TITLES OF OTHER PAPERS READ IN SECTION I.

THE AIMS AND METHODS OF MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOLS. By Prof. C. M. WOODWARD, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. THE EDUCATION OF PAUPER CHILDREN INDUSTRIALLY AND OTHERWISE. By Rev. JAMES O. BEVAN, Edgebaston, Birmington, England.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF CRIMINAL DEvelopment.

By Prof. LEWIS

M. HAUPT, University of Penn., Philadelphia, Pa. ON INDEXING THE LITERATURE OF SCIENCE. By B. PICKMAN MANN, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

THE PRINCIPLES OF GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS. By Dr. FRANKLIN B. HOUGH, Lowville, N. Y.

PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION. By EDWARD ATKINSON, Boston, Mass.

EXPERIMENTS IN A NEW METHOD OF LAND CULTIVATION BY THE

USE OF DYNAMITE AND THE IMPORTANT RESULTS OBTAINED.

By GEO. W. HOLLEY, Ithaca, N. Y.

A NATURAL SCHEME OF HIGH CULture.

New York, N. Y.

By KNUT FORSBERG,

A NEW RESOURCE FOR THE WOMEN OF THE UNITED STATES: SILK CULTURE. BY LORIN BLODGET, Philadelphia, Pa.

BRIEF OUTLINES OF THE INVESTIGATIONS UPON THE POWER ΤΟ MOVE RAILROAD TRAINS, AND THE MECHANICAL INSPECTION OF RAILROAD TRACKS, AS MADE BY THE DYNAGRAPH AND TRACK INSPECTION CAR. By P. H. DUDLEY, New York, N. Y.

The following title of a paper was accidentally omitted from

SECTION A.

MECHANICAL ARITHMETIC, ILLUSTRATED BY THE AVERAGING MACHINE. By W. S. AUCHINCLOSS, Philadelphia, Pa.

ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE A. A. A. S.1

THE meetings of the Club were very well attended, some thirty gentlemen and ladies having been present; among them some of our best known entomologists. A feature of the meeting was the presence of Dr. Jno. G. Morris well known to all entomologists as one of the pioneers in American Lepidopterology; to whom we owe our first catalogue, and to whose efforts we owe also the first attempt at systematizing our lepidopterous fauna. It will no doubt be a pleasure to our readers to learn that Dr. Morris has announced his intention of returning to his first love Entomology, and we doubt not he will be hailed with sincere pleasure by the new generation of entomologists who have hitherto known him so favorably by what he has already done.

Officers elected.

Sept. 3d. John G. Morris of Baltimore, President; Herbert Osborn of Ames, Ia., Vice-President; John B. Smith of Brooklyn, Secretary.

Dr. Horn called attention to the historical associations connected with the place in which the club then met. On that very spot in the old Museum of Natural History, Thomas Say, poor in pocket, though rich in brain, put up his bed under the skeleton of some large mammal, and this for months was his only home. There also he contracted the illness which resulted in his death.

A paper from D. S. Kellicott, "On the ovipositing apparatus of Nonagria subcarnea" was read by the Secretary.

The last two abdominal segments of the Q are strangely modified. The last is laterally broad, chitinous except at base, terminating in two finger like processes; these are connected at the apices and curve downward. Two concave discs lead to the anal orifice; it is evidently along this channel that the eggs are passed by the ovipositor. On either side, and below the groove is a strong chitinous ridge with saw-like teeth, pointed backward. The other modified ring consists of a heavy band with stout posterior processes for muscular attachment; below are two stout chisels pointing backward and overlapping the first basal teeth of the "saws" of the last ring.

The eggs are laid near the edge of the leaf in a row, and the leaf is then bent over the eggs, carefully cemented down, and a perfect tube thus formed. The manner in which this is done has not been witnessed.

The imago has a very peculiar and very prominent pointed clypeal projection, of use probably in enabling it to pierce the stems of the Typha in which it lives during the larval period and undergoes its transformation.

Printed at the request of the Club.

Mr. Smith cited the presence of similar modifications in other groups of the Noctuidæ.

Mr. John B. Smith exhibited six large photographic plates of Agrotis and gave a review of the remarkable range of variation in structure found in the genus, much greater than in many recognized genera.

In response to a question from Dr. Morris, Mr. Smith said that in the Noctuidae, genera were undoubtedly based upon very thin characters less so than in Coleoptera, however.

Dr. Horn said it was long since laid down by Lacordaire that characters of scarcely specific value in one group formed excellent bases for high divisions in others; genera have no existence in nature and are created only for convenience in dividing up large masses of species to facilitate recognition. Nature has species only. Of late, however, persons afflicted with the mihi itch, finding new species scarce had taken to describing genera. For 12,000 species of Coleoptera some 2000 genera had been described.

Dr. McCook said in the spiders and ants there is plenty of room for persons with the mihi itch, as there is a very large mass of undescribed material.

Mr. B. P. Mann then proposed a combination of the entomological journals of America to be published by a stock company and to combine the good features of each. This proposition provoked much discussion and while the general sentiment was in favor of such a publication the opinions also went generally to the point that it would be still less likely to pay than those now existing. The Am. Entom. Soc. is wealthy enough to publish everything in the way of long systematic papers presented to it, and the "Transactions" would be the natural avenue for such works. The Bull. Bkln. Ent. Soc. covered another ground in the way of reducing to its simplest and most comprehensive form the knowledge of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera: often, as Dr. Horn stated, publishing the result of two weeks' hard work, on less than two pages. It was also published and supported by a Society willing and able to support it. The Can. Ent. was supported by government aid. “ 'Papilio" was established merely to enable certain authors to get into print more rapidly than they could otherwise do, and its editor announced that he saw no reason for its continued existence. "Psyche" has a hard struggle, but will not suspend just yet. A committee was appointed to consider whether such a combination was advisable, and whether and how it could be supported.

This committee afterward reported adversely to any such scheme. Prof. Fernald then proposed a series of very interesting questions provoking considerable discussion, and on these questions he would like the opinions of all who may have considered them.

1. Where a name has once been published by an author, shall we change the mode of spelling to one more consistent with its derivation; e. g.: Treitschke writes Cochylis, probably by mistake; shall we adopt his spelling or the more correct Conchylis?

Dr. Horn said no: some authors merely put together a lot of letters without any meaning whatever and called them names of genera. If such barbarisms were accepted we should not change a name as originally spelled by the author. Mr. Mann agreed with Dr. Horn. Dr. McCook thought we might make the change; but not if thereby the author's right to priority would be destroyed.

2. Where an author publishes a name manifestly incorrect in orthography, and in a later work corrects his own error, shall we adopt his correction?

The sentiment was that when the correction was made within a reasonable time and before the incorrect form had come into general use, it should be adopted.

3. Should the termination of the specific name be made to agree with the generic in gender? e. g., Zeller writes Tortrix viridana; Exartema permundanum; Lophoderus ministranus. Shall this rule be adopted, or shall we adopt the ending in ana irrespective of the gender of the genus?

Dr. Horn said in Coleoptera specific and generic names always agree in gender; where, however, a termination means something; i. e., indicates the family to which an insect belongs, he would use the uniform terminations. Mr. Mann said he did not believe in uniform terminations and while he would not change existing names, neither would he consider himself bound to uniform terminations in proposing new ones.

4. Where a Tortricid species is described with a name not ending in ana should this be changed to ana? e. g., Carpocapsa pomonella? Prof. Fernald said he was adverse to such change, and no one disagreed with him.

5. To what extent should the law of priority be made use of? Shall we make use of the oldest name even if the species has been known nnder another for a long time? If not, for how long a time must a name universally or generally be in use to take precedence over an older name?

The sentiment of the meeting was that discussion of this question would be useless, as no conclusion, even if one were reached, would be respected. 6. What should be taken as the starting point in nomenclature; some have taken the 12th edition of Lin. Syst. Nat. while others have taken the 10th edition?

No decided opinions were elicited though preferences were stated. Prof. Fernald expressed surprise that Hübner's Verzeichniss genera should be so generally ignored, though they were after a fashion described, while Guenee's genera of micros proposed in the Index methodicus, though not sanctioned by one word of description were universally adopted.

Dr. Horn thought the case might be parallel to that of Erichson and Motschulsky both of whom had proposed some generic terms without description; but while Erichson's genera were all adopted because they always were well founded, Motschulsky's were as uniformly ignored because usually unfounded.

Mr. Smith said as to Noctuidae the parallel would hold. Prof. Fernald