APRIL, 1906. 
PROCEEDINGS. 
7 
The name of Mrs. Albert F. Gallun was proposed for membership, 
and she was subsequently elected by the board of directors. 
There being no other business, Dr. E. C. Case addressed the meet- 
ing on "The Ancestry of Dogs and Cats," dealing with the origin and 
differentiation of the various domesticated races from wild species. 
Dr. Case referred to the phytogeny of the Canidse and Felidae, 
showing the lines of divergence during past ages, more especially in 
relation to the skull and dentition. He also described the character- 
istics of a large number of varieties of dogs and cats and their wild 
relatives. The discussion was illustrated by stereopticon slides. 
March 29, 1906. 
Eegular monthly meeting. 
President Teller in the chair and about fifty persons present. The 
general secretary not being present, Mr. Carpenter was elected secre- 
tary pro tern. 
Miss Minna C. Denton, of the Milwaukee-Downer College, gave 
the talk of the evening on "The Work of Professor Jacques Loeb," a 
resume of some recent investigations concerning the physiology of 
the nervous system, and the artificial parthenogenetic development of 
animals. 
Professor Loeb's book, "Physiology of the Brain," elaborates and 
enforces the segmental-reflex theory as opposed to the centre-theory, 
i. e., emphasizes the independence of spinal centers and those in the 
lower brain, considers that the cerebral hemispheres are probably a 
mechanism developed for the purpose of associative memory, and dis- 
avows theories of localization of function in the cerebral cortex. 
The work in artificial parthenogenesis includes experiments with 
many Echinoderms, a number of Annelid worms, and several mollusks, 
in which the fertilizing agency was usually either an increase in con- 
centration of the sea-water, or the addition of some specific chemical 
substance. Experiments which resulted in the fertilization of the 
sea-urchin's egg by the sperm of various species of starfish, or of a 
Holothurian, were also mentioned. 
