matter, Guareschi and Mosso followed the method of Stass-Otto, applying exactly the same procedure in the control search with fresh brain-tissue; and, on account of the negative results invariably obtained in the latter, the authors are able to guarantee the absence of pre-existing ptomaïnes in fresh flesh, or of any substances similar to those which are found after putrefaction, when pure ether or chloroform is used in the extractions. In the experiments, 36 kilograms of brain-tissue were placed in a glass balloon, and left at a temperature of 10°-15° C. for one to two months. The mass was then extracted with alcohol acidulated with tartaric acid, using, in all, 147 litres of alcohol. The final ether solution left an alkaline residue, which, dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid, gave characteristic precipitates with the general alkaloid reagents, and several well-defined colored reactions; but, though present, the ptomaïnes (or alkaloids) were in far too small quantity to admit of determining their composition by analysis. Trimethylamine, coming, doubtless, from the lecithin present in the brain-matter, was likewise obtained, together with an abundance of basic and ammoniacal products. Physiological experiments, made on frogs with both aqueous and ether extracts, of the putrid brain-matter, led to the conclusion that the ptomaïnes formed possessed an action analogous to that of curare, though less energetic. A few drops of the extract, applied directly to the detached heart of a frog immersed in a .7% salt solution, exercised upon it an immediate effect, diminishing the frequency of the systole and diastole, but increasing the vigor of the pulsation. In studying the action of the extract on nerves and muscles, a frog was rendered motionless by destroying the spinal cord; after which the achilles tendon was prepared in the usual manner, the sciatic nerve being placed upon the electrodes, and excited every ten seconds. .3 cc. of the ptomaïne containing extract was then injected under the skin of the back. After ten minutes, an irregularity appeared in the contraction of the gastrocnemius; and, since all the conditions of the experiment remained the same, the irregularity is to be ascribed to the poison. From this point the contractions were no longer regular: they gradually diminished little by little, and finally ceased altogether. On increasing the force of the irritation, there was still no further movement. The sciatic nerve of the other side, intact, had likewise lost its excitability, and the animal was in as complete a state of muscular relaxation as if it had been poisoned by curare. But the pupil was dilated, and the heart motionless. In order to obtain the ptomaïnes in larger quantities, recourse was had to blood-fibrine. Large quantities of fibrine (140 kilos) were allowed to putrefy for five months; at the end of which time it was transformed into a thick fluid holding a small quantity of solid matters in suspension; the reaction being strongly acid, and the odor very intense at the commencement, but less strong later. For the extraction of the alkaloids, the method of Gautier and Étard was followed; the final slightly alkaline fluid being extracted successively with chloroform, in all, twelve times. By evaporation of the chloroform, an oily residue was left with an odor of scatol and of pyridine (or cicutine). This residue was purified by solution in tartaric acid, decolorized by extracting the acid solution with ether, and then reprecipitated by an excess of potassium hydroxide in the form of oily, brown droplets, which quickly rose to the top of the fluid. This precipitate was readily dissolved by ether, and, on evaporation, was left as an oily, brown resi due with strong alkaline reaction, only slowly soluble in water, and then rapidly transformed into a resin. A hydrochlorate was readily obtained, crystallizing in fine lamellae, sometimes rectangular, resembling somewhat the crystals of cholesterin. With a solution of the hydrochlorate, auric chloride gave a yellow crystalline precipitate, followed by the reduction of the gold; platinic chloride, an abundant pale-yellow crystalline precipitate; iodine in potassium iodide, a kermes-brown precipitate; phosphotungstic acid, a pale-yellowish precipitate, etc. Chloroplatinates from seven different chloroform extractions were prepared for analysis by treating a solution of the hydrochlorate with an excess of platinic chloride. An immediate deposition of a flesh-colored precipitate, light and crystalline, insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, took place. Dried at 100° C., the analyses of the various products showed essentially the same composition, pointing to the presence of only one ptomaïne in this putrefaction. The results correspond more or less closely with the formula (C16H15N. HCl)2 PtCl1, the ptomaïne itself being probably C10H1N. Bodies having the same apparent or closely related composition have been previously discovered: coridine, a homologue of pyridine, found in the oil of coal-tar by Thenius; a base, C10H15N, discovered by Vohl and Eulenberg in the fumes of tobacco, also termed coridine; a base obtained by Neucki1 in the putrefaction of gelatine with pancreas, and which he deemed an isomer of collidine. He considered its constitution to be expressed by C6H5 CH3 - CH that is, isophenylethylamine, and NH2' that it is derived from the putrefaction of tyrosin, a normal product of pancreatic digestion, according to the following equation: = C9H11NO3 CH11N + CO2 + 0. 3 Gautier and Étard, while studying the alkaloidlike bodies produced by putrefaction, isolated two bases, which, from the analyses of the platinum salts, corresponded to parvolin and hydrocollidin. Sonnenschein and Zuelzer 4 obtained from flesh extracts, which had become putrid by standing at 25° C. for several weeks, a small quantity of a crystalline substance, which behaved similar to atropin, dilating the pupil of the eye, and increasing the pulsation of the heart, etc. There is also a noticeable similarity between the ptomaïne obtained by Guareschi_and Mosso, and the tetrahydromethylquinoline of Jackson. The physiological action of the alkaloid from putrefied fibrine is analogous to that of the ptomaïne from putrid brain-matter. Guareschi and Mosso propose to experiment further in the hopes of better establishing the nature of the ptomaïne in question, and to make clear its origin and constitution. R. H. CHITTENDEN. But kept in a box together. The older chicken soon assumed the care of the little one, brooding it after its fashion, and pecking any disturbing hand. the strangest feature is, that when a dainty morsel, such as a fly, is brought, it will call the little one like a mother-hen, and give it the fly to eat. This has been done repeatedly within the past week, the sound made being unmistakably the food-call, though, of course, pitched on a higher key. Yet it cannot have heard that sound for at least two weeks, and, in the ordinary course of events, should not make it for eight months. REDDUCS. Cambridge, June 6. Lake Superior geology. On reading Professor Chamberlain's paper in SCIENCE, No. 16, and afterwards referring to his statement in the third volume Wisc. geol. reports (p. 423), I see that I was mistaken regarding the Taylor's Falls locality being fifteen miles away from other traps (SCIENCE, No. 9). I now see that his language was not intended to be taken as it was understood by me. M. E. WADSWORTH. Fish-hooks from southern California. In plates xi. and xii. of Lieut. Wheeler's Report on archeology there are several drawings of ornainents found near Santa Barbara, Cal., and on the adjacent islands, by Mr. Paul Schumaker and myself, which the editors are pleased to call fishhooks. A writer in the Century magazine for April presents drawings of other specimens of like character, found by myself in the same locality, and now deposited in the Smithsonian institution. I also have in my possession a series of these ornaments, but it would require a broad stretch of the imagination to believe that they were intended for fish-hooks. the exploration of the mainland and islands, I had an opportunity to study them in every stage of development. I am convinced, that, with few exceptions, they were designed for ornaments, as their shape precludes the idea of their use as fish-hooks. They were probably suspended from the ears, and possibly worn on other portions of the body. The true fish-hook of what may be termed the Santa Barbara Indians has never, to my knowledge, been figured; yet they are more commonly met with in the rancherias and 'cementaries in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties than the curved specimens we have been considering. I send you drawings of two specimens belongThese ing to my cabinet. hooks were made of two slightly curved pieces of bone pointed at each end, and firmly tied together at the lower end and cemented with asphaltum, They are somewhat similar to those still in use by the South Sea Islanders. The larger specimen I found with a skeleton at Point Dume, Ventura county. There were several others similar to the FISH-HOOK, SIZE OF ORIGINAL. SHELL ORNAMENT. BONE ORNAMENT, SIZE OF ORIGINAL. The point, which in many instances curves downward, comes so near the stem that it would be next to impossible for them to become hooked in a fish's mouth. The point of one of my best specimens, manufactured from the shell of the Haliotis, comes within the sixteenth of an inch of the stem or shank; and were a line to be looped on the stem, and cemented with asphaltum, as was practised by the California Indians, the space would be completely filled (see the annexed drawing). My specimens range in size from one-half inch to two and a half inches in diameter, and were manufactured from Haliotis shells and from bone. The first of these ornaments of which I have any knowledge, I found in a rancheria at Rincon, on the line between Santa Barbara and Ventura counties; and during five years' subsequent residence at Santa Barbara, and FISH-HOOK, SIZE OF ORIGINAL. one figured still retaining the thong and cement that bound the parts together. The smaller specimen I found on the surface in a rancheria one mile west of the town of Ventura. STEPHEN BOWERS. Falls City, Neb., June 4, 1883. Intelligence of the crow. I find, by referring to my note-books, that I have witnessed several times the occurrence of crows breaking mussels by dropping them from considerable heights (SCIENCE, p. 513). In one instance, I had my field-glass with me, and made careful notes of what took place. The crows had assembled on Duck Island, in the Delaware River, and were busily engaged in running along the edges of the sand-bars, exposed at low tide. Every few moments, one of them would rise up to a height of fully fifty feet, carrying a mussel in its beak, and, flying inland to a distance of one hundred yards, would let the mollusk fall on the meadow. Usually the force of the fall was sufficient to break the shell. The crows, as soon as they had let fall their burden, immediately returned to the island and bars, and gathered more mussels. This was continued until the returning tide made mussel-hunting impracticable. In no instance did the crows carry the food they were gathering by their feet. There is one fact with reference to this habit of the crows which is, I think, indicative of greater intelligence than the mere fact of lifting an object and dropping it in order to break it. "This is, that all the mussels so dropped were left undisturbed until the returning waters made further fishing impracticable, when the birds hastened to feast on the results of their intelligent labor. Marvellous as it may seem, these crows recognized the nature of tides, and, knowing their time was short, made as good use of it as possible. If any more striking evidence of intelligence on the part of birds can be produced, let it be placed on record forthwith. C. C. ABBOTT. Impregnation in the turkey. An interesting fact respecting our domestic turkey has recently come to my notice. A friend, finding that a stray turkey had recently come upon his premises with the intention of remaining, finally shut it up in his chicken-yard, where it was permanently confined with no other associates than the chickens. The prisoner at once began to lay eggs, and, after a nest was formed, sat upon them, hatching out, in the usual time, nine healthy turkeys. Three others, that had been hatched by a hen, died soon for want of care. The eggs, thirteen in all, were laid without any connection with a turkey-cock. An impregnation, then, that must have taken place before the fowl was placed in confinement, must have answered for all the eggs. Agassiz states that one copulation is supposed to answer for more than one egg in the case of the turkey, but adds that the supposition needs confirmation. The facts here mentioned seem conclusive, as there was no possible way in which connection could have taken place after the turkey was confined. EDWARD M. SHEPARD. Springfield, Mo. THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA IN FRANCE. Compte rendu des travaux du service du Phylloxera. Année 1882. Procès verbaux de la session annuelle de la Commission supérieure du Phylloxera. Rapports et pièces annexes. Lois, décrets et arrêtés relatif au Phylloxera. Paris, Impr. nat., 1883. 603 p. 4°. THE Compte rendu des travaux du service du Phylloxera for the year 1882, just received in this country, makes a large volume, contain ing numerous reports of special committees and delegates. The Commission supérieure du Phylloxera, which consists of some thirty-seven members, including such well-known investigators as Dumas, Pasteur, Tisserand, Cornu, Balbiani, Marion, Marès, with a number of deputies and senators, was convoked by the minister of agriculture on the 19th of January, 1883. The first sub-committee at the session of Jan. 22 submitted its report, which was accepted by the Commission supérieure. This report may be thus summed up: After having passed upon 185 proposed remedies, they were unable to award the prize of 300,000 francs offered by the government in 1874, as they recognized in none of the new propositions any merit, whether as to novelty or more desirable methods of application of any insecticide already known. As in previous years, the substances most often recommended were salt, lime, soot, and cinders. It is well known that salt has produced nothing but bad effects on the vine, lime has amounted to little, while soot and cinders are but adjuncts to other modes of treatment. Among plants, Pyrethrum, tobacco, Quassia, and other similar products, are still urged by applicants for the prize, notwithstanding that the uselessness of such products has been shown by past experience. In fact, the proposed remedies range from dynamite and electricity to prayers and processions. The second sub-committee reported through its chairman, M. Cornu, on the spread of the insect through France, the report being accompanied by a map which shows that nearly onehalf of France is infested with Phylloxera. The map indicates particularly (1) thearondissements' in which the presence of Phylloxera has not yet been observed, and into which it is forbidden to introduce any vines from phylloxerated districts or from foreign countries; (2) districts in which the insect occurs quite generally, but into which the introduction of foreign vines, or vines from other phylloxerated districts, is not authorized; and (3) badly infested districts, into which the introduction of foreign and French vines from phylloxerated districts is authorized. These last constitute nearly one-third of the area of France. It will be well for those, who, allured by the liberal offer of the French government, venture to propose a Phylloxera remedy, to remember that one of the absolute conditions for the awarding of the prize is that the remedy shall be based on positive and authentic experience. A great many visionary and theoretical propo sitions have been sent to us of late years with a request that we assist the proposers in presenting their claims to the French government. In almost every instance the proposers have shown an absolute lack of experience, both as to the insect and as to the methods they recommend. The question of the winter egg, so called, has again occupied much of the attention of the commission, which places great confidence in the researches in regard to it of one of its eminent members, Balbiani, who has been instructed to continue his investigations. In reference to this egg, and the importance of 'destroying it, there has, of late, been much discussion in France; and we may repeat our answer to the following question, recently put to us by one of the first French investigators into the life-history of Phylloxera : "L'oeuf soi-disant d'hiver de M. Balbiani est-il indispensable à la reproduction du Phylloxera, ou bien la reproduction agame vous parait-elle possible durant plusieurs années ou même indéfiniment?" 6 Our reply was, that the impregnated egg (we prefer this term to winter egg') is indispensable to the continued reproduction of Phylloxera, and that normally it is produced annually in the cycle of the insect's life; but that agamic multiplication may, under favoring conditions. extend to the third or fourth year, and, for aught we know, longer. In reading over Targioni-Tozzetti's criticism of Balbiani, and the latter's reply, in late numbers of the Comptes rendus de l'académie, we felt, that, so far as our own observations and experiments have gone, both were in a degree right, and both wrong. There is no question but that Balbiani is essentially right in his conclusion as to the necessity for the impregnated egg at some period during the annual development, under the conditions of our changing seasons. All the facts ascertained, as well as all analogy from what is known of the lifehistory of other species of the family, point to the accuracy of that conclusion. Yet ex periments enough are on record to show, that, where the conditions of early spring and summer are artificially maintained, agamic reproduction in aphides may be greatly extended, and even go on to the third or fourth year. Of course, this possibility of such continued agamic multiplication does not change the practical fact of what does take place in an ordinary year under ordinary seasonal changes. Balbiani, therefore, is theoretically quite right. in insisting on the importance of the destruction of his winter egg. Just here, however, is where we shall have to differ from him as to the practical value of attempts to do so, and for the following reasons: It is a universally conceded fact, that the species hibernates chiefly in the dormant larval state underground. Now, even supposing that every so-called winter egg could be destroyed, we know positively that the vines would still be infested, and that new impregnated eggs would again occur the ensuing fall or winter. Therefore, even on Balbiani's belief, these eggs would have to be annihilated for at least two consecutive years to do any good. But, unfortunately, all methods of annihilation heretofore proposed have proved impracticable, and, in fact, impossible.1 Decortication must always be but partially successful, as the eggs are not confined to the loose bark or to the older portions of the vines. Moreover, our researches in this country (and it seems to us that experience in Europe corroborates them) show conclusively that this impregnated egg is not necessarily a winter egg, for it is extremely rare, and difficult to discover, during winter, or at any time: hence, and for the reason that larval hibernation prevails, we are justified in one or the other of the following conclusions: 1°. That the sexual females do not necessarily confine the impregnated egg to the stems and branches, but lay them also at the base of the vine, or even beneath the ground; 2°. That hypogean, apterous females also produce the sexed individuals underground; 3°. That the impregnated egg hatches the same season that it is laid. Now, there are certain facts of experience that would give some warrant to all three of these conclusions, the first and second being fully justified by facts recorded by Balbiani and ourselves. The third statement we have proved true with Phylloxera Rileyi; and M. P. Graels has also proved it for P. vastatrix in Spain (see Amer. nat., 1881, p. 483). Thus we have little faith in the results of decortication; and we have already expressed much the same views in the American naturalist, in our eighth Missouri report, and in our report to the Department of agriculture for 1878, p. 83. With regard to the use of American vines as stocks on which to graft the more susceptible French vines, the commission admits the success of the former in rich or deep soils, but concludes that they leave something yet to be 1 The eggs, in the rare cases where they are found, are concealed as much as possible in minute cracks and crevices, so that mechanical decortication cannot well reach them all; while the application of heat, as by torches, would not destroy them all unless intense enough to injure the vines. |