proceedings: anthropological society 335 



The second paper was b}^ Ned Dearborn, Notes on the breeding of 

 ■minks in captivity. Among the habits of the mmk attention was called 

 to their profound diurnal sleep, cries emitted, polygamous nature, and 

 cat-like character of food. The speaker stated that the period of ges- 

 tation was found to be 42 days; number of young at birth 1 to 8; eyes 

 of young remain closed for one month after birth ; young may be weaned 

 at 6 weeks; minks breed when a year old; their fur is suitable for mar- 

 ket at a year and a half; experiments showed that different types of 

 diet had no effect on quality of fur. The speaker concluded that breed- 

 ing of minks for commercial purposes was possible. The paper was 

 discussed by Messrs. Wetmore, A. B. Baker, and Cooke. 



The third paper was by M. W. Lyon, jr., Endamoeba gingivalis and 

 pyorrhea. The speaker discussed the cause of pyorrhea or Rigg's dis- 

 ease, the Endamoeba gingivalis, recently discovered bj'- Dr. Allen J. 

 Smith and others. He called attention to the pathologic lesions pro- 

 duced by the Endamoeba and by the various bacteria associated with 

 it; mentioned the amoebicidal action of emetin hydrochlorid adminis- 

 tered systemically or locally; and reviewed some of the early references 

 to the Endamoeba before it was considered the cause of pyorrhea. 

 The paper was illustrated by lantern slides of Gros' original drawing 

 of the organism, and of several photomiLTOgraphs and drawings of 

 living and stained Endamoebas, bacilli, and spirochaetes from a case of 

 pyorrhea. The paper was discussed by Messrs. Stiles and Goldman. 



M. W. Lyon, Jr., Recording Secretary. 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 479th meeting of the Society was held Tuesday evening, Decem- 

 ber 15, 1914, in the lecture hall of the Public Library. The speaker of 

 the occasion was the distinguished German scholar, Geheimrat Dr. 

 Felix von Luschan, director of the Museum fiir Volkerkunde in Ber- 

 lin and for a number of years in charge of the archeologic excavations 

 carried on under the auspices of the German government in Asia Minor. 

 Doctor von Luschan had been a delegate in attendance at the Austra- 

 lian meeting of the British Association in September, but owing to the 

 outbreak of the war has been compelled to make a somewhat extended 

 stay in this country before endeavoring to return home. He is utiliz- 

 ing this time in a study of race mixture in the American negro, having 

 already visited for this purpose a number of points in the southern 

 states, including Tuskegee, and traced out for future analysis several 

 hundred pedigrees of mixed Afro-American origin. He is accompanied 

 by Mrs. von Luschan, who is herself a competent authorit}^ and an 

 efficient helper in his anthropological investigations. 



In his lecture before the Society Doctor von Luschan chose for his 

 subject, The excavation of a Hittite capital, dwelling chiefly upon his 

 work at Boghaz-Keui, the site of the capital of the ancient empire of 

 the Hittites, who, fifteen centuries before the birth of Christ, occupied 

 the central portion of Asia Minor and for hundreds of years held the 



