722 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 934 



and by tliem taken to Camden Bay, as he had 

 found no evidence of the recent existence of 

 muskoxen in northeastern Alaska. This, 

 however, does not in any way controvert the 

 testimony afforded by skulls found on the sur- 

 face of the tundra near the coast of this por- 

 tion of Alaska, nor the facts now furnished 

 by Mr. Stefannson in confirmation of the 

 previous evidence of the existence of living 

 muskoxen there as recently as fifty to sixty 

 years ago. J. A. Allen 



Ameeican Museum op Natural History 



TEE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



At the New Haven meeting of the academy 

 held in the new Sloane Physios Laboratory of 

 Tale University, from November 12 to 14, the 

 following papers were read: 



Charles D. Waleott: "Cambrian Formations of 

 Mount Eobson District, British Columbia." Illus- 

 trated. 



William M. Bavis: "Physiographic Evidence in 

 Favor of the Subsidence Theory of Coral Eeefs." 



William B. Scott: " Eestorations of Tertiary 

 Mammals. ' ' 



Henry F. Osborn: "Geologic Correlation of 

 Upper Paleolithic Faunas of Europe and America. ' ' 



John M. Clarke: (1) "The Devonian Faunas 

 of Western Argentina." (2) "Probable De- 

 vonian Glacial Boulder Beds in Argentina." 



Charles Schuchert: "Climates of Geologic 

 Time. ' ' Illustrated. 



William M. Davis: "The Transcontinental Ex- 

 cursion of the American Geographical Society." 



Arnold Hague: "Biographical Memoir of 

 Samuel Franklin Emmons." 



Jacques Loeb: "On the Fertilization of the 

 Egg of Invertebrates with Blood. ' ' 



Edwin G. Conklin : ' ' Cell Division and Differ- 

 entiation. ' ' Illustrated. 



Charles B. Davenport: "Heredity of Skin Color 

 in Negro-white Crosses. ' ' 



Lafayette B. Mendel (introduced by Eussell H. 

 Chittenden): "Some Biochemical Features of 

 Growth. ' ' Illustrated. 



Thomas B. Osborne: "The Nutritive Value of 

 the Proteins of Maize. ' ' 



Boss 6. Harrison (introduced by Russell H. 

 Chittenden): "Experiments on Regeneration and 

 Transplantation of Limbs in the Amphibia." 

 Illustrated. 



S. J. Meltzer: "Theory and Fact as Illustrated 



by an Instructive Experiment on the Splanchnic 

 Nerve. ' ' 



Franz Boas: "New Data on the Influence of 

 Heredity and Environment upon the Bodily Form 

 of Man." 



Ernest W. Brown (introduced by Edward S. 

 Dana) : ' ' The Problem of the Asteroids. ' ' 



Robert W. Wood: (1) "Some Results obtained 

 with the most Powerful Spectrograph in the 

 World." Illustrated. (2) "On the Possibility 

 of Photographing Molecules." (3) "On a New 

 Method of Finding Regularities in Band Spectra. ' ' 



Charles C. Adams (introduced by William H. 

 Dall) : "The Variations and Ecological Distribu- 

 tion of the Snails of the Genus lo." 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



the anthropological society op WASHINGTON 



A SPECIAL meeting of the Anthropological 

 Society was held at 4:30 p.m., October 29, 1912, 

 in Room 43 of the New Museum Building, the 

 president, Mr. Stetson, in the chair. 



Dr. I. M. Casanowicz read a very careful, thor- 

 ough and interesting paper on the Mithra cult, 

 explaining it as a religion of redemption, which 

 was the most important competitor of Christianity 

 during several centuries. He explained that it 

 was Aryan in origin, antedating the separation 

 of the Aryan people of India from the Iranians, 

 that it was transferred westward by stages, ac- 

 cumulating elements in the Mesopotamian Valley 

 and the Mediterranean Basin, but preserving an 

 Iranian nucleus, that it entered Rome as the 

 religion of the poor and lowly, but was taken up 

 by society when found helpful to imperial policy 

 and made its first convert of an emperor in Com- 

 modus. Mithra was essentially the god of light, 

 hence of truth and benevolence; and from the 

 antithesis of light and darkness grew the concep- 

 tion of his war against the powers of evil. Zoro- 

 aster built his system on this dualism and conflict, 

 though relegating Mithra to a lower place. Later 

 he came to be regarded as occupying a middle 

 place (on earth) between the powers of Heaven 

 and the evil powers of the underworld, serving 

 also as a mediator between man and the unap- 

 proachable supreme deity. The cult of Mithra, 

 he said, had influenced Christianity, especially in 

 the conceptions of the powers of evil, the resur- 

 rection of the body, the eflicacy of sacraments and 

 the procedures of the church. 



W. H. Babcock, 

 Secretary 



