32 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 575. 



the Willow Cone Gall,' by Roy L. Heindel, 

 showing the importance of galls to the insect 

 world; 'Forest Centers of Eastern North 

 America,' by Edgar N. Transeau, the term 

 being used to designate the distribution of 

 trees about the region where they attain their 

 best development ; ' Mandibular and Pharyn- 

 geal Muscles of Acanthias and Eaia,' by 

 6. E. Marion, who finds that from the peculiar 

 shape of the head the ray possesses a few 

 muscles not found in the dogfish. 



Bird-Lore for November.-December is a 

 thick number, having for its general articles 

 ' The Structure of Wings,' by W. M. Wheeler ; 

 ' The Growth of a Young Bird,' by E. E. 

 Warren, illustrated with pictures of birds at 

 various stages of growth ; ' Some Early Amer- 

 ican Ornithologists — Alexander Wilson,' by 

 Witmer Stone ; ' Blue Jays at Home,' by Wil- 

 bur F. Smith; 'The Story of a Tame Bob- 

 White,' by J. M. Graham, and 'The Feeding 

 Habits of the Northern Phalarope,' by Frank 

 M. Chapman. W. W. Cooke contributes the 

 thirteenth of a series of papers on ' The Migra- 

 tion of Warblers ' and William Dutcher the 

 seventeenth Educational Leaflet of the Audu- 

 bon Societies, devoted to the American gold- 

 finch and accompanied by a colored plate. 

 The Annual Report of the National Associa- 

 tion of Audubon Societies for 1905 covers 

 fifty pages and is encouraging reading, show- 

 ing steady increase and interest in the matter 

 of bird protection. 



The Museums Journal of Great Britain 

 for November has articles on ' The Formation 

 of Local Illustrative Collections in Museums,' 

 by John Maclauchan, showing how much has 

 been done in Dundee and what may be done 

 elsewhere ; ' The Exhibition of Fresh Wild 

 Flowers in Museums,' by G. A. Dunlop. The 

 notes, as usual, form an important part of the 

 number. 



The Journal of Nervous and Mental Dis- 

 ease for December opens with a discussion 

 of the effect of diet upon epilepsy, by Dr. A. 

 J. RosanofF, including the report of some ex- 

 periments, from which the author concludes 

 that the organism of the epileptic can not 

 take care of proteid material as it is taken 



care of by the healthy organism, and that 

 consequently proteids should be replaced in 

 his diet by fats and carbohydrates as far as 

 is consistent with the general health. Dr. M. 

 A. Bliss follows with a report of twenty-four 

 cases of multiple neuritis of obscure origin 

 observed by him among the patients of an 

 insane asylum. Dr. Hecht's elaborate paper 

 on dementia precox, begun in the previous 

 number, is concluded in this issue. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



At the 171st meeting on November 22 the 

 following papers were presented: 



Artificial Wollastonite and Pseudo-wollas- 



tonite: Mr. Feed E. Wright. 



Mr. Wright described the results of an ex- 

 tended chemical, physical and mineralogical 

 study of the mineral wollastonite by Drs. E. 

 T. Allen, W. P. White and himself, of the 

 U. S. Geological Survey and Carnegie Insti- 

 tution. In the course of their investigation 

 they not only produced artificial wollastonite 

 crystals identical with the natural mineral, 

 but also observed interesting facts bearing on 

 the conditions of its formation which are of 

 geologic significance. It was found that on 

 heating both natural and artificial wollastonite 

 crystals up to the melting point, 1,512° C, an 

 inversion in the solid state took place at 1,180° 

 C. to a second form called pseudo-wollastonite 

 which has never been found in nature and 

 which differs materially from the original sub- 

 stance in optical properties. On cooling, the 

 second form does not revert to wollastonite 

 under ordinary conditions and can only be 

 induced to do so in the presence of some flux 

 such as calcium vanadate. The importance 

 of the inversion temperature (1,180°) as a 

 definite point which is uninfluenced by sur- 

 rounding magmatic conditions except pres- 

 sure, was emphasized, and the inference drawn 

 that since pseudo-wollastonite does not occur 

 in nature while wollastonite is found usually 

 in limestone contact aureoles of eruptive rocks 

 where pneumatolytic solutions have been ac- 

 tive and all minerals formed contemporane- 

 ously, the inversion temperature places a prob- 



