NEWS OF THE SOCIETY

Second Annual Meeting

of The Society for Economic Botany

Held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

May 13, i4, 1961

Nearly one hundred members and guests of the Society participated in the Second Annual Meeting at the M.I.T. Faculty Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For a society of slightly less than three hundred members, scattered in many countries, this is indeed a good showing !

On Saturday the two sessions of contributed papers (20 in all) reflected the broad interests of the membership. Agriculture, botany, chemistry, ethnology, genetics, and phar- macology were all subjects contributing to a full and well-rounded program. Between these two sessions the luncheon speaker, Professor William H. Weston of Harvard University, gave an entertaining, and scholarly talk entitled "Memo to the S.E.B.--Don't overlook the fungi!" Coffee breaks and a cocktail hour provided opportunity for socializing and for follow up discussion with those who had given papers.

Dr. Ernest Guenther, President, presided at the Annual Business Meeting immediately after dinner and then gave the presidential address. His subject was "Essential oils in South America,"--well illustrated by an excellent colored film. To complete a very full day, attendants adjourned to the Laboratory and Library of Economic Botany, Botanical Museum, Harvard University for an Open House.

The high-light of the meetings was reserved for Sunday morning. A program of in- vited papers on the theme "Nutrition for an expanding world population," was presented by six outstanding scientists, representing six areas of economic botany. The picture they presented generated both hope and a sense of futility. Man, in the short term view, can probably provide adequate nutrition for the world's population through improvements in the production and use of plant resources but, inexorably, the accelerating rate of popula- tion increase will outstrip his best efforts and the eventual solution will have to involve pop- ulation control. Readers of Economic Botany can look forward to the publication of these papers in the near future.

Results of the election of officers were announced at the Annual Business Meeting. Offices to be filled were president and councilmen (2). Elected were:

President: C.O. Erlanson, New Crops Research Branch, USDA, Beltsville, Md. Councilmen: (3 years)

R. E. Schultes, Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. I. A. Wolff, Northern Utilization Research and Development Division, USDA, Peoria, Ill.

The Council for the Society elected H. W. Youngken, Jr. to serve as Chairman for an- other year.

QUENTIN JONES Secretary

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