Febbuaey 27, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



333 



later pass, aud about equal parts of the mass 

 of mitocliondria were included in each daugh- 

 ter cell. In other cells no such definite be- 

 havior of the mitochondria takes place. They 

 remain scattered throughout the cytoplasm or 

 are collected at the two poles of the cell dur- 

 ing the formation of the daughter cells. 



The question of the behavior of the mito- 

 chondria during the life history of the cell is 

 one of great interest and we feel confident that 

 this method of study of the living cell will be 

 of great value not only for making observa- 

 tions upon the mitochondria, but also for the 

 study of other activities of the cell. 



Can we infer from these observations any- 

 thing concerning the real nature of the mito- 

 chondria? Are they organs of the cell, func- 

 tioning in a definite manner, in other words a 

 living part of a living cell? If they are 

 organs of the cell, are they concerned in the 

 routine metabolism which takes place in all 

 living cells or are they concerned with the 

 process of differentiation of such structures as 

 the myofibrillse, neuro-fibrillse, white fibrous 

 tissue, etc.? On the other hand, are we deal- 

 ing with inactive metabolic products of the 

 cell, inactive in the sense of not being a part 

 of the living protoplasm? If so, are they 

 excretory products which later are extruded 

 from the cell or storage products which are 

 being continually formed by the activity of 

 "the cell and again used up in its metabolism? 

 What relation do they bear to the metabolism 

 of the nucleus, if any? The discussion of 

 these most important points must be left for 

 a more complete account of the mitochondria 

 in tissue cultures which is soon to follow. 

 M. K. Lewis, 

 W. H. Lewis 



Johns Hopkins TJniveesitt 



ASTRONOMICAL AND ASTEOFUYSICAL SO- 

 CIETY OF AMERICA 

 The sixteenth meeting of the Astronomical and 

 Astrophysieal Society of America was held in At- 

 lanta, Ga., in connection with the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science on De- 

 eember 29, 1913, to January 1, 1914. The general 

 social features of this meeting participated in 

 alike by the association and the affiliated societies 



have already been described by the general secre- 

 tary of the association. 



In connection with the relation of this society 

 to the association one matter may be mentioned. 

 Following the adoption of the plan for large gen- 

 eral quadrennial meetings the society voted to en- 

 deavor to meet with the association for these meet- 

 ings. 



The council elected the following persons to 

 membership: The Eev. T. H. E. C. Espin, Tow 

 Law, Co. Durham, England; Dr. C. C. Kiess, Laws 

 Observatory, Columbia, Mo. ; and to honorary mem- 

 bership, Professor G. F. J. Arthur Auwers, Bel- 

 levuestr. 55, Grosslichterfelde, Berlin, W., Ger- 

 many. 



The following members were in attendance: G. 

 C. Comstock, W. S. Eichelberger, Philip Fox, G. 

 H. Gingrich, C. S. Howe, W. J. Humphreys, F. R. 

 Moulton, E. C. Pickering, W. F. Eigge, H.' N. Rus- 

 sel, Frederick Slocum; and the following visitors 

 from the association: William Bowie, S. M. Bar- 

 ton, E. B. Van Vleck, G. F. Emerson, and E. P. 

 Stephens. 



At the joint meeting with Section A of the as- 

 sociation two admirable addresses were delivered. 

 The retiring vice-president of the section. Pro- 

 fessor E. B. Van Vleck, presented "The Influence 

 of Fourier's Series upon the Development of 

 Mathematics." The society was represented by 

 Professor H. N. Eussell, who spoke on ' ' Eelations 

 between the Spectra and Other Characteristics of 

 the Stars." 



Aside from these two addresses the scientific 

 program contained twenty-nine papers and a re- 

 port from the committee on photographic astrom- 

 etry. The titles are given below in the order of 

 presentation. 



"The Arlington Time Signals in Omaha," by 

 W. P. Eigge. 



"Astronomical Panoramic Views from a City 

 Observatory," by W. F. Eigge. 



"Micrometric Observations of the Holden and 

 Kiistner Double Stars," by Philip Fox. 



"Note on the Present Spectra of Three of the 

 Novffi, " by W. S. Adams and F. G. Pease. 



"Note on the Eelative Intensity at Different 

 Wave-lengths of the Spectra of Stars having Large 

 and Small Proper Motions," by W. S. Adams. 



"Memoir on the Theory of Orbits," by F. E. 

 Moulton. 



"Faint Standards of Photographic Magnitude 

 for Selected Areas, " by F. H. Scares. 



"Temperature, Eainfall and Sunspot Records," 

 by W. J. Humphreys. 



