PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Biological Society of Washington.

PUBLISHED WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

Volume III.
July i, 1884, to February 6, 1886.

WASHINGTON;
PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY.

1886.

GIBSON BROS.

Printers and Bookbinders,

Washington, D. C.

PUBLICATION COMMITTEE.

RICHARD RATHBUN, WILLIAM H. DALL,

ROMYN HITCHCOCK, C. HART MERRIAM.

FREDERIC A. LUCAS.

CONTENTS

PAGE.

Officers and Council elected January, 1885 vii

Standing Committees, 1S85 viii

Officers and Council elected January. 1886 ix

Standing Committees, 1886 x

List of Members. January 23. 1886 xi

Constitution xxv

Proceedings, November 1, 18S4. to February 6, 18S6 xxix

Addresses and Communications I

Tbe Application of Biology to Geological History; Annual Address

of tbe President, Charles A. White. January 24, 1S85 .... 1
Description of some new species of birds from Cozumel Island,

Yucatan. Robert Ridgway (February 26. 1885*) 21

Description of a new species of Chipmunk from California (Tamias

macrorhabdotcs. sp. now). C. Hart Merriam (January 27,

1886*) 25

On a new method of producing immunity from Contagious Diseases,

D. K. Salmon and Theobald Smith (February 22, 1886*) ... 29
The Beginnings of Natural History in America; Annual Address of

the President, G. Brown Goode, February 6, 1886 35

Additions to the flora of Washington and Vicinity, from April 1,

1884, to April 1, 1886, F. H. Knovvlton 106

* Author's extras of each of the special papers here enumerated were published at the date
given iu pai-entheses following the author's name.

V

JL I

! '

LIST

OF THE

Officers and Council

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Elected January io, 1885.

OFFICERS.

PRESIDENT.

G. BROWN GOODE.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

CHARLES V. RILEY, WILLIAM H. DALL,

LESTER F. WARD, OTIS T. MASON.

SECRETARIES.

RICHARD RATHBUN, FRANK BAKER.

TREASURER.

FREDERICK W. TRUE.

COUNCIL.

G. BROWN GOODE, President.

FRANK BAKER, CHARLES V. RILEY,

WILLIAM II. DALL, FREDERICK W. TRUE,

THEODORE GILL,* GEORGE VASEY,

ROMYN HITCHCOCK, CHARLES D. WALCOTT,

JEROME H. KIDDER, LESTER F. WARD,

OTIS T. MASON, JACOB L. WORTMAN,

RICHARD RATHBUN, CHARLES A. WHITE.*

* Ex-Presidents of the Society.
VII

STANDING COMMITTEES

1885.

COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS.

FREDERICK W. TRUE, Chairman.
FRANK BAKER, RICHARD RATHBUN.

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS.

RICHARD RATHBUN, Chairman.
CHARLES V. RILEY, ROMYN HITCHCOCK,

WILLIAM H. DALL, WILLIAM H. SEAMAN.

HENRY G. BEYER.

COMMITTEE ON LECTURES.

OTIS T. MASON, Chairman.
FREDERICK W. TRUE, WILLIAM BIRNEY,

THEODORE GILL. JEROME H. KIDDER.

COMMITTEE ON THE TREES AND SHRUBS OF WASHINGTON.

LESTER F. WARD, Chairman.

WILLIAM SMITH, GEORGE VASEY,

FRANKLIN B. HOUGH.

vm

L 1ST

OF THE

Officers and Council

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Elected January 23, 1886.

OFFICERS.

PRESIDENT.

G. BROWN GOODE.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

WILLIAM II. DALL, LESTER F. WARD,

CHARLES V. RILEY, FRANK BAKER.

SECRETARIES.

RICHARD RATHBUN, C. HART MERRIAM.

TREASURER.

FREDERICK W. TRUE.

COUNCIL.

G. BROWN GOODE, President.

FRANK BAKER, RICHARD RATHBUN,.

TARLETON H. BEAN, CHARLES V. RILEY,

.WILLIAM II. DALL, FREDERICK W. TRUE,

THEODORE GILL,* GEORGE VASEY,

ROMYN HITCHCOCK, CHARLES D. WALCOTT,

OTIS T. MASON, LESTER F. WARD,

C. HART MERRIAM, CHARLES A. WHITE*

'' Ex-Presidents of the Society.
IX

STANDING COMMITTEES

1886.

COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS.

FREDERICK W. TRUE, Chairman.
C. HART MERRIAM, ROMYN HITCHCOCK.

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS.

RICHARD RATHBUN. Chairman.
WILLIAM H. DALL, C. HART MERRIAM,

ROMYN HITCHCOCK, FREDERIC A. LUCAS,

COMMITTEE ON LECTURES.

OTIS T. MASON, Chairman.
CHARLES V. RILEY, CHARLES D. WALCOTT,

FREDERICK W. TRUE, FRANK BAKER.

COMMITTEE ON THE TREES AND SHRUBS OF WASHINGTON.

LESTER F. WARD, Chairman.
WILLIAM SMITH, FRANK H. KNOWLTON,

GEORGE VASEY, F. LAMSON SCRIBNER.

x

LIST OF MEMBERS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

JANUARY 23, 188S.

HONORARY MEMBER.

Baird, Spencer Fullerton, M. D., LL. D., M. N. A. S.,

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Director
of the U. S. National Museum ; U. S. Commissioner of
Fish and Fisheries; Foreign Member of the Zoologi-
cal and Linnean Societies of London. Smithsonian
Institution, and 1445 Massachusetts Avenue N. W.

Date of Election.
1881, Jan. 14.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Agassiz, Alexander, A. B., S. B., M. N. A. S., Curator
of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge ;
Foreign Member of the Zoological and Linnean Socie-
ties of London. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Aguilera, Jose G., Naturalista de la Comision Geogra-
fico Exploradora. City of Puebla, Mexico.

Allen, Harrison, M. D. 117 South Twentieth Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Allen, Joel Asaph, M. N. A. S., C. M. Z. S.. Curator of
Ornithology and Mammalogy, American Museum of
Natural History; President of the American Ornithol-
ogists'Union ; Editor of "The Auk." New York City.

B arcena, Mariano, Profesor de Geologia en la Escuela
Preparatoria. City of Mexico, Mexico.

Brewer, William Henry, Ph. D., M. N. A. S., Professor
of Agriculture in the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale
College, New Haven. New Haven, Connecticut.

XI

1882, Mar. 31.

1886, Jan. 9.
1882, Dec. 22.
1882, April 8.

1886, Jan. 9.
1882, April 28.

XII

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS— Continued.

Brewster, William, Assistant in the Museum of Com-
parative Zoology, Cambridge. 6/ Sparks Street, Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts.

Brooks. William Keith, Ph. D., Associate Professor of
Biology and Director of the Marine Laboratory of Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore. Baltimore, Maryland.

Collett, Robert, C. M. Z. S., Conservator of the Zo-
ological Museum of the University of Christiania.
Christiania, Norway.

Cope, Edward Drinker, M. A., M. N. A. S., C. M. Z.
S., Editor of ••The American Naturalist." 2100 Pine
Street, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania.

Derby, Orville Adelbert, M. S., Curator of the Geo-
logical Section of the National Museum of Brazil.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dobson, George Edward, M. A., M. B., F. R. S., F.

Z. S. , Surgeon Major R. N. Exeter, Devonshire, Etig-
land.

Farlow, William Gilson, A. M., M. D., M. N. A. S.,
Professor of Cryptogamic Botany in Harvard Univer-
sity. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Date of Election.
1881, Feb. 25.

1881, Feb. 25.

1882, Jan. 6.
1882, Dec. 22.

1881, April 14.
1884, Nov. 15.

1882, Jan. 6.

Flower, William Henry, LL. D., F. R. S., Pres. Z. S., 1884, Feb. 8.
F. L. S. ; Director of the Natural History Departments
of the British Museum. South Kensington. London,
S. W. . England.

1 881, Mar. 11.

Giglioli, Enrico Hillyer, D. Sc. , C. M. Z. S., Direc-
tor of the Royal Zoological Museum of Vertebrates,
and Professor of Vertebrate Zoology in the Royal In-
stitute, Florence. R. Istituto di Studi Superior/',
Florence, Italy.

Gray, Asa, M. D., LL. D., M. N. A. S., Fisher Pro- 1882, Jan. 6.
fessor of Natural History in Harvard University; For-
eign Member of the Royal Society of London, and of j
the Institute of France. Botanic Garden, Cambridge,
Massa ch use t Is .

Horn, George Henry, M. D., Pres. American Ento-
mological Society. Sjj North Fourth Street, Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania.

1884, Feb. 8.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

xnr

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS— Continued.

Hubrecht, A. A. W., C. M. Z. S., &c, Professor of Natu-
ral History in the University of Utrecht. Utrecht, Hol-
land.

Hyatt, Alpheus, S. B., M. N. A. S., Professor of Zool-
ogy and Palaeontology in the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology ; Custodian of the Boston Society of Natu-
ral History; President of the Society of Naturalists of
the Eastern United States. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jordan, David Starr, M. S., M. D., Ph. D., President
of the Indiana University. Bloomington, Indiana.

Lawrence, George N., C. M. Z. S. yj East j/st St.,
New York City.

Leidy, Joseph, M. D.. LL. D., M. N. A. S., F. M. Z. S.
L. ; Professor of Anatomy in the University of Penn-
sylvania ; President of the Academj' of Natural Sci-
ences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Pcnn.

Lyman, Hon. Theodore, A. M., M. N. A. S. Brook-
line, Mass.

Mark, Edward Laurens, Ph. D., Hersey Professor of
Anatomy, Harvard University, and Assistant in the Mu-
seum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.
Cambridge , Massachusetts.

Marsh, Othnikl Charles, M. A , Pres. N. A. S.. Pro-
fessor of Paheontology in Yale College, and Palaeontol-
ogist to the U. S. Geological Survey. New Haven,
Connecticut.

Martin, Henry Newell, A. M., M. D., D. Sc , Profes-
sor of Biology in Johns Hopkins University. Balti-
more, Maryland.

Morse, Edward S.. Ph. D., M. N. A. S., Director of the
Peabody Academy of Science, Salem. Salem, Mass.

Moseley, Henry Nottidge, A. M., F. R. S., F. L. S ,
F. Z. S., &c. , Linacre Professor of Human and Com-
parative Anatomy in the University of Oxford, i-j. St.
Giles, Oxford, England.

Packard. Alpheus Spring, Jr., A. M , M. D., M. N. A.
S., Professor of Zoology and Geology in Brown Uni-
versity, Providence; Editor of "The American Natu-
ralist." Providence, Rhode Island.

Date of Election.
18S4, Jan. 11.

1882, Jan. 6.

1883, Jan. 5.
1881, April 8.
iSS-|, Dec. 27.

1883, Dec. 14.

1884, Nov. 15.

1884, Feb. 8.

1882, Dec. 22.

1882, Mar. 31.

1883, Nov. 30.

1882, Mar. 31.

XIV

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS— Continued.

Perez, Fernando Ferrari, President of* the University
of Puebla; Naturalista de la Comision Geografico Ex-
ploradora. City of Puebla, Mexico.

Sclater, Philip Lutley, M. A., Ph. D.. F. R. S., Sec-
retary of the Zoological Society of London, 3 Han-
over Square, London, \V., England.

Scudder, Samuel Hubbard, A. \L, M. N. A. S., Presi-
dent of the Boston Society of Natural History. Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts.

Smith, Sidney Irving, Ph. B., Professor of Compara-
tive Anatomy in Yale College, New Haven. Nexv
Haven, Connecticut.

Velie, John W., M. D., Secretary and Curator of the
Chicago Academy of Sciences. 263 Wabash Avenue,
Chicago, Illitio is.

Verrill, Addison Emory, A. M., S. B., M. N. A. S.,
Professor of Zoology, and Curator of the Zoological
Collections in Yale College, New Haven. Nezv Haven,
Connecticut.

Watson, Sereno. Ph. D., M. N. A. S., Curator of the
Herbarium of Harvard University. Botanic Gardens,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Whitman, Charles Otis, M. A., Ph. D., Embryolo-
gist, Museum of Comparative Zoology. Cambridge,
Massachusetts.

Wilson, Edmund Beecher, Ph. D.. Professor of Natu-
ral History in Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Maxvr,
Pennsylvania.

ACTIVE MEMBERS.*

Date of Election.
18S6, Jan. 9.

1884. Nov. 15.

i8Sj, Dec. 22.

1882, Mar. 3.

1881, Feb. 25.

1882, Mar. 31.

1882, April 28.

1884, Nov - l 5-
1SS2, Mar. 3.

Acker, George N., M. D. 1403 New York Avenue, N.W. ! 1883, Jan. 19.

Ames Delano. 1600 13th Street, N. W.

Ashford, Francis Asbury, M. D. {Deceased.)

Baker, Frank, M. D. Office of Light-House Board,
and 326 C Street, N. W.

1883, J an - 1 9-
Orig. Member.
i88i,Jan. 14.

* Unless otherwise stated, all addresses are in Washington. By the words " Original Mem-
ber" are designated those who attended the meetings for organization, November 26 and
December 3, 1880.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

XV

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued

Baldwin, Albertus Hutchinson. Smithsonian Insti-
tution.

Barker, John Shepard. 7/3 H Street, N. W.

Barnard, William Stebbins. gij New York Avenue.

Bates, Henry Hobakt. U- S. Patent Office, and ■'■The
Portland."

Bean, Tarleton Hoffman, M. D. Smithsonian insti-
tution, and Summit Avenue, Lanier Heights.

Benedict, James Everard. Smithsonian Institution.
and 140 B Street, N.E.

Bessels, Emil. The Cosmos Club.

Beyer, Henry G., M. D. , U. S. N. Smithsonian Insti-
tution, and 1203 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.

Bigelow, Horatio Ripley. M. D. {Absent.)

Bigelow, Robert Payne. (Absent.)

Birney, Herman Hoffman. (Absent.) iqoi Hare-
wood Avenue, Le Droit Park.

Birney, Gen. William. 1901 Harewood Avenue, Le
Droit Park.

Blackburn, Isaac Wright, M. D. Government Hos-
pital for the Insane.

Britton, Wiley. Quartermaster Generals Office.

Bromwell, Josiaii Robson, M. D. 1138 Connecticut
Avenue, N. W.

Brown, James Templeman. (Deceased.)

Browne, John Mills, M. D., U. S. N. Bureau of Med-
icine and Surgery, U. S. Navy, and ■' The Portland."

Bruner, Lawrence. (Absent.) West Point, Neb.

Bryan, Joseph H., M. D., U. S. N. 1334 I Street, N. W.

Burgess, Edward Sandford. High School, and 8 10 12th
Street, N. W.

Date of Election.
1SS4, Nov. 29.

1882, Mar. 3.
1881, Nov. 11.

1884, April 19.
Orig. Member.

1883, Jan. 5.

1SS1, Mar. 25.

1881, Nov. 11.

1884, Jan. ii-
1883, Mar. 2.
i88i,Jan. 14.

18S2, Jan. 20.

1885, Nov. 14.

1882, Nov. 24.

1883, Dec. 14.

Orig. Member.
1882, -Nov. 24.

1882, Dec. 22.

1883, Dec. 28.
1883, Jan. 5 .

Burnett, Swan Moses, M. D. 1213 I Street, N. W. ' 1882, Mar. 17.

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

XVI

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Busey, Samuel Clagett, M. D. got /6th St., N. W.

Chambers, Paul, M. D. iooi nth Street, N. W.

Chappel, John William, M. D. Ten /tally tow//, D. C.

Chase, Henry Sanders, Ensign, U. S. N. (Absent.)
Navy Department.

Chester, Colby M. , Commander, U. S. N. (Absent.)
Navy Department.

Chickering, Prof. John White, Jr. National Deaf-
Mute College, Kendall Green, N.E.

Chickering, John Jameson. Kendall Green, N.E.

Christie, Alexander Smyth. U. S. Coast Survey
Office, and 307 Sixt// Street, N. W.

Clark, Alonzo Howard. U. S. National Museum, and
1527 S Street, N. W.

Collins, Joseph William. (Absent.) Gloucester, Mass.

Comstock, Prof. John Henry. (Absent.) Cornell Uni-
versity, Ithaca, N. Y.

Con ant, Woodbury Page. (Absent.)

Date of Election.
Orig. Member.

1885, April 4.

i8S3,Jan. 19.

1882, Feb. 17.

1883, April 27.
Orig. Member.

1 881, May 20.

1882, Mar. 17.

i88i,Jan. 28.

1881, Feb. 23.
Orig. Member.

1881, Dec. 23.

Coues, Elliott, M. D. Smithsonian Institution, and j Orig. Member.
172b N Street, N. W.

Cox, William Van Zandt. U. S. National Museum, and
" Belmont," corner 14th Street and Boundary, N. W.

Curet, Albert. U- S. National Museum, and 034 E
Street, N. W.

Curtice, Cooper. Smithsonian Institution.

Dall, William Healey. Smithsonian Institution, and
iiiq 1 2th Street, N. W.

Dewey, Frederic Perkins. U. S. National Museum,
and Lanier Heights.

Dosh, Frank Bowman. (Deceased.)

Dresel, Herman George, Ensign, U. S. N. (Absent.)
Navy Department.

Drury, George A., M. D. iioj C Street, N.E.

1881, Nov. 11.

18S4, Nov. 29.

1884, De c- 27.
i88i,Jan. 28.

i8Si, Nov. 11.

1882, Jan. 20.
1882, Dec. 22.

1885, April 4.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

XVII

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Earll, Robert Edward. Smithsonian Institution, and
133b T Street, N. W.

Eggleston, Rev. Nathaniel Hillyer. U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture.

Elliott, Henry Wood. Smithsonian Institution, and
Cleveland, Ohio.

Ellzey, Mason Graham, M. D. /012 I Street, IV. IV.

Enthoffer, Joseph. U. S. Coast Survey Office, and 68
I Street, N. W.

Ferguson, Thomas Barker. " The Richmond."

Fisher, Albert Kenrick. M. D. U. S. Department of
Agriculture, and Sing Sing, N. 7~.

Date of Election.
i88i,Jan. 28.

1884, M aj 17-
1881, Feb. 25.

1881, Nov. 25.

1882, Oct. 27.

i88i,Jan. 28.

1885, Dec. 12.

Fletcher, Robert, M. D. Surgeon Generals Office, 1881, Mar. 25.
and " The Portland."

Flint, James Milton, M. D., U. S. N. U. S. Fish
Commission Steamer Albatross.

Foreman, Edward, M. D. (Deceased.)

Foster, Richard. Howard University.

Fox, William Henry. (Absent.) Rockivood, Roane
Co., Tenn.

Franzoni, Charles William, M. D. 810 H Street,
N.W.

Fristoe, Prof. Edward T. Columbian University, and

1434 N Street, N. TV.

Gannett, Henry. U- S. Geological Survey, and 1881
Hareivood Avenue, LeDroit Park.

Garrett, LeRoy Mason, Ensign, U. S. N. (Absent.)
Navy Department.

Geare, Randolph Iltyd. U. S. National Museum.

Gedney, Charles De Forest. U. S. Coast Survey
Office, and 1/5 F Street, N.E.

Gihon, Albert Leary, M. D., U. S. N. U. S. Naval
Hospital.

Gilbert, Grove Karl. U. S. Geological Survey, and
1424 Corcoran Street, N. W.

1881, Feb. 11.

1881, Dec. 9.
1883, April 13.
1883, April 27.

1883, Dec. 14.

1883, Jan. 5.

1 881, Mar. 25.

1882, Feb. 17.

1884, May 3.
Orig. Member.

1881, Mar. 11.

1882, April 28.

XVIII

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Gill, Theodore Nicholas, M. D. The Cosmos Club,
and 321 Four-and-a-half Street, JV. W.

Gilpin, George E., M. D. Tennallytotun, D. C.

Godwin, Harry P. Office of " The Evening Star."

Goode. George Brown. Smithsonian Institution, and
Summit Avenue, Lanier Heights.

Goodrich, Joseph King. {Absent.)

Gore, Prof. James Howard. Columbian University, and
1305 4? Street, N. W.

Gray, William M., M. D. Army Medical Museum.

Gurley, Revere Randolph, M. D. s°SS Q Street,
N.W.

Hamilton, John B., M. D. 9 B Street, N. W.

Hassler, Ferdinand Augustus, M. D. (Absent.)
Santa Ana, Los Angeles Co., Cal.

Hawes, George Wesson. (Deceased.)

Hawkes, William Himes, M. D.
Avenue, N. W.

/j 30 New York

Hayden, Edward Everett. U. S. Geological Survey,
and iboi S Street, N. W.

Heidemann, Otto. U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Henshaw, Henry Wetherbee. Bureau of Ethnology.
Smithsonian Institution, and 13 lotva Circle.

IIessel, Rudolph. 314 Tenth Street, N. W.

Hill, Robert Thomas. Smithsonian Institution.

Hitchcock, Romyn. Smithsonian Institution.

Hoadly, Frederick H., M. D. (Absent.)

Hoffman, Walter James, M. D. Bureau ofEtJmology,
and 222 E Street, N. W.

Hornaday, William Tell. U. S. National Museum,
and 404 Spruce Street, LcDroit Park.

Hough, Franklin Benjamin. (Deceased.)

Date of Election.
Orig. Member.

1883, Mar. 30.
1882, Nov. 24.
Orig. Member.

1882, Oct. 27.
Orig. Member.

1885, Dec. 12.
1882, Nov. 24.

1882, Nov. 24.
Orig. Member.

1881, Feb. 25.
18S2, Feb. 3.

1882, Feb. 17.

1885, April 4.
18S2, Mar. 31.

1881, Jan. 14.

1886, Jan. 23.

1883, Nov. 16.
18S2, Dec. 22.
Orig. Member.

1882, April 14.
1882, May 26.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

XIX

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.
Hough, Myron Beach Warner. {Deceased.)

Howard, Leland O. U. S. Department of- Agriculture,
and Oakland Avenue, Washington Heights.

Howe, Frank T. Office of " The National Republi-
can" and 143S Corcoran Street, N. W.

Howland, Edwin Perry, M. D. 21 r Four-and-a-half
Street, N. W.

Ingersoll, Ernest. {Absent.) New Haven, Conn.

Israel, George Robert. High School.

Jenkins, Thornton A., Rear Admiral, U. S. N. 2115
Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.

Johnson, Arnold Burges. Office U. S. Light-House
Board, and 30/ Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

Johnson, Blanchard Freeman. {Deceased.)

Johnson, Joseph Taber, M. D. 926 iytk Street, N. W.

Johnson, Willard Drake. {Absent.)

Johnston, William Waring, M. D. 1603 K Street, N. W.

Jouy, Pierre Louis. {Absent.)

Kidder, Jerome Henry, M. D. Smithsonian Institu-
tion, and 18 16 N Street, N. W.

King, Albert Freeman Africanus, M. D. 726 13th

Street, N. W.

Knowlton, Frank Hall. U. S. National Museum,
and 202 jlh Street, S.F.

Koebele, Albert. {Absent.) Alameda, Cal.

Lamasure, George Morton. 216 12th Street, S. W.

Lee, Thomas. Smithsonian Institution.

Lee, William, M. D. 2/11 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.

Lehnert, Rev. Ernest. 320 Four-and-a-half Street,
S. W

Lucas, Frederic Augustus. U. S. National Museum.

Lugger, Otto. U. S. Department of Agriculture, and
429 N. Carey Street, Baltimore, Md.

Date of Election.

1882, April 27.
Orig. Member.

1883, Feb. 6.

1881, Feb. 25.

Orig. Member.

1882, Dec. 22.
1885, Feb. 22.

1882, Mar. 3.

1882, Jan. 20.
1882, Feb. 3.

1884, Feb. 23.
1882, Nov. 24.
Orig. Member.
Orig. Member.

Orig. Member.

1884, Nov. 29.

1881, Nov. 25.

1885, May 30.

1884, Dec. 27.
Orig. Member.

1882, Jan. 20.

1882, Oct. 27.

1885, Nov. 14.

XX

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Date of Election.

McArdle, Thomas Eugene, M. D. joy 12th Street, 1882, Dec. 22.

N.W.

McClain, Charles Sumner, Ensign, U. S. N. {Absent.) \ 1883, Dec. 28.
Navy Department.

McConnell, James Culbertson, M. D. (Absent.) j 1883, April 27.

McDonald, Marshall. Office U. S. Fish Commission. \ 1 881, Jan. 28.

McElhone, James Francis. 1318 Vermont Ave., N.W. \ 1883, April 13.

McGee, W. J. U. S. Geological Survey, and 1424 Cor- \ 1883, Dec. 14.
coran Street, N. W.

McMurtrie, Prof. William. (Absent.) Illinois Indus- \ 1 881, May 20.
trial University, Champaign, III.

Mann, Benjamin Pickman. U. S. Department of Agri- 1 881. Nov. 11.
culture, and 024 iqth Street, N. W.

Marcou, John Belknap. U. S. Geological Survey.

Marsh, Charles Carrolton, Ensign, U. S. N. (Ab-
sent.) Navy Department.

Marx, George, M. D. U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture, and 024 Mass. Ave., N. W.

Mason, Otis Tufton. U. S. National Museum, and
ijoj ^ Street, N. W.

Merriam, Clinton Hart, M. D. Smithsonian Institu-
tion.

Miller, Benjamin, ij/6 31st Street, N. W.

Miner, Randolph Huntington, Ensign, U. S. N. (Ab-
sent.) Navy Department.

1883, Nov. 3.
1882, Feb. 17.

Orig. Member.

Orig. Member.

1885, Nov. 14.

i88i,June 3.
1882, Feb. 17.

Moser, Jefferson Franklin, Lieut., U. S. N. Office 1 1884, April 5.
U. S. Coast Survey.

Murdoch, John. U- S. National Museum, and 1441 1S83, Nov. 30.
Chapin Street, College Hill.

Murrell, Edward II.. M. D. Lynchburg, Va.
Nelson, Edward W. (Absent.)

1885, Nov. 14.
1881, Dec. 9.

Nelson, Henry Clay, M. D., U. S. N. Westminster, 1883, Feb. 2.
Md.

Niblack, Albert Parker. Ensign, U. S. N. (Absent.) 1S83, Jan. 19.
Navy Department. I

LIST OF MEMBERS.

XXI

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Nichols, Henry E., Lieut.-Comdr. , U. S.N. {Absent).
Navy Department.

Norris, Basil, M. D.,U. S. A. {Absent.) Vancouver,
Clarke Count v. Washington Territory.

Parker, Peter, Jr. Smithsonian Institution, and 2 La-
fayette Square, N. IV.

Patton, Horace B. (Absent.)

Patton, William Hampton. (Absent.)

Pergande, Theodore. U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture, and 6/4 7th Street, S. W.

Persons, Remus Charles, M. D., U. S. N. (Absent.)
Navy Department.

Phillips, Louis E. 142S New York Avenue, N. W.

Porter. John Hampden, M. D. 2J20 M Street. N. JV.

Powell, Major John Wesley. U. S. Geological Sur-
vey, and 910 M Street, N. W.

Prentiss, Daniel Webster, M. D. 1224 qth Street,
N. JV.

Rathbun, Richard. Smithsonian Institution, and 1622
Massachusetts Avenue. N. IV.

Rau, Charles. Smithsonian Institution.

Reyburn, Robert, M. D. 2129 F Street. N. JV.

Rhees, William Jones. Smithsonian Institution.

Richey, Stephen Olin, M. D. 1426 New York Ave-
nue, N. IV.

Ridgway, Robert. Smithsonian Institution, and 1214
Virginia Avenue, S. IV.

Riley, Charles Valentine. U. S. Department of
Agriculture, and 1700 rjth Street, N. TV.

Russell, Israel Cook. U. S. Geological Survey, and
1424 Corcoran Street, N. IV.

Ryder, John Adam. Smithsonian Institution.

Safford, William Edwin, Ensign, U. S. N. (Absent.)
Navy Department.

Date of Election.
1884, April 19.

Orig. Member.

1882, Dec. 22.

1882, Dec. 22.
Orig. Member.
Orig. Member.

1883, Feb. 16.

1SS3, Nov. 16.
Orig. Member.
1881, Feb. 11.

Orig. Member.
Orig. Member.

1 88 1, May 20.

1881, Dec. 9.

1882, Oct. 27.
1882, Mar. 17.

Orig. Member.

Orig. Member.

1882, April 28.

1S82, Mar. 31.
1882, Nov. 21.

XXII

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Salmon, Dr. Daniel Elmer. U. S. Department of
Agriculture.

Sayles, Ira. U. S. Geological Survey.

Scileffer, Edward Martin. M. D. 1321 F Street,
N.W.

Schonborn, Henry. 213 yth Street, N. W.

Sciiuermann, Carl Wilhelm. Smithsonian Institution,
and gib D Street, S. W.

Schwarz, Eugene Amandus. U. S. Department of
Agriculture, and 600 M Street, N. W.

Scribner, Frank Lamson. U. S. Department of Agri-
culture.

Scudder, Charles Willis. Office U. S. Fish Commis-
sion, and nij S Street, N. W.

Scudder, Newton Pratt. Smithsonian Institution.

Seaman, William Henry. 1424 nth Street, N. W.

Seaton, Charles W. {Deceased.)

Shufeldt, Robert Wilson, M. D., U. S. A. {Absent.)
Box 144, Smithsotiian Institution.

Shute, Daniel Kerfoot, M. D. gib 12th Street, N. W.

Smiley, Charles Wesley. Office U. S. Fish Commis-
sion, and g4j Mass. Avenue, N. W.

Smillie, Thomas William. U. S. National Museum.

Smith, Dexter A. Sib 14th Street, N. W.

Smith, John B. U. S. National Museum.

Smith, Theobald, M. D. U. S. Department of Agri-
culture.

Date of Election.
1S83, May 25.

1884, Ma y 3-

Orig. Member.

1882, Jan. 20.
1882, Mar. 11.

Orig. Member.

1885, Dec. 26.
i88i,Jan. 14.

Orig. Member.
Orig. Member.
1882, May 26.
1S81, Nov. 11.

1882, Feb. 17.
Orig. Member.

1883, Mar. 2.
iS85, April 4.
1885, Nov. 14.
18S4, Feb. 8.

Smith, Thomas Croggon, M. D. 1133 12th Street, N.W. \ 1883, Feb. 16.

Smith, William Robert. U. S. Botanical Garden.

Snell, Hon. William B. g/i K Street, N. W.

Stearns, Robert Edwards Carter. Smithsonian In-
stitution, and ibjj 13th Street, N. Jf T .

Stejnegeu, LEONHARD. Smithsonian Institution.

1881, Nov. 11.
18S5, May 16.
18S4, Nov. 29.

1SS1, Nov. 11.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.
Sternberg, George Miller, M. D., U. S. A. {Absent.)

Stevenson, James. U.S. Geological Survey, and 1913
N Street, N. W.

Stewart, Alonzo Hopkins. 204 4th Street, S.E.

Stimpson, William Gordon. U. S. National Museum.

Streets, Thomas Hale, M. D., U. S. N. {Absent.)
Navy Department.

Tarr, Ralph Stockman. {Absent.)

Taylor, James Hemphill. 4S2 Louisiana Avenue, N. W.

Taylor, Thomas, M. D. U S. Department of Agricul-
ture, and 23S Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.

Taylor, William Bower. Smithsonian Institution, and
306 C Street, N. W.

Thomas, Cyrus. Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian
Institution.

Thompson, John Ford, M. D. 904 14th Street, N. W.

Todd, Prof. James Edward. {Absent.) Tabor College,
Tabor, lotva.

Toner, Joseph Meredith, M. D. 6/j Louisiana Ave-
nue, N. W.

True, Frederick William. U. S. National Museum,
and /jss -N Street, N. W.

Tupper, James Brainerd Taylor. Internal Revenue
Bureau, Treasury Department, and j/o I Street, N. W.

Turner, Henry W. {Absent.)

Turner, Lucien M. Smithsonian Institution.

Ulke, Henry. 411 sjth Street, N W.

TJpham, Edwin Porter. Smithsonian Institution.

Vasey, Dr. George. U. S. Department of Agriculture,
and 2012 14th Street, N. W.

Walcott, Charles Doolittle. U. S. National Mu-

*

seum.

XXIII

D;ite of Election.
1SS1, Mar. 25.

1882, Mar. 17.

1883, Dec. 14.
1SS1, Feb. 25.
1882, Feb. 17.

18S2, Nov. 24.
18S2, Dec. 22.

Orig. Member.

1882, Oct. 27.

iS83,Jan. 5.

1 88 1, Dec. 9.
i88i,Jan. 28.

Orig. Member.

Orig. Member.

1883, Nov. 30.

18S2, Oct. 27.
1881, Dec 23.
Orig. Member.
18S1, Mar. 25.

Orig. Member.

18S3, Nov. 3.

XXIV

MIOLOG-ICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ACTIVE MEMBERS— Continued.

Ward, Lester Frank. U. S. National Museum, and
1464 Rhode Island Avenue, N. W.

West, Henry Litchfield. Office of the " Washington
Post," and m E Street, N. W.

White, Charles Abiathak. U. S. National Museum,
and 312 Maple Avenue, LcDroit Park.

White, Charles Henry, M. D., U. S. N. Museum of
Hygiene, and 1744 G Street, N. IV.

White, Maurice Putnam. (Absent.)

Willcox, Joseph. (Absent.) Media, Pen//.

Williams, Alfred. Department of State, and 232
North Capitol Street.

Wilson, Joseph McMinn. ijoS Maryland Avenue,
S.W.

Wilson, Hon. William Lyne, M. C. /00S N S'*-eet,
N.W.

Winslow, Francis, Lieut., U. S. N. (Absent.) Navy
Department,

Wortm an, Jacob L. Army Medical Museum.

Yarrow, Henry Crecy, M. D. Surgeon-General's
Office, and 8/4 17th Street, N. W.

Yeates. William Smith. U. S. National Museum, and
1403 6th Street, N. W.

Zumbrock, Anton. 455 C Street, N. W.

Date of Election.
Orig. Member.

1882, Dec. 22.

Orig. Member.

1S83, Dec. 14.

1 88 1, May 20.
18S4, Dec. 27.
i8Si,Jan. 28.

Orig. Member.

18S4, Mar. 22.

1881, Dec. 9.

1884, April 19.
Orig. Member.

1881, Feb. 25.

1882, Jan. 6.

THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OE WASHINGTON.

CONSTITUTION.

Adopted December 3, 1880.

Article I.

Name.

The name of this Society shall be " The Biological Society
of Washington."

Article II.

Objects.

Its objects shall be to encourage the study of the Biological
Sciences, and to hold meetings at which papers shall be read and
discussed.

Article III.

[As amended January 10, 1885.]

Members.

The Society shall consist of active, corresponding, foreign, and
honorary members. Candidates for membership shall be pro-
posed to the Council, in writing, by at least three members, and.
upon recommendation of the majority of the Council present at
its regular meeting, shall be balloted for at the earliest ensuing
meeting. A majority vote of the members present when the
ballot is taken shall be necessary to election.

Article IV.

[As amended January 10, 1885.]

Officers.

The officers shall be a President, four Vice-Presidents, two
.Secretaries, and a Treasurer. There shall be a Council, consist-
ing of the officers of the Society and five members, to be elected

xxv

*

XXVI BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

by the Society. A quorum of the Council shall consist of seven
members. Its duties shall be to act on nominations for member-
ship, have the direction of the finances, audit the accounts of the
Treasurer, and provide a programme for each meeting of the
Society.

The officers shall be elected by ballot at each annual meeting,
and shall serve one year, or until their successors are elected.

Presidents of the Society shall be members of the Council after
the expiration of their term as President, without election thereto,
in addition to the members of the Council otherwise provided for
by the Constitution.

Article V.
President and Vice-Presidents.
The President, or, in his absence, one of the Vice-Presidents,
shall preside at meetings of the Society and Council. The pre-
siding officer shall appoint all committees in the Council and in
the Society, unless otherwise ordered. It shall be the duty of the
retiring President to deliver an addi'ess at the second meeting in
January.

Article VI.

Secretaries.
The Secretaries shall take and preserve correct minutes of the
proceedings of the Society and Council and a record of the mem-
bers, shall conduct its correspondence, give due notice of all
meetings, and inspect and count all ballots.

Article VII.
Treasurer.
The Treasurer shall have charge of all money and other prop-
erty of the Society, and shall make disbursements under the
direction of the Council. He shall collect all fees and assess-
ments, and notify members who may be in arrears.

Article VIII.
Sections.
Sections for special work in any department of Biology may
be formed upon the recommendation of the Council.

CONSTITUTION. XXVII

Article IX.

Meetings.

Stated meetings shall, unless otherwise ordered, be held on
Friday of each alternate week, at eight o'clock P. M. The
annual meeting for the election of officers shall be the first meet-
ing in January. Special and field meetings may be called by the
Council.

Article X.

[As amended February 2, 1883.]

Fees.
The initiation fee shall be one dollar ; the annual fee two dol-
lars. Members in arrears for one year shall, after due notification
by the Treasurer, be dropped from the rolls, except in the case of
those absent from the city for a year or more, who may be retained
on the list as non-resident members during their absence. No
member in arrears shall be entitled to vote at the annual meeting
for the election of officers.

Article XI.
Amendments to the Constitution.
The Constitution of the Society may be amended by a two-thirds
vote of the members present at any regular meeting, after at least
four weeks' notice.

Article XII.

Order of Business.
The order of business at each regular meeting, unless otherwise
provided by the Council, shall be as follows :

I. Reading- of minutes.

II. Reports of Committees

III. Balloting for members.

IV. Nominations for membership.
V. Miscellaneous business.

VI. Reading of papers, discussions, and exhibition of speci-
mens.

Article XII may be suspended at any time by a two-thirds vote
of the members present.

PROCEEDINGS.

Sixty-Sixth Meeting, November i, 1SS4.

The President occupied the chair, and thirty-five members were
present.

The President announced the death during the summer inter-
mission of Mr. Blanchard F. Johnson and Mr. M. B. W. Hough,
active members of the Society.

He also gave notice that those present were invited to partake,
at the close of the meeting, of a collation that had been spread in
an adjoining room. It was explained that a number of members
were desirous of introducing this new feature at the meetings of
the Society, in order to promote social, as well as scientific,
intercourse between the members, and that a committee had been
appointed to report upon the subject.

Mr. William H. Dall made a communication upon the Zoo-
logical Position of Turbinella,* stating as his conclusions
that Turbinella pi-oper, as typified by T. pyruvic was closely
related to the group typified by Cynodonta cornigera ; and that
the investigation of the soft parts, hitherto unknown, corroborated
previous conclusions from the shell.

Dr. T. H. Bean exhibited specimens of A Chlmlerid Fish
New to the Western Atlantic, obtained from deep water
during the summer of 1884 by the Fish Commission Steamer
Albatross, and explained its relations to described species.

Mr. John A. Ryder, in a paper entitled The Development of
the Sunfish, MoLA,f stated his belief that Molacanthus was
merely a stage in the development of Mola.

* 18S5. Dall, W. H. On Turbinella fiyrum, Lamarck, and its den-
tition. <Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., viii, pp. 345-34S, pi. xix.

■f Chapter viii of a paper entitled On the Origin of Heterocercy and the
Evolution of the Fins and Fin-rays of Fishes. (In press).

XXIX

XXX BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Sixty-Seventh Meeting, November 15, 18S4.

The President occupied the chair, and forty members were
present.

Mr. A. B. Johnson exhibited a collection of plants obtained bv
.Sergeant Connell, a member of the Greely Expedition, at Fort
Conger, lat. Si° 44' N., long. 64° 45' W. Dr. Vasey offered
provisional identifications of the seven species as follows : Ran-
unculus (perhaps R. JVelsont), Poteutilla, sp., Vesicaria (per-
haps 1\ arctica), Calaudrina, sp.. a species of the family
Portulacacere, a fern, and a moss (perhaps Rryum, sp.).

Prof. Theodore Gill made a communication upon The Classi-
fication of the Monotremata,* sketching the history of
opinion concerning their affinities, and calling attention to the
fact that their oviparity had been recorded as early as 1822, by
Fleming.

Prof. C. V. Riley read a paper on The Phytophagic Habit
in Isosoma, f giving a historical and critical review of past
opinion, and claiming to have finally demonstrated the life history
of the Isosoma and its allies.

Mr. F. W. True spoke of his recent studies of The Habits of
the Bottle-nose Dolphin,! and of the porpoise fisheries of
Cape May and Cape Hatteras, which he had visited.

Sixty-Eighth Meeting, November 29, 1884.

The President occupied the chair, and forty-four members were
present.

A communication was received from the Secretary of the Philo-
sophical Society of Washington, inviting the members of the
Biological Society to be present on the occasion of an address

* 1884. Gill, Theodore. The Eggs of Ornithorhynchus. <Science,
iv, pp. 452-453-

f 1SS5. Riley, C. V. The Larger Wheat-si raw Isosoma, Isosoma
grande, Riley. <Rept. [U. S.] Commiss. Agric. for 1884 (1885). (Riley,
C. V. Report of the Entomologist, [Jan.] 1885), PP- 357' 35^ [73~74]>
pi. 7, fig. 2, 3; pi. 8, fig. 3, 4.

\ 1885. Science, v, p. 338, 1 fig.

PROCEEDINGS. XXX I

by the president, Dr. J. C. Welling, at the annual meeting of
that Society. The invitation was accepted.

Dr. W. K. Brooks, of Johns Hopkins University, made a com-
munication upon The Origin of Alternation of Generation
in the Hydro-Medusae.*

Mr. Sanderson Smith, of New York, read a paper entitled
The Recent Explorations of the Steamer Albatross,
with Special Reference to their Geological Teachings.

Sixty-Ninth Meeting, December 13, 1884.

The President occupied the chair, and thirty-six members were
present.

The following; communications were made ,

Mr. Leonhard Stejneger, The Shedding of the Bill in

AuKS-t

Dr. George Vasey, The Grasses of the Arid Plains, an
account of observations during a recent trip to the western part of
the United States.

Mr. C. D. Walcott, The Oldest Known Fauna on the
American Continent, \ a description of the characteristic fos-
sils of the Primordial Group, of St. John, New Brunswick.

Prof. L. F. Ward, The Occurrence of the Seventeen-
Year Locust in Virginia, in October, 1884, § and Additions
to the Flora of Washington during 1884. || In his second

* Abstract of a memoir entitled The Life History of the Hydro-Medusa; ;
a Discussion of the Origin of the Meduscz, and of the Significance of
Metagenesis, now in course of publication by the Boston Society of Nat-
ural History.

t 1SS5. <Results of Ornithological Explorations in the Commander
Islands and Kamtschatka, by Leonhard Stejneger. Bulletin of the U. S.
National Museum, No. 29, Washington, 1S85, pages 25-62, pis. i-v.

% 1SS4. Walcott, Charles D. On the Cambrian Faunas of North Amer-
ica. Preliminary Studies. Review of the Fauna of the Saint John Forma-
tion contained in the Hartt Collection at Cornell University. Bull. U. S.
Geological Survey, No. 10 ; Washington, Svo., pp. 56, pis. i-x.

§ 1SS5. Ward, Lester F. Premature Appearance of the Periodical
Cicada. <Science, v, June 12, p. 476.

|| 1886. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, viii, p. 106. .

XXXTI BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

communication. Prof. Ward announced that the names of iS
plants had heen added to the Flora Columbiana during the past
year, some of these having been new discoveries, and others
based upon earlier observations, to which his attention had first
been called during 18S4.

Seventieth Meeting, December 27, 1S84.

The President occupied the chair, and thirty members were
present.

Dr. Charles Sedgwick Minot, Secretary of the Society of Nat-
uralists of the Eastern United States, made a statement concern-
ing the annual meeting of that Society, to be held in Washington,
on Monday and Tuesday of the following week.

Prof. R. E. C. Stearns. Dr. H. G. Bever, and Mr. Benjamin
Miller were appointed a committee to audit the accounts of the
Treasurer, on account of his expected absence from the city after
January I.

Mr. F. W. True read a paper respecting A New Species of
Porpoise, Phoc.ena Dalli, from Alaska.*

Mr. John A. Rvder made a communication upon The De-
velopment of the Fin-Rays in Fishes. f

Mr. John Murdoch exhibited A Collection of Marine In-
vertebrates OBTAINED BY LlEUT. A. W. GrEELY. AT CAMP

Clay, Cape Sabine, Smith Sound. J all of which were well
known Arctic forms.

Mr. G. Brown Goode spoke upon The Natural History
Features at the World's Exposition at New Orleans.

Seventy-First Meeting, January 10, 1885.
(Fifth Annual Meeting).

The President occupied the chair, and thirty-nine members
were present.

* 1885. True, Frederick W. On a New Species of Porpoise, Phoctena
Dalit, from Alaska. <Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., viii, pp. 95-98, pis. ii-v.

t 1885. Ryder, John A. The Development of the Rays of Osseous
Fishes. <Am. Naturalist, Feb., pp. 200-204.

J Abstract in The Pastime, Mir shington, vol. iii, No. 7, p. 11, 1885.

PROCEEDINGS. XXXIII

The following amendments to the Constitution were unani-
mously adopted :

Article III, of members ; the first sentence to be altered by the addition
of the word " foreign," and to read as follows : The Society shall consist
of active, corresponding, foreign, and honorary members.

Article IV, of officers ; to insert the following sentence : Presidents of
the Society shall be members of the Council after the expiration of their
term as President, without election thereto, in addition to the members
of the Council otherwise provided for by the Constitution.

The Society then proceeded to ballot for officers for the ensuing
year, with the following results :

President — Mr. G. Brown Goode.

Vice-Presidents — Prof. Charles V. Riley, Prof. Lester F.
Ward, Mr. William H. Dall, Prof. Otis T. Mason.

Secretaries — Mr. Richard Rathbun, Dr. Frank Baker.

Treasurer — Mr. Frederick W. True.

Additional Members of the Council — Dr. J. H. Kidder, Mr.
C. D. Walcott, Mr. Romyn Hitchcock, Dr. George Vasey, Mr.
J. L. Wortman.

Seventy-Second Meeting, January 24, 1885.

The fifth anniversary meeting was held in the lecture-room of
the National Museum, the President, Mr. Goode, in the chair,
and about one hundred persons present.

The retiring President, Dr. White, delivered an address upon
The Relation of Biology to Geological History,* at the
close of which, on motion of Mr. Dall, seconded by Prof. Mason
and Prof. Ward, a vote of thanks was tendered him for his excel-
lent communication, and for the very acceptable manner in which
he had conducted the affairs of the Society during the past two
years.

Seventy-Third Meeting, February 7, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and twenty-five members
were present.

*iS85- Proc. Biol. Soc, iii, pp. 1-20.

XXXIV BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Mr. True announced that at the next meeting he would move
to reconsider the day of meeting of the Society.

Mr. John A. Rvder made a communication upon The Prob-
able Origin and Homologies of the Flukes of Cetaceans

AND SlRENIANS.*

Saturday Lectures, 1885.

The fourth course of Saturday Lectures, under the auspices
of the Biological Society and the Anthropological Society, was
begun February *j, 1885. The lectures were delivered in the
lecture room of the National Museum, and the following pro-
gramme was carried out :

February 7 : Prof. John Fiske. Results in England of the
Surrender of Cornwallis.

February 14: Dr. George M. Sternberg, U. S. A. Germs
and Germicides.

February 28 : Hon. Eugene Schuyler. The Machinery of
our Foreign Service.

March 7: Mr. William T. Hornaday. Natural History
and People of Borneo.

March 14: Mr. Charles D. Walcott. Searching for the
First Forms of Life.

March 21 : President E.M. Gallaudet. The Language of
Signs and the Combined Method of Instructing Deaf-Mutes.

March 28 : President James C. Welling. Oldest History in
the Light of Newest Science.

April 4: Mr. Frederick W. True. Ornithorhynchus ; a
Mammal that Lays Eggs.

April 1 1 : Dr. A. L. Gimon, U. S. N. Sanitary Ignorance
among High and Low.

April 18: Mr. J. S. Diller. A Trip to Mt. Shasta, Cali-
fornia.

April 25 : Dr. D. E. Salmon. Our Invisible Enemies, the
Plagues of Animal Life.

May 2 : Prof. T. C. Mendenhall. Weighing the Earth.

1885. Amer. Naturalist, vol. xix (May), pp. 515-519. (Abstract).

PROCEEDINGS. XXXV

Seventy-Fourth Meeting, February 21, 1885.

The President in the chair, and ten members pi'esent.

Dr. H. G. Beyer, U. S. N., read a paper upon The Genital
Apparatus of Lingula.*

Mr. J. L. Wortman described A Method of Exhibiting
the Relationship of the Bones of the Skull, the plan
consisting in painting the bones with different colors.

Mr. F. W. True made some remarks on The Recent Cap-
ture of Right Whales on Long Island.

Seventy-Fifth Meeting, March 7, 1885.

Professor Ward, Vice-President, in the chair, and twenty-five
members present.

Dr. C. A. White described The Use of Gutta Percha in
making Casts of Fossils.

Dr. H. G. Beyer, U. S. N., read a paper entitled Report on
Intracellular Digestion and its Relations to Pathol-
ogy.!

An informal ballot was taken to ascertain the sentiment of the
members present with respect to the proposed change in the day
of meeting, two-thirds of the members voting against the change.
The Secretary was instructed to communicate with all the mem-
bers of the Society in regard to this matter, and to report the
result at a subsequent meeting.

Seventy-Sixth Meeting, March 21, 1885.

Mr. Dall, Vice-President, occupied the chair, and twenty-eight
members were present.

The following paper, by Mr. Robert Ridgway, submitted for
publication in the Proceedings, was read by title : Descriptions

*i886. Beyer, H. G. A Study of the Structure of Lingula (Glotti
did) pyramidata Stim. {Dall.) <Studies from the Biol. Lab. Johns Hop-
kins Univ., Baltimore, iii, No. 5, March, pp. 227-265, pis. xiii-xvii.

11885. Beyer, H. G., Surg., U. S. N. Abstract from an Article on
Intracellular Digestion by Dr. JSlias Metschnikoff'. <Monthly Jour, of
Microscopy, vi, pp. 61-65.

XXXVI BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

of some New Species of Birds from Cozumel Island,
Yucatan.*

Mr. W. H. Dall made a communication On the Marsupium
of Milneria minima,| a small Californian bivalve shell belonging
to the family Carditidae.

Prof. J. W. Chickering, Jr., exhibited a series of drawings and
paintings of the flowering plants of the Shenandoah Valley,
made by Mr. William T. Allen, a farmer of Gaylord, Clark Co.,
Virginia.

Dr. T. H. Bean spoke of Some Features of Collecting
at Cozumel Island, Yucatan, J which he had recently visited,
with the Fish Commission Steamer Albatross.

Mr. J.. A. Ryder made a communication upon The Develop-
ment of the Mammary Glands in Cetacea,§ based upon
recent studies of sections of a female embryo of the black fish
( Globiocephahts me/as) , two inches long.

Prof. L. F. Ward desci-ibed the Phyllotaxy of Paulownia
imperialis, and made some remarks on the general subject of
leaf arrangement.

Seventy-Seventh Meeting, April 4, 1S85.

Prof. Ward, Vice-President, occupied the chair, and twenty
members were present.

The chair announced that 107 replies had been received in re-
sponse to the circulars sent out by the Secretary, asking expres-
sions of opinion respecting the proposed change of meeting-day.
The greater number indicated a preference for Friday and Satur-
day, the same number of votes (thirty-four) having been received
in favor of each of those days. On motion of Mr. A. B. Johnson,
action upon this question was indefinitely postponed.

*iSS5. Proc. Biological Society, iii, pp. .21-24.

f 1885. Okcutt, Charles R. Notes on the Mollusks of the vicinity
of San Diego, Cat., and Todos Santos Bay, Lower California, -with com-
ments by W. H. Dall. <Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., viii, pp. 534-552, pi. xxiv.

% New York Times, May 3, 18S5.

§ 1885. Ryder, John A. On the Development of the Mammary Glands
of Cctacea. <Am. Nat., xix (June), pp. 616-618. On the Development
of the Mammary Glands and Genitalia of the Cetacea. <Bull. U. S.
Fish Com., v, pp. 135-142, one figure in text.

PROCEEDINGS. XXXVII

The following communications were made :

Mr. Frank H. Knowlton, On Some Alaskan Willows and
Birches collected by Mr. C. L. McKay, at Nushagak, in
18S1.*

Dr. Frank Baker, Muscular Equilibration.

Dr. C. A. White, Some Remarks on Vegetable Cells.

Prof. W. H. Seaman stated that he had recently noticed in the
Washington markets what is to this region a new species of tropi-
cal plant, known in New Orleans as the Japanese plum. The
supplies had been received from Georgia. The fruit is indige-
nous to China and Japan, and in the former country is known as
Loo- Chee.

Seventy-Eighth Meeting, April 18, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and twenty-five members
were present.

The President announced the recent death of Dr. Edward
Foreman, a member of the Society, and appointed Messrs.
White, Seaman, and Ward, a committee to prepare a report
upon his services to science.

Dr. Theobald Smith read a paper, detailing Koch's Method
of Isolating and Cultivating Bacteria, as used in the
laboratory of the Bureau of Animal Industry. f

Mr. A. B. Johnson presented a communication upon The
Ship-worm, Teredo n navalis, and the Sheepshead, Arch-
osargus probatocephalus. He exhibited sections of the piles
of wharves, which had been gnawed by the sheepshead, in order
to feed upon the teredos, thus aiding in the work of destruction
which is sufficiently rapid when left to the latter species alone.

After adjournment, Mr. Romyn Hitchcock exhibited, under the
microscope, a series of preparations showing the comma bacillus
of cholera, according to Koch.

* 1885. Knowlton, Frank H. List of Plants collected by Mr. Charles
I. McKay, at Nushagak, Alaska, in 1881, for the United States National
Museum. <Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., viii, pp. 213-221.

f 18S5. Salmon, D. E., and Smith, Theobald, Drs. Koch's Method
of Isolating and Cultivating Bacteria, as used hi the Laboratory of the
Bureau of Animal Industry, Dept. Agriculture. <Am. Monthly Micro.
Jour., vi, p. Si. (Abstract^.

XXXVIII BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHING-TON.
Seventy-Ninth Meeting, May 2, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and twenty-eight members
were present.

Dr. Thomas Taylor made a communication on The White
Rust of Cabbages, Cystopus candidus.

Mr. H. W. Henshaw read a paper entitled Hybrid Quail,*
the case of hybridism presented being between the California
Valley quail {Lophortyx calif ornicus) , and Gambel's quail
{Lophortvx Gambeli") .

Mr. W. H. Dall spoke of Observations Made During a
Recent Journey in Florida.

Eightieth Meeting, May 16, 1885.

The President in the chair, and twenty-five membei's present.

Mr. F. W. True exhibited A Specimen of the Adult Male
Guereza Monkey, Colobus guereza, recently purchased by
the National Museum, and made some remarks upon the colora-
tion, geographical distribution, and habits of the species.

Dr. T. H. Bean exhibited specimens of A New Genus and
Species of Fish from Florida, related to Mur^enoides,!
a genus known to occur only in temperate and Arctic regions.

Mr. J. L. Wortman presented a communication on The Re-
duction of the Molar Teeth of the Carnivora.

Prof. O. T. Mason read a paper On Post-Mortem Trepan-
ning,! describing especially a specimen recently sent from Peru,
by Dr. W. H. Jones, U. S. N., and considered by Prof. Mason to
be the most remarkable example yet brought to light.

Eighty-First Meeting, May 30, 1885.

The President in the chair, and thirty-two members present.
Prof. L. F. Ward, in a communication entitled Recent Flow-

*

1885. Henshaw, H. W. Hybrid Quail {Lophortyx Gambeli x L.
calif ornicus). <The Auk, vol. ii, No. 3, July, pp. 247-249.

f 18S5. Bean, Tarleton H. On Stathmonotus, a new genus of fishes
related to Murcenoides, from Florida. <Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., viii, pp.
191-192, pi. xiii.

% 1885. Mason, Otis T. The Ckaclacayo Trephined Skull. <Proc.
U. S. National Museum, viii, pp. 410-412, pi. xxii.

PROCEEDINGS. XXXIX

Ering or the Ginkgo Tree in Washington,* stated that two
trees of Ginkgo biloba. L.. a male and a female, had flowered for
the first time in the Botanical Garden, and the artificial polliniza-
tion of the female tKee had been successfully effected.

Dr. H. G. Beyer, U. S. N., read a paper on The Physiologi-
cal Effects of Cocaine. f

Prof. C. V. Riley presented a paper entitled Notes on the
Periodical Cicada, % in which he described the two extensive
broods of this year, and discussed the specific value of the differ-
ent forms.

Dr. Thomas Taylor made a communication on How to Dis-
tinguish between Animal and Vegetable Fats,§ giving an
account of his recent experiments on the subject.

Eighty-Second Meeting, October 31, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and thirty members were
present.

Col. Marshall McDonald made a communication entitled Fish
Culture a Necessity for the Maintenance of the Shad
Fishery, || illustrating his arguments by a comparison of the
statistics for 1880 and 1885.

Mr. Wm. H. Dall read a paper on Deep-Sea Mollusks and
the Laws Illustrated fN their Development, exhibiting
specimens collected by the Coast Survey Steamer " Blake " and
the Fish Commission Steamer lt Albatross."

Prof. Q. T. Mason exhibited a series of casts taken from the

* 18S5. Ward, Lester F. The Ginkgo Tree. <Science, v, June 19,
PP- 495-497 . 10 figs.

tiS85- Beyer, H. G. The Influence of Atropine, Cocaine, and Caffeine
on the Heart and Blood Vessels. <Am. Jour, of the Medical Sciences,
Phila., July, pp. 1-31, 2 pis.

% 1S85. Riley. C. V. The Periodical Cicada. <Science, v, June 26,
PP- 518-521.

§ Proc. Am. Assoc. Advancement of Science, 1885; Proc. Am. Soc. of
Microscopists, 1885; Ann. Rept. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1885.

|| 1S85. The Results of Shad Propagation on the Atlantic Coast.
<Science, vi, No. 145, suppl., pp. 433-434. (Abstract). Abstracts also
printed in the American Angler, Forest and Stream, and other papers.

XL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

surfaces of a set of Haidi gambling sticks, the carvings on which
were illustrative of Haidi mvthology.

Eighty-Third Meeting, November 14, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and twenty-six members
were present.

Air. Richard Rathbun read a paper entitled Remarks on the
Wood's Holl Station of the U. S. Fish Commission, in which
he described the quarters recently constructed for the purposes of
fish culture and investigation.

Dr. W. S. Barnard exhibited A New Style of Metal Case
for Mounting Natural History Specimens.

The cases are of different shapes and sizes, and without sharp
angles to give greater strength. They are intended for both
dry and fluid preparations, and may have a glass face on one side.
They are so constructed as to receive a tablet on which the speci-
mens may be mounted. The lid has a groove with soft packing,
to prevent evaporation or the entrance of museum pests.

Mr. John A. Ryder described A New and Practical System
of Raising Seed Oysters.*

Mr. F. W. True made a communication On a Spotted
Dolphin Apparently Identical with Prodelphinus doris,
Gray, J basing his remarks upon a specimen recently taken oft'
Cape Hatteras by the Fish Commission Steamer Albatross .

Eighty-Fourth Meeting, November 28, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and thirty-six members were
present.

Letters were read from the Secretaries of the Philosophical So-
ciety and the Chemical Society, inviting the members of the
Biological Society to attend the next meetings of those Societies,
at which presidential addresses would be delivered.

* 1SS5. Forest and Stream, xxv, No. 13, Oct. 22, pp. 249-250. Science,
Nov. 2S.

t True, Frederick W. On a Spotted Dolphin Apparently Identical
with the Prodelphinus doris of Gray- <Rept. U. S. National Museum
for 18S4, pp. 3 J 7-3 2 4-

PROCEEDINGS. XLI

Dr. Theobald Smith exhibited A Simple Device for Stor-
ing Cover-Glasses Illustrative of Bacterial Disease.

Dr. W. S. Barnard explained A New Method of Mounting
Glass Specimen Tubes. Punched wads of some material that
is proof against insects and fluids were recommended as stoppers
for specimen tubes, being both economical and efficient. The
tubes are mounted on tablets or labels by means of sheet-metal
end clips which also serve to hold in the stopper ; several different
styles were exhibited.

Dr. C. Hart Merriam read a paper on The Work of the U.
S. Department of Agriculture in Economic Ornithology.

Mr. C. D. Walcott made a communication upon Evidence of
the Loss of Vital Force in Certain Trilobites on Ap-
proaching Extinction.

Mr. F. W. True presented A New Study of the American
Pocket Rats, genus Dipodomys.

Eighty-Fifth Meeting, December 12, 1885.

The President occupied the chair.

Dr. J. M. Flint, U. S. N., read a paper entitled The Collec-
tion and Method of Studying Foraminifera, exhibiting
representative specimens from the dredgings of the U. S. Fish
Commission Steamer Albatross.

Mr. Romyn Hitchcock made a communication upon The Red
Snow,* showing specimens derived from several sources.

Dr. W. S. Barnard spoke upon Environmental Digestion.

Prof. C. V. Riley presented a paper entitled The Mildews
of the Grape Vine.|

Eighty-Sixth Meeting, December 26, 1885.

The President occupied the chair, and twenty-five members
were present.

* 1S85. The Red Sno-v. <Am. Monthly Micr. Jour., vi, pp. 221-224.

t Riley, C. V. The Mildetvs of the Grape Vine. An effectual remedy
for thePeronospora. <Rural New Yorker, Feb. 6, 1SS6, illustrated. (Also
separate reprint).

/

•

XLII BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

The following communications were made :

Dr. C. Hart Merriam. Description of a new Species of
Striped Squirrel, Tamias macrorhabdotes, from Cali-
fornia ;* and Description of a new Sub-Species of the
Common Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus LYSTERi.f

Mr. F. H. Knowlton, The Multiplication in the Gynoe-
cium of Datura Stramonium.

Prof. O. T. Mason, Mutilations of the Human Body,
Considered Ethnically.

Eighty-Seventh Meeting, January 9, 1886.

The President occupied the chair, and twelve members were
present.

This meeting was called as the annual meeting for the election
of officers, but, on account of the small number of members
present, due to very inclement weather, it was voted to defer the
election to the next regular meeting-day.

Eighty-Eighth Meeting, January 23, 18S6.
(Sixth Annual Meeting).

The President occupied the chair, and twenty-eight members
were present.

The following board of officers was elected for the ensuing
year :

President — Mr. G. Brown Goode.

Vice-Presidents— -Mr. William H. Dall, Prof. Charles V.
Riley, Prof. Lester F. Ward, Dr. Frank Baker.

Secretaries — Mr. Richard Rathbun, Dr. C. Hart Merriam.

Treasurer — Mr! Frederick W. True.

Additional Members of the Council — Mr. Romyn Hitchcock,
Mr. Charles D. Walcott, Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, Prof. Otis T.
Mason, Dr. George Vasey.

* 1886. Proc. Biological Society, iii, pp. 25-28.

f 1S86. Merriam, C. Hart, M. D. Description of a Neiv Subspecies
of the Common Eastern Chipmunk. <Am. Nat., xx, pp. 236-242.

PROCEEDINGS. XLTII

Eighty-Ninth Meeting, February 6, 1886.

The Sixth Anniversary Meeting of the Society was held this
evening in the Lecture Hall of the National Museum, Mr. Wil-
liam H. Dall, Vice-President, presiding. The President, Mr.
Goode, delivered the annual address, his subject being The
Beginnings of Natural History in America.*

Many members of the other scientific societies of the city were
present by invitation.

* 1886. Proc. Biological Society, iii, pp. 35-105.

ADDRESSES AND COMMUNICATIONS.

THE APPLICATION OF BIOLOGY TO GEOLOGICAL

HISTORY.*

By Charles A. White.

I have chosen the subject which has just been announced by
the Chairman, because I have been so long identified with the
geological and paleontological work of our country that I think
you will naturally expect my retiring address to have reference to
some subject connected with the biological history of the earlier
ages of the earth. It has become customary upon occasions like
the present for the speaker to select some subject relating to his
own special lines of research ; and it is often the case that such
addresses are real contributions to science and records of its
advancement, as indeed it is well that they should be ; but after
much hesitation I have decided that my remarks upon this occa-
sion shall be of a somewhat opposite character. That is, I shall
endeavor to show that certain prevalent ideas are erroneous, and,
incidentally, how they have retarded rather than aided philo-
sophical inquiry.

It is much pleasanter for one to record and announce the
triumphs of long and patient research, and to show the evidence
of a steady increase of knowledge in the branch of study to which
he is devoted, than to point out the existence of errors in unex-
pected quarters. But it is well that we should pause occasionally
in our labors and question the truth of every proposition upon

* Annual presidential address delivered at the Fifth Anniversary Meeting
of the Society, January 24, 1885, in the lecture-room of the U. S. National
Museum.

2 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

which we have been wont to act, and to inquire whether they
will bear the light of rapidly increasing knowledge. I propose
to-night not only to point out the insufficiency of the evidence
which is relied upon to support some of the assumptions of
paleontology, but to challenge the truth of some of the proposi-
tions which its leading men have been in the habit of treating as
fixed laws of unquestionable and universal application, and to
show that they are not in harmony with the facts of philosophical
biology. I comprehend the danger that those who are not
familiar with the leading principles of paleontology, hearing only
a statement of the misconceptions which its votaries have fallen
into, will be inclined to underestimate its fundamental truths,
which are really unassailable. I wish to say, therefore, that I
have no intention of treating my subject wantonly ; and I shall
be sorry to weaken the faith of any one in the general truths of
a science which has done more than any other to broaden the
minds of men as to the problems of animal and vegetable life ;
and which has a future before it, the brilliance of which is in no
danger of being obscured.

The remarks which I am about to make refer mainly to certain
errors, not yet entirely eliminated, which early obtained a foot-
hold in paleontology, as a natural consequence of the biological
opinions then prevailing, and which were inseparable from its
stage of transition and growth. Modern paleontology, like the
other sciences, has been a matter of growth ; and errors once
introduced have been found difficult to eradicate, even after an
increase of knowledge has shown them to be such ; and it is
an unpleasant fact that our science, as it is now taught and
practised, even by some of the best authors, is marred by some
of its early defects.

The first and principal question which I propose to discuss
relates to the chronological order of succession of animal and
vegetable types, and their geographical distribution during then-
existence.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 6

As aids to the correlation of the geological formations, fossils
began early to be used. At first they were treated merely as
tokens of the formations in which they occurred, without any
reference to their character as representatives of formerly exist-
ing life ; but it was soon perceived that by their use a system-
atic classification of the stratified rocks could be made. We
now know that without their use we could not have obtained
any adequate conception of geological history ; and the present
recognized scheme of the formations, or the geological scale,
as it is sometimes called, could have never been devised. It
is true that the order of succession of the few formations which
may be favorably exposed in limited districts might have been
made out by means of the lithological character of the strata
alone ; but the correlation of such limited groups of strata with
those of other and distant districts would have been by such
means impossible.

After the order of succession of the different groups of strata
had been made out for certain regions and correlated with those
of other regions, it began to appear that certain types of animal
and vegetable remains characterized certain portions of the geo-
logical scale which was devised as a result of that correlation.
That scale, which is the foundation of the one now in general
use, was necessarily at first more or less defective and artificial.
It has from time to time been much improved, and, although it
is still imperfect, it is a marvellous monument of the results of
inductive reasoning. Geology and biology have each come to
the other's aid until not only has the foundation been substan-
tially laid, but the structure itself is approaching completion in a
perfect form.

In Europe, where geological science was first studied, and
where it has ever since been prosecuted with remarkable energy,
it was found that the chronological range of the types of fossils
which characterize' the respective formations is well defined.
And when researches were extended into the adjacent parts of

4 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Asia and Africa, the European standards were still found suffi-
ciently exact for at least general conclusions. Even in Eastern
North America the order of the formations and the types of
the fossils which characterize them are closely like those of
Western Europe, and in many cases the species are regarded as
identical.

It was natural, then, that the conditions which were found to
have formerly prevailed in those regions where geology was
first studied should be held to have been the normal conditions
for the whole earth. Such were the opinions formed by the
earlier European geologists ; and their successors still hold the
European standard to be applicable to every region, and to every
condition of climate which the earth has known. The leading
idea which is embodied in this chronological scheme would, I
think, be fairly illustrated by a diagram which may be con-
structed by taking such a section of the geological formations as
is usually given in the text-books of geology, that of Dana's
Manual for example, and projecting a series of circular lines from
the boundary lines of each of its divisions and subdivisions. Let
this series of circles represent approximately the time-equivalent
of the geological column of formations and the assumed universal
definition of each of its subdivisions.

It will of course be understood that such a diagram could not
be intended to illustrate the time ratios of the different epochs,
periods, and ages into which historic geology has been divided.
It has been suggested only to illustrate the rigid character of the
paleontological time-standard which European geologists have
erected for themselves, and which they seek, with the consent of
most of the geologists of other countries, to apply to the whole
earth, even in minute detail.

It was formerly held that not only have all species of animals
and plants been specially created, but that a majority of them
became extinct during or at the close of each epoch ; and that
each period was closed with a universal catastrophe, by which

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 5

every living thing upon the earth was destroyed. Furthermore,
that the whole earth, at the beginning of each successive period,
was stocked anew by special creation, with all its forms of life ;
and that these forms were everywhere impressed with the type-
characters peculiar to the respective epochs. Even after it
became known that in numerous instances species and genera
continued their existence from one period to another, it was still
held that these were extra-limitary forms, and that their existence
did not affect the exclusive character of the types of those
animals and plants which were ordained to bear the chrono-
logical impress.

Accepting such a scheme of creation as this, it was natural to
suppose that the types of animal and vegetable life which charac-
terized each of the geological periods should be universal in its
distribution, and strictly confined to the period for which it was
specially created.

Although the doctrine of evolution is now accepted by every
working naturalist, this idea of a successive series of narrow
chronological horizons of universal extent, each characterized by-
its own peculiar types of organic forms, which are everywhere
the same, and none of which exist in any other horizon, prevails
to almost as great an extent as before. The later naturalists, it is
true, based their views of this assumed constancy, not upon the
idea of special creation and universal distribution in each period,
as their predecessors did, but upon that of a progressive evolu-
tion, by distinct and world-wide steps, from pre-existing forms.
The views which were held by the older naturalists were the
result of a rational deduction from their own premises; but that
similar views should be held by the naturalists of to-day is cer-
tainly unphilosophical. In accordance with the old views little
opportunity was given for the variation of types, because, as they
believed, all the species in which those types were expressed
were sure to be extinguished at the close of each period, and
they were to be succeeded by a newly-created series.

6 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

To the modern naturalist, a belief in the universal distribution,
and narrow and rigidly restricted chronological range of organic
types which characterize each successive epoch, implies that
evolution has occurred in all instances in exactly the same mathe-
matical ratio ; for animal as well as vegetable forms ; for aqueous
as well as for terrestrial life ; for the life of fresh waters as well as
that of the seas ; and under every environing condition of climate
and of geological change. It implies the existence of some un-
known and unexplainable law which, at the close of each epoch,
required the utter and speedy extinction of exactly such types as
had specially characterized those epochs, even if the physical con-
ditions under which they had formerly existed had continued the
same. That such ideas do prevail among paleontologists at the
present time one has abundant proof in their published writings.

In Europe it was found that during the successive geological
epochs certain types of plants and vertebrate and invertebrate
animals all lived simultaneously ; and the actual and relative rate
of progress of evolution of the types in each of these great bio-
logical divisions, seeming to be a natural one, was regarded as
under the influence of some cosmical law which necessarily made
that rate uniform for the whole earth. When, therefore, even a
single type, whether of plants or vertebrate or invertebrate ani-
mals, such as is known to characterize any European group of
strata, has been found in any other part of the earth, it has been
customary to hold that the animal or plant, as the case might be.
which is represented by that type, existed simultaneously with its
European congeners. Although the folly of relying upon such
slender evidence has again and again been shown, it is not
uncommon to see it presented in important paleontological pub-
lications with all the force that such words as ik certainly,"
"undoubtedly," •• unquestionably," &c, can give it.

I have made the foregoing statements, first, to call attention
to the existence of the erroneous views which I have indicated ;
and, secondly, that they may serve as a suggestion of the reason

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. /

why they have obtained a foothold. I am confident that if the
geological scheme had yet to be devised upon the basis of the
advanced knowledge which naturalists have now acquired, it
would be free from the defects which I have mentioned. In
fact, it seems that these defects are due to the erroneous bio-
logical views which naturalists formerly entertained ; and that
they have remained solely because it is so difficult for men to
free their minds from impressions which have once become
firmly fixed, even after their fallacy has become apparent.

These errors have by no means escaped the attention of lead-
ing naturalists ; and several years ago Prof. Huxley proposed the
term ik homotaxis " to express the existence of close biological
relationship between formations in different parts of the world
respectively, which might not, or could not, have been contem-
poraneously deposited. In using this term instead of "equiva-
lent," " synchronous," &c, as has usually been done in relation
to formations in separate regions which contain closely similar
faunas or floras, one does not thus commit himself to any opinion
as to the actual geological age of such formations, but only to the
fact that the forms of life were similar when and where those
formations were respectively deposited. Professor Huxley's idea
may be represented graphically by superimposing upon the dia-
gram which I have suggested a complementary series of lines.
much as isothermal lines are superimposed upon a map with its
lines of latitude. But to express the present state of our knowl-
edge, these complementary or isotaxial lines must be sadly
broken and fragmentary.

This idea of homotaxy necessarily has reference to some
acknowledged standard of the order in which the geological
formations have been deposited ; and in using the term I shall of
course have reference to that which is in general use, which is
practically the European standard.

Various authors have shown, not only that many formations
have been found in different parts of the world to be homotaxi-

8 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ally related to each other by their respective faunas and floras
which certainly were not contemporaneously deposited, but also
that many foreign formations contain faunas which respectively
embrace homotaxial representatives of two or more European
formations. After I had selected the subject, and written out the
greater part of these remarks, the address of Mr. W. T. Blanford
and the article of Mr. J. Starkie Gardner, read before the British
Association for the Advancement of Science, at Montreal, reached
my hands. I find from a perusal of them that both of those
gentlemen have so far anticipated much which I intended to say
that I cordially recommend my hearers to read those productions.
Both of them, especially that of Mr. Blanford, record some start-
ling exceptions to the generally received rule that formations
homotaxially related were of contemporaneous origin. I shall
have occasion to refer to some of the cases of this character
which they have mentioned, and I shall also cite other instances
which have come under my own observation. First, I shall
mention instances where there is apparent reversion of the chro-
nological order of the formations, and afterward those in which ii
commingling in one formation of the characteristic types of two
or more epochs occur.

Mr. Blanford, in his address, cites a considerable number of
instances where the order of occurrence of faunal and floral types,
according to the accepted chronological scale, is reversed. One
of these instances occurs at the famous Pikermi beds, near the
ancient city of Athens. These beds contain a rich mammalian
fauna which is so characteristically Miocene that the French
committee of the International Congress of Geologists specially
mention it as of that age. Some of the species of the Grecian
locality referred to are identical with those of some of the fully
recognized Miocene strata of other parts of Europe. Now, Pro-
fessor Gaudry found in the lowest of these Grecian beds which
bear Miocene vertebrates several species of well-known Pliocene
mollusca, and he also found that this bed in turn rests upon a
•• marine bed of undoubted Pliocene age."

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 9

A similar condition of things occurs among the Tertiary
deposits along the southern base of the Himalayas in India, in
what are known as the Sivvalik beds. These beds contain a
mammalian fauna which European paleontologists have unhesi-
tatingly referred to the Miocene ; but the geologists of the
Indian survey have shown that they have many thousand feet of
Miocene strata beneath them ; and upon other grounds, also, they
show that they cannot be of earlier age than the Pliocene.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable instances of the apparent
reversion of the chronological order of the formations, as it is
known in Europe, occurs in the great series of strata in India
which is known as the Gondwana System. Mr. Blanford, in
his address, gives an account of this remarkable case in detail.
Certain of the beds of this system of formations contain a fauna
which paleontologists agree in classifying as Triassic. These
Triassic beds are found overlying beds which contain a RhaBtic
flora, or one which has its homotaxial representative in Europe
between the Jurassic and Triassic ; and these Rhaetic beds are
found to overlie those which contain a flora that paleobotanists
refer with confidence to the Jurassic period. In the other cases
mentioned, there is a reversion of two homotaxial epochs ; but in
this Gondwana System the reversion embraces three of them.
That is, the order of all the three is reversed, so that the
ascending order in India is the same as the descending order in
Europe.

Again, it has been shown by experienced geologists that in
Australia there are beds which bear a flora that paleobotanists
declare to be typically Jurassic, and which are interstratified with
marine beds that bear an abundance of characteristic Lower
Carboniferous molluscan species. And, furthermore, that these
beds are overlaid by a fresh-water formation which has been
referred with confidence to the Permian period.

Coining to our own country, the most remarkable case of the
reversion of the order in which the faunal and floral types are

10 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

found to characterize the European formations is found in the
Cretaceous series of the valley of the Upper Missouri river.
Here we have a series of strata which has been held to represent
the European Cretaceous series from the Gault to the Upper
Chalk, inclusive. In the lower division of this American series
there has long been known to exist a flora which, when it was
first discovered, was referred by the best authority to the age of
the Eocene Tertiary. Even so late as the past year, Mr. J.
Starkie Gardner has expressed the opinion that these plants are
more likely to be of Eocene age than earlier. Now the strata
containing this assumed Tertiary flora are overlaid by a series,
several thousand feet in thickness, which contains an abundance
of marine tvpes that correspond with those of the Cretaceous of
Europe. Indeed, several of the species are regarded as identical ;
and the types embrace reptiles, fishes, and coelenterata, as well
as all the classes of mollusca. Then, resting upon this series,
and its Atlantic border equivalent, we find the whole Tertiary
series, at least up to the close of the Miocene. Furthermore,
a considerable number of these American Tertiary forms are
usually regarded as identical with European Tertiary species. It
would thus seem that both the stratigraphical and concurrent
paleontological evidence are decidedly against the Tertiary age
of that flora, and in favor of its Cretaceous age, notwithstand-
ing its homotaxial relationship to the Tertiary flora of Europe.

The commingling of types in one formation which, in Europe,
respectively characterize two or more separate formations, is a
matter of not uncommon occurrence in America and other parts
of the world. These cases occur where the order of the forma-
tions seems to agree well with that of the accepted European
standard ; and they apparently merely show that the types re-
ferred to began their existence earlier, or continued it later, as
the case may be, than they were known to have done in Europe.
In the other cases the discrepancies are seen to occur as between
marine faunas on the one hand, and land faunas and floras on the

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 11

other ; and those discrepancies amount to an actual reversion of
the usual order. In the cases which I shall now mention, how-
ever, the discrepancies consist in either the actual or relative
earlier introduction, or later continuation, of certain types among
both marine and continental faunas and land floras, than is
required by the European standards. In these latter cases there
is of course a confusion of homotaxial relationship, of the forma-
tions which contain the commingled types, with other forma-
tions ; but there is not necessarily any reversion of the order of
occurrence of the types, as there is in the cases already men-
tioned.

I ou»ht not in this connection to omit mention of the so-called
colonies of Barrande. in Bohemia, which, as he contended, bear
;i marine .Silurian fauna, alternating with strata which bear a
Primordial one. But as the truth of Barrande's position has
been seriously questioned, I need not discuss it in these remarks.

Even after what we have seen of the history of the received
opinions concerning the synchronism of formations, it is still a
somewhat remarkable fact that, although the blending of the
faunas of certain formations into each other by the commingling
of types, which are regarded as characteristic of each respectively,
has been so long known and so often demonstrated, that the idea
of universal restriction of types to narrow time-horizons should
be so persistently held. Indeed, the fact that such a commin-
gling of types as I have referred to has been so well recognized
that it has made its impress upon the terminology of geology.
Thus the term Permo-Carboniferous has long been used in
America to designate strata which partake of both Coal-Measure
and Permian characteristics ; and the same term has been ap-
plied by Dr. Toula to strata which bear a similar fauna on the
island of Spitzbergen.

The terms Cretaceo-Jurassic and Cretaceo-Tertiary have been
respectively applied to New Zealand strata for obvious reasons.
The former term has also been applied to Chilian strata by
Darwin ; and the latter, (but erroneously, I think,) to the Lara-

12 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

mie Group of our own country. Mr. Gardner would even extend
the application of this latter term so as to embrace all that series
of strata from the Dakota Cretaceous to the Laramie Group, inclu-
sive. These terms, and the instances I have given of their appli-
cation, are quite sufficient to show the existence of the facts to
which I have called your attention. But the following instances
of the early introduction and late continuance of certain import-
ant types are of especial interest in this connection.

From strata in Northwestern Punjab, India, which are by all
geologists admitted to be of Carboniferous age, a remarkable
collection of fossils was made which contained specimens of a
species of Ammonites. Upon the announcement of this fact its
truth was not only questioned by European paleontologists, but
some went so far as to deny the possibility of the association of
that genus with a Carboniferous fauna. Afterward the well-
known paleontologist Waagen visited the locality and himself
collected there specimens of Am?nonites, Ceratites, and Go-
niatites, all associated together in the same layers with charac-
teristic Carboniferous forms.

That Goniatites should be found in Carboniferous strata was
to have been expected ; but if the Ceratites and Ammonites had
been found separately and unassociated with any other fossils, no
European paleontologist would have hesitated to refer the one to
the Triassic, and the other to the Cretaceous. In fact, Dr.
Waagen has placed the Ammonite referred to under a generic
group which is an especially characteristic one among Cretaceous
faunas. This instance of the commingling of types which are
characteristic of different periods is a remarkable one in all
respects, and especially as showing the very early differentiation
of even subgeneric forms, which are generally believed not to
have existed until a much later period. Confirmatory of the fact
of this introduction before the close of the Paleozoic age, of
types which are especially characteristic of the Mesozoic, Pro-
lessor Heilprin has announced the discoveiy of an Ammonitic
form among a characteristic Carboniferous fauna from Texas.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 13

The commingling in New Zealand strata of types which are
usually found to characterize separate formations has already
been referred to, but in this connection I also wish to mention
the reported discovery in those islands of Belemnites, Belem-
nitella, and Plesiosaurus in strata which have usually been
classed as Tertiary. There seems to be little reason to doubt
that this is an instance of a natural transition from the Creta-
ceous to the Tertiary, so gradually accomplished that it cannot
be said where the one ends and the other begins.

A similar survival of Mesozoic types into an epoch, the strata
of which bear otherwise the fullest evidence of homotaxial rela-
tionship to the Eocene Tertiary, occurs in California. Here
there is found a species of Ammonite associated with numerous
genera which all paleontologists have agreed in regarding as
characteristic of the Tertiary. The series of strata which con-
tains this belated Ammonite is some ten thousand feet in thick-
ness, the lower part of which is homotaxially related to the
Cretaceous, and the upper part is similarly related to the Ter-
tiary, with the exception just mentioned. Still, this series of
strata has every appearance of having been produced by continu-
ous sedimentation, and of presenting an intercommingling of
Cretaceous and Tertiary types through the greater part, if not the
whole, vertical range of the series.

In the cases which have just been mentioned, the continuation
of ancient types among those of later origin, or of more modern
characteristics, the comparison was made between the different
members of one and the same fauna for the different portions of
its existence ; but in the case now to be considered, the com-
parison is to be made between continental faunas and floras.
The case referred to is that of the Laramie Group. It will be
remembered that in my address before this society last vear I
made some extended remarks upon this group, showing that it
was deposited in a great inland sea of brackish and fresh waters.
Comparison, therefore, is to be made between the aqueous fauna

14 Biological society of Washington.

of such a sea, and the land fauna and flora which existed upon
its borders. I have upon several occasions called attention to the
fact that brackish and fresh-water faunas have undergone far less
differentiation during the lapse of geological epochs than marine
faunas have. I cannot now contrast the aqueous fauna of the
Laramie Group with any open-sea fauna, but, together with its
contemporaneous flora and land molluscan fauna, it contrasts
strangely with its contemporaneous land vertebrate fauna.

The aqueous fauna of the Laramie Group is mainly molluscan ;
and while the brackish-water forms show their relationship to the
preceding Cretaceous marine fauna, the fresh-water and land
mollusca are lai-gely of types that now exist. The flora is also
of a very modern character ; but the vertebrate land fauna is
largely Dinosaurian. I need not tell a paleontologist that here
is a most remarkable mixture of types. The extraordinary bio-
logical character of this group will be still more conspicuously
seen when I mention that I have collected the characteristic
mollusca of this group where they were associated with Dino-
saurian remains ; and in the same series of layers I have also
obtained numerous species of plants, several of which have by
competent authority been identified with European Miocene
species, and two of them with species now living in the United
States. That is, we have evidence that a large molluscan fauna,
and a luxuriant dicotyledonous flora, both containing species that
we can with difficulty, if at all. distinguish from living forms,
existed contemporaneously with great Dinosaurian reptiles such
as have always been regarded as peculiar to the Mesozoic age.

The instances which I have presented demonstrate that in
different parts of the world there are many and material depart-
ures from the European paleontological standard ; but in no case
have we seen that departure to be so great when marine forma-
tions are compared with each other as they are when formations
containing a marine fauna are compared with those containing
a continental fauna or flora. I therefore quite agree with those

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 15

who regard the marine faunas as much the most reliable indices
of geological age.

During geological time the open sea has certainly afforded far
greater uniformity of conditions for the existence and evolution of
the different forms of life which it has contained than the land
and fresh waters have done. Therefore, it is reasonable to con-
clude that, as a rule, the progress and ratio of the differentiation,
evolution, and decadence among marine forms have been more
uniform throughout geological, time, and over greater areas, than
has been the case with continental life. While, as we have seen,
the ratio of evolution and decadence of marine types among
themselves has not been so uniform as it has been assumed to
have been by the European paleontological standard, such a ratio
for the continental forms of life has often not only an extraordi-
nary want of uniformity among themselves, but it is often at great
variance with that of marine life.

Now it seems to me that the absence of a uniform ratio of
evolution and decadence between marine, fresh-water, and land
faunas and land floras, respectively, is just what we ought to
expect when we consider the great variety of character of the
various forms of life involved, and the great diversity of physical
conditions under which they have existed. All that we yet know
of ancient continental life points to the conclusion that the evolu-
tion of its various forms has been subject to frequent accelerations
and retardations ; and that, as a rule, they have been more subject
to abrupt extinction than marine forms have. It is true, how-
ever, that some of the types among the continental faunas and
floras which are now living have come down to us from very
ancient times. It is also evident that a uniform rate of evolution
of similar forms of continental life did not obtain in all parts of
the world during the respective geological periods. An illustra-
tion of my meaning in this respect is afforded by our Cretaceous
dicotyledonous flora already inferred to. In America that flora
had reached the European Tertiary stage long before the close of
the Cretaceous period.

16 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

The instances which I have mentioned, besides many others
which might be referred to, show that the confidence with which
many paleontologists have decided upon the question of the syn-
chronism of formations in widely separated portions of the earth,
some of which are at most only one or two hundred feet in thick-
ness, is quite unjustifiable.

I would gladly end here my arraignment of the unwarrantable
positions which paleontologists have hitherto assumed, but I
have vet to refer to others, especially to the custom of deciding
upon the homotaxial relationship, or so-called equivalency, of
formations upon insufficient evidence. Before the student of
living animals and plants is prepared to decide in a satisfactory
manner upon the forms which he is investigating, he requires not
only a series of perfect specimens of his species, but also all that
can be known of its anatomy and physiology, its habits and
habitat, its associated forms, and its specific and generic rela-
tions. On the contrary, the paleontologist, as is well known, is
confined to the study of such of the hard or skeletal parts of
animals as may have escaped destruction by decomposition or
other means ; and the imprints or fragments of plants, mainly
leaves.

One cannot cease to wonder at and admire the large amount
of real knowledge which has been gained by the study of even
such imperfect material as this. In fact, all that we know of the
ancient life of the earth has been derived from this source ; and
by means of comparisons with related living forms we are often
able, by the aid of a perfectly legitimate use of the imagination,
to restore to a large extent the faunas and floras of long past
geological periods. Encouraged by this success, and urged by
the necessities of geology, paleontologists have assumed not
only to decide upon the specific and generic identity of the forms
represented by such imperfect material, but also to base upon it
generalizations of the greatest importance in both geology and
biology.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 17

Every investigator knows how small a cine will sometimes
lead to the unravelling of obscure problems in scientific research,
and no one has more frequent occasion to give earnest attention
to such clues than the working paleontologist. Indeed, some of
his best results would often have escaped him if such clues had
been disregarded. Such a use of even the most insignificant
facts is perfectlv legitimate ; but I wish to refer especially to the
practice which has prevailed of publishing what are ostensibly
conclusions which have been reached from legitimate investiga-
tion, when in reality they are at best little more than mere
surmises. I will give a couple of instances of this kind to
illustrate my meaning.

In California and Western Nevada, where the country is
mountainous and the rocks are much displaced and more or less
altered, several isolated and limited exposures of strata have been
found which contained a few fossil shells. At some of the
localities half a dozen species are represented, but at some only
one or two species. Most of these specimens are too imperfect
to serve as the basis of even a satisfactory specific description ;
and none of the types presumably represented by them are of
such a character as to give reasonable assurance of even homo-
taxial relationship with those of any European formation.

The most that can be said of this meagre fauna is that it is
probably of Mesozoic age. And yet the equivalency of these
rocks with the Jurassic of Europe has been confidently asserted,
and broad generalizations have been based upon that assumption
as to the age of mountain uplifts and other great geological
events.

Again, there is in the western portion of the United States
domain a formation which all geologists and paleontologists
have agreed in referring to the Jurassic period. It is true that
its invertebrate fauna is not full enough to afford entirely satisfac-
tory evidence on this point, but the rich vertebrate fauna which

18 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Professor Marsh has published from that formation has heen
accepted as conclusive. Furthermore, the position of the for-
mation in relation to those which underlie and overlie it is
confirmatory of the received opinion as to its Jurassic age.
Notwithstanding this weight of evidence in the direction indi-
cated, the paleontologist of the Canadian Geological Survey has,
upon what I believe to be the mistaken identification of a com-
paratively small collection of imperfect and uncharacteristic fossil
shells, referred the formation bodily to the Middle Cretaceous.
When such a circumstance as this is possible it is certainly time
we should examine well the grounds of our conclusions before
we publish them to the world or base other results of our labors
upon them.

While belief in the general applicability to all parts of the
world of the chronological scale now in common use will prob-
ably never be seriously shaken, it is plain that we must abandon
the idea that formations in widely separated parts of the world
were necessarily synchronous in their origin because certain por-
tions of their faunas or floras are similar. The custom has been
to recognize a complete chronological scheme of the formations,
of universal application, as already established, and to prosecute
the geology of every part of the earth with the express view of
making it conform to that scheme. But I submit that the
geology of each of the large divisions of the earth ought to be
studied independently, and untrammelled by preconceived notions
of necessary conformity to a foreign standard. In my opinion, the
time has not yet come for the construction of a complete and
detailed chronological scale for the whole earth, and that it will
not have fully arrived until the whole earth shall have been care-
fully studied.

If geology were studied in the different divisions of the earth
with the ideas in view which I have indicated, its prosecution
would be relieved of much useless labor, as well as freed from a

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 19

large proportion of the now prevailing liability to error. I do
not wish to be understood as trying to discourage comparisons
of the geology of different parts of the earth with each other.
On the contrary, this ought constantly to be done ; but what I
wish to insist upon is that the study of each separate division of
the eaith should not be trammelled by a standai"d erected for
another.

I have shown that the stud}' of geology and paleontology has
always been interdependent ; but among certain geologists and
paleontologists, respectively, there has been manifested a dispo-
sition to pursue the study of each branch separately, if not
independently. A large part of the paleontological work which
has been published has been done by men who have made
no systematic study of field geology, or none in connection with
their paleontological work. Much of their work has evidently
been done in the belief that the paleontologist can sit in his study
and fix with precision the geological horizons and the order
of succession of the formations from which every collection
submitted to him may come. If a difference of opinion in tliis
respect has arisen between the field geologist and the paleontol-
ogist, each has contended for the truth of his own position, and
each has often been shown to be in error.

It is therefore evident that the field geologist and paleontol-
ogist must work in concert. Indeed, the field geologist who
ignores the use of fossils, as some have affected to do. is sure to
burthen science with the results of worthless work ; and the
paleontologist who does not go to the field and study there the
formations from which his fossils have been obtained is sure to
produce results of work which will be worthy of the condemna-
tion of both geologists and biologists.

But I am confident that there is a better day near at hand for
the science to which so many able men have devoted their lives ;
nnd that the evils to which I have called your attention are already

20 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

passing away, and will soon be entirely of the past. When we
remember what rapid strides have been made in all the branches
of natural science within the memory of even the youngest
workers, we have reason to anticipate a future for all those
branches which will equal our most extravagant desires.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS FROM
COZUMEL ISLAND, YUCATAN.

By Robert Ridgway.

[Published by permission of the U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries.]

A collection of birds made by Mr. J. E. Benedict, Naturalist of
the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," assisted by Dr.
T. H. Bean and Mr. Thomas Lee, on the Island of Cozumel, in
January, 1885, contains the following new species. A full report
upon the collection is in course of preparation and will soon be
published in the Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum.

1. Harporhynchus guttatus, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Similar to H. longirostris (Lafr.), but
smaller, darker in color, the bill wholly deep black, and all the
markings more sharply denned. Type, No. 102,454, $ , U. S.
Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 23.

2. Troglodytes beani, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Above plain brown, more castaneous on
rump and tail, the latter indistinctly barred with darker, the rem-
iges more distinctly barred. Lower parts, pure white ; the sides,
flanks, and crissum, light cinnamon-brown; the under tail-coverts
barred or spotted with dusky. Wing, 2.20; tail, 1.90; oilmen,
.81; bill from nostril, .50; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .50. Type,
No. 102,473, S , U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 28.

3. Dendroica petechia rufivertex, subsp. nov.

Subspecific Characters. — Similar to D. petechia ruficapilla
(Gmel.), of St. Thomas, and other Lesser Antilles, but with shorter
wings and tail, and more intense coloration. Wing, 2.40; tail,
2.05. Type, No. 102,508, S , U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 28.

XXI

22 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

4. Vireosylvia cinerea, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Agreeing with V. magister Baird, in
absence of dusky sub-malar streak and streak on side of crown, but
plumage ashy, instead of olive-brown. Wing, 3 00; tail, 2 30.
Type, No. 105,656, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 29.

5. Vireo bairdi. sp. nov.
Specific Characters. — Above deep olive-brown, the wings with
two broad bands of yellowish-white. Lores and median lower
parts, pure white ; the lateral lower parts, from cheeks to flanks,
inclusive, deep cinnamon-ochre, in strong and abrupt contrast with
the white. Type, No. 102,635, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 25.

6. Cyclorhis insularis, sp. nov.
Specific Characters. — Similar to C. flaviventris Lafr. , but
agreeing with C. oclwocephala, Tschudi, in coloration of the lower
parts. Type, No. 102,659, 9 , U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 28.

7. Spindalis benedicti, sp. nov.
Specific Characters. — Most like S. zena (Linn.), of the Ba-
hamas, but much larger, the bill altogether heavier, the back and
scapulars dark olive-brown instead of black, the lesser wing-coverts
chestnut, and the yellow throat stripe entirely confluent with the
chestnut of the juguluni; Wing ( $ ), 3.40; tail, 2.90. Type No.
102,675, $ , U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 29.

8. Buetheia olivacea intermedia, subsp. nov.
Subspecific Characters. — Intermediate between and connect-
ing E. olivacea (Gm.) and E. olivacea pusilla (Sw.), having the
grayer cheeks of the former and greater extension of black on the
breast of the latter. Type, No. 102,710, $, U. S. Nat. Mus.;
Cozumel, Jan. 28.

9. Centurua leei, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Similar to C. dubius (Cabot), but lower
rump and upper tail-coverts barred with black, and lower parts
darker. Type, No. 102,777, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 28.

NEW BIRDS FKOM COZUMEL ISLAND. 23

10. Attila cozumelce, sp. nov.
Specific Characters. — Most like A. citreopygia (Bonap.), but
lower parts grayish white, the throat and jugulum very indistinctly
streaked with darker. Type, No. 102,767, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozu-
mel, Jan. 29.

11. Lampornis thalassinus, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Most like L. prevosti (Less.), but upper
parts less bronzy or more of a grass-green, the black on the throat
much more extended, and the breast greenish-blue. Type, No.
102,796, $ , U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 24.

12. Chlorostilbon forficatus, sp. nov.
Specific Characters. — Most like C. caniveti (Less.), but tail
much longer (1.90 inches, forked for 1.15). Type, No. 102,812,
$ , U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 23.

13. Empidonax gracilis, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Above ash-gray, more brownish, but
still decidedly gray, on lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ;
a distinct orbital ring, two broad wing-bands, and broad edges to
tertials, grayish-white ; sides of head, light ash-gray, fading to
grayish-white on throat ; jugulum and sides of breast, light brownish-
gray ; rest of lower parts, white. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.20; culmen,
.55 ; bill, from nostril, .25 ; width of bill at base, .23 ; tarsus, .60 ;
middle toe, .30. Type, No. 102,737, 0. (?), U. S. Nat. Mus ; Coz-
umel, Jan. 22.

14. Myiarchus platyrhynchus, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Above dull brown, without olive tinge,
darker on pileum ; upper tail-coverts and edges of rec.trices, rem-
iges, and greater wing-coverts, rusty. Chin, throat, and jugulum,
pale ash-gray ; rest of lower parts, very pale sulphur yellow. Wing,
3.00 ; tail, 2.00 ; culmen, .85 ; bill, from nostril, .50 ; width at
base, .33; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .42. Type, No. 102,738, 9 (?),
U. S. Nat. Mus.; Cozumel, Jan. 22.

24 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

15. Cardinalis saturatus, sp. nov.

Specific Characters. — Similar to C. virginianus coccineus.
Ridgw., but still more deeply colored, the bill shorter and relatively
much thicker. Female, with the capistrum dark slaty and very
conspicuous. Type, No. 102,720, $, U .S. Nat. Mus. ; Cozumel,
Jan. 24.

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF CHIPMUNK
FROM CALIFORNIA (Taw/as macrorhabdotes sp. nov.).

By Dr. C. Hart Merriam.

(Read December 26. 1SS5.)

I have recently secured, from the Sierra Nevada mountains of
central California, a series of Chipmunks or Ground Squirrels
which differ markedly from any known species. In size they
closely approach typical examples of Tamias asiaticus town-
sendi ; and in coloration they are in some respects intermediate
hetween vars. townsendi and borealis. while in other respects
they are peculiar. They may be distinguished at a glance from
all other described forms by the great length of the ear, the
clearness and sharpness of definition of the light stripe which
occupies its posterior half, and by the large size and whiteness of
the spot behind its base.

Tamias macrorhabdotes * sp. nov. LONG-EARED CHIPMUNK.

Diagnosis. — Ears exceedingly long, measuring from 16 to 17
mm. in height from the occiput (average often, 16.20 mm.).
Crown grizzled grayish-brown, more or less mixed with rusty ;
convex surface of ears sharply bicolor vertically, anterior half
sooty-brown, with a slight admixture of rusty near the anterior
margin, posterior half ashy-white in striking contrast ; a large
white spot (nearly as large as the ear itself) on each side of the
neck just behind the ear and continuous with its ashy-white pos-
terior half and with the white cheek-stripe under the eye, and
almost continuous posteriorly with the external lateral white

* Macro-rhabd-otes : [iaxpos : long; pd(ido<z, stripe; oZ<s, euros, ear, — in
allusion to the long, striped ear. which is diagnostic of the species.

26

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

stripe ; five dark dorsal stripes (outer often indistinct), rust}* um-
ber to sepia brown ; the two outer of each side separated by a
grayish-white stripe which is almost continuous anteriorly with
the white blotch behind the ear : the median and inner of each
side separated by a grayish stripe more or less obscured with
rusty ; rump grizzled gray sometimes tinged with brownish ;
sides pale fulvous to deep rusty fulvous, the color extending well

TAMIAS MACRORHABDOTES.

up on the neck, but never back over the hips ; under parts white
or soiled white; tail above sub-terete, almost black, with hoary
tips to the hairs and with more or less hazel showing through ;
tail below distichous, mesially bright hazel, heavily bordered
with black and edged with hoary. The facial stripes are highly
developed and are five in number, three rusty umber and two
white, as follows : A narrow white stripe runs from the tip of the
nose to the anterior base of the ear, passing over the eye ; it is
bordered above by a stripe of rusty umber (which is broadest
and darkest from the eye to the ear), and below by another of the
same color which passes through the eye and terminates at the
meatus ; below this is a second white stripe, broader than the
first, which runs just below the eye and thence backward under
the root of the ear, where it bends upward and backward, becom-

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW CHIPMUNK. 27

ing continuous with the white spot behind the ear ; below this
still is another rusty umber stripe which ends against the white
just back of the ear.

Measurements. — The twelve specimens before me are all
skins, but they are well prepared and affoi-d measurements which
may be regarded as approximately correct. The length of head
and body varies from 125 to 140 mm. and the tail with hairs
from 105 to 130 mm. The hind foot with claw averages be-
tween 34 and 35 mm.

Cranial Characters. — The nasal bones are both relatively
and absolutely longer in macrorhabdotes than in its nearest ally,
townsendi, notwithstanding the fact that the latter is the larger
animal. The longest nasal in the four skulls of townsendi before
me measures 11.00 mm., while the smallest of five adult macro-
rhabdotes measures 12.60 mm. and the largest 13.20 mm. The
nasals usually project backward in macrorhabdotes beyond the
line of the fronto-premaxillary suture, while in tozvnsendi they
generally end flush with the suture. Their ratio to the basilar
length in townsendi is 35.73 mm. (average of two) , against
44.54 in macrorhabdotes (average of five fairly adult specimens).
In addition to their shortness, the nasal bones in townsendi aver-
age a little broader, particularly behind ; thus the average width
(at the fronto-premaxillary suture) of four specimens of town-
sendi is 3.27 mm., while the average of eight specimens of macro-
rhabdotes is 2.85 mm. Hence the average of the ratios of the
posterior breadth of the nasal bones to their length in nine skulls
of macrorhabdotes is 22.97, while in four skulls of tozvnsendi it
is 30.75.

Interorbitally, the frontal bone averages somewhat broader in
macrorhabdotes than in townsendi. The palate is longer in the
latter. The average ratio of the length of the palate to the ba-
silar length in eight specimens of macrorhabdotes is 53.96,
while in two specimens of townsendi it is 56.80.

28 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

The parietal and supra-occipital bones co-ossify so early in life
that in the adults it is generally impossible to detect the suture
between them ; hence they are here measured together. They
are very much shorter in macrorhabdotes than in townsendL
measuring from 10.60 to 11.00 mm. (four-tenths of a millimetre
covering the limits of variation in nine specimens) ; while in
tovjnsendi two specimens measure respectively 13.50 and 13.00
mm. The average of the ratios of the length of the parietals and
supra-occipital, thus united, to the basilar length in eight skulls of
macrorhabdotes is 37.87 ; in two of townsendi it is 45-77-

The first upper premolar is decidedly smaller in macrorhabd-
otes than in townsendi ; it has evidently ceased to be functional
and is fast becoming obsolete — one of many characters point-
ing to the higher differentiation of the new species.

The pretty little Striped Squirrel which forms the subject of
the present paper is one of peculiar interest. It is surprising
that an animal of its size and diurnal habits, and one which
differs so markedly from even its nearest relative, should have
escaped so long the notice of the many naturalists and collectors
who have traversed the region. The most natural explanation is
that the Long-Eared Chipmunk is an exceedingly local species,
restricted in its range by certain physiographical conditions of
which we are at present ignorant — conditions which were influ-
ential, doubtless, in bringing about the modifications which dis-
tinguish it from its congeners and mark it as one of the most
highly specialized of the genus Tamias. That this genus is pe-
culiarly susceptible to environmental influences is amply attested
by the number and perplexing characteristics of the incipient
species already known from the United States.

The specimens of this new species were collected by C. A.
Allen, of Nicasio, California, and the accompanying figure was
drawn bv Ernest E. T. Seton.

ON A NEW METHOD OF PRODUCING IMMUNITY
FROM CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.

By D. E. Salmon, D. V. M., and Theobald Smith, M. D.

(Read February 20. 1S86.)

More than four years ago * one of us, in the study of the sub-
ject of insusceptibility to contagious diseases, reached the con-
clusion that, in those diseases in which one attack protects from
the effects of the contagion in the future, the germs of such mal-
adies were only able to multiply in the body of the individual at-
tacked because of a poisonous principle or substance which was
produced during the multiplication of those germs. And also
that, after being exposed for a certain time to the influence of
this poison, the animal bioplasm was no longer sufficiently af-
fected by it to produce that profound depression and modification
of the vital activity which alone allowed the growth of the path-
ogenic germs and the consequent development of the processes
of disease. After several series of experiments, made at that
time with only negative results, it became necessary to suspend
these investigations until points connected with them, and which
were then obscure, should be cleared up, and until it should be-
come possible to repeat the experiments under more favorable
conditions. Our expectations in regard to this important sub-
ject have at last been realized by the results of experiments re-
cently made in the laboratory of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

The bacterium, which we have lately discovered and which we
believe to be the cause of swine plague, is killed in liquid cul-
tures by an exposure to 5S C. for about ten minutes.

This method of destroying the bacterium in liquid cultures was
resorted to in studying the effects on pigeons of the chemical

•"Department of Agriculture, Annual Report, 1881-2, pp. 290-295.

30 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

products (ptomaines?) formed by the bacteria in their vegetative
state, and which are probably dissolved in the culture liquid.
The heated cultures used in these experiments were always
tested by inoculating fresh tubes therefrom, and, if no growth fol-
lowed this inoculation, the death of the microbes was considered
established.

It had been previously determined that the subcutaneous in-
jection of .75 cc. ( T 3 ¥ dram) of a liquid culture of the swine
plague bacterium containing i%of peptone was invariably fatal,
in the majority of pigeons within 24 hours. One half of this
dose was fatal to a few only.

As a preliminary experiment, four pigeons were inoculated
December 24, 1S85, with a liquid culture that had been heated
for 2 hours at 58°-6o° C. Three of these (Nos. 10, 8, 9) re-
ceived subcutaneously .4, .8, and 1.5 cc. of the heated culture,
respectively. The fourth (No. 7) received 1.5 cc. of the pure
culture liquid, into which no microbes had been introduced.
No. 9, the one which had received the largest dose, was evidently
sick the next day, but slowly recovered. The others did not
show any symptoms of illness.

January n, the one which had received a hypodermic injec-
tion of the simple culture liquid (No. 7), and the one which had
received the largest dose of heated virus (No. 9), received sub-
cutaneously about .75 cc. each of a liquid culture five days old,
which had been prepared from a potato culture 15 days old. It
is probable that this virus was not so strong, therefore, as a more
recent culture from the pig would have been. Both pigeons were
sick on the following day. No. 7 died seven days after inoculation.
The bacterium of swine plague was found abundantly in the pec-
toral muscle, in the spleen, kidneys, and liver in moderate num-
bers.* The other pigeon (No. 9) slowly recovered, but had

*In this animal the major part of both pectoral muscles appeared as if
they had been boiled; they were whitish, bloodless; the fibres could be
easily broken and crushed with the forceps. The muscular tissue sur-
rounding the dead portion was very dark, gorged with blood. The liver
was dark in patches; spleen and kidney pale.

NEW METHOD OE PREVENTING CONTAGION. 31

lost the use of its legs. It seemed perfectly well when killed. 15
days after inoculation. It was quite fat. the crop filled with
food. In the pectorals were found imbedded two elongated
masses of dead tissue or sequestra about 2 cm. long and 1 cm. in
diameter, entirely separated from the surrounding tissue by a
dense, smooth membrane. In this animal the multiplication of
the pathogenic bacteria was purely local, the resistance of the
tissues being sufficiently powerful to confine, and finally destroy,
the bacteria. The sequestra were made up of dead muscular fi-
bre, which was pale and parboiled in appeai"ance. Each was en-
veloped by a more or less hyaline homogeneous layer. A liquid
culture, inoculated with blood from the heart, remained sterile.

This experiment pointed evidently to an immunity obtained
from the chemical products of the bacterium of swine plague.
To confirm this view another experiment was made.

January 21, three pigeons (Nos. 11, 12, 13) received hypo-
dermically 1.5 cc. of heated culture liquid in which the bacterium
of swine plague had multiplied for two weeks, and was then
destroyed by exposure to 5S°-6o° C. for several hours. A fourth
pigeon (No. 14) was kept as a check. No. 10, which had re-
ceived .4 cc. of heated virus Dec. 24, now received a second
dose, this time of 1.5 cc. For the following three or four days
all were somewhat ill, and remained rather quiet, with feathers
slightly ruffled.

January 29, when all seemed well, three of the four (Nos. 10,
11, and 12) received hypodermically another dose of 1.5 cc. of
heated culture liquid. The other (No. 13) had been fiercely
attacked bv its fellows, and its head was so injured that it was
thought best not to give it an injection at this time, and it was
placed in a spacious coop alone. None of the birds seemed much
affected by this dose.

February 6, a final injection was practised upon the four, No.
13 having recovered from the effects of its injuries. The dose
was, as before, 1.5 cc. All seemed well a few days later.

32

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

February 13, one week after the last injection, these birds were
inoculated with strong virus, the quantity injected being .7=5 cc.
which had hitherto proved invariably fatal, with the single excep-
tion of the bird that had been previously treated with heated virus.
Those inoculated were Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, which had received
the heated virus, also No. 14, the check pigeon, which had not
been touched, and No. 8, which had received a small quantity,
.8 cc. of heated virus, December 24, over 50 days before.

On the following day the check pigeon (No. 14) was found
dead ; the one which had received the smaller dose (No. 8) was
very ill and died before the next day. The other pigeons were
perfectly well. The effect of this dose of strong virus, so re-
markable on the unprotected pigeons, was even more evanescent
than that of the heated virus in which all life had been destroyed.

There can be no doubt, therefore, from this very positive
result, that the pigeons had acquired an immunity through the effect
upon the tissues of the chemical products formed by the bacterium
in the culture liquid.

A table giving the dates of the injections and the quantity intro-
duced into each animal is given below :

1885.

1886.

Total

of Heated

Virus.

Pigeons.

Dec. 24.

Jan. 21.

Jan. 29.

Feb. 6.

Feb. 13.

Remarks.

Heated
Virus.

Heated
Virus.

Heated
Virus.

Heated
Virus.

Strong
Virus.

No. 8

cc.

.8

.4

cc.

cc.

cc.

cc.
.75

.75
.75

.75
.75

.75

cc.

.8

4.9
4.5
4.5
3.0

Died in 48 hours

" 10
" 11

1.5
1.5

1.5
1.5

1.5
1.5
1.5

1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5

after injection
of strong virus.

Well Feb. 20.

" 12

" 13

" 14

Died iu 24 hours

after injection
of strong virus.

In the birds that died, (Nos. 8 and 14), the pectoral muscles at
the place of injection were pale and friable. Necrosis was

NEW METHOD OF PREVENTING CONTAGION. 33

already at hand. The internal organs were not macroscopically
altered, excepting the spleen of No. 8, which was enlarged and
dark. The presence of the bacterium of swine plague in the blood
from the heart was demonstrated by liquid cultures, which, inocu-
lated with a minimum quantity of blood, were turbid with this
specific microbe on the following day.

The conclusions to be drawn from this experiment we believe
are of superlative importance to a correct understanding of the
phenomena of contagious diseases, and the methods by which
these diseases are to be combated. They probably apply to all
bacterial plagues of men and animals in which one attack confers
immunity from the effects of that particular virus in the future.
These conclusions are :

1. Immunity is the result of the exposure of the bioplasm of
the animal body to the chemical products of the growth of the
specific microbes which constitute the virus of contagious fevers.

2. These particular chemical products are produced by the
growth of the microbes in suitable culture liquids in the labora-
tory, as well as in the liquids and tissues of the body.

3. Immunity may be produced by introducing into the animal
body such chemical products that have been produced in the
laboratory.

THE BEGINNINGS OF NATURAL HISTORY IN

AMERICA.*

By G. Brown Goode.

Is not Science a growth? Has not Science its embryology?
And must not a neglect of its embryology lead to a misunder-
standing of the principles of its evolution and of its existing
organization ?

— Spencer : The Genesis of Science.

ANALYSIS.

Page.

I. Thomas Harriott, the earliest English naturalist in America. . 35

II. Harriott's Spanish and French predecessors and contemporaries. 44

III. Garcilasso de la Vega and the biological lore of the native

Americans. 49

IV. Anglo-American Naturalists of the seventeenth century. . 55
V. European explorations in the new world, 1600-1800. . 67

VI. The founders of American Natural History. .... 74
VII. The debt which the naturalists of the present owe to those of

the past 101

Three centuries ago the only English settlement in America
was the little colony of one hundred and eight men which Raleigh
had planted, five months before, upon Roanoke Island, in North
Carolina.

The 17th of August, 1885, was the anniversary of one of the
most noteworthy events in the history of America, for it marked
the three hundredth return of the date when Sir Richard Gren-

* Annual presidential address delivered at the Sixth Anniversary Meet-
ing of the Society, February 6, 1886, in the Lecture Room of the U. S.
National Museum.

36 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ville brought to its shores this sturdy company of pioneers, who,
by their sojourn on this side of the Atlantic, prepared the way for
the great armies of immigrants who were to follow.

It was also the anniversary of an important event in the history
of science, for among the colonists was THOMAS HARRIOTT
— the first English man of science who crossed the Atlantic. His
name is familiar to few, save those who love the time-browned
pages and quaint narrations of Hakluyt, Purchas, and Pinkerton ;
yet Harriott was foremost among the scholars of his time — the
Huxley or the Stokes of his day — a man of wide culture, a skillful
astronomer, a profound mathematician, the author of a standard
treatise upon algebra, and a botanist, zoologist, and anthropolo-
gist withal. "He had been the mathematical instructor of Ra-
leigh, and in obeying this summons to go forth upon the present
expedition, gave to it." says Anderson, "the most valuable aid
which could be derived from human strength." *

This eminent man deserves more than a passing notice on this
occasion, and I have taken pains to bring together all that is known
about him. He was born at Oxford in 1560, or as old Anthony
Wood quaintly expresses it. "he tumbled out of his mother's
womb into the lap of the Oxonian muses." and. at an early age,
was entered as a scholar in St. Mary's Hall, receiving his bache-
lor's degree in 1579. He was soon received into Raleigh's family
as his instructor in mathematics, and, at the age of twenty-five,
made his voyage to America.

After his return he was introduced by Raleigh to Henry Percy,
Earl of Northumberland, one of the most munificent patrons of
science of that day, who allowed him a pension of £120 a year.
"About the same time." we are told, "Hues, well known
by his 'Treatise upon the Globes, 't and Walter Warner, who is
said to have given Harvey the first hint concerning the circu-
lation of the blood, being both of them mathematicians, received

* Anderson: History of the Church of England in the Colonies, p. So.
f Tractatus de Globis, etc., 1611 .

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 37

from him (Northumberland) pensions of less value; so that in
1606, when the Earl was committed to the Tower for life, Har-
riott, Hues, and Warner were his constant companions, and were
usually called the Earl of Northumberland's Magi."*

One thing, at least, have three centuries accomplished for sci-
ence. Its greatest workers are not now, as they were at the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century, dependent upon the liberality and
caprice of wealthy men. classed as their " pensioners" and " ser-
vants," and assigned places at their tables which they must needs
accept or famish.

Harriott appears to have passed the latter years of his life at Sion
College, in Oxford, where he died in 1621. He was buried in St.
Christopher's Church, and the following eulogy was embodied in
his epitaph :

QUI OMNES SCIENTIAS CALLUIT AC IN OMNIBUS EXCELLUIT

MATHEMATICIS, PHILOSOPHICIS, THEOLOGICIS.

VERITATIS, INDAGATOR STUDIOSISSIMUS,

DEI TRINIUNIUS PIISSIMUS.

He was especially eminent in the field of Mathematics.
" Harriott," says Hallam, " was destined to make the last great
discovery in the pure science of algebra. * * * Harriott ar-
rived at a complete theory of the genesis of equations, which
Cardan and Vieta had but partially conceived." f

His improvements in algebra were adopted, we are told, by
Descartes, and for a considerable time imposed upon the French
as his own invention, but the theft was at last detected and ex-

* Harriott was also a friend and companion of Raleigh during his im-
prisonment in the Tower (1603-16), and was his collaborator in the prep-
aration of the " History of the World." His fidelity was rewarded by that
distinguished authority, Chief-Justice Popham, who denounced him from
the bench as " a devil."

t Hallam : Introduction to the Literature of Europe, 4th ed., 1854;
i, pp. 454, 456; ii, p. 223; iii, p. 181. See also Montucla : Histoirc des
Mathematiques, and Ersch and Gruber : Algemeine Encyklopcedie.

08 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

posed by Dr. Wallis in his " Treatise of Algebra, both Theoreti-
cal and Practical," London, 1685.*

•• Oldys, in his Life of Sir Walter Raleigh, has shown," says
Stith, " that the famous French philosopher, Descartes, bor-
rowed much of his light from this excellent mathematician, and
that the learned Dr. Wallis gave the preference to Harriot's im-
provements before Descartes', altho' he had the advantage of
coming after and being assisted by him." f

Harriott's papers were left after his death in the possession of
the Percy family at " Petworth," where they were examined in
1 7S7 by Dr. Zach, and later by Prof. Rigaud, of Oxford, who.
in 1833, published in his supplement to the works of James
Bradley, " An Account of Thomas Harriot's Astronomical Pa-
pers." His observations on Halley's comet in 1607 are still re-
ferred to as being of great importance. Zach pronounced him
an eminent astronomer, both theoretical and practical. " He was
the first observer of the solar spots, on which he made a hundred
and ninety-nine observations ; he also made many excellent obser-
vations on the satellites of Jupiter, and indeed, it is probable
that he discovered them as early if not earlier than Galileo." \

A posthumous work, " Artes Analytical Praxis ad ^Equationes
algebraicas nova, expedita et generali Methodo resolvendas, e
posthumis Thomas Harriot," was published in 1631 by his
friend and associate, Walter Warner, and there is in the library
of Sion College a manuscript work of his entitled " Ephemeris
Chyrometrica."

Wood says that, "notwithstanding his great skill in mathe-
matics, he had strange thoughts of the scriptures, always under-

* It would appear, however, that Wallis may have been too enthusiastic
in his admiration of the English mathematician. Hallam states that he
ascribed to Harriott a long list of discoveries which have since been re-
claimed for Cardan and Vieta.

t Stith : History of Virginia, 1747, p. 20.

1 Good and Gregory: Pantologia, vol. v.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 39

valued the old story of the creation of the world, and would never
believe that trite proposition, ' Ex nihilo nihil fit.''

Stith, the historian of Virginia, protests, however, against the
charge that Harriott had led his pupil Raleigh into atheism. "As
to this groundless Aspersion," he remarked, "the Truth of it,
perhaps, was that Sir Walter and Mr. Harriott were the first who
ventured to depart from the beaten Tract of the Schools, and to
throw oft' and combat some hoary Follies and traditionary Errors
which had been riveted by age, and rendered sacred and inviolable
in the eyes of weak and prejudiced Persons. Sir Walter is said
to have been first led to this by the manifest Detection, from his
own Experience, of their erroneous Opinions concerning the
Torrid Zone, and he intended to have proceeded farther in the
Search after more Solid and important Truths 'till he was chid
and restrained by the Queen, into whom some Persons had infused
a Notion that such Doctrine was against God."*

The erroneous opinions concerning the torrid zone which were
called in question by Harriott and Raleigh were based upon a
statement of Aristotle, in those days accepted as an article of faith,
that the equatorial zone of the earth was so scorched and dried by
the sun's heat as to be uninhabitable. Even the experience of
explorers was for many years overpowered by the weight of this
time-worn dogma. The Jesuit, Acosta, was accused of atheism
on the same grounds, by his Spanish contemporaries, but he re-
joiced that he had seen for himself, and that the climate under the
equator was so different from what he had expected that " he
could but laugh at Aristotle's meteors and his philosophy."

Harriott's "Brief and True Report of the New Found Land
of Virginia," a thin volume in quarto, printed at Frankfort-on-
the-Main in 1590, f is now one of the rarest and most precious

* Stith : History of Virginia, p 20.

1 1590. HARIOT (or Harriott) , THOMAS. A briefe and true report | of
the new found land of Virginia | of the commodities and of the nature and
man | ners of the naturall inhabitants. Discouered by the English Col-

40 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

works relating to America,* and is full of interest to the natural-
ist. Harriott's description of the Indians and their customs and
beliefs, though strongly tinctured with prepossessed ideas con-
cerning them, is thorough and scholarly, and one of the fullest
and most reliable of the early treatises upon the inhabitants of
North America.

The chief man of the Roanoke colony, Sir Ralph Lane, usually
spoken of as the first governor of Virginia, was a man of great
energy and enterprise, f and with the help of Harriott planned
and conducted expeditions in every direction ; southward eighty
leagues to Secotan, • l an Indian town lying between the rivers
Pampticoe and Neus," to the northwest up the Albemarle Sound
and Chowan River, to the forks of the Meherrin and Nottaway ;
and north one hundred and thirty miles to the Elizabeth River,
on the south side of Chesapeake Bay.

Besides his description of the Indians, Harriott wrote "a particu-
lar narrative of all the beasts, birds, fishes, fowls, fruits, and roots,
and how they may be useful." A systematic report could hardly

ony there seated by Sir Richard | Greinuile Knight In the yeere 1585.
Which rema \ ined Vnder the gouernment of twelue monethes, | At the
special charge and direction of the Honou- | rable SIR WALTER
RALEIGH Knight lord Warden j of the stanneries Who therein hath
beene fauoured | and authorised by her MAIESTIE | : and her letters pat-
ents : I This fore booke Is made in English | By Thomas Hariot, seruant to
the above named | Sir WALTER, a member of the Colony and there | im-
ployed in discouering | CUM GRATIA ET PRIVILEGIO CAES. MA^
SPECIA 1 - 1 I Francoforti ad Mcenum | Typis Ioannis Wecheli, stantibus
vero Theodori | DeBry Anno CIO IC XC, | venales reperuunter in officina
Sigismundi Feirabendii. | 4^. pp. 1-33 (1). Title page zuith ornamental
border of architectural design.

* There are now only six or seven perfect copies in existence. These,
we are told by Sabine, are in the British Museum and Bodleian libraries,
and in the private collections of Messrs. Lennox, Brown, Christie-Miller,
and Mann, besides an imperfect copy in the library of Harvard College
and one in the possession of Sir Thomas Phillipps. At a sale in London
in 1883 a copy sold for 300 pounds. A reproduction in photo-lithographic
fac-simile was issued by Sabine in New York in 1S75.

f See Life of Sir Ralph Lane, by Edward Everett Hale. Archa-.ologia
Americana, iv, pp. 317-347.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 41

be expected from one who lived a century and a half before Lin-
naeus, but if we keep in mind the condition of zoology at that day
we can but be pleased with the fullness of his narrative.

He collected the names of twenty-eight species of mammals,
twelve of these, including the black bear, the gray squirrel, the cony
or hare, the otter, and the possum and raccoon, {Saquentickot and
A/aq/foxuoc) , he saw, beside the civet cat or skunk, which he ob-
served by means of another sense. He was the first to distinguish
the American from the European deer, stating that the former
have longer tails, and the snags of their horns look backward —
a brief diagnosis, but one which was not replaced by a better one
for nearly two centuries.

Of birds he collected the names of eighty-six " in the countrie
language," and had pictures drawn of twenty-five. He mentions
turkevs, stockdoves, partridges, crows, herons, and in winter,
great store of swans and geese.

With aquatic animals he seems to have been well acquainted.
He refers to some by English names, and to many others which
had no names Wk but in the countrey language." In the plates
accompanying the first edition of his book are figured several
familiar forms, then for the first time made known in Europe,
among them the gar pike {Lepidosteus) ,* and the horse shoe
or king crab {Limidus) ,\ " Seekanauk, a kinde of crustie shell
fishe which is good meate, about a foot in breadth, having a crus-
tie tayle, many legges like a crabbe, and her eyes in her back."

* Subsequently referred to by Champlain in 1613, and Sagard in 1636,
under the name chaousarou, and figured by Champlain on his map of
Nouvclle France. Creuxin in his History of Canada, 1664, also men-
tions it.

fit has been generally supposed that Champlain was the first to notice
this characteristic American animal, and Slafter, in his notes upon Cham-
plain's works, [Publications of the Prince Society, Cham f lain 's Voyages,
vol. ii, p 87,] makes a statement to that effect, and is followed by Hig-
ginson in his History of the United States. Actually, the French ex-
plorer did not observe it until twenty years after Harriott, and his account
of it was not printed until 1613.

42 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Harriott also alludes to various kinds of trees and shrubs, usu-
ally by their Indian names. Among them may easily be recog-
nized the pitch-pine, sassafras, shoemake, chestnut, walnut,
hickory, persimmon, prickly pear. Nelumbium, Liriodendron.
holly, beech, ash, and so on, beside the maize and tobacco culti-
vated bv the natives.

A companion of Harriott's, whose labors are deserving of no-
tice, was John With or White, the first delineator of plants and
animals who visited this ( continent. Concerning him and the ul-
timate utilization of his work, Stith discourses as follows :

UPON this Voyage, Sir Walter Ralegh, by the Queen's Ad-
vice and Directions, sent, at no small Expence, Mr. John With,
a skilful and ingenious Painter, to take the Situation of the
Country, and to paint, from the Life, the Figures and Habits of
the Natives, their Way of Living, and their several Fashions,
Modes and Superstitions, which he did with great Beauty and
Exactness. There was one Theodore De Bry, who afterwards
published the beautiful Latin Edition of Voyages in six Vol-
umes, Folio, a most curious and valuable Work. He being in
England, soon after, by the Means of the Rev. Mr. Richard
Hackluyt, then of Christ 's- Church, in Oxford, obtained from
Mr. With a Sight of these Pieces, with Permission to take them
off in Copper Plates. These, being very lively and well done,
he carried to Frankfort on the Maine, where he published a
noble Edition of them, with Latin Explanations, out of John
Wechclius's Press, in the Year 1590. And there are the Origi-
nals from which Mr. Beverley's and the Cuts of many of our
late Writers and Travellers have been chiefly imitated.*

With's drawings are still in the British Museum, f where they
were examined in i860 by Dr. E. E. Hale, who reported upon
their condition to the American Antiquarian Society. %

This collection, he says, consists of 112 drawings in water-
color, very carefully preserved. They are very well drawn,
colored with skill, and even in the present state of art would be
considered anywhere valuable and creditable representations of

* Stith : History of Virginia, p. 16.

f Sloane & Additional MSS., 5270.

I See Archceologia Americana* iv, pp. 21-24.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 43

the plants, birds, beasts, and men of a new country. Mr. Hale
gives a list of these drawings as identified by Sloane and others.
Among these were the bald eagle, the red-headed, hairy, and
golden-winged woodpeckers, the bluebird, red-wing blackbird,
towhee, red-bird, blue jay, and fox-colored thrush, the crow black-
bird, and apparently the mocking bird — "Artamockes, the linguist :
a bird that imitateth and useth the sounds, and tones of almost all
birds in the Countrie." Among the fish we recognize the mullet
(Tctszo), the menhaden or old-wife (Afasunnehockeo) , and the
sturgeon ( Coppauleo) , and perhaps the squeteague or chigwit
( Chigxvusso) .

The science of North America, then, began with Thomas
Harriott. Let us review together to-night its progress for a period
of two centuries — a period coinciding almost exactly with the
colonial portion of the history of the United States.

•' The present generation," says Whewell, " finds itself the
heir of a vast patrimony of science, and it must needs concern
us to know the steps by which these possessions were acquired
and the documents by which they are secured to us and our heirs
forever. Our species from the time of its creation has been trav-
elling onwards in pursuit of truth ; and now that we have reached
a lofty and commanding position, with the broad light of day
around us, it must be grateful to look back on the line of our past
progress ; to review the journey begun in early twilight amid pri-
meval wilds ; for a long time continued with slow advance and
obscure prospects ; and gradually and in later days followed
along more open and lightsome paths, in a wide and fertile re-
gion. The historian of science, from early periods to the present
time, may hope for favor on the score of the mere subject of his
narrative, and in vii'tue of the curiosity which the men of the
present day may naturally feel respecting the events and persons
of his story."

44 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

II.

Although Harriott was the first who described the natural char-
acteristics of North America, it would not be proper to ignore
the fact that the first scientific exploration of the western continent
was accomplished by Spaniards and Frenchmen.

Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, the first historian of
the New World, [b. 1478, d. 1557], was an Asturian of noble
birth, who began life as a page in the palace of Ferdinand and
Isabella. He saw Columbus at Burgos on his second return from
America in 1496. He came over in 1514 to Santo Domingo,
having been appointed inspector of gold-smelting, and was sub-
sequently governor of that island and royal historiographer of the
Indies. In 1525 he transmitted to Charles V. his " Sumario de
la Natural Historia de las Indias," printed at Toledo two years
later, and in 1535 began the publication of his " Historia General
y Natural de las Indias," a task which was finally completed only
thirty years ago by the Spanish Royal Academy of History.

Las Casas said that Oviedo's books were " as full of lies almost
as pages," but whatever may have been his methods in the dis-
cussion of history and politics, he seems, in his descriptions, tc
have been both minute and accurate. Among the American ani
mals which he was first to mention was the tapir or dant—" of
the bignesse of a meane mule, without homes, ..sh-coloured,"
and the ckurckia, evidently a species of Didelphys, allied to our
possum. This was the first notice of any member of the great
group of marsupial mammals. I quote a portion of the descrip-
tion in Oviedo's " Sumario," employing the quaint phraseology
of Purchas's translation :

" The Chtirchia is as bigge as a small Conie, tawnie, sharpe-
snowted, dog-toothed, long-tayled and eared like a Rat. They
do great harm to Hennes, killing sometimes twenty or more at
once to sucke their bloude : And if they then have young shee
carrieth them with her in a bagge of skin under her belly, run-

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 45

ning alongst the same like a Satchell, which shee opens and shuts
at pleasure to let them in and out."*

He characterized and described at length many other animals,
among them the manatee, the iguana (Ii/a/ma) , the armadillos
(Bardati). the ant-eaters, the sloth, the pelican, the ivory-billed
woodpecker, and the humming buds.

" There are found in the foune land," he wrote. " certaine
birds, so little that the whole body of one of them is no bigger
than the top of the biggest finger of a man's hand, and yet is the
bare body, without the feathers, not half so bigge. This Bird,
besides her littlenesse, is of such velocitie and swiftness in flying
that who so seeth her flying in the aire cannot see her flap or beat
her wings after any other sort than doe the Humble Bees or
Beetles. And I know not whereunto I may better liken them
then to the little birds which the lymners of books are accus-
tomed to paint on the Margent of Church Bookes and other
Bookes of Divine Service. Their feathers are of manie faire
colours, golden, yellow and greene."

That the spirit of Oviedo's work was scientific and critical, and
not credulous and marvel-seeking, like that of many of his con-
temporaries, is everywhere manifest. His materials are classified
in systematically arranged chapters. His methods may be illus-
trated by referring to his chapter " On Tigers."

" In Terra Firma," he begins, " are found many terrible beasts
which the first Spaniards called tigers — which thing, neverthe-
less, I dare not affirm." He then reviews concisely and critically
what is known of tigers elsewhere, and goes on to describe the
supposed American tiger at length, and in such terms that it is at
once evident that the mammal under discussion is one of the
spotted cats, doubtless the jaguar (T^e/Zs onca).^

The second in order of time to publish a book upon American
natural history was Jean de Lery, [b. 1535, d. 161 1], a Calvin-
istic minister, who was a member of the Huguenot colony founded
by the Chevalier de Villegagnon in 1555, on the small island

* Sumario, Cap. xxvii. Purchas : his pilgrimes, iii, p. 995.
f Sumario, Cap. xi.

46 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, which still bears his name. He re-
mained in Brazil less than five years, and in 157S published at
Rouen a work entitled " Voyage en Amerique, avec la descrip-
tion des Animaux et Plantes de ce Pays."

Jose d' Acosta was another Spanish explorer who preceded
Harriott, and was a man of much the same school and temper of
mind. Born in the province of Leon about the year 1539- ne
entered the society of Jesuits at the age of fourteen, and in 1 571
went to Peru, where he travelled as a missionary for seventeen
years. After his return to Spain he filled several important eccle-
siastical offices and died February 15, 1600, rector of the University
of Salamanca. His first book, " De Natura Novi Orbis Libri
Duo," was published in 1589. His " Historia Natural y Moral
de las Indias " appeared in 1590, and is one of the best known and
most useful of the early Spanish works on America, having passed
through numerous editions in many languages.

Acosta was. perhaps, the most learned of the early writers upon
America, and his writings, though modeled after those of the
mediaeval schoolmen, were full of suggestive observations, " touch-
ing the naturall historic of the heavens, ayre, water and earth at
the West Indies, also of their beasts, fishes, fowles, plants, and
other remarkable varieties of nature." He discoursed tw of the
fashion and form of heaven at the new-found world." " of the ayre
and the winds," of ocean-physics, of volcanoes and earthquakes,
as well as of metals, pearls, emeralds, trees, beasts and fowls.

He discussed the appearance and habits of the manatee and the
crocodile, and described the Indian methods of whaling and pearl-
fishing. He dwelt at length upon the condition of the domestic
animals, sheep, kine, goats, horses, asses, dogs and cats which
the Spaniards had introduced into the New World and which
were already thoroughly acclimated. It seems strange to learn
from his pages that in the year 1587, 99,794 hides of domestic
cattle were exported from St. Domingo and New Spain to Seville.
Lynceus has suggested that some of these skins were from the

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 4<

bison-herds, believed at that time to have been abundant in the
north of Mexico.

He gives a formidable catalogue of the animals of Central and
South America, in which occur the familiar names of armadillo,
iguana, chinchilla, viscacha, vicugna, paco, and guanaco, and
describes many of them at length, especially the peccary (Saino) .
the tapirs, the sloths, and the vicugna. He speaks of the cochi-
neal insect, which had already become of importance in the arts.

He was the first to call attention to the existence in South
America of immense fossil bones ; these he supposed to be the
remains of gigantic individuals of the human species.

His description of the Flora is very full, and he dwells at
length upon the useful applications of the cacao-bean and its
product, the drink which the}' call chocolate — " whereof they
make great account in that Country, foolishly and without rea-
son," — the plantain, the yucca, the cassava, the maguey, the
tunall or cactus, and very many more.

It is, however, as a scientific theorist that Acosta has the high-
est claim to our attention. He appears to have been the first to
discuss America from the standpoint of the zoogeographer.

In considering the question, " How it should be possible that
at the Indies there should be any sorts of beasts, whereof the like
are nowhere else," he owns that he is quite unable to determine
whether they were special creations, or whether they came out of
the ark. He evidently prefers the first alternative, although so
trammelled by the prevalent opinions of his day and sect that he
is unable to bring himself quite to its avowal. He approaches
so close to the limits of heterodoxy, however, that Purchas, in
his Pilgrimes, feels obliged to print a foot-note pronouncing it
" unchristian to say that America was not drowned with the
flood."

Acosta thoroughlv appreciated the peculiar character of the
American fauna and remarked that " if the kinds of beasts are to
be judged by their properties, it would be as reasonable to call

48 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

an egg a chestnut as to seeke to reduce to the known kinds of
Europe the divers kinds of the Indies." He was even willing to
admit that it may not be necessarv to say that the creation of the
world was finished in six days, and that beasts of a more perfect
character may have been made subsequently ; and in his anxiety
to escape the alternative of a Noah's ark almost committed him-
self to a theoiy of evolution " We may consider well upon
this subject," he wrote, " whether these beasts differ in kinde
and essentially from all others, or if this difference be accidentall.
which might grow by divers accidents, as we see in the Images
of men, some are white, othersblack, some Giants, others Dwarfes ;
and in Apes, some have no taile, others have ; and in Sheepe,
some are bare, others have fleeces, some great and strong with a
long necke as those of Peru, others weake and little, having a
short necke, as those of Castile. But to speak directly who so
would preserve the propagation of beasts at the Indies, and re-
duce them to those of Europe, hee shall undertake a charge he
will hardly discharge with his honour."

Francesco Hernandez, a repi'esentative physician and man of
science, was sent by Philip II. of Spain to Mexico, with unlimited
facilities for exploration, and remained in that country' from 1593
to 1600. His notes and collections seem to have been very exten-
sive, and it is said that over 1,200 drawings of plants and ani-
mals were prepared under his direction. Editions of his works
were published in Mexico in 1604 and 161 5. I am assured by
Mexican naturalists that his work was careful and valuable, the
only defect being that he trusted too implicitly in what he was
told by the native Mexicans.

Among the animals not met with in previous writings are the
coyote (Aztec, Coyotl), the buffalo, the axolotl, the porcupine
{Hoitztlacuatzin) , the prong-buck (Afazame) , the horned lizard
(Taj)ayaxin), the bison, the peccary (Quapizotl), and the
Toucan.

Among those of which figures are for the first time published

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 40

are the ocelot ( Ocelot!) , the rattlesnake (Teuhtlacot zankqui),
the manatee (Manati), the alligator {Aquetzftalhi) . the arma-
dillo (Ayotoc/itli) . the pelican (Ayototl) .

The figures of plants are numerous, and in most instances, I
should judge, recognizable.

Many other Spaniards published their observations upon Amer-
ica in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but it is perhaps
not necessary to refer to them even by name. They were, as a
rule, travellers, not explorers. Purchas assures us that •• Acosta
and Oviedo have best deserved of the studious of Nature — that is,
of the knowledge of God in his workes."

III.

A personage who must on no account be overlooked in the con-
sideration of these early days is Garcilasso de la Vega. Born in
Peru in 1530, his father the Spanish governor of Cuzco, his
mother a princess of the Inca blood, he boasted of a lineage
traced through the line of ancient Peruvian monarchs back to
Manco Capac and the Sun. He served as a soldier in Europe
and died in Spain about the year 161 5. His " Royal Commen-
taries of Peru," constitutes a magnificent contribution to the
history of pre-Columbian America, and was said by some au-
thorities to have been first written in the Peruvian language.*

Be this as it may, De la Vega's commentaries, though more
valuable to the civil than to the natural historian, will always
possess a peculiar interest, not only because the author was the
first native of America who wrote concerning its animals and
plants, but for the reason that it represents to us the historic and
scientific lore of the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent.

* A Paris edition of 1633 had the following title : Commentaire Royal ou
I'Histoire des Yncas, Roys de Peru, &c. Ensemble une description par-
ticuliere des Animaux, des Fruits, des Mineraux, des Plantes, &c. , Ecrite
en langue Peruvienne et traduit sur la version Espagnole, par Baudouin,
Paris, 1633. Amsterdam, 1704 and 1715. See Artedi, Bibliotheca Ichthy-
ologies, 1788, p. 65.

50 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

De la Vega describes in an intelligible manner the condor
( Cuntur) of South America, of which, as he tells us, there was
a famous Indian painting in the temple at Cacha, the mountain
cats or ocelots (Inca Ozcollo, Aztec Ocelot/), the puma, the
viscacha, the tapir, and the three-toed ostrich. He was one of
the first to notice the skunk {Mephitis, sp.). " which the Indians
call Annas, the Spanish Zorinnas" "It is well," he remarks,
" that these creatures are not in great numbers, for if they were,
they were able to poison and stench up a whole Countrey." He
devotes a chapter to " the tame cattel which God hath given to
the Indians of Peru " — the llama and the huanaco — and speaks
also of the paco and the vicuna, clearly distinguishing and de-
scribing the appearance and habits of the four species of Tylop-
oda which occur on the west coast of South America, although
European naturalists a century later knew but two of them. He
describes the annual vicuna hunts which were conducted by the
Inca kings in person, assisted by twenty or thirty thousand In-
dians.

The fauna of Peru, as catalogued by him, included nearly fifty
species, and-the minuteness of his observations and the accuracy
of his descriptions are very surprising. He discusses at length
the plants of Peru, especially the maguey, the pineapple, the to-
bacco, and " the pretious leaf called Cuca" whose virtues phar-
macologists now hold in such high esteem, and devotes chapters
to ' k The Emeralds, Turquoises and Pearls of that Countrey;" to
gold and silver, and to quicksilver.

De la Vega refers to a certain place in the city of Cuzco, where
lions and other fierce creatures were kept in captivity. The taste
for menageries and gardens seems to have been less pronounced
in Peru, however, than in Mexico.

Much has been written concerning the wonderful collections of
animals and plants which the Spanish conquestadors found in
Montezuma's capital city. Carus, in his " Geschichte der Zool-
ogie " declares that at the time of the discovery of Mexico, Europe

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 51

had no menageries and botanical gardens which could be com-
pared with those of Chapoltepec and Huaxtepec, a statement
which is quite within the bounds of truth, for the earliest botani-
cal garden in the old world was that founded at Pisa in 1543. '"
Our fellow-member, Dr. Charles Rau, has also described the
zoological gardens of Mexico in glowing terms, f and Prof. E. B.
Tylor states that in the palace gardens of Mexico all kinds of
birds and beasts were kept in well appointed zoological gardens
where there were homes even for alligators and snakes, and de-
clares that this testifies to a cultivation of natural history which
was really beyond the European level of the time.

Is it not to be regretted that the capital of the United States in
1885 is still unprovided with a means of public instruction which
was to be found in the capital of Mexico four hundred years ago ?

I have examined the historians of Mexico with care and must
express my conviction that the truth is more nearly touched in
the bluff, soldier-like narrative of Cortez himself, than in the
flowery and redundant paraphrases of Prescott. We may proba-
bly safely accept the storv as told by Bernal Diaz del Castillo,
one of the companions of Cortez, to whom Torquemada. Robert-
son, Lockhart, Rau and others give high praise as a truthful nar-

1

rator.

Diaz presents a most vivid word-painting of the city of Mexico,
and was particularly impressed by the royal aviaries :

" We saw here every kind of eagle, from the king's eagle j to
the smallest kind included, and every species of bird from the
largest known to the little colibris§ in their full splendor of plum-
age. Here also were to be seen those birds from which the Mex-
icans take the green colored feathers of which they manufacture
their beautiful feathered stuffs ; these last- mentioned birds very

* Whewell : History of the Inductive Sciences, iii, p. 325.
t Carl Rau: Thiergarten. <^ New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, April 26,
1863.
\ The golden eagle, sa}'S Aguilera.
§ Humming-birds.

52 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

much resemble our Spanish jays and are called by the Indians
q/icza/es.*

" The species of sparrows f were very curious, having five dis-
tinct colors in their plumage — green, red, white, yellow, blue.

" There were such vast numbers of parrots and such a variety
of kinds that I cannot remember all their names ; and geese of
the richest plumage and other large birds.

" These were at stated periods stripped of their feathers, that
new ones might grow in their place. All these birds had appro-
priate places to breed in and were under the care of several In-
dians of both sexes, who had to keep their nests clean, give to
each kind its proper food, and set the birds for breeding."

In another place, near a temple were kept all manner of
beautiful animals, the names of which were not noted by Diaz,
nor their peculiarities described.

" In the building where human sacrifices were perpetrated
there were dens in which were kept poisonous serpents and
among them ' a species at the end of whose tail there was a kind
of rattle.' This last-mentioned serpent, which is the most dan-
gerous, was kept in a cabin in which a quantity of feathers had
been strewed : here it laid its eggs, and it was fed with the flesh
of dogs and of human beings which had been sacrificed.

* * * When all the tigers and lions \ roared together with
the howlings of the jackals § and foxes and hissing of the ser-
pents, it was quite fearful, and you could not suppose otherwise
than that you were in hell."

This is the first record of the rattlesnake, and brings to mind
the captive snakes of the Mokis, their annual snake dance, and
their use of feathers in the same connection. ||

I am not yet prepared to believe in the marvellous aquaria de-
scribed by Prescott, although fish ponds there doubtless were.

I am assured by our fellow member, Senor Aguilera, that the
locations of the gardens of Montezuma are well identified and
that the Mexican Indians still possess a marvellous knowledge of
the medicinal virtues of plants, which is handed down by tradition

* Trogons, known as quetzales by the Mexican Indians of to-day. Ex-
cellent examples of their pictorial use of trogon feathers may be seen in
the U. S. National Museum.

f Cyanosplza versicolor.

J Ocelots, jaguars, pumas, eyras, jaguarundis.

§The coyote (coyotl), Cain's la trans.

|| See Bourkf : The Snake Dance of the Moguls of Arizona, New York,
TSS4.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 53

from generation to generation. From this he infers that in the
days of Aztec glory, the knowledge of the uses of plants must
have been very comprehensive.

Who shall say that the spirit of true science did not inspire the
Inca Pachacutec, when many centuries ago he handed down to his
descendants maxims such as this :

Wk A herbalist who knows the names but is ignorant of the vir-
tues and qualities of herbs, or he who knows few but is ignorant
of most, is a mere quack and mountebank, and deserves not the
name and repute of a physician until he is skilful as well in the
noxious as in the salutiferous qualities of herbs."

Impressed with the extent of the knowledge of nature among
the aborigines of America, I asked one of the most learned
of our anthropologists for his opinion in regard to its character,
and received the following- statement :

&>

Washington, January 5, 1886.
My dear Mr. Goode :

We make a very grave mistake if we think there was no study
of nature before the science of natural history. In all branches
of study whatever there was lore before there was science. Be-
fore the 'weather bureau was weather lore, a kind of rough in-
duction which the ancient people made, and which was very far
from erroneous. Dr. Washington Matthews read a paper before
the Washington Philosophical Society more than a year ago* to
draw attention to the marvellous intimacy of the Navajo Indians
with the plant kingdom around them, and their vocabulary which
contained names for many species constructed so as to connote
qualities well known to them. You are familiar with the stories
concerning the respect in which certain animals are held by the
Eskimo, and the minute acquaintance of all our aborigines of
both continents with the life histories of many animals. The
Eskimo as well as the Indian tribes carve and depict forms so well
that the naturalist can frequently determine the species. Mr.
Lucien Turner collected carvings in ivory of foetal forms.

Very truly yours,

O. T. MASON.

Professor Mason also called attention to a long paper upon

* Washington Matthews : Natural Naturalists. < Bull. Phil. Soc.
Washington, vii, 1885, p. 73, (abs.)

54 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

" Tame Animals Among the Red Men of America," by Dr.
E. F. im Thurn,* in which it is stated that the Indian of South
America finds means to tame almost every wild bird and beast of
his country, so that these domesticated animals are ever among
the most prominent members of his household, not because of
any affection for them, but because he enjoys their bright colors,
makes use of them in various ways, and employs them as a me-
dium of exchange. They even know how to change the colors
of a living bird from green to yellow. In one settlement he
counted twenty-one kinds of monkeys. Nearly all of the thirty
or more species of Guiana parrots are tamed, two species of
deer, two of peccaries, two of coati-mundis, jaguars, pacas,
capybaras, agoutis, hawks, owls, herons, plovers, toucans, troup-
ials, rupicolas, and iguanas were also observed in captivity. The
mere fact that these animals are kept in captivity is not in itself
especially significant, but it renders it possible to understand how
the splendor-loving rulers of Mexico succeeded in building up
their great menageries.

Bearing in mind the animal myths which Major Powell has
found so prevalent among the Indians of Arizona and New Mexico,
and has so charmingly translated, and those which Schoolcraft
and others recorded in the north long ago, and which Longfellow
has arranged in metric form, we cannot but be impressed with
the idea that the red man of old, living close to nature as he did,
knew many of her secrets which we should be glad to share with
him at the present day.

Garcilasso de la Vega was not the only descendant of the aborig-
inal Americans who has written upon their history. Among the
authors of works upon Mexican archaeology published in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were Taddeo de Niza and
Gabriel d'Ayala, " noble Indians " of Tlazcala and Tezcuco, the

*Timehri, being the Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial
Society of British Guiana. Demerara, vol. i, 1S82, pp. 25-43.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 55

three named Ixtlilxochitl, and ten or twelve more. Gongora, a
native Mexican, professor of mathematics in the University of
Mexico, was one of the earliest American astronomers, the author
of the " Mexican Cyclography," printed two centuries ago.
Herrera, Martinez, Garcia, Torquemada, Castillejo, De Betan-
court, De Solis, Del Pulgar, and Beneducci have done what they
could to preserve a portion of this ancient American lore, and it
seems almost incredible that, some time in the future when Amer-
ican archaeology shall have gained a firmer footing, some of the
treasures of fact which these men garnered up are not to have an
important function in elucidating anthropological problems which
are as yet entirely unsolved.

IV.

The colony on Roanoke Island having been abandoned by
the English, twenty years elapsed before their next effort to-
ward peopling America. Then came the adventurers to James-
town in 1606, and with them that picturesque personage, Cap-
tain John Smith, who. though unversed in the mathematics and
astronomy which made up to a great extent the science of the day,
was a keen observer, and an enterprising explorer. His con-
tributions to geography were important, and his descriptions of
the animals and plants of Virginia and New England supplement
well those of his predecessor, Harriott.

Captain Smith was the first to describe the raccoon, the mus-
quash, and the flying squirrel :

" There is a beast they call Aroughcun (raccoon), much like a
badger, but useth to live on trees, as Squirrels doe. Their Squir-
rels some are neare as great as our smallest sort of wilde Rabbets,
some blackish, or blacke and white, but most are gfrav. A small
beast they have they call Assapanick* but we call them flying
Squirrels, because, spreading their legs, and so stretching the
largenesse of their skins that they have -been seene to flv 30 or 40
yards. An Opossum hath a head like a Swine, and a taile like a
Rat, and is of the bignesse of a Cat. Vnder her belly she hath
a bagge, wherein she lodgeth, carrieth, and suckleth her young. A

56 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Mussascus (musquash) is a beast of the forme and nature of our
water Rats, but many of them smell exceedingly strongly of
Muske."

And in the same strain he goes on to mention a score of mam-
mals, identifying them with those of Europe with surprising
accuracy.

His " Utchun quoyes, which is like a Wild Cat," is evidently
the bay lynx. With the birds he was less familiar, but he men-
tions a number which resemble those of Europe, and states that
many of them were unfamiliar. He was the first to refer to the
red-wing blackbird (Agelcvus fthoeniceus) .

He catalogues 25 kinds of fish and shell-fish, using the names
by which many of them are known to this day.

He gives also a very judicious account of the useful trees of
Virginia, referring, among novel things, to the Chechinquamin,
(chinkapin) , and another which no one can fail to recognize.

" Plums," he says, " are of three sorts. * * * That which
they call Putchamiits grow as high as a Palmeta; the fruit is
like a Medler ; it is first greene, then yellow, and red when it is
ripe ; if it be not ripe it will draw a man's mouth awry with much
torment."*

In his description of New England, Smith mentions twelve
species of mammals, including the " moos," now spoken of for
the first time,f 16 of birds, and 27 " fishes." His descriptions
of the abundance of fishes are often quoted. \

Smith's first work upon Virginia was printed in 161 2 and his
General History in 1624. In the interim, Raphe Hamor, the
younger, secretary of the Colony, issued his " True Discourse of
the Present Estate of Virginia," published in London in 161 5.§

* Gencrall Historic, 1624, p. 27.

t From the Indian word Moosoa. Slafter, in his notes on Champlain's
Voyages, i, p. 265, supposes the Orignac referred to by this explorer in
his De Sauvages, etc., Paris, 1607, to have been the Moose, and his Cerf
to have been the Caribou.

% Generall Historic, pp. 216-17.

§A copy of this rare work was sold in London. 1883, for 69 pounds. A

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 57

Hamor was not a naturalist, but his name is usually referred to
by zoological bibliographers, since he mentions by name over
sixty native animals. He was the first to describe the great flocks
of wild pigeons, of which he remarks : " In winter, beyond num-
ber or imagination, myselfe hath seene three or foure houres to-
gether flockes in the aire so thicke that even they have shadowed
the skie from us."* He gives an amusing description of the
•• opossume," and also speaks of the introduction and successful
acclimation of the Chinese silk-worm.

In 1620, the Plymouth Colony was planted, and its members
also began to record their impressions of the birds and the beasts
and the plants which they found, for the instruction of their kins-
folk at home.

Bradford and Winslow's Journal, printed in London in 1622,
contains various passing allusions to the animals and plants ob-
served by the Pilgrims, as does also Bradford's History, which,
however, was not printed until long after its completion. They
added nothing, however, to what had already been said by Smith.

Edward Winslow's " News from New England," printed in
London in 1624, contains one of the earliest descriptions of the
Indians of the Northeast.

William Wood's " New England's Prospect," which was is-
sued in London in 1634, anc * Morton's " New English Canaan,"
printed three years later in Amsterdam, were the first formal
treatises upon New England and its animals and plants. The
two authors were very unlike, and their books even more so — yet
complementing each other very satisfactorily. Morton was the
best educated man, brightest, and most observant ; Wood, the
most conscientious and the most laborious in recording minute
details.

" Thomas Morton, of Clifford's Inn. Gent.," was by no means

reprint was issued by Joel Munsell at Albany in i860, but this privately
printed edition consisted of only 200 copies and it is already scarce.
*P. 21.

58 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

a representative man in the Puritan community in which he
lived. His habits were those of an English man of fashion, and
his Rabelaisian humor, when directed against his fellow-colonists
and their institutions, was no recommendation to their favor. We
cannot wonder that he was hunted from settlement to settlement
and even cast into prison, to endure, without bedding or fire, the
rigor of a New England winter.

As a naturalist, Morton appears to have been the most accurate
of the two of this time. In those parts of his book which de-
scribe animals and plants he manifests a definite scientific purpose.
He discriminates between species, and frequently points out
characters by which American and European forms may be dis-
tinguished. He was the first to banish the lion from the catalogue
of the mammals of eastern North America. Even Wood, though
he admitted that he could not say that he ever saw one with his
own eye, evidently believed that lions inhabited the woods of Mas-
sachusetts. Morton was a skeptic because, as he said, "it is con-
trarv to the Nature of the beast to frequent places accustomed to
snow ; being like the Catt, that will hazard the burning of her tayle,
rather than abide from the fire." His brief biographies, especially
those of mammals, indicate that he was an observer of no slight
acuteness.

Twenty species of mammals, thirty-two of birds, twenty of
fishes, eight of marine invertebrates, and twenty-seven of plants
are mentioned, usually in such definite terms that they may readily
be identified.

A thorough pagan himself, he seems to have commanded the
confidence of the Indians more than others, to have lived in their
society, and learned to comprehend the meaning of their customs.
His first book, " The Originall of the Natives, their manners and
customs," seems to have been the careful record of rather critical
observations.

Wood's book is no less deserving of praise. The climate and
the soil are judiciously discussed, and the herbs, fruits, woods,

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 59

waters, and minerals, then " the beasts that live on land," " beasts
living in the water," " birds and fowls both of land and water,"
and fish, after which follows a topographical description of the
colony. His catalogues of species are in verse, and his adjectives
are so descriptive and pictorial that his subsequent remarks in
prose are often superfluous. I quote his catalogue of the trees of
New England, an imitation in manner and metre of Spenser's
famous catalogue in The Faerie Queene :

Trees both in hills and plaines in plenty be

The long liv'd Oake, and mourneful Cypris tree

Skie towring pines, and Chestnuts coated rough,

The lasting Cedar and the Walnut tough ;

The rozin dropping Firre for masts in use.

The boatmen seeke for Oares light neeate growne sprewse,

The brittle Ash, the ever trembling Aspes,

The broad-spread Elme, whose concave harbours waspes

The water-springie Alder, good for nought

Small Elderes by the Indian Fletchers sought

The knottie Maple, pallid Birtch, Hawthornes,

The Home bound tree that to be cloven scornes ;

Which from the tender Vine oft takes his spouse,

Who twinds embracing armes about his boughes.

Within this Indian Orchard fruites be some

The ruddie Cherrie, and the jettie Plumbe

Snake murthering Hazell, with sweet Saxaphrage

Whose steemes in beere allays hot fever's rage.

The Diar's Shumach, with more trees there be

That are both good to use and rare to see.

& v

Thus he describes the " Animals of New England :"

The Kingly Lyon and the strong arm'd Beare

The large limbed Mooses, with the tripping Deare.

Quill darting Porcupines, and Rackcoones bee

Castelld in the hollow of an aged Tree

The skipping Squirrel, Rabbet, purblinde Hare

Immured in the selfe same Castle are

Least red-eyed Ferrets, wily Foxes should

Them undermine if ramperd but with mould.

The grim fac't Ounce, and ravenous howling Woolfe

Whose meagre Paunch suckes like a swallowing Gulfe,

Black glistening Otters and rich coated Beaver

The Civet scented Musquash, smelling ever.

His subsequent remarks upon the mammals are expanded from
his rhyme, and extended by tales which he has heard from hunt-
ers. One of the animals whose name would not lend itself to

GO BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

poesy is the " squuncke," which he classified among the " beasts
of offence." This seems to be the first use of the name.

In the second part of Wood's book the Indians are discussed,
and a very creditable vocabulary is given.

Most admirable work was now being done among the Indians
by some of the colonial clergymen. Chief among them was the
Rev. John Eliot, [b. 1604, d. 1690]. who, during a residence of
more than half a century at Roxbury, mastered the language of
the Massachusetts branch of the great Algonquin tribe, and pub-
lished his grammars and translations. He was a graduate of Jesus
College, Cambridge, and came to Massachusetts in 163 1. The
Rev. Abraham Peirson, one of the founders of the colony at
Newark, during his residence in New England made valuable
investigations upon the language of the Quiripi or Quinnipiac
Indians of the New Haven Colony. The extensive bibliography
of which Mr. Pilling has recently published advance sheets gives
an excellent idea of the attention which American linguistics have
since received.

That very eminent colonial statesman, John Winthrop, the
younger, the first Governor of Connecticut, [b. 15S7, d. 1649],
stood high in the esteem of English men of science, and was in-
vited by the newly founded Royal Society, of which he was a
fellow, " to take upon himself the charge of being the chief cor-
respondent in the West, as Sir Philiberto Vernatti was in the
East Indies." The Secretary of the Royal Society said of him :
" His name, had he put it to his writings, would have been as
universally known as the Boyles, the Wilkins's, and the Olden-
burghs, and been handed down to us with similar applause." *

Governor Winthrop's name occurs from time to time in the
Philosophical Transactions, and it was to him that science was
indebted for its first knowledge of the genus Astrophyton.

John Winthrop, F. R. S., [b. 1606, d. 1676], son of the last,

'"Dr. Cromwell Mortimer in the Dedication of vol. xl, Philosophical
Transactions.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 61

and also Governor of Connecticut in 1662. is said to have been
" famous for his philosophical knowledge." He was a founder
of the Royal Society, being at the time of its origin in England
as agent of the colony. And the second Governor's grandson,
John Winthrop, F. R. S., [b. 1681, d. 1747), who passed the
latter part of his life in England, was declared to have increased
the Royal Society's repository " with more than six hundred
curious specimens, chiefly in the mineral kingdom," and since
the founder of the museum of the Royal Society, " the benefac-
tor who has given the most numerous collections."*

The Rev. John Clayton, rector of Crofton, at Wakefield, in
Yorkshire, made a journey to Virginia in 16S5, and in 16S8 com-
municated to the Royal Society •• An account of several observ-
ables in Virginia and in his voyage thither. "f Clayton seems to
have been a man of scientific culture, and to have been the author,
in company with Dr. Moulin, of a treatise upon Comparative
Anatomy. He was of the same school with Harriott and Wood,
though more philosophical. His essay was, however, the most
important which had yet been published upon the natural history
of the South, and his annotated catalogue of mammals, birds and
reptiles is creditably full.

Thomas Glover also published about this time " An Account of
Virginia,"! in which he discussed the natural history of the colony
after the manner of Wood and Morton. The Rev. Hugh Jones
also published a similar but shorter paper upon " Several Ob-
servables in Maryland," § in which, however, no new facts are
mentioned. He collected insects and plants for Petiver.

Benjamin Bullivant, of Boston, was another of the men who,
to use the language of the day, was " curious" in matters of nat-

* Tuckerman, op. cit., pp. 123-4. See also The Winthrop Papers.
<Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., Fifth Series, vol. viii.

t Phil. Trans, xvii, pp. 781-795, 978-999; xviii. pp. 121-135, and in Mis-
cellanea Cufiosa, vol. iii; also reprinted in Force's Historical Tracts,
vol. iii.

J Phil. Trans., ix, p. 633.

§ Phil. Trans., xxi, p. 436.

62 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

ural history. One of his letters was published in the Philosophical
Transactions,* and his notes on the "hum-bird" are sometimes
referred to.

Bullivant was not a naturalist ; he is less worthy of our con-
sideration than Harriott, although a century later. A fit com-
panion for Bullivant was John Josselyn.

Josselyn's famous work entitled kt New England's Rarities Dis-
covered in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of that
Country," was printed in London in 1672 ; his " Account
of two voyages to New England " in 167^, ( kt Second Addition" ) .
No writer of his period is more frequently quoted than Josselyn,
whose quaint language and picturesque style are very attractive.
Although no more in sympathy with his Puritan associations than
the author of l,t New England's Prospect," he was evidently more
justly entitled to subscribe himself as k ' Gentleman," and his books
are not disfigured by personalities and political aspersions.

Josselyn does not seem to me to be the peer, as a naturalist, of
many of those who precede'd him. He was a bright, though su-
perficial man, and a ready compiler. He evidently had some
botanical work in his possession, possibly as Tuckerman has sug-
gested, a recently published edition of Gerard's " Herbal," and
this he used with such skill as to give him a certain standing in
botanical literature. In his zoological chapters I find little which
had not been recorded before, while the author's fondness for
startling anecdotes greatly mars the semblance of accuracy in his
work. His catalogue of fishes is a strange olla-podrida of names
and scraps of information, compiled, collected and invented.
His method of arrangement is not more scientific than his spirit,
and it is questionable whether he is entitled to a place among
naturalists.

Here is an example of his style :

" The Basse," writes he, " is a salt-water fish too ; one writes

*Phil. Trans., xx, p. 168.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 63

that the fat in the hone of a Basses head is his braines, which is
a lye."

To this period belongs, also, Lawson, the author of a " History
of North Carolina " and " A New Voyage to North Carolina."
made in 1700 and the following years, while acting as surveyor
general of the colony. Lawson was burnt at the stake in 1709 by
the Indians, who resented his encroachments upon their territory.
His lists of the animals and plants of the region are very full and
his observations accurate. Coues's " Lawsonian period" in the
history of American ornithology is hardly justifiable. Law sou
belonged to the school of Harriott and the first Clayton.

Edward Bohun and Job Lord, of Carolina, appear to have
been interested in natural history at this time and to have been
collecting specimens for Petiver in London, while William Vernon
was engaged in similar occupations in Maryland.

In those early days all Europe was anxious to hear of the
wonders of America, and still more eager to see the strange
objects which explorers might be able to preserve and bring
back with them. Public museums were as yet unknown, but
the reigning princes sought eagerly to secure novelties in the
shape of animals and plants.

Columbus was charged by Queen ■ Isabella to collect birds,
and it is recorded that he took back to Spain various skins
of beasts. Even to this day may be seen, in Siena, hanging
over the walls of the old collegiate church, a votive offering,
placed there nearly four centuries ago by the discoverer of
America, then in the prime of his glory. It consists of the
helmet and armor worn by him when he first stepped upon
the soil of the New World, and the rostrum of a swordfish
killed on the American coast.

The State papers of Great Britain contain many entries of
interest to naturalists. King James I. was an enthusiastic
collector. December 15, 1609, Lord Southampton wrote to

04 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Lord Salisbury that he had told the King- of the Virginia
squirrels brought into England, which were said to flv. The
King very earnestly asked if none were provided for him —
whether Salisbury had none for him — and said he was sure
Salisbury would get him one. The writer apologizes for
troubling Lord Salisbury, "but," he continues, "you know
so well how he (the King) is affected to such toys."

Charles I. appears to have been equally curious in such mat-
ters. In 1637 he sent John Tradescant, the younger, to Vir-
ginia " to gather all rarities of flowers, plants, and shells."

In 1625 we find Tradescant writing to one Nicholas that it
is the Duke of Buckingham's pleasure that he should deal with
all merchants from all places, but especially from Virginia,
Bermudas, Newfoundland, Guinea, the Amazons, and the East
Indies for all manner of rare beasts, fowls and birds, shells and
shining stones, et cetera.*

In the Domestic Correspondence of Charles I. in another
place. t July, 1625, is a " Note of things desired from Guinea,
for which letters arc to be written to the merchants of the
Guinea company.'' Among other items referred to are " an
elephant's head, with the teeth very large; a river-horse's head;
strange sorts of fowls : birds' and fishes' skins ; great flying and
sucking fishes ; all sorts of serpents ; dried fruits, shining stones,
etc." Still further on is a note of one Jeremy Blackmail's
charge — in all, £20 — for transporting four deer from Virginia,
including corn and a place made of wood for them to lie in. J

Not only did the kings make collections, but the keepers of
public houses made museums then, as they do now, for the pleas-
ure of their patrons.

At the middle of the last century there appear to have been
several collections of curiosities.

* Calendar of Colonial Papers, 1625, p. 75.

fVol. iv, Nos. 155-6. Cal., p. 77.

% Calendar of Colonial Papers-, p. 285.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 65

In Artedi's ichthyological works there are numerous references
to places where he had seen American fishes, especially at Spring-
garden,* and at " the Naggshead," and the "White-bear," and the
Green Dragon in Stepney, in those days a famous hostelry in
London. He speaks also of collections at the houses of Mr.
Lillia and Master Saltero's f in Chelsey and at Stratford, and
also in the collection of Seba, in Amsterdam, and in that of Hans
Sloane.

With the exception of " the monk or Angel-jish, Anglis, aliis
Mermaid-fish" probably a species of Squatlna^ which he saw at
the Nag's Head, all the fishes in these London collections be-
longed to the order Plectognathi.

Josselyn, after telling us how a Piscataway colonist had the for-
tune to kill a Pilhannaw — the king of the birds of prey — continues,
" How he disposed of her I know not, but had he taken her
alive and sent her over into England, neither Bartholomew or
Sturbridge Fair could have produced such another sight." %

Shakespeare's mirror strongly reflects the spirit of the day.
When Trinculo, cast ashore upon a lonesome island, catches a
glimpse of Caliban he exclaims :

"What have we here? A man or a fish? Dead or alive?
A fish : he smells like a fish ; a very ancient and fish-like smell.
* * * A strange fish ! Were I in England now, as once I
was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but
would give a piece of silver ; there would this monster make a
man ; any strange beast there makes a man ; when they will not
give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a
dead Indian. "§

The compilers of the great encyclopasdia-like works on natural
history were quick to pick up the names and descriptions of the
American animals which had found their way to Europe, and

* Later known as Vauxhall Gardens, a famous place of resort.
fThe barber-virtuoso, described in Bulwer's " Devereux."
J Josselyn : Two Voyages to New England (163S-1673).
§^4 Winter's Tale.

(!(> BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

many such are mentioned in the writings of Gesner, Clusius and
Aldrovandus, Lister. Laet and Willughby.*

Creatures of remarkable appearance, which could be preserved
with ease were the first to become known. Among fishes, tor
instance, those with a hard, inflexible integument, such as the
trunk-fishes. Every species of the family Ostraciontid.ee was

known in Europe as early as 1685 : most of them probably a
century before. We know that Columbus caught a trunk-fish and
described it in his " Voyages."

Professor Tuckerman has traced in a most instructive manner
the beginnings of European acquaintance with American plants.
finding traces of the knowledge of a few at a very early period :

•• Dalechamp, Clusius. Lobel, and Alpinus — all authors of the
sixteenth century — must be cited occasionally in any complete
svnonomv of our Flora. The Indian corn, the side-saddle
flower (Sarracenia purpurea and S./fava), the columbine.
the common milk-weed {Asclepias coruufi), the everlasting
(Antennaria margaritacea) and the Arbor vitce, were known
to the just mentioned botanists before 1600. Sarracenia Jlava
was sent, either from Virginia, or possibly from some Spanish
monk in Florida. Clusius's figure of our well-known northern
S. purpurea was derived from a specimen furnished to him by
one Mr. Claude Gonier, apothecary at Paris, who himself had it
from Lisbon, whither we may suppose it was carried by some
fisherman from the Newfoundland coast. The evening primrose,
Oenothera biennis, was known in Europe, according to Lin-
naais. as early as 1614. Polygonum sagittatum and ara folium
(tear thumb) were figured by DeLaet, probably from New York
specimens, in his Novus Ordis, 1633. Johnson's edition of
Gerard's " Herbal." 1636, contains some dozen North American
species, furnished often from the garden ot' Mr. John Tradescant
and John Parkinson, whose " Theatrum Botamcum" (1640) is
declared by Tournefort to embrace a larger number of species than
any work which had gone before. It describes a still larger
number. f

* In Xehemiah Grew's " Catalogue and description ot" the natural and
artificial Rarities, belonging to the Royal Society and preserved at Gresham
College, Whereunto is subjoined the comparative Anatomy of Stomachs
and Guts," London, 16S1, are descriptions and figures of many American
animals.

t Archceologia Americu/iu, iv. pp. 1 16-1 17.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 67

All the early voyagers were striving for the discovery of a
western passage to India, and the West Indies, so-called, were
considered simply a stage on the journey towards the East
Indies. It is not strange, therefore, that writers should often
have failed to distinguish the faunal relations of the animals
which they described. Many curious paradoxes in nomenclature
have thus arisen — Cassis uiadagascarieiisis* for instance; a very
misleading name for a common West Indian mollusk.

V.

The seventeenth centurv bears upon its roll the names of many
explorers besides those of English origin who have already been
named. Within fiftv years of the time of Harriott and of the
planting of the colonv at Roanoke, the number and extent of the
European settlements in America had become very considerable.
Virginia and the New England plantations were growing popu-
lous and Maryland was fairly established. Insular colonies were
thriving at Newfoundland and Bermuda and on Barbados, and
elsewhere in the West Indies.

Xew Spain and Florida marked the northern limits of the do-
main of the Spaniards, who had already overrun almost all of
South America.

Xew France bounded Xew England on the north, and the
French were pushing their military posts and missionary stations
down into the Mississippi valley.

The Dutch were established on Manhattan Island and else-
where in the surrounding country, and the Dutch West India
Company had already a foothold in Brazil and Guiana. A colony
of Scandinavians had been planted by the Swedish West India
Company near the present site of Philadelphia, and the forsaken
Danish colonies of Greenland were soon to be re-established. The
Portuguese had flourishing settlements in Brazil, for the possession
of which they were contending with the Dutch.

Every European nation was represented in the great struggle

68 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

for territory save Italy and Germany, Switzerland and Russia ;
but the Italians and Germans, the Swiss and the Russians were
to hold their own in the more generous emulation of scientific
exploration which was to follow.

During the 17th and 18th centuries numerous explorations were
made both in North and South America by Spanish, French,
Dutch, German, and Scandinavian explorers. Although these
men have been studied in the preparation of this address, I do
not intend to speak of them at any length, but to confine my
attention in the main to the growth of scientific opinions and
institutions in the English colonies.

The number of volumes of reports and narratives, often sump-
tuously printed and expensively illustrated, which were published
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, impresses upon
one most powerfully the idea of the earnestness, diligence, and
intelligence of their writers.

The Spaniards. — Even as early as the beginning of the century,
Spanish influence was less prominent in the affairs of the New
World ; in no respect more strikingly so than in explorations.
The political supremacy of Spain was gone, her intellectual ac-
tivity was waning, and the mighty storm of energy, by which her
domain in America had been so suddenly and widely established,
seemed to have completely exhausted the energy of her people,
depleted as it had been by wars without and religious persecution
within.

From this time forward the record of Spanish achievements in
the fields of science and discovery is very meagre. Between the
day of Hernandez and that of Azara and Mutis, who explored
South America in the latter part of the eighteenth century, I find
but two names worthy of mention, and these seem properly to be-
long with the naturalists who lived a hundred years before them.
I refer to Jose Gumilla who published, in 1741, a work on the
natural history of the Orinoco Region, and Miguel Venegas,
whose " Noticia de la California" appeared in 1757.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. fi9

The French. — One of the first French explorers who left a
record of his observations was Samuel de Champlain, who made
a voyage to the West Indies and Mexico, 1599-1602, and began
his travels in New France in 1603. He was the founder of Quebec,
where he died in 1635, and his geographical explorations and
maps are of great value. His observations upon the animals and
plants are disappointing. He describes the gar-pike and the
king-crab, already described and figured by Harriott many years
before, and refers in unmistakable terms to the shearwater, the
caribou, the wild turkey, and the scarlet tanager. His lists of
animals which occur now and again in the course of his narrative
are too vague to be of value.*

Much higher in the esteem of naturalists was Gabriel Sagard
Theodat, a Franciscan friar, whose " Grand Voyage Du Pays
Des Hurons," printed in 1632, was the most scholarly work upon
America which had yet appeared, and whose History of Canada
and of the journeys made by the Franciscans for the conversion
of the infidels also contains most valuable records.

The first work on the plants of North America was that of
Cornuti — " Canadensium Plantarum, aliarumque nondum edita-
rum Historia " — printed in Paris in 1635, which described thirty-
seven species, thirty-six of these being illustrated by elaborate
engravings upon copper. The botanical part of this treatise is
usually ascribed to Vespasian Robin, and Tuckerman supposes
that the local notes, as well as the specimens described, were
probably the result of the labors of the worthy Franciscan mis-
sionary, Sagard. f

A few years later, Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix,
[b. 1682, d. 1761], a Jesuit priest, having by royal command
travelled through the northern part of North America, published
his " Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France,"

♦Publications of Prince Society, Boston, 1878. Haklujt Society, vol.
xxiv, 1850.

f Archceologia Americana, iv, p. ng.

70 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Paris, 1744, which was full of important biological and ethno-
logical observations, the accuracy of which is not questioned.

He subsequently travelled in South America, and published in
1760, a work full of statements concerning the animals, plants,
and fruits of that country, and also particularly interesting from
the account which it gives of the singular Jesuit establishment
in Paraguay.

Other French missionaries, Brebceuf, Du Poisson, Jaques, Jo-
liet, La Chaise, Lallemand, Marquette, Senat, and Souel fol-
lowed Charlevoix in the exploration of these regions. Their
works contain many valuable notes upon animals and plants.

Jean Baptiste du Tertre, in his " Histoire Generale des An-
tilles, habitees par les Francois," published in Paris in 1654.
[ed. 1654-1667], described and illustrated many of the New
World animals.

In 1672 Nicolas Denyse published in Paris two comprehensive
works upon America, viz : " Histoire Naturelle des Peuples, des
Animaux, des Arbres et des Plantes de l'Amerique,"* and "De-
scription Geographique des costes de l'Amerique Septentrionale,
avec PHistoire Naturelle du Pays."j

F. Froger, a companion of De Gennes in his voyage made in
1695-97 to the coast of Africa, the Straits of Magellan, Brazil,
Cayenne and the Antilles, published a report in 16984 The book
has been overlooked by recent bibliographers, but, judging from
Artedi's remarks upon its ichthyological portion, it was fully
equal to similar works of its day.

Baron de la Hontan, Lord Lieutenant of the French Colony at
Placentia, printed at the Hague in 1703 his "Voyages dans
l'Amerique," which is sometimes referred to by zoologists.

Louis Feuillee, who travelled by royal commission from 1707-12
in Central and South America, published four volumes of physical
mathematics and botanical observations, 1714-25, in Paris.

* Paris, 1672, 8°. f 1672, 12 , 2 vol.

t Paris, 1698; Amsterdam, 1699; Loudon (translation), 1698.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 71

The Pere Jean Baptiste Labat, visited the West Indies as a
missionary early in the eighteenth century, and " Nouveau Voy-
age aux Isles de l'Amerique," printed in Paris. 1722, is very full
of interesting and copious details of natural history.

The Pere Laval, visited Louisiana, and published in Paris,
1738, his " Voyage de la Louisiane."

M. LePage DuPratz followed, in 1758, with his " Histoire de
la Louisiane,"* full of geographical, biological, and anthropolog-
ical observations upon the lower valley of the Mississippi, and
Captain Bossu, of the French Marines, also published a book
upon the same region, f translated into English in 1771 by John
Rembold Forster, whose notes gave to the work its only value.
These men are all catalogued with the seventeenth century nat-
uralists because they were of the old school of general observers
and only indirectly contributed to the progress of systematic
zoologv.

Charles Plunder [b. 1646, d. 1704] was sent thrice by the King
of France to the Antilles during the latter years of the seven-
teenth century. He published three magnificently illustrated
works upon the plants of America, \ and left an extensive collec-
tion of notes and drawings of animals and plants, many of which
have proved of value to* naturalists of recent years. His colored
drawings of fishes were of great service to Cuvier in the prepara-
tion of his great work upon ichthyology, and in some instances
species were founded upon them.

The Dutch. — There were few lovers of nature among the col-
onists of Manhattan, and with the exception of certain names
which have clung to well-known animals, such as the mossbunker
and weakfish, naturalists have little to remind them of the days
of Van Twiller and Stuyvesant. Van Der Donck, in 1659, de-

* Paris, 1758.

f Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes Occidentales, etc., Paris: 1768.
% 1693. Nova Plantarum Amcricanartim Genera, 1703. Traite de Fou-
geres d'Amerique, 1705.

72 , BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

scribed the fauna, and Jakob Steendam's poem, " In Praise of
the Netherlands," catalogued many of the animals.

The achievements of Prince Maurice of Nassau, [b. 1604, d.
1679], the conqueror of Brazil, during his residence in that
countiy from 1636 to 1644, were far more important than those
of any one man in the seventeenth century, and entitled the
Netherlands to a leading place in the early history of American
scientific explorations. The notes and figures which were col-
lected by him and his scientific assistants, Marcgrave, Piso, and
Cralitz, were published in part under the editorship of Golius,
and Laet, and have been frequently used by naturalists of the
present century. An atlas of colored drawings from the hand of
Prince Maurice is still preserved in the Royal Library in Berlin.
Here are depicted 34 species of mammals, 100 of birds, 55 of
reptiles, 69 of fishes, and 77 of insects, besides many of plants.

Marcgrave's " Historia Rerum Naturalium Brasilia? " was
printed in Amsterdam in 1648, four years after his untimely death
while exploring the coast of Guinea.

Piso's u Medicina Braziliensis," 1648, and his Natural History
and Medicine of both Indies, 16^8, were also results of Prince
Maurice's expedition.

Among other contributions made by the Netherlands to the nat-
ural history of America were the " Relation du Voyage de Isle
Tobago," Paris, 1606, and the kt Histoire Naturelle et Morale
des Isles Antilles," Rotterdam, 1658,* written by N. Roche-
fort, a Protestant missionary to the West Indies, and Jan
Nieuhof's il See und Landreize benessens een bondege Besch-
reyving von gantsch Nederland Brazil so van Landschappen
Steden, Deren Gewafien," &c, printed in 1682.

Jan Jacob Hartsinck, a Dutch traveller in Guiana, printed a
book of scientific travels at Amsterdam in ijjo.

Philippe Fermin, a Dutch naturalist, resident for many years

♦Firstedition without name of author; others, Paris, 1665 ; Lyons, 1667;
Amsterdam, 171 6.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 73

in Surinam, published in Amsterdam two important works upon
the natural history of that region, in 1 76^ his " Histoire Natu-
relle de la Hollande Equinoxiale," and in 1769 his " Descrip-
tion de Surinam." I refer to these works as important, not
because they are of great value to zoological writers of to-
day, but because they, in their day, marked distinct advances
in knowledge.

The Scandinavians. — Danish enterprise at an early day sent
explorers to the western continent, and the scholarly tendencies of
the Scandinavian mind were soon manifest in a literature of sreo-
graphical and scientific observations.

Hans Egede, a missionary who went to Greenland at least as
early as i7 I 5' published in 174 1 bis comprehensive work upon
Greenland, of which so many editions have been published.

Otho Fabricius, [b. 1744, d. 1822], another missionary, long
resident in Greenland, published in 17S0 his " Fauna Groen-
landica," a work which in scientific accuracy has never been
excelled — a most important contribution to systematic zool-
ogy. David Crantz's tw History of Greenland," published in
i77°5 i s another important scientific work from the hand of
a missionary, and Zorgdrager's notices of the Greenland fish-
eries deserve a passing notice.

The travels of Kalm, a Swede and a pupil of Linnaeus, are
noticed elsewhere. Peter Loefling, another pupil of Linnaeus,
visited Spanish America, and in his " Iter Hispanicum,"
printed in Stockholm, 1758, described many animals and plants
observed by him.

Olaf Swartz, a Swede, discovered and described'S^o new spe-
cies of West Indian plants from 1785-89. He spent a year in the
southern United States before going to the West Indies.*

The Germans. — Germany, too, soon began to send its students
across the Atlantic. Johann Anderson, a Burgomaster of Ham-
burg, published in 1746 his " Tidings from Iceland, Greenland,

* Brendel.

74 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

and Davis Straits, for the benefit of Science and Commerce."
Plans Just Winkelmann published in Oldenburg in 1664 " Der
Amerikanischen neuen Welt Bescreibung." &c, with descrip-
tions and figures of animals and plants.

Christian Bullen. in 1667, made a voyage to Greenland and
Spitsbergen, an account of which, including interesting observa-
tions on whales and the whale fishery, was printed at Bremen in
1668.

Marcgrave. Krieg, the two Forsters, and Schoepf are referred
to elsewhere. Steller, Pallas and Chamisso are mentioned in
connection with Russian explorations.

Madame Maria Sibilla Merian, [b. 1647, d. 171 7], who was a
native of Frankfort, was an enthusiastic entomologist who trav-
elled in Surinam from 1699-1701. Her paintings of tropical in-
sects were reproduced in a magnificent folio volume, printed
170^-9, which was one of the wonders of her day, and which,
together with her other writings upon insects, have secured her a
prominent place in the early history of science.

VI.

The seventeenth century was not, upon the whole, a period fa-
vorable to the promotion of science, for all Europe was agitated
by war and political strife, and men had neither opportunity nor
inclination for intellectual pursuits. During its latter half, how-
ever, and with the return of peace and tranquillity, science grew
in favor as it had never done before. The restoration of the
Stuarts to the English throne was quickly followed by the estab-
lishment of the Royal Society. Louis XIV. made the period of
his accession memorable by founding the Royal Academy of
Sciences, and by building an observatory.

This was the period of intellectual activity which followed the
revival of letters in Europe. Carus, in his History of Zoology,
calls it the period of encyclopaedia-making, (Pcriode der en-
cykloftadische Darstellungen) , filling the interspace between

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 75

" The Zoology of the Middle Ages " and " the period of System-
atic Classification." Students of science had ceased to compile
endless commentaries on the works of Aristotle and had begun to
record their own observations and thoughts, to gather new facts
and materials, which were to serve as a basis for the systematic
work for their successors.

The greatest names of the day among naturalists were those of
Ray, Tournefort, Lister. Jonston, Goedart. Redi, Willughby,
Swammerdam, Sloane, Jung, and Morrison ; names not often
referred to at the present day, but worthy of our recollection
and veneration, for they were men of a new era — the pioneers
in systematic zoology and botany.

Among the earliest representatives of the new school in
North America were Banister, Clayton, Mitchell, and Garden.
John Banister, a clergyman of the Church of England, emi-
grated to Virginia before 166S, and in addition to his clerical
duties applied himself assiduously to the study of natural history.
He was a disciple and also, no doubt, a pupil of the great Eng-
lish naturalist, John Ray, who called him, in his Historia
Plantarum, " erudissimus vir et consummatissimus Botanicus,"
and corresponded also with Lister, and Compton, Bishop of Lon-
don. He was the first to observe intelligently the mollusks and
insects of North America. In a paper communicated to the
Royal Society in 1693 he refers to drawings of ten or twelve
kinds of land snails and six of fresh-water mussels. The draw-
ings were not published, nor were the notes, excejDt those in ref-
erence to the circulation of a species of snail.*

He sent to Petiver, in 1680, a collection of 52 species of
insects, his observations upon which, with notes by Petiver,
were a few years later communicated to the Royal Society. f

*Phil. Trans., xvii, 1693, pp. 671-672. See also Trans. Linnsean Soc,
vii, p. 227.

t Some Observations concerning Insects made by Mr. Johti Banister in
Virginia, A. D. /6S0, with Remarks on them by Mr. yames Petiver, &c.
Phil. Trans., xxii, 1701, pp. 807-814.

76 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Among them many familiar forms are recognizable — the mud-
wasp, seventeen -year locust, cimex, cock-roach, firefly, the
spring beetle (Elater), and the tobacco-moth. He appears to
have drawn and described several phases of the life history of
the ichneumon-fly. He had in his possession in 1686, and ex-
hihited to an English traveller, large bones and teeth of fossil
mammals from the interior of Virginia, the first of which we
have any record in North America.*

It was as a botanist, however, that he was best known. He
made drawings of the rarer species, and transmitted these with
his notes and dried specimens to Compton and Ray. Banister's
" Catalogus Plantarum in Virginia observatarum," printed in
i6S6,f was the first systematic paper upon natural history which
emanated from America. In one of his botanical excursions,
about the year 1692, he visited the falls of the Roanoke, and,
slipping among the rocks, was killed. %

Lawson, the historian of North CaiT>lina, writing at the begin-
ning of the next century, remarked : " Had not the ingenious Mr.
Banister (the greatest virtuoso we ever had on this continent)
been unfortunately taken out of this world, he would have given
the best account of the plants of America of any that ever yet
made such an attempt in these parts. "§ The memory of John
Banister is still cherished in Virginia, where his descendants are
numerous. ||

John Clayton was also an excellent representative of the new
school, and should not be confounded with the Rev. John Clayton
who visited America in 1685. John Clayton, the naturalist, as

* Perhaps the Megalo?iyx yeffersonii, subsequently discovered.

t In Ray"s Historia Plantarum.

% His papers and collections were sent to the Bishop of London. The
plants are said to have passed into the hands of Sloane, and to be still
preserved in the British Museum. It would be interesting to know what
has become of his manuscripts.

§ Lawson: History of North Carolina, Raleigh Ed., p. 134.

|| See The Bland Papers and Slaughter's History of Bristol Parish,
1st and 2d editions.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 77

he is styled in Virginian history, appears to have been born in
Fulham, a suburb of London, in 1686, and to have accompanied
his father, John Clayton, subsequently Attorney-General of Vir-
ginia, when he came to this country in 170V He was clerk ot
Gloucester County. Virginia, for fifty-one years, and died De-
cember 15, 1773. Li He passed a long life," says Thacher,
" in exploring and describing the plants of this country, and is
supposed to have enlarged the botanical catalogue as much as any
man who ever lived." He was a correspondent of Linnaeus,
Gronovius, and Collinson, and the latter wrote of him in 1764 as
" my friend John Clayton, the greatest botanist of America."

Clayton's " Flora Virginica," which was edited by Gronovius,
assisted by the young Linmeus, who was just entering upon his
career of success, and was then resident in Leyden, began to ap-
pear in 1739- subsequent portions being published in 1743 and
1762. It seems to be the opinion of botanists that Gronovius de-
serves less credit for his share in this work than has usually been
allowed him, and that Clayton's descriptions were those of a
thorough master of botanical science as then understood. He
communicated to the Royal Society various botanical papers, in-
cluding one upon the culture of the different kinds of tobacco.
At his death he left two volumes of manuscripts, and an herba-
rium, with marginal notes and references for the engraver who
should prepare the plates for his proposed work. These were in
the possession of his son when the revolutionary war commenced,
and were placed in the office of the clerk of New Kent county
for security from the invading enemy. The building was burned
down by incendiaries, and thus perished not only the records of
the countj but probably one of the most important works on
American botany written before the days of Gray and Torrey.

Jefferson declares that Clayton was a native Virginian, and
such is the confusion in the records that it is quite possible that
such may be the fact.*

*See Spotszvood Letters, i, pp. 1,8; ii, pp. 44, 58, 355.

78 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Still another pioneer was Dr. John Mitchell, born in England
about 1680 and settled, early in the last century, at Urbanna,
Virginia, where he remained nearly fifty years practising medi-
cine and promoting science. He appears to have been a man
of srenius and broad culture, and was one of the earliest chemists
and physicists in America. His political and botanical writings
were well received, and his map of North America is still an au-
thority in boundary matters. He was a correspondent of Lin-
naeus, and in 1740 sent Collinson a paper in which thirty new
genera of Virginia plants were proposed.* His Dissertation
upon the Elements of Botany and Zoology | was dated Vir-
ginia. 173S, and was thus almost contemporary with the first
edition of the Systema Natures- of Linnaeus, though it was not
printed until ten years after it was written. This was the first
work upon the principles of science ever written in America. In
1743 he communicated to the Royal Society an "Essay on the
Causes of the Different Colours of People in Different Climates," %
writing from the standpoint of an evolutionist. He also com-
municated an " Essay on the Properties and Uses of the Different
Kinds of Potash," § and a " Letter concerning the Force of
Electrical Cohesion." || His fame rests chiefly, however, upon
his investigations into the yellow fever epidemic of i737 — 4 3 '
published after his death. % In 1743 he appears to have been en-
gaged in physiological researches upon the opossum, which,
however, were never published. In 1746 Dr. Mitchell returned
to England, and upon the voyage was captured by French or
Spanish pmxtes, and his collections, and apparently his manu-
scripts, destroyed. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society,

♦Darlington, p. 21.

t Dissertatio brevis de Principiis Botanicorum et Zoologorum, deque
novo stabiliendo natures rcrum Systcmati congruo, cum Appendicc aliquot
gene rum plantarum recens conditorum et in Virginia observatum. Nurem-
burg, 1748.

J Phil. Trans., xliii, 1744. || Phil. Trans., 1.

§ Phil. Trans., xlv. 1 Amer. Med. & Phil. Reg., iv.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 79

and in 174S was writing a work upon the natural and medical
history of North America.* He died at an advanced age, about
1773. His name is perpetuated in that of our beautiful little
parti idgeberry, Mitchetta repens. ~ Mitchell and Clayton to-
gether," says Tuckerman, "gave to the botany of Virginia a
distinguished lustre."

Dr. John Tennent, of Port Royal, Va., seems to have been a
man of botanical tastes. He it was who brought into view the
virtues of the Seneca snake root, publishing at Williamsburgh, in
1736, an essay on pleurisy, in which he treats of the Seneca as an
efficient remedy in the cure of this disease. f He also wrote other
botanical treatises.! Dr. Greham, of Dumfries, Va., was a man
of similar tastes, and it is said by Mr. Jefferson that we are in-
debted to him for the introduction into America of the tomato.

David Krieg, F. R. S., a German botanist, collected insects for
Petiver in Maryland, and gathered also hundreds of species of
plants. He seems to have returned to England very early in the
century, for his name appears in the Philosophical Transactions
in 1 701 .

Col. William Byrd, of " Westover," Va., [b. 1674, d. 1744],
was a man of European education, the owner of a magnificent
library, in which Stith wrote his history of Virginia, founder of the
city of Richmond, colonial agent in London, and President of the
King's council. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, to which
he communicated a paper " concerning a negro boy dappled with
white spots, "§ and was a correspondent of Collinson, Bartram,
and other naturalists. His " History of the Dividing Line" and
his "Journey to the Land of Eden," in 1733, contain many inter-

* Smith : Correspondence of Linnceus, ii, pp. 442-451.

t Thacher : Medical Biography, i, p. 73.

% Mitchell writing to Linnaeus, in 1748, remarks : " I can now only send
you * * * some dissertations of Mr. Tennant upon the Polygala, two
of which only have come out among his latest publications. His former
ones, of inferior merit, are not now to be had."

§ Phil. Trans., 1697.

80 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

esting observations upon Indians and general natural history. He
it was who, in 1694, carried to England a female opossum, which
lurnished the materials for the first dissertation upon the anatomy
of the marsupiates.*

One of the most eminent of our colonial naturalists was Dr.
Alexander Garden, born in Scotland about 1728 [d. I79 1 ]- ^ e
emigrated to America about 1750, and practised medicine in
Charleston, S. C, until after the close of the revolutionary war,
when he returned to England and became very prominent in
scientific and literary circles, and vice-president of the Royal
Society in 1783. He was an excellent botanist, but did his
best work upon fishes and reptiles. He sent large collections of
fishes to Linnanis, which were so well prepared that when I
examined the fishes in the Linnasan collection in London, in 1883,
I found nearly every specimen referred to by him in his letters in
excellent condition, though few collected by others were identifi-
able. Garden was the discoverer of AmpJiiitma means, and was
instrumental in first sending the electrical eel to Europe. His
letters to Linnaeus and to Ellis are voluminous and abound in val-
uable information. In 1764 he published a description of Spigc-
lia marilandica, with an account of its medicinal properties.

James Logan, [b. 1664, d. 1 75 1 ]] , a native of Ireland and
member of the Society of Friends, accompanied William Penn
to this country in 1682 in the capacity of secretary, and became a
public man of prominence, serving for two years as governor of
the colony of Pennsylvania. He was a man of broad culture and
was the author of a translation of Cicero's " De Senectute,"
printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1744. To Logan belongs the
honor of having carried on the first American investigations in
phvsiological botany, the results of which were published in
Leyden, in 1739, in an essay entitled " Experimenta et Melete-
mata de Plantarum Generationis." This essay, which related to

* Edward Tyson : Carigueya sen Marsufiialis, or the Anatomy of an
Opossum, &c, Sic. < Phil. Trans., xx, i6q8, p. 105.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 81

the fructification of the Indian corn, was accepted in its day as a
valuable contribution to knowledge.

Cadwallader Colden [b. 1688, d. 1776] was also a statesman and
a naturalist. A native of Scotland, he came to America in 1708,
and, after a short residence in Pennsylvania, settled in New York,
where he held the office of surveyor-general and member of the
King's council, and in later life was for many years lieutenant-
governor, and frequently acting-governor of the province. His
intellectual activity manifested itself in various directions, and his
" History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada," New York,
1727, was one of the earliest ethnological works printed in
America. He also was interested in meteorology and astronomy,
and as a correspondent of Linnaeus and Collinson did much to
advance the study of American Botany. His daughter, Miss
Jane Colden, was the first lady in America to become proficient
in the study of plants. She was the author of a Flora of New
York which was never published.* Governor Colden's ' k Plantae
Coldenhamiae," the first part of a catalogue of the plants growing
in the neighborhood of his country residence, "Coldenham," near
Newburgh, was the first treatise on the flora of New York. It
was published in 1744 in the Acts of the Royal Society of Upsala.|
A most interesting collection from the scientific correspondence
of Colden was published many years ago by Dr. Asa Gray.j

Hans Sloane, a young Irish physician, [b. 1660, d. 1 753] ■» wno
had been a pupil of Tournefort and Magnol, visited the West
Indies in 1684, and after his return printed a Catalogue of Jamaica
Plants in 1696, and, later, a sumptuously illustrated work on the
natural history of Jamaica (1707-25). After his return he be-
came an eminent physician, and in 1727 succeeded Isaac Newton
as President of the Royal Society. The collection of animals and
plants made by Sir Hans Sloane in America was greatly increased
by him during his long and active life, and, having been be-

♦Brendel in Amer. Nat., Dec, 1S79. fToRREY: Flora of New York.

JAmer. Journ. Science, xiv.

82 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

queathed by him to the nation, became, upon his death in ^753'
the nucleus of the British Museum.

Another naturalist of the same general character was Mark
Catesby, [b. 1679, d. 1749]. who lived in Virginia, 1712 to 1721,
collecting and making paintings of birds and plants ; in the Caro-
linas, 1723 to 172^, and a year also in the Bahamas. His mag-
nificent, illustrated work upon the Natural History of Carolina,
Florida, and the Bahamas,* is still of great value to students of
natural history.

The name of John Bartram, the Quaker naturalist of Philadel-
phia, is possibly better remembered than those of his contempo-
raries. This is no doubt due to the fact that he left behind him
a lasting monument in his botanic garden on the banks of the
Schuylkill. He was the earliest native American to prosecute
studies in systematic botany, unless Jefferson's statement concern-
ing Clayton proves to be true. Linmeus is said to have called him
" the greatest natural botanist in the world," and George HI.
honored him in 176^ with the title of " Botanist to his Majesty
for the Floridas," and a pension of fifty pounds a year. Bartram
was a most picturesque and interesting personage, and a true
lover of nature. He did great service to botany by supplying
plants and seeds to Linmeus, Dillenius, Collinson, and other Euro-
pean botanists. He was a collector, however, rather than an
investigator, and his successes seem to have been due, in the
main, to the patient promptings and advice of his friend Collin-
son in London. Garden, whom he visited at Charleston, in
1765, after his appointment as King's Botanist, wrote of him to
Ellis:

" I have been several times into the country with him and have
told him the classes, genera, and species of all the plants that oc-
curred which I knew. I did this in order to facilitate his en-
quiries, as I find that he knows nothing of the generic characters
of plants and can neither class nor describe them, but I see that,

♦London, 1754-71-

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 83

from great natural strength of mind and long practice, he has much
acquaintance with the specific characters ; though his knowledge
is rude, inaccurate, indistinct, and confused, seldom determining
well between species and varieties. He is, however, alert, active,
industrious, and indefatigable in his pursuits."*

Fothergill says in his Memoir of Collinson " that the eminent
naturalist, John Bartram, may almost be said to have been created
by my friend's assistance."

The foregoing remarks concerning the elder Bartram are sim-
ply for the purpose of calling attention to his proper position
among the American naturalists of his day. It is not that I esteem
Bartram the less, but that I esteem Garden, Clayton, Mitchell
and Colden more. The name of Bartram brings up at once that
of his friend and patron, Peter Collinson, just as that of Garden
reminds us of John Ellis.

Collinson and Ellis were never in America, vet if any men de-
serve to be called the fathers of American natural history it is
they. For a period of thirty years or more, that period during
which Linmeus was bringing about those reforms which have
associated his name forever with the history of the classificatorv
sciences, these enlightened and science-loving London merchants
seem to have held the welfare of American science in their keep-
ing and to have faithfully performed their trust. I know few
books which are more delightful than Darlington's kt Memoir of
Bartram" and Smith's "Correspondence of Linnaeus," made up
as they are largely of the letters which passed between Collinson
and Ellis and their correspondents in America, and with Lin-
meus, to whom they were constantly transmitting American
notes and specimens. |

Humphrey Marshall [b. 1722, d. 1S01] was a farmer-botanist
of the Bartram type, and the author of kW The American Grove,"
a treatise upon the forest trees and shrubs of the United States,

* Smith : Correspondence of Liunceus, i, p. 537.

t Darlington : Memoirs of Bartram and Marshall.

84 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

the first botanical work which was entirely American. Darling-
ton's k% Memorials of Bartram and Marshall " is a worthy tribute
to this useful man.

Moses Bartram, a nephew of John, was also a botanist, and
William, his son, [b. 1739, d. 1823], was a much more prominent
figure in American science. His " Travels through Noi-th and
South Carolina." published in 1 791 , was, in the opinion of
Coues, the starting-point of a distinctively American school of
ornithology.

Collinson was a correspondent of Benjamin Franklin, and is
said not only to have procured and sent to him the first eler
trical machine which came to America, but to have made known
to him in 1743 the results of the first experiments in electricity,
the continuation of which gave to Franklin his European repu-
tation as a man of science. Collinson was instrumental in in-
troducing grape culture in Virginia, and in acclimating here
many foreign ornamental shrubs.

Ellis was a more eminent man of science, and his name is
associated with the beginnings of modern marine zoology.

Linnaeus wrote to him in 1769: "Your discoveries may be
said to vie with those of Columbus. He found out America,
or a new India, in the West ; you have laid open hitherto
unknown Indies in the depths of the ocean." He was royal
agent for West Florida, and had extraordinary facilities for
obtaining specimens from the colonies.

His nephew, Henry Ellis, F. R. S., [b. 1720, d. 1805], was the
author of ' w A Voyage to Hudson's Bay in 1 746 and 1 747 for discov-
ering a Northwest Passage," which contains some valuable
notes upon zoology. He was in 1756 appointed governor of
the colony of Georgia, and in 1758 published in the Philo-
sophical Transactions an essay on " The Heat of the Weather
in Georgia." In 1760 he made a voyage for the discover}-
of a new passage to the Pacific, and later was governor of
Nova Scotia, where we can but believe he continued his ob-

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 85

servations and his correspondence with the savans of Europe.
" Finally," says Jones, " having attained a venerable age, and
to the last intent upon the prosecution of some favorite physical
researches, he fell in sleep, as did Pliny the Elder, within sight
of Vesuvius, and upon the shores of the beautiful Bay of
Naples."*

Jones, in his " History of Georgia," [I, p. 444], refers to the
Rev. Stephen Hales — " equally renowned as a naturalist and a
divine" — who lived for a time in Georgia during the last cen-
turv- Can this have been the famous author of "Vegetable
Static^ r" I have been unable to find any allusion to a sojourn in
America, in the published notices of the English Hales, and
equally unable to discover a second Hales in the annals of science.

The central figure among eighteenth-century naturalists was of
course Linnaeus. His Systema Naturae was an epoch-making
work, and with the publication of its first edition at Leyden in
1735 the study of the biological sciences received an impress which
was soon felt in America.

In 173S, while in Leyden, he assisted Gronovius in editing the
notes sent by Clayton from Virginia, and it is evident that Lin-
naeus was already, at the age of thirty, recognized by European
botanists as an authority upon the plants of America. It was in
this year that he visited Paris. He at once made his way to the
Garden of Plants, and entered the lecture-room of Bernard de
Jussieu, who was describing some exotics to his pupils in Latin.
There was one which the demonstrator had not yet determined,
and which seemed to puzzle him. The Swede looked on in"
silence at first, but observing the hesitation of the learned Profes-
sor, cried out: "• Haec plantam faciem Americanam habet."
Jussieu turned about quickly with the exclamation, " You are
Linnaeus."

It is interesting to notice how strongly the Linnaean reforms
took root in American soil, and how soon. Collinson wrote to

* History of Georgia.

86 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Bartram in 1737: "The Systema Naturae is a curious perform-
ance for a young man, but his coining a new set of names
for plants tends but to embarrass and perplex the study of Botany.
As to his system, * * * botanists are not agreed about it.
Very few like it. Be that as it will, he is certainly a very ingeni-
ous man, and a great naturalist."* Six years later he wrote to
Linnaeus himself:

" Your system I can tell you obtains much in America. Mr.
Clayton and Dr. Colden at Albany are complete professors, as is
Dr. Mitchell at Urbana, in Virginia. "f

This may not seem a very numerous following, but twelve
years after this (1755)5 onr y seven English botanists were men-
tioned by Collinson in response to a request from Linnaeus to
know what botanical people in London were skilled in his plan. J

It is a fact not often referred to that during his period of poverty
and struggles, Linnaeus received, through the influence of his
patron, Boerhaave, an appointment in the colony of Surinam.
His prospects for a successful career in Europe had, however,
brightened, and he decided not to come to America.

His interest in American natural history was always very
great, and his descriptions of New World forms seem to have been
drawn up with especial care. Garden, Colden, Bartram, Mitchell,
Clayton and Ellis were all, as we have seen, active in supplying
him with materials, and his pupils, Kalm, Alstroem, Loefling,
Kuhn and Rolander (who collected for many years in Suri-
nam) sent him many notes and specimens.

The progress of systematic zoology in the interval between
Ray and Linnaeus may perhaps best be illustrated by some brief
statistical references. The former, in 1690, made an estimate of
the number of animals and plants known at that time.

The number of beasts, including serpents, he placed at 150, ad-

* Darlington, p. 106. t Smith, i, p. 9.

J Smith, i, p. 33.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 87

ding that according to his belief not many that are of any con-
siderable bigness in the known regions of the world have escaped
the cognizance of the curious.

Linnaeus in his 12th edition (1766) described 210 species of
beasts or mammals, and 124 of reptiles so called. Of the mam-
mals known to Linnaeus, 78, or more than one-third, were Ameri-
can, and 88 of the reptiles were attributed to this continent.

" The number of birds," said Ray, " may be near 500."
Linnaeus catalogued 790, of which about one-third were American.

Although at this time the Middle and Southern States were the
most active in the prosecution of scientific researches, there were
in New England at least two diligent students of nature. Paul
Dudley, F. R. S., [b. 1675], chief-justice of the colony of Massa-
chusetts, was the author of several papers in the Philosophical
Transactions. Among these were " A Description of the Moose
Deer in America," * " An Account of a Method Lately Found
Out in New England for Discovering Where the Bees Hive in
the Woods,"** " An Account of the Rattlesnake,"! and " An
Essay Upon the Natural History of Whales, with a Particular
Account of the Ambergris Found in the Spermaceti Whale," J
which is often quoted.

Others were an "Account of the Poison Wood Tree in New
England," § and " Observations on Some Plants of New Eng-
land, with Remarkable Instances of the Nature and Power of
Vegetation." || He also appears to have sent to Collinson a
treatise upon the evergreens of New England.^

The Rev. Jared Eliot, [b. 1685, d. 1763], minister at Killing-
worth, in Connecticut, and one of the earliest graduates of Yale
College, described by his contemporaries as " the first physician
of his day," and as " the first botanist in New England," appears

*Phil. Trans., xxxi, 1721. J Phil. Trans., xxxiii, 1725, pp. 256-69.

**Phil. Trans., xxxi, 1721, p. 148-50. § Phil. Trans., xxi, p. 135.

fPhil. Trans., xxxii, p. 292-5. || Phil. Trans., xxxiii, p. 129.

^fSee Tuckerman in Arch&ologia Americana, iv, pp. 125-6.

88 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

to have been a correspondent of Franklin, and a scientific agri-
culturist.

In 1 781 appeared Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia." This was
the first comprehensive treatise upon the topography, natural his-
tory, and natural resources of one of the United States, and was
the precursor of the great library of scientific reports which have
since been issued by the state and federal governments.

The book, although hastily prepared to meet a special need,
and not put forth as a formal essay upon a scientific topic, was, if
measured by its influence, the most important scientific work as
yet published in America. The pei-sonal history and the public
career of Thomas Jefferson are so familiar to all that it would be
an idle task to repeat them here. Had he not been a master in
statecraft, he would have been a master of science. It is prob-
able that no two men have done so much for science in America
as Jefferson and Agassiz — not so much by their direct contribu-
tions to knowledge as by the immense weight which they gave
to scientific interests by their advocacy.

Many pages of Jefferson's ' ' Notes on Virginia " are devoted to
the discussion of Button's statements : (1) that the animals com-
mon to both continents are smaller in the New World ; (2) that
those which are peculiar to the New are on a smaller scale ; (3)
that those which have been domesticated in both have degen-
erated in America, and (4) that, on the whole, America exhibits
fewer species. He successfully overthrows the 'specious and
superficial arguments of the eloquent French naturalist, who, it
must be remembered, was at this time considered the highest au-
thority living in such matters. Not content with this, when
Minister Plenipotentiary to Europe a few years later, he forced
Buftbn himself to admit his error.

The circumstance shall be related in the woixls of Daniel
Webster, who was very fond of relating the anecdote :

" It was a dispute in relation to the moose, and in one of the
circles of the beaux-esprits in Paris, Mr. Jefferson contended for

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 89

some characteristics in the formation of the animal which Button
stoutly denied. Whereupon Mr. Jefferson wrote from Paris to
General John Sullivan, then residing in Durham, New Hamp-
shire, to procure and send him the whole frame of a moose. The
General was no little astonished at a request he deemed so ex-
traordinary, but well acquainted with Mr. Jefferson, he knew he
must have sufficient reason for it ; so he made a hunting party of
his neighbors and took the field. They captured a moose of
unusual proportions, stripped it to the bone, and sent the skeleton
to Mr. Jefferson at a cost of fifty pounds sterling. On its arrival,
Mr. Jefferson invited Buffon and some other savants to a supper
at his house and exhibited his dear bought specimen. Buffon
immediately acknowledged his error. ' I should have consulted
you, Monsieur,' he said, ' before publishing my book on Natural
History, and then I should have been sure of my facts.' '

In still another matter in which he was at variance with Buffon
he was manifestly in the right. In a letter to President Madison,
of William and Mary College, he wrote :

" Speaking one day with M. de Buffon on the present ardor of
chemical inquiry, he affected to consider chemistry but as cookery,
and to place the toils of the laboratory on a footing with those of
the kitchen, /think it, on the contrary, among the most useful
of sciences and big with future discoveries for the utility and
safety of the human race."

It was the scientific foresight of Jefferson, so manifest in such
letters, which led him to advocate so vigorously the idea that
science must be the corner-stone of our Republic.

In 1789 he wrote from Paris to Dr. Willard, president of Har-
vard College :

To Dr. Willard :

What a field have we at our doors to signalize ourselves in.
The botany of America is far from being exhausted, its miner-
alogy is untouched, and its Natural History or zoology totally
mistaken and misrepresented. * * * It is for such institutions
as that over which you preside so worthily, sir, to do justice to
our country, its productions, and its genius. It is the work to
which the young men you are forming should lay their hands.
We have spent the prime of our lives in procuring them the
precious blessing of liberty. Let them spend theirs in showing
that it is the great parent of science and of virtue, and that a
nation will be great in both always in proportion as it is free.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

90 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

To Jefferson's interest was clue the organization of the first
government exploring expedition. As early as 17S0 we find him
anxious to promote an expedition to the upper portion of the
Mississippi Valley, and offering to raise 1000 guineas for the pur-
pose from private sources, and while he was President he dis-
patched Lewis and Clarke upon their famous expedition into the
northwest — the precursor of all the similar enterprises carried on
by the general Government, which have culminated in our mag-
nificent Geological Survey.

Jefferson's personal influence in favor of science was of in-
calculable value. Transferred from the presidency of the prin-
cipal American scientific society to the presidency of the nation,
he carried with him to the Executive Mansion the tastes and
habits of a scientific investigator. Mr. Luther, in his recent
essay upon '• Jefferson as a Naturalist,"* has shown that during
his residence in Paris he kept the four principal colleges — Har-
vard, Yale. William and Mary, and the College of Philadelphia —
informed of all that happened in the scientific circles in Europe.

He wrote to one correspondent: "Nature intended me for
the tranquil pursuits of science by rendering them my supreme
delight." To another he said: "Your first gives me infor-
mation in the line of natural history, and the second prom-
ises political news. The first is my passion, the last my duty,
and therefore both desirable."

When Jefferson went to Philadelphia to be inaugurated Vice-
President he carried with him a collection of fossil bones which
he had obtained in Green Brier county, Virginia, together w r ith
a paper, in which were formulated the results of his studies
upon them. This was published in the Transactions of the
American Philosophical Society, and the species is still known
as Megalonyx Jeffersoni.

" The spectacle," remarks Luther, " of an American states-

* Magazine of American History, April, 1885.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 91

man coming to take part as a central figure in the greatest po-
litical ceremony of our country, and bringing with him an
original contribution to science, is certainly one we shall not
soon see repeated."*

When Jefferson became President, his scientific tastes were
the subject of much ridicule as well as of bitter opposition
among the people in whose eyes, even in that day, science was
considered synonymous with atheism. William Cullen Bryant,
then a lad of thirteen, wrote a satirical poem, " The Embargo,"
since suppressed, in which the popular feeling seems to have
been voiced :

" Go, wretch, resign the Presidential chair;
Disclose thj secret measures, foul or fair.
Go search with curious eyes for horned frogs
Mid the wild wastes of Louisianian bogs,
Or, where the Ohio rolls his turbid stream,
Dig for huge bones, thy glory and thy theme."

A prominent personage in the history of this period was Peter
Kalm, a pupil of Linnasus and Professor in the University of
Aobo, who, was sent to America by the Swedish government,
and travelled through Canada, New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania from 174S-51. Although the ostensible object of
his mission was to find a species of mulberry suitable for accli-
matization in Sweden, with a view to the introduction of silk-
culture, it is very evident that he and his master were very willing
to make of applied science a beast of burden, upon whose back
they could heap up a heavy burthen of investigations in pure
science. Kalm's botanical collections were of great importance
and are still preserved in the Linnaean herbarium in London.
His " Travels into North America " are full of interesting obser-
vations upon animals and men, as well as upon plants, and give us
an insight into the life of the naturalists at that time resident in
America. After his return to Sweden he published several pa-
lmers relating to his discoveries in America.

*op. cit.

92 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Another traveller who deserves our attention, Johann David
Schcepf, [b. 17^2, cl., in Baireuth. 1800], the author of one of the
earliest monographs of the Testudinata, was a surgeon of merce-
nary troops under the Marcgrave of Anspach, and was one of
the hated '"Hessian" auxiliaries during the revolutionary war
( 1 776-83) . While stationed at New York he wrote a paper upon
the Fishes of New York, which was published in Berlin in 1787.
This was the first special ichthyological paper ever written in
America or concerning American species. Immediately after the
treaty of peace in 17S3, Schoepf made an extensive tour through
the United States, proceeding from New York south to Florida
and the Bahamas. He was accompanied in his more southern
excursions by Prof. Marter and Dr. Stupicz, who with several
assistants had been sent to America from Vienna to make botan-
ical explorations. Schoepf s " Nord Amerikanische Reisen " is
full of interesting notes upon natural history, and describes nearly
all the scientific men at that time resident in the United States.
His kk Materia Medica Americana," published in 17S7 at Erlangen,
was a standard in its day.*

One of the most prominent names in American natural history
is that of Johann Reinhold Forster, [b. 1729, d. 179S], who was
a leader in zoological studies in England during the last century.
He was a native of Germany, and at the time of his death Pro-
fessor of Botany at Halle. He spent many years in England,
and was the naturalist of Cooke's second voyage around the
world ( 1 772—75) . In 1771 he published in London, in an ap-
pendix to his translation of Kalm's Travels, " A Catalogue of the
Animals of North America, compiled from the writings of Lin-
naeus, Pennant, Brisson, Edwards and Catesby, and in the same
year a similar nominal catalogue of the plants of North America.
His account of the birds sent from Hudson's Bay, published in
1772, was a valuable contribution to American ornithology,

♦Erlangen, 1788, 2 vols., 8°.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 93

" notable," says Coues, " as the first formal treatise exclusively
devoted to a collection of North American birds sent abroad."
Fifty-eight species were described, among which were several new
to science. Other papers of equal value were published upon
the quadrupeds and fishes of the same region. Forster was one
of the earliest students of the geographical distribution of animals,
and his "Enchiridion of Natural History " was in its day a
standard. His son, John George Forster, who was his companion
in the voyage of circumnavigation, owes his fame to his literary
rather than to his scientific labors. He published a paper on the
Patella or Trumpet Fish found at Bermuda.*

The annals of Russian explorations upon the west coast of
North America have been so exhaustively recorded by Dall in his
u Alaska and its Resources," that only passing mention need be
made of the two German naturalists, Steller and Chamisso, whose
names are identified with the natural history work of the Russian
explorer.

Among the other naturalists whose names are associated with
America during this period may be mentioned Sonnini de Manon-
court, an eminent French zoologist, who travelled in Surinam
from 1 77 1 *-° ! 775 an d made important contributions to its ornith-
ology. Don Felix deAz'ara, [b. 1746, d. after 1806], who carried
on researches in Spanish America from 1781 to 1801 ; Don An-
tonio Parra, who published a useful treatise on the natural history
of Cuba in Havana, in 17S7 ; Don Jose C. Mutis, a learned Span-
ish ecclesiastic and physician, professor of natural history in the
University of Santa Fe de Bogota, in Grenada, who carried on a
voluminous correspondence with Linnaeus and his son from 1763
to 1778,1 and Joseph Jussieu, botanist to the King of France, who
went to the west coast of South America in 1734 as a member of
the commission sent by the Royal Academy of Sciences to make
observations to determine more accurately the shape and magni-

. * .

*Phil. Trans., 1, p. 859.

f Smith : Correspondence of L,tnn(P?ta, ii, pp. 507-550.

94 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

tude of the earth. " His curiosity," says Flourens, " held him
captive for many years in these regions, so rich and unexplored,
where he often joined the labors of the engineer with those of the
botanist. To him Europe owes several new plants, the heliotrope,
the marvel of Peru, &c, with many curious and then unknown
species." Here, also, should be mentioned the eminent French
ornithologist, Francois Levaillant, [b. 1753, d. 1824], who was a
native of America, and the two Mexican naturalists, also native
born, Jose A. Alzate, [b. in Ozumba, 1729, d. in Mexico, Feb. 2,
1790]. a learned botanist, and Francisco Javier Clavigero.

Francisco Javier Clavigero, the historian of Mexico, was one
of the earliest of American archaeologists. Born in Vera Cruz
Sept. 9, 1731, the son of a Spanish scholar, he was educated at
the college of Puebla, entered the Society of Jesuits, and was
sent out as a missionary among the Indians, with whom he spent
thirty-six years. He learned their language, collected their tra-
ditions, and examined all their historical records and monuments
for the purpose of correcting the misrepresentations of early
Spanish writers. When the Society of Jesus was suppressed by
Spain, in 1767, Clavigero went to Italy, where he wrote his
" Storia Antica del Messico," printed in 1780-81.

Clavigero was a man who, in his spirit, was fully abreast of
the science of his day, but whose methods of thought and argu-
ment were already antiquated.

His monastic training led him to write from the standpoint of
a commentator rather than that of an original observer, and his
observations upon the animals and plants of Mexico were subor-
dinated in a very unfortunate manner to those of his predecessor,
Hernandez. In the " Dissertations," which make up the fourth
volume of his history, he throws aside, in the ardor of his dispute
with Buffon and his followers, the trammels of tradition, and
places upon record many facts concerning American natural his-
tory which had never before been referred to. He here presented a
list of the quadrupeds of America, the first ever printed for the en-

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 9*)

tire continent, including 143 species; not systematically arranged,
it is true, but perhaps as scientific in its construction as was pos-
sible at that time, even had its author been trained in the school
of Linnaeus.

Clavigero's dissertations are well worthy of the attention of
naturalists even of the present day. His essay upon the manner
in which the continent of America was peopled with living
forms, shows a remarkable appreciation of the difficulties in the
way of the solution of this still unsolved problem. The position
taken by its author is not unlike that held by zoogeographers
of to-day, in considering it necessary to bridge with land the
waters between Asia and Northwestern America, and Africa and
South America.* In his first "Dissertation of the Animals of
Mexico " he combats the prevailing European views as to the in-
feriority of the soil and climate of the New World and the de-
generacy of its inhabitants, engaging in the same battle in which
fought also Harriott, Acosta, and Jefferson.

Clavigero's contributions to archaeology and ethnology are ex-
tensive and valuable, and we can but admit that at the time of
the issue of his " Storia Antica" no work concerning America
had been printed in English which was equally valuable.

Although in his formal discussion of the natural history of
Mexico he follows closely the nomenclature and arrangement
of Hernandez, there are many important original observations
inserted. I will instance only the notes on the mechanism of
the poison-gland and fang of the rattlesnake, the biographies
of the possum, the coyote and the tapir, and the Tuza or
pouched rat, the mocking-bird, the chegoe and the cochineal
insect. Clavigero states that Father Inamma, a Jesuit mission-
ary of California, has made many experiments upon snakes
which serve to confirm those made by Mead upon vipers.

To the post-revolutionary period belongs Dr. Manasseh Cutler,

* See similar speculation in George Scot's Model of the Government of
the Province of East New Jersey in America. Edinburgh, 1685.

96 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHING/TOTST.

for fifty-one years minister of Ipswich Hamlet, Masr,., [b. 1743,
d. 1823], who in 1785 published " An Account of some of the
Vegetable Productions naturally growing in this part of America,
botanically arranged,"* in which he described about 370 species.
Cutler was a correspondent of Muhlenberg in Pennsylvania,
Swartz and Payshull in Sweden, and Withering and Stokes in
England. He left unpublished manuscripts of great value. He
was one of the founders of the settlement in Ohio, and at one
time a member of Congress. After Cutler, says Tuckerman, there
appeared in the Northeastern States nothing of importance until
the new school of New England Botanists, a school characterized
by the names of an Oakes, a Boott, and an Emerson, was founded
in 1S14, by the publication of Bigelow's " Florula Bostoniensis."

Thomas Walter [b. in Hampshire, 1740] published in London,
in 17S7, his '' Flora Caroliniana," a scholarly work describing
the plants of a region situate upon the Santee river. f

Dr. Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina, [b. 1735, d. 1S19],
was a prominent member of the American Philosophical Society.
He was concerned in some of the earliest astronomical and
mathematical work in America ; published papers upon comets
and climatology, which were favorably received, and secured his
election to many foreign societies, and in 1775 printed in the
Philosophical Transactions his ' k Experiments and Observations
on the Gymnotus Electricus or Electric Eel."

Dr. Caspar Wistar [b. 1761, d. 1S1S] was one of the early
professors of chemistry [1789] and anatomy [ r 793] m the Col-
lege of Philadelphia. He was the discoverer of some impor-
tant points in the structure of the ethmoid bone, a man of emi-
nence as a teacher, and versed in all the sciences of his day.

Dr. James Woodhouse, of Philadelphia, [b. 1770, d. 1S09],
made investigations in chemistry, mineralogy, and vegetable
physiology which were considered of importance.

♦Mem. Amer. Acad. Sci., 1785.

fSeeBrendel, American Naturalist, Dec, 1879, p. 759.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 97

The story of the origin of American scientific societies has
been so often told that it need not be repeated here. The only
institutions of the kind which were in existence at the end of the
period under consideration were the American Philosophical
Society, an outgrowth primarily of the American Society for the
Advancement of Natural Knowledge, founded in Philadelphia in
1743, and secondarily of Franklin's famous "Junto," whose origin
dates back to 1727, and the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, founded in 1780.

The relations of the colonial naturalists to the scientific socie-
ties of England have not so often been referred to, and it does
not seem to be generally known that the early history of the
Royal Society of London was intimately connected with the
foundation of New England, and that the first proposition for the
establishment of a scientific society in America was under con-
sideration early in the seventeenth century. k * The great Mr.
Boyle," writes Eliot, lt Bishop Wilkins, and several other learned
men, had proposed to leave England and establish a society for
promoting natural knowledge in the new colony, of which Mr.
Winthrop, their intimate friend and associate, was appointed
o-overnor. Such men were too valuable to lose from Great

&

Britain; and Charles II. having taken them under his protection,
the society was there established, and obtained the title of the
Royal Society of London."*

For more than a hundred years the Royal Society was the chief
resource of naturalists in North America. The three Winthrops,
Mitchell, Clayton, Garden, Franklin, Byrd, Rittenhouse, and
others were among its fellows, and the Philosophical Transactions
contained many American papers.

As at an early date the Society of Arts in London began to
offer prizes for various industrial successes in the colonies, for in-
stance, for the production of potash and pearlash, for the culture
of silk, and for the culture of hemp, the vine, safflower, olives,

* Eliot : Biographical Dictionary.

98 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

logwood, opium, scammony, burilla, aloes, sarsaparilla, cinna-
mon, myrtle wax, the production of saltpetre, cobalt, cochineal, the
manufacture of wine, raisins, and olive oil, the collection of gum
from the persimmon tree, and the acclimation of silk grass. A
medal was given in 1761 to Dr. Jared Eliot, of Connecticut, for the
extraction of iron from l * black sand."* In 1 757 we nn d their sec-
retary endeavoring to establish branch societies in the colonial
cities, especially in Charleston, Philadelphia and New York, and
Garden seems to have tried to carry out the enterprise in Charles-
ton. After two years he wrote that the society organized had
become " a mere society of drawing, painting, and sculpture."

In a subsequent letter he utters a pitiful plaint. He has often
wondered, he says, " that there should be a country abounding
with almost every sort of plant, and almost every species of the
animal kind, and yet that it should not have pleased God to raise
up one botanist."t

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded by
the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1780 and its first volume of
memoirs appeared in 1785*

In 1788 an effort was made by the Chevalier Quesnay de Beau-
repaire to found in Richmond, Virginia, the " Academy of Arts
and Sciences of the United States of America " upon the model
of the French Academy. The plan was submitted to the Royal
Academy of Sciences in Paris, and received its unqualified en-
dorsement, signed, among others, by Lavoisier. A large sub-
scription was made by the Virginians and a large building erected,
but an academy of sciences needs members as well as a president,
and the enterprise was soon abandoned.!

In 1799 was organized the Connecticut Academy of Arts and
Sciences, which, after publishing one volume of Transactions,

* See Dossie : Memoirs of Agriculture. London, vol. i, 1768, pp. 24-6,
et seq., also Brock in Richmond Standard, April 26, 1879, P- 4-

t Smith: op. ciL, i, p. 477.

X See Mordecai : Richmond in By-gone Days. A copy of the original
pamphlet of proposals is still preserved in the Virginia State Library.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 00

went into a state of inactivity from which it did not arouse itself
until 1866.

This sketch would not be complete without some reference
also to the history of scientific instruction in America during the
last century. .

The first regular lectures upon a special natural history topic
appear to have been upon comparative anatomy. A course upon
this topic was delivered at Newpoi't, Rhode Island, in 1754, by
Dr. William Hunter, a native of Scotland, [b. about 1729], a
kinsman of the famous English anatomists, William and John
Hunter, and a pupil of Munro. His course upon comparative
anatomy was given in connection with others upon human anat-
omy and the history of anatomy, the first medical lectures in
America.*

The first instruction in botany was given in Philadelphia in
1768 by Kuhn, who began in May of that year a course of lec-
tures upon that subject in connection with hijs professorship of
Materia Medica and Botany in the College of Philadelphia.
Adam Kuhn [b. in Germantown, Pa., 1741, d. 181 7] was edu-
cated in Europe, and had been a favorite pupil of Linnaeus. He
did not, however, continue his devotion to natural history, though
he became an eminent physician. William Bartram, son of John
Bartram, was elected to the same professorship in 1782. In 17S8
Prof. Waterhouse, of Harvard College, read lectures upon Natural
History to his medical classes, and is said to have subsequently
claimed that these were the first public lectures upon natural his-
tory given in the United States. This was doubtless an error,
for we find that in 1785 a course upon the philosophy of Chemis-
try and NaUnal History was delivered in Philadelphia. " People
of every description, men and women, flock to these lectures,"
writes a contemporary. " They are held at the University three
evenings in a week."f

* One of the original tickets to these courses is in the Library of the
Surgeon-General's office in Washington,
t Darlington, p. 535.

100 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

The first professor of chemistry was Dr. Benjamin Rush, who
lectured in the Philadelphia Medical School as early as 1769.
Bishop Madison was professor of chemistry and natural phil-
osophy at William and Mary College, from 1 774 t° 1 777 ? Aaron
Dexter, of chemistry and materia medica at Harvard, 1783 to
1816 ; John Maclean, at Princeton. 1795-1812, being the first to
occupy a separate chair of chemistry. Before the days of chem-
ical professorships, the professor of mathematics seems to have
been the chief exponent of science in our institutions of learning.

John Winthrop, [b. 1 7 1 4 . d . 1779], for instance, who was Hollis
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard
from 1738 to 1779, was a prominent Fellow of the Royal So-
ciety, to whose Transactions he communicated many important
papers, chiefly astronomical. We read, however, that Count
Rumford imbibed from his lectures his love for physical and
chemical research, and from this it may be inferred that he taught
as much of chemistry as was known in his day. William Small,
professor of mathematics in William and Mary from 1758 to
1762, was a man of similar tastes, though less eminent. He was
the intimate friend of Erasmus Darwin. President Jefferson was
his pupil, attended his lectures on natural philosophy, and got
from time to time his " first views of the expansion of science
and of the system of things in which we are placed." ,

Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchill [b. 1764, d. 1S31] was the first
man to hold a professorship of natural history, lecturing upon
that subject, together with chemistry, in Columbia College in 1 792.
Dr. Mitchill was eminent as a zoologist, mineralogist, and chem-
ist, and not only published many valuable papers but in 1798
established the first American scientific journal.

Harvard appears to have had the first separate professorship of
natural history, which was filled by William Dandridge Peck,
a zoologist and botanist of prominence in his day.

A professorship of botany was established in Columbia College,
N. Y., as early as 1795, at which time Dr. David Hosack [b. in

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 101

New York, 1769, d. 1835] was the incumbent. Dr. Hosack
brought with him from Europe in 1790 the first cabinet of min-
erals ever seen in the United States. In its arrangement he was
assisted by one of his pupils, Archibald Biuce, who became, in
1S06, Professor of Mineralogy, and who, soon after, in 1810,
established the American Journal of Mineralogy.

Dr. Hosack was the founder of the first public botanic garden —
this was in New York in 1801 ; another was founded in Charles-
ton in 1804. These had disappeared forty years ago, and the one
at Cambridge, established in 1808, is the only one now in exist-
ence.

The first public museum was that founded in Philadelphia, in
178^, by Charles Wilson Peale ; the bones of a mammoth and a
stuffed paddle-fish forming its nucleus. This establishment had
a useful career of neai-ly fifty years.

VII.

We have now rehearsed the story of the earliest investigators
of American natural history, including two centuries of English
endeavor, and nearly three if we take into consideration the
earlier explorations of the naturalists of continental Europe.

We have seen how, in the course of many generations, the intel-
lectual supremacy of the Western Continent went from the Span-
iards and the French and the Dutch to the new people who were
to be called Americans, and we have become acquainted with the
men who were most thoroughly identified with the scientific en-
deavors of each successive period of activity.

The achievements of American science during the century
which has elapsed since the time when Franklin, Jefferson, Rit-
tenhouse, and Rumford were its chief exponents have been often
the subject of presidential addresses like this, and the record is
a proud one. During the last fifty years in England, and the
last forty in America, discovery has followed discovery with
such rapid succession that it is somewhat hard to realize that

102 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

American science in the colonial period, or even that of Europe
at the same time, had any features which are worthy of consid-
eration.

The naturalists whose names I have mentioned were the intel-
lectual ancestors of the naturalists of to-day. Upon the founda-
tions which they laid the superstructure of modern natural history
is supported. Without the encyclopaedists and explorers there
could have been no Ray, no Klein, no Linnaeus. Without the
systematists of the latter part of the eighteenth century the school
of comparative anatomists -would never have arisen. Had Cuvier
and his disciples never lived there would have been no place for
the philosophic biologists of to-day.

The spirit of the early naturalists may be tested by passages
in their writings which show how well aware they were of the
imperfections of their work. Listen to what John Lawson, the
Carolina naturalist, wrote in the year 1700 :

" The reptiles or smaller insects are too numerous to relate
here, this country affording innumerable quantities thereof; as
the flying stags with horns, beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers,
locust, and several hundreds of uncouth shapes, which in the
summer season are discovered here in Carolina, the description
of which requires a large volume, which is not my intent at pres-
ent, besides, what the mountainous part of this land may hereaf-
ter open to our view, time and industry will discover, for we that
have settled but a small share of this large province cannot imag-
ine, but there will be a great number of discoveries made by those
that shall come hereafter into the back part of this land, and
make enquiries therein, when, at least, we consider that the west-
ward of Carolina is quite different in soil, air. weather, growth
of vegetables, and several animals, too, which we at present are
wholly strangers to, and seek for. As to a right knowledge
thereof, I say, when another age is come, the ingenious then in
being may stand upon the shoulders of those that went before
them, adding their own experiments to what was delivered down
to them by their predecessors, and then there will be something
towards a complete natural history, which, in these days, would
be no easy undertaking to any author that writes truly and com-
pendiously as he ought to do."

Herbert Spencer, in his essay on " The Genesis of Science,"

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 103

lays stress upon the fact that the most advanced sciences have
attained to their present power by a slow process of improve-
ment, extending through thousands of years, that science and
the positive knowledge of the uncultured cannot be separated
in nature, and that the one is but a perfected and extended form
of the other. "Is not science a growth?" says he, "Has not
science its embryology? And must not the neglect of its embry-
ology lead to a misunderstanding of the principles of its evolution
and its existing organization?"

It seems to me unfortunate, therefore, that we should allow the
value of the labors of our pi - edecessors to be depreciated, or to
refer to the naturalists of the last century as belonging to the un-
scientific or to the archaic period. It has been frequently said bv
naturalists that there was no science in America until after the
beginning of the present century. This is, in one sense, true, in
another, very false. There were then, it is certain, many men
equal in capacity, in culture, in enthusiasm, to the naturalists of
to-day, who were giving careful attention to the study of precisely
the same phenomena of nature. The misfortune of men of science
in the year of 1785 was that they had three generations fewer of
scientific predecessors than have we. Can it be doubted that the
scientists of some period long distant will look back upon the
work of our own time as archaic and crude, and catalogue our
books among the " curiosities of scientific literature?"

Is it not incumbent upon workers in science to keep green the
memory of those whose traditions they have inherited ? That it
is, I do most steadfastly believe, and with this purpose I have
taken advantage of the tercentenary of American biology to
read this review of the work of the men of old.

Monuments are not often erected to men of science. More
enduring, however, than monuments are those living and self-
perpetuating memorials, the plants and animals which bear the
names of the masters who knew them and loved them. Well have
the Agassizs remarked that " there is a world of meaning hid-

1 04: BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

den under our zoological and botanical nomenclature known only
to those who are intimately acquainted with the annals of scien-
tific life in its social as well as its professional aspect."*

I hope I am not at this day entirely alone in my appreciation
of the extreme appropriateness of this time-honored custom,
although I know that many of our too matter-of-fact naturalists
are disposed to abandon it, and that it is losing much of its former
significance. In fact, in these days of unstable nomenclature,
such tributes are often very evanescent. It seems fortunate that
the names of some of the most honored of the early naturalists
are perpetuated in well established generic and specific combina-
tions, f

When I see the Linncea borealis, I am always reminded
of the sage of Upsala, as he is represented in the famous
Amsterdam painting, clad in Lapland fur, and holding a
spray of that graceful arctic plant. Magnolia and Wistaria
call up the venerable professors of botany at Montpelier and
Philadelphia. Tradescautia virginica reminds me of John
Tradescant and the Ashmolean Museum, whose beginnings
were gathered by him in Virginia. The cape jessamine
(Gardenia), the spring beauty (Ciaytouia), the partridge
berry (Mitchella) , the iron weed (J'er/tonia), the $htcrcus
Bartramii (^J^. heteropliylla) , the Scarus Catesbyi, Fiia-

i

* Seaside Studies in Natural History, p. 25.

fThe genus Harriotta has been dedicated by Goode and Bean to the
memory of Thomas Harriott. It is intended to embrace a long-rostrated
chimseroid fish from deep water off the Atlantic coast of North America.
The description is not yet published. " Heriot's Isle," named for Harriott
by the early explorers, and shown upon Vaughan's map. in Smith's
" Generall History of Virginia," has entirely disappeared. It was situati-
on the north side of Albemarle Sound, about midway between Roanoke
Island and the mouth of Chowan river. Whether it has been swept
away by the tides, or has become a part of the main-land, it is difficult to
say. The latter supposition seems the most probable, and since it is
in all likelihood " Reed's Point" which now occupies its former location,
the propriety is suggested of calling this little cape, 'Harriott's Point."
in memory of the explorer.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 105

lictrum and Asclepias Cornuti, Macrurus Fabricii, Didel-
phys and Cauls Azarce, C hanliodiis Sloanei, Alutera
Schcepfii, Sterna, Forsteri, Stolephorus Mitchilli, Malacan-
thus Plumieri, Salix C?itlerz and Pinus Banksiana, the
Kalmia, the Jeffersonia, the Hernandia, the Comptonia,
the Sarracenia, the GaultJicria, the Kuhnia, the Ellisia,
the Coldenia, the Robinia, the Banisteria, the Phimieria, the
Collinso/n'a, the Bartramia, all bear the names of men associ-
ated with the beginnings of Natural History in America.

Yet, pleasant as it is to recall in such manner the achieve-
ments of the fathers of natural history, let us not do them the
injustice to suppose that posthumous fame was the object for
which they worked. Like Sir Thomas Browne, they believed
that " the world was made to be inhabited by beasts, but to
be studied by man." Let us emulate their works and let us share
with them the admonitions of the " Religio Medici."

" The wisdom of God," says Browne, " receives small honor
from those vulgar heads that rudely stray about, and with a gross
rusticity admire his works ; those highly magnify him whose
judicious inquiry into his acts, and deliberate research into his
creatures, return the duty of a devout and learned admiration.
Therefore," he continues —

" Search while thou wilt and let thy reason go
To ransom truth, even to the abysse below,
Rally the scattered causes, and that line
Which nature twists be able to untwine.
It is thy Maker's will, for unto none
But unto reason can He e'er be known."

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON

AND VICINITY, FROM APRIL i, 1884,

TO APRIL 1, 1886.

By F. H. Knowlton, B. S.

[The following notes are supplementary to Ward's " Guide to the Flora of Washington and
Vicinity " (Bulletin No. 22, U. S. National Museum). The species added to the Flora between
April 1, 1884, and April 1, 1885, were enumerated by Prof. Ward in a paper read before the
Society Dec. 13, 1884 ; the additions and changes for 1885 were presented by the aiithor in a
paper read March 20, 1886. The first collector of each species is given due credit in the
proper place.]

ANALYSIS.

I. List of Vascular Plants added to the Flora from April i, 1884,

to April 1, 1886 ■ . . p. 106

II. Revision of the Musci and Hepaticre of Washington and Vicinity, p. no

III. List of the Lichens of Washington and Vicinity p. 118

IV. Changes in Nomenclature p. 127

V. New Localities for Rare Species p. 129

VI. Species Excluded p. 132

I. LIST OF VASCULAR PLANTS ADDED TO THE FLORA OF
WASHINGTON FROM APRIL 1, 1884 TO APRIL 1, 1886.

IK?. Trautvetteria palmata, Fischer & Meyer.

Great Falls, Virginia side. Mr. J. S. Barker, June 22, 1884.
Also found on the Mt. Vernon estate by Mr. William Hun-
ter, June 21, 1885.
22c/. Caltha palustris, L. Marsh Marigold.

Rock Creek. Collected by Mr. Gerald McCarthy in 1884.
99x7. Polygala Curtissii, Gray. var. pycnostachya, Gray.

Collected south of Arlington P. O., near Four Mile Run. June
29 and July 30, 1884, and on the Marlboro' road, August 3.
1884, by Prof. Ward. Specimens of this plant have been
sent to Dr. Asa Gray, who states that he considers this
form to be the type, and that the original specimens col-

106

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 107

lected by Curtiss were abnormal. Until an authoritative
revision of the genus is made, however, it must stand as
above.

195(7. Trifolium hybridum, Savi.

Alexander's Island, June 25, 1885, by Mr. J. A. Allen.

295(7. Ribes floridum, L'Her. Wild Black Currant.

Bla^d^n's Mill, at the head of the mill-race on the creek side,
April 27, 1884. Prof. Ward.

297(7. Sedum Telephium, L.

Found near Woodlawn (Mt. Vernon) July 25, 1885, by Mr.
Win. Hunter.

35i<7. Aralia quinquefolia, Decsne & Planch.

Collected by the late Dr. A. C. Schott in the vicinity of Rock-
ville, Md., nearly twenty-five years ago. The specimens
have, unfortunately, all been sent to Scotland and none
since collected.

39077. Eupatorium purpureum, L., var. amcenum, Gray.

Rock Creek, Sept. 17, 1882. Mentioned as a form in the " Flora "
by Prof. Ward.
391(7. Eupatorium hyssopifolium, L., var. laciniatum, Gray.

Back of Mount Hamilton. Oct. II, 1885. Prof. Ward and the
author.
436^. Aster ericoides, L., var. villosus, Torr & Gray.

Near upper end of Lobelia Run, Sept. 17, 1882. Prof. Ward.

462^. Inula Helenium, L. Elecampane.

Found on the Mount Vernon estate, one mile west of the
Mansion, by Mr. William Hunter, who states that it has
been established there for thirty years.

494(?. Bidens connata, Muhl. Swamp Beggar-ticks.

Holmead Swamp, September 22, 1878. Placed in the her-
barium under the name of Bidens cemua, L., and only
recently detected. Prof. Ward.
502c. Artemisia vulgaris, L. Mcjgwort.

Collected at the mouth of Pope's Head Creek, near Clifton
Station, Fairfax county, Va., October 9, 1884, by Prof.
Ward.

108 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

563a. Clethra alnifolia, L. White Alder. Sweet Pepper Bush.

Left bank of Bladensburg mill-race below second foot bridge,
200 yards above sluice gate. In flower July 27, 1884, in
fruit August 24, 1S84. Prof. Ward.
58517. Apocynum androsaemifolium, L.

Collected near Woodlawn. Fairfax county, Va., August, 1885,
by Mr. Wm. Hunter.

614a. Hydrophyllum Canadense, L. Waterleaf.

In a ravine containing a cataract which was christened " Hydro-
phyllum Run," nearly opposite Eads' Mill, Va.. July 6, 1884,
then a little past flowering time. Prof. Ward. Fine flower-
ing specimens collected June 21, 1885.
620a. Borago officinalis, L.

Foundry Run, June 23, 1885. Mr. A. L. Schott.
675^. Gerardia auriculata, Michx.

Below Alexandria, Va., Sept. 9, 1885. Mr. Wm. Hunter.

825«. Comptonia asplenifolia, Ait. Sweet Fern.

Between the Reform School and Highlands, Md., on an aban-
doned earthwork, June 22, 1884, b J Prof. Ward.

826^7. Betula lenta, L. Cherry, Sweet, or Black Birch.

Found by Dr. G. W. Hill at the mouth of Difficult Run, Va.,
May 11, 1884. Dr. Hill states that he could find no full-
grown trees, and none bearing fruit or flowers. Mr. Wm.
Hunter reports this species from Clifton Station, Va., also
as a mere shrub.
The following remarkable forms of °>uercus, supposed to be of hybrid
origin, are deserving of special mention in the catalogue. Most of them
were described by Dr. George Vasey in an article published in the " Bul-
letin of the Torrey Botanical Club" for March, 1883, with figures (plates
xxviii-xxx). Their principal peculiarities were further pointed out in a
paper by Prof. Ward, read before this Society April 13, 1883.

The names given below are based on the assumption that they are
hybrids, the one standing first being that of the species supposed to
predominate in the hybridism.

831^. Quercus alba x obtusiloba.

Discovered by Dr. Vasey near Silver Spring, Maryland, Sep-
tember 20, 1S82.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 109

S31A. Quercus alba x Prinus.

On the Rockville Road a few rods north of Woodlev Park Road.
Discovered October 22, 18S2, by Prof. Ward. A large tree
standing just inside the fence on the west side of the road.

832a. Quercus obtusiloba x alba.

Discovered by Dr. Vasey by the roadside near Piney Branch,
September 20, 1882.

836(7. Quercus Prinus x alba. Saul's Oak.

Pointed out to Dr. Vasey by Mr. John Saul in his nursery, just
back of his residence, September 20. 1882.

890^. Potamogeton crispus, L.

Near mouth of Gravelly Run, Va., October 26, 1884. The
specimens seen were all without fruit. Prof. Ward and
the author.

924^7. Allium sativum, L. English Garlic.

Georgetown College grounds, July 22, 1S82. Prof. Ward. In
addition to this locality he found it below the Insane Asy-
lum, June, 1884.

109317. Carex utriculata, Boott.

Eastern Branch Marsh, June 8, 1879. These specimens were
confounded with those of C. rifiaria from the same locality,
and under that name sent to Mr. Walter Deane, of Cam-
bridge, who pointed out the error.

noirt. Sporobolus vaginaeflorus, Torr.

Monument Grounds, Sept. 12, 1885. Prof. Ward.

j 10377. Agrostis canina, L.

Vacant lots near B. & O. depot, July, 1S85. Prof. F. Lamp-
son Scribner.

1 [2577. Eatonia obtusata. Gray.

Collected by Dr. George Vasey, June, 1884.

1 15377. Bromus tectorum, L.

Kendall Green, July, 1S85. Prof. F. Lampson Scribner.

1172a. Phalaris arundinacea, L.

Collected on the Seventh street road by Dr. Geo. Vasey, June,
1S84.

110 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

1205a. Taxodium distichum, Richard.

Marshall Hall, Md.. Sept. 13, 1885. Collected by Mr. Wm.
Palmer and Mr. O. N. Bryan. Mr. Bryan regards these trees
as undoubtedly indigenous.

1225a. Asplenium montanum, Willd.

A short distance above Great Falls, Virginia side, Aug. 30, 1885.
Mr. Wm. Palmer.

1233a. Aspidium spinulosum, Swz. Spinulose Wood Fern.

In a ravine (Goldianum Run) on the Virginia side of the Poto-
mac, opposite the Distributing Reservoir, July 6, 1884, by
Prof. Ward.

1248a. Lycopodium inundatum, L.

Near the Sarracenia swamp; first detected May 10, 1885.
Fruiting specimens collected Sept. 10, 1885. Also found
near Woodlawn, Fairfax Co., Va., Oct. 1885, by Wm.
Hunter.

1248a. Lycopodium annotinum, L.

Specimen in herb. Mr. Wm. Palmer, said to have been col-
lected by Dr. E. Foreman in Holmead Swamp. Station
long since obliterated.

1249a. Lycopodium clavatum, L.

Above Great Falls, Virginia side, Aug. 30, 1885, by Mr. Wm.
Palmer. Also Silver Spring, Md., Jan. 2, 1886.

1382a. Nitella megacarpa, Allen.

Eastern Branch, above Benning's Bridge, Sept. 21, 1884. In
fine fruiting condition. Identified by Dr. T. F. Allen,
of New York.

II. A REVISION OF THE MUSCI AND HEPATIC^E OF WASH-
INGTON AND VICINITY, WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS.

By Rev. E. Lehnert.

[It is with great pleasure that I am able to include in this communication the much-needed
revision of our Mosses and Liverworts, which has been so kindly placed at my disposal
by Mr. Lehnert. The list given in the "Flora,'' which was prepared by Mr. Rudolph Old-
berg, enumerates 127 species. We are now able to augment that list by the addition of 111
species, of which 83 are Frondosi and 28 Hepaticae, making a total of 238 species.

The nomenclature followed is, for the Frondosi, " The Mosses of North America," by Les-
quereux and .Tames, and for the Hepaticse, the "Descriptive Catalog of Hepaticte," by Under-
wood.]

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON.
A. MUSCI FRONDOSI.

Ord. i. SPHAGNACE^.

Sphagnum cymbifolium, Ehrh.
" squarrosum, Pers.

" acutifolium, Ehrh.

" subsecundum, Nees.

" inter. nedium, Hoff.

Ord. 2. ANDREjEACE^E.
Andreaea rupestris, Turn.

11

Ord. 3. BRVACEsE..

a. Arrocurpi.

1. PHASCEiE.

Ephemerum crassinervium, Hampe.

" stenophyllum, Schimp.

" cohaerens, Muell.

" spinulosum, Br. & Sch.

Sphaerangium triquetrum, Schirap.
Phascum cuspidatum, Schreb.
Pleuridium subulatum, Br. & Sch.

" alternifolium, Brid.

" Sullivantii, Aust.

Archidium Ravenelii, Aust.
Bruchia flexuosa, Muell.
" brevifolia, Sull.

2. WEISIE.E.

Astomum nitidulum, Schimp.
" Sullivantii, Schimp.

Weisia viridula, Brid.
Trematodon longicollis, Michx.
Dicranella varia, Schimp.

" heteromalla, Schimp.

Dicranum scoparium, Hedw.

" majus, Turn.

" Drummondii, Muell.

" undulatum. Turn.

112 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

3. FISSIDENTES.

Fissidens adiantoides, Hedw.
" taxifolius, Hedw.

'• minutulus, Sull.

osmundoides, Hedw.

4. LETJCORRYEJi:.

Leucobryum vulgare, Hampe.
" minus, Sull.

5. CERATODONTEiE.

Ceratodon purpureus, Brid.

6. POTTIES.

Pottia truncata, Fuern.
Leptotrichum tortile, Muell.

" vaginans, Lesq. & James.

,: pallidum, Hampe.

' glaucescens, Hampe.

Barbula unguiculata, Hedw.
" marginata, Br. & Sch.

" caespitosa, Schwg.
" convoluta, Hedw.
" muralis, Timm.

7. GKIMMIEjE.

Grimmia apocarpa, Hedw.

" Pennsylvanica, Schwg.

Olneyi, Sull.

'• conferta, Funck.

Racomitrium fasciculare, Brid.
Hedwigia ciliata, Ehrh.

8. ORTHOTRICHEiE.

Ptychomitrium Drummondii, Sull.

" incurvum, Sull.

Drummondia clavellata, Honk.
Ulota crispa, Brid.
" crispula, Brid.
" Huthinsise, Schimp.
Orthotrichum canadense, Br. & Sch.
" obtusifolium, Schrad.

" exiguum, Sull.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 11

Orthotrichum strangulatum, Beauv.

" Ohioense, Sull. & Lesq.

" cupulatum, Hoff.

" psilocarpum, James.

!). TETR APHIDES.

Tetraphis pellucida, Hedw.

10. PHYSCOMITRIEiE.

Physcomitrium pyriforme, Brid.
" Hookeri, Hampe.

Funaria hygrometrica, Sibth.
" flavicans, Michx.
" calvescens, Schwg.

11. BARTRAMIE.3E.

Philonotis Muhlenbergii, Brid

" fontana, Brid.

Bartramia pomiformis, Iledw.

" radicalis, Beauv.

12. BEYEffi.

Leptobryum pyriforme, Schimp.
Webera albicans, Schimp.
Bryum argenteum, L.

" caespiticium, L.

" capillare, L.

" pseudotriquetrum, Schwg.
Rhodobryum roseum, Schrb.
Mnium stellare, Reich.

" hornum, L.

" Drummondii, Br. & Sch.

" punctatum, Hedw.

" cuspidatum, Hedw.
affine, Bland.

13. AULACOMNIE^.

Aulacomnium palustre, Schwgr.

" heterostichum, Br. & Sch.

14. POLYTRICHE.E.

Atrichum angustatum, Beauv.
" undulatum, Beauv.

" crispum, James.

•>

114 I BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Pogonatum brevicaule, Brid.
" umigerum, Brid.

Polytrichum commune, L.

" juniperinum, Willd.

" perigoniale, Michx.

" formosum, Hedw.

" piliferum, Schreb.

15. BUXBAUIVIIE.E.

Diphyscium foliosum, Mohr.
Buxbaumia aphylla, L.

b. 4'3a<t4M*:ii'g:i.

16. EONTTNALE.2E.

Fontinalis biformis, Sull.
Dichelyma subulatum, Mjrin.

" capillaceum, Br. & Sch.

c. Pleurocarpi.

17. NECKEEEffi.

Cryphaea glomerata, Br. & Sch.
Neckera pennata, Hedw.
Leptodon trichomitrion, Mohr.

18. LEUCODONTE^;.

Leucodon julaceus, Sull.

" brachypus, Sull.

Clasmatodon parvulus, Sull.

19. LESKE.E.

Thelia hirtella, Sull.

" asprella, Sull.

" Lescurii, Sull.
Leskea obscura, Hedw.

" polycarpa, Ehrh.

" denticulata, Sull.

" tristis, Cesat.
Anomodon rostratus, Schiinp.
" attenuatus, Hub.

" obtusifolius, Br. & Sch.

20. ORTHOTHECIE.E.

Platygyrium repens, Br. & Sch.
Pylaisia intricata, Br. & Sch.
" velutina, Br. & Sch.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. JJ5

Homalothecium subcapillatum, Sull.
Cylindrothecium cladorrhizans, Schimp.

" seductrix, Sull.

;< Drummondii, Br. & Sch.

" compressum, Br. & Sch.

Climacium Americanum, Brid.

21. HYPNE.E.

Hypnum minutulum, Hedw.

" scitum, Beauv.

" recognitum, Hedw.

" delicatulum, Linn.

" laetum, Brid.

" acuminatum, Beauv.

" salebrosum, Hoff.

" velutinum, L.

" rutabulum, L.

" Novae-Angliae, Sull & Lesq.

" rivulare, Bruch.

" populeum, Hedw.

" plumosum, Swartz.

" strigosum, HofF.

" Boscii, Schwgr.

" Sullivantii, Spruce.

" hians, Hedw.

" piliferum, Schreb.

" demissum, Wils.

" Novae-Cesareae, Aust.

" recurvans, Schwgr.

" deplanatum, Schimp.

" serrulatum, Hedw.

" rusciforme, Weis.

" Alleghaniense, Muell.

" micrans, Swartz, var. fulvum.

" denticulatum, L.

" Sullivantiae, Schimp.

" sylvaticum, Huds.

" minutissimum, Sull. & Lesq.

" serpens, L.

11(> BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Hypnum radicale, Beauv.

" orthocladon, Beauv.

riparium, Hedvv.

" vacillans, Sull.

" hispidulum, Brid.

" chrysophyllum, Brid.

" stellatum, Schreb.

" uncinatum, Hedw.

" fluitans, L.

" molluscum, Iledw.

" imponens, Hedw.

'• cupressiforme, L.

" curvifolium, Hedw.

" arcuatum, Ldb. ?

" pratense, Koch.

" stramineum, Dicks.

Schreberi, Willd.

" splendens, Hedw.

" Oakesii, Sull.

" triquetrum, L.

B. MUSCI HEPATICI.

Ord. i. RICCIACE.E.

Riccia lutescens, Schwein.
" fluitans, L.
" natans, L.
" arvensis, Aust.

Ord. 2. ANTHOCEROTACE.E.
Anthoceros punctatus, L.

" lsevis, L.

Notothylas orbicularis, Sull.

Ord. 3. MARCHANTIACE.EI.
Marchantia polymorpha, L.
Conocephalus conicus, Dumort.
Asterella hemisphaerica, Beauv.
Dumortiera hirsuta, Nees.
Fimbriaria tenella, Nees.
Lunularia cruciata, Dumort.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA. OF WASHINGTON. 117

Ord. 4. JUNGERMANIACEsE.
Aneura palmata, Nees.
Pellia epiphylla, Nees.
Blasia pusilla, L.
Steetzia Lyellii, Lehm.
Metzgeria pubescens, Raddi.

" conjugata, Lindb.

Frullania Grayana, Mont.

" tamarisci, Nees.

" Virginica, Gottsche.

" brunnea, Spi"eng.

" Eboracensis, Gottsche.

" plana, Sull.

Phragmicoma cucculata ? Nees.
Lejeunia cyclostipa ? Tavl.
" calyculata, Tayl.

" minutissima, Duinort.

Madotheca platyphylla, Dumort.

" porella, Nees.

Radula complanata, Dumort.
" tenax, Lindb.
" obconica, Sull.
Blepharostoma trichophylla, Dumort.
Blepharozia ciliaris, Dumort.
Trichocolea tomentella, Dumort.
Bazzania trilobata, B. Gr.
Lepidozia reptans, Dumort.

" setacea, Mitt.

Calypogeia trichomanis, Corda.

" Sullivanti, Aust.

Geocalyx graveolens, Nees.
Chiloscyphus polyanthos, Corda.
Lophocolea bidentata, Dumort.

" heterophylla, Nees.

" minor, Nees.

Odontoschisma sphagni, Dumort.

" denudata, Dumort.

Cephalozia curvifolia, Dumort.

" multiflora, Lindb.

118 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Jungermania Schraderi, Mart.

Scapania albicans, Mitt. : var. taxifolia, Undw.

" nemorosa, Nees.

" compacta, Duniort; Mir. irigua, Undw.

Plagiocheila asplenioides, Nees & Mont.
" spinulosa, Nees & Mont.

III. A LIST OF THE LICHENS OF WASHINGTON AND

VICINITY.

By Rev. E. Lehnert.

[This great desideratum, a list of our Lichens, is at last supplied, through the indefatigable
labors of Mr. Lehnert, who has also placed it at my disposal.

In a prefatory note accompanying the list, Mr. Lehnert says : " So far as known, the
Lichens of the District comprise 251 species, with 89 varieties, a total of 340 forms. In the
main our species are not as showy as those from the North or South, but have, when com-
pared with the same species from these localities, a dwarfed and depauperate aspect, caused,
possibly, by the dryness of our climate, as we have very warm summers and cold winters "].

(According to Tuckerman's Genera Lichenum Emend).

A. GYMNOCARPI.
I rib. 1. Parmeliacei.

Fam. 1. USNEEI.

Ramalina rigida, Pers.

" calicaris, Fr.

" " var. fraxinea, Fr.

" " " farinacea, Scluer.

" " fastigiata, Fr.

" " " canaliculata, Fr.

Cetraria Fahlunensis, Schrer.

" juniperina, Ach.

" aleurites, Fr.

'■ " var. placorodia, Tuck.

" Fendleri. Tuck.

" lacunosa, Ach.

" ciliaris, Ach.

" saepincola, Ach.

" Oakesiana, Tuck.

Evernia furfuracea, Mann.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON.

119

Usnea barbata, Fr.

" " var. florida, Fr.

" hirta, Fr.
" " " rubiginia, Michx.

" " " dasypoga, Fr.

" " " ceratina, Schser.

" angulata, Ach.
" trichodea, Ach.
Alectoria jubata, L.
Fam. 2. PAKMELIEI.

Theloschistes chrysophthalmus, Norm.

" var. flavicans, Wallr.

" parietinus, Norm.

" polycarpus, Ehrh.

" lychneus, Nyl.

" concolor, Dick.

" " var. effuse, Tuck.

Parmelia perforata, Ach.

" " var. hypotropa, Nyl.

crinita, Ach.
saxatilis, Fr.
physodes, Ach.
Borreri, Turn.

" var. rudecta, Tuck,
laevigata, Nyl.
tiliacea, Floerke.

" var. sublaevigata, Nyl.

" " sulphurosa, Tuck.

cetrata, Ach.

colpodes, Nyl.

olivacea, Ach.

caperata, Ach.

conspersa, Ach.

ambigua, Ach.
Physcia speciosa, Nyl.
" hypoleuca, Tuck.

" comosa, Nyl.
" granulifera, Tuck.

120 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Physcia aquila, Nyl. var. detonsa, Tuck,
pulverulenta, Nyl.
'• stellaris, L.

" " var. aipolia, Nyl.

" astroidea, Ach.

" crispa, Nyl.

" tribacia, Tuck.

" caesia, Nyl.

" obscura, Nyl.

" " var. endochrysea, Nyl.

" adglutinata, Nyl.

Pyxine sorediata, Fr.
Fam. 3. PELTIGEREI.

Sticta pulmonaria, Ach.
" amplissima, Mass.
" quercizans, Ach.
Nephroma lsevigatum, Ach.

" Helveticum, Ach.

Peltigera scutata, Leightf.
" aphthosa, Hoff.

" polydactyla, Hoi).

" rufescens, Hoff.

" horizontalis, Hoff.

" canina, Hoff.

" " var. spongiosa, Tuck.

" " " sorediata, Sch.

" " " spuria, Ach.

Fam. i. PANNAKIEI.

Endocarpiscum Guepini, Nyl.
Physma luridum, Mont.
Pannaria lanuginosa, Koerb.
leucosticta, Tuck,
microphylla, Delis,
tryptophylla, Mass.
molybdaea, Tuck,
nigra, Nyl.
rubiginosa, Delis.
Fam. 5. COLLEMEI.

Pyrenopsis Schaereri, Nyl.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON.

121

Omphalaria phyllisca, Tuck.
Collema myriococcum, Arn.
" pycnocarpum. Nyl.

" cyrtaspis, Tuck.

" verruciforme, Nyl.

leptaleum, Tuck.
" flaccidum, Ach.

" nigrescens, Ach.

ryssoleum, Tuck.
" pulposum, Nyl.

" limosum, Ach.

" pustulatum, Ach.

Leptogium bolacinum, Stizenb.
" minutissimum, Mass.

" lacerum, Fr.

" pulchellum, Nyl.

" Tremelloides, Fr.

" juniperinum, Tuck.

" chloromelum, Nyl.

" myochroum, Tuck.

" " var. saturnium, Sch.

" " " tomentosum, Sch.

Fain. 6. LECANOREL

Placodium cinnabarrinum, Anz.
vittelinum, Ach.

" var. aurellam, Ach.

cerinum, Naeg. & Hepp.

var. sideritis, Tuck.
" •' pyracea, Nyl.

aurantiacum, Naeg. & Hepp.
microphyllinum, Tuck,
camptidium, Tuck,
ferrugineum, Hepp.

var. pollinii, Tuck.
" " discolor, Willey.

Lecanora rubina, Ach.
" muralis, Schaer.

" pallida, Schaer.

12'2 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Lccanora pallida, var. cancriformis, Tuck.

" " " angulosa, Hoff.

" miculata, Ach.

subfusca, Ach.

" var. allophana, Ach.

" " " distans, Ach.

" " " coilocarpa, Ach.

" " •■ argentata, Ach.

" ■ Hageni. Ach.

" atra, Ach.

" varia, Nyl.

" " var. symmicta, Ach.

" " " saepincola, Fr.

" Cupressi, Tuck.

" pallescens, Schser.

" " var. rosella, Tuck.

" tartarea, Ach.

" cinerea, Sommer.

" ' " var. lsevata, Fr.

" lacustris, Nyl.

" fuscata, Th., Fr.

" privigna, Nyl.

" " var. pruinosa, Auctt.

" Clavus, Koerb.
Rinodina oreina, Mass.

" sophodes, Mass.

" " var. atrocinerea, Nyl.

" " " confragosa, Nyl.

" " " exigua, Fr.

" " " tephraspis, Tuck.

" constans, Tuck.

" milliaria, Tuck.

Pertusaria communis, DC.

" multipuncta, Nyl.

" velata, Nyl.

" pustulata, Nyl.

" Wulffenii, DC.

" leioplaca, Schser.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 123

Pertusaria globularis, Ach.
Conotrema urceolatum, Tuck.
Gyalecta Pineti, Fr.

" cupularis, Schzer.

geoica, (?) Ach.
lutea, Tuck.
Urceolaria scruposa, Snif

" " var. parasitica, Sommerf.

n " " gypsacea, Nyl.

" actinostoma, Pers.

Myriangium Curtissii, M. & B.

Iiih. I. liecidcaeei.

Fam. 1. CLADONIEI.

Cladonia Papillaria, Hoff.

" pyxidata, Fr.
i- " var. Pocillum, Ach.

'■ alcicornis, Floerke.

" symphycarpa, Fr.
« " var. epiphylla, Nyl.

" Mitrula, Tuck.

" cariosa, Spreng.

» decorticata, Floerke.

" fimbriata, Fr.
u » var. tubseformis, Fr.

i< " " radiata, Fr.

" gracilis, Fr.

« " var. verticillata, Fr.

ii « " hybrida, Schser.

it u " cervicornis, Floerke.

" degenerans, Floerke.

" Santensis, Tuck.

" csespiticia, Fl.

" furcata, Fr.

ii 1' var. subulata, Fl.

ii ii " racemosa, Fl.

" rangiferina, Hoff.

,, ii var. sylvatica, L.

,, «' " alpestris, L.

«< uncialis. Fr.

124 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Cladonia macilenta, Hoff.

" Floerkiana, Fr.

" pulchella, Schwein.

" cristatella, Tuck.

" leporina, Fr. (var.)

Cystocoleus rupestris, Rabh.

Fam. '2. LECIDEEI.

Baeomyces roseus, Pers.
Biatora rufo-nigra, Tuck.
" coarctata, Th. Fr.
" decolorans, Fr.
" russula, Mont.
" sanguineo-atra, Fr.
" atro-rufa, Ach
" exigua, Fr.
" milliaria, Fr.
" anomala, Fr.
" mixta, Fr.

rubella, Fr.
" " var. spadicea, Ach.

" " " suffusa, Fr.

" " " Schweinitzii, Tuck.

" " " incompta, Nyl.

" " " inundata, Fr.

" " " arceutina, Ach.

" umbrina, Ach.
" chlorosticta, Tuck.
" vernalis, Fr.
" uliginosa, Fr.
" hypnophila, Turn.
" campestris, Fr.
" resinae, Fr.
Heterothecium sanguinarium, Tuck.

" leucoxanthum, Spreng.

" vulpinum, Tuck.

Lecidea contigua, Fr.
" enteroleuca, Fr.
" " var. olivacea, Fr.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 125

Lecidea enteroleuca. var. theioplaca, Tuck.

" arenaria, Fl.
" insularis, Nyl.
" albo-ccerulescens, Fr.
Buellia lactea, Mass.
" lepidastra, Tuck.

atro-alba, Fl.
" parasema, Krb.

" " var. caesio-pruinosa, Nyl.

" " " triphragmia, Nyl.

" " " microcarpa, Nyl.

" dialyta, Nyl.
" myriocarpa, Dl.
" Schaereri, Dnot.

" Elizae, Tuck.
" petraea, Tuck.
" " var. Montagnei, Fl.

" " " Oederi, Krb. ; and others undefined.

Trib. III. Graphidaoei.

Fam. 1. LECANACTIDEA.

Lecanactis chloroconia, Tuck.

Fam. 2. OPEGKAPHEI.

Opegrapha demissa. Tuck.

" varia, Fr.

" " var. notha, Fr.

" " " pulicaris, Fr.

" " " diaphora, Fr.

" rimalis, Fr.
" atra, Nyl.

" vulgata, Nyl.

Xylographa opegraphella, Nyl.

Graphis scripta, Ach.

" " var. limitata, Schser.

" " " recta, Schaer.

" " " serpentina, Ach.

" " " sophistica, Nyl.

" " " assimilis, Nyl.

" dentritica, Ach.

126 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Graphis dentritica, var. inusta, Ach.
" tricosa, Ach.

nitidia (?), Nyl.
Fain. 3. ARTHONIEI.

Arthonia pyrrhula, Nyl.
" rubella, Nyl.

" cinereo-pruinosa, Schger.

" cinnabarina, Wallr.

Arthonia lecidella, Nyl.
" lurida, Ach.

" patellulata, Nyl.

" astroidea, Nyl.

" epipasta, Ach.

" macularis, Fr.

" obscura. Ach.

" punctiformis, Ach.

" polymorpha, Ach.

" taediosa, Nyl.

" spectabilis, Fl.

" anastomosans, Ach.

Mycoporum pycnocarpum, Nyl.
Trlb. IV. 4'aliciaoei.

Acolium tigillare, Dnot.
Calicium trichiale, Ach.

" brunneolum, Ach.

subtile, Fr.
" trachelinum, Ach.

" turbinatum, Pers.

" leucopodum, Nyl.

" albo-nigrum. Nyl.

B. ANGIOCARPI.
Trib. \. Verrucariacci.

Fam. \. ENDOCARPEI.

Endocarpon miniatum, Scheer.

" " var. complicatum, Schfer.

" " " aquaticum, Schaer.

" arboreum, Schwein.

" rufescens, Ach,

" pusillum. 1 [edw.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA. OF WASHINGTON. 127

Fam. 2. VEKRUCARIEI.

Staurothele difractella, Tuck.

" Drummondii, Tuck.

" umbrina, Tuck.

Trypethelium virens, Tuck.
Sagedia lactea. Kbr.
" oxyspora, Tuck.

" cestrensis, Tuck.

Verrucaria epigsea, Ach.
" margacea, Nyl.

" nigrescens, Pers.

" rupestris, Schrad.

" muralis, Ach.

Pyrenula thelena, Tuck.
" micula, Fl.

" punctiformis, Naeg.

fallax, Nvl.
" gemmata, Naeg.

" hyalospora, Tuck.

" glabrata, Mass.

" Santensis, Nvl.

" nitida, Ach.

lactea, Tuck.
" subprostans, Tuck.

" falliciora, Nyl.

" leucoplaca, Kbr.

" thelomorpha, Tuck.

IV. CHANGES IN NOMENCLATURE.

[The recent published works of Drs. Gray and Vasey have made necessary many changes
in the nomenclature of our species. It has been suggested that these changes be deferred
\intil the publication of a second edition of the " Flora,'- but this has seemed to be inadvis-
able, as it must bo some years before a second edition can be brought out, if ever, and if we
are constantly confronted by the old names we shall never become familiar with the new and
correct ones.]

295. Ribes rotundifolium, Michx., = Ribes oxycanthoides, Linn.

Pointed out by Mr. Walter Deane, of Cambridge, who has
carefully compared it at the Gray Herbarium.
395. Eupatorium pubescens, Muhl., = Eupatorium rotundifolium, L.,

var. ovatum, Torr.

128 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

412. Solidago stricta, Ait., = Solidago neglecta, Torr. & Gr.

414. Solidago Virga-aurea, L., var. humilis, Gray. = Solidago humilis,
Pursh.

416. Solidago elliptica, Ait., = Solidago Elliottii, Torr. & Gray.

417. Solidago arguta, Ait., = Solidago juncea, Ait.

418. Solidago altissima, L., = Solidago rugosa, Mill.

439. Aster miser, L., (Ait. of Gray's "Manual"), = Aster vimineus,

var. foliolosus, Gray. (?)

440. Aster simplex, Willd., = Aster paniculatus, Lam.

442. Aster carneus, Nees, = Aster salicifolius, (Lam.) Ait.

443. Aster sestivus, Ait.,= Aster junceus, Ait.

445. Aster puniceus, L., var. vimineus, Torr. & Gray, = Aster puni-
ceus, L., var. lucidulus, Gray.

449. Diplopappus linearifolius, Hook., = Aster linearifolius, L.

450. Diplopappus umbellatus, Torr. St Gray, = Aster umbellatus, Mill.

451. Diplopappus cornifolius, Darl., = Aster infirmus, Michx.
473. Eclipta procumbens, Michx., = Eclipta alba, Hasskarl.

489. Verbesina Siegesbeckia, Michx. = Verbesina occidentalis, Walt.

510. Lappa officinalis, Allioni, = Arctium Lappa, L., var. (?)

512. Cnicus discolor, Gray, = Cnicus altissimus, Willd., var. discolor,

Gray.
520. Cynthia Dandelion, DC, = Krigia Dandelion, Nutt.
523. Hieracium venosus, L., var. subcaulescens, Gray, = Hieracium

venosus, Gray.
526 Taraxacum Dens-leonis, Desf. , = Taraxacum officinalis, Weber.

529. Lactuca Canadensis, L., var. integrifolia, Gray, = Lactuca integri-

folia, Bigel.

530. Mulgedium acuminatum, DC, = Lactuca acuminata, Gray.

531. Mulgedium Floridanum, DC, = Lactuca Floridana, Gaertn.

532. Mulgedium leucophaeum, DC.,= Lactuca leucophaea, Gray.

533. Nabalus albus. Hook., = Prenanthes alba, L.

534. Nabalus Fraseri, DC, = Prenanthes serpentaria, Pursh.

644. Physalis viscosa, L., of Gray's Manual, = Physalis Virginiana,
Mill, of Syn., Fl. of N. A. This change has been pointed out
by Mr. Deane.

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 129

832. Quercus stellata, Wang., = Quercus obtusiloba, Michx., as adopted
by Sargent in his " Forest Trees of N. A.," vol. ix, Tenth Cen-
sus of United States.

S37. Quercus Muhlenbergii, Engel, = Quercus prinoides, Willd., as
adopted by Sargent.

1101. Vilfa aspera, Beauv. ==Sporobolus aspera, Kth.

1 105 Agrostis alba, L., = Agrostis vulgaris, var. alba, Vasey.

1 1 14. Calamagrostis Nuttalliana, Steud., = Deyeuxia Nuttalliana, Vasey.

11 24. Tricuspis seslerioides, Torr. , = Triodia seslerioides, Vasey.

1 129. Glycera aquatica, Smith, = Glycera arundinacea, Kth.

1 140. Eragrostis poaeoides, Beav.,= Eragrostis minor, Host.

1141. Eragrostis poaeoides, var. megastachya, Gray. = Eragrostis major,

Host.

1 165. Gymnostichum Hystrix, Schreb., = Asperella Hystrix, Willd.
1187. Panicum pauciflorum, Ell.. = Panicum scoparium, Lam.

1 198. Erianthus alopecuroides, Ell., = Panicum saccharoides, Michx.

1199. Andropogon furcatus, Muhl., = Andropogon provincialis, Lam.

1201. Andropogon argenteus, Ell., = Andropogon argyraeus, Schultz.

1202. Andropogon Virginicus, L., = Andropogon dissitiflorus, Michx.
1204. Sorghum nutans, Gray. = Chrysopogon nutans, Benth.

V. NEW LOCALITIES FOR RARE SPECIES.

26. Aconitum uncinatum, L.

Near Clifton Station, Va., Sept. 20, 1885, by Prof. Ward.
78. Thlaspi arvense, L. Field Pennycress.

Below St. Elizabeth's, May iS, 1884, by Prof. Ward.
106. Silene nivea, DC.

Alexander's Island, June 25, 1SS5. Mr. J. A. Allen.
300. Drosera rotundifolia, L.

Sarracenia Swamp, May 10, 1S85; also at Fort Ethan Allen,
by Mi". William Palmer.

304. Callitriche Austini, Engelm.

Brightwood, May 10, 1885. Mr. J. A. Allen.
415. Solidago rigida, L.

Woodley Park, in fruit, Oct. 18, 1885. Prof. Ward and myself.

130 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

551. Gaultheria procumbens, L. Wintergreen.

Found on the Mt. Vernon estate, Va , in October. 1884, by Mr.
William Hunter.

5S9. Asclepias rubra, L.

Vicinity of Falls Church, Va:, Miss M. A. Hayes, July 11, 1S85.
599. Enslenia albida, Nutt.

Alexander's Island. June 25, 18S5. Mr. J. A. Allen. Below
Chain Bridge, in fruit, Sept. 12, 1885. Prof. Ward and
myself.
627. Lithospermum canescens, Lehm.

North side of Woodley Park Road, first bend above the bridge.
Collected May 17 and 21, 18S4. Prof. Ward.

629a. Heliotropium Europseum, L. Heliotrope.

Alexandria, Va., near the ship-yard, July 4, 1SS4. Prof. Ward.
672. Buchnera Americana, L.

Near Clifton Station, Va , Sept. 20, 1885. Prof. Ward.

732a. Scutellaria parvula, Mx. Scullcap.

Kengla's Woods, June 4, 1884. Prof. Ward.

741. Plantago cordata, Lam.

Poplar Point, on the Eastern Branch, October 26, 1S84. Prof.
Ward and myself. Important on account of its greater ac-
cessibility.

805. Cacalia reniformis, Muhl.

Alexander's Island, June 25, 1885. Mr. J. A. Allen.
S35. Quercus Michauxii, Nutt.

Near " Owl Bridge," (Northwest Branch). A large fine tree,
quite typical. Found by Mr. II. W. Henshaw and myself,
September 11, 1885.
849. Quercus heterophylla, Mx.

A fine tree of this species was discovered near Convalescent
Camp, Virginia, June 29, 18S4, by Prof. Ward. In fine
fruiting condition, October 5, 1884. " The affinities ot this
specimen with Q. Phellos are closer than in any ol" the
forms hitherto found. The leaves resemble in almost every
respect those which I collected from the tree now standing
in the Bartram estate, Philadelphia, south of the mansion.
and which is said to have grown from an acorn of the

ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF WASHINGTON. 131

original Bartram Oak planted by the discoverer." Pro!'.
Ward.

874. Arisaema Dracontium, Scbott.

Analostan Island, June 20, 18S5. Titus Ulke.

918. Corallorhiza odontorhiza, Nutt. Coral-root.

Found by Mr. Benj. Miller in Kengla's Woods, near the Foundry
Run, May 7, 18S4, and therefore constituting a case of the
vernal blooming of an autumnal species. " I visited this
spot in company with Mr. Miller on June 4, 1S84, an{ ^
found the plant nearly extinct. It had died down and
withered away without fruiting. On September 28, 1884.
I found it in abundance along the Northwest Branch of the
Potomac." — Prof. Ward.

919. Corallorhiza multiflora, Nutt.

A single specimen, the second ever seen here, was found on the
Northwest Branch of the Potomac, Sept. 28, 1884.

946. Smilacina stellata, Desf.

High Island, May 11, 1885. Four or five fine specimens found.
Hugh M. Smith.

951. Erythronium albidum, L.

Found at " Vis-a-vis" Landing, opposite Three Sisters, April
26, 1885. Mr. H. M. Smith.

1211. Tsuga Canadensis, Carriere.

Left bank of Pope's Head Creek, one-half mile below Clifton
Station, Va., Sept. 20, 1885. Prof. Ward.

1216. Pellaea atropurpurea, Link.

Found June, 1885, by Mr. H. M. Smith, on the outer walls of
the causeway connecting Analostan Island with the main-
land. Plants numerous.

1223. Asplenium augustifolium, Michx.

Found at head of Asplenium Run, above Aqueduct Bridge, Sept.
19, 1885. Mr. H. W. Henshaw and myself.

1226. Camptosorus rhizophyllus, Link.

Near Burnt Mills, Md., July 1, 1885. Mr. H. W. Henshaw.
Also High Island, April, 1885. Mr. J. A. Allen.

IP) 2 BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

«

1220. Woodwardia Virginica, Smith.

Below the Reform School, Aug. 19, 1S85. Mr. Win. Palmer and
myself.

VI. SPECIES EXCLUDED.

172 Vitis vulpina, L. , = Vitis riparia, Michx.

The specimens mentioned in the -'Flora" that were referred to
this species, were collected in flower May 22. 1SS1. ami in
young fruit June 4. 1SS1, at Sandy Landing, Md. Speci-
mens in mature fruit collected Sept. 12, 1SS5, on the rocks
below Chain Bridge. From characters furnished by the
seeds and the diaphrams separating the nodes of the stem,
as pointed out by Dr. Engelmann, this is referred to the
V. riparia, Michx.

2£0. Lespedeza vioiacea, Pers..= L. reticulata, Pers.

This species has been compared at the Gray Herb, bv Mr.
Walter Deane, and referred as above.

973. Juncus marginatus, var. bifloms, Engl., = Juncus marginatus,
Rostk.

Compared at the Gray Herbarium by Mr. Walter Deane who
pronounces this to be the type and not the variety.

1251. Lycopodium complanatum, L., var. sabinaefolium, Spring., =Ly-

copodium complanatum, L.

The forms referred to this variety were collected two miles
north of Bladensburg, in young fruit, July 20, 1879, and
at Clifton Station, Va., Oct. 12, 1SS4, by Prof. Ward.
These have been submitted to Prof. L. W. Underwood,
of Syracuse University, and he pronounces them all to
be complanatum. This variety, or, as it has been lately
known, species, sabincefolium, is distinguished by having
the stems leafy to base of spikes, or nearly so, elongated,
creeping, usually underground; branches erect, short, di-
chotomous ; leaves 4-rowed, apparently terete.

In complanatum the stems are flattened, leaves of two forms,
imbricated — oppressed in 4 ranks. These specimens are
certainly anomalous in having the stems creeping under-
ground, but otherwise they agree well with the type.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

A.

Page.

Address, fifth presidential xxxiii, 1

Address of retiring president xxvi

Address, sixth presidential xliii, 35

Alaskan birches xxxvii

Alaskan willows xxxvii

Albatross, steamer, recent explorations of xxxi

Allen, W. T., drawings of plants by xxxvi

Alternation of generation, origin of, in Hydro-
Medusae xxxi

Amendments to the constitution xxvii, xxxiii

American continent, oldest known fauna on

the xxxi

Arid plains, grasses of the xxxi

Arrearages, penalty for xxvii

Attila cozumelae, n. s 23

Auks, shedding of the bill in xxxi

B.

Bacteria, Koch's method of isolating and culti-
vating xxxvii

Baker, F., on muscular equilibration xxxvii

Barnard, W. S., on a metal specimen case xl

Barnard on environmental digestion xli

Barnard on mounting specimen tubes xli

Bean, T. H., on a new Chimaerid fish xxix

Bean on a new fish related to Miiroenoides... xxxviii

Bean on collecting at Cozumel island xxxvi

Beyer, H. G., on genital apparatus of Lingula..xxxv

Beyer on intracellular digestion xxxv

Beyer on physiological effects of cocaine xxxix

Biology, application of, to geological history,

xxxiii, 1

Birches, Alaskan xxxvii

Birds, new species of, from Cozumel island,

xxxvi, 21

Bones of the skull, exhibiting relations of xxxv

Borneo, natural history and people of xxxiv

Brooks, W. K., on the origin of alternation of

generation in the Hydro-Medusae xxxi

Business, order of xxvii

c.

Cabbages, white rust of xxxviii

Cardinalis saturatus, n. s 24

Carnivora, molar teeth of xxxviii

Centurus leei, n. s 23

Cetacea, development of mammary glands in. xxxvi
Cetaceans, origin of flukes of xxxiv

Page.

Chemical Society, annual address before xl

Checkering, J. W., on drawings of plants xxxvi

Chimaerid fish, new to the Western Atlantic... xxix

Chipmunk, new species of, from California 25

Chipmunk, new subspecies of the eastern xlii

Chlorostilbon forficatus, u. s 28

Cholera bacillus, exhibition of xxxvii

Cicada, notes on the periodical xxxix

Cocaine, physiological effects of xxxix

Collation at close of meeting xxix

Committee, auditing xxxii

Committee on communications, 1885 viii

Committee on communications, 1886 x

Committee on lectures, 1885 viii

Committee on lectures, 1886 x

Committee on publications, 1885 viii

Committee on publications, 1886 x

Committee on the trees and shrubs of Y/ash-

ington, 1885 viii

Committee on the trees and shrubs of Wash-
ington, 1883 x

Committees, appointment of. xxvi

Committees, standing, 1885 viii

Committees, standing, 1886 x

Constitution xxv

Constitution, amendments to xxxiii

Council, composition of xxv

Council, duties of xxvi

Council, list of, 1885 vii

Council, list of, 1886 ix

Council, quorum of xxvi

Cover-glasses, device for storing xli

Cozumel island, collecting at xxxvi

Cozumel island, new birds from.. xxxvi, 21

Cyclorhis insularis, n. s 22

D.

Dall, W. H.,onarecent journey in Florida... xxxviii

Dall on deep sea mollusks xxxix

Dall on the marsupium of Milueria minima xxxvi

Dall on zoological position of Turbinella xxix

Datura stramonium, multiplication in gynce-

cium of xlii

Dendroica petechia rufi vertex, n. sub-s 21

Digestion, environmental xli

Digestion, intracellular xxxv

Diller, J. S., on a trip to Mt. Shasta, Cal xxxiv

Diseases, contagious, new method of producing

immunity from 2<)

133

134

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Page.

Dolphin, a spotted, Prodelphimis doris xl

Dolphin, bottle-nose, habits of the xxx

E.

XXXIV

... 23

Earth, weighing the

Empidonax gracilis, n. s

Enemies, our invisible xxxiv

Euetheia olivacea intermedia, n. sub-s 22

Ex-presidents, members of the council. ..xxvi, xxxiii

F.

Fats, animal and vegetable, how to distinguish

between xxxix

Fauna, the oldest known, on the American con-
tinent xxxi

Fee, annual xxvn

Fee, initiation xxvn

Fin-rays in fishes, development of xxxii

Fish, Chimaerid, new to the western Atlantic. ..xxix

Fish Commission, Wood's Holl station of xl

Fish-culture, a necessity for maintaining the

shad fishery xxxix

Fishes, development of fin-rays in xxxii

Fish, new species, related to Muraenoides xxxviii

Fiske, John, on results in England of the

surrender of Cornwallis xxxiv

Flint, J. M., on collecting and studying fora-

minifera xh

Flora of Washington, additions to xxxi, 106

Flora of Washington, changes of nomencla-
ture in 127

Flora of Washington, species excluded from 132

Flukes of cetaceans and sirenians, origin and

homologies of ...xxxiv

Foraminifera, method of collecting and study.

ins-

.xli

Foreign service, the machinery of our xxxiv

Foreman, Edward, notice of death of xxxvii

Fort Conger, plants from xxx

Fossils of Primordial group of St. John, N. B..xxxi

G.

Gallaudet, E. M., on the language of signs and
combined method of teaching deaf-mutes... xxxiv

Genital apparatus of Lingula xxxv

Geological history, application of biology to,

xxxiii, 1

Germs and germicides xxxiv

Gihon, A. L., on sanitary ignorance among
high and low xxxiv

Gill, T., on the classification of the Monotre-
mata xx x

Ginkgo tree, recent flowering of, in Washing-
ton xxxix

Goode, G. B., on natural history features at
the New Orleans Exposition xxxii

Goode on the beginnings of natural history
in America xliii, 35

Grape vine, mildews of the xli

Grasses of the arid plains xxxi

Page.

Greely, A. W., marine invertebrates obtained
by xxxii

Guereza monkey xxxviii

Gutta percha, use of, in making casts of fos-
sils x^xv

Gynceeium of Datura stramonium, multipli-
cation in the xlii

H.

Haidi gambling sticks, casts from xxxix

Harporhynchus guttatus, n. s 21

Henshaw, H. W., on hybrid quail xxxviii

Hepaticae of Washington HO, 116

History, oldest, in the light of newest

science xxxiv

Hitchcock, R., exhibition of cholera bacillus

by xxxvii

Hitchcock on the red snow xli

Hornaday, W. T., on natural history and peo-
ple of Borneo xxxiv

Hough, M. B. W., notice of death of xxix

Human body, mutilations of the xlii

Hybrid quail xxxviii

Hydro-Medusae, origin of alternation of genera-
tion in xxxi

I.

Intracellular digestion xxxv

Isosoma, phytophagic habit in xxx

J-

Japanese plum in Washington xxxvii

Johnson, A. B., on plants from Fort Conger xxx

Johnson on the shipworm and sheepshead. ...xxxvii
Johnson, Blanchard F., notice of death of xxix

K.

Knowlton, F. H., on additions to the flora of
Washington •' 10(S

Knowlton on Alaskan willows and birches. ..xxxvii

Knowlton on the multiplication in the gynce-
eium of Datura stramonium xlii

Koch's method of isolating and cultivating bac-
teria * xxvii

L.

Lainpornis thalassinus, n. s 23

Language of signs xxxiv

Lectures, Saturday, 1885 xxxiv

Lichens of Washington I 18

Life, searching for the first forms of xxxiv

Lingula, genital apparatus of xxxv

Locust, seventeen-year, occurrence of, in Vir-
ginia xxix

M.

Mammary glands, development of, in Cetacea,

xxxvi

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

135

Page.
Marine invertebrates from Camp Clay, Smith

Sound xxxii

Marsupium of Milneria minima xxxvi

Mason, O. T., on easts from Haidi gambling

sticks xxxix

Mason on mutilations of the human body, con-
sidered ethnically xlii

Mason on post-mortem trepanning xxxviii

McDonald, M , on fish-culture in maintaining

the shad fishery xxxix

Meeting, annual xxvii

Meeting, day of xxvii

Meeting, fifth anniversary xxxiii

Meeting, fifth annual xxxii

Meeting, proposed change of day of xxxiv,

xxxv, xxxvi

Meeting, sixth anniversary xliii

Meeting, sixth annual xlii

Meetings, collation at xxix

Meetings, field xxvii

Meetings, notice of xxvi

Meetings, special xxvii

Members, absent xxvii

Members, classification of xxv

Members, election of xxv

Members, foreign xxxiii

Members in arrears xxvii

Members, list of xi

Members, non-resident xxvii

Mendenhall, T. C, on weighing the earth xxxiv

Merriam, C. H., on a new chipmunk 25

Merriam on a new striped squirrel xlii

Merriaui on a new sub-species of chipmunk xlii

Merriam on ornithology in the Department of

Agriculture xli

Mildews of the grape vine xli

Milneria minima, marsupium of xxxvi

Minot, C. S., on meeting of Society of Natural-
ists of E. U. S xxxii

Molacanthus, relations of. xxix

Mola, development of xxix

Mollusks, deep-sea xxxix

Monkey, Guereza xxxviii

Monotremata, classification of the xxx

Mt. Shasta, a trip to xxxiv

Mursenoides, new fish related to xxxviii

Murdoch, J., on marine invertebrates from

Greely Expedition xxxii

Musci of Washington 110, 111

Muscular equilibration xxxvii

Mutilations of the human body, considered

ethnically xlii

Myiarchus platyrhynchus, n. s 23

N.

Name of the Society xxv

Natural history, the beginnings of, in Amer-
ica xliii, 35

Page.
New Orleans Exposition, natural history feat-
ures at xxxii

Objects of the Society xxv

Officers, classification of. xxv

! Officers, election of xxvi

Officers, election of, for 1835 xxxiii

Officers, election of, for 1883 xlii

Officers, list of, 1885 vii

Officers, list of, 1886 ix

Ornithology in the Department of Agriculture... .xli

Ornithorhynchus xxxiv

Oysters, new method of raising seed xl

Paulownia imperialis, phyllotaxy of xxxvi

Philosophical Society, annual address before,

xxx, xl

Phocaena Dalli, new species of porpoise xxxii

Phyllotaxy of Paulownia imperialis xxxvi

Physiological effects of cocaine xxxix

Plants added to Washington, 1884-86 106

Plants, drawings and paintings of, by W. T.

Allen xxxvi

Plants from Fort Conger xxx

Plants, new localities for rare species of, in

Washington 129

Pocket rats, the American xli

Porpoise, new species of xxxii

President, duties of xxvi

Presidential address xxvi

Presidential address, fifth annual xxxiii, 1

Presidential address, sixth annual xliii, 35

Primordial group of St. John, N. B., fossils

of xxxi

Proceedings xxix

Prodelphinus doris from off Cape Hatteras xl

Quail, hybrid.

R.

Rathbuu, R., on the Wood's Holl station of the

Fish Commission xl

Red snow xli

Ridgway, R , on new birds from Cozumel

island xxxv, 21

Right whales, recent capture of xxxv

Riley, C. V., on mildews of the grape vine xli

Riley on periodical cicada xxxix

Riley on phytophagic habit in Isosoma xxx

Ryder, J. A., on a new system of raising seed

oysters xl

Ryder on development of fin-rays in fishes xxxii

Ryder on development of mammary glands in

Cetacea xxxv;

136

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.

Page.
Ryder on development of the sunfish, Mola ....xxix
Ryder on origin of flukes of cetaceans and sire-
Mans xxxiv

Salmon, D. E.. on our invisible enemies, the

plagues of animal life •" xxxiv

Salmon, D. E., and Smith, T., on immunity

from contagious diseases 29

Sanitary ignorance xxxiv

Schuyler, E., on the machinery of our foreign

service xxxiv

Seaman, W. H., on the Japanese plum xxxvii

Secretaries, duties of '. xxvi

Sections, formation of xxvi

Seventeen-year locust, occurrence of, in Vir-
ginia xxxi

Shad fishery, fish-culture a necessity for main-
taining the xxxix

Shedding of the bill in auks xxxi

Sheepshead xxxvii

Shipworm, Teredo navalis xxxvii

Sirenians, origin of flukes of xxxiv

Smith, S., on recent explorations of steamer

Albatross xxxi

Smith, T., on Koch's method of isolating and

cultivating bacteria xxxvii

Smith on storing cover-glasses xli

(See Salmon, D. E.) 29

Society of Naturalists of E. U. S., annual meet-
ing of xxxii

Specimen case, new metal xl

Specimen tubes, method of mounting xli

Spindalis benedicti, n. s 22

Squirrel, on a new striped xlii, 25

Stejneger, L,., on the shedding of the bill in

auks xxxi

Sternberg, G. M., on germs and germicides. ..xxxiv

Sunfish, development of xxix

Surrender of Cornwallis, results in England of
the xxxiv

Tamias macrorhabdotes, u. s xlii, 25

Tamias striatus lysteri, n. sub-s xlii

Taylor, T., on how to distinguish between ani-
mal and vegetable fats xxxix

Taylor on the white rust of cabbages xxxviii

Treasurer, duties of xxvi

Trepanning, post-mortem xxxviii

Trilobites, loss of vital force in xli

Troglodytes beani, n. s 21

True, F. W., on a male Guereza monkey xxxviii

True on a new species of porpoise, Phocaena
Dalli xxxii

Page.

True on a spotted dolphin xl

True on change of meeting day xxxiv

True on Ornithorhynchus, a mammal that

lays eggs xxxiv

True on the American pocket rats xli

True on the capture of right whales xxxv

True on the habits of the bottle-nose dolphin.. ..xxx
Turbinella, zoological position of xxix

V.

Vasey, G., on the grasses of the arid plains xxxi

Vegetable cells xxxvii

Vice-presidents, duties of xxvi

Vireo bairdi, n. s 22

Vireosylvia einerea, n. s 22

Vital force, loss of, in trilobites xli

w.

Walcott, C. D., on loss of vital force in trilo-
bites xli

Walcott on searching for the first forms of

life xxxiv

Walcott on the oldest known fauna on the

American continent xxxi

Ward, L. F., on additions to the flora of Wash-
ington xxxi

Ward on occurrence of the seventeen year

locust in Virginia xxxi

Ward on phyllotaxyof Paulowniaimperialis..xxxvi
Ward on recent flowering of the. ginkgo tree,

xxxviii

Washington, additions to flora of xxxi, 106

Washington, changes of nomenclature in flora

of 127

Washington, Hepaticse of 110, 116

Washington, lichens of 118

Washington, musci of 110, 111

Washington, new localities for rare species of

plants 129

Washington, recent flowering of ginkgo tree

in xxxix

Washington, species excluded from flora of 133

Welling. J. C, on oldest history in the light of

newest science xxxiv

Willows, Alaskan xxxvii

White, C. A., on the application of biology

to geological history xxxiii, 1

White on use of gutta percha in making casts

of fossils xxxv

White on vegetable cells xxxvii

White rust of cabbages xxxviii

Wortman, J. L., on a method of exhibiting

relations of bones of the skull xxxv

Wortman on molar teeth of caruivora xxxviii

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Biological Society of Washington.

PUBLISHED WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

Volume III.
July i, 18S4, to February 6, 18S6.

/

WASHINGTON :

PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY.

1886.

■'t*-:r