650 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 515. 



four years ago to compile a dictionary whicli 

 should in some way serve, not only to fill the 

 wants just pointed out, but also as a g'uide to 

 appropriate names for new forms. A further 

 use for such a list is suggested by a foreign 

 term used in a recent government publication, 

 and also in another sense in a somewhat earlier 

 private paper by another writer. 



The undersigned now wishes to appeal to all 

 those interested in the advancement of the 

 study of geomorphology, to aid in the prepara- 

 tion of this dictionary — already over three 

 hundred terms have been catalogued — by send- 

 ing to him the following data for any topo- 

 graphic term, in any language, which may be 

 met with in the course of study or reading : 



1. The new term, and the inventor or first 

 user of it in the given sense. 



2. The etymology of the term, if possible. 



3. The publication, volume, page and year, 

 where first used. 



4. The original definition, preferably quoted. 



5. The cited examples of the form or com- 

 bination of forms to which the inventor, or 

 first user, applied it. 



The above need not be written on catalogue 

 cards, but preferably should be typewritten. 

 The latter is not at all a prime requisite, how- 

 ever. 



Of course the contributors to the work will 

 be given full credit for the aid they render. 

 Letters should be addressed to 



Cleveland Abbe, Jr. 



1441 Flokida Avenue, N. W., 

 Washington, D. C. 



amceb.e for the laboratory. 

 To THE Editor of Science: Just at this 

 season many teachers of zoology are looking 

 for Amcebae for their students, and as I remem- 

 ber well the difficulty that is often experienced 

 in securing them in considerable numbers and 

 of good size, I venture to give a very simple 

 method of obtaining them which I hit upon 

 accidentally two years ago and have found 

 highly satisfactory ever since; it is quite pos- 

 sible that this method is in use by others and 

 it may be that it has been recorded, but if so 

 it has escaped my notice. Two years ago 

 while examining soiine insect eggs which were 

 attached to the lily-pads- on a pond on my 



summer place, I noticed numerous amcebse. 

 So I suggested to my laboratory assistant the 

 following autumn that he get a considerable 

 number of lily-pads and remove the slime 

 which adheres to the under surface with a 

 spatula and put it in a shallow glass aquar- 

 ium containing water six or eight centi- 

 meters deep. This he did, placing the vessel 

 near a window, and in a week or two the 

 amcEbfe were very large and abundant on the 

 surface of the sediraent at the bottom of the 

 aquarium. We followed the same method this 

 year with equally satisfactory results, so that 

 I believe it to be as reliable as it is simple, 

 and I would strongly recommend it to any one 

 who has had trouble in securing this useful 

 animal. A. W. Weysse. 



Boston University. 



do ehizopods die a natural death ? 



To THE Editor of Science : In various works 

 on zoology and geology statements like the fol- 

 lowing are usually found, and, so far as I 

 know, have never been questioned : ' * * * jn 

 the oceans Globigerinse live in countless 

 numbers. Dying, their shells accumulate to 

 form thick layers on the ocean bottom.' 



We know that as a rule protozoa do not 

 die a natural death, as that teiin is used in 

 reference to higher animals. They subdivide 

 and we have two protozoa, these subdivide and 

 there are four, and so on to the end of time. 

 The fact that Globigerina3 protect themselves 

 with a shell which consists of a series of cham- 

 bers does not prevent them from withdrawing 

 from their shell for purposes of conjugation 

 and reproduction somewhat as do the diatoms. 

 I would be very much obliged if some reader 

 of. Science who has studied the habits of rhi- 

 zopods would answer the question, given above, 

 in the correspondence department of your 

 journal. L. 0. Wooster. 



Department or Biology and Geology, 

 State Normal School, Empokia, Kansas. 



BODY temperature. 



To THE Editor of Science: In Science for 

 September 9, Mr. Woods Hutchinson requests 

 references to articles dealing with body tem- 

 peratV-'-'e. If he has not already seen the vol- 



