In another group of experiments larvae were irradiated with radiations, a larger proportion of the energy of which was due to radiations of short wavelength. The conditions of irradiation were as follows: Spark gap 8 cms. between spheres; M. A., 5; target distance 54 cms.; filter 1.0 mm. aluminum and 0.5 mm. copper. The X-ray bulb was contained in a lead drum with a circular aperture of 13.5 cms. diameter. The periods of irradiation were varied, being 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 350 minutes, respectively, the corresponding mean duration of the prepupal period, expressed in days, being 5.76 ± 0.08; 6.02 ± 0.04; 6.39 ± 0.11; 6.77 ± 0.05; 7.02 ± 0.10; 7.46 ± 0.08; 7.87± 0.12, while the value for the controls was 5.63 ± 0.05 (where the precision measure is the a. d. and the number of independent observations for each irradiation interval was four). These data indicate that the mean duration of the prepupal period is an increasing function of the period of irradiation, under otherwise fixed conditions of irradiation, at least within the interval studied. These results suggested the possibility of observing an effect of the radiations just described when employed in a manner similar to that utilized in determining "depth dosage" in radiation therapy, where either water or paraffin phantoms are used in conjunction with the ionization chambers placed at various depths. To this end paraffin blocks were prepared, 25 by 25 by 2.5 cms. with cylindrical wells at the center of one of the large faces of each. These wells were 2.5 cms. in diameter and 0.5 cm. deep. The larvae to be irradiated were selected from a batch of prepared larvae by a method of random sampling and distributed in the wells mentioned above and in a similar well utilized for the controls, aseptic technique being employed throughout. The wells were then covered with a piece of paraffin-permeated paper and sealed, following which perforations were made in the paper lid. The blocks were now stacked so that the edges of the square faces coincided and the wells were accordingly co-axial. Previously air vents had been arranged in the paraffin for ventilation which was facilitated by the use of an electric fan. The stacked blocks were so placed under the X-ray bulb that the centroid of the target lay on the common axis of the cylindrical wells. Experiments were performed in accordance with the procedure just outlined, in which the period of irradiation was six hours and the distance from the target to the upper face of the top paraffin block was 54 cms. The resulting mean duration of the prepupal periods, expressed in days, for the larvae in the various blocks was as follows: 8.37; 7.90; 7.16; 6.47; 6.17; while the mean value for the controls was 5.57 days. Obviously, it would be desirable to have a measure of the time of irradiation required to produce the same extension of the mean prepupal period in the different layers rather than or in supplement to the data given above. We have been unsuccessful with experiments of this kind, because the facilities for producing a sufficient radiation intensity available at present in our laboratory are such that the period of time required to effect significant changes in the larvae irradiated at the lower levels is so great that it is disadvantageous to maintain the larvae in the unnatural environment. In the experiments performed so far we have not obtained reproducible results. We hope that in the near future we shall have the necessary facilities for completing these experiments and extending our work to include observations of other biological processes in the same as well as in other systems. Such experiments will undoubtedly lead to a better understanding of how radiations affect biological processes and it is possible that methods may be made available which will permit the measures of biological effects and those of ionization effects to be contrasted. DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY, YALE UNIVERSITY R. G. HUSSEY THE ANTI-STERILITY VITAMIN E AND POULTRY1 HERBERT M. EVANS and George O. Burr,2 of the University of California, stated in a paper presented at the Washington meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, and reported in Volume LXI, No. 1585, SCIENCE, that "sterility is a dietary deficiency disease for it can be cured or prevented by a change in dietary régime, a change involving the addition of certain single natural foods high in a food factor or the addition of very much smaller amounts of extracts of those foods." The work reported was with rats. In this report they state that Vitamin E is present 1 Published by approval of the Director of Agricultural Experiment Station as Technical Paper No. 47. 2 ́ ́ Anti-Sterility Vit. E.," Evans and Burr, SCIENCE, 61, 519-520, May 15, 1925. but extremely low in milk fat and that cod liver oil is notably lacking in Vitamin E and that throughout the life of the animals 9 per cent. by weight of the ration may be constituted of cod liver oil and yet sterility results. Vitamin E has been found to exist in oats, corn and especially wheat. The wheat germ is said to have an extraordinary richness of E Vitamin. Other feeds reported to contain it are lettuce, dried alfalfa, pea seedlings, rice, yellow corn, rolled oats, velvet bean pod meal, egg yolk and cooked meat. Katherine Scott Bishop, of the University of California, assisting Herbert M. Evans, and Barnett Sure, of the University of Arkansas, have carried on experiments leading to the same conclusions as those reported in SCIENCE on a diet composed of milk casein for protein, cornstarch for carbohydrates, lard for fat and the proper mineral salts, with the addition of a little butter for Vitamin A, yeast for B, orange juice for C and cod liver oil for D. The rats grew normally and thrived but they failed in fertility.3 The addition to the dietary of a little lettuce or rice enabled the rats to reproduce. Four successive generations have been raised on such a synthetic diet. animal protein content for egg production. In 1924- No vitamin feed Lawn clippings... Evans and Bishop have found that the male as well as the female is affected by the lack of this substance and they have been able to extract it from favorable Dry yeast foods by alcohol and ether. Recent experiments conducted at the University of Idaho on the influence of hatchability of certain feeds of high vitamin content and certain animal protein feeds indicate that nutritional conditions affecting hatchability in chickens apparently differ from those in other animals. In these experiments the hens all received wheat for their scratch feed. During 19231924, the basal mash (B) was composed of equal parts of wheat bran, shorts, cornmeal and ground oats, to which was added two pounds of charcoal and four ounces of salt per one hundred pounds. In addition to the mash the birds received grit, oyster shell and water. This ration was lacking in animal protein content. The no-high vitamin feed pen received no feeds in addition to this ration. The dry yeast pen received 2 per cent. dry yeast in the mash and the cod liver pen received 2 per cent. of medicinal cod liver oil in the scratch feed. This oil was mixed into the wheat about every five days. During 1924-1925, the basal ration was changed. Twenty per cent. peameal was added to the mash and unlimited sour milk was given. No water was available to the hens. This ration (A) contained ample 3Fertility Vitamin," E. E. Slosson, Sci. Monthly, 18: 447-8, April, 1924. SUMMARY OF AVERAGES Feed Dry yeast During 1923-24, when the ration was low in animal protein feeds, none of the pens gave good hatchability. The addition of feeds of high vitamin content to this ration was of little value of increasing hatchability. During 1924-1925, the hatchability in the no-high vitamin and dry yeast pens was very poor, while in the cod liver oil and lawn clippings pens it was high. The addition to the ration of animal proteins in the form of sour skim milk was apparently an important factor. During 1925-1926, when the birds were confined during the entire year and the ration again contained sufficient animal proteins the no-high vitamin pen again gave very poor hatchability compared to pens getting cod liver oil, lawn clippings and alfalfa leaves and blossoms. Additional experiments involving the influence of different animal protein feeds on hatchability bring out some very interesting and valuable results. Sour skim milk has proved especially valuable. Pens getting sufficient vitamins rarely give poor hatchability when the birds are getting unlimited sour skim milk. It is necessary, of course, that other conditions be right. The extensive experiments in the feeding of poultry at the University of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station show conclusviely that reproductive disorders in poultry can not be remedied by simply adding wheat, yellow corn, oats or other feeds which have been found to contain Vitamin E. From the nutritional viewpoint, a combination of factors is necessary for maximum hatching power. In addition to the feeds that the breeding stock are given, there apparently are many other important influences.1 RAYMOND T. PARKHURST IDAHO AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS THE twenty-second annual meeting of the American Association of Museums was held in Washington, D. C., from May 23 to 25. The marked feature of the conference was the extent to which the program was in the hands of members and delegates rather than of scheduled speakers. This circumstance, and the almost complete absence of questions of business, which, during the recent years of association growth have so absorbed attention, produced a meeting of unusual profit. Coming at the end of the fourth year of the association's work since permanent headquarters were established, the meeting gave opportunity for an appraisal of progress. The reports of officers indicated that the organization has now emerged from the class of experiments and has taken its place squarely in the ranks of established institutions. Its progress has been partly in the nature of financial development, accompanied by increased service, and partly of broadened outlook attendant upon the growth of projects. Among the undertakings completed are the Yosemite Museum-erected by the association and now turned over to the Federal Government; an important traveling exhibit of industrial art objects brought from the recent International Exposition of Decorative and Industrial Arts and circulated to the 4"The Feeding and Management of Breeders,'' R. T. Parkhurst, Agricultural Experiment Station Circular No. 44, April, 1927. larger art museums of the country; reports of two surveys of European museums; a field study of small museums in this country, and a report of this work in the form of a "Manual for Small Museums." The report of the treasurer showed total income for all purposes to be $56,277.41 and total disbursements to be $41,915.98. Among new projects undertaken during the meeting were an effort in cooperation with the National Education Association to secure the services of a specialist on school museum relations, and establishment of a demonstration small museum. A course of training for museum work, which has been under contemplation for some time, was announced for next fall, and progress was reported in the development of a clearing-house service for exchange and redistribution of museum collections. The general sessions of the conference were held on three successive mornings at the Smithsonian Institution, the American Red Cross National Headquarters where the Red Cross Museum is locatedand the Corcoran Gallery of Art, respectively. One principal paper on each morning was followed by a full discussion and a series of committee reports. There was an outdoor afternoon session following luncheon at the Great Falls of the Potomac; an evening devoted to simultaneous sessions on art, science and history problems, and a final banquet at which the speakers were: Dr. E. E. Lowe, of Leicester, England, representative of The Museums Association of Great Britain; Lorado Taft, of Chicago, and Dr. L. O. Howard, of Washington, D. C. The presidential address was delivered by Chauncey J. Hamlin, president of the Buffalo Museum of Science. The free discussion, which figured so prominently in the meeting, was responsible for two impromptu sessions devoted to educational work-a subject of outstanding importance to museum workers at the present stage in the development of their technique. The ranks of museum educational workers were supported by a number of school representatives, whose presence indicated a new tendency on the part of school boards to inquire actively into museum Cooperation. Officers were elected for the coming year as follows: President, Chauncey J. Hamlin, Buffalo. Vice-presidents, Fiske Kimball, Philadelphia; Arthur C. Parker, Rochester; Charles R. Richards, New York, and George H. Sherwood, New York. Secretary, William deC. Ravenel, Washington. LAURENCE VAIL COLEMAN, I SCIENCE VOL. LXVI JULY 22, 1927 No. 1699 CONTENTS · Medical Research and its Organization: DR. SIMON FLEXNER Scientific Events: The Conversaziones of the Royal Society; An International Society for the Study of Peatlands; An Agricultural Census of the World; The Geologic Survey of Pennsylvania; Field Expeditions of the University of Chicago; Resolutions in Memory of Victor Lenher Scientific Notes and News University and Educational Notes ¿Discussion: Misuse of the Name "Leucoscope': DR. IRWIN G. PRIEST. Tadpoles as a Source of Protozoa for Classroom Use: ELERY R. BECKER. The Effect of Ultraviolet Radiations upon Soy Beans: H. REBECCA DANE. The Flora of Barro Colorado Island: DR. A. S. HITCHCOCK. A Daylight ย Meteor: WILLIAM L. BRYANT ng Quotations: The National Museum of Australian Zoology Scientific Books: 81 Science News 89 X SCIENCE: A Weekly Journal devoted to the Advancement of Science, edited by J. McKeen Cattell and published every Friday by THE SCIENCE PRESS New York City: Grand Central Terminal. ancaster, Pa. Annual Subscription, $6.00. Garrison, N. Y. Single Copies, 15 Cts. SCIENCE is the official organ of the American Associa en for the Advancement of Science. Information regardg membership in the Association may be secured from Le office of the permanent secretary, in the Smithsonian Istitution Building, Washington, D. C. Entered as second-class matter July 18, 1928, at the Post ice at Lancaster, Pa., under the Act of March 8, 1879. . MEDICAL RESEARCH AND ITS ORGANIZATION1 OCCASIONS Such as the one in which we are participating are peculiarly significant. They mark the advancement of knowledge-its principles and practice -through a training of both the mind and the hand in the power to comprehend and extend knowledge. All knowledge comprises one vast domain; there is to-day scarcely a line of separation between the pursuit of the knowledge called "humanistic" and that called "scientific." The object is one, since in both what is sought is the interpretation of nature, whether in the physical world about us or in the mind and spirit within. In all these fields, we are now used to exercise the privilege of free inquiry and to substitute for authority the evidences of our perceptions. This high privilege is on the whole a recent acquisition. Although we date our intellectual freedom from the Renaissance period, it is fruitful to reflect on the diverse ways in which the revival of learning in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries affected on the one hand the development of letters and art, and on the other that of science. The interest awakened in the literature of Greece and Rome was shown in the admiration not only for the works of poets, historians and orators, but also for those of physicians, anatomists and astronomers. In consequence, scientific investigation was almost wholly restricted to the study of the writings of authors like Aristotle, Hippocrates, Ptolemy and Galen, and it became the highest ambition to explain and comment upon their teachings, almost an impiety to question them. Independent inquiry and the direct appeal to nature were thus discouraged, and indeed looked upon with the utmost distrust if their results ran counter to what was found in the works of Aristotle and Galen.2 It is not without significance for us that it was the anatomists of the sixteenth century who broke with tradition and determined to examine the human body for themselves, and it was owing chiefly to the labors of two independent geniuses, contemporaries for a time at the University of Padua, Galileo and Harvey, working in very different spheres, that the old order was overthrown and a new era inaugurated. For medicine as well as for the physical sciences 1 Address made at the Convocation for the Conferring of Advanced Degrees, Brown University, June 14, 1927. 2 Harvey, W., "Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals, "translated by Robert Willis, Everyman's Library, 1906; Introduction by E. A. Parkyn, p. vii. these two men were of supreme importance. From Harvey's discovery of the movements of the heart and blood vessels dates not only the science of physiology, but that of medicine itself. It has been well said that this great discovery stands to medical practice much in the same relation as the discovery of the mariner's compass stands to navigation.3 Harvey's epochal book was published in 1628. It seems probable that he began teaching his doctrines to his classes as early as 1616-the year of Shakespeare's death. For more than ten years, Harvey delayed any formal publication of his experiments and deductions, meanwhile inviting criticism and opposition to his views from all sources, in order that the complete truth, free from any falsities and misconceptions, might be disclosed. To-day as it did then, his modest treatise stands as a landmark in human history, and a perusal of the methods of experiment employed and the mode of presentation adopted arouses feelings only of admiration and emulation. The fundamental thesis of Harvey's teaching is expressed in almost winged words by a modern physiologist :* that only by searching out and studying the secrets of nature by way of experiments can we hope to attain in the words of Job "to a comprehension of the wisdom of the body and the understanding of the heart," the phrase of his contemporaries. Both men were enemies of mere speculation, and upholders of the experimental method, and both were conspicuous by reason of the extreme caution with which they promulgated their discoveries. Newton even less than Harvey was possessed of the passion, verging on fanaticism, for scientific discovery which has distinguished many men. He had almost to be cajoled into the enunciation of the discovery of the law of gravitation, and he all but failed to complete the Principia, be cause he detested controversy. "I see I have made myself a slave to philosophy; I will resolutely bid adieu to it eternally, except what I do for my private satisfaction, or leave to come out after me; for I see a man must either resolve to put out nothing new, or become a slave to defend it." Newton's objectivity was extraordinary; in spite of the wonderful success of his theory he did not think that the law of gravitation was the final expression of gravitational phenomena-a piece of scientific caution which we have seen justified in our day. To those of us charged with the responsibility of searching out scientific aptitude, it is wholesome to learn that the reflective youth, unlike most great mathematicians, gave no evidence of mathematica precocity. Even when at nineteen he entered Cam and thereby gain that mastery of disease and pain bridge he had no definite intention of studying mathe which will enable us to relieve the burden of mankind. The announcement of the discovery produced a sensation; it was opposed, but not by the younger physicians. Among those who discerned its significance was the philosopher Descartes. The material effect was not fortunate. Harvey's medical practice fell off. Patients feared to put themselves under the care of one accused by the ignorant and envious of being crack-brained, and of putting out new-fangled and dangerous doctrines. This fate of great innovators is still not unknown. There was fortunately one man in a high place who showed lively interest in the discovery. Charles I supported Harvey and appointed him his personal physician. It is interesting to reflect that this monarch, whatever opinion may be held of his other qualities, by aiding Harvey and Van Dyke showed himself an enlightened patron of art and science.5 Hardly more than half a century separates the astounding figure of Harvey from the overwhelming figure of Newton-"the lawgiver of the universe" in 3 Simon, Sir John, "Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals," Everyman's Library, 1906; p. ix, Editor's Introduction. 4 Starling, E., Lancet, 1923, ii, 869. 5 Harvey, W., "Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals," Everyman's Library, 1906; p. xviii, Editor's Introduction. matics; it was the chance picking up of a book on astrology at a country fair which turned his mind in this direction, and yet when he took his B.A. degree four years later he had discovered the binomia theorem and invented the differential calculus. The past one hundred years have seen the triumph of the experimental method; the deepest problems o which we are aware have been explored with confi dence because of the perfection of method and of in struments of extreme precision. In the physica world we stand in awe of the marvels being accom plished as, to take two or three spectacular examples in the field of atomic structure, of radiology and o aviation. The medical biological field is also bein cultivated, with results no less significant perhaps fo science as a whole. Since the greater speed of discovery has come wit the last half century, it may be of interest to inquir briefly into some of the advances in medical scienc with which subject I am myself more familiar. The this science should have lagged somewhat and indee still grows more slowly than the mechanical and phys cal sciences need scarcely evoke comment. As was r marked by Claude Bernard, "the object of science 6 |