552 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 1 



exine of the spore- and pollen-grains is now left, 

 and of the leaves nothing but the cuticle, rarely 

 the epidermis, is left. 



The brown-coals from Lester, Ark., are composed 

 of a " debris ' ' only, in which the crystalloid com- 

 ponents form a very large proportion; fern spore- 

 exines also are very abundant. To these constitu- 

 ents must be ascribed the oil-yielding properties 

 of this coal. 



In the bituminous coal from Exeter, 111., the 

 "wood" is represented mainly by thin, jetty, 

 black, lamina, between which is found a compo- 

 nent closely resembling the debris of the younger 

 coals, having as a ground substance a much macer- 

 ated woody or colloidal material in which a greater 

 proportion of crystalloid substances are imbedded. 

 All the elements found in the younger coals and 

 also megaspores are represented. The bituminous 

 coal from Shelbeyville is very similar but has a 

 much greater proportion of crystalloid material, 

 megaspore-exines and cuticles. 



The cannel coals examined are composed almost 

 entirely of spore-exines of a variety of forms; 

 resins and cuticles are present only in a very sub- 

 ordinate amount. The so-called binding matter in 

 the interstices of the spore-exines is distinctly 

 composed of two kinds of substances, one more or 

 less homogeneous, colloidal in nature, and the 

 other more or less granular, the fragmentary 

 residue of spore-exines. 



The algal theory of Bertrand and Renault, and 

 the sapropeUie theory of Pontonie were rejected 

 as being undemonstrable in every particular. The 

 bodies supposed to be algae can be shown not to 

 be algae, and all but one kind have unmistakably 

 been proved to be the exines of certain spores, 

 either of Pteridophytes or Cycadofilicales or both. 

 A gelosic substance, such as the algal theory calls 

 for, is entirely absent. 



W. W. Stockberger, 

 Corresponding Secretary 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



At the 452d meeting of the board of managers, 

 held March 23, 1911, the following resolutions 

 submitted by the undersigned committee were 

 adopted by the board and ordered published in 

 Science : 



' ' Acting on the information furnished by one 

 of its members. Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, in regard to 

 the wholesale destruction of antiquities in all 

 parts of Peru, as well as in other regions of 

 South America, the Anthropological Society of 



Washington has, after due consideration, resolved 

 that: 



"1. The remains of American aborigines, wher- 

 ever met with, and particularly in such countries 

 as Peru, where native civilization reached high 

 standards, are historical records of definite 

 branches of the human family and, as such, are 

 of great value to science, to the country in which 

 they exist and to mankind in general. 



"2. In view of such value of the remains in 

 question, which include all manifestations of 

 human activity, and also the associated skeletal 

 parts of man himself, the destruction of these 

 records is deprecated and the hope is expressed 

 that scientific men and societies, as well as the 

 proper authorities, will counteract the same as far 

 as possible. ' ' 



W. H. Holmes, 

 A. Hrdlicka, 

 "Walter Hough, 



Committee 

 I. M. Cassanowicz, 



Secretary 



the AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



De. F. M. Jaeger, professor of inorganic and 

 physical chemistry and head of the department 

 of chemistry in the University of Groningen, 

 Holland, gave an illustrated lecture ' ' On Fluid 

 Crystals and Anisotropic Liquids ' ' before the 

 American Philosophical Society on March 3. He 

 explained why this question was one of the most 

 ardently discussed problems of physical chemistry 

 at present; how the old conception as to the 

 molecular movement of the liquid state can not 

 hold in the face of the newly discovered facts. 

 He pointed out the close analogy between these 

 phenomena and the polymorphic changes of mat- 

 ter and discussed the properties of substances 

 melting successively to two, three or more liquid 

 states. He demonstrated the principal physical 

 properties of the above substances, their bi- 

 refringence, magnetic induction, surface-tension 

 and circular polarization. He discussed the so- 

 called "emulsion theory" and proved its value- 

 lessness for the explanation of the different phe- 

 nomena. 



In short, it is proved now undoubtedly that 

 liquids can share the characteristic properties of 

 crystalline matter and that they display phe- 

 nomena which indicate a regular molecular move- 

 ment in the liquid state. The whole subject is of 

 the highest importance both for physics and for 

 chemistry. 



