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The gas–hydrate theory of anesthesia proposed by Pauling and Miller suggests that either synergism or antagonism can occur when anesthetics are combined. Using MAC as a standard for depth of anesthesia, the properties of MAC fractions in combinations of anesthetics were evaluated and found to be additive, with the following exception: the combination of cyclopropane with nitrous oxide or ethylene produced antagonism. This result may be explained by competition of these agents for the same cavities in the hydrate structure.

It has been the author's experience that too many biology students study life forms in a manner which leads one to believe that soil, the basic commodity, may be considered superfluous. In this paper I discuss several techniques for effective soil study. These techniques are simple to perform, and because of this simplicity ought to be available to all students concerned with the life sciences. There are certain basic facts that should be part of the understanding of any student of biology. Such might be broadly grouped under the following: 1. Some of the less obvious relations of soil to life. 2. Soil-water relations. 3. Physical characteristics of soil. 4. Facts about the soil profile. 5. Relative alkalinity and acidity as related to plant growth and availability of certain plant nutrients.

The accommodation coefficients of nine gases on platinum at various temperatures in six different tubes are presented as a function of pressure. In all cases the accommodation coefficients show a constant value as the pressure is lowered toward zero, which is in contradiction to results reported by Amdur and co‐workers. Reasons for disagreement are suggested and criticism of an earlier paper from this laboratory is answered. Presumably specially reliable values of the accommodation coefficients of argon and krypton taken in Tube B are given and this tube and method of operation are described in detail.

This paper suggests a method for measuring the degree of interference that takes place in the speech of bilingual subjects. The technique is adapted from previous studies on the reception of speech in noise and is used in the first instance to measure interference at the phonic level. Various types of interference are examined and measured in a pilot experiment.

I n this age of wholesale resource contamination and pollution, science students ought to be aware of the problems facing them regarding potential loss of natural resources. As one noted ecologist so aptly put it, "Man is one of the few organisms who continually soils his nest and does nothing about it." The high school biology student is still at an impressionable age and the teacher can present these problems in a manner which will at least stimulate some thought. It is the purpose of this paper to present several workable techniques which will allow students to become better aware and hopefully more concerned about contamination of resources in their own back yards. The techniques outlined here are not necessarily new or different. The approach is one of simplicity with as much emphasis on work the students can do and little need for teacher domination.

Dr. W. H. Ashmead, of the National Museum, Washington, D. C.., has published from time to time in the Canadian Entomologist descriptions of new genera and new species of Hymenoptea from the Philippine Islands. As the great majority of these new insects were either collected or bred in the garden attached to the Manila Observatory, perhaps the life histories of some of them will not be without interest and value.

The metabolism of lidocaine was investigated in four dogs before and after pretreatment with phenobarbital. The extraction of lidocaine and production of monaethylglycinexylidide (MEGX) and glycinexylidide (GX) were calculated from gradients across the liver. The lidocaine fraction removed was 25 per cent in the controls and 50 per cent following phenobarbital pretreatment. The principal metabolite found was MEGX. Phenobarbital pretreatment may have increased the rate at which MEGX, formed from lidocaine, is metabolized further. Contrary to results of previous studies, GX was discovered to be an additional metabolite of lidocaine. The formation and excretion of GX were accelerated by phenobarbital pretreatment.

In the standard biology course there always seems to be a need for living specimens of one sort or another at the wrong time of the year. We have found that our one biggest headaches is ensuring ourselves of a good supply of frogs at the time when the class is considering topics such as circulation, the nervous system, etc. This usually finds us in mid-winter. Frogs are expensive when we buy them in the quantities needed, and it is bothersome to have to order and wait for the frogs. At Greenport High School we have found a method which has proved amazingly successful in maintaining a living collection of frogs for an extended period of time. To review a few facts about frogs: we know that frogs are poikilothermos, and we also know that frogs enter hibernation with the onset of cold weather in the fall. We have a good idea of what frogs eat and also how much. The problem, then, is how to take advantage of the frog's natural hibernation tendency and also keep them alive. In early September, the members of the biology class who were going to treat this as a special project, collected twenty frogs of varying sizes, all Rana catesbiana. When the frogs were brought to the classroom they were established in a twenty gallon terrarium. Peat moss was used for the base and this was saturated with water. Three sides of the terrarium were covered with dark paper with the front and top left open to the class. In the two weeks that followed, the frogs were fed, bathed and had their habitat cleaned once each week. The feedings consisted of about three ounces of raw liver per frog. This had to be forced down the frog by a rather interesting technique. The three girls who performed this rather strange operation considered themselves fortunate to have six hands available for the work. Girl number one held the squirming, complaining frog; girl number two pried its mouth open with a pair of forceps, and girl number three placed the meat in the frog's throat and proceeded to tamp it down into the stomach by means of a glass rod. The frog was then rinsed under cold water and placed with its freshly fed brothers. In this manner we were able to build up the strength of the frogs and make sure all of them were well fed. We then decided that it would be much easier to have just a few frogs around to feed rather than the entire family. The healthiest looking specimens were selected and put into forced hibernation. Checking the refrigerator, we found that the temperature was 100 C, and that the natural moisture of the interior was sufficient to keep the frogs at an optimum hibernation environment. We placed six frogs in a clean gallon Feeding time takes five hands