388 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 949 



Nor is their analysis an essential of proper diag- 

 nosis and treatment of psychopathies. But in 

 some cases they render the investigation more easy. 

 Dream-thought, apparently confused, is really 

 significant of the mental trend of the individual, 

 when properly analyzed and interpreted. One 

 dreams all the time, but recollects only that within 

 seven minutes of waking. The form of dream 

 can be determined by external stimuli. This is 

 demonstrated in spite of its contradiction by some 

 psychopathologists. 



A SPECIAL meeting of the Anthropological So- 

 ciety of Washington was held on February 4, 1913, 

 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 43 of the new building of 

 the National Museum, the president, Mr. George 

 E. Stetson, in the chair. 



Dr. Clark Wissler, curator of the department 

 of anthropology in the American Museum of Nat- 

 tural History, New York, read a very elaborate 

 and philosophical paper on the "Doctrine of Evo- 

 lution and Anthropology." 



An attempt was made to distinguish between 

 cultural phenomena on one hand and biological 

 on the other, especially to make clear that cul- 

 tural phenomena are not inherited, though the 

 instinct to develop culture, or to invent, is most 

 certainly inborn. It was suggested that the his- 

 torical attitude of present-day anthropology should 

 be taken as expressing the cultural point of view. 

 Culture itself seems to be associated habit com- 

 plexes or constructs of the mind and not to be in 

 any way innate or inborn, but to be an external 

 affair, preserved and carried on entirely by learn- 

 ing or educating processes. Cultures develop and 

 have an evolution of their own, but since they are 

 not inherited they can not be considered parts of a 

 biological development. They are most assuredly 

 facts of another order. Being products of the 

 mind, the only limitations put upon them are to be 

 sought in the mind itself and since psychologists 

 tell us that we have in the main only an associated 

 cultural whole, resolvable into psychological ele- 

 ments and since this, in turn, is only a matter of 

 invention and not of cell differentiation. Being a 

 matter of invention, the genetic relationship be- 

 comes purely a matter of history, since we can not 

 foretell what the relationship is. 



The psycho-physical mechanism of man is bio- 

 logical and innate and constitutes man's equip- 

 ment for the production of cultures. Anthropol- 

 ogy holds that the mechanism is general in so far 

 as it is not limited to any particular culture, and 

 that it enables the individual to practise any cul- 



ture he may meet, though not necessarily to equal 



When we come to consider the biological theory 

 of evolution we find that it applies to the psycho- 

 physical mechanism but not to culture. For cul- 

 tures we must have another point of view or theory 

 and this in America, at least, is the historical or 

 cultural conception. This conception is in general 

 that cultural traits are the results of invention, a 

 mental process, and their development or evolution 

 is to be taken as a historical and psychological 

 problem. 



The paper was briefly discussed by Dr. Folkmar, 

 Dr. Swanton and Dr. Hough. 



Wm. H. Babcock, 



Secretary 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, UNIVERSITY OP VIRGINIA 

 MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SECTION 



The third meeting of the session 1912-13 of the 

 Mathematical and Scientific Section was held on 

 December 16. 



Professor A. H. Tuttle made a preliminary 

 report of work now in progress upon the life-his- 

 tory of the Charales, based chiefly upon cytolog- 

 ical studies of a species of Tolypella. 



The fourth meeting of the session 1912-13 of. 

 the Mathematical and Scientific Section was held 

 on January 20. 



Professor J. T. Singewald, of the Johns Hop- 

 kins University, read a paper on ' ' The Titan- 

 if erous Ores of the United States. ' ' 



Wm. a. Kepnee, 



Secretary 



University of Virginia 



THE ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY 



The 203d meeting of the society was held in 

 Chemistry Hall, University of North Carolina, on 

 Tuesday evening, February 11. The following pro 

 gram was presented : 



"Photography of Sound Waves," by Mr. A. H, 

 Patterson. 



"Difference in the Effect of Grehant's Anes 

 thetic and of Morphine Ether on the Output of 

 Urine by Nephritic Animals," by Dr. W. B. Mae 

 Nider. 



"The Chemical Action of Light," by Dr. A. S, 

 Wheeler. 



James M. Bell, 

 Secording Secretary 



Chapel Hill, N. C. 



