May 9, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



723 



liavior of a vertebrate upon the basis of demon- 

 strable reflex arcs, (5) a distinctive contribution 

 towards a biological neurology. 

 The Correlation of Structure and Function in the 

 Development of the Nervous System (illus- 

 trated) : Stewart Paton, M.D. Introduced by 

 Dr. A. C. Abbott. 

 The Belaiion betiveen the Physical State of the 

 Brain Cells and Brain Function (experimental 

 and clinical) : George W. Cbile, M.D., Ph.D. 

 Life of Cells Outside the Organism (illustrated) : 

 Eoss G. Harrison, M.D., Ph.D. Introduced by 

 Dr. A. C. Abbott. 

 Heredity and Selection: William E. Castle, 



Ph.D. 

 The Nature of Sex and the Method of its Deter- 

 mination (illustrated) : Clarence E. McClung, 

 A.M., Ph.D. Introduced by Dr. George A. Pier- 

 sol. 

 Fever: Its Nature and Significance: Victor C. 

 Vaughan, M.D., LL.D. 



It has been shown experimentally that fever is 

 due to the digestion of proteins in the blood and 

 in the tissues. Bacteria are living proteins. They 

 get into the body and grow, converting the pro- 

 teins of man 's body into bacterial proteins. After 

 a period of incubation the cells of the body pour 

 out a ferment which digests and destroys the 

 bacteria. In this process fever originates. In 

 itself fever is beneficial. It is a manifestation of 

 the attempt on the part of nature to destroy the 

 invading organism. However, nature may overdo 

 the matter, and fever per se becomes dangerous 

 when it goes much above 105°. Any kind of fever, 

 acute fatal, intermittent, remittent or continued, 

 may be induced in animals by repeated injections 

 of properly graduated doses of foreign protein. 

 The Control of Typhoid Fever by Vaccination: 

 Mazyck P. Eavenel, M.D. 



Vaccination against typhoid fever as practised 

 to-day we owe to the researches of Dr. (now Sir) 

 Almroth E. Wright. 



It was tried for the first time on a large scale 

 during the Boer war. Since that time it has 

 undergone investigation by scientific boards in 

 several countries. In the United States it was 

 recommended by such a board in 1909. The re- 

 sults were so favorable that it was made com- 

 pulsory for all officers and enlisted men under 

 forty-five years of age in 1911. 



The most striking results were obtained during 

 the mobilization of troops in Texas in 1911. 

 There were 12,801 troops in Texas, all vaccinated. 



There was only one case of typhoid fever, occur- 

 ring in a private of the hospital corps, who had 

 not completed his immunization. The ease was 

 mild, and resulted in recovery. In 1898, 10,759 

 troops were stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, 

 under very much the same conditions as regards 

 climate, etc. Vaccination was not practised at 

 that time. There were 2,693 cases known or be- 

 lieved to be typhoid fever, with 248 deaths. 

 Wherever practised, very much the same story is 

 told. The French troops in Morocco under most 

 unhygienic surroundings have entirely escaped 

 typhoid fever where vaccination was practised. 



The method is an extension of the well-known 

 bacterial vaccination discovered by Pasteur. It is 

 now generally recommended for nurses in hospitals 

 and those exposed to the disease. 



In Wisconsin the State Laboratory of Hygiene 

 sends out the vaccine free of charge to all physi- 

 cians in the state. In more than three thousand 

 vaccinations only two cases of typhoid fever have 

 come to our notice; both of these cases mild and 

 atypical. 



The method has shown itself of great value in 

 checking epidemics, and in the cure of typhoid 

 carriers. 



Friday, April 18 — Afternoon Session 

 William B. Scott, Ph.D., LL.D., vice-president, 

 in the chair 

 G^iatemala and the Highest Native American 

 Civilisation: Ellsworth Huntington, M.A., 

 Ph.D. Introduced by Mr. Henry G. Bryant. 

 Among the native civilizations of the western 

 hemisphere that of the Mayas was decidedly the 

 highest. Not only did they develop the arts of 

 architecture and sculpture to a surprisingly high 

 point, considering the fact that they had no tools 

 of iron, but they were the only American race to 

 evolve the art of genuine hieroglyphic writing. 

 To-day the magnificent ruins of the later, decadent 

 Maya period, dating about a.d. 1000, are relatively 

 accessible, as they lie in the comparatively dry, 

 open and well-populated strip which borders the 

 peninsula of Yucatan on the north. The oldest 

 ruins, however, those representing the period of 

 highest development a few centuries after the 

 time of Christ, are located in one of the most 

 inaccessible, least explored, most unhealthful and 

 most sparsely populated regions of America. The 

 Guatemalan province of Peten, together with the 

 immediately surrounding regions, where the great- 

 est ruins are located, consists of a plain or low 

 hills lying between the Atlantic Ocean on the east, 



