RECORDS OF 2IEETIXGS 397 



Summary of Paper 



Professor Bose, of Presidency College, Calcutta, described and ex- 

 hibited the apparatus devised by him for recording the reactions of plants 

 to physical and chemical stimuli. Tlie movements of the leaves and 

 stems in response to stimuli are magnified by appropriate levers and elec- 

 trical devices and are recorded as undulations upon a revolving cylinder. 

 -Records of the physiological reactions called sleep, fatigue, shock, recovery 

 from shock and death were exhibited, as well as reactions to sunlight and 

 other stimuli. Several of these processes were also demonstrated upon 

 living plants. 



After the lecture the speaker was the guest of honor at a reception 

 given by the Academy, under the auspices of the Section of Biology. 



AYiLLiAM K. Gregory, 



Secretary. 



SECTIOX OF ANTHROPOLOGY A]\"D PSYCHOLOGY 



25 Jaxuary, 1915 



The Section met in conjunction with the American Ethnological So- 

 ciety, with Professor Franz Boas in the chair. The following programme 

 was then offered : 



John W. Chapman, The Medicixe-mex of Anvik, Alaska, axd 



YlCIXITY. 



Rev. Chapman, after sketching his personal observations of shaman- 

 istic practices, described some of the fundamental native theories under- 

 lying them. One method of foretelling the future is to go to the moon, 

 where the shaman meets his informants; another is to look into the 

 bottom of wooden bowls and there see, as in a vision, what is to come to 

 pass. The shamans enjoy a privileged position in native society. They 

 pretend to ward off danger from individuals and exact high fees in re- 

 turn. The office is not hereditary, but seems based on the conviction 

 becoming established that a certain man possesses extraordinary powers. 

 The intellectual atmosphere in which such a belief may thrive is char- 

 acterized by certain striking features. Honors and mortuary gifts are 

 regularly paid to the deceased. It was formerly the custom to remove a 

 corpse from the house through the smoke-hole rather than the usual exit. 

 There were a number of feasts, some of a purely social potlatch type, 

 others of a ceremonial character. One of these is noted for its panto- 

 mimic exhibitions. There is a belief in the survival of the soul after 



