September 29, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



469 



uals of Leidy's proteus, or probably a varietal 

 strain of tbis species in wbicb the nucleus 

 readily becomes folded. (Penard does not dis- 

 cuss anywhere to my knowledge the fact that 

 Leidy speaks repeatedly of a discoid nucleus 

 in A. proteus.) 



According to the rules of priority of the In- 

 ternational Code, therefore, Leidy's (really 

 Pallas's) name proteus must stand for the 

 ameba possessing a discoid nucleus and longi- 

 tudinal ectoplasmic ridges and grooves on the 

 pseudopods. This leaves Penard's proteus — 

 the ameba with an ovoid nucleus — without a 

 name, the name proteus having been pre- 

 empted by Pallas and Leidy. I therefore pro- 

 pose the name dubia for this species. 



This then clears up the confusion arising 

 out of observations and descriptions relating 

 to A. proteus as recorded by Leidy and Penard; 

 but in the progress of my work in this connec- 

 tion some new observations were made which 

 may properly be incorporated in this summary. 



To wit : I found that the species proteus as 

 Leidy described it may be divided into two 

 species, one of which is larger than the other 

 and always exhibits more or less conspicuous 

 longitudinal ridges and grooves on the pseudo- 

 pods and frequently shows folds on the nu- 

 cleus; while the other and smaller species 

 never shows ridges or grooves on the pseudo- 

 pods nor is the nucleus ever folded. From 

 Leidy's figures and descriptions it is evident 

 that the former species — the one showing 

 ridges and grooves — was considered by him 

 the typical proteus, and this name should 

 therefore be retained for this ameba according 

 to the code. For the other species I propose 

 the name discoides. 



Amoeba proteus then is recognized readily 

 by the presence of longitudinal ridges and 

 grooves on the pseudopods. A. dubia is easily 

 recognized by the possession of an ovoid 

 nucleus. A. discoides is recognized by a dis- 

 coid nucleus and the absence of folds and 

 grooves on the pseudopods. Any ameba in 

 normal condition belonging to either of these 

 three species may be readily recognized in the 

 living condition under 360 diameters' magni- 

 fication, according to the characters here enu- 



merated. Of these three species proteus and 

 dubia are the larger and the more common, 

 while discoides is somewhat smaller and less 

 common, so far as my experience goes. 



These findings are based on individual pedi- 

 grees running for upwards of a hundred gen- 

 erations each for proteus and dubia and for 

 about forty generations of discoides, includ- 

 ing always a number of collateral lines. Nu- 

 merous individuals from wild cultures from 

 various localities were examined and com- 

 pared with the pedigreed stock. There is much 

 greater permanency in the so-called proto- 

 plasmic characters than is commonly realized. 



This is a brief and doubtless somewhat un- 

 satisfactory summary of the work on these 

 amebas, but for fuller details and drawings 

 reference must be made to the original paper, 

 which I hope may soon be found and published. 



A. A. Schaeffer 

 University of Tennessee 



ZUNI INOCULATIVE MAGIC 



There are many varieties of sympathetic 

 magic at Zufii. I shall give only instances of 

 that subdivision of the homeopathic variety 

 which may be called magical inoculation. It 

 is a form, as it were, of discharming. Instead 

 of applying a bit of the analogous thing to 

 produce an analogy, the direct form of home- 

 opathy, a bit is applied to overcome the anal- 

 ogy, the principle obviously of inoculation. 



Birthmarks and malformations are accounted 

 for by the Zuni as due to parental, for the 

 most part paternal, carelessness during the 

 pregnancy, the result of the expectant father 

 taking part in a ceremonial or hunting rab- 

 bits or prairie dogs or other animals or killing 

 a snake. The child will be marked in some 

 way like the ceremonial mask or spotted like 

 a snake or according to the injury suffered by 

 the quarry, blinded or maimed. A medicine 

 member of the Ne'wekwe or Galaxy Fraternity 

 told me that at birth the forehead and chest 

 of his son had had the print of an entrail — 

 preoccupation with the entrails of animals is a 

 characteristic of the Ne'wekwe Fraternity, 

 and this man had in fact taken part in a fra- 



