June 4, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



899 



son, if any were needed, for not introducing 

 even the latest one into the manual. 



In the classification of mosquitoes he ex- 

 presses strong dissent from the process of 

 continually subdividing the great central mass 

 of the genus Culex, but naturally is not in a 

 position to elaborate a system, and is there- 

 fore obliged to use one that is not much dif- 

 ferent from that of Dyar and Knab. In 

 Cecidomyidse, too, he finds too many genera, 

 and adopts a current generic table only under 

 protest. In Desiidse and Tachinidse the tables 

 were prepared by Professor C. F. Adams. Dr. 

 Williston, wishing the criticism of a specialist 

 on this difficult group, and being unable to 

 secure the assistance of Mr. Coquillett, asked 

 Mr. C. H. T. Townsend to prepare notes on 

 the figures. This was unfortunate, as Mr. 

 Townsend's ideas of genera are extremely 

 radical; it naturally happened that his notes 

 only serve to confuse the subject. He, how- 

 ever, seized the opportunity to erect a few 

 new genera on the figures, which was the more 

 out of place and uncalled for since he prom- 

 ised fuller descriptions in a forthcoming paper. 

 Would that he had reserved his adumbrations 

 in their entirety ! 



A few errors in typography and other mis- 

 takes are corrected in a brief appendix. 

 Typographical or any other sort of perfection 

 must not be demanded in a contribution of- 

 fered as a gift to science after years of strenu- 

 ous and wholly gratuitous effort. Professor 

 Williston has acquitted himself well, and has 

 given us a work which no one else in the 

 world could have produced, one not approached 

 in any other large order of North American 

 insects. Nay, he has done still more — he has 

 printed it practically at his own expense, and 

 will not be reimbursed until almost the whole 

 edition is sold. Because I happen to know 

 this I wish the entomological public to under- 

 stand how great their debt really is. And 

 Professor Williston never occupied an ento- 

 mological position in his life. He has given 

 himself to science, and that is the greatest 

 offering any man can make. 



J. M. Aldbich 



Moscow, Idaho 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The contents of The Journal of Biological 

 Chemistry (Vol. VI., No. 2, issued May 10,, 

 1909) are as follows: " On the Composition of 

 Dilute Eenal Excretions," by A. B. Macallum 

 and C. C. Benson. Large volumes of water 

 were ingested to increase rapidity of flow and 

 decrease concentration of urine in order to 

 diminish the reabsorption of water and salts in 

 the convoluted tubules of the kidney postulated 

 in Ludwig's theory of urine formation. Esti- 

 mations of potassium and chlorine in very 

 dilute urine revealed neither a proportionality 

 between salt content of blood plasma and of 

 urine nor a uniform ratio of potassium and 

 chlorine excretion. Secretion of water and 

 salts is therefore not a process of filtration, but 

 is truly secretory ; the secretory activity varies 

 for each inorganic constituent. " On the- 

 Depression of the Freezing Point Due to Dis- 

 solved Caseinates," by T. Brailsford Eobert- 

 son and Theo. C. Burnett. Casein combines 

 with bases to form " neutral " and " basic "■ 

 salts of definite composition which produce a 

 definite measurable depression of the freezing 

 point. Estimations indicate a molecular 

 weight of " basic " caseinates of 1,400 ; of 

 " neutral," 2,000. " The Cerebrospinal Pluid 

 in Certain Forms of Insanity, with Special 

 Reference to the Content of Potassium," by 

 Victor C. Myers. Analyses show that changes- 

 in the composition of cerebrospinal fluid occur- 

 after death. Protein-phosphates, and espe- 

 cially potassium, are increased. The protein 

 content in dementia paralytica is increased 

 during life. " Human Pancreatic Juice," by 

 Harold C. Bradley. Examination of human 

 pancreatic juice showed an average specific 

 gravity of 1010; alkalinity equal to iV/20 — 

 iV/10 sodium bicarbonate; no definite relation 

 between diet and enzyme content; no rennin, 

 invertase or lactase; trypsinogen in all speci- 

 mens, trypsin in 50 per cent. A study was 

 made of the influence of various conditions 

 upon the activity of lipase. " On a Modifica- 

 tion of Lunge's Method for the Quantitative 

 Estimation of Urea," by Clarence Quinan. 

 Lunge's method (Zeitschr. f. angew. Chem., 

 1890, p. 139) of reducing measurements of 



