424 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 562. 



myself in somewhat greater detail than is 

 perhaps warranted by the importance of 

 the question. I have, however, thought 

 such a critical discussion of the problem 

 of some interest, as it seems of fundamental 

 significance for the evaluation of a pharma- 

 cological analysis of this kind. 



I have already said that perhaps the 

 highest result of pharmacological investiga- 

 tion may prove to be the winning of an 

 insight into the chemical nature of life 

 processes themselves; indeed, the first im- 

 portant ground in this direction has already 

 been won. You are all familiar with the 

 important investigations of Jacques Loeb, 

 to whom we owe a knowledge of the essen- 

 tial significance of the individual metallic 

 ions, for the general life processes. But 

 what is still more important, Loeb has suc- 

 ceeded in inducing very special biological 

 reactions as the effect of chemical action. 

 He has shown that heliotropism can be 

 excited by definite chemical reagents such 

 as carbon dioxide and other substances, 

 instead of through the action of light, 

 which is a contribution to the understand- 

 ing of the mechanism of this singular re- 

 flex function. Finally, he has shown that 

 through certain definite chemical proce- 

 dures, like the action of hypertonic salt 

 solutions, combined with ethyl acetate, the 

 unfructified eggs of sea-urchins may be 

 stimulated to parthenogenetic normal de- 

 velopment, an observation which may prove 

 of great significance for the understanding 

 of the process of fertilization. 



And with the mention of this admirable 

 investigation, permit me to close my ad- 

 dress of to-day. Hans Meyer. 



Uktversity of Vienna. 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE 



STUDENT BODY AT A NUMBER OF 



AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES 



The accompanying table explains the 

 geographical distribution of the student 

 body of six of the leading universities of 



the east and of three western institutions 

 for the academic year 1904-1905, summer 

 session students being omitted in every 

 instance. In the case of Harvard Uni- 

 versity the students of Radcliffe College 

 (undergraduate women) are not included. 

 Efforts were made to include three other 

 prominent western universities, but it was 

 impossible to secure the necessary figures 

 in shape for comparison. Examining the 

 figures by divisions, we note in the first 

 place that the student clientele of the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan is by no means con- 

 fined to the central states, for almost four 

 hundred students at this institution hail 

 from the North Atlantic division. The 

 student bodies of the other western univer- 

 sities included in the table, Illinois and 

 Indiana, are to all intents and purposes 

 local in character, although the former 

 draws some students from the south and 

 west. Harvard has the greatest hold on 

 the New England states, leading in all of 

 them except Connecticut, in which state 

 Yale naturally occupies first place. Co- 

 lumbia has more students from the entire 

 North Atlantic division than any of the 

 other institutions, leading in its own state, 

 and strange to say, drawing more students 

 from the state of New Jersey than Prince- 

 ton does. The University of Pennsyl- 

 vania, as we should expect, has the largest 

 following in its own state, Princeton rank- 

 ing second and Cornell third. 



The most striking fact to be noted in the 

 South Atlantic division is the hold that 

 Cornell has on this section of the country. 

 The University of Pennsylvania, chiefly by 

 reason of its proximity to several states in 

 this division — notably Delaware and Mary- 

 land — draws the next largest number of 

 students, with Columbia third and Harvard 

 fourth, all of the universities mentioned 

 having over one hundred students from 

 this division. Cornell leads in the District 

 of Columbia, with Harvard a close second. 



