592 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 850 



Such records indicate foci of infection and awaken 

 the interest of persons resident at such foci. They 

 are essential in campaigns of eradication. A 

 study of the distribution, habits and importance 

 of some of our animal parasites may throw light 

 on life histories by indicating a corresponding 

 distribution of intermediate hosts or of other con- 

 ditions requisite for the life cycle. This would 

 permit of outlining more adequate means of pro- 

 phylaxis, would make possible more intelligent 

 estimates of the economic importance of our para- 

 sites, and would aid in guarding against indi- 

 genous and imported species. With such prelim- 

 inary compilations of records as a nucleus, it 

 should be possible in time to proceed to a real 

 biological survey of our parasite fauna. 



Dr. Ransom presented a note on the viability of 

 nematode eggs and larvae. In some species there 

 is a great difference between the viability of eggs 

 or newly hatched embryos and that of the full- 

 grown larvK. The first two are quickly killed by 

 low temperatures or drying, but the ensheathed 

 larvae can be frozen for some time, or frozen and 

 thawed alternately without damage. Of two cul- 

 tures of ensheathed larvae, one of which was kept 

 out of doors during the winter and the other in- 

 doors, the former was found in the better condi- 

 tion at the end of the winter. The probable 

 explanation is that low temperature inhibits ac- 

 tivity and in this way conserves the food supply 

 stored up in the intestinal cells of the larvee. The 

 ensheathed larvaa can also be dried for some time 

 and then revived by the addition of moisture. 



Nematodirus filicollis develops to the ensheathed 

 stage before hatching, a period of about a month 

 being required for the development at a tempera- 

 ture of about 70° Fahrenheit, whereas under sim- 

 ilar conditions the stomach worm {Hcemonchus 

 contortus) hatches in about two days, and does 

 not develop to the ensheathed stage until after 

 hatching. The eggs of Nematodirus are much 

 more resistant to low temperatures than those of 

 the stomach worm. A temperature of 12° Fahren- 

 heit w-as found to kill eggs of the stomach worm 

 in seven to ten days, while eggs of Nematodirus 

 were viable at the end of eight weeks after expo- 

 sure to the same temperature. At 32° to 40°, 

 eggs of the stomach worm were still alive at the 

 end of eight weeks, but were dead after thirteen 

 weeks. The eggs and embryos of Strongyloides 

 do not resist drying. In this genus the embryos 

 do not ensheath. 



Dr. Stiles presented a note on the progress of 

 the hookworm work in this country, and noted the 



finding by Stiles and Miller, on the basis of micro- 

 scopic diagnosis, of cases of hookworm disease in 

 Kentucky. He exhibited maps showing all the 

 counties known to be infected. 



Maurice C. Hall, 



Secretary 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON 



The 453d regular meeting of the society was 

 held in the hall of the Public Library, March 28, 

 1911, 8:00 P.M., with Mr. George E. Stetson, vice- 

 president of the society, in the chair. 



Professor R. B. Dixon, of Harvard University, 

 read a paper on ' ' Polynesian Mythology. ' ' After 

 a geographical survey of the islands of the Pacific, 

 including Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia and 

 Malasia, the speaker gave a delineation of the 

 pantheon and a concise exposition of the theology 

 entertained, with greater or lesser variations, by 

 the different tribes of these islands. The gods 

 are broadly divided into greater and lesser ones. 

 In addition to these there are ancestral and 

 totemic deities. The four great gods are: Tane 

 (dialectieally, Kane), Tu (Ku), Tangaroa (Tan- 

 aloa) and Eongo (Lono, also Oro). The lesser 

 gods are for the most part considered as their 

 offspring. Of the four great gods Tane is the 

 greatest. He is conceived as self -evolved, existing 

 from eternity, the father of men, and is connected 

 with the sky. He is supreme in the Hawaiian 

 Islands and New Zealand, although he had there 

 no temples and scarcely received any worship, 

 while in Samoa and central Polynesia at large he 

 is almost unknown. The same is the case with 

 Eongo, the god of agriculture, and Tu, the god of 

 war. On the other hand, Tangaroa, who forms a 

 group by himself, enjoyed great honor in Samoa 

 and the central portion of Polynesia, but was 

 associated with darkness and evil in Hawaii and 

 seems to be a late comer into Hawaii, imported 

 from Tahiti or the Marquesas Islands. There are, 

 as a rule, no images made of the great gods. The 

 only representations made of them are stone pil- 

 lars or wooden poles swathed in tappa or mats. 

 The mythology of the other islands of the Pacific 

 Ocean, as that of Melanesia, Micronesia, agrees 

 in some portions with that of Hawaii and New 

 Zealand, in others with that of Samoa and central 

 Polynesia. 



The paper was discussed and commented upon 

 by many of those present. 



I. M. Casanowicz, 

 Secretary 



