May 10, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



743 



doses of sodium salicylate (0.1 gram, in 1-per- 

 cent, solution, per kilo of body weight) daily 

 during a period of ten days, showed rates of 

 autolysis greater than those observed in organs 

 taken from normal dogs. 



On the Synthesis of Protein through the 

 Action of Trypsin: Alonzo Englebeet 

 Taylor. 



The author subjected to tryptolysis 400 

 grams of protamin siilfate obtained from the 

 spermatozoa of the striped bass. The result- 

 ant products, freed from sulfate and concen- 

 trated to the point of saturation of the solu- 

 tion containing them, were treated with 300 

 c.e. of a glycerol extract of livers of large soft- 

 shelled California clams, which contain a 

 strong, stable, tryptic enzyme. The mixture 

 was treated with toluol and set aside in a 

 sealed flask. This solution, which was clear 

 at the beginning, gradually became opalescent, 

 then cloudy and finally a white precipitate 

 settled out. This mixture was found to con- 

 tain a large quantity of protamin. The au- 

 thor presented numerous chemical facts in 

 support of his conclusion that protamin was 

 regenerated in this mixture from its non- 

 protein hydrolytic products. 



A Method for Separating Leucin from Amino- 

 valerianic Acid: P. A. Levene. 

 Separation of leucin from amino-valerianic 

 acid was accomplished by means of lead 

 acetate and ammonia. A basic lead salt of 

 leucin, insoluble in hot water, was formed. 

 From a mixture containing 52.53 per cent, of 

 C and 9.39 per cent, of H, by the use of these 

 reagents, a substance was obtained which 

 had 54.55 per cent, of C and 9.90 per cent, of 

 H. On reprecipitation it acquired the com- 

 position: C = 54.70 per cent.; H = 10.09 per 

 cent. Leucin contains 54.89 per cent, of 

 and 10.01 per cent, of H. 



William J. Gies, 



Secretary 



THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 427th meeting was held March 9, 1907, 

 with President Stejneger in the chair. The 

 following communications were presented: 



J. W. Gidley : ' A New Horned Eodent from 



the Miocene of Kansas.' Illustrated with 

 lantern slides. 



W. H. Osgood : ' Notes on European Zoolog- 

 ical Gardens.' 



C. L. Pollard : ' Dictionaries in their Eela- 

 tion to Biology.' 



The 428th meeting was held March 23, 1907, 

 President Stejneger in the chair. Dr. 0. 

 W. Stiles read a paper on ' A Reexamination 

 of the Type of Filaria restiformis, an Alleged 

 Parasite of Man.' He exhibited the original 

 specimen of Filaria restiformis, described by 

 Leidy in 1880. A reexamination of this type 

 has developed the fact that the worm is not a 

 Filaria, but a member of the family Mermi- 

 thidse. It was certainly not a parasite in the 

 genito-urinary apparatus of man as originally 

 described and, in all probability, was not a 

 parasite of man at all. The original material 

 is in the Army Medical Museum, Washington, 

 D. C. As it can not be determined generic- 

 ally, Dr. Stiles has proposed to place it in the 

 collective group Agamomermis as A. resti- 

 formis. A more detailed account together 

 with drawings of the original specimen wiU. 

 appear later. 



Mr. Lyster H. Dewey read a paper on ' The 

 Zapupe Fiber Plant of Eastern Mexico.' 

 Zapupe is a name applied to two species of 

 Agave cultivated in the states of Tamaulipas 

 and Vera Cruz, Mexico, and also to the fibers 

 produced by these plants. Many large planta- 

 tions comprising a total of more than 4,000,000 

 zapupe plants have been set out during the 

 past four years. Although these plants have 

 been called Tamaulipas henequen and Huas- 

 teca henequen, they are quite distinct from 

 the henequen plants of Yucatan. Both have 

 rigid straight leaves 1 to 2 m. long, but they 

 are narrower, thinner and more numerous 

 than henequen. Agave rigida elongata (Jacobi) 

 Baker, or sisal, A. rigida sisalana Engelm. 

 Both have small marginal up-curved spines. 

 One, called 'Zapupe verde,' has light green 

 leaves and very sharp terminal spines grooved 

 at the base. The other, called 'Zapupe azul,' 

 has bluish glaucous leaves and terminal spines, 

 usually with an irregularly diamond-shaped 



