678 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 516. 



tis Beer, which draws the lens toward the 

 retina. In amphibia and most snakes, the 

 lens is moved toward the cornea away from 

 the retina by changes of the intra-ocular pres- 

 sure. 



2. Preliminary communication on the com- 

 position of the liver after subcutaneous in- 

 jections of liver extracts. P. A. Levene 

 and L. B. Stookey. 



Rabbits were treated with saline liver ex- 

 tracts. The autolytic powers of the livers 

 of such animals were compared with the auto- 

 lytic powers of livers from normal anim.als, 

 and were found to be undiminished. The 

 livers of the treated animals contained smaller 

 proportions of nitrogen, but larger proportions 

 of non-coagulable proteids, of non-basic nitro- 

 gen and of ethereal extract, than the livers of 

 the control rabbits. Water and carbohydrate 

 contents were unaffected by the treatment. 



3. Betransformation of negatively heliotropic 

 animals {Gammarus pulex) into positively 

 heliotropic animals hy chemical means. 

 Jacques Loeb. (Presented by Simon Flex- 



NER.) 



Professor Loeb recently succeeded in find- 

 ing an instance of the transformation, by 

 chemical means, of the sense of heliotropism 

 in animals. He has observed that if one 

 puts suddenly a large number of Gammarus 

 pulex into distilled water or into common 

 tap water, they all become at first very nega- 

 tively heliotropic. These negatively helio- 

 tropic animals can be transformed instantly 

 into positively heliotropic animals by the fol- 

 lowing substances : (1) many of the anesthet- 

 ics of the fatty series ; (2) many acids, except 

 very weak ones like boric acid; (3) certain 

 salts, like ammonium salts. The strengths of 

 solution which effect this change instantly are, 

 for example, ethyl acetate, m/50; ether, m/6; 

 ethyl alcohol, 5/2m ; paraldehyd, m/10 ; hy- 

 drochloric, oxalic and acetic acids, m/500; 

 boric acid, m/10; ammonium chlorid and 

 ammonium hydroxid, m/125. Professor Loeb 

 ascribes his results to chemical actions rather 

 than to osmotic influences. 



4. Trypanosomes and hird malaria. P. G. 

 NovY and W. J. MacNeal. (Presented by 

 Gary N. Calkins.) 



Two genera of malarial parasites were 

 studied — Plasmodium and Hcemoproteus — and 

 four new species were distinguished, viz., 

 Plasmodium Vaughani, Hcemoproteus Mac- 

 Callumi, H. Sacliarovi and H. Bouxii. The 

 first is found in robins, the second and third 

 in mourning doves, the fourth in sparrows. 



The culture method is the best means of 

 differentiating Trypanosomes as well as for 

 detecting them in the blood. 



Schaudinn's contention that Halteridium 

 forms are but sexual phases of Trypanosoma 

 is not confirmed, but, on the contrary, evi- 

 dence is accumulated against it. For ex- 

 ample, the culture method shows the existence 

 at one time and in one culture of forms which 

 Schaudinn described as Halteridium and as 

 Spirochceta or Danilewsky's ' leucocytozoon.' 

 One possibility of error in Schaudinn's re- 

 sults is that he worked with ' mixed cultures ' 

 in the mosquito. 



5. The gradual decrease in bacteria of the pro- 

 duction of agglutinahle suistance. William 

 H. Park. 



Dr. Park observed a diminution and finally 

 almost A complete lack of development of 

 agglutinahle substance in bacteria grown in 

 a serum rich in agglutinins and immune 

 bodies. This observation is interesting both 

 as showing a rapid variation in bacteria of 

 essential characteristics and as possibly indi- 

 cating one means of adapting themselves to 

 resist destruction in the living body, since the 

 bacteria which cease to produce agglutinahle 

 substance and probably, also, less substance 

 with affinity for other anti-bodies, might be 

 considered less vulnerable to these substances. 

 Dr. Park's explanation of the process is that 

 there are substances in the serum which at- 

 tack certain parts of the bacteria, such as the 

 agglutinahle substance. With the increase of 

 bacteria in the serum, those which produce 

 the least of these substances are least inhib- 

 ited and therefore develop most rapidly. When 

 cultures are made from serum solution to 

 serum solution daily, a gradual differentia- 

 tion takes place until finally bacilli producing 

 almost no agglutinahle substance develop. 



6. Some Mendelian results in animal breeding. 

 C. B. Davenport. 



