Mabch 14, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



267 



which the actual rotation took place. This 

 suggests a precaution — during the spin, hold 

 the head down so that it is rotated about its 

 long axis; on coming out of the spin, raise the 

 head. Any disturbance experienced then will 

 be in directional (i. e., horizontal) stability, 

 and the more dangerous falling reaction will 

 be avoided. 



The superior reliability of visual criteria of 

 attitude should be recognized. " Follow the 

 horizon, if it ties itself up in a knot," is a 

 good rule to remember. 



A very illuminating incident that occurred 

 at Mineola when the writer was stationed 

 there, first suggested this analysis of the role 

 the rotary vertigo may play in the tail-spin. 

 On June 29, 1918, a pilot, while flying in a 

 formation, lost his balance and fell off into a 

 tail-spin. He got out of the spin, but fell oS 

 into another spin ni the opposite direction. 

 And he got out of the second spin also, but 

 only to fall into a third, again reversing. He 

 crashed and was seriously injured. 



The pilot in question was acquainted with 

 the tail-spin, but had never done one " solo " 

 before. It immediately occurred to the writer 

 that the accident was a case of overcontrol due 

 to a falling reaction and the precaution under 

 (2) suggested itself. At the same time it was 

 recalled that Lieutenant Simon,- instructor in 

 acrobatics at the school at Pau, France, cau- 

 tioned his pupils to hold the head down under 

 the cowl during a spin. Evidently the French 

 aviator had arrived empirically at the same 

 rule that the writer had deduced from his 

 acquaintance with a physiological phenomenon. 

 No knowledge of the precaution has been met 

 with among American trainers. 



The observations were at the time (July, 

 1918) informally brought to the attention of 

 several members of the staff of the Medical 

 Research Laboratory at the field. Subsequent 

 observations and experiences as a pilot in acro- 

 batic flying have confirmed the conclusions. 



M. A. Raines 

 Department or Physiology, 



Columbia Univeesity 

 2 Quoted from Nordhoff in the Atlantic Monthly 

 for April, 1918. 



THE GALTON SOCIETY FOR THE 



STUDY OF THE ORIGIN AND 



EVOLUTION OF MAN 



The objects of the society are the promotion of 

 study of racial anthropology, and of the origin, mi- 

 gration, physical and mental characters, crossing 

 and evolution of human races, living and extinct. 



The charter members of the society are as fol- 

 lows: Madison Grant, Henry Fairfield Osborn, 

 John C. Merriam, Edward L. Thorndike, William 

 K. Gregory, Charles B. Davenport, George S. Hun- 

 tington, J. Howard McGregor, Edwin G. Conklin. 



The organization of the society was suggested 

 and initiated by Messrs. Davenport and Grant on 

 March 6, 1918. On April 2, after several previous 

 conferences, Messrs. Davenport, Grant, Osborn and 

 Huntington adopted the charter and the name of 

 the society. The first meeting of the charter fel- 

 lows was held in New York on April 7 at the resi- 

 dence of Professor Osborn, who outlined the object 

 of the society and emphasized the importance of a 

 union of effort on the part of specialists, working 

 in close cooperation and harmony with one another 

 but from widely diverse lines of approach. Pro- 

 fessor C. B. Davenport was elected chairman and 

 Dr. W. K. Gregory secretary. The following men 

 were elected as fellows: Drs. Ernest A. Hooton, 

 Peabody Museum; Gerrit Smith Miller, United 

 States National Museum; Eaymond Pearl, United 

 States Food Administration ; L. R. Sullivan, Amer- 

 ican Museum of National History; Frederick Til- 

 ney. New York ; Professor Harris H. Wilder, Smith 

 College; Dr. Clark Wissler, American Museum of 

 Natural History. Two patrons were elected: Mrs. 

 E. H. Harriman and Mr. M. Taylor Pyne, New 

 York. 



A meeting of the society was held in the Osborn 

 Library at the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory on May 14. At this meeting Professor Mc- 

 Gregor demonstrated has reconstruction of the 

 skull of a typical adult CrO-Magnon man, based on 

 all known remains of the race. 



Dr. Wissler sketched the rise of anthropology in 

 Europe and America, and contrasted the two con- 

 cepts of this study: the first as including all lines 

 of investigation on the origin and evolution of hu- 

 man races and of their cultures, and the second as 

 limiting anthropology to the study of physical 

 characteristics. He said that the museum had 

 tried to develop all branches of anthropology in 

 the broader sense, and referred to the methods of 

 exhibiting these lines which were to be illustrated 

 by Mr. Sullivan 's paper. 



