506 



SCIENCE. 



1. The papers and slides for the competition should be 

 forwarded to Elmira in time to reach there before the' day 

 of the beginning of the next annual meeting, and should 

 be addressed : 



To the President of 

 The American Society of Microscopists, 



Care of the Elmira Microscopical Socieiy, Elmira, N. Y. 



2. The envelopes should bear in their upper left-hand 

 corner one of the enclosed labels, with some appropriate 

 name or device other than the name of the author. The 

 slides should bear the same label similarly marked (ten 

 labels are sent with each circular). 



3. Each paper should be accompanied by a sealed en- 

 velope bearing the same label and device, containing a 

 slip with the name of the author. 



4. The committee will be appointed on the first day 

 of the Elmira meeting, and the papers and slides put into 

 their hands. When they reach a decision, they will 

 make a public report, stating the name or device of the 

 successful paper. The sealed envelope bearing the same 

 will then be opened by the President, who will announce 

 the name of the successful author. 



Persons not now members, but who shall become so at 

 the Elmira meeting, are eligible as competitors for this 

 prize, and can obtain the necessary labels by making ap- 

 plication to the Secretary. 



It is hoped that several papers will be received in com- 

 petition for this prize which shall be found worthy of 

 publication in the Transactions, though only one, of 

 course, can receive the prize. The envelopes containing 

 the names of unsuccessful competitors will not be opened 

 except by permission of the authors, but will be des- 

 troyed by a committee appointed for that purpose. 



Dr. George E. Blackham, the present President of the 

 Society, has issued a stirring address to the members, and 

 makes some excellent suggestions to those who would by 

 their personal acting promote the success of the society. 



Professor D. S. Kellicott of 119 Fourteenth Street, 

 Buffalo, N. Y., is the Secretary of the Society. 



FOSSIL POLYZOA— NOMENCLATURE. 



In the second report of the committee consisting of 

 Prof. P. M. Duncan and Mr. G. R. Vine, appointed for 

 the purpose of reporting on Fossil Polyzoa, tor the Brit- 

 ish Association, the order is divided into three subdi- 

 visions. — 



1. Cheilostoma, Bark. - Cellcfiorina, Ehrenberg. 



2. Cyclostomata, ,, = Tabulipori?ia, Milne-Ed., 

 Hagenow, Johnston. 



3. Ctenostomata, ,, 



The following terms are used in this Report in descri- 

 bing the genera : — 



Zoarium. — " The composite structure formed by re- 

 peated gemmation " = Polyzoarium and Polypidom of 

 authors. 



Zocecium or cell. — " The chamber in which the Poly- 

 pide is lodged. 



Ccencecium. — " The common dermal system of a col- 

 ony." Applicable alike to the "Frond," or " Polyzoary," 

 of Fenestella, Polypora, Phyllopora, or Synocladia : or to 

 the associated Zooecia and their connecting " interstitial 

 tubuli," of Ceriopora, Hyphasmapora, and Archaeopora, 

 or species allied to these. 



Fenestrules. — The square, oblong, or partially 

 rounded openings in the zoarium — connected by non-ccl- 

 lular dissepiments — of Fenestella, Polypora, and species 

 allird to these. 



FENESTR/E applied to similar openings, whenever con- 

 nected by the general substance of the zoarium — as in 

 Phyllopora, Clathropora, and the Permian Synocladia. 



Branches. — The CELL-bearing portions of the zo- 

 arium of Glauconome, Fenestella, Polypora, or Syno- 

 cladia ; or the offshoots from the main stem of any spe- 

 cies. 



G0Nj<ECIUM,— " A modified zeaecium or cell, set apart 

 for the purposes of reproduction." 



Gonocyst. — " A n inflation of the surface of the zo- 

 arium in which the embryos are developed." Modern 

 terms from the Rev. Thos. Hincks. 



" PRESERVED VEGETABLES." 

 By Otto Hehner, F. I. C, F. C. S. 



When some time" ago public attention was forcibly 

 drawn to the occasional injurious effects of preserved 

 " canned " goods, I undertook a lengthy series of chemical 

 and physiological experiments to ascertain the cause cf 

 such poisonous action. The results having so far only 

 been communicated to professional chemists {The An- 

 alyst., vol. v., No. 57), I hope you will allow me, by way 

 of affirmation of the paragraph in The Lancet of Sep- 

 tember 24, to give a short summary of them, as I think 

 they may be of interest, and of some degree of impor- 

 tance, to medical readers. 



Very frequently the gastric disturbances traceable to 

 the consumption of preserved articles of food have been 

 assigned to traces of lead dissolved from the solder with 

 which the tins are closed, or present as impurity in the 

 metal with which the can is lined. Now, although the 

 occasional though very rare presence of lead in such ar- 

 ticles cannot be denied, the effects should be attributed to 

 the tin itself. Tin, even perfectly pure, is far more readily 

 attacked by food matters than is commonly supposed ; 

 it is to be found in comparatively large amounts in an over- 

 whelming majority of canned goods, irrespective of the 

 nature of the same. Acid fruits, such as peaches or 

 cherries, corrode the tins to an appalling extent; but even 

 meats, nay, condensed milk, dissolve and become con- 

 taminated with serious quantities of the metal. 



I base my observations upon the examination of the 

 following foods : — Vegetable : French asparagus, Ameri- 

 can asparagus, peas, tomatoes, peaches (three different 

 brands), pine apple (two kinds), white and red cherries, 

 and marmalade. Animal : Corned beef (five brands), ox 

 cheek, ox tongue (three kinds), collared head, tripe, 

 oysters, sardines in oil, salmon, salmon cutlets, lobster, 

 shrimps, curried fowl (two kinds), boiled rabbit, boiled 

 mutton, roast chicken, roast turkey, ox cheek soup, gravy 

 soup, sausages, condensed milk (three brands). 



With the exception of the sausages, the whole of the 

 samples contained more or less tin, many to such an ex- 

 tent that abundant reactions could be obtained from 

 two or three grammes of the vegetable substances ; 

 whilst of the animal foods one of the soups contained 

 thirty-five milligrammes, one of the condensed milks eight 

 milligrammes, and oysters forty-five milligrammes of tin 

 to the pound. 



Pure tin is readily attacked even by carbonic acid in 

 solution, all samples of soda-water or of other aerated 

 beverages which I have tested giving distinct tin reac- 

 tions. Aerated beverages are generally stated to be 

 liable to lead contamination, but seeing that lead does 

 not enter into the composition of any of the pipes or ves- 

 sels of the machines made by modern manufacturers, I 

 do not doubt but that the black coloration produced by 

 sulphuretted hydrogen in the beverage in question has 

 usually been erroneously attributed to lead, and is in 

 reality due to tin. Tin, in fact, prevents the lead pass- 

 ing into solution ; it completely precipitates the metal 

 from lead solutions, an equivalent quantity of tin being 

 taken up. 



The question arises, is tin, when taken into the system, 

 injurious to health or not ? Forensic literature does not 

 furnish a positive or satisfactory reply, but the follow- 

 ing experiments appear to me completely to settle the 

 point. 



A half-grown guinea-pig took with its ordinary food 

 seventy-five milligrammes of pure stannous hydrate in 



