was truncated is suggested by the relationships of the two deposits. Above the white or brownish sand is a dark earthy material reaching a thickness of at least six feet. In the vicinity of the fossil occurrence the soil layer contains many marine shells and shell fragments and these are strewn also over the surface of the ground. Indian remains and implements have been found in the soil stratum, pointing quite unmistakably to the fact that the locality has been occupied in recent time as an Indian site. The Pleistocene mammals, birds and plants found in the bituminous layer appear to be concentrated in a relatively small area, but further exploration may reveal a more extensive accumulation of remains. The occurrence is unique in that it has furnished a large representation of plant remains. The plant assemblage is discussed below by Dr. Ralph W. Chaney and Mr. Herbert L. Mason, and the birds by Dr. Loye Miller. examination among fifteen species, all of which have been reported from Rancho La Brea and all but two of which are common to Rancho La Brea, McKittrick, and the new horizon under discussion. Four of the species are extinct, namely Teratornis, Parapavo, Neophrontops, and Neogyps. A fifth species, Polyborus, is foreign to the region in Recent time. Parapavo and Gymnogyps do not occur at McKittrick. Thus the fauna shows closer affinity with Rancho La Brea than with McKittrick, suggesting that the San Diegan region was distinguishable from the San Joaquin Valley Region by faunal differences as it is to-day. Such a form as Parapavo might naturally be expected to conform to the physiographic barrier of the Lliebre and the Tejon Mts. even though less elevated than at present. That the strong flying Gymnogyps should have been so restricted is difficult to believe. List of species and specimens of birds. The asterisk (*) indicates a species extinct in the region The mammals occurring at the Carpinteria locality to-day. include the following forms: Aenocyon, near dirus Leidy Canis, probably ochropus Esch. Urocyon, near californicus Mearns Mephitis, sp. Odocoileus, sp. Equus, near occidentalis Leidy The mammals include types found also at Rancho La Brea and at McKittrick. The single exception is the chipmunk which is not recorded at the Los Angeles locality and thus far has not been recognized at McKittrick. The assemblage contains certain elements suggestive of a forest environment, thus presenting the possibility of ecologic conditions which differ somewhat from those prevailing at Rancho La Brea and at McKittrick during the period of their accumulation. The time relationship of the Carpinteria fauna to those from the asphalt stations mentioned above may be more definitely stated when further collections are obtained. An important feature of the occurrence is the apparent clearness with which the relationship of time of accumulation of the animal and plant remains to the geological record of this region can be established. CHESTER STOCK CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, PASADENA, CALIF. BIRD REMAINS THE bird remains examined total eighty determinable specimens which are distributed on preliminary Lophortyx californica Gymnogyps californianus *Teratornis merriami Anas platyrhynchos (?) Specimens 2 1 4 1 28 15 1 1 2 2 2 1 Aquila chrysaetos Buteonid hawks *Neogyps errans *Neophrontops americanus *Polyborus cheriway Colaptes cafer 2 2 12 1 80 present distribution is most significant. Such is the recently discovered flora of the Pleistocene Brea deposits at Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, California. This flora as now known represents a forest assemblage dominated by coniferous trees with a heavy undergrowth of shrubs and herbs. Following is a list of fossil plants thus far found in the deposit: Pinus radiata Don. Pinus muricata D. Don. Cupressus goveniana Gord. Arceuthobium, sp. Chorizanthe, sp. Platanus, sp. Amelanchier, sp. Arctostaphylos, 3 species. Numerous other small elements not yet identified. Two hundred miles northward there exists to-day a relict flora limited to the coastal slopes in the vicinity of Monterey Bay. Small groves occur northward and southward over a total distance of about fifty miles. This forest flora is dominated by the Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata Don.) and has associated with it the Bishop Pine (Pinus muricata Don.), the Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), and the Gowen Cypress (G. goveniana Gord.). The ground cover of this forest is composed largely of shrubs of Manzanita (Arctostaphylos) and California lilac (Ceanothus), there being several species of each. Aside from these there are many other less common shrubs and a host of herbaceous plants. It is this forest flora that existed in Pleistocene time in the vicinity of Carpinteria, practically as it exists to-day on the slopes back of Monterey Bay. The preservation of the fossil material is particularly fine and the completeness of the specimens is unique. The conifers are all represented by wood, leaves, ovulate and staminate strobile; the mistletoe is represented by twigs, scale-leaves, staminate and pistillate flowers, and fruits; the Manzanitas by wood, leaves, flowers and fruits. Particularly noteworthy are the flowers of Amelanchier and of the Manzanitas, in which minutest details as to pubescence, surface markings and stamen peculiarities are plainly discernible. Epidermal layers of leaves show remarkable structure of tissue and stomata. Sections of much of the wood show mycelial threads of parasitic fungi as well as the borings and remains of beetles. The threads of fungi, preserved and stained by petroleum, stand out in striking contrast to the tissues of the wood. The absence of Ceanothus in the fossil deposits is noteworthy, as it occupies such an important posi tion in the living forest. However, further excavation is expected to bring to light other species and it is reasonable to suppose that Ceanothus may be among them. In comparing the flora with that of the other tar deposits of California it is significant to note that there is but one species in common with each of them. Pinus muricata is found also at Rancho La Brea and one species of Arctostaphylos occurs in the McKittrick deposit. The La Brea flora contains a Cypress specifically distinct from that at Carpinteria. It is associated with elements indicating a drier habitat such as Juniperus sp., Quercus agrifolia Nee, Celtis sp. and other elements of a similar nature. The La Brea flora appears to be ecologically comparable to the openly wooded hills of the inner California Coast Ranges, whereas the Carpinteria flora is obviously coastal. The McKittrick flora has not yet been studied but in all probability is of the inland type. 1 SPECIAL ARTICLES THE AXIAL GRADIENT IN PARAMECIUM IN work on the effect of crowding in Paramecium caudatum it was noticed that individuals from the same parent, under identical conditions, divided at different rates. Further, it was found that in the isolated fission products of animals which had divided in the morning the anterior piece had a more rapid rate, but in those isolated in the evening after division, the posterior piece divided first. This suggested a temperature effect. To test this the exact time of division of fission products was recorded for three filial generations at three temperature ranges; in fifteen cases at 26 to 30 degrees, in fourteen cases at 18 to 22 degrees, and in twelve cases at 13 to 17 degrees Centigrade. The experimental animals were transferred from room temperature, 18 to 22 degrees, to the high or low temperature for the period of the experiment. Constant attention was required in the experiments, for approximately forty-eight hours at highest temperature and over seventy-two hours at low temperature, in the effort to obtain the exact time of division of all the progeny and to identify the fission products at the time of division and to reisolate them to the fourth generation. In the division of the first filial generation at 26 to 30 degrees, the anterior cell always divided before the posterior; at 13 to 17 degrees, the posterior piece always divided first; and at 18 to 22 degrees the relative rate varied. The following table gives the distribution of cells having the highest and lowest rates at the high and low temperatures (see diagram). In the third generation at high temperatures, the "a" piece had the most rapid rate in 79.9 per cent. of the cases and in the other 20.1 per cent. it came second, while the "e" piece, which is the anterior piece of the posterior cell produced in the second generation, had the highest rate in 13.3 per cent. of the cases. The "h" piece under these conditions had the lowest rate in 93.3 per cent. and the "f" piece in 6.7 per cent. of the cases. At the low temperature range, 13 to 17 degrees, there is a marked reversal. The "h" piece divided most rapidly in 91.6 per cent. of the cases and in all other cases the "d" cell had the most rapid division rate, but there was considerable variation with respect to which pieces showed the lowest rate; "a" pieces were lowest in 33.3 per cent.; "c", in 41.6 per cent., "e", in 16.7 per cent., and "g", in 8.33 per cent. Here there is indicated a possibility of acclimatization or recovery in the anterior pieces, since in the preceding division the "A" piece had the lowest rate in 74.9 per cent., and the "C" piece in 25.1 per cent. At the intermediate temperature range, 18 to 22 degrees, there was no noticeable order of division. These results suggest an interpretation in terms of Child's gradient theory. The axial gradient in Paramecium has been indicated by various methods, but the evidence from cell lineage presented here is of particular significance since there is less uniformity in cytolysis along the axis of Paramecium than with any other ciliate thus far examined.1 It has been shown for some forms, e. g., Planaria, that a rise in temperature up to a certain point accelerates the more active levels to a greater degree than the less active. In view of these facts it may be suggested that the sudden rise of temperature accelerates, and the lowering of temperature retards physiological activity to a greater extent in the anterior than in the posterior region of the body. Some of the data suggest that if the cultures were kept at the different temperatures for a longer time, acclimatization would obliterate the differences in division rate. At the intermediate temperature the anterior end is neither inhibited nor accelerated sufficiently to show either a more or less rapid rate of division consistently. Apparently there may be an inheritance of the relative regional metabolic rates of the original animal in the fission products at least to the third filial generation. The differential rate of division of progeny of a single individual may account for some of the difficulties involved in obtaining consistent results in experimental work on Paramecium.2 SCIENCE VOL. LXVI Josiah Willard Gibbs and the Extension of the Prin- 163 Centenaries of 1927; The Seismological Work of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; The Aerial Survey Detachment; The Chemical Exposition. 163. Scientific Notes and News.. University and Educational Notes.. Discussion: The Quantitative Theory of Sex: DR. OSCAR RIDDLE. Zoological Nomenclature: DR. C, W. STILES. "Opalina Elongata" Gourv.: PROFESSOR MAYNARD M. METCALF. 165 168 169 170 Quotations: Publicity and Science....... Scientific Books: Collected Papers of Sir James Dewar: PROFESSOR WILDER D. BANCROFT. 171 New York City: Grand Central Terminal. Lancaster, Pa. Garrison, N. Y. Single Copies, 15 Cts. SCIENCE is the official organ of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Information regardIng membership in the Association may be secured from the office of the permanent secretary, in the Smithsonian Institution Building, Washington, D. C. Annual Subscription, $6.00. Entered as second-class matter July 18, 1928, at the Post Office at Lancaster, Pa., under the Act of March 8, 1879. JOSIAH WILLARD GIBBS AND THE EXTENSION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THERMODYNAMICS FIFTY years ago there was being published in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences a paper by Josiah Willard Gibbs, then professor of mathematical physics at Yale. This paper bore the title, "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances." To-day from various parts of the world come notices and reports of meeting of societies and groups of scientific men engaged in apparently most diverse lines of investigation or industry, who, recognizing the lapse of fifty years and the changes they have brought, pause to recall the event of the publication of Gibbs's paper and to pay superlative tribute to the intellect and accomplishment of a man who influenced so profoundly the remarkable scientific progress made during this period. It is therefore appropriate to call attention at this time to some of these memorial tributes and in particular to some of those expressed at the recent jubilee celebration held in his honor by the Chemical Society of Holland; for by quotations from them it may be realized through the words of eminent scientists the high esteem in which the most eminent American man of science is held throughout the world. By this means, too, something may be conveyed of his character, his industry, his wonderful ability for taking pains, and chiefest, his commendable lack of self interest in research. It is worth while also to refer to the environment of Gibbs, since the environment of a man-especially the intellectual environment of an intellectual manis an essential part of him and may largely determine the form and direction his intellectual activities shall take. The period covered by the life of Gibbs, 1839-1903, was marked by an unusual interest and activity in physics. It is only necessary to recall the names of eminent physicists of that period to be assured of this. This interest, too, was general, and in so far as it pertained to the people at large, was inspired by the relation, then becoming more and more obvious, between the useful and practical applications of physics to industry and commerce. Industry was beginning to establish its laboratories and seek the leadership of scientific method. The concept of energy was emerging during the early life of Gibbs and although not yet seen with יה enough precision to require a name and definition attempts had nevertheless already been made to define the possibilities of machines. In 1847 appeared the paper of von Helmholtz, "Die Erhaltung der Kraft," which needed only the substitution of the word Energie for that of Kraft to reveal in a most extended sense the principle of the conservation of energy that found so rational a place beside the principle of the conservation of mass that had earlier found expression. The situation in physics during the formative years of Gibbs was not greatly unlike that that surrounds a young student at the present day. The attention is intensely directed to a new vision just ahead and its alluring possibilities. In the early years of Gibbs it was the concept of energy and the dynamical theory of heat, out of which ultimately grew the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics and, in these still later days, the Theorem of Nernst. In the present day the vision is also alluring for it always pushes forward. It now seeks, though not an ultimate, yet a still more inclusive generalization through a better knowledge of the structure and mechanism of the atom. There is now scarcely any phase of physics uninfluenced by this new development-just as in Gibbs's youth the major interest was in statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. Gibbs followed the trend of his time. He sought the inspiration and instruction of the pioneers who were establishing the laws and principles of the then new development in physics. The years 1867 to 1870 he spent as a student in Europe, studying there physics and mathematics, and, among other sources receiving inspiration from Magnus, Helmholtz, Kirchhoff and Clausius. These names are inseparably connected with the development of the principles of thermodynamics. After his return from Europe, Gibbs was elected to the professorship of mathematical physics at Yale, 1871. The direction of his activities had now been determined even to subject and method. All his subsequent effort was to be directed to the mathematical analysis and investigation of thermodynamic problems. His methods were naturally influenced largely by those of Clausius and the problems he at first interested himself in referred to homogeneous systems. He employed the Carnot-Clausius cycle and the Clausius concept of entropy. In the prosecution of these earlier studies Gibbs made rapid progress. He greatly extended the graphic method of analysis. He invented the system energy, entropy, volume which proved of great value. This attracted the attention of Maxwell, whose last effort before his early death was to mould with his own hands a model developed from these three dimensions. This he sent to Gibbs. Gibbs is probably as well known through the graphic methods he introduced as by his more important theoretical contributions. The problems possible of solution by the methods of Clausius and by those of Gibbs up till 1876 were confined almost exclusively to homogeneous systems. Besides, there entered into these analytical methods what further limited their practical applicability, viz., the concept of reversibility. In reality most of the processes of nature and those most useful to men are irreversible and involve heterogeneous not homogeneous systems. To extend the principles of thermodynamics to include non-reversible and heterogeneous systems would be to make them universally applicable. This was an exalted vision; yet such a vision was the natural outcome of the progress that had already been made. Clausius had expressed this universality in the well-known couplet formulating the first and second law: Die Energie der Welt ist konstant, Die Entropie der Welt strebt einem Maximum zu. This couplet-significant of the influence of Clausius, and recognizing no mechanism nor theoryGibbs used as a text or sub-heading to his memorable paper "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances." The writings of Gibbs, however, show plainly that he early recognized the possibilities that might result from an extension of atomic and molecular theories and the use of statistical methods. But he realized also, at the time he was working, the meagerness of definite knowledge then existing for a more extended atomic theory. It will be noticed also from a quotation to be made that Ostwald was of opinion that the value of Gibbs's paper rests on the fact that he concerned himself exclusively with energy magnitudes and wisely avoided all kinetic hypotheses. In the application to life and industry of fundamental principles of science that had already been formulated, the last fifty years have been the most active and productive in the world's history, even though they may not have been the most productive in the discovery of new ones. The result of the severe scrutiny and test of those years upon the work of Gibbs is perhaps nowhere better revealed than in the tributes publicly paid to his memory and accomplishments by those qualified to make use of and judge them. That so important a piece of work should remain for fifteen years practically unknown after its publication in America is worthy of much contrite reflection-for the work itself is a model of what American thoroughness joined to vision can be, while its techni |