376 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 62. 



a series of axial sections representing the gen- 

 eral structure of the eye in thirty-one species 

 of animals, comprising two Crustacea, the squid, 

 three fish, two batrachians, two reptiles, ten 

 birds and eleven animals. 



Prof. F. E. Nipher gave an account of the 

 Geissler and Crookes tubes and the radiant phe- 

 nomena exhibited by each when used in con- 

 nection with a high tension electrical current of 

 rapid alternation, and detailed the recent dis- 

 coveries of Prof. Rontgen, showing that certain 

 of the rays so generated are capable of afiecting 

 the sensitized photographic plate through ob- 

 jects opaque to luminous rays. Attention was 

 also called to the e:^periments of Herz and 

 Lodge with discharges of very high tension al- 

 ternating currents which showed that by the 

 latter certain invisible rays are produced, which 

 like the Rontgen rays, are capable of passing 

 through opaque bodies, such as pitch, but dif- 

 fering in their refrangibility by such media. 



One person was elected to active member- 

 .ship. William Trelease, 



Recording Secretary. 



THE woman's anthropological society. 



The Woman's Anthropological Society, which 

 under the presidency of Miss Alice C. Fletcher, 

 has greatly enlarged its scope and membership, 

 held its 138th meeting February 1st. After the 

 usual business, the session was given over to 

 Miss A. Tolman Smith, director of the section 

 of psychology. 



The paper of the day was by Miss Theodate 

 L. Smith, of Clark University, subject ' The 

 Motor Element in Memory.' The paper de- 

 scribed in detail a series of laboratory experi-. 

 ments made by the writer with a view to de- 

 termine the quantitative value of the motor 

 element in the total act of memory. 



Discussion of the subject was deferred to a 

 subsequent meeting, and the remaining time 

 was given to the problem of emotional expres- 

 sion which has occupied the attention of the 

 section for several months. Brief letters were 

 read from Profs. Melville Bell and David Bell, 

 also from the directors of dramatic expression 

 in leading universities of this country, setting 

 forth their views as to the relation between the 

 psychic and the physical agitations that make 



up the emotional state. The subject was illus- 

 trated from the standpoint of dramatic art by 

 Mrs. J. M. D. Lander, who drew a most subtle 

 and vivid picture of ' dual personality ' in the 

 consciousness of the actor. 



Miss Wescott, principal of the Western High 

 School, closed the discussion with a summary 

 of tests of emotional disturbance applied by 

 means of the Kj'mographion under the direction 

 of Dr. Arthur MacDonald. 



From a series of graphic records showing the 

 eflfects of various emotional and mental states 

 upon the breathing, two were selected as typi- 

 cal, one of the nervous, the other of the lym- 

 phatic temperament. It was interesting to note 

 that, while in the latter the registration of 

 emotional disturbance was relatively less than 

 in the former case, yet there was the indisputa- 

 ble record of such disturbance in spite of the 

 subject's unconsciousness of the eflects. Two 

 inferences seemed justified by the series of ex- 

 periments : first, that one breathes less during 

 any effort at concentration and under a depress- 

 ing emotion ; second, that one breathes more 

 under the exhilarating influences of pleasure or 

 amusement. Two questions were suggested as 

 the practical outcome of the experiments: 

 First, if the tendency of education is toward 

 repression and self-control, is it not important 

 to supplement courses of study by exercises 

 that foster spontaneity ; second, if the child 

 actually breathes less under close application 

 to study, to what degree is our physical culture 

 work correcting this deficiency ? 



A. Carman, 



NEW BOOKS. 



James Clerk Maxivell and Modern Physics. R. T. 

 Glazebrook. New York, Macmillan & 

 Co. 1896. Pp. vi+224. $1.25. 



Vegetable Culture. Alexander Dean. Lon- 

 don and New York, Macmillan & Co. 1896. 

 Pp. vi+132. 35 cents. 



Exercises in Physical Measurement. Louis W. 

 Austin, Charles B. Thwing. Boston, 

 Allyn& Bacon. 1896. Pp. x+198. $1.50. 



Tlie Whence and the Wliither of Man. John W. 

 Tyler. New York, Charles Scribner's 

 Sons. 1896. Pp. xv-f312. $1.75. 



