830 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 206. 



4. It is likewise necessary to reject the 

 theories in which the male element is 

 regarded as supplying the chromosomes 

 subtracted in the formation of the polar 

 globules. In giving up part of its nuclear 

 matter the egg does not become ipso facto in- 

 capable of ulterior development, since an 

 ovulary cytoplasm provided with a number 

 of chromosomes and a mass of chromatin 

 equal to that which it had originally, but 

 of paternal origin, is capable of forming an 

 embryo. 



5. Sexual attraction is not confined to the 

 nucleus. 



6. In fecundation there are two things to 

 be considered : (a) The communication to 

 the egg of a vital energy that permits it 

 to segment and develop. (6) The com- 

 munication to the product of advantages 

 resulting from amphimixy and from the 

 possession of hereditary characters. 



On the second of these two questions no 

 light is thrown by the experiments, but on 

 the first there is, showing that the theories 

 of fecundation reconcilable with it are those 

 representing this phenomenon as the bear- 

 ing by the male element of special ener- 

 getic plasma (hlnoplasma) contained in its 

 sperm center. 



7. There is no specific structure in the 

 ovulary cytoplasm, the conservation of 

 which is a condition of development. If a 

 structure exists it is conditioned by mutual 

 reactions of the parts and is capable of re- 

 establishing itself when it has been altered. 



8. Boveri's celebrated experiments, so 

 ■warmly contested by Seeliger, are con- 

 firmed by the removal of the most serious 

 objection to their validity, namelj', the im- 

 possibility of cytoplasmic development with- 

 out a nucleus. F. C. Kenyon. 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. 

 The Sixteenth Congress of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union convened in Wash- 

 ington, D. C, on Monday evening, Novem- 



ber 14th. The business meeting was held 

 at the Army Medical Museum. The public 

 sessions, commencing Tuesday, November, 

 15th, and lasting three days, were held at 

 the U. S. National Museum, the Central 

 High School and the Cosmos Club. 



Robert Ridgway, of Washington, D. C, 

 was elected President ; Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam, of Washington, D. C, and Charles B. 

 Cory, of Boston, Vice-Presidents ; John H. 

 Sage, of Portland, Conn., Secretary ; Wil- 

 liam Butcher, of New York City, Treas- 

 urer ; Charles F. Batchelder, Frank M. 

 Chapman, Euthven Deane, Drs. Jonathan 

 Dwight, Jr., A. K. Fisher and L. Stej- 

 neger, and Mr. Witmer Stone, members of 

 the Council. By a provision of the by- 

 laws, the ex-Presidents of the Union, Drs. 

 J. A. Allen and Elliott Coues, .and Messrs. 

 William Brewster and D. G. Elliot, are 

 ex-officio members of the Council. 



One active, one .corresponding and one 

 hundred and one associate members were 

 elected — the largest number in any one year 

 except one since the Union was founded. As 

 in the previous year, a large percentage of 

 the new associate members were women, a 

 direct result of the Audubon Society move- 

 ment, and of the present interest taken in 

 the study of birds by the teachers in the 

 public schools. 



Mr. Witmer Stone's paper on ' Some 

 early Philadelphia Collectors and Collec- 

 tions ' was of special value from a historical 

 point of view. New facts regarding Peale's 

 Museum, Audubon, John Cassin and the 

 early workers in ornithology in this coun- 

 try were given. 



Wednesday afternoon and evening were 

 devoted to papers illustrated with lantern 

 slides. Through the kindness of Professor 

 W. B. Powell, Superintendent of Schools of 

 Washington, a hall at the Central High 

 School was placed at the disposal of the 

 Union and its friends for the afternoon. 

 The first communication was by Mr. Frank 



