October 3, 1895] 



X.-l TURE 



DOD 



and of its principal results. In seconding a vote of thanks to 

 Dr. Murray, Prof. Milne-Edwards availed himself of the oppor- 

 tunity of complimenting him, in terms of the highest eulogy, on 

 the completion of the Challenger Reports, the cost of which has 

 been so liberally met by the British (government, and the editor- 

 ship of which has been in the hands of Dr. Murray since the 

 death of the late Sir W)Tille Thomson. 



Prof. VVeismann's lecture to the general meeting treated of a 

 much more abstruse and complicated subject, viz. Germinal 

 Selection. Under this name he introduced what he holds to be 

 a supplementary hypothesis to that of Natural Selection, and by 

 which he explains the fact that useful variations appear to be 

 protected from their very first appearance, so that, when natural 

 selection would require them, they are indeed always there. 

 The simultaneous devehjpment of harmonious variations of 

 ilifl'erent parts of the same organism was at the same time 

 elucidated on similar principles. 



It may be noticed in passing, that these theoretical views of 

 Weismann's approach very closely to views expressed as the 

 result of quite different series of palasontological observations 

 by W. B. Scott and others. It is clear that an explanation of 

 certain groups of facts is yet wanted. Weismann will have to 

 show that his speculations do indeed bridge this gap. 



In the three general meetings other questions of international 

 significance were settled. In the first one, presided over by the 

 Minister of the Interior, Mr. van Houten, the prize to which 

 the name of the present t^mperor of Russia is attached was 

 awarded to Dr. R. T. Scharff, of Dublin. In the second one, 

 of Wednesday, September 19, the conclusions of a report of .M. 

 Bouvier, on the question of bibliographical reform, were unani- 

 mously carried, and seven members of the Controlling Commis- 

 sion nominated, viz. Messrs. Spengel, Sidney Hickson, W. B. 

 Scott, Blanchard, Iloek, Schimkevitch, and Lang. 



Another commission for the definite codification of the rules 

 of zoological nomenclature was appointed, and consists of 

 Messrs. Blanchard, Victor Cams, Jentink, Sclater, and Wardell 

 Stiles. 



In the final meeting, Sir William Flower was nbminated to the 

 presidency of the next Zoological Congress, in i8g8. Upon the 

 proposition of the President of the Congress, in the name of the 

 Committee of Organisation, it was decided to meet in England, 

 the exact place of meeting Iwing left to the consideration of the 

 Ijermanent Bureau. 



During the Congress, as has already been announced in 

 Xai t'RK, three of its most eminent members — Messrs. Weis- 

 mann, Milne-Edwards, and Sir Wm. Elower — received the 

 honorar)' degree of Doctor in Science (Section of Zoology and 

 Botany) from the Senate of the Utrecht University, upon the 

 jiroposal of the Faculty of Natural Philosophy. 



On .Saturday the meeting closed, and the memliers united 

 in a farewell banquet in the concert hall, where the Minister of 

 the Interior was again present. 



On Sunday, the 22nd, the -Amsterdam Zoological Society 

 Natura Artis Magislra invited the members to a luncheon party, 

 and to a visit to its well known gardens and aquarium. 



After this the members of the Congress tiefinitely separated. 

 There is not one of them who has not extended the circle of his 

 personal acquaintance amongst his fellow-workers in the field of 

 zoology. And this extension of the feelings of international 

 scientific fraternity is one of the great advantages of these cosmo- 

 politan gatherings. 



THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 

 PHYSIOLOGISTS AT BERN. 



I. 



OF 



VTONDAV, September 9.— Presidents, Profs. Chauveau and 

 Bowditch. Dr. Boruttau (Gottingen) demonstrated on 

 a platinum wire contained in a glass tube filled with 6 per cent, 

 salt solution, electrical changes (negative variation), analogous to 

 those occurring upon stimulation of a nerve tnmk. The 

 negative variation occurred not only upon electrical, but also 

 xipon chemical and mechanical stimulation of the wire. The 

 apparatus used for the purpose were a Hermann's repeating 

 rheotome and a Thomson's galvanometer. 



Profs. i:wald and (ioltz (Strassburg) showed a dog from 

 which they had removed, at three successive stages, large 

 jjortions of the spinal cord. In all 15S mm. had been removed ; 

 ihis involved all the spinal cord below the middle dorsal region, 



NO. 1353, VOL. 52] 



inclusive of the cauda equina. The dog had already survived 

 the last operation two years. The condition was as follows : — 

 (I) Entire muscular degeneration of hind limbs, and back 

 muscles below mid-dorsal region ; (2) evacuation of fa;ces, 

 and sphincter ani ext., normal ; (3) large quantities of urine 

 collected in bladder, but were eventually evacuated ; (4) 

 vascular tone normal. Animal gave birth to young ones since 

 last operation, and suckled them nonnally. 



Prof. Fano (Florence) showed a special apparatus by which 

 he could measure exactly motor reaction time. He worked on 

 the dog, and found that it was 32 '6 sec. for anterior paw, 27 '32 for 

 posterior. After removal of parts of cortical layer of frontal and 

 occipital lobes this reaction time was diminished ; upon stimula- 

 tion of same regions it was increased. From this the author 

 concluded that the cortical cells, especially of the frontal region, 

 exert a constant inhibitory action on the spinal cord. 



Prof. Langley (Cambridge) gave a demonstration on (i) the 

 general anatomical relations of the sympathetic system ; (2) 

 connection of ner%'e cells and nerve fibres; (3) reflexes from 

 the sympathetic system. 



Dr. ^Iann (Edinburgh) read a paper, accompanied by lantern- 

 slides, and gave a demonstration on the position of the psycho- 

 motor areas in the rabbit, hedgehog, dog, and cat. The result 

 of the author's researches was to show that (i) the same general 

 scheme of arrangement of the psycho-motor areas holds good 

 throughout the animal kingdom, and (2) that there exist in the 

 above animals centres of varying psycho-motor value (higher 

 and lower centres in the physiological sense). 



Prof. Gaule (Zurich) discussed the growth of muscle, and 

 came to the conclusion that it was periodic, and that there exist 

 in muscular fibres changes corresponding to these periods. He 

 further discussed and showed the efi'ect of excision of the 

 inferior cervical ganglion upon the biceps and psoas of the same 

 side. Within twenty-four hours of this excision the.se muscles 

 increase in weight, and have their resistance to mechanical 

 strain greatly diminished (rupture easily). 



Prof. Vitzou (Bucharest) produced blindness in a monkey by 

 removal of the occipital region of the brain ; two years after the 

 operation the animal recovered, to a slight extent, its sight. Up^ in 

 examining tlie brain at the seat of the lesion, he found a tissue 

 of new formation ; this tissue was very vascular, and its extirpa- 

 tion reproduced the blindness. Histological examination of this 

 tissue showed the presence of nervous elements, which the author 

 regarded as of true new formation. 



Dr. Demoor (Brussels) stained the brains of animals to which 

 he had given a strong dose of morphine or chloral hydrate by 

 Golgi's method. Demoor found that the plotoplasm of the cell 

 processes in these animals presented a characteristic mannilliform 

 aspect, which was not to be observed in normal animals. The 

 author showed his preparations 



Monday Afternoon. — Presidents, Prof. Ilensenand Mosso. — 

 Prof. Herzen( Lausanne) described the characters of a gastric juice 

 obtained by the author and Dr. Fremont (Vichy) from the isolated 

 stomach of a dog. The o-sophagus was sutured to the duodenum, 

 and a fistula was made, from which the gastric juice was 

 collected. The juice was without smell or colour, was highly 

 acid, and could digest its own weight of coagulated albumin. 

 The author further gave the result of his researches on the 

 influence of the spleen on pancreatic digestion. He found a 

 given quantity of blood from the splenic vein, added to a 

 pancreatic infusion, greatly increased its digestive power, whereas 

 the same quantity of ordinary arterial blood did not. 



Prof. Schiff ((icneva) discussed the eftects of an isolated lesion 

 of one pyramid, and showed that it produced degeneration in 

 the pyramid only, and not in the pyramidal tract. 



Dr. (Jiirber (Wurzburg) descrilied the results of his researches 

 on the crystallisation of serum albumin. I le treated horse serum 

 after Hofmeister's meth<Kl (ammonium sulphate), and obtained 

 four kinds of cryst-ils. The author showed diagrams of these, 

 and gave the results of their analy.sis. 



Prof. Tigerstedt (Stockholm) described a new apparatus, on the 

 principle of Pettenkofei and \"oit, for respiration experiments on 

 man. The author's apparatus is of such volume as to be able to 

 contain several men at the same time. 



Tuesday Mornini;. — Presidents, Prof. Rutherford and Hegir. 

 — Dr. His, junr. (Leipsig) supported Engelmann's view that the 

 propagation of the rhytlimic cardiac wave takes place from fibre 

 to fibre. He could not confirm Kent's results. He found in 

 mammals, including man, a single muscular bundle which 

 showed cross striation, going from the inter-auricular down into 



