Febeuaby 18, 1898.] 



SCmNGE. 



219 



alkalinity, but to the greater concentration 

 of the secretion coming from glands that 

 have been resting. Stimulation of the 

 mucous membrane of the mouth-cavity by 

 the vapor of ether or chloroform, or by alco- 

 hol, whiskey or gin causes a secretion richer 

 in digestive power and solid matters than 

 that caused by mechanical stimulation. 

 Professor Lusk presented experimental evi- 

 dence for the view that in acute fatty de- 

 generation the dextrose that is formed from 

 proteid in the cell is converted into fat. 

 Professor Mendel reported preliminary ex- 

 periments on the quantitative variations in 

 the excretion of kynurenic acid. 



Upon invitation Professor W. Hallock 

 (Columbia) gave an account of his re- 

 searches with Dr. F. S. Muckey on the action 

 of the larynx in the production of voice. 

 The larynx is essentially a string-, not a 

 reed-instrument. In the correct mode of 

 voice-production, pitch is controlled by the 

 intrinsic laryngeal muscles, and registers 

 should be absent. Eegisters result from the 

 action of the extrinsic muscles interfering 

 with the proper action of the intrinsic 

 muscles and causing a distortion of the 

 larynx. The authors have analyzed tones 

 by photographing the movements of sensi- 

 tive flames, and have verified in general 

 the conclusions of Helmholtz and Konig 

 regarding quality. The chest, antra and 

 sinuses do not act as resonance-chambers 

 to reenforce the tone. 



Dr. S. J. Meltzer (New York) demon- 

 strated a new method of anaesthetizing 

 animals by ether administered through the 

 rectum ; a new pleural cannula in situ; and 

 a simple method for the redistension of the 

 collapsed lung. Professor Porter (Har- 

 vard) demonstrated, for Mr. F. H. Pratt, 

 the isolation of the heart of the cat and its 

 nutrition. A short glass tube was tied into 

 the right ventricle of the excised heart. 

 When a little defibrinated blood was poured 

 in, contractions proceeded as normally. 



Professor W. Patten (Dartmouth) out- 

 lined a new theory of color vision, based 

 on the structure of the retinal cells in in- 

 vertebrates. According to his observations, 

 the structures in the eyes of invertebrates 

 corresponding to the rods and cones of ver- 

 tebrates are genei'ally composed of groups 

 of simple or compound wedges, containing 

 a system of transverse fibrils accurately 

 graded in length, according to their posi- 

 tion in the wedges. The fibrils are always 

 arranged in planes at right angles to the 

 rays of light. All the fibrils in these planes 

 may be parallel to one another, or at varj^- 

 ing angles, or they may radiate from the 

 axis of each rod, like the bristles in a test- 

 tube cleaner, so that no two fibrils in the 

 same plane are parallel. By assuming that 

 the length and angular relations of a fibril 

 determine the amount of its response to a 

 wave of light of a given length and plane 

 of vibration, it is possible to offer a logical 

 explanation of many phenomena of color 

 vision. 



Professor G. P. Clark (Syracuse) gave an 

 account of work that he had recently car- 

 ried on with Professor von Frey, of Leip- 

 sic, upon certain characteristics of the 

 pressure-sensations of the human skin. 

 This dealt especially with the relations 

 between the sensations caused by pressure 

 and those caused by pull or traction. It 

 was found, among other things, that the 

 points most sensitive to pressure are also 

 most sensitive to traction, that fatigue for 

 the former stimulus is fatigue for the latter, 

 and that the strength of the stimulus, the 

 rate of application, the size of the surface 

 and the locality of the skin to which the 

 stimulus was applied, bear the same rela- 

 tion to the effectiveness of the two kinds of 

 stimuli. The inference is that the two are 

 mediated by the same sense-organs. 



Professor Porter (Harvard), in behalf of 

 Professor Bowditch, reported further obser- 

 vations by Mr. "W. B. Cannon, upon the 



