has been at work during the year since the death of Dr. J. G. Hermández, of Caracas, and recently completed its labors by unveiling an oil portrait in the university, with memorial tablet, and also a monument in the cemetery, and founding a biennial prize in his name with a fund of 15,770 bolivars. The tablet and monument bear the inscription "Homenaje Nacional." The ceremonies included a large representative gathering and addresses, with music. in the university, and also ceremonies in the cemetery.

IN the recent California referendum the bill prohibiting vivisection was defeated by an overwhelming majority. The other antihealth measures, including anti-vaccination were also defeated.

UNDER date of August 13 Captain Roald Amundsen, the Arctic explorer, sent the following telegram from East Cape, Siberia: "We sailed from Nome immediately after my wire of August 8, with only three men, as the others claimed wages of £300 sterling monthly. The following day we were held up by pack ice in Behring Sea. All aboard well."

IN the fire which destroyed the Agricultural building of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute on October 17, the department library, which probably contained the best collection of American and foreign journals in the south, was destroyed. The plant collections of Underwood, Earle and Atkinson which were part of the department herbarium were burned as was also the research equipment of the department. Dr. Wright A. Gardner and Mr. G. R. Johnstone lost their entire botanical libraries.

THE Yale Corporation has made arrangements for the establishment of four fellowships, to be known as Bishop Museum Fellowships, and to be awarded for study and research in anthropology, botany, zoology, geology and geography. The fellows are to be appointed by the corporation of Yale University from candidates recommended by the trustees of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. They will receive $1,000 a year. Their researches, which are to be in the general field

of the science of the Pacific, are to be submitted to the Bishop Museum for publication. Applications for fellowships should be made to the dean of the graduate school of Yale University, or to the director of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

THE will of General Rush C. Hawkins gives the residue of his estate to Norwich University at Northfield, Vt. The will also makes specific public bequests of more than $400,000, including $100,000 to the University of Vermont, and $100,000 to Brown University. Of his bequest to Norwich University General Hawkins said he made it because he believed “ "above all else in a military education, its tendencies being to develop self-respecting, men, who are more likely than others to be faithful in all relations, which should adorn decent society. I am proud of the records made by the Norwich graduates in the field and at sea whenever they have been called upon to serve their country." General Hawkins left $100,000 to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, of which he had been a director, with the instruction that the income of this bequest be used "to abate the wicked horrors of vivisection and to compel those who practise it to make known to the public the actual methods of their unspeakable calling."

THROUGH the courtesy of the director of naval communications and the commissioner of lighthouses, the Bureau of Fisheries has made arrangements to have the occurrence of schooling fishes reported by the keepers of Pollock Rip, Nantucket Shoals, and Fire Island Lightships. Messages will be sent by radio from each of these vessels at noon daily, reporting any observations which may be made during the preceding 24 hours. The reports will be relayed over the leased wires of the Navy from New York or Newport to Boston Navy Yard, whence they will be communicated by telephone to the Bureau's representative, F. F. Dimick, who will post them at the Fish Exchange and give them such other publicity as may be desirable. Important information of interest to Gloucester fishermen will be telegraphed to Henry F.

Brown, the Bureau's representative at that port, for appropriate publication. The service is being established near the close of the season, but it is desired to have it in working order, so that it may be efficient on the resumption of more active fishing in the spring, when it is hoped to extend it to the coast of Maine.

UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL
NEWS

A GIFT of $700,000 to the University of Colorado for the construction of a medical school and hospital by the General Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation is announced.

Two bequests to Yale University are announced, one of $46,360 from the late Allen P. Lovejoy, of the class of 1904, of Janesville, Wisconsin, for general university purposes, and one of about $113,000 from the estate of Levi I. Shoemaker, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

THE president of Argentina has approved the law ordering the immediate construction of a surgical institute for the chair at Buenos Ayres in charge of Professor José Arce. Four hundred thousand dollars have been provided for this work.

THE following changes have been made in the pathological chemistry staff of the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital: George Eric Simpson, Ph.D., has resigned as instructor to become assistant professor of biochemistry at McGill University. James J. Short, M.D., has resigned as instructor to complete his interneship in the hospital. To fill this latter position, Hilda M. Croll, A.M., formerly associate professor of physiological chemistry at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, has been made associate. Cameron V. Bailey, M.D., has been appointed assistant professor, to devote his time largely to respiratory and metabolic work.

THE department of physics, West Virginia University, reports the following additions to the staff: Fred A. Molby, Ph.D. (Cornell); formerly of the University of Cincinnati, asso

ciate professor. E. F. George, Ph.D. (O. S. U.), formerly of the Research Laboratory of B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company, assistant professor. O. R. Ford, B.S. (Salem), in

structor.

MISS LOUISE OTIS, a graduate of Northwestern University, formerly chief chemist of The Arco Company, Cleveland, O., and recently chemist with Glenn H. Pickard, of Chicago, has been appointed instructor in food chemistry at Northwestern University.

PROFESSOR H. H. CONWELL, associate professor of mathematics in the University of Idaho, has resigned to accept a similar position in Beloit College.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE A POSSIBLE RELATION BETWEEN MECHANICAL, CHEMICAL AND ELECTRICAL QUANTITIES

TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: It is always of interest to find an unexpected numerical relation between different physical constants, and when the only numerical factor turns out to be a multiple of 10, one is led to expect that in the absolute system it is a rational, unity relation, if the units are properly chosen.

At present the numerical connecting link between chemical and electrical quantities is the electrochemical equivalent of silver, an empirically determined constant whose accepted value now is 0.00111800 gram per coulomb. If this value were only about 3/10 of 1 per cent. higher the writer has found the following curious and totally unexpected relation would be true for all the elements:

grams g10 X coulombs X atomic weight /g. in which g is the acceleration of gravity numerically equal to 980.597; it will be noticed that the only coefficient is 10. The faraday (the number of coulombs per gram ion) then would be equal to g2/1096,157, now generally taken as 96,500. The first term (grams Xg) represents a force in dynes, if the grams represent a mass. The physical meaning of the right hand term is not clear, but to balance the physical dimensions the factor

"atomic weight/g" would have to be a force divided by a quantity of electricity, which quotient is called the intensity of an electric field. The atomic weight would then have to be taken to represent something more than a mere number or ratio.

It was thought that perhaps the elimination of all terrestrial factors like the atmospheric pressure, temperature, attraction of gravitation, etc., from the value of this electrochemical constant thereby reducing it to absolute terms which are independent of this earth, might perhaps raise its value by this small amount of 3/10 of 1 per cent., though the writer has been informed by very reliable authorities that it seems unlikely that such corrections would equal this amount. Unless this very slight discrepancy can be adjusted it would seem that this curious relation is a mere accidental coincidence of numbers. But when we are asked to believe that masses change with changes of velocities, that is, with accelerations, and that the atoms of the chemical elements are made up of electrons (electric charges) in very rapid orbital motions, again involving accelerations, so-called, it does not seem unreasonable to believe that new and unexpected relations may be found to exist between mechanical, chemical and electrical constants.

PHILADELPHIA,

October 13, 1920

CARL HERING

THE INFLUENCE OF DRY VERSUS FRESH GREEN PLANT TISSUE ON CALCIUM METABOLISM

IN SCIENCE, 1920, LII., 318, Hart, Steenbock and Hoppert explain negative calcium balances on dry feed in their experiments, as well as those of Forbes and Meigs, on the destruction of a hypothetical antirachitic vitamine by drying. Mellanby brings evidence to show that the antirachitic vitamine is the same as fat-soluble-A, which is not destroyed in plants by drying. On the contrary, the antiscorbutic vitamine seems to be greatly reduced by drying except in very acid foods (fruits). The marrow tissue of the bones increases in pro

portion to the bone proper in scurvy and calcium is apparently lost from the bones in this way. In order to make more exact studies of calcium metabolism on guinea-pigs, I feed them calcium-free diets during and for two days before metabolism periods of three days in length. One day periods were not long enough for definite conclusions to be drawn, but three-day periods on a large enough series of animals seemed perfectly reliable. The animals were under starvation conditions as regards calcium, but this lasted only five days, and examination of their bones did not show differences from animals fed liberal amounts of calcium. Animals that had been on a diet of dried plants fourteen days before the experiment, eliminated twice as much calcium as those that had been on a diet of fresh green plants and which during the experiment received calcium-free orange juice. In case of animals that had been twenty-one days on a dry diet, the difference from the controls was more striking. Scurvy appeared in all the animals on the dry diet. It seems possible, therefore, that the loss of calcium in the experiments of Hart, Steenbock and Hoppert may have been due to scurvy and that it is unnecessary to postulate rickets or an antirachitic vitamine.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

E. F. ROBB

PURCHASES IN GERMANY

TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Some of the problems connected with the purchase of books, etc., from Germans at the present time have been alluded to several times in SCIENCE, and further information may not be out of place.

Somewhat less than a year ago I was offered by a German firm, with whom I had dealt for a score of years before the war, the file of a journal I was desirous of purchasing, for 3,000 marks. Somewhat later I received another offer from the same firm for $420. A few weeks ago the same was again offered, this time at 22,000 marks, and still more recently at 25,000 marks.

As far as I am concerned, the $420 is a

satisfactory price, but I do strongly object to paying some 20,000 marks more for the set than would a German in Germany; in other words to having the dealer make that profit out of me.

Professor K. A. Hofmann, speaking before the German Chemical Society, justified the present German procedure in the following words:

Von einzelen unserer ausländischen Mitglieder sind Beschwerden eingegangen, weil wir wegen der Valuta-Verhältnisse das Ausland neuerdings anders behandeln mussten als das Inland. Wie ich kaum hinzuzufügen brauche, handelt es sich hier um Vorübergehende Massnahmen, die mit dem Eintritt normaler Zustände wieder verschwinden werden. Keineswegs, das möchte ich hier ausdrücklich feststellen, haben wir die Absicht, unsere ausländischen Mitglieder prinzipiell anders zu behandlen als die inländischen. Wegen der Entwertung der Reichsmark hatten sich jedoch Verhältnisse herausgebildet, denen zufolge das Ausland unsere Veröffentlichungen für den zwanzigsten Teil des früheren Preises kaufen konnte, während die deutschen Mitglieder das Doppelte zahlen mussten. Der Vorstand, welchem satzungsgemäss die Festsetzung der Preise unserer Veröffentlichungen zusteht, hat dann, vielfachen dringenden Anregungen aus Mitgliederkreise entsprechend, die Auslandspreise erhöht und so festgesetz, dass unsere ausländischen Mitglieder immer noch weniger zu zahlen haben, als dies früher im Frieden der Fall war. Wir stehen auf dem Standpunkt, dass ein etwaiger Valuta-Gewinn einzig und allein der Gesellschaft zusteht, nicht aber dem einzelnen ausländischen Mitgleid. (Italics ours.) ... Glaubt man, wir würden hier beschliessen, die 'Berichte' im Ausland für, das 'Zentralblatt' für und die beiden ersten Bände des 'Beilstein' für zusammen 1 dollar zu verkaufen? Jedes Buch hat doch einen bestimmten Welthandelswert, und der muss aufrecht erhalten werden.

From the German standpoint this sounds very reasonable, but take the case of the "Berichte." The subscription in Germany and Austria is 45 marks; in America it is $7.50. At present exchange (1.13) $7.50 in American money is worth 664 marks in Berlin. In other words, an American pays more than 650 marks for that which is sold to a German for 45 marks.

In a recent publication I noticed the following extract from a German firm to an American customer, whose name had given the impression that he was a German:

A word about prices. I take it from your name and connections that you are of German family and am therefore prepared to make most liberal terms. As you doubtless know, it has been generally agreed in commercial circles here that all articles sold to uitlanders, and especially to Americans, shall be priced considerably higher than the same thing sold to our fellow-citizens, the idea being to in this way recuperate to some extent from our late overwhelming losses and to make our recent enemies aid us in paying our most outrageous and crushing war debt.

This policy has been adopted en bloc by our associated. . . since some time. But as a fellow German, I am prepared to let you have these goods at the Berlin price, this of course being in all confidence, my most dear sir,

What course should a purchaser take who wishes to deal fairly, not only to the Germans, but to himself?

JAS. LEWIS HOWE

SCIENTIFIC BOOKS

Psychology of Nationality and Internationalism. By W. B. PILLSBURY. D. Appleton and Company, New York and London. 1920. Pp. 314.

The phenomena of collective life have in recent days evoked a great number of halfanalyzed conclusions and assertions. A welcome relief from these is the present book, which represents the analysis of one whose point of view is supported by a background of empirical science. There is undertaken an analysis of the nature and development of the national consciousness, and of the place of the nation as an ideal in history, in the conduct and thought of individuals, and in the relations of states to each other.

Definitions of the nation are submitted to criticism. Neither language nor descent gives the key to the common spirit of a nation. Nor is the nation merely an extension of familial or tribal organization. Nationality is first of all a psychological and sociological problem.

It is the common ideals of its members that make the nation. To know to what national group an individual belongs the simplest way is to ask him.

The instinctive gregarious and sympathetic reactions, the fear of group disapproval, these give the constitutional basis, which explain why there is any grouping at all. But it is the acquisition of common ideals, within the individual's own life, that gives the group its persistent unity and determines its membership. The nation as an ideal exists only in the minds of its separate members, but when it does exist it unites them for action. It becomes a common center of thought and emotion, its prestige determines the conduct of the individual in much the same way as does his concept of his self. Although the social mind is but a metaphor, the nation, as a concept, is as real as is the self of the individual, and in the same sense. But the original instincts, the thoughts, the acts, are the instincts, thoughts and acts of individuals, throughout, and the ideals exist only in individual minds, which are themselves always changing in identity.

The development of the nation as a common ideal or concept is favored by, but does not depend solely upon, such incidents as a common ancestry, language, literature, historical continuity, a home land, and definite geographical boundaries. It is especially favored by the urgencies of common danger and the ensuing development of common hatreds of opposing groups. A common hate is one of the most frequently effective factors in making or uniting a nation or a smaller group within the nation. Common fears and animosities in all wars, rather than mutual sympathy and admiration, are what bind the allies into a solid whole. Nationality thrives on opposition.

Since nationality is acquired rather than innate, its affiliations may under appropriate conditions be changed and its loyalties shifted. A chapter is given to the process of naturalization, its conditions, aids, and objective signs. . In part the aids to naturalization and amalgamation are identical with those that led to the

development of nations in history. Especially useful are change of habits, language, standards of living. Effective also are the pressure of contempt, group approval of those who change, influence of children who adopt the new ideals and scorn the old. Even race prejudice is seen to play its part as an aid to change in nationality.

The development of the national ideals and standards and the peculiarities of the ideals of different nations are illustrated by sketches of the rise of national spirit in the ancient and modern states. Accounts of the nation as a mob are critically examined and found in the main false. For the most part the nation thinks as does a sane individual in isolation, and the final decisions usually attain the level of the average intelligence. The results of this thinking, the successful conventions and approved ideals, are embodied in the law, in formal government, and the machinery of the state. The relation of the state to the nation is that the state embodies and provides a means for realizing the ideals of the nation. Naturally the means lags behind the ideals.

Whether nationality represents the extreme development of organization or whether it is possible to go beyond and find a larger unity in a community of states is considered in the last chapter. Smaller group loyalties within the nation are shown not to prevent but rather to facilitate the growth of national spirit. So might the rivalry of nations be made an element in inciting to progress in the international community. In no single respect does the psychology of nationality offer any reasonable objection to the formation of an international society or League of Nations, although the super-national state might have to rely to greater degree on the more cooperative instincts, in the absence of the thrilling and amalgamating influence of a hate.

This review can not hope to give an adequate summary of the book, with its many pertinent problems, its sane and reasonable analysis of them, and its keen interpretation of social phenomena always on the ground that all psychology is of individuals. The failure