166 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[September, 



hairs the projection of the superficial 

 cortical cells is so great that instead 

 of the striated appearance, we have a 

 rough surface thickly studded with 

 obliquely projecting points or spurs ; 

 or we may find the scales arranged 

 in handsome whorls at regular inter- 

 vals as in the hairs of some bats. 



'Fourth, the size and shape of the 

 hair shaft. Hairs from different parts 

 of the same person or animal vary in 

 size. So also do hairs from the same 

 animal, when collected at different 

 seasons of the year, vary considerably 

 both in length and thickness. As 

 a means of identity the diameter of 

 the human hair is important when 

 considered in connection with a con- 

 siderable number of measurements 

 made from hairs from a known source. 

 Measurements taken of the diameter 

 of a hair for the purpose of ascer- 

 taining vs^hether it is of human or 

 animal origin are of little or no use, 

 but measurements made of the thick- 

 ness of the cortex and diameter of the 

 medulla, whereby the relative propor- 

 tion of each may be obtained, are of 

 considerable value. 



' The shape of hair varies in per- 

 sons and in animals. Hair from the 

 human scalp is cylindrical and with 

 smooth contour, w^hile animal hairs 

 are of various shapes — some oval, 

 others branched, and many are con- 

 stricted in diameter at regular inter- 

 vals along the shaft. Of the latter 

 kind we may mention that of the 

 mouse, where we find the hair is 

 round and contains a number of rows 

 of medulla cells which gradually 

 diminish at the constricted part, and 

 increase in numbers as we examine 

 the larger part, and so on through the 

 entire length of the shaft, producing 

 several symmetrical contractions and 

 expansions in the hair.' 



In discussing the paper Dr. Stowell 

 said he had been given a rib of some 

 animal, covered with hair. He had 

 at first thought this covering, was a 

 parasitic growth, but an examina- 

 tion showed that the hair, if such 

 it was, grew from the centre of the 



bone. Dr. Dallinger said it was 

 a fact worthy of notice that the hair 

 of different races was dissimilar in 

 some particulars. J. D. Hyatt, of 

 Morrisania, said the fact that hair re- 

 mained unchanged for years was 

 proved by an experiment he had 

 made. He had examined the hair of 

 a Peruvian mummy at least 300 years 

 old, and found that it did not differ 

 from a young person's hair with 

 which he compared it. 



In the evening, ex-Governor Cox, 

 president of the Society, delivered his 

 annual address in the city hall. The. 

 speaker was introduced by Professor 

 S. A. Lattimore, of the University of 

 Rochester. The address was in one 

 sense a memorial of one of the most 

 distinguished members of the Society, 

 Robert B. Tolles, one of the pioneers 

 in the introduction of modern v\^ide- 

 angled lenses, and in v^hose death, 

 which occurred within the last year, 

 the scientific world sustained a great, 

 almost an irreparable loss. The 

 speaker gave a historical sketch of 

 the great debate over the practicabil- 

 ity of enlarging the aperture of micro- 

 scope objectives beyond the maxi- 

 mum angle in air in which Tolles' 

 part was by common consent the 

 leading one practically. President 

 Cox endeavored to show by a careful 

 review of the discussion that Tolles 

 deserved to rank high in it for clear 

 and accurate scientific comprehen- 

 sion of the principles to be applied, 

 and that he had passed beyond the 

 field of the skilful artisan into that of 

 a systematic and able investigator 

 who worked toward valuable results 

 by the proper application of well-un- 

 derstood laws. 



The address occupied an hour and 

 a half in its delivery. 



After the address in city hall about 

 fifty members of the Society visited 

 the Warner observatory in response 

 to the invitation of Professor Swift. 



The second day's session was 

 opened by a paper by Prof. D. S. 

 Kellicott, treating of new^ species of 

 infusoria discovered by him during 



