Februaby 2, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



187 



THE WELLESLEY COLLEGE SCIENCE CLUB. 



At the November meeting of the Wellesley 

 College Science Club, Dr. J. C. Bell presented 

 a paper on the ' Reactions of the Crayfish to 

 Sensory Stimuli.' 



His experiments show that the animals re- 

 act negatively to white light of different in- 

 tensities in the proportion of two to one. 

 Difference of intensity, within the limits used, 

 causes no change in the proportion. Increase 

 of temperature slightly increases the propor- 

 tion. Green, yellow and blue, when compared 

 with white light, show only a slightly greater 

 number of reactions, but in the combination 

 red-white the red has 73 per cent, of the 

 reactions. 



Experiments upon the chemical sense, which 

 are still in progress, go to show that the ani- 

 mals are sensitive to chemical stimuli over 

 the whole surface of the body, but particularly 

 upon the anterior appendages. There is no 

 evidence whatever of hearing, and the animals 

 depend chiefly upon touch for the seizure of 



*°o<^- Grace E. Davis, 



Secretary. 



THE BERKELEY FOLK-LORE CLUB. 



The second regular meeting of the club 

 during 1905-6 was held in the Faculty Club 

 of the University of Califoi;nia, on Tuesday 

 evening, November 28. President Lange 

 called the meeting to order. 



The minutes of the last meeting were read 

 and approved. The following new members 

 were elected: Professor H. A. Overstreet, Mr. 

 A. H. Allen and Professor W. E. Bade. 



Professor E. B. Dresslar read a paper on 

 ' Some Studies in Superstition,' based on super- 

 stitions known to and in part credited by 

 advanced school students on the Pacific coast. 

 Special attention was paid to the degree of 

 credence given to superstitions. Particular 

 attention was also given by the speaker to the 

 subject of mental preference for odd numbers. 

 At its conclusion Professor Dresslar's paper 

 was discussed by the members. 



The meeting was adjourned. 



A. L. Kroeber, 



Secretary. 



THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS. 



The St. Louis Chemical Society held its 

 usual monthly meeting on January 8. Mr. H. 

 E. 'V^iedemann presented a pajjer entitled 

 ' The By-products of the Packing House.' 

 Special emphasis was ■ laid on the successful 

 work of the chemist, which has transformed 

 the waste-heap of former days into a large 

 number of useful products. 



C. J. BORGMAYER, 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



PLEASE EXCUSE THE KELEP. 



To THE Editor of Science: It is naturally 

 a deep disappointment to learn from a recent 

 number of Science that my efEorts to eluci- 

 date the habits of the kelep have fallen so 

 far short of the high ideals of entomological 

 literature which Professor William Morton 

 Wheeler advocates. This is largely my own 

 fault, no doubt, as Professor Wheeler seems 

 to intimate. But with sufficient scolding one 

 must needs improve. The devotion of so 

 many columns of Science to this missionary 

 effort is certainly to be appreciated. That 

 Professor Wheeler has felt it worth while to 

 resume his admonitions constitutes also a wel- 

 come assurance that the future no longer ap- 

 pears altogether hopeless, for the last of his 

 previous instalments: closed with a despairing 

 vow of eternal silence ' until the Greek Kal- 

 ends,' or something to that effect, if I remem- 

 ber correctly. 



Nevertheless, my efliorts are largely fore- 

 doomed to failure, on account of the very 

 backward and unscientific habits of my insect 

 pets. Unlike true, civilized ants, they have 

 not learned the gentle art of regurgitation, 

 but persist in going about with large, round 

 drops of nectar on their bills. They regularly 

 carry it into their nests in this way, and feed 

 it to their friends and families without having 

 once swallowed it, or spewed it up again. 

 This incredible conduct is very easy of obser- 

 vation. It has been witnessed by a dozen or 

 more of my colleagues, and I have no doubt 

 that Professor Wheeler will be able to verify 

 it whenever he has time to undertake an in- 

 vestigation of the subject. 



