June 27, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



993 



made in the test of the urchin. The blastulis after 

 certain changes broke up into their constituent 

 cells. In this way dissociated embryonic cells were 

 brought into the midst of a developing membrane, 

 having a very simple histological character. In 

 the actual experiments a very large proportion of 

 the embryonic cells underwent degeneration. 

 There was some evidence, though by no means con- 

 vincing, that groups of the smaller cells became 

 part of the developing membrane. 

 Alternation of Generations in Padina: Jas. J. 



Wolfe, Trinity College, Durham. 



While at work on the life history of Fa-dina at 

 the Fisheries Laboratory at Beaufort it seemed 

 worth while to test the theory of alternation of 

 generations in such plants by the cultural methods 

 devised by Hoyt.' Numerous cultures were made 

 during the summer of 1910 and the next — all 

 having but indiilerent success. They were re- 

 peated in 1912 with somewhat better results. The 

 cultures of tetraspores produced a total of 134 

 male, 154 female, and no tetrasporic plants. Those 

 from fertilized eggs were somewhat less conclu- 

 sive. Nevertheless, the evidence from cultures 

 strongly supports the view that in Padina there is 

 a real alternation of sporophyte with gametophyte. 

 Gestation in the Nurse SliarTc, Ginglymostoma cir- 



ratum: E. W. Gudgee, State Normal College, 



Greensboro, N. C. 



A brief description was given of the breeding 

 habits and of some points in the embryology of 

 this shark, which was studied at the laboratory 

 of the Carnegie Institution at Tortugas, Florida, 

 in June and July, 1912. A brief account has been 

 published in the Year Book for 1912 of the Car- 

 negie Institution of Washington, Department of 

 Marine Biology, pages 148-150. 

 Syiridisation Experiments on Frogs: W. C. 



George, University of North Carolina, Chapel 



Hill. 



Choropliilus n. feriarum was crossed with Aoris 

 gryllus. About half of the eggs segmented. (In 

 the pure Chorophilus control practically all the 

 eggs segmented.) The development was markedly 

 retarded and was abnormal. The conspicuous ab- 

 normalities concerned the behavior of the yolk 

 pole. Thus segmentation at this pole was not 

 perfect, and the closure of the blastopore was 

 interfered with in such wise that there developed 

 the well-known abnormal type produced in so 

 many ways, characterized by a large blastopore 

 area and the differentiation of the neural plate. 



^Bot. Gaz., January, 1910. 



Tlie Toxicity of Cottonseed Meal: W. A. Withers, 

 J. F. Beewstee, L. F. Williams and J. W. 

 NowELL. With the collaboration of E. S. Cur- 

 tis and G. A. Eobebts, North Carolina Experi- 

 ment Station, West Ealeigh. 

 The authors conclude from experiments, some of 

 which have been published,' that the toxicity of 

 cottonseed meal is due to a constituent group of 

 the proteins, probably one containing loosely 

 bound sulphur. They suggest some form of iron 

 as an antidote, having found with Belgian hares 

 that citrate of iron and ammonia (0.7 gra. daily) 

 is effective in overcoming and in preventing cot- 

 tonseed meal intoxication. Further experiments 

 are in progress with small animals and with swine. 

 Efforts to isolate the toxic substance will be 

 continued. 



Fishing for Sharks in Key West Sartor: E. W. 



GuDGER, State Normal College, Greensboro. 



In this paper the capture was described of a 

 7-foot 10-ineh male specimen of Eypoprion irevi- 

 rostris and a 10-foot 10-inch female specimen of 

 the tiger shark, Galeocerdo tigrinus, in Key West 

 Harbor, in July, 1912. These two fishes not being 

 very well known, it is proposed later to publish 

 careful descriptions with exact measurements. 



The jaws of the tiger shark, which were exhib- 

 ited, measured 1 foot 4 inches straight across, and 

 around the curve of the jaws 1 foot 9 inches. Its 

 stomach contained more than a half barrel of 

 miscellaneous material, including a cow's head 

 (dehorned) minus the lower jaws, the vertebra] 

 column of a sheep, the scutes of a green turtle, 

 the bones and feathers of two birds and a lot of 

 tin cans and sea weed. The uteri were dissected, 

 but unfortunately the fish was not in breeding 

 condition. 



A Second Capture of the Whale SharTc, Ehineodon 



typus, in Florida Waters: E. W. Gudger, State 



Normal College, Greensboro. 



This paper will be published in full in Science. 



For the following papers no abstracts have been 

 received : 



' ' Some Possible Effects of Solar Eays, ' ' George 

 W. Lay, St. Mary's School, Ealeigh. (Bead by 

 title.) 



' ' Seasonal Periodicity in the Water Moulds, ' ' 

 W. C. Coker, University of North Carolina, 

 Chapel Hill. 



' Proceedings Society for Promotion Agricul- 

 tural Science, 1912, pp. 19-21, and Journal of 

 Biological Chemistry, Volume XIV. (1913), pp. 

 53-58. 



