March 17, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



425 



most exhaustive, authoritative and generally 

 excellent treatise upon its subject which has 

 yet appeared, and that it must form the 

 foundation-work for all future studies upon 

 matters connected with peat-moors. 



W. F. Ganong. 



SCIENTIFIC JOCRyALS AXD ARTICLED. 



The January number of the Botanical 

 Gazelle contains a paper by Kodney H. True 

 and C. S. Oglevee giving the results of studies 

 on the effect of such insoluble substances as 

 sand, starch grains, filter paper, etc., upon the 

 toxic action of electrolyte and non-electrolyte 

 poisons in aqueous solution. It appears that 

 the insoluble body adsorbs the poison solute, 

 thus diminishing the effective concentration of 

 the latter as though it were taken out of solu- 

 tion. — Burton E. Livingston describes the 

 types of soil and of vegetation in the north- 

 central part of the southern peninsula of Mich- 

 igan (Roscommon and Crawford counties), 

 and discusses the influence which the soil has 

 in determining the distribution of the various 

 plant societies. He concludes that the amount 

 of soil moisture, determined largely by fineness 

 of soil particles, is the main controlling factor 

 here. — A. D. E. Elmer describes a number of 

 new and noteworthy Californian plants. — 

 Edgar W. Olive discusses the morphology of 

 Monascus pin-pureiis, taking up the accounts 

 of Barker and Ikeno and giving certain results 

 of his own observations. — B. M. Davis dis- 

 cusses fertilization in Saprolegniales based 

 upon a recent paper by Trow; and also the 

 sexual organs and sporophyte of Khodophycefe 

 based upon a recent paper by Wolfe. 



37ie Journal of Nervous and Mental Dis- 

 ease for January opens with a paper by Dr. 

 F. X. Dercum, giving an exhaustive and care- 

 ful report of three cases, one being illustrated, 

 which bear upon the question of the relation 

 of syphilis to spastic spinal paralysis and also 

 indirectly upon the question of Erb's form of 

 spinal syphilis. Dr. S. D. Ludlum contributes 

 an article on the ' Possible Relationship of 

 Neuro-fibrillar Changes to Insanity.' 'He 

 summarizes the literature bearing on the sub- 

 ject, and reports a series of experiments con- 



ducted at Friends' Asylum which leads to the 

 hypothesis of a close relationship between 

 fibrils and mental manifestations. An inter- 

 esting case of tumor of the occipital lobe with 

 an unusual clinical history is reported by Dr. 

 Philip Zenner; also one of carcinoma of the 

 spine following carcinoma of the breast, the 

 spinal disease being characterized by a phe- 

 nomenally long course, possibly due to re- 

 moval of the ovaries some four years before 

 the patient's death. The October meetings of 

 the ISTew York Neurological Society and the 

 Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology 

 are reported. The ' Periscope ' for the month 

 contains abstracts of the following journals : 

 Monatsschrift fiir Psychiatrie und Neurologie, 

 Brain, Neurologisches Centralhlatt, Revue de 

 Psychiatrie et de Psychologic Experimentale, 

 Centralhlatt fiir Nervenheilkunde und Psy- 

 chiatrie, American Journal of Insanity, Jour- 

 nal de Neurologie, Archives de Neurologie, 

 and selected articles from miscellaneous 

 periodicals. The books reviewed in this num- 

 ber are ' Epilepsy and its Treatment,' by Dr. 

 W. P. Spratling; 'La Mimica del Pensiero 

 Studi e Ricerche,' by Dr. Sante de Sanctis; 

 two volumes of ' The Doctor's Recreation 

 Series,' edited by C. W. Moulton ; ' Manuel 

 pour I'Etude des Maladies du Systeme Ner- 

 veux,' by Dr. Maurice de Fleury ; ' A Manual 

 of Psychology,' by G. F. Stout; ' Trattato 

 delle IMalattie Mentali,' by Professor E. Tanzi ; 

 ' Lehrbuch der Nervenkrankheiten fiir Aerzte 

 und Studierende,' by Professor H. Oppen- 

 heim ; ' Essentials of Nervous Diseases and 

 Insanity,' by Dr. J. C. Shaw ; ' Nietzsche,' by 

 P. J. Mobius; 'Mental Defectives, their His- 

 tory, Treatment and Training,' by Dr. M. W. 

 Barr, and ' The Physician's Visiting List for 

 1905-1906.' The issue closes with two pages 

 of ' News and Notes.' 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

 SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 



At the meeting of the section held on Feb- 

 ruary 6 the following papers were read by 

 title : 



Moissanite , a Carhon Silicide from the Canon 

 Diablo Meteorite: George F. Kunz. 



