884 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 545. 



the ton in the state of Louisiana has been 

 increased from 130 pounds to 170 pounds. 

 In the examination of road materials im- 

 portant contributions to technical chem- 

 istry have been made by this bureau. The 

 valuable studies on the dietetic value of 

 foods and on their adulterations, conducted 

 under the direction of Dr. Harvey Wash- 

 ington Wiley (1847- ) have not only 

 done much towards creating a demand for 

 the enactment of national legislation for 

 pure food, but they have also been praise- 

 worthy contributions to the application of 

 chemistry to sanitation. This bureau also 

 should receive recognition for its fostering 

 influence over the Association of Official 

 Agricultural Chemists, an organization 

 Avhieh has done so much to secure uniform 

 methods of analysis of fertilizers and of 

 foods.* 



To Henry Carrington Bolton (1843- 

 1903) is due the credit for the series of 

 bibliographies of the literature of the chem- 

 ical elements that have been published by 

 the Smithsonian Institution. His own 

 memory will always be worthily preserved 

 by the splendid 'Bibliography of Chem- 

 istry' in four octavo volumes, an important 

 section of each of which is devoted to tech- 

 nical chemistry. 



The records of the past give abundant 

 hope for the future. 



Marcus Benjamin. 

 U. S. National Museum. 



THE PHYSIOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE 

 CENTRAL BRANCH OF THE AMERICAN 

 SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS. 



A PHYSIOLOGICAL scction of the Central 

 Branch of the American Society of Nat- 

 uralists was organized and held enthusi- 

 astic meetings on March 31 and April 1 



* The literature issued by the Bureau of Chem- 

 istry is larf;e and includes nearly one hundred im- 

 portant bulletins and many minor circulars and 

 leaflets. 



during the recent meeting at Chicago. The 

 sectional meeting was called to order in 

 the Hull Physiological Laboratory and Pro- 

 fessor G. N. Stewart was chosen chairman. 

 The following papers were presented : 



Changes in the Percentage of Water in the 

 Central Nervous System of the White 

 Eat between Birth and Maturity: H. 

 H. Donaldson. 



Between birth and one year of age the 

 percentage of water in the brain of the 

 white rat falls from approximately 89 per 

 cent, to 77 per cent, and in the spinal cord 

 from 86 per cent, to 69 per cent. 



In the brain the rapid decrease occurs 

 during the first seventy days of life, while 

 in the cord this period is somewhat more 

 prolonged. 



Taking the converse change of increase 

 in solids, it is found that in both the brain 

 and the cord the solids increase more 

 rapidly than does the weight of the organ, 

 a relation probably dependent on the proc- 

 ess of medullation. 



In general, the percentage of water in 

 the central nervous system is verj' closely 

 correlated with the age of the animal, and 

 almost independent of its absolute body 

 weight. 



On the Presence of a Sulphur Compound 

 in Nerve Tissues: Waldemar Koch. 

 Kossel first called attention to the fact, 

 later confirmed by Cramer, that all prepa- 

 rations of protagon contained sulphur. 

 Thudichum isolated an impure barium salt 

 containing four per cent, of sulphur, which 

 he classed as a cerebrosulphatid. 



A comparison of the organically com- 

 bined sulphur (not proteid sulphur) pres- 

 ent in various tissues gives the following 

 result expressed in parts per million : 

 Spinal cord, 1,029 ; liver, 470 ; striated 

 muscle, 310; testicle, 209; submaxillary 

 gland, 135. These figures point very 



