426 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 272. 



work them over into more popular form, with 

 the inevitable errors, inaccuracies and misrep- 

 resentations wliich characterize such produc- 

 tions. Professor MacMillan has wisely chosen 

 to supply his own popular edition. 



Chaelbs E. Bessey. 

 Thk University of Nebraska. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The American Naturalist for February has for 

 its first article a paper by Henry Fairfield Os- 

 born on ' The Angulation of the Limbs of Pro- 

 boscidia, Dinocerata and other Quadrupeds in 

 Adaptation to Weight.' Stephen E. Williams 

 discusses ' The Specific Gravity of some Fresh 

 Water Animals in Relation to their Habits, De- 

 velopment and Composition,' the conclusion 

 being that the movements of an animal are 

 closely related to its density and this in turn to 

 its food habits. Carl H. Eigenmann and George 

 Daniel Shafer describe ' The Mosaic of Single 

 and Twin Cones in the Retina of Fishes,' 

 Thomas H. Montgomery has a ' Note on the 

 Genital Organs of Zaitha,' and Maynard M. 

 Metcalf in ' Willey on the Enteropneusta ' 

 directs attention to some of that author's far- 

 reaching theoretical conclusions. The ' Synop- 

 ses of North American Invertebrates' are again 

 continued, Mary J. Rathbun contributing the 

 seventh part on the Cyclometopous or Cancroid 

 Crabs. The balance of the number is occupied 

 with reviews of recent literature. 



In The Osprey for February, Paul Bartsch 

 continues his 'Birds of the Road,' and under 

 'Esthetic Birds' is given Beccari's account of 

 the Gardener Bird of New Guinea. Eugene S. 

 Rolfe presents ' Nesting Notes on the Waders 

 of the Devil's Lake Region,' and W. E. Clyde 

 Todd has an excellent article on ' The Require- 

 ments of aFaunal List,' while Philo W. Smith, 

 Jr., describes the ' Nesting of Stephen's Whip- 

 poor-will.' The editor contributes some valuable 

 comments on ' The Origin of the Hawaiian 

 Fauna,' and there are some interesting letters 

 and notes. 



The Journal of the Boston Society of the Medical 

 Sciences for January 16th, has for its leading 

 article a paper by Theobald Smith on 'Varia- 

 tion among Pathogenic Bacteria,' a subject to 



which Dr. Smith has paid particular attention 

 for many years. As he states, on the one hand 

 the element of variability has been overlooked, 

 and on the other hand the tendency to concede 

 to bacteria any degree of variability, has given 

 rise to theories which leave but little impor- 

 tance to pathogenic bacteria in the aetiology of 

 disease. The writer concludes that since new 

 disease germs are not constantly appearing the 

 inference is that most species cannot adapt 

 themselves to a parasitic existence. Mark W. 

 Richardson has a note 'On the Cultivation of 

 the Typhoid Bacillus from Rose Spots'; E. W. 

 Taylor describes a case of ' Gumma of the Ob- 

 longata,' remarkable for the location and size 

 of the tumor, and James H. Wright notes ' A 

 Simple Method for Anaerobic Cultivation in 

 Fluid Media.' 



A Revue des revues d''histoire naturelle has 

 been established at Paris under the direction of 

 MM. Coupin and de Courdirban. It is pub- 

 lished bi-monthly. 



Dr. a. S. Eakle, assistant in mineralogy at 

 the University Museum, has become the Amer- 

 ican editor for Groth's Zeitschrift fiir Krystallo- 

 graphie. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OP SCIENCES. 



SECTION OF BIOLOGY. 



At the meeting of February 12, 1900, pre- 

 sided over by Professor Bashford Dean, the fol- 

 lowing program was offered : 



J. A. BlacGregor, ' On the Development of 

 the Skull in Ceratodus.' 



F. B. Sumner, 'Kupfer's Vesicle in Relation 

 to Gastrulation and Concrescence.' 



G. S. Huntington, 'Some Muscle Variations 

 of the Pectoral Girdle.' 



J. H. MacGregor gave a brief preliminary 

 report on the development of the skull in Cera- 

 todus, the Australian lung-flsh. The research 

 was made conjointly with Professor Bashford 

 Dean. 



Only the early stages of the chondrocranium 

 have as yet been studied ; but it is noteworthy 

 that these early stages show even closer re- 

 semblance to the amphibian skull than does the 

 adult. The suspensorium is autostylic from the 



