874 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 805 



the work which is not yet completed and for the 

 speedy completion of which the Rumford Fund 

 has made an appropriation. 



The Effects of Temperature on Fluorescence and 



Phosphorescence: E. L. Nichols, Ithaca. 



A summary of observations on fluorescence and 

 phosphorescence from the temperature of liquid 

 air to ordinary temperatures, showing that the 

 theory of Lenard is inadequate to correlate all 

 the facts. 

 Infra-red and Ultra-violet Landscapes: Robebt 



WuxiAMS Wood, Baltimore. 



Photographs taken with infra-red and ultra- 

 violet light, using appropriate absorption screens, 

 show greatly altered contrasts. Thus some sub- 

 stances which are white when viewed by ordinary 

 light appear black when photographed with ultra- 

 violet light. By such photographs it may be 

 possible to obtain additional details concerning 

 the surface markings of the moon and planets. 

 Jfeio Optical Properties of Mercury Vapor: 



Robert Williams Wood, Baltimore. 

 Newton's Rings as Zone-plates : Robeet Williams 



Wood, Baltimore. 



A zone plate may be automatically produced by 

 photographing Newton's rings in monochromatic 

 light. This may be copied by ruling circles with 

 a diamond on a glass plate mounted on a turn 

 table, the photograph being used as a guide to 

 determine the radii of the rays. Copies of this 

 may then be made in celluloid. 

 Neio Surgery of the Viscera of the Chest: Alexis 



Cabbel, New York. 

 The Cause of Epidemic Infantile Paralysis: 



Simon Flexneb, New York. 



A report on the experimental study of polio- 

 myelitis in monkeys which has yielded a large 

 number of important facts relating to the spon- 

 taneous disease in man. The nature of the virus 

 has been discovered, many of its properties have 

 been a-scertained, some of its immunity effects 

 have been established, the clinical and pathological 

 peculiarities of the disease have been elucidated, 

 and a basis has been secured on which to develop 

 measures of prevention. 

 Description of the Brain of an Eminent Chemist 



and Geologist (a member of this Society) to- 

 gether loith a Note concerning the Size of the 

 Callosum in Eminent Men: Edwabd Anthony 

 Spitzka, Philadelphia. 



A description of the brain of Persifor Frazer, 

 author of many books, reports and papers on 



geology, chemistry, mathematical problems and 

 handwriting. 



The brain was normal, in good condition, and 

 weighed 1,580 grams, being about 250 grams over 

 that of average persons of his age. The ratio of 

 weight of cerebellum, to that of the cerebrum, is 

 as 1 : 8.07 ; while among ordinary men it averages 

 1:7.5. 



Among the pronounced anatomic features which 

 place this brain in the superior class, aside from 

 the weight and fissural complexity, are: (1) 

 superior degree of difi"erentiation of the motor 

 centers for the utterance of speech and for word- 

 arrangement, (2) great redundancy of the right 

 subparietal region encroaching upon and shorten- 

 ing the sylvian fissure, (3) a large corpus cal- 

 losum, or commissural bimdle of fibers joining the 

 two hemispheres of the cerebrum together, afford- 

 ing a superior degree of coordination between 

 them. In Dr. Frazer's brain it measures, in cross- 

 section area, 10.26 sq. cm. The average size of 

 the callosum in ordinary persons is somewat less 

 than 6 sq. cm. Some years ago the author first 

 showed that many eminent men, though not all, 

 have a larger callosum, out of proportion even, 

 to the factor of brain-weight alone. The callosum 

 is most fully developed in the human species con- 

 comitantly with the greater development of cere- 

 bral parts; it may be looked upon as an index of 

 the elaboration of at least one division of the 

 association systems — i. e., those concerned with 

 bilateral coordinations. 



The redundancy of the right posterior associa- 

 tion area in Dr. Frazer's brain may be interpreted, 

 in the light of previous investigations on other 

 brains, as corresponding to a superior ability to 

 register and compare the impressions in the vis- 

 ual, auditory and tactile spheres (the concrete- 

 concept sphere). 



A Brain of about One Half the Average Weight 



from an Intelligent White Man: BuET G. 



Wilder, Ithaca. (Illustrated by specimens, 



photographs and diagrams.) (Read by title.) 

 The Poisonous Group in the Protein Molecule: 



VicTOB C. Vaughan, Ann Arbor. (Read by 



title.) 

 Characteristics of Existing Continental Glaciers: 



William H. Hobbs, Los Angeles, Cal. (Read 



by title.) 

 Dermal Bones of Paramylodon from the As- 



phaltum Deposits of Rancho la Brea, near Los 



Angeles, Cal.: William J. Sinclaib, Princeton. 



The paper describes the mode of occurrence^ 



