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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLH. No. 1087 



not for to-day, but for the conditions we soon must 

 face. The following regulations, at present in 

 force to varying extents in different districts, are 

 recommended for the entire coast: 



1. A size limit of 6J and preferably 7 inches, to 



be strictly enforced. 



2. Complete protection of the females. 



3. A closed season of three or more months cover- 



ing the season, varying with the locality, dur- 

 ing which soft crabs are taken. 

 Conservation of the California Elk: Bakton W. 

 EvEBMANN (read by title). 



Tuesday, August 3 



Morning Session, Demonstration 



In charge of J. Feank Daniel, University of 



California 



Improved Hydrogen Electrodes and Methods of 



Using Them, J. F. MeClendon, University of 



Minnesota. 



Papers: General Zoology 

 S. J. Holmes, University of California, presiding 

 The Importance of Description and Classification 



in Philosophical Biology and in Education: W. 



E. Bitter, Scripps Institution for Biological 



Eesearch, La Jolla. 

 The Physiological Analysis of Behavior: H. B. 



ToEREY, Heed College, Portland. 

 Problems Concerning the Pelation between Germ 



Cells and their Environment : Bennet M. Allen, 



University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 



There is an increasing body of evidence to show 

 that the germ-cells may be influenced by the en- 

 vironment. These influences may strike deep — in- 

 juring the germ-plasm so greatly as to produce 

 abnormal development. They may bring about 

 the appearance of mutants, as shown by Tower, 

 MacDougal, Gager and others. In some forms the 

 external influences upon the germ-cells produce 

 only evanescent changes lasting but a few genera- 

 tions at the most. In still other cases they may 

 merely serve to determine dominance in heredity. 

 Sex determination in some forms at least appears 

 to be brought about by these factors. The or- 

 ganism must be able to resist influences of the 

 environment that are frequently met with in their 

 normal life, otherwise animals and plants would 

 be far more unstable than we find them to be. 



Much needs to be done in studying the factors 

 that govern the rhythm of germ-cell production, 

 the increased or decreased fertility due to change 

 of external factors such as climate, social life. 



etc., and the effects of domestication upon repro- 

 duction. 



The recent marked increase in our knowledge of 

 the glands of internal secretion shows how far- 

 reaching may be their influence upon the organ- 

 ism as a whole. These and other substances pre- 

 sent in minute quantities in the blood may well 

 exert powerful influences upon the germ-cells. 



Giant Fiber Action and Normal Transmission by 



the Nerve Cord of Earthworms: John F. 



BovAED, University of Oregon. 



The peripheral nerves in a certain number of 

 segments of an earthworm may be anesthetized 

 and the nervous impulses responsible for locomo- 

 tion will travel through the cord in the affected 

 region. The distance which these impulses will 

 pass without any reenforcement from muscular 

 contractions is limited to about twenty ganglia. 

 The rate at which these impulses are transmitted 

 is a slow one and is about 22 mm. per second. 



The giant fibers are not concerned directly with 

 the locomotion, but with contractions of the longi- 

 tudinal muscles in quick end-to-end movements. 

 The speed of transmissions in these larger fibers 

 is very rapid, 1,500 mm. per second. In regenera- 

 tion from simple traverse section of the nerve 

 cord, the recovery is very rapid, and the locomotor 

 fibers resume activity before the giant fibers. 

 When short pieces of the nerve cord are removed, 

 recovery is much slower, but the order in which 

 fibers transmit impulses again is the same as in 

 simpler sections. 



Drugs, such as stovaine, when applied to the 

 cord show the same relations as in regeneration. 

 The locomotor fibers recover first and the giant 

 fibers later. 



Afternoon Session, Papers: General Zoology 

 Tkevoe Kincaird, University of Washington, 



presiding 

 The Action of Simple Beagents on Nerve Cells: 



W. A. Hilton, Pomona College, Claremont, 



California. 



In order to learn something further in regard 

 to the physical constitution of nerve cells, simple 

 solutions which might act in various ways were 

 used. In some cases the nervous tissues were 

 treated directly with the reagent; in others the 

 ganglia, or parts of the brain, were placed in 

 boiling water first. Similar results were obtained 

 by both methods. Acids, alkalies and other pow- 

 erful reagents were used with the result that in 

 almost every case a fibular groundwork for both 



