Decembee 7, 1900. ] 



SCIENCE. 



883 



gated by A. P. Mathews, who presents the 

 results of observations on Arbacia eggs. Math- 

 ews found that karyokinetic nuclear division 

 followed by cell division may be produced by 

 lack of oxygen, by heat and by exposure to 

 ether, alcohol and chloroform. Since all the 

 methods which induced karyokinesis in these 

 eggs are well-known methods of causing lique- 

 faction in protoplasm, Mathews suggests that 

 the essential basis of karyokinetic cell division 

 is the production of localized areas of lique- 

 faction in the protoplasm. 



S. I. Franz's paper, ' On the methods of esti- 

 mating the force of voluntary muscular con- 

 tractions and on fatigue,' is largely a destruc- 

 tive critique of the methods hitherto employed 

 for determining muscular ability. With a 

 weight ergograph or with an ordinary spring 

 ergometer two variables are always present — 

 the force and the extent of a contraction. 

 These two factors are so variable in different 

 individuals that accurate comparison of relative 

 muscular ability is impossible. A third vari- 

 able in the use of these instruments is noted in 

 the nutrition changes of the working muscle. 

 The isometric use of a spring is recommended 

 because the main factor in an investigation of 

 fatigue — muscular force — is practically isolated. 

 The results of fatigue experiments show that 

 after 150 maximum contractions the muscle 

 can accomplish about 40 per cent, as much as 

 it could at the beginning of the series. A large 

 daily variation in results is noted. This factor, 

 which has been almost wholly neglected in 

 previous researches, indicates that the conclu- 

 Bions of early investigators should be held only 

 until they can be investigated further. 



The American Journal of Insanity for June, in 

 addition to the articles noted in our last issue, con- 

 tains a paper by Dr. F. Savary Pearce, of Phila- 

 delphia, who presents ' Further Laboratory 

 Studies on Uric Acid in Neursesthenia and on 

 Auto-intoxication in Nervous Disease,' in which 

 he says : ' ' We have sufficient data to say posi- 

 tively that neursesthenic conditions are asso- 

 ciated with the circulation of such an irritant in 

 the blood. From the observations of Haig, it 

 seems clearly proved also that when the uric- 

 acid elimination is decreased, the urea elimi- 

 nation is normally increased. The amount of 



elimination of urea is in proportion to the album- 

 inous food products properly absorbed into the 

 blood, thus giving rise. to strength and a feel- 

 ing of latent vigor in the system so nourished. 

 On the other hand, there assuredly follow a 

 sense of feebleness and lack of resistance when 

 the uric-acid elimination goes above the normal 

 and, in consequence, the urea elimination falls. 

 In ' Degeneracy ' Dr. O. Everts, of Cincin- 

 nati, calls attention to the fact that the term 

 degeneracy is without uniformity of meaning 

 or restricted definition. He regards degenerates 

 as "all persons who by reason of mental de- 

 ficiency are incapable of self-support, as well 

 as those who by reason of mental deficiency 

 are incapable of perceiving the sinfulness 

 of sin or the beneficence of restraint there- 

 from." He believes degeneracy to be an in- 

 evitable sequence of civilization without any 

 hope of remedy. Dr. W. L. Worcester, of Dan- 

 vers, Massachusetts, presents ' Three Cases of 

 General Paralysis in Young Women ' together 

 with the pathological findings at the autopsies. 

 One of these cases was a young mulatto. 

 Dr. Charles E. Woodruff, of the U. S. Army 

 Medical Corps, has a paper entitled ' Degen- 

 erates in the Army.' He finds that few of 

 these degenerates in the army present the 

 characteristic stigmata of degeneration, a fact 

 which he believes to be due to the rigid ex- 

 amination to which all recruits are subjected 

 upon enlistment. Degenerates in the army 

 come from the borderland of partial degeneracy, 

 the criminaloids of Lombroso. Some are cases 

 of slow development — partial infantilism — who 

 have run away from home in search of adven- * 

 ture, but more are mild types of the neurses- 

 thenic tramp, restless, unstable and flitting 

 from one employment to another. They are 

 unable to endure monotony of army life with 

 its rigid discipline and are generally deserters. 

 The Journal of Comparative Neurology for Oc- 

 tober contains the following articles : ' A Con- 

 tribution upon the Cranial Nerves of the Cod 

 Fish,' by C. Judson Herrick, with 2 plates; 

 ' Notes on Professor Judson Herrick's Paper on 

 the Cranial Nerves of the Cod Fish,' by F. J. 

 Cole"; ' Further Observations on the Conditions 

 determining the Number and Arrangement of 

 the Fibers forming the Spinal Nerves of the 



