62 RECORDS 



W. Bogoras, Ethnological Observations in Northeast- 

 ern Siberia. 



Summary of Papers. 



The paper by Professor Robert MacDougall, in his absence, 

 was read by title. He found (i) that the subjective intensity 

 and saturation of a given constant objective color increases with 

 the retinal area illuminated by it. This increase is most marked 

 in case of green, least marked in case of red. A similar phe- 

 nomenon appears in the grays. The apparent difference in 

 brightness between a patch of gray and a light or a dark back- 

 ground is increased by enlarging the patch. (2) A given area 

 of illumination produces a stronger subjective effect when this 

 area is divided and distributed over the retina than when it is 

 compact. This is perhaps because the area of irradiation is 

 increased by distributing the area of illumination. 



Professor J. E. Lough reported some experiments on the 

 memory of school children. He had tested 682 school girls, 

 ranging in age from 9 to 15. The method employed was the 

 same as that used by Lobsien in a similar investigation of the 

 school children at Kiel. A list of ten words was read to the 

 pupils, who then wrote down as much of the list as they could 

 remember. This was repeated with new classes of words until 

 eight lists had been given. These experiments show : (i) That 

 memory improves but slightly between the ages 9 and i 5, being 

 62 per cent, at 9 and 64 per cent, at 13 and 15. This is in 

 sharp contrast with the results obtained by Lobsien — 38 per 

 cent, at 9, and 75 per cent, at 13. (2) That the amount remem- 

 bered depends upon the class of words composing the list — 

 names of colors having an average of 87 per cent., names of 

 concrete things 75 per cent., words connected with tactile ex- 

 periences 70 per cent., emotions 68 per cent., sounds 58 per 

 cent., abstract words 50 per cent., numbers 45 per cent. (3) 

 That the usual retardation at 1 2 with accelerations at 1 3 is shown 

 in each class of words, with the exception of emotions, where 

 there is a marked retardation at 13, with acceleration at 14. 

 (4) That in each of the lower grades of school (4A-5B) the 



