Apeil 2, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



559 



linear measurement only is involved — a length 

 taken with a micrometer. The use of a costly 

 and cumbersome optical bench is not required, 

 briefly, the method is rapid, precise and con- 

 venient. The speaker gave a general account of 

 the theory of fringe formation in the Fabry and 

 Perot interferometer. The several sources of 

 error were considered and all shown to be of the 

 order of one part in one thousand, and hence the 

 error in the determination of focal length / not 

 greater than f/ 1,000. 



The Coefficient of Reflection of Electrio Waves at 

 a Transition Point: Dr. Louis Cohen. 

 The paper discussed mathematically an impor- 

 tant practical question, applicable to many pres- 

 ent-day engineering problems, especially to the 

 transmission of power by means oi high potential 

 electric currents. It was pointed out that in 

 passing from an air circuit to an underground 

 cable the potential might easily be almost doubled 

 at the point of transition, due mainly to the dif- 

 ference in the capacities of the two parts of the 

 circuit. In the cases of circuits having large 

 localized inductances the potential may at places 

 become nearly double the ordinary line potential. 

 The Giscussion was in reference to alternating 

 currentg. R. L- Fabis, 



Secretary 



THE SOCIETT EOB EXPEKIMENTAl BIOLOGY AND 

 MEDICINE 



The thirty-second meeting of the society was 

 held at the New York University and Bellevue 

 Hospital Medical College, February 17, 1909, with 

 President Lee in the chair. 



Members present: Alsberg, Atkinson, Auer, 

 Banzhaf, Beebe, Berg, Burton-Opitz, Ewing, 

 Famulener, Foster, Gay, Gies, Henderson, Jacobs, 

 Joseph, Kast, Lee, Levene, Levin, Lewis, Lusk, 

 Mandel, Meltzer, Meyer, Murlin, Noguchi, Opie, 

 Pearce, Storey, Terry, Wallace, Weil. 



Menibers elected: John F. Anderson, T. G. 

 Brodie, L. J. Cole, Martin H. Fischer, Richard V. 

 Lamar, Max Morse, Hanz Zinsser. 



Officers elected: President, Frederic S. Lee; 

 Vice-president, William J. Gies ; Secretary, Eugene 

 L. Opie; Treasurer, Graham Lusk. 



Resolution adopted: Resolved, That, on the re- 

 tirement of Professor William J. Gies from the 

 secretaryship of this society, after a service of 

 six years, the society expresses to him its appre- 

 ciation of, and its cordial thanks for, his most 

 eflScient labors. To Professor Gies's devoted work 

 is due, in great part, the honorable position which 



the society has already attained among the scien- 

 tific societies of this country. 



Scientific Program?- 



Yandell Henderson: A method for the direct 

 observation of normal peristalsis in the stomach 

 and intestines. 



A. I. Ringer (by invitation) : Studies on the 

 effects of carbon monoxid poisoning. 



George B. Wallace and Hugo Salomon: In- 

 testinal excretion during diarrhea. 



R. Burton-Opitz and Daniel R. Lucas: The 

 vascularity of the kidney as influenced by sensory 

 impulses. 



Paul A. Lewis: The influence of temperature 

 on hemolysis in hypotonic solutions. 



Frederick P. Gay: A carcinoma of the rat 

 (Plexner-Jobling) considered from the standpoint 

 of immunity. 



A. O. Shaklee: Influence of temperature upon 

 pepsin^ 



Nellis B. Foster and James C. Greenway: Syn- 

 thesis of uric acid. 



Hideyo Noguchi: Some critical considerations 

 on the serum diagnosis of syphilis. 



D. Manaon, L. Kristeller and P. A. Levene: On 

 nitrogenous metabolism in chronic nephritis. 



Carl L. Alsberg: The formation of gluconic acid 

 by the olive-tubercle organism and the function 

 of oxidation in some microorganisms. 



Jacques Loeb: On the fertilizing and cytolytic 

 effect of soap. 



T. Brailsford Robertson and Theodore C. Bur- 

 nett: On the depression of the freezing point of 

 water due to dissolved caseinates. 



W. J. MacNeal, Lenore L. Latzer and Josephine 

 E. Kerr: The daily excretion of bacteria in the 

 feces of healthy men. 



Walter A. Jacobs and P. A. Levene: Further 

 studies on the constitution of inosinic acid. 



John F. Anderson and M. J. Roaenau: The effect 

 of heat on the anaphylactic properties of proteins. 



Charles A. Elsberg: A skin reaction in car- 

 cinoma from the subcutaneous injection of human 

 red blood cells. Eugene L. Opie, 



^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, Eugene L. 

 Opie, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, 

 66th Street and Avenue A, New York. 



