632 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 356. 



17. ' Laws of Adaptive Radiation ' : 

 Henry F. Osborn. 



18. ' Potential, Latent or Parallel Homol- 

 ogy as distinguished from Phyletic or De- 

 rivative Homology (illustrated by Models) ': 

 Henry F. Osborn. 



19. 'The Phylogenetic Relations of the 

 Simple Vertebrates ': Howard Ayres. 



21. ' A Study of the Variations in Synipet- 

 Tum rubicundula Say and S. obtrusa Hagen ' : 

 Morton J. Elrod, University of Montana. 



These two species of Odonata are sepa- 

 rated from each other on the relative sizes 

 of the divisions of the bifid hamule, those 

 having a little more than the apical third 

 bifid being classed as rabicundula, those 

 having the genital hamule with a fourth 

 bifid being classed as obtrusa. The observa- 

 tions are based on the study of 394 speci- 

 mens, from Maine to Montana, 223 being 

 males. The aim of the author is to deter- 

 mine if the relative portions of the bifid 

 hamule are a constant factor, and to deter- 

 mine if there are other factors that may be 

 used for separation of the species. 



Sixteen tables of figures are given, show- 

 ing the variations observed in the fore and 

 hind wings of both males and females, the 

 length of males and females, the number of 

 ante-cubitals, postcubitals and cross ner- 

 vures of the fore and hind wings of the right 

 and left sides of both males and females, 

 the length of hamule of males, the relative 

 widths of the bifid portions of the males, 

 and the vulvar lamina of the females. The 

 results of the measurements are as follows : 

 The antecubitals and postcubitals are very 

 irregular in number. There is a high per- 

 centage of both males and females of both 

 species with five antecubitals on the hind 

 wings. The antecubitals are much more 

 constant than the postcubitals. The females 

 show greater variation than the males. 

 The left side shows greater variation than 

 the right. The antecubitals on fore wings 

 vary from six to nine, on hind wings from 



four to seven. Postcubitals on fore wangs 

 vary from five to ten, and on hind wings 

 from five to eleven. The males have more 

 cross nervures than the females. Three- 

 fourths of all the specimens have a less 

 number of cross nervules on one wing than 

 on the other. There is great variation 

 in the length of the hamules. The com- 

 parison of the bifid portions of the ham- 

 ules does not justify the separation into two 

 species. There is no appreciable difference 

 in the wings or length of body of the two 

 species. No differences of consequence 

 could be observed in the vulvar laminae of 

 the females. The two species should be re- 

 duced to one, S. rubicundula Say, and a new 

 description of the species written, which de- 

 scription is given in the paper. The va- 

 riety assimilata is retained. 



22. ' Further Studies in the Geograph- 

 ical Variation of lo' : Chas. C. Adams, 

 Zoological Department University of 

 Chicago, Chicago. 



23. ' A Preliminary Statement of the Al- 

 kalinity of the Blood in Infections and the 

 Infusion of Salts derived from Horses' Blood 

 as a Therapeutic Measure ' : A. Emil 

 ScHMiTT, New York City. 



Based on the premises that the degree of 

 alkalinity in the blood of certain species of 

 lower animals, as horse, dog and cat, is 

 greater than that in man, and that it is a 

 causative factor in their immunity, and also 

 that the alkalinity of the blood in man is 

 reduced in the infections, and that by the 

 infusion of alkaline solutions this can be 

 increased and the infection thus overcome, 

 the writer suggests the use of the salts de- 

 rived from the horses' blood-ash and re- 

 ports cases of puerperal septicsemia and 

 cerebro-spinal meningitis thus treated. The 

 views on the question of alkalinity are sus- 

 tained by a number of authors, and the ad- 

 vantage accruing from the use of the salts 

 derived from horses' blood-ash are set forth 

 and compared with the prepared solutions of 



