Apbil 27, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



663 



ham Luek; treasurer, Gary N. Calkins; secre- 

 tary, William J. Gies. 



Abstracts of Reports of Original 



Investigations^ 



On the Intermediary Metaholism of Lactic 



Acid: A. E. Mandel and Graham Lusk. 



Administration of phlorhizin to a dog 

 poisoned witli phosphorus causes excretion of 

 dextrose, the mother substance of lactic acid, 

 and the latter then disappears from the blood 

 and urine. On the other hand, d-lactic acid 

 (Kahlbaum), when given to a diabetic dog, 

 may be completely converted into dextrose. 



The Primary Factor in Thrombosis after In- 

 jury to the Blood Vessels: Leo Loeb. 

 The author has observed that in inverte- 

 brates as well as in vertebrates an agglutina- 

 tion of blood-cells or of blood plates may take 

 place around foreign bodies or at the place of 

 injury of the vessel wall. The formation of 

 such agglutination thrombi was found to 

 correspond to the clumping of the same cel- 

 lular elements outside of the body, where the 

 agglutination can take place without being ac- 

 companied by a coagulative process. This 

 phenomenon is observed in vertebrate as well 

 as in invertebrate blood. 



In birds the injection of hirudin does not 

 materially alter the readiness with which a 

 thrombuB is formed. In dogs, on the other 

 hand, it is very probable that injections of 

 hirudin delay or may sometimes prevent the 

 formation of agglutination thrombi. The 

 effect, however, is not directly due to the in- 

 hibition of the coagulation of the blood, but 

 probably to changes in the blood which will 

 have to be determined. 



Granula and Ameboid Movements in the 



Blood-cells of Arthropods : Leo Loeb. 



The author's investigations of the changes 



in freshly drawn blood of Limulus and other 



arthropods show that the fate of the granules 



'The abstracts presented in this account of the 

 proceedings have been greatly condensed from ab- 

 stracts given to the secretary by the authors them- 

 selves. The latter abstracts of the communica- 

 tions may be found in current numbers of Amer- 

 ican Medicine and the New York Medical Journal. 



of the blood-cells depends upon certain me- 

 chanical conditions and that the apparently 

 spontaneous dissolution of cell granula can be 

 inhibited, to a large degree, by preventing cer- 

 tain mechanical irritations of the cells. It 

 seems probable that the ameboid movements, 

 the spreading out of the cells and the dissolu- 

 tion of the granules are caused by certain 

 metabolic changes which are induced in each 

 instance by similar conditions. 



On a Course in the Pathological Physiology 

 of the Circulation, with Demonstrations of 

 Tracings, Anatomical Specimens, Instru- 

 ments, etc.: W. G. MacCallum. 

 The author described the course given by 

 him during the past year in the new laboratory 

 of experimental medicine at Johns Hopkins 

 University. It was the aim of the course to 

 reproduce experimentally such diseased condi- 

 tions as are seen by medical students in the 

 wards of the hospital, so that the diseases 

 might be studied with the aid of any or all 

 of the methods at the command of the physiol- 

 ogist and of the pathologist. The author's de- 

 scription and demonstrations made it evident 

 that the object of the course has been attained 

 with an unusual degree of success. 



On the Blood-pressure Relations in Experi- 

 mental Mitral Insufficiency and Stenosis, 

 with Demonstrations of Tracings and 

 Anatomical Specimens: W. G. MacCallum 

 and K. D. McClure. 



Blood pressure was recorded in various por- 

 tions of the circulatory system after mitral 

 insufficiency had been produced by introducing 

 a curved knife hook into the left auricular ap- 

 pendage and cutting some portion of the mitral 

 valve. A systolic murmur could then be heard, 

 which was especially loud over the auricle and 

 along the pulmonary veins with usually a 

 thrill felt over the auricle. The hypertrophy 

 of the right ventricle was studied and dis- 

 cussed. 



Mitral stenosis was produced by means of a 

 clamp or by a coarse suture passed through the 

 heart and about the mitral ring. The pressure 

 is seen to rise very high in the pulmonary 

 circulation, but, because of the smaller amount 



