5oS 



NA TURE 



[OcTOBhR 2 I, 1909 



tcrminatino in the tenth and eleventh thoracic segments 

 Its function is still undetermined, a series of detailed 

 experiments showing only that it is not concerned with 

 the pyramidal or voluntary motor path, or with any 

 obvious vasomotor process of the spleen, kidney, and other 

 organs as examined with the plethysmograph. 



Dr. 'Page May also demonstrated, by the method of 

 reticrade chromatolvsis, the delimitation of the motor 

 area "in the cerebral 'cortex. The method is free from the 

 fallacies that attend stimulation and ablation, and has 

 enabled the author and Dr. Gordon Holmes to map out the 

 cerebral motor area with great precision. This area in 

 man and the higher mammals is definitely precentral, 

 as Sherrington and Grunbaum have found by other 



methods. ., , ■. , .u 



Dr. Sutherland Simpson and his pupils described the 

 pyramidal tract in the sheep and guinea-pig. The fibres 

 were traced by the degeneration method after removal _ of 

 the motor cortex of one side, the staining being carried 

 out with Marchi's method. In the sheep it was found 

 that no pyramid fibres could be found in the posterior 

 columns, the proportion of direct fibres was large as 

 compared with the crossed fibres, and the fibres could 

 not be traced at all below the first cervical segment. 



Prof. Simpson also communicated a paper by Mr. E. C. 

 Peterson on the ascending tracts in the spinal cord of the 

 cat. 



The report of the committee on the ductless glands, 

 drawn up by Prof. Swale Vincent, furnished an interest- 

 ing group of papers by Mrs. W. H. Thompson (of 

 Winnipeg), Drs. Halpenny and Brandson, and Dr. 

 Young. 



Mrs. Thompson (who illustrated her paper with a series 

 of excellent diagrams), as a result of the study of the 

 thyroids and parathyroids throughout a wide range of the 

 animal kingdom, supported the views of Vincent and Jolly, 

 and Forsvtii, that these bodies are not separate and inde- 

 pendent, but are very intimately related. Although distinct 

 in the lower Vertebrata, and of somewhat different 

 embryological origin, in the Mammalia they form, in fact, 

 one apparatus. 



Dr. Halpenny discussed the operation of parathyroid- 

 ectomy, and also the effect on the parathyroids after 

 excision of the thyroids. 



Dr. Young investigated the effect of excluding the blood 

 passing through the adrenals from the circulation ; he 

 found no fall of blood pressure even after several hours ; 

 there was, however, a distinct rise when the ligature was 

 removed. 



In presenting the report of the committee on .\rum 

 spadices, Dr. Waller referred to the result obtained by 

 him of ihe effect of local heat on vegetable and animal 

 tissues. "Thermic shocks," short of actual injury to the 

 tissues, produce no excitation, in contradiction to the usual 

 text-book statement, but give an electiical effect of opposite 

 sign to that given by excitation. 



Prof. E. J. Mc\\"eeney read a paper on the bacilli con- 

 nected with food poisoning, for the details of which the 

 report must be consulted. 



The joint discussion with Section B, to which Dr. E. 

 Franklnnd Armstrong, Dr. E. J. Russell, and Prof. J. 

 Wilson communicated papers, proved one of the most 

 successful features of the meeting, and it is to be hoped 

 that the precedent thus set will be followed on future 

 occasions. Dr. E. I'Vankland .Armstrong directed attention 

 to the difference in composition of different proteins, and 

 pointed out that not only should the total nitrogen be 

 taken into account in comparing the different foods, but 

 due regard should also be paid to the composition and 

 n.alure of the constituent units. Dr. E. J. Russell referred 

 to the very great difference in food value between different 

 samples of hay and roots, which showed but small variation 

 with the usual methods of analysis. Prof. J. W'ilson gave 

 a most interesting historical account of the practice of 

 f.'^rmers in feeding live-stock, particularly bullocks. He 

 pointed out the great economic importance of the know- 

 ledge of the proper amount of the different proportions of 

 the more expensive protein to the less expensive fat and 

 CErboh\'drate, and showed how the nractice of farmers 

 had changed in this matter. Prof. H. E. .Armstrong, Prof. 

 NO. 20S6, VOL. 8l] 



Cushny, Dr. Alcock, and Dr. Hardy also joined in the 

 discussion. 



On the last day of the meeting Dr. .\lcock gave a 

 demonstration of liis chloroform apparatus in the theatre 

 of the Winnipeg General Hospital, and subsequently there 

 was a discussion on the structure and function of the 

 nucleus, in which Prof. .\. B. Macallum and Dr. W. A. 

 Hardy took part. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



C'AMBKUiGE. — .At a meeting of the master and fellows of 

 St Catharine's College, held on October 19, Prof. R. H. 

 Biffen, of Emmanuel College, was elected to the vacant 

 professorial fellowship. Prof. Biffen, who was a scholar 

 of Emmanuel College, was placed in the first class in 

 part i. of the natural sciences tripos in 1895, and in the 

 first class in part ii. of the same tripos in the following 

 year. Shortly after taking his degree he was elected to 

 the Frank Smart studentship at Gonville and Cams, 

 College, and soon afterwards he undertook a research 

 which greatly modified the process of the manufacture of 

 india-rubber. Later, as professor of agricultural botany, 

 he has done much to produce new wheats, some of them 

 rust-resisting, others combining a high yield with the 

 " strength " which bakers desire. This autumn, for the 

 first time the seeds of these wheats are being distributed 

 to agriculturists. Prof. Biffen is also a well-known 

 authority on fungoid diseases of plants. 



Mr. y. H. Mottram, of Trinity College, has been 

 appointed additional demonstrator of physiology until 

 Michaelmas, 1912. 



Mr. W. McD. Scott has been elected to a John Lucas 

 Walker studentship, and Dr. C. W. Ponder, of Emmanuel 

 College, has been elected to a second studentship. 



The Arnold Gerstenberg studentship has been awarded to 

 Mr. C. D. Broad, scholar of Trinity College. 



M.'VNXHESTER. — In response to the appeal made by Prof. 

 Perkin at the opening of the new extension of the chemical 

 laboratories on October 4, the following donations have 

 been received towards the cost of the necessary apparatus, 

 material, and equipment :— Dr. Hugo MiiUer, 300!. ; 

 anonymous, 250?. ; Mr. Vernon K. .Armitage. 250/. ; Mr. 

 M. j. Fernandez Ferreira, 50/. ; Mr. Noah Kolp, 50/. 

 The sum of iiooi. is still required. 



Dr. C. P. Lopage has been appointed lecturer in observa- 

 tion of children and school hygiene. 



Oxford. — The geographical scholarship for iqog-io has 

 j„, ^. HI., u \\'-,ii;^ scholar of Hertford 



been awarded to 

 College 



Mr. H. Wallis, 



Mr. .a. p. I. CoTTERELL has been appointed lecturer on 

 sanitary engineering in the faculty of engineering of the 

 University of Bristol. The faculty is provided and main- 

 tained in'the Merchant Venturers' Technical College. 



Dr. A. CAMPBELL Geddes has been appointed successor 

 to the late Prof. A. Eraser in the chair of anatomy at the 

 Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Prof. Geddes was 

 formerly assistant to the late Prof. D. J. Cunningham, 

 F.R.S.,' Edinburgh. 



To show his personal interest in the new Hong Kong 

 University, the King has directed that holders of Govern- 

 ment scholarships shall be styled " King Edward VII. 

 scholars." Lord Crewe, the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies, suggests that the scholarships should be confined 

 to Hong Kong Chinese and Chinese born in the Straits 

 Settlements. 



The corporation of Yale University has received from 

 Messrs. W. D. and H. T. Sloane, of New York, a gift 

 of 425,000 dollars for the erection and equipment of a 

 physics laboratory. .Among other recent gifts are 25,000 

 dollars from Mr^ A. G. Vanderbilt toward the general 



