434 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1082 



It is being studied in an endeavor to show that it 

 is a respiration pigment or an anthocyanie sub- 

 stance, rather than an end-produet of plant metab- 

 olism. An effort to elucidate its constitution is 

 being made by the North Carolina Experiment 

 Station. 



Fly-parasites as a Factor in controlling Army- 

 worm in North Carolina in 1914: F. Sherman. 

 The army-worm (HeliopJiila unipuncta) was de- 

 structive in many localities in North Carolina in 

 1914, attacking millet, grasses and grains. 

 Taehina-flies were abundant and laid eggs on the 

 worms. A lot of 534 army-worms was separated 

 into groups according to number of eggs per 

 worm, and rearings made. Worms without visible 

 eggs matured less than 10 per cent, of moths. Of 

 worms with fly-eggs less than 1 per cent, matured 

 moths. Highest development of flies was from 

 worms with 3 parasitic eggs each (32.81 per 

 cent.), the rate consistently declining both below 

 and above that point. On all worms collected, the 

 average was 2.44 fly-eggs per worm, close to the 

 desired optimum. Outbreaks were of short dura- 

 tion and there was no widespread damage by any 

 later broods. A more detailed article covering 

 this work will be found in Journal of Economic 

 Entomology for April, 1915. 



On the Myth of the Ship-holder, the Echeneis or 



Semora: E. W. Gudger. 



A brief account was given of some of the data 

 relating to this myth, which began about the time of 

 Pliny the Elder and persisted until about 1660. The 

 true explanation was given by Ekman in 1904 in 

 his work on ' ' dead water. ' ' Material and data are 

 being collected for a series of papers giving ac- 

 counts of and explaining the myth, describing the 

 use of the remora as a living fish hook, and lastly, 

 giving as fully as possible the natural history of 

 the fish — the matter of chief interest being the 

 origin of the sucking disk. 



The Sexuality of the Filament of Spirogyra: 



Bert Cunningham. 



The general opinion, as shown by Wood (1872), 

 Wolle (1887), DeToni, Klebs (1896), Vines, Ben- 

 nett and Murry, and Mottier (1904), is that the 

 filaments contain cells of one sex. West (1904), 

 basing his assertion upon Hassall (1845), states 

 that cross conjugation is exceedingly rare in C'on- 

 jugales. The writer found a Spirogyra which fol- 

 lows the general description of Quadrata, with the 

 exception of reproduction. This frequently oc- 

 curred as cross conjugation, the zygotes being in 

 such a position that it could not possibly be a 



combination of lateral and scalariform conjuga- 

 tion. This occurrence would tend to prove that 

 the filaments of some Spirogyra at least are truly 

 bisexual, and that the transition from the bisex- 

 ual to the unisexual occurred in the family of 

 Spirogyra. 



Abnormal Specimens of Taraxacum: S. W. Geisee. 



This paper notes the occurrence of a clump of 

 dandelions at a point 70 feet E.N.E. of the N.E. 

 corner of Cox Hall, on the campus of Guilford 

 CoUege. Seven specimens showed well fasciation 

 of the flower-stipes. The multiple-headed charac- 

 ter was not so pronounced as noted by Kirsch 

 ( '09) : only two or three stipes in each of the 

 specimens were united. The flower heads were 

 either slightly confluent or independent. At the 

 point of collection, the soil was unusually infer- 

 tile, and the occurrence suggests Nieuwland's ('09) 

 conclusion that the abnormality is due to a physio- 

 logical change due to unfavorable soU conditions, 

 and to age. Bowditch ('09) has also noted fas- 

 ciation of the dandelion {T. off.) in an unfavor- 

 able environment. Diligent search failed to find 

 abnormal specimens outside of the local circum- 

 scribed area. 



For the following papers no abstracts have been 

 received. 



' ' The Present Status of the Martian Contro- 

 versy, " by A. H. Patterson. 



"Filose Phenomena in Pieces of Gonads of a 

 Cubomedusa," by H. V. Wilson. 



"More Fossil Plants from the Moncure Shales 

 (32 specimens)," by Collier Cobb. 



' ' Cow Pea Weevil, " by Z. P. Metcalf . 



' ' Gossypol, the Toxic Substance of Cottonseed 

 Meal," by W. A. Withers and F. E. Carruth. 



' ' The Influence of Salt Solution on the Develop- 

 ment of the Frog Egg," by W. C. George. 



"Experimental Alteration in the Direction of 

 Growth of a Sponge," by H. V. Wilson. 



"The Importance of Humidity in Health and 

 the Arts (with demonstration of a new form of 

 Humidifier of North Carolina Make)," by A. H. 

 Patterson. 



' ' Simplifying our Methods of Teaching Cell Di- 

 vision," by Z. P. Metcalf. 



"Monadnocks and Metamorphism in the Cre- 

 taceous Peneplain," by Collier Cobb. 



"The Origin of the do, re, mi Syllables for the 

 Musical Scale," by A. H. Patterson. 



"Notes on Geology of Smith's Island," by 

 CoUier Cobb. 



E. W. Gddgee, 



Secretary 



