6%, all adults and destitute of superstitious beliefs about darkness, still have these fears when in the dark or in a closed space. (3) Blind children dread the night and, if they are to go about, desire companions. The reaction here may be due to stillness or loneliness; and one person so reports. (4) Twilight hour is loved in 273 cases; shunned in 79, and indifferent in 32. Preference among whites was to be alone, while 80% of the returns for negroes showed desire for company. "The sentiments typical at sunset, given in order of their numerical importance, are moral and religious aspirations, sadness, loneliness, rest, awe and reverence, quiet and thoughtfulness, peace, gladness, regret, sorrow and longing." (5) Of 291 adults 197 had personal experience of the exhilarating effect of artificial light-results that agreed with observations upon 32 children. The amount of this effect varies from a slight increase in mental and physical activity to cases of actual abandon. No effect had been noticed by 62 adults. (6) Entering shade is followed by depression of spirit; entering sunlight rouses cheerful feeling. The blind are susceptible to these sudden changes, but not to the change from day to night. The direction of suceptibility is not stated. (7) The effects of a longer period of gloom appears in the poorer quality of mental work and its smaller quantity. So it seems to be with the blind. GREELY, the Arctic traveler, noted among his men insomnia, irritability, gloom, and indisposition to exertion as the winter wore on, leading to symptoms of mental disturbance more serious. Thermal effects must not be forgotten though where these differed widely, as in STANLEY'S march through the great forest in Africa, this traveler noted similar reactions among his company, and the strong revulsion of feeling on passing its confines. (8) The following examples of children's phototropisms are frequently given they play on the sunny side of the room or the street, disregard heat or cold to play in sunshine, babies creep toward the sun, children are always happier and more active in sunshine. (9) This reaction at times becomes negative, apparently under conditions of fatigue. A child tired and sleepy with play in the sun usually craves the opposite condition for sleep. Travelers in lands of brilliant sunshine often rereport this as becoming positively painful. Thermal effects here probably offer complications, though GREELY found insomnia and restlessness consequent upon the long Arctic day. even The richness of the fancies woven about light and darkness is taken as significant in favor of the theory of recapitulation. The value of such evidence ought to be questioned in view of the complicating effects of social heredity. The general character of the evidence upon which this article is based is two-fold: reports of individuals about themselves and about others under their observation. Upon the second sort depend the chief facts in 6 to 9 above, and part of 5, as well as largely the facts about the blind. To what extent this evidence is memory generalized does not appear. Original data are given merely for illustration. Zwaardemaker, H. CHARLES T. BURNETT. Eine bis jetzt unbekannt gebliebene Eigenschaft des Geruchssinnes. Arch. f. (Anat. u.) Physiol., Jahrg. 1904, Heft. 1-2, pp. 42-48, 1904. Shows that if there is a periodical breaking of the air column within the nasal cavity (produced by alternate inspirations and expirations) an intermittent olfactory sensation results. If the air column is broken periodically outside the nasal cavity (i. e., in the olfactometer tube) a continuous olfactory sensation results. R. P. Cramer, W. On Protagon, Cholin and Neurin. Jour. Physiol., XXXI, pp. 30-37, 1904. Physiological chemistry of the brain. R. P. Zwaardemaker, H. und Quix, F. H. Ueber die Empfindlichkeit des menschlichen Ohres für Töne verschiedener Höhe. Arch f. (Anat. u.) Physiol., Jahrg. 1904, Heft. 1-2, pp. 25-42, 1904. Muskens, L. J. J. Ueber eine eigenthümliche compensatorische Augenbewegung der Octopoden mit Bemerkungen über deren Zwangsbewegungen. Arch. f. (Anat. u ) Physiol., Jahrg. 1904, Heft. 1-2, pp. 49-56, 1904. Stuart, T. P. A. The Function of the Hyaloid Canal and some other New Points in the Mechanism of the Accommodation of the Eye for Distance. Jour. Physiol., XXXI, pp. 38-48, 1904. Arch. d. zool. exper. et Cold Delage, Y. Sur les mouvements de torsion de l'oeil. The present paper consists of an anatomical description of the beach flea, and an account of studies of its ethology. Breeding, moult. ing, habitat, burrowing, locomotion, phototropism, food and feeding, relation to water, and movements are in turn briefly considered in the light of observations made in nature or in the laboratory by the author. Review space does not permit the presentation of the facts of this in teresting paper, and it must therefore suffice to call attention to the importance, as a preparation for experimental work, of the study of an organism with respect to its habitat and behavior in its natural envi ronment. R. M. Y. Wheeler, W. M. A Crustacean-eating Ant (Leptogenys elongata Buckley). Biol, Bull., Vol. VI, pp. 251-259, 1904. WHEELER finds that under natural conditions the food of Leptogenys elongata consists very largely, if not exclusively, of the isopods Oniscus and Armadillidium. This is the only ant known to show so marked a preference for crustacean food; the other members of the same genus appear to feed for the most part upon termites. The males of L. elongata are winged, but the females are apterous, in appearance much resembling the workers. How the fertilization of the females takes place is thus an interesting question. Of course a nuptial flight is precluded by the wingless condition of the females, and WHEELER considers it improbable that the males of one nest find their way into other nests and so fertilize the females there. If the females are fertilized by the males of the same colony, the author points out that this would be a most flagrant case of imbreeding, so it seems reasonable to suppose that the females issue from the nest at night as pedestrians and in this way meet the males of other nests, as the latter also go forth at night. The males are said to be "highly heliotactic." L. J. COLE. Marshall, Wm. S. The Marching of the Larva of the Maia Moth, Hemileuca maia. Biol. Bull., Vol. VI, pp. 260-265, 1904. A number of rather desultory experiments were made upon the marching columns of the recently hatched caterpillars of Hemiluca maia. It was found that when the leading caterpillar of a line was removed the procession was stopped and the larvæ gathered into a bunch. In nine out of twenty-one experiments the original leader when returned again took the lead and the line followed; in the other eleven cases a new leader took the place of the one removed. No general conclusions are drawn. L. J. COLE. Adams, Chas. C. The Migration Route of Kirtland's Warbler Michigan Ornith. Club, Vol. V, pp. 14-21, 1904. Bulletin A study of the migration routes of this warbler, with maps and suggestions of conditions which influence migration. R. M. Y. Ritter, Wm. E. and Davis, B. M. Studies on the Ecology, Morphology and Speciology of the Young of Some Enteropneusta of Western North America. University of California Publications-Zoology., Vol. 1, pp. 171 210, Pls. 17-20, 1901. The ecological portion of this report is concerned chiefly with the movements of tornaria, and the conditions which determine them. The organisms swim upward in the water because of a difference in specific gravity of the two ends. There is no satisfactory evidence of the importance of temperature or light in the orientation of the organisms. The stroke of the cilia is invariable in direction. R. M. Y. Ritter, Wm. E. Further Notes on the Habits of Autodax Lugubris. American Naturalist, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 883-886, 1903. This salamander lays its eggs in cavities in trees. The paper is an interesting contribution to our knowledge of the breeding habits: Fisher, Walter K. On the Habits of the Laysan Albatross. pp. 6-20, pls. II-VIII, Jan., 1904. R. M. Y. The Auk, XXI, This article gives an interesting account of the breeding habits of the birds, illustrated by excellent photographs, especially of a peculiar dance in which two or three birds take part. WALLACE CRAIG. Oldys, Henry. The Rhythmical Song of the Wood Pewee. The Auk, XXI, pp. 270-274, Apr., 1904. The author here adds a little to his very suggestive article on "Parallel Growth of Bird and Human Music" in Harper's Magazine, CV, pp. 474-476, Aug. 1902. WALLACE CRAIG. Webster, F. M. Studies of the Life History, Habits and Taxonomic Relations of a New Species of Obera (Obera ulmicola Chittenden). Bulletin Illinois State Laboratories Natural History, Vol. VII, pp. 1-14, 1904. This paper contains several interesting facts concerning the natural history of the insect. R. M. Y. Comparative Neurology and Psychology Volume XIV 1904 Number 5 RETROGRADE DEGENERATION IN THE CORPUS CALLOSUM OF THE WHITE RAT. By S. WALTER RANSON. (From the Neurological Laboratory of the University of Chicago and the Anatomical Laboratory of St. Louis University.) With Plate VII SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE. It was maintained by WALLER (6) and those who immediately followed him that the end of the nerve fiber attached to the cell body did not degenerate as the result of section of the fiber. Evidence has, however, been steadily accumulating to show that this view is incorrect. The facts bearing on this point have been brought together by FLEMING (1), KLIPPEL and DuRANTE (2), and VAN GEHUCHTEN (4). These authors review the literature in great detail; but only the briefest summary will be given here, and this will be based chiefly on the excellent review by VAN GEHUCHTEN. The first observations not in harmony with the law of WALLER were made upon cases of long standing amputation. Atrophy of the ventral and dorsal root fibers and of the part of the spinal cord associated with the nerves of the amputated limb has been found in these cases. (DICKINSON, '68, VULPIAN, '68, HAYEM and GILBERT, '84, MARINESCO, '92, and others). Experimental amputations of the limbs of animals, involving section of the peripheral nerves, have confirmed these observations (VULPIAN, '69 and HAYEM, '73), and shown the presence of fibers with fragmented myelin in the central ends of the cut nerves. Degenerating fibers were also found in the ventral and dorsal nerve roots and in the dorsal fasciculi of the cord. (DARKSCHEWITSCH, '92 and MOSCHAEW, '93). |