June 11, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



871 



against the idea of unit-cliaracter constancy 

 or "gametic purity." 



Experiments on self-sterility incline E. M. 

 East away from simple Mendelian formulas 

 of the type suggested by Correns and toward 

 Jost's idea of "Individual stoffe" and a near- 

 Mendelian interpretation. 



In an attempt to analyze the normal varia- 

 tion of an organism from the standpoint of 

 Entwichlungsmechanih, R. Pearl and E. M. 

 Surface study growth and variation in maize. 

 They find that the differences in the manner 

 of growth of individual plants and of groups 

 of plants can not be explained as the effect of 

 environmental factors, but should be regarded 

 as due to internal factors; they regard the 

 differences as due to independent Mendelian 

 factors distributed at random in any population 

 of open fertilized maize plants. 



Bacteriology. — W. A. Jacobs and M. Heidel- 

 berger report upon a new group of bactericidal 

 substances obtained from hexamethylene- 

 tetramine. 



In experiments upon B. coli, E. O. Jordan 

 finds an instance of bacterial mutation which 

 seems to fulfil the requirements of appearing 

 suddenly without intermediate stages, of being 

 irreversible, of comprising change of two char- 

 acters, and of not involving all of the cells 

 of the parent strain. 



Physiology. — In a series of short notes E. 

 G. Benedict (with collaborators) sets forth 

 these results: The gaseous metabolic processes 

 of vegetarians are qualitatively and quanti- 

 tatively essentially those of non-vegetarians 

 of similar height and weight. There is a 

 distinct tendency for athletes to have a 

 measurably larger basal resting metabolism 

 than non-athletes. Men disclose a basal 

 metabolism some 5 or 6 per cent, greater than 

 women of similar height and weight. The 

 general conclusion is that the basal metabolism 

 of an individual is a function, first, of the total 

 mass of active protoplasmic tissue, and second, 

 of the stimulus to cellular activity, existing at 

 the time the measurements are made. The 

 416-page monograph containing chemical and 

 physiological studies of a man fasting thirty- 

 one days, recently published by the Carnegie 

 Institution, is represented in the Proceedings 



by a chart indicating the trend of the most 

 important factors measured. 



An exposition of a dynamic conception of 

 the organic individual is given by C. M. Child 

 in terms of metabolic gradients. The region 

 of high metabolic rate determining the grad- 

 ient arises from the differential action of 

 factors external to the organism and becomes 

 the chief determinant of the rate in near-by 

 regions, thus finally dominating the whole 

 individual and affording a basis for the orderly 

 development of the whole which is observed 

 throughout nature. 



According to S. Tashiro the nerve impulse 

 is a propagation of chemical change, a pro- 

 pagation due to restoration of an equilibrium 

 disturbed by the increase of metabolism at 

 the point of stimulus and proceeding toward 

 the point where there is less chemical activity 

 as measured by production of carbon dioxide. 



J. Loeb and H. Wasteneys find that helio- 

 tropism in animals and plants is essentially 

 the same. 



Anthropology.— GaxihoVi and related types of 

 culture among the Indians and the diffusion 

 of horse culture among them are treated in 

 two articles by C. Wissler. 



A. C. Eletcher reports upon her studies 

 of Indian music. 



An examination of Barbados convinces J. 

 W. Fewkes that Barbados had in prehistoric 

 times a large local population whose culture 

 resembled that on the other West Indies. 



A. Hrdlicka gives an account of the an- 

 thropological expeditions sent out to collect 

 material for the exposition at San Diego. 



Psychology. — An outline of a point scale for 

 measuring mental ability, a revision of the 

 Binet scale, is given by R. M. Terkes. The 

 same author sketches the results of his experi- 

 ments upon color vision in the ring dove. 



Mathematics. — L. E. Dickson offers two 

 papers upon his new modular geometry. Two 

 notes on abstract groups are due to G. A. 

 Miller. Point sets and allied Cremona groups 

 are treated by A. B. Coble, and H. S. White 

 gives an account of his investigation of triad 

 systems. The theory of surface is discussed 

 by E. J. Wilczynski and L. P. Eisenhart, 

 and E. L. Hitchcock submits a classification 



