Mabch 11, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



399 



" The Action of Magnesium Salts on Internal 

 Respiratory Processes," C. C. Guthrie. (Read by 

 title.) 



DEMONSTRATIONS 



E. G. Martin: Some apparatus used in the 

 quantitative study of faradic stimuli. 



W. B. Cannon: Nerve cells of the myenteric 

 plexus subjected to anemia for diflferent periods. 



W. B. Cannon: The influence of tonus on peris- 

 talsis. 



Y. Henderson: Demonstration of a simple gas 

 meter. 



D. R. Joseph and S. J. Meltzer: The mutual 

 antagonism between magnesium and barium. 



J. Auer (with P. Lewis) : Demonstration of 

 anaphylactic immobilization of the lungs in 

 guinea-pigs. 



W. H. Sehultz: A simple respiration apparatus. 



S. J. Meltzer: A demonstration of the method 

 of respiration by continuous intratracheal insuffla- 

 tion. 



In the afternoon of December 29 the members 

 of the society visited the Carnegie Nutrition Labo- 

 ratory, where demonstrations were given by Dr. 

 F. G. Benedict and assistants. 



Owing to the rapidly increasing number of 

 active workers in physiology in this country and 

 the consequent growth of the society, the number 

 of papers presented at the annual meetings has 

 now become so great that their reading and ade- 

 quate discussion in the time allotted for the meet- 

 ing is practically impossible. In the hope of 

 remedying this situation, at least in part, it was 

 voted to limit henceforth the time of presentation 

 of all papers to ten minutes, and that abstracts 

 of the papers be furnished the secretary in time 

 for printing before the meetings. It is hoped 

 that with printed abstracts of the papers in the 

 hands of every member attending, less time will 

 be required for their presentation and more time 

 given to the discussions. 



An appropriation of $50 was voted for tlie fund 

 now being raised by the French physiologists for 

 the erection of a monument to Marey. 



The following new members were elected: F. C. 

 Beoht, of the University of Chicago, and J. B. 

 Leathes, of the University of Toronto. 



The president appointed the following delegates 

 to the International Zoological Congress at Graz: 

 R. G. Harrison and A. J. Carlson; to the Interna- 

 tional Congress of Physiologists at Vienna: R. 

 Hunt and A. J. Carlson. 



Officers for the ensuing year: 



President— \V . H. Howell. 

 Secretary — A. J. Carlson. 

 Treasurer — W. B. Cannon. 



Additional Memiers of the Council — J. Erlanger 

 and F. S. Lee. 



A. J. Carlson, 



Secretary 

 The University of Chicago 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



At the 442d regular meeting, held February 15, 

 1910, Miss Rovena Buell, of the American School 

 for Classical Studies at Rome, presented a paper 

 on " Amulets," illustrating her discourse with 

 interesting specimens collected by herself chiefly 

 in Italy. In tlie making of this collection of 

 Italian amulets the eft'ort has been to bring to- 

 gether those in modern use and their ancient par- 

 allels. The sixty specimens may be roughly 

 divided thus: 



1. Prophj'lactics against the evil eye, having in 

 form some relation to a Iiorn and representing 

 phallicism, Diana worship, and defensive symbol- 

 ism by means of the hand. Examples — a phallus, 

 a tiger's claw, a boar's tusk, a crab's claw, coral 

 and shell horns, lunar crescents, composite horned 

 animals, hands making the sign of the fico and 

 the sign of the horns. 



2. Amulets that make the sound of metal, hate- 

 ful to evil spirits. Examples — bells, clashing 

 disks and pendants. 



3. Grotesque and ocular guards against malev- 

 olence. Examples — masks, a humpback, composi- 

 tions or stones resembling eyes. 



4. Preventives and cures by suggestion. Ex- 

 amples — a fossilized trochus, " eye of Santa 

 Lucia," for eye maladies, a limonite concretion 

 with a loose inner particle, " pietra gravida," for 

 miscarriage, fossilized corals, " witch stone," for 

 witch spells, carnelian and jasper, " blood stones," 

 for heart disease and hemorrhages, bronze and 

 silver fish, for female sterility, a comb, for caked 

 breasts (caused by the presence of a witch's hair), 

 a dried sea horse, to increase milk in the breasts, 

 a red woolen sack containing bread crumbs, salt, 

 incense and wheat from a field ripe but unspoiled 

 by the harvester's iron, to guard against the evil 

 eye and witchcraft. 



5. Charms pertaining to animals. Examples — 

 badger's hairs, for defense against witches, claw 

 of a paradise bird and a monkey's paw, valid 

 against the evil eye. 



6. Roman Catholic amulets, (a) Authorized by 



