430 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1425 



cisely as in the experiment of Baur. This re- 

 sult shows that the Vienna White rabbit is in 

 reality a Dutch rabbit, with a completely white 

 coat, as suggested by Punnett. Its eyes are 

 blue as in blue rabbits regularly, but the cho- 

 roid is white as in the whitest Dutch rabbits. 

 The white rabbit which I have synthesized is a 

 new type of white rabbit, entirely distinct from 

 Vienna White. 



W. E. Castle 

 BussEY Institution, 

 March 28, 1922 



UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AND MAJOR- 

 GENERALS IN POLAND 

 A EBCENT statement by the official Polish 

 Bureau of Infonnation in New York indicates 

 the existence of an interesting condition in 

 Poland regarding the status of university pro- 

 fessors in that so-called backward country. The 

 following is the statement, verbatim: 



University professors in Poland have equal 

 ranking with major generals, and, being state 

 officials, are accorded all the rights and privileges 

 enjoyed by major generals. According to a 

 recent announcement, there are at present 638 

 full professors in the Polish universities and high- 

 er academic schools. The salaries of professors 

 are somewhat higher than that of the under- 

 secretary of state. 



VeRKON IvELLOCtG 



Washington, T>. C. 



QUOTATIONS 

 •THE SCIENTIFIC SIDE" 



"Mnie. Bisson assisted Mile. Eva in a cabinet 

 in which I was present with other observers," 

 he said. "Mile. Eva was wrapped in a heavy 

 rubber coat in order to protect her body from 

 the light as much as possible. She entered 

 into a trance and after a short time an aperture 

 was opened in the front of the rubber coat so 

 that I could look within. I saw the ectoplasm 

 in a thick slimy band encircling her body like 

 some monstrous worm. 



" 'May I touch it?' I asked Mme. Bisson. 



1 Concluding part of a lecture with this title 

 given by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Carnegie 

 Hall, New York City, on April 12, as reported in 

 the Evening Post. 



"She replied, 'Yes.' 



"I reached within the aperture and firmly 

 grasped between thumb and forefinger the belt- 

 like mass, and as I held it I felt it writhe — a 

 living, pulsing substance." 



Sir Arthur stated his belief that the medium 

 would have died from shock had any attempt 

 been made to remove this reputed ectoplasm, 

 but the observers finally managed to pinch oS 

 a small portion, and this was hurried into a lab- 

 oratory where Professor Richet of the Univer- 

 sity of Paris made a microscopic and chemical 

 examination. 



''It was found to consist of mucoid cells, epi- 

 thelial cells, a clear, slimy fluid, certain car- 

 bonates, and other compounds. It was a sort 

 of etherealized matter, if such a term may be 

 employed. 



He cited the circumstances of a number of 

 seances, and in one ease read testimonies of 

 other observers who were present. 



"In one instance Mrs. Wriedt of Detroit, an 

 American medium of great power, came to my 

 house and we held a seance in the nursery, a 

 room certainly devoid of suspicious surround- 

 ings. My wife and I, Mrs. Wriedt, and my 

 secretary, Major Wood, held hands as we sat 

 around a table, and having learned the value 

 of singing in such experiments we all sang 

 softly in chorus. We knew the words of the 

 hymn, 'Onward, Christian Soldiei-s,' :md by 

 common consent took up this au-. Suddenly 

 there burst out overhead a clear joyous baritone 

 voice, singing with us word for word. I 

 stopped and heard the voices of my wife, of 

 Mrs. Wriedt, and of Major Wood. And above 

 them all was this ringing baritone voice. 



"If that isn't a spiritual phenomenon, what 

 is it?" he cried. "I have a right to ask that 

 question." 



He narrated details of numerous other 

 seances, of one in which he declared he saw 

 the face of his dead mother, "as plain as a 

 Eembrandt portrait emerging fixjm the dark," 

 every wrinkle and line as he had seen her last. 



"Again," he said, "I went to Southsea, where 

 a Welsh miner was staying. This was the 

 medium, Evan Powell. 



"In this seance there were four other ob- 

 servers besides myself. Powell sat in mv room 



