420 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 63. 



chloride, carbonate and oxide of lead with 

 water and a trace of organic matter. Sur- 

 rounding the alley were stables, and in the 

 salts found in the soil produced by the excreta 

 werie all the necessary materials and condi- 

 tions for effecting chemical corrosion per se 

 without resorting to any electolytic theory. In 

 the discussion of the paper Dr. Wiley said he 

 thought there might have been a denitrifying 

 process. Prof. Munroe said there had been no 

 submergence of the cable, but that there must 

 have been water passing through the conduit. 

 A. C. Pealb, 



Secretary. 



ACADEMY OF NATITBAL SCIENCES OF PHILADEL- 

 PHIA, FEBEUARY 25. 



Papees under the following titles were pre- 

 sented for publication : ' The Coloring Matter 

 of the Aril of Celastrus scandens,' by Ida A. 

 Keller; 'The Crystallization of Molybdenite,' 

 by Amos P. Brown. The Anthropological Sec- 

 tion having precedence. Dr. D. G. Brinton 

 made a communication on the use of the cranio- 

 facial line in determining racial and individual 

 characters on the living subject. The relation of 

 the diameters of the cranium, formerly relied on, 

 had been found unsatisfactory. He specially 

 recommended a line closely resembling that 

 suggested by the sculptor, Charles Kochet. It 

 connects the two auditory foramina, forming a 

 slight curve, the superior border of which con- 

 nects the internal commissures of the eyes. 

 This line, it is claimed, divides the ideal, nor- 

 mal head into two perfectly equal parts, al- 

 though in nature, of course, this proportion is 

 not maintained, but varies as a racial charac- 

 ter and in individuals. The relations of the 

 lines may also indicate the cranial capacity, 

 as the plane of the curve continued posteriorly 

 is approximately the base of the skull. He 

 farther pointed out that the distance between 

 the distal extremities of the curve gives the 

 width of the head and the face, and that a 

 series of curves, described from the fixed points 

 indicated, offers probably the simplest and 

 most accurate method of obtaining significant 

 head-measures on the living subject. 



Dr. Harrison Allen commented on the diffi- 

 culty of obtaining satisfactory cranial measure- 



ments and referred to Oldfield Thomas's lines 

 taken from the outer margin of the orbits to de- 

 termine the projection of the nose. He did not 

 think the true horizontal plane of the skull 

 could be fixed. The so-called Frankfurt plane 

 is the one most commonly accepted. 



Dr. Seneca Egbert stated that he bad demon- 

 strated the action of the X-rays through plates 

 of platinum from ordinary sun light. Illustra- 

 tive pictures were exhibited, and the published 

 results of other experiments were discussed. 



Prof. Maxwell Sommerville exhibited beauti- 

 ful specimens of chipped arrow-heads made 

 from common green bottle glass by the natives 

 of northwestern Australia. He also called at- 

 tention to a stone carved to resemble a miniature 

 grotesque head from the valley of the Dela- 

 ware opposite Milford, and an object used in 

 phallic worship by the natives of Poonah, India. 



Dr. D. G. Brinton called attention to the im- 

 portance of obtaining systematic data for the 

 study of American anthropology and suggested 

 the wide distribution, under the auspices of the 

 Anthropological Section of the Academy, of cir- 

 culars of inquiry similar to those in use by 

 the committee appointed by the British Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science for the 

 study of the ethnogi-aphy of Great Britain. 

 Edw. J. Nolan, 

 Recording Secretary. 



NEW BOOKS. 

 Atlas of Nerve Cells. M. Allen Staer. New 



York and London, Columbia College Press, 



Macmillan & Co. 1896. Pp. x + 78 & 51 



plates. $10. 

 Text-Books of Genei-al Pathology and Pathological 



Anatomy. Richaed Thoma. Translated by 



Alexandee Beuce. London, Adams and 



Charles Black. New York, Macmillan & Co. 



1896. Pp. xiv-f624. $7.00 

 Electric Wiring. Russell Robb. New York 



and London, Macmillan & Co. 1896. Pp. 



183. $2.50. 

 Besultats des examen de dix mulle observations de 



hernies. Paul Beeger. Paris, Alcan. 1896. 



Pp. 206. 

 Annuaire de V Obsei'vatoire Royal de Belgique. F. 



FOLIE. Bruxelles. 1896. Pp. 551. 



