324 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1213 



Purfchermore it should be empliasized that this 

 organism has very high fermentative powers, 

 producing large amounts of CO, and H,0. 



That the organisms of the nodules of the 

 legumes are closely related to Azoiohader is 

 not improhable, but that there is any close re- 

 lationship between Bhizohium and the acid- 

 fast bacteria and the Actinomycetes is not 

 so clear. It is irue that the latter contention 

 has been supported by several writers, but the 

 fact that Bhizohium produces nodules on the 

 plant roots and the tubercle bacillus causes 

 tubercles to develop in animal tissues is no 

 more of an argument for their inter-relation- 

 ship than to claim that the nematodes produc- 

 ing galls on plant roots are related to the 

 tubercle bacillus or to the Bhizohium for the 

 same reason. The differences between the 

 motile (polar flagellate) gram negative, Bhizo- 

 hium, fixing atmospheric nitrogen, and the 

 acid-fast gram positive, non-motile tubercle 

 baciUus incapable of fixing nitrogen are very 

 marked and tend to outweigh the remote re- 

 semblance of the branched bacteroids to 

 branched tubercle bacilli. 



The relationship indicated between the 

 tubercle bacillus and the Actinomycetes is not 

 at all improbable, in fact, intermediate forms 

 have been described. 



The use by the author of the name Sporo- 

 thrix for a group of bacteria is unfortunate, 

 and will tend to confusion. 



It is surprising to find the Micrococci and 

 Staphylococci at one extreme and Streptococci 

 at the other of the classificatory scheme that is 

 worked out. The concept is unusual, to say 

 the least, and is scarcely supported by ade- 

 quate proof to be convincing. 



It would seem that the family tree of the 

 bacteria suggested by Dr. Kligler is based 

 upon many misconceptions and misinterpreta- 

 tions and can scarcely be accepted without 

 much more adequate proof. However, there is 

 much in the article to provoke thought and 

 discussion, and if this is accomplished and 

 some conclusions eventually reached, the ef- 

 fort put forth can scarcely be said to have been 

 in vain. E. E. Buchanan 



The Bacteriological Laboratories, 

 Iowa State College 



THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL 

 SOCIETY 



The one hundred and ninety-sixth regular meet- 

 ing of the society was held at Columbia University 

 on Saturday, February 23, extending through the 

 usual morning and afternoon sessions. Seventeen 

 members were in attendance. Professor H. S. 

 White occupied the chair. The following were 

 elected to membership : Miss M. F. Chadburne, 

 Smith College; Mr. Mervyn Davis, Equitable Life 

 Insurance Company of Iowa; Mr. T. C. Fry, Wes- 

 tern Electric Company; Dr. J. E. McAtee, Univer- 

 sity of Illinois; Dr. Norbert Wiener, Albany, N. 

 Y. Four applications for membership were re- 

 ceived. 



The following papers were read at this meeting: 

 J. F. Eitt : ' ' Proof of the multiplication formula 

 for determinants by means of linear differential 

 equations.' ' 



Olive C. Hazlett : "On vector covariants. ' ' 

 P. E. Eider : " On the problem of the calculus of 

 variations in ?i dimensions. ' ' 



A. E. Schweitzer: "On the iterative properties 

 of an abstract group." 



A. E. Schweitzer: "On certain articles on func- 

 tional equations." 



A. E. Schweitzer: "On iterative function equa- 

 tions. ' ' 



J. E. Kline : " A new proof of a theorem due to 

 Sehoenflies. ' ' 



E. L. Moore: "A sufficient condition that a sys- 

 tem of arcs should constitute a surface." 



J. L. Walsh: "On the location of the roots of 

 the Jacobian of two binary forms, and of the de- 

 rivative of a rational function." 



O. E. Glenn: "Covariamt expansion of a modular 

 form. ' ' 



J. F. Eitt: "Polynomials with a common ite- 

 rate. ' ' 



L. P. Eisenhart : ' ' Transformations of applicable 

 conjugate nets of curves or surfaces." 



S. E. Slocum: "The romantic aspect of num- 

 bers. ' ' 



The San Francisco Section of the society will 

 hold its semi-annual meeting at Stanford Univer- 

 sity on April 6. The Chicago Section will meet at 

 the University of Chicago on April 12-13; this 

 meeting will include a symposium on divergent 

 series and modern theories of summability. The 

 regular New York meeting will be held at Colum- 

 bia University on April 27. 



F. N. Cole, 

 Secretary 



