May 8, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



743 



hilum of the liver, circulation through the 

 liver ceased and the gland was extirpated. 



By the successful use of this method Vos- 

 burgh and Richards have found that the ap- 

 plication of adrenalin to the surface of the 

 pancreas brings about a slight rise in the 

 sugar content of the blood even after extirpa- 

 tion of the liver. Their experiments thus 

 far have covered periods of from two to three 

 hours, no systematic attempts having yet been 

 made to get the animals to survive the opera- 

 tion. 



n. REVIEW. 



Aims and Achievements in Recent Experi- 

 mental Cytology: Gary N. Calkins. 



A review of Loeb's, Wilson's and Boveri'a 

 experimental researches. 



William J. Gies, 

 Secretary. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

 SECTION OF BIOLOGY. 



The fourth meeting of the year was held 

 at the American Museum of Natural History 

 on April 13, Professor Bashford Dean pre- 

 siding. Papers were read by Dr. A. G. Mayer 

 on ' The Instincts of Lepidoptera ' and Pro- 

 fessor H. E. Crampton on ' Variation and 

 Eeproductive Selection in Saturnid Moths.' 

 Abstracts of these papers follow. 



The paper presented by Dr. Mayer was a 

 mere preliminary account of certain observa- 

 tions made by the writer. It is planned that 

 the research will be continued and finally pub- 

 lished conjointly with Miss Caroline G. Soule. 

 Certain lepidopterous larviE, such as Danais 

 plexippus, are negatively geotactic and posi- 

 tively phototactic toward the ultra-violet 

 rays. The combination of these reactions in 

 nature maintains the larva at or near the top 

 of its food plant, where, incidentally, it finds 

 the youngest and best leaves, and tends to 

 prevent its crawling down and away from the 

 plant, thus incurring risk of starvation. 

 Other larvse, such as Pyrrharctia isahella, are 

 indifferent either t© the attraction of gravita- 

 tion or to ordinary variation in conditions of 

 light. Others react differently at different 

 stages of development. Larva which will 



devour only certain definite species of leaves 

 may be induced to eat sparingly of any other 

 sort, provided the instinct to eat be first set 

 into operation by the presence of the proper 

 food plant. Under such conditions about the 

 same number of bites are taken upon each 

 presentation of the uneatable food to the 

 larva. This phenomenon may be called ' mo- 

 mentum of the reaction,' and inclines one to 

 conclude that the eating reaction is probably 

 an imconscious reflex. Another series of ex- 

 periments appeared to show that larvae are 

 unable to learn to follow a definite path to 

 their food, and that the associative memory 

 of lepidopterous larva does not endure for as 

 long a time as ninety seconds. Certain larvae 

 when about to pupate display a well-marked 

 geotropism. 



The mating instinct is called into play by 

 the perception of the characteristic odor of 

 the female, and is merely a phenomenon of 

 chemotaxis uncomplicated by aesthetic appre- 

 ciation or sexual selection on the part of the 

 female. 



Professor Crampton described briefly the 

 principal results of a statistical study of the 

 correlation between structural characteristics" 

 and reproductive ability or disability in 

 Samia cecropia. It was shovrai that the pupae 

 of those individuals, male and female, which 

 mated were different from those which failed 

 to mate, although all were placed under the 

 same conditions as far as possible. True re- 

 productive selection was evident, and related 

 to typical conditions as well as to variabilities. 

 A brief discussion was given of the real basis 

 for the selective process and of the relation 

 between reproductive selection manifested 

 after emergence to that selection which oc- 

 curred during pupal existence. 



M. A. BiGELOW, 



Secretary. 



SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY. 



At the meeting of the section on April 6, 

 P. H. Dudley, C.E., Ph.D., of the New York 

 Central and Hudson River Railroad, read a 

 paper full of interest to those familiar with 

 American railroad methods, on ' Stremmato- 



