Sept. 30, 1880] 



NATURE 



527 



ments relating to the subject, we may wind up this brief historical 

 sketch of the changes of view respecting it, with the following 

 quotation from our own paper published in 1866:'—". . . all 

 the evidence at command tended to show that by an mcreased 

 exercise of muscular power there was, with increased requirement 

 for res]iirable material, probably no increased production and 

 voidance of urea, unless, ow ing to excess of nitrogenous matter 

 in the food, or a deficiency of available non-nitrogenous sub- 

 stance, or diseased action, the nitrogenous constituents of the 

 fluids or jolids of the body were drawn upon in an abnormal 

 degree for the supply of respirable material." 



In conclusion, although I fully agree with Voit, Zuntz, Wolff, 

 and others, that there still remains much for both Chemistry and 

 Physiology to settle in connection with these two questions of 

 " The Sources of the Fat of the Animal Body " and "The Origin 

 of Muscular Power," yet I think we may congratulate ourselves 

 on the re-establishment of the true faith in regard to them, so far 

 at least as the most important practical points are concerned. 



T 



THE GERMAN ASSOCIATION 

 HE fifty- third congi-ess of the Association of German Natu- 

 - ralists and Physicians has been held at Danzig during the 

 past week. At the fir^t general meeting on Saturday, Septem- 

 ber 18, Dr. H. Abegg, wdio filled the post of president, in a 

 brief speech of welcome to his colleagues expressed his pleasure 

 at finding that the congress was so numerously attended. There 

 had been fears that Danzig, owing partly to its somewhat isolated 

 position, would have kept many from visiting it who would other- 

 wise have come, had the point of meeting been fixed in a more 

 southerly part of Germany. But the e fears were wholly ground- 

 less ; from far and near lie was rejoiced to see additions to their 

 body ; and to all and each of his esteemed colleagues he bade 

 heai'ty w elcome. 



Herr von Ernsthausen, Prof. Bail, and the Chief Burgomaster 

 of Danzig, aUo gave short addresses, in which they confirmed 

 the sentiments of the President. 



So far as the reports in the admirable Tagiblalt go, the 

 following are some of the principal papers and lectures ; — 



The first paper read was by Prof. Hermann Cohn of Breslau, 

 "On Writing, Type, and the Increase of Shortsightedness." 

 Myopia, i.e , shortsightedness, or the inability to distinguish 

 objects at a distance, was, as he said, rarely or never born with 

 the subject ; it is generally induced by an injurious method of 

 study which strains the eye during childhood. In 1865 the 

 Professor began to collect statistics such as the schools in his 

 own native town offered to him, and from these he was able to 

 establish the following facts : — 



1. That cases of shortsightedness occur rarely in village 

 schools ; their frequency increases in proportion to the demand 

 made upon the eye in higher schools and colleges ; so that in 

 gymnasia myopia is most prevalent. 



2. That the number of shortsighted scholars in all schools 

 and colleges increases in proportion as one examines the higher 

 grades or classes. 



3. That the average of myopia increases from class to class ; 

 i.e., th ise who are shortsighted become more and more so. 



The>e conclusions have since met with universal confirmation. 

 Among the causes which tend to increase the malady, the Pro- 

 fessor specified school -desks constructed regardless of hygienic 

 principles, lesson-books of which the typography is cramped and 

 indistinct, and badly and insufficiently lighted schoolrooms. 

 All these as they now existed were more or less unsatisfactory, 

 2.nd cou d bear alteration with perceptible benefit to the scholar. 

 Indeed to make reforms in this direction was, as he showed, the 

 duty of the State ; and he hoped that a Government commi-siou 

 might ere long be appointed to regulate the construction of 

 school-desks, the typo^iraphy of lesson-books, and the lighting 

 of cla-5-rooms. By this means the evil which was so rapidly 

 increasing might be met, and the percentage of shortsightedness 

 thereby reduc'cd to a far lower minimum than was at present the 

 case. 



Tj e next address was given by Prof. Eduard Strasburger of 

 Jena, "Ou the Hist.ry and the present State of the Cell 

 Theory." Having sketched at some length the growth and the 

 devel .pment of this theory, the learned professor remarked in 

 conclusi. n : — 



"The results of research into cell-structure are well adapted 

 to teach us a great aeal about the complicated nature of the 



^ Food in its relations to various exigencies of the animal body. — Pint. 

 Mag., July, 



fundamental substance of life ; and complicated this must be, to 

 produce such a series of phenomena in constant succession. We 

 have merely to accustom ourselves to regard protoplasm, not as 

 a simple substance, but, on the contrary, as a highly organised 

 body, or we have otherwise no means of explaining the pheno- 

 mena of life. It is at any rate a fact that a lump of protoplasm, 

 the ovum, is capable, after union with another particle of proto- 

 plasm, of reproducing the entire parent organism in its compli- 

 cated structure. That the properties of an egg are not essentially 

 different from those of other protoplasm, but that rather only 

 one part of the protoplasm in the egg is specially suited for 

 reproduction is proved by the fact that other masses of pro- 

 toplasm in the organism become often capable of reproducing 

 it in a perfect form. The behaviour of Begonia leaves is specially 

 striking ; and I therefore submit a specimen of them to you. 

 It is well known that new plants are engendered from such 

 leaves. Microscopical investigation shows us that in these leaves 

 there are separate epidermal cells which reproduce the whole 

 plant ; the protoplasm of a single such cell affords, therefore, the 

 basis for an entirely new organism. Thus the process does not 

 differ in principle from the formation of a germ from the egg. 



" The attributing of all the functions of life to protoplasm is 

 to be looked upon as a great advance in science ; although it is 

 impo;sible for us, so far, even to form hypotheses with regard to 

 the forces which are at work in the protoplasm. It will be the 

 task of the future to throw light upon this side of the question. 

 Shall we ever be able to gain a deeper insight into the final, the 

 invariable causes of life ? At the present it were futile to 

 attempt this. The progress which science has made in the last 

 ten years, often yielding quite unexpected results, leads us to 

 hope for yet further advance ; and in the seeking for know- 

 ledge, rather than in its final acquisition, it is that our highest 

 pleasure lies." . , 



In the sectional sitting for Mathematics and Astronomy held 

 on the following Monday, September 20, Director B. Ohlert 

 read a paper " On the Rapid Motion of the inner Moon of Mars 

 in the light of Laplace's Theory." He pointed out that^ the 

 fact that the inner moon of Mars passes round the planet in a 

 far shorter time than the latter needs for rotation on its own axis 

 would seem to be in contradiction to the hypothesis of Laplace 

 on the origin of our planetary system. The lecturer further 

 showed that there was nothing very remarkable in the rapdity 

 of the motion of this moon, which, owing to the slight distance 

 from Mars, was wholly in agreement with the third law of 

 Kepler : but rather that an explanation was needed of the slcao 

 axial motion of the planet itself and similarly of the other planets 

 And hereupon Prof. Ohlert adduced proofs from which, accord- 

 in- to his view, and in conformity with Jthe assumption ot La- 

 place, the rapidity of the axial motion of the planets in the final 

 period of their formation would of necessity become diminished. 

 Dr Franz then followed with a paper "On the Observation 

 of Double-Stars made at the Konigsberg Observatory, and on 

 certain Peculiarities of the Kbnigsbeig hehometer. ,. . , , 



The Section for Anthropology and Prehistoric Research held 

 a sitting on the same day, with Dr. Stieda in the chair Dr. 

 Anwer of Elbino- exhibited a rich collection of anthropological 

 specimens, chieflv illustrating the antiquity of the district. 



In the Botanical Section Prof. Bail read a valuable paper 

 " On Underground Fungi," in which he stated that the several 

 species and varieties of these in Germany must certainly exceed 

 the usually accepted number. , r, , ^ r- 



Prof Moebius of Kiel, in the Section for Zoology and Com- 

 parative Anatomy, read (also on the same day) an interesting 

 monograph -'On the Importance of the Foraminifera for the 

 Doctrine of Descent." , 



He be-an by quoting Dr. Carpenter's view that the genera and 

 species of the Foraminifera cannot be determined after the usual 

 niethod, but that the only natural classification of the great mass 

 of different forms is to arrange them in accordance with their 

 de^-ee of relationship. Prof. Moebius himself had come to the 

 conclusion from his researches among the Foraminifera which he 

 had collected in Mauritius in 1874 that the repeatedly occurring 

 peculiarities among the Foraminifera may serve and must serve 

 us in forming an idea of their nature and zoological position. _ 



The -arcode of the Foraminifera behaves with regard to tne 

 formation of the skeleton and shell just as does the protoplasm 

 of the e.'gs of the Metazoa to the formation of the germs and of 

 all organs pr receding from them. Like the protoplasm of the 

 egg, it possesses a quite definite and hereditary capacity for self- 

 development. 



