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everywhere the same: to learn the material conditions of phenomena. But though this goal is the same in the physico-chemical and in the biological sciences, it is much harder to reach in the latter, because of the mobility and complexity of the phenomena which we meet." Under these circumstances it is no wonder that at a period when the physical sciences were being enriched by experiment, medicine still remained a subject of philosophical systemization-a condition called by the philosopher Locke the Romance-way of physic, because it is more easy for men to build castles in the air of their own than to survey well those that are on the ground."

It is usual to date the beginning of what we are pleased to call the present or modern era of medical research from the establishment of the germ origin of disease. In truth, no such sharp distinction as this is to be drawn; the germ theory of disease is a logical outgrowth of the state of development of chemistry and physiology in the middle period of the nineteenth century, and those two sciences had contributed then, as they continue to contribute in ever-increasing volume, to the store of biological knowledge.

And yet there is truth in the view that new impetus and new hope were suddenly brought into medicine through the pregnant discoveries of Pasteur, Lister and Koch, which did so much to aid the growth of preventive and curative medicine. The pursuit of microbiology, the science of the infinitely little, is still under full swing. The quest has broadened greatly within the past few years. The mere study of the elusive parasite has given way to a much more searching investigation of its intimate properties, its precise chemical constitution, on which depends its power for inflicting injury, and on a real understanding of which rests man's power of defense against harmful action; and the knowledge already gained in this difficult field is of very great significance. The quest is also taking into account a remarkable capacity for variation among these minute parasites, affecting their propensity for inducing disease and raising farreaching questions as to the origin of the parasitic forms and their relation to the far greater number of non-disease producing microbes with which man in common with all living things lives in intimate daily communion.

The newer studies have brought the knowledge of parasite and host, the animal and plant, into closer and more equitable relationships, and have thus shown a way by which epidemies on an experimental scale may be profitably investigated among laboratory animals and made to yield information valuable in itself and even informing in respect to epidemics in man. Brown, John, Horae Subcivae, 1st Series, p. 19.

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Perhaps no subject of wide investigation has yielded more startling and valuable information than that relating to the physiological effects of the socalled internal secretions. If indeed we wish to correlate present-day outlook in medical practice with earlier happenings, we could choose no more fecund example than the master work of Claude Bernard on the sugar-liberating functions of the liver, to which he first applied the phrase. Contemporary investigation by physiological and chemical means of this class of substances, the chemical messengers, or so-called hormones of the body, through which many of its functions are integrated, has been rich in surprising rewards. Almost everyone is familiar with the relationship of the "stunted, pot-bellied, slavering cretin," with defect of the internal secretion of the thyroid gland, and we stand awed before the now common fact of the transformation of the cretin into a normal, comely, intelligent child merely by the administration of the substance of the thyroid gland of animals. And we are growing familiar with the instances of gigantism and of excessive obesity, resulting from pathological conditions of the complex pituitary gland, the small body which sits on the fantastic Turkish saddle at the base of the brain. The physiological effects as well as the practical uses of epinephrine, the peculiar secretion of the adrenal glands, would seem to bear daily testimony to that regulatory mechanism, through which fear is expressed and courage reinforced; while the saving graces of insulin, the hormone regulating the sugar consumption of the body, have rendered the lives of many thousands of victims of diabetes tolerable and happy. This is a very incomplete list of even our present knowledge of these subtle, integrative, chemical messengers of health and disease. Others regulate at the proper moment the order of the digestive secretions, determine secondary sexual characteristics, and even stand watch and ward over the generation of human life itself.

There is no sharp line between health and disease, and no sharp distinction between the functions called physiological and pathological. A knowledge of the body will include all the biological processes with which we can deal. The animal body has often been compared to a watch, and the physician with the expert watchmaker, and it has been hoped that in due time doctors will be as good at their craft as watchmakers are at theirs. It is true, of course, as John Brown, the gifted author of "Rab and his Friends," has pointed out, that the watchmaker is not called on to mend the watch while it is going, and that this makes all the difference. But the simile is far more 8 Starling, E., Lancet, 1923, ii, 869.

imperfect than this, since the most cunning of Swiss watches which tolls the precise minute of the day or night, shows the day of the month, the quarters of the moon, and even other successive events, is so far simpler than the beautifully constructed and ingeniously integrated animal body, that it is almost an offense to compare one with the other.

The vocation of medicine is multiple; hence the need for specialization. In recent times, the scientific medical investigator has also become a specialist. Since medicine is one of the biological sciences, it is natural to ally it with biology as an educational discipline. But this definition has become too narrow. The growth of medical science, as a biological science, has brought it into more and more intimate relationship, first with classical chemistry and now with classical physics, to the great benefit of both medicine and biology. A generation ago we saw the rise of biochemistry as an independent subject of research and knowledge; to-day we are witnessing the beginnings of biophysics as a similar independent subject. There is hardly a direction in which classical chemistry and classical physics are moving forward, in which biology and medicine do not promise presently to follow.

These circumstances call for specially trained men possessing the temper and aptitudes of the investigator to pursue medical research. Indeed, so formidable has become the demand for the investigation of medical problems that particular provision is being made in universities and special institutions founded to fulfill this demand. On all sides the persons with these qualities are being scrupulously sought in increasing numbers. In order to provide for them the most favorable opportunities for work, a kind of organization of research is being undertaken. This is a new thing as a purely scientific experiment, and hence it may be well to inquire just what is embraced under the term of "organized medical research."

There are known conditions under which scientific discoveries have been made in the past. The strong individuality of the gifted investigator is well illustrated by the two extreme examples dealt with at the beginning of this address. It were futile to attempt any organization which purposes to promote discovery by such persons as these. Indeed, it is not intended at all, and probably would prove impossible ever to organize the subject-matter of research and the extraordinary minds which are the chief means of making discovery. It is now recognized that the progress of science, while strictly logical, is not uniform. The whole body of scientific knowledge does not move and can not be moved forward on a wide front. As a matter of fact, the reverse process occurs; progression takes place now at one, and now at

another part of the front-after which, and perhaps slowly and with great effort, the rest of the column moves on. In the meantime, still another thrust occurs, and now perhaps at a new part of the line, necessitating a still further general readjustment.

And so with an infinity of pushes and pauses, owing to the efforts first of one and then of another group of investigators, and at different periods, one observes a larger problem to be cleared, but perhaps never completely solved. As Newton has said, physical laws deal with relations between phenomena, not with causes; and causes need not be mathematical at all. Moreover, the physical laws we enunciate must be regarded as provisional and approximate. Hence the progress of science means the closer and closer approximation to the objective-perfect, immutable

laws.

The first indications of an experimental advance may occur many years ahead of the explanation of the phenomena involved, and until the latter appears, the real significance of the discovery may be missed. Thus, Hopkins observed that small animals failed to develop normally on a carefully balanced, adequately caloric diet, not imagining the fault to lie with the want of almost imponderable quantities of necessary vitamines, substances still of elusive chemical composition, the existence of which at the time was unknown. Now we designate with almost a half dozen letters of the alphabet as many supposedly vitamine entities which control as many physiological and pathological functions of the animal body.

In like manner when the remarkable power of cod liver oil to prevent rickets in the young had been clearly shown, no one could have suspected that a like effect was produced by certain rays of the sun, and even less that in both instances the beneficial action is determined by a reciprocal, quantitative relation in the phosphorus-calcium content of the blood. Just now that the study of radiation effects of X-ray and of radium emanations—is claiming so much attention, we wish to ascertain what it is that takes place, which on the one hand leads to that kind of injury of animal cells that sometimes produces cancerous conditions, and on the other the beneficial changes that result in the actual cure of pre-existing cancerous growths. That the radiations alter in some way the physiology of cells-normal or cancerous-may be assumed; it is the how that is being sought, and the nature of the alterations induced. The ability to grow animal cells indefinitely outside the body has provided an almost perfect material for the biological testing of the effects of physical and chemical agents, from which in due time a new cell physiology will doubtless emerge.

Among investigators the rarest are those men with

a presentiment of new truths; the far greater number merely develop and follow the ideas of others. In a few instances the presentiment is extraordinary, but it is always likely to be a brilliant example of the scientific use of the imagination. Of the first order of magnitude was Harvey's assumption of the existence of minute vessels uniting the arteries and veins and completing the circuit of the circulation. In his day the microscope was too primitive to reveal them; in fact, Malpighi's discovery of the capillaries occurred four years after Harvey's death and thirty years after the publication of the "Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals."

At all periods, voices have occasionally been raised to decry the domination of medicine by science. These timid souls would return to the less aided senses in order to provide the so-called intuitive faculty of the physician with greater latitude. Just now this thesis has been put forward by an eminent German surgeon-Sauerbruch-and an active controversy has been started. The weight of opinion, fortunately, is more modern and logical, for while it is properly admitted that superficial science can never compensate for slipshod observation, and while it is allowed that one doctor's wits are sharper and quicker than another's, yet it is urged with easy conviction that without true knowledge even the supremely intuitive can reach no real goal nor pass beyond the limits of the "inspired ignoramus."

If, therefore, we may not seek to organize the subject-matter of research, we may nevertheless undertake to organize the facilities which make the prosecution of research more consistent and less a matter of chance. In carrying out this purpose, we must ever keep in mind that the outstanding discoveries in science are the accomplishments of real men and usually of great men. Now, as it has been well said, great men are just those who bring with them new

ideas and destroy errors. They do not, therefore,

respect the authority of their predecessors and they do not move in an ordered way. While it is of course true that the discoveries of the great men preceding them stand at the base of their own discoveries, yet neither is ever the promoter of absolute and immutable truths. "Each great man belongs to his time and can come only at the proper moment, in the sense that there is a necessary and ordered sequence in the appearance of scientific discoveries. Great men may be compared to torches shining at long intervals to guide the advance of science. They light up their time, either by discovering unexpected fertile phenomena which open new paths and reveal unknown horizons, or by generalizing acquired scientific facts and disclosing truths which their predecessors had not perceived. If each great man makes the science which he

vitalizes take a long step forward, he never presumes to fix its final boundaries and he is destined to be outdistanced and left behind by the progress of successive generations. Great men have been compared to giants upon whose shoulders pygmies have climbed, who nevertheless see further than they. This simply means that science makes progress subsequently to the appearance of great men, and precisely because of their influence. The result is that their successors

know many more scientific facts than the great men themselves knew in their day. But a great man is, none the less, still a great man, that is to say-a giant." And who would presume to confine, that is to restrict by organization, a band of giants? It is enough to provide them, as they may now hope to be provided, with suitable material resources with which to perform their gigantic, wonder-working tasks, of which they are often the unconscious agents. This, and as it seems to me, this alone is the purpose and the justification for the organization of science: to afford opportunity commensurate with the objects to be attained, for both the giants and their associates of smaller stature, for him who blazes the trail and him who clears the path, since both operations are needed in order that knowledge may be increased and the light be made to enter the still dark places, and the spirit of man be thereby enlarged and made to shine with ever greater brilliance.

THE ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH, NEW YORK, N. Y.

SIMON FLEXNER

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

THE CONVERSAZIONES OF THE ROYAL

SOCIETY

THE first of the two conversaziones given annually by the Royal Society has taken place at Burlington House, when, as usual, an array of exhibits was provided for the instruction and entertainment of the visitors.

According to an article in the London Times one of the most striking demonstrations was that of Mr. A. A. King, who showed the application of ultraviolet radiation from a mercury vapor lamp to the detection and estimation of minute quantities of arsenic. When a mercury-arsenic stain on a piece of filter-paper sensitized with mercuric chloride is examined in ultra-violet light the unchanged mercuric chloride fluoresces blue, while the mercury-arsenic stains stand out as a black disc. Arsenic stains, 9 Bernard, Claude, "An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine," English Translation, 1927, p. 41.

which are quite invisible in ordinary light, may be revealed in this way, and it is said to be possible to detect and estimate quantitatively amounts of arsenic as small as 0.00001 of a milligram. Impurity in distilled water is also revealed by fluorescence in ultraviolet light, and it has not yet been found possible, even with the most refined methods of distillation, to prepare water that does not show some sign of fluorescence. An exhibit from the National Physical Laboratory also illustrated the difficulty of preparing substances in a state of absolute purity. It included specimens of iron, manganese and chromium, the impurities in which are detectable only with the spectroscope.

Another exhibit from the National Physical Laboratory showed the structure of pure mercury in the solid state, the metal being kept frozen by liquid air or carbon dioxide snow and acetone and etched with a solution of hydrochloric acid that does not freeze at the temperatures employed. A collection of metallurgical specimens exhibited by Sir Robert Hadfield included sections from reinforcement bars of high tenacity non-corrodible steel, which are being used in the preservation work at St. Paul's to replace the original wrought-iron bars put in by Sir Christopher Wren.

Bolometers responding with remarkable rapidity to radiant heat were shown by Mr. H. Dewhurst; they consist of a narrow strip of bismuth, believed to be only 0.0000007 cm. thick, deposited on thin celluloid films by electrical evaporation. The thermostat of Lieutenant-Commander F. J. Campbell Allen and Mr. A. E. Salisbury depends on the fact that magnetic metals lose their magnetic properties at certain temperatures; in the apparatus an armature normally attracted by the metal drops as the temperature of the metal is raised, to be attracted again when the temperature falls.

Other physical exhibits included apparatus devised by Professor O. W. Richardson and Mr. F. S. Robertson for comparing the yield of soft X-rays from different substances; a demonstration by the British Thomson-Houston Company of the phenomena produced by an arc in a hot cathode discharge tube containing argon when tungsten vapor is injected; the Selényi method of measuring the vacuum in a lamp and new methods of using gas-filled photoelectric cells, one enabling very small illuminations to be detected without any delicate apparatus, and the other suitable for picture telegraphy, by the Research Laboratories of the General Electric Company; and apparatus for analyzing gases by means of high-frequency vibrations and for estimating flame temperature by spectrum line reversed, by the National Physical Laboratory.

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AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF PEATLANDS

AN international organization for the study of peatlands (Moorforschung) has been formed as a subcommission of Commission VI of the International Society of Soil Science. The object is to promote peat investigations on an international basis and to coordinate and develop, in cooperation with governmental, state and private agencies such research and uniformity of methods in laboratory and field practices as are deemed in the interest of the fullest investigation, utilization and protection of peatland resources. The work of the organization is to be carried on by the following officers: Dr. A. P. Dachnowski, U. S. Department of Agriculture, chairman; Dr. Hugo Osvald, director Peat Experiment Station, Jönköping, Sweden, secretary; Professor Dr. B. Tacke, Germany; Colonel J. Girsberger, Switzerland; Dr. L. von Post, Sweden; Professor S. H. McCrory, Washington, D. C.; Dr. F. J. Alway, Minnesota, U. S. A.; Dr. W. S. Dokturowski, U. S. S. R. (Russia); Dr. A. Kirsanov, U. S. S. R. (Russia).

Cooperation has been assured by an International Peat Committee which consists of leading members well known for their investigations in the geographical distribution of peatlands, in paleobotany, stratigraphy, agronomy, forestry, engineering and other special phases of peatland utilization.

The formation of the organization was initiated at informal conferences with directors of peat institutes and peat specialists in several countries of Europe. The proposal was made and approved of holding a special peat session in the United States and organizing during the sessions of the First International Congress of Soil Science, held in Washington, June 13 to 22, 1927.

The value of the special peat session just closed was shown by the interest in an exhibit of different types of peat and profile sections of peat areas, and by the commission's formal recognition of the advantages of genuine international action in common projects. It aims at the coordination of fundamental peat investigations with the practical technique of utilizing areas of peat for different purposes. At its final session the Congress recommended to secure uniformity of methods of procedure for the investigation and handling of peatlands, with the ultimate aim of obtaining an accurate determination of the agricultural and industrial possibilities of peatland resources throughout the world.

Persons engaged in any aspect of this subject and desiring to associate themselves with the work of the international sub-commission are invited to join as members. Communications may be addressed to Dr.

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A. P. Dachnowsky, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

AN AGRICULTURAL CENSUS OF THE

WORLD

AN agricultural census of the world is planned under the direction of Mr. Leon M. Estabrook, of the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome. Plans were prepared and approved by the general assembly of the institute in April, 1926.

Since June, 1926, Mr. Estabrook has been visiting ministers of agriculture and heads of the statistical divisions of various governments in regard to the project.

All European countries and surrounding countries, including Russia, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and the North African Colonies, have promised cooperation in taking the census, France offering the most potential difficulties. The European nations also promised to aid the institute in obtaining the cooperation of the colonies.

Mr. Estabrook is visiting Canada at the present time and will proceed to Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Santo Domingo, Porto Rico, Panama and thence across the Pacific to Hawaii, Japan, China, Indo-China, the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Australia, New Zealand, India and the countries west, including Arabia and others, to the colonies of eastern Africa. He will then proceed to South Africa and thence to South America. He hopes to return to Rome, having completed the circuit of the world and visited practically every country, in time for the meeting of the general assembly in October, 1928.

This is the first attempt ever made to induce all countries to take an agricultural census. Out of the 200 countries listed by the International Agricultural Institute, only 60 have ever taken an agricultural census and less than 40 have taken one since 1900. Of these not more than four happened by chance to take a census in the same year, and no two have taken their census in the same manner.

If the present attempt is successful, the institute hopes to obtain funds for its continuation, with collection of statistics every ten years.

Each country has agreed to pay for its own census and to issue its own report, which will be utilized in preparing the institute world report for each product.

THE GEOLOGIC SURVEY OF

PENNSYLVANIA

THE Topographic and Geologic Survey of Pennsylvania is carrying on the following projects during the present field season in addition to the cooperative topographic work:

G. H. Ashley. Preparing a popular report on the rocks of Pennsylvania.

R. W. Stone. Field work on building stones of Pennsylvania.

J. D. Sisler. Detailed reconnaissance of the oil and gas fields of Pennsylvania.

Anna I. Jonas. Detailed areal mapping in the Middletown and York quadrangles, with some cooperation from George W. Stose, of the United States Geological Survey. Herbert Hughes. Detailed areal mapping of the Freeport quadrangle.

Frank Leverett, of the United States Geological Survey. Cooperative study of glacial geology, especially that outside the terminal moraine.

George H. Chadwick. Stratigraphic studies in the oil and gas region of northwestern Pennsylvania.

Henry Leighton, University of Pittsburgh. Studies in the clay deposits of Pennsylvania of the Pittsburgh district, with field and laboratory studies by Professor J. B. Shaw at State College.

Charles R. Fettke and W. A. Copeland. Detailed plane-table mapping and studies in the Bradford oil field. Freeman Ward, Lafayette College. Areal studies of the sand and gravel deposits of Pennsylvania.

Charles H. Behre, Jr. Detailed studies of slate west of Lehigh River.

Arthur M. Piper. Underground water resources of northwestern Pennsylvania.

On May 7 the state printery was nearly destroyed by fire. The survey's remaining stock of bulletins was on the third floor of this building and practically all destroyed. It is hoped that the more recent of these bulletins may later be reprinted from insurance funds.

FIELD EXPEDITIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

FIELD expeditions from the University of Chicago have started on divergent trails to study scientific records of America in anthropology, geology, archeology and paleontology.

Professor Fay-Cooper Cole, of the department of ' anthropology, will continue the extensive study of the Illinois mounds which he began last year. Illinois, according to Professor Cole, is the key state in anthropology for prehistoric America. His work this summer will be part of a program that may take ten years to complete. Information will be gathered on the mounds of the state by advanced students under his direction, and some preliminary excavations will be made.

Paul Miller, curator of Walker Museum, will continue his research on dinosaurs and other extinct animals in an area of east-central Wyoming.

Professor Edwin Sapir, of the department of anthropology, and Fang-Kuei Li, Chinese student, will

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