166 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 6. 



TOADS ON THE SEASHORE. 



During a vacation recently spent at Cape 

 May, New Jersey, I was mticli interested in 

 observing the habits of the toads on the 

 seashore. Between the ' board-walk ' and 

 high-water mark is a narrow belt of un- 

 even sand, dotted with tufts of beach-grass 

 and raised here and there into miniature 

 ' dunes.' Here the toads congregate in 

 considerable numbers, and as evening draws 

 on they may be seen hopping about in quest 

 of food. As they were not to be seen dur- 

 ing the heat of the day, I became interested 

 to know where they concealed themselves. 

 A short search revealed their whereabouts. 

 Like so many of the small animals of the 

 contiguous waters, they bury themselves in 

 the sand for concealment. Upon looking 

 attentively over the surfaces of the little 

 dunes, one saw here and there a pair of 

 bright eyes, not unlike the sand in color 

 and as fixed as gems in a rock. It was 

 only necessary to totich the sand in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the eyes, when a toad 

 would hop out and tumble clumsily over 

 the hummocks in endeavors to escape. 



"Whether the toads captured any prey 

 while concealed in the sand I was unable 

 to discover, but I should tloink it improb- 

 able, as their mouths were usually beneath 

 the surface and there would be little chance 

 for them to shoot out their tongues. 



Frederick W. True. 



Professor Arthur Cayley, the eminent 

 mathematician, died at Cambridge, England, 

 on January 26, at the age of seventy-four. 



John S. Burdon-Sanderson, M. A., Fel- 

 low of Magdalen College, and "Waynflete 

 Professor of Physiologj'-, has been appointed 

 Regius Professor of Medicine, at Oxford, in 

 place of Sir Henry A¥. Acland, Bart., Christ 

 Church, resigned. Professor Burdon-San- 

 derson continues to direct the lectures and 



practical instructions in the Department of 

 Physiology, with the assistance of Dr. Hal- 

 dane and Mr. Pembrey. 



Applications for the table at the Biolog- 

 ical Laboratory of Cold Spring Harbor, 

 maintained by the American Association 

 should be sent to Professor W. H. Conn, 

 Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., 

 or to Professor F. AV. Hooper, Bi'ooklyn 

 Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, 



N. y. 



The Johns Hopkins Univerdty Cireidar for 

 January consists of scientific notes on work 

 done at the University. It includes a 

 reprint fi'om the Journal of Geology of Pro- 

 fessor Brooks' paper. On the Origin of the 

 Oldest Fossils and the Discovery of the Bottom 

 of the Ocean, and a reprint from. Natural 

 Science of a review of Professor Brooks' 

 monograph. The Genus Salpa. It also con- 

 tains notes in chemistry, astronomj' and 

 botany. 



The French Minister of Education, M. 

 Leygues, has opened the new buildings for 

 the scientific departments of the Sorbonne. 



The list of books for sale issued by Ber- 

 nard Quaritch in January includes many 

 valuable works in natural history, especially 

 in botany and ornithology. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 NEW Y'ORK academy OF SCIENCES. 



Biological Section : Januarj;- 14, 1896. 



Notes on Neurological methods and ex- 

 Mbition of photo-micrographs. 



A paper on The Use of Formalin in Golgi's 

 method was read by Mr. 0. S. Strong. The 

 writer found that formalin (40% solution of 

 formaldehyde) may be used (instead of os- 

 mic acid) mixed with potassium bichro- 

 mate. Pieces of adult brain were placed 

 in the following : Potassium bichromate 

 (3i%-5%) 100 volumes -|- formalin 2i to 

 5 vol. During several days or more the tis- 



