744 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 697 



been constructed which define the equilibrium 

 at 18°, and very accurately at 38°. These 

 studies prove that such systems possess nearly 

 the highest eiSciency which can occur in iso- 

 lated aqueous solutions for the preservation 

 of neutrality. By the intervention of vehicles 

 of escape for some of the above substances, the 

 efficiency of these systems in the body is so 

 far magnified that they far surpass the 

 efficiency of any possible closed aqueous solu- 

 tions of like concentration in preserving a 

 hydrogen ion concentration near 0.3 X 10"'N. 

 It is shown theoretically and exjierimentally 

 that the alkalinity of blood probably varies 

 materially with the temperature, so that the 

 alkalinity of blood in the body is probably 

 three times as great as it has been believed to 

 be. Moreover the increase in alkalinity in 

 high fever is probably not insignificant. 

 C. L. Alsbeeg, 



Secretary 



THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 443d meeting was held April 4, 1908, 

 with Vice-President Hay in the chair. Dr. 

 L. O. Howard exhibited a photograph show- 

 ing a greatly enlarged female of Diaspis 

 pentagona containing a forming imago of 

 Prospalta lerlesei How., and stated that he 

 had just received this photograph from Pro- 

 fessor Berlese. The Diaspis is a dangerous 

 enemy to mulberry in south Europe, and the 

 Prospalta was imported from America in the 

 hope that it would establish itself in Italy. 

 The photograph indicates that the parasite is 

 breeding in Italy and encourages hope. 



Dr. Barton W. Evermann commented 

 briefly on the successful outcome of the at- 

 tempt miade by the Bureau of Fisheries to 

 inoculate fishes with the glochidia of fresh- 

 water mussels, as a stage in the propagation 

 of the latter. The experiments, conducted by 

 Doctors Lefevre and Curtis, of the University 

 of Missouri, were made last fall at La Crosse, 

 Wis., with more than 25,000 fish of various 

 species, and gravid mussels, furnished by Pro- 

 fessor U. O. Cox from the Wabash Kiver at 

 Terre Haute, Ind. The young, when ready 

 to be set free from the mussels, were placed 

 in the same water with the fish, which were 



soon found to have many of the young at- 

 tached to their gills, fins or other parts, some 

 of the fish bearing several hundred. They 

 remained attached until March, when, as they 

 began to release themselves, the fish were 

 planted in the Mississippi River. 



Doctors Lefevre and Curtis have been ex- 

 perimenting for some time under the auspices 

 of the Bureau of Fisheries for the purpose of 

 developing a method of artificially propagating 

 fresh-water mussels on a commercial scale and 

 in the interests of the pearl-bottom industry 

 which has recently grown to enormous im- 

 portance in this country. They are greatly 

 pleased with the results. 



The first paper, by Mr. C. L. Marlatt, was 

 on the subject of " The White Fly Problem in 

 Florida." It was illustrated by numerous 

 lantern slides representing the life history of 

 the insect and means of control, particularly 

 by fumigation. 



The systematic position and general char- 

 acteristics of the white fly (Aleyrodes citri) 

 were discussed in connection with a general 

 account of the family Aleyrodidse. The white 

 fly first appeared in this country in the orange 

 section of Manatee County, Florida, and was 

 present there a great many years before it was 

 scientifically studied and named. It is sup- 

 posed to be of Chinese origin, but this origin 

 has not been fully established. From the 

 point of its first appearance in Manatee 

 County it has spread throughout Florida and 

 along the Gulf coast into Texas. It may 

 occur in any northern greenhouse, principally 

 on citrus plants, and seems to be able to 

 maintain itself out of doors as far north as 

 Georgia and perhaps South Carolina. The 

 orange growers of California have long feared 

 it and have made a strong effort to keep it out 

 of the state. These efforts were long suc- 

 cessful, but in May of 1907 it was found to 

 be well established in north-central California 

 at Marysville, and a little later at Oroville, 

 and still farther south and much closer to 

 the main orange section at a single point 

 near Bakersfield. The strenuous efforts 

 undertaken by the state of California to stamp 

 out these points of infestation were described. 



