Dre EMS A gy ce cr 
| 4 hi 
684 
missures begin asa single string, which forks ante- 
riorly to form the oesophageal ring. 
The muscular sack consists of an outer ring-muscle 
layer and an inner layer of longitudinal fibres. 
The blood-vessel system belongs to the latest for- 
mations. The dorsal vessel has, for the most part, 
an asymmetrical position, beginning on the dorsal 
side of the oesophagus, and running along the left 
side of the alimentary canal, to end in the region of 
the dorsally placed anus. 
During the metamorphosis the nephridial organs 
undergo a rapid transformation; the cilia and ciliated 
funnels ‘disappearing, and the looped portions being 
reduced to vesicles, 
In conclusion, Hatschek discusses the phylogenetic 
relationship of Sipunculus nudus with Phascolosoma 
and the annelids. Sipunculus agrees with the anne- 
lids in the formation of the germ-lamellae and the 
gastrula, in the origin of the mesoderm from two 
primary mesoblasts, in the splitting of the mesoblas- 
tic bands into a visceral and a parietal leaf, in the 
closure of the blastopore, and in the formation of 
the oesophagus at the point which marks the last 
portion of the blastopore to close, but differs in hav- 
ing an embryonic envelope, and especially in the ab- 
sence of any trace of metamerism. 
The larva has some characters in common with the 
Trochophora, which plays so important a réle in the 
worms and mollusks; but these are such as are gen- 
erally preserved, even after the Trochophora stage is 
passed. The points of agreement are, an ectoblastic 
stomodaeum and proctodaeum and entoblastic mes- 
enteron, and the head-plate (scheitelplatte) : the points 
of difference are, absence of a pre-oral ciliated band, 
weak development of the head in comparison with 
the body, the possession of a secondary body-cavity 
(coelom), and the absence of provisional head-kidneys 
and head-muscles. 
The absence of any sign of metamerism forms the 
most important objection to the derivation of the 
Sipunculidae from the annelids. 
Hatschek concludes that the class Gephyrea must 
be broken up, the Echiuridea forming a sub-order of 
the chaetopods, and the Sipunculidae allowed to 
stand in the place hitherto occupied by the Gephyrea, 
i.e,, next to the annelid class." C. O. WHITMAN. 
THE MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION IN WASH- 
INGTON. 
THE thirty-fifth annual session of the American 
medical association was held in Washington, D.C., 
early in May, beginning on the 6th, and closing on 
the morning of the 9th. 
The mornings were devoted to the transaction of 
routine business by the general association; and the 
afternoons, to the meetings of the different sections, 
the reading of papers, and the discussions resulting 
therefrom. 
The attendance of delegates was very large, the 
number registered exceeding thirteen hundred. The 
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SCIENCE. 
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[Vou. TEL, Nem: 
interest in’ the exercises was great, and the amount 
of work done may be favorably compared with that 
of any previous meeting of the association, A de- 
tailed criticism of the individual papers presented, 
or of the work done in preparation for them, would 
be out of place and impossible. The several authors 
will have full justice in the columns of the Journal 
of the association. A review of the meeting as a 
whole may be of interest, however, together with a 
consideration of some of the more important inci- 
dents which may bear fruit that will affect the com- 
munity at large. 
The first thing that will bear criticism is the enor- 
mous amount of material that was placed upon the 
programme. In the section for the ‘Practice of 
medicine,’ etc., besides the leading paper of the first 
afternoon, there were eight others ready for presen- 
tation on the same day. Inasmuch as the session 
did not begin until 2.380 p.m., there was, of course, 
no possibility of doing justice to all this work. The 
possibility of injustice, however, was very great, not 
only in the shortening of the discussions, which 
should be the most important part of the work, and 
which should form the channel for the presentation 
of new or original work by those taking part, but 
also in the non-presentation of some of the papers 
at all. This latter point is to be deplored, for the 
reason that any one who has once put himself to the 
trouble of preparation, only to suffer disappointment, 
is not likely to repeat the experiment in the future. 
Thus, the society may be deprived of the pleasure 
and profit to be derived from listening to men who 
may have results of importance to communicate. 
Another thing that should be put a stop to in the 
future, and this once for all, is the action of some 
of those who took part in the discussions, in reading 
from manuscript which could not, by the wildest 
stretch of the imagination, be considered as having 
been ‘notes,’ and which in many cases bore only 
the faintest relation to the subject in hand. An at- 
tempt in this way to present a paper where it. had 
no business to be, was fortunately defeated on the 
afternoon of the third day of the meeting; but this 
was the only instance of a protest upon the spot that 
we know of. The invitation to take part in a dis- 
cussion should be declined, if the recipient does not 
feel himself sufficiently well equipped to speak in 
any but this cut and dried fashion. The idea of a 
discussion, it should be needless to state, is to call 
out the individual opinions of participants, and not 
to afford an opportunity for the introduction of 
papers not on the programme. 
A resolution urging the various medical schools of 
the country to adopt a higher standard for gradua- 
tion was passed, and should be of interest to all who 
are concerned about the medical attendance upon 
their families. If this action should bear fruit, it 
alone would be enough for the association to have 
accomplished at one meeting. The loose manner in 
which so many of the schools of the country grant 
their diplomas, and the ill effects of such action, can 
only be fully appreciated by the medical profession 
itself. Every member of society, however, is, or 
