834 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1014 



Interest in the mechanism of the heart -beat was 

 stimulated by the discovery that the electric cur- 

 rents which the heart discharged during contrac- 

 tion could be registered by a moderately sensitive, 

 but rapidly reacting galvanometer. A general use 

 of Bueh galvanometers was introduced in 1906-08. 

 At the same time structures dealing with impulse 

 formation (the sine-auricular node of Keith and 

 Flack) and conduction (the auriculo-ventricular 

 node of Aschoff-Tawara and the auriculo-ventric- 

 ular bundle of Kent and His, Jr.) in the heart 

 were discovered. These discoveries form the basis 

 of contemporary studies. 



The various waves which are found in the 

 electrocardiogram, which is the name given to the 

 photographed curves of the cardiac action cur- 

 rents, have been identified as representing definite 

 events in the cardiac cycle. The validity of elec- 

 trocardiograms as records has been established, not 

 only for different classes of animals, but for species 

 as well. So far as man is concerned, records can 

 be differentiated as between individuals, and the 

 record of the individual recognized over long peri- 

 ods of time as peculiarly his own. This individ- 

 uality of records applies not only to normal, but 

 also to abnormal conditions. 



Alterations in the established form of electro- 

 cardiograms occur, and the conditions which cause 

 a number of the changes were described. Most of 

 these conditions depend on changes within the 

 structure of the heart, while others on the physical 

 relation of the heart to the body of the individual. 

 Finally, a number of observations indicating the 

 value of the galvanometric method in studying the 

 control of the central nervous system over the 

 heart were presented. 



The Kinetic System: Geokge W. Cbile. 



Animals axe transformers of energy. Adapta- 

 tion to environment is made by means of a kinetic 

 system of organs evolved for the purpose of con- 

 verting potential energy into heat and motion. 

 The priacipal organs comprising the kinetic sys- 

 tem are the brain, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the 

 liver and the muscles. The brain is the great cen- 

 tral battery which drives the system, the thyroid 

 governs the conditions favoring tissue oxidation; 

 the adrenals govern immediate oxidation proc- 

 esses; the liver fabricates and stores glycogen; 

 and the muscles are the final means by which the 

 latent energy is converted into heat and motion. 

 The positive evidence regarding the response made 

 by these organs to various forms of stimulation 

 contained in a large amount of experimental data 



is verified by the negative evidence that the power 

 of the body to convert latent into kinetic energy 

 is impaired or lost when the brain, the thyroid, 

 the suprarenals, the liver or the muscles are im- 

 paired. 



Clinical as well as experimental evidence shows 

 that any change in any link of the kinetic chain 

 modifies the entire kinetic system proportionately. 

 Such a change may result in an immediate break- 

 down — acute shock; or else the gradual modifica- 

 tion of one or more of the kinetic organs may give 

 rise to a number of diseases. This theory has al- 

 ready given us the shockless operation and it opens 

 a possibility of controlling certain chronic dis- 

 eases which are the result of overstimulation of 

 one or more of the organs in the kinetic chain. 



Tile Hereditary BaMs of Certain Emotional 



States: Charles B. Davenport. 

 Syriac Socrates — A Study in Syrian Philosophy: 



W. ROMAINE NEWBOLD. 



The speaker argued that this dialogue, which has 

 been entirely neglected since its publication in 

 1858, represents a philosophical system so inti- 

 mately related to that of Bardaisan of Edessa, that 

 it must be regarded as written either by him or by 

 some member of his school. 



The Evolution of Pime Barren Plants: John W. 



Hakshbeeger. 

 Segregation of ' ' Unit Characters ' ' in the Zygote 

 of (Enothera with Twin and Triplet Syhrids in 

 the First Generation: George Francis Atkin- 

 son. 



The segregation of "unit characters" is a phe- 

 nomenon now widely and well known, particularly 

 as it relates to Mendelian segregation, with the 

 production of different hybrid types in the second 

 generation. But the segregation of several dis- 

 tinct hybrid types in the first generation of a 

 cross between two species is a rare phenomenon. 

 The fundamental distinction between these two 

 types of segregation is apt not to be appreciated 

 at once, since we are so accustomed to think in 

 terms of Mendelian segregation. 



Further, in Mendelian segregation, the produc- 

 tion of "dihybrids, " " trihybrids, " etc., accord- 

 ing to the number of contrasting allelomorphs in 

 the parents, is so familiar that it requires some 

 special emphasis for the mind to grasp how funda- 

 mentally different ' ' twin hybrids ' ' are from di- 

 hybrids, ' ' triplets ' ' from trihybrids, etc. 



In the experimental studies here briefly out- 

 lined the two parents are (Enothera nutans and (E. 

 pycnocarpa, wild species of the evening primrose 



