32 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 914 



Dr. G. A. Roberts, veterinarian, both of this 

 station, for their valuable assistance and co- 

 operation. 



W. A. Withers 

 B. J. Ray 

 North Carolina Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, 

 Ealeigh, N. C, 

 April 25, 1912 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



the academy of science of ST. LOUIS 



The Academy of Science of St. Louis met at the 

 Academy building Monday evening, April 15, 1912, 

 President Engler in the chair ; an attendance of 65. 



Professor A. S. Langsdorf, of Washington Uni- 

 versity, addressed the academy on ' ' Transient 

 Electrical Phenomena." The analogous conditions 

 in various forms of mechanical systems and elec- 

 trical circuits was shown and this was followed by 

 a discussion of oscillating currents that may be 

 produced in a transmission line. The necessity for 

 guarding against excessive and dangerous voltages 

 and currents arising from oscillation was pointed 

 out, particular attention being given to the condi- 

 tions obtaining in a transformer at the moment of 

 switching such a device on to the live current. 

 Finally the short circuit conditions in large alter- 

 nating current generators w^as described so that 

 dangerous rises of voltage accompanied by a rush 

 of current could occur and the measures employed 

 to prevent this condition were explained. 



Dr. Charles H. Turner gave an illustrated ac- 

 count of ' ' Results of Recent Experiments on the 

 Homing of Ants. ' ' The results of the various 

 investigators on the behavior of ants was divided 

 into four groups and briefly discussed. About ten 

 years ago the author began a series of experiments 

 on ants and the main purpose of this paper was to 

 compare the results obtained with those of Cornetz 

 and Santsci. After a detailed comparison the final 

 conclusion from all these experiments was summed 

 up as follows : ' ' Ants are much more than reflex 

 machines ; they are self-acting creatures guided by 

 memories of past individual experience. These 

 associative memories are usually complexes of sen- 

 sations contributed by several different kinds of 

 sense organs and include an awareness of distances 

 and of direction. ' ' 



Dr. Arthur E. Bostwick, of the St. Louis Public 

 Library, read a paper on "Atomic Theories of 

 Energy. ' ' 



Professor Wm. H. Roever, of Washington Uni- 

 versity, exhibited and explained "A Mechanism 

 for Illustrating Lines of Force. ' ' 



The Academy of Science of St. Louis met at the 

 Academy building Monday evening, May 6, 1912, 

 President Engler ia the chair. 



Professor J. F. Abbott talked on "The Water 

 Boatmen, an Unexplored Corner of the Insect 

 World." After giving an account of the system- 

 atic position of the water boatmen. Professor 

 Abbott discusses their development from the egg 

 to maturity, a particularly interesting feature 

 being the deposition of the eggs upon the bodies 

 of crayfish. 



Dr. Charles M. Gill gave an illustrated talk on 

 "Recreation Studies in Estes Park, Colorado." 

 The ascent of Long's Peak was described and 

 some of the more interesting glaciers discussed. 

 The necessity of protecting the natural conditions 

 of Estes Park, for which a bill is now pending 

 before congress, was referred to. 



Mr. Frederick Hecker, of Kansas City, discussed 

 the "Microscopical Study of Living Organisms 

 and their Growth Rate," following it with a dem- 

 onstration of the technique involved. 



The Academy of Science of St. Louis met at the 

 Academy building Monday evening. May 20, Presi- 

 dent Engler in the chair. 



Dr. A. S. Pearse, of St. Louis University, gave 

 an illustrated talk on ' ' Fiddler Crabs ' ' with par- 

 ticular reference to the color variation in the forms 

 found at Manila, P. I. 



Mr. Phil Rau read a paper on the life history of 

 the ' ' Devil Horse. ' ' After giving a detailed ac- 

 count of the anatomy of the devil horse, or praying 

 mantis, the author described the character of the 

 egg case, the emergence of the mantis from this 

 case and the carnivorous habit of the insect. As 

 the result of his series of experiments made to 

 determine how and why the colors of the mantis 

 change, Mr. Rau found that the green nymphs are 

 capable of changing to a dark gray when the 

 environment is dark and when once the gray color 

 is acquired it is permanent despite any environ- 

 mental conditions. Green insects in all probability 

 remain green indefinitely if the environment is 

 favorable to that color. The paper concluded with 

 some observations regarding the mating habits of 

 the mantis and a detailed description of the 

 making of the egg case. 



George T. Moore, 

 Corresponding Secretary 



