718 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 229. 



Essai criiique 6ur Vhypoihhe des aiomes dans la science 

 contemporaine. Aethue Hannequin. Paris, Al- 

 can. 1899. Second Edition. Pp. 457. 



Social Phases of Edmcation in the School and the Home. 

 Samuel T. Button. New York and London, 

 The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. viii + 259. 



Tlie Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands of the North Pacific 

 Ocean. David Staee Jordan. Wasliington, 

 Government Printing Office. 1898. Pp. 606 and 

 13 Plates. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ABTICLES. 

 American Chemical Journal, May. The Action 

 of Metals on Nitric Acid: By P. C. Freer and 

 G. O. Higsley. The reduction of strong acid is 

 due to the metals a.lone, but with dilute acid both 

 metal and hydrogen take part in the reduction. 

 On the Dissociation of Pliosphorus Pentabro- 

 mide in Solution in Organic Solvents : By J. H. 

 Kastle and W. A. Beatty. On the Color of 

 Compounds of Bromine and of Iodine : By J. 

 H. Kastle. The explanation ofTered is that the 

 color is due to a slight dissociation of the solid 

 substance. On the Formation of Potassiums 

 B-ferri cyanide through the action of Acids on the 

 Normal Ferricyanide : By J. Locke and G. H. 

 Edwards. A very small amount of acid is suf- 

 ficient to produce this change without the 

 presence of any oxidizing agent. Trinitro- 

 phenylmalonic Ester : By C. L. Jackson and 

 J. I. Phinney. The Relation of Trivalent to 

 Pentavalent Nitrogen : By A. Lachman. The 

 authors report the results so far obtained in an 

 attempt to establish the trivalent or pentavalent 

 condition of nitrogen, in various compounds, by 

 the action with zinc ethyl. 



J. Elliott Gilpin. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES — SECTION OF 



BIOLOGY, MAECH 14, 1899- 



Obseevations on the Germ Layers of Teleost 

 Fishes : F. B. Sumner. 



Mr. Sumner showed that Teleost eggs can be 

 divided into two types according to their ap- 

 proach to the holoblastic form of cleavage ; that 

 germ disc and yolk cannot strictly be contrasted 

 as epiblast and hypoblast respectively ; that 

 the germ ring arises either by involution or 

 delamination or both ; that the ' prostoma ' of 



Kupflfer is a reality. Kupffer's contention that 

 the prostoma represents the entire blastopore is, 

 however, wrong. Mr. Sumner showed also that 

 the hypoblast in the stone-catfish is derived 

 partly from the posterior lip of the prostoma 

 and partlj' from the germ-ring ; perhaps wholly 

 from the prostoma in the trout ; that the 

 function of Kupffer's vesicle, which arises as a 

 cleft between the prostomal entoderm and the 

 involuted margin of the blastoderm, is probably 

 the absorption of fluid nutriment elaborated 

 from the yolk by the periblast. 



Further Notes on the Echinoderms of Ber- 

 muda : H. L. Clark. Presented by Professor 

 C. L. Bristol. 



Dr. Clark's paper sums up the work on the 

 Echinoderms collected by the New York Uni- 

 versity Expedition in the summers of '97 and 

 '98, and presents a check list of the Echinoderms 

 thus far reported from Bermuda. The collection 

 of 1898 was especially rich in holothurians, con- 

 taining many species hitherto collected, adding 

 several others to the list from Bermuda, and one 

 new to science. From his work on Stichopus 

 Dr. Clark suggests that the different forms 

 found in Bermuda may be mature and imma- 

 ture individuals of S. mobii (Semp.). Synapta 

 vivipara was found under conditions widely dif- 

 ferent from those in Jamaica. The new Synapta 

 is allied to S. inhserens, and Dr. Clark has 

 named it S. acanthia. 



The Echinoderms from Bermuda are distrib- 

 uted as follows : Asteroidea, 4 ; Ophiuroidea, 

 7 ; Echinoidea, 8 ; Holothuroidea, 10. 



The Sequence of Moults and Plumages of the 

 Passerine Birds of New York State : Jonathan 

 Dwight, M. D. 



Dr. Dwight fully described the process of 

 moulting and its relation to the plumage of 

 about one hundred and fifty species of land birds 

 common to eastern North America. The early 

 plumage of these birds was described, together 

 with the time and method of the acquisition of 

 later plumages. Stress was laid upon the un- 

 derlying principles of the sequence or succes- 

 sion of plumages peculiar to each species, and 

 the moults and plumages were classified accord- 

 ing to a definite scheme by the author. 



Gary N. Calkins, , 

 Secretary. 



