396 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 793 



firmed, we have made a few additional obser- 

 vations in order to completely satisfy our- 

 selves in the matter. Having gathered the 

 data, we feel that it should be reported, since 

 we find but slight mention of the phenomena 

 in current physiological treatises we have had 

 the opportunity to examine.' We have ex- 

 hausted the available original sources at our 

 command and very little has been found. We 

 have the impression that very thorough ob- 

 servations have long since been made and re- 

 corded, but in view of the above conditions we 

 feel justified in recording briefly our observa- 

 tions in order to recall attention to the phe- 

 nomena. We may add that we hope to more 

 thoroughly exhaust the literature as oppor- 

 tunity affords, and if it then seems desirable, 

 to publish our results in greater detail. 



Our data show that in all animals observed, 

 only momentary or no dilatation of the pupils 

 occurs during the first stage of rapid asphyxia 

 (e. g., by bleeding or by clamping the trachea 

 or by insufflating the lungs with carbon 

 dioxide or hydrogen gas), and that as a 

 rule a very marJced constriction of the pupils 

 occurs during this stage. We have observations 

 on sheep, rabbit, guinea pig, squirrel, rat, 

 mouse, dog, cat, chicken, guinea fowl, pigeon, 

 dove, sparrow and snake. As yet our data are 

 incomplete on the effect of section of the 

 nerves governing the pupil on the asphyxial 



It is interesting to note the post mortem 

 differences observed in the size of the pupils 

 in different animals, e. g., cats show wide dila- 

 tation, while common gray rabbits, as a rule, 

 show marked constriction. It is known that 

 the eye (excised) of a frog or eel constricts 

 its pupil on exposure to light, and dilates it in 

 the dark; and that even the isolated iris of the 

 eel contracts in the light.'' 



^ For example. Starling, " Text-book of Physiol- 

 ogy," p. 404, 1907, merely mentions constrietion 

 of the pupils in early stages of asphyxia; Paton, 

 " Essentials of Human Physiology," 1905, p. 306, 

 states that in the initial stage of acute asphyxia 

 the pupils are small, while a number of writers 

 do not mention it at all. 



^ Stewart, " Manual of Physiology," fifth edition, 

 p. 798. 



Photic stimulation, the " at rest " condition 

 of the pupil, etc., obviously should be taken 

 into consideration in drawing conclusions on 

 the size of the pupil in the eyes of dead ani- 

 mals or in excised eyes. 



C. C. Guthrie, 

 F. V. Guthrie, 

 A. H. Eyan 



TEE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



SECTION D 



Profiting by the experience of former meetings 

 and in accordance with the actions of the council 

 and section at the Baltimore meeting, the chair- 

 man and secretary of Section D, in arranging the 

 program for the Boston meeting, had in mind, in 

 addition to the accommodation of papers volun- 

 teered by the members at large, a program, to be 

 covered in a small number of sessions and in the 

 compass of two days, which should provide: (a) 

 a " general interest " session, including the ad- 

 dress of the retiring vice-president; (6) a series 

 of solicited papers on aeronautics and related sub- 

 jects; (o) a joint session with Sections A and B. 



As a result of the plans thus formulated, the 

 section held a session on Tuesday morning, De- 

 cember 28, at which in addition to the business of 

 the organization and election of officers, papers on 

 miscellaneous subjects were presented; a session 

 on Wednesday morning, devoted to papers on 

 aeronautics, and the general interest session on 

 Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday afternoon the 

 members of the section attended a joint session of 

 Sections A and B. 



Professor A. Lawrence Rotch was elected chair- 

 man of the section and a vice-president of the 

 association for 1910; Professor W. J. Humphreys, 

 member of the sectional committee for five years; 

 President P. W. McNair, member of the council 

 for 1910, and Mr. A. M. Herring, member of the 

 general committee for the Boston meeting. 



Vice-president J. F. Hayford presided at all 

 meetings of the section. The program in detail is 

 given herewith: 



TUESDAY A.M., DECEMBER 28 



" Some Notes on the Cutting of Music Rolls and 

 on a New Machine for Making Master or Pattern 

 Rolls," J. F. Kelly, Pittsfield, Mass. (Presented 

 by Walter Reed.) 



