The meeting of the American Association last year at Minneapolis attracted a larger attendance of botanists than usual. Without much consultation, a meeting of those interested in botany was called, a president and a secretary were chosen, and discussions, short communications, and papers upon botanical subjects listened to. The Botanical Club was thus inaugurated; and before the close of the session it was decided to do what was possible to secure a larger attendance of botanists at the next gathering in Philadelphia. Although during the interim the prospect of a good attendance at the Philadelphia meeting had been fair, the most sanguine were surprised to find that, as early as Monday preceding the opening, a number of botanists had arrived in the city; and by the following day a larger gathering could have been assembled than the total attendance at Minneapolis. The first meeting of the club, of which several were held between Friday and Wednesday, was responded to by an attendance of about thirty--a little below the average attendance for the subsequent meetings. Prof. W. J. Beal, of Lansing, Mich., the president, took the chair; and Prof. J. C. Arthur, of Geneva, N. Y., was appointed secretary to fill the vacancy caused by the absence of Professor Coulter. A paper by Dr. N. L. Britton, of New York, on the composition and distribution of the flora of New Jersey, was read. The surface-features of the State were given, and the corresponding vegetation described. The work of cataloguing the plants is being done under the supervision of the State geological survey. The list at present has reached the very large total of nearly fifty-five hundred. Prof. C. R. Barnes, of La Fayette, Ind., spoke of the course of the fibro-vascular bundles in the leaf-branches of Pinus sylvestris. The two needle-leaves at the end of each short lateral axis contain each a paired bundle. The question at issue was whether this structure represented one or a pair of bundles, or whether it might not be a segment of the fibro-vascular ring of the stem. A study of the early stages shows that the first change in the stem is to divide the fibro-vascular ring into halves at right angles to the plane of the leaves; and subsequently these divide again, sending one branch of each to each leaf. The paper led to much discussion by Professors Buckhout, Macloskie, and others. Dr. Bessey, of Ames, Ia., described the opening of the flowers of Desmodium sessilifolium. They expand partially in the usual manner, then remain stationary till a particular sensitive spot at the base of the vexillum is touched by an insect, when the wings and keel descend with a jerk, the stamens are released, and the insect dusted with pollen.