
134 
Societies and Academies. 
Lonpon. 
The Royal Society, January 18.—Sir Charles 
Sherrington, president, in the chair.—J. Barcroft : 
Observations on the effect of high altitude on the 
physiological processes of the human body. Three 
principal factors appear to have a positive influence 
in acclimatisation. (a) The increase in total ventila- 
tion, which usually raises the alveolar oxygen pressure 
ten or twelve millimetres higher than it would other- 
wise be ; (b) The rise in the oxygen dissociation curve 
so that at any oxygen pressure the hemoglobin will 
take up more oxygen than before; (c) The rise in 
the number of red corpuscles, and correspondingly 
in the quantity of hemoglobin. These factors are 
not independent variables. Blood has been found 
to give, at the alveolar carbon dioxide pressure of the 
Andes (about 27 mm. carbon dioxide): (1) A re- 
action which is apparently almost unchanged, or 
even more acid, as measured by the ratio of com- 
bined to free carbon dioxide; (2) A more alkaline 
reaction by the platinum electrode; (3) An oxygen 
dissociation curve which rises apparently out of 
proportion to the change in reaction. On making 
the ascent, there was a marked increase in the 
number of reticulated red cells; after the descent 
these cells fell to below their normal percentage. 
In the natives the ratio of reticulated to unreticulated 
red cells was not greatly increased, but the absolute 
number of reticulated cells per cubic millimetre was 
about 50 per cent. greater than normal. We argue 
a hypertrophy in the bone marrow. There were no 
nucleated red cells. The increase in red blood 
corpuscles is such as to cause an absolute increase in 
the amount of oxygen in each cubic centimetre of 
blood in the majority of cases, in spite of the decrease 
in saturation. A number of mental tests of the 
ordinary type were performed at Cerro and at sea- 
level. These revealed no particular mental disability. 
The pressure of oxygen in the blood was so nearly the 
same as that in the alveolar air that we attribute 
the passage of gas through the pulmonary epithelium 
to diffusion.—E. W. MacBride: Remarks on the 
inheritance of acquired characters. During the last 
fifteen or twenty years a series of experiments have 
been carried out by Dr. Paul Kammerer at Vienna, 
which tend to show that acquired qualities, or, in 
other words, modifications of structure induced by 
modified habits, are inheritable. One of the most 
interesting of his experiments was to induce Alytes, 
a toad which normally breeds on land, to breed in 
water. As a result, after two generations, the male 
Alytes developed a horny pad on the hand, to enable 
him to grasp his slippery partner. Mr. J. Quastel, 
of Trinity College, Cambridge, when in Vienna, saw 
and photographed one of these modified males ; 
the animal has also been seen by Mr. E. Boulenger.— 
C.F. Cooper: Baluchitherium osborni (? syn. Indrico- 
therium turgaicum, Borrissyak). Baluchitherium os- 
borni is an aberrant rhinoceros, apparently the largest 
known land mammal. The remains were first found 
in Baluchistan. Further fragments have been found 
in Turkestan, and, recently, in China. While re- 
sembling the rhinoceroses more than any other of the 
Perissodactyla, Baluchitherium is still isolated and 
of uncertain zoological position. Adaptations to 
weight have brought about a superficial resemblance 
to the limb bones of elephants. Some of the foot 
bones and neck vertebrae resemble those of the 
horse ; due possibly to descent from a small eocene 
form, Triplopus, which likewise shows an _ inter- 
mingling of horse and rhinoceros characters. In 
NO. 2778, VOL. 111] 
NATURE 

[JANUARY 27, 1923 

some structures, notably the excavations of the 
vertebral canal to ensure a combination of lightness 
and strength, Baluchitherium stands alone among 
mammals.—J. A. Gunn and K. J. Franklin: The 
sympathetic innervation of the vagina.—H. G. 
Cannon: On the metabolic gradient of the frog’s egg. 
—Basiswar Sen: On the relation between perme- 
ability variation and plant movements.—H. L. 
Duke: An inquiry into an outbreak of human try- 
panosomiasis in a Glossina morsitans belt to the East 
of Mwanza, Tanganyika Territory.—Louis Dollo: 
Le Centenaire des Iguanodons (1822-1922). 
Geological Society, December 20.—Prof. A. C. 
Seward, president, in the chair.—W. A. Richardson: 
A micrometric study of the St. Austell granite 
(Cornwall). The problem of the effect of sampling 
a coarse-grained rock by means of slices is considered 
in detail. Qualitative and quantitative study of the 
minerals reveals three types of rock: (a) a biotite- 
muscovite-granite of coarse grain confined to the- 
east: (b) a lithionite-granite occupying by far the 
greater part of the outcrop; and (c) a gilbertite- 
granite confined to a small area near St. Stephen’s 
Beacon, and furnishing the “ china-stone’’ rock. A 
high negative correlation is found between quartz 
and orthoclase—true for this area, but not for granites 
in general. When mapped, the minerals fall into 
groups that are distinctly connected with the areas 
occupied by the different types, and in each of which 
there is an outer zone rich in quartz surrounding 
an inner region with a high content of orthoclase. 
The magma probably invaded the area progressively 
from the east to the west; it had always partly 
crystallised before injection into the present level.— 
W. G. St. J. Shannon: The petrography and correla- 
tion of the igneous rocks of the Torquay Pe 
Two stages of vulcanicity occurred—in the Middle 
and in the Upper Devonian, as shown by basic tuffs 
and a spilite. The intrusions form an alkaline suite. 
An augite-lamprophyre in limestone, and a soda- 
porphyrite in Middle Devonian slates are described 
from Babbacombe. A preliminary account of the 
tectonics is attempted, particularly of the inversion, — 
at Ilsham, of the faulting and of the north-to-south 
strike of some of the folds. 




Aristotelian Society, January 8.—Prof. T. P. Nunn 
in the chair—W. Adams Brown: The problem of 
classification in religion. The differences in existing 
religions may be explained in three different ways. 
They may be regarded, as variations from a single 
standard type; as moments in the development of 
one all-embracing religion; or as recurrent parallel — 
contrasted types. If the last view be taken, the 
principle of classification may be found in the 
variations of the individual personal experience, or 
in differences in man’s social attitude. Most recent 
study of religious types has followed the first of 
these methods. This method, helpful so far as it 
goes, can be usefully supplemented by an analysis 
of man’s social relationships. The new classifica- 
tion is based upon the attitude of religious people 
to social institutions. There are three possible 
attitudes which one may take towards the existing 
social order. One may accept it as it is without 
question and yield its institutions willing and loyal — 
allegiance. One may protest against it as corrupt or 
negligible and find in one’s own inner life a sufficient | 
refuge and compensation. One may believe that 
society is itself in process of being transformed into — 
new and better forms and that each man and woman 
may have part in that remaking. These three 
attitudes have their counterpart in religion. One — 
man believes that he communes with God most 
