from the time when the dry
land first appeared above the surface of the palaeozoic sea, there has ever
been a period when any of the great continental areas have been wholly
submerged. There has always been a refuge where at least a remnant
of the existing fauna has been preserved, that might again under favor-
able auspices, though with changed surroundings, re-people the earth.
But. while modern geology fails to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific, it is
free to admit what palaeontology claims must have been the fact, that at
certain periods there has been a land connection between the old and the
new world. There can be no doubt but that in ages past there has been
from time to time such an elevation in the extreme north as to unite
Asia and what is now Alaska.
Whether there has ever been a similar Antarctic continent uniting
Africa and South America with perhaps New Zealand is not yet generally
admitted. With one exception perhaps, it is a question which has no
bearing upon the scope of the present discussion, and it may be passed
by with the remark that such an extension of the earth surface is con-
tended for many able authorities, and that it is a hypothesis which would
solve some of the most perplexing questions now before the zoogeograph-
ers.
As all of the palaeozoic strata are considered to be of marine origin,
with the possible exception of the coal deposits of the Carboniferous
age, in which are found the earliest known non-marine mollusca, the
following account by C. A. White of the United States Geological Sur-
vey will be a sufficient statement of the condition of the continent at
the time when the non-marine fauna first appeared. "East of west longi-
tude 95° (the western part of the Mississippi valley), North America is
mainly occupied by Paleozoic and Archaean rocks, as is also a large
area which extends northward and southward through western North
America, the eastern border of which is not far from the 113th meridian
of west longitude. These two great areas are taken to represent approxi-
mately the outline and extent of the principal portions of the North Amer-
ican continent that were above the level of the sea at the beginning of
the Mesozoic time. A broad expanse of Mesozoic sea then stretched
between these two continental factors, which were finally united by a gen-
eral continental elevation and the consequent recedence of the sea. This
elevation was not — properlj- speaking — catastrophal, but gradual and
oscillatory." Without going into detail in regard to gradual elevation
of the continental area, it is sufficient for our present purpose to add, that
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OP MOLLUSCA. 53
during the Mesozoic and Tertiary periods this great sea was by the
general continental elevation separated from the great open ocean and be-
came first brackish and then fresh water, and finally after the elevation
of the Kocky mountains in its midst, was wholly drained off or evaporated,
leaving the great western plains of the present day as surface evidence
of its former existence. The existence of this great body of water,
stretching from what is now the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic ocean, salt
when first separated from the primeval ocean by the continental eleva-
tion at the north and south, and gradually becoming a series of great
fresh water lakes, is perhaps the most important factor in evolutionary
history of our mollusca. For not only in its waters were developed the
ancestral types of nearly all of our existing fresh water forms, an almost
unbroken series of which, from the earliest Mesozoic times to the present
have been preserved in its sedimentary deposits, but as we shall see, it
has also played a most important part in limiting the immigration from
other regions.
And in connection with this, it must be remembered that the great
coast ranges of the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Appalachians on
the east have been in existence substantially as they now are from the
earliest times, and in this way, must have to no small degree affected
not only the distribution of the great faunas of the prehistoric ages, but
that of many of our recent species.
The third great factor, which in past ages has influenced the distribu
tion of our molluscan fauna, was the glacial epoch toward the close of the
Tertiary period. The advance of the post pleiocene ice sheet, not only
wiped out of existence all forms of life, which were unable to escape be
fore it, but the influence of its attendant low temperature extending far
beyond the line of the ice itself, absolutely extinguished the great fauna
of southern forms which had poured into North America from South Am-
erica in early Tertiary times, and were unable to withstand the radical
change in the climate, the bones of whose gigantic mammals now alone
remain to astonish the beholder and to play their part in the elucidation
of the world's history. That the gradual advance of the ice must neces-
sarily have sounded the death knell for all animal life through the
entire northern portion of the continent, as far south as the valley of the
Ohio, can be easily appreciated when it is remembered that its height
is estimated to have been, at least, nine thousand feet, and that when
it receded it left the lowlands of New England and the northern states
buried under a bed of boulder clay and glacial drift from ten to two
hundred feet deep. It is estimated by Prof. Newberry that the average
depth of the drift in the state of Ohio is, at least, sixty feet.
Upon the recedence of the glacier, the fall of the waters left the sur-
face of the continent as we now find it, and the scattered remnants of
the Tertiary fauna along its southern border were enabled to spread out
over the new land and to establish the fauna of the continent as it exists
today.
More than twenty-five hundred years ago the philosophers of ancient
Greece, influenced no doubt by the teeming life, which swarmed in their
native seas, taught their disciples that all life came from the ocean, and
today the exponent of modern scientific thought can but reaffirm the
happy speculation of these wise men of old and assert it as one of the
54 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
fundamental facts upon which rest the whole structure of the modern
science. For, if the accepted theories of the creation of the world and
the evolution of the life upon it be true, there can be no doubt that the
first land which appeared above the surface of the primordial ocean was
peopled from the waters that gave it birth, and that to the marine forms
of life must be traced the origin of all existing forms of animated nature.
According to Bronn, "the principal change affecting the external condi-
tions of the existence of animal life is to be found in the progressive
development of the surface of the earth, in the subdivision of the univer-
sal primordial ocean into great inland seas and "in the elevation of the
plateaus and ranges of mountains. Simultaneously a correlative change
manifests itself in the organic world. To the original fauna exclusively
pelagic and natatory is added first a deep sea fauna, then a littoral one
in the shallow waters, and finally one inhabited exclusively the land."
But while this is the accepted theory and notwithstanding the enormous
amount of facts, which have been already accumulated to substantiate
it, there are yet wanting in almost every department, owing partially to
the imperfection of the geological record, and partially to the magnitude
of the work involved, many links necessary to complete the genealogy of
existing forms of life, and in no class of the animal kingdom is the break
as complete as in the phylogeny of the land and fresh water mollusca.
The earliest forms of terrestrial mollusks yet known are from the Carbonif-
eronus deposits of North America. The fresh water univalves first
appear in the rocks of the upper Jurassic, as do also the Cyrenidae.
The Unionidpe do not appear until the lower Cretaceous, although cer-
tain forms as yet imperfectly known, but which may be connected with
them have been described from the Carboniferous period. But in all
cases the families and genera are fully differentiated and substantially
identical with those now in existence. And although this fact indi-
cates that these forms must even then have had a long existence in
order to have acquired such a high degree of differentiation, there is yet
a total lack of the earlier ancestral and more primitive types connecting
them with the marine forms. By the study of the embryology, anatomy
and morphology of existing forms, we can more or less clearly arrive at
theoretical conclusions as to their relations with the marine mollusca
and the probable line of descent, and from the habits and mode of life
of recent mollusks can postulate theories more or less satisfactory as to
the manner in which these great changes were brought about. But more
than that is now and will be impossible until the earth shall yield the
secret to her inquiring children. But putting speculation aside and
relying wholly upon the palaeontological evidences already in our pos-
session, we find that from the time these primitive mollusks first ap-
peared, they have existed in constantly increasing numbers and with a
greater degree of specialization in each succeeding epoch. And by a
comparative study of the fossil and recent forms both in their phy-
logenetic relations and their distribution in time and in connection with
the theories of the geologists in regard to the successive changes in the
earth's surface, we can frequently trace back the history of many of our
recent species to remote times and satisfactorily account for their present
oftimes seeming erratic distribution. For when the chronological
order of the appearance of the different families and genera coincides
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSC A. 55
with the evidence given by their geographic distribution and these are
also consistent with the accepted doctrines of geology as to the changes
in the earth's surface, which would afford a possibility and opportunity
for such distribution, the consensus of all these elements amounts to
practically positive proof. With these considerations in mind let us now
return to our present fauna and see how far the existing distribution of
our mollusca can be explained from the paleontological and geological
evidences at our command.
As already stated the earliest forms of terrestrial Mollusks now known
are from the carboniferous deposits of our northern United States and
Canada. The genera there represented Pupa and Zonites are indistin-
guishable from these genera as they exist today. And it is a notable
fact that these genera are now not only universally distributed over this
continent, but that they have an almost worldwide range over the globe.
The vast antiquity of these forms and their present almost universal
distribution must "be recognized as correlative facts, the significance of
which is obvious.
The remarkable and peculiar helicoid fauna of the Pacific coast has
also been mentioned. These snails are not entirely different from the
eastern American fauna in their conchological characters, but in anatomi-
cal features as well, and belong to an entirely different sub-family, which,
from its more specialized character, is believed to be of much later
origin in time, and whose affinities are wholly with the present fauna
of eastern Asia. Without going into the evidence upon which the
theory is based, it may be stated there is reason to believe during the
time when the great Mesozoic sea divided the eastern Archean conti-
nent from the western, there were two successive immigrations of
helicoid life from Asia over the inter-continental bridge, which then
existed across Behring Straits. The first of these occurred at a very
early period, probably in Secondary times. Prevented from spreading
to the east by the Mesozoic sea, the invading mollusks spread southward
along the Pacific into Mexico and Central America. From thence, one
division continued south into South America where today it constitutes
a large part of the helicoid fauna. About the same time, or as soon
as opportunity was offorded by the elevation above the sea of the land
bridge between Central America and the West Indian Islands (which
has undoubtedly existed), another division spread eastward and peopled
what are now known as the Greater and Lesser Antilles. In this in-
vasion the helices were in all probability accompanied by the ancestral
forms of the operculated mollusca now so abundant in that region and
by a detached colony of the Clausilias peculiar to northeastern Asia,
which found a permanent home in the mountains of Equador and Peru.
No remnants of this invasion now exist along its line of travel down the
Californian coast and with the exception of a few forms, wdiich later
passed from the West Indies into southern Florida, none are found in
North America north of Mexico. Whether the failure of these mollusks
to effect a permanent footing along the Californian coast, was owing to
the fact they were exterminated by some subsequent submergence of that
region, or, as suggested by Huxley, that they passed to the south along
some continental extension to the west, which is now covered by the
Pacific Ocean, cannot now be told. But that was the manner in which
one great tribe of mollusks attained in its present distribution in the
56 MTCHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
western hemisphere seems to be justified by the latest and best scientific
opinion.
The belief that this invasion was long antecedent to that which later
gave rise to the present fauna of the Pacific slope, is based upon the fact
that the structural peculiarities of the group are of a more primitive
type than belongs to the later invaders and that its present universal
range through the Carribean region indicates that it was "an older
faunal element" and was in position to take advantage of certain earlier
continental extensions, which ceased to exist before the period of the
later immigration.
The second Asiatic invasion is supposed to have occurred in the early
part of the Eocene period. Its members belong to a more specialized
type of molluscan development, and hence presumably of later origin.
Passing over the Behring bridge, it traveled south, leaving along its track
the ancestors of the present west coast fauna. The presence of the
Mesozoic sea at that time and later the mountains and arid regions
of the central province, have hitherto effectually prevented any advance
toward the east. The southern extension of this tribe has been essen-
tially the same as its predecessor. From it has decended a very large
part of the existing fauna of central and southern America and the West
Indian Islands.
As has already been intimated, the continental elevations which united
the Greater Antilles with Central America undoubtedly afforded a land
bridge between Cuba and the then islands of Florida, which gave the
handful of the tropical species now found there an opportunity to pass
into that region and spread as far north as climatic conditions would
allow. That this invasion was comparatively recent, is shown by the
small amount of differentiation which has taken place between the
Floridan and Cuban forms.
The helicoid fauna of the eastern part of the continent is composed of
two elements, both comparatively simple in organization and undoubtedly
of great antiquity.
The one, comprising the patuloid snails, is probably nearest to the
primitive type of all existing forms. It is, as might be expected, of almost
universal distribution in all parts of the world, and on this continent,
while its representatives are found in all the provinces, occupies the cen-
tral region to the exclusion of the forms so abundantly developed both in
the east and along the Pacific.
The other, the Polygyrw, is wholly confined to America and is be-
lieved to be one of the few remaining races of the earlist forms of
helicoid life. Although the palseontological history of the group is very
scant, there cannot be much doubt that its ancestors have occupied
eastern American soil ever since it had a fauna of Helicidw. The same
barriers which operated to prevent the eastern extension of the successive
invasions of the Pacific coast from the old world, in all probability have
been the means of preserving these native races from what might have
proved a fatal competition with the more highly organized invaders
from the west.
Of the source and method of distribution of the pulmonate fresh water
mollusca little can be said. There has not been so much splitting up into
families and genera as has occurred on the terrestrial forms. The
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. 57
genera as they exist today are substantially the same as they were when
the race first appeared on the geological horizon, and this fact of great
antiquity is borne out by their worldwide and almost universal dis-
tribution at the present time.
There is, however, a single genus of this class, whose peculiar distribu-
tion in recent times is one of the yet unsolved puzzles to the zoogeog-
rapher. This is a little group of limpet-shaped snails known as Gund-
lachia, originally discovered by the German naturalist, Gundlach, in
Cuba and named after him. Subsequent discoveries have shown that it
ranges north into the United States from Long Island to California and
south into South America. It is not found in any other part of the
world, except southern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. That
it spread into North America from the south is shown both by its
present distribution into that direction, and its absolute tailure to appear
either in former ages or at the present time in the fauna of Asia and
Europe. It is possibly one of the few survivors of that mighty army of
tropical forms which poured into North America in early Tertiary time
from the southern continent and which later perished so miserably upon
the advent of the glacial period. Its concurrent existence in South Am-
erica and Australia is very interesting and is one of the many evidences
both in fauna and flora which go to support the theory of the Antarctic
continent in Tertiary times. "A strip of land with a mild climate extend-
ing across the pole from Tasmania to Terra del Fuego would have
afforded a possible route * * * and the theory of a Mesozoic or older
Tertiary migration to or from Australia * * * would explain its present
position." Whatever may be the fate of the theory, the instance is an
interesting one, as exhibiting the methods by which modern science from
all possible sources — geological, palaeontological and biological — seeks to
reach the truth and reconstruct the history of the world.
All of the existing families of fresh water, gill-bearing mollusca date
back to the era of the great inland lakes, which resulted from the separa-
tion of the Mesozoic sea from the adjacent oceans by the general conti-
nental elevation, which then took place. Not only every family, but
"almost every, if not every, genus and many of the subordinate divisions
of those genera, that are now among the living North American fresh
water mollusca, have been recognized among the species that constitute
the different faunae, the fossil remains of which have been collected from
the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata of western North America."
The present distribution of the two great families of Viviparidw and
Pleuroceridm which now constitute a most important feature of our
fauna, is in some respects quite dissimilar, and, while our present
knowledge of the distribution of these families and their progenitors in
time, is not sufficient to enable us to speak of with the same certainty
that may be done in regard to other groups, the facts, as they exist, give
rise to the same interesting speculations.
The Yiviparidm are a family of almost universal distribution in the
northern hemisphere and of ancient lineage, dating back to Jurassic times
in both the old and new world. It is very abundantly distributed
through the eastern United States, but curiously enough, it is lacking
absolutely in the region west of the mountains along the Pacific coast.
Nor does it extend into South America.
The Pleuroceridw on the other hand, while dating back at least,
58 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
as far as the Laramie period is purely a native American family and
ranges from the Atlantic to the Pacific and as far south as Central Am-
erica. Its affinities are very close to the old world family of the
Melaniidw, which, however, is also found in South America, but does
not range further north than Mexico. It is a fact of great significance
and one which may point to the origin of the North American family
that representatives of both families are found associated in the fresh
water deposits of the Laramie epoch. The local conditions which resulted
in the extinction of the Melanidw, but which permitted the survival of
the Pleuroceridw can only be surmised.
The occurrence of the Pleuroceridw on the Pacific coast, where the
Viviparidw are not found, is also an interesting and important circum-
stance. As is also the further fact that the Californian species have
certain peculiarities, which separate them from the eastern forms.
While there is not at present sufficient evidence perhaps to warrant it,
a pleasing theory can be formulated, which accounts for the apparently
anomalous distribution of these families. Assuming that the Pleuroceridw
are an offshoot from the old world Melaniidce it would be easy to account
for their introduction into North America as a part of the molluscan
immigration in secondary times already alluded to in connection with
the land mollusks. Passing south along the Pacific coast, entrance to
Central and South America would be had and the subsequent eruption
of South American forms into the north of Eocene times, would give
an explanation of their appearance in the Laramie fauna. This would
also give a rational explanation for the present existence of the Cali-
fornian colony.
On the other hand if such were the history of the introduction of the
Viviparidw, it is difficult to see why it is not shown by a similar dis-
tribution to the west and south. In the same way, if the Californian
Pleuroceridw are derived from the former inhabitants of the Laramie
Sea it is difficult to understand why, when we find the two families there
associated under similar and evidently favorable circumstances, that
the Sierra Nevada mountains should have proved an insurmountable
barrier to the one and not to the other. The failure of the Unionidw
of the same fauna to effect an entrance into California is also signifi-
cant.
But if we would assume that instead of coming from the orient, the
Viviparidw originated in North America, where from the earliest times
there has been the greatest generic differentiation, and that like the
Camelidw among the mammals, they passed around the mountains to the
north and spread westward over the Behring bridge into the old world,
all such apparent inconsistencies would be obviated and theoretical con-
clusions would be in entire harmony with the known distribution.
The present unione fauna of North America far exceeds that of any
other country in the abundance of its species and the almost infinite
diversity of shape, size and ornamentation. The questions connected
with the origin, differentiation and distribution of this family are there-
fore of peculiar interest to the American student. Like the other
families of non-marine mollusca the ultimate origin or, rather, point of
separation of these forms from the marine type, is unknown and even
upon theoretical conclusions naturalists are not agreed as to the probable
line of descent. "Although certain shells found in the Carboniferous
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. 59
and Devonian strata of Europe and America have been referred to the
Unionidce by different authors, the accuracy of such reference has been
seriously questioned and American palaeontologists have not generally
recognized as belonging to that family any shells found in the strata
earlier than Mesozoic time. "Beginning with the Jurassic period, how-
ever, undoubted Unionidce are found and toward the end of the Creta-
ceous age a large and greatly differentiated fauna is found in both the
new and old world." "As a rule the types that have hitherto been dis-
covered in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata of the western part of North
America, are such as now exist in different parts of the continent, espec-
ially its eastern half. This similarity of type, although it is somewhat
more apparent in the later than in the earlier formations extends as far
back as the Mesozoic epochs * * * and even in the case of a majority
of exceptions to this rule, the relationship to existing forms is readily
recognized. In short the almost exact identity of types of the fossil and
living species is such as to leave no doubt that the former represent the
latter ancestrally. The fact also that the types of these Mollusks had
become so differentiated before the close of Mesozoic time, and that they
have changed so little since, points back to a previous evolutionary
history, which doubtlessly began in Paheozoic time."
The separation of Mesozoic sea from the open ocean and its gradual
change of its waters from salt to fresh, was undoubtedly the cause of the
great diversity of type, which so early developed itself in this family
during that epoch, and which has, in this country, been perpetuated to the
present time. "It is well known that the maximum of differentiation
of mulluscan types takes place in marine waters, that it is much less in
brackish waters, and that the minimum in this respect is reached in
purely fresh waters." "We should, therefore, naturally expect to find
in those strata which bear evidence of having been deposited in purely
fresh waters a fauna meagre both in species and development, while in
those strata that have evidence of having been deposited in waters which
were a little salt, the Unionidce would be much more differentiated."
"This is exactly what is found to be the case, and indeed it is only in the
last mentioned strata alone, that those species of Unio have been found,
that possess the peculiar North American characteristics." "Judging
from these facts, it would seem that these' ancient Unionidce were not
only capable of living in waters that were a little salt, but that the in-
fluence of the salt upon them was such as is in a general way exerted
by it upon all molluscan life producing a greater differentiation than
would have been produced in fresh lacustrine waters, and such as has
generally been supposed to have exerted upon the family in existing
fluviatile waters. While it is not unreasonable to assume, that much
of the differentation that now prevails in the living North American
Unionidce took place in fresh waters, the facts brought out by the study
of the fossil forms seem to indicate plainly, that the characteristics which
we call "North American" have been directly inherited from these fossil
species, and the possibility also, that the later species received in Mesozoic
and Tertiary times, their -differentation under the influences of other
conditions, among which was the diffusion of a small portion of salt in
the waters in which they lived."
"If it be assumed, therefore, as is believed to be the case that the con-
60 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ditions of unione life have been preserved unbroken notwithstanding tbe
physical changes that have taken place during the Mesozoic and Tertiary
periods, it was doubtless accomplished through streams that are now
western tributaries of the great Mississippi river system and which were
then outlets of those great lakes in the deposits of which the fossil
FJnionidw are now found." By this means an entrance was afforded
into the waters of the Mississippi valley and an escape from the extinc-
tion which overtook their ancestors upon the final dessication of the
Laramie sea. That this invasion into the Mississippi valley took place,
at a very early date is shown by the fact that tie-immigrants had time
under their changed environment to develop into the species as they now
exist before the advent of the glacial epoch. The extension of these forms
through the eastern portion of the continent, both in preglacial and
recent times, has been limited only by the physical barriers caused by the
great water-sheds lying between the Mississippi, St. Lawrence and At-
lantic drainage systems and unfavorable climatic conditions toward the
far north and south.
Of their preglacial range to the north nothing is now known. But their
hardy nature and ability to extend into new territory is shown by the
fact, that during the temporary recedence of the great glacier, certain
species found their way north through the then existing southern outlet
of Lake Michigan into the St. Lawrence valley as far east, at least, as
Toronto and were subsequently extinguished by the return of glacier.
Upon the final disappearance of the glacier, but before the present drain-
age of the St. Lawrence system to the east had been established, a second
immigration took place whose descendants, all possible retreat to the
south having been cut off, now people the lakes and rivers of the states
bordering on the great lakes. To the east, the Appalachian mountains had
proved an almost total barrier at all times to any general extension in
that direction.
The relations, if any, which the peculiar fauna now found in the states
east of those mountains bear to the Mississippi valley, fauna have not
yet been worked out. There is reason to believe, however, that it may be
genetically connected through some early migration which spread around
the southern end of the range and thence northward along the coast,
and has been enabled to develop its characteristic form under peculiar
conditions of isolation and local environment.
The peculiar and exclusive fauna of California has already been alluded
to, but this characteristic is nowhere more strangely emphasized than
in respect to its Vnionidce. There is absolutely no relation whatever
with the eastern forms, and there is not the slightest evidence that a
single one of the multitudinous unione inhabitants of the Laramine sea
ever succeeded in passing over the mountains into the low lands of the
coast. As has already been stated, the entire fauna of this region con-
sists of a single European Margaritina and a few Anodontw, which are
so closely related to existing European forms that their specific dis-
tinction is very doubtful. And thus again, and most unmistakably, is the
theory of the foreign origin of the fauna of the Pacific coast substan-
tiated by the undeniable facts of the present characteristics and distribu-
tion of its molluscan inhabitants.
WALKER ON ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OP MOLLUSCA. 61
The present range of the European Margaritina above mentioned is
one of the most interesting facts brought to light by the study of the
recent distribution of our molluscan fauna.
It is common both upon the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but is wholly
wanting in the Mississippi valley and the interior region lying to the
north. That it must have been an early immigrant from the old world is
shown the fact, that to have allowed its present range it must have at
one time extended clear across the northern portion of the continent.
Its total disappearance in the interior region is in all probability to be
attributed in common with so many of our faunal peculiarities to the
effect of the glacial period. Upon the approach of the ice, there was
undoubtedly a retreat, as far as possible, before it of all forms of animal
life toward the south. By what means the eastern Margaritinm were
enabled to escape from the total destruction which overwhelmed their
brethren in the interior cannot be told. But there must have been some
factors connected either with the advance of the glacier or the means of
retreat, which saved the eastern contingent from extermination and by
which upon the subsequent recedence of the ice cap, the survivors were
able to regain their former foothold in the northern Atlantic states, al-
though prevented by physical changes from spreading again toward the
west into the interior region.
The relations existing between the peculiar, so called "North Ameri-
can" types of Unionidce and both the Tertiary fauna of southeastern
Europe and the fossil and living fauna of Asia are very interesting and
when fully known seem likely to give important data as to the origin
of this widely extended family and the manner in which it has attained
its present world-wide distribution. But the existing material is as yet
too scanty to be used, even for speculative purposes.
Of the many interesting details of the local distribution of existing
species, both in this and other families represented in our fauna, the
already too greatly extended limits of this paper forbid mention.
From the roughly drawn outlines which have been given of the prin-
cipal theories now advanced to account for the distribution of our exist-
ing fauna and of the main facts upon which they are based, some idea can
perhaps be obtained from the nature of the work, which modern science
seeks to accomplish, of the measure of success that has already been
attained and of the possibilities, which lie before the student, »f the
geological and geographical distribution of the mollusca. The enormous
advance that has been made within the few years that have elapsed since
Darwin and Wallace opened the doors to untrammeled thought and
investigation, it is but a foretaste of that, which surely is to come. And
while perhaps it is too much to expect that, from the scattered debris
of the wreckage of past ages, the chain of animal life can ever be re-
constructed in its entirety, there is every reason to believe that, in the
years to come, much that is now inexplicable will be made plain and
that in its broad outlines, at least, and to a high degree of certainty the
true history of its origin and development will be elucidated.
62 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE.
THE SUB-CARBONIFEROUS LIMESTONE EXPOSURE AT GRAND
RAPIDS, MICH.
BY CHARLES A. WHITTEMORE, GRAND RAPIDS.
(Read before the Academy, Dec. 26, 1895.)
My work as a member of the Kent Scientific Institute of Grand Rapids
has called for many excursions to our limestone quarries and I now offer
you a few notes from observations taken in the field and from what I
could gather from those whose interest or business led them to a
knowledge of the subject. Before entering upon the work I trust you
will allow me to say a few words about the society I have the honor to
represent. The Kent Scientific Institute was organized in January, 1868,
and was shortly after incorporated under the laws of the state "for the
study of the natural sciences and to maintain a natural history museum.''
It succeeded a society known as "The Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural
History."
Museum material rapidly flowed into the society both by donation and
purchase and in a short time there was a valuable collection on hand.
The society was organized as an independent body, but an agreement
was soon entered upon with the board of education of the city whereby
the board furnished a place for the meetings, and room for the collect-
tions. In return the society allows the board to use the museum material
for instruction in natural history in the public schools. Therefore any
teacher in the city can send for what he may wish to illustrate his
science work. We have a collection of 700 mounted birds, 1,150 skins.
1,400 eggs, and nearly 10,000 species (30,000 specimens) of shells. There
are 165 bottles of alcoholic specimens, more than 0,000 minerals and
fossils, and 1,500 plants. Like most societies of this kind we are sadly
in need of means to properly display our collection. In the 28 years of
its existence the society has supported its meetings twice a month, and
has kept alive a spark of interest in natural history. The museum has
given pleasure and instruction to hundreds of scholars, and many a young
man can date from it his inspiration to a life of natural science.
Although the general course of Grand river is to the west, opposite the
city it flows to the south. Just below the city it begins a large bend to
the west. In the river bed the rock comes nearly to the surface of the
water and in some places it is below low water level. Consequently there
is considerable current, whence our city gets its name, from the grand
rapids of Grand river. On each side of the river there are hills, making a
valley one and one-half miles wide. The highest point on the east side,
our city engineer who gives me these figures tells me, is 165 feet high; on
the west side of the river near the John Ball park, the hill is 148 feet above
low water mark, hence another name, The "Valley City" of the Wolverine
State. But we are not responsible for the latter part of the title.
The rock makes its appearance in the river bed at a point about 100
feet above Pearl street bridge. That it is limestone needs no argu-
WHITTEMORE ON LIMESTONE EXPOSURE, GRAND RAPIDS. 63
ment, as it answers the acid test, has been burned for lime, and is identi-
fied by means of fossils which will be mentioned later.
On the the east side of the river the same rock was found in the exca-
vations for Sweet's Hotel, but it had many holes through it. The same
feature was seen in digging for the foundations for the National City
Bank building. At Mr. Power's well, in the Arcade, just north of Pear
street, the lime rock was found 14 feet thick under 6 or 8 feet of drift.
These features indicate the southern edge of the formation, as shown on
the map. In the west side canal bedrock was struck at a little more than
100 feet south of the dam. Away from the river the limerock was not
found south of Bridge street, its boundaries, however, I do not know.
The ridge is found in the river bed at a point near the Kent Furniture
Co's shops, and slopes rapidly to the north. The apparent dip, as seen in
the river bed, is to the south, but the true dip is N. E. by E.* Such must
evidently be the case in order that the strata may pass under the coal
measures of the center of the State. The upper line on the west side runs
a little north of west, but has not been determined.
To Hon. Wm. T. Powers I am indebted for much valuable information
concerning this outcrop.
The thickness of the rock at the head of the rapids is 52 feet. It is
found under a drift deposit of two or three feet and in some places is
covered only by the sod. The same kind of limestone, with the same
crystals, is found at Kellogsville, six miles south of the city.
The strata have been extensively worked for building stone, both in
the river bed and on shore. The rock is very shaly so that it cannot be
used for much more than foundation walls. The openings are indicated
by the spots on the map. Large piles have been frequently stored up
for market, so that many opportunities for examination were given, both
in the stone heaps and in the workings. The evidence that our limestone
is sub-carboniferous, Prof. Strong tells me is abundant and satisfactory,
both on the organic and stratigraphical sides. Evidence is given by the
borings for salt wells, by seeing actual contact with the lower numbers
of the carboniferous measures on the east, and contact with the Marshall
sandstone — generally regarded as equivalent to the Waverly group, on the
west. Additional evidence is given from the fossil remains, of which
Prof. Strong published a preliminary list, as K. S. I. Miscellaneous Col-
lections No. 3. He describes Helodus crenulatus, Ciadodus irregularis,
scales of C ten acanthus, four species of Nautilus three of Allorisma, and
several others too imperfect to be determined. Lithostrotion canadense,
Prodiictus sanctatus, and some specimens of Hemiphronites are also relied
on for further evidence. Dr. DeCamp has found trilobites which he
identified as "Phacops bufo." He sent them to Prof. A. Winchell for
further examination. He has also found tesselated teeth in the Taylor
street quarry and bony plates for such teeth. Of corals I have found
Cyathophi/llum divaricatum and G. flexnosus. Many other corals are found
in the drift, but need not be mentioned here. The division of the sub-
carboniferous is a more difficult matter. The Lithostrotion, Prof. Win-
chell writes indicates the St. Louis group of the Mississippi valley. The
strata, are slightly undulating and in one opening there are several
layers of the red limestone which will burn to hydraulic lime.
*50 to 60 ft. to the mile.
64 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Although our lime rock is the same formation there is a marked differ-
ence in the crystals from the different openings. The Davis street quarry
was worked to a depth of 28 feet below the sidewalk. Dog-tooth spar
crystals were found abundantly and increased both in size and numbers
nearly to the depth of the excavation. They were found in cavities in
what are called "Geode Beds," In the deeper part of the pit the supply
of crystals suddenly stopped. These crystals (specimens shown) came
from that opening. I have at home two pieces of limestone, each about
14 inches long and 0 inches wide, one with crystals as large as this one,
and the other with six or eight crystals of half this size, both imbedded
in a surface of pyrite crystals. These crystals "may not be large for
other places but they are the largest we have found.
Iron pyrites crystals were found common at Davis street but seldom
larger than f cubes. The variety Marcasite was found in much greater
quantity. I found one piece in the shape of a ball 1% inches in diameter.
A piece of stone 4 feet long and 2| wide was found covered with pyrite
cubes. I could have had it but it was too large for me. It is now doing
duty in a cemetery. Deposits of calcite or brown spar were found here
in larger pieces than in any other place. One piece was nearly a cubic
foot contents. It is usually found as a nodule imbedded in the solid
rock. Sometimes it is found in flakes which make up a vein through the
stone. In this quarry also* I found these curious double-colored crystals
not found elsewhere. (Specimens exhibited.)
In the lowest heading of this pit, 28 feet deep, I found several cavities
with the inside pitted instead of covered with c^stals. I took out a few
of the holes (?) which are represented by this sample. At the Davis
street extension scalenohedrons were found in plenty, and here I found
a cavity with loose crystals — the only one discovered. The crystals were
imbedded in sand or clav, and had evidentlv fallen from the roof of the
opening. There was so much outside earth in the cavity that it was
useless to consider any of it as a residue of crystallization. In the open-
ing just below the dam nodules of calcite were found, but nothing worth
taking home.
In the excavation for the filter in the bed of the river just above the
city water works, brown cubical crystals were found in good numbers.
Here I found cavities containing gypsum — lime sulphate instead of the
carbonate. Some of them, cavities as large as my fist, had the surface
of the gypsum level. The holes were about two-thirds full, and the
level surface indicated a deposit from solution.
In stone near the upper end of the exposure I found a few cavities
lined with pyrites. These are rare and I have seen only one other, which
was spoiled in taking out.
Many valuable specimens were found at the Taylor street quarry, but
that was abandoned and filled before I came to the city, so I can only
repeat what I hear from others. I have broken more specimens in the
quarry than I ever took home with me, on account of the shaly nature
of the stone. However carefully I might line out my work the piece
would often break at right angles to my marks and the disturbance of
my temper.
At the Myrtle street opening white and brown cubical crystals were
found. The white crystals were rare and were not found in other places.
Much iron pyrites was found here but in a decomposed condition. Joints
MILLAR ON THE MISSOURI EARTHQUAKE IN 1895. 65
and seams could be studied in this opening better than elsewhere. The
principal joints were vertical and about four feet apart. The faces were
as smooth as if dressed by hand. Their direction was to the northwest,
evidently at right angles to the dip of the strata. Between the principal
seams were smaller and irregular joints. The upper layers were here
much disintegrated, and gave a good chance to study transition from
rock to soil. There is no drift here — nothing but a thin sod — and we are
evidently on the highest part of the limestone. The first 10 or 12 inches
could be moved with a shovel; a pick-axe could take 10 or 12 inches more.
Many pieces are found here yellow on the outside and with the grey un-
changed stone in the center. I thought at first that the change was due
to carbonic acid (C O2) but Prof. Carmen applied a test and showed that
iron was present. On the west bank of the river three openings have
been made, to a depth of about 6 feet. A few brown cubical crystals
were found in a limited area.
The best years for crystals were 1888 and '89. Those were phenomenal
years and I was so situated that I could make frequent collecting trips,
and succeeded in getting an unusually good assortment, both in varieties
and number of specimens. I made an effort to be on good terms with
the workmen in the quarries, and they were always ready to save spec-
imens and to assist me. The display of crystals in the years mentioned
attracted much public attention. On a pleasant morning it was a com-
mon thing to see 30 persons looking for specimens. Most of them were
attracted by the bright yellow pyrites, and it was an easy matter for me
to get from them what I saw were good specimens.
NOTES OX THE SEISMIC DISTURBANCES IN MISSOURI,
OCTOBER, 31. 1895.
BY JOHN M. MILLAR, ESCANABA.
(Read before the Academy, Dec. 26, 1895.)
Ex-Governor H. C. Brockmeyer, in a report of the earthquake of Octo-
ber 31, 1895, states that the site of the disturbance in Missouri is
almost identical with that of the years 1811-12; that at Charleston the
earth was cracked and volumes of water and sand poured through these
fissures.
Sir Charles Lyell, in his Principles of Geology, devotes several pages
to the earthquake at New Madrid, Mo. in 1811-12, and refers to the emi-
nent Von Humboldt as follows :
"It has been remarked by Humboldt in his Cosmos that the earthquake
in New Madrid presents one of the few examples on record of the inces-
sant shaking of the ground for several successive months, far from any
volcano," and then proceeds to say "that the inhabitants relate that the
earth rose in great undulations, and when these reached a certain fear-
ful height, the soil burst and vast volumes of water, sand and pit coal
were discharged as high as the tops of trees. Flint saw hundreds of
these deep chasms running in an alluvial soil several years afterwards."
In 1841, Lyell visited the disturbed region of the Mississippi which
was said to extend along the course of the White River and its tributaries,
9
66 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
to a distance of between seventy and eighty miles north and south, and
thirty miles east and west, and saw on its borders many full grown troes
still standing leafless, the bottoms of their trunks several feet under
water, and a still greater number lying prostrate. And, even on dry
ground along the margin of the submerged area he observed that all the
trees of prior date to 1811 were dead and leafless.
He also made a careful examination of many of the cavities and rents,
some of them still several feet wide, and a yard or two in depth, finding
abundance of sand which some of the inhabitants, still living, had seen
spouting from these deep holes.
It would appear from the foregoing, that these seismic disturbances
are not new to the district; and it would be interesting to have a report
of the recent disturbances to compare with those of nearly three-fourths
of a century ago, that attracted the attention of such scientists as Baron
Von Humboldt and Sir Charles Lyell.
MICHIGAN BIRDS THAT NEST IN OPEN MEADOWS.
BY L. WHITNEY WATKINS, MANCHESTER.
(Read before the Academy, Dec. 26, 1895.)
AH have noticed that the places chosen by different species of wild
birds for their nests are not the same. Their homes vary in location and
style of architecture as much as do the characteristics of the birds them-
selves.
Some species choose the dark, unfrequented forest for their home,
others the open field in the full glare of the sun; some the barren cliffs
of huge mountains, while others build floating rafts of mud and weeds
in the marshy ponds. Again others are content to tenant perhaps the
corner of a tumble down rail fence or nest in hollow trees or barns.
Some nest high up in the branches of trees while others, equally shy,
choose to rear their broods in bushes or upon the ground.
As the great, orchard-like trees of the oak openings were girdled and
destroyed and great tracts of the heavy timbered land cleared, the lower
peninsula of Michigan became more and more similar in physical aspect
to the vast grass-land prairies of the southwest. Coincident with this
greatly altered environment, and continuing to the present time, was
inaugurated an unsettled, unbalanced condition in our avi-fauna resulting
in a great change in the relative preponderance of species.
Those inhabiting the woodlands were crowded in a short time from
great areas, while species which had heretofore been fortunate in the
finding of even small tracts of open land to suit their tastes, were turned
loose over thousands of acres of improved land within the period of a few
years.
The Pileated Woodpecker was pushed north to the Canadian border,
disgusted with so called civilization. The Wood Duck found her old
stub nesting sites tipped over and burned; the Wild Turkey her briar
patches and brush pile homes destroyed. The Passenger Pigeon, while
enjoying the grain fields and fattening thereon in place of the wild acorns
and nuts, was exposed to the destructive devices of those who soon learned
WATKINS ON BIRDS THAT NEST IN MEADOWS. 67
that fat pigeons in the markets of the east were in demand at a good
price, and they were rendered practically extinct in a short time. The
Ruffed Grouse is now confined within fenced wood lots and is often found
to wander into great cities and upon our lawns in absolute bewilderment.
Human beings have pushed their way into nearly every nook and
corner of this continent and with them have been taken' all the revolu-
tionizing influences of civilization. Changes have been and are now
taking place before our very eyes, iu all the forms of life, as profound as
any already chronicled in the great epochs of geological history. Cer-
tainly this is the age of man's absolute supremacy among the living
things. He has destroyed whole species of birds and mammals and
driven others to the verge of extinction; he has conquered the forests and
wrought havoc with the wild flowers.
To make more plain and limit the scope of this treatise, which, of nec-
essity must be longer than I hoped, I will include in my list only such
species as I have found nesting upon the ground or in the open fields and
meadows, excluding those found nesting upon the boundary fences or
in the border shrubbery and brush piles or in lone trees in the open
ground; also those nesting in the open marsh lands which are undrained
and boggy to the extent of being unfit for hay or pasture.
As a further aid in clearness, I will separate meadows into two
classes, namely, the typical upland hayfield or pasture and the so called
"marsh" meadow which is drained and pastured or grown to its native
grasses and sedges for hay.
We will first consider the upland nesters:
The American Bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus, is included among the
nesters of the upland fields from one instance only, which came under
my personal observation. I have never heard of a like case in connec-
tion with this species and it was to me a very interesting one.
On June 27 1892, I received a letter from a friend in Bridgewater,
Washtenaw county, telling that "a bittern had its nest in his clover
field" and if I wanted the eggs to come at once. As the location was
a peculiar one I lost no time and arrived to find the nest undisturbed
in a small bunch of standing hay which had been skipped in mowing
on its account. This nest was a mere platform, upon the ground, of the
surrounding clover stems bent down with some plucked and carried to the
spot. The American Bittern almost invariably builds its nest either
very near the border of sloughs and lakes, composed of rushes and flags
made into a rude platform raised slightly above the water in the bogs
and reeds, or situated in the wet marsh lands, made up of grasses and
sedges. Of the many nests which I have observed, all were so situated
save in this one instance. In the spring of 1892, the marshes were
flooded from continuous rains until the bogs and wet flats became sheets
of open water, entirely uninhabitable by birds which usually nested
therein, and this fact I will venture as a possible reason for this nest
being located in the clover field upon a hill, within twenty rods of a
farm house and nearly one-half mile from any water. The four or five
eggs are slate color or mud color. The food of this species consists of
frogs, fishes, pollywogs and grasshoppers. Arriving before or by the
middle of April, it at once begins its odd and unaccountable notes which
give it the name of Thunder Pumper and Stake Driver. The American
Bittern is probably of little economical importance and does no harm,
68 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
serving to add to the picturesqueness of the water landscape as it wings
its way in measured flaps over the placid waters, or stands motionless
with beak pointing straight upwards, in the bog.
The Bartramian Sandpiper or Field Plover, Bariramia hngicauda,
is a very interesting bird. Unique in its class as caring little or nothing
for the proximity of water, this long-legged bird of the uplands is little
noticed or generally known, on account of its stealthy measured move-
ments. It arrives with us usually in the last week in March and builds
its nest in a rather open spot such as the border of a gravelly knoll,
with scarcely any material to protect the eggs. Like the Kflldeer it
sometimes makes its nest close to the hills of growing corn upon the
mellow soil. The eggs are four in number of a brown or clay color,
variously spotted with darker shades and black. The food of the Upland
Plover consists of both seeds and insects. In the early part of the smm
mer, it consists about equally of each; in haying time, more largely of
grasshoppers, crickets, et cetera; and later on when the grain is harvested,
the stubble fields are sought and the birds fatten upon the grain left on
the ground. As this bird stands motionless, as is its habit, it is not
easily detected owing to its close mimicry of the natural surroundings
and the passerby is not aware of its presence until two sharp, quick
whistles, exactly as a man would whistle to his dog if near him, arrest
his attention. This is the note of alarm and as the supposed person is
sought on all sides, the graceful flight of the rather large bird betrays
the mistake. It is of much benefit to the farmer and of no harm.
The Killdeer Plover, JEgiaZitis vooif&ra, is a very generally known
species of which I need say but little. Coining to us from the south
the last of February or first of March and usually remaining late in
November or in some instances even all winter, it makes itself known at
all times by its characteristic note, which is its name, as it runs before
us upon the ground or flies round and round overhead. Nest is in thin
grass lands, in corn fields or plowed ground, preferably within a short
distance of water. Eggs, four, clay colored, with black and brownish
spots especially about the larger end. Food mostly of insects, some
seeds and grains. A very useful bird, and does no harm.
The Quail or Bob White, Colinus uirginicmus, is a bird equally well
known to the tiller of the soil, the sportsman and the fastidious epicure
of the city cafe. It is said not to be a migrant because it is a winter
resident wherever it is found. When the Quail betakes itself to the tam-
arack swamp or to the farmyard for food and for protection from the cold
storms that sweep' the hills where it has passed the summer, it is per-
haps as truly migrating as are the species which regularly recede south-
ward on the same account. We see this same gathering together, in pro
tected spots or where food is abundant, of many other of our winter resi-
dents. Many species go south because of cold weather while others only
go because their food becomes unobtainable as in the case of most of the
• ducks, and the Robin, Crow, etc. The Quail begins to whistle with the
first warm days of spring not nesting however, until the latter part of
May and usually not until June. Some nests have been found late in
October or even in November, if I recall correctly reports at different
times in our ornithological publications, these of course being second
broods or the nests made after the first nests have been broken up.
The mother remains with her brood usually until they are grown, and in
WATKINS ON BIRDS THAT NEST IN MEADOWS. 69
the fall of the year the different coveys represent one or more entire
broods, they not separating until they pair off the next April. The
Quail is confined, I think, in Michigan, to the lower peninsula, although
there are reports which would show that it has straggled farther north.
It is not found, as near as I can determine, in any numbers much north
of the southern boundary of Roscommon county, the influence of the
great lakes upon the isothermal lines in this state probably influencing
the boundary line of their habitat on the north. In the southern tiers,
of counties, the Quail usually nests in the hay fields, and now that the
mowing machine and horse rake do nearly all the work, every nest so sit-
uated is destroyed. The farmer usually wishes to protect the Quails,
but the nests, which are hidden in a tuft of clover or grass, with the
blades neatly pulled together overhead, defy apprehension and when
once frightened away by the machines, the sitters never return. This
fact of so many nests being broken up coupled with the lack of pro-
tection from the rigor of winter as the thrifty agriculturist has each
and every shrub and vine cut from the fence corners and along the road
side, means fully as much in its very noticeable diminution in numbers,
as does the yearly onslaught of the hunters. Various gun clubs in the
state have already made efforts at restocking the country with Quails
by importations from Kansas and Nebraska. The eggs are usually from
eighteen to twenty-five in number, pure white and top shaped. Its food
consists of insects, grains and seeds in the summer and fall, and in winter
almost entirely of wild seeds. In the crop of one which I examined, a
remarkably large seed for the bird to swallow was sent for identification
to Prof. Wheeler, our courteous consulting botanist, who reported it to
be that of the Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus. Of little or no
harm, as the grains eaten are almost wholly waste, and of great econom-
ical importance. Both confiding and beautiful, it deserves whatever en-
couragement and protection we may be able to give. A brood of Quails
which I hatched and reared with a bantam hen, grew to be very tame and
kept our vegetable garden entirely free from insects the summer through.
(For full notes, see The Oologist, Vol. XI, No. 12 and Vol. XII, No. 1.)
The Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, I have found once and only
once nesting upon the ground in an open field. A few bushes growing
in a slight hollow had been rut and burned and the ground sown broad-
cast to timothy. One little branch lay unburned upon the ground with
the grass growing up through it and about two feet from this, where the
grass was short and sickly looking, was the nest, built flat upon the
ground and composed of a few small twigs and grass stems. The bird
was flushed and the two white eggs seen. I understand that in prairie
regions this is a common habit of the Mourning Dove, but here where
abundance of favorable nesting sites are at hand, it is certainly very
curious that this bird should have chosen to spend her time in incubation
and rear her brood where any and all the night marauders would be likely
to molest her home, and when she had been brought up differently. Food
consists of insects, grains, seeds, etc.
The Marsh Hawk. Circus hudsonius, is the most graceful, most beauti-
ful hawk on wing, that is found in our state, and the only representative
of the birds of prey, with the possible exception of the Short-eared Owl,
found nesting in the open fields. Coming to us late in February or early
in March and remaining very late in fall, this bird is almost constantly
70 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
seen in favored localities, soaring low over the meadows, poising with
flapping wings about to dart below upon some unsuspecting rodent, or
dashing into our faces, as we come over a hill, as suddenly to vanish
from view, and we are always thrilled by this fairy form in blue or brown
(the colors of the male and female bird, respectively). Nests with eggs
may be found from the first of May to the first of August. Perhaps the
more usual site is the wet, bushy marsh or bog, where the nest is raised
several inches above the wet moss and water, composed of various sized
sticks for a foundation and reeds, grasses and sedges — a rather coarse
structure and bulky as is usual with the nests of hawks. Nearly as often
is the nest placed flat upon the ground in the hay-fields, or in the growing
wheat, rye, oats and barley. In such places it is composed simply of a
few spears of the grass or grain plucked and laid upon that which may be
bent and trampled down upon the spot. With few exceptions these nests
are destroyed before the young are ready to fly. I find many broken up
each year. Eggs five, pale blue, usually unmarked. The food of the
Marsh Hawk consists of mice, frogs, grasshoppers, crickets, etc., with very
seldom a young bird which is learning to fky. It has never been seen, I
think, to molest poultry, or birds which are able to fly. Of no harm
whatever and of exceeding benefit to the farmer.
The Horned Lark, or if I am to be technically correct I suppose I must
say the Prairie Horned Lark, Otocoris alpestris praticola, (although I
always protest in my heart these varietal species which I could not dis-
tinguish with certainty one from another if I had them here before me)
remains with us throughout the year and whether chasing each other
about the snow-clad fields or running before the carriage in the dusty
road, they are always the same sprightly cheery little fellows, showing
scarcely any fear. The nests are usually placed in a slight depression
by a tuft of grass and composed of grasses and rootlets, without any
great care being manifest in the construction. The five eggs are of a
drab color made up of innumerable spots of that tint so close together
as to give a nearly solid effect. The nests of this species may be found
from the first of March to the middle of April or perhaps a little later than
that. I have found about the middle of March the usual time, and it is
a common thing to find the sitter surrounded or nearly covered with
snow. The food of this bird consists of both insects and seeds. Of no
harm and of some use though I am not as yet certain to what extent
insects are taken.
The Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivonis, arrives in Washtenaw county
from the south usually between April 30 and May 5. This bird being
one of the few species dressed in black and white that we can boast as
summer residents, at once tells of its return in one of the most animated
songs which the woods and fields can furnish. The nest is built during
the latter half of May and is so concealed beneath the thick growth of
clover, timothy, etc., as to practically preclude all chance of finding.
It is composed simply of grasses upon the ground, and the five eggs, of a
mottled, stony color, so resemble their surroundings as to make it very
inconspicuous even when actually exposed to view. Early in the fall,
the male Bobolink changes its garb of black and white to the usual and
more sombre plumage, of brown tinged with yellow, of the female bird
and proceeds southward to become the dreaded ''Rice-bird1' of the planta-
WATKINS ON BIRDS THAT NEST IN MEADOWS. 71
tions, where it is killed by thousands and sent to the markets. The food
consists of grains, seeds and insects. With us in the north it is of no
harm and some importance. In the south a pest. One of our finest
open meadow species.
The Cowbird, Molotlirus ater, presents a subject in ornithology hard to
treat by a person who loves birds as I do. He neither builds his nest
nor feeds his family and as is usual with the biped loafer, we find the
above traits accompanied by those of bold trespass and destruction of his
neighbors belongings, at the same time requiring and expecting the lat-
ter to rear his family by their hard work. The eggs of the Cowbird,
which are white or bluish-white, varyingly speckled with brown and
black, are parasitically installed, apparently at the convenience
of the layer, as occasion presents itself, within the nests of so many
species that it would be out of the question to think of naming
them here. Of the meadow nesters, which are included in the present
list, the eggs of the Cowbird have been found in the nests of the Mourn-
ing Dove, Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, Meadowlark, Black-throated
Bunting, Grass Finch, Song Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow and Prairie
Horned Lark. The food of this bird consists of seeds and grain and
some insects, especially ticks from the newly shorn sheep. A pernicious
pest, setting a miserable example to man and beast.
The Grass Finch, Poocaetes gramineus, is a bird so well known the
State over as the "Ground bird,"' that the mention of that term is at once
understood in every household. In all homes the ''ground-bird" is a
well known and significant term to those who seem to think that all small
birds of a brown color seen upon the ground in the fields belong to one
species and that species is the ''Ground bird." I have several times been
hotly arraigned because I said that the terms "sparrow," "blackbird,"
"ground-bird," etc., were misleading and should never be carelessly used
to designate a particular species; and even called a "bird crank" when
I asked some ornithologists of this type to pick out a "ground-bird" from
the skins in the sparrow drawers of my cabinet. I wish that every mem-
ber of the Michigan Academy of Science would aid in introducing the
correct and less confusing English names for birds, mammals, plants,
etc., among the common people who may be interested enough to learn,
for until this is done, the popular influence of the scientist, who has
spent years in preparing himself to be of use to the masses, will be of lit-
tle avail. The Grass Finch, Vesper Sparrow or Bay- winged Bunting, as
it is variously and correctly called in different places, is one of the
ground nesting species which has increased particularly in numbers,
since the clearing up of the land and bids fair in time to outnumber in
individuals any other species. Arriving usually in April, it is seen every-
where about the fields and along the roadside. The nest is situated in the
grass upon the ground almost anywhere and is in such situations com-
posed of grasses and stems with rootlets and occasionally horse hairs
for a lining. Other nests are made in the cornfields next to the hills of
grain and this seems to be a favorite location, where the materials used
are mostly grass roots placed in a natural depression in the mellow soil.
The outside rows are most used for their nests. In one corn row eighty
rods long, I have found nine different nests on the same day, all with
eggs. The nesting season extends through May, June and July. Eggs
72 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
four or five, pale bluish-white, variously marked, splashed and mottled
with lilac, chocolate and darker shades. There seems to be no limit to
the variation of markings in eggs of the Grass Finch. Food mostly seeds
— some insects. Of no harm and probably from its great numbers a very
useful species.
The Lark Sparrow, Chondextes grammacus, I have found only once
nesting here at Manchester, though the late dates on which they are
occasionally seen, lead me to believe that they quite frequently do breed.
On May 20, 1896, I took a set of five fresh eggs and fully identified the
female bird which was taken to make positive the find. The nest was
upon the ground, in an open field, in a slight depression at the foot of a
bitter dock plant. It was composed of grasses and rootlets and very
much resembled the usual nests of the Grass Finch. The female bird was
so tame that sbe would return to sit upon the eggs, after being flushed,
while I was standing within ten feet of the nest. The eggs of the Lark
Sparrow are creamy white, penciled and splashed with markings of choc-
olate brown and delicate lilac especially about the larger end. They
resemble very much those of the Orchard Oriole in size and color. The
pencilings upon the eggs also remind one of the markings upon the eggs
of the Eed-wing! This is not a common bird, though each spring a few
are noted. They arrive in April rather later than most of the sparrows
and remain until into May with the last of the Juncos and White-crowned
and White-throated Sparrows.
The Song Sparrow, Mclospha fasciata, is by far the most attractive
sparrow that we have. One of the first birds to greet us in March, in-
habiting any and all sorts of ground, whether dry or damp, bushy or open,
especially seeking the proximity of the farm yard and garden, he pours
forth the sweetest, purest praise of spring that comes from all the feath-
ered chorus, and when all birds are gay. The nests, composed of grasses
and usually lined with finer ones and hair, are situated in bushes, upon
the ground, in tufts of grass, in brush piles and even inside of buildings;
in fact in every conceivable place. The eggs are five, bluish-white with
markings of reddish brown in endless variety. The food of the Song
Sparrow is almost wholly of insects if they can be found and the seeds
of grasses and weeds. A bird of no bad habits and of inestimable benefit.
The Grasshopper Sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum passerinus, is a
common bird in the hay-fields and yet some very competent observers
have never noted its presence owing to its rather shy ways and its gen-
eral resemblance, when not specially noticed, to others of its class such
as Field Sparrow, Grass Finch, etc., though it is smaller than either.
However, if the peculiar, tremulous, balancing flight, very like that of
the Spotted Sandpiper, is observed, and the rasping tones of the singer
are heard, our attention should be seriously attracted to the odd little
bird whose every move is characteristic. It is named Grasshopper Spar-
row from the peculiar resemblance of its song to the stridulating note of
the grasshopper. It is usually found singing from a windrow of hay, the
top rail of a fence, or any prominent object not very high above the
ground. This bird, which is increasing in abundance each year, arrives
from the south about the first of May, and the first brood is grown before
haying time comes, the second being very often destroyed when the
grass is cut. The nest is situated upon the ground, close to a tuft of
WATKINS ON BIRDS THAT NEST IN MEADOWS. 73
grass, where the general growth is rather thin, and if possible in some
natural depression such as is made by a cowT or horse stepping in the
mud, or where a small stone has been turned over, etc. It is composed
loosely of grasses, roots of grasses, and sometimes hairs, carelessly placed.
The usual clutch of eggs is live, white, speckled and in some cases splashed
slightly, with reddish brown. The food of the Grasshopper Sparrow, 1
am very positive consists largely of insects. The young, at least, are fed
almost entirely with insects and I have often seen the parent birds car-
rying larvae about in their beaks for hours after the nests had been
destroyed, looking for their brood. The adults feed also upon seeds to
some extent. Of no harm and of great benefit.
The Black-throated Bunting, Spiza americana, is the latest species
to follow the opening up of the country, bidding fair to become a com-
mon species where it has been heretofore very rare or wholly unknown.
It is as 3ret abundant only in certain restricted localities but is becoming
more generally distributed each year. It is with us at Fairview Farm
already somewhat common, several pairs usually occupying each forty
acre hay lot. The nests are, so far as I have observed, always situated
upon the ground in the thick grass, or clover fields, or fastened among
the growing stems a few inches from the ground. The four eggs are
laid usually in early June and are almost exact counterparts in color and
size of those of the Bluebird. They are, however, of a more round-oval
form than those of the latter, one end being about as large as the other.
In fact they come nearer being round than the eggs of any species that I
can recall. Many nests, also, of this bird are destroyed in haying time.
The food consists mostly of insects — some seeds. We should welcome
this bird to a place among the common species in our State.
The Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, is one of the most universally
known species in the entire list. Its unmistakable identity, bright
appearance and attractive notes, cause it to be noticed particularly and
remembered by all who meet it. The Meadowlark arrives in Michigan
usually between March first and tenth and at once fills the air with its
mellow, whistling song. The first nests are made early in May and nidi-
fication is continued through June. They are built upon the ground and
are among the most elaborately formed, for protection, found in bird
architecture. Built usually in the side of an .especially thick tuft of grass
in the meadow, the blades near at hand being drawn down and woven
together over the nest proper, which consists almost entirely of dried
grasses, we very often find in connection a tunnel of woven grass stems
conveying the bird as she leaves the nest several yards unseen before she
rises to fly. The eggs are five, crystal white, speckled and blotched with
reddish brown. The food of the Meadowlark consists largely of insects,
both of imagos, such as beetles, flies, bugs, etc., and the various lepidop-
terous, hymenopterous and dipterous larvae which infest our hay fields.
Grasshoppers and crickets are also taken. When insect food cannot be
obtained, as when an individual occasionally winters with us, seeds and
grains are readily taken.
I have little doubt that the Field Sparrow, Spisella piisilla, and the
Brown Thrasher, Harporhynchus rufus, occasionally nest upon the ground
in the grassy borders of open fields. Their nesting sites vary much
and they seek the brush heaps and shrubby borders of the open country
10
74 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
rather than the deep woods. Indeed, I have been informed that they have
nested upon the ground in the open, but as I have not personally known of
such an instance I will not include them positively within this list of
species.
In the mucky lowlands or marsh meadows, we find that of the above list
of upland nesters all are found to be present except the Prairie Horned
Lark, Grass Finch, Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Mourning
Dove and Dickcissel or Black-throated Bunting. With these exceptions
we find the same list holding good but with the addition of three species
not found nesting in the uplands. These we will briefly consider.
The Prairie Hen, Tympanuclius americanm, was found in great abund-
ance by the first settlers of Michigan, inhabiting the marshes and
patches of prairie land and among the more open hills upon which the
scattered, wide-spreading oak trees grew. As the land was cleared,
they continued to thrive and fatten in the grain stubbles, but when
every man came to own a gun, and they became scattered in the fall
over the whole upland country they were slaughtered without mercy.
The heavy, bungling rise of the Prairie Chicken makes it so easy a mark
that it can scarcely be missed and it was persecuted for fun until it was
practically extinct except in the prairie regions of the southwest of the
State where yet a few remained. On April 13, 1894, however, a flock of
sixteen were all at once discovered near Norvell, Jackson county. (For
full notes concerning this flock see American Naturalist, Vol. XXVIII,
No. 355.) Since that time they have done very well until last fall when
the hunters ruthlessly slaughtered eleven birds and this after I had
distributed signs, warning hunters to keep off, among the owners of all
the land where they were found. These signs were generally tacked up,
but under the softening influence of a few cigars the land owners yielded
to so called friends and the birds suffered. They have become very shy
and are so scattered now that they are in reality very difficult to obtain
so I hope for their presence for a few years yet, at least. The nests are
made of grasses and leaves in the thick herbage of the drier marshes,
early in May. One nest found last summer contained ten eggs of a
brownish drab color. The food of the Prairie Hen consists of grass-
hoppers or locusts, crickets — in fact almost any insects, through the
summer. They usually resort to the grain stubbles after harvest where
the waste kernels are eaten until the bird becomes almost helplessly fat.
Of no harm, to speak of, and undoubtedly of great service to the farmer
in ridding the fields of noxious insects. Why will he not protect them?
Is it stupidity or ignorance? Probably both.
The Red-winged Blackbird, Agelakis plwrniceus, has in one instance been
found to leave its customary reeds and cat-tails in the bog and build its
nest in a tuft of grass in an open marsh, well drained and regularly cut
for hay and afterwards pastured. It was situated at least one-fourth mile
from water and entirely away from any bush or other protection.
Usually coming to us about March 4th, we must admit that the red-wing,
as it gathers in huge flocks in the trees near our homes, furnishes us
with a sleigh-bell chorus of undeniable richness, interspersed with the
"tweck," "tweck," of those stopping for breath. This is one of the few
species which are gregarious in their song. The nests are usually built
in reeds, boggy tufts of sedge, or among cat-tails, standing in the water,
WATKINS ON BIRDS THAT NEST IN MEADOWS. 75
and composed of coarse grasses and the leaves and shreds torn from the
surrounding flags. The four eggs are light blue, with a slaty tinge,
splashed, spotted and penciled with black, brown and purple, especially
about the larger end. The young are fed largely with insects, those
species found about the water, which are of little if any harm to us,
being most taken, while the adults feed almost entirely upon wild seeds
and grains when they can be obtained and are frequently of great damage
to the farmer. As is the case with every species possessed of grain
eating tendencies, it is apparently of little damage until the young are
fledged and all are gathered together preparatory to their migration
south. The red-winged blackbird is of doubtful reputation, probably
just about paying for its board. We will at present give him the generous
benefit of the doubt.
Henslow's Sparrow, Ammodmmus henslowi, is a rare species with us
excepting in a few restricted localities. Its habits are little known from
study in this State. It is an inhabitant of the marsh lands, preferably
such as bear an open growth of short, shrubby plants, called locally
with us 'mard hack" (Potentilla fruticosa). Its flight and habits are much
as in the case of the Grasshopper Sparrow, to which it is closely related,
being, however, much more shy and less easily seen. I have taken in all,
six specimens of Henslow's Sparrow, all at or near Fairview farm at
Watkins Station, Mich. Three of them are now in my collection, one is
at Lake Forest University, Illinois, one at the Indiana Academy of
Science, in charge of Amos W. Butler of Brookville, that State, and the
other taken to Ann Arbor by Mr. A. B. Covert, presumably in the collec-
tions of the University of Michigan. Mr* Covert took a specimen of this
species at Pittsfield Junction, on the Ann Arbor & Lake Shore rail-
ways, I believe in the spring of 1894. The nest is not distinguishable from
those of other sparrows, situated usually in a tuft of grass and composed
of dry grasses. It was my good fortune to have the pleasure of recording
the first nest of Henslow's Sparrow, reported from Michigan, (See The
Nidiologist, Vol. 1, No. 12.) It was found late in May, and contained five
eggs of a bluish-white, speckled with reddish-brown. Mr. Arnold, of
Battle Creek, tells me that another nest of this species has been taken
near Pine Lake, east of Lansing.
Of the species which might be included among the nesters of the open
marshes, but which usually at least select the more wet or bushy ground
are: Short-eared Owl, Asio accipitrinus, Maryland Yellowthroat, Geo-
tlilypis trichas, Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, Long-billed Marsh
Wren, Cistothorus palustris, Short-billed Marsh Wren, Cistothorus stcllaris,
King Rail, Rallus elegans, Mallard, Anas boschas, aud Sandhill Crane,
Grus mexicana.
In the list of meadow nesters of which I have spoken, we find of the
various orders, as follows:
Herodiones (cranes, herons, bitterns, etc.), one.
Limicolre (waders), two.
Gallina? (scratchers — quail, grouse, etc.), two.
ColumbaB (doves), one.
Raptores (birds of prey), one.
Passeres (perchers proper — sparrows, thrushes, etc.), eleven.
Total, eighteen species.
76 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
PRELIMINARY NOTES ON TERATOLOGICAL FORMS OF TRIL-
LIUM GRANDIFLORUM (MX.) SALISB.
BY CHARLES A. DAVIS, ALMA.
(Read before the Academy, Dec. 27, 1S95.)
[Abstract.]
Teratological forms of this plant are very common in Michigan, al-
though references to them in literature are mainly confined to short notes
in various botanical journals. The most common change found is -a
striping of green in the otherwise white petals. This is usually accom-
panied by elongation of the petioles of the leaves, the peduncle of the
flower, and a lessening of the amount of pollen in the anthers, and al-
most universally by a more or less complete atrophy of the pistil, which
commonly contains no ovules, even where there is a very slight green
line in the petals. Doubling of the parts, reversion of the stamens and
pistils to green leaves, suppression of the foliage leaves, elongation of
the petioles and peduncle so that they arise from the rootstock, occur-
rence of whorls of two or four leaves in all the parts of the plants, change
of color in the sepals so that a double white flower was produced, change
of color in the white petals to green, conversion of ovules to green leaf-
like bodies, were noted. No definite conclusion as to the probable
cause of these changes has been reached.
Abstract of a more complete paper bv the author is to be found in
proceedings of the A. A. A. S., Vol. XLVI, p. 271, 1897.
A NEW SCIENCE,— THAT OF SANITATION.
BY HENRY B. BAKER.
(Presented to the Michigan Academy of Science, Dec. 27, 1S93. )
This paper does not relate to any of the prominent sciences which go
to make up sanitary science, such branches of knowledge, for instance,
as bacteriology, and the germ theory of disease, now well established.
It is limited to a branch not heretofore accepted as a science, but only
as an art, the art of sanitation. In recent years what was formerly called
hygiene, authors have called sanitary science. Some have adhered to
the old term, — hygiene, but have claimed that it has come to be a
science, including several branches, bacteriology, climatology, etc.
A quarter of a century ago hygiene was defined as ''The art of preserv-
ing health."* Not long ago, in the opening lecture of the course on
military hygiene, in the U. S. Army Medical School in Washington, D.
C. Dr. Smart has said: "Hygiene is the science of health. It was called
by Prof. Parkes the art of preserving health; but since he wrote the
introduction to his classical work, hygiene has been developed, by study
*First sentence of the introduction to "A Manual of Practical Hygiene,-' etc., by Edmund A
Parkes.
BAKER ON A NEW SCIENCE— THAT OF SANITATION. 77
and observation, into a science; and its art, or the practical applica-
tion of its laws, has received the name of sanitation."* Herbert Spencer
has maintained that generally the arts have preceded the evolution of
the sciences upon which those arts were afterwards securely based.
This instance, mentioned by Dr. Smart, may, I think, be extended one
step further; because, as I shall endeavor to show, what he has called the
art of sanitation has now been developed "by study and observation, into
a science" — the Science of Sanitation. A science is knowledge which has
become accurate, and systematically organized or arranged so as to
supply general rules or laws.
For the past twenty-five years a movement has been in progress in
Michigan which, during the past few years, has been crystallizing into
a Science of Sanitation. Sanitary arts have been practiced, and their
results have been observed and recorded, these records have gradually
become more accurate, they have been systematically arranged, so as
to evolve general statements or rules which year by year have been
found to be approximately uniform, until today it is possible by means
of this science to predict, with reasonable accuracy, what will be the
result of action or of non-action according to the arts of sanitation
which have been adopted in this State. When knowledge has been so
collected, recorded, and arranged, as to serve the purposes of prophecy,
it is worthy of being styled a science. Let me now introduce the evi-
dence that this has been done:
Here are a number of diagrams, constructed accurately, representing,
according to fixed scales, the results of isolation and disinfection, and the
results of neglect of these two measures, in two diseases. A study of
these diagrams proves that, in two diseases (scarlet fever and diphtheria)
there occur about five times as many cases and deaths in those localities
where isolation and disinfection are not enforced as in those localities
in which these measures are enforced. The points to which I wish
here to ask attention are: (1) that — in a series of areas of about the
same extent, such as the townships, villages and small cities in Michi-
gan (the large cities being excluded), given the introduction- of a case of
diphtheria or of scarlet fever, if nothing is done to restrict it the disease
tends to spread until, on the average, there have been about thirteen
cases, and two or three deaths. This is one general rule or statement
of fact. (2) Another general rule or statement of fact is that in a simi-
lar series of areas, given the introduction of a case of diphtheria or
scarlet fever, if isolation and disinfection are enforced not thirteen cases
and two or three deaths, but only about one-fifth of those numbers occur.
A comparison of these two general facts, leads to a third general state-
ment,— that about four-fifths of the cases and deaths from scarlet fever
and diphtheria are prevented by isolation of first cases together with
such disinfection as has been practiced in Michigan under the direction
of the State Board of Health.
*The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 21, 1S95, p. 1070.
78
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Scarlet Fever in cMiehigan in /X<?0:- £xhi biting the aver-
age numbers of casesjand deaths ^er outbreak:- in all out-
breaks in which Ssolation and Disinfection,^ u/.er>e hottv
%/Ceglected -, and in all outbreaks inu/kich hotk are re
Enforced. ( Compiled in the office of the Secretary of ike
State Board of Health, front reports made by local healtk officers.)
isolation and Disinfection,
(fnfo reed.
2-4' isolation and Disinfection
Si,
/2,
//-
o/feglected
^Jl ire rage
.8 §[ Cases
/Z./o
i
Deaths.
o4 uer aa e .
Cases
Heaths.
+&-
^~
f-
II II i
3-
+
■ IL
life
+y+
1
4
Vt
IP!!' '
1
Mm.
0
0.3Z
mm
'»i|i|!""i|i"||"'i
11
CO z
■ ■ T - 1 1-1111 I1H I II
Plate 532.
BAKER ON A NEW SCIENCE,— THAT OF SANITATION.
79
^Scarlet Fever in Michigan in IVQ/i-Sxhibiting thedjv-
erage rvurnhers of cases and deaths joev outbreak:- in all
outbreaks in which isolation and Disinfection were both JfegleeU
ed; and in all outbreaks in which both were SnforcecL.
(Compiled in the office of the Secretary of the ot ate Board
of Mea.lt h9 front reports made by loeal health officers-)
^ *
Y2r
H~
isolation and J) is infer. Hon,
Jf e ql ect e d .
Ji y e v a g e, .
Cases.
Illlllll|l|i|iillii|l!llllii|l
Deaths.
^Average .
isolation and Disinfection,
£ rtfo r c e a .
Cases.
JDeaths.
'mi,^,,,,,,, .Lilj,
%t%.of
IjHiriJiiiiiiBffl
■&■
I UiM
mm
' yj II
i-
liii
flit
,il
.
4-
"jl
Hi
ill 1 I Li
IllilUlllIli
Q.4-7
^.
0.02L
Plate 547.
80
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ISOLATION AND DISINFECTION RESTRICTED DIPHTHERIA IN 1890.
Diphtheria in J&iehigan in l8?0:-(?xhi biting the average
numbers of eases and deaths fjer outbreak:- in all out-
breaks in which isolation and Disinfection were JbotA,
%/fcglected'j and in all ouihreafts in which both u/ere (fn-
"orced* (Comfoiled in the off iee of the Secretary of l^e State
toard of ]HeaUh,frorn re jo or is m ade hu local health officers. )
§ ^Ssolatio n and Bis infection,
§£
^a I Jl i/erage
5 fc| Cases.
<Jfeglectec£ .
Ssolation and Disinfection
Average •
Plate 530.
BAKER ON A NEW SCIENCE,— THAT OF SANITATION.
81
Diphtheria, in Michigan inlX9/:-£*hibitingtheJver-
age numbers of cases and deaths fer. outbreak:- in all
outbreaks in uihich isolation, and pisinjection. were
both Jfeglected; and in all outbreaks in winch both were £n-
forced.( Compiled, in the office of the Secretary of the State Jtoard
gf/fealth,jrom reports made by local health officers. J
rtii
isolation and Disinfection
Jfe gle c t e cL ,
Jl v e r a g e .
Ssolation and Disinfection
£ 77 jo reed.
Average.
Plate 53?
11
82
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ISOLATION AND DISINFECTION RESTRICTED
SCARLET FEVER AND DIPHTHERIA IN MICHI-
GAN DURING THE 5 YEARS 1886-90.
SCARLET FEVER.
SOLATION AND DISINFECTION
NEGLECTED.
U
366 OUTBREAKS,
AVERAGE
ENFORCED. IN
361 OUTBREAKS,
AVERAGE
CASES.DEATHS.
T0TAL8i0UTBII£AK8,lfIS'7*;CASES,JI.3l2:DEATHS.S3l
HOICATED SAVIIC OF CASES 13.23 X i.857 • ITJI2 : 13,366
INDICATED SAVIRC OF LIVES .S3 X 1.857 - 531 a S30
mrta** vtt*
tiamitm Vlyiumf * *r ~£n/»r*if
DIPHTHERIA.
ISOLATION AND DISINFECTION
NEGLECTED,
UN
317 OUTBREAKS,
AVERACE
ENFORCED, IN
252 OUTBREAKS,
AVERAGE
TOTALS, OUTB REAKS. 1.9 85. CASES. 11,63 «|UEATHS, IS 73
INDICATED SAVING OF CASES 13.57 X 1.385 • II, t J 4:15.302
INDICATED SAVING OF LIVES 267 X 1,38$ -2,3 73:2.722
Plate No. 51t*.
BAKER ON A NEW SCIENCE,— THAT OF SANITATION. 83
Incidentally, too, a comparison of these two general facts leads to
another important fact, namely, that at least four-fifths of the cases of
the scarlet fever and diphtheria experienced in Michigan must have been
spread directly or indirectly from previous cases. Otherwise they
would not be prevented by isolation and disinfection.
Please notice that the results in one year are not very widely different
from the results in other years, so that a prophecy relative to the year
1891, for instance, from the experience in preceding years, would have
approached the actual experience in 1891.
1 think I have now demonstrated that the art of sanitation has now
been put upon a scientific basis, that the' results are capable of numeri-
cal expression, in fact that there is a Science of Sanitation.
SECOND ANNUAL FIELD MEETING, JUNE 1896.
The second annual field meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science
was held at the Michigan Agricultural College, Ingham county, June
13, 1896.
Sixteen members of the Academy were present, together with a num-
ber who were not members. Most of the day was spent in roaming
about the college grounds, visiting the general museum, the zoological
and botanical laboratories, the botanic garden, etc., and enjoying a ride
over the college farm and through the deep woods.
Some of the members collected shells along the Cedar river, others
gathered plants and insects, and all enjoyed the meeting thoroughly. A
substantial dinner was served in Abbott Hall, and the business meet-
ing was held there also.
The business meeting was called to order at 1:30 p. m. by President
W. H. Sherzer, twelve members present. Formal permission was given
for the organization of a Section of Agriculture, in accordance with the
request and notice filed at the last regular meeting.
Permission was also given for the formation of a Subsection of
Conchology.
The secretary, on written request of Professor Reighard, brought up
the matter of subscription to the Huxley Memorial, which was referred
to the Council, with power.
After a brief intermission, the Academy was again called to order and
informed of the organization of the Section of Agriculture, with Prof.
Clinton D. Smith as vice president, and A. A. Crozier, secretary. This
organization was approved by the Academy. The report of the Council
was read, recommending for resident members the following thirteen
candidates who were duly elected:
Luther H. Baker, Lansing; Cheshire L. Boone, Ypsilanti; Leon J. Cole,
Grand Rapids; Miss Hester T. Fuller, Greenville; Dr. E. A. A. Grange,
Lansing; Thomas L. Hankinson, Agricultural College; Henry S. Hul-
bert, Detroit; Willard E. Mulliken, Grand Rapids; E. D wight Sander-
son, Lansing; C. F. Schneider, Lansing; Miss Anna A. Schryver, Ann
Arbor; Percy S. Selous, Greenville; Prof. Philip B. Woodworth, Agri-
cultural College.
In the absence of Professor Barr, and in view of the small number
of members present, it was deemed best not to take action on the pro-
posed amendment to the constitution, notice of which was given by
Professor Barr at the last meeting.
SECOND ANNUAL FIELD MEETING, JUNE, 1896. 85
COUNCIL MEETING.
At a meeting of the Council of the Michigan Academy of Science, held
at Jackson, February 6, 1897, the following resolutions were adopted:
Resolved, That it is the function of the Michigan Academy of Science,
1. To afford opportunities for representatives of the various sciences
in the different parts of the State to meet one another socially, to dis-
cuss plans for the advancement of the interests of their sciences, and to
secure the co-operation of all scientific workers and local associations
in the State.
2. To promote in every possible way, as a representative scientific
body, any project for the furtherance of the interests of science within
the State.
3. To s%cure, at as early a date as possible, the initiation of biologi-
cal and other scientific surveys of this State, and to encourage individual
and associated effort toward the same end.
4. To stimulate the discussion of the aims and methods of science
teaching, with the purpose of unifying and improving the practice of
teachers of science in the schools and colleges of the State.
THIRD ANNUAL MEETING.
ANN ARBOR, MARCH 31, APRIL 1 AND 27 1897.
The meeting was called to order at 2:45 p. m., President Sherzer in
the chair; about forty persons present. The minutes of the lgst regular
meeting were read, amended, and approved. The minutes of the last
field meeting (June 13, 1896) .were also read and approved.
The report of the treasurer, Chas. E. Barr, was read, accepted and re-
ferred to an auditing committee, which reported later that the accounts
were correct.
Twenty new members were elected, as follows:
(Miss) Alice Brown, Ann Arbor; Flemming Carrow, M. D., Ann Arbor;
H. H. Chase, Linden; Paul A. Cowgill, Cassopolis; Charles J. Davis,
Lansing; Delos Fall, M. D., Albion; Mary E. Greene, M. D., Charlotte;
Thomas Gunson, Agricultural College; E. M. Houghton, M. D., Detroit;
Burton O. Long-year, Agricultural College; Charles E. Marshall, Ph. B.,
Agricultural College; J. G. McClymonds, M. D., Ann Arbor; Jason E.
Nichols. Lansing; G. D. Perkins, M. D., St. Paul, Minn, (corresponding);
Rufus H. Pettit, Agricultural College; Albert B. Prescott, Ph. D., Ann
Arbor; (Miss) Harriett Putnam, Saginaw; Herbert E. Sargent, Detroit;
P. D. Smith, Greenville; Louis H. Strong, Grand Rapids.
Prof. Jacob Reighard, from the committee appointed by the Council
to formulate a by-law relative to the organization of sub-sections, re-
ported as follows:
"No plan which is adapted to all sub-sections seems feasible. We
recommend that the organization of subsections be left to the members
of the section concerned, and that the chairman of each sub-section
shall indicate annually what progress is being made." Report accepted
and adopted.
The secretary was authorized to make such verbal changes in the
constitution and by-laws of the Academy as are necessitated by the
change in time of holding the annual meeting.
The following resolution, submitted by Bryant Walker, was adopted
and the secretary was instructed to send a certified copy to the post-
master general at Washington:
"Whereas, The free interchange of scientific material is of great public
utility as aiding in scientific research, and, whereas the rates of postage
as now fixed by the Universal Postal Union are excessive and practically
prohibit the use of the mails for scientific exchanges,
THIRD ANNUAL MEETING. 87
"Resolved, That the Postmaster General of the United States be re-
quested by this Academy to instruct the delegate of the U. S. govern-
ment to the International Postal Congress, about to meet in Washington,
to vote in favor of the proposed amendment to Article XIX of the Regu-
lations of the Universal Postal Union, which shall permit specimens of
natural history to be sent through the mails at the same rate of postage
as samples of merchandise, and that packages be allowed according to the
English Parcel Post."
The amendment to the constitution proposed by Prof. Barr at the
second annual meeting was adopted. In accordance with this resolu-
tion Article IX of the constitution is changed to read: "This constitu-
tion may be amended at any annual meeting by a three-fourths vote of all
the resident members present," and Chapter IX of the by-laws is changed
to read "these by-laws may be amended by a majority vote of the mem-
bers present at any regular meeting."
The secretary read brief necrological notices of the Honorable Bela
Hubbard, Mr. Willard S. Pope, and Mr. Lorenzo X. Johnson, resident
members deceased since the last annual meeting of the Academy.
The following resolutions were adopted:
Resolved, That hereafter it be the duty of the vice president of each
section to present at the annual meeting some paper on the work of the
section.
Resolved, That the Academy endorse Senate bill Xo. 121, and that the
secretary transmit a copy of this resolution to the chairman of the
committee in whose hands the bill now is.
Resolved, That the Academy formally meet in Detroit at the time of
the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci-
ence, and, after transacting anjr business which may be desirable, ad-
journ to attend the meetings of that association.
Resolved, That we tender our sincere thanks to the regents and faculty
and committee of arrangements of the University of Michigan, who
have done so much to make this meeting pleasant and profitable.
In the zoological section, vice president Reighard appointed a com-
mittee consisting of W. B. Barrows, D. C. Worcester and L. Whitney Wat-
kins to look up the subject of bird legislation, and to the same committee
was subsequently referred the question of obtaining information about
the birds of the state from persons holding licenses to shoot for scientific
purposes.
The election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as follows:
President — Volney M. Spalding. Ph. D., Ann Arbor.
Vice Presidents — Sanitary Science, Frederick G. Xovy, M. D., Ann
Arbor. Zoology, Jacob Reighard, Ph. B., Ann Arbor. Botany, C. F.
Wheeler, B. S., Agricultural College. Agriculture, Clinton D. Smith,
M. S., Agricultural College.
Treasurer — Prof. W. H. Munson, Hillsdale.
Secretary — Walter B. Barrows, S. B., Agricultural College.
On the last day of the meeting, Friday, April 2, at 9:45 a. m., the
Academy listened to the address of the retiring president. Prof. W. H.
Sherzer, and at its conclusion took up the joint program of the Academy
and the Michigan Schoolmasters' Club, the subject being a biological
conference or symposium, entitled, Biologieal Teaching in the Second
88 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ary Schools — What Should be Taught? How Much and How? The pro-
gram was completed at 4 p. m. and the Academy adjourned.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MICHIGAN
ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, MARCH 31, APRIL 1 AND 2, 1897.
1. Black Plague. Victor C. Vaughan, M. D., Ann Arbor. Published in Apple-
ton's Popular Science Monthly, May, 1897.
2. Notes and Observations regarding the Habits and Characteristics of the
Massasauga, Sistrurus oatenatus, during captivity. Percy ,S. Selous, Greenville.
Published in Bull, de la Soc. Zool. de France, XXII, pp. 157-1G1 (1897). Reprinted
in full in present report.
3. Newton's Third Law as a Factor in Organic Evolution. Manly Miles. M. D.,
Lansing. Printed in full in present report.
4. An Ascent of Mt. Ranier. Illustrated Lecture by Professor Israel C. Russell.
5. Comments on the Nature of the work suited to a Botanical Club of an Agri-
cultural College. Wm. J. Beal, Ph. D., Aerriouluiral College. Printed in pres-
ent report under the title "Suitable Topics for Discussion by Young Members of a
Botanical Club."
6. The Mechanism of Root Curvature. James B. Pollock, Ann Arbor.
7. Remarks concerning the Saprophytic Fungi grown in the Vicinity of the
Agricultural College. B. O. Longyear, Agricultural College. Published in pan
in Report State Board of Agriculture for 1897, p. 48. Reprinted in this report.
8. The Russian Thistle and Tumbling Mustard in Michigan. C. F. Wheeler,
Agricultural College. Mostly included in the paper entitled "Additions to the
Flora of Michigan." Rep. State Board of Agr. for 1898, pp. 82-91.
9. Early Stages in the Development of the Pollen in Asclepias corrmti. Fanny
E. Langdon, Ann Arbor.
10. A Remarkable Forest in Michigan, not Hitherto Known. S. Alexander,
Birmingham. Abstract printed in this report.
11. Some Alpena County Plants Observed in 1896. C. F. Wheeler. Unpublished.
12. Notes on Michigan Mollusca. Bryant Walker, Detroit. Not published.
13. The Shells of the Quaternary Deposits in Huron County. Alfred C. Lane.
Houghton, and Bryant Walker, Detroit. To be published in forthcoming report of
the Geol. Survey of Michigan.
14. Demonstration of an Apparatus for Mechanically Passing Objects through
Fluids of Different Densities. D. C. Worcester, Ann Arbor.
15. The Structure of the Olfactory Lobe of the Sturgeon. J. B. Johnston, Ann
Arbor. Published in Zoological Bulletin (Ginn & Co'.) Vol. 1, No. 5 (1898), pp. 221
241. Abstract or summary printed in this report.
16. The Peripheral Nervous System of Nereis virens. Fanny E. Langdon, Ann
Arbor.
17. On the Fertilization of the Eggs of Undo complan-ata. F. R. Lillie, Ann Ar-
bor. Abstract in "Science," March 5, 1897, new series, Vol. V, pp. 389-390.
18. Poisonous Germs found in Drinking Water. J. McClymonds, M. D, ^ nn
Arlor. Abstract printed in this report.
19. Poisonous Germs found in Foods. Miss A. Brown, Ann Arbor.
20. Distinctions between the Typhoid and Colon Bacilli. G. D. Perkins. M. D.,
St. Paul, Minn. ,
21. Antitoxins. E. M. Houghton, M. D., Detroit.
22. Results from the use of Antitoxin. Frederick G. Novy. M. D., Ann Arbor.
23. Some Vital Statistics of Michigan. Cressy L. Wilbur. M. D., Lansing.
Printed in full in this report.
24. Observations on toe Methods of I'istribution of the Seeds of some Michigan
Trees. Dr. W. J. Beal, Agricultural College. Published under the title "Seed Dis-
persal," by Ginn &Co., Boston, 1898.
25. The Geographical Distribution of Life in Michigan. Walter B. Barrows,
Agricultural College. Unpublished.
26. The Relation of the Academy to the Elementary Schools. Address of the
retiring president. Professor W. H. Scherzer, Ypsilanti. Not published.
27. Notes on the Flora of Huron County. Chas. A. Davis, Alma. To be pub-
lished in forthcoming bulletin of Geol. Survey of Michigan.
28. The Evening Grosbeak in Central Michigan. Chas. A. Davis. Printed in
this report.
SELOUS ON HABITS OF THE MASSASAUGA. 89
29. Public Health Service in Michigan. Henry B. Baker, M. D. (Read by title.)
Biological Conference; joint program of the Academy of Science, and Michigan
Schoolmasters' Club.
Subject: Biological Teaching in the Secondary Schools— What Should be
Taught, How Much, and How?
30. Botany. Paper by Professor C. A. Davis, of Alma.
31. Paper by Miss F. M. Lyon, Chicago.
Discussion opened by Professor V. M. Spaulding of the University.
32. Zoology: Paper by Professor W. H. Munson of Hillsdale.
Discussion opened by Professor W. B. Barrows, of the Agricultural College.
33. Physiology: Paper by Miss Alice Lyon of Detroit.
Discussion opened by Professor W. P. Lombard, of the University.
34. Hygiene and Sanitary Science: Paper by Professor Delos Fall, of Albion.
Discussion opened by Professor Victor C. Vaughan. of the University.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS REGARDING THE HABITS AND
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MASSASAUGA OR GROUND
RATTLESNAKE. SISTRURUS CATENA TUS, DUR
ING CAPTIVITY.
BY PERCY S. SELOUS, GREENVILLE.
(Read before the Academy, March 31, 1S97. Reprinted from Bull, de la Societe de
France, vol. xxii. pp. 157-161, 1897.)
Having kept these snakes now for several years — in fact I may say
that they have been a hobby with me — I have had considerable op-
portunity of studying them and their ways. Harmless snakes I had
often made pets of both here and in Europe, but without much regard
to scientific data; and my first massasauga soon showed me that the
habits of the one, were very different from those of the other. The first
thing I found out was that cold blooded food in any shape would not
be taken and although I have tried a great variety and under all sorts
of conditions, I have never yet been able to get a massasauga to touch
other than warm blooded prey. I have tried frogs, toads, various
snakes, grasshoppers, etc., without avail and although I believe that
the massasauga will take living birds, I have never yet succeeded in
making them devour anything but mice.
Then again, the mode of seizing is so different. It matters little to a
striped snake where it catches a frog; fore or aft it goes down, and there
and then and alive. The massasauga on the contrary, if it be hungry,
strikes with lightning rapidity, inoculates its victim and as speedily with-
draws, at least in the great majority of cases. Once I saw one hold on for
a few seconds. In any case the prey is left and after scampering around
the cage gradually weakens, totters and succumbs. I have seen my
snakes do this scores of times and I can safely state that thirty seconds
is a fair average of life for the mouse, after being bitten. The snake
seems to have a good idea of how long the mouse will live, which is an
advantage if it can keep it in sight, but this it rarely does. As a rule
the mouse kicks itself down between the turf sod and the back or front
of the cage, tumbles into the water tank or crawls into some crevice.
The snake, however, will ferret it out. Sometimes it reconnoiters a bit,
but rarely fails to locate the dead mouse. Now it is often necessary to
* 12
X
90 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
seize it by the tail or other part than the head, for it is always dragged
out again before being absorbed. In case it has not been first seized
by the nose it is again released and seized by the nose and I have never
yet seen a massasauga swallow a mouse in any other way than by com-
mencing at the nose.
The massasauga according to my observations, must kill its own
prey. I have tried mice killed by the cat, often; not a bit of use. I
once took a living but injured mouse from the cat and presented it.
The snake noticed it, transiently only, and the mouse speedily dying
was ignored. Yet a living one introduced directly after was speedily
accounted for. I have not noticed any of my rattlers take more than
two mice consecutively. As a contrast to this, a striped snake in an
adjoining cage, no bulkier than my largest massasauga, though longer,
took eight half grown frogs one after the other as fast as it could
swallow them, and from its attitude was ready for. more. The frogs
were Rana pipiens. What was very interesting to me was the way
the Sistrurus drinks. As often as not, after absorbing a mouse, the
snake goes to the little water tank and lowering its head until within
a half inch of the water, commences to lap, exactly after the manner
of a cat. The tongue is protruded and drawn back at regular, rather
slow intervals, three or four seconds between each lap. I have known
them to keep lapping for a couple of minutes in this leisurely way; it is
also interesting to see the jaws stretched wide apart two or three times,
with a kind of yawning movement and giving a good view of the internal
structure of the palate and adjacent parts; also the erected fangs. (The
fangs are always erect when the mouth is open.)
On August 7th, last year, six young were born to a pair of my rattle-
snakes and a few. days after six more to another pair. These little
fellows had all shed their skins within a week of their birth and at the
time I put them down in the cellar to hybernate, had about doubled
in size. So far as 1 have been able to determine, the massasauga, when
not a baby of the year, sheds its skin twice annually; in May and in July.
The change appears to be pretty regular. The dates of one of mine in a
separate cage are July 28, 1895; May 23, 1896 and July 29, 1896. I shall
keep this individual one's time this season.
With regard to the rattles, I have give up trying to find anything
further. The one I have had longest, had six pairs when I first took it;
it got another pair the same year and has remained in statu quo ever
since so far as tail goes, although it has grown prodigiously otherwise.
One thing is rather mysterious to me, I allude to the manner in which
the young subsist and grow so rapidly. Mine certainly have not had
any nourishment. The mice are always swallowed by the parents. Of
this I am positive, and furthermore if they are not, I remove them, for
I never allow a mouse to remain in the box unswallowed, dead or alive.
I see them absorbed or I take them out. I have seen the voung of H.
platyrhinus and S. natrix take refuge in the parent's throat. I wonder
if this is only done in case of alarm, or whether there may be something
in the theory I have, that they may derive nourishment from the old
ones in this manner. I tried my best to induce these young snakes to
exhibit this trait to me, but without success. I hope to be able to secure
an instantaneous photograph.
SELOUS ON HABITS OF THE MASSASAUGA. 91
Whilst on the subject of surmise, one other matter occurs to me.
Last summer several massasaugas were killed in Greenville, and closelv
and naturally perhaps, it was hinted that I had been careless and allowed
one to escape, for such a thing had not been known for a long time.
But mine were all safe. We all know that snakes and rattle-snakes
too, will congregate to den up and that they come long distances and
hybernate year after year in the same spot. There is another
instinct as firmly instilled as that of migration; that which en-
ables the male to locate the female and at long distances. May
this not be the solution of the massasauga being found right in
the center of civilization? If a dog or a moth be thus attracted, why
not a rattle snake? Unfortunately I had no opportunity of examining
the specimens killed, all I could see was the rattles. If they had proved
to be males, my theory would have been, in my opinion, considerably
strengthened.
In disposition, I have found the massasauga particularly docile. For
a dog they appear to have a special antipathy. One of these has only
to sniff around the cages to set the whole colony rattling. Their sense
of smell appears to be particularly acute and they will detect a dog
at the back of the cage directly. For a cat they do not seem to enter-
tain the same dislike.
On the approach of a thunder storm they always become restless and
noisy and are excellent barometers in this respect. I have stated before
that about half a minute is the limit of a mouse's life after it is bitten.
A sheep died in twenty-five minutes and beyond this I have not had any
personal experience with regard to the power of the venom. But this
was not a captive snake and as the sheep trod on it, it was naturally
enraged and without doubt the blow would be given with all the more
vehemence and a more copious supply of virus injected.
Last summer I had rather an uncomfortable thing happen. I was
skinning a massasauga and wishing to preserve head and fangs, so that
I could set it up open mouthed and being also chary of coming in con-
Tact with the teeth, for it had been killed fighting and I knew the fangs
would have more or less venom on them, I tied a piece of thread around
the head to keep it from me and attached it to a nail whitst I pulled
gently at the skin. The thread, however, broke and down came the
head on my hand inflicting a slight puncture. ' I did not relish this at all,
but set immediately to sucking the place, and for a quarter of an hour
or twenty minutes, I do not think I desisted. I never felt the least in-
convenience from it, but I shall be more careful in future.
I shall probably be set down as exceedingly foolhardy, but I have
several times held a mouse by the tail with 1113- naked hand and allowed
my tamest snake to strike it. I do not know that I would do this with
them all.
Addendum: (November, 1S98.)
As before stated my rattlesnakes had fed on mice only, now they
take birds with avidity. Some time since, I put a sparrow into the cage
containing two of my largest massasaugas. Both struck at it the same
instant. I would say here that when a snake strikes a mouse it releases
it at once; when it strikes a bird it holds on till it is dead, the reason for
which is not hard to see. One struck the bird, the other the other snake.
92 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
at the back of the head, and I had some difficulty in getting them apart.
The head and neck of the bitten serpent rapidly became swollen, but
after a time it subsided, and it seemed little the worse for it. More
than once I have seen my snakes throw up pellets of fur and feathers
similar somewhat to those ejected by the Raptores.
On July 22, 1807, I was bitten by one of my rattlers. I had long been
in the habit of handling several with impunity, but on the evening
named, I was routing for one in its blanket to show to some friends, and
presumably irritated it, for it struck me on the forefinger. I immed-
iately opened the wound with my knife and sucked vigorously for some
minutes, until I thought I must have practically'extracted all the venom.
I would say here, that what I extracted I swallowed, for I know I didn't
spit much. I haven't the least fear of the venom taken internally, so
long as there is no abrasion of the lips or mouth parts. I then filled
the wound with permanganate of potash, rinsed it out and repeated the
operation. This was all I did, and I. took no whisky. All the same, I
soon began to feel the effects of the poison and was compelled to see a
doctor. Strychnine pills at last overcame its potency, but I was just
as sick as I want to be, and would not go through a similar experience
for a good deal.*
With regard to the snake that was bitten, it could not cast its skin
when the time came, and it died. Since then I had an almost exactly
similar accident occur, but this time I sucked the wound of the bitten
snake and served it the same way as I did my own finger, very much to
its disgust, apparently. When the time came for it to shed its skin
it had no difficulty in doing so, and did well after.
NEWTON'S THIRD LAW OF MOTION A FACTOR IN ORGANIC
EVOLUTION.
BY MANLY MTLES, LANSING, MICH.
(Read before the Academy, March 31, 1S97.)
One of the most striking results of progress in the several departments
of science is the constantly increasing evidence that they have a common
basis in a few fundamental laws of universal application.
Newton's laws of motion and the principle of the conservation of
energy appear to be as significant factors in biological activities and
processes as they are in the domain of physics.
What Grove termed the "affections of matter" (heat, light, etc.) are
resolved by physicists into modes of motion, and physiologists are
obliged to consider vital activities in their ultimate analysis from the
same standpoint so that matter might be defined as the medium for
the transformations of energy in organic as well as in inorganic pro-
cesses.
*[While these pages were passing through the press, on April 6. 1900, Mr. Selous was
bitten on the hand by one of his snakes, a water moccasin, Agkistrodon piscivorus,
from Florida, and in spite of the immediate care of several physicians he died from
the effects of the bite after about fifty hours of intense suffering. Ed.]
MILES ON NEWTON'S THIRD LAW. 93
The most satisfactory definitions of "life" and "living matter" are
alike in making- continuous molecular changes in response to external
impressions the essential characteristic.
Tseviranus at the beginning of the century defined life as "consisting
in the reaction of the organism to external influences," and fifty years
later, after an extended discussion of the subject, Herbert Spencer tells
us that "the broadest and most complete definition of life will be the
continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations," which
is in effect a restatement of the definition of Tseviranus.
Foster, still later, from the standpoint of the physiologist, defines lift-
ing matter as "not a thing or body of a particular chemical composition,
but matter undergoing a series of changes" which he likens to a "com-
plex whirl" or an "intricate dance" in which chemical composition and
histological structure are the figures, and he compares the whole body
of. man to a fountain of water. "As the fountain remains the same,
though fresh water is continually rising and falling, so the body seems
the same, though fresh food is always replacing the old man, which in
turn is always falling back to dust, and the conception we are now urg-
ing is one which carries an analogous idea into the study of all the
molecular phenomena of the body."
From these definitions of life we may look upon biological processes
and activities as modes of motion involving transformations of energy
in accordance with Newton's third law which must then be accepted
as an important factor in organic evolution.
As formulated by Newton, this law appears to be alike applicable to
organic and inorganic processes. "To every action there is always an
equal and contrary reaction; or the mutual actions of any two bodies are
always equal and oppositely directed."
The struggle for existence implies the sum of the actions and reactions
of competing species with one another and with their environment, and
the fittest to survive are those that most readily conform in habits and
requirements to the constantly changing conditions so that an equilib-
rium in the conflicting forces with which they have to deal may be main-
tained.
The surviving individuals and species must then be endowed with
a plasticity or elasticity of organization that enables them to adapt their
functional activities to varying conditions of the environment.
It follows from this that the first step in the development of a new
species must be a physiological or functional adjustment of the organs of
certain individuals to changes in the environment, and when these func-
tional adaptations are well established by frequent repetition morphologi-
cal or structural peculiarities may be developed that are recognized as
specific characters, but which are in fact manifestations of the functional
adaptions that have preceded them.
These preliminary steps in the development of a new species can only
be observed in living organisms, and in our laboratory methods of study-
ing dead organisms we niay fail to distinguish species that are clearly
distinct in habits, functional activities and powers of adaption from their
resemblance in external or morphological characters.
In the geographic distribution of species there must be a balance of
organisms in conformity with the mutual needs of competing species
94 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
under the prescribed conditions, as is strikingly illustrated in the re-
sults of the introduction of the mongoose in the island of Jamaica. (V.
Science, Vol. 5, p. 15, Jan. 1, 1897.)
With the decline and final disappearance of the discomfited species
in the struggle for existence from their inability to adapt themselves to
the changed conditions they have aided to bring about, there must be
an equivalent readjustment of the habits and essential requirements
of the fittest to survive to establish harmonious relations with their
fellows and the resulting changes in their environment.
The reaction of less favored species to the sum of the influences of
their environment and their ultimate decline and disappearance should
not be overlooked in the evolution of new species, as the plasticity of
organization and powers of adaptation to changing conditions are inten-
sified in the survivors by their exercise, and every element of change
tends to a further divergence in functional activities.
From the point of view here outlined the importance of systematic
local biological surveys for the solution of problems in evolution can-
not be too emphatically urged. The field naturalist should not, how-
ever, limit his observations to the identification and geographical range
of species. The conditions of environment that have an influence on the
distribution and grouping of species should also be carefully noted, and
the data obtained by systematic observations in the several depart-
ments of botany and zoology must then be correlated to obtain con-
sistent views of the fundamental laws of nature in organic evolution.
The field is so broad that a subdivision of labor in special lines of
research will be required, but a common purpose should be kept in
view with a full recognition of the interdependence of relations in the
facts observed in the several lines of investigation.
Lansing, March 22, 1S!)7.
SUITABLE TOriCS FOR DISCUSSION BY YOUNG MEMBERS OF A
BOTANICAL CLUB.
BY W. J. BEAL, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
(Read before the Academy. Arril 1. 1S97.)
In some respects the botany taught in our Agricultural College should
be unlike that introduced into a portion of the courses in a university.
For example, the young person bent on agriculture or horticulture in any
of their departments would not need to spend time in the study of mosses,
liverworts, lichens, or algae, or many of the saprophytic fungi. On the
contrary, he does need to learn the names and many of the peculiarities of
our native and introduced trees and shrubs, the same of the leading
grasses, clovers and other forage crops; he needs a familiarity with our
weeds, including the seeds of cereals and other field crops, our parasitic
fungi, especially those injurious to cultivated crops and weeds of all
kinds, and some knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the higher
plants. In a word, he seems to have a greater need of the old fashioned
BEAL ON TOPICS FOR A BOTANICAL CLUB. 95
systematic botany than is generally expected in these times in the courses
of a university.
Especially should the agricultural student from the start take much
pains to become a close and accurate observer of plants in the field,
orchard, and garden, in fact anywhere found.
For such a course the electives need not be numerous.
For many years past at the State Agricultural College there has been
a Natural History Society with meetings once a month at which the obser-
vations reported referred mainly to agriculture, horticulture, botany,
zoology, and entomology.
A little over six years ago, a Botanical Club was established with meet-
ings in the botanical laboratory three or four times a month. The
attendance averages from ten to fifteen, with a membership of about
twenty-five.
During these six years of its existence, there have been presented two
hundred and nineteen topics. Most of the members are mentally young.
I have here a list of seventy-five or more of these topics which seem to
be models of their kind for such members to consider. As one of the
objects of the State Academy of Science is to encourage young people —
or older ones either — to pursue some lines of investigation appropriate
to oar aims, I thoughl this list of topics would be interesting to such
young workers or members of a young Natural History Society. It may
be needless to say that in nearly every instance the paper or talk gave
the results of personal observation.
A comparison of the fruits of our three elms.
The Flora of Michigan, some notes on.
Beech drops.
The odor of plants.
The box elder.
Proper work of a botanical club.
Thistles of the neighborhood.
A study of the leaves of Arbor vitae.
Comparison of the buds of several oaks.
The fruit of the red mulberry.
Comparison of the twigs of three pines.
The roots of the red clover.
Pop corn, before and after popped.
The roots and leaves of a young wheat plant.
The report of a field day.
The flowers of Campanula.
The flowers of the common sage.
Petiolar glands.
The life history of corn smut.
Notes on how to observe.
Notes on leaf galls.
The attractions of the botanic garden.
A talk on wheat.
Remarks on native goldenrods and asters.
A comparison of beech nuts from several trees.
Large varieties of fruits of a hawthorn.
Autumn leaves.
96 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
How botany is taught at the state university.
Notes concerning Dr. Watson of Harvard, recently deceased.
Detecting the adulteration of buckwheat flour.
A talk on some of our ferns.
A talk on the origin of cultivated plants.
Some of our fresh water algre by an amateur.
A fungus growing from the neck of a larva.
The adulterations of tea.
Observations on the black knot of the plum.
The adulteration of coffee.
Fasciation in a dandelion.
Our erysiphae and their hosts illustrated.
Report of the meeting of the A. A. A. S.
Different forms of leaves on the same plant.
Carnations, structure, etc. — the models.
The ''flow'' of sap in the sugar maple.
Questions asked of the botanist of the experiment station.
Our willows — illustrated.
Some of our earliest grasses.
The structure of a puff ball.
Plans of some experiments for preventing smut in oats and barley.
How to kill quack or couch grass, — why?
Botany as seen in the German exhibit at Chicago.
Some of the curious plants grown in the greenhouse.
Four persons talked of as many different kinds of smuts.
Our native orchids.
Two kinds of wild potatoes grown in the botanic garden.
Some of the fungi grown on tomatoes.
The cross-fertilization of wheat.
The improvement of our wild fruits.
Some monstrosities among plants and their meaning.
History and development of some of our grapes.
The mode of distribution of some seeds.
Observations on Michigan pines.
The irregularity in the germination of seeds of weeds and the advantage
to these plants.
Sub-irrigation in the forcing house.
An exhibit of seedling willows.
Observations on oak galls.
A comparison of plants of wheat and chess.
An exhibit of tomatoes grafted on potatoes, both bearing crops. —
double cropping.
Experiments with smut on wheat.
Concerning the State Academy of Science which met at Ann Arbor,
June, '94.
A visit to Greenland by one of the founders of the club, Mr. Ortli.
An exhibit of fruits of our native trees and shrubs.
A plant of wild strawberry in the botanic garden had produced 1,234
plants.
The structure and use of bulliform cells in the leaves of some grasses.
The structure of root tips of wheat, and some branching hairs.
LONGYEAR ON SAPROPHYTIC FUNGI. 97
•
Squirrels dropping cones from trees and biting off limbs.
Exhibition and description of an artificial cell to show turgescence.
Report regarding the abundance of variegated corn in the field.
The life history of Monilia — plum rot.
An exhibit of chess which had germinated on ice.
An account of cutting wild rice, rafting down the river aiui curing for
hay in '95.
Report concerning a visit to the U. S. Department of Agriculture and
the M. A. C. men there employed.
The management of the woodlands of the college farm.
The structure and history of the Navel orange.
Fairy rings on our lawns (Marasmius).
A meeting in the evening at the botanic garden to observe the opening
of flowers of the evening primrose and to see insects at work on various
flowers.
The crossing of pop corn and field corn.
Life history of rust on wheat and barberry.
The seeds of weeds.
I hardly need to add that any botanical club or natural history club
will make slow progress and work to very great disadvantage unless one
or more of the members possesses already a very good knowledge of one
or more divisions of natural science. If possible, such members will be
of more aid in securing interest than a library.
REMARKS CONCERNING THE SAPROPHYTIC FUNGI GROWN IN
THE VICINITY OF THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
BY B. O. LONGYEAR, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
(Read before the Academy, April 1, 1S97, and printed in part in Rep. State Board of
Agriculture for 1S97, p. 4S.)
The study of the saprophytic fungus flora in the vicinity of the Agri-
cultural College was begun in the spring of 1896. first in a rather desul-
tory manner by collecting at random all sorts that were encountered in
the brief trips to nearby woods and fields. The specimens, at first, were
merely dried and stowed away in boxes with some record of locality and
date of collection and left until a more convenient time for study and
identification. "It was soon found necessary, however, to observe the
color of the spores of the Agaricinea?, and this is best done while the
specimens are yet fresh. We have succeeded in securing good spore-
prints in the usual manner by carefully removing the pileus and placing
it gills down on a piece -of gummed paper and covering the whole with a
bell jar. The process usually requires from twelve to twenty-four hours.
White paper is used for all specimens having colored spores, and black
paper for those having white or colorless spores. The moisture of the
fungus is usually sufficient to soften the gum on the paper so that the
spores are held when dry. The spore prints are also accompanied with
drawings of a vertical section of the fungus, thereby showing the width
of the gills and their relation to the stipe, besides other features of the
13
98 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
specimen which often determine its generic position. Notes are also
taken of odor, taste, colors, etc., of the specimen when fresh.
"Our collections are arranged in interchangeable pasteboard trays, one
inch deep and varying in size from four and one-half by six to nine by
twelve inches. These are temporarily placed in wooden trays which will
just contain four of the largest pasteboard trays. We have been able to
collect during every month of the year and have secured many specimens
of such genera as Polyporus, Polystictus, Fomes, Stereum, Corticium,
Peniophora, and allied genera, since the first snow came. Some species
of gill fungi also persist throughout the winter, ready to take advantage
of every warm day. Among the most persistent* are those belonging to
the following genera: Lenzites, Schizophylum, Pleurotus, Collybia, and
Myeena in the white spored, and Crepidotus in the yellow spored sections.
The most tenacious species are those tha.t grow on wood. Not a few
species belonging to the Hydne;e and Tremellinere are also available to
the winter collector. Among some of the notable specimens which were
secured last season may be mentioned a plant of Lycoperdon giganteum
weighing, when fresh, seven pounds ten ounces and measuring forty-five
inches in circumference, while compared with this are some specimens of
Geaster minimus, a star puff ball, weighing only a few grains. The
moist, warm weather of 189G also brought out some very large specimens
of gill fungi. Among the attractive species we have a large tray of the
bright red Polyporus cinnabarinus, brought from Lewiston, Montmorency
county, by Dr. Beal when on institute work. This grows on canoe or
paper birch.
"We have between two hundred and fifty and three hundred species of
Basidiomycetes, representing ten of the thirteen families of this group
and covering nearly seventy genera. The identification of this material
is the most serious problem that we have encountered. This is partly
due to the meager literature on the subject in the United States. The
North American Fungi of Ellis and Everhart have aided us much, and
we are also especially indebted to Prof. Chas. H. Peck, of the New York
state museum, for the identification of some of this material. The reports
of this botanist have been of much assistance to us.
"That this subject presents an economic as well as a scientific side is
becoming more clearly recognized. While mushroom eating has been
practiced for many years, yet the persons indulging in this semi-hazardous
practice almost invariably confine themselves to the ascomycetous morel
or the common mushroom, Agaricus compestris. All others are called
'toadstools' and considered poisonous. But the progressive fungus eater
will not be satisfied to confine himself to these two forms, but will enlarge
his list to at least a score of species suitable to cater to his wants. The
gnawed remnants of Polypori found on stumps and logs during the winter
seem to attest to the high estimation in which some of these fungi are
held by the squirrels. Many pounds of fairy-ring mushrooms, Marasmius
oreades, grew on the college campus last season and were eagerly sought
for by people from the city of Lansing. No doubt many persons are re-
strained from the use of these plants as food through fear of the poisonous
qualities of certain species; and, while this fear has been a safeguard
against accident, it has also been the means of depriving these persons
from a food of palatable and highly nutritious qualities. While care is
A REMARKABLE FOREST IX MICHIGAN. A9
necessary in the collection of mushrooms for food, still one can learn
with careful observation to readily discriminate between species so that
the deadly Amanita and its noxious relatives may be avoided.
''The handsomely illustrated book, 'Our Edible Toadstools and Mush-
rooms,' by the late Hamilton Gibson, is doing- much toward popularizing
the eating of mushrooms among those who have access to the book. The
forty-eighth report by Trof. Peck, recently received, should be mentioned
in this connection, as it contains many illustrations and descriptions of
edible fungi found in the state of New York. A smaller work of similar
character by Julius A. Palmer, Jr., is also a desirable book for those
wishing to become familiar with the commonest forms of edible fungi.
The scientific side of the subject is a field which seems to have been but
little worked in our State, although our woods and fields and even our
dooryards can furnish abundant material. A surprising number of species
can be found in a limited area. Very much the larger part of our collec-
tion has been made in a piece of woods about seven acres in extent lying
a little north of the College campus. It is our intention to continue
making a careful study of these plants in our county and State, and we
should be pleased to communicate with persons interested in this subject.
We will endeavor to indentify specimens sent us."
A REMARKABLE FOREST IN MICHIGAN NOT HITHERTO KNOWN
TO SCIENCE.
BY S. ALEXANDER. BIRMINGHAM.
(Read before the Academy, April 1, 1S97.)
(Abstract.)
At Birmingham. Oakland county, in 1805. I found an oak tree nearly
four feet in diameter and one hundred feet high, the leaves and fruit of
which resembled Quercus prinoides and Q. acuminata. Later many other
large trees were found. After seeing specimens. Prof. Sargent concludes
that it is Quercus acuminata, although the bark differs from that usually
found on this species. On studying numerous specimens from this and
other trees of the neighborhood, G. B. Sud worth pronounces it Quercus
prinoides, although this species has heretofore been known as a shrub
five to fifteen feet high. Mr. Sudworth notes that different trees of some
species of oaks vary much and are difficult to identify, but he can see no
reason for suspecting a new species in this specimen.
Dr. N. L. Britton, on first examination in the field, believed it was a new
tree, possibly Quercus MichauwU, but later he decided it could not be that
species.
100 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
STRUCTURE OF THE OLFACTORY LOBE OF THE STURGEON.
BY J. B. JOHNSTOX, ANN ARBOR.
(Read before the Academy, April 1. 1S9T. Summary, reprinted from Zoological Bulletin,
Vol. 1, No. 5, p. 240.)
Summary of Results.
A. The olfactory lobe:
(1) In addition to mitral cells of two sorts, six other forms of cells,
concerned in receiving- and transmitting olfactory impulses, are found in
the olfactory lobe.
(2) The granule cells are provided with axis cylinders and glomerular
dendrites, and are therefore nerve cells.
(3) The olfactory lobe contains cells which are morphologically iden-
tical with the cells of Cajal.
(4) The glomerular zone of the olfactory lobe contains cells with
short axis cylinders (associatibnal cells).
(5) The large mitral cells are provided with non-glomerular dend-
rites.
B. The fore-brain:
(6) There is in the dorso-median region of the fore-brain a large
incompletely differentiated nucleus of cells with short axis cylinders,
constituting an imperfect epi striatum.
(7) A group of cells is found on the lateral surface of the fore-brain
which agrees in position and apparently also in connections with the
cortex lateralis of ReptiUa,
(8) The cortical region of the fore-brain is connected with the gang-
lion habennlae b}T a tractus cortico-habenularis. A tractus olfacto-
habenularis is also present.
C. The habenular tracts:
(9) Meynert's bundles do not end in the corpus interpedunculare, but
undergo partial decussation there and pass on toward the- medulla.
POISONOUS GERMS FOUND IN DRINKING WATER.
BY JULIAN T. McCLYMONDS, M. D., ANN ARBOR.
(Read before the Academy. April 1. Is'j".)
(Abstract.)
Since Hippocrates wrote on air, waters and places, water as a cause of
disease has been given a prominent place. The first experiments proving
the correctness of this belief were made by Pasteur, in 1878, when he
inoculated animals with polluted water causing death with symtoms
of septicemia. Three years later Gaffky carried out similar experi-
ments and isolated the bacillus of rabbit septicemia. Mori in 1888. using
McCLYMONDS ON GERMS IN DRINKING WATER. 101
water from the Berlin canals, obtained from the bodies of animals dying
from the inoculation, the bacillus of mouse septicemia, the short canal
bacillus and the capsulated bacillus.
Koch's discovery of the spirillum of Asiatic cholera in 1884 and Mich-
ael's isolation of the bacillus of Eberth from a well in Grossburck, 1886,
clearly established the causal relation of water to diseases in man.
While nearly all the pathogenic bacteria have been found in water,
but three, the spirillum of Asiatic cholera, the bacillus of Eberth, and
the bacterium Coli Communis, have great practical importance. The
detection of the cholera and colon germs is a matter of comparative ease.
Unfortunately it is otherwise with the Eberth bacillus and its isolation
from drinking water is one of the most difficult problems with which the
bacteriologist has to deal.
During an outbreak of typhoid in Budapest, lasting for three months
and over, one thousand cases coming down, Fedor made hundreds of
examinations and succeeded in isolating the bacillus but five times.
From two thousand examinations made by Kawalski in Vienna, but
five gave positive results. In the hundreds of examinations made in the
laboratory of hygiene, many of them with suspected waters, the bacillus
of Eberth has been found but once.
This lack of success is in part explained by the following:
(1) The slow growth of the bacillus in water, at the usual tempera-
ture, compared with ordinary water bacteria.
(2) Its short life in water, especially water rich in non-toxicogenic
bacteria and other lower forms of vegetable and animal life.
(3) Their unequal distribution.
(4) The germicidal action of light.
(5) The sedimentation of bacteria.
(6.) The presence, usually in far greater numbers of Colon germs.
Many special methods have been devised to overcome some of these diffi-
culties. (1) Rodet added the water to bouillon and heated it from
45° to 45.5° C. for ^ to one hour. (2) Chantimesse and Widal em-
ployed a .25$ carbolic acid gelatin. (3) Virricent used five drops of a
five per cent solution of carbolic acid to 10 c. c. bouillon and incubated
at 42° for twenty-four hours. These methods are faulty in that they
often destroy the Eberth bacillus. (4) The method of Parrietti has been
widely used and has given fair results. To tubes containing 10 c. c.
bouillon is added 1-10 2-10 3-10 c. c. of Parrietti solution.
»
Carbolic acid o grammes.
Hydrochloric acid C. P 4 grammes.
Distilled water 100 grammes.
The tubes are incubated at 37° for twenty-four hours, then to each
tube is added ten drops of the suspected water, and the tubes again
incubated. If growth takes place, indicated by the turbidity of the
bouillon, the bacillus of Eberth was said to be present.
As now employed the bacillus must be obtained in pure cultures and
grown on various media. (5) Wasbutski examined larger quantities of
water by adding to it sufficient of a nutrient solution containing 10$
each of glucose, peptone and sodium chloride to make a 1$ solution.
102 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
This he incubates at 37$ for four to six hours, when he finds the Eberth
bacillus, if present, enormously increased. He suggests the solution be
made slightly acid with Parrietti solution.
The method used in the hygienic laboratory was devised by Doctor
Vaughan in 1888, previous to the work of Rodet.
(1) The water for examination must be sent in sterile bottles.
(2) Three to four gelatin plates are made from one drop of the water.
(3) Tubes of beef tea are inoculated with 10, 20 and <>0 drops of water
and incubated at 38° to 39° C. for twenty-four hours.
(4) If no growth occurs the water is pronounced safe as it contains
no bacteria capable of growth at body temperature.
(5) If growth occurs, plates are made from tubes by Koch's method
and animals inoculated intra-abdominally with one-half to one c. c.
(6) Animals dying from inoculations are posted and plates made from
abdominal organs. Smears and hanging drop are made.
1 7) Colonies developing on plates made from water, beef tea and
abdominal organs are studied, pure cultures made and bacteria classi-
fied.
(8) If animals are unaffected by inoculations the water can be pro-
nounced safe; in case animals die the water is condemned.
Two groups are made of the germs found: 1. Those resembling the
bacillus of Eberth, the typhoid group, and those resembling the Bac-
terium coli communis, the colon group. It is only in the method of
distinguishing these groups that any change has been made in the
original method.
For their differentiation we rely upon: 1. The coagulation of milk.
2. The Indol reaction. 3. The production of acids as shown by litmus
gelatin.
These tests are positive for the colon group, negative for the typhoid
group.
In the coagulation of milk we have one of the best methods for the
separation of the typhoid group from the colon group when on the same
plates, the appearance of colonies being often so atipical as to be of little
value. Twenty or more tubes of sterile milk are inoculated from the
colonies and these incubated for twenty-four hours at from 37° to 38°.
Tubes not coagulated contain the typhoid group.
During the past year I have isolated nine bacteria belonging to the
colon group, two belonging to the typhoid group, differing in some
respects from the bacillus of Eberth, and from one water the bacillus
pyocianeus.
SOME VITAL STATISTICS OF MICHIGAN.
BY CRESSY L. WILBUR, M. D., LANSING.
(Read before the Academy, April 1, 1897.)
Lord Bacon, the apostle of modern inductive science, "has said: "The
true greatness of a state consisteth essentially in population and breed
of men." If this aphorism be true, then it must follow that exact
knowledge of the character of the population of Michigan and its quan-
WILBUR ON VITAL STATISTICS OF MICHIGAN. 103
titative and qualitative fluctuations must be of interest to all loyal and
intelligent citizens of the state, and of direct value to all workers for
the common weal, whether in her legislative halls or in the quieter but
oftentimes more effective spheres of private influence.
Such knowledge may be derived, to a very considerable extent, from
the "Vital Statistics of Michigan,'" published annually by the Secretary
of State. I wish especially in this paper to call the attention of the
members of this scientific society to certain conclusions presented in
the last published report (that for the year 1894) which have a very direct
and important bearing upon the probable future condition of our state,
at least so far as regards the source of its population in the years to
come. Indeed, the data presented have a broader meaning and one not
solely applicable to the future of our own state; they may be taken,
it is believed, as an index of the prospects for the continuance of the
native American race in this country.
I shall not pause here to answer the sneer that an editorial writer
in a leading state journal threw upon discussions of this character and
upon vital statistics in general. He said, after ridiculing certain alleged
statistical absurdities that were purely of his own imagination, referring
to the statistics of births: "Even if the state were engaged in scientific
stirpiculture — as it is not — the facts could hardly be regarded as having
anv definite value." To a bodv of men accustomed to regard everv new
t t. CD t
fact in nature as of precious importance, even though its practical
or economic application may be unknown, such an objection will have
little weight. But it is no less true in sociology than in science gen-
erally that abstract knowledge may be the forerunner of many unforeseen
applications in daily life and use, and the sort of knowledge of the
movement and destiny of the American race that these statistics reveal
may vet have a direct influence in modifying the current of our national
life. "
The following tabular comparison presents the fecundity of marriage
in Michigan for native and foreign-born mothers for four consecutive
quinquennial periods, extending from 1875 to 1894. It is necessary in
computing the fecundity of marriages to compare the children born in
one period with the marriages in the preceding period, so that the data
really extend from 1870 to 1894 and include twenty-five years of regis-
tration. Nearly a million births and nearly four hundred thousand
marriages are represented in this table for Michigan, so that the statis-
tical basis is amply large for satisfactory conclusions. As to the
technique employed, the necessary allowance for imperfect returns in
certain, respects, etc., the original report may be consulted, where the
method employed is fully explained. It may be said in corroboration
of the conclusions given in this table that results obtained from a special
inquiry by the last state census, and which were not available until
after the report was printed, closely agree with it.
104
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Fecundity of marriage in Michigan.
Five-year periods.
Children born
per marriage, with
mother-
Native-
born.
Foreign-
born.
1875-79
3.6
3.3
3.0
3.0
5.8
1880-84 - -
6.5
1885-89
4.9
1890-94 '.
5.1
*Twenty-eighth Annual Registration Report of Michigan, 1894, p. 119.
Children to a marriage in various countries.
Country.
Russia in Europe, 1888
Ireland
New Zealand
Italy
Scotland
Holland
Children
to each
marriage.
5.7
5.5
5.2
4.6
4.4
4.3
Country.
Victoria
Belgium.
England.
Sweden.
Denmark
France. .
Children
to each
marriage.
4.2
4.2
4.2
4.0
3.6
3.0
It is scarcely necessary to expatiate on the above statistics. The
figures speak for themselves. There has been some decline in the rates
of fecundity, both for native and for foreign-born mothers, in the suc-
cessive quinquennial periods, but the relative rates have remained about
the same. About three-fifths as many children are born to native women
as to foreign women in proportion to the number married. The signifi-
cance of the low rate of fecundity reached by the native-born women
of Michigan appears further from comparison with the corresponding
rates of European countries, and especially with that of France. The
population of France is now stationary, or even decreases in certain
years; the normal natural increase of population depending upon the
excess of births over deaths has almost entirely disappeared. The at-
tention of French demographers has been emphatically called to the con-
dition existing, and French patriotism has been excited, for it is certain
that France, if her population fails to increase while that of Germany
continues to augment in the usual ratio from year to year, will never
be able to avenge Sedan, nor even to long retain her place as a first-rate
European power.
Now the fecundity of the native-born women in Michigan is the same
as the fecundity of the women of France. If that fecundity is unable to
maintain the French people intact, then it is highly probable that the
native inhabitants of Michigan are failing to hold their own. The com-
WILBUR ON VITAL STATISTICS OF MICHIGAN. 105
parison would be even more disadvantageous to the natives if pure
native stock were included only under that term. By "native-born
women," the descendants of foreigners in the first generation are in-
cluded in part, and it is probable that the birth-rate of this class is
higher than that of the Americans of longer residence in this country.
The fact that the present fecundity of the native population of the
state is insufficient to maintain it intact, will also appear from direct
consideration of the figures. Two individuals are merged in the family,
and in time are removed by death, their places being made good by their
children. It is evident that the average number of children per marriage
must be sufficiently great to enable at least two children to survive to
maturity in order to maintain the population in a stationary condition.
The losses by death of infants and children before reaching reproductive
vears are verv large. Moreover, under our social conditions, very many
t/ ft/ C t' ft/
adults, and perhaps an increasing number, refrain from marriage. The
ratio given in the table, 3.0 children per marriage, may be slightly
understated on account of the prevalence of divorce, whereby the same
woman may appear in the records of marriages several times, but on
The whole it seems clear that the margin of one child per marriage is
insufficient to repair the losses indicated and leave the native popula-
tion of the state infarct.
It will be noted that the decline in fecundity through the four
quinquennial periods is comparatively slight, being only from 3.6 children
per marriage to native women in ls7.~)-79 to 3.0 in 1890-94. I believe,
although I have no statistics to prove it for Michigan as our registra-
tion records began in 1867, that the great decline in the fecundity of
native marriages took place in the preceding generation. Xot the
fathers but the grandfathers of the present generation of Americans
were men of large families.
The native American race, comprising largely the descendants of
settlers from New England and New York, has played a large and im-
portant part in the development of the state, and has impressed upon
its institutions those characteristics that stamp it as one of the states
in the union most typically representative of true American ideas.
Even today nearly ten per cent of the population of the state were born
in New York. The splendid school system of Michigan, her courts of
justice and public institutions, her magnificent record in the civil war,
— all these speak in emphatic tones of the worth of that "population and
breed of men,"1 the native American citizens of the state, which is now
giving way, so our statistics indicate, to the recent immigrants and
their descendants.
About three-fifths of the present population of Michigan are either
foreign-born or the children in the first generation of foreign-born par-
ents. And our cities are even to a greater degree so constituted, nearly
four-fifths of the inhabitants of Detroit being of foreign birth or parent-
age.
The present paper has not been presented from the standpoint of an
alarmist, but simply that the attention of the members of the Academy
might be called to the data bearing upon the important social changes
now proceeding in the state. No consideration will be paid to the causes
and probable consequences of the variations in the constitution of the
14
106 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
population. I only hope that the statistics presented may seem worthy
of further study, and that they may thus incidentally call attention to
the valuable resources now available in the official vital statistics of the
state for better knowledge concerning the constitution and tendencies
of our people.
THE EVENING GROSBEAK IN CENTRAL MICHIGAN.
BY CHARLES A. DAVIS, ALMA.
(Read before the Academy, April 2, 1S8T.)
In the early part of 1800, the writer's attention was attracted to a
flock of birds of considerable size, conspicuous coloring and loud clear
notes which were noticed first in a small grove of beech and maple trees
near the College. Their notes were strange, consisting of a loud, clear,
short whistle, often repeated, and unlike the notes of any of our native
birds. It did not take long to secure specimens, for the birds were exceed-
ingly tame and unsuspicious, evidently being entirely unfamiliar with man
and his weapons. The species was easily determined to be the Evening-
Grosbeak, Coccothrmtstes vespertimts, that rather rare migrant from the
great northwest. The flock was a large one, consisting, when first noted,
of two or three hundred individuals, possibly more, for it was larger at
some times than at others. The birds had a habit of visiting the grove
wdiere they were first noted and spent a portion of every day there, usu-
ally the morning, feeding on the ground or perching about in the taller
trees. This flock remained in the neighborhood" of Alma until May, but
the numbers gradually decreased, until but few individuals were
left. The decrease was partly due to the fact that many were shot, and
partly also to the withdrawal of small flocks from time to time. The
species was reported from Saginaw as being abundant there during this
season, disappearing in May as it did from the vicinity of Alma.
The species was not again observed about Alma until March 10, 1807,
when a small flock of perhaps fifty individuals again appeared in the
grove which they had before frequented. At this time it was noted that
they spent a considerable portion of the time on the ground picking up
the fruits of the hard maple, of which there had been an abundant crop
the fall before. The birds came and went almost always in a flock,
calling back and forth as they flew, in their peculiar full whistle. The
feeding time at this spot was almost invariably during the forenoon.
Addendum:
This Hock did not decrease so rapidly as the former one, and Anally left
on May 8, 1807.
On April G, 1800, two or three straggling specimens of this species
were seen in the same locality where they appeared before, but were
not seen nor heard of again.
&
THIRD ANNUAL SUMMER MEETING.
DETROIT, AUGUST 10, 1837.
The third annual summer meeting of the Academy was held at the
high school building, Detroit, on the afternoon of August 10, 1897.
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p. m., by the president, Prof.
Yolney M. Spalding, and the minutes of the last regular meeting were
read by the secretary and approved.
Owing to the absence of a 'quorum of the Council, no report was pre-
sented from that body, and no new members could be elected.
An informal report by Dr. W. J. Beal of the legislative committee,
explained the failure of the bill which it had been hoped would authorize
the printing of the Academy's proceedings.
Owing to the small attendance no attempt wTas made to transact further
business, and the Academy adjourned to attend the meeting of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of Science then in session in De-
troit.
FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING.
ANN ARBOR, MARCH 30, APRIL 1 AND 2. 1898.
The fourth annual meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science was
held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, beginning Thursday,
March 31, 1898. The academy was called to order at 9:30 a. m by vice-
president, Jacob Reighard, and the minutes of the last regular meeting
were read and approved.
The report of the treasurer, W. H. Munson, showed a balance on hand
of |128.30. The report was referred to an auditing committee and ap-
proved.
New members were elected as follows:
Resident Members :
(Mrs.) Laura E. Burr, Lansing.
Horatio N. Chute, Ann Arbor.
Wm. Mnmford Gregory, East Tawas.
Asa Edson Mattice, Concord.
(Miss) Louise Miller, Detroit.
Charles E. Miller, Jr., Grand Rapids.
Norman B. Sloan, Flint.
EclwaTd H. Stein, Grand Rapids.
Eugene Straight, Howard City.
David Trine, Lansing.
Corresponding Member:
H. A. Mumaw, M. D., Elkhart, Indiana.
Important changes in the constitution and by-laws of the Academy,
recommended by the Council, were adopted, as follows:
1. Making date for balancing treasurer's accounts the first day of the
annual meeting.
2. Providing that the president, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer,
and editor, shall be elected annually and be eligible to re-election with-
out limitation.
3. Providing that four members shall constitute a quorum of the
Council.
4. That all past presidents are members of the Council.
FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 109
5. That officers shall be elected at the annual meeting and enter on
their duties at the end of the meeting.
6. The Council shall nominate a candidate for each office, but each Sec-
tion may recommend to the Council a candidate for its vice president.
Additional nominations may be made by auy member of the Academy.
The secretary read a necrological notice of Dr. Manly Miles, of Lansing,
a charter member of the Academy, who died February 15, 1898. Mr.
Bryant Walker made further remarks on the character and work of Dr.
Miles.
It was voted that one thousand copies of Dr. Volney M. Spalding's pres-
idential address, entitled "A Natural History Survey of Michigan," be
printed and distributed by the secretary to members of the Academy, and
to others in his discretion.*
In the absence of Dr. Spalding, who was too ill to be present at the
meeting. Professor Chas. A. Davis explained his views as to a preliminary
forestry survey, and after some discussion it was voted that Dr. V. M.
Spalding be chairman of a committee which should prepare for the signa-
tures of the members of the Academy a petition that the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture should take steps to send a special commissioner to
investigate the forestry problem of Michigan.
Dr. Lucius L. Hubbard, State Geologist, in response to requests, ex-
plained the value and importance of a careful survey of the State, and
exhibited samples of the maps made by the U. S. Geological and Geo-
graphical Survey.
Officers were elected for the ensuing year as follows:
President — Henry B. Baker, M. D., Lansing.
Vice Presidents — Botany, Charles F. Wheeler, Agricultural College;
Zoology. Jacob Reighard, Ann Arbor; Sanitary Science, I>e*&§^ Fall,
M. D.. Albion: Agriculture, Clinton D. Smith, Agricultuj
Secretary — Walter B. Barrows, Agricultural College
Treasurer — W. H. Munson, Hillsdale.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE FOURTH ANNEAL ME
ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, MARCH 30, APRIL
1. Spanish Colonial Administration. Illustrated lecture (stereopti
Worcester, A. B. Not published.
2. Methods of Plankton Investigation. Jacob .Reighard, Ph. B. Published in
full in Bull. U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. XVII, pp. 169-175.
3. Factors in the Origin and Distribution of Species of Land Birds in Island
Groups. D. C. Worcester, A. B. Published as part of ''Contributions to Philip-
pine Ornithology." Proceedings U. S. Natl. Museum, Vol. XX (1898), pp. 567-625.
-1. Mill: Fat in Comparison with Meat Fat and Seed Fats. Albert B. Prescott,
M. D., LL. D. Annual Report Mich. Dairy and Food Commissioner for 1899.
5. A Word for Systematic Botany. W. .7. Beal. Ph. D. Not printed; abstract
on a following page.
6. A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Flora of Tuscola and Huron Counties.
Charles A. Davis. Published in full in Botanical Gazette, 1898, p. 453. Abstract in
this report.
7. How Palm Seedlings Appropriate Their Food. F. C. Xewcombe, Ph. D.
8. Development of the Seed of Gossypittm lierbaceum. A. Van Zwaluwenburg.
9. Concerning Some Michigan Plants. Charles F. AVheeler, B. S.
10. The Morels Collected at the Agricultural College. Burton O. Longyear.
11. Recent Investigations of Unicellular Algae. Julia W. Snow.
12. Morphology of the Flower of Cypripcdhtm; Burton E. Livingstone.
*The address was printed as directed and copies may be obtained from the secretary.
110 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE.
13. The Distribution of the Unionidae in Michigan. Bryant Walker. Published
by the author.
14. A Leaf-miner in Water Lilies. Rufus H. Pettff, B. 8. Printed in this report.
15. Some Modifications of the Zeiss Microphotographie Apparatus. Jacob Roig-
hard, Ph. B. Published in present report under the title "Apparatus foi' Photo-
graphing Vertebrate Embryos."
16. The Habits of Eucleniensia bassettella, a True Parasite Belonging to the Lep-
idoptera. Rufus H. Pet tit, B. S. Printed iu this report.
17. On the Effects of Temperature on the Development of Animals. F. R.
Lillie, Ph. D. Published (in conjunction with P. P. Knowlton) in Zoological Bul-
letin (Ginn & Co.,^ Vol. I, pp. 179-193.
18. The Hind brain and Cranial Nerves of Acipenser. J. B. Johnston. Pub-
lished in Anatomischer Anzeiger. XIV Band, Nr. 22 and 23, 1898, pp. 580-601. Re-
print of summary of results in this report.
19. Origin and Structure of the Cell Plate. H. G. Timberlake.
20. A Natural History Survey of Michigan. Presidential address. Volney M.
Spalding, Ph. D. Published by the Academy, 1S98. (Copies may be obtained from
the Secretary.)
21. Nature Study in the Common Schools. W. J. Beal, Ph. D. Substance printed
in a series of eight bulletins published by the Agricultural College under the head-
ing "Elementary Science."
A WORD FOR SYSTEMATIC BOTANY.
BY W. J. BEAL,.
(A brief abstract.)
The author believes that most students acquire a first love for botany
by rambling over the fields, through forests and swamps. This brings
them in contact with a great variety of plants in various stages of growth
and arouses their curiosity to learn their names and places in the plant
kingdom, and incidentally they desire to learn their habits and peculiar-
ities. Any young person is sure to have his interest awakened, if he is
accompanied by a congenial friend who is a botanist.
A LEAF-MIXER, CHEIRONOMUS SP.} IX WATER LILIES.
BY R. H. PETTIT, AGRICULTURAL, COLLEGE.
So far as is known to the writer, the members of the genus Cheiron-
omus are tube-builders in their larval stages. They are small flies closely
resembling mosquitoes and the larvae inhabit the water where they act
the part of scavengers. These larvae are usually blood-red in color
and very small and slender, rarely exceeding % of an inch in length.
They build tubes out of particles of vegetable matter and carry these
tubes about with them much as do caddice-flies. However, if at any
time the larva wishes to leave his dwelling he does so and if, after wander-
ing about for a time, be is unable to find his home, he soon builds another
just as good. This seems to be the general habit of the members of the
genus. An exception was found last summer in which the larvae made
tubes but built them of fresh green material and made them fast in a
furrow or minute ditch cut in the upper surface of a water-lily leaf.
LILY-PAD SHOWING WORK OF CHEIRONOMUS SP?
REIGHARD ON PHOTOGRAPHING VERTEBRATE EMBRYOS. Ill
On May 15, 1807, Professor Wheeler called the attention of the writer
to the damage being done to water-lily pads in the wild-garden. The pads
of both NupJtar advcna and of Nymphea odarata were furrowed by some
miner. The pads had been badly eaten in some places and many con-
tained living larvae and pupae. A quantity were collected and placed in
cages; after two or three days the adults emerged. The following is
taken from notes made at the time.
The insect works by tunneling or plowing a furrow which extends
from the top of the leaf to the lower epidermis. This tunnel is often
several inches in length and winds about in all directions in a serpentine
manner. At the end of the tunnel in which the insect is feeding is a
tube made of fresh green parenchyma from the leaf, this is chewed up
fine and bound together with silk. From the front end of this tube the
insect extends its head and feeds; the tube is fast in the furrow and is
not drawn along like a true case as was suspected.
The pupae are partially active and lie in the tubes with the head
toward the front. They are light apple-green in color as are the larvae,
but both have wine-colored spots or patches of irregular form and in-
definite in position in the different specimens.
After two or three days from the time the pads were placed in the
cages the adults commenced to emerge. They belong to the genus Cheir-
onomus and are probably a new species. The color is uniform light apple
green.
On August 1 a second brood was seen at Pine Lake, Ingham county.
APPARATUS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING VERTEBRATE EMBRYOS.
BY JACOB REIGHARD, ANN ARBOR.
The purpose of the apparatus is to secure the greatest possible depth
of focus with a magnification of ten to twenty diameters. For this pur-
pose a low power lens (80mm. Leitz) is used on a long vertical camera.
The large photomicrographic camera of Zeiss, which may be extended to
about five feet, is attached to the wall in a vertical position. The micro-
scope is clamped to a bed plate which is provided with levelling screws,
so that the optical axis of the microscope may be made coincident with
that of the camera.
Attached to the wall alongside the camera is a vertical metal rod which
bears at intervals large milled heads by means of which it may be rotated.
The lower end of the rod is connected by means of a bevel gear and two
Hookes' keys, to a pair of grooved brass wheels which are supported
by a pillar that rises from the bed plate. From these wheels cords pass
over the coarse adjustment screws of the microscope. The cords may
be tightened by adjusting the grooved wheels along a horizontal rod.
By this arrangement it is possible to focus with the coarse adjustment,
with the camera bellows fully extended.
The embryos (Amia) are attached by collodion to discs of cardboard
and photographed by light focused upon them nearly horizontally from
a 90 degree arc lamp.
112 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE.
In order to soften the deep shadows on the embryo a circular card-
board reflector one-third of an inch in diameter is used. This is attached
to one end of a two inch piece of lead wire, the other end of which rises
from a heavy base of brass or lead one inch square. The lead wire has no
"spring." The reflector may thus be bent into any position and will
remain there when the wire is released.
In some cases the image of the object on the glass screen has no
feature sufficiently distinct to permit of focussing. In such cases I have
found it possible to focus by placing on the surface of the embryo a
fine hair from a sable brush. The hair is clamped into the split end
of a lead wire supported on a base like that used fur the reflector. By
bending the wire the hair may be brought into position and one may
focus it. The wire affords a convenient means of removing the hair
before exposure.
Zoological Laboratory, University of Michigan.
THE HABITS OF ECCLEMEXSIA (HAMADRYAS) BASSETTELLA.
A TRUE PARASITE BELONGING TO THE LEPIDOPTERA.
BY R. H. PETTIT, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
Several of the orders of insects are well known to include species hav-
ing parasitic habits. Diptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera furnish
numbers of interesting forms. While there are several thousand par-
asites in the three orders named, the order -Lepidoptera contains but
very few instances to the knowledge of the writer. Thev are so little
seen that a short description of one of them may be of interest.
During the spring of 1800. at St. Anthony Park, Minnesota, a number
of specimens of Kerfhes (a gall-like coccid or scale-insect) were collected
and placed in a tight tin pill-box for the purpose of rearing any parasites
that might be present. In the autumn of the same year this box was
opened and the contents examined. Two specimens of a small Tineid
moth were found lying dead on the bottom of the box. As this was en-
tirely new to the writer it was the cause of speculation as to how the
moths came there. The tin box was carefully examined and found to be
intact while it was certain that there were no occupants other than the
Coccids in the box when put away in the autumn. An examination of
these Coccids showed two of them to be punctured, each by a small hole
which was about the right size for the moth to make its exit. A closer
examination revealed the fact that one of the openings was provided with
a door of circular form which had been cut in the shell of the Coccid and
pushed out from the inside so that it remained fastend by a hinge on one
side. The inner side of this little door had many scales adhering to it
and these scales corresponded to the scales on the moth.
To make the matter clearer one of the Coccid shells was opened and
a cocoon containing one of the empty pupal skins was found inside. The
brown silken cocoon occupied about one-third of the space inside the
shell to which it was attached, being curved, on account of its cramped
quarters, into a crescentic form. At the end of the cocoon was found' the
FIG. 1. SHOWING THE ENTIRE APPARA-
TUS. At the left is the arc lamp with con-
denser, the whole on an adjustable support. At
the right the microscope on its base plate and
the camera. At the right of the camera the
vertical focussing rod. The whole apparatus
stands on a platform, supported from the brick
wall.
FIG. 2. SHOWS DETAILS OF THE BASE-
PLATE AND OF THE FOCUSSING DEVICE.
On the stage of the microscope is a brass pan
''which contains the specimen immersed in fluid.
The reflector and support for hair are also seen
on the stage. Two Hook's joints (not shown in
the figure) are interposed in the horizontal rod
which connects the bevel gear with the right-
hand pulley-wheels.
PETTIT ON HABITS OF EUCLEMENSIA BASSETTELLA. 113
opening through which the moth emerged and inside this cocoon was to
be seen the amber-brown pupal" skin which fitted the cocoon quite snugly.
It would seem impossible that the larva of the moth had hidden
in the dead Coccid shell merely to pupate, for no opening of any size
was to be found except the one through which the adult insect emerged
and this was plainly made from the inside. There was, however, a small
scar on the side of the shell very near its attachment to the wood and the
shell was very thin at this point. It is probable that through this place
the larva obtained entrance and as the Coccid was at this time full-
grown, it was unable to heal the wound completely, so the shell always
remained thin at this point.
Since that time examples of the Coccid containing the larva have been
found, but unfortunately no attempt was made to preserve them because
• at that time the writer was just on the point of moving and in the con-
sequent hurry the material was lost.
The following original description was taken from "Tineina of N. A.
by B. Clemens" being a collection of the writings of Clemens on Tineina.
The description was originally published in the Proc. Ent. Soc. of Phil.,
Vol. II, pp. 415-430, Mar., 1804:
Hamadrijas N. gen.
"This imago, which I have placed in a new genus, appeared to me to
be congeneric with a portion of the genus Gelechia. The hind wings are
lanceolate. The sub-median and internal veins distinct. Sub-cosral
<simole attenuated toward the base. The disk is closed and the nervules
are given off from it. The median vein is three branched.
The fore-wings are lanceolate, with the inner margin dilated near the
base of the wing. The sub-costal vein has four branches, the first aris-
ing near the middle of the wing, and the apical nervule furcate. The
disk is closed, with the nervules given off from it. Median vein
three-branched, the posterior branch arising midway between the space
opposite the origins of the first and second sub-costa- marginal nervules.
Sub-median furcate at the base. Head smooth, face and forehead broad,
ocelli very small. Antennae rather thick, about one-half as long as the
fore wings, denticulated beneath. Labial palpi moderately long, curved,
rather slender, smooth, pointed; the middle joint slightly compressed,
rather thicker and longer than the terminal joint, which is cylindrical.
Maxillary palpi extremely short. Tongue clothed with scales at the
base, and about as long as the anterior coxae.
H. bassettella. Fore-wings bright reddish-orange, sometimes tinted with
yellowish orange, with a black spot at the base above the fold of the
wing and a broad, black stripe showing bluish or greenish reflections
along the inner margin, extending from the middle of the fold to the tip
of the wing and occupying nearly one-half of the breadth of it. Along
the costa, about the middle of it, is a shining black stripe, wmich becomes
narrower as it approaches the apical third of the wing. Cilia blackish.
Hind-wings shining, dark greenish-black. Head and thorax black.
Antenuae black. Labial palpi yellowish-orange."
"I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. H. F. Bassett of Waterbury,
Conn., for a number of specimens of this interesting gall-miner. Mr. B.
says the species is rather common in this neighborhood, — the larva feeds
15
114 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
in a gall found on 'a species of oak which I call Q. tinctorial The galls
are found on the smaller branches, three or four being aggregated, are
globular, yellowish-brown, shining and hard. The species is dedicated
to the discoverer who will doubtless work out its larval history."
From the above it will be seen that Mr. Clemens mistook the Coccid
for a gall, a very natural mistake for a man not well acquainted with
Hemiptera. His description applies perfectly to the Coccid.
Through the kindness of Dr. Howard of the Department of Agriculture
at Washington, I am able to call attention to two more references to this
interesting insect. Prof. Comstock (Rep. of U. S. Entomologist for 1879,
p. 245) calls attention in 1879 to his having .collected and bred the
insect at Cedar Keys, Fla. He says: "This species was first described
by Clemens under the name of Hamadryas bassettella, from specimens
received from Mr. Bassett in Conn. The latter gentleman stated that he
had bred it from a gall on oak, but subsequently Mr. Riley pointed out
1o him that his supposed gall was in reality a Coccid. The rearing of the
same moth from what is evidently, if not the same, a closely allied species
of Coccid from two such widely separated localities as Connecticut and
Florida is a strong indication of the permanence of the carnivorous
habit iu this species."
Tn 1881 Mr. Riley refers very briefly to the insect as infesting the scales
or bodies of Kermes galliformis.
Dr. Howard informs me that he collected this species in 1882 or 188.S
in Kermes on an oak scrub in Ithaca, "N. Y.
The fact that it has been found in four states as widely separated as
Connecticut, New York, Florida, and Minnesota, is a pretty safe indica-
tion that the habit is firmly established.
THE HIND BRAIN AND CRANIAL NERVES OF ACIPENSER.
BY J. B. JOHNSTON.
(From Anatomischer Anzeiger,— XIV. Band, Nr. 22 und 32, 1S9S.)
Summary.
A. Facts.
1. The sensory Vth, VHIth, and lateral line nerves enter common
centers, namely, the Nucleus funiculi, tuberculum acusticum, and the
granular layer of rhe cerebellum.
2. A large part of the Vth, VIHth, and lateral line fibres go as arcuate
fibres to the opposite side.
3. The Lobus trigemini of Goronowitsch is shown by its structure
to be a part of the tuberculum acusticum.
4. There is continuity of structure between the acusticum and the
granular layer of the cerebellum. In fact, the acusticum with the cere-
bellar crest corresponds in every detail with the cerebellum, and the one
may be considered as the direct continuation of the other.
5. A large bundle of fibres (chiefly from the lateral line nerve?) runs
from the tuberculum acusticum to the Nucleus funiculi and to a special
Nucleus acustici spinalis.
JOHNSTON ON HIND BRAIN OF ACIPENSER. 115
6. The cells of the tuberculum acusticum send their dendrites to the
base of the medulla.
7. There is a secondary tract from the acusticum which joins the
spinal Vth.
8. The sensory Vllth, IXth, and Xth nerves (exclusive of lateral
line and spinal Vth constituents) enter a common center, the Lobos vagi.
9. The secondary vagus tract divides into ascending and descending
bundles. The ascending bundle ends in the Rindenknoten as described
by others. The descending bundle extends into the cord.
10. Cells of the II type are found in the Lobus vagi, the acusticum,
and in both layers of the cerebellum.
11. A remarkable cell of the II type found in the valvula has
dendrites similar to those of the Purkinje cells and a very coarse neurite
with peculiar club-like thickenings.
12. Meynert's bundles have two sets of fibres, one of which after
decussating ends in a nucleus dorsal to the ansiform commissure and
bordering on the central cavit}* at the posterior end of the base of the
mid-brain. The other, composed of fine fibres, probably ends, after par-
tial decussation, in the granular layer of the cerebellum.
13. The Corpus interpedunculare is probably a nucleus of secondary
importance in connection with the bundles of Meynert.
B. Theoretical conclusions.
11. The structure of the sensory nerve centers in the medulla indi-
cates that the cranial sensory nerves are arranged in two quite distinct
complexes. One of these consists of the nerves supph'ing structures of
ectodermal origin, the Vth, Vlllth, and lateral line nerves. The other
consists of the nerves which supply structures of entodermal origin, the
Vllth, IXth, and Xth nerves.
15. The sensory Vth, Vlllth, and lateral line nerves alone are homol-
ogous with the sensory roots of the spinal nerves.
16. The tuberculum acusticum and the cerebellum are the repre-
sentatives in the hind brain of the dorsal horns of the cord.
17. There is in Acipenser a spinal Vlllth tract which is probably
homologous with that in man.
18. The sensory Vllth, IXth, and Xth nerves are not homologous
with any nerves in the trunk region.
11). The Lobus vagi has no homologue, or only a rudimentary homo-
logue, in the spinal cord of the adult.
20. The sensory roots of the cranial nerves can not be considered as
serially homologous with (the dorsal roots of) the spinal nerves in
determining the segmentation of the brain or head. The motor roots
alone are directty comparable to (the ventral roots of) the spinal nerves.
21. The peculiar character of the Purkinje cell dendrites seems to be
due to their physiological relation with the very fine fibres of the molec-
ular laver of the cerebellum.
116 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FLORA OF
. TUSCOLA COUNTY.
BY CHARLES A. DAVIS, ALMA.
(Read before the Academy April 1. 1898.)
[Abstract.]
On the so called "Prairies" of the bottom lands near tbe shore of Sag-
inaw Bay from the region of Bay Port southwestward, was found a group
of plants, a considerable number of which have not been previously noted
from the central or eastern parts of the state, and one plant was found
which was heretofore only known from the single station on the southern
border from which it ranges southwestward. The plants here found are
characteristically those of the prairies of Illinois and adjoining states, and
in Michigan they occupy a small area around the lower end of Lake Mich-
igan. The soil conditions are such as are frequently found along shores
of large bodies of water where deposition is taking place, i. ev sandy
strips alternating with rich vegetable deposit or muck. It is probable
that local climatic conditions due especially to the presence of Saginaw
bay in the near vicinity are more directly responsible than favorable soil
conditions for the presence of this colony of southern and southwestern
plants in this place. If this is so, and is capable of proof, the region
should be a very profitable one for the introduction of special crops
which. cannot be grown in less favorable localities so far north, as it is a
well known principle of agricultural economics that the farther from
the center of the greatest production of a given crop, that crop can be
raised, the better price it will bring. No stations for the plants found,
intermediate between those in the southern part of the state and this
locality, are known. The most important plants found were Asclepias
purpurascens L., A. Sullivantii Englm., Acerates floridana (Lam.) A. S.
Hitch., Crataegus Crusgalli L., Cacalia tuberosa Nutt., Ludwigia poly-
carpa Short & Peter, Lythrum alatum Pursh, Lacinaria spicata (L.),
Kuntze, and Silphium terebinthaceum Jacq.
This paper was published in full in the Botanical Gazette, Vol. XXY.
No. 6, pp. 453-8, and the discussion of the entire flora of Tuscola county
will appear in a forthcoming bulletin of the State Geological Survey on
Natural Resources of Tuscola County.
FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING, YPSILANTI.
MARCH 29, 30, 31, 1899.
The fifth annual meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science was held
at the State Normal School, Ypsilanti, March 29, 30 and 31, 1899.
In addition to the presentation of the twenty-eight papers, list of
which will be found on a later page of this report, the following items
of business were transacted: The minutes of the last meeting were
read and approved.
The treasurer, Prof. W. H. Munson, submitted his report, showing
the expenses of the Academy for the year to have been $57.50, the receipts
$37.00, and the amount still in the treasury $107.78.
The secretary stated that in accordance with the directions of the Acad-
emy, one thousand copies of Dr. V. M. Spalding's presidental address,
entitled "A Natural History Survey of Michigan'' had been printed, and
after distributing part of them to members and others, several hundred
remained at the disposition of the Academy.
The following resident members were elected:
George Booth, Bay City; Frank Bradley, Alma; William A. Brush, De-
troit; Benj. F. Bush, Grand Blanc; AlbertB. Lyons, M. D., Detroit; Edith
Ellen Pettee, Detroit; Jessie Phelps, Ypsilanti; Orlan B. Bead, Hillsdale;
Louis E. Warren, Hillsdale; Geo. A. Waterman, V. S., Agricultural Col-
lege; Alfred H. White, Ann Arbor.
The secretary read a brief obituary notice of Arthur A. Crozier, one of
the charter members of the Academy, who died January 28, 1899, at his
home near Ann Arbor.
Walter B. Barrows, from the committee on bird protection, reported
the preparation of a bill in the form of an amendment to the game laws
of the State, aiming to secure the better protection of our useful and
harmless wild birds. The proposed amendment is as follows:
Section 20 of Act 159 of the Public Acts of 1897 * * * is hereby
amended to read as follows:
"No person shall at any time or in any manner whatever injure, kill
or destroy, or attempt to injure, kill or destroy, any undomesticated bird
of any kind, except game birds and water fowl at such times and in such
places and manner as the Public Acts of this State shall permit: Pro-
vided, That it shall be lawful at any time to kill crows, blackbirds and
English sparrows, or to destroy their nests or eggs."
It was proposed to have this bill introduced in the House and try to
secure its passage. The report was approved and adopted.
118 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
A recommendation from the Council was adopted referring to a com-
mittee of five the question of the advisability of a section of the Academy
to be known as the Section of Science Teachers or Section of Science
Teaching, and instructing the committee to report at the next meeting.
The members were: Prof. Jacob Reighard, Ann Arbor; Prof. Win. H.
Sherzer, Ypsilanti; Dr. W. J. Real, Agricultural College; Prof. Chas.
A. Davis, Alma; Mr. N. R. Sloan, Flint. To the same committee was
referred the question of investigating the status of science teachers
throughout the State, and in this matter they were requested to co-operate
with a similar committee of the Michigan Schoolmasters' Club.
A resolution was introduced condemning the English sparrow bounty
law and respectfully urging the legislature to repeal the act. Among
the reasons urged for this action were the following:
1. Such bounty laws have been shown conclusively by the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture to be unscientific, expensive, ineffectual, and
therefore injudicious and deplorable.
2. The results of the bounty law in Michigan, as investigated by the
zoologist of the Agricultural College, fully sustain the conclusions above,
as published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Washington.
3. Aside from the useless expenditure of money, the law permits
and actually accomplishes the destruction of very many valuable native
birds.
4. Michigan stands almost alone among the states in thus persisting
in an expensive and utterly futile attempt to exterminate this pest by the
bounty system. The presence of this bounty law on our statute books,
in the light of all the information at hand, is a serious reflection on the
intelligence of our tax payers.
This resolution was adopted and referred to the committee on bird pro
tection.
A committee on a natural history survey of the State was appointed as
follows:
Rryant Walker, Detroit, chairman; Jacob Reighard, Ann Arbor; Chas.
A. Davis, Alma; W. J. Real, Agricultural College; Frederick G. Novy,
Ann Arbor.
The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
President — Jacob Reighard, Ph. R., Ann Arbor.
Vice Presidents — Section of Rotany, Prof. C. F. Wheeler, Agricultural
College; Section of Zoology, Rryant Walker. Detroit; Section of Sani-
tary Science, Cressy L. Wilbur, M. D., Lansing; Section of Agriculture,
Prof. Clinton D. Smith, Agricultural College.
Treasurer, Prof. W. H. Munson, Hillsdale.
Secretary, Prof. Walter R. Rarrows, Agricultural College.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MICHIGAN ACADEMY
OF SCIENCE. YPSILANTI. MARCH 29, 30 AND 31, 1899.
1. The Medical Inspection of Schools. Prof. Delos Fall, Albion College. Pub-
lished in Teachers' Sanitary Bulletin (Lansing) Vol. 2, No. 3, March, 1899.
2. Bacteria of Every Day Life, (Stereopticon Lecture). Ernest B. Hoag, Univer-
sity of Wisconsin.
3. A Plea for Greater Attention to the Sciences, by the Church, the School, by
Legislatures, and the people generally— Presidential Address. Dr. Henry B. Baker,
Lansing. Printed in full in this report.
FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 119
4. Variation of Latitude Observations at {he Detroit Observatory. Prof. A. Hall,
Jr., Ann Arbor. To be printed in the Astronomical Journal.
5. Beet Sugar Manufacture in Michigan (with lantern slides). Alfred H. White,
Ann Arbor.
6. The Evolution of the Color-pattern of the Pigeon's Wing. Stereoptieon
Lecture. Prof. C. O. Whitman. University of Chicago.
7. Germination of B rasenia peltate Pursh. Prof. Chas. A. Davis, Alma.
8. Notes on Utricularia resupinata D. B. Green, Prof. Chas. A. Davis, Alma.
Abstracts printed in this report.
9. A Study of our Native Elms and Poplars in Winter. Dr. W. J. Beal, Agri-
cultural College.
10. The genus Antennaria in Michigan. Prof. C. F. Wheeler, Agricultural Col-
lege.
11. Some Boreal Islands in Southern Michigan. Prof. C. F. Wheeler, Agricul-
tural College.
12. Developmental History of Some Croton Seeds. Dr. J. O. Schlotterbeck, Ann
Arbor. Abstract in this report.
13. The Effects of Mechanical Shock on the Growth of Plants. Dr. J. B. Pol-
lock, Ann Arbor.
14. Plankton Flora of Lake Erie. Dr. Julia W. Snow, Ann Arbor.
15. Origin of Cell-wall Substance in Cell Division. H. G. Timberlake.
16. Rheotropism of Roots. Dr. F. C. Newcombe, Ann Arbor.
17. Terrestrial Shell-bearing Mollusca of Michigan. Bryant Walker, Detroit.
Printed by the author, Detroit, 1899.
18. Trees as Dwelling-places for Animals. Dr. W. J. Beal, Agricultural College.
Printed in present report.
19. A Jumpinsc Gall. Rufus H. Pettit, Agricultural College. Mich. State Expt.
Station, Bulletin "175, pp. 367-368 (Fig. 20).
20. Is the Nucleus the Sole Bearer of the Hereditary Qualities? Dr. Frank R.
Lillie, Ann Arbor. Published in substance in "Adaptation in Cleavage," Woods
H.01J Biological Lectures, 1898, pp. 43-66.
21. Some Notes on the Breeding Habits of Amia. Jacob Reighard, Ann Arbor.
Abstract in present report.
22. The Development of the Adhesive Organ of Amia. Jessie Phelps, Ypsilanti.
Abstract in this report.
23. Restriction of Consumption. Dr. Henry B. Baker, Secretary State Board of
Health, Lansing.
24. Comparative Statistics of Weather and Mortality in Michigan. Cressy L.
Wilbur, M. D., Lansing. Printed in full in this report.
25. Some Methods and Results in Micro-photography. J. B. Johnston, Ann
Arbor.
26. New Problems in Agriculture and New Phases of Old Ones. Prof. Clinton
D. Smith, Agricultural College. Printed in full in this report.
27. Some Points in the Development of the Metanephros. Dr. J. Playfair Mc-
Murrich, Ann Arbor. Published under the title "A Case of Crossed Dystopia of
the Kidney" in Journal of Anat. and Physiol., Vol. XNXII, 1898, pp. 652-664, 3
figs, in text.
28. The Existence of Nerve Fibers in the Cerebral Blood Vessels. Dr. Carl G.
Huber, Ann Arbor.
120 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
A PLEA FOR GREATER ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCES.
BY THE CHURCHES, BY THE SCHOOLS, BY LEGISLATURES, AND BY
THE PEOPLE GENERALLY.
(Presidential Address, to the Michigan Academy of Science, Ypsilanti, March 30, 1899.)
BY HENRY B. BAKER, A. M., M. D., PRESIDENT.
Members of the Academy, Ladies and Gentlemen: — As the minister of the
gospel endeavors to propagate emotions and desires toward a forsaking
of sins, and toward right conduct in every relation of man to man and
of man to his Creator, so my present aim is to propagate emotions and
desires toward a forsaking of imperfect methods of action, in the
churches, in the schools, and in the halls of legislation; and to plead for
a new life, more in harmony with divine laws.
If, as most of us believe, there is an infinite God, who is omnipotent,
omnipresent, the creator of all things, and ruler of the universe, then not
only all the laws which govern in the spiritual realms, but also all which
govern in the material universe, are Divine laws; disobedience of which
incurs penalties, knowledge of which will enable us to act in harmony
therewith, and complete, exact knowledge would give mankind almost
infinite control over our surroundings.
I plead for an extension of the emotions and desires of mankind so as
to include a desire for right relations not only to our brethren and to the
Creator of the universe, but also to every created thing with which man
comes into relation.
THE CHURCHES.
Let us grant that the main function of the church has been to stimulate
emotion toward right conduct; what does that avail if ignorance of what
conduct is right continues to prevail? The contrite heart, the earnest
prayer to be saved from sin, ought to lead to a knowledge of how to be
saved from sin; because if it does not lead to that knowledge, sin is yet
likely to follow. It has been customary for mankind to plead innocence
of sin when the sin has been involuntary and without knowledge; but
it must be apparent to every thoughtful person that, with the laws of
God as with the laws of man, every person is supposed to know the laws,
and to obey them or suffer the penalities; and the penalties are much
more certain to follow violations of the laws of the Creator than viola-
tions of the laws of man. Under all ordinary conditions, if a person puts a
finger in the fire it is burned. All such common laws of the Creator are
easily learned, but common business honesty is not easily learned except
in the school of actual business life, or by special training in social
science.
Under the present complex conditions of labor and society, the proper
relations of man to man can be learned only by hard study, under the
leadership of masters in social science. We have ministers of the ancient
BAKER ON GREATER ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCES. 121
scriptures; we need also ministers of the recent writings concerning man's
complex relations to his fellowmen. In order to fit us for right living,
in all our various relations, the training must not stop with the stimula-
tion of the emotions toward right conduct; it must extend to the settle-
ment of questions of what actions are right, and what actions are wrong.
In order to be most useful to humanity, the training should extend still
further, and show why certain actions are wrong and why certain
actions are right: We ought to have science, and also philosophy. To
my mind such training is religious training; and it ought to be entered
upon by the churches. This knowledge, of good and evil, of right and
wrong, is needed with reference to man's proper relations to, and actions
toward every class of persons, male and female, rich and poor, healthy
or sick, maimed or defective, capitalistic classes and laboring classes,
and under all ordinary combinations of circumstances.
The labor question, the questions of trusts, of taxation, of inter-state
and international trade and commerce, of the spreading of devastating
plague, influenza and fevers; these are all questions of right conduct of
individuals and of peoples, to make possible right action in relation to
which every person who influences their control should have the guidance
of science, that is to say, of exact knowledge systematically organized.
HowT easy it would be to give the inhabitants of this world, or at least
to all Christendom, a powerful impetus in the direction I have indicated!
Much of the machinery is already planned and prepared. Think of the
immense educational value of the present Sunday school system, if only
its teachings could be extended so as to include the latest and best
revelations of the divine laws which govern the universe!
There is no religious or other training which so broadens and deepens
our conceptions of the infinite Creator as do the studies of the sciences,
which convey exact knowledge of the exceedingly numerous, wonderful
facts found in every direction which scientific research follows, through-
out the universe, material and intellectual.
The Sunday school work has been less useful than the pulpit preach-
ing, for stimulating and propagating emotions toward right actions; al-
though its system of work has been wonderfully evolved, its teaching is
still primitive. It lacks God's later revelations to man, as chronicled
by Sir Isaac Newton, by Faraday, Helmholtz, Darwin, Tyndall and other
earnest and successful seekers after the eternal truths.
Unless there can be a modification of the Sunday school literature, so
as to utilize the best work in all the sciences (and this may be a very
difficult undertaking) I hope you will join with me in pleading for a copy-
ing of the methods of the Sunday school literature and the adoption
of Sunday school methods, to the end that it shall be possible to teach,
at least Sunday afternoons, interesting and valuable practical results
of the wTork of leading scientists in every branch of exact knowledge.
Why should not religious training, why should not the church regain
the position of the writers of the bible, who set out to give rational
views of man's relations to man, to God, and to all his creations, from
the beginning, as given in the first chapter of Genesis?
Why not reconstruct our conceptions of the creation, according to the
latest revelations?
Why not listen to the teachings of leaders of thought, and construct
16
122 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
conceptions of t lie proper relations of employer to employee, and of em-
ployees to employer?
In short, why not rely upon the best knowledge obtainable, relative
to all our surrounding conditions, bearing upon our present life and upon
our destiny throughout eternity?
There was a time when one man could compass the entire range of
such knowledge then possessed by humanity. Now that is impossible.
Perhaps that is the reason why, for many years, the churches have been
making such slight progress. It is claimed that the church member-
ship is not keeping pace wdth the increase of population, that business
men, artisans, men whose occupations teach them many of the laws of
nature, do not join the churches. Their minds are engrossed with
thoughts of the laws of sound, as taken advantage of in the telephone;
of the laws of light, as revealed in the X rays phenomena ; of the laws of
electricity, as utilized in the electric light and the electric motor. These
recent revelations are so real, so wonderful, so exceedingly useful in
giving increased control over conditions tending so strongly to make life
more complete and more comfortable, that it is coming to be more and
more difficult to listen to sermons based upon views formed in the infancy
of the human race, when language was meager, because ideas were fewer,
when conceptions of the Creator had to be formed from the comparatively
few evidences then possible, wdien therefore mental images of God neces-
sarily had human attributes, which were pondered over and recorded,
but which now, when used as texts, fail to supply satisfactory con-
ceptions of the omnipotence, omnipresence, and universality of the
Creator of infinite varieties of animals, plants, substances and forces, all
apparently working in accordance with fixed laws. The human attri-
butes of the Creator which in a past age had comparatively strong-
evidence of probability, are now very much less apparent to minds which
have the evidence of nearly all of their senses to the materialistic phe-
nomena of His laws of heat, light, electricity, and sound. To the modern
scientist, God is less human, more infinite, than to the unlearned ancients.
A NEW DEPARTURE SUGGESTED.
Is it not possible for the church to regain and multiply its mastery,,
by specializing its work along the lines of the physical and social
sciences?
It being apparent that no one minister can master all the sciences,
is it not practicable for the church not only to retain its present work,
but to do what other kinds of workers have done — perfect its workers
along different lines of effort? Why not retain the ancient theology for
the forenoon service, and the forenoon Sunday school, and utilize at least
a portion of the afternoon services for the modern theologies — in other
words for the sciences?
Why not employ the best available talent in simplifying and popu-
larizing the social and physical sciences, by means of Sunday afternoon
lectures?
Why not bring these valuable lessons to the children, by means of
Sunday afternoon schools modeled after the recent improved plans for
Sunday schools, with their special literature systematically presented,
BAKER ON GREATER ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCES. 123
as in the quarterlies and other literature used in the congregational
and other Sunday schools?
THE SCHOOLS^— WHAT EDUCATION IS OF MOST WORTH— TO HUMANITY.
In his work on "Education,"' Herbert Spencer, if I remember correctly,
answered his own question "What knowledge is of most worth?1', with
reference to the individual man. I propose to deal with this question,
having in mind mainly the welfare of the entire human race; also, not
simply extending the application of Mr. Spencer's conclusions, but at-
tempting to evolve a principle, — that, as the Creator is infinitely greater
and wiser than man. His laws and works are infinitely more profitably
studied and mastered than are man's laws and works.
Before this audience it is not necessary to present arguments for the
value of ordinary education, which prepares the young for their life
work by supplying them with the means for accurate communication
with their fellows, and for understanding the works of others; it is not
necessary to present arguments for the value of strictly literary educa-
tion, we all admit the immense value and utility of education along
literary lines. I believe we do not all rightly appreciate education along
scientific lines, other than in mathematics and in the scientific construc-
tion of language. Beading, writing, and arithmetic are indispensable
as preparation for actual work, and a mastery of any branch of the world's
literature is a source of power in certain fields of effort, such as teaching
and lecturing; but a life work that is to add greatly to the progressive
welfare of mankind must add to man's control over the conditions which
surround us; and for such a life work, something more than the highest
work and laws of man are essential; nothing short of the unchanging
laws of the Creator are required for the highest progressive work of
man. And those natural laws, laboriously worked out, constitute the
fundamental principles of the sciences.
It took centuries to build up the science of astronomy, accurate meas-
urements of time, the use of the compass, and accurate knowledge of
the winds and waves, so as to enable man to cross the trackless oceans
as he now does, to our great benefit and pleasure. One function of
literature has been to hold fast what has been gained by science; but
literature alone could never have built up the commerce of the world,
nor have enabled man to span continents with railroads, harnessing
the power of steam to carry immense loads across mountain ranges ; liter-
ature alone could not enable man even to invent a steam engine.
The best uses of literature are — to rightly stimulate the emotions, and
to disseminate, and preserve for future generations, scientific and other
progress; but an equal or more important service to mankind is the
revelation of knowledge new to man, to be disseminated and preserved.
This is the work of science, in every possible direction, to search out
and reveal the laws which an infinite Creator has ordained, and to which
laws man must conform or suffer a miserable existence and'fi dreadful
end.
A literary gem or an elegant oration fills the mind and soul with
satisfaction and enthusiasm; but, may not the work of a plodding ento-
mologist, who laboriously works out the life history of a parasite on a
potato bug, yield results of more permanent utility to mankind?
124 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
A stirring poem stimulates emotions toward right living and great
deeds; and a strong novel, like "Uncle Tom's Cabin," has great evolution-
ary force; yet discoveries due to progress in exact knowledge in nature's
realm, as, for instance, the working out, by the immortal Jenner. of the
nature of the dairymaid's disease — cowpox, the scientific establishment
of vaccination, and the consequent gaining of power by man to absolutely
prevent the most loathsome disease ever known, are worthy to outrank
any such literary work ever done or likely to be done. For such work
as advances the world's stock of useful knowledge, accurate observation
of nature, systematic arrangement of facts, and, above all, the habit of
scientific thinking — these are the essentials. To' illustrate my idea of
the habit of scientific thinking: Two men were talking on several
topics. One who listened would soon notice that, whatever topic was
broached, one of them uniformly soon used a literary quotation, once
repeating something which a philosopher is alleged to have said some
sixteen hundred years ago. His mind was stored with literature, his
habit of thought was literary, he had in his mind no stock of facts op
principles relative to the great forces or materials of nature, from which
to draw and use in connection with whatever phenomenon was brought
to his attention, his mind was not stored even with the literature of any
of the physical or social sciences, consequently he was and is incapable
of adding anything new to man's control over his surroundings, his
knowledge stopped with grasping what men before him have done. Not
having his mind stored with the laws of nature, and not having the habit
of scientific thinking, his life could not add much to the welfare of the
world, through material, moral, or social progress, however powerful
and useful he might be in influencing emotions, toward self-mastery,
goodness and greatness.
Of the two men, the other man was well known as one who has deeply
studied certain sciences, and is believed to have contributed something
of value to the world's stock of exact knowledge along one of the sciences.
It was apparent that his habits of thought were upon scientific subjects,
his references were not to the literature of the classics, rarely even to the
literature of the sciences, but he referred to the universal law of gravi-
tation, the doctrine of the indestructibility of matter, the law of the
persistence of force, the correlation of the physical forces, that action
and reaction are equal and opposite, and to the fact that heat, light,
electricity, and sound, are modes of motion.
Is it not easy to see why it is impossible for the first of these two
men to advance the world's knowledge of the materials and forces of
nature, and why it is perfectly possible for the other one to do so?
You may notice that I am setting up a standard by which to judge of
the values of educations, and ranking as of most value that education
which enables man to add to the world's knowledge of the laws of nature
and how to control and utilize the conditions which surround us, for the
benefit of mankind.
I submit that this is a higher standard than any which looks merely
to the selfish interests of the pupil. But is it not true that most of us
would, selfishly or unselfishly, choose to follow in the footsteps of Sir
Isaac Newton, of Faraday, Morse, Tyndall, Edison, Alexander Graham
Bell, and the others, who have advanced the cause of science, and brought
BAKER ON GREATER ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCES. 125
to mankind the benefits and tlie luxuries of the telegraph, the telephone,
the electric light, the electric motor, the X-ray, not forgetting the earlier
modes of control of fire by the invention of the lucifer match; of the con-
trol of water, by means of the turbine wheel; of the air, by means of the
windmill; of fire and water as steam, by means of the boiler and steam
engine?
Is it not a fact, that all of the material progress in this world has
come about through the advancements of the sciences? I know it is
claimed that the arts precede the sciences, but progress has been made
not so much by studying the works of man as by studying the works,
of the Creator. Great inventions, so many of which are termed "dis-
coveries," are not made by persons ignorant of the Creator's laws. To
those who intelligently interrogate nature, these great revelations are
made. They are not made to minds stored only with the gems and
masterpieces of classic literature. They are revealed to those whose
habits of thought are in consonance with science, whose thoughts are
concerning the facts and general principles of nature. In recent years
great discoveries have followed each other with a rapidity before unpre-
cedented, because never before in the world's history have there been so
many men skilled in the sciences, and also working close to nature. And
it is worthy of notice that, as a rule, the great inventions and discoveries
have been made not by the teachers, who necessarily have been most
skilled in the general facts in the literature of their several sciences, but
by those still nearer to nature, those who have been studying nature in
one particular line even more closely than those occupied with the litera-
ture of the sciences. Thus they have added to the world's useful
knowledge, and to its literature on the sciences, what will in time serve
as new departures for still more important inventions, discoveries, revela-
tions.
What an impetus would be given toward progress in inventions, if half
of those who now are trained in strictly literary studies until they are
nearly thirty years of age could have the last ten years of that time
devoted to studies of the sciences, first in technological s'chools, and
later in actual contact with those parts of the world's work to which the
sciences of chemistry, physics, electricity, metallurgy, etc., are so closely
related, training not so much to make expert workmen, but with a special
view to future inventions and discoveries!-
If I am right in my belief that the education of most value to humanity,
is that which enables us to add to the world's knowledge of the laws of
nature and to knowledge of how to control and utilize the physical and
social conditions which surround us, for the benefit and pleasure of man-
kind, it follows that this is the sort of education which the people, —
the State should foster and insist upon.
And inasmuch as whatever benefits the race, generally benefits the in-
dividuals, whose interests are generally parallel to those of the race,
therefore, is not the sort of education which is of most value to the
individual — that which enables him to add to man's control over exist-
ing conditions?
If I am right in my belief that it is not knowledge of literature, history,
grammar or geography, that gives man greatest power to add to the
world's knowledge of the laws of nature, and greatest power to control
126 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
and utilize surrounding conditions, then it follows that the interests of
humanity demand — that more attention than is given to those studies
just mentioned should be given to gaining a knowledge of the facts,
laws and general principles which we know as the sciences.
If I am right in my belief that the habits of thought of students of
general literature are antagonistic to the accomplishment of inventions
and discoveries along the lines of scientific progress, then not all the
people should have thatv training.
If knowledge of some of the laws of nature supplies the best prepara-
tion for gaining knowledge of other laws not yet revealed, then, for the
purpose of progress, the best possible educational training is in the
sciences, and, as a rule, if progress of the race is sought, no more time
should be devoted to other studies than is sufficient to prepare the pupil
for studies in the sciences.
Even if we grant that, in teaching "The principle is to train 'for power,'
to use President Elliot's phrase, and not primarily for information,*'*
is it not of far greater importance to humanity to train "for power"
over the physical forces, over the material universe and over our social
surroundings, than it is for power over the mere literary or other works
of man?
However, I am not willing to throw away the literary works of man;
— what I plead for is — that this be saved to the race by the few, while a
much larger proportion of our young people than heretofore shall be
trained in directions of far greater utility to mankind, namely in the
sciences.
LEGISLATURES.
I have expressed the view that, for the general welfare through ma-
terial progress, the sort of schools which the people generally should
most liberally support are those wherein the sciences are taught; because
about all progress, in man's control over his surroundings is due to pro-
gress in exact knowledge, that is, to progress in some science. Support
for such schools can, as a rule, be supplied only through legislative
action. Thus far State legislatures generally have not taken much
action in this direction; but the United States congress has shown great
wisdom in fostering education in that science which has to do with sup-
plying the food for mankind; I refer to the science of agriculture. In 1857
Hon. Justin S. Morrill introduced in congress a bill, and in 1862 con-
gress made grants of land to enable the several States to establish agri-
cultural colleges. Some of the State legislatures were wise enough to
act in that direction. We ought to be proud of Michigan that, before any
action by congress, the State constitution, framed in 1850. provided for a
school "for instruction in agriculture and the natural sciences connected
therewith." We ought to be proud of Michigan legislatures for taking,
as early as 1855, and for maintaining since that time, most efficient
measures for the succcess of that college. Congress has established, at
Washington, a national department of agriculture, an important branch
of the government, and it is a great national college of agricultural sci-
ence, which has as pupils a large portion of the people of this country.
*"The Teaching of Physiology in Medical Schools," by W. T. Porter, M. D., Associate
Professor of Physiology in Harvard.
BAKER ON GREATER ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCES. 127
The prosperity and growth of this country has been marvelous; a very
great portion of that growth and prosperity is due to the agricultural
work done; and the character of that work has been, and is being, greatly
improved through the scientific training, in the State agricultural col-
leges, of a few who serve as leaders, and through the scientific work of
the United States Department of Agriculture. Congress has recognized
the fact that progress in this direction cannot be made except through
scientific study and experimental research work. Accordingly it has
appropriated money to establish, in the several States, agricultural ex-
periment stations. These scientific experiment stations are doing a grand
work for the progress of those sciences on which is based the art which
feeds the civilized world. Through progress in the agricultural sciences,
agricultural products have been increased and cheapened; and must con-
tinue *to be cheapened, so that a smaller and still smaller proportion of
the people are to be able to supply mankind with food, and a much larger
proportion of our people are to be able to engage in other pursuits. It
ought to result, also, in much less hours of physical labor to agricultur-
ists, and to all. classes of people.
What I plead for is a continuance of the congressional and legislative
fostering of the agricultural sciences, but more especially the applica-
tion of the same principles of action to the other sciences. Let us have
the science of mechanics, and the other sciences which bear upon the
production of clothing, so fostered by governmental experiment stations
and technological schools, that a much smaller proportion of our people
shall be required to labor, and during less hours, in those industries
which supply our clothing. For several years the artificial production
of silk has been struggling toward perfection. If the governments would
maintain experiment stations for this purpose, possibly all of us might
soon dress in silks, and at much less cost than now in cotton?
Recently much of the world's progress has been through the sciences
of electricity, light, and sound. As an illustration of the utility of the
telephone: "There are over one thousand telephone instruments used
by the United States Life Saving Service. A notable instance of the
benefit of it was the work achieved near Cape Henelopen, during the
most destructive storm that ever visited the coast. The crews of three
stations were brought together within two hours, and rescued twenty-two
stranded vessels and one hundred and ninety-four persons."
There is no reason to suppose that all the secrets of nature have been
revealed to us relative to the transmission of light and sound. Through
the wonderful properties of selenium we have been on the point of being
able to transmit to a distance, by wire, views of objects, even photo-
graphic likenessess and views of scenes. Governments might well main-
tain experiment stations for the advancement of knowledge in the sci-
ences of electricity, light, and sound.
The United States government has appropriated money to aid investi-
gations into aerial navigation; and even to looking for the north pole;
both of which objects may be worth much more than the cost, especially
as, by reason of the comparatively recent control over electricity, the
working out of the principle of the aeroplane, the cheapening of the
manufacture of aluminum by means of the electric furnace, and the new
methods of liquifying air, successful aerial navigation seems now to be
128 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
among the possibilities of the near future; but the point I wish to make
here is that both the general government and the several States might
well establish and maintain experiment stations for the advancement
of exact knowledge on those sciences with which the every-day life of all
the people is so closely concerned, as, for instance, the sciences relating
to heat, light, electricity, sound, and locomotion.
As regards locomotion, the crude modes by means of the more or less
perfect control of animals, is fast giving place to the bicycle, and to
electrical and other automobile methods, connected with which there are
many lines of investigation which might well be fostered by govern-
ments.
THE SOCIAL SCIENCES.
My plea for greater attention to the sciences is not restricted to the
physical sciences. When great numbers of strong men are unemployed
and their families suffer thereby, great wrongs are apparent; and gov-
ernments are not subserving the highest interests of the people unless
they take prompt and effective measures to search out the causes, and to
place them before the people. Possibly "experiment stations'' are not
adequate for the elucidation of such questions, although they may be for
some of them, but if the social sciences shall be carefully studied in the
churches, in the schools, in legislatures, and in every domain of human
activity, can there be a doubt that the welfare of every class of people will
be greatly enhanced?
■The inauguration of systematic studies of these sciences is an impera-
tive duty of the churches, of the schools, of the legislatures, and of
all of us.
THE SANITARY SCIENCES.
One of the most important groups of sciences, thus far almost entirely
neglected by governments, so far as relates to effort for the advancement
of the sciences, is that group which collectively is known as sanitary
science. A few of the States have made small appropriations. Scarcely
anything has been done directly by the United States government, al-
though indirectly, by fostering the Bureau of Animal Industry, much
has been done for the welfare of the human race. The agricultural
experiment stations, for which the United States makes annual appro-
priations for every State, are, to a great extent, for the benefit of all
the people, but primarily they are for the benefit of a class only — the
agriculturalists; while progress in sanitary science is primarily and
finally for the benefit of every person, therefore, why should not congress
appropriate money to establish, in every State, sanitary science experi-
ment stations? A bill was prepared for this, which congress was asked
to pass, but did not. I believe that this is a proposition on which the
people themselves would do well to act, by petitioning congress to take
such action, and the State legislature to foster a sanitary science experi-
ment station as it now fosters the one for the agricultural sciences.
The State of Michigan maintains one school for the teaching of science,
the State Mining School at Houghton; and several branches of science
are taught at the State Agricultural College, at the University, and at
this State Normal College; but, although there have been small appro-
BAKER ON GREATER ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCES. 129
priations for the geological survey, the State Board of Health, and for
the Fish Commission, which have been used in part for such purposes,
so far as I know, this State does not directly appropriate money for the
advancement of any science by experimental work.
I claim that, in the interests of progress for the benefit of the people
generally, the State ought to appropriate money for the advancement
not alone of the agricultural and mining sciences, but of all the sci-
ences. Especially ought the State Laboratory of Hygiene, at the Uni-
versity, to have a liberal appropriation for the advancement of several
of the sanitary sciences.
The State publishes the annual reports of the State Agricultural So-
ciety, and of the State Horticultural Society. It ought certainly to pub-
lish the reports of this Michigan Academy of Science, which is not
limited as the other societies mentioned are, to a special class of citizens,
but may embrace every science, and subserve the interests of every class
of citizens.
THE PEOPLE GENERALLY.
The people generally can exert a powerful influence for the progress
of science, by petitioning congress and the State legislatures to in-
augurate and maintain schools of science, professorships of the sciences,
and scientific experiment stations.
Much can be done by selecting for ordinary conversations scientific
topics, instead of the usual topics which are of much less importance.
Much good can be done by the establishment and maintenance of local
scientific clubs and associations.
Every intelligent person ought to become especially interested in at
least one science; and not only read, from time to time, standard books
on that subject, and take and read a periodical devoted to that science,
but should labor to contribute facts, and if possible envolve a general
principle to add to the stock of the world's exact knowledge. Only in
some such way can we "Make our lives sublime, and departing, leave
behind us footprints on the sands of time.''
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OP THE SUBJECT.
I believe that neither the people generally nor even those among us
who are engaged in scientific pursuits, realize the extent of our indebted-
ness to science. Nor do we realize that we would still be painfully grop-
ing our way through an imperfect and uncomfortable existence were it
not for progress in the several sciences, which progress was, for many
years, hindered by the churches, its place in the schools opposed by lead
ing educators, not aided by legislatures, and ridiculed by the common
people.
We have not time for the enumeration of the items of our daily use
for which we are indebted to science, but let me briefly mention a few of
the notable examples of comparatively recent achievements of science:
17
130 • MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
MASTERY OVER THE FORCES OF NATURE.
Speaking now somewhat figuratively:
Science has tamed the lightning, and made it convey our messages far
over the land, and under the sea, so that our thoughts may almost in-
stantly be sent around the world, by the telegraph. Great famines are no
longer excusable, because the want of one country can be made known
to any other country.
Science has educated the lighntiug, and taught it to carry voices, and
speak our words in distant places, by the telephone.
Science has "harnessed the lightning" and made it pull loaded cars
which until recently were drawn by horses and mules.
Science has utilized the lightning, to light our streets and houses, to
heat furnaces, to melt refractory substances, also to aid our vision so
that, by means of the X ray, interiors of bodies may be seen and photo-
graphed, fractured bones may be seen and replaced, and surgical relief be
given.
Science has made it possible, by the storage battery, to store up the light-
ning, and liberate it as needed for various useful purposes.
Science has made it possible, by the phonograph, to store up the tones
of the human voice, and to so liberate them that they shall be reproduced,
from time to time, and utilized for the ordering of business affairs; also
to store up the tones of musical instruments and voices, and liberate
them at will.
Science has made it possible to harness Niagara Falls, and to use its
energy, and transmit it to distant places for use. And the application
of this principle is world-wide.
MASTERY OVER THE SUBSTANCES OF NATURE.
Science has made it possible to make the air about us into a liquid
which promises to be of wonderful utility, and perhaps to do a consider-
able part of the world's work for humanity.
MASTERY OVER THE DISEASES OF MAN.
In our own day, a science, bacteriology, dealing with the excessively
small things of this world, has revealed to man knowledge which gives
him power to restrict and prevent the disease which destroys more lives
than does any other; which as a rule destroys man in the prime of life;
in our own State annually destroying three thousand of the best among
us, and involving an annual loss of millions of dollars, beside the un-
speakable anguish to thousands of those of us who remain.
Now, thanks to the scientific work of many, to Robert Koch more than
to any other, there has been revealed knowledge which is able to make us
"wise unto salvation" from that "Great White Plague" — consumption
which, up to this generation, has been the scourge and destroyer of the
flower of the human race, but which now bids fair to disappear.
Let us not dwell on the many remaining sufferings of mankind, due
to man's neglect to seek the truth, and govern his actions thereby. The
world has been improving as a place of comfortable existence, but it is
still far from perfect. Much remains to be improved. Man is still far
DAVIS ON GERMINATION OF BRASENIA. 131
below the infinite, but he approaches the infinite in proportion as he
searches out and obeys the laws which govern the universe.
My plea is for a higher standard — a better criterion — toward which
and by which to aim religious, educational, legislative, and all other
human effort, — a plea for the forsaking of much of the less valuable
work of mere men, in the dim past, and a vigorous entry upon the works
of the Divine Creator Himself:
"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll !
Leave thy low- vaulted past!"
My plea is for humanity, not for selfishness; but if mankind as a whole
advances, surely as a rule, the individuals advance. Philanthropy is the
highest and noblest selfishness, — it is the most certain to secure what
no other form of selfishness can secure — the greatest good to the greatest
number of persons.
In closing, permit me to summarize, and to exhort you that
THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE IS DIVINE IMMORTALIZING PHILANTHROPE.
Take up man's heaviest burdens, O my friends,
And trace them to their causes, speed their ends !
All science search, God's changeless truths reveal,
Add useful knowledge for the common weal !
Approaching infinite philanthropy,
You thus approach to immortality.
NOTES OX THE GERMINATION OF BRASENIA PELTATA Ptjrsh.
BY CHARLES A. DAVIS, ALMA.
[Abstract.]
The freshly gathered seeds of this species were placed in water in
the fall and kept through the winter, well into the following summer,
never being allowed to become dry. One seed germinated in December,
a few before spring, but the greater number of those which germinated
delayed until the following summer, in July. Many of the seeds failed
entirely to germinate; a few developed distorted monsters and a con-
siderable number reached a stage where they possessed several leaves.
The first external sign of germination was the pushing out a rounded
plug or stopper of the hard seed-coat from the hilum end of the oval
seed. Through the opening thus made the hypocotyl and the very
short petioles of the cotyledons were pushed, the cotyledons themselves
not emerging. The hypocotyl was a very short, disk-shaped organ, from
the lower end of which a filiform unbranched primary root grew. The
hypocotyl did not elongate after it had emerged, the stem and secondary
roots, also unbranched, developed by the expansion of the plumule, the
roots appearing in the axils of the leaves. The first leaf, as is generally
the case in Nympha?ace«>, was bladeless, elongated and filiform. The
second leaf was usually lanceolate with a long petiole. The third leaf
132 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
was sometimes perfoliate near the margin, but notched at the base, and
sometimes the petiole was attached as usual, and the base was heart-
shaped. The fourth leaf was always perfoliate, as were the succeeding
ones, the insertion of the petiole approaching nearer the center of the
oval leaf in each successive form, but in none of the seedlings studied
did the type form of a perfectly elliptical leaf with the petiole in the
center, appear.
NOTES OX UTRICULARIA RESUPINATA B. D. Greene.
BY CHARLES A. DAVIS, ALMA.
[Abstract.]
This plant grows in the sand along shallow margins of lakes. It has
been found in Pine Lake., Ingham county; Woodward Lake, Ionia county;
Bass Lake, Montcalm county, and one or two other localities in the
state. It is often overlooked because of its resemblance to small grass-
like submerged plants, only the tips of the linear leaves appearing above
the sand. The characteristic bladders are attached to the bases of tht
leaves, and to special branches of the stem. The leaves in floating
specimens are in whorls of three. Two of these are geotropic, and one
heliotropic, all bear one or more bladders. The geotropic leaves are
rather smaller than the others. The growing tip of the stem is also
slightly geotropic, but apparently not decidedly so. In plants growing
under natural conditions the stem grows a short distance below the
surface of the sand, the base of the upright leaf being buried perhaps an
inch. The two geotropic leaves then spread out widely in the sand
and sometimes bear several bladders. There are also special branches
at irregular intervals which seem to bear only bladders without any true
leaves. These seem more numerous in the vicinity of the base of the
flower stalk. There are also fine branches of the stem which seem
to be roots, but it seems probable that they are bladder bearing branches
from which the bladders had been broken in the process of collecting. No
roots appeared on floating stems kept for two years in an aquarium. The
stems survive the winter buried in the sand.
TREES AS DWELLING PLACES FOR ANIMALS.
BY W. J. BEAL.
The rodents and the woodpeckers seem to be especially adapted to
living in trees, as the former have stout chisel teeth and the latter a
beak for pecking holes.
The chief point I had in mind, when I decided to speak on this topic was
to show how these holes originated and how they were kept in good con-
dition suitable for dwellings. If you were to hunt about in the forests,
you would be surprised to discover the great number of kinds of injuries
that trees are subject to. The holes in trees were not purposely left
REIGHARD ON BREEDING HABITS OF THE DOG-PISH. 133
there by the trees to serve as homes for animals, but rather the holes
came there bv some accident to the tree. In the forests, trees crowd
each other, as they grow larger and taller, the limbs shading each other,
till for want of light, some of them die, or the wind or heavy sleet or the
falling of a neighboring tree breaks off all or a considerable portion
of a limb. W 'hen the trees are sound and thrifty these damaged spots
usually grow over or close up the wound, but when the tree has nearly
completed its height and has sent forth numerous large limbs and has
gone far past its prime, these wounds heal slowly or not at all. The
dead limb, or the spot where it broke off, slants upward, permitting
water and decay to enter, till finally, a hole takes the place of the dead
branch, and within the tree a large cavity is often formed. Sometimes
two or three limbs near each other die and there may after a while appear
two or three holes. Many of these holes, the tree attempts to enclose,
year after year, and would finally succeed did not some keen rodent
need it for a dwelling. As the hole grows dangerously small, he gnaws
off the new growth, compelling the tree to keep ''open doors." Squirrels
could use cavities entered through holes large enough for coons or hedge-
hogs, but they usually seek places entered through holes just about
large enough for the largest one of the family. In this way, they are
not molested by their larger enemies. Mice of the woods could use holes
large enough for squirrels, but they usually seek lodgings of very small
size. When once within hawks and owls can do them no harm.
All of these animals are shy of one another and besides, their habits
are not all alike. The coon, flying squirrel and mouse are stirring about
by night and remain at home asleep by day, while the gray squirrel
and red squirrel sleep nights and are busy at work and play by day.
Coons store up food in the form of fat, and during cold winter curl up
and remain dormant for weeks together, while some squirrels lay in
a good store of nuts for use, when the ground is covered with snow.
[This paper was well illustrated by numerous blocks or sections,
showing the origin and formation and maintenance of homes for anim-
als.]
THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE DOG-FISH, AMIA CALVA.
BY JACOB REIGHARD, ANN ARBOR.
[Abstract.]
The paper, of which this is an abstract, is a contribution towards the
determination of certain disputed points of fact concerning the breeding
habits of the dog-fish. By way of preface there is given a brief statement
of those facts about which there is general agreement.
In late April and early May the dog-fish seek the shallower waters
of our lakes and rivers and there prepare nests in which they deposit
their eggs. These nests are circular areas, from which all leaves and
stems of water plants have been removed. The bottom of the nest,
which is concave, is formed of the fibrous roots of water plants, less
often in the absence of these, of gravel, or of the water soaked leaves
134 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
of the cat-tail. Its sides are usually of growing water-plants. Nests
built, as often happens, under logs, stumps, or bushes, are apt to be ir-
regular in form and to have no vegetation at the sides. The bottoms of
the nests are covered by from one to two feet of water and are closely
strewn with the adhesive eggs.
The male fish remains on the nest or in the neighborhood and guards
it until the young fish are hatched.
The newly hatched larvae remain for some days attached to the bottom
of the nest by means of a peculiar .adhesive organ situated at the end
of the snout. After a time they leave the nest in company with the
male and for some time they remain together in a dense swarm which is
attended and protected by the male. When the fish have grown larger
che swarm disperses.
Neglecting the earlier observations of Dr. Estes,1 the foregoing state-
ments are taken from three published papers. Those of Fulleborn,2 of
Dean,3 and of Whitman and Eycleshymer,4 and are corroborated by my
own observations extending over eight years.
The points upon which these writers are not in agreement are indicated
under the first five headings below, while under the sixth head I have
given some observations on the act of spawning. My observations were
nearly all made during the springs of 1898 and 1899, in a small bay
of the Huron river — a bay which measures about 230 bv 30 vards. In
this area 21 nests were located in 1897 and the same number in 1898.
1. Are the nests made at the time of spawning or earlier ?
Whitman and Eycleshymer have made no observations of their own,
but quote with approval a letter of Ayres, who says: "The nest
is not a premeditated structure, but merely the result of the move-
ments of the fish in and about the place selected for spawning, during
the period of sexual excitement." Ayers does not quote observations
in support of this view. Fulleborn and Dean have found nests prepared
in advance of spawning and Dean speaks of nests which were occupied
by fish for a number of days before the eggs were deposited.
Of the twentv-one nests observed bv me in 1898, thirteen are known
to have been built in advance of the deposit of the eggs. Eggs were laid
in eight of these nests, while five were abandoned without eggs having
been laid in them. The interval between the building of the nest and
the laying of the eggs varied from fifteen hours to six days, the latter
period an unusually long one.
2. Are the nests made by the male, by the female or by both ?
The male is distinguishable from the female by a conspicuous orange-
bordered black spot on the tail and by green fins. It is possible to dis-
tinguish the two at a distance of ten feet.
Fulleborn observed nests occupied by male fish before spawning, in-
i-Estes, Dr.: In Halleck's. The Sportsman's Gazette.
2Fulleborn, P.: Bericht ueber eine zur Untersuehung von Amia, Lepidosteus und
Necturus unternommene Reise nach Nord-America. Sitzungsberichte den Aakad. d. Wiss
zu Berlin. XL, pp. 1057-1070. Oct. 25, 1S94.
-Dean. Bashfoiu: The early development of Amia. Quart. Jour. Micr. Sci. XXXVIII.
February, 1896.
4Whitman & Evcle^hymer: The Egg of Amia and its Cleavage. Jour. Morphology,
Vol. XII, No. 2, 1896.
REIGHARD ON BREEDING HABITS OF THE DOG-FISH. 135
dictating the males as the architects. Dean and Ayers (as quoted by
Whitman and Eycleshymer) believe the nests to be made at the spawn-
ing time or jnst before, by the circling of the fish.
I have collected two sorts of evidence bearing on this point. First.
By stretching a fyke net across the mouth of the bay in which the nests
are made, sometime in advance of spawning, I have been able to deter-
mine how many and what fish seek the spawning ground first. During
?,even days (April 14th to 20th) forty-four fish were taken, of which
thirty-nine were males. In the thirteen nests which were observed to be
built in advance of spawning, eleven were seen to be occupied by male
fish and no females were seen about them until the eggs were laid. The
males had evidently built the nests and were awaiting the females. In
eight cases the females arrived and eggs were laid in the nests. Ad-
ditional evidence on this point is given under the next head.
3. What is the method of making the nests f
I have examined no less than a hundred nests to see whether there
was any evidence of this being produced \by a circling of the fish at
the time of spawning, but have never detected any such evidence. The
surrounding plants are not pressed aside nor arranged in any way like
the materials of a bird's nest. The nests have the appearance of having
been formed merely by the removal of the water-plants or other mater-
ials so as to form a concavity, the bottom of which is formed usually
of fibrous roots.
The nests are frequently under logs or stumps where a circling of the
fish would be difficult of execution.
Besides this negative evidence, we have several times, while sitting
quietly watching, seen the swirl of a fish's tail among the water-plants
at the surface and have been able to determine that the fish was a male.
The fish was in such cases working at the bottom with his head,
and freshly cut young shoots of water-plants were often seen floating over
such places. In several cases I was able to follow the history of such
places continuously and to make out that they were afterward occupied
by nests. The male then appears to make the nest by biting and tear-
ing away the aquatic plants.
4. How near are the nests together ?
This depends on the nature of the bottom. Where the locality is
favorable, as about a fallen log, nests may be built within a few feet of
one another. With a wide area of bottom suitable for nest building
at all points nests are more scattered. I found the average distance of
twenty-one nests to be thirty-five feet. Dean says that "as many as half
a dozen nests were found to occur within the space of a few square
yards." Whitman and Eycleshymer remark, "this needs confirmation."
They have found the nests, "never more than four or five in a single bay
and usually rods apart." Both statements may be true, the frequency of
nests depending mainly on the area of suitable bottom as compared to
the number of spawning fish.
136 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
5. What is the length of time occupied in spawning ?
Dean, on what evidence is not clear, believes that the "spawning oc-
cupies considerable time" and conjectures that in some cases as many as
twelve hours are thus consumed. "In this" remark Whitman and
Eycleshyrner "he is probably much mistaken." Again they say: "That
the average period of deposition is brief, can hardly be doubted, since
in most cases the eggs of a nest are found in the same, or nearly the
same, stage of development."
In several nests I have found eggs in cleavage stages varying from
two to sixteen cells. According to the table given by Whitman and
Eycleshyrner, to show the time occupied in development, there is an
interval of about three hours between the two cell and the sixteen cell
si age. In these cases then the deposition of eggs must have occupied
this period at least. Additional evidence is given under the sixth head
below.
As development proceeds differences of a few hours in the age of the
eggs in a nest are not at all noticeable — so that all the eggs from a nest
appear to be in the same stage. In the cleavage stage, on the other
hand, differences in age may be measured with great accuracy.
I have twice found nests which contained two sets of eggs of widely
different stages. In one of the cases my record showed that the nest
had been spawned in and then abandoned, to be subsequently spawned
in by a second fish.
6. The method of spawning.
Having built his nest the male guards it and I have several times
seen males leave their nests in order to drive other males from the
neighborhood. On such occasions the males frequently fight fiercely,
so that one often finds them at the spawning season with portions
of the fins bitten away or strips of the skin torn from the sides. The
male thus holds the nest until a female arrives, when the spawning
begins. This may occur at any time of day or night. The females
lies in the nest and the male circles about her head, frequently stopping
to bite her gently on the snout or sides. These maneuvers continue
for ten to fifteen minutes. The male then places himself by the side
of the female and there is a violent agitation of the fins of both, dur-
ing which the eggs and milt are emitted. This continues for the frac-
tion of a minute. The circling movements are then again resumed to
be followed by a brief interval of spawning. In one case the spawn-
ing was observed for an hour and forty minutes, and during this time
four or five batches of eggs were laid. At the end of this time the nest
contained but few eggs. Upon returning to it next morning many more
eggs were found in it, so that the whole time of spawning was undoubt-
edly several hours.
I may add here a single unrelated observation. The eggs in this local-
ity are much lighter in color than those figured by Whitman and
Eycleshyrner — so that the nests may be very conspicuous when first built
— easily seen at a distance of twenty or thirty feet. Later the eggs
grow darker and the nest itself less conspicuous. Often, however, even
when first built the nests are concealed by logs, stumps, bushes, or the
floating stems and leaves of cat-tails, and are then very difficult to find.
';, « n : l
ytiw
'i\ ■ '. •••
■ .■
FIG. 1. SKETCH OF AMIA NEST WITH
MALE FISH. By permission of Professor Bash-
ford Dean. X about 1-24.
I 'ir
FIG. 2. MALE AMIA WITH SWARM OF
YOUNG. By permission of Professor Bashford
Dean. X about 1-24.
PHELPS ON THE ADHESIVE ORGAN OF AMIA CALVA. 137
Summary: (1.) The nests of Amia are built by the male fish a con-
siderable time in advance of spawning.
(2.) They are made by biting and tearing away the aquatic plants or
other materials on the bottom, so as to form a concavity, the bottom
of which is composed of fibrous roots, gravel, or water-soaked cat-tail
leaves or other parts of plants.
(3.) The frequency of the nests depends on the area of available bot-
tom, as compared to the number of spawning fish, and varies within wide
limits.
1 4.) The spawning occupies several hours and consists of short periods
of actual egg laying, alternating with longer periods of circling by the
male.
(5.) The same nest may be used by two fish in succession and may
contain consequently eggs in widely different stages of development.
(6.) Nests may be very conspicuous or inconspicuous.
Zoological Laboratory, University of Michigan, March, 1899.
THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ADHESIVE ORGAN
OF AMIA CALVA.
BY JESSIE PHELPS, YPSILANTI.
[Abstract.]
The adhesive organs of Amia and Lepidosteus and the probable
homologous fundaments from which the barbels arise in Acipenser have
been described by Dean ('96), Balfour ('81), and V. Kupffer ('91), re-
spectively as of ectodermal origin. Certain sections of Amia embryos
which Professor Reighard obtained in 1895, led him to suspect that the
organ in this form was of entodermal origin. At his suggestion I have
collected evidence which entirely justifies this suspicion and which is
presented in what follows:
The adhesive organ of Amia is a larval organ which is functional
for only a few days immediately after hatching. At this time the organ
consists of a pair of semi-circular or U-shaped ridges, which are so placed
on the end of the snout as to form an incomplete ring. Each of these
ridges consists of from six to eight cups which open to the surface.
The cells of these cups secrete a mucus by which the young animal at-
taches itself to the water weeds. As far as the general appearance and
structure is concerned one might easily conclude that the organ is
ectodermal for it is embedded in the surface ectoblast and shows no
connection whatever with the entoblast. But by tracing the history
of the cells which constitute the organ, they are found to take their
origin from among the entodermal cells of the foregut some time before
the mouth is formed. At this early period, while the embryo still lies
flat upon the yolk, a broad and high dorsally directed enlargement of
the anterior extremity of the foregut causes a slight elevation on the
exterior immediately in front of the tip of the fore brain. The elevation
is crescent shaped and lies with its horns pointing posteriorly. This
enlargement or diverticulum of the foregut is the fundament of the
18
138 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
adhesive organ. Its walls are composed of a single layer of high
columnar cells, which are in contact with the two-layered ectoblast.
In slightly older embryos the crescent shaped area has given place to a
pair of hemispherical protuberances which are quite as prominent a
feature of the head as the optic vesicles immediately in front of which
they lie. In the median line between the two protuberances and directly
in front of the tip of the forebrain is a smaller protuberance, or button-
like elevation, which is a remnant of the middle part of the crescentic
area of the preceding stage, while the two, large paired protuberances
are developed from the horns of that area. They each contain a sac-like
cavity, which opens widely to the foregut and the cells of the walls
are higher and more columnar than before. We now have the funda-
ments of each of the halves, or U-shaped ridges of the adhesive organ.
The original diverticulum has become divided into three diverticula, a
small median and two large lateral ones.
In somewhat older eggs in which the embryo extends over about
220 degrees of the circumference and in which both the head and tail
are protuberant, the adhesive organ has the form of two U-shaped ridges
which lie at the very end of the snout in contact with the optic vesicles
and with their concavities directed toward one another and toward the
median plane. In fact, they have nearly the position of the ridges in
the organ of the newly hatched larvae described above. The median,
button-like elevation is no longer visible. Internally it is found that
the diverticula or the paired protuberances of the preceding stage have
become extended and have taken on the form of long, curved tubes
which open widely as before into the foregut. The cells of these diverti-
cula are directly continuous with those of. the foregut; they are more
columnar than before and their ends which lie toward the luinina are
clear, while the opposite ends are filled with yolk granules. This stage
differs from the preceding, mainly in the fact that the paired diverticula
have become U-shaped and that the button-shaped elevation has dis-
appeared.
In embryos a very little older than the one just described, no external
changes are seen, but sections reveal the fact that the lumina of the
diverticula, which are still in connection with the foregut, are divided
into alternate wide and narrow portions, so that they present a beaded
appearance. The six to eight dilatations, or wider portions, are the
fundaments of a series of spherical, closed vesicles, which later give
rise to the open cups of the functional organ. The walls of the diverti-
cula continue to be composed of but a single layer of columnar cells in
close contact with the very thin ectoblast. No mesenchyme intervenes
between the ectoblast and the fundament of the adhesive organ.
The changes which lead from this stage to that of the hatching stage
first described, follow each other closely. First: Each of the dilatations
becomes independent and forms a closed hollow sphere or vesicle.
Those in connection with the foregut are also cut off and the several
vesicles lie separate, but close together and in such a manner as to
form two U-shaped ridges. The external appearance is as described in
the previous stage. Second: The cavities of the vesicles shift their
positions so that they lie against the external ectoderm of the snout.
The wall of each vesicle is now no longer of the same thickness at all
WILBUR ON CLIMATE AND MORTALITY IN MICHIGAN. 139
points, nor is the cavity entirely closed by the entoderm. That is, on
account of the shifting of the cavities toward the exterior, the outer
walls of the vesicle have been pushed back so that now the cavity is
closed on the outside by the ectoderm alone. Third: This ectoderm
closing the vesicles breaks away and the vesicles are thus converted into
the open cups of the functional organ. The walls of the cups consist
of a single layer of exceedingly high, columnar, goblet cells, which
secrete the mucus that renders the organ adhesive. The two layers
of ectoderm come close up to the rims of the cavities and thus make
it appear that they are continuous with the walls of the cups. But aside
from the historical evidences just stated, the fact of the presence of the
yolk material which is found at all times in the cells which constitute
the organ, up to and including the hatching stage, marks these cells as
entodermal.
As was stated, the adhesive organ remains functionally active dur-
ing the early life of the larva and enables the animal to attach itself
to foreign bodies. As the larva grows stronger and more capable of
vigorous muscular activities, the adhesive organ gradually atrophies. As
it disappears its cells become vacuolated and leucocytes make their
appearance among them. At the same time it is gradually covered in
and pushed beneath the surface by the overlying ectoblast which becomes
much thickened. By the time the larva is 20 mm. long no external sign
of the organ remains. Sections, however, show that it exists below the
surface fur a few days, at the end of which it entirely disappears. It
is interesting to note that in its atrophy it passes through stages which
resemble the degenerating notochord, another entodermal organ.
The adhesive organ of Amia is therefore entoblastic and is unique
as an instance of a vertebrate organ of entoblastic origin which becomes
incorporated in the ectoblast.
COMPARATIVE .STATISTICS OF CLIMATE AND MORTALITY IN
MICHIGAN.
BY CRESS Y L. WILBUR, M. D., LANSING.
In this brief note I wish to call attention to only a single point, viz., that
an opportunity is now presented for making valuable comparisons be-
tween the records of meteorology for this State and the statistics of
causes of deaths.
This has not been possible until very recently. Our present excellent
system of registering deaths went into effect on August 29, 1897, and
there was published with the December, 1898, Bulletin of Vital Statistics
a graphic representation of the relations of the death rates of this State,
by months, to the chief elements of sanitary meteorology, temperature
and precipitation. Besides the curves representing the total death-rates,
lines for two of the most important dangerous communicable diseases,
consumption and typhoid fever, are also given. The mortality is further
analyzed as urban and rural, thus enabling the study to embrace the
well known effects of density of population, and according to its distribu-
tion in the four geographical sections of the State. The latter are the
140 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE.
same as employed by the Michigan Weather Service, thus enabling com-
parisons to be made with facility.
The accompanying table gives rates for several other important causes
of death, whose graphic representation would be of great interest.
Besides the rates for Michigan, death rates are presented for the
States of Connecticut, New York, and for the Province of Ontario, in
all of which mortality statistics are collected and promptly published
soon after the end of each month. There is a favorable prospect also
that data from Indiana and Wisconsin may soon be available for this
purpose.
As it is, we have statistics of the most important causes of death for
Michigan and other states representing an aggregate population of
about one-seventh of the United States, available for comparative study
in connection with the statistics of weather, within 30 days after the
close of each month. The timely interest of such studies is obvious, as
they may be made while the phenomena considered are still fresh in the
minds of the people.
It is the purpose of calling attention to this fact and of soliciting the
interest of the members of this Academy in this class of work that
excuses the presentation of this hastily prepared paper. For obvious
reasons, the detailed analysis of the data of mortality and weather,
in all its bearings, is impossible within the reasonable limits and scope
of a monthly report. In such a report it is only possible, as a rule, to
provide the raw material, in as convenient a form for use as possible,
and its further study must depend on the number and activity of those
interested. Since the discontinuance of Climate and Health, published
a short time by the United States Department of Agriculture, there
has been no systematic attempt to make such comparative studies for
any considerable portion of the United States, and hence the field is
practically unoccupied. Should any member of the Academy desire, I
presume that the directors of Vital Statistics of the states now pub-
lishing monthly bulletins would be pleased to send them regularly for
the purpose of comparative study, and so far as the Michigan service is
concerned, we shall not only be glad to cordially co-operate in supply-
ing the data for such work, but may also be able, to some degree, to
assist in presenting such papers to the attention of students of meteorol-
ogy and demography through the pages of the Bulletin.
Lansing, Mich., March 27, 1899.
WILBUR ON CLIMATE AND MORTALITY IN MICHIGAN. 141
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SMITH ON NEW PROBLEMS AND NEW PHASES OF OLD ONES. 143
NEW PROBLEMS AND NEW PHASES OF OLD ONES.
BY CLINTON D. SMITH, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
I shall attempt, briefly, to state something about some of the problems
that confront the thinker and worker along lines of agricultural pro-
gress without stopping to discuss »any one of them at all thoroughly.
Whoever is interested in the literature relating to soils has noted the
trend away from chemistry and towards physics in the recent discussions
relating to the proper treatment and fertilization of fields. Formerly
it was.supposed that the chemical constitution of the soil was a sufficient
guide as to what the soil would do and what it needed to make it grow
any one of our common cereals. The opposition of practical experience
to this theory was attributed to the ignorance of the objector. Now
we are studying the physical side of the questions much more, perhaps,
than the chemical. Water is the greater desideratum in plant growth.
How can we hold the rain falling in the spring for the use of crops grow-
ing in the late summer is the great problem presented to the practical
farmer and not how to retain the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash,
important as that question is. Hence comes the importance attached
to humus and the stress laid upon the application of barn yard manure
or plowing under green crops as a means of maintaining fertility. Form-
erly the value of manure was estimated entirely by the amount of nitro-
gen and other plant elements it contained, now it is valued because it
contributes decaying vegetable matter to the soil and thus helps
the physical, water holding, capacity of the soil.
Cultivation is likewise carried on with this idea of conservation of
moisture clearly in mind. The fact that, through the bulletins of ex-
periment stations, and later through the current agricultural press, the
knowledge of the correct principles in this matter has been widely
disseminated, makes possible the successful culture of certain new crops
in this State that would not be here at all without this improvement
in method.
The careful work of the scientist in the studv of fungus and insect
enemies of fruits, cereals and vegetables is yielding an abundant harvest
of good to the State at large. No sooner does a new disease attack any
valuable plant than the scientist interested in the department involved
is working out a life history and suggesting proper remedies. Thanks
to the cryptogamic botanist we know how to ward off most of the
diseases that afflict our fruit trees, but we have yet other work for him
to do. Who shall diagnose the cause of peach yellows, little peach, crown
gall, or rosette? The work in this line is just begun and new problems
are constantly confronting us.
He who is interested in combating destructive insects may find his
best ingenuity put to the test to suggest a remedy for the threatening
gypsy moth, the introduction of which into Michigan would mean the
practical annihilation, not only of the fruit trees but of the forests
themselves.
144 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
I will not take up your time by suggesting problems that confront
the practical agriculturist, farther than to refer to some that relate
to the new industry recently assuming gigantic proportions in the Pen-
insular State. The widespread attempt to raise sugar beets by farmers
who know nothing about the industry is going to call for the best
wisdom of the scientific men of the State, to prevent fatal mistakes.
It is going to call for a vast deal of original work in all phases of the
subject. The experiments we have already carried on have demonstrated
the futility of relying upon German dicta for our guidance. The whole
subject must be studied anew in this country. Let me illustrate:
One of the most important matters that we shall have to attend to in
the development of this industry is the growing of thoroughbred seed.
This involves the careful selection of the mother beets by the polari-
scope, then the growing of the selected mothers under the best con-
ditions, the preservation of the seed of each separately and the selection
the next year of the strain offering the greatest number of rich beets
conforming to the chosen type. Thereafter the chemist must keep in
close control of the seed growing and thousands of dollars must be spent
annually in analyses of beets to prevent reversion to the normal low
content of sugar. American ingenuity is to be put to the test to ac-
complish the production of reliable seed without the cumbrous methods
now in vogue in Germany. The matter is of the most immediate im-
portance, the growing of seed must begin in 1899 or the immediate
future of the sugar production is in danger.
A second necessity confronts us in this sugar beet business, namely,
the necessity of inventing some way of preventing waste of so much seed
in the beet field. The Michigan Experiment Station, which in 1890
and 1891 was the first to call attention to the growing of sugar beets
in Michigan, will conduct a series of experiments this year along this
line. I have visited some twenty-six counties in the State, lecturing to
farmers, who are wild with excitement, ready to believe anything in
regard to the method of growing the beets, and in constant danger of
being misled by interested parties and I have found one of the chief
dangers to lie in their willingness to accept second rate seed, because
they are ignorant of its quality and their anxiety to sow as small a
quantity of seed as possible. As long as the seed is imported from
Germany and we have no better guaranty of its germination and vitality
than the good will of the German Emperor to the American sugar in-
dustry, we will do well not to stint the amount used. A good stand
is absolutely essential and to secure it we must have enough seed sown
to produce a strong beet every two inches.
A third problem presented by this new industry is the avoidance of
the excessive labor of thinning. How this is to be done is not yet clear,
but that it must be done is strongly urged and that it will be
done is manifest when one thinks that the problem is in the hands
of Americans justly noted for their ingenuity. A fourth problem
relates to a better' method of harvest, whereby the present excessive
labor may be dispensed with.
Turning now to the side of the factory, we find our ambition to go
at inconsiderate speed into putting up factories confronted by the cer-
tainty, well nigh absolute, that within a couple of years our present
SMITH ON NEW PROBLEMS AND NEW PHASES OP OLD ONES. 145
expensive and, it must be confessed, clumsy machinery and methods of
manufacturing, will be displaced by simpler, more economical and more
efficient apparatus. I have but to refer to the experiments going on
in Belgium and also in Austria where, by the use of an electrolytic
method the crystalization of the sugar from the purified juices is greatly
expedited and is much more economically accomplished.
It may be rightfully supposed that the chemicals found in nature
produce the same results in America that they do in Europe, but much
light is needed to answer the question what are the real melassigenic
salts? We have condemned certain chlorides and carbonates, to the
point of prohibiting the use of water containing them. Others we have
pronounced harmless. We have certainly done it without sufficient
authoritative experiments in this country.
In conclusion, I refer to the desirability of improved chemical methods
in the factory whereby justice to the patron bringing beets may be
better assured and whereby the matter may be somewhat expedited.
19
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ARTICLE I.
This Society shall be known as The Michigan Academy op Science.
ARTICLE II: Objects.
The objects of this Academy shall be scientific research and the diffu-
sion of knowledge concerning the various departments of science.
ARTICLE III: Membership.
The Academy shall be composed of Resident Members, Corresponding
Members, Honorary Members, and Patrons.
1. Resident Members shall be persons who are interested in scientific
work and resident in the State of Michigan.
2. Corresponding Members shall be persons interested in science, and
not resident in the State of Michigan.
3. Honorary Members shall be persons distinguished for their attain-
ments in science, and not resident in the State of Michigan, and shall not
exceed twenty-five in number.
4. Patrons shall be persons who have bestowed important favors upon
the Academy, as defined in Chapter I, Paragraph 4 of the By-Laws.
5. Resident Members alone shall be entitled to vote and hold office in
the Academy.
ARTICLE IV: Officers.
1. The officers of the Academy shall consist of a President, a Vice-
President of each Section that may be organized, a Secretary, and a
Treasurer.
These officers shall constitute an Executive Committee, which shall be
called the Council.
148 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
[This last sentence was amended April 1, 1808, to read as follows:
These officers, and all past presidents, shall constitute an executive com-
mittee which shall be called the Council.] *
2. The President shall discharge the usual duties of a presiding offi-
cer at all meetings of the Academy, and of the Council. He shall take
cognizance of the acts of the Academy and of its officers, and cause the
provisions of the Constitution and By-Laws to be faithfully carried
into effect. He shall also give an address to the Academy at the closing
meeting of the year for which he is elected.
3. The duties of the President in case of his absence or disability
shall be assumed by one of the Vice-Presidents wJio shall be designated
by the Council.
The Vice -Presidents shall be chairmen of their respective Sections.
They shall encourage and direct research in the special branches of
science included within the Sections over which they preside.
4. The Secretary shall keep the records of the proceedings of the
Academy, and a complete list of the members, with the dates of their
election and disconnection with the Academy. He shall also be the Sec-
retary of the Council.
The Secretary shall co-operate with the President in attending to the
ordinary affairs of the Society. He shall attend to the preparation, print-
ing and mailing of circulars, blanks, and notifications of elections and
meetings. He shall superintend other printing ordered by the Academy,
or by the President, and shall have charge of its distribution under the
direction of the Council.
The Secretary, unless other provision be made, shall also act as
Editor of the publications of the Academy and as Librarian and Custodian
of property.
5. The Treasurer shall have the custody of all funds of the Academy.
He shall keep an account of receipts and disbursements in detail, and
this account shall be audited as hereinafter provided.
6. The Academy may elect an Editor to supervise all matters con-
nected with the publication of the transactions of the Academy, under the
dicection of the Council, and to perform the duties of Librarian until
such time as the Academy shall make that an independent office.
7. The Council is clothed with executive authority, and with the
legislative powers of the Academy in the intervals between the latter's
meetings; but no extraordinary act of the Council shall remain in force
beyond the next following stated meeting, without ratification by the
Academy. The Council shall have control of the publications of the
Academy, under the provisions of the By-Laws and of resolutions from
time to time adopted. It shall receive nominations for members, and
on approval, shall submit such nominations to the Academy for action.
It shall have power to fill vacancies ad interim, in any of the offices of
the Academy.
8. Terms of Office. The President and Treasurer shall be elected
annually, and shall not be eligible to re-election for an interval of three
years after retiring from office. The Vice Presidents, Secretary, and the
Editor shall be elected annually and be eligible to re-election without lim-
itation. [Section 8 was amended April 1. 1898, to read as follows: The
President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor shall be
elected annually, and be eligible to re-election without limitation.]
CONSTITUTION. 149
f. ARTICLE V: Voting and Elections.
1. All elections shall be by ballot. To elect a Resident Member, Cor-
responding Member, Honorary Member, or Patron, or impose any special
tax shall require the assent of three-fourths of all Resident Members vot-
ing.
2. Any member may be expelled by a vote of nine-tenths of all
members voting, providing notice that such a movement is contemplated
be given at. a meeting of the Academy three months previous to such
action.
3. Election of Members. Nominations for Resident membership
shall be made by two Resident Members, according to a form to be pro-
vided by the Council. One of these Resident Members must be personally
acquainted with the nominee and his qualifications for membership.
The Council shall submit the nominations received by them, if approved,,
to a vote of the Academy at a regular meeting.
4. Election of Officers*. Nominations for office shall be made by
the Council as provided in the By-Laws. The nominations shall be sub-
mitted to a vote of the Academy at its winter [Annual] meeting. The
officers thus elected shall enter upon duty at the adjournment of the
meeting.
T>. At the meeting in which this Constitution is adopted the officers
for the ensuing year shall be elected in such manner as the Academy may
determine.
ARTICLE VI: Meetings.
1. The Academy shall hold at least two stated meetings a year — a
Summer [or Field] Meeting, and a Winter [or Annual] Meeting. The date
and place of each meeting shall be fixed by the Council, and announced
by circular at least three months before the meeting. The programme of
each meeting shall be determined by the Council, and announced before-
hand, in its general features. The details of the daily sessions shall also
be arranged by the Council.
2. All members must forward to the Secretary, if possible before the
convening of the Academy, full titles of all papers which they propose to
present during the meeting, with a statement of the time that each will
occupy in delivery and a brief abstract of their contents. From the
abstracts thus presented, the Council will determine the fitness of the
paper for the programme.
3. At the Winter meeting the election of officers shall take place, and
the officers elect shall enter upon duty at the adjournment of the meet-
ing. [This section stricken out. April 1, 1898.]
4. Special Meetings of the Academy may be called by the Council,
and must be called upon the written request of twTenty Resident Members.
5. Stated Meetings of the Council, shall be held coincidently with
the stated meetings of the Academy. Special meetings of the Council
may be called by the President at such times as he may deem necessary.
0. Quorum. At meetings of the Academy a majority of those regis-
tered in attendance shall constitute a quorum. A majority shall con-
stitute -a quorum of the Council. [Amended April 1, 1898. to read
"Four members shall constitute a quorum of the Council."]
150 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
ARTICLE VII: Publications.
The publications of the Academy shall be under the immediate control
of the Council, but the Council shall accord to each author the right,
under proper restrictions, to publish through whatever channel he may
choose.
ARTICLE VIII: Sections.
Members not less than eight in number may by special permission of
the Academy unite to form a Section for the investigation of any branch
of science. Each Section shall bear the name of the science which it
represents, thus: The Section of (Agriculture) of the Michigan Academy
of Science.
2. Each Section is empowered to perfect its own organization as
limited by the Constitution and By-Laws of the Academy.
ARTICLE IX: Amendments.
This Constitution may be amended at any Winter [Annual] meeting
by a three-fourths vote of all the Resident Members present, provided
that notice of the proposed amendment shall have been given at a pre-
vious meeting. [Amended, April 1, 1897, by striking out the last fifteen
words.]
BY-LAWS.
CHAPTER I: Membership.
1. No person shall be accepted as a Resident Member unless he pay
his initiation fee, and the dues for the year, within three months after
notification of his election. The initiation fee shall be one (1) dollar and
the annual dues one (1) dollar, the latter payable on or before the annual
meeting in advance; but a single pre-payment of twenty-five (25) dollars
shall be accepted as commutation for life.
2. The sums paid in commutation of dues shall be invested, and the
interest used for the ordinary purposes of the Academy during the payer's
life, but after his death the sum shall be covered into the Research Fund.
3. An arrearage in payment of annual dues shall deprive a Resident
Member of the privilege of taking part in the management of the
Academy and of receiving the publications of the Academy. An arrear-
age continuing over two (2) years shall be construed as notification of
withdrawal.
4. Any person eligible under Article III of the Constitution, may be
elected Patron upon the payment of one hundred (100) dollars to the
Research Fund of the Academv.
CHAPTER II: Officials.
1. The President shall countersign, if he approves, all duly author-
ized accounts and orders drawn on the Treasurer for the disbursement of
monev.
2. The Secretary, until otherwise ordered by the Academy, shall
perform the duties of Editor, Librarian, and Custodian of the property
of the Society.
3. The Academy may elect an Assistant Secretary.
4. The Treasurer shall give bonds, with two good sureties approved
by the Council, in the sum of five hundred dollars, for the faithful and
honest performance of his duties, and the safe-keeping of the funds of the
Academy. He may deposit the funds in bank at his discretion, but
shall not invest them without the authority of the Council. His accounts
shall be balanced on the thirtieth day of November of each year. [Last
sentence amended April 1. 1898. to read ''His accounts shall be balanced
on the first day of the Annual Meeting of each year."]
5. The minutes of the proceedings of the Council shall be subject to
call bv the Academv.
152 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
CHAPTER III: Election op Members.
1. Nominations for Resident Membership may be proposed at any
time on blanks to be supplied by the Secretary.
2. The form for the nomination of Resident Members shall be as
follows:
In accordance with his desire, we respectfully nominate for Resident Member of
the Michigan Academy of Science
(Full name)
(Address)
(Occupation)
(Branch of Science interested in. work already done, and publications if any)
(Signed by at least two Resident Members)
The form when filled is to be transmitted to the Secretary.
3. The Secretary shall bring all nominations before the Council at
either the winter [Annual] or summer [Field] meeting of the Academy,
and the Council shall signify its approval or disapproval of each.
4. At the same or the next stated meeting of the Academy, the Sec-
retary shall present the list of candidates to the Academy for election.
5. * Corresponding Members, Honorary Members, and Patrons shall be
nominated by the Council, and shall be elected in the same manner as
Resident Members.
CHATER IV: Election of Officers.
1. The Council shall designate three candidates for each office, except
the offices of Vice-Presidents, for which but single candidates shall be
named.
2. Each Section may recommend to the Council a candidate for
Vice-President.
3. The form for the nomination and election of officers, unless other-
wise provided by the Council, shall be as follows:
The Council nominates for officers of the Michigan Academy of Science,
for the ensuing year the following persons:
(The voter will indicate his preference out of each of the sets of names below by
erasing, except for Vice-Presidents, the two other names in each set, or will sub-
stitute the name of his choice.)
1.
For President, 2.
3.
Section
For Vice-President, Section
Section
1.
For Secretary, 2.
For Treasurer,
3.
1.
•>
3*.
The Secretary shall distribute a copy of this ballot to each member
at the Winter Meeting.
4. In case a majority of all the ballots shall not have been cast for
one of the three candidates for an office, the Society shall by ballot at
BY-LAWS. 153
such Winter Meeting, proceed to make an election for such office from the
two candidates having the highest number of votes. [Chapter IV of
the By-Laws was amended April 1, 1898, to read as follows:
Section 1. At the Annual Meeting the election of officers shall take
place, and the officers elected shall enter on their duties at the end of
the meeting.
Section 2. The Council shall nominate a candidate for each office, but
each Section may recommend to the Council a candidate for its Vice-
President. Additional nominations may be made by any member of the
Academy. All elections shall be made by ballot. Sections 3 and 4 re-
pealed.]
CHAPTER V: Financial Methods.
1. No pecuniary obligation shall be contracted without express sanc-
tion of the Academy or the Council. But it is to be understood that all
ordinal'}*, incidental and running expenses have the permanent sanction
of the Academy, without special action.
2. The creditor of the Academy must present to the Treasurer a fully
itemized bill, certified by the official ordering it, and approved by the
President. The Treasurer shall then pay the amount out of any funds
not otherwise appropriated, and the receipted bill shall be held as his
voucher.
3. At each annual meeting, the President shall call upon the Acad-
emy to choose two members, not members of the Council, to whom shall
be referred the books of the Treasurer, duly posted and balanced to the
close of November thirtieth, [to the first day of the Annual Meeting]
as specified in the By-Laws, Chapter II, Paragraph 4. These Auditors
shall examine the accounts and vouchers of the Treasurer, and any
member or members of the Council may be present during the examina-
tion. The report of the Auditors shall be rendered to the Academy be-
fore the adjournment of the meeting and the Academy shall take ap-
propriate action.
CHAPTER VI: Publications.
1. The publications are in charge of the Council and under their con-
trol, limited only as given by Article VII, of the Constitution.
2. One copy of each publication shall be sent to each Resident Mem-
ber, Corresponding Member, Honorary Member, and Patron, and each
author shall receive fifty copies of his memoir. This provision shall not
be understood as including publications in journals not controlled by the
Academy.
CHAPTER VII: The Research Fund.
1. The Research Fund shall consist of moneys paid by the general
public for publications of the Academy, of donations made in aid of re-
search, and of the sums paid in commutation of dues according to the
By-Laws. Chapter I. Paragraphs 2 am] 4.
20
154 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
2. Donors to this fund, not Members of the Academy, in the sum of
twenty-five dollars, shall be entitled without charge, to the publications
subsequently appearing.
CHAPTER VIII: Order of Business.
1. The Order of Business at the Winter [Annual] Meetings shall be
as follows:
(1) Call to order by the Presiding Officer.
(2) Introductory ceremonies.
(3) Statements by the President.
(4) Report of the Council.
(5) Report of the Treasurer, and appointment of the Auditing Committee.
(6) Election of officers of the next ensuing Administration.
(7) Election of Members.
(8) Announcement of the hour and place for the Address of the retiring
President.
(9) Necrologieal notices.
(10) Miscellaneous announcements.
(11) Business motions and resolutions, and disposal thereof.
(12) Reports of committees, and disposal thereof.
(13) Miscellaneous motions and resolutions.
(14) Presentation of memoirs.
2. At an adjourned session, the order shall be resumed at the place
reached on the previous adjournment, but new announcements, motions
and resolutions, will be in order before the resumption of the business
pending at the adjournment of the last preceding session.
3. At the Summer [FieldI Meeting, the items of business under
numbers (5), (6), (8). (9), shall be omitted.
4. At any Special Meeting the Order of Business shall be (1), (2), (3),
(7), (10), followed by the special business for which the meeting was called.
CHAPTER IX. Amendments.
These By-Laws may be amended by a majority vote of the members
present at any regular meeting, provided that notice of the substance
of the proposed amendment has been given at a previous regular meet-
ing. [Amended, April 1, 1897, by striking out the last eighteen words.]
LIST OF MEMBERS
OF THE
MICHIGAN" ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
This list includes the names, of all persons who have been actual mem-
bers of the Academy at any time, but does not include those who have
been elected but have declined membership or failed to qualify. Nainea
of actual Resident Members, on June 30, 1S99, are preceded by an
asterisk (*); names of Charter Members are in capitals.
RESIDENT MEMBERS.
•HENRY C. ADAMS, LL. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
E. Arnold, Battle Creek. (Resigned.)
HATTIE M. BAILEY, Grand Rapids. (Resigned.)
•HENRY B. BAKER, M. D., Lansing.
•Howard B. Baker, M. D., Lansing. (Removed from State.)
Luther H. Baker, Lansing. (Resigned.)
Enoch Bancker, Jackson. (Resigned.)
•CHARLES E. BARR, Albion College, Albion.
* WALTER B. BARROWS, Michigan Agricultural College, Agricul-
tural College P. O.
•Arthur G. Baumgartel, 232 River St., Holland.
•WILLIAM J. BEAL, PH. D., Michigan Agricultural College, Agricul-
tural College P. O.
•HERBERT T. BLODGETT, Ludington.
Albert H. Boies, Hudson. (Resigned.)
Cheshire L. Boone, Ypsilanti. (Resigned.)
•George Booth, 1102 Center Ave.. Bay City.
•Frank Bradley, Alma.
*E. E. Brewster, Iron Mountain.
•Alice Brown, Ann Arbor.
•William A. Brush, 04 Hastings St., Detroit.
•Mrs. Laura E. Burr, Lansing.
•Benjamin F. Bush, Grand Blanc.
CHARLES K. CARPENTER, Ann Arbor. (Resigned.)
•Flemming Carrow. M. D.. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
156 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
*Oeorge H. Cattermole, M. D., Lansing.
*Harvey H. Chase, M. D., Linden.
*FRANCIS D. CLARKE, M. I)., Flint.
*T. P. Clark, Flint.
*Mrs. Frank I. Cobb, 301 Cass Ave., Detroit.
FRANK N. COLE, Ann Arbor. (Removed from State.)
*Leon J. Cole, 703 Chinch St.. Ann Arbor.
•LEARTUS CONNOR, M. D., 103 Cass Ave., Detroit.
*W. M. COURTIS, A. M., 440 Fourth Ave., Detroit.
*Paul A. Cowgill, Gas'sopolis.
ARTHUR A. CROZIER, Ann Arbor. (Died January 28, 1800.)
*CHARLES A. DAVIS, Alma College, Alma.
GAOER C. DAVIS, M. S., Agricultural College. (Removed from
State.)
*JOSEPH B. DAVIS, C. E., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
*Fisk H. Day, M. D., Lansing.
ISAAC N. DEMMON, LL. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
(Resigned.)
*CHARLES K. DODGE, Port Huron.
*Mvron T. Dodge, Bearinger Building, Saginaw, E. S.
*NEWELL A. EDDY, 615 N. Grant St., Bay City.
EDWIN H. EDWARDS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (Re-
signed.)
*Delos Fall, M. D., Albion College, Albion.
*OLIVER A. FARWELL, 1225 Jefferson Ave., Detroit.
*Hester T. Fuller, Greenville, Mich.
CHARLES W. GARFIELD, Grand Rapids. (Resigned.)
HENEAGE GIBBP]S, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (Resigned.)
MORRIS GIBBS, M. D., Kalamazoo.
A. C. GLIDDEN, Paw Paw. (Resigned.)
E. A. A. Grange, V. S. Detroit. (Removed from State.)
*Mary E. Green, M. D., Charlotte.
*William M. Gregory, East Tawas.
*Thomas Gunson, Agricultural College.
*ASAPH HALL, Jr., Ph. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
*Thomas L. Hankinson, Hillsdale.
Edgar G. Haymond, Flint. (Resigned.)
*John Hazelwood, Port Huron.
U. P. Hedrick, B. S., Michigan Agricultural College. (Removed from
State.)
GEORGE HEMPL, Ph. I)., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (Re-
signed.)
E. M. Houghton, M. D.. Detroit. (Resigned.)
BELA HUBBARD, Detroit. (Died June 13, 1806.)
*LUCIUS L. HUBBARD, Ph. D., Houghton.
Henry S. Hulbert, Detroit. (Resigned.)
♦Frederick C. Irwin, Bay City.
William Jackman. Iron Mountain. (Resigned.)
STILLMAN G. JENKS, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo. (Resigned.)
LORENZO N. JOHNSON, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (De-
ceased.)
*JOHN B. JOHNSTON. Universitv of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
LIST OF MEMBERS. 157
•FRANCIS W. KELSEY, Ph. 1)., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
CHARLES A. KOFOID, Ph. D., University of Michigan. (Removed
from State.)
•CLARENCE H. LANDER, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
•ALFRED C. LANE, Ph. D., Lansing.
•Harry L. Lewis. 510 Hillsdale St.. Lansing.
WARREN H. LEWIS, Ann Arbor. (Resigned.)
FRANK R. LILLIE, Ph. D., University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
(Removed from State.)
•WARREN P. LOMBARD. M. D., University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
•Burton 0. Longvear, Michigan Agricultural College, Agricultural
College P» O.
•Albert B. Lyons, M. D.. Detroit.
*J. G. McClvmonds, M. D., Ann Arbor.
*C. D. McLOUTH, 230 Sanford St.. Muskegon..
*M. J. Magee, Sault Ste. Marie.
*W. P. MANTON, M. D.. 32 Adams Ave.. Detroit.
•Charles E. Marshall, Ph. B., Michigan Agricultural College, Agricul-
tural College P. O.
*Asa E. Mattice, Concord.
MANLY MILES, M. D., Lansing. (Died Feb. 15, 1898.)
*John M. Millar, Escanaba.
*Miss Louise Miller, Detroit.
J. MONTGOMERY. Ann Arbor. (Resigned.)
•Robert E. Morrell, Escanaba.
Willard E. Mulliken, 191 First Ave., Grand Rapids. (Resigned.)
•WILLIAM H. MUNSON, B. S., Hillsdale College, Hillsdale.
•FREDERICK C. NEWCOMBE. Ph. I)., University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor.
•Jason E. Nichols. Lansing.
•FREDERICK G. NOYY, M. D., Universitv of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
*W. A. Oldfield, Port Sanilac.
MRS. LUCY A. OSBAND, Ypsilanti. (Resigned.)
•Chase S. Osborn, Sault Ste. Marie.
Edith Ellen Pettee, 83 Harper Ave., Detroit.
'WILLIAM H. PETTEE, A. M., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
•Rufus H. Pettit, B. S. A., Michigan Agricultural College, Agricul-
tural College P. O.
Jessie Phelps, State Normal, Ypsilanti.
Willard S. Pope, Detroit. (Died Oct. 10, 1895.)
HOYT POST. Michigan Fish Commission. Detroit. (Resigned.)
•Albert B. Prescott, M. D., LL. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
*Miss Harriett Putnam. 900 Congress Ave., Saginaw.
•Orlan B. Read, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale.
•JACOB REIGHARD. Ph. B., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
•ISRAEL C. RUSSELL, LLD., Universitv of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
MRS. CYNTHIA SAGER, Ann Arbor. '
•Herbert E. Sargent. Detroit.
JOHN H. SCHAFFNER, Ann Arbor. (Resigned.)
•Julius O. Schlotterbeck, Ph. D., University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
*C. F. Schneider, Lansing.
•Miss Anna A. Schryver, State Normal, Ypsilanti.
*
*
158 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
LOUIS T. SCHURRER, Lakeport. (Resigned.)
•Karl Schwiekerrath, Ph. D., Parke Davis & Co., Detroit.
*A. E. Seaman, S. B., Michigan College of Mines, Houghton.
*Percv S. Selous, Greenville.
•JAMES B. SHEARER, Bay City.
*LOREN A. SHERMAN, Port Huron.
•WILLIAM H. SHERZER, M. S., State Normal, Ypsilanti.
EUGENE C. SKINNER, M. D., Detroit. (Died January, 1899.)
•Norman B. Sloan, Flint.
•CLINTON D. SMITH, M. S., Michigan Agricultural College. Agricul-
tural College P. O.
*F. D. Smith, Greenville.
HARLAN I. SMITH, Saginaw, E. S. (Removed from State.)
*VOLNEY M. SPALDING, Ph. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
*Frederick W. Sperr, E. M., Michigan College of Mines, Houghton.
*MISS FRANCEiS L. STEARNS, Adrian College. Adrian.
JOSEPH B. STEERE, Ph. D., Ann Arbor. (Resigned.)
Edward H. Stein, 255 12th Ave., Grand Rapids.
Oliver Stewart; M. D., Port Huron.
Charles B. Stockwell, M. D., Port Huron. (Resigned.)
•Eugene Straight. Howard City.
•Louis H. Streng, 335 N. Prospect St., Grand Rapids.
*E. A. STRONG; A. M., State Normal, Ypsilanti.
George Sultie, M. D., Detroit. (Resigned.)
Calvin Thomas, Universitv of Michigan, Ann Arbor. (Removed from
State.)
•David Trine, B. S., Lansing.
*
•JEROME TROMBLEY, Petersburg.
*
Victor C. Vaughan, M. I)., Ph. D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
*M. E. WADSWORTH, Ph. D., Michigan College of Mines, Houghton.
•BRYANT WALKER, 18 Moffat Block, Detroit.
HENRY B. WARD, Ph. D., Ann Arbor. (Removed from State.)
•Louis E. Warren, Hillsdale.
OSCAR B. WARREN, Palmer. (Removed from State.)
•George A. Waterman, V. S., Michigan Agricultural College, Agricul-
tural College P. O.
*L. WHITNEY W ATKINS, B. S., Manchester.
MARGARET WEIDEMANN, Ann Arbor. (Removed from State.)
•CHARLES F. WHEELER. M. S., Michigan Agricultural College,
Agricultural College P. O.
*E. S. WHEELER, Sault Ste. Marie.
•Alfred H. White, A. B., Universitv of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
•CHARLES A. WHITTEMORE, 656 Madison Ave., Grand Rapids.
Cressy L. Wilbur, M. D., Department of State, Lansing.
George E. Willetts, Lansing. (Resigned.)
MRS. E. G. WILLOUGHBY, Ann Arbor.
MORTIMER WILSON, M. I)., Oth and Water Sts., Port Huron.
ROBERT H. WOLCOTT, M. D., Grand Rapids. (Removed from
State.
FRANK E. WOOD, Bay City. (Removed from State.)
•Norman A. Wood, 19 Church St., Ann Arbor.
*
*
LIST OF MEMBERS. 159
'Philip B. Woodworth, B. S., Michigan Agricultural College, Agricul-
tural College P. O.
"DEAN C. WORCESTER, A. B., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
Howard B. Baker, M. D.. 223 E. 48th St., New York, N. Y.
U. P. Hedrick. B. S., Utah Agricultural College. Logan, Utah.
Charles A. Kofoid, Ph. D., University of Illinois, Champaign, 111.
Frank R. Lillie, Ph. D., Yassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
H. A. Mumaw. M. D., Elkhart, Indiana.
Harlan I. Smith. American Museum of Natural History, 77th St., and
Central Park. New York, N. Y.
Henry B. Ward, Ph. D.. University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Nebraska.
Oscar B. Warren, Hibbing, St. Louis Co., Minnesota.
Margaret Weidemann, 390 La Salle Ave., Chicago, Illinois.
Robert H. Wolcott, M. D., University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska.
INDEX.
21
INDEX
A.
Page
Abstracts of papers to be furnished Secretary before meeting 149
Acerates floridana, near Saginaw Bay 116
Acipenser, hind brain and cranial nerves of 114-115
Acipenser, origin of the barbels in 137
Acorus calamus 27
Adhesive organ of Lepidosteus 137
Adhesive organ of Amia calva, its origin and development 137-139
Advisory board 7
JEgialitis vocifera, nesting habits of 68
Aerial navigation, a possibility of the near future 127
Africa and South America, possible connection of 52
Africa and New Zealand, possible connection of 52
Agaricus campestris 98
Agelaius phoeniceus, nesting and food habits 74, 75
Agkistrodon piscivorus, death from bite of 92
Agricultural botany, recent advances in (reference) 41
Agricultural College, field meeting at 84
Agricultural experiment stations, importance of 126-127
Agriculture, futile experiments for the improvement of 36-38
Agriculture, section organized 84
Air drainage and horticulture 33
Aix sponsa, decrease in numbers of 66
Alaska once united with Asia 52
Alcohol of commerce, origin of 15
Alexander, S., on a remarkable oak forest 99
Algae of Michigan lakes almost unknown 26, 28
Algas, unicellular, recent investigations of (reference) 109
Allorisma 63
Alpena county plants (reference) 88
Amendment to constitution proposed 41
Amendment to game lawrs proposed 117
Amendments to constitution, how made 150
Amendments to by-laws, how made 154
Amendments to constitution and by-laws 10S-109
Amia, breeding habits of (reference) 119
Amia, photographing embryos of 111-112
Amia calva, the breeding habits of 133-137
Amia calva, origin and development of its adhesive organ 137-139
Ammodramus henslowi, nesting habits 75
Ammodramus savannarum passerinus, nesting habits and food 72. 73
Amnicola and Valvata, distribution of 47
Ampullarias replacing "Viviparas 51
Anas boschas, nesting habits 75
Ancestral characters, inheritance of -. 37
Anculosa, species found in eastern N. Y. and Pa 47
Animals, their dwelling places in trees 132-133
Annual dues of members 151
1«4 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Annual meeting, first ' 11
second , 40-41
third : 87-88
fourth 10S-109
fifth 117-118
Anodonta in California 60
Anodonta, distribution of species of i 51
Anodontas of the California region 48-49
Anodontas of the region east of the Appalachians 49
Antarctic continent, possible existence in Tertiary times 57
Antarctic continent uncertain 52
Antennaria, the genus -in Michigan (reference) 119
Anthrax and vaccination 17
Anthrax bacillus 16
Antilles, greater and lesser, origin of mollusks of 55
Antiseptic surgery introduced by Joseph Lister 16, 17
Antitoxin, results from use of (reference) 88
Appalachian or Interior region 43
Appalachian range a barrier to molluscan immigration 47
Aquatic flora, bibliography of 30-31
Aquatic plant life, factors influencing abundance of 27
Aquatic plant life, suggestions for study of 29
Aquatic plants, directions for collecting 30
Aquatic plants, distribution in depth 28, 29
Archaeology, data and development of (reference) 12
Area of small lakes of Michigan 23
Arms of Michigan, and great seal 19
Arrearage of payments 151
Articles of association filed 10
Asclepias cornuti, development of pollen (reference) SS
Asclepias purpurascens, near Saginaw Bay 116
Asclepias Sullivantii, near Saginaw Bay 116
Aseptic surgery introduced by Joseph Lister 16, 17
Asiatic cholera, discovery of spirillum of 101
Asiatic invasion of western America in Eocene period 56
Asiatic invasion of western America in Mesozoic time 55, 56
Asiatic mollusks reach west coast of S. America 53,56
Asio accipitrinus, nesting habits 75
Assistant Secretary may be elected 151
Atavism, observations on 37
Atlantis, theory of untenable 52
Auditors for Treasurer's accounts 133
Auto-limnetic, term defined 26
Avifauna of Michigan, changes resulting from deforesting 66
B.
Bacilli of drinking-water, isolation of 101-102
Bacilli of the colon group 102
Bacilli of the typhoid group 102
Bacilli, isolation of 18
Bacilli, pure cultures of 16
Bacillus, capsulated 101
Bacillus of anthrax 16
Bacillus of Eberth in drinking water 101,102
Bacillus of glanders 16
Bacillus of hog cholera 16
Bacillus of tetanus 16
Bacillus of tuberculosis 16
Bacillus pyocianeus, isolated from drinking-water 102
Bacillus, short canal 101
Bacteria and the dairy (reference) 12
Bacteria of every day life (reference) 118
Bacteriology and disease 130
INDEX. 165
Page
Bacteriology, importance of teaching in schools 18
Bacteriology, practical benefits of 13-18
Bacterium coli communis, in drinking-water 101-102
Baker, Dr. Henry B., on the new science of sanitation .'6-83
plea for greater attention to the sciences 120-131
on restriction of consumption (reference) 119
on public health service (reference) 89
Barrows, Walter B., on food habits of Michigan birds (reference) 41
on geographical distribution 88
report of committee on bird protection 117
Bartramia longicauda, nesting habits of 68
Bartramian sandpiper, nesting habits 68
Basidiomycetes, large collection of 98
Bathy-limnetic, term denned 26
Bay-winged bunting, nesting and food habits 71
Beal, Dr. W. J., on nature study in common schools (reference) 110
on needs of Michigan forests (reference) 41
on some plans for a botanic garden (reference) 41
on seed dispersal (reference) 88
on our society and a state survey 12-14
on study of our elms and poplars in winter (reference) 119
on trees as dwelling places for animals 132-133
on topics for discussion by botanical club 94-97
on a word for systematic botany 110
Beardslee and Kofoid, plants of Cheboygan county 25
Beet sugar manufacture, lecture on (reference) 119
Begole, Gov. , and state seal 20
Behring Straits and immigration of Asiatic forms 55
Bibliography of aquatic flora of Michigan 30-31
Bills of Academy, how paid 153
Binney's four faunal regions 45
Bird legislation, committee on 87
Bird protection, report of committee on 117
Birds of Michigan (reference) 12
Birds and horticulture (reference) 41
Birds, food habits of (reference) 41
Birds, origin and distribution of species in island groups (reference) 109
Birds, protection of '. 41
Birds that nest in open meadows 66-75
Births, statistics relating to 103-105
Births and deaths, registration of 11
Bittern, American, nesting habits of 67, 68
Blackberries on pine barrens 34
Blackberries, wild, at Petoskey in Nov 35
Blackbird, red-winged, nesting and food 74, 75
Black death, due to bacteria 16
Black knot, less destructive North than South 35
Black plague, reference to paper on 88
Black-throated bunting, nesting habits and food 73
Blodgett, H. T., and plants of Hamlin Lake, Mason Co 25
Blood serum therapy for tetanus and diphtheria 18
Bobolink, nesting and food habits 70, 71
Bob White, nesting habits of 68
Bonasa umbellus, decrease with clearing of land 67
Boreal Islands in Southern Michigan (reference) 119
Boreal or Northern region defined 45
Boreal region, characteristic molluscan families of 50
Botany of Michigan, contributions to (reference) 41
Botany, a word for systematic (reference) 109
Botany, organization of section of : 11
Botanic garden, some plans for (reference) 41
Botanical club of Michigan Agricultural College, origin of 95-
Botanical club, some topics for discussion by 94-97
Botaurus lentiginosus, nesting habits 67, 68
166 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Bounty law on sparrows, its repeal advocated IIS
Brasenia peltata, germination of 131-132
Breeding- habits of the dog-fish (Amia) 133-137
Bridge between Alaska and Asia 55
Bridge between Central America and West Indian Islands 55
Bridge between Cuba and Florida 56
Brockmeyer, H. C, on Missouri earthquake 65
Brown, Miss A., on poisonous germs found in foods (reference) 88
Brown thrasher, nesting of 73
Building stone at Grand Rapids 63
Bulimuli replacing Helices 51
Bunting, bay-winged, nesting and food habits 71
Bunting, black-throated, nesting habits and food 7:;
Business, order of at meetings 154
By-laws, how amended 154
By-laws of Academy 151-154
C.
Cacalia tuberosa, near Saginaw Bay 116
Calcite in limestone at Grand Rapids , 64
California or Pacific region, defined 45
California Unionida? of old world origin 60, 61
Californian region, molluscan species characteristic of 46
Camelida?, migration from America to Asia 58
Camp, S. H., and plants of vicinity of Jackson 25-
Campbell, Dr. D. H., and plants of Detroit river 25
Campeloma, almost universal in Interior Region 4S
Campeloma, spread of species of 51
Carboniferous age and non-marine mollusca 52
Carex and quaking bogs 24
Carex lupulinax retrorsa, third recorded station of 28
Carolina dove, nesting habits of 69
Carribean region, origin of mollusks of 55, 56
Cass, Hon. Lewis, and design for state seal 19
Celestite and sulphur in Monroe county (reference) 41
Cell plate, origin and structure of (reference) 110
Cell-wall substance, origin of in cell-division (reference) 119
Central America and West Indian Islands once connected 55
Central region, molluscan fauna of 50
Central or Rocky mountain region, defined 45
Central region, mollusca characteristic of 46
Ceophlceus pileatus, retreats from civilization 66
Cerebral blood-vessels, nerves in (reference) 119
Characea? 27
Characetum 27
Charter, provision for 11
Cheironomus sp., in water lilies, 110-111
Chicken cholera bacillus or germ IT
Childbirth, antiseptic treatment in IT
Children, number to a marriage 104
Cholera, Asiatic, discovery of spirillum of WW
Cholera due to bacilli 16
Chondestes grammacus, nesting habits '2
Church services and science 122
Churches and the sciences 120-122
( Jircus hudsonius, nesting and food habits 69, 70
c'istothorus palustris, nesting habits T5
stellaris, nesting habits T5
Cladodus irregularis 63
Clausilias of northeastern Asia invade Equador and Peru 55
Climate and mortality in Michigan 139-142
Coccothraustes vespertinus in Michigan 106
Colinus virginianus, nesting and food habits of 68, 69
INDEX. 167
Page
Collybia in winter 98
Color pattern of the pigeon's wing (reference) , 119
Columbae, meadow nesting species 75
Commutation fee for life membership 151
Conchology, subsection authorized 84
Constitution of Academy 147-150
Constitution of Academy amended 87
Constitution and by-laws, changes in 108-109
Consumption, restriction of (reference) 119
Coons, habits of 133
Corresponding members, list of 159
Corresponding members, qualifications for 147
Corticium 98
Council of Academy, duties of 148
composition of 148
Council meetings, when held 149
Council minutes subject to call 151
Cowbird, habits and food 71
Crane, sandhill, nesting habits * 75
Crataegus crusgalli, near Saginaw Bay 116
Crayfish and Distoma (reference) 12
Crozier, Arthur A., on recent advances in agricultural botany (reference) 41
oh tendencies in Michigan horticulture 32-36
obituary notice of 117
Cryptogamic flora of Michigan (reference) 12
Ctenacanthus, scales of 63
Custodian of Academy property 148,151
Cyathophyllum divaricatum 63
Cyathophy Hum flexuosus 63
Cyperus and quaking bogs 24
Cypripedium, morphology of flower of (reference) 109
Cyrenidse, distribution of 49
D.
Dairy and bacteria (reference) 12
Dairy stock-feeding experiments (reference) 41
Davis, ^Chas. A., on flora of Tuscola county, Michigan 116
on flora of Michigan lakes : 24-31
on flora of Huron county (reference) 88
on evening grosbeak 106
on germination of Brasenia 131-132
on forms of Trillium grandiflorum ' 76
on Utricularia resupinata 132
Deforesting of Michigan, effects on bird-life 66-67
Dehydration, apparatus for (reference) .' 88
Detroit river, plants of 25
Development of animals, effects of temperature on (reference) 110
Dinobryons of Lake Michigan (reference) 12
Diphtheria, caused by bacilli 16
cure of 18
deaths from 80-82
isolation and disinfection in 77, SO-83
Diseases of man, mastery over 130
Disinfection in diphtheria 77, 80, 83
in scarlet fever 77-79, 82, 83
Distoma petalosum (reference) 12
Distribution of land and freshwater mollusca 43-61
Dodge, C. K., and plants of St. Clair lake and river 25
Dog-fish, the breeding habits of 4 133-137
Dogtooth spar at Grand Rapids 64
Dolichonyx oryzivorus, nesting and food habits 70,71
Drainage, sometimes to be guarded against 33
Drainage of swamps 33
108
MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Dredge for collecting aquatic plants 30
Drift, thickness of '. 53
Drinking-water, methods of detecting poisonous germs in 101-102
poisonous germs in 100-102
Duck, mallard, nesting habits 75
wood, decrease in numbers of 66
E.
Eberth, bacillus of, in drinking-water 101-102
Ectopistes migratorius, practically exterminated 66,67
Editor of Academy publications, duties of » 148, 151
Elections of officers and members *. 149,152
Electrical science, importance of 127
Elementary schools, relation of Academy to (reference) 88
Elms and poplars in winter, study of (reference) v 119
Elodea Canadensis 28
English sparrow, repeal of bounty law advocated 118
Erysipelas of hog and vaccination • 17, 18
Euclemensia bassettella, habits of 112-114
Evening grosbeak in Michigan 106
Evolution of conventional decorative forms (reference) 41
Executive committee of Academy (See Council).
Experiments, futile, for the improvement of agriculture 36-38
Extinction of faunae by post-pliocene ice-sheet 53
F.
Fats of milk, meat and seeds compared 109
Fall, Dr. Delos, on medical inspection of schools (reference) 118
Farwell, O. A., on plants of Keweenaw county 25
on new species of plants for Michigan, and new localities for old
species (reference) 41
Faunal regions of North America 45
Fecundity of American and foreign-born women 105
Fedor, isolation of Eberth's bacillus by 101
Feeding experiments fallacious : 37-38
Fees of members 151
Fertilization of eggs of Unio (reference) 88
Field experiments, sources of fallacy in 38
Field meetings of Academy 84,107
Field sparrow, nesting of 73
Financial methods of Academy 153
First membership list 8
Fish Commission, work of commended 11, 12
Flora of Michigan, additions to (reference) 12,41
Flora of Michigan lakes 24-31
Flora of Huron county, reference to paper on : 88
Flora of Tuscola county, Michigan 116
Fomes 9S
Food-habits of Michigan birds (reference) 41
Foods, chemical composition and nutritive value 38
Forest of oaks new to Michigan 99
Forest reservations, protection recommended 11
Forest trees, different kinds of injuries to 132-133
Forests, needs of Michigan (reference) 41
Forestry, preliminary survey advocated 109
Forestry Commission, resolution recommending 41
Forestry survey, petition for 109
Fresh water mollusca, origin from marine forms 54
Fresh water univalves, first appear in the upper Jurassic 54
Fruit belt of Michigan 33
Fruit-growing in limestone regions 35
Fungi common in winter 98
INDEX. 169
Page
Fungi, edible, of New York (reference) 99
Fungi, saprophytic, grown about the Michigan Agricultural College 97-99
Futile experiments in Agriculture 38-38
G.
Gaffky on rabbit septicemia 100
Gall, a jumping (reference) 119
Gallinse, meadow-nesting species 75
Geaster minimus, size of 98
Geode beds at Grand Rapids 64
Geographical distribution of life (reference) 88
Geological history of North American continent 52
Geological survey of Michigan, importance of 41, 109
Geology of Western Michigan, unpublished paper on (reference) 41
Geothlypis trichas, nesting habits 75
Geotropic leaves of Utricularia 132
Germ theory of disease 15
Germination of Brasenia peltata '. 131-132
Gill fungi in winter 98
Glacial drift, thickness of • 53
Glacial epoch of Tertiary 53
Glacial ice nine thousand feet thick ■ 53
Glanders bacillus 16
Goniobasis, distribution of species of 47.51
Gossypium herbaceum, development of seed of (reference) 109
Gower, Hon. C. A., and state seal 20
Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History 62
Grasshopper sparrow, nesting habits and food 72.73
Grass finch, habits and food 71
Great Seal of Michigan 19-23
Great white plague, probable salvation from 130
Gregg raspberry needs dry climate 36
Grosbeak, evening, in Michigan 106
Ground-bird (Grass finch), nesting and food habits 71
Ground rattlesnake, habits of in captivity S9-92
Grouse, pinnated, nesting and food 74
Growth of plants, effect of mechanical shock on (reference) 119
Grus mexicana, nesting habits 75
Gundlachia, peculiar distribution of 57
spread into America from the south 57
Gypsum in limestone cavities 64
H.
Hall, Asaph, Jr., on variation of latitude observation (reference) 119
Halo-plankton, term defined 26
Hamadryas (see Euclemensia).
Hamlin Lake, Mason county, plants of 25
Harporhynchus rufus, nesting of 73
Hawk, marsh, nesting and food habits 69, 70
Health service in Michigan, reference to paper on 89
Helices, larger forms lacking in Northern region 46
Helicoid fauna, of Pacific coast 51, 55
of eastern America 56
Helicoid immigration from Asia via Behring Straits 55
Heliotropic leaves of Utricularia 132
Helodus crenulatus 63
Hemiphronites 63
Henslow's sparrow, nesting habits 75
Hereditary qualities, borne only by the nucleus (reference) 119
Heredity of acquired characters 37
Heredity, laws of 37
Herodiones, meadow nesting 75
99
170 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Heteranthera graminea 28
Heterodon platyrhinus, seen to swallow its young 90
Hill, E. J., on the Naidaeese of Michigan 25
Hoag, Ernest B., on bacteria of everyday life (reference) 118
Hog cholera bacillus 16
Hog erysipelas and vaccination 17, 18
Holarctic realm 45
Honorary members, qualifications for 147
Horned lark, prairie, nesting and food habits 70
Horticulture, tendencies in Michigan 32-36
Houghton, Dr. E. M., reference to paper on antitoxins 88
Hubbard, Hon. Bela, obituary notice of 87
Hubbard, Dr. Lucius L. Non-professional work for Ge-ol. Survey (reference) 4i
Huber, Dr. Carl G., on nerve fibers of the cerebral blood-vessels (reference) 119
Huckleberries on pine barrens 34
on limestone formations 35
Human skeleton, Simian characters of 12
Humboldt on Missouri earthquake 65
Huron county, flora of ' (reference) 88
Hydnea? in winter 98
Hydrophobia, prevention of : 18
Hygiene defined 76
Hygiene, State Laboratory of 129
I.
Immigration of mollusca from Asia to South America 55,56
Immigration from South America in early tertiary times 57
Improvement of Agriculture, futile experiments 36-38
Incorporation 10
Infectious disease and methods of prevention 16, 17, 18
causes of 15
Initiation fees of members 151
Inspection of schools by physicians (reference) 118
Interior or Appalachian region defined 45
molluscan fauna of .....46,50,51
mollusks characteristic of 46
Interior seas of Mesozoic and Tertiary 52,53
Iron pyrites at Grand Rapids 64
Isolation in diphtheria 77,80-83
Isolation in scarlet fever 77-79, 82, 83
J.
Jenner and vaccination 17
Johnson, Lorenzo N., on cryptogamic flora of Michigan (reference) 12
obituary notice of S7
Johnston, J. B., on hind brain and cranial nerves of Acipenser 114-115
on some methods and results in micro-photography (reference).. 119
on structure of olfactory lobe of sturgeon 100
Jumping gall (reference) 119
K.
Kellogsville, limestone found at 63
Kent Scientific Institute, museum of 62
origin and history 62
Kermes, infested by a lepidopterous parasite 112-114
Keweenaw county, plants of 25
Killdeer plover, nesting habits of 68
King rail, nesting habits 75
Kitasato of Tokio 16
Koch, discovery of cholera bacillus 101
Kofoid, Dr. C. A., on dinobryons of Lake Michigan (reference) 12
INDEX. 171
L.
Page
Lacinaria spicata, near Saginaw Bay 116
Lake Erie, plankton flora of (reference) 119
Lake flora of Michigan 24-31
Lakes of Michigan, area of 23
Lander, C. H., on Distoma petalosum; a parasite of the crayfish (reference) 12
Lane, Dr. A. C, on shells of quaternary deposits (reference) SS
Langdon, Fanny E., on development of pollen of Asclepias 88
on nervous system of Nereis (reference) 88
Laramie fauna, Pleuroceridee found in 58
Lark sparrow, nesting habits 72
Latitude, observations on variations in (reference) 119
Legislatures and the scien-ces 126-129
Lenzites in winter 98
Lepidoptera of Michigan 32
Lepidopterous parasite, Euclemensia 112-114
Lepidosteus, adhesive organ of 137
Librarian of Academy, duties of 148, 151
Liebig and Pasteur on fermentation 14
Liebig's classification of foods not reliable 38
Life originated in the ocean 53-54
Life membership, fee for 151
Life saving service of U. S.. importance of 127
Lillie, Dr. F. R.. on effects of temperature on development of animals 110
on fertilization of eggs of Unio (reference) 88
on the nucleus as bearer of hereditary qualities (reference) 119
on regeneration of Stentor (reference) 42
Limicola?, meadow-nesting species 75
Limnetic plant forms 26
Limno-plankton, term defined 26
Lioplax, distribution of 48
List of members of Academy 155-159
List of papers presented at first meeting 21
at second meeting 41-42
at third meeting 88-89
at fourth meeting 109-110
at fifth meeting 118-119
Lister and antiseptic surgery 16, 17
Lithostrotion canadense 63
Littoral vegetation, absence of in great lakes 29
Livingstone, Burton E., on flower of Cypripedium (reference) 109
Long-billed marsh wren, nesting habits 75
Longyear, B. O., on fungi of the vicinity of the Michigan Agricultural College 97-99
on morels collected at the Agricultural College (reference) 109
Ludwigia polycarpa, near Saginaw Bay 116
Lycoperdon giganteum, size of .' 9S
Lyell on effects of Missouri earthquake 65-66
Lythrum alatum. near Saginaw Bay 116
M.
McClymonds, Dr. J. T., on germs in drinking-water 100-102
McMurrich, Dr. J. Playfair, on development of the metanephros (reference) 119
Magnin's zones 27
Malignant cedema and vaccination 17
Mallard, nesting habits of 75
Mammals of Michigan (reference) 12
Map of State, topographic, recommended 11
Marasmius oreades, abundance of 98
Marcasite at Grand Rapids 64
Margaritina, distribution of species of 51
in California 48,60
Margaritina margaritifera, distribution of 49
Marriage, statistics of fecundity of 103-105
172 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
i
Page
Marsh hawk, nesting and food habits 69, 70
Marshall sandstone 63
Marshes and swamps reclaimed 33
Maryland yellowthroat, nesting habits 75
Massasauga, habits of in captivity 89-92
Meadowlark, nesting habits and food 73
Mechanical shock, effects of on growth of plants (reference) 119
Medical inspection of schools (reference) , 118
Meeting, first annual 11
second annual 40-41
third annual 86-88
fourth annual 108-109
fifth annual * < 117, 118
Meetings, date and place how fixed 149
Melaniidse, distribution of , 58
replacing Pleuroceridse 51
Meleagris gallopavo, decrease with clearing of land 66
Melospiza fasciata, nesting habits and food 72
Melospiza georgiana, nesting habits 75
Members, dues of 151
how elected 149, 152
how nominated 149, 152
how expelled 149
qualifications for 147,151
list of 155-159
Members elected at second annual meeting 40
at second field meeting 84
at third annual meeting 86
at -fourth annual meeting 108
at fifth annual meeting 117
Membership, article of constitution relating to • 147
first circular letter on S
second circular letter on 10
Merrow, Harriet L., on Uredinese of Michigan 39
Mesozoic interior sea of N. America 52, 53
Mesozoic time, condition of N. America at beginning of 52
Metanephros, some points in the development of (reference) 119
Metaspermse of Michigan lakes 25
of Pine Lake, Ingham County 25
Mice nesting in holes of trees 133
Michael, isolation of Eberth's bacillus by 101
Michigan forests, needs of (reference) 41
Michigan lakes, flora of 24-31
Micro-photography, some results in (reference) 119
Miles, Dr. Manly, on futile experiments for the improvement of agriculture 36-3S
on Newton's third law and evolution 92-94
obituary notice of 109
Milk fat compared with meat and seed fats (reference) 109
Minutes of meeting for organization 7
Minutes of first annual meeting 11-12
second annual meeting 40-42
third annual meeting 86-89
fourth annual meeting 108-110
fifth annual meeting 117-119
Mississippi river a barrier to spread of Pleuroceridse 47
Missouri earthquake in 1811 65
Missouri earthquake in 1895 65,66
Moccasin, bite causes death 92
Mollusca of N. America, origin and distribution of 43-61
Mollusca of Michigan, reference to paper on ; 88
Mollusca, terrestrial shell-bearing (reference) 119
Molluscan fauna of Michigan 12
Molluscan faunas, of Northern Hemisphere closely related 51
of North and South America contrasted 51
INDEX. 173
Page
Molothrus ater, habits and food 71
Morels collected at the Agricultural College (reference) 109
Mori, experiments in inoculation 100,101
Morong, Dr. Thomas, on Naidacese of Michigan 25
Morrill act for agricultural colleges 126
Mortality and the weather in Michigan, statistics of 139-142
Mount Ranier, reference to lecture on 88
Mourning dove, food and nesting habits 69
Mouse septicemia 101
Muck lands, fertility of 34
Muck lands and lime 34
Mushroom eating 98
Mushrooms, edible and poisonous 98, 99
fairy-ring, abundance of 98
Mutelidse replacing Unionidse 51
Mycena in winter .' 98
Myriophyllum, new species of 25
N.
Naidacete of Michigan 25
Natural history survey of Michigan, address on 109
address printed 117
committee appointed 118
Nature study in common schools (reference) 110
Nautilus 63
Nearctic region of Wallace 43
Necrological notices 87, 109, 117
Nereis virens, reference to paper on 88
Nerve fibers in the cerebral blood-vessels (reference) 119
New species of Michigan plants (reference) 12,41
New Zealand, Africa and S. America, possible connection of , 52
Newcombe, Dr. F. C. on food of palm seedlings 109
on rheotropism of roots (reference) 119
Newton's third law of motion a factor in evolution 92-94
Nitrogen and tissue-building .38
Non-marine mollusca, first appearance of 52
Northern or boreal region defined 45
Nostoc pruniforme. abundance of in Lake Michigan 30
Novy, Dr. F. G., on practical benefits of bacteriology 13-18
on results from use of antitoxin (reference) 88
Nucleus, the bearer of hereditary qualities (reference) 119
Nuphar advena 27
attacked by leaf-miner Ill
Nupharetum 27
Nymphaea odorata, attacked by leaf -miner : Ill
O.
Oak, remarkable forest of a supposed new species 99
Obituary notices 87, 109, 117
Objects of Michigan Academy of Science 147
Ocean, origin of life from 53, 54
CEdema, malignant, and vaccination 17
Officers of Academy, duties of 148, 151
how elected 152-153
how nominated 152-153
terms of office 148-149
Officers of temporary organization, June, 1S94 7
Officers for 1894-95 11-12
for 1896 40
for 1897 87
for 1898 109
for 1899 118
174 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
' Oils of mints 33
Olfactory lobe of sturgeon , 100
Order of business at meetings 154
Organization 5, 10
Organization, formal, December, 1894 10
Origin of species 44
Origin and distribution of land and freshwater mollusca 43-61
Original members, June, 1894 S
Otocoris alpestris praticola, nesting and food habits 70
Our society and a state survey 12-14
Owl. short-eared, nesting habits 75
P.
Pacific coast, peculiar helicoid fauna of 51, 55
Pacific or Californian region defined 45
Palsearctic region 45
Palm seedlings, how they appropriate their food (reference) 109
Papers, list of those presented at first meeting 12
at second meeting 41-42
at third meeting 88,89
at fourth meeting 109-110
at fifth meeting 118-119
Passeres, meadow-nesting species 75
Pasteur, and hydrophobia IS
and vaccination 17
inoculation experiments with polluted water 100
and Liebig on fermentation 14
Fassenger pigeon, practically exterminated 66. 67
Patrons of the Academy, qualifications for 147
Patuloid snails of the Central region 56
Peach-growing and humidity 35
Peniophora 98
Peppermint, oil of, produced in Michigan 33
Perkins, G. D., on distinctions between typhoid and colon bacilli (reference) 88
Pettit, R. H., on habits of Euclemensia bassettella 112-114
on a jumping gall (reference) 119
on leaf-miner in water-lilies 110-111
Phacops buf o 63
Phelps, Jessie, on the origin and development of the adhesive organ of Amia calva 137-139
Philippine ornithology (reference) 109
Photographing vertebrate embryos 111-112
Phragmites communis • 27
Phragmitetum r 27
Pieters and flora of Lake St. Clair 27
Pigeon's wing, evolution of the color pattern of (reference) 119
Pileated woodpecker, change in distribution of 66
Pine barren lands, cause of sterility 34
utility of 34
Pine lake, Ingham county, plants of 25
Pine river, plants of 28
Pinnated grouse (prairie hen) nesting and food 74
Plague, black, paper on S8
the great white 130
due to bacteria 16
Plankton, term defined 26
methods of investigation 109
flora of Lake Erie (reference) 119
Plant life, factors influencing abundance of aquatic 27
Plants of Michigan, new species of (reference) 12, 41
Platycnemic man in New York (reference) 12
Plea for greater attention to the sciences 120-131
.Fleurocerida?, distribution of 47,57.58
Pleurotus in winter 98
INDEX. 175
Page
Plover, killdeer, nesting habits of 6S
Plum curculio, less destructive north than south 35
Plum rot, absence of in Northern Michigan 35
Plums in Upper Peninsula 35
Poisonous germs in drinking-water 100-102
in foods (reference) 88
Pollock, Dr. J. B., on effect of mechanical shock on plant growth (reference) 119
on root-curvature 88
Polluted water causing septicemia 100
Polygyra, species of peculiar to eastern N. America 40
Polygyrse wholly confined to America 56
Polyporus 98
Polyporus cinnabarinus, on paper birch 98
Polystictus 98
Poocsetes gramineus, nesting habits and food 71
Pope, Willard S., obituary notice of 87
Poplars and elms, study of in winter (reference) 119
Population, probable sources of 103-106
Post-Pliocene ice sheet and its effects 53
Potamogeton, nine species in Pine river 28
Potamogeton perf oliatus 27
Potamogetonetum '. 27
Prairie hen, nesting and food habits 74
Prairie horned lark, nesting and food habits 70
Prairies of Michigan, flora of 116
Prescott, Dr. Albert B., on comparison of milk, meat and seed fats (reference) 109
Preservation of useful and harmless birds 41
President of Academy, duties of 148, 151
Printing of Dr. Spalding's presidential address authorized 109
Problems in agriculture, new and old 143-145
Productus sanctatus 63
Programme of meetings, how arranged 149
Protection of birds, legislation proposed 117
Publications of Academy, how controlled 148, 150, 153
how distributed 153
Pulmonate fresh-water mollusks, origin of 47, 56, 57
often circumpolar or cosmopolitan 47
Pupa and Zonites found in the Carboniferous 55
Pupida^ and Zonitida? abundant in Boreal region 46
Pyrite at Grand Rapids 64
Q.
Quail, food and nesting habits of 68,69
Quaking bogs and their origin 24
Quarantine and disinfection : 17
Quaternary deposits, shells of (reference) 8S
Quercus acuminata, unusual form of 99
Quercus prinoides, remarkable form of 98
Quorum of council 149
Quorum at meetings of Academy 149
R.
Rabbit septicemia 100
Raccoon, habits of 133
Rail, king, nesting habits 75
Rallus elegans, nesting habits 75
Ramsdell, J. G., on peaches and temperature 33
Ranunculus circinatus in Pine river 28
Raptores, meadow-nesting species 75
Raspberries and humidity 36
red, shipped for making brandy 35
wild, abundant in Northern Michigan 35
176 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Rattlesnake, prairie, habits of in captivity S9-92
bitten by another rattler 91
effects of bite 92
breeding in captivity 90
do they swallow their young? 90
eat only warm-blooded prey 90, 91
relation of age to number of rattles 90
young appear to grow without any nourishment 90
Ravenelia epiphylla in Jackson county, Michigan 39
Red-winged blackbird, nesting and food 74,75
Regeneration of smallest parts of Stentor (reference) 42
Registration of birth and deaths „. 11
Reighard, Jacob, on apparatus for photographing embryos of Amia 111-112
on breeding habits of the dog-fish 133-137
on methods of plankton investigation (reference) 109
Religious training and science 121
Research fund 151, 153
Resident members, list of 155-159
qualifications for 147, 151
Restriction of consumption (reference) 119
Rheotropism of roots (reference) 119
Rice-bird (bobolink), nesting and food habits 70, 71
Rice, Zach., on evolution of conventional decorative forms (reference) 41
Rocky Mountain or Central region, defined 45
Root curvature, mechanism of (reference) •. SS
Roots, rheotropism of (reference) 119
Russian thistle in Michigan (reference) 88
Russell, Dr. I. C, lecture on ascent of Mt. Ranier 88
Ruffed Grouse, decrease with clearing of land 67
S.
St. Clair lake, flora of 27
St. Clair lake and river, plants of 25
Saltpetre, origin of 15
Sand, influence of on littoral vegetation 29, 30
Sandhill crane, nesting habits 75
Sandpiper, Bartramian, nesting habits 68
Sanitary Science, organization of section of 11
plea for greater attention to 128-129
Sanitation, the new science of 76-83
Saprophytic fungi of the vicinity of the Agricultural College 97-99
Scarlet fever, deaths from 78,79
isolation and disinfection in 77,78,79,82,83
Schizophylum in winter 98
Schizostoma confined to Coosa river, Alabama 47
Schools and the sciences 123-126
Science of sanitation 76-83
Science teaching, aims of Academy in relation to 85
Science teachers, status of in Michigan 118
Sciences, a plea for greater attention to 120-131
Scirpetum 27
Scirpus lacustris 27
Scirpus pungens 27
Secretary of Academy, duties of 148, 151
Section of agriculture, notice of intention to organize 41
Section of agriculture organized 84
Section of botany, organization H
Section of sanitary science, organization H
Section of science teachers proposed 118
Section of zoology, organization H
Sections of the Academy, how organized 150
Sections, organization of at first meeting 11
Seed dispersal, reference to paper on
INDEX. 177
Page
Seeds of Michigan, trees, methods of distribution (reference) 88
Selous, Percy S., on habits of massasauga in captivity 89-92
death of 92
Semmelweiss, Ignatius, monument to 17
Septicemia of rabbit 100
of mouse 101
Sheep bitten by rattlesnake 91
Sheep-ticks eaten by cowbird 71
Shells of quaternary deposits, reference to paper on 88
Sherzer, Wm. H., on relation of the Academy to the elementary schools (reference) 88
on simian characters of the human skeleton (reference) 12
on sulphur and celestite in Monroe county (reference) 41
Shooting permits for scientific purposes 87
Short-billed marsh wren, nesting habits 75
Short-eared owl, nesting habits 75
Sierra Nevada range an impassable barrier for Unionidte 4S
Silphium terebinthaceum, near Saginaw Bay 116
Simian characters of the human skeleton (reference) 12
Sistrurus catenatus, habits of in captivity 89-92
Skunk cabbage, seeds eaten by quail 69
Small fruits on pine barrens ' 34
Smallpox, prevention of by the Chinese 17
Smith, Clinton D., on bacteria and the dairy (reference) 12
on dairy stock-feeding experiments (reference) ,. . 41
on new problems in agriculture 143-145
Smith Harlan I., on data and development of Michigan archaeology (reference).. 12
Snakes seen to swallow their young 90
Snow, Dr. Julia W., on plankton flora of Lake Erie (reference) 119
on unicellular algse (reference) 109
Social sciences, plea for greater attention to 128
Soda saltpetre, origin cvf 15
Song sparrow, nesting and food habits 72
South America and Africa, possible connection of 52
South America and New Zealand, possible connection of 52
Southern region, of Binney, defined 45
Spalding, Dr. V. M., on natural history survey of Michigan (reference) 110
presidential report printed 117
Spanish colonial administration, lecture on (reference) 109
Sparganium eurycarpum and quaking bogs 24
Sparrow bounty law, its repeal recommended 118
Sparrow, English 118
field, nesting of 73
grasshopper, nesting habits and food 72, 73
Henslow's, nesting habits 75
lark 72
song, nesting and food habits # 72
swamp, nesting habits 75
vesper, nesting and food habits 71
Spawning of the dog-fish, Amia 135-136
Spearmint, oil of, produced in Michigan 33
Special meetings, how called 149
Sphagnum zone, plants of 24
Spirillum of Asiatic cholera in water 101
Spiza americana, nesting habits and food 73
Spizella pusilla, nesting of 73
Squirrels, their use of holes in trees 133
Stake-driver (bittern) 67, 68
Statistics of climate and mortality in Michigan 139-142
Statistics of marriages and births in Michigan 102-106
Steere, Dr. J. B., on mammals of Michigan (reference) 12
Stentor, the smallest parts capable of regeneration (reference) 42
Stereum 98
Stock-feeding experiments (reference) 41
23
178 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Sturgeon, hind brain and cranial nerves of 114-115
olfactory lobe of 100
Sturnella magna, nesting habits and food 73
Subcarboniferous fossils from Grand Rapids 63
Subcarbonif erous limestone exposure at Grand Rapids 62-65
Submergence of continental areas improbable 52
Subsection of conchology authorized S4
Subsections, organization of 86
report required from chairman of 86
Sugar beet growing, problems relating to 144-145
Sulfur and celestite in Monroe county (reference) 41
Sunday schools and science 121
Survey of Michigan, natural history (reference) 110
Surveys, biological, etc., recommended 85
Swamp lands, adaptation to market gardening 33
Swamp sparrow, nesting habits 75
Swamp and marshes reclaimed 33
Symplocarpus f oetidus, seeds eaten by quail 69
T.
Tansy, oil of, produced in Michigan 33
Tasmania and Tierra del Fuego, possibly once connected 57
Taylor raspberry needs moist climate 36
Telephones and the life saving service 127
Temperature, effects of on the development of animals (reference) 110
Temporary organization, officers of 7
Terrestrial mollusca first known from the Carboniferous 54, 55
Terrestrial shell-bearing mollusca of Michigan (reference*) 119
Tertiary, remnants of fauna spreading northward 53
glacial epoch of 53
interior sea of N. America 52,53
Tentanus, cure of 18
Tetanus bacillus 16
Theology of science 121-122
Thrasher, brown, nesting of 73
Thunder-pumper (bittern) 67, 68
Ticks eaten by cowbird 71
Timberlake, H. G., on origin of cell-wall substance in cell-division 119
on origin and structure of cell-plates (reference) • 110
Toadstools, poisonous 98
Topographic map of State, recommended to legislature 11
Transition region defined 45
Treasurer of Academy, duties of 14S-151
Treasurer, accounts, how audited 153
accounts, when balanced 151
bond , 151
first report 11
second report 40
third report S6
fourth report 108
fifth report 117
Trees as dwelling places for animals '. 132-133
Tremillinese in winter 98
Trillium grandiflorum, teratological forms of 76
Trilobites in Grand Rapids limestone 63
Tubercle bacillus 16
Tulotoma, confined to upper Coosa river, Alabama 48
Tumbling mustard, reference to paper on 88
Tuscola county, flora of 116
Tympanuchus americanus, nesting and food 74
Typha latif olia 27
Typhoid and colon bacilli, distinctions (reference) 88
Typhoid fever caused by bacilli 16
INDEX. 179
U.
Page
Unicellular alga?, recent investigations of (reference) 109
Unio, distribution of species of 51
wholly wanting west of Rock mountains 48
Unio complanata, fertilization of eggs (reference)
Unionidae, abundance of in the Laramie sea GO
differentiation of fossil forms 59
distribution of in Michigan (reference) 110
east of the Appalachians 48
enormous development of 48
first appear in lower Cretaceous 54
found in the Jurassic 59
influence of brackish and salt water upon 59
of general distribution over the continent 48
origin doubtful 58, 59
possible emigration from the Laramie sea 60
pre-glacial and other migrations 60
relations to fossil and living fauna? of Asia 61
relations to Tertiary fauna of Europe 61
of California very peculiar 60
of the interior region 49
Upland Plover (Bartramia), nesting habits of 68
Uredineaa of Michigan (abstract) 39
Uromyces Howei, uredospores mentioned 39
pisiformis, uredospores mentioned 39
Sparganii, uredospores mentioned 39
Utricularia intermedia, covering lake surface 28
purpurea 28
resupinata notes on 132
V.
Vaccination against anthrax 17
against symptomatic anthrax 17
against hog erysipelas IT
against malignant oedema 17
Vaccination, of Jenner 17
Vallisneria spiralis 27
in Pine river 28
Valvata and Amnicola, distribution of 47
Van Zwaluwenburg, A., on development of seed of Gossypium (reference) 109
Variation of latitude observations (reference) 119
Variolation in the far east 17
Vaucheria 28
Vaughan, Dr. V. C, on black plague (reference) ._ 88
Venom of rattlesnake, rapidity of action 91
Vertebrate embryos, apparatus for photographing 111-112
Vesper sparrow, nesting and food habits 71
Vice presidents, annual report required from 87
duties of 148
how nominated 153
Vital statistics (reference) 12
Vital statistics of Michigan 102-106
Viviparse, distribution of 47-48
Viviparidae, present distribution of 57,58
possible origin of 58
typical forms have wide distribution 47
Voting and elections, constitution on 149
W.
Walker, Bryant, on distribution of the Unionidse in Michigan (reference) 110
on origin and distribution of mollusca of North America 43-61
180 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Page
Walker, Bryant, on present knowledge of the molluscan fauna of Michigan
(reference) 12
on shells of quaternary deposits (reference) 88
on terrestrial shell-bearing mollusca of Michigan (reference).. 119
on Michigan mollusca (reference) 88
Ward, Dr. H. B., on work of Michigan fish commission (reference) 12
Water lilies, leaf-miner in 110-111
Water moccasin, bite causes death 92
Watkins, L. Whitney, on birds that nest in open meadows 66-75
Waverly group 63
Weissman and heredity 37
West Indian Islands, origin of land mollusks of » 55, 56
once connected with Central America 55
Wheeler, Chas. F., on additions to flora of Michigan (reference) 12
on Alpena county plants (reference) 88
on the genus Antennaria in Michigan (reference) 119
on Russian thistle and tumbling mustard (reference) 88
on some boreal islands in southern Michigan (reference) 119
on some Michigan plants (reference) 109
White, Alfred H., on beet sugar manufacture (reference) 119
Whitman, Dr. C. O., on color pattern of the pigeon's wing (reference) 119
Whittemore, Chas. A., on limestone exposure at Grand Rapids 62-65
Wilbur, Dr. C. L., on climate and mortality in Michigan 139-142
on vital statistics (reference) 12
on vital statistics of Michigan 102-105
Wild pigeon, extermination of 66, 67
Wild turkey, decrease with clearing of land 66
Winchell, Alexander, unpublished paper on geology of Western Michigan
(reference) 41
Withdrawal of members for non-payment of dues 151
Wolcott, Dr. R. H., on lepidoptera of Michigan 32
Wood duck, decrease in numbers of 66
Woodpecker, pileated, change in distribution of 66
Worcester, D. C, on apparatus for dehydration, etc. (reference) 88
on birds of Michigan (reference) 12
on factors in the origin and distribution of species of land birds in
island groups (reference) 109
on Spanish colonial administration (reference) 109
Wren, long-billed marsh, nesting habits 75
short-billed marsh, nesting habits 75
Y.
Yellowthroat, Maryland, nesting habits 75
Yersin of Paris 1*>
Ypsilanti meeting, March, 1S99, minutes 117,118
Z.
Zenaida macroura, nesting and food habits 69
Zones of aquatic plant life 27
Zones of Magnin 27
Zonites and Pupa, found in the Carboniferous v 55
of world-wide distribution 55
Zonitidse and Pupida? abundant in Boreal region 46
Zono-limnetic, term denned 26
Zoology, organization of section of 11
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