Apeil 24, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



643 



as important as facts about stones, plants and 

 •animals; yet there is, pei-haps, the least definite 

 knowledge about man. The scientific study of 

 man in an experimental way is in its beginning. 

 A man should investigate fifty times as much as 

 he ivrites, and not vice versa. 



Breathing. — Experiments with Ludwig's 

 kymographion, the pneumograph and the Cam- 

 bridge tambour, as made by Dr. MacDonald on 

 four school children and three adults, seemed to 

 indicate that concentration of mind or emotion 

 lessens breathing. The effect between pathetic 

 ■and lively music is noticeable. 



Circulation. — In a somewhat extended experi- 

 ment on a reporter with his newly constructed 

 plethysmograph Dr. MacDonald found that : 

 (1) By applying the algometer to the temporal 

 muscle there was a decrease of flow of blood in 

 the arm. (2) By passing a galvanic current 

 through the brain, causing a pain like the 

 prick of a pin, the effect was a decrease of flow 

 of blood in the arm. 



Fatigue. — By experiments on two women and 

 two men with Mosso's Ergograph the results of 

 Lombard were confirmed, to wit, that the re- 

 covery of the power of the finger after fatigue 

 owes its periodicity to fatigue. 



Dr. MacDonald illustrated with instruments 

 of his own and those of others quantitative 

 measurements of sensibilities of smell, heat, 

 locality, pain and muscular judgments. 



The second paper was by Dr. Thos. Wilson 

 on ' Marriage in Nature and in Law.' 



J. H. McCORMICK, 

 General Secretary. 



.A.CADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADEL- 

 PHIA, APRIL 7, 1896. 



The Miueralogical and Geological Section 

 having precedence, M. Jos. Willcox described 

 the process of obtaining quartz from the Oriskany 

 sandstone of Pennsylvania to be used in the 

 manufacture of glass. Mr. Keeley stated that 

 the bed used for the purpose extends southward 

 through Bedford county, where the material 

 can be used without crushing, as it crumbles 

 when exposed to the air. 



Prof Carter suggested the use of stone from 

 the Conshohocken quarries as a source of silica. 

 When dissolved in hydrocholic acid the stone 



yields flattened, transparent grains of silica, 

 not at all colored by iron. The percentage of 

 mica is small, the glistening appearance of the 

 I'ock being due to the presence of silica. 



Mr. Geo. Vaux, Jr., called attention to re- 

 cent additions to the William S. Vaux collec- 

 tion, which included superb crystals of calcite 

 from the Joplin region, Missouri. They occur 

 in caves ojjened for the working of lead and 

 zinc. The several mines are characterized by 

 distinct forms of the mineral. The sphalerite 

 which is largely present is being desited at the 

 present time, the handles of shovels and picks 

 left in the mines being covered with crystals. 

 Unfortunately these had all been thrown into 

 the reducing furnace and destroyed. 



Mr. Theodore D. Eand described a fine col- 

 lection of polished serpentines presented by him 

 to the Academy from nvimerous localities in 

 southeastern Pennsylvania. They belong to 

 two groups : one bordering the ancient gneiss, 

 the other, and the more recent, occurring in 

 the mica-schists and gneisses. The former are 

 altered igneous rocks, either chrysolitic or 

 pyroxenic, the chief material being enstatite. 

 The sources of the several forms were traced. 



Dr. Florence Bascom reported the micro- 

 scopic examination of thin sections of serpen- 

 tine from the Black Rocks of Lower Meriou. 

 The mineral from this localit ■ has been derived 

 from crysolite. That from the Conshohocken 

 dyke is composed of diabase having the feldspar 

 crystals in the lath-like form characteristic of 

 that rock. 



It was announced that Mr. G. Frederic Rus- 

 sell, accompanied by Dr. Querch and a taxider- 

 mist, had started from Georgetown, British 

 Guiana, March 11th, on a collecting tour in the 

 interior for the benefit of the Academy. 



Edward J. Nolan, 

 Recording Secretary. 



new YORK ACADEMY OP SCIENCES, SECTION OP 

 jtSTEONOMY AND PHYSICS. 



At the regular meeting, held on April 6, 1896, 

 the following program was presented before 

 the section. Prof J. K. Rees presiding : 



The first paper was by Mr. P. H. Dudley, on 

 the following title : ' The Law of Deflection 

 Sets Under Drop Tests in Different Sections of 



