Franz, Two International Congresses. 95 



mine the part played by each of the types of reflexes, the direct and the crossed. 

 After the second operation when the dog was suspended vertically rhythmic move- 

 ments were not produced, nor were they when the animal was suspended horizon- 

 tally. The left leg was moved when it was stimulated, the right not. The right 

 leg did not contribute to locomotion. It can be said, therefore, that the direct and 

 the crossed reflexes may be preserved independently; that the direct reflex is neces- 

 sary for the foot to be kept in a normal position, but that for the rhythmic move- 

 ments, especially those of locomotion, the crossed reflexes are indispensable. 



A general study of the ontogenetic course of some human reflexes was reported 

 by Bychowski (Warsaw), A, and from this some phylogenetic conclusions were 

 drawn. The reflexes studied in detail were the knee kick, the tendo Achillis, and 

 the abdominal in new-born children and during the first few months of life He 

 found that the knee kick was constantly present from birth, and that this reflex is 

 more lively than in adults, which is to be explained by the lack of cerebral control. 

 In the first month the Achillis reflex is seldom obtained. From the middle of the 

 first year until the second year it comes more often until it is a constant occurrence. 

 Similarly with the abdominal reflex, althought it is not so constant as the Achilhs 

 reflex. These facts are taken to indicate that the Achillis and the abdominal 

 reflexes are later phylogenetically than the knee kick; that the knee kick is purely 

 spinal in origin; that the Achillis reflex is controlled by the midbrain, and that the 

 abdominal reflex is under the control of the cerebrum. 



Dr. NovoA Santos (Santiago, Spain), A, reported results and conclusions of a 

 study to determine reflex and conscious time. The time taken up by the purely 

 mental part of a reaction has been calculated by the author from a formulathathe 

 has manufactured for the purpose, and he concludes that the mental time varies 

 for the diff'erent senses, as follows: touch .01 second; vision, .027 second; hearing, 

 .013 second, and so on. From the abstract and the paper it is impossible to properly 

 criticise the work, but it is most interesting that we should find a thoroughgoing 

 interaction hypothesis at the basis of the work. 



A paper of some anatomical interest is that of Dr. S. J. DE Lange (Amsterdam), 

 A, "Sur I'anatomie du faisceau longitudinal posterieur." The author gave the 

 results of his studies on this bundle, made on rabbits, cats, and guinea pigs. Lesions 

 were made in different parts of the medulla oblongata, in the posterior longitudinal 

 bundle, in the nuclei of Deiters and Darkewitsch. Most of the material was 

 examined twenty days after the operation by the Marchi method, and a few speci- 

 mens after three or four days by the NissL method for nerve cells. In addition to 

 personal material the author had access to material showing the efi^ects of lesions 

 of the cochlear nerve, the vestibular, and the trigeminal, and embryological series 

 of the cat and rabbit. The results of the examination of this material are that 

 the principal fibers of the posterior longitudinal bundle are descending fibers, hav- 

 ing their origin in the nucleus of Darkewitsch. There are some ascending fibers 

 at the most distal portion of the bundle, with cell bodies in the medulla oblongata, 

 which go to the nuclei of cranial nerves. Some fibers of the vestibular nerve go by 

 way of the bundle to motor nuclei, but there are more crossed fibers than homo- 

 lateral ones. There are also some fibers from the cochlear nerve, but none of the 

 trigeminal fibers go by way of the posterior longitudinal bundle. 



Professor Winkler (Amsterdam), A, reported on "Labyrinthtonus." Immedi- 

 ately after the extirpation of the labyrinth on one side or after section of the eighth 



