476 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 41. 



The latter objection does not apply, how- 

 ever, to the case of a telescope with object- 

 glass prism, where a great linear extent of 

 spectrum is obtained with small angular 

 field. It is for instruments of this class 

 that the method is intended, and it seems 

 to promise well. Possibly the range of 

 spectrum could be advantageously increased 

 by the use of orthochromatic plates, which, 

 largely on account of the compression in 

 the lower part of the prismatic spectrum, 

 have an actinic value in the region of / 550 

 not greatly inferior to that near Hs. It is 

 true that few spectra have strong lines in 

 this region. Various advantages and dis- 

 advantages attending the use of such plates 

 will readily occur to the observer acquainted 

 with their peculiarities, and actual trial 

 would probably be necessarj^ to determine 

 on which side the balance lies. 



J. E. K. 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD VANCE- 



MENT OF SCIENCE. 



SECTION OF ZOOLOGY. 



By reason of the absence of both the 

 Vice-President and the Secretary-elect, the 

 work of the section was somewhat delayed 

 and embarrassed. Mr. L. 0. Howard, of 

 Washington, D. C, was nominated by the 

 Council for Vice-President and was duly 

 elected bj^ the Association. Following the 

 woi'k of the general session, Section F. pro- 

 ceeded to complete its organization. Chas. 

 W. Hargitt, of Syracuse, N. Y., was 

 elected Secretary. Chas. S. Minot, of Bos- 

 ton, Mass., was elected Councillor, and 

 George Dimmock was elected as a member 

 of the nominating committee. 



The following papers were read on Friday: 

 The Evolution of the Insect Mouth-jjartg. By 



PfiOF. JoHx B. Smith, Rutgers College. 



Beginning with the typical mandibulate 

 mouth the author undertook to show the 

 the gradual modification of these pai'ts in 

 the structure of the mouths of- all insects. 



and further to show that there is no well- 

 defined basis for the distinction of insects 

 into mandibulate and haustelate groups. 

 The paper was a verj^ elaborate discussion 

 of the subject and was listened to with the 

 closest attention. It was illustrated by a 

 series of lantern transparencies prepared 

 by the author or under his direction. 



Following this a paper was read by Mr. 

 C. L. Marlatt, of Washington, D. C, on the 

 Mouth-parts of Insects with Special Eefer- 

 ence to the Diptera and Hemiptera. 



In this paf)er the author sought to main- 

 tain the usually accepted view. It was 

 illustrated by a series of charts and draw- 

 ings and was a valuable contribution to the 

 subject. Following this there was an ani- 

 mated discussion in which several ento- 

 mologists participated. 



The nQxt paper on the program was by 

 Prof. Chas. S. Minot on the ' Olfactory 

 Lobes.' The paper was a noteworthy con- 

 tribution to the subject. 



Another important contribution to mor- 

 phology was a paper on the 'Visceral Anat- 

 omj' of the Lacertilea,' by Prof E. D. Cope. 



On Monday morning occurred the joint 

 session of sections F. and C, at which the 

 following papers were presented : 

 The Distinction Bettveen Animals and Plants. 



By Peof. J. C. Akthuk. 

 Variation After Birth. By Peof. L. H. 



Bailey. Read by title. 

 Rejuvenation and Heredity. By Peof. Chas. 



S. MixoT. 



This paper was a noteworthy contribu- 

 tion to the subject of heredity, and was dis- 

 tinguished bj' its very forcible antagonism 

 of the views of Weismann and his school. 



The following papers were presented at 

 subsequent sessions: 

 Steniiiidiis as an Ordinal Type. By 0. F. 



Cook. 



From abundant material collected by 

 Mr. Cook in Siberia, a more extended ex- 

 amination has been made possible and 



