3IO 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



glimpses of the cottages on the further 

 shore of the harbor. In the foreground 

 the -water is shown as though sectioned , 

 to disclose the submarine portions of 

 the wharf piles with their bewildering 

 d'splay of living forms. In the center 

 of the foreground a broken pile is com- [ 

 pletely covered by a colony of edible 

 mussels {Mytilus edulis) over which 

 has spread the pink and saffron clus- 

 ters of a delicate hydroid {Tubularia 

 crocea). Other species of hydroids are 

 interspersed with fleshy masses of rosy- 

 pink "sea-pork" (Am^roucium pellu- 

 cidum), while glowing dully in the 

 center is an orange-red colony of the 

 beautiful red-beard sponge (Microciona 

 prolifera). A graceful yellow and 

 pink-tinted jellyfish {Daxtylometra 

 quinquecirra) with frilled mouth and 

 fringed umbrella floats near the pile, 

 and a school of squid (Loligo pealii) 

 swims back and forth among the long 

 thread-like filaments of the alga known 

 as the "devil's shoe-string" (Chorda 

 fihivi). The pile to the left is en- 

 crusted with the tubes of serpulid 

 worms (Hydrcides dianthus), whose 

 many-colored gill circlets are protruded 

 flower-like from all parts of the pile, 

 and overhanging these are the yellow 

 masses of the ascidian Molgula man- 

 hattensis. On this and the neighboring 

 piles are also scattered in wild profu- 

 sion sea-anemones, starfishes, moss- 

 animals and several species of as- 

 cidians besides those already men- 

 tioned. Most of these are sessile ani- 

 mals and form an admirable illustra- 

 tion of adaptation to an inactive life 

 and a diet of microorganisms, as con- 

 trasted with the swiftly moving and 

 voracious fishes and squid shown else- 

 where in the group. 



Other groups wliich have been com- 

 pleted in this series are the ' ' shore 

 mollusk group," showing the animals 

 of a sand-spit at Cold Spring Harbor, 

 Long Island, and the "Woods Hole 

 marine worm group. ' ' A group to 

 illustrate the invertebrate animals of a 

 Nahant rock tide-pool is under con- 

 struction. 



THE IN TEEN AT I OX AL MEDICAL 

 CONGRESS 



Three important international con- 

 gresses were arranged for the month 

 of August, two of them on this con- 

 tinent. The Congress of School Hy- 

 giene meets at Buffalo just after the 

 issue of the present number of the 

 Monthly. The Geological Congress 

 met at Toronto, and the International 

 Medical Congress at London earlier in 

 the month, but only the cabled accounts 

 of the latter congress are at hand in 

 daily papers. It is gratifying that 

 these should be somewhat full, The 

 Boston Transcript, for example, de- 

 voting as much space as two columns 

 in a single issue to cabled despatches. 

 The proceedings of a medical congress, 

 more especially those parts relating to 

 public hygiene, can with advantage be 

 brought to the attention of the widest 

 possible public. 



International medical congresses were 

 organized in Paris in 1867 and have 

 since been held at four-year periods. 

 The second congress was held in Lon- 

 don thirty-two years ago under the 

 presidency of Sir James Paget. Among 

 those who took part in its proceedings 

 were Pasteur, Virchow, Charcot, Koch, 

 Huxley and Lister. Since that time 

 vast progress has been made in the 

 medical sciences and in their applica- 

 tion, but it may be that a generation 

 hence none of those taking part in the 

 present congress will be so widely dis- 

 tinguished. 



The general sessions of the congress 

 were held in Albert Hall. The address 

 in medicine was given by Professor 

 Schauffard, the distinguished French 

 physician; the address in surgery by 

 Dr. Harvey Cushing, recently called 

 from the Johns Hopkins University to 

 Harvard University, and the address 

 in pathology by Professor Ehrlich, of 

 Frankfort. The general addresses were 

 continued on the two following days, 

 when Professor William Bateson spoke 

 on heredity and ~SIt. John Burns, presi- 

 dent of the British Local Government 

 Board, gave an address on public 



