928 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. Xrr. No. 311. 



more or less simple, but distinct and specific, 

 reflexes. 



The fourtli meeting was held November 22d. 

 Dr. S. J. Holmes gave an account of some ex- 

 periments on the development of fragments of 

 the egg of Pennaria. 



Mr. Raymond Pearl presented the results of 

 a study of the motor reactions of the ctenophore 

 Mnemiopsis leidyi. 



Attention was directed especially to the ques- 

 tion of how the organism moves with reference 

 to the position of external objects acting as 

 stimuli. To localized mechanical stimuli two 

 distinct motor reactions were found to occur, 

 depending on what part of the body was 

 stimulated. (1) Stimulation in the region 

 about the aboral pole caused an increase in the 

 strength of the beat of the comb-rows, result- 

 ing in a movement of the animal straight ahead 

 (toward the oral end) : therefore aivay from the 

 source of stimulation. (2) Stimulation of any 

 other region of the body causes the following 

 reaction : (a) the lobes close strongly, thus ex- 

 pelling the water rapidly and causing the 

 animal to move backward (toward the aboral 

 end). At the same time the comb-rows cease 

 to beat, (b) The comb-rows on the side stimu- 

 lated remaining partly or entirely quiet, the 

 other comb-rows begin to beat strongly, carry- 

 ing the animal forward and at the same time 

 of course usually turning it toward the source 

 of stimulus (never toward the opposite side). 

 As the animal thus moves toward the source of 

 stimulus the lobes are opened widely and the 

 tentacles thrown back. This movement fre- 

 quently brings the mouth of the animal against 

 the stimulating agent, if the latter remains in 

 place. This response is perhaps a food reaction. 

 (This account is of a perfectly typical case, from 

 which there are individual variations.) 



Experiments were made on the relation of 

 the'central nervous system to the coordination 

 exhibited in the contraction of the lobes. It 

 was found that in animals from which the 

 whole aboral end had been removed, including 

 the whole of the central nervous system, there 

 was still perfect coordination in the contraction 

 of the lobes of the two sides. When a single 

 lobe was removed from the body and split 

 lengthwise so that the two parts remained con- 



nected only by a small bridge of tissue, the con- 

 traction of the two longitudinal halves was still 

 found to be well coordinated. 



H. S. Jennings, 



Secretary. 



SCIENCE CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 

 WISCONSIN. 



The Science Club of the University of Wiscon- 

 sin held its first meeting of the academic year 

 on the evening of November 27th. Dr. E. A. 

 Birge, the new president of the Club and the 

 acting president of the University, delivered 

 an address upon 'Huxley.' Because of the 

 very general interest of this address, the meet- 

 ing was an open one and the large lecture hall 

 of the University was crowded. Dr. Birge an- 

 alyzed the qualities of mind and heart which 

 characterized the great expositor of the doctrine 

 of evolution. An interesting contrast was in- 

 stituted between Huxley upon the one hand and 

 first Matthew Arnold and then Gladstone upon 

 the other. 



While warmly sympathetic and eulogistic to 

 a high degree. Dr. Birge's estimate of Huxley 

 was in essential agreement with that of Glad- 

 stone, whose judgment was that however great 

 Huxley's talents, he was not a genius. 



Wm. H. Hobbs. 



the academy of science of st. louis. 



At the meeting of the Academy of Science 

 of St. Louis on the evening of November 19th, 

 Mr. C. F. Baker exhibited a large amount of 

 living and preserved material, including micro- 

 scopic preparations, illustrative of American 

 Isopods and Amphipods, accompanying the 

 demonstration by a short resumi of the work 

 thus far done on Crustacefe, particularly on 

 these two groups, and making some interest- 

 ingly suggestive remarks on the peculiar affini- 

 ties of a number of the species found in deep 

 wells or hot springs. 



Dr. Amand Ravold presented an abstract of 

 the results reached in some recent bacteriolog- 

 ical examinations of water from the Illinois, 

 Mississippi and Missouri rivers, particularly 

 concerning certain features of the occurrence 

 and abundance of Bacillus coli-communis. 



