August 19, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



243 



plasm, giving the results of a continuation of 

 the experiments described in a preliminary 

 contribution to an earlier number of Science. 

 This paper and a biographical sketch of its 

 author by Dr. Lyon has appeared in the Bio- 

 logical Bulletin since the death of Dr. Greeley. 

 January 2Y the society again met at Hotel 

 Granville. Dr. R. J. Terry discussed the re- 

 sults of his researches on the skull of NecturuS:, 

 soon to appear in one of the German anatom- 

 ical journals. The officers for the year were 

 elected as follows: 



President. — Dr. B. M. Bolton. 

 Vice-President. — ^Mr. H. C. Drayer. 

 Secretary. — Dr. J. Arthur Harris. 



On the evening of February 26, the society 

 was the guest of Dr. Bolton. Dr. W J McGee, 

 chief of the department of anthropology at the 

 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, presented the 

 scientific paper of the evening, having selected 

 for his theme some phases of the adaptations 

 of desert faunas and floras to their environ- 

 ment. He first compared certain old world 

 deserts, with their very scant plant and animal 

 life, with those of the new, where organisms 

 show a high degree of systematic differentia- 

 tion, and attributed this to the more rapid 

 development of desert conditions in certain 

 old world areas. There the changes were too 

 rapid to permit the evolution of an adaptive 

 habit and structure while in the American 

 desert conditions have permitted the evolution 

 of special forms well adapted to environment. 

 He briefly described and traced the develop- 

 ment of the clumps of vegetation so character- 

 istic of the American deserts and discussed 

 the interdependence, seeming almost a sym- 

 bolic relationship, between the different plant 

 and animal species of which they are com- 

 posed. Some remarkable cases of symbiosis 

 were described and special emphasis was laid 

 upon the origin and development of symbiotic 

 relationship under the excessively severe life 

 conditions presented by a desert and some sug- 

 gestions made upon the importance of these 

 conditions in human civilization. March 30 

 the society was the guest of Dr. Terry. The 

 report of a committee appointed to draw up 

 resolutions concerning the death of Dr. Greeley 



was received. The scientific papers of the 

 evening were three. Dr. C. Fish reported 

 upon his investigations of the nature of an 

 antitrypsin, produced by immunization with 

 pancreatic extracts. He could demonstrate 

 that this antiamboceptor is thermstabile (60° 

 C.) and combines with the haplophorous 

 group of the trypsin. As to the latter positive 

 proof could be brought, that its active form is 

 the combination of the pancreatic proenzym 

 with enterokinase, thus confirming the views 

 of Pawlow and others. The enterokinase 

 forms the complement. Mr. G. E. McClure 

 spoke on the symbiotic relation between ants 

 and certain plants, giving a general view of 

 the subject and exhibiting illustrative ma- 

 terial. The significance of such data as that 

 furnished in this field in the solution of the 

 much-vexed question of the origin of adapta- 

 tions was extensively discussed. Dr. B. M. 

 Bolton spoke on his already published work 

 on the effect of certain metals and metallic 

 salts upon the growth of bacteria and exhibited 

 a large series of very interesting preparations. 

 At the meeting of the society, held in the Cen- 

 tral High School, April 27, Mr. F. A. Lucas, 

 of the United States National Museum, pre- 

 sented an illustrated paper on the whale, dis- 

 cussing morphological, biological and economic 

 questions concerning the different species and 

 whale fisheries. The final meeting of the 

 spring was held at the Cherokee Garden, May 

 25. Mr. J. F. Abbott spoke of his work on 

 the highly interesting Cmloplana. Extended 

 collecting during the course of two summers 

 at Misaki, Japan, resulted in the securing of 

 some thirty or more of Kowalusky's Coelo- 

 plana. No embryological material was ob- 

 tainable, but by good luck in fixing, the his- 

 tological details have been worked out and the 

 morphological position of the form pretty 

 definitely established. Cmloplana is without 

 doubt a ctenophor derived from the Cydippida, 

 that has abandoned a pelagic life and taken up 

 a littoral habit with a corresponding change in 

 body form and consistency, loss of costse, re- 

 duction of otolith and great extension of the 

 gastric canal system. Most of the essential 

 ctenophoral characters, such as the grasping 



