952 



SCIENCE. 



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



Dr. Curtis drew attention to tlie irritation of 

 the mucous membrane of the bladder and 

 urethra caused by drinking too freely of cocoa- 

 nut milk. Dr. Gies, in answer to a question, 

 stated that the food content of the cocoanut is 

 small. 



' The significance of Carbohydrates in Mus- 

 cle,' by Frederic S. Lee and C. C. Harrold. 



This work is a continuation of the senior 

 author's study of the nature and causes of mus- 

 cle fatigue. Of the two supposed causes of 

 fatigue, loss of substance necessary to contrac- 

 tion and poisoning by so-called fatigue products, 

 the present work deals with the former. It is 

 well known that the drug phlorhizin causes the 

 removal of the carbohydrates from an organism 

 to which it is administered. The authors find 

 that it-induces decided evidences of fatigue in 

 the muscles of fasting cats. A well phlorhizin- 

 ized muscle is comparable to a normal muscle 

 in the late stages of fatigue. This effect seems 

 to be due, not to a specific action of the drug 

 on the protoplasm of the muscle cells, but to 

 the loss of carbohydrate from the muscle. 

 This conclusion is rendered probable by the 

 fact that when an animal has been put well 

 under the influence of phlorhizin, the admin- 

 istration of sugar (dextrose) counteracts the 

 effect of the drug, removes the evidences of 

 fatigue and restores the muscle. It seems 

 probable that the loss of carbohydrate is an 

 important factor in the early stages of muscle 

 fatigue. 



Incidently some observations on rigor mortis 

 have been made. A muscle well under the in- 

 fluence of phlorhizin may begin to go into 

 rigor five minutes after death and rigor is com- 

 plete very early. This confirms the conclusions 

 of others that there is a close connection be- 

 tween rigor and carbohydrate. A muscle irri- 

 gated with dextrose is capable of giving fully as 

 many contractions as, or even more than, a 

 normal muscle without dextrose. 



The election of sectional officers resulted in 

 the appointment of Professor C. L. Bristol, of 

 the New York University, as Chairman, and 

 Professor F. E. Lloyd, of Teachers College, as 

 Secretary for the ensuing year. 



F. E. Lloyd, 



Secretary. 



TOEEEY BOTANICAL CLUB. 



At the meeting of Wednesday, April 25, 

 1900, the paper of the evening was by Mr. 

 David Griflfiths, 'Some Saprophytic Fungi. ' Mr. 

 Griffiths described the mechanical devices em- 

 ployed by the genera of the Pyrenomycetes for 

 the distribution of their spores. The genera 

 described with reference to this point were 

 Podospora, Sordaria, Deletschia, and Sporomia. 



In Podospora the ascus elongates to the apex 

 of the perithecium, where it is ruptured and 

 the spores are scattered. 



The genus Sordaria distributes its spores in 

 the same manner but with a definite point at 

 which the ascus ruptures. 



The methods of ejection in the case of the 

 other two genera, are very similar, except in 

 the details of the rupture of the internal mem- 

 brane of the ascus ; here the membrane elon- 

 gates instead of the ascus itself. 



The meeting of Tuesday, May 5, 1900, was 

 held in the lecture hall of the Museum building 

 at the New York Botanical Garden, with a lec- 

 ture by Dr. M. A. Howe, on 'The Hepaticse.' 

 The term Hepaticee was used in a restricted 

 sense, excluding the Anthocerotes. 



After a few introductory remarks in regard to 

 the position occupied by the Hepaticse in the 

 vegetable kingdom, the speaker reviewed the 

 life-history of a few of the typical forms, the 

 principal details of structure being exhibited by 

 aid of lantern slides. The slides also showed 

 the habit characters of various local species and 

 of some from the Pacific coast. 



Though the Hepaticse are on the whole incon- 

 spicuous, and attract little attention except from 

 the botanical specialist, they are nevertheless 

 extremely diversified in structure and often very 

 beautiful in form. Their chief interest, how- 

 ever, to the naturalist lies in the fact that many 

 of them throw light upon questions concerning 

 the evolution of the plant world. The first 

 plants, without doubt were purely aquatic in 

 habit of life. The Hepaticse, though favoring 

 moist situations as a class, range from species 

 which are wholly aquatic to those which have 

 become adapted to quite arid conditions. 



As a group they may be considered to be the 

 lowest of the chlorophyll-bearing land plants. 

 J. K. Small, 

 Sec''y Pro. Tern. 



