SCIENCE 



i> FEB 3 -1917 V 



Feiday, Febeuaby 2, 1917 



CONTENTS 

 The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science: — 

 Antagonism and Permeaiility : Professok 



W. J. V. OSTEEHOUT 97 



John Muir: President Charles R. Van Hise. io3 



Scientific Events: — 



School of the General Education Board; The 

 Edward L. Trudeau Foundation for Be- 

 search and Teaching in Tuberculosis; 

 Awards and Frizes of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences 109 



Scientific Notes and News Ill 



Vniversity and Educational News 112 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Possible Suspension of the Mules of Nomen- 

 clature in Holothuria: Dk. C. W. Stiles. 

 Do the Fowler's Toad and the American 

 Toad Interbreed? Eichard Deckert. The 

 Popular Names of North American Plants: 

 J. Adams. Propulsion by Surface Tension: 

 Dr. George F. Becker 113 



Scientific Books: — 

 Stager's Sylow Factor Table: Professor 

 D. N. Lehmek. Pose 's Feeding the Family : 

 Db. C. p. Lanqwoethy 115 



Becent Progress in Paleontology: Des. C. E. 

 Eastman, W. K. Gregory and "W. D. 

 Matthew 117 



Special Articles: — 



The Mefiection of y-Bays by Crystals: Dr. 

 P. B. Perkins 121 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Biological Society of Washington: Dk. 



M. W. Lyon, Je 124 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 xeview should be sent to Professor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison- 

 On-Hudson, N. Y. 



ANTAGONISM AND PERMEABILITY i 



By antagonism we mean that one toxic 

 substance acts as an antidote to another. A 

 solution containing salts in the proper pro- 

 portions may have none of the toxic action 

 of the individual salts. Such a mixture has 

 been called by Loeb a physiologically bal- 

 anced solution. It is found that physiolog- 

 ical balance is of the greatest importance 

 not only for marine organisms, but also for 

 fresh-water and terrestrial plants and ani- 

 mals : these considerations have found prac- 

 tical application in agriculture. 



In the hope of throwing light on the cause 

 of antagonism the speaker made experi- 

 ments on the penetration of salts into the 

 cell. It was found that while NaCl alone 

 penetrated rapidly the addition of a little 

 CaCL delayed penetration. It therefore 

 seemed as though calcium antagonized 

 sodium by preventing more or less com- 

 pletely its entrance into the cell. This idea 

 had been suggested by Loeb but had not re- 

 ceived experimental support. 



These experiments (which included a 

 number of salts) were carried out by means 

 of the method of plasmolysis. This method 

 did not yield quantitative data of the de- 

 sired precision, but it was found possible to< 

 obtain much more accurate results by the- 

 method of electrical conductivity. By this, 

 method we measure the resistance offered by 

 protoplasm to the passage of ions. In so- 

 dium chloride the resistance rapidly dimin- 

 ishes until it becomes stationary : this means 

 that in NaCl the permeability of the proto- 

 plasm rapidly increases until death occurs, 



1 Address delivered before Section G, American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, at a, 

 symposium, December 27, 1916. 



