594 
sex immediately after conception; this is 
shown by their relations to some of the sec- 
ondary sexual characters. In England a 
woman of 32 years who had never menstru- 
ated, had hair on face, ete., and other appear- 
ances of a man; an autopsy showed the pres- 
ence of large tumor on the suprarenal. Bortz, 
the German surgeon, observed a girl of 16 who 
took on the characters of the male—beard, 
deep voice, distribution of hair on body, ete. 
Post-mortem examination showed tumor on 
suprarenal. A woman of 26 years was ob- 
‘served by a Dutch physician: she was obliged 
to shave like a man. Autopsy showed one of 
the suprarenals enclosed within the ovary. 
Similar facts have been published by many 
physicians. 
8. Chemical reactions. 
Is there any means, asks Robinson, of know- 
ing approximately the functional state of the 
suprarenal capsules in the gravid female? 
This is worth studying if we are to come to 
an understanding of sex determination. Vio- 
lent or obstinate vomiting and other symp- 
toms of suprarenal insufficiency are not con- 
stant in their manifestations. He therefore 
used the Frankel-Allers test (acid iodate of 
potassium) to reveal the slightest trace of 
adrenalin in the urine or blood. He used also 
the method of Vulpian (perchloride of iron) ; 
but found the per-iodate of potassium much 
more sensitive and certain in its reactions. 
By these means he foretold the sex of a foetus 
in the fourth month. 
From all these facts he thinks it is safe to 
conclude that the adrenalin influences the sex 
of the developing embryo, at least in the 
higher vertebrates or in man. 
The hypothesis that adrenalin influences the 
heart-beat has been subjected to experiment 
and has been confirmed; but the hypothesis 
that the rate of the heart-beat determines the 
sex is one that may be tested experimentally, 
but has not yet been so tested. It is interest- 
ing to note that in the clinical observations 
given by Robinson the heart-beat of the male 
is higher than that of the female; this is con- 
trary to the commonly accepted relation. The 
argument, moreover, may prove too much. If 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 902 
maleness is converted into femaleness by the 
adrenalin directly, or indirectly through the 
influence of this upon the circulatory system, 
it should be possible to bring on secondary 
female characters in a male by the adminis- 
tration of adrenalin before or at puberty. 
The number of cases in which the sex was 
foretold on the basis of the Frankel-Allers 
test for adrenalin in the blood or urine is not 
given by Robinson; presumably too few to 
warrant statistical conclusions. But even if 
the number were very large, and even if there 
should be found a constant relation between 
the sex of the fetus and the quantity of 
adrenalin produced in the pregnant mother, 
these facts would by no means indicate a 
causal relation in the sense assumed by Rob- 
inson. It is quite conceivable that, in the 
case assumed, the physiological state of the 
foetus determines the activity of the mother’s 
adrenal capsules. 
A more general criticism of Robinson’s 
argument lies in the tacit assumption that sex 
differentiation means one thing in the higher 
vertebrates and man, and quite a different 
thing in the rest of the animal kingdom and 
in plants. It may well be that there are sey- 
eral distinct factors concerned in sex deter- 
mination, but these must all belong to related 
categories. It is extremely improbable that 
sex is determined by an accessory chromosome 
among insects, by adrenalin among mammals, 
by traumatism among graminex, say, and by 
ultra-violet rays among mosses. It is inter- 
esting to note, in conclusion, that physicians 
have formulated several theories of sex deter- 
mination in recent years, but always in com- 
plete innocence of the work being done by 
experimental biologists along this line. 
Beng. C. GRuENBERG 
CoMMERCIAL HigH ScHOOL, 
BROOKLYN, N. Y., 
December 30, 1911 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 
THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 
THE one hundred and fifty-seventh regular meet- 
ing of the society was held at Columbia University 
on Saturday, February 24, extending through the 
