Record. xxxix 



6. Odors, topochemical sensations, visual sensations, direction of 

 the rays of light, tactile sensations, auditory sensations form an idea 

 which serves as a flexible guide to behavior. 



The final conclusion of all these experiments Dr. Turner summed 

 up as follows: 



Ants are much more than mere reflex machines; they are self-act- 

 ing creatures guided by memories of past individual experience. 

 These associative memories are usually complexes of sensations con- 

 tributed by several different kinds' of sense organs and include an 

 awareness of distances and of direction. 



Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick read a paper on "Atomic The- 

 ories of Energj''." 



A theory involving some sort of a discrete or discontinuous struc- 

 ture of energy has been put forward by Prof. Max Planck of the 

 University of Berlin. The various aspects of this theory are dis- 

 cussed and elaborated by M. Henri Poincare in a paper entitled 

 "L'Hypothese des Quanta," published in the Revue Scientifique (Paris, 

 Feb. 21st). 



A paper in which a discontinuous or "atomic" structure of energy 

 was suggested was prepared by the speaker some fifteen years ago, 

 but not published. In the light of present radical developments in 

 physical theory this paper has historical interest. Planck's theory 

 was suggested by thermodynamical considerations, while in this 

 paper the matter was approached from the standpoint of a criterion 

 for determining the identity of two portions of matter or of energy. 

 A brief abstract of the paper is as follows: 



"Physicists are divided into two opposing schools, according to the 

 way in which they view the subject of energy, some regarding it as 

 a mere mathematical abstraction and others looking upon it as a phys- 

 ical entity, filling space and continuously migrating by definite paths 

 from one place to another. 



"While we now believe that a material body can by no possibility 

 increase continuously in mass, but must do so step by step, the min- 

 imum mass of matter that can be added being the molecule, we believe 

 on the contrary that the energy possessed by the same body can and 

 may increase with absolutely perfect continuity, being hampered by 

 no such restriction. 



"At first sight both matter and energy appear non-molecular in 

 structure. But we have been forced to look upon the gradual growth 

 of a crystal as a step-by-step process, and we may some day, by 

 equally cogent considerations, be forced to regard the gradual in- 

 crease of energy of an accelerating body as also a step process, al- 

 though the discontinuity is as invisible to the eye in the latter case 

 as in the former. 



"Modern views of the identity of matter seem closely connected 

 with modern views of its structure, and the same connection will 

 doubtless hold good for energy." 



