PHYSIOLOGY — LOEB. — POLITICAL SCIENCE — ROWE. 237 



Mr. F. K. Richtmyer has greatly extended his study of photo-electric cells 

 (Physical Review, xxix, p. 71), particularly with reference to their selec- 

 tivity, and has developed a method, by means of such cells, for following the 

 decay of phosphorescence long after it becomes too feeble to permit of visual 

 measurement. 



Miss Louise McDowell has completed her extended observation of sele- 

 nium films and finds the analogy between the change of conductivity of this 

 substance and the decay of phosphorescence such as to suggest a similar 

 origin of the two phenomena. 



PHYSIOLOGY. 



Loeb, Leo, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Grant 



No. 582. Study of the toxic action of the poison of Heloderma suspec- 



tum. (For previous reports see Year Books Nos. 6 and 7.) $500. 



I herewith submit the following report of work done during the past year 



under the grant for the study of the toxic action of the venom of Heloderma 



suspectum. The following problems were investigated : 



(i) The conditions upon which depends the absorption of venom. 



(2) Structural changes produced in the body under the influence of acute and of 



chronic intoxication. 



(3) The conditions upon which the production of hemorrhagic erosions and ulcers 



of the stomach depend under the influence of the venom. 



(4) The influence of venom upon the circulation and respiration. 



(5) The effect of pilocarpine on the structure of the venom-gland. 



(6) The transplantation and regeneration of the venom-gland. 



Researches into the chemical character of the venom are still proceeding. 

 The work will probably be concluded in the course of next winter. 



POLITICAL SCIENCE. 



Rowe, Leo S., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

 Grant No. 577. Study of the federal system of Mexico. $1,500. 



The first few weeks of my stay in Mexico were devoted exclusively to the 

 preparation of a calendar of the available constitutional documents. Fortu- 

 nately this material is fairly complete and makes possible the study, through 

 original sources, of Mexico's constitutional development. At present the 

 following chapters of the monograph are in final form : 



Chapter L — The Bases of the Mexican Federal System and the Antecedents 

 of the Constitution of 1857: 

 Political conditions prevailing prior to 1857. Attempts at constitutional 

 organization, with special reference to the "Iguala Plan" of February 24, 

 1821, the Constitution of October 4, 1824, the "Seven Constitutional Laws" 

 of December 29, 1836, the "Organic Bases" of June 12, 1843, the "Plan of 

 Ayutla" of March i, 1854, and the "Plan of Acapulco" of March 11, 1854. 



16 — YB 



