ApfilL 8, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



545 



jelly-fishes as he has in his other writings, and 

 it is not a matter of surprise that he should be 

 quoted* as saying that the forms with which 

 he worked became paralyzed, when the mar- 

 ginal organs were excised, when one reads' 

 that he found " in all the species I have come 

 across that excision of the margins of the 

 umbrellas produces an effect analogous to that 

 which is produced by excision of the margins 

 of the Hydromedusffi " where such an opera- 

 tion results in the total paralysis of the bell. 

 However, when one reads farther, he says, with 

 much verbosity, that 



There is an important difference, however, be- 

 tween the two cases in that the paralyzing effect 

 of the operation on the umbrellas (of the Scypho- 

 medusans) is neither so certain nor so complete 

 as it is on swimming bells (of hydromeduaae) . 

 That is to say, although in the majority of experi- 

 ments such mutilation of umbrellas is followed 

 by immediate paralysis, this is not invariably the 

 case. 



Romanes found that Aurelia aurita showed 

 " instantaneous and complete paralysis of the 

 gonocalyx " on excision of the marginal or- 

 gans, while Cyanea capillata was less marked 

 in this respect.' Elmer's observations were 

 practically the reverse of this. 



There can be no question that Romanes was 

 entirely correct in his observations, for he re- 

 peated them during several summers, specifi- 

 cally examining the point in question in the 

 light of Elmer's work. It is fair to assume, 

 too, that Eimer made no mistake. Hence, it 

 seems that Aurelia aurita reacted differently 

 on Cromarty Eirth, Scotland, from what it did 

 in the North Sea with respect to the matter at 

 issue. Romanes probably used a different 

 species of Cyanea (Cyanea capillata) from 

 Elmer's form (which was probably Cyanea 

 lamarchii) and I have used a third species, 



^ For instance, Parker in his Popular Science 

 Monthly articles on the nervous system makes 

 such a statement and while giving no references, 

 yet he has written me that he was impressed 

 that Romanes's observations led to such con- 

 clusions. 



' " Jelly-fishes, Starfishes and Sea Urchins," 

 Appleton. 



"Phil. Trans., Vol. 167. 



Cyanea arctica, which seems to be recognized 

 by systematists as a good species. My species 

 of Aurelia, Aurelia fiavidula, is recognized by 

 some as distinct from Aurelia aurita, but both 

 Louis and Alexander Agassiz did not so re- 

 gard it. 



From my observations, Aurelia fiavidula 

 very rarely is paralyzed completely and, in- 

 deed, I have but an impression that I have 

 seen Aurelia absolutely quiescent after the 

 marginal organs have been removed. Unfor- 

 tunately, I did not examine the question crit- 

 ically until last year and my previous obser- 

 vations were not recorded. During the past 

 year, however, I "found no specimen which did 

 not regain pulsation after a longer or shorter 

 period after the marginal organs were re- 

 moved. The case of Cyanea is directly the re- 

 verse, for this form becomes totally paralyzed 

 when the organs are removed. Reference to 

 the statements from Eimer and Romanes, 

 given above will make it clear how these ob- 

 servations correspond to theirs. They agree 

 closely with those of the former and are totally 

 at variance with those of the latter. 



The matter is of importance from the point 

 of view of the physiologist who wishes to use 

 some primitive form of contractile substance 

 with which to experiment and these observa- 

 tions are especially directed to them. Cyanea 

 arctica will remain quiescent after the mar- 

 ginal organs are removed and respond only to 

 mechanical, chemical and other external stim- 

 uli supplied by the operator. In fact, Cyanea 

 rivals the classic Cassiopea for experimental 

 work. Dactylometra reacts like Aurelia fiavi- 

 dula. M ax Morse 



New York, 

 March 8, 1910 



THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN BACTERI- 

 OLOGISTS 

 The eleventh annual meeting of the Society of 

 American Bacteriologists took place on December 

 28, 29 and 30, 1909, in the administration build- 

 ing of the Harvard Medical School, Boston, in 

 conjunction with the annual meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science. 

 It can be confidently asserted that the society has 

 never held a more successful and profitable meet- 



