Febeuaey 24, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



287 



obstruction.' His experiments lead to the 

 belief that complete occlusiou of the small 

 intestine at its lower end will give rise to 

 the occurrence of cholin, neurin, and, per- 

 haps, other bases, provided the food taken 

 contains a considerable quantity of lecithin. 

 Cholin is only slightly, neurin powerfully, 

 toxic. Professor W. T. Porter (Harvard) 

 reported further ' Experiments on the mam- 

 malian heart.' Experiments on the isolated 

 ventricles supplied with blood through the 

 coronary arteries and cut in various direc- 

 tions show that the synchronism of the ven- 

 tricles is not dependent on nerve-cells, is 

 probably maintained through muscular and 

 not through nervous connections, and is not 

 a function of the auricles, but is managed by 

 the ventricles themselves. Dr. Eeid Hunt 

 (Johns Hopkins) gave an account of his 

 extended researches on ' Direct and reflex 

 acceleration of the mammalian heart.' The 

 accelerator nerves exert a tonic action upon 

 the heart. The accelerator centers show 

 greater resistance to the action of drugs, 

 etc., than do the cardio-inhibitory or the 

 vaso-motor centers. Continued stimulation 

 of the accelerator nerves causes genuine fa- 

 tigue in the heart, and, if long continued, 

 even death. Eeflex acceleration is due 

 usually, if not always, to an inhibition of 

 the tonic activity of the vagi. 



Dr. S. J. Meltzer (New York) opened the 

 afternoon session with a paper on ' The 

 causes of the orderly progress of the peri- 

 staltic movements in the oesophagus.' The 

 author's experiments tend to harmonize the 

 statement of Mosso, who found that division 

 of the oesophagus does not prevent the pro- 

 gress of the peristalsis below the cut and 

 concluded that the peristalsis is of central 

 origin, and the statement of Wild, who 

 found peristalsis to cease at the cut and 

 inferred that its progress is of peripheral 

 origin. The author proved that the differ- 

 ence in the results was due to the fact that 

 Wild experimented on animals under deep 



antesthesia, while Mosso's animals were 

 only lightly anaesthetized. 



The greater part of the afternoon session 

 was devoted to demonstrations and the ex- 

 hibition of new apparatus. Professor G. 

 Carl Huber (Michigan University) demon- 

 strated methylene-blue preparations of sen- 

 sory nerve-endings in tendon — ■ Golgi's 

 tendon corpuscles. Professor W. T. Porter 

 (Harvard) demonstrated the coordination 

 of the ventricles in the tnammalian heart. 

 The following exhibitions of apparatus were 

 made : A convenient form of non-polar- 

 izable electrode, by Professor W. H. Howell 

 (Johns Hopkins); new laboratory apparatus, 

 by Dr. E. W. Scripture (Yale); an improved 

 form of Ellis's piston recorder, by Professor 

 W. P. Lombard (Jilichigan University); a 

 simple etherizing bottle, by Dr. C. C. Stew- 

 art (Columbia) ; a simple oncometer, by Pro- 

 fessor F. S. Lee (Columbia); a new respira- 

 tion apparatus, by Professor F. S. Lee. 



The papers presented at the joint session 

 of the Society and the American Psycho- 

 logical Association on the forenoon of 

 Thursday, the second day, were calculated 

 to interest both physiologists and psychol- 

 ogists. After an address of welcome 

 by Professor Miinsterberg, the President 

 of the Psychological Association, Pro- 

 fessor Chittenden, the President of the 

 Physiological Society, was called to the 

 chair and the prepared program was 

 entered upon. Professor J. McK. Cattell 

 (Columbia) gave a descriptive exhibition of 

 instruments for the study of movement and 

 fatigue. Professor F. S. Lee (Columbia) 

 presented the results of an extended series 

 of experiments upon ' The nature of muscle 

 fatigue.' The course of fatigue in the 

 muscles of the frog, the turtle and the cat 

 shows certain diiferences, the common 

 element being a decrease of lifting power. 

 The chief cause of muscle fatigue appears 

 to be poisoning by fatigue substances. 

 Fatigue is a protective phenomenon, pre- 



