222 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 684 



of ancient textiles in the U, S. National Mu- 

 seum. They are from Panopolis and Antin- 

 opolis in Egypt, are of linen, cotton, wool, 

 and rarely silk, and date from the third to 

 the seventh century, a.d. They are deco- 

 rated usually in geometric designs with wool 

 of various colors in tapestry stitch. 



At the meeting of December 17, 1907, native 

 cotton raised by the Hopi of Oraibi, Arizona, 

 was exhibited by the secretary, who said that 

 the seed of this cotton is similar to that found 

 in ancient graves in northeastern Arizona. 

 The Hopi use this cotton for cord and textiles 

 devoted to ceremonial purposes. 



The paper of the evening was by Major 

 James Albert Clark, of the Bureau of Iromi- 

 gration, on " The Effects of Immigration on 

 the Ethnic or Race Composition of our Popu- 

 lation." Major Clark held that the pessi- 

 mistic view that the country will be injured 

 by the inunigration is baseless; on the con- 

 trary, it is made by immigration. Teutonic, 

 said Major Clark, will always be the backbone 

 of the nation, and though 25,318,067 foreign- 

 ers have come in since 1820, this number has 

 not smothered the basic population. He dis- 

 cussed the various characteristics and preju- 

 dices of the racial elements which make up 

 the American nation, and concludes that the 

 alchemy of assimilation is foiTning the great- 

 est nation the world has ever held. The ad- 

 dress was discussed by McGee, Eobinson, 

 Hrdlicka and others, and a vote of thanks 

 was tendered Major Clark for his illuminating 

 treatment of his subject. 



Walter Hough, 

 General Secretary 



THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. NORTH- 

 EASTERN SECTION 



The eightieth regular meeting of the section 

 was held in the amphitheater of the Chemistry 

 Building of the Harvard Medical School, on 

 December 20, at 8 o'clock p.m., President Erank 

 G. Stantial in the chair. About eighty mem- 

 bers and friends were present. The paper of 

 the evening was by Dr. William F. Boos, of 

 the Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, of 

 the Massachusetts General Hospital, who ad- 



dressed the section upon " Ptomai'ns and 

 Toxins." Two classes of poisonous sub- 

 stances have been distinguished as occurring 

 in the flesh of animals : (a) Bodies formed as 

 the result of putrefaction, and (&) substances 

 resulting from the invasion of the body by 

 pathogenic bacteria. This distinction is be- 

 ing abandoned because there is really no essen- 

 tial difEerence between the two classes. Most 

 of the substances isolated from putrid animal 

 matter are harmless, but one, sepsin, is very 

 poisonous. The term " ptomai'ns " was first 

 applied to many substances in putrefying ani- 

 mal matter, but most of these are non-toxic. 

 On this account the term toxin was introduced 

 for poisonous ptomai'ns. 



Toxins are classified as : (1) Eototoxins, 

 which are dissolved in the culture fluid, and 

 when injected subcutaneously, produce anti- 

 toxins, which render the subject immune. 

 The toxins of diphtheria and tetanus are of 

 this class; (2) endotoxins, which are part of 

 the body-substance of the bacteria, and which 

 do not produce true anti-toxin when injected 

 into the blood, but which yield precipitating 

 and agglutinating agents like the oi)sonins of 

 Wright. The toxin of tuberculosis illustrates 

 this class. 



Meat poisoning cases frequently occur due 

 to toxic substances, which produce symptoma 

 resembling alkaloidal poisoning. Thus, the 

 toxin from infected sausages produces symp- 

 toms much like those of atropin poisoning, 

 and has therefore been called " ptomatropin." 



The only toxin which has been isolated in 

 the pure state is " sepsin." It has been pre- 

 pared from putrid yeast and putrid blood. 

 Twenty mgms. of the sulphate killed a large 

 dog in a few hours. The symptoms and 

 effects are very similar to those of arsenic 

 poisoning. By heating to 60° C, for an hour, 

 sepsin is changed to cadaverine and rendered 

 innocuous. 



Poisoning from spoiled meat is due to 

 sepsin; but thorough cooking changes sepsin 

 into cadaverine. It has often been noticed in 

 cases of epidemics, that only those who ate the 

 smoked or lightly cooked meats were poisoned. 

 But in ordinary cooking processes, the interior 

 portions of the meat or fish may not reach a 



