RECORDS OF MEETINGS 395 



that may be varied in single milligrams, to find thresholds of touch. 

 The balance beam is a glass tube with the scale in millimeters and centi- 

 meters etched upon it. This beam is bent downward at one extremity 

 where a fibre contact surface is attached. The weight is varied by shift- 

 ing a straight wire inside the tube. Two meters of this wire would 

 weigh one grain. Therefore, when a convenient length of it is moved 

 toward the contact end of the beam one millimeter, it adds one milligram 

 to the pressure upon the skin, because the millimeter added to the one 

 end is subtracted from the opposite end. This is a welcome substitute 

 for Willyoung's troublesome pith ball apparatus. It is more rapidly and 

 easily operated and thus avoids fatigue in both persons. The weight can 

 be lowered upon the skin at the samie rate in successive trials. There 

 are no tiny weights to roll and produce tickle sensations that are easily 

 confused with contact sensations. The results are for this reason less 

 variable, and the thresholds are found to be somewhat lower than can be 

 determined with Willyoung's pith weights. 



The other apparatus is an animal maze contrived for the purpose of 

 lengtliening the process of learning that it may be studied to better ad- 

 vantage. The curve of learning derived from experiments with the old 

 form of maze that consists of a few long alleys, drops with an immediacy 

 that shows that the animal learned the trick in his first trial, and that 

 later progress is of an altogether different sort. The maze demonstrated 

 contains no alleys, but consists of triangular rooms with equal sides. 

 The rooms are themselves equal in size and juxtaposed like the cells of a 

 honey comb. When the animal enters a room through a door in the 

 middle of one side, it sees a door in each of the other walls. One of 

 these doors opens into a room with no other door, whereas the other leads 

 to food and friends. The curve found is like that for most of the ex- 

 periments in which the material must be learned gradually. 



The Section then adjourned. 



Egbert H. Lowie, 



Secretary. 



BUSINESS MEETING 



7 Decembkr, 1914 



The Academy met at S:15 p. m. at the American Museum of Natural 

 Histt>ry, President George F. Tvunz presiding. 



The minutes of the last business meeting were read and approved. 



The following candidates for membership in the Academy. recoTu- 

 mended bv Council, wore dulv elected: 



