ical optics, has never been translated into English, is a reproach to both Great Britain and America. To make its valuable contents accessible to those who do not find it easy or convenient to read a foreign language will be conferring a boon on many scientific investigators in the vast and expanding territory which this book was originally intended to cover. Incidentally, the proposed English edition will be a memorial of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Hermann von Helmholtz, whose influence on modern scientific thought in nearly every direction has perhaps been as widespread and permanent as that of any of his great contemporaries in the nineteenth century. It is estimated that the cost of translating, editing, and publishing this memorial volume (or volumes) will be $5,000 or more. It is particularly desired that every individual who is interested in the success of this project and in the advancement of the science of light and vision in this country will have an opportunity of contributing towards it. Contributions, no matter how small, may be sent to Adolph Lomb, Esq., treasurer of the Optical Society of America, care of Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, Rochester, New York. Make cheques payable to "Adolph Lomb, Treasurer." Any one subscribing as much as $15 will receive a copy of the complete work when it is issued. JAMES P. C. SOUTHALL, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, November 28, 1921 THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS THE thirty-ninth meeting of the American Society of Naturalists, as has been noted in SCIENCE, is to be held in Toronto on December 29 and 30, with two symposiums of unusual interest-one on genetics and variation, by the zoologists, the other on orthogenesis, in which Henderson, Osborn, Bateson and others will take part. It is interesting to recall that for the first three years the society was under a paleontologist, Alfred Hyatt; for the two succeeding years under a zoologist, Grove K. Gilbert; then for two years under a comparative anatomist, Harrison Alien. Then in turn the society was presided over by the botanist Goodale, the physiologist Martin, the geologist Rice, the paleontologist Osborn, and a succession of paleontologists and zoologists until 1902, when the psychologist Cattell presided, since which time it has been chiefly under the guidance of zoologists. The keynote to the success of the Society of Naturalists was the discovery that a more representative body of scientific men can be assembled at a winter meeting than at a summer session. This society has proved to be the mother of societies, because from its broad original organization have gone forth the six national American societies of Geology, Anatomy, Physiology, Botany, Zoology, and Paleontology, all holding winter meetings in various parts of the United States, from the eastern seaboard to Chicago. The zoologists alone cling to the mother Society of Naturalists and hold their meetings in the same time and place. Of the founders of the Naturalists in the year 1883 there now survive the following: Libbey, Osborn, Scott, Rice and Clarke, the latter, Professor Samuel F. Clarke of Williamstown, being one of the first to answer the call. HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN THE PROGRAM OF THE SECTION OF BOTANY FOR THE TORONTO MEETING ARRANGEMENTS have been completed to hold the Section G program on Wednesday afternoon, December 28. Since this program will be of interest to others than the members of this Section the speakers are given below. Address of the Retiring Vice-President, Dr. Rodney H. True, "The physiological significance of calcium for higher green plants." Symposium on The Species Concept " From the viewpoint of the systematist: Dr. Charles F. Millspaugh. From the viewpoint of a geneticist: Dr. George H. Shull. From the viewpoint of a morphologist: Dr. R. A. Harper. From the viewpoint of a bacteriologist and physiologist: Dr. Guilford B. Reed. From the viewpoint of a pathologist: Dr. E. C. Stakman. The address of the retiring vice-president will be thirty minutes in length, and each speaker in the symposium has agreed to limit his paper to fifteen minutes. This should allow considerable time for discussion. ROBERT B. WYLIE, Secretary THE TWENTIETH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICANISTS THE Twentieth International Congress of Americanists, which was to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 1921 but had to be postponed, will be held definitely from August 20 to 30, 1922, in connection with the celebration by Brazil of its first century of independence. The organizing committee of the congress announces a rich and attractive program, and in view of the importance of Brazil to American Anthropology it is hoped that a special effort will be made by Americanists in this country to attend the congress, or at least to become members. Application for membership, with the dues of $5, may be sent directly to the Secretary of the coming Congress, Sr. Domingos Sergio de Carvalho, Praça 15 de Novembro N. 101, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; or to the writer. was not recovered. Judging from the newspaper half-tones, the cranium is of a more lowly type than any Neandertal cranium yet discovered; it remains to be seen after a full report has been published whether we may not have here a new species of Homo about midway between Pithecanthropus erectus and the Homo neandertalensis. The face is intact; the prognathism of the upper jaw is extremely accentuated, this being possible partly because of the unusual maxillary height between the anterior nasal spine and the alveolar margin. The nasal bridge is fairly prominent, a character which has recently come to be recognized as belonging to the Neandertal race. The brow ridges are more pronounced than in any other known fossil human skull. The cranial height and breadth are correspondingly small, pointing to a comparatively low cranial capacity. This precious relic is at the British Museum, South Kensington. It will be examined by Dr. A. Smith Woodward and Professors Arthur Keith and Elliott Smith, to whom science is so much indebted for their reports on the Piltdown remains; the result of their study of the cranium from the cave at Broken Hill mine will be awaited with intense interest. If the efforts to find the lower jaw should be rewarded, they may result in throwing new light on the Piltdown paradox. GEORGE GRANT MACCURDY DIRECTOR, AMERICAN SCHOOL IN FRANCE SCIENTIFIC BOOKS Physiology and Biochemistry in Modern Medicine. By J. J. R. MACLEOD. 3d edition. St. Louis, C. V. Mosby Co., 1920. Price $10. The third edition of this interesting textbook has been largely revised and partly rewritten. The changes are uniformly improvements, and the whole book is well written and filled with important methods and facts which are interestingly discussed. Dr. Macleod describes the advances in the medical sciences, particularly in their bearing upon clinical medicine and human physiology. This point of view is most important and far too often neglected in our American schools of medicine, where the medical sciences and clinics are so thoroughly dissociated. The book should continue to be of general interest to the medical profession as it is of nearly equal value to medical students and to our practising physicians. It is somewhat unfortunate that the publishing has been made so elaborate. If there were fewer colored illustrations and fewer plates the price of the book could probably have been markedly reduced without a corresponding reduction of its instructive value. J. C. AUB HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL Triassic Fishes from Spitzbergen. By ERIK A:SON STENSIÖ. Upsala, 1921. This is one of the most important paleontological memoirs which has appeared in recent years. It represents an attempt to distinguish fossil fishes as organisms, rather than as horizon markers. The geological aspects of the question are, however, thoroughly discussed. Stensiö is a student of Professor C. Wiman of Upsala, whose contributions during the last few years have interested paleontologists in the fauna of ancient Spitzbergen. Wiman has sent or led expeditions into Spitzbergen since 1908, and on the basis of the material thus assembled the present writer Stensiö has based his account. The quarto, representing Part I. of Stensiö's studies, consists of 307 pages of printed matter, 35 plates and 90 figures in the text. The presswork coming from Vienna is excellent. The plates represent photographic reproductions of the fossils, with Stensiö's interpretations of the anatomy lettered in white ink in the photographs. The results are especially pleasing and easy of reference. Elasmobranchs, dipnoans, crossopterygians and three families of Actinopterygii constitute the fauna and Stensiö has described and interpreted his findings in a very excellent manner. Especially interesting are his accounts of the SPECIAL ARTICLES INHIBITORY EFFECT OF DERMAL SECRETION OF THE SEA-URCHIN UPON THE FERTILIZABILITY OF THE EGG In the early part of September of this year (1921), while working in the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass.,1 I happened to find a striking fact that the eggs of Arbacia punctulata obtained through the genital pores, as most commonly practised,2 did not develop at all, whereas those taken out from inside the shell developed normally. The results of a few but repeated experiments carried out with regard to this peculiar phenomenon may be given summarily as follows: The eggs which escaped through the genital pores of opened sea-urchins, and were then transferred to clean sea-water in finger bowls, but subjected to no subsequent washing, were seen attracting spermatozoa but no fertilization occurred. These eggs were later washed repeatedly with clean sea-water at various intervals. If simply washed they never developed. But at a fresh insemination these washed eggs began to develop; thus, for example, the eggs washed and inseminated after standing for 50 hours in room temperature were found still capable of developing into normal and healthy 1 My hearty thanks are due to Professor E. B. Wilson for the privilege of the use of a Columbia University table in the Marine Biological Labora tory, and to Professor F. R. Lillie, director, and other members of the staff of the said laboratory for every facility for my work. Further, to Professor E. G. Conklin, who has kindly criticized and corrected the manuscript, I express my sincere thanks. 2 See F. R. Lillie, Biol. Bull., XXVIII., 4, 1915, p. 231. plutei. Of those which had stood for more than 57 hours, however, only a very few reached the four-cell stage, no further development taking place. The eggs taken out from inside the shell, on the other hand, showed invariably a high fertilizability, even when much of the "perivisceral fluid" ("blood") had been mixed in water and no washing followed. After more than 28 hours' standing in room temperature, and without subsequent washing, they could be fertilized and they developed into plutei, while among those which had stood for more than 47 hours very few could segment and reach the gastrula stage.3 The substance, which inhibits the fertilization and which probably can, to some extent, thus prolong the life of the unfertilized egg, has been found to come from the surface of the body of the sea-urchin. This I may call “dermal secretion." If a sea-urchin is opened and inverted over a dry dish for a while some dull yellowish fluid collects in the dish. When the eggs taken out from inside the shell were inseminated in this "dermal secretion," no matter whether the latter had been obtained from male or female animals, fertilization was found inhibited in varying degrees according to the concentration of the fluid. The dermal secretion, when present in a 5 per cent. concentration in sea-water, was found sufficient to inhibit all the eggs from fertilization. In 2.5 per cent. solution about 10 per cent. of the eggs fertilized, and in 1 per cent. solution about 50 per cent. of the eggs developed. When present in less than 0.5 per cent. concentration practically every egg could be fertilized. If, however, the eggs were treated with a strong solution of this substance after fertilization no injurious effect was found on the early development as late as the pluteous stage. The activity of the spermatozoa also does not seem to change in this fluid. The dermal secretion thus obtained from Arbacia has some inhibitory action also on the 8 As to the longevity of the unfertilized egg of Arbacia see A. J. Goldfarb, Biol. Bull., XXXIV., 6, 1918, pp. 393-5; and E. N. Harvey, Biol. Bull., XXVII., 5, 1914, p. 238. eggs of the sand-dollar, Echinarachnius parma, though in a lower degree. In a 15 per cent. solution of this fluid in sea-water none of the sand-dollar eggs were found fertilized, in a 10 per cent. solution about 1 per cent. of the eggs developed, and in a 5 per cent. solution about 20 per cent. of the eggs developed. Through the kindness of Dr. H. C. van der Heyde the substance in question was shown to contain uric acid. From lack of sufficient time I was unable to see if uric acid alone dissolved in sea-water would exhibit the same action upon the egg as the dermal secretion does. The same substance could also be obtained in some other ways: for example, by placing an intact sea-urchin on a dish for a while, no matter which side down, after being washed with fresh water, or by irritating the animal with the sharp point of a glass needle instead of treating with fresh water. On the other hand, sea-water in which some scraped pieces of skin, tube-feet, spines, etc., had been soaked for some time showed very little inhibitory effect upon the fertilizability of the egg. According to Lillie the perivisceral fluid of Arbacia inhibits the fertilizability of the egg, whereas the dermal secretion protects the egg from the inhibitory action of the former. I have found that the perivisceral fluid had very weak inhibitory action upon the fertilizability of the egg; thus in a 50 per cent. solution of the same in sea-water about 5 per cent. of the eggs fertilized, and even in a 75 per cent. solution about 1 per cent. of the eggs could be fertilized. Although it may seem quite contrary to Lillie's conclusions, my results rather confirm his view that the inhibitory action of the perivisceral fluid increases during the period when sexual elements are ripe. Lillie's experiments were mostly made in July, when the gonads of Arbacia are quite active, while the breeding season comes nearly to an end early in September, when my material was obtained. It is well known that among Echinoderms, especially Holothurians, there are several species in which the eggs are fertilized and develop inside the mother's body-cavity. In such cases it seems highly improbable that a 4 Jour. Exper. Zool., XVI., 4, 1914, pp. 570-7. strong inhibitory action of the perivisceral fluid upon fertilization should occur at the breeding season. As to the action of the dermal secretion there seems to be hardly any biological significance, since under natural conditions neither egg nor sperm encounters such a high concentration of the secretion as suffices to inhibit fertilization. Having been engaged in other work, I could not carry out this series of experiments more fully and accurately. But, as I shall not have further opportunity of dealing with this Atlantic species, I have here ventured to communicate this incomplete note, simply with the hope that it may lead to further research on the seasonal changes in the effects of the "dermal secretion" and the "perivisceral fluid" of the sea-urchin upon the fertilizability of the egg. HIROSHI OHSHIMA PRINCETON UNIVERSITY SIMPLE METHOD OF BLEEDING RABBITS THE simplest method of obtaining rabbit's blood, when more than a few drops are necessary, is that of bleeding from the median artery of the ear. This vessel stands out prominently and is easy of entrance, if the animal is full grown. As much blood can be taken by this method as directly from the heart, and either a syringe may be used, or a cannula only, with a tube to receive the fluid. The chief advantage of bleeding from this vessel is that small quantities of blood (3 c.c. to 5 c.c.) may be obtained at frequent intervals (daily, if necessary), each point of entry being successively nearer the base of the ear. Ten or more cubic centimeters may be obtained just as easily. It is occasionally found that even when the needle seems to be safely within the artery, a good flow does not follow. This is sometimes caused by a plug of skin blocking the passage of the blood, but more often it will be found that there are two smaller arteries in place of the single larger one, with a consequently smaller flow in each. Animals which have the single vessel should for this reason be selected. In general, the larger the vessel, the greater is the ease of obtaining blood. Cage for Bleeding Rabbits walls, a somewhat dull point will almost invariably pass around the vessel rather than into it. A small needle is best because of the smaller puncture it makes, and the consequently greater ease of stopping the blood after withdrawal. A 21- to 23-gauge needle has been found by the writer to be most satisfactory. Little trouble is experienced in stopping the flow upon withdrawal of the cannula, usually no more than following withdrawal from a vein. Potassium alum will very quickly stop the bleeding where it will not do so naturally. The marginal ear vein may also be used in the same way, though it is difficult to obtain more than a cubic centimeter or two therefrom on account of the lower pressure and decreased flow in the veins. The needle must, of course, in all cases be inserted opposite to the direction of the blood flow. White rabbits, or rabbits with white ears, are much the most suitable sort for this work for obvious reasons. Injections into and bleedings from ear vessels are greatly facilitated by placing an electric light below the ear in such a position as to make the ear translucent. If alcohol is applied on a bit of ab |