August 1, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



191 



Baylor University, and Professor J. C. Nagle, 

 of the Agricultural and Mechanical College 

 of Texas; Treasurer, Dr. H. Y. Benedict, 

 Adjunct Professor of Mathematics and As- 

 tronomy in the University of Texas; Secre- 

 tary, Dr. Frederic W. Simonds, Professor of 

 Geology in the University of Texas; Libra- 

 rian, Dr. William L. Bray, Professor of Bot- 

 any in the University of Texas; Members of 

 the Council, Hon. Arthur Lefevre, State Su- 

 perintendent of Public Instruction, Henry 

 Winston Harper, M.D., F.C.S., Professor of 

 Chemistry, University of Texas, and Dr. Wil- 

 liam Morton Wheeler, Professor of Zoology 

 in the same institution. 



The first paper on the program was on 

 'Consciousness and Pvu'posive Movements,' 

 by Dr. Edmund Montgomery, of Hempstead, 

 Texas. 



Professor S. E. Mezes, of the University, 

 discussed 'Some Fundamental Characteris- 

 tics of the Extensity of Sensations.' He 

 pointed out that every sensation has a local 

 sign embedded in it, different, roughly speak- 

 ing, from every other local sign, and that sen- 

 sations, therefore, constitute, from this point 

 of view, a manifold of differing elements. 

 This manifold is, however, continuous, and 

 not discrete; for any two local signs, A and 

 L, whose difference is barely discernible, are 

 less similar to each other than either is to 

 other local signs, e. g., B, C, J, K, and this 

 is precisely the distinguishing characteristic 

 of a continum. Another very fundamental 

 characteristic of our extensity experience the 

 speaker found in the arrangement of local 

 signs and their sensations in tridimensional 

 extent. The basis of this he found in our or- 

 ganic and • muscular sensations coming from 

 within the skin, which are always present as 

 a totality in waking moments, and which in 

 their totality constitute, as immediately felt, 

 a tridimensional bulk. And it is because of 

 their relations to our tridimensional cenes- 

 thesia that special sensations are located in 

 tridimensional space. First, largely by virtue 

 of the changing relative positions of different 

 parts of the body, there arises ontogenetically 

 a sense of empty space surrounding the body, 

 and largely because of the contrast of double 



and single touch there arises a sense of filled 

 space outside the body. Here it was insisted 

 that touch intrinsically locates its objects out- 

 side the surfaces of the body, and in the third 

 dimension relative to that surface. Moreover, 

 all the special senses, probably in virtue of 

 being daughter senses descended from the 

 mother sense of touch, were found to locate 

 their objects in tridimensional space. Ches- 

 eldens and other cases were quoted to show 

 that vision never presents a colored surface 

 only, but at the worst a colored surface loca- 

 ted in the third dimension, a point that has 

 been strangely overlooked. And with local 

 signs of depth thus present in vision, even 

 under the least favorable conditions, it was 

 considered at least possible that these same 

 local signs were competent, when developed 

 by practice, to substitute objects in proper 

 perspective for the surface seen antecedent to 

 practice. 



Professor H. Ness, of the Chair of Botany 

 in the Agricultural and Mechanical College 

 of Texas, spoke on 'De Vries' Mutation 

 Theory,' which has recently attracted wide- 

 spread attention. 



Mr. W. H. von Streeruwitz, of Houston, a 

 former geologist on the State Geological Sur- 

 vey, who had recently returned from a pro- 

 tracted visit abroad, spoke upon 'ilining — 

 \^th some Account of Russian Practice.' 



The last paper was of a very practical char- 

 acter, being an exposition of 'New Departures 

 in Cotton Mill Machinery and Appliances,' 

 by Messrs. Stonewall Tompkins and W. E. 

 Anderson, Mechanical Engineers of Houston. 



Part II., completing Volume IV. of the 

 Transactio7is of the Academy, has been re- 

 ceived from the printer and is now being dis- 

 tributed. The following is the table of con- 

 tents: 'The Influence of Applied Science,' 

 the Annual Address by the President, Pro- 

 fessor J. C. jSTagle; "A Consideration of S. 

 B. Buckley's ' North American Formicidae,' " 

 Dr. William Morton Wheeler; 'The Silt 

 Problem in Connection with Irrigation Stor- 

 age Reservoirs,' Professor J. C. Nagle; 'The 

 Water Power of Texas,' Professor Thomas 

 U. Taylor; 'Reptiles and Batrachians of Mc- 

 Lennan County, Texas,' John K. Strecker, 



