114 



NA TURE 



[December 5, 1901 



instance, the visible details of structure revealed in the cell by 

 the most perfect modern microscopes in collaboration with all the 

 elaborate technique of modern histology seemed to bring us in 

 no perceptible degree nearer towards an explanation of the 

 chemical and physical construction of the cell. But if the matter 

 were considered fully it became evident that the phenomena of 

 life depend on changes occurring in the interactions of particles 

 of matter far too small even to be seen by the strongest magnifi- 

 cnlion yet obtainable by microscopes. 



The physicist and chemist had not been content, it was 

 pointed out, with the investigation of large masses of dead 

 matter. To explain many of the phenomena they met with 

 Ihey had had recourse to the conceptions of molecules and atoms 

 and to the formulation of laws that regulate the movements of 

 these units almost infinitely small. The conception of the 

 characters and dimensions of the molecules of living matter 

 had occupied certain of the astutest physicists. Clerk Maxwell 

 had placed before the physiologist a curious dilemma. Either 

 the germ could not be homogeneous, developing as it does into a 

 complex being with its hundred thousand characteristics, or if 

 structurally diverse it is so small that its number of parts is 

 insufficient to give a basis for the development of all the 

 characteristics inherent in and developed by it as it expands 

 into the adult creature. Only another supposition was postu- 

 lahle, namely that the germ was not a material system entirely ; 

 the adoption of that last supposition was, of course, equivalent 

 to resigning the problem as inaccessible to any method obtaining 

 in natural science. 



If, however, in the light of twenty-five years of additional 

 knowledge since the time of Clerk Maxwell the problem were 

 reexamined we were not led necessarily to the dilemma he pro- 

 pounded. A quarter of a century ago it seemed to so competent 

 an inquirer as he that the number of organic molecules in 

 the fertilised ovum would be too few to account for the 

 transmission of hereditary peculiarities. It then seemed that 

 the molecules would not amount to a million in number. 

 But to-day, Prof. McKendrick urged, it was reasonable from 

 existing data to suppose that the germinal vesicle might contain 

 a million of millions of organic molecules. Complex arrange- 

 ments of these molecules suited for the development of all the 

 parts of a highly complicated organism might satisfy all the 

 demands of the theory of heredity. Doubtless the germ was a 

 material system through and through. The conception of the 

 physicist was that molecules were in various states of movement ; 

 and the thinkers were striving toward a kinetic theory of mole- 

 cules and of atoms of solid matter which might be as fruitful as 

 the kinetic theory of gases. There were motions atomic and 

 molecular. It was conceivable that the peculiarities of vital 

 action might be determined by the kind of motion that took 

 place in the molecules of what we call living matter. It might 

 be different in kind from some of the motions dealt with by 

 physicists. Life is continually being created from non-living 

 material ; such, at least, is the existing view of growth by the 

 assimilation of food. The creation of living matter out of non- 

 living may be the transmission to the dead matter of molecular 

 motions which are stii generis in form. 



Sir John Eurdon Sanderson opened the ordinary work of the 

 Section by communicating a paper on the use of the telephone 

 for investigating the rhythmic phenomena of muscles. The 

 communication was largely based on the recent researches of 

 Miss Florence Buchanan. Sir John explained that it was well 

 known that violent contractions of muscle are sometimes 

 obviously rhythmical. The muscular rhythm he should deal 

 with was of a different kind and seal of production to that of 

 violent willed action. The latter had its origin in the rhythmic 

 discharge of nerve-centres. But the muscles themselves seemed 

 to respond rhythmically, not continuously, to even continuous 

 excitation. Their rate of rhythm was of much higher freipiency 

 than that of the nervous system ; it amounted to repetitions 

 amounting to about too per .second. The rhythmic variation 

 in the contracting elements of the muscle was variation of, 

 amongst other states, that of electrical tension. Wedenskii, of 

 St. Tetersburg, had used the telephone for investigation of this 

 condition of the muscle. A certain note might be low, e.f;., A 

 in the bass clef, and if they applied stimuli to the muscle at 

 something like the rate of that pitch they could force the 

 muscle to harmonise. If the stimuli were regulated to G instead 

 of A it would correspond with G, if with H instead of A, with 

 B. But if the frequency were increased to much higher the 

 muscle showed the same response as before — they had always 



about the same note. The muscle had, therefore, within limits 

 a period of phasic activity of its own. 



The next communication made, on behalf of Dr. A. S. 

 (iriinbaum (Liverpool) and himself, by Prof. Sherrington 

 (Liverpool), dealt with experiments on the brain of the chim- 

 panzee. The brain of the chimpanzee is, after that of the 

 gorilla, the brain which approaches most nearly to that of man 

 him.self The experiments undertaken had been the ablation 

 of certain portions of ,the cortex with the view to study the 

 after effects upon the behaviour and movements of the animals 

 observed. The cerebral cortical centre for the right hand had 

 first been carefully exposed and delimited by excitation with 

 faradic currents. All that region of the cortex which had under 

 excitation provoked movement commencing in the right hand 

 had then been destroyed. The immediate effect of the injury 

 had been paralysis of the hand, with a less degree of paraly.sis 

 of the wrist and shoulder. In the course of five weeks, however, 

 recovery had been so marked as to restore to the hand its uses 

 almost completely, as far as mere inspection could decide. The 

 animal often used the hand and sometimes fed itself on fruit. Sec, 

 from it alone, without use at all of the left hand. The right arm 

 had in the course of even a fortnight recovered its use forclimbing, 

 &c. Examination of the spinal cord for the degeneration of 

 tracts following this lesion led to the discovery of an anthropoid 

 feature in the cord not previously found in any spinal cord except 

 the human, namely, a fully-developed "direct pyramidal " tract. 

 In another individual a limited destruction of the cerebral cortex 

 in the leg-region of the " motor" area produced at once severe 

 but short-lasting paralysis of the leg, with immediate increase 

 of the knee jerk. The paralysis seemed in the course of four 

 weeks to have passed away, although there still remained 

 marked exaggeration of the knee jerk. The spinal degenera- 

 tion when examined revealed no direct pyramidal tract in this 

 case : either, therefore, the existence of that tract is subject to 

 great individual variation or the tract is not connected with the 

 more mesial portion of the motor area. Ablation of the posterior 

 part of the left inferior frontal convolution did not produce any 

 obvious alteration either of the character or of the amount of the 

 vocal sounds uttered by the animal. The animal " talked" as 

 much and apparently as variedly after as before the cortica! 

 lesion. Regarding descending tracts which degenerated in the 

 spinal cord after lesions of the cortex it was noteworthy that the 

 lesions which produced spinal degeneration were in every case 

 situate in front of the fissure of Rolando. A further point of 

 interest was that the degeneration descending from lesion of the 

 hand area extended down along the spinal cord as far as the top 

 of the lumbar region. Microscopic specimens were demonstrated 

 in illustration of these points. 



Dr. Edridge-Green followed with a paper on colour-vision. 

 He developed his well-known views on the classification of the 

 various types of colour blindness. He urged the unsatisfactory 

 character of the test followed in using Hohngren's coloured 

 wools, and the advantage of replacing that test officially by a 

 lantern-test. Dr. J. Wanklyn read a paper on arsenical pig- 

 mentation of the skin, and Dr. \V. A. Osborn recounted 

 observations on the physical properties of caseinogen salts in 

 solution. 



On Friday, September 13, the proceedings opened by a most 

 lucid and interesting paper by Prof. McKendrick on the regis- 

 tration of sounds. His description was richly illustrated both 

 pictorially and by experiment. It jiroceeded to deal with the 

 subject in its historical development. The methods adopted 

 for the registration of speech sounds from 1S75 onwards were 

 shown. The gradual evolution of the phonograph was traced, 

 and of the methods employed for the analysis of the marks 

 made upon the wax cylinder of that instrument. There were 

 special characteristics about vocal sounds which distinguished 

 them from all the sounds of musical instruments. Langu.age 

 would come to be recorded, not by such symbols as are used at 

 present for words and syllables, but by less arbitrary and more 

 reasoned systems. It had been suggested that the signs should 

 indicate what had to be done by the vocal and articulating 

 organs for the production of any given sound. Prof. McKen- 

 drick then examined the various theories put forward regarding 

 the formation of vowel sounds. He spoke especially of the 

 recent researches of Dr. Mari.s, of the Physiological Institute 

 of the .Sorbonne, Paris. Mares had approached the problem 

 from a very original point of view, regarding the grouping of the 

 vibrations, in the internal sequence irather than the external 

 sequence, as of main influence. Using a syren with plates per- 



NO. 1675, VOL. 65] 



