238 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 736 



On returning home Wood's suggestion was 

 carried out. After many attempts two fibers 

 of glass, the one of colorless and the other of 

 redl sealing in glass, each having the same di- 

 ameter, were prepared. This diameter was 

 0.079 cm. The red glass gave a slightly less 

 sharply defined focal line. There is little if 

 any absorption. By pushing the exposure, 

 diverging discharge lines were shown at 

 either end of the block focal line. This gives 

 unmistakable evidence of the action of nega- 

 tive electrons. 



On using a red rod of diameter 0.420 cm. 

 the shadow picture showed white along the 

 line of contact with the fihn. The absorption 

 was then complete. 



Francis E. Niphee 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ANTHBOPOLOGIOAL SOCIETT OF WASHINGTON 



The 422d regular meeting, on October 13, 1908, 

 was addressed by Major Charles E. Woodruff, sur- 

 geon, U. S. A., on " Anthropological Studies on the 

 Effects of Light." 



Major Woodruff briefly reviewed the various ad- 

 vances which have been made in the study of the 

 effect of light on organisms. He gave special at- 

 tention to the value of light in the treatment of 

 tuberculosis. It was thought, said Dr. Woodruff, 

 that fresh air, good food and abundance of light, 

 were the three most beneficial things in the treat- 

 ment of this disease. He had reached the conclu- 

 sion that the last factor was harmful, and that the 

 success of certain cloudy regions was due to the 

 lesser degree of light; and that brilliant deserts 

 increased the mortality to an alarming extent. 



The paper was discussed by Professor McGee, 

 Dr. Hrdlieka, Dr. Lamb and others. 



The 423d regular meeting, on November 10, 

 1908, was a memorial meeting for Professor Otis 

 Tufton Mason, of the National Museum, whose 

 death occurred on November 5. Appropriate re- 

 marks on his life and varied activities were made 

 by Dr. Theodore Gill, Dr. P. W. True, Dr. Ales 

 Hrdlieka, Mr. Charles K. Wead and several others. 

 Dr. Hrdlieka read from the autobiography which 

 Professor Mason had prepared several months be- 

 fore his death. 



At tlie 424th regular meeting, on November 24, 

 1908, Dr. Ales Hrdlieka gave a synopsis of the 

 results of his investigations among the various 



Indian tribes of the United States for the Interna- 

 tional Congress on Tuberculosis. 



Doctor Hrdlieka visited the Winnebago, the 

 northern Sioux, the Quinaielt, the Hupa and the 

 Mohave tribes. Among all these peoples. Dr. 

 Hrdlieka describes the conditions as most appal- 

 ling, giving rise to the belief that in a few years 

 these tribes will be wasted to small remnants. The 

 housing, food and personal habits are of the most 

 primitive character, and there seems to be an utter 

 disregard of all rules for the prevention of the 

 spread of tuberculosis. Perhaps the most alarm- 

 ing conditions were found among the virile Sioux, 

 who are rapidly succumbing to this dread disease! 

 He held that in most cases the ultimate cause of 

 the ravages of consumption among the Indians is 

 due to the adoption of clothing, houses, food, etc., 

 of the whites, and the lack of knowledge as to the 

 communicability of disease. 



The results of Dr. Hrdlieka's researches will be 

 published in the forthcoming report of the Inter- 

 national Congress on Tuberculosis. 



At the 425th regular meeting, on December 22, 

 1908, Dr. J. W. Pewkes read a paper illustrated 

 with lantern slides on the excavation and repair 

 work at Casa Grande, done by the Smithsonian 

 Institution during the past two winters. The pre- 

 historic settlement, of which Casa Grande is the 

 best preserved building, was found to include 

 several rectangular walled enclosures (com- 

 pounds) in an area of several acres. Five of these 

 compounds were excavated and repaired. Views 

 were shown of mounds before excavation and 

 others illustrated bird's-eye views of the same in 

 their present condition. 



The character of the repair work, especially the 

 means adopted to preserve the walls from the ele- 

 ments was described and illustrated. 



At the 426th regular meeting, on January 5, 

 1909, the following program was presented: 



"Expedition to Sian-Fu, China, to Procure a 

 Replica of the Nestorian Tablet," by Mr. Fritz 

 Von Holm. 



This tablet is dated a.d. 781 and contains an 

 inscription of about 2,000 Syriac characters giving 

 the part of Asia from which this body of Chris- 

 tians had come, a list of the benefits conferred 

 on them by the Chinese emperors and other mat- 

 ters of historical importance. It was discovered 

 in modern times in 1625 and set upon a stone 

 pedestal in the shape of a turtle, but although 

 visited occasionally, little care was taken of it 

 until 1907, when the interest excited by Mr. Von 



