696 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 383. 



various swelling reagents a similar layer- 

 ing is produced in the walls of endosperm 

 and stone cells and that the structure is 

 physically quite similar to, although chem- 

 ically different from, that of the starch 

 grain. 



In continuing these observations oa the 

 cell wall, using staining agents in connec- 

 tion with swelling substances, including 

 sulphuric acid, the author finds a close 

 similarity in the appearance produced in 

 the thick-walled endosperm cells in the 

 date, vegetable ivory and nux vomica, and 

 is inclined to consider that the appearance 

 produced in the walls of these and other 

 cells, which has given rise to the wide- 

 spread conclusion that it indicates a con- 

 tinuity of protoplasm, has a close relation 

 to the colloidal layers and clefts in the 

 starch grain Avhich take up staining re- 

 agents. Furthermore, the protoplasm in 

 the cells of vegetable ivory is frequently 

 stained an entirely different color from 

 that of the so-called threads of protoplasm. 

 In nux vomica the threads are interrupted 

 and in vegetable ivory they are peculiarly 

 curved, indicating an alteration of the cell 

 wall, which condition is very pronounced 

 in some of the thinner sections. 



Professor Edwin G. Conklin, of Phila- 

 delphia, presented, with lantern slide illus- 

 trations, a brief synopsis of a paper on the 

 'Embryology of a Brachiopod, Terehra- 

 tulina septentrionalis.' The early develop- 

 ment of this animal is unlike that of anne- 

 lids and mollusks, though the larvaj belong 

 to the Trochophore type. The larvse of 

 this brachiopod closely resemble those of 

 Phoronis and show certain likenesses to the 

 Polyzoa. All three of these groups should 

 be classed together in a phylum distinct 

 from the Annelida, Mollusca or Chfeton- 

 atha. 



Professor Thos. H. Montgomery, Jr., 

 of Philadelphia, presented in a paper on 

 'The Relationship of the Gordiacea, ' a 



brief abstract of an anatomical memoir on 

 the genus Paragordius. The conclusion 

 reached from a study of the adult structure 

 is that the Gordiacea are neither Annelida 

 nor Nematoda, but in most points of struc- 

 ture appear to represent a phylum distinct 

 from both of these. 



Dr. M. Louise Nichols, of Philadelphia 

 (introduced by Professor Conklin), pre- 

 sented a brief synopsis of a paper on the 

 'Spermatogenesis of Oniscus asellus, with 

 especial reference to the History of the 

 Chi'omatin.' The first of the two matura- 

 tion divisions in this animal is reducing. 

 The spermatids become associated in groups 

 to form sperm colonies, each of which is 

 flagellate at its anterior extremity. 



Dr. Cyrus Adler, of Washington, pre- 

 sented a communication on the plans and 

 purposes of the ' International Catalogue of 

 Scientific Literature,' and exhibited ad- 

 vanced sheets of one of the volumes now 

 being published. 



SATURDAY, APRIL 5. 



Professor Lindley M. Eeasbey, of Bryn 

 Mawr, in a paper entitled 'A Classification 

 of Economies,' defined an economy as a 

 system of activities whereby the potential 

 utilities inherent in the environment are, 

 through utilization, converted into actual 

 utilities. In working out a classification, 

 economies, he said, can be distinguished 

 from each other in two ways : Subjectively, 

 according to the incentive leading to utili- 

 zation, and objectively, according to the 

 means employed in the process. Applying 

 this canon of distinction, we can distin- 

 guish between the automatic economy char- 

 acteristic of plant life, the instinctive econ- 

 omy characteristic of animal life, and the 

 rational economy characteristic of human 

 life. The course of human development 

 also exhibits three characteristic types of 

 economies: First the acquisitive economy, 

 where the motive making for utilization is 



