June 9, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



907 



within the last few thousand years. The theory 

 of fluctuating tidal heights, and the theory of 

 stability of the land mass were illustrated by 

 selected examples of shore-line phenomena. 

 delation of Isostasy to the Elevation of Moun- 

 tains: H. F. Eeid, of Johns Hopkins Univer- 

 sity. 



The work of many investigators and more espe- 

 cially the recent work of Dr. Hayford has shown 

 that the earth is practically in isostatic equilib- 

 rium. It follows that mountains can not be due 

 to tangential compression or to the increase of 

 matter in the mountains themselves, but must be 

 due to forces of elevation resulting from the 

 expansion of the material under the mountains. 

 Such vertical forces would in many cases cause 

 normal faulting without tangential tension. 

 The Transpiration of Air through a Partition of 

 Water: Elliptic Interference with Reflecting 

 Gratings: Cakl Barus, of Brown University. 

 A Phenomenon of Vision: On Disruptive Dis- 

 charges of Electricity through a Flame: F. B. 

 NiPHEB, of Washington University. 

 The High Voltage Corona in Air: J. B. White- 

 head, of Johns Hopkins University. (Intro- 

 duced by Professor Ames.) 



The author described the limitation to the long- 

 distance electrical transmission of power imposed 

 by the insulating properties of the air, and a new 

 method for determining accurately a voltage at 

 which the air in the neighborhood of electric wires 

 and cables will break down; and also gave the 

 results of a series of experiments on the influence 

 of the size of the wire, the stranding of the wire 

 into a cable, the frequency, the pressure, the tem- 

 perature and the moisture content of the air. He 

 also reviewed the bearing of present physical 

 knowledge on the nature of the phenomena which 

 are involved. 



The Nature and Causes of Emiryonic Differentia- 

 tion: E. G. CONKLIN, of Princeton University. 

 The Origin and Significance of the Primitive 

 Nervous System: G. H. Paekee, of Harvard 

 University. (Introduced by Dr. H. H. Donald- 

 son.) 



On Friday evening Professor Svante Auguste 

 Arrhenius gave a lecture at the haU of the College 

 of Physicians on ' ' The Physical Conditions of the 

 Planet Mars." 



The lecture was followed by a reception. 

 The speaker called attention to the many sim- 

 ilarities between Mars and the earth which have 

 led some to think Mars is inhabited, but gave it 



as his opinion that later investigations are not 

 favorable to this view. 



On Saturday morning at 9:30 the society held 

 an executive session, at which candidates for 

 membership were balloted for. As a result the 

 following were elected as members of the society: 

 George A. Barton, A.M., Ph.D., Bryn Mawr, Pa.; 

 Bertram Borden Boltwood, Ph.D., New Haven, 

 Conn.; Lewis Boss, A.M., LL.D., Albany, N. Y. ; 

 John Mason Clarke, Ph.D., LL.D., Albany, N. Y.; 

 W. M. Late Coplin, M.D., Philadelphia; John 

 Dewey, Ph.D., LL.D., New York City; Leland 

 Ossian Howard, Ph.D., Washington, D. C. ; Joseph 

 P. Iddings, Se.D. (Yale, 1907), Chicago; Alba B. 

 Johnson, Bosemont, Pa.; Arthur Amos Noyes, 

 Ph.D., Sc.L., LL.D., Boston; George Howard Par- 

 ker, S.D., Cambridge, Mass. ; A. Lawrence Botch, 

 S.B., A.M. (Hon. Harvard), Boston; Leo S. Bowe, 

 Ph.D., LL.D., Philadelphia; William T. Sedgwick, 

 Ph.D., Hon. ScD. (Yale, 1909), Brookline, Mass.; 

 Augustus Trowbridge, Ph.D. (Berlin), Princeton, 

 N. J.; Svante Auguste Arrhenius, Stockholm; 

 Jean Baptiste Edouarde Bornet, Paris; Sir John 

 Murray, K.C.B., F.B.S., LL.D., Se.D., Edinburgh. 



At ten o'clock the morning session for the 

 reading of papers opened, the following being 

 presented: 



The Secretion of the Adrenal Glands during Emo- 

 tional Excitement: Walter B. Cannon, of 

 Harvard University. 



The adrenal glands and the sympathetic nerv- 

 ous system are intimately related. The sym- 

 pathetic system innervates the glands, and the 

 glands in turn secrete a substance that affects 

 bodily structures precisely as the sympathetic sys- 

 tem affects them. The sympathetic system is 

 aroused to activity in states of emotional excite- 

 ment. Examination of the blood of excited ani- 

 mals reveals the presence of adrenal secretion 

 which was not found in the blood before the 

 excitement. Possibly the adrenal secretion con- 

 tinues the excited state. Possibly also the adrenal 

 secretion caused by emotional disturbances has 

 some of the effects produced by injection of the 

 substance — such as glycosuria and atheroma of 

 arteries. Indeed, two of my students, Shohl and 

 Wright, have recently shown that glycosuria can 

 be produced in the cat by fright. The suggestion, 

 however, must be put to further experimental test. 



On the Coagulation of Blood: W. H. Howell, 



Johns Hopkins University. 



The theory of the coagulation of blood most 

 commonly accepted at the present time holds that 



