110 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 577. 



tures of spleen pulp facilitates tlie decomposi- 

 tion of purin bodies to sucli an extent that 

 even uric acid is broken up by that tissue. 

 The products were non-basic in nature. 



On the Biological Relationship of Nucleo- 

 proieidj Amyloid and Mucoid : P. A. Levene 

 and John A. Mandel. 



The authors have subjected nucleoproteids 

 to decomposition in acids and alkalis. Among 

 the products thus obtained were substances 

 resembling glycothionic acids. This observa- 

 tion indicates that nucleoproteids, amyloids 

 and mucoids are genetically related. 

 Imperfection of Mendelian Dominance in 

 Poultry Hyirids, luith Demonstrations hy 

 Photographs and Plumage Charts: 0. B. 

 Davenport. 



The author has observed that in poultry 

 hybrids the dominant character is frequently 

 modified by the presence of the recessive and 

 in the direction of the latter. For example, 

 white plumage color may dominate over black, 

 but the white hybrid shows some black feath- 

 ers; white dominates over buff plumage, but 

 the hybrids have a buff cast. When the hy- 

 brids are interbred the recessive character 

 reappears in about one fourth of the hybrids, 

 but often so modified as to be scarcely recog- 

 nizable. The fact of the mutual contamina- 

 tion of characters in hybrids justifies the 

 warnings given by breeders as to loss of char- 

 acters in hybridization and the care that they 

 exercise to maintain pure races. 

 The Mechanism of Conduction and Coordina- 

 tion in the Heart, with Special Reference 

 to the Heart of Limulus: A. J. Caklson. 

 (Presented by Eussell Burton-Opitz.) 

 The author has shown that in the heart of 

 Limulus the rhythm is neurogenic, not myo- 

 genic, and that the conduction and coordina- 

 tion take place in the nervous and not in the 

 muscular tissue. The rate of conduction in 

 the intrinsic heart nerves of this animal, as 

 found by the author, is 40 cm. per second and 

 the rate in the motor nerves to the limbs is 

 325 to 350 cm. per second. 



Further Ohservations on the Effects of Alcohol 

 on the Secretion of Bile: William Salant. 

 In continuation of his studies on this sub- 



ject the author has found that intravenous 

 injection of alcohol causes diminished flow of 

 bile. Introduction of alcohol into the gastro- 

 intestinal canal is almost always followed by 

 increased flow of bile. Further experiments 

 are in progress to determine the explanation 

 of these facts. 



Some Effects on Rahhits of Intravenous In- 

 jections of Nicotin, with Demonstrations: 

 I. Abler and O. Hensel. 

 After eighteen daily injections of 1.5 milli- 

 grams of nicotin slight changes are apparent 

 in the bulb and arch of the aorta. After 

 thirty-eight daily injections very marked and 

 characteristic macroscopic and microscopic 

 lesions can be recognized. Aneurysmatic 

 dilatations of the aorta are very distinctly 

 visible. There may be either a single aneu- 

 rysm, or, as is more frequently the case, several 

 in various parts of the aorta. These dilatations 

 as a rule do not involve the entire circum- 

 ference of the vessel, but only a limited por- 

 tion, thus presenting the appearance of aneu- 

 rysmatic pouches. The more frequently the 

 injections are repeated daily the more pro- 

 nounced and extensive the alterations appear, 

 but they are always of the same character. 

 The lesions here referred to have nothing in 

 common with human arteriosclerosis. The 

 work is still in progress. 



Tumors of Wild Animals Living under Nat-_ 

 ural Conditions : Harloav Brooks. 

 The author referred to the great importance 

 of the etiology of neoplasms and the well- 

 recognized fact that research along this line 

 must now rest almost entirely on experimental 

 studies of the lower animals. Of 2,645 living 

 animals which have come under the observa- 

 tion of the author at the New York Zoological 

 Park during the past five years, no case of 

 true neoplasm has been found. Y44 animals 

 have died and, as is the routine custom at the 

 New York Zoological Park, have been au- 

 topsied, either by the resident pathologist or 

 by the author. In this series of 744 con- 

 secutive cases but one case of tumor has been 

 found (white raccoon dog; myxo-sarcoma of 

 the ovary). Tumors of parasitic origin, 

 granulomata, tubercles, actinomycotic foci and 



