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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 770 



strong advocate of temperance, is opposed to 

 prohibition and in favor of the Gothenburg 

 system, educational methods and the creation 

 of clean and wholesome amusements calculated 

 to counteract the evil influence of saloons; 

 we heartily endorse his general views on the 

 alcohol question and his opposition to the 

 pernicious system of treating. We regret that 

 Dr. Knopf, an evident believer in home- 

 making, did not emphasize the value of good 

 wholesome food as a preventive factor in alco- 

 holism, especially since the cold dinner pail 

 and badly prepared food create an appetite 

 for alcoholic beverages. In Chapter XII. the 

 author discusses the prospects of the ultimate 

 eradication of tuberculosis and quotes two en- 

 couraging sentences from the writings of Pas- 

 teur. Dr. KJnopf has shown that tuberculosis 

 is a preventable and curable disease — we firmly 

 believe that if the measures recommended by 

 him in his book, and which have been known 

 to sanitarians for some time, were generally 

 adopted, the great " white plague " which now 

 carries off annually over 150,000 victims in 

 the United States alone would be eradicated 

 within one or two generations. 



Geo. M. Kobek 

 Georgetown Univebsity 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The Journal of Experimental Zoology, Vol. 

 Vn., No. 1 (August, 1909), contains the fol- 

 lowing papers: "The Production of New 

 Hydranths in Hydra by the Insertion of Small 

 Grafts," by Ethel Nicholson Browne. A stock 

 hydra may regenerate a new hydranth in 

 region of graft if (1) a tentacle with, peri- 

 stome tissue at its base, or (2) just peristome 

 tissue without the tentacle, or (3) regenera- 

 ting head material, or (4) bud tissue, is 

 grafted in any region except the tentacle 

 region. In the foot region, the new hydranth 

 pinches off as a minute hydra of about one 

 tenth normal size. In and above the middle 

 region, the new hydranth is of normal size. 

 The origin of regenerating material and the 

 fate of absorbed material is shown by grafts 

 of normal green with artificial white hydras. 

 " The Effect of the Destruction of Peripheral 



Areas on the Differentiation of the Neuro- 

 blasts," by M. L. Shorey. The purpose of 

 these experiments was to study the behavior 

 of portions of the developing nervous system 

 when it is itself left quite intact and with all 

 its relations normal, but with the primordia 

 of the organs which it should innervate extir- 

 pated before innervation. In every instance 

 it was found that the neuroblasts do not dif- 

 ferentiate except in the presence of their nor- 

 mal end organs, or of others of a similar 

 character. " Factors of Form Kegulation in 

 Harenactis attenuata, II., Aboral Restitution, 

 Heteromorphosis and Polarity," by C. M. 

 Child. In the esophageal region of the ac- 

 tinian Harenactis tentacles form at both oral 

 and aboral ends of isolated pieces, but at all 

 levels proximal to the esophagus tentacles 

 appear orally and a foot aborally. The two 

 internal factors determining the polar phe- 

 nomena are the constitution at the various 

 levels of the body, and the physiological cor- 

 relations between the parts composing the 

 piece. " Some Effects of External Conditions 

 upon the White Mouse," by Francis B. Sum- 

 ner. The most important conclusions from 

 these experiments are (1) that certain readily 

 measurable structural modifications have been 

 produced by changes of temperature, corre- 

 sponding to some of the differences between 

 northern and southern species or varieties of 

 mammals; and (2) that there is a distinct 

 tendency toward the reduction of these experi- 

 mentally produced differences during subse- 

 quent growth, even when the conditions which 

 gave rise to them remain unchanged. " Fur- 

 ther Observations of the Behavior of Tubi- 

 colous Annelids," by Chas. W. Hargitt. The 

 paper supplements earlier observations and 

 experiments by the author on the behavior of 

 this interesting group of annelids, tabulating 

 in considerable detail the various reactions. 

 It also emphasizes the importance of behavior 

 under natural, as compared with artificial, con- 

 ditions, and points out the important signifi- 

 cance of the complex aspects of the tubes 

 themselves as expressions of behavior. The 

 results fail to show any evidence in support of 

 the so-called tropism theory of behavior. 



