May 27, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



839 



The " Plasmodesmata " of Held and Paton, 

 connecting myotome and neural tube, are not 

 primary intercellular bridges, but are secondary 

 connections of medullary origin. The " neuro- 

 tibrillae " are intracellular differentiations of the 

 neuraxon processes of medullary cells. The meth- 

 ods used in the study of the histogenesis of the 

 neurofibrillse do not seem suited to the study of 

 the development of the " plasmodesmata." 



The Teaching of Zoology and some Suggestions 

 for its Improvement: W. J. Baumgaetneb, 

 University of Kansas. 



The paper showed that many more students 

 take botany than zoology in the secondary schools. 

 Some reasons were cited for this. Universities 

 can help the teaching of zoology by furnishing 

 some material. The teaching of zoology can be 

 improved by assigning the student a special ani- 

 mal to report on to the rest of the class. 



Cestode Cytology: R. T. Young, University of 



North Dakota. 



Both in larva and adult new nuclei in many 

 cases arise de novo in masses of cytogenic proto- 

 plasm. The evidence of this is the appearance of 

 small, densely staining chromatin bodies in these 

 masses. These later surround themselves with 

 membranes (or the membrane may arise first and 

 the chromatin body later) and are then con- 

 stricted off from the cytogenic mass, together 

 with a small amount of cytoplasm to form new 

 " cells." Some nuclei are typical, consisting of 

 membranes surrounding distinct chromatin nu- 

 cleoli ; while in others the entire " cell " body is 

 filled with difi^use chrojjiatin, as is shown by 

 micro-chemical tests. A count of some 34,000 

 nuclei showed only fifty cases of possible mitosis. 

 Amitotic division of preexistent nuclei also occurs. 

 It is probable that mitosis is degenerating in the 

 cestodes, corresponding to their general degen- 

 erate condition. 

 Fifty-one Generations in the Dark: F. Payne, 



Indiana University. (Read by title.) 



DEMONSTBATIONS 



Sections shoicing the Early Sex-cells of Amia and 

 Lepidosteus: B. M. Allen. 



Some Parasites of the Sleeper Shark : H. B. Wabd. 



Hydroids from the Illinois River: Feank Smith. 



Sections showing the "Plasmodesmata" connect- 

 ing Myotome and 'Neural Tube in Sguahis: H. 

 V. Neal. H. V. Neal, 



Secretary 

 Knox College 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE ANTHKOPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 44Gth regular meeting of the Anthropolog- 

 ical Society, held April 12, 1910, was devoted to 

 the retirement address of the president, Dr. J. 

 Walter Fewkes, on " Cave Dwellers of the Old 

 and New World." The full text of this address 

 will be published later. 



The unity of the human mind, said the speaker, 

 has come to be one of the most fruitful working 

 hypotheses in the science of culture history. 

 Identities in human culture, under similar cli- 

 matic and other environmental influences are 

 among the strongest evidences that can be adduced 

 in support of this theory. As human habitations, 

 the most characteristic of racial artefacts, reflect 

 better than all others the effect of environment, 

 the object of the address was to indicate the 

 bearing of a comparative study of cave dwellings 

 from different geographical localities on the the- 

 ory of mental unity. 



A people of nomadic life whose habitations from 

 their mode of life are perishable has little stim- 

 ulus to construct lasting monuments. Sedentary 

 people, on the other hand, construct habitations 

 of material that will endure; caves when avail- 

 able naturally first afforded shelter for races seek- 

 ing permanent dwellings. 



It is difficult to find a primitive race where 

 human culture has reached any considerable archi- 

 tectural development that has not, at an early 

 cultural period, lived in caves or holes in the 

 ground. Life in caves leads to buildings made of 

 stone or other lasting materials. Permanence of 

 building perpetuates racial traditions, serving as 

 constant incentives to the construction of archi- 

 tectural monuments. 



A study of the distribution of prehistoric cave 

 habitations reveals a marked uniformity of cave 

 dwellings in regions of the earth geographically 

 far apart. Prehistoric cave dwellings of similar 

 form may be traced from China across Asia and 

 on both shores of the Mediterranean, in Mexico, 

 Peru and the southwestern part of the United 

 States. This distribution corresponds in a meas- 

 ure with that of great prehistoric monuments and 

 follows closely that of the arid regions. 



Caves as habitations are divided into two types, 

 natural and artificial. The address treated more 

 particularly of the latter, but views of both from 

 the old and new world were shown. 



The European natural cave as a shelter is pre- 

 historic, having been abandoned in very early 

 times. The natural caves of Cuba, Hayti and 



