970 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. Ko. 651 



was briefly described, and samples of ' arti- 

 ficial horse-hair,' made by treating ordinary 

 cotton thread with the dissolved cotton-seed- 

 cellulose, were also exhibited and the process 

 of its fabrication briefly described. 



' C. Stuart Gager, 



Secretary 



IOWA ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 



The fourth yearly meeting of the Iowa An- 

 thropological Association was held at the 

 Davenport Academy of Sciences, Davenport, 

 Iowa, on Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 

 18, the sessions being well attended. On Fri- 

 day evening Professor Frederick Starr, of the 

 University of Chicago, delivered an address 

 on ' The Field of Folk-lore in Mexico,' illus- 

 trated with stereopticon views. On account 

 of his numerous trips to Mexico and his inti- 

 mate acquaintance with the people of that 

 country, Professor Starr's address was of un- 

 usual interest. 



On Saturday morning, after some introduc- 

 tory remarks by the president. Professor B. F. 

 Shambaugh, of the University of Iowa, and 

 the report of the secretary, J. H. Paarmann, 

 curator of the Davenport Academy of Sci- 

 ences, there were a number of papers by mem- 

 bers of the Davenport Academy of Sciences 

 dealing with difierent aspects of the explora- 

 tions recently made near Albany, Whiteside 

 County, Illinois. These were as follows: 



Edwaed K. Putnam : ' Bibliography of the 

 Albany Mounds.' 



Professor Samuel Calvin, University of Iowa : 

 ' The Geology of the Region in the Vicinity of Al- 

 bany.' 



W. H. Kimball: 'Report of the Survey of the 

 Albany Mound District.' 



J. H. Paaemann : ' Report of the Opening of 

 Two Mounds Near Albany.' 



De. a. W. Elmer: 'Iron found in the Albany 

 Mounds.' 



J. E. Calkins : ' Some Puzzles at Albany.' 



After luncheon at the Davenport Commer- 

 cial Club, various papers on current anthro- 

 pological topics were presented as follows: 



Richard Herrmann, Dubuque, Iowa: 'Mound 

 Builders of the Mississippi Valley.' 



Professor Bohumil Shimek, University of 

 Iowa : " The Loess and the ' Nebraska Man.' " 



Professor C. C. Nutting, University of Iowa: 

 ' Urn Burial on the Island of Ometepe, Nicaragua.' 



Rabbi W. H. Finescheiber, Davenport, Iowa: 

 ' Some Facts of Jewish Anthropology.' 



Professor Frederick Starr, University of Chi- 

 cago : ' The Davenport Academy's Collection of 

 Objects from the Upper Kasai, Congo Free State.' 



The following ofiicers were elected: 

 President — Edward K. Putnam. 

 Vice-President — Bohumil Shimek. 

 Secretary — J. H. Paarmann. 

 Treasurer — A. G. Smith. 



Executive Committee — F. J. Becker, I. A. Loos, 

 G. T. Flom, C. C. Nutting and A. W. Elmer. 



On Saturday evening a meeting was held 

 to organize an Iowa branch of the American 

 Folk-lore Society, the program being as fol- 

 lows: 



Edward K. Putnam, Davenport Academy of 

 Sciences: 'Introductory Remarks on Folk-lore.' 



Professor Charles Bundt Wilson, University 

 of Iowa : ' German- American Folk-medicine.' 



Professor G. T. Flom, University of Iowa: 

 ' The Myths of Creation and Doom in Norse Myth- 

 ology.' 



Professor Jules Maueitzon, Augustana Col- 

 lege, Rock Island, 111. : ' Traces of Old North 

 Heathenism in Swedish Christmas Customs of 

 To-day.' 



Professor Charles Bundy Wilson, of the 

 University of Iowa, was elected president and 

 Edward K. Putnam, of Davenport, secretary. 

 J. H. Paarmann, 



Secretary 



DISCUSSION AISID COBBESPONDENCE 



THE FIRST SPECIES RULE : AN OBJECTION ■ 



To THE Editor of Science: The rules that 

 have been drawn up by a committee of Amer- 

 ican zoologists, with a view of determining 

 the genotype of every genus in a manner that 

 can admit of no uncertainty, may, perhaps 

 not yet have been published, but, to judge 

 from the manuscript copy which I have been 

 permitted to see, they are admirably adapted 

 to secure their object. The question remains 

 whether the object is a good one; and it is 

 the purpose of this letter to point out a set of 

 cases in which the selection as genotype of the 



