February 20, 1908J 



NATURE 



)79 



content with holding that the phenomena of dilHerentia- 

 tion may be the result of the interaction of nucleus and 

 cytoplasm, but ho goes on to assert that, as the animal 

 pole of the egg becomes the animal or sense pole in all 

 animals, and the cytoplasm in this region gives rise to 

 the ectoderm of the developing animal, and as this 

 polarity can be traced far back into the ovarian history 

 of the egg, and in some cases is probably continuous from 

 generation to generation, that " we have here an important 

 character which is inherited through the cytoplasm and 

 not through the nucleus." Dr. Conklin's final conclusion 

 is that at the time of fertilisation the hereditary potencies 

 of the two germ cells are not equal, because all the " early 

 development, including the polarity, symmetry, type of 

 cleavage, and the relative positions and proportions of 

 future organs," are determined solely by the cytoplasm of 

 the egg-cell. 



Anthropology of California. 



In his address as president of Section H (anthropology) 

 of the .-\merican Association, Prof. A. L. Kroeber reviewed 

 the progress of anthropology in California. Commencing 

 with language, he pointed out that Powell's arrangement 

 of about twenty linguistic stocks had not been disturbed 

 by later investigations. The loose statements formerly 

 made that the number of unrelated dialects of each stock 

 was often very great, and that these dialects showed 

 a gradual continuous change from one end of the terri- 

 tory occupied by a stock to another, have been found to 

 be entirely erroneous. There are some loan-words common 

 10 contiguous stocks, but these are few, and the peculiarity 

 of the linguistic problem lies in the fact that each form 

 of speech occupies a well-defined area. So far, three 

 great groups — north-western, south-western, and central 

 — have been clearly traced, and the similarities between 

 ihem, which up to the present have been ascertained, arc 

 not of such a nature as to be of bearing on the considera- 

 tion of their genetic unity. Some progress has been made 

 tow^ards explaining this remarkable distribution of 

 languages. In some cases it appears to have originated 

 from mere divergence, continued until practically all traces 

 of original relationship have become obliterated. .At any 

 rate, nothing has ever been discovered to support the so- 

 called " fish-trap " theory, according to which the multi- 

 plicity of languages in California is due to the successive 

 c rowding, into this more desirable habitat, of waves or 

 hands of unrelated immigrants from less favoured regions, 

 to which none of them ever desired to return. This 

 differentiation of speech, again, seems to be casualh' re- 

 lated to other factors, cultural and historical, and only 

 indirectly physical and environmental. 



Much the same is true of the relations of culture and 

 environment, but the latter has been influenced by a long 

 historical development. While, as compared with the rest 

 of America, California forms a well-marked region, on a 

 broader view its distinctive characters largely disappear, 

 or are seen to coincide with such as are tvpical of the 

 whole of the northern continent. In the north-west the 

 culture seems to be an extension of that of the Pacific 

 coast, while that of the centre and south Is of a diverse 

 type. 



Archfeological investigation, so far as it has been pur- 

 sued, does not establish the origin of this culture in 

 Ouaternary times or the geological antiquity of those 

 finds which are unquestionably of human origin. The 

 livilisation seems to have remained practically unaltered 

 for some thousands of years ; but, at the same time, owing 

 to the prevalence of the practice of cremation, the record 

 i)f physical anthropology is very incomplete. In the 

 domain of culture much remains to be done, particularly 

 in tracing the relationshin of analogous rites among the 

 local tribes. What Is needed in all branches of the anthro- 

 pology of this region is more knowledge, and this can be 

 gained only by more work on the lines of linguistic and 

 anthropological Investigation, which it is the main object 

 of (his address to illustrate and define. 



Progress in Experimental Medicine. 



.\n address on " Tendencies in Pathology " was given 

 by Dr. Simon Flexner, chairman of Section K (physiology 



NO. IQ9Q VOL. 77I 



and experimental medicine). Dr. Fle.xncr pointed out that ths 

 causation of disease is manifold, the reaction to abnormal 

 influences is varied. The forces which divert the normal, 

 functions and bring disease into being are only in part 

 external at the time of their operation. .411 parasitic 

 plants and animals are essentially extrinsic agents oi 

 injury. Occupation diseases, so-called, are at present only 

 slightly understood, and probably act, not only by in- 

 creasing susceptibility to Infections, but also through, 

 direct chemical and physical mal-Influences. There is, 

 however, a class of diseases which results, in part at least, 

 from errors and disturbances of balance in the develop- 

 ment of the animal organism or in the correlation of its 

 functions. The peculiar control which the adrenals 

 exercise over the tone of the vascular system, the degenera- 

 tion of the aorta in rabbits produced by injection of 

 adrenalin, and the association between sclerosis anct 

 atrophy of the kidneys and arterial hypertension and 

 degeneration, suggest that the renal and the arterial 

 disease are parts of one pathological complex. Other 

 instances might be given, e.g. the association of disease- 

 of the pancreas with diabetes. 



Lately an experimental method has been devised whereby 

 portions of organs and tissues may be transferred from 

 one animal to another, and thus the influences exerted by 

 a new environment on certain organs, or of the trans- 

 planted organ on a new host, investigated. For example, 

 it has been found that arteries may be successfully trans- 

 planted even after keeping aseptically in a refrigerator for 

 twentv or thirtv davs after extirpation. 



The phagocytic function of the leucocytes, whereby 

 infecting microbes or worn-out somatic cells are ingested 

 and disposed of, is well known, but this function of the 

 living leucocyte is supplemented by Its power to yield upon 

 dissolution active proteolytic enzymes of considerable 

 potency, which may have a considerable mfiuence or» 

 various pathological processes, e.g. inflammation. 



Until recently little progress had been made regarding 

 tumour formation, and we are still ignorant of Its cause,, 

 but the study of transplantable tumours of mice and rats 

 has already yielded important results concerning the- 

 biological conditions underlying tumour growth. Such- 

 tumours are highly specific ; they are transplantable only 

 to individuals of 'the same species and race, never to ■ 

 animals of another species, and often not to those of 

 another race of the same species. The existence of a 

 form of immunity to tumour cells has been demonstrated, 

 which may be restricted to one region of or may be- 

 general to'the whole body. This immunity Ehrhch terms 

 atrepsy, and he conceives It to be an expression of depriva- 

 tion of the peculiar nutritive stuff required for tumour 

 growth. , 



As regards bacteriology, one important phenomenon ol 

 recent recognition is that of the microbe carrier, an m- 

 dividual who harbours disease germs while himselt 

 apparently suffering no ill effect. This has been, known 

 for some' time in the case of the diphtheria bacillus, but 

 has recently been found to hold good for the typhoid 

 bacillus, and for dysentery, plague, cholera, and a host 

 of protozoan infections. ^ 



We are now learning, too, that while the forces ot 

 immunity may be in active operation, so far as tests 

 made outside 'the body with the blood indicate, the very 

 bacteria from and against which they have developed may 

 still be surviving in the body. , . , j j 



The discovery of the opsonins in the normal blood, and 

 their increase 'in states of induced immunity to bacterial 

 and other infections, has added greatly to our knowledge 

 of some of the complicated phenomena of the immune- 



^ The body infected with bacteria or other pathogenic 

 micro-organisms, although it may survive the infection, 

 may not be rendered more resistant— it may even be- 

 rendered more susceptible to the infecting agent or its 

 products. From the diverse reactions of the body to 

 foreign substances and parasitic organisms, phenomena 

 have been discovered, some desirable and beneficial, others 

 objectionable and injurious, and it becomes the quest o 

 the future to secure for medical practice those effects that 

 inav be beneficial, and to eliminate those that may be 



