244 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 972 



Some Factors Affecting Fetal Development: John 



M. EWARD. 



The author showed that the size, weight, 

 strength, vigor, character of coat, size of bone and 

 general thrift of the newborn were markedly 

 affected by the nutrition of the dam during the 

 period of gestation. The specific food constitu- 

 ents which when added to corn produced positive 

 results were proteiu and calcium, both of which 

 (when added to corn) produced larger and heavier 

 offspring than when corn alone was used. The 

 importance of calcium was emphasized by calling 

 attention to the fact that ordinary animals con- 

 tain practically two thirds as much calcium as of 

 nitrogen in their bodies. Using analytical figures 

 as a basis, the investigation showed that the sow 

 to produce a normal ideal litter would have to eat 

 not less than 13 pounds of corn daily to secure 

 enough calcium for said litter, and this on the 

 assumption that all the calcium was perfectly 

 utilized without any waste whatsoever, no allow- 

 ance being made for the metabolic uses of the dam 

 herself. The work was done upon sheep and 

 swine. This direct quotation is of interest. 

 "Eealizing that the development of the organism 

 may be hindered as early as the embryonic and 

 uterine stages is quite suggestive of a rational 

 diet during the entire period of gestation. Those 

 pregnant animals which are forced to subsist upon 

 grain diets are much more unfortunate than those 

 which have their digestive systems so constituted 

 as to avaU themselves of considerable roughage, 

 which, if they be legumes, are very advantageous 

 in the production of vigorous newborn offspring. 

 It is quite fortunate indeed that the mother is 

 able to store in the bones and tissues of her body 

 a considerable amount of material which will tide 

 her over periods of scarcity and enable her to 

 give birth to her young even though the essential 

 constituents are lacking to a large extent in the 

 pregnancy feed. ' ' 



A Case of Urticaria Factitia: Waltee S. Newell. 

 During a course of elementary experiments in 

 the "tactual localization of a point" it was ob> 

 served that in the case of Miss M., wherever the 

 tactual stimulus was applied a round welt or 

 wheal arose. These welts, which resembled bee 

 stings, measured from 3 mm. to 5 mm. in diameter 

 and varied in size with the instrument used in 

 giving the tactual stimulus. The sharp corner of 

 a card drawn lightly across the skin produced a 

 line of bead-like welts. The welts appeared within 



three minutes after the stimulation and reached 

 the maximum of vividness within five or ten min- 

 utes. They remained visible from half an hour to 

 an hour and a half. Tests were tried with Mis M. 

 at different hours of the day and at intervals of 

 several days for a period covering eight weeks. 

 Experiments showed that she exhibited this sensi- 

 tiveness over widely distributed areas of the body, 

 but no results covdd be obtained on the finger-tips 

 or on other calloused portions. Most of the ob- 

 servations were made upon the forearm, both on 

 the front and on the back of the arm. A careful 

 study of Miss M. 's nervous organization, with the 

 testimony of several of her instructors, supplied 

 abundant evidence of her instability, and pointed 

 toward a functional disorder caused by ' ' nervous 

 irritability, emotion and hysteria. ' ' A striking 

 array of concrete instances of Miss M.'s nervous 

 eccentricities could not be overlooked among the 

 facts most significant in the diagnosis. 



Several tests were made to determine whether 

 the ' ' autographisms ' ' could be caused by sugges- 

 tion or by any means other than actual contact. 

 No results were obtained in this series of experi- 

 ments, but this may be due to the subject's in- 

 ability to fixate her attention for any length of 

 time. The lightest contact was followed by the 

 graphism, however, and according to Miss M. 's 

 own testimony she has "known of this sensitive- 

 ness since childhood, but has never regarded it as 

 anything unusual." 



No attempt was made to use hypnotic sugges- 

 tion as a means of inducing the graphisms. The 

 subject's introspections are at times contradictory, 

 although quite in accord with her own mental 

 instability. This case throws a sidelight upon the 

 prestige which in another age or in a dififerent 

 environment would be sufficient to lead to all 

 degrees of religious extravagance or fanaticism. 



Officers elected for the ensuing year are: 



President — C. N. Kinney, Des Moines. 



First Vice-president — H. S. Conard, Grinnell. 



Second Vice-president — Henry Albert, Iowa City. 



Secretary — L. S. Eoss, Des Moines. 



Treasurer — G-. F. Kay, Iowa City. 



Elective Members of the Executive Committee — 

 E. N. Wentworth, Ames; E. J. Cable, Cedar Falls; 

 A. G-. Smith, Iowa City. 



The next annual meeting will be held at the 

 State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa. 



L. S. Eoss, 

 Secretary 



Deake Univeesity, 

 Des Moines, Iowa 



