120 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 78 



creatic, Parathyroid and Infundibular Extracts," 

 Isaac Ott and John C. Scott. 



" The Immunity of the Eggs of Ciona intes- 

 tinalis to its ' own ' Spermatozoa," T. H. Morgan. 



" A Report on Experimental Poliomyelitis," 

 Simon Flexner and Paul A. Lewis. 



" The Influence of Thyroid-parathyroid-ectomy 

 on the Ammonia Destroying Power of the Liver," 

 A. J. Carlson and Clara Jacobson. 



" The Relation of Ptyalin Concentration to the 

 Diet and to the Rate of Salivary Secretion," A. J. 

 Carlson and A. L. Crittenden. 



" On Non-specific Complement Fixation," Hideyo 

 Noguchi. 



"Experimental Cirrhosis of the Liver," Eugene 

 L. Opie. 



" Shaking Experiments with Protozoa," Max 

 Morse. 



Eugene L. Opie, 



Secretary 



THE ACADEMY OF SCIENOE OF ST. LOUIS 



The academy met at the Academy Building, 

 3817 Olive St., Mondaj', December 20, 1909, at 

 8 P.M., President Trelease in the chair. 



Dr. Victor E. Emmel, of the anatomical depart- 

 ment of Washington University, presented a paper 

 entitled, " Observations on the Differentiation of 

 Regenerating Epidermal and Striated Muscle Tis- 

 sue," illustrated with a number of slides under the 

 microscope. 



Professor Nipher presented some of the results 

 of his recent work on electric discharge. He has 

 devised a series of experiments on the separately 

 grounded terminals of an electric machine, which 

 prove conclusively that the negative terminal is in 

 a condition of compression, and that the positive 

 is in a condition of electric rarefaction. The nega- 

 tive glow is a discharge of negative electricity 

 from the negative wire to the air and surrounding 

 objects. The positive glow is a flow of negative 

 particles from surrounding bodies and from the 

 air, to the positive side of the machine. 



The evidence was obtained by passing the posi- 

 tive and negative wires to separate grounds, 

 through high resistances, consisting of wetted 

 strings. Between these resistances and the ma- 

 chine terminals, these wires pass in a horizontal 

 direction over photographic plates. Other inde- 

 pendent ground wires terminate just below the 

 center of the plates, and under the wires. 



In a spark discharge from the positive terminal 

 negative electrons pass upward from the ground 

 wire and fog the central part of the film from the 



under side. Negative discharges, flowing over the 

 top of the film to the positive wire, curve around 

 the fogged area. They are repelled by it. On the 

 other plate negative electrons pass downward 

 from the lower side of the plate to the ground 

 wire. The central area of the plate does not repel 

 the outflowing discharge from the negative wire 

 to the film. On the contrary, it attracts them. 

 The discharge lines over the film are nearly par- 

 allel, but diverge slightly at their outermost ends. 

 Maey J. Klem, 



Librarian 



THE AMEBICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 

 NEW YOKE SECTION 



The fourth regular meeting of the session of 

 1909-10 was held at the Chemists' Club on Jan- 

 uary 7. 



The following papers were read: 



" The Origin of the Chemical Elements," by 

 Henry B. Russell. 



" Chemical Examination of Watermelon Seed " 

 and " Chemical Examination of Pumpkin Seed," 

 by F. B. Power and A. H. Salway. 



" Further Researches in the Quinazoline Field," 

 by C. G. Amend and M. T. Bogert. 



C. M. Joyce, 



Secretary 



RHODE ISLAND SECTION 



The regular meeting of the section was held 

 at the University Club on Thursday evening, 

 December 2, at seven o'clock, preceded by the 

 usual informal dinner. 



Dr. H. J. Wheeler, director of the Rhode Island 

 Agricultural Experiment Station at Kingston, 

 R. I., read the paper for the evening and a large 

 audience listened to the interesting report which 

 he presented. His subject was " The Influence of 

 Sodium and Potassium Salts upon the Subsequent 

 Yield of Potato Tubers planted under Like Ma- 

 nurial Conditions." 



The results obtained showed that when potatoes 

 that had been grown with a predominance of 

 sodium salts in the soil and those that had been 

 grown with a predominance of potassium salts 

 were planted side by side under identical condi- 

 tions and manured equally, the best yield was 

 obtained from the tubers that had been grown in 

 the soil containing the extra sodium. 



Albert W. Claflin, 



Secretary 



Providence, R. I. 



