200 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 735 



refined paleontologie data is as a ship devoid of 

 rudder and skipper. It was further asserted that 

 the '■ autocratic dicta " of the successful strati- 

 graphic paleontologist of to-day are not based 

 solely on comparisons of lists and collections of 

 fossils but upon every physical fact that may 

 have a bearing on the variation, horizontal and 

 vertical, of faunas and floras. Obviously then, 

 only an up to date paleontologist is equipped to 

 produce a good paleogeographic map. 



Ralph Abnold, 



Secretary 



THE SOCIETT FOE BXPEBIMENTAL BIOLOQT AND 

 MEDICINE 



The thirty-first meeting of the society was held 

 at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, 

 December 16, 1908, with President Lee in the 

 chair. 



Memiers present: Atkinson, Auer, Beebe, Bur- 

 ton-Opitz, Calkins, Carrel, Clowes, Elsberg, Emer- 

 son, Ewing, Famulener, Foster, Gies, Halsted, 

 Hatcher, Jacobs, Janeway, Joseph, Kast, Lee, 

 Levene, Levin, Lewis, Lusk, Meltzer, Meyer, Mor- 

 gan, Noguchi, Opie, Pearce, Sherman, Terry, Tor- 

 rey. Van Slyke, Wadsworth, Weil, Wood. 



Members elected: Albert C. Crawford, W. H. 

 Schultz and Thomas A. Storey. 



Scientific Program} 



John C. Hemmeter (by invitation) : Reply and 

 explanation to recent criticism of Dr. Hemmeter's 

 experimental study on effects of extirpation of the 

 salivary glands upon the gastric secretion. 



G. H. A. Clowes: A critical study of the con- 

 ditions under which zymase and its associated 

 co-enzyme bring about alcoholic fermentation. 



Alexis Carrel : Presentation of a dog ten months 

 after double nephrectomy and replantation of one 

 kidney. 



Don R. Joseph and S. J. Meltzer: A demonstra- 

 tion of the life-saving action of eserin in poisoning 

 by magnesium. 



A. O. Shaklee and S. J. Meltzer: The mechanical 

 destruction of pepsin. 



John Auer: A demonstration of the effects of 

 COa upon the frog's pupil. 



' Authors' abstracts of the papers read before 

 the Society for Experimental Biology and Medi- 

 cine are published in the Proceedings of the So- 

 ciety for Experimental Biology and Medicine. A 

 number is issued shortly after each meeting, and 

 costs twenty-cents a copy. Copies may be obtained 

 from the managing editor, William J. Gies, 437 

 West 59th Street, New York. 



Richard Weil: On the specific acquired resist- 

 ance of red blood cells. 



Hideyo Noguchi: The butyric acid reaction for 

 syphilis in man and in the monkey. 



D. D. Van Slyke and P. A. Levene: The quan- 

 titative separation of leucin from valin. 



W. A. Jacobs and P. A. Levene: Further studies 

 on the constitution of inosinic acid. 



Ralph S. Lillie: The significance of changes in 

 the permeability of the plasma membrane of the 

 living cell in the processes of stimulation and 

 contraction. 



F. C. Becht and J. R. Greer (by invitation) : 

 On the relative concentration of lysins, precipitins, 

 agglutinins, opsonins and related substances in the 

 different body fiuids of normal and immune ani- 

 mals. 



Nellis B. Foster: Studies of the influence of 

 various dietary conditions on physiological re- 

 sistance. I. The influence of different proportions 

 of protein in the food on resistance to the toxicity 

 of ricin and on recuperation from hemorrhage. 



\ 



William J. Gies, 



Secretary 



the ameeican chemical soceett 

 new toek section 



The fourth regular meeting of the session of 

 1908-9 was held at the Chemists' Club on Jan- 

 uary 8. 



Mr. Frank Gottsch presented " A Simple Spe- 

 cific Gravity Apparatus for Portland Cement." 

 His method, which he illustrated by a determina- 

 tion on the lecture table, depends upon the weight 

 of cement required to replace a measured volume 

 of kerosene removed from a graduated flask. It is 

 rapid and gives results suflSciently accurate for 

 commercial work. 



The rest of the evening was devoted to the 

 general subject : " The United States Patent Law : 

 Its Use and Abuse." The speakers and their 

 titles were: 



F. I. Allen : " Introduction : Historical and 

 Descriptive." 



W. Hastings Swenarton : " Patents, Trade Se- 

 crets and Trade Names as Factors in Industrial 

 Development — Their Relative Functions." 



L. C. Raegener : " Some Defects in the Practise 

 of Our Patent System and Suggested Remedies." 



B. C. Hesse : " Some Suggestions as to Desirable 

 Improvements." 



L. H. Baekeland : " The Inventor's Standpoint." 

 C. M. JOTCE, 

 Secretary 



