gave the results of his investigations on the tissues of the higher animals as to their power of combining iodide intramolecularly. After administering potassium iodine to fowls and analyzing during ten weeks the eggs and later the tissues, he concludes that the power of combining iodine in the organism belongs only to certain keratins, such as that of the hair, to certain proteids, such as that of the thyroid gland, and to certain fats. Professor Wesley Mills (McGill) spoke of the 'Correlation of the functional and anatomical development of the cerebrum.' Professor Chittenden reported progress in the investigation of the properties of the edible and poisonous fungi which was undertaken by a committee of the Society appointed for this purpose two years ago.

At the afternoon session on Friday, Professor G. Carl Huber presented 'A note on the sensory nerve-endings in the extrinsic eye-muscles of the rabbit-atypical motor endings of Retzius. The author has repeatedly observed these nerve-endings and gave reasons for believing them to be sensory and not motor. In the absence of Professor L. B. Mendel (Yale), a paper by him, on The paths of absorption from the peritoneal cavity,' was read by the President. In a number of experiments upon absorption it was observed that the solution employed appeared in the urine considerably earlier than in the lymph. The author is inclined to the blood-vessel theory of absorption. Drs. P. A. Levene and I. Levin (New York), made a preliminary communication on the absorption of the proteids. Because of their easy identification iodoproteids were studied, being injected into a loop of the intestine and later sought for in the lymph. The results were negative and in so far tend to confirin the accepted theory of absorption by the blood system. By invitation Professor E. O. Jordan (Chicago) gave the results of experiments upon 'The production of fluorescent

pigment by bacteria.' The presence of both phosphorus and sulphur is essential to the formation of this pigment. The relative fluorescigenic values of a variety of chemical bodies were studied. The presence of acid and diffuse daylight are unfavorable to pigment production. Professor C. F. Hodge described for Mr. H. H. Goddard a new brain microtome which is constructed on two new principles: the knife, which is stationary, is level in order to carry liquid in which the section floats, and the brain is moved against the knife. By invitation Dr. L. J. J. Muskens (New York) exhibited an instrument for measuring muscular tonicity in man.

In addition to the above papers, a number of others were read by title. The following were elected members of the Society: Professor W. O. Atwater (Wesleyan), Professor S. P. Budgett (Washington), Dr. A. M. Cleghorn (Harvard), Dr. W. J. Gies (Columbia), Professor W. S. Hall (Northwestern), Dr. Walter Jones (Johns Hopkins), Professor E. O. Jordan (Chicago), Dr. A. P. Mathews (Tufts), Professor B. Moore (Yale), Dr. C. C. Stewart (Columbia) and Professor F. F. Westbrook (Minnesota). There were elected as members of the Council for 1898-'99: Professors Chittenden, Howell, Lee, Lombard and Porter. The details of the establishment of the American Journal of Physiology, under the auspices of the Society, were presented and made a part of the records. The Journal, now in its second volume, has abundantly justified its existence.

FREDERIC S. LEE, Secretary.

SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. The Discharge of Electricity through Gases. By J. J. THOMSON. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1898. Small 8vo. Pp. 203. Price, $1.00.

This volume contains, in modified form, the four lectures delivered by Professor Thomson

on the occasion of the sesqui-centennial celebration at Princeton, in October, 1896. As the subject is one that is rapidly developing, the author has added the results of numerous investigations that have been published since that time; so that the present volume gives an excellent presentation of the subject as it now stands.

Although the electrical discharge in gases has been investigated in its various phases ever since the study of electricity itself began, it is only in the last five or six years that our knowledge of the subject has begun to take systematic and satisfactory form. Careful observations had been made by hundreds of physicists, and the scientific literature abounded with descriptions of phenomena of great interest and undoubted scientific importance. But our knowledge of the subject consisted of a mass of isolated facts; no satisfactory underlying theory had been found by which these facts could be correlated. The development of such a theory is largely due to Professor Thomson, and I know of no place where it is so satisfactorily treated as in the volume before us. The book is not one requiring the preparation of a specialist in order that it may be understood; the greater part can be read with pleasure and profit by one having only an elementary knowledge of electrical science. On the other hand, I should not speak of the book as containing merely a 'popular' account of the subject, especially if the word 'popular' is to be regarded as having the same significance as inaccurate. Writers of popular science are, unfortunately, only too prone to look upon the two words as synonymous. Professor Thomson, however, possesses the rare power of writing upon a difficult subject with scientific accuracy, and at the same time in such a way as to be intelligible to the lay reader.

The contents of the book are arranged under three chief sub-divisions, namely: the Discharge of Electricity through Gases; Photo-electric Effects, and Cathode Rays. This classification is not wholly satisfactory, for each sub-division contains a great deal more than is indicated by its title. But the numerous sub-headings, to which reference is made in the table of contents, make it a matter of no great difficulty to find any special topic sought. A fairly com

plete series of references to original sources constitutes a feature that cannot be too highly commended.

To one unfamiliar with the subject the first twenty pages will probably prove the most difficult portion of the book. The topics there discussed are the various methods by which a gas may be electrified: for example, by chemical processes, by electrolysis, and by the splashing of liquids. The essential peculiarities of the conducting power of gases are first brought into prominence in the account of the effect of Röntgen rays in giving to a gas the power of conducting electricity. Only a few weeks after the discovery of the X-rays it was found that an electrified body rapidly lost its charge when exposed to these rays. This property of the new rays was independently and almost simultaneously discovered by at least five different physicists, Professor Thomson being one of these, and has since been the subject of numerous investigations. The subject is one in which experimental errors are especially difficult to avoid, and a great deal of confusion naturally existed at first regarding the laws of the phenomenon and the conditions of its occurrence. Practically all of the more reliable experiments are now seen to support the view that the discharge of an electrified body by the Röntgen rays is due to the fact that the gas surrounding the body is made a conductor by the action of these rays. It is thought that the condition developed in the gas is somewhat similar to that in an electrolyte, i. e., ions are formed, some carrying positive charges and others negative charges. A charged body placed in the 'ionized' gas would attract one kind of ions and repel the other. Upon coming into contact with the charged body the ions are supposed to give up their charges and cease to exist as ions. The gas is thus rendered capable of conducting electricity in much the same manner that an electrolyte conducts. But an essential difference exists between the two cases, due to the fact that the ionized condition of the gas is only temporary; in less than a second after the Röntgen rays have ceased the ions have recombined and the gas is as good an insulator as ever.

Conducting power may be imparted to a gas

not only by the action of Röntgen rays, but also by extreme heat and by the chemical changes that occur in flames. These cases are considered in the second part of the book. Here also the effects are readily explained upon the theory that the conduction is electrolytic. In fact, it is the development of this theory in its application to the various types of gaseous conduction that constitutes the most characteristic feature of the book. An accidental error in one of the formulas on page 37, whose consequences appear also in some of the equations on the two succeeding pages, may cause annoyance to one reading hurriedly. A serious misprint occurs on page 42, where 10-" appears several times as 1011.

An interesting account is given, in the second division of the book, of the curious effect of light in causing the discharge of negative electricity. This effect is produced chiefly by the shorter light waves, and preeminently by the invisible ultra-violet rays of the spectrum. It depends not only upon the gas surrounding the charged body, but also upon the nature of the charged surface. The electro-positive metals, such as zinc, sodium and rubidium, show the effect best. The fact that phosphorescent substances are especially sensitive to this effect, though as yet unexplained, is of undoubted significance.

The third section of the book, devoted to cathode rays, contains an excellent account of the recent experiments on this subject. Such an account is of especial value because of the extraordinary rapidity with which our knowledge of these rays has advanced. It is interesting to note that the study of cathode rays, as well as the study of the other phenomena of vacuum tubes, has received a fresh impetus since the discovery of the X rays; if this study leads to important discoveries, as it now seems almost certain to do, I think that these must be regarded as indirect results of the discovery of Röntgen.

It is quite out of the question to call attention in this brief review to the many interesting and important subjects that are discussed throughout the book. The discussion is often brief and lacking in the detail that would be useful to one making a specialty of the subject.

But the book is written by one whose own investigations have contributed largely to the development of each of the topics considered, and who is now engaged in further research along the same lines. This fact gives to the treatment a charm impossible of attainment otherwise, and adds to the book a suggestiveness and inspiration which must appeal to all who read it. ERNEST MERRITT.

Text-book of Physiology. Edited by E. A. SCHÄFER, LL.D., F.R.S. Vol. I. New York, The Macmillan Co.

This new text-book of physiology follows out the idea of combining under one editorship the writings of different men who treat of the special subjects in physiology with which they have had personal and intimate experience. In the face of the great and ever widening scope of the science of physiology, no work of general authority can be written in any other manner to-day.

In illustration of this we find in this volume, which covers merely the chemical side of physiology, reference to fully six thousand original articles. The book is highly creditable to the eleven English physiologists who have contributed to it, and it strengthens the general opinion that in physiology the English are second only to the Germans. The Germans, however, have no such comprehensive and thorough reference text-book as this. The work is hardly one for medical students, but is intended for the teacher, for the advanced investigator, or for reference in the medical library.

The article on the chemistry of the digestive processes is ably written by B. Moore. He attacks the theory of the cleavage of proteid into two molecules, the 'hemipeptone' and 'antipeptone,' for example, and claims that the existence of the 'hemi-' bodies has never been proved. He suggests that trypsin may act on a single molecule of albumose which may yield a greater or lesser quantity of amido acids according to the albumose used, and that the residue of the molecule which cannot be further attacked by trypsin is antipeptone. In the discussion of the composition of the fæces, Moore, in common with almost every text-book of physiology, makes the mistake of giving too

important a place to the residues of the food stuffs, omitting to state that the fæces consists rather of the residues of the excretions which pour into the intestinal tract.

In the article on the Chemistry of Respiration,' written by M. S. Pembrey, the statement is made that in Voit's respiration apparatus the moisture expired by the animal may sometimes be deposited in the conducting tubes before reaching the vessel where it is caught and weighed. With proper manipulation, however, this does not take place, and such a statement should not be too lightly made when it tends to invalidate a large quantity of carefully executed work.

The articles by Schäfer himself are characterized by breadth of thought and a balanced judgment which often causes him to make clear a middle ground between opposing theories. In his article on the 'Mechanism of the Secretion of Milk' he is inclined to doubt that milk is the product of the bodily disintigration of the lactic cells, but that, as in formation of saliva, granules are extruded from the cells, which granules dissolve to form the milk.

J. H. Langley has written a very complete monograph on the subject of the Salivary Glands, which includes his own important work.

The other authors are W. D. Halliburton, Arthur Gramgee, E. Weymouth Reid, E. H. Starling, J. S. Edkins, D. Noël Paton and F. Gowland Hopkins, all familiar names to the working physiologist.

The edition published here is identical in make up to that published in England and is everything that could be desired.

GRAHAM LUSK. UNIVERSITY and BelleVUE HOSPITAL MEDICAL COLLEGE, NEW YORK CITY.

SCIENTIFIC YEARBOOKS.

THE second volume of L'Année biologique, edited by Professor Yves Delage and published at Paris by Schleicher frères, follows the excellent lines laid down in the first volume and represents the best work accomplished hitherto by the various yearbooks recently established in France. The subjects are treated under twenty chapters, each beginning with a critical

survey, usually written by MM. Delage and Poirault, followed by a bibliography and abstracts of most of the papers. The digests are often detailed, e. g., the notice of Cope's Primary Factors of Organic Evolution extends to 14 pp., and the account of the contents of a book or paper is usually clearly separated from such criticism as is given. The subjects treated and the number of titles given are as follows:

The cell, 171.

Sexual products and fertilization, 8.
Parthenogenesis, 6.

Asexual reproduction, 12.
Ontogenesis, 52.

Monstrosities, 71.

Regeneration, 46.
Grafting, 10.

Sex and sexual characters, 28.

Polymorphism, metamorphism and the alternation
of generations, 29.
Latent characters, vacat.
Correlation, 26.

Death, immortality, the germ plasm, 10.
Morphology and general physiology, 275.
Heredity, 57.
Variation, 78.

The origin of species, 110.
Geographic distribution, 50.

The nervous system and mental functions, 203.
General theories, 48.

It is unfortunate that this recently-issued volume refers to 1896, instead of 1897, but the preparation of these 808 large pages represents a great amount of labor for which all students of the biological sciences should be grateful.

M. BINET'S L'Année psychologique (Schleicher, Paris) combines the publication of special papers with a review of the progress of psychology in 1897. MM. Binet and Vaschide contribute separately and in conjunction no less than twenty-two researches to the present volume, and there are in addition two papers by M. Bourdon and one by M. Leclère. The papers, which deserve special review, are chiefly concerned with the individual differences of school children and contain many interesting suggestions, though, as a rule, the work is not carried far enough to secure definite results. The bibliography, compiled in the first instance by Drs. Farrand and Warren for The Psychological Review, contains 2,465 titles, and

about 90 of these papers are abstracted and reviewed, chiefly by M. Binet.

L'Année philosophique, of which M. Pillon is the editor and Alcan the publisher, in the issue for 1897 reaches its eighth volume. It contains articles by M. Renouvier on the idea of God, by M. Dauriæ on the philosophy of Paul Janet, and by the editor on Bayle and the altruism of Epicurus. The editor also offers a review of French philosophical publications extending to 140 pages. There is no bibliography.

MESSRS. LEMCKE AND BUECHNER, New York, are the American agents of a newly established bibliography of French periodicals, edited by M. Jordell. The example set in America was last year followed in Germany, and we are now glad to welcome a similar enterprise in France. In this first issue 146 periodicals are included, a subject index and an authors' index being provided. Scientific journals are not, as a rule, considered, but it is exactly articles that appear in the general journals that are most likely to escape the attention of scientific men, and the usefulness to them of such an index is evident. It should be accessible in all the larger libraries.

GENERAL.

IT is stated that progress has been made with the preparation, for publication, of the extensive scientific material collected during the voyage of the Fram, and that there is a likelihood that the first volume of memoirs will be issued during the coming summer or autumn. The collection will be in quarto form, and the separate memoirs will be the work of a number of specialists in the subjects treated, each being paged separately. The total number will probably be about twenty, forming from three to five volumes. The memoirs will be published at the expense of the Nansen Fund for the advancement of science.

A QUARTO memoir upon Polypterus is being projected at Columbia University as the result of the Senff Expedition to the Nile. Specialists in the nerves, muscles, blood vessels and visceral anatomy will divide the work, which is designed to be of the most exhaustive character. Mr. Harrington is taking charge of the distribution of the Senff collection

to specialists in all parts of the country and in Europe, with the understanding that the results will be published by the New York Academy of Science, and thus constitute a special and uniform series, which can finally be issued in compact form.

PROFESSOR TITCHENER, of Cornell University, is preparing for publication early in the fall'A Laboratory Manual of Experimental Psychology,' which will be published by The Macmillan Company. The work will be in two volumes and will detail an elementary course of laboratory work. The first volume will deal with qualitative analysis, the second with the exact measurement of mental processes. Each volume will be published in a student's and a teacher's edition, the former giving instructions as regards the conduct of experiments, control of introspection, etc., and the latter furnishing references, cognate questions and exercises and standard results.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

In the Australian Bush and the Coast of the Coral Sea. RICHARD SEMON. London and New York, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xii +552. $6.50. The Principles of Bacteriology. FERDINAND HUEPpe. Translated by DR. E. O. JORDAN. Chicago, The Open Court Publishing Co. 1899. Pp. viii + 467. $1.75.

The Dawn of Reason or Mental Traits in the Lower
Animals. JAMES WEIR. New York and London,
The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xiii +234.
$1.25.

A Brief Introduction to Modern Philosophy. ARTHUR
KENYON ROGERS. New York and London, The
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. viii+ 360.
The Story of the Cotton Plant. F. WILKINSON. New
York, D. Appleton & Co. 1899. Pp. 191.

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES.

THE Journal of Physical Chemistry, January. 'Pressure temperature Diagrams for Binary Systems,' by Wilder D. Bancroft.' 'The Dissociative Power of Solvents,' by Louis Kahlenberg and Azariah T. Lincoln: a study of electrical conductivity of a number of salts in non-aqueous solutions, more fully noticed in 'Notes on Inorganic Chemistry.' Boiling-point curves,' by E. F. Thayer: the boiling point curves for mixtures of alcohol and chloroform,