794 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1013 



In spite of these exceptions, the agreement 

 of the solar and terrestrial lists is such as to 

 confirm very strongly Rowland's opinion that, 

 if the earth's crust should be raised to the 

 temperature of the sun's atmosphere, it would 

 give a very similar absorption spectrum. A 

 moderate admixture of meteoric material 

 would make the similarity even closer. 



In conclusion, the writer desires to express 

 his very hearty thanks to Dr. Clarke, for valu- 

 able information on the geochemical side of 

 the problem, and for the suggestion that the 

 comparison here made (which has been given 

 in the writer's lectures for several years) 

 may contain enough that is unfamiliar to 

 justify its publication. 



Henry Norris Eussell 



Princeton University Observatory, 

 May 5, 1914 



TEE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOB TEE 

 ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



section k — physiology and experimental 

 medicine 



At 4:30 o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, 

 January 2, 1914, Section K met at the Atlanta 

 Medical College, Atlanta, Georgia, with Vice-presi- 

 dent Theodore Hough in the chair. The address 

 of the retiring Vice-president, Dr. John J. E. 

 Macleod, entitled, ' ' The Physiological Instruction 

 of Medical Students, ' ' was read by title owing to 

 the lateness of the hour. 



The Section then began the symposium on the 

 subject of pellagra. The first speaker, Dr. J. W. 

 Babcoek, superintendent of the State Hospital for 

 the Insane, at Columbia, S. C, spoke on the ' ' Med- 

 ico-Legal Relations of Pellagra." Dr. Babcoek 

 has not sent to the secretary an abstract of his 

 remarks. 



Captain J. F. Siler, of the U. S. Army Medical 

 Corps, Dr. P. E. Garrison, U. S. N., and Dr. W. J. 

 MacNeal, , assistant director of laboratories. New 

 York Post-Graduate Medical School, presented a 

 paper read by Dr. MaeNeal entitled, "Further 

 Studies of the Thompson-MePadden Commission 

 on the Etiology of Pellagra, ' ' An abstract follows. 



"The Entomological Aspects of the Pellagra 

 Investigation of the Thompson-McFadden Com- 

 mission" was presented by Mr. A. H. Jennings, of 

 the Bureau of Entomology, tJ. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



Seport of the TJiompson-McFadden Pellagra Com- 

 mission : 



Information concerning the age and sex, occupa- 

 tions, location of domicile, general dietary habits 

 and concerning the existence of pellagra was ob- 

 tained upon about five thousand persons by a 

 house-to-house canvass of six cotton-mill villages. 

 A similar study was carried out in one rural dis- 

 trict of four square miles in which several cases 

 of pellagra had occurred. Many other communities 

 were studied in less detail. There was no definite 

 relation observed between the occurrence of pel- 

 lagra and the use of any particular foods. New 

 cases developed for the most part in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity of old cases or after close association 

 with them. In districts completely equipped with 

 water carriage systems of sewage disposal, we 

 found pellagrins who had acquired the disease be- 

 fore moving to these districts. Cases apparently 

 originating in these sewered districts were ex- 

 tremely rare and their origin there somewhat 

 doubtful. 



These observations strongly suggest that un- 

 sanitary methods of sewage disposal have an im- 

 portant relationship to the spread of pellagra. If 

 these indications can be confirmed in other places, 

 we feel that the proper correction of these condi- 

 tions by the installation of water carriage systems 

 of sewage disposal will go far toward restricting 

 the spread of the disease. 



The exact mode of transmission of pellagra is 

 still uncertain and we strongly urge the continued 

 study of food contamination, of insects as trans- 

 mitting agents and of close personal association as 

 possible factors in its spread. 



Summ-ary of Two Years' Study of Insects in Be- 



lation to Pellagra: Allan H. Jennings. 



The results of a study by the writer and W. V. 

 King, in cooperation with the Thompson-McFad- 

 den Pellagra Commission in Spartanburg county, 

 S. C, are here summarized, the observations and 

 conclusions referring to conditions in that region 

 except where otherwise stated. 



Infectiousness of the disease and its transmissi- 

 bility by blood-sucking insects were assumed, 

 purely as a necessary basis for our work. 



A high percentage of female cases, especially 

 among home-frequenting individuals and among 

 children of both sexes is a marked characteristic 

 of the disease, a transmitter which is active by day 

 being thereby indicated. 



The characteristics of the insects studied justify 



