NOVEMBEE 7, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



669 



H. M. Sheffer : " A set of five independent postu- 

 lates for Boolean algebras, with application to 

 logical constants." 



Mildred Sanderson: "Formal modular invari- 

 ants witli application to binary modular covari- 

 ants. ' ' 



The opening (October) number of Vol. 20 

 of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical 

 Society contains : " Note on tlie gamma func- 

 tion," by G. D. BirkbofF ; " Some properties of 

 space curves minimizing a definite integral 

 with discontinuous integrand," by E. J. 

 Miles ; " The degree of a cartesian multiplier," 

 by D. R. Curtiss ; " On closed continuous 

 curves," by Arnold Emch ; " Let us have our 

 calculus early " (review of Mercer's " Calculus 

 for Beginners"), by E. B. Wilson; "Shorter 

 Notice " : Ziwet and Field's " Introduction to 

 Analytical Mechanics," by Kurt Laves; 

 " Notes " ; and " New Publications." 



The November number of the Bulletin con- 

 tains : Report of the twentieth summer meet- 

 ing of the society, by H. E. Slaught ; " Intui- 

 tionism and formalism," by L. E. J. Brouwer; 

 " Shorter Notices " : Arnous's " Essai de 

 Geometric analytique modulaire a deux Di- 

 mensions," by L. E. Dickson; Padoa's "La 

 Logique deductive dans sa derniere Phase de 

 Developpement," by J. B. Shaw; Hun and 

 Maclnnes's " Elements of Plane and Spherical 

 Trigonometry," by Cora B. Hennel ; " Notes " ; 

 and " New Publications." 



The articles in The American Journal of 

 Science for November are as follows : 



' ' Upper Devonian Delta of the Appalachian 

 Geosyneline, " by J. Barrell. 



"Optical Bench for Elementary Work," by H. 

 W. Farwell. 



"Volcanic Research at Kilauea in the Summer 

 of 1911," by F. A. Ferret; with Report by A. 

 Brun. 



' ' Observations on the Stem Structure of Fsaro- 

 nius Brasiliensis, " by O. A. Derby. 



"Fauna of the Florissant (Colorado) Shales," 

 by T. D. A. Cockerell. 



"The Photoelectric Effect," by L. Page. 



"Graphical Methods in Microscopical Petrog- 

 raphy," by F. E. Wright. (With Plates II. to 

 IX.) 



"A Graphical Plot for Use in the Microscopical 



Determination of the Plagioclase Feldspars," by 

 F. E. Wright. 



' ' On the Influence of Alcohol and of Cane Sugar 

 upon the Rate of Solution of Cadmium in Dis- 

 solved Iodine," by R. G. Van Name and D. XJ. 

 Hill. 



"Comparative Studies of Magnetic Phenomena. 

 IV. Twist in Steel and Nickel Rods due to a 

 Longitudinal Magnetic Field," by S. R. Williams. 



A NOTE ON FENFOLV'S MODIFICATION OF 

 BACILLUS COLI COMMUNIS-^ 



Penpold's^ observation, that the cultivation 

 of Bacillus coli communis upon monochlor- 

 acetic acid media permits the selection of 

 strains whose power to produce gas from cer- 

 tain sugars is permanently lost, has an impor- 

 tant bearing not only upon mutation, but upon 

 the mechanism of the carbohydrate metabolism 

 of coliform organisms. 



Through the work of Scruel,' Frankland and 

 Frew,* Pakes and Jollyman,^ Harden^ and 

 others, there has been gathered considerable 

 evidence that the hydrogen and carbon dioxide, 

 liberated in the fermentation of various sugars 

 and allied compounds by coliform organisms, 

 are the products of the decomposition of 

 formic acid in accordance with the equation: 



H,CO. = Hj + CO.. 



This decomposition has been attributed to 

 the activity of a specific enzyme for which 



1 From the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Bureau of Animal Industry, Dairy Division. 



2 Penfold, W. J., Froceedings of the Boyal So- 

 ciety of Medicine, Pathological Section, Vol. 4, 

 Part 3, p. 97, 1910-11; Journal of Hygiene, Vol. 

 II., p. 487, 1911. 



3 Scruel, Arch. med. Beiges, ser. 3, t. 42, p. 362, 

 1892; ser. 4, t. 1, pp. 9 and 83, 1893. 



i Frankland, Percy F., and Frew, William, 

 Journal of Chemical Society Transactions, Vol. 

 61, p. 254, 1892, London. 



6 Pakes, Walter Charles Cross, and Jollyman, 

 Walter Henry, Journal of Chemical Society 

 Transactions, Vol. 79, Part 1, p. 386, 1901, Lon- 

 don. 



6 Harden, Arthur, Journal Chemical Society 

 Transactions, Vol. 79, Part 1, p. 610, 1901, Lon- 

 don. 



