Jri-Y 3, 1003.] 



SCIENCE. 



1<) 



association center in the brain, and usually 

 showing a superior degree of development in 

 men whose powers of speech were of a high 

 order. 



The brain of Major J. W. Powell (to be 

 described in the American Anthropologist) 

 exhibited a decidedly superior degree of de- 

 velopment. Its weight, 1,488 grams, was 

 above the average of the 97 brains of eminent 

 men, and for a man below medium stature 

 and of rather small frame and whose age was 

 68, it was notably above the average. The 

 most notable feature is a redundancy in the 

 subparietal association area (especially the 

 angular gyre) on the right side, a feature 

 ■which may not be unrelated to an important 

 characteristic of Major Powell's mental make- 

 up: that of keen observation and superior 

 powers of generalizing these. A large number 

 of charts and figures of brains of notable per- 

 sons illustrated the paper. 



In discussing the paper Dr. Frank Baker 

 held that the convolutionary pattern of the 

 brain is due to the needs of motor activity, 

 and any conclusions from it as to brain power 

 should be carefully weighed. 



Professor W J McGee stated that Major 

 Powell's strength lay in generalizing on ob- 

 servations in nature and that the address of 

 Dr. Spizka shows that it is now possible to 

 trace a definite relation between cerebral 

 structure and the psychical character of an 

 individual. Dr. Ales Hrdlicka said that it 

 is a well-known fact that every organ in tho 

 hody, if more than ordinarily exercised, re- 

 ceives an augmented blood-supply and in con- 

 sequence tends in time to increase in size and 

 weight. It would be very strange if the 

 brain formed an exception to this law. It is 

 true that the efficiency of a brain may in- 

 crease by the advance of the differentiation of 

 its minute elements, but in all probability this 

 and actual growth go hand in hand, and the 

 size and weight of the brain must be of con- 

 siderable importance in the study of the 

 organ. That no very definite results in this 

 respect have as yet been generally arrived at 

 is due to the fact that we are practically only 

 in the beginnings of brain study and need 



many additional accurate data on normal 

 material, and that not only in white but also 

 in various more primitive peoples. We need 

 many further data on the significance in brain 

 study of race, sex, stature, muscularity, age 

 as well as other factors. The significance of 

 the convolutionary pattern is particularly in 

 need of further investigation, yet it is a gen- 

 eral opinion that a marked complexity of the 

 convolutions goes with the superior brain and 

 vice versa. Dr. Hrdlicka expressed a hope of 

 establishing in the course of time a valuable 

 brain collection in his division in the U. S. 

 National Museum. 



Further remarks germane to the topic were 

 made by Dr. D. S. Lamb, Dr. J. "Walter 

 Fewkes, Mr. G. K. Gilbert and Mrs. Miranda 

 B. Tulloch. Dr. Spitzka made some closing 

 remarks. At the conclusion of the meeting 

 a vote of thanks was tendered Dr. Spitzka. 

 It is expected that the paper will be published 

 in a forthcoming number of the American 

 Anthropologist. 



Walter Hough, 

 General Secretary. 



THE BOTAXIC.AlL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON'. 



The fifteenth regular meeting of the society 

 was held at the Portner Hotel, ilay 2-3, 1903, 

 with President A. F. Woods in the chair and 

 twenty-four persons present. At the close of 

 the business meeting, Dr. W. H. Evans, chair- 

 man of the scientific program for the evening, 

 was called to the chair. 



Dr. R. E. B. McKenney communicated 

 ' ]^otes on Saccharomyces niger.' This rather 

 uncommon fungus, which has been considered 

 to be a true yeast, can by certain methods of 

 culture be made to produce a well-developed, 

 branched mycelium. Under such conditions 

 the mycelium is septate, while under others 

 it is unseptate. True ascospores were not 

 observed; and it was considered probable that 

 ilarpmann, who claims to have found them, 

 mistook certain refractive metabolic bodies 

 for such spores. The formation of false 

 zygospore structures was also noted. The 

 fungus is capable of continued growth for a 

 couple of months in nutrient media, which is 

 apparently free from nitrogen. It would 



