Febkuary 20, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



279 



of New Guinea received the members of the 

 expedition with a courtesy and kindness which 

 contributed materially to its success. 



The expedition was under the leadership of 

 Dr. Alfred G. Mayer, with whom were asso- 

 ciated Dr. Hubert Lyman Clark, of Harvard, 

 Dr. E. Newton Harvey, of Princeton, Frank 

 A. Potts, of Cambridge University, Professor 

 D. H. Tennent, of Bryn Mawr College, and 

 Mr. E. M. Grosse, of Sydney, whose excellent 

 colored drawings served to illustrate the living 

 aspects of the eehinoderms which were col- 

 lected by Dr. Clark. 



The expedition was well equipped with appa- 

 ratus and provided with a naptha launch, Mr. 

 John Mills, of the department of marine biol- 

 ogy, being the engineer. 



For littoral eehinoderms there is probably 

 no richer region in the world than that of the 

 Murray Islands, lying as they do about 70 

 miles south of New Guinea and within 6 miles 

 of the outer line of the Great Barrier Reef of 

 Australia. At Maer Island alone Dr. Clark 

 collected about 150 species of eehinoderms, and 

 about 100 of these were beautifully figured by 

 Mr. Grosse. Clark also found that crinoids 

 are more active than has been generally sup- 

 posed, some species being able to swim actively 

 through the water. 



Professor Tennent succeeded in effecting a 

 cross between a male crinoid and the echini, 

 and at Badu Island he obtained abundant 

 material upon echinoderm crosses for an ex- 

 tensive cytological study. 



Dr. Harvey found a holothurian, certain 

 living pigments of which change purple in 

 alkalis and red in acids, and he was thus en- 

 abled to determine the relation between the 

 rate of penetration and the degree of dissocia- 

 tion of electrolytes. 



Mr. Potts conducted several interesting 

 ecological studies upon the habits of Crustacea, 

 and Dr. Mayer made an intensive study of the 

 coral reefs, discovering that temperature is a 

 factor of primary importance in determining 

 the growth of corals. Those corals which are 

 most resistant to high temperatures are those 

 which are best able to withstand being buried 

 beneath the mud, and this suggests that high 



temperature produces death by asphyxiation. 



Certain coral beds at Thursday Island, 

 Cape York, Australia, which were measured 

 and photographed by Saville-Kent in 1890 

 were remeasured in 1913 and species of 

 Porites and Symphyllia were found to have 

 grown in diameter at an average rate of 1.8 to 

 1.98 inches per annum, or about 44 inches in 

 23 years. 



The health of the members of the expedition 

 was good throughout the period of their inves- 

 tigations, and some interesting papers may be 

 expected to be published by the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington as a result of their 

 studies. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Dr. Charles Richet, professor of physiol- 

 ogy at the University of Paris, has been 

 elected a member of the section of medicine 

 and surgery of the Paris Academy of Sciences 

 to replace the late Dr. Lucas-Championniere. 



Professor L. Manoutrier, Paris; Professor 

 Karl von den Steinen, Berlin; Dr. Alfred P. 

 Maudslay, London; his Excellency W. Ead- 

 lofE, St. Petersburg, and Professor Emile 

 Cartailhac, Toulouse, have been elected to hon- 

 orary membership in the American Anthropo- 

 logical Association. 



Dr. Carl Hugo Kronecker, professor of 

 physiology at Berne, celebrated his seventy- 

 fifth birthday on January 27. 



Officers of the Cincinnati Research Society 

 have been elected as follows: President, Dr. 

 Oscar Berghausen; Vice-president, Dr. E. R. 

 Remelin ; Secretary, Dr. J. L. Tuechter ; Exec- 

 utive Committee, Dr. H. McE. Knower and 

 Dr. Charles Goosman. 



The Syracuse chapter of Sigma Xi has 

 initiated as non-resident members : Dr. Robert 

 S. Breed and Dr. Ulysses P. Hedrick, of the 

 New York Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 and Dr. "William J. Miller, of Hamilton Col- 

 lege. 



Professor C. E. Sherman, of the civil engi- 

 neering department of the Ohio State Univer- 

 sity, has undertaken a complete examination 

 on the summit level of the Ohio canal through 



