950 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No 285. 



New York, The Macmillan Company. 1900. Part 

 IV, pp. viii + 354-530, plates xxxiv-liii. 21s. 

 Biological Lectures from the 3Iarine Biological Labo- 

 ratory at Woods Eoll, 1S99. Boston, Ginn & Com- 

 pany. 1900. Pp. 282. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The American Naturalist for May, opens with 

 a detailed account of ' Marine Biology at Beau- 

 fort,' by H. V. Wilson, calling attention to the 

 advantages of this locality as a field of research. 

 J. G. Needham describes ' The Fruiting of the 

 Blue Flag {Iris versicolor L.)' noting the ef- 

 fect of civilization in altering its environment. 

 Chas. W. Hargitt presents ' A Contribution to 

 the Natural History and Development of Pen- 

 naria tiarella McCr.' and E. W. Shufeldt re- 

 views ' The Ornithological Results of the Polar 

 Expedition under Dr. Nansen.' The ninth 

 part of ' Synopses of North-American Inverte- 

 brates ' is by Nathan Banks, and is devoted to 

 'The Scorpions, Solpugids and Pedipalpi.' 

 There are numerous reviews of recent litera- 

 ture. 



Bird Lore for June has for its leading article, 

 a comparison of ' Song Birds in Europe and 

 America' by Robert Ridgway, which is very 

 favorable to our native birds. William L. 

 Baily describes 'The Kingfisher's Home-Life,' 

 with illustrations of the young at dififerent ages, 

 and Laura G. Page has an article on ' Swallows 

 and Feathers. ' Florence Merriam Bailey tells 

 ' How to Conduct Field Classes,' and there is a 

 notice of the course of ' Bird Study at Wood's 

 Holl Marine Biological Laboratory.' There are 

 some interesting notes, and in the Audubon 

 Department an important agreement of the 

 members of the Millinery Merchants Protective 

 Association regarding the importation, manu- 

 facture and sale of North American birds, by 

 which the Association agrees not to use any 

 more North American birds after the stock on 

 hand is exhausted, in return for which the Au- 

 dubon Society and Ornithologists Union are to 

 do everything in their power to prevent the 

 passage of laws interfering with the manufac- 

 ture and sale of ornaments made from the 

 plumage of barnyard fowl, edible birds, game 

 in season and foreign birds. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADE3IIES. 



THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 



At the meeting of the Academy of Science of 

 St. Louis on the evening of May 23, 1900, the 

 following subjects were presented : 



A paper by Dr. Adolf Alt, entitled ' Original 

 contributions concerning the glandular struc- 

 tures appertaining to the human eye and its 

 appendages,' was presented by title. 



Dr. M. A. Goldstein read a paper on ' The 

 physiology of voice production,' in which he 

 discussed three essential factors in the produc- 

 tion of voice : the motor force, the organ of 

 sound, and the resonators. The essential fea- 

 tures presented may be summarized as follows : 

 (1) All elements carefully considered, the best 

 form of breathing applicable to voice produc- 

 tion and singing is the rational combination of 

 the costal with the diaphragmatic type. Re- 

 serve force in breathing is best attained by deep 

 inspiration, fixation of the distended diaphragm 

 and thorax, and control of these muscles while 

 tone is produced. (2) To facilitate vocaliza- 

 tion, the larynx should never be tightly con- 

 tracted by the muscles of the throat, especially 

 in the production of the registers. (3) On the 

 resonating cavities, their proper conformation 

 and position in relation to the vibrating cords 

 and larynx, depend the quality and timbre of 

 the voice, so that the careful and proper plac- 

 ing of tones is perhaps the most essential factor 

 in voice production. 



Professor F. E. Nipher read a short commu- 

 nication on the zero photographic plate, to which 

 reference was made at the meeting of May 7th, 

 and in his paper published as Vol. X., No. 6, 

 of the Academy's Transactions. 



The zero plate is one upon which a photo- 

 graphic image has been made, but which will 

 develop no image in a bath placed in light of 

 given candle power, at a distance of one meter 

 from the source. For example, if the develop- 

 ing bath is twenty centimeters from a sixteen 

 candle lamp, a Cramer isochromatic plate, such 

 as is called 'instantaneous,' held for ninety 

 seconds at a distance of one meter from the 

 lamp, will be a zero plate. With an opaque 

 stencil over the plate when placed in a printing 

 frame, during the exposure, there will develop 

 a positive of holes through the stencil, if the 



