Philosophers

The American Philosophical Society, now in its 182nd year, met, last week, in Philadelphia, elected Dr. Charles D. Walcott, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, its President. Among new members, it elected the third woman ever so honored, Miss Annie J. Cannon of the Harvard Observatory, who has discovered and cataloged "more stars than anyone else in the world."

Some papers read:

Protoplasm. A particle of nickel in the heart of a living cell, when attracted by a magnet, stretched the cell out of shape. When the magnet was removed, the cell snapped back to its normal shape, indicating that protoplasm has the texture of gelatine or rubber.--Dr. William Seifriz, University of Pennsylvania.

Holy Grail. Discrepancies in age have been noted in the detail of the Antioch Chalice, discovered in 1910, thought by archaeologists to be the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper.-- Prof. Charles R. Morey, Princeton.

White Plague. Clear X-ray photo graphs of the lungs, valuable in studying tuberculosis, were obtained without blurring by the heart motion by taking time-exposures intermittently, between heart beats, with delicate mechanism operated by the pulse in a neck artery. --Dr. F. Maurice McPhedran, Phipps Institute, Charles N. Weyl, University of Pennsylvania.

Sap. New instruments measured the pressure of tree sap in spring at about 150 Ib. to the square inch, equal to locomotive steam boiler pressure. Sap streams present in trees with dead roots, trunk, leaves, indicated the phenomenon is purely mechanical.--Dr. D. T. MacDougal, Carnegie Institute.

Subsoil Algae. Investigations were afoot on green plant algae found growing in darkness three to nine feet underground in most parts of the world.-- Dr. George T. Moore, Missouri Botanical Garden.

Glass Sea. Perhaps, 30 to 60 miles deep in the earth, there is a sea of liquid glass, under such terrific pressure it would appear solid, yet so mobile that continents slide upon it, causing mountain ranges to rise, volcanos to erupt.--Dr. Reginald A. Daly, Harvard University.

Oldest Forest. Remains in rock near Gilboa, N. Y., told of a forest of 50-ft. tree ferns 100 million years old, the oldest grove known to science.-- Dr. John M. Clarke, N.Y. State Geologist.

Yarns. Clay tablets found near Angora, Turkey, contain Hittite sailors' yarns paralleling Homer's anecdotes about Ulysses in the Odyssey.-- Dr. Paul Haupt, Johns Hopkins University.