October 27, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



535 



the earlier ones. The dark mud rocks, there- 

 fore, are the shore equivalents in the east of 

 the highest Oriskany limestones of the west, 

 and not an independent unit in the time scale.* 



But I must not carry my discussions fur- 

 ther, since my time, unfortunately, is limited. 

 I hope you agree with me — those of you, I 

 mean, who are not stratigraphers, for stratig- 

 raphers require no conversion at my hands — 

 that the study of the physical characters of 

 the strata, even of the thickness of sections, 

 gives, when rightly attacked, a view of the 

 history of the earth, full of dramatic intensity, 

 and that only by a careful study of such phys- 

 ical characters can we arrive at a true inter- 

 pretation of the history of the earth. 



A. W. Grabau. 



CoLtrjiBiA University. 



EXTIRPATION AND REPLANTATION OF THE THYROID 

 GLAND WITH REVERSAL OF THE CIRCULATION. 



We have successfully removed and then re- 

 planted a thyroid gland with reversal of the 

 circulation on a dog. 



A transplantation of the thyroid with an- 

 astomosis of its vessels to a suitable artery 

 and vein was previously made in 1902,^ but 

 no permanent successful result was obtained, 

 owing to the obliteration of the vessels by 

 clots and the subsequent development of gan- 

 grene. A careful investigation of the litera- 

 ture has revealed no other mention of similar 

 experiments having been performed hitherto. 

 The present observation is also the first suc- 

 cessful replantation of a gland with reversal 

 of the circulation. 



Summary of the Technique and of the Oh- 

 servation on the Results of the Operation. — 

 The right thyroid gland of about a 20 K. dog 

 having been dissected, all its vessels were 

 ligated, except the superior thyroid artery and 

 vein, which were cut near the carotid artery- 



*A more detailed discussion of this problem 

 appears in my forthcoming bulletin on the 

 Schoharie Valley (Bull. N. Y. State Museum). 



^ A. Carrel, ' La Technique operatoire des anas- 

 tomoses vasculaires et la transplantation des 

 visceres,' Lyon Medical, 1902. ' Les anastomoses 

 vasculaires, leur technique operatoire et leurs 

 indications,' 2e Congres des Medecins de laiigue 

 francaise de I'Amerique du Nord, Montreal, 1904. 



and the internal jugular vein. The gland 

 was then extirpated and put in a glass of iso- 

 tonic sodium chloride solution. 



After a few minutes, the thyroid gland was 

 placed in the wound in the neck, and the pe- 

 ripheral end of the thyroid artery was united 

 to the central end of the thyroid vein, and the 

 peripheral end of the thyroid vein to the cen- 

 tral end of the thyroid artery. 



The circulation was reestablished about half 

 an hour after the extirpation. The circula- 

 tion through the gland was in a direction re- 

 verse to the normal. The red blood entered 

 through the thyroid vein, and the dark blood 

 flowed from the gland to the jugular vein 

 through the thyroid artery. The hue of the 

 gland was normal, and the circulation very 

 active. 



Eleven days after the operation the wound 

 was opened and the anterior portion of the 

 gland directly observed. The gland was some- 

 what enlarged, but its hue and consistency 

 were normal. 



Twenty-five days after the operation it was 

 again directly observed. It still appeared en- 

 larged, and in hue and consistency the same 

 as before. 



Thirty-two days after the operation, the 

 wound being almost closed, it was not possible 

 to examine the gland directly. But by press- 

 ing it between the fingers through the skin, 

 its systolic expansion was easily detected. 



At the present time forty seven days after 

 the operation the animal is alive and in good 

 condition. The replanted gland appears to be 

 practically normal, being only slightly en- 

 larged. Alexis Carrell, 



C. C. Guthrie. 



The Hull Physiological Laboratory, 

 University of Chicago. 



EXHIBITION OF EARLY WORKS ON 

 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Few people are aware that the Natural 

 History Museum in Cromwell-road contains 

 one of the finest and most complete libraries 

 on natural history ever brought together. The 

 collection had its origin in the several libraries 

 attached to the departments of zoologj, geol- 

 ogy, mineralogy and botany while these were 



