342 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 663 



enee book with its wealth of information and 

 the emphasis laid upon influences of errors. 

 It is, of course, not expected that any class 

 should work through all the experiments de- 

 scribed, but that the teacher will make a selec- 

 tion from them. 



The book is distinctly for undergraduate 

 instruction, including the most elementary 

 exercises given in any physical laboratory. 

 Probably on account of its elementary char- 

 acter no measurements of dielectric constants 

 and no experiments in atmospheric electricity 

 or with electric waves ai-e given. 



While a manual of the "American" type, 

 as Sabine's, seems more suited for beginners 

 in laboratory work, especially in our colleges 

 where large classes must be handled by one 

 instructor, "Watson's text-book would be par- 

 ticularly suited for a course in which not all 

 time is spent in practical work, but where 

 some collateral reading is required. Any 

 student specializing in physics ought to be 

 acquainted with the contents of the book. 



K. E. GUTHE 



The State Univeesity of Iowa 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AND 

 MEDICINE 



Twenty-second Meeting 

 The twenty-second meeting of the Society 

 for Experimental Biology and Medicine was 

 held at the Eockefeller Institute for Medical 

 Eesearch, on Wednesday evening, April 17. 

 The president, Simon Flexner, was in the 

 chair. 



Memhers present — Auer, Beebe, Burton- 

 Opitz, Calkins, Carrel, Emerson, Ewing, Eield, 

 Elexner, Gibson, Gies, Hatcher, East, Levene, 

 Loeb (L.), Meltzer, Morgan, Noguchi, Eich- 

 ards, Salant, Shaffer, Teague, Torrey, Wads- 

 -worth, Wallace, Wolf, Wood. 



Memhers elected — E. E. Bensley, William T. 

 Councilman, Ludwig Kast, Waldemar Koch, 

 W. J. MacNeal, F. P. Mall, T. Brailsford 

 JEobertson, Oscar Teague, Eichard Weil. 



Abstracts of the Communications^ 

 Wounds of the Pregnant Uterus : Leo Loeb. 



Experiments were carr-ied out on twenty-six 

 guinea-pigs at different stages of pregnancy. 

 Wounds were made in various directions in the 

 uterus, or part of the wall of the uterus was 

 inverted so that the mucous membrane was 

 turned outside. It was found that at a cer- 

 tain stage of pregnancy, namely, from the 

 fourth to the sixth day, nodules of decidual 

 tissue were formed at places where the con- 

 tinuity of the uterus had been interrupted or 

 where the mucous membrane had been in- 

 verted. Serial sections of these nodules 

 showed that they consisted of typical decidual 

 tissue, which did not include a developing 

 ovum. Between the third and fourth weeks 

 after impregnation, such nodules became ne- 

 crotic. 



These experiments were also of interest in 

 seeming to show that under ordinary condi- 

 tions it is not possible to produce an abdominal 

 pregnancy in the guinea-pig by various in- 

 juries of the uterus. 



The Effect of Light on the Staining of Cells: 



Leo Loeb. 



In solutions of dyes (neutral red, eosin, 

 methylene blue, methyl violet and others), 

 cells (eggs of Asterias) are stained differently, 

 according to whether the cells and solutions 

 are exposed to the light or kept in the dark. 



The difference in the staining of cells in the 

 light and dark is caused by at least two dif- 

 ferent effects of the light. (a) The light 

 causes primary changes in the cells, and the 

 difference in the staining of cells in the light 

 and in the dark is saused by those primary 

 changes which the light produces in the cells. 

 This applies to staining with eosin, neutral 

 red, and with certain mixtures of eosin and 

 methylene blue, and eosin and neutral red. 

 (h) The light changes primarily the staining 



' The abstracts presented in this account of the 

 proceedings have been greatly condensed from ab- 

 stracts prepared by the authors themselves. The 

 latter abstracts of the communications may be 

 found in Number 5 of Volume IV. of the society's 

 proceedings, which may be obtained from the sec- 

 retary. 



