August 13, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



223 



both of these properties seem to be essentially 

 connected with atomic volume and compressi- 

 bility. 



9. Radial Velocities wiiliin the Great Nebula 

 of Orion: Edwin B. Frost, Yerkes Obser- 

 vatory, University of Chicago. 



We must alter our conceptions of the nebula 

 as an enormous mass of quiescent gas, and re- 

 gard it as seething with local whirlpools besides 

 perhaps having a considerable motion of rota- 

 tion as a whole. 



10. The Radial Velocities of the More Distant 

 Stars: Walter S. Adams, Mount Wilson 

 Solar Observatory, Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington. 



The radial velocity of stars increases rapidly 

 with the proper motion, and only very grad- 

 ually with the spectral type. This agrees with 

 Eddington's hypothesis that the relation be- 

 tween velocity and spectral type may be a 

 relation between velocity and distance. 



11. Localization of the Hereditary Material in 

 the Germ Cells: T. H. Morgan, Department 

 of Zoology, Columbia University. 



The chromosomes not only furnish a mech- 

 anistic explanation of Mendelian heredity, but 

 in the case of non-disjunction and in the 

 ease of the point-by-point correspondence be- 

 tween the linkage groups and the chromosomes, 

 furnish a verifiable explanation of the results. 

 In the case of crossing-over and of interference 

 the chromosomes give us the only objective 

 explanation of the results that has been as yet 

 offered. 



12. Researches on the Chemical and Min- 

 eralogical Composition of Meteorites: 

 George P. Merrill, Department of Geology, 

 United States National Museum, Washing- 

 ton. 



Abstract of extensive investigations which 

 will appear as a memoir in the series of 

 Memoirs of the National Academy. 



13. On the Representation of Arbitrary Func- 

 tions hy Definite Integrals: W. B. Ford, 

 Department of Mathematics, University of 

 Michigan. 



The function f(x) is represented as the limit 

 of a definite integral depending on a para- 



meter when the parameter becomes infinite, or 

 by a series of definite integrals. 



14. The Lymphocyte as a Factor in Natural 

 and Induced Resistance to Transplanted 

 Cancer: James B. Murphy and John J. 

 Morton, Eockefeller Institute for Medical 

 Eesearch, New York. 



A marked increase in the circulating lym- 

 phocytes occurs after cancer-inoculation in 

 mice with either a natural or induced immu- 

 nity. When this lymphoid reaction is pre- 

 vented by a previous destruction of the 

 lymphoid tissue with X-ray the immune states 

 are destroyed ; hence the lymphocyte is a neces- 

 sary factor in cancer immunity. 



15. Some Theorems connected with Irrational 

 Numbers: William Duncan MacMillan, 

 Department of Astronomy, University of 

 Chicago. 



The presence of the factors i — -jy in the 

 denominators of series arising in celestial me- 

 chanics does not ailect the domain of converg- 

 ence of the series, provided y is a positive 

 irrational number which satisfies a rather 

 mild condition. 



Edwin Bidwell Wilson 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



ON hydration and " SOLUTION " EST GELATIN 

 I 



The importance of the swelling and of the 

 " solution " of protein colloids for the inter- 

 pretation of many biological phenomena has 

 been emphasized repeatedly.^ Thus, the laws 

 governing the absorption of water by simple 

 proteins like fibrin, gelatin, gluten, etc., and 

 those governing the absorption of water by 

 animal and plant tissues are identical. It has 

 thus become possible to explain on a colloid- 

 chemical basis not only the normal water con- 

 tent of cells and tissues, but also to account 

 for the abnormally great absorption character- 

 istic of excessive turgor, plasmoptysis, and 

 edema. On the other hand, the changes char- 

 acteristic of the " solution " of previously solid 



1 See Martin H. Fischer, ' ' (Edema and Ne- 

 phritis, " second edition. New York (1915), where 

 references to the older literature on this subject 

 will be found. 



