March 6, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



367 



tomes of the eye muscles are connected. The dis- 

 covery of Van Wijhe's ('82) somites in Cyclo- 

 stomes (KoltzofE '02) and of a similar meso- 

 dermic segmentation in the preotic region of bony 

 fishes (Boeeke '04) and of reptiles (Filatoflf '07) 

 taken in conjunction with the evidence of their 

 presence in Amphibia (Miss Piatt '97) and the 

 repeated confirmation of their existence in Se- 

 lachian embryos by Hoffmann ('94), Neal ('96, 

 '97), SewertzofE ('98) and Johnston ('09) at- 

 tests not only the presence of a primary preotic 

 segmentation, but also indicates that the meso- 

 dermic segmentation, as in Amphioxus, is con- 

 tinuous from the preoral region backwards through 

 head and trunk. The recent rehabilitation of 

 AmpMcMcus by Delsman ('13) as a transition form 

 between annelids and vertebrates is symptomatic 

 of the recent trend of morphological opinion. A 

 fuller discussion of the problem will be given in a 

 forthcoming number of The Journal of Morphol- 

 ogy. 

 The Story of Human Linkage (vice-presidential 



address) : William A. Locy. 

 Microscopic Demonstration of Fecal Contamina- 

 tion of Food, as Evidenced by the Presence of 

 Protozoan Spores: C. W. Stiles. 

 Instruction of Young People in Bespect to Sex: 

 T. W. Galloway. 



In a brief discussion like this some things must 

 be assumed. Among these things we may mention 

 the following: (1) Reproduction and sex, next to 

 hunger and the need of food, is the most profoundly 

 influential factor in human life. It is basal to 

 society and to particular organization of society. 



(2) Anything which bulks as large in human life 

 as sex can not be unimportant in education. 



(3) Its greatest meaning in education is not in 

 connection with its abuses, perversions and dan- 

 gers, but rather in the normal, wholesome and con- 

 structive contribution which it makes to health, — • 

 physical, mental, social, moral and religious. (4) 

 Consequently sex instruction means not emphasis 

 of the pathology of sex, but of the normal devel- 

 opment of human personality and society because 

 of, and by means of, the impulses growing out of 

 sex. It deals with cleanness, purity, marriage, 

 home, fatherhood, motherhood, children, parental 

 care, chivalry and the like. (5) In the normal hu- 

 man child there is no such thing as ignorance and 

 innocence with respect to matters of sex. The 

 only choice we have is whether the information 

 will be clean and correct and free from vile and 

 vulgar connotations, or will be incomplete, sug- 



gestive and curiosity-inspiring. (6) Even if we 

 could keep children ignorant, there is in the long 

 run no positive correlation between ignorance in 

 respect to vital and far-reaching phenomena and 

 safe, wise adjustment to these phenomena. There 

 is, however, a correlation between knowledge and 

 right conduct, howbeit the correlation is not 100 

 per cent. (7) We must, therefore, have from some 

 source, adequate instruction in respect to matters 

 of sex. (8) We all agree that their instruction 

 ought to come from parents and others similarly 

 related to the child. (9) We know, however, that 

 this is not being done by the present generation of 

 parents in any serious degree. We know, further- 

 more, that the present-day parent is not fitted to 

 do it properly. (10) We need, therefore, to pre- 

 pare a generation of parents who can do this 

 work for society. This must be done by social 

 agencies outside the family. (11) Colleges and 

 normal schools are in position to do two things for 

 the people coming to them: (a) They may give 

 the kind of instruction which parents ought to 

 have; and (6) they may train future teachers in 

 a fundamental knowledge of these matters so that 

 they may bring help to the present-day genera- 

 tion of parents — through parent-teacher associa- 

 tions in the interest of the child. 



The discussion of Professor Galloway's paper 

 was led by Professor E. B. Wilson, of Columbia 

 University, and was participated in by several 

 members of Section F. 

 Variation in Oxyurias: Its Bearing on the Value 



of a "Nematode Formula": Stanley B. 



Pracker. 



Owing to the difficulty of classifying Nematoda 

 certain writers have used a "nematode formula" 

 in their descriptions. This formula shows the 

 proportions of the body structures of the individ- 

 ual worm described. The investigation which this 

 paper reported consisted of the measurement of a 

 large number of individuals of Oxyurias vermi- 

 cularis Linn, to determine the variation in the 

 species. The range proved sufficiently great to 

 throw doubt upon the value of a formula. The 

 conclusion was reached that while the general pro- 

 portions of the organs of a round worm have a 

 taxonomic importance, the formula as it has been 

 used is likely to be more misleading than valuable. 

 The full paper is to be published soon. 

 The Development of the Olfactory Nerve and Its 



Associated Ganglion in Lepidosteus: Chas. 



Brookover. 



The olfactory nerve and the nervus terminalis 



