662 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 408. 



and unlooked-for discoveries, are those 

 cases in which problems long the subject of 

 debate and contention are solved or dis- 

 missed. If finality is ever attainable in 

 physiological debates the question of 

 fatigue iu nerve has surely reached that 

 stage; for Professor Gotch showed by the 

 results of his ingeniously simple but con- 

 vincing experiments that functional fatigue 

 does not exist in a meduUated nerve. Much 

 the same may be said of the paper by Pro- 

 fessor Halliburton and Dr. ]\Iott, in which 

 strong evidence was brought forward in 

 support of the contention that when a 

 divided nerve grows again and heals the 

 growth takes place from that end which 

 is connected with the nerve center. Dr. 

 John Turner's paper on the human brain 

 was both morphological and physiological. 

 Professor Schafer accepted as accurate the 

 morphological part, but dissented from Dr. 

 Turner's physiological interpretations. It 

 will be seen, even from this succinct 

 sketch, that the Physiological Section en- 

 joyed a successful, if brief, career, and 

 that physiology has been enriched by con- 

 tributions of importance. 



In his presidential address to Section K 

 (Botany) Professor J. R. Green em- 

 phasized the study of vegetable phj'-siology, 

 not merely on account of its intrinsic im- 

 portance in special botanical problems, but 

 as a subject of fundamental economic im- 

 portance, especially in relation to agricul- 

 ture. The papers read in this branch of 

 the subject were of considerable interest, 

 one of the most important being that by 

 Professor Bose, who showed by experiments 

 that plant tissues respond to stimulation in 

 much the same way that muscle fiber does. 

 Mrs. D. H. Scott also described the curious 

 movements of the flowers of Sparmannia 

 in relation to its environment. Professor 

 Macfadyen described experiments on the 

 exposure of bacteria to intense cold, which 

 demonstrate that their vitality is not de- 



stroyed even after an exposure to a tem- 

 perature of 250° C. below zero. In the 

 department of fossil plants great interest 

 was shown in the papers contributed by 

 Mr. Seward, Miss Benson, D.Sc. and Mr. 

 Lomax; and Dr. Scott submitted observa- 

 tions on Sporangiphores, which indicate 

 that they may afford an important clue to 

 affinities among groups of recent and fossil 

 plants. One of the important papers was 

 that by Professor Oliver and IMiss Chick on 

 Torreya, which raised many points of mor- 

 phological importance, especially in connec- 

 tion with the evolution of" the seed. Mr, 

 Stirling, in a paper on the flora of the 

 Ai^stralian Alps, pointed out that the evi- 

 dence now available confirms the original 

 forecast of Sir J. D. Hooker, that the 

 affinity between the Antarctic and South 

 African floras indicates them as members of 

 one great vegetation. Some valuable papers 

 on fungi were contributed from the Cam- 

 bridge botanical laboratory, and Miss 

 Lorrain-Smith read a paper of economic 

 importance on a fungus disease of the 

 gooseberry. Mr. Lloyd Praeger contributed 

 a valuable paper on the composition of the 

 flora of the northeast of Ireland. The 

 arrangements made by the local secretaries 

 were excellent; and interesting excursions 

 to the new fernery at the Botanic Gardens 

 and to Colin Glen were well attended by 

 the botanists present at the meeting. 



In the second year of its existence the 

 infant section of the Association— L( Edu- 

 cation)— has justified the efforts of those 

 primarily responsible for its appointment 

 by the extraordinary interest that has been 

 evinced in its proceedings. The papers and 

 discussions have reached a high level, and 

 have given a stimuh;s to educational 

 thought which has already borne valuable 

 fruit and provided many constructive sug- 

 gestions. The section is naturally exposed 

 to the grave danger of becoming the happy 

 hunting ground of educational faddists. 



