1 8 



NATURE 



{^Nov. I, 1 88; 



the High School, Gymnasium, Chemical Laboratory, and other 

 local institutes. All were fairly well attended, and amongst the 

 distinguished savants present menlionmay be made of Professors 

 Sticlcelberger, Fischer, Hildebrand, Weismann, Maier, Drs. 

 Hack, Nicolai, Lehmann, and Thiry. As many as 120 papers 

 and monographs in nearly all branches of science were either 

 read or suljmitted to the Association, and summaries of most of 

 them inserted ill tlie official journal {TagMa/t) of the proceedings. 

 Of this journal four numbers altogether were issued, and their 

 varied contents convey a tolerably accurate idea of the immense 

 amount of work got through during the four days devoted to the 

 special objects of the Association. 



In his inaugural address the President dwelt mainly on 

 the vast changes that had taken place in the social and 

 political relations of Germany, and on the great progress 

 made in all depnrtments of human knowledge since 183S, 

 the last year that the Association had met in the city 

 of Freiburg. The five sections, wliich at that time were 

 found sufficient for its purposes, had developed into twenty-four 

 distinct divisions corresponding to the present conditions of 

 science, and many of these already formed special branches of 

 themselves, with their cwn independent gatherings and separate 

 organisations. With the progress of discovery in the natural 

 sciences this tendency t'l constant subdivision of labour became 

 inevitable, and the great encyclopcedic minds of former times 

 would henceforth be replaced by specialists compelled to devote 

 all their energies to the cultivation of one or two minor sections 

 of particalar physical or biological categories. 



A discussion followed on the selection of next year's place of 

 meeting, which was ultimately decided in favour of Magdeburg. 



In the Chemical .Section, Dr. Frank of Charlottenburg read 

 a paper on siliceous sinter and on its application to chemical 

 and medical purposes. This substance, composed of the remains 

 of microscopical organisms, and entering into the composition 

 of extremely porous siliceous masses, combines the properties of 

 asbestos with those of lightness in the highest degree. It is 

 thus capable of absorbing moisture to the extent of 94 per cent, 

 of its own volume, and may be used without any risk as a 

 disinfectant and for draining damp places. 



In the Zoological nepartmen^, Dr. Griiff of Aschafifenburg 

 described the results of liis investigations of some new species of 

 Myzostoma, completely confirming his former views regarding 

 the relationship of the Myzostomida.^ to the Tardigrade family" 

 He expliined the reproductive processes of the Myzostoma;, and 

 the form of their cysts, and reported the discovery of these cysts 

 on fossil crinoids. lie also gav:; an account of the germs of 

 Volvox viridis in filtered water exceptionally developed from 

 colourless individuals. Dr. Doderlein described some fossil 

 sponges from Japan of highly intricate structure, but all deve- 

 loped originally from simple Radiate types. They were related 

 to Tetractinellidae, and more particularly with Pachastrella. 



The journal for Friday, September 21, is largely occupied 

 with an extremely interesting monograph by Prof. Hertvvig of 

 Jena on "Symbiosis in the Animal Kingdom." This term 

 symbiosis, first suggested by De Barry in connection with certain 

 phenomena of the vegetable world, is here extended to the whole 

 organic system. As distinguished from ordinary parasitism, it 

 is explained to mean the normal fellow-hip or association of dis- 

 similar organisms, which dwell together in a common abode for 

 their mutual welfare. In the case of parasites the connection is 

 altogether one sided, one of the two organisms attaching itself 

 to the other, and flourishing at its expense, as, for instance, the 

 mistletoe on the apple-tree. But in this newly revealed pheno- 

 menon of symbiosis, which appears to pervade the whole bio- 

 logical world, both associates are mutually benefi.:ial, and in 

 some instances even indispensable to each other. They act, so 

 to say, like two partners in a well-regulated busine-s concern, 

 cooperating in the work of life, taking part in all its toils and 

 troubles, and honourably sharing the common profits. An illus- 

 tration is drawn from tlie familiar hermit crab, one species of 

 which, after taking possession of the first available empty 

 shell, goes into partnership with a sea-anemone (AJamsia 

 fnlluila). This lovely creature, bright orange spotted with red, 

 attaches itself to the roof of the common abode in such a posi- 

 tion that its mouth and prehensile apparatus are always turned 

 towards the head of its associate. It is thus enabled to join in 

 all the expeditions of the restless hermit crab, and conveniently 

 share in the common plunder. In return for this service the 

 anemone protects its comjanion from his many enemies by 

 means of the numerous long threads which it shoots out at the 



least alarm, and which are provided with millions of capsules 

 charged with a stinging acid like that of the common nettle. 

 So close is the compact entered into by the two partners, that 

 both have become indispensable to ench other, as appears from 

 a series of experiments made at the Neapolitan A<juarium. If 

 the crab be removed from his house, and this be stopped up, so 

 as to prevent his reentering it, he will cast about for another shell, 

 and never stop until his old associate is also transferred to their 

 new abode. A still more remarl;able illustration is drawn from 

 the iinbauba, or candle-nut tree, of South America, which strikes 

 up an alliance with a species of sm.all black ant to their mutual 

 benefit. The whole subject of symbiosis, which naturalists are 

 only beginning to study, is calculated to throw great light on the 

 Darwinian theory of biological evolution. The various cases of 

 fellowship between animals and plants of different orders, and 

 even between members of the animal and vegetable kingdoms 

 show how, in the perpetual struggle for existence, the individual 

 organism avails itself of the smallest advantage to secure a 

 place in the household of nature. It often thus acquires mar- 

 vellous habits of life, which it is afterwards unable to lay aside, 

 and in consequence of which it becomes gradually modified in 

 its bodily form and organisation. Thus nbyssus abyssiiin invocat, 

 one change superinduces anoiher, altered conditions require fresh 

 combinations, and the organic world resolves itself into an ever- 

 lasting ebb and flow of life, in which the individual counts for 

 nothing, the species — itself transitory— for but little, and the 

 .sum of existence alone is considered in the self-adjusting scheme 

 of the universe. Symbiosis thus leads at once to a broader and 

 more searching study of various branches of human knowledge. 

 To prosecute the subject su;:ce.ssfully vegetable and anim.il 

 organisms must be examined, normal and morbid conditions 

 .attended to, anatomical and physiological questions investigated. 

 For this boundless theme beloi gs to a border land, in which 

 zoology, botany, anatomy, physiology, and pathology meet as 

 on common ground. 



In the Physical Section the subject of the pyroelectricity of 

 crystals was discussed by Prof. A. Kundt of Strasburg, who 

 explained his recently- published method for the observation and 

 investigation of this phenomenon. 



In the Mincralogical Department papers were submitted by 

 Dr. Petzholdt of Freiburg, on the formation of coal ; by Dr. 

 Dijlter of Graz, on his attempts to produce artificial gems, in 

 which he pointed out that the mincralogical composition does 

 not depend directly on the chemical alone ; by I)r. Kloos of 

 Karlsruhe, on the change of labrador to an albite and a zeolitic 

 mineral. Dr. Fischer of Freiburg dealt with the question of 

 the natural presence of nephrite, jade, and chloromelanite in 

 various parts of the Old and New Worlds, and the great import- 

 ance of these minerals in connection with prehistoric remains 

 and early migrations. .Special reference was made to the work 

 recently published by Dr. A. E. Meyer, of Dresden, "On Jade 

 and Nephrite Objects," and in the discussion that ensued none 

 of the members present subscribed to the views advocated in 

 that work. 



In a paper " On the Higher Cryptogams " Prof. Michaelis bases 

 an objection to Darwinism as a scientific hypothesis on the 

 grounds first that the accepted theory of the fertilising process, 

 especially in the case of the heterospores, rhizoc.arps, and 

 dichotoms, rests on pure analogy, without any actual demons- 

 tration, and secondly, that in the mosses the sexual origin of the 

 sporogonium from the mother plant shows a fresh formation of 

 a totally distinct organism out of that previously existing. 

 Nature thus yields an unanswerable argument against the 

 Darwinian assumption, inasmuch as here the second individual 

 is dependent, and under no circumstances capable of a sepa- 

 rate existence. 



Prof. Niisslin of Karlsruhe described a new protozoon from 

 Lake Herrenwies, Baden, the Zonomyxa 7'io!iic-ea, holding a 

 middle place between the Pelomyxa and Am|ihizonella of GreetT. 



In the Geographical and Ethnological Sections, which were 

 on the whole rather poorly represented. Dr. Passevant-Basel 

 gave an account of his residence in the Cameroons, West Coast 

 of Africa, during the months of February to June, 1SS3. A 

 paper was read by the same naturalist on the African races, with 

 special reference to the unity or diversity of the negro type. 

 The author agrees with those anthropologists who subdivide the 

 Negroes into several stock races, basing his conclusions on a 

 comparative study of the hand and skull. 



Prof, Doelter, of Graz, discussed the hypothesis of a vanished 

 Atlantis, and the former possible connection of Africa and 



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