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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Twelve healthy monkeys were then ex- 

 posed to the bites of the same flies. 

 Six of them contracted the disease and 

 of these three died from it. The au- 

 thors state that they would like to 

 emphasize the fact that this does not 

 appear to be simply a mechanical 

 transference, but rather a biological 

 one, requiring a period of extrinsic in- 

 cubation in the intermediate host. 

 Details are, however, lacking concern 

 ing the period of incubation and the 

 precautions used to avoid passive con- 

 tamination. Dr. Flexner had in one 

 ease obtained infection by a filtrate 

 from bedbugs which had fed on the 

 blood of inoculated monkeys. 



The preponderance of infantile pa- 

 ralysis in August, September and Oc- 

 tober, its prevalence in rural districts 

 and its failure to spread in schools, 

 asylums and the like, suggest an insect 

 carrier, and the fact that the virus is 

 a filterable parasite, invisible with the 

 microscope, suggests an analogy with 

 yellow fever and dengue known to be 

 inoculated by mosquitoes. Dr. Flexner 

 and his fellow workers at the Rocke- 

 feller Institute have, however, adduced 

 strong experimental evidence that the 

 mucous membrane of the nose is the 

 site both of egress and ingress of the 

 virus. While the problem in the case 

 of infantile paralysis is not yet com- 

 pletely solved we may take satisfaction 

 in the progress made by experimental 

 methods in discovering the causes and 

 preventing the occurrence of many of 

 the most terrible diseases. 



SCIENTIFIC ITEMS 



We record with regret the death of 

 Sir George Howard Darwin, Plumian 

 professor of astronomy and experi- 

 mental philosophy at Cambridge Uni- 

 versity; of Dr. Elie de Cyon, formerly 

 professor at the Academy of Sciences 

 of St. Petersburg and the author of 

 important contributions to physiology; 

 of Dr. Oliver Clinton Wendell, assistant 

 professor of astronomy in Harvard 



University; of Eben Jeuks Loomis, for 

 a half century in the Nautical Almanac 

 Office; and of Edwin Smith, connected 

 with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Sur- 

 vey since 1870, known especially for his 

 work on determinations of the force of 

 gravity. 



The Royal Society has awarded its 

 medals as follows: a Royal medal to 

 Professor William Mitchinson Hicks, 

 F.R.S., for his researches in mathemat- 

 ical physics and investigations on the 

 theory of spectroscopy; a Royal medal 

 to Professor Grafton Elliot Smith, 

 F.R.S., for his researches on the com- 

 parative anatomy of the brain; the 

 Copley medal to Professor Felix Klein, 

 of Gottingen, For.Mem.R.S., for his 

 researches in mathematics; the Rum- 

 ford medal to Professor Heike Kamer- 

 lingh Onnes, of Leyden, for his re- 

 searches at low temperatures; the Davy 

 medal to Professor Otto Wallach, of 

 GOttingen, for his researches on the 

 chemistry of the essential oils and the 

 cyclo-olefines; the Darwin medal to 

 Dr. Francis Darwin, F.R.S., for his 

 work in conjunction with Charles Dar- 

 win, and for his researches in vegetable 

 physiology; the Hughes medal to Mr. 

 William Duddell, F.R.S., for his in- 

 vestigations in technical electricity; 

 the Buchanan medal to Colonel William 

 C. Gorgas, of the United States Army, 

 for his sanitary administration of the 

 works of the Panama Canal. 



By the will of the late Morris Loeb, ' 

 formerly professor of chemistry in New 

 York University, large sums are left to 

 scientific, educational and charitable 

 institutions, mainly subject to the life 

 interest of Mrs. Loeb. Harvard Uni- 

 versity will receive $500,000 for th:3 

 advancement of physics and chemistry; 

 $25,000 is given to the American Chem- 

 ical Society for a museum and $2,500 

 to the National Academy of Sciences. 

 Part of the residuary estate goes to the 

 Smithsonian Institution and to the 

 American Museum of Natural History. 



