922 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 963 



Genus 



Cerbera 



Cratwgus 



Cucurbita 



Glycine 



Hibiscus 



Jatropha 



Type Species 



A. racemosa 



C. dhouaj 



C. aria 



C. lagenaria 



G. apios 



S. malvaviscus 



J. manihot 



M. radiata 



Now Referred to 



Benealmia 

 Thevetia 

 Sorbus 

 Lagenaria 



Malvaviscus 



Manihot 



Trigonella 



Applying the method of tjrpes to the niekernut, 

 Mr. Skeels called attention to Mr. Trimen's iden- 

 tifications of the Flora Zeylanica specimens which 

 are published in Vol. 24 of The Journal of the 

 Linnean Society, Botany. On the basis of these 

 identifications, Mr. Skeels concluded as follows: 



"In conclusion, going back to our three original 

 species, the 'Catti kitsjil' of the East Indies, the 

 Ccesalpinia nuga (L.) Alton of the floras, under 

 the method of types of the American Code, be- 

 comes Cwsalpinia crista L., the type being Fl. 

 Zeyl. 157. The common gray-seeded niekernut, 

 generally known as Coesalpinia or Guilandina bon- 

 ducella, becomes Guilaiidin^ bonduc L., the type 

 being Fl. Zeyl. 156. And the yellow-seeded, large- 

 leafletted niekernut, generally known as Guillan- 

 dina bonduc, becomes Guilandina major (DC.) 

 Small, being based through De Candolle, on Guil- 

 andina bonduc L. Species Plantarum, ed. 2." 

 Wlmt would be the Effect of the Arctic Night on 



Tropical or Subtropical Vegetation? Dr. F. H. 



Knowlton. 



Dr. Knowlton called attention to the ancient 

 floras of the North Polar region. Many of the 

 fossil plants found there are of a tropical or sub- 

 tropical character. No satisfactory explanation 

 of the relation of such plants to the conditions of 

 light and darkness supposed to have prevailed has 

 been found. Dr. Knowlton asked for suggestions 

 from the members of the society and a brief dis- 

 cussion followed. 



C. L. Shear, 

 Corresponding Secretary 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, UNHTIRSITT OF VIRGINIA 

 MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SECTION 



The eighth regular meeting of the session of 

 1912-13 of the Mathematical and Scientific Sec- 

 tion was held May 19. 



Professor E. M. Bird read a paper by himself 

 and Mr. W. S. Calcott on ' ' Some Studies of Chem- 

 ical Reactions, which may be Connected with the 

 Constant Association of Vanadium Sulphide with 

 Sulphur-bearing Petrols and Asphalts." 



Mr. Justus M. Cline presented a paper by him- 



self and Professor Thos. L. Watson on "The 

 Drainage Changes in the Shenandoah Valley Ee- 

 gion in Virginia. ' ' 



Professor Thos. L. Watson read a paper en- 

 titled ' ' A Meteoric Iron from Paulding County, 

 Georgia. ' ' 



Professor Chas. N. Wunder read a paper on 

 "A Photometric Survey of the Stars of the Huy- 

 genian Region of the Great Nebula of Orion. ' ' 



Professor W. H. Echols read by title a paper 

 ' ' On the Expansion of a Function in Terms of 

 Rational Functions. ' ' This paper will be read at 

 the regular meeting in October. 



Wm. a. Kepneb, 



Secretary 



University of Vieginia 



science club of the university of wisconsin 



At the 125th regular meeting of the club, held 

 April 17, 1913, Dr. A. S. Loevenhart, of the de- 

 partment of pharmacology of the University of 

 Wisconsin, presented a paper on ' ' The Relation 

 of Oxidative Processes in the Central Nervous 

 System to Stimulation and Depression. ' ' 



The observed effects of asphyxia are, in the 

 order of occurrence, stimulation, depression, paral- 

 ysis, death. By using carbon monoxide, hydro- 

 cyanic acid and other drugs that inhibit the 

 oxygen-carrying power of the blood without inter- 

 fering with the elimination of carbon dioxide, and 

 by reducing the time of the experiment so much 

 that no accumulation of acid products is possible, 

 it is found that decrease of oxidation per se is 

 responsible for the initial stimulation observed in 

 asphyxia. 



Increased oxidation, secured by the use of cer- 

 tain derivatives of iodbenzoic acid, results in sus- 

 pension of respiration and other evidences of 

 depression of the central nervous system. 



Anesthesia is a case of secondary depression 

 resulting from decreased oxidation as opposed to 

 depression from increased oxidation, which is 

 probably the condition occurring in sleep. A 

 ' ' safe ' ' anesthetic is therefore an impossibility, 

 since the function of an anesthetic is to hold 

 bodily oxidation down in the region of depression 

 between stimulation and death. 



The lecture was illustrated with a number of 

 diagrams from automatic recording apparatus, and 

 some pieces of apparatus that had been specially 

 designed or improved in connection with the ia- 

 vestigation. 



Eric R. Miller, 



Secretary 



