870 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1067 



chloride containing- raiEnose at low concentra- 

 tion is attended by a decrease in the anode- 

 portion, and an increase in the cathode-por- 

 tion, of the ratio of the quantity of water to 

 that of raffinose. This result proves that there 

 is a net transfer of water to the cathode, and 

 therefore that the cesium ion is hydrated to a 

 greater extent than the chloride ion. The 

 cesium ion is shown to be the least hydrated of 

 the ions of all the alkali elements previously 

 studied. 



Geology. — A voyage through the Pacific to 

 visit coral reefs for the purpose of discriminat- 

 ing between various theories proposed to ac- 

 count for their formation convinced W. M. 

 Davis that Darwin's original theory of sub- 

 sidence gives by far the most satisfactory ex- 

 planation of all the barrier reefs he visited. 



G. r. Becker proposes to consider the earth 

 as a heat engine competent to bring about all 

 the dynamical effects with which geology has 

 to deal by the stress and strains which would 

 arise during cooling, due to local differences 

 of the tendency of the surface layer to lose 

 heat. 



Paleontology. — The hypothesis advanced by 

 C. D. Waleott that bacteria probably were an 

 important factor in the deposition of the 

 Algonkian limestones has received strong sup- 

 port by his discovery of bacteria resembling 

 Micrococci in the fossil alga of the ISTewland 

 limestone. 



Botany. — C. J. Chamberlain presents a 

 phylogenetic study of Cycads based upon de- 

 tailed field-work extending over a decade. 



Phoradendron is classified by W. Trelease 

 into two primary groups : Boreales containing 

 60 and iEquateriales containing 202 difiterenti- 

 able forms, most of which he regards as species. 



From a study of the morphology and rela- 

 tionships of Podomitrium malaccense D. H. 

 Campbell decided that PodomUrium is much 

 more like Blytiia than like Metzgeria and 

 should be placed in the Blyttiacese rather than 

 Aneuracese. 



That the loss of viability in seeds with stor- 

 age is a matter of coagulation of cell proteins, 

 and that there is a possibility of determining 

 a quantitative statement of the significance of 

 various storage conditions, is indicated by a 



study of the germination of wheat by W. 

 Crocker and J. F. Groves. 



Zoology. — Experiments on the fertilizing 

 power of sperm dilutions of Arbacia indicate 

 to F. R. Lillie that the loss of fertilizing power 

 is due not to loss of motility of the sperma- 

 tozoa, but to loss of their activating substance, 

 which he designates as sperm receptors; light 

 is also thereby thrown on the process of fertili- 

 zation. 



C. Zeleny and E. C. Faust investigate di- 

 morphism in size of spermatozoa with its rela- 

 tion to the chromosomes, and come to the con- 

 clusion that such dimorphism must exist very 

 generally and is probably the result of chro- 

 mosomal dimorphism present in the sperm- 

 atids. 



E. Goldschmidt reports experiments which. 

 point to the probability that the general proc- 

 esses of spermatogenesis are necessary re- 

 actions of the cells to a systematic regulation 

 of the osmotic conditions on the part of the 

 follicular membrane; the individual specific 

 processes are caused by the specific properties 

 of the reacting cells. 



Extensive experiments on flounders show 

 that their remarkable ability to simulate the 

 color and pattern of the background against 

 which they rest is controlled by their visual 

 perception of the background and that the 

 rapidity of the adaptation to surroundings is 

 greatly increased by frequent practise, accord- 

 ing to S. O. Mast. 



A quantitative ecological study of the Mad- 

 reporian corals of the fringing reef of Maer 

 Island is presented by A. G. Mayer; the 

 destructive efliects of temperature, silt, etc., 

 are discussed. 



Genetics. — 0. B. Davenport has two articles 

 upon the feebly inhibited: I. Violent temper 

 and its inheritance; II. Nomadism or the 

 wandering impulse with special reference to 

 heredity. The nomadic instinct is fundamen- 

 tal in man, but is inhibited in well-regulated 

 individuals. The tendency to outbursts of 

 temper is probably a dominant trait. 



By studying quantitatively the color pat- 

 terns of a race of rabbits bred especially for 

 the purpose W. E. Castle and P. B. Hadley 

 obtain what they regard as conclusive evidence 



