414 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. W9. 



for seven days, their organs, other' than 

 those operated on, not only assuming their 

 typical shape and correlative arrangement, 

 but also undergoing typical histogenic dif- 

 ferentiation. Dr. Schaper considers that 

 his experiments corroborate the theories of 

 Eoux, who divides the development of an 

 organism into an early period of organo- 

 genetic development and a later period of 

 functional development. During the first 

 period the organs develop by means of an 

 inherited endogenous energy without influ- 

 ence from outer stimuli ; during the second 

 the gradually developed specific function of 

 the individual organ, as well as the cooper- 

 ative function of all the organs of the body, 

 are the main stimuli for further growth. 

 During this second period the absence of 

 an important organ, and especially of the 

 central nervous system, must be fatal and 

 lead to the death of the organism. 



Two investigators have recently used the 

 Kontgen rays to very good purpose. The 

 first of these. Professor H. C. Bumpus, was, 

 by their aid, enabled to note accurately the 

 number of vertebrse, and record the posi- 

 tion of the pelvis in 100 specimens of 

 Necturus. The other. Dr. W. C. Cannon, 

 used the rays to obtain figures showing the 

 changing shape of the stomach during diges- 

 tion, using for the purpose a cat. The ani- 

 mal's food was mixed with subnitrate of 

 bismuth and the wave-like movements of 

 the pyloric portion of the stomach were 

 made clearly visible. The total number of 

 waves which passed over the antrum dur- 

 ing the seven hours a cat was digesting a 

 meal of soft bread was about 2,600. 



Professor Bumpus's paper, alluded to 

 above, can hardly be summarized, owing to 

 the number of questions discussed and 

 amount of evidence brought forward. It 

 may, however, be said that in 36 out of 100 

 examples of Necturus the pelvis was abnor- 

 mally attached, and that in 22 cases it was 

 attached to the twentieth instead of the 



nineteenth vertebra. Variations in- the 

 relative position of the pelvic arch are 

 associated with variations in the position 

 of the pectoral arch ; the definitive location 

 of the pelvis is probably due to centripetal 

 influence derived from the budding append- 

 age, and intercalation of vertebrae in the 

 sense of the introduction of new segments 

 does not take place. F. A. L. 



CUBEENT NOTES ON PHYSIOGRAPHY. 



THE MISSISSIPPI FLOOD OF 1897. 



Weather Bureau Bulletin E, 'Floods 

 of the Mississippi River,' by Park Morrill,^ 

 is a report on an important subject concern- 

 ing which most persons have only news- 

 paper information. Forty-five quarto pages 

 are given to a general account of the river, 

 its flood plain and some of its earlier floods. 

 Thirty pages describe the spring flood of 

 1897. Many charts represent the normal 

 monthly precipitation of the region, certain- 

 cases of exceptional precipitation, and rec- 

 ords of hydrographs during floods at 

 various stations. Among the most inter- 

 esting plates is one (based on the Missis- 

 sippi River Commission map) representing 

 the flooded area of 1897 and its relation 

 to the ' alluvial valley ' or flood plain of the 

 lower Mississippi. The manner in which 

 the flood avoided the higher ground along^ 

 the river and selected the back swamps at 

 one or the other side of the flood plain is 

 very clearly brought out. As is well known, 

 the great river follows near the eastern 

 bluffs as far as Memphis, then swings 

 across to the western bluffs at Helena, and 

 returns to the eastern bluffs at Vicksburg, 

 remaining close to them as far as Baton 

 Rouge. The flood began in the St. Francis 

 basin, west of the river, in the Memphis 

 section. It crossed the river near Helena, 

 submerging the lower Yazoo basin, but 

 leaving the upper Yazoo basin free. The 

 flood again crossed theriver near Vicksburg, 

 submerging the lower Macon basin, bub 



