January 30, 1903. J 



SCIENCE. 



185 



part of 1899 in the quest of health and occu- 

 pied himself by observing 'facts and fancies 

 about animals and plants.' His place of resi- 

 dence was about a hundred miles south of 

 Jacksonville. His observations, with occa- 

 sional reveries on other subjects, combined 

 with remarks upon the conditions prevailing 

 in the times of Bartram, Michaux and Say, 

 make up the chief part of the volume. In an 

 appendix he presents a list, with notes, of one 

 hundred and fifty species of insects collected. 



The most important discovery made was 

 that of the left humerus of the great auk from 

 a large shell mound on the Spanish Grant. 

 The writer found a second specimen of a 

 similar animal thirty feet distant from the 

 one obtained by Mr. Blatchley (see Science, 

 XVI., p. 203). Hence it would seem as if 

 the facts were well established that the great 

 auk was once a resident of Florida, and pre- 

 sumably of the whole Atlantic coast. 



This mound is over one thousand feet long 

 and ten feet thick, composed largely of the 

 shell of the Donax, which is still used for 

 food. Twenty-seven other species of mollusca 

 were secured, besides several fish, turtles, alli- 

 gators and half a dozen mammals. A few 

 implements were also picked up. 



The author presents his facts in a very 

 pleasant way, easily appreciated by all intelli- 

 gent people, apart from tourists and scientists. 

 C. H. Hitchcock. 



Hanoveb, N. H. 



HCIEyTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 Journal of Physical Chemistry, Decem- 

 ber. — ' On the Passage of a Direct Current 

 Through an Electrolytic Cell,' by S. L. Bige- 

 low. A study of the cause of the residual 

 current when the electromotive force is below 

 the decomposition point. ' On the Critical 

 States of a Binary System,' by Paul Saurel. 

 ' Deduction of the Magnitude of the Osmotic 

 Pressure in Dilute Solutions according to 

 the Kinetic Theory,' by Peter Fireman. The 

 deduction is drawn that the osmotic pressure 

 of a substance in dilute solution is equal to 

 the corresponding gas pressure of that sub- 

 stance at the same temperature. The conclu- 

 sion is also drawn that, in general, the kinetic 



energy of the molecules of a liquid is equal 

 to that of gas molecules at the same tempera- 

 ture. This number of the Journal also con- 

 tains the index to Volume VI. 



January. — ' The Rate of Oxidation of Fer- 

 rous Salts by Chromic Acid,' by Clara C. 

 Benson. This paper includes an analytical 

 method for determining ferrous iron in the 

 presence of ferric salts and chromic acid. 

 ' Electromotive Force of Alloys of Tin, Lead 

 and Bismuth,' by E. A. Shepherd. ' Eeduc- 

 tion of Insoluble Cathodes,' by Alfred T. 

 Weightman. Chieily a study of the reduc- 

 tion of lead sulfid. ' Electrolytic Prepara- 

 tion of Sodium Amalgam,' by E. S. Shepherd. 



The Journal of Comparative Neurology for 

 December contains the following articles : ' On 

 the Origin of Neuroglia Tissue from the 

 Mesoblast,' by Shinkishi Hatai. Describes 

 and figures the proliferation of neuroglia cells 

 from the walls of the embryonic capillaries. 

 ' On the Number and on the Eelation between 

 Diameter and Distribution of the Nerve 

 Fibers Innervating the Leg of the Frog,' by 

 Elizabeth Hopkins Dimn. A continuation 

 and control of a previous study, showing, 

 among other conclusions, that the largest 

 nerve fibers do not run the longest course, 

 as Schwalbe supposed, but terminate in the 

 thigh. In the next paper, 'A Note on the 

 Significance of the Size of Nerve Fibers in 

 Fishes,' by C. Judson Herrick, this conclu- 

 sion is confirmed for the fishes, and observa- 

 tions presented tending to show that the size 

 of nerve fibers, within certain limits, is de- 

 termined by the state of functional develop- 

 ment of the organ innervated. ' The Eye of 

 the Common Mole, Scalops aqnaticus ma- 

 chrinusj' by James Eollin Slonaker. The eye 

 is described in detail and found to be in so 

 greatly reduced condition as to render it very 

 improbable that it can function at all. Twenty 

 pages of book reviews complete the number. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 entomological society of WASHINGTON. 



The 174th regular meeting was held on 

 January 8, 1903, eighteen members and two 



