December 5, 1912] 



NATURE 



397 



action on the lipoid layer of the corpuscles. The latter 

 described the changes in staining capacity brought 

 about by activity in the glands of the nictitating 

 membrane of the frog. These changes, he said, must 

 be independent of any lipoid material surrounding 

 the cells. 



Prof. Fil. Bottazzi reported the result of a series of 

 determinations of the physical chemistry of muscle 

 plasma. Dr. Campbell and Prof. A. B. Macallum, 

 F.R.S., found that certain cells of the kidney tubule 

 slain blue after the injection of a mixture of iron and 

 ammonium citrate and potassium ferrocyanide. These 

 authors state that this change will take place only 

 in the presence of acid, and that therefore the cells are 

 excreting acid. 



Dr. Cramer reported the results of some metabolism 

 studies on tumour growth. For the same increase in 

 weight transplanted tumours require less protein than 

 does normal growth. Glycogen is used during the 

 period of growth. If the glycogen metabolism is 

 interfered with by thyroid feeding, the transplanted 

 tumours do not develop. Drs. Cramer and Pringle : 

 Thrombokinase from platelets will pass through a 

 Berkefeld filter, but the thrombokinase from tissues 

 will not pass through. Mr. S. Dawson found that 

 brightness discrimination is more accurate with two 

 eyes than with one. There is, however, no summation, 

 as the apparent brightness is the same whether the 

 object is viewed with two eyes or with one. 



Prof. Max von Frey described the effect of two 

 adjacent pressure stimuli on each other. A stimulus 

 accompanying another apparently increases the intensity 

 of the one stimulus. The location of two neigh- 

 bouring stimuli is between the two and nearer to the 

 stronger stimulus. 



Prof. Ida Hyde in a series of papers gave the fol- 

 lowing results. Tripolar electrodes are more efficient 

 and less injurious in blocking nerve impulses than 

 other methods. Afferent impulses more easily blocked 

 than efferent. Afferent fibres were found in the phrenic 

 nerve. The action of alcohol on the cutaneous reflexes 

 of the frog is depressent. 



Prof. A. Kossel dealt with the problem whether the 

 guanidine group was or was not free in lysin. He con- 

 cluded that it was not free. 



Prof. H. Kronecker dealt with the distribution of 

 taste sensations. He concluded that compensation 

 occurs in the central organ. Prof. O. Loewi found 

 that strophanthine acts like calcium in antagonising 

 the effect of potassium. Prof. A. B. Macallum, 

 F.R.S., showed slides representing the distribution of 

 potassium in cells. He believes that the distribution 

 is the result of potassium causing a decrease of sur- 

 face tension at the interface. 



Prof. J. J. R. Macleod : Stimulation of splanchnic 

 nerve or hepatic plexus causes hyperglvcamia. A 

 second factor is necessary, namely, the presence of 

 adrenaline. Dr. J. L. Mclntyre stated that animals 

 form mental images by which thev remember places. 

 Rev. James Marchant read a paper arguing that, 

 instead of devoting our energies to the prevention of 

 race degeneration, we ought to attempt race regenera- 

 tion. 



Prof. C. R. Marshall presented a series of pharma- 

 cological papers showing that : — (i) Ouarternary am- 

 monium bases act on myo-neural junction ; methvl 

 compounds are more active than ethyl compounds. (2) 

 Nitric esters cause vasodilatation bv acting on myo- 

 neural junction ; relative activity corresponds with 

 solubility except in the case of acid compounds, when 

 the carboxyl group appears to exercise an inhibiting 

 action ; activitv depends on ease of reduction to 

 nitrites in alkaline solution. (3) Coriamyrtin and Tutin 

 were contrasted. 



Prof. T. H. Milroy concluded from his experiments 

 that the gaseous exchange during apnoea is due to 

 physical causes. Prof. F. H. Pike described the condi- 

 tion of the spinal vasomotor nerves in shock. Mr. H. 

 Reinheimer stated that factors can be given to bio- 

 logical processes so that the value of an organism to 

 the community can be computed in a similar way thai 

 factors in political economy enable general values to 

 be calculated. Mr. W. Sack found that injection of 

 extract of corpus luleum caused a retention of nitrogen 

 in female rats, but not in males. This points to the 

 action being upon the female generative organs. 



Prof. W. H. Thompson investigated the output of 

 nitrogen after adininistering arginine. The nitrogen 

 was mainly excreted as urea and ammonia, but a 

 certain amount was unaccounted for. The effect of 

 simultaneous administration of methyl citrate on the 

 excretion of creatin and creatinin was investigated. 



Dr. C. W. Valentine concluded that the horizontal- 

 vertical illusion is due to a retinal quality whereby 

 equal lengths in the vertical direction are referred to 

 greater distances than in the horizontal direction. 



Prof. A. D. Waller, F.R.S., read an account of the 

 nerves found in the trunk of an elephant whicn died 

 near Dundee two hundred years ago. Patrick Blair 

 secured the carcass and dissected until the remains 

 became unfit for further work. He removed the trunk 

 and made a dissection, as the result of which he 

 described different nerves for movement, touch, and 

 smell. The bones of this elephant were ultimately 

 used as a fertiliser by a neighbouring farmer. 



Prof. A. D. Waller, F.R.S., by means of the oscillo- 

 graph, compared the electro-cardiogram with the 

 pulse. He found that a deep inspiration may affect 

 the pulse in two ways (a) by actually stopping the 

 heart, and (b) by compression of the subclavian artery. 

 Descent of the diaphragm diminishes the potential 

 difference between the two hands, but increases that 

 between the left hand and left foot. 



All the reports and abstracts of papers received in 

 sufficient time before the meeting were bound, and 

 copies can be obtained at the British Association 

 offices. H. E. R0.1F. 



AGRICULTURE AT THE BRITISH 

 ASSOCIATION. 



IN drawing up their programme for the Dundee 

 meeting, the organising committee of the section 

 decided to concentrate attention on three or four sub- 

 jects, of which one or two should be of distinct local 

 importance. The method worked so well that it is 

 likely to be adopted in future years. The subjects 

 selected were milk problems, animal nutrition, the 

 application of meteorological information to agricul- 

 tural practice, and the sources of the nation's food 

 supply. 



In his presidential address, Mr. T. H. Middleton 

 described the changes that have taken place in the 

 development of agriculture during the past two 

 hundred years, and the address, the main parts of 

 which are printed in Nature of October 24, p. 235,' 

 formed a fitting historical introduction to the work of 

 the section. This was followed by a series of papers on 

 milk. Mr. W. Gavin dealt in a very able paper with 

 the interpretation of milk records. He pointed out that 

 in any statistical study of the inheritance of milk yield, 

 or indeed in any systemised breeding experiment 

 where more than a few cows are dealt with, it be- 

 comes necessary to define a cow's milking capability 

 by a single and unqualified figure. Breeders generally 

 depend on such figures as total yield per calf, total yield 

 per calendar year, average per week, &c., but the 

 enormous fluctuations found in the same animal show 



NO. 2249, VOL. 90] 



